Those who point out by historical facts that man was destined to vegetarian diet may not be right, for it is certain that many thousands of years ago man was a fruit eater, when he also lived in trees. When he began to reside on terra firma, compelled to so do by the scarcity of fruit in consequence of the increase of humanity, he turned hunter and meat eater. When we visit ethnographical museums, we find that from 10 to 5000 years before Christ man fashioned spear heads and knives from flint, with which he killed animals, upon the meat of which he subsisted; and at such times he lived chiefly on meat and fish, only later becoming agriculturist and omnivorous in diet. Many believers in a sole vegetarian diet like to point to animals as an example, for these, they maintain, prosper on, and are contented with herbs. Let us follow up this statement and see what we find to be the case in the animal world. We maintain that the truth of the matter is that there are few animals of the nobler kind to be found among those existing on herbs. We find the monarchs of the animals among the carnivorous class, and if we take them as our example, the courage and valor of the lion will appeal to us far more forcibly than the cowardice and helplessness of the sheep. Energy gained by the addition of a certain amount of animal food does not exclude the nobler qualities peculiar to the human brain, freed from fads and fanaticism, and it is a valuable factor in combating the numerous vicissitudes of life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHAPTER XXXVIII. ON THE DANGERS OF A TOO ABUNDANT MEAT DIET—A FEW HINTS ON THE DIETETICS OF MEAT. MOST of us have experienced a feeling of heaviness after a dinner consisting of rich meat, and not infrequently there is also a sensation of drowsiness after it, which is not easy to overcome. The first may be due to the difficulty of digestion; but we may not experience this after taking even twice as much carbohydrate and green vegetable food. We know, from the observations on food already referred to, that meat is far more digestible, unless it contains much connective tissue and sinewy matter, than the majority of cereals and green vegetables, and especially fruit; and yet after a dinner of the latter we will not feel so heavy as after a meal in which we have taken a smaller amount of food, but of which the greater part was meat. This feeling of heaviness can, therefore, not be attributed to difficulty of digestion, and as there is, at the same time, a greater disinclination to work and a feeling of sleepiness after a meal with much meat than after one of vegetables alone, or of milk and vegetables, meat must, undoubtedly, have a more deleterious effect upon the central nervous system than have other kinds of food.