But suppose a whole family were to live wholly on grain, as corn, or even wheat, for the year; the whole expenditure would hardly, exceed fifty dollars, in dear places and in the dearest times. Of course, I am speaking now of expenses for food and drink merely, the latter of which usually costs nothing, or need not. How small a sum is this to expend in New York, or Boston, or Philadelphia, in the maintenance of a family! And yet, it is amply sufficient for the vegetable-eater, unless his family live exclusively on wheat bread, or milk, when it might fall a little short. Of corn, at a dollar a bushel, it would give him eight pounds a day—far more than a family ought to consume, if they ate nothing else; and of potatoes, at forty cents a bushel, above twenty pounds, or one third of a bushel—more than sufficient for the family of an Hibernian.
Now, let me ask how much beef, or lamb, or pork, or sausages, or eggs, or cheese, this would buy? At ten cents a pound for each, which is comparatively low, it would buy five hundred pounds; about one pound and six ounces for the whole family, or four or five ounces each a day. This would be an average amount of nutriment equal to that of about two ounces of grain, or bread of grain, a day, to each individual. In so far as laid out in butter, or chicken, or turkey, at twenty cents a pound, it would give also about two or three ounces a day!
Further remarks under this head can hardly be necessary. He who considers the subject in its various aspects, will be likely to see the weight of the argument. There is a wide difference between a system which will give to each member of a family, upon the average, only about four or five ounces of food a day, and one which will give each of them more than twenty-five ounces a day, each ounce of the latter containing twice the nutriment of the former, and being much more savory and healthy at the same time. There is a wide difference, in matters of economy, at least, between one and ten.
I will only add, under this head, a few tables. The first is to show the comparative amount of nutritious matter contained in some of the leading articles of human food, both animal and vegetable. It is derived from the researches of such men as MM. Percy and Vauquelin, of France, and Sir Humphrey Davy, of England.
| 100 | pounds of | Wheat | contain | 85 | pounds | of | nutritious matter. |
| " | " | Rice | " | 90 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Rye | " | 80 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Barley | " | 83 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Peas | " | 93 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Lentils | " | 94 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Beans | 89 to 92 | " | " | " | |
| " | " | Bread | (average) | 80 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Meat | (average) | 35 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Potatoes | contain | 25 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Beets | " | 14 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Carrots | 10 to 14 | " | " | " | |
| " | " | Cabbage | " | 7 | " | " | " |
| " | " | Greens, turnips | 4 to 8 | " | " | " |
Of course, it does not follow that every individual will be able to extract just this amount of nutriment from each article; for, in this respect, as well as in others, much will depend on circumstances.
The second table is from Mr. James Simpson, of Manchester, England, in a small work entitled, "The Products of the Vegetable Kingdom versus Animal Food," recently published in London. Its facts are derived from Dr. Playfair, Boussingault, and other high authorities. It will be seen to refute, entirely, the popular notions concerning the Liebig theory. The truth is, Liebig's views are misunderstood. His views are not so much opposed to mine as many suppose. Besides, neither he nor I are infallible.
| Solid matter. | Water. | Flesh forming principle. | Heat forming principle. | Ashes for the bones. | ||||||
| Potatoes, | 28 | per ct. | 72 | per ct. | 2 | per ct. | 25 | per ct. | 1 | per ct. |
| Turnips, | 11 | " | 89 | " | 1 | " | 9 | " | 1 | " |
| Barley Meal, | 84-1/2 | " | 15-1/2 | " | 14 | " | 68-1/2 | " | 2 | " |
| Beans, | 86 | " | 14 | " | 31 | " | 51-1/2 | " | 3 | " |
| Oats, | 82 | " | 18 | " | 11 | " | 68 | " | 3 | " |
| Wheat, | 85-1/2 | " | 14-1/2 | " | 21 | " | 62 | " | 2-1/2 | " |
| Peas, | 84 | " | 16 | " | 29 | " | 51-1/2 | " | 3-1/2 | " |
| Carrots, | 13 | " | 87 | " | 2 | " | 10 | " | 1 | " |
| Veal, | 25 | " | 75 | " | { | |||||
| Beef, | 25 | " | 75 | " | {25 | |||||
| Mutton, | 25 | " | 75 | " | { | |||||
| Lamb, | 25 | " | 75 | " | { | |||||
| Blood, | 20 | " | 80 | " | 20 | |||||
VI. THE ARGUMENT FROM EXPERIENCE.
A person trained in the United States or in England—but especially one who was trained in New England—might very naturally suppose that all the world were flesh-eaters; and that the person who abstains from an article which is at almost every one's table, was quite singular. He would, perhaps, suppose there must be something peculiar in his structure, to enable him to live without either flesh or fish; particularly, if he were a laborer. Little would he dream—little does a person who has not had much opportunity for reading, and who has not been taught to reflect, and who has never traveled a day's journey from the place which gave him birth, even so much as dream—that almost all the world, or at least almost all the hard-laboring part of it, are vegetable-eaters, and always have been; and that it is only in a few comparatively small portions of the civilized and half-civilized world, that the bone and sinew of our race ever eat flesh or fish for any thing more than as a condiment or seasoning to the rest of their food, or even taste it at all. And yet such is the fact.