The western Democrat. [volume] (Charlotte, N.C.) 1852-1870, 1857-07-28
THE THINGS THAT WE EAT.

|
dence are more than idle. One of the mos
absurd of these is the fancy some peopl,
have for depriving themselves of the me
terials which have been placed at our dis
posal for the purpose of food. Many per
sons appear really to esteem it virtue tt
condemn themselves to entire abstinence
from animal food. Others regulate theil
diet according to notions which examina
ton in the light of science would speedily
explode.
A prejudice against fish has been at time.
general; and during the prevalence of chol
era, especially, the public could not bo
| persuaded that the danger lay, not in eat
ing fish, but in eating it when not perfectly
fresh. One i'll effect ascribe6 to fish is the
production or augmentation of skin diseases
This is supposed by many to have been the
origin of the partial prohibition among the
Jews; whereas, it is more probable that
like other laws regulating their diet, it was
framed with the view of keeping the He
brews a distinct nation. An old Roman
law prohibited the use of poultry and a
reference to Apicius. the great oracle OF
Roman cookery, will show how much our
modern bill fare is limited by prejudice.
They considered as delicacies many things
we could not be induced to taste. On the
other hand, pork, which is among us a
favorite meat, has been the abomination of
Eastern nations. The two national dishes
of China are dried sharks fins and birds
nest soup, the nests being formed of sea-
weed coated with a galatinous matter de-
posted by species of barnacle.
The old Britons denied themselves hare,
goose and fowl. Blackbirds were classed
by Cranmer among choice articles of food,
and cranes, herons and curlews were eaten
in the middle ages. If we look at the habits
of various nations with regard to diet, we
can hardly discover anything belonging to
the animal or vegetable kingdoms that has
not been, at one time or another, used as
food. Experience also has taught us what
kinds of food are most nutritious, and
science has explained why they are so.-
The first great principle in regard to food
seems to be that, the constituents of the
blood may be arranged in the four clases
of salts--substance containing
nitrogen, as the albumen and fibrn of the
muscles, and substances containing no
nitrogen, as fat-so in food the same four
constituents should be present, for the sub
stances cannot be converted into each
other All four are contained in animal
and vegetable food, and in milk. The
similarity in composition, between fat and
Sugar and starch which form the chief part of
vegetables, has long been known to be very
close, but it is also discovered that vegeta-
bles contain a substance identical with the
albumen and fbrin of the blood. These
elements. however, are in different proper
tions in different substances.
From the fables, that Hercules lived on
beef and figs, and that Chiron fed Achilles,
in his infancy, upon the marrow of lions
and bulls-we see that the ancients had
correct notion of the value of animal food.
To do work, food rich in nitrogen is re-
quisite. Highest in this scale stand the
flesh of the mammala that of darker
color is rather more nutritious than white
meat; the flesh Of birds and fish is less
nutritious than that of animals. Neither
albumen nor fatty substances are alone
capable of affording proper nourishment.-
Animals fed ON fresh butter, lard and fat,
have died starved, though in a remarkable
state of embonpoint. 1t is probable that
fat and other non-nitrogenous substances
merely serve for the purpose of respiration
by means of their carbon. The effect of
an abundance of fatty and vegetable food
in producing fat, is familiar to every owner
of live stock. Fowls are fattened for the
London market by being confined in the
dark, and crammed with a paste made of
oat meal, mutton suet and molasses, or
coarse sugar mixed with milk. On this
diet they are ready in fortnight, but can
not well be kept longer. The influence of
external temperature, excess of food, and
want of exercise upon the condition of the
liver. is seen i'll that especial delicacy-foie
gras. The goose destined to furnish the
luxury is shut up in a basket where it can
not move, kept in room highly heated
and assiduously stuffed with food. There
is hole in it's prison through which it
pokes its head to get at trough of char
coal and water. In month the liver have
the requisite size and true flavor.
There are some human beings who subject
themselves to similar discipline-a course
of craming and stufing, heated rooms and
an idle life. They would do better, if in
stead of taking medicines for dyspepsia,
they would give full play to the faculties of
mind and body, and proportion their food
to the requirements of nature, withou: any
experiments in the way of departure from
the ordinary experience of men in regard
to suitable variety for the table. Man is
an omniverous animal-neither a vegeta-
rian nor a muttonarian-and the permis-
sion given by Divine Providence to ''slay
and eat" as well as to use the fruits of the
field for food, is significant of the certainty
that our health and comfort will be best