Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-06-21
SOME plEIsTlc ERRoRs.
Chspter on What Increases Nutr'ment
and Preserves Health.

A ChSpteF on What lnCrca>c> NutFtNnent
and Preserves Health.
To attain a coudit On % perfect health
certain requirements must he fully met
This fundamental declaration s i'm
peratsvG and the di>ohoyiug % the law
IS constantly showing itself IN diver
sity Of ailments
The various forms o, machinery that
are used in cur manufactures uNceive
constant attention. Only The kinds Of
oil are applied that have the best nori'
eating power, and As a result the ma
chinery runs smoothly and even noise
.loSsly The human machine per contra
IS constantly getting oat q order. tbs
ncrreS. bones and muscles SN in,
perfectly supplied With the proper
pahuluu. and as : consequence We have
disturbances maultssung themselves in
the shape Of aiSorlercd health. The
blood cries out. when Us victim cvinCes
with neEralgic pains for better SuSten-
aacs, but the cry Is genera u in vain
the same food is supplied al nauSeam.
Why should men heed the law that
govern the inanimate, and not pay due
attention 70 the living organism? Per
haps we find the KEY 70 this hcCdleSSneSs
in the words Of that great sto.c philoSo-
pher. Seneca, who wrote eighteen hun
drcd years ago: There is nothing
against which We ought to be more on
guard than. like q flock. following the
crowd Of those who have preceded us
going as we do, not where We ought 10
20, but where men have walked before
Draper in his physiology hkens the
body to the fame Of 4 candle-it is con-
Stantly being fed and is constantly
burning away. The quality of the light
will wholly depend on the material sup
piled. In the same way, 70 attain a ro-
bust. vigorous and healthy condition
mankind must take as food only that
sort which contains those ingredients
that are essential. Too much Of n
kind, or too little of another, disturbs
the equilibrium. Bread has been called
the staff Of life, and yet this figure Of
speech, in view of the kind of bread
that most persons eat, is a decided mis-
homer. The ordinary white -four, which
forms the basis of so much food that IS
eaten, is principally a starch compound,
and contains only three of the fifteen
elements that 90 TO compose the body,
namely, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen.
To prove that white -four does not
meet the requirements Of the body,
Magendie fed it wholly to a number Of
dogs, and at the end of forty days they
died, Others to whom he gave the
wheat meal, at the end of this time
were in first class condition. More
than half Of the children under twelve
years Of age have decayed teeth, owing
to the insufficient supply of the re-
quired mineral ingredients, and this de-
/ icicncy is caused as a rule by eating
white bread, Dyspepsia, constipation,
loss oi nerve power, and many other
diseases are produced by improper feed
ing. sulphur is required for the growth
Of the hair, yet white -four does not
contain a trace; the phosphates are also
notably lacking, and as these substances
are absolutely necessary in the animal
economy, then, arguing a priori, the use
Of bread as ordinarily prepared should
be interdicted.
When -four is made of the whole grain
Of the wheat, we have an article of food
which contains all the elements that
the body requires for its support: and
this -four should be universally used in
spite of the false aesthetic taste that de-
mandS a white loaf for such theory
Of taste tested by the canons of common
sense loses its force; and what the body
demands should be the .ouch stone
rather than what pleases the eye of the
%unthinking housewife.
To paraphrase the words of Sydney
Smith, in reference to the various forms
of errors that still hold with tenacious
grip their sway: ''The centuries thai
have passed have had ample opportunity
TO display the full bloom of their i'm
becility,' and it would seem quite time
to call a halt in the way OF improper
feeding.
Sir Henry Thompson in an article or
Diet says: II have come to the con
clusion that a proportion amounting a
least to more than one-half of the dis
eases which embitter the middle anC
latter part of life, among The diiferen.
classes of the population, is due t.
%avoidable errors in diet. s.. b. Childs
NJ. D., in Science Amateur.