The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1900-02-17
MAY STARVE TO LIVE.
POLICY TO BE PURSUED BY
- THE CAUTIOUS. !
Medical Science Is Arbitrary-To Eat
Bread Is Poison-Beef Is Also Bad
and So Is Mutton-Pork Out of the
Question.

Medical science has taken up the food
question so closely during recent years
and gone to such trouble and expense
to find out every deleterious quality in
articles of everyday consumption that
the man who studies hygiene attentive
ly can only eat-if he believes all he
reads-at the great risk of contracting
disease Or poisoning himself. Bread Is
not to be thought of as an article of
diet. 1t is treacherous compound,
consisting large of alum and potatoes,
and, concocted in some unsanitary Gel
lar, 1t is teeming with microbes and to-.
tally unfit for food. No careful man
will touch beef, owing to the number
of tubercnlous carcasses which are.
constantly being placed on the market.
Mutton and lamb are also being ia
booed on similar grounds. and no one
would think of touching pork for fear
the late lamented piggy might have
died of swine fever. The vegetarian
chortles in his joy and points out that
none of these things, except bread, af-
fects his style of dining. But his
triumph is short-lived. Root vegetables
are to be dreaded because of wire
worm, tomatoes induce cancer, cab
bages may become poisonous by the
application of improper fertilizers, and
therefore are best left alone, while, in.
addition to the disease microbe which
devotes it's attention to the potato,
there is always the risk of damage to
the digestive organs. Butter and milk
are poisoned with boracic acid and
other noxious preservatives, to say
nothing of the artificial coloring mat
ter which is frequently added. Eggs
are dangerous, because so many of
them are packed in lime to keep them
good, and recently, too, a French bacil-
lus has found his way in through the
shell. In addition to other drawbacks,
cheese helps to ruin digestion. Raw
fruit helps along cholera to great
extent. It also contains prussic acid
around the skin, pips and stone. When
cooked it induces. dysentery timed
and potted stuffs little need be said
except that the solder of the tin makes
for lead poisoning, and potted meats
have recently been shown to be sim
ply a mass of spiced rotten filth and
garbage. Fish, although possessing
highly nutritious qualities, should be
avoided, owing to the large quantity
which is sold in an unfit state for hu-
man consumption and the difficulty Of
obtaining it really fresh. With bever-
ages the same difficulties present them
selves to the careful feeder. Beer,
wines or spirits are not to be thought
of. They affect the brain and eyes
and act injuriously upon the coating Of
the stomach. Tea and coffee may set
up insanity, but at the least they are
sure to induce dyspepsia. Water is
full Of disease germs, and, if distilled,
becomes dangerous by reason of it's
lack of mineral matter in solution.
Poultry, if fresh, appears to be the
most wholesome sort of dish, as there
is only a vague, undecided sort of mi
crobe to it's account. Therefore duck
and green peas appear to be the dish
to make stand upon; but let the peas
be fresh, as the timed sort are poison
GUS, owing to a solution of sulphate of
copper being employed to give them a
fresh, bright color.-London Mail.