The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-09-25
8be Farut
For the FARMER AND MECHANIC.
Physiological Teachings Of b Bible

W ordered why, in the great battle which IS
going on between the two, the latter class
dc not bring more of their numerous forces
into action. Why, for instance, does the
christian Psychologist, when listening 10
Huxley's mastery explanation of the foods
necessary to nourish, in the highest perfec-
ton. the human body; why does he not
answer. sMoses taught US the practical
part of that lecture thousands OF years
ago" When some equally learned, but
unbelieving, medical professor calls the at
tention of his students to the wonderfully
regular recurrence Of the number seren IN
all the functions and diseases of the human
BODY: why does not the christian physician
show that all this was known to the He
brew priests before Hippocrates, the father
of the present system of medicine, was
born.
And when Tyndall calls our attention
also. with such clearness and learned accu-
racv, to the atmospheric poisons which are
the cause of SO fearful an amount OF human
mortality, why. and again we ask why,
does not tie Bible student say, Every
single danger you point out was guarded
against by the divine laws of the Penta-
touch"
The most ignorant private soldier who
ever played the part of scout, can point
out to his general the weak places in the
enemy's lines and the unguarded moments
in the enemy's camp. This is the office L
undertake at present; and if my work is
done badly, | only hope that it will furnish
an inducement to those who are better
qualified, - undertake the task. | will
attempt to take the physiological teachings
of the Bible in regular order: Food, Cloth
ing, Air, Dwellings and Occupation.
FOOD.
Huxley directs our attention to the "es-
senttaI food -stuffs or proteids; and the dc-
ceSsOry food-stuffs, fats and amyloids." The
former alone being necessary to life, while
the latter, however important, are not alb
s~olutely necessary. NO substance" he
continues, ''can serve permanently for food
unless in contains protein" A party of
shipwrecked sailors managed to save Il part
of their freight-several barrels and casks,
and hoped they had secured food enough
to subsist upon. But they found the liar
rels contained sugar and rum, and the casks
contained butter. They died of starvation.
for these articles contain no protein. Had
they had a barrel of starch, they would
still have died Of starvation, as it also is
entirely deficient in protein. Our bodies
are built of protein. made out of it, just as
a house is built or made out Of bricks. The
amyloids-starch, sugar and fat-dO not
enter into the structure of the body at all;
they are only fuel to supply heat to the
human frame. Therefore they are Sim
pOrtant," as Huxley says, but not essen
tial." All the articles Of food containing
protein, such as butchers meats, bread,
pulse, &C., contain also, a certain proper
ton Of the fats and amyloids, and there
fore supply heat, but not in exactly the re-
quisite proportion. Again l express myself
in Huxley's words: ''Albumen, which may
be taken as the type of the proteids, con-
tains about 90 parts of carbon heat maker)
and Is of nitrogen flesh former) in 100
parts. Ii a man were to be fed upon white
of egg (pure albumen), therefore he would
take in greatly more nitrogen than he
needs" The right proportion of carbon to
nitrogen is 1000 grains Of the former to
800 of the latter. But. recollect, not an
atom of this daily supply of 4, 900 grains
of carbon enters into the composition of
the human body: it only supplies heat.
And now we come to the gist Of the MAJ
ter: 'Those foods are best which supply
both nitrogen and carbon in the proper
proportion, and in their greatest abundance
and greatest purity. The potato gives US
Is lbs. of water in every 1OC lbs, and only
one Id. of desh-forming matter, and 4 los
Of heat making matter. Therefore it is a
very inferior article of food-no one need.
rs lbs. Of water in every 100 lbs. of food.
Beef contains SO lbs. of water, Is lbs. of
fesh-forming matter, and 80 of heat max
ing. The potato in the most popular vcge-
table food amongst the Anglo-Ssxon pco-
pie, and beef the most largely used flesh
food. All butchers supplies are some
what similar to beef in their proportions.
and atmay stand as the type of foods of
this class.
Again warning persons against deciding
in favor of their own artificial tastes in
food, I i now proceed to quote from the BIZ
BILE, as l have quoted from Huxley, accept
ing, as we have done, all of Huxley's
statements in regard to the part played, in
the nutriment of the human body, by the
proteids and amyloids. In the former, we
find the material Of which we are built;
flesh, bone. blood and brain in the latter.
the fuel with which we are warmed. In
Genesis lst chap. Gath and 3Oth verses, we
find the Creator saying to the newly-created
man, "Behold, | have given you every
herb seeding seed, and every tree in which is
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