, 1886-02-18

FAT, OIL AND NERVE TISSUE.
How Nervous Patients Are Now Fed-Fat
Not Observation-Disclosures.

Not observation-disclosures.
Those who at the present time aro
making the studyof the various elements
OF our nutrition their business are toler-
ably well agreed upon the statement that
much Of the nervous ailment so preva-
lent among us is due to a lack Of fat and
oil, or their elements, in the constituents
Of u food. They claim that the nerve
tissue is composed OF something resem-
bling fat itself, and tina. the nerve has in
sufficient nutrition if this food be with
held from IL: and that where these OBJ
iects have usually been considered only
MS elements for the production of heat,
they should be considered as elements
for the production Of the tissue Of which
the nerve itself Is made. Ii is in this
view hat to nervous patients are now
administered such frequent doses of
milk, the d%raughts taken 50 frequently
that they borrow the character Of doses,
and slightly boiled yolk of egg in guam
tity. itself Of an oily nature.
A certain part OF the fuel, so to de-
nominate il, without which life can not
be supported in the human body, is
afforded by strongly heterogeneous sub
stances like lean meat. and by less
strongly heterogeneous substances like our
various breads; but wherever these are
taken in any quantity there muscular
exertion must be made in order TO keep
up the proper balance of the system.
But in these highly heterogeneous sub
stances the fuel is not already prepared
for use by the system. but has TO undergo
several processes before it is ready for
combustion. No such laborious processes
are necessary in the case of the more
carbonaceous foods, such as butter,
cream, and oil; they almost at once be-
come a compound that passes swiftly
into the circulation without much further
Digestion; the combustion. so TO call it,
takes place at once, and, unlike that
which follows such fuel az meat, it burns
without leaving any ash which must be
thrown off from the system in the shape
of various secrctions that would be poison
if remaining.
Many people have an idea that fat and
butter and other oily matters are indi-
gestible. But rs good an answer as any
to their fear is the statement that in
countries where little meat is used, and a
great deal of oil, Indigestion is an
almost unknown complaint. The
Hindoo's ghee is a case in point;
and a more familiar one is the com
mon olive oil Of Italy and Spain and all
southern Europe, which is not only eaten
as a component of salads, and used TO fry
meat in when meat is had, and to dip
bread in, but is also slipped by the spoon
full with relish and no detriment, answer
ing in the torrid countries of its greatest
use exactly the same purpose that the
blubber of the Esquimaux in
the frigid o II
Many people who fancy that milk dis
agrees with them because it is too rich
will find that by making it a little richer,
that is. by adding some cream to it, it
will agree with them famously. Butter
milk also is of great value in the diet.
aud so are b~onnyclabber and sour whey,
their Tactic acid being of use to the
digestion, and in the generation of this
Tactic acid starch and sugar play too
conspicuous a part to deserve all the
warnings we have heard against them.
But buttermilk has a separate value as
enabling people who drink it to dispense
with spirituous stimulants. There is n
whey cure in Europe for rheumatism
and for dyspepsia also, which is said to
work wonders. And not only are these
fatty foods Of Importance in the general
nourishment Of the body, but they are
absolute brain food, and any one who is
obliged to use the brain will find that
eating all the butter which the stomach
can accommodate and assimilate will be
of material assistance, and n positive
safeguard against breaking down. -Har-
per's Bazaar.