IN FIELD AND WOOD 



ever that he has fed upon many things, and is still 

 feeding upon many things, that are injurious to him. 



He makes dietetic mistakes that the lower orders 

 never make. Each species knows its proper food from 

 the jump, and all individuals of that species thrive 

 equally well upon it. There are no eccentricities of 

 taste or caprices of digestion among them. But with 

 us what is one man's food is often another man's 

 poison, and what one gloats over, another may ab- 

 hor. 



Man's stomach is the battle-ground of his life in 

 a sense that is not true of the stomach of his dog or 

 his horse in relation to their lives. It is doubtful 

 whether any of the wild or self-fed creatures ever 

 have indigestion or any of the many ills that human 

 flesh is heir to. If given a chance, nearly all of the 

 individuals of the same species live to the same age, 

 be that long or short. There is no infant mortality 

 among them as among us, except among the birds, 

 which storms and cold often decimate. 



It is a theory of mine that nearly all our ailments 

 and distempers come by way of the mouth, and that, 

 if we could keep this portal properly guarded, we 

 might experience the same immunity from disease 

 that the lower orders do, and all of us live out our 

 appointed days. If we only knew just what to eat 

 and how much, the doctor and the druggist would 

 soon be bankrupt. Malnutrition is the source of 

 most of our woe. 



263 



