Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-10-08
FOOD REQUIRED IN ARCTIC
AMOUNT REGARDED AS NEED
FOR HUMAN NoURISHMENT.
DR.. Wiley Discusses the Value Of
Pemmican and Other Edibles.
Supplies Taken by DR.. Cook.

DR.. Harvey w. Wiley, chief Of the bu-
reau of chemistry and generally regarded
as the government food expert, has given
his opinions on the amount Of nourish-
ment required by the human body, In
connection with the controversy whether
DR.. Cook could have carried sufficient
food for himself, his Eskimos and his
dogs in his dash to the pole.
DR.. Cook said in his lecture last Sun
ay night. that on leaving lands end.
March Is, 1905. for the pole. he had
about 1000 pounds Of pemmican as a
food supply for himself and two Eskimos
and his dogs. AS the dogs became used
up they were fed to their surviving as
sociates. In this way the pemmican was
saved. But the food problem was ever
the important one.
Estimating at eighty days the time
1000 pounds of pemmican would allow
the use Of 122 pounds day.
Needs of Human Body.
"a man working indoors, one who does
not have to Withstand the cold. naturally
needs less food than the one fighting
cold" DR.. Wiley says. And in the same
way a man in the tropics needs less than
a man in q very cold climate.
"a man needs 1 per cent of his weight
per day in dry food-that Is, food minus
that he must eat about four and half
pounds of food a day, which includes
coffee, milk. beer and the other bever-
ages he usually drinks.
THE food q man usually eats Is termed
wet food while an example of dry food
is 'pemmican.' That food. made up as 1t
Is of dried meat, raisins and sugar.
which when thoroughly dried is placed in
boiling tallow until the grease permeates
to every part, Is practically all dry food.
the per cent of water being exceptionally
small 1t also contains most nourishing
ingredients. OF the three things that go
to make heat, fat Is the greatest, having
double the quantity that either sugar or
protein, or heterogeneous foods, occupy a
middle class in the amount OF heat they
furnish.
The human system is but an engine
run by fuel, just as are other engines.
In the human engine, food, and not
wood, is required. The heat Of the body
may be used in walking, or any exercise,
or in thinking. and the engine must be
required of it. When person does not
eat sufficiently he begins to eat from
his body and consequently begins to get
thin. l could get thin myself II I cut
my allowance Of food in half.
"Pemmican Is a food that could not be
eaten always without destruction to the
digestive organs. 1t is sufficient for an
emergency, but not as permanent
Diet
Supplies for Dogs.
1.-THE per cent for dogs would be the
same in their case as in that Of a human
being. Eskimo dogs, I believe, weigh
about forty pounds. Therefore, about a
quarter Of a pound day would suffice
for their needs. 1 understand that Com
mander Peary, in his dash for the pole,
at one stage gave each Of his dogs four.
For a human being that would have
amounted to about fifteen pounds of dry
food, or sixty of the wet, which would
assuredly have disagreed with him. With
the dogs, however. it is different. Those
animals are accustomed to eating a large
quantity at one time, and then not taking
any more for two or three days. But
about quarter of a pound OF pemmican
a day would be sufficient food to enable
them to pull sledges. and such a large
quantity as that given by Commander
Peary might have caused trouble"