Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1899-04-01
MAN A VEGETARIAN.
THAT, IT IS ASSERTED. IS WHAT MA
TuRE INTENDED.

~ W rN00GNt Got W s'f'FNf ~
TuRE INTENDED.
He Has Become nm Omnivorous Ant
mai Artincially and. One Scientist
Says. IL Trying Hard tn Become a
PiE-Some Alarming Theories.
Looking mt vegetarianism in the light
Of comparative anatomy IL is self evil
dent that man was designed to he a
vegetarian and nothing else. Quadru-
peds are divided into classes according
To their foods and with the single ex-
ception Of man. no animal as class has
ever varied from the design Of nature.
These classes are the carnivorous or
flesh eating. the fruit eating. the grass
eating and the omnivorous Each Of
these classes has distinctive organs
adaptable to the digestion of the kind
of food il eats and to no other kinds.
Man has artifcially become an ON
nivorous animal in spite Of the fact
that anatomically he is fruit eating
animal II is an amusing and signifi-
cant fact that the only typical omnivo-
rous animal is the pig Man is trying
hard to be "A pig. says Professor Leo
Weiner of Harvard in Home and Gar
den.
The carnivorous animals all have
short intestines. adapted only to the
digestion of meat They have only one
stomach and could not digest grass as
tho Aaoa ThAir fnafh all lA,.er
and sharp. 50 that they can tear meat,
hut they have no fiat topped teeth to
grind vegetable foods as man has.
II has been said that the so called
"canine teeth of man are like those of
the carnivoruus animal. and that this is
an indication that man is an omnivo-
rous animal. This is not correct. These
are not canine teeth. strictly speaking.
To he sure. they are somewhat pointed.
but they are Hat nlso-fiat and pointed.
and not round and pointed. like those
of the carnivorous animals.
The grass eating animals have several
stomachs-f from two to tive-and long
intestines. especially adapted TO the di-
gestion of grass They have also fat
topped teeth for grinding.
The fruit eating animals are the only
ones that resemble man. They have
only one stomach and medium length
alimentary canal. half way between
that of the carnivorous and the grass
eating classes. The nearest animals to
man are the monkey and the ape. They
are fruit eaters.
Nc meat eating animal in the world
has the horizontal movement of the
lower jaw in eating as man has This
is proof positive that man is not meat
eater. according To the design Of ma
ture. These arguments ON the physical
side of the question prove primarily
that man is not physically adapted to
the eating of meat.
From an economic standpoint il can
easily be seen that man must sooner or
later become vegetarian. This is
merely question of time and matter
of room. The increase of civilization
and of population gradually must do
away with cattle raising because Of the
absolute demand for land for cultiva-
tion. In time the demand for room will
kill the industry entirely.
When we eat meat. we are eating
the product Of the earth at second
hand. The vegetation has been eaten
by the animal. and a large part of it
converted into bone and tendon and
wasted. and we eat only what is left
and made into flesh.
To reduce the economic problem to
figures. one acre of land which would
furnish enough flesh to support one
man would furnish enough grain to
support ten men. Thus. you see. when
the increased population causes an in
creased demand for food and for land
on which to raise foods. it will become
necessary to raise that which is the
most economic-in other words. that
which will produce the most per acre.
The hygienic argument you can OBJ
tain from any reputable physician. who
will tell you that meat eating is heating
to the blood. that it is especially stim-
ulant rather than food and that there
is great danger of the transmission Of
various serious diseases from animal to
man.
Meat eating in the ideal stage is bad
enough. Ii the animals that we eat were
in all the health with which nature en-
dows them. roaming wild and free over
the open fields. with plenty of exercise.
and permitted to choose of their own
free will from the best of the various
vegetable growths for their food. that
would be one thing. But as civiliza-
tion has advanced cattle are raised for
the sole purpose of slaughter. They get
little or no exercise.
Any veterinary surgeon will tell you
that animals kept without exercise will
contract and propagate various diseases
which are practically unknown to them
in their wild state. They are artificial
ly fattened. and this kind of fat is not
the sort of material which we should
put into our bodies.
But il is the appalling character Of
the disease in meat which frightens us.
tuberculosis. one of the most common
and fatal of diseases among cattle.
causes great destruction of human life
by consumption. A spread of leprosy in
Norway, Hawaii and the other fish eat
ing countries is traced directly by scien-
fists To the eating of fish. In this case.
to be sure. it is Thought that the eating
of the fish raw instead of cooked is
what brings ON leprosy. but the simple
fact that the germs are there at all is
sufficient.
strength.
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