Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1915-02-26
Copyright. 1914. by A. S. Gray)
INERT FOOD.

Life In the furnace giving out life
conserving heat into the house means
that something has to be contin.
uously dying" In the furnace. For
to maintain that heat some form
of potential energy has got to be
continuously released in the furnace,
and this is achieved by digesting, or
decomposing. or in plain English, by
burning coal or some other form Of
carbon In the firebox. Whether It be
In your furnace or in your own body,
in the wheat plant or In the single
celled amoeba, life is a continuous
process Of dying.
All organic life exists In a state OF
continuous decomposition and rebuild
Ing, a perpetual state of mutation.
What is true Of the fire is equally
true Of ourselves, the principles being
identical. AS soon as decomposition
ceases, reconstruction ceases; as soon
as we cease dying. we cease living.
Life In man. plant. amoeba or the fur
mace Is merely vibration, an individ.
ual transformation Of potential ener.
gy that varies only in degree.
All living matter contains substances
OF peculiar molecular structure and
composition far more complex than
any compounds found in inorganic ma.
ture But the difference between these
organic and inorganic substances Is
only difference OF degree, and many
Of the most characteristic OF the sub
stances have been artificially made in
the chemical laboratory.
Built up out OF the commonest ele-
ments on the surface OF the earth
these organic compounds are grouped
Into three classes: Carbohydrates
(sugar, starch and cellulose), fats and
proteins. or these three compounds
the proteins are by far the most i'm.
portant, for while the molecule OF fat.
or carbohydrate, consists entirely OF
various combinations OF the three ele-
ment, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen,
the protein molecule always contains,
In addition, nitrogen and sulphur.
The carbohydrate and the fat. SO
Tar as we know, appear to be only
heat and energy.giving compounds er.
actly equivalent to the coal we burn
In the furnace or In the firebox OF a
steam engine. But the proteins have
at least double function TO perform
and probably others we have not yet
grasped-for not only must they SUD.
ply energy but also the structural ma.
terial, the brick. stone. mortar, iron
and other Inorganic material out OF
which our bodies are composed.
It is no more possible for US to
maintain our bodies in health without
generous supply OF these inorganic
elements than It would be for US to
keep gasoline engine running for an
Indefinite period Of years by merely
feeding 1t gasoline. Common sense
tells us that the engine must be taken
10 the shop every so often and the
worn parts renewed IL we are to se-
cure continuous action or any sort of
efficiency from the oil consumed.
All organic life rests on one funda.
mental and vital fact, which is that
The seed bearing plants have, with
Few known exceptions. the exclu.
'ive power OF absorbing energy di.
rect from the inorganic under the
stimulus OF sunlight. In the action OF
chlorophyl (the green coloring matter
u plant life analogous to the red col.
bring matter in human blood in sun.
light undoubtedly lies the key to the
mystery OF life. But with the sublime
assurance OF ignorance we step in and
deliberately break this cycle OF life
by discardlng elements that offend our
,olor sense or that interfere with our
business.
II. for instance, wheat -four will not
keep, we remove the bran, the woody
matter and the mineral salts. together
with portion Of the protein matter
md the germ: II makes a much winter
md lighter bread, anyway, and the
experts tell us that II is more dlgesti.
Die, too; and besides. the "insoluble
oy'products" make fine food for stock.
cattle, chickens and other forms OF
lie grow fat and sleek on a diet TO
which these waste by.products" are
ldded.
Evidently these waste products"
iave very profound influence on the
netaboiism Of the lower forms OF life.
'ut II Is argued that that has nothing
% do with man. We are still hitched
o the idea that man is thing apart
rom all the rest OF creation and that
anything becomes the matter with
lis machine II ia because an evil spirit
sets In and he must pour some vile
asting combination down his throat
o drive the evil thing out. Meantime
ne fact that some fifteen millions of
'ur nineteen-odd million children en-.
oiled In the schools are shown to be
more or less physically defective from
insufficient building material supplied
their food, and the fact that we ara
experiencing a constantly increasing
economic loss through the premature
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