By Harvey W. Wiley, M. D.

THE function of the potato and other vegetables is two-fold. The potato is hardly a succulent vegetable, but green corn, green peas, green beans, radishes, tomatoes, and similar articles of diet are composed chiefly of water. The potato itself has about seventy-five per cent, of water, while a radish has close to ninety-five per cent. In other words, a succulent vegetable like the radish is not much more than solidified water. It seems strange that a body containing ninety-five per cent, of water can be as firm and hard as a radish. It shows that the distribution of the materials forming the cells in which the water is contained is most advantageously made. The potato is, of course, a nourishing vegetable. It is composed largely of starch, although it has some protein and mineral matters of value, but it is essentially a starchy food. Its chief value as a food product lies in this fact. It is, therefore, a vegetable which is admirably adapted to supplementing a meat, fish, or poultry diet. The desire to eat potatoes with meat is not solely a function of taste. It is also a function of nutrition. I have said that meats, including poultry and fish, are not a balanced diet. They become so, however, when eaten with potatoes.

The sanitary properties of the potato are well known.

Plenty of potatoes will prevent scurvy in long voyages. In this the potato is not superior to other vegetables, but it can be better preserved and carried longer distances than most others. Peas and beans in the green state are more succulent than the potatoes and they also have quite a different chemical composition, the nitrogenous elements being dominant. A diet composed largely of these vegetables is, therefore, one which approaches the character of a meat diet. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that although peas and beans contain large quantities of nitrogen they are still very well balanced, as in a green state they carried both starch and sugar and digestible cellulose.

The succulent vegetables have a distinct function in nutrition because of their salutary influence upon the digestive functions. With raw fruits, succulent vegetables exert a most favorable influence on peristalsis and secure regular and proper movements of the bowels. Thus they not only minister to the taste and afford valuable nutrients, but they also have what may be called a regulating or medicinal effect upon digestion. The potato being largely starch should be avoided in cases of a tendency to obesity. By the average person, or especially by thin people, they are, on the contrary, to be eaten with freedom and benefit. Fortunately, the advance in methods of preservation has rendered it possible to have succulent vegetables at all seasons of the year. The process of sterilizing fresh vegetables, commonly known as canning, extends the season from spring to winter. The people of the country are justly having more and more confidence in canned goods, so-called, because of the efforts of the canners themselves through their powerful organization to improve the quality of the materials used and the processes of preservation.

The use of artificial coloring matters and preservatives in goods of this kind has practically ceased, and the prejudice which has so long existed against them may well be laid aside. In the diet of man a generous portion of succulent vegetables finds a fitting place.