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nothing, in view of the great power of adaptation of the human 
system. The higher the position of a living being in the scale of 
existence, the greater its power of adaptability. Man, being the 
highest of animals, and all his physical powers being multiplied 
many times by the application of intelligence, possesses such 
power in surpassing degree, and there is practically no limit to 
his abilities in regard to the ultimate selection of food. More- 
over, the task of modifying the present qualities of his foods to 
meet special conditions is, as will be explained further on, still 
more feasible. All that we can conclude, a priori, is that while 
mankind may become fitted in the future for the practice of 
vegetarianism, much remains to be done before that time in the 
way of preparing foods for our use and ourselves for making use 
of them 
We must first consider that there are no foods in use which 
are wholly nourishing. Each consists of different parts, having 
different effects upon or destinations in the bo ome are 
entirely neutral, acting merely as waste. Others are digested, 
absorbed and assimilated, and these constitute the nutrients 
proper. Some may act so as to interfere with this digestion of 
the nutrients, being thus negatively or indirectly harmful. Others 
still may be directly and actively injurious by producing poison- 
ous effects. In considering the absolute and relative utility of 
any food, each of these classes of constituents must be fully 
considered. It is evident that we must not only ascertain the 
nature and effects of each constituent of any food, but we must 
also ascertain its percentage amount. 
e note next that the nutrients themselves are of quite differ- 
ent kinds, producing different effects, building up different tissues 
and possessing very different degrees of nutritive value. ani- 
festly, our first necessity is to classify the nutritive elements of 
foods. These elements are divided into three general classes, 
namely, the inorganics, the organic non-nitrogenized and the or- 
ganic nitrogenized, concerning each of which a few facts must be 
stated. The inorganic nutrients of human vegetable foods have 
been very little studied as to their special effects, and their nutri- 
tive rdle is probably much more interesting and important than is 
