p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 36, No. 7. (2/17/1909)

As He Eateth, so Is He

By D. H. Kress, M.D.

By D. H. Kress, M.D., Medical Supt. of Washington Sanitarium, Washington, D. C.

IN the minds of many observing men and women there exists little doubt that a very intimate relation exists between what man eats and drinks and what he is. From my own observations during the past twenty years, I have again and again been forced to recognize that there is truth in the old German adage, "As he eateth, so is he." So thoroly am I convinced of this, that on determining on short acquaintance what a man is, either physically or morally, I rely more on observing what he eats and drinks, than upon a physical examination, or on the way he may speak or deport himself while in my presence.

A friend of mine in answer to the salutation "How are you?" replied, "I am well; don't you think so? Look at me." Altho he looked robust and the picture of health, I replied, "You may feel well and look well, but in order for me to say you are well, I would have to know something of what you eat and drink."

The beer-drinker under the influence of his drink feels well and looks well, but he is not well. Let pneumonia, cholera, typhoid fever, or some other germ disease, fasten upon him, and his case is almost hopeless. He may have a red face and an abundance of tissue, but it is inferior in quality. He may be good-natured, but his good nature is not constant. Let some difficulty arise and his good nature disappears. The beer-drinker is not well, either physically or morally, altho he may appear so.

Food has as great an influence on the health and disposition of an individual as drink. No man can be in health who has a sour stomach, and no one can have a sour stomach and a sweet, amiable disposition at the same time.

Sydney Smith, many years ago in a letter to Arthur Kingslake, said: "Character, talents, and virtues, are powerfully affected by beef, mutton, pie-crust, and rich soup. I have often thought," he added, "I could feed or starve men into many virtues and vices and affect them more powerfully with my instruments of cookery than Timotheus could do formerly with his lyre. Frequently it is that those persons whom God has joined together in matrimony, ill-cooked joints and badly boiled potatoes have put asunder."

The matter of diet is already receiving more attention by the medical profession. Many obscure diseases of the past are now recognized to be due to auto-intoxication or intestinal infection resulting from dietetic errors. The noted Dr. Arthur Blythe, in his authoritative manual on "Health and Diet," wrote: "There are diets by which diseases may be prevented and diseases cured; there are diets which make the skin glossy, the frame vigorous, and the spirits joyous; others which mar the face with wrinkles, speckle the body with eruptions, and make the form lean, hollow, and prematurely old."

Is it not time for those who are engaged in the work of moral reform to recognize that the same intimate relation which exists between the diet and the health also exists between the diet and the morals? If it is necessary to give attention to diet in order to promote health, it is equally important to give attention to diet in order to elevate the morals.

When this scientific fact is appreciated as it should, and will be, much more will be said from the pulpits in regard to the need of eating and drinking to the glory of God. Undoubtedly many a crime and many a sin has been committed on the impulse of the moment because the brain was at the time under the narcotic influence of poisons generated in the stomach and intestines. Serious errors in judgment are frequently due to indigestion, resulting from the quality and quantity of food eaten. Many a poor man has, no doubt, in the past served double sentence while others have not been sentenced who should have been; simply because the judge was suffering from dyspepsia and auto-intoxication.

The impatience of the mother, the unreasonable disposition of the father, the rebellious nature of the children, may frequently with little difficulty find an explanation in the food served them by a well-meaning but ignorant cook. The humiliating confession on the part of parents was anciently made "this our son is stubborn and rebellious; he is a glutton and a drunkard."

Dr. Wiley, our government chemist, evidently realizes that an important relation exists between diet and domestic happiness. In addressing the Bakers' Association at Atlantic City, recently, he said, "Good bread, in my opinion, would help solve the American evil of divorce. If bakers make good bread and then educate the people to buy it, the great destroyer of domestic happiness — dyspepsia — will be removed, and we will hear no more of the divorce problem."

In order to have health and peace in our homes, the preparation of the food must receive consideration; it can not be entrusted to ignorant and illiterate cooks. Cookery will in the near future be regarded as one of the greatest and most important of sciences, worthy of the attention of our most highly educated young women.

Even if the food is well prepared, too great a variety of such foods will create indigestion. The free use of sugar or butter will also favor fermentation and the production of irritants; the first symptoms apparent after their absorption are impatience, irritable temper, despondency, and in the presence of these, domestic happiness can not exist.

There are certain foods which contain products which, in themselves, tend to develop the most undesirable traits in a man's make-up.

Dr. Baron Liebig says, "The ingestion of flesh produces in carnivorous races a ferocious and quarrelsome disposition, which distinguishes them from non-meat eaters;" while the noted Gauthier, after his prolonged research and study, concludes that "a flesh diet is a more important factor in determining a savage or violent disposition in any individual, than the race to which he belongs."

In conducting experiments in his laboratory on various creatures, he observed that animals when fed upon grains remained gentle, and when given flesh to eat they became quarrelsome, unmanageable and destructive. He found he could change their disposition at will by merely changing the quality of their food.

Byron, the poet, in relating his own experience, said, "Flesh-eating makes me ferocious; the devil always comes with it until I starve him out." While Cannon Home Littleton, head of Hallyburg, one of the greatest British public schools, concludes, "It is well nigh impossible for even the best intentioned man to live physically pure if he eats meat in excess."

A noted preacher, some years ago, observed this intimate relation, and in one of his sermons, said, "I have known men who prayed for the grace of good temper in vain, until their physicians told them to stop eating meat. So long as they ate animal food, they could not control themselves; they were so irritable. But as soon as they began living on a diet of grains and fruits, they were able to keep their temper. They were not unwise in praying, but they were wise when to prayer they added medical advice."

These scientific demonstrations may be explained by the fact, well known to science, that meat has concealed within its fibers poisonous wastes which exert a similar narcotic influence on the brain to that of alcohol. For this reason the meat habit is almost, if not quite, as difficult to give up as is the alcohol habit. But in order to reach the highest ideal in health or in morality it will be found necessary to give up not only the alcohol but the meat habit as well. It will be necessary, aside from this, to learn to eat of the wholesome foods in such a way as to prevent the formation of alcohol and other narcotic poisons in the alimentary canal.

Food reform lies at the foundation of all moral reform. To elevate men morally as well as physically it is necessary to correct their physical habits. This is a truth that needs to be taught by all who are working for the betterment of man.

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SOUTHERN PACIFIC

Sanitary Homes.

By M. A. T.

AFTER the housekeeper has done all in her power to maintain healthful conditions in the home, she must still cope with the immediate outdoor surroundings, and there would be less malaria and other ills if our house surroundings were kept free from impurities. It has been determined that by a proper observance of the laws of sanitation and hygiene, diseases that have in the past claimed their victims unchallenged are now prevented. It is now known that a case of typhoid or diphtheria may be caused by mold, the very lowest form of vegetable life, therefore we can not be too careful about keeping our cellars thoroly cleaned out.

Keep a close watch for decaying vegetable matter and remove it at once. The drain-pipes from the kitchen and bath-room are a prolific source of disease unless they are well cared for, and they can easily be kept in a sanitary condition by flushing them twice a week with a strong solution of borax and hot suds, then this should be followed with a rinsing with borax water without soap. All toilet articles such as tooth mugs, shaving cups, glasses, etc., should be disinfected often with a little borax water, and all sponges should be washed in the borax water and hung in the air to dry.

It has been said that the housekeeper has under her control means of safety or agencies of destruction, according as she performs her duty. Many a home has a garbage barrel at the back gate that is a menace to the health of the community as well as to that of the family, and frequently a long illness of some members of the family may be attributed to carelessness, which, had the proper measures of prevention been adopted, might have been avoided. Sanitation should be made a point of study by those who desire to guard against illness, and in no other part of the house, we are told, is there such absolute necessity for cleanliness as in the sleeping-rooms.

M. A. T.

What Beer Contains.

THE beer drinker should be interested in the list of articles used in the manufacture of beer, as given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the House of Commons. The list runs: "Sulfites of soda, salicylic and boracic acid as preservatives; sulphates and chlorides of calcium and magnesium for hardening brewing water; carbonates of potash and soda as neutralizers; catechu, tannin, optanin and quassia as substitutes for hops; and gelatine, Iceland moss, alginol, liquorice, linseed, caramide, and other 'miscellaneous brewing materials.'"—Present Truth.

Bibles.—Remember that we are headquarters for anything in the Bible line. We shall be pleased to send you our catalog of Bible selections on application. Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal.

LIBERTY

By Editor

THE OFFICIAL ORGAN OF THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY BUREAU

AN illustrated, 48-page, quarterly magazine, published as an exponent and advocate of true religious liberty; defending Christianity and the rights of conscience; upholding the Bible as the infallible word of God; recognizing the church and state as ordained of Heaven for specific and distinct purposes, but vigorously protesting against the alliance of the church with the state in the attempt to advance religion and to promote the state.

Price 25 cents per year. Liberal terms to agents.

Address, LIBERTY, Takoma Park, D. C.

Life and Health

By Editor

A PRACTICAL health journal, published with a view of meeting hygienic needs in every home; teaching how to care for the health and how to preserve life; prescribing simple home treatments to assist nature in throwing off diseases rather than adding more poison by using drugs or unnatural stimulants as remedies; teaching how to avoid disease as far as possible, how to manage in the home when sickness does come, and how to combat the disease by simple remedies which nature provides.

Send for sample copy and special rates to agents. Price 10 cents per copy or $1.00 per year.

Address, LIFE & HEALTH, Takoma Park, D. C.

DATE OF EXPIRATION.

By Editor

The SIGNS' wrapper bears date of last issue due on your subscription. Unless renewed in advance, paper stops with expiration date.

If herewith is an order-blank, you will know you have overlooked sending renewal. You will not wish to miss a single issue. Back numbers often can not be furnished.

C. H. Jones, Circulation Manager.

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A Brief but Comprehensive Treatise covering the History and Doctrine of the Sabbath and Sunday Controversy from Creation to the Present. Truth supported by Scripture, Historical fact, and Argument. A Multum in Parvo on the Sabbath Question. Illustrated; 128 pp; price, 10 cents post-paid. PACIFIC PRESS Mountain View, Cal.

Notice Regarding Unpaid Papers

By Editor

N. B. We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance. When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the SIGNS are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon to pay for them. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.

Subscription Rates and Premiums

By Editor

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Sample copies sent on application.

Your Winter Trip

Avoid the snow, cold, and chilly blasts of the rainy season. No better or more comfortable way than the

Presidential Libel Case and Texas Antitrust Ruling

The President is endeavoring to carry out his threat to prosecute the editor of the New York World for libel. The first subpœnas that were issued for witnesses, however, in New York City, were quashed as illegal by Judge Ward of the United States Circuit Court. New subpœnas were issued and witnesses were examined, but nothing public was elicited. There seems to be a general consensus of opinion among the newspapers of the country that the action of the President is entirely unwarranted.

The Supreme Court in a recent decision upholds the Texas anti-trust laws. The Waters Pierce Oil Company was fined, under the Texas court, $1,623,900. They appealed to the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court has affirmed the decision of the Texas court. The decision of the Supreme Court declares that it has no right to interfere with the state laws.

Japanese Relations and State Rights

By Editor

America and Japan.—If America and Japan can keep their peace pact, notwithstanding antagonistic manifestations in the Legislatures of California and Nevada, if the Federal Government can prevent these states from passing anti-Japanese legislation, and still preserve the doctrine of state rights, and if the Legislatures of these states can yield to the wishes of the Federal Government and still preserve their status with the labor unions, some surprising thing must certainly take place. These are the conditions just at present which exist in state, national, and international affairs. A few weeks ago we were rejoicing over the conditions of amity and good will between Japan and America as expressed by articles which had been drawn up by the two powers, and many were looking forward to a long time of peace, but scarcely was the ink dried before the Legislatures of California and Nevada immediately determined to carry through anti-Japanese legislation; especially prohibiting the Japanese from coming to these states, or owning real estate within their borders. It looks as tho California would yield to the wishes of the Federal Government and let its anti-Japanese bills die, but Nevada seems determined to push her bills through, utterly regardless of the wishes of the President. And so we say again that if peace can be preserved notwithstanding all these conditions, it will be amazing.

Americans, of course, know the relation between the Federal Government and the states, but Japan does not know this; and all treaties between the governments have nothing to do with the states so far as the foreign power is concerned; but to preserve these treaties intact, it would look as tho the American doctrine of state rights must at least bend some. All the talk and misunderstanding of the last few weeks show on what a slender thread hangs the peace of the world. To-day it is peace, to-morrow uncertainty, the next day may be war.

He who believes in true religious liberty believes it primarily not for himself, but for the other man

Christianity and Civil Law

True Christianity will never seek to entrench itself in civil law; and true democracy will never uphold or support a religion or church which seeks support from the state.

The Purpose of Government

The sole object of the founders of this government was the protection of each person in his rights, which God gave to every one equally. In so protecting the individual, incivility and violence on the part of those who disregard others' rights are restrained; and the result is the greatest good to the greatest number.

Liberty for Religious Opponents

He only knows true liberty, he only works for the permanent conservation of his own liberties, who grants to the other man—be he his most bitter and relentless religious and political opposer—the rights he asks for himself.

Divine Wireless Telegraphy.—

By Editor

In our Outlook Department will be found a graphic account of the benefit and blessing of wireless telegraphy to the people on board a doomed ship. The only souls lost were those at the time the ships struck. From the greater peril all were rescued. The invisible messages sped on the wings of electricity in every direction, and were caught at ten different centers, ashore and afloat, and at one of the most distant first, as the illustration from the Philadelphia Press shows. What a lesson it is to the tempest-tossed, shipwrecked, stranded, befogged, distressed, sinking, human craft on the stormy sea of life. They often think there is no hope, and the spirits of darkness speak blank despair to the discouraged soul. But let him, or her, send up to the Grand Central Office his appeal for help. He need not be uncertain. The "Republic" hoped some ship or port would hear; the fog-bound, storm-tossed soul on "life's unresting sea" may know that God will hear his plea for help. "His ear is open to their cry;" and He possesses infinite sources of relief for the needy. He will summon the angels of light from every quarter, pierce the dense fog with His cheering light, and succor when no man can aid. Marconi's wireless telegraphy is wonderful, tho late. The wireless telegraphy of God has been tested for ages, and proved true.

The Threefold Message Series

By Editor

We begin in two weeks a series of eight to ten articles on the great Threefold Message of Rev. 14: 6-12, by one of our oldest and most experienced Bible teachers, R. S. Owen. These articles will prove of great interest, and will furnish much instruction of vital importance at the present time.

Deal With Principles, Not Men

"We deal with principles, not with men," ought to be a motto in every Christian's life. Men are what principles make them; approve or antagonize, as may be needed, the principles. Deal charitably with the men. They may not believe as you do; they may be bitterly, strenuously antagonistic to your belief. Let your heart cherish no bitterness. They may be wrong, but do not condemn them. They are bound by wrong principles. Seek to release them. Show them better principles, a better way, a better spirit, by both word and deed. He who has the truth can afford to be more than fair; he can afford to be generous and kind toward his opponents, however he may regard their principles.

A London Wild-West Hold-Up

A strange thing occurred in London, January 23. Two foreigners attempted a regular wild-west hold-up right in the very center of the city, near Tottenham Police Station. They seized one of several bags of money carried in an automobile, for the payment of employees of a manufacturing establishment. One of the men resisted the robbers, when he was fired upon by a confederate, and shot through the body. Both robbers fled, but an increasing mob of citizens followed while a member of the robbed firm gave chase in an automobile. The robbers fired repeatedly at their pursuers, and a policeman and a youth were killed. The automobile was disabled. London policemen are not armed. The thieves jumped aboard a street-car, ordered the motorman to go full-speed, but a minute later the tracks were blocked by traffic. The highwaymen took possession of a delivery wagon, one lashing the horse, while the other fired at the pursuers. Not being acquainted with London, they almost immediately turned into an unimproved, marshy ground, where they were forced to abandon the wagon. By this time fully five thousand people were following them. One of the robbers then fell to his knees, took a final shot at his pursuers and blew out his own brains. His companion ran a mile further to a deserted cottage; went to the second-story window, shook his fist at the mob, and shot himself through the heart.

1909 Year Book of the Denomination

By Editor

There has come to hand the "1909 Year Book of the Seventh-day Adventist Denomination," containing the official directories of conferences — union and local — publishing houses, sanitariums, educational institutions, etc., etc. There are now 22 union conferences, 102 local conferences, 67 mission fields, 2,569 churches, with a church-membership of 86,094. There was an increase of 65 churches during 1908 and 5,197 in membership. The increase in assets in advanced educational institutions was $163,912; 83 buildings were added. There are approximately 1,213 different periodicals, books, pamphlets, and tracts, printed in 61 different languages. The value of publications sold in 1908, $1,035,565. The total assets of the 81 educational institutions, 79 sanitariums, and 26 publishing houses amount to $4,944,619, an increase in 1908 of $780,384. The total contributions reported by the entire membership for 1908 were $1,704,718; per member, $18.13. This is not for the full year. It will probably reach $2,000,000. It is a well arranged, excellent helper. The price is only 25 cents.

The California Sunday Law

By Editor

Mr. Tufts and his coworkers are making all sorts of concessions in their proposed Sunday law for California. If they can but get the thin end of the wedge in, they will drive it home. Amendments, such as are now before the Oregon legislature, and which we will note next week, will follow. The wise statesman will see the evil fruitage in the seed and reject the seed.

California Aids Italian Earthquake Sufferers

San Francisco, which has recently suffered from an earthquake, was the second city in bestowing funds upon the sufferers in Italy. New York donated $306,067, and California followed with $140,000.