The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-02-11
FOOD UHLUES.

1t is undoubtedly true. saws a writer
IN the American Analyst. that the
GCicnc" of nutrition Is the most i'm
portan; Of all temporal matters. mas
much as the physical welfare of man
depends primarily upon the way he is
nouliShed. II is undoubtedly .rro-
heous 10 say, as = few recent writer's
ON the subject have glibly declared
lhat this science is only fifty years
old--tha' ii owes its being 10 the re-
searches of Lcibig and Playfair. 1t
would be as reasonable to assert that
Edison had brought electrical science
INTO existence. The science was known
generations bcfor" these distinguished
men were horn,anG great as the benefits
are which they have conferred upon
mankind. they are lo be regarded as
diNcoNrr"rS Of details rather than Of
orislnal principles. \ethr" is this
derugutory to their great reputation
RI" who makes two blades or grass
grow where only one grew before does
as much for mankinG as ne did who
first discovered the grass The truth
Is thar modern SCholarS--all honor 10
, lhrm--are following out the line which
Adam began the first tim, he felt hun
CRY, 1t is truly Il science, and great
strides have been made in knOwlcdgp
within the memory Of some now living.
/ but it is not truly a modern science.
Neither Is II ner can ii ever BE- an
exact science, as some writer's fool
ishly claim, seeming to think they are
/ thereby eXalting it. So long as human
beings continue to have physical lido
syncrasis it will remain true that
! whats on" mans meat is another
( mans poison" and 50 long as that is
! true nutrition must remain outside the
! category of exact sciences Thisagaini is
/ by no means reflection on the dignity
and importance of the science which.
as was said. must always remain para
mount so long as man continues to in
! habit physical body. No doubt rnOr-
NOUS gain cnsutS whenever 4 scientist
teaches mankind where TO find food in
such manner as to preserve tn" value
az thos" elements or render them more
easily digestible
such work can hardly be praised
too highly. and i. is entirely super
tluouS To attribute to it character
which does not belong to it, into this
/ error, however nearly al! schools" of
. students in this science are apt to fall.
4 Carbohydrates and fat and protein are
certainly necessities of physical WELL
/ being and they are as certainly to be
found in some articles Of food which
! are less esteemed by mankind generally
! than other articles of food. The mis-
! take lies i'm suppOsing that because
! these constituents exist in any one ar
/ ticlr in greater perfection ana better
! proportion than in another the first is
therefore the preferable food for every
,,t l..V, /
aside from chemical constitution are to
he taken into consideration to allow
any such conclusion. It is this error
/ that vegetarians, for example fan into
when they assume that beans are bet
ter than beef, dried Goldfish more valu-
able than good veal, and cheese one of
the best, if not the very best, foods
known to man. They are such to many
individuals. hut there are persons TO
; whom these foods are positively iniur-
iuus. and there are many more to
! whom they are far less valuable than
other foods which chemically are great
ly inferior to them. The question of
food values is not one of chemistry
alone. but of chemistry plus the physio-
logical peCuliarities Of the individual
To this truth, almost self-evidcnt as
il is. the theurist appear 10 be blind,
or if they acknowledge 1t they only
allow that II is true in exceptional
cases, whereas it is Of almost univer-
sal application, Only by considering
this question of idiosyncrasy toget her
with the chemical part of the prohlem
can any just results be attained Nev-
erthCieSs, The theorists, blind as they
usually scent a. be to those facts which
80 toward disprONing their theories
are doing great good by insisting upon
those facts which they accept. The
common sense of mankind, ana stlll
more the natural appetitcs, which are
the natural guides may be relied on
"a keep most people from going faI
astray in the matter Of eating, and a
general knowledge of any fact or set
Of facts is a distinct benfit 20 the