MORE VEGETARIANISM.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17836, 3 May 1926, Page 9

MORE VEGETARIANISM.

To the Editor. Sir.—As a constant and interested reader of your pages may I aftk what opinion Mr Devereux holds On the views of vegetarianism as expressed by Mr G. K. Chesterton. I quote below the first and last verses of his well known poem “The Logical Vegetarian.” The other three verses are equally interesting and I am sure Mr Devereux’s opinion would be of value. You will find me drinking rum, Like a sailor in a slum, You will find me drinking beer, —Like a Bavarian. You will find me drinking gin, In the lowest kind of Inn Because I am a rigid vegetarian. No more the milk of cows Shall pollute my private house. Than the milk of the wild mares of the Barbarian; I will stick to port and sherry, For they are so very, very. So very, very, very, Vegetarian. I am. etc., CIIESTERTONIAN VEGETARIAN.

To the Editor. Sir,—As your correspondent “ Curious ” truly states, it is possible to live on many a make-shift dietary, fr£>m the edible clay of a tribe of Indians to the sometimes putrid meat of the Eskimos The human body is wonderfully adaptable up to a point, which is the reason why people do not fall dead in our streets like flies after the foolish meals so. commonly eaten. The main thing with these makeshift dietaries such as that of the Eskimos is to eat everything uncooked. An explorer recently supplied our papers with a cable <

to the effect that he had discovered races of Eskimos who lived entirely without cooking. They eat the glandular organs such as the liver and drink the hot blood of the animals they kill. In this way they are copy* mg the habits of carnivorous animals. The flesh eaters amongst civilised man eat the muscle, which is deficient in mineral salts, vitamins, etc. They also cook it, which is another mistake. AH living things from the grass of the fields to the huge creatures of the forest are composed chemically of the same sixteen or more elerrgnts. Fertile earth is composed of the same elements. So long as a man eats food which contains those elements in natural combinations he can make a do of it. If he could masticate and assimilate leaves, acorns, or any livingthing that was free from poisons he could undoubtedly exist. Our natural foods, however, and therefore those upon which we attain the greatest strength, endurance, freedom from disease and enjoyment of life generally are the fruits and nuts, with a few green leaves as medicine occasionally. —I am, etc., JAMES R. DEVEREUX.