(c) The observations are not sufficiently complete.
He acknowledges that cleavage products from food broken down in the intestines by bacteria are the cause of
- (a) Inefficiency
- (b) Diseases
- (c) Mental derangements.
- (See Mott’s work.)
He recognises that the majority of people eat far too much. He puts this in the following way. If a “mediæval devil” had wished to discover the most subtle and most effective way to destroy mankind mentally, morally, and physically, he would have arranged for them to be supplied with tasty, well-cooked foods, wines, etc.; in short, he would have used every means to tempt, confuse, and pervert their appetite. He would also have arranged every possible means to prevent their being in the fresh air and taking exercise. He thinks one has here the picture of modern civilisation.
He talked in a very interesting and instructive manner about the necessity and value of exercise and a muscular body for the maintenance of good health. He has evidently worked at and thought a good deal about this side of the subject.
He regrets that there are not more people who realise the huge importance of understanding the nutrition problem for the sake of the progress of humanity. He would like to join all those who are interested in forming an international society, as far as I understood him.
He is most keen on getting subjects, such as myself, for study over a very long period of time,—two to three years,—as he very justly observed “Muscular output is a very small part of the measure of a man’s efficiency. Mental efficiency, manual dexterity, and other psychological tests are necessary.” He seemed very much interested in my idea of making a large number of curves of daily observations. He said that it appeared to him to offer the best means of ultimately measuring the degree of deviation from the subject’s optimum state of health.
He argues the necessity of getting some scientific definition of health.
The phrase that reduces all these people to contemplative silence is this.