An argument on behalf of the primitive diet of man / [Frederic Richard Lees].

  • Frederic Richard Lees
Date:
1855
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An argument on behalf of the primitive diet of man / [Frederic Richard Lees]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    Internal changes. effete matter undergo in the system may be here illustrated in its na- ture by the transformation of sugar within the body. Recall the composition of Grape-Sugar (glucose), whether formed within the body from starch, or preformed in food: Cj2 0 ]2 H12. Oxidized—i.e. split- up by the action of oxygen—its 36 atoms may pass into this form :— Carbonic acid = 4 C, 8 0 'Butyric-acid — 8 C, 7 H, 3 0 Hydrogen = 4 H, uniting with extraneous 0 as HO. Water = 1H, 10 Or two atoms of Sugar ( C24 H24 02i) may be decomposed thus Carbonic acid = 8 C, 16 0 Caprylic-acid = 16 C, 15 H, 3 0 HO. Hydrogen = 4 H, which combine with 0 as HO. Water. = 4 H, 4 0 By like changes, in the carnivora especially, sugar, whether of the muscles (inosite), or of the blood (glucose), is derived from the decompo- sition of albuminates and of fibrin; for no matter whether sugar or starch has been given in the food, sugar is still found in requisite amount within the body. Oxidation, it will be seen from these re- marks, is a slow process; yet one which must be extended step by step, and atom by atom, to all the tissues and organized elements of the frame; and not only must it change an atom of Sugar, or of Albu- men, but it must do this by discrete degrees and intermediate processes. § 24. Here is perhaps the place to notice those elements of the Rood referred to as Ash ; mineral ingredients which divide, as to use, into three classes: viz. Physical, Chemical, and Incidental. (Water, it may be observed, is a mineral element of the frame, essential to the play of chemical affinities, and to the development of the properties of certain tissues.) Amongst the first class, we place Carbonate and Phosphate of Lime, and Magnesia, found in the osseous system, Fluoride of Calcium, for the enamel of the teeth; and amongst the third we ‘put Silica, Sul- phates, Carbonate of Magnesia, Manganese, Copper, etc. The second class of substances, and their uses, remain to be explained. Phosphorus is an essential element of the Brain and of the Nerv- ous system ; and is associated with what is called Cerebric-acid; and, after this substance and lime, we find the great bulk of the ashes of Food to consist of either one or both of the alkalies. Potash and Soda. These perform an important part in those perpetual molecular movements which occur throout the body—and are truly magical agents of vital Metamorphosis. How important, may be compre-
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