Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1922-06-03

Mr.. Armdtage Is the author Of three
books on chemistry and 1t is from this
angle that he studies Diet--Race. The
major part Of the DO is given over TO
the subject, Diet and Color. The writ
or classifies the peoples OF the earth by
their color, White, Yellow, Red or
B:2%n and BLACK. "rd then ahSlyRcS
their diet. He finds that flesh eating
people, and especially those who eat
raw flesh are generally light in colc-
and he asks, II there ID not something
present in raw flesh that Is not present
in boiled meat, that is present in less
degrees in vegetables, and Is markedly
wanting in farinaceous food.
HE FINDS THE SOMETHING SALT.
Salt. that Is what makes blondes aud
its absence make brunettes. Through
hundred convincing pages the author
piles up statistics upon his theme. Solt
is present in greater quantities In
flesh than in vegetables, hence the
flesh eating people are fnirer than the
vegetarians. But another element en-
ters there, when salt (sodium chloride
and potash are present together In
food, as In the case with many vegc-
tables, the potash takes up the chic
ride and tho salt is then expelled from
the body through the kidneys. SO not
only do vegetables have less salt than
meat, but the body does not retain the
little salt that they have. Boiled meats
lose their salt through the cooking, so
the Tahitians, who eat raw fish, are
lighter than the AdanancSe who exact
heavy penalties from those who roast,
instead OF boil their pigs. To live on
farinaceous food, on rodts and fruits,
Is to have dark eyes and a dark skin.
But the chief argument lies in the
relation between the distribution Of
Skin and the distribution Of salt de.
posts. The peoples Of the world, in re
spcct of their salt supply, are scpar-'
able In two groups: Those inhabiting
Europe. the West Of Siberia, Afglranis.
tan, Persia, Syria, and the North Of
AFRICA. am. TIE rest; n saDl; itIcH |
which is almost Identical, geographical !
~, with that suggested by light and
dark skin color We give a few Of Mr.. |
Armftage's examples. The people of In
die range from the black Of the Adam |
hnese to the polished ivory skin Of the !
kashmir and Kashmir is the richest
salt-prOducing district of India. In
Africa, In the extreme North, the peo- !!
pie are OF an exceptional fairness, and |
In the North, the country Is exception
ally rich in salt. In the West, Centre
and East, the people are among the !
darkest Of mankind and there are no !
salt deposits. The desire for salt Is
c1nH
given for the price Of handful Of salt.
In the days OF tire greatness Of West
Africa, salt from the dessert was ono
or the chief commodities brought on
the caravan routes. Salt and gold. I
these Mr.. Armitage says, were the
two most valued articles Of commerce.
me most of us have always thought
that climate was the discriminating fac
tor IN augmentation. The author docs
not deny this, but he maintains that
the amount Of augmentation appearing
on n skin exposed TO the tropical sun
varies according to the amount of salt
taken into the body. He ends with this
interesting suggestion: That as p,e
mentation appears to be due to a
change Of coloring matter caused nv
the prolonged action Of heat and light:
so salt, by snee ling Up th,, blood cor.
puscles lessons the action of the light !
me faster the blood corpusclees move,
ana salt makes them move fast, the
less chance there Is for the sun to do
Its darkening work.
The author asks himself the question
as to whether tho darkskinned man
Will grow lighter in time by the eating
OF much salt, for salt Is now a commo. |
dlty obtainable, all over the world, !
and is unable to answer it. So, pre-
sumo, arc we. But it is an entertain |
ing question. and leads one to wonder /
whether the tightening of the skin of |!
the American Negro is wholly the re-
suit Of mixture with the white race
or whether some OF it has como fron
bacon and spare-rib! And shout not
our vegetarian friends he sure to mt
much salt upon their potatoes, if they
wish to keep the color they now are
We'll we never thought much of color
anyway, and now we learn that it is
mere pinch Of salt!