THE FOOD-SUPPLY.
Influence of Quality of Food.—It has been mentioned on a previous page (20) that the structure of the human teeth does not authorize the statement that either animal or vegetable food was ever man's exclusive or " natural " diet. In his different communities he is found subsisting now on one, now on the other, generally on a mingling of both, as oppor tunity offers. Climate and facility of acquisition usually determine his fare. The majority of men eat that which is obtained with least cost, whether it be of labor or money. This is a necessity with many, and the preference of others. The influence of climate in this respect has been exaggerated. The raw flesh and fat in which the Eskimo delights, and the boiled rice and ghee or melted butter which is the favorite dish of the Hindoo, have not been selected by these peoples on account of their greater adaptability to their respective climates, but because they could get nothing else so easily. So it will be found with most national dishes.
The physiological theory that the foods richer in hydrocarbons are unconsciously selected by the residents of cold climates, and those defi cient in them by the natives of the tropics, is an error in fact. Most tribes near the equator are lovers of meat, and eat it whenever they can procure it, even consuming it when in a nauseating condition ; and 'recent Arctic explorers have reported that the Eskimos are quite as greedy of canned vegetables as they have been traditionally of tallow candles. Nor is the health of a person in the tropics injured by a moderate use of animal food. On the contrary, the experience of the English in India, and more recently of the French in Panama, has demonstrated that such a mixed diet in hot countries is a safeguard against the diseases of the abdominal organs which are so prevalent in those climates.
The doctrine, long a favorite with physiologists, that man requires a variety of food for his physical well-being, is another which has not stood the test of ethnological research. The roving Indian of the Plains, who lives exclusively on unsalted meat ; the Polynesian, who was accustomed for eight months in the year to make his meals from bread-fruit ; the Central American natives, whose bill of fare scarcely ever went beyond the preparations of maize ; and the Scotch peasant, who in former times tasted nothing except oatmeal six days out of seven,—were all examples of conspicuous bodily vigor nourished by almost a single article of diet, quite different in each case ; and many more such examples could be added to this list. Such monotony would, however, be keenly felt if
adopted by one who had long been used to a diversified fare. He would no doubt suffer in health and strength, but not more so than when those who have been wont to subsist on one article change their food. Alex ander von Humboldt observed that the South American tribes, who had been accustomed to a very limited range of articles of food, suffered severely in health when they removed to other districts where these sub stances could not be obtained. The greater readiness with which resi dents of the temperate zones adapt themselves to the extremes of climate, and thus are qualified to become the masters of the world, is partly owing to the changes of the seasons to which they are exposed, forcing them to vary their diet at different periods of the year, and thus to strengthen their digestive powers.
There can be no doubt that indirectly, in this and other ways, the quality of the food exerts a perceptible influence on the physical capaci ties, and therefore to a corresponding extent on the mental faculties. But its influence in both these respects has been greatly overestimated by many recent writers. The distinction between "brain food" and "body food" has little or no foundation in fact ; and the notion advocated by the histo rian Buckle and his disciples that the chemical constituents of the prin cipal food-supplies of a nation explain in a great measure its condition of culture and the incidents of its history, is entirely beyond the guarantees of sober science.