The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1900-06-27

4 n formulated by a contributor
to the Philadelphia Press
who lays down the proposition that
a large part of the suicides, crimes
and miscellaneous deviltry of the per-
iod is traceable to the fact that peo-
pie nowadays eat the wrong kind of
food. We cannot do better than to
give his ideas in his own words:
"A great French scientist said that
the greatness of a nation depended
more upon the kind of bread eaten
than upon education, for the natural
reason that the education depended
upon the brain formation, which de-
pended upon the nutrition. Now if the
bread of nation is depleted so as not
to contain the brain forming phos-
pilates, it is not surprising that the
brains of people suffer for lack of the
nourishment of which they have been
deprived. This is a most important
national question, not only on account
of it's bearing upon the health of the
community, but its relation to the
growing youth of the country, that
are rendered incapable of growing
their bones and teeth or developing
their brains as they would be able
to do were normally constituted food
provided for their use.
IF the blood is the life and it de-
pends upon the normality q. e., the
perfect constitution of the food and
as each constituent of the blood is
.,hs ,t.1x tfa1 he Il
composition and action of the blood
then how important it is that the
children at least should be provided
with suitable, nutritious food so that
they may develop normally constituted
bodies mot only free from disease,
but able to resist it,, with strong vital
organs to live and normally const-
tuted skulls, capable of accommodate
ing large and powerful brains, in
stead of the degenerate types so fire.
quertly seen, with defective sight,
weak nerves and dyspeptic bodies, the
primary and sole cause of which is
the fashionable folly of preferring
whiteness, fineness and lightness in
the foods instead of darkness of color
coarseness of texture and solidity of
compoSition-so essential to soidty of
body and brain. The two great
sCourges of the past century are the
deficiency of lime-forming material in
the food to form the bones and teeth
and the lack of brain-forming phos-
pilates 10 build up and sustain the
| brain in a normal condition, the want
of which latter is the primary cause
of insanity which leads to suicides.
| There can be no doubt about the fact
that insanity is on the increase, as it
has increased according to the most
reliable statistics) 800 per cent. to 100
| per cent. increase of the population,
| and it can be scientifically demon
strated that the absence of BRAIN
| forming materials in the daily food is
| the only way to account for it.
There is one simple and most erica
cious remedy within the reach of all
| that will not only prevent sickness,
| disease, vice, crime, insanity and pre-
mature death, but render life truly
worth the living, and that is conform
ity to the natural laws of dietetics OBJ
served by our ancestors and for 5000
years before the Christian era. The
finest men and women in America are
imported or descendants of imported
men and women from Ireland and
why? Because their very poverty has
safe-guarded their health. Their plain,
simple food renders the Irish, on their
native heath, always healthy, wise and
witty, ever ready to dance a jig or
sing a ditty.' If Americans wish To
regenerate themselves and arrest this
great tendency to insanity and sui
eide, they must live simply, as thei.
Irish friends will tell them how. I'm
fortunately, however, when foreigners
come to this country they do not get
the kind of food that sustains thelI
bodies and brains or the kind of cook
ing that conduces to health and long
evity."
There Is more truth than poetry Il
the foregoing.