3^2 EFFECT OF DIET ON THE ALBINO RAT 



McCay-^ finds that kidney disease is much more prevalent in native 

 inhabitants of Bengal than in Europeans who live there. He attributes 

 this to their diet, which is low in protein. 



Thompson/^ in regard to power of vegetarians to resist disease, 

 says : " In regard to an exclusive or almost exclusive vegetable diet 

 for man, the universal experierice has been that while it may keep him 

 in apparent health for some time, it eventually results in a loss of 

 strength and general resisting power against disease, which becomes 

 evident after some months, if not before .... Animal food in 

 some form must be regarded as absolutely essential for all vigorous 

 races." 



It is claimed that vegetarians convalesce more slowly after a period 

 of illness.^^ That animal food makes blood richer in red corpuscles 

 and gives firmness to muscle without excess of fat.^* 



In 1883, when the diet consisted largely of rice, 33% of the Jap- 

 anese marines had beri beri. In 1884 meat and bread were added to 

 the rations, and now they hardly have three cases a year.'^ 



When the effects of a restricted diet and of various diets upon the 

 resistance of animals to certain poisons are considered, Hunt^* has found 

 that " diet has a marked effect upon the resistance of animals to certain 

 poisons ; the resistance of some animals may be increased forty-fold by 

 changes in diet. Certain diets, notably dextrose, oatmeal, liver and kid- 

 neys, greatly increase the resistance of mice to acetonitril; their effect is 

 similar in this respect to the adminsitration of thyroid. The experi- 

 ments show that foods such as enter largely into the daily diet of man 

 have most pronounced effects upon the resistance of animals to several 

 poisons. They produce changes in metabolism which are not readily 

 detectable by methods ordinarily used in metabolism studies. The ease 

 and rapidity with which certain changes in function are caused by diet 

 are in striking contrast with the essentially negative results obtained by 

 the chemical analyses of animals fed upon different diets." 



Hutchison^^ claims that intellectual capacity and bodily energy are de- 

 pendent on a mixed diet, and that " it is not without reason that the 

 more energetic races of the world have been meat eaters." 



A study of the dietaries of the various races of the world con- 

 firms this. Wherever we find advancement in civilization, great achieve- 

 ments in the arts and sciences, maximum mental and physical ability, 

 thrift and success, we find that animal food has formed a prominent 

 portion of the diet. 



The numerous observations and experiments on man and other 

 animals in regard to the effects of an exclusive vegetable diet, as com- 



