464 [AssEMBi^V 



jix pounds in weight -, but like starch, it is bulk devoid of equiva* 

 lent nutriment ; therefore, those persons living on it chiefly, will 

 have weak constitutions, and be unable to resist disease, as it ts 

 almost devoid of gluten. 



Beans and peas, weight for weight, contain from nine to twelve 

 times as much nutriment as potatoes, two or three ounces of beans 

 or peas to one pound of rice, supplies the deficiency, and forms a 

 food that will support man in health. Or if onions are used 

 instead of peas and beans, two ounces may be considered as equiva- 

 lent to one ounce of meal. Notwithstanding the apparent supe^ 

 rlority of beans and peas over potatoes, still chemical researcll 

 has shown that the potato has a peculiarity which distinguish^ 

 it from nearly all other vegetables and cereal grains used by mm 

 as food. 



Although inferior in nutriment in proportion to the mass con> 

 sumed, from the fact that three-quarters of it is pure water, still 

 it contains almost all the elements of nutrititon that are diSs^ 

 covered separately in nearly all vegetables and grain, therefore^ 

 only to be obtained from most other articles of nourishment by 

 mixing different kinds together. Consequently the potato can \B 

 used alone for nutrition and support; while in making use of 

 other vegetable productions, there is required a combination of 

 numerous kinds to furnish the various elements that are indi^ 

 pensable for the increase and support of the body of man. When 

 the potato crop failed in Ireland, ignorant people imagined thaji 

 they could easily substitute some one article of food as an equiva- 

 lent in itself for the potato; and they signally failed. 



Diseases are often dependent on defective nutrition, arisin|f 

 from deficiency of quality or variety of food, rather than de:^ 

 Ciency of quantity. The potato, although it does not possess a 

 large portion of nutritious matter, is very remarkable, as contain*- 

 ing within itself all the various elements necessary for the forma^ 

 tion of healthy blood. When the potato became scarce in Ird^ 

 land, fevers and epidemics raged. For instance, in the year 1845^ 

 potatoes sold for four shillings the one hundred weight, and ther^ 

 was no epidemic. In 1846 the scarcity commenced, owing to thjfe 

 rot, and consequent high price, when fevers began to show thenj.^ 



