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White Ribbon, Volume 8, Issue 87, 1 August 1902, Page 10

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From l)r. Mellows’ Philosophy oj Eating, or the Science of Physical Health , Muscular Strength , and Mental Activity by Means of Diet.* CHAPTER VIII. No Inorganic Element can be used by the Living Body. “ Not only is it impossible to purify the blood by the use of articles recommended by ignorant empirics (such as compound srrsaparilla, etc.), but it is also true that no element, however much it may be wanted in the S)Stem, can lie made to become a constituent of the blood, or lie appropriated by any of the tissues, unless that element has h en organised in some plant, and is thus fitted to l>e received according to the law of nature. Learned professors, finding that chlorotic girls are suffering

from the want of iron, or that there is too little phosphorus in the organism, resulting from the use of white flour, supply disorganise 1 iron and disorgan ised phosphoric acid. “I have elsewhere referred to tin great plan of Nature, by which all the elements necessary to be used in making or repairing the system were deposited in the soil Indore man was made, to be taken up in the sap of plants, and vegt tables, and fruit trees, and deposited in the seed, and fruits, and juices of these trees and plants, in just the proportions necessary to supply every organ and function ; then to l>e eaten, and digested, and made a constituent of the blood, and appropriated by the organs and tissues; then to be cast off by the ex cretions, and again deposited in the soil, to be again taken up by vegetation, and thus continue their rounds perpetually. “ Now this is undoubtedly the best arrangement for supplying the human system with all necessary elements that even God could make; an arrangement, to shortsighted man, wonderful and in comprehensible. Who are we, who have not intellect sufficient to understand one of the processes by which this plan is executed, to say that any part of it is unnecessary ? Who are we to say that iron and phosphorus prepared from crude, unorganised materials, in the lal>oratory of any chemist, are just as well adapted to supply the wants of the human system, as these elements prepared in Nature’s own lalroratury ? Why not, then, take carbon and nitrogen, or the other elements, directly from the ground, and repair the whole system, or make a new man by a shorter and cheaper process ? “The Penalty for taking into the Stomach Elements of Food not Organised. “ After such infinite pains to perfect a plan for supplying the human system with every necessary element, it seems to me reasonable and perfectly consonant with Nature's other laws, that an ordinance should l»e instituted requiring that no elements should lie admitted into the system except in accordance wiih this arrangement, and that every attempt to introduce them should be visited by punishment, more or less severe, according to the importance of the element; and this we find to be true.

“ Not an element is allowed to be incorporated into and become a part of the blood, or any organ or tissue that is not fitted for digestion in some vegetable; and if any element is offered that is not thus prepared, a rebellion ensues, more or less energetic and severe, according to the importance of the element. This rebellion, or excitement, is injurious to the system, and all the organs and functions involved, and this is what is meant by the word poison, and constitutes the penalty. 44 Phosphorus, for example, is a very important element, being the element on which the action of the brain depends, and the physical source of vitality, and an important constituent, as well, of bones and other solid tissues. In a common-sired man there are found to be nearly two pounds of solid phosphorus, doing its important work quietly and harmlessly ; but take two grains of the two pounds which have l>een disorganised, as can easily be done by calcining a bone, and attempt to put them back and reorganise them, by giving them at orce to a healthy man, and such an excitement is produced, especially of the brain, that delirium, inflammation, and death may ensue within a single hour; but give ten times that amount, organised in oatmeal or barley cake, or any other natural food containing it, and the system will quietly and giatefully appropriate what it needs, and reject the remainder w ithout excitement or harm. •* And can we resist or gainsay the evidence thus furnished, that oatmeal and barley cakes, and unbolted wheat Hour, are the appropriate means of introducing phosphorus into the system,

rather than phosphatic bread, the phosphorus in which was taken from calcined bones ? 14 The Penalty of Taking Disorganised Iron. “ Iron is a necessary, but less important, element of the human system than phosphorus. It is found in the bran of wheat and other grains and vegetables, and being transferred from them, is found also in the muscles and blood of animals, and in the curd of milk, and other natural food, in quantities as large as can be appropriated by the system; and this is proof to my mind that Nature intended it to be furnished thiough these articles of natural food. 44 Dr. J. Francis Churchill, a French author, who has given great attention to the effects of different mineral elements in the human system, in an article headed 4 Danger of Iron in Consumption and Chlorosis,’ says that M. Trousseau, another very ce'ebrated French physician, whose authority in this country to-day is as high as that of any man living, has carefully inves ligated the effects of iron, and from a synopsis of a report of these investigations he makes the following quotations:— 4 M. Trousseau has just given utterance to an authoritative and positive statement, which will, no doubt, surprise the profession everywhere. He declares that iron in any form, given in chlorotic affections, to patients in whom the consumptive diathesis exists, invariably fixes the diathesis, and hasten* the development of the tubercles. The iron may induce a fictitious return to health ; the physician may Hatter himself that he has corrected the chlorotic condition of his patient; but to his surprise, he will find the patient

soon after fall into a phthisical state, from which there t* no return. This result, or at least its hastening, NI. Trousseau attributes to the iron. The assertion is a most startling one M. Trousseau is nevertheless so certain of what he says, that he denounces the administration of iron in chlorosis as criminal in the highest degree. (The italics are those of Dr. Churchill.) This opinion is confirmed by my own observation in a practice oi forty years, and furnishes proof sufficient that iron as well as phosphorus must be introduced into the system only as organised for digestion by some plant, or a penalty must be paid. The excitement that follows the taking of iron is less active and less dangerous than after taking phosphorus, because it is less important to the system to reject it immediately; but it illustrates the arrangement of Providence, and establishes the same principle.’ 44 W hen the following question is put to a scientific man, 4 Is alcohol, or any other disorganised element, actually appropriated by the organs or tissues as food, and incorporated into them as nutrition ?’ the answer is, 4 That question is not settled.’ “ The reason is obvious. There is no proof that a single element ever was made to enter into the blood, or any organ or tissue, as a part of their constituents, unless it w r as taken with, and formed a part of, some food organised directly or indirectly by passing through some vegetable.”