Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1892-08-06
HE DEADLY BAKED BEAN.
a yirulent Poison If Eaten as Steady
Diet.

Diet.
Baked beans is a virulent poison,
that is to say If a man eats nothing
else for a month or two. Porridge
would kin ia about three weeks. This
may be slightly incorrect as to time,
but it's right in the main. DR.. Sails
bury, according to the Ohio state Jour
nal. is making remarkable discoveries
through experiments on diet. He put
half dozen sturdy fellows on a diet
of baked b ans and coffee exclusively,
and ali showed symptoms Of locomotor
ataXia or progressive paralysis on the
tenth day, and rs the sixteenth day
not one of them could walk straight
without support; ard all had chronic
diarrhoea, hear palpitation and OPP
pressive breathing.
Four hearty, web men were put on
oatmeal porridge seasoned with but
ter. pepper and salt with a pint of
coffee containing sugar and milk at
each meal. Constipation, 1atulence,
headache and dizziness we're affecting
them all on the eighth day. In two
DAYS more these conditions had become
violent; exertion produced heart pal
pitation, and they were full of wan
dering pains, with priekling in feet
and hands.
These disorders grew more intense
and painful-with neuralgia induced
i'm three cases-uutil from the twenty
third to the twenty-hfth day, when
diarrhea set in, and the record is full
of such entries as Eyes wild, hearing
impaired, head confused, memory
poor, LEG and feet numb, quite deaf
and listless, heart palpitates and very
irregular" up to the thirtieth day.
when it was deemed imprudent and
unsafe to carry the experiment further.
and in four days more, by a meat diet
and hot water. the men were restored
to normal health. it may be well to
observe here that in all cases men ex-
perimented upon were as thoroughly
and qucSly cured of their abnormal
conditions by those means.
Violent chronic diarrhea. such as
often prevails i'm armies and is known
AS scamp diarrhea, was produced in
three hearty, strong men by feeding
them upon army biscuits in from nine
teen TO twcuty-oue days-a spell of
constipation preceding and micro
scopic examination proved that they
were literally filled with the yeast
germs already mentioned. Each had
marked symptoms of locomotor ataXia
and partly lost the use OF his lower
limbs
Bread, rice, wheaton grits, hominy,
sage, tapiOca and potatoes We're each
fed 10 four or six men at a time for
periods of from forty TO fOrty-dve DAYS
before serious diseases and symptoms
We're produced. Green peas aud string
beans ranked next in point OF alimen-
Jary qualities. Green corn tunips,
beets and squash quickly produce I'M
pleasant and grave arrangements, but
of all vegetables asparagus was found
most injurious when lived upon alone
Seven DAYS isahout MS long as it would
be safe To- subsist ON this u.a.t, owing
to the effect upon the kidneys.
Patients have lived exclusively on
beef and mutton for from three TO
four years Still, If one sticks 90 them
too long, they are liable 20 become
m0uOroHouS and may cause meat dys-
pcpsia. which is dangerous People
who live exclusively on vegetable food,
as the Hiuioos, are enabled to do so
by inherited orgauit tendencies. Their
stomachs are of little or no use to
them. The pyoric valve being per-
manenuF paralyzed remains open, so
that vegetable matter passes directly
into the proper field Of digestion