Sugar and salt are excellent examples of the sapid, readily diffusible condiment so essential to our table, yet so invariably used to excess. We need about two teaspoonfuls of common salt a day--especially those who enjoy the vegetarian diet. Most vegetables are rich in potassium. This inorganic substance combines with sodium chloride, and is eliminated from the body. Consequently, the greater the amount of potassium in our food, the greater will be the loss of sodium chloride from the blood and the tissues, where it is an essential element, with the resultant need of an increased supply in our diet. Where there is an insufficient use of salt, there is a manifest disinclination to partake of the large variety of earth's products rich in potassium. But we are accustomed to the use of far more salt with our food than is necessary; and in excess, it is positively harmful, and the results of its use are serious. Sugar is a pure carbohydrate; yet, by reason of its nature and use, it must be classed as a condiment. It, too, when used freely, brings on gastrointestinal catarrh through its direct irritant action, and affords unexcelled media for the growth of intestinal flora. _Stimulants_ There are practically four strong stimulants to which civilized people are addicted; namely, alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee. Of the action of all, it may be said that the fatigue of nerve and brain is soothed by a spur. That is the work of a stimulant,--to goad the worn system to added effort, to produce an abnormal, false energy. Thus the individual is led on to a state of actual exhaustion without a warning note from his fatigued system. His energy is actually dissipated rather than increased. The results are shown in his heart, his nervous system, and his eliminative organs. Admiral Peary, speaking of the use of coffee in the rations of polar explorers, states that with the added effect of intense cold, it so stimulates the nerves as to cause the men to exhaust themselves, and soon wear out, by doing more than they can endure. The actual extent of injury from the moderate use of tea and coffee has not been scientifically determined. The difficulty is, as Irving Fisher states it, "Sensitive people do not keep moderate." A little unnatural stimulation calls for a little more, and the tendency is to create a demand for something stronger. Fisher has truthfully declared that to abstain is much easier than to be moderate.