PARSIMONY IN NUTRITION.
Parsimony in Nutrition. By Sir James Crichton-Browne. (Funk and Wagnalls Company. 3a.)—Many people are telling us that we eat too much meat, proteids, to use the scientific term. (It must be remembered that some vegetable foods, as peas and beans, are of the proteid kind.) Sir J. Crichton-Browne controverts the dictum. He has arguments drawn from science, from observa- tion and experiment, and from general usage, this last being, we cannot but think, the most effective of all. As a rule, men do what is best for them in this matter of diet. As for experiment, the difficulty of getting a completely satisfactory set of conditions is very great. It can seldom be carried on long enough, and then there are countervailing influences. To us the most conclusive facts are those collected from prisons. Here there is no inter- ference with the action of physical causes, and the results have a very cogent appearance. An insufficient prison diet enfeebles bodily health and mental activity. That much unnecessary food is consumed is certain, and that it is good, especially for the old, to eat less than appetite seems to crave; but on the whole men know what is best for them.
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