576 
Editorial. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     October,  1896. 
EDITORIAL, 
MODERN  DIETETICS. 
The  science  of  food  is  always  a  much-abused  subject,  but  the  year  1896  has 
been  especially  fruitful  in  this  abuse.  One  of  the  most  startling  contributions 
was  read  at  a  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association,  at  Atlanta,  in 
May,  on  the  subject  of  4 '  Lycopersicum  cardiopathia."  According  to  the 
author,  the  tomato,  Lycopersicum  esculentum,  is  to  be  regarded  as  a  diluent 
and  not  as  a  food.  Concerning  its  composition  he  says  :  "  The  fluid  element 
has  been  found  to  consist  of  an  acid  called  acidum  lycopersicum.  Others  have 
claimed  the  acids  to  be  acetic  and  malic  in  combination." 
Now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  lycopersic  acid  is  of  doubtful  existence,  and  acetic 
and  malic  acids  do  not  exist  in  combination  with  each  other ;  and,  so  far  as 
known,  only  one  of  them,  malic  acid,  occurs  in  the  tomato.  That,  however,  is 
apparently  of  secondary  importance,  for  we  next  read  that,  "notwithstanding 
the  almost  universal  indulgence  in  this  fruit,  there  is  a  certain  proportion  to 
whom  it  acts  as  a  poison.  In  some  the  symptoms  are  gradually  developed  ;  in 
others  they  become  immediately  alarming.  Some  cases  show  no  immediate 
evidences,  but  the  results  are  cumulative."  The  writer  then  proceeds  to  depict 
the  dreadful  symptoms  which  accompany  the  use  of  the  tomato  as  a  food,  in  a 
manner  that  would  do  credit  to  a  newspaper  reporter  of  long  experience  in 
"writing  up"  a  case  of  hydrophobia.  No  one  who  reads  the  paper  and  be- 
lieves it,  will  ever  venture  to  touch  the  luscious  tomato  again. 
Notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  learned  doctor  has  had  an  experience  of 
fifteen  years  in  observing  this  frightful  disease,  we  could  take  him  into  districts 
where,  for  two  or  three  months  of  the  year,  the  inhabitants  depend  largely 
on  the  tomato  as  an  article  of  food,  and  we  feel  sure  they  know  nothing  about 
"lowered  alkalescence  of  the  blood"  or  "myocardial  weariness."  "The 
irregular  and  spasmodic  stimulation  of  the  ganglionic  cells"  is  a  matter  of 
indifference  to  them,  provided  they  get  a  good  price  for  their  tomatoes  and 
have  enough  of  them  to  eat.    They  grow  fat  and  are  happy. 
Just  what  the  author  expected  to  accomplish  by  such  a  startling  announce- 
ment it  is  difficult  to  conceive.  If  it  was  to  get  into  the  newspapers,  he  suc- 
ceeded ;  for  "penny-dreadful"  paragraphs  from  his  home  papers  are  now 
going  the  rounds  of  the  press,  and  it  is  wearying  to  think  of  the  infinitely 
distorted  forms  under  which  this  misinformation  will  appear. 
It  is  gratifying  to  note  that  all  the  other  members  at  the  meeting  apparently 
did  not  take  the  doctor  seriously,  for  one  suggested  that  we  would  soon  hear  of 
carrot  heart,  potato  heart  and  onion  breath,  and  he  doubted  whether  we  will 
ever  be  able  to  make  a  list  of  vegetables  that  we  may  eat  with  safety.  Another 
member  suggested  that  the  symptoms  which  had  been  so  vividly  described 
might  all  be  caused  by  "wind  on  the  stomach." 
Food  adulteration  is  another  department  of  modern  dietetics  which  is  fre- 
quently most  intemperately  treated.  One  of  the  latest  comes  from  the  Pacific 
Coast,  in  the  shape  of  a  paper  read  before  the  California  Medical  Society.  This 
author  makes  such  a  sweeping  statement  of  adulteration  in  coffee,  tea,  eggs 
(artificially  prepared;,  milk,  butter,  sugar,  honey  and  alcoholic  beverages,  as  to 
leave  no  avenue  of  escape  for  a  nervous  person  or  an  invalid.  He  holds  out 
one  ray  of  hope  in  regard  to  spices  by  admitting  that  "  the  better  brands  appear 
