The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-25 00:00:00

ESSENTIALS OF FOOD.

At once, then, we warn:the Stockport Guardians against
the error to which, if the report we have read be a correct
one, they are advised. The error, if tbey fall into it, will
be fatal. We warn them, and with them, all other boards
in a similar position, not to give away bacon, not to over-
burthen the poor with potatoes, not to spend much in
cheese, but to look to the essentials.

And what are the essentials? Three, only three—bread,
fresh animal substance, and a little fresh vegetable. They
shall forget everything else in these, and all will go well;
they shall forget those, and all will go ill. To put forward
a simple illustration, we will take a man weighing one
hundred and fifty-four pounds, and, presuming that he is
not actively engaged in muscular or mental work, we will
feed him at something less than a minimum ration; we
will give him per day from two to three ounces of fresh solid
animal food, six ounces of potatoes, alone or intermixed
with other vegetables, and eight ounces of bread ; thus fed,
in so far as substantial food is concerned, the man will live,
simple water, or a little tea or coffee, doing all the rest ; nay,
we may diminish the materials here suggested a full third,
and the man will not suffer from famine fever ; but double
the bread and potatoes,and omit the fresh animal substance,
and the man will inevitably lapse into fever; or, replace
the fresh animal food by salted provision, and he will have
scurvy, or dysentery, or both.
That which we state here is simple incontrovertible truth,
it is gathered from experience, special and general ; ignored,
the worst evils must come; acknowledged, acted upon, the
evils of disease may be altogether avoided. To reduce the
( matter to a simple reading, even at the risk of seeming
I wearisome, we offer to Boards of Guardians the following
faots as principles on which they may be guided.
1. A. man may live altogether on fresh animal food ; on
such food he will no more take fever or scurvy, than a lion
or other carnivorous animal.

2. A. man will live altogether on vegetable foods if these
can be obtained in sufficient quantity, and can be scienti-
fically admixed. He will no mere take fever or scurvy on
such food than a horse or other herbivorous animal.

3. A man practically lives best on a mixture of animal
and vegetable foods, the animal part representing a little
less than a fourth of the vegetable.
These are the positive conditions : now for the negative.
1. A man cannot live on salted provisions : on a mixture
of salted flesh and one or two kinds of vegetable diet he
may live some time, but in the end he will suffer, land
scurvy and dysentery being the chief resultant maladies.
2. A man cannot live many weeks on br3ad, potatoes,
rice, or oatmeal, without lapsing into famine fever.
3. Quantity of food is nothing in the absence of quality.
Thus, two ounces of fresh animal food with three ounces of
bread and three ounces of potatoes, would excel six ounces
of bread, six ounces of potatoes, and four of bacon.
There is often the greatest oversight in respect to the
question of economy in these matters of food. The cheap-
est in food is not necessarily the best nor the worst, but
the rule of cheapness in respect to quantity is an error. If
a man says of food "I will buy this piece of bacon, because
there is so much in quantity for so much money, but I will
not buy that piece of mutton because there is a fourth less,"
that man makes a dear bargain : if times are good and be
can vary bacon with mutton or beef, ho does not suffer :
but if times are bad and he goes on buying bacon day after
day because of the quantity he obtains, he will suffer inevi-
tably, whereas if he spend the same money in small portions
of fresh food, he will not suffer. This rule, pertinent to
man as an individual, is equally so to public boards which

have the distribution of foods. Let them not be ruled by
any hastily expressed recommendation : the truths of
science are plain, demonstrative, decisive, they may trust
them implicitly,—they can trust nothing else,—Social
Science Review.

The police authorities of Frankfort have just re-
fused to allow the United Germany Association to establish
its central seat in that city. Three years a similar demand
made by the Nationalverein Committee was also refused.
GROCERS' FUND FOR THE LANCASHIRE OPE-
RATIVES.—A list has been opened at the office of 11te
Grocer for the reception of contributions in money and
clothing from members of the trade which it represents.
We extract the following from an earnest appeal on behalf
of the sufferers :--As no class benefits more largely fromr
the custom of the poor, and the operatives of Lancashire
especially, than the grocers, it is at least incumbent of
them now to do their utmost to relieve the urgent
of those who are, when in employment, their best ande.i n
mostve
M given
to customers. Dian have, no doubt, already
to the committee or collectors in their scveral d
all can
there are others who have not yet contributed
ayts.
Let each
help on the good work in numberless
yeori
ptions on hi
' tradesman place a box to receive eno
doubt, give some-
s
counter, and every customer would,
thing, however small. While the
the Christmas club,they
n a theirre subscribingw eeklystorestowards of
laying
ent wants of the Lancashire
necessary supplies,
theiliersgmight well be pressed upon
spinners and their
them, and no one would be so hard-hearted as to turn a
deaf ear to such an appea .
A learned member of the French Academy has
made the profound discovery, according to a scale of
heights, chronologically arranged, that Adam could have
been no less than 123 ft. 9in. high, while Eve was about
sft. less I Since that, humanity is supposed to have been
rapidly degenerating, as the Academician only grants 28ft.
to 4.1g4144/22) sad but 1 t. t 9 WOO I—Con