AND ITS RELATION TO ANIMAL LIFE 57 



Hence it follows that our food must consist of 

 mixtures of these. But the various food sub- 

 stances we employ do generally consist of 

 such mixtures ; for instance, wheat flour con- 

 tains the nitrogenous substance gluten, the 

 non-nitrogenous substance starch, and also 

 various mineral salts derived by the wheat 

 plant from the soil in which it grew. Again, 

 butchers' meat contains the nitrogenous 

 myosin, the non-nitrogenous fat, together with 

 mineral salts obtained indirectly from the 

 soil." 



Here it is admitted that foods must be of a 

 normal chemical composition, otherwise life 

 cannot be sustained, and it is assumed that 

 foods are normal. 



This assumption is the fundamental mistake 

 of the medical profession, and can only be 

 rectified by a recognition of the variations or 

 deviations from the normal of which I have 

 given instances in this chapter. 



" Hunter's own words are ' Nature is 

 always uniform in her operations, and when 

 she deviates, is still regular in her deviations. 



