Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-01-07
THE THINGS THAT WE EAT.

1t is subject of sensible remask by all
who properly consider the matter, that scru-
Piles and prejudices by which we endeavor to
thwart the dispensations of Providence are
more than idle One of the most absurd of
these is the fancy some people have for de-
priving themselves of the materials which
have been placed at our disposal for the pur-
pose of food. Many persons appear really
to esteem it virtue to condemn themselves
to entire abstinence from animal food. 9th
ers regulate their diet according to notions,
which examination in the light of science
would speedily explode.
A prejudice against fish has been at times
general; and during the prevalence of chol-
era, especially, the public could not be per-
suaded that the danger lay, not in eating fish,
but in eating it when not perfectly fresh
One i'll effect ascribed to fish is the produc-
ton 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 Hebrews distinct
nation. An old Roman law prohibited the
use of poultry; and reference to Apicius,
the great oracle of Roman cookery, will show
how much our modern bill of fare is limited
by prejudice. They considered delicacies
many things we could not be induced to
taste. On the other hand, pork, which is
among US favorite meat, has been the a.
domination of Eastern nations. The two
national dishes of China are dried sharks
fins and birds nest soup, the nests being
formed of seaweed coated with gelatinous
matter deposited by species of barnacle.
The old Britons denied themselves hare,
goose and fowl. Blackbirds were cassed 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, as the constituents of the blood may be
arranged in the four classes of water-salts
substances containing nitrogen, as the al
bumen and fbrin of the muscles, and sub
stances containing no nitrogen, as fat-so in
! food the same four constituents should be
present, for the substances cannot be con-
verted into each other. All four are con-
tanned in animal and vegetable food, and in
milk. The similarity, il composition, be-
tween fat and the sugar and starch which
form the chief part of vegetables, has long
been known to be very close, but it is also
discovered that vegetables contain sub.
stance identical with the abumen and fbrin
of the blood. These elements, however, are
in different proportions in different sub
stances.
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 cor
rect notion of the value of animal food. Tc
do work, food rich in nitrogen is requisite
Highest in this scale stand the flesh of the
mammalia; that of darker color is rather
more nutritious than white meat; the flesl
of birds and fish is less nutritious than tha
of animals Neither albumen nor fatty sub
stances are alone capable of afording prope
nourishment. Animals fed on fresh butter
lard and fat, have died starved, though in /
remarkable state of embonpoint. 1t is prob
able that fat and other non-nitrogenous sub
stances merely serve for the purpose of res
piration by means of their carbon. The eff
feet of an abundance of fatty and vegetable