It may not be out of place to state at this point that in the writer's opinion the use of the terms "standard diet" and "dietary standards," etc., is objectionable, since such usage seems to demand a certain degree of definiteness in the daily diet for which there is no justification. As in the use of the term "normal diet," there is danger of misinterpretation, and of the assumption that dietary habits should be regulated strictly in accord with certain set principles. This I believe to be altogether wrong; there should be, on the contrary, full latitude for individual freedom, but freedom governed by an intelligence that appreciates the significance of scientific fact and is willing to mould custom and habit into accord with them. What is needed to-day is not so much an acceptance of the view that man requires daily 0.85 gram of proteid per kilogram of body-weight, as a full appreciation of the general principle, which our definite figures have helped to work out, that the requirements of the body for proteid food are far below the customary habits of mankind, and that there is both economy and gain in various directions to be derived by following the general precepts which this view leads to. In other words, there is no advantage, but, on the contrary, much bother and worriment, in attempting to follow out in practice the details of our more or less exact physiological experiments.

The general teaching which they afford, however, can be adopted and put in practice in our daily lives, without striving to follow too closely the so-called standards which our experiments have led to. Again, the sample dietaries adopted in our experiments have no special virtue, aside from the general principle they teach that simple foods are quite adequate for the nourishment of the body, and that the amount of nitrogen or proteid they contain was sufficient to meet the demands of the particular individuals consuming it. Broadening intelligence on matters of food composition is called for on all sides, and as this is acquired together with due appreciation of the relative nutritive values of proteid, fat, and carbohydrate, there is placed at our command the power of intelligent discrimination, with the ability to apply the prin-

The figures in this table are instructive in many ways. First, it is to be noted that the daily proteid requirement of sixty grams can be obtained from one-half pound of lean meat (uncooked), of which the loin steak is a type. Subject to some, variations in content of water, an equivalent weight of lean flesh of any variety, lamb, veal, poultry, etc., will furnish approximately the same amount of proteid. With fish, such as halibut steak, and with liver, three-quarters of a pound are required; while with sweetbreads, four-fifths of a pound are needed to furnish the requisite amount of proteid. Of salt codfish, one-half pound will provide the same amount of proteid as an equivalent weight of fresh beef; while with lean smoked bacon the amount rises to seven-eighths of a pound. Among the vegetable products, it is to be observed that^ried, peas and beans. almonds and pine nuts, are as rich in proteid as the above-mentioned animal foods, essentially the same weights being called for to provide the daily requirement of proteid. The same is true of cheese, the variety designated having such a composition that one-half pound is the equivalent, so far as the content of proteid is concerned, of a like amount of fresh beef. We must not he unmindful of the fact previously mentioned, however, that there are differences in digestibility among these various foodstuffs which tend to lower somewhat the availability of the vegetable products, also of the cheese, thereby necessitating a alight increase in the amount of these foods required to equal the value to the body of lean meat.

Secondly, passing to the other extreme in our list. we find indicated types of foods exceedingly poor in proteid, such as the fruits; notably, bananas, grapes, prunes, apples, etc., also lettuce, and in less degree potatoes. These are the kinds of food that may legitimately attract by their palatahility, but do not add materially to our intake of proteid even when consumed in relatively large amounts. Thirdly, we see clearly indicated a radical difference between the animal foods and those of vegetable origin, in that with the former the fuel value of the quantity necessary to furnish the sixty grams of proteid is very small, as compared with a like amount of the average vegetable product. One-half pound of lean meat, for example, with its 60 grams of proteid, has a fuel value of only 808 calories, while two-thirds of a pound of almonds has a fuel value of 2020 calories, and one-half pound of dried peas 827 calories. Naturally, this is mainly a question of the proportion of fat or oil present. With fat meat, as in bacon, the calorific value rises in proportion to increase in the amount of fat, the proteid decreasing in greater or less measure.

The main point to be emphasized in this connection, however, is that a high proteid animal food, like lean meat, eggs, fish, etc., obviously cannot alone serve as an advantageous food for man. We see at once the philosophy of a mixed diet. Let us assume that our average man of 70 kilograms body-weight needs daily 2300 calorieses. On this~asdumpiion, if he were to depend entirely upon lean beef for his sustenance, he would require daily four and a half pounds of such meat, which amount would furnish nine times the quantity of proteid needed by his system. The same would be more or less true of other kindred animal products. On the other hand, certain vegetable foods on our list, such as flaked rice, crackers, and shredded wheat, contain proteid, with carbohydrate and fat, in such proportion that the energy requirement would be met essentially by the same quantity as served to furnish the necessary proteid. Passing to the other extreme among the vegetable products, as in potatoes and bananas, for example, we find fuel value predominating largely over proteid content. The ideal diet, however, is found in a judicious admixture of foodstuffs of both animal and vegetable origin. Wheat bread, reinforced by a little butter or fat bacon to add to its calorific value, shredded wheat with rich cream, crackers with cheese, bread and milk, eggs with bacon, meat with potatoes, etc.; the common, every-day household admixtures, provide combinations which can easily be made to accord with true physiological requirements. The same may be equally true of the more complicated dishes evolved by the high art of modern cookery.