The Highland weekly news. [volume] (Hillsborough [Hillsboro], Highland County, Ohio) 1853-1886, 1858-07-01

HOW MUCH SHALL WE EATp

We copy the following from an arti-
Gle in Blackwoods Edinburg Magazine,
for May, on GOOD and Diet" There
are many interesting facts embodied in
it.
GAS a general rule, more is eaten in
cold climates than in hot climates; but
it is by no means clear to us that the
reason of this is the one advanced by
Liebig when he says, "Our clothing is
merely an equivalent for certain
amount of food the more warmly we
are clad the less urgent becomes the ap-
petite for food, because the loss of heat
by cooling, and consequently the amount
Of heat to be supplied by food, is dimin-
ished." The relation between cold and
food is more complex than that; and
when Liebig refers to the gluttony Of
the Samoyedes, he oyerlooks the glut-
tony Of the Hottcntots, which is quite
as remarkable. "If" he says, "we were
to 90 naked like certain savage tribes,
or if in hunting and fishing we were cx-
posed to the same degrees Of cold as
the Samoyedes, we should be able with
ease to consume half of a calf, and per
haps a dozen of talloW candles into the
bargain, daily, as warmly-clad travellers
have related in astonishment Of these
people We should then also be able to
take the same quantity of brandy or
train oil without bad effects, because the
carbon and hydrogen of these substances
would only suffice to keep up the equili-
brium between the external tempera-
tur0 and that of our bodies" This
sounds very plausible as long as we con-
fine our attention to Samoyedes, but it
is overthrown by the statement, record
ed by Barrow in his Travels in Southern
Africa, that the Hottentots are the
greatest gluttons on the face Of the earth.
Ten Hottentots ate a middling-sized
OK in three days; and three Boiesmans
hada sheep given them about five in the
evening, that was entirely consumed be-
fore noon of the following day. "They
continued to eat all night without in
termission, till they had finished the
whole animal. After this their lauk
bellies were distended to such a degree
that they looked less like human beings
than before" The inhabitants of the
Alpine region of Lapland and of Nor
way are not remarkable for their vorae-
ity, nor are the IcelandeFs a sufficient
proof that mere temperature is the
sole cause of excessive eating since such
excess is observable in hot climates, and
not always observable in cold climates.
Although Liebig's statement cannot
be accepted being indeed only one Of
tho conclusions deduced from his theory
Of respiratory food, there is ample evil
dence to show that, without referring
excessive gluttony to cold, we are justi-
fed in referring an increase of appetite
to cold; and the increase is perfectly in
telligible; more exercise must be taken
in cold weather to develop the necessary
amount of animal heat, more tissue must
be wasted, and consequently more sup
ply is needed for repair. "Ho who is
well fed, says Sir John Ross, "ressts
cold better than the man who is stinted;
while starvation from cold but too soon
follows one in food" The same wri-
ter thinks, that not only should voya-
gers to the polar regions take more food
chan usual, but "it would be very dosir-
able indeed if the men could acquire the
taste for Greenland food, since all ex-
perience has shown that the large use Of
oil and fat meats is the true secret Of
life ia these countries, and that the ma
tives cannotsubsist without it, becoming
diseased, and dying, with a more mea-
gre diet"
The accounts which travellers give Of
the quantity of food which can be con-
sumed are extraordinary. Sir John
Ross estimates that an Esquimaux will
eat perhaps twenty pounds of flesh and
oil daily. Compare this with Valentin'
six pounds, or with Cornaro's twelve
ounces of solids, and fourteen ounces
of wiuoI Captain Parry tried, as a mat
tor Of curiosity, how much an Esqui.
maux lad, who was scarcely full-grown
would consume if left to himself Tn,
following articles were weighed befor,
being given. Ho was twenty hours get
ting through them, and certainly die