Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, September 26, 1891Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 821, September 26, 1891
Various
Science -- Periodicals
Bischoff, Voit, and Hermann have shown that water increases, not alone
the elimination of urine, but also of sodium chloride, phosphoric acid,
etc. Grigoriantz observed augmentation of disintegration when the
quantity of beverage exceeded forty-six to eighty ounces ("1,400 to
2,400 cubic centimeters") per diem. Oppenheim, Fraenkel, and Debove,
while believing water has but little influence upon the exchanges, admit
it certainly need not diminish the latter; and Debove and Flament, after
administering water in quantities varying from two to eight pints per
diem, concluded that urine was diminished below the former figure, while
above the latter it increased somewhat, being dependent upon the amount
ingested. It was on the strength of the foregoing that Lallemand
declared water to have no influence upon the exchanges.
The results claimed by Oppenheim, Debove, et al. were immediately
challenged--and it is now generally admitted, not without some
justice--by Germain See. It seems certain, to say the least, that water
taken during the repast does tend to augment the quantity and facilitate
the elimination of urine. Abundance of beverage, moreover, presents
other advantages, in that it facilitates digestion by reason of its
diluent action, a fact well worth bearing in mind when treating the
obese who are possessed of gouty diathesis, and whose kidneys are
accordingly encumbered with uric and oxalic acids. The foregoing
presents the ground upon which Germain See permits an abundance of
beverage; but he also expresses strong reservation as regards beer and
alcohol, either of which (more especially the former) tends to the
production of adipose. In his opinion, the only beverage of the
alcoholic class that is at all permissible, and then only for cases
suffering from fatty heart, is a little _liqueur_ or diluted wine.
Coffee and tea he commends highly, and recommends the ingestion of large
quantities at high temperature, both during the repasts and their
intervals. Coffee in large doses is undoubtedly a means of de-nutrition,
and so, too, in no less extent, is tea; both act vigorously owing to the
contained alkaloids, though, to be sure, they sometimes, at first, tend
to insomnia and palpitation, to which no attention need be paid,
however. The treatment outlined by See is:
1. A physiological regimen comprising four to five ounces of nitrogenous
principles as derived from eight to ten ounces animal muscle and
albuminates; three to six ounces of fat; eight to ten ounces of
hydrocarbons as yielded by ten to twelve ounces of sugar or starch food.
These proportions to be modified in such manner that the
musculo-albuminates shall not sensibly exceed the normal ratio, for meat
in excess itself furnishes fat during transformation. The fatty
substances of easy digestion may, without inconvenience, be utilized in
doses of two to three ounces. The hydrocarbons should be reduced to a
minimum. As for the herbaceous elements, they contain nothing nutritive.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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