The Natural Food of Man: Being an attempt to prove from comparative anatomy, physiology, chemistry and hygiene, that the original, best and natural diet of man is fruit and nuts — John Shaqi
The Natural Food of Man: Being an attempt to prove from comparative anatomy, physiology, chemistry and hygiene, that the original, best and natural diet of man is fruit and nutsCarrington, Hereward
Science
The Natural Food of Man: Being an attempt to prove from comparative anatomy, physiology, chemistry and hygiene, that the original, best and natural diet of man is fruit and nuts
Carrington, Hereward
Food; Vegetarianism
Moreover, the eye-teeth of the anthropoid apes are of a totally
different character from the canine teeth of the carnivora. The former
are small and stout, and somewhat triangular; while the latter are
long, round and slender. It is a noteworthy fact that the anthropoid
eye-tooth is rough and cartilaginous at the point of contact between
the external tooth and the gum, while that of the carnivora at the same
point is smooth and sharp. The eye-tooth of the anthropoids is adapted
for use in cracking nuts and the like, while those of the carnivora are
exclusively employed in seizing and tearing flesh. Professor Nicholson,
in his “Manual of Zoology,” pp. 604-605, says of the anthropoid apes:
“The canine teeth of the males are long, strong and pointed, but this
is not the case with the females. The structure, therefore, of the
canine teeth is to be regarded in the light of a sexual peculiarity,
and not as having any connection with the nature of the food.”
The teeth of man are inferior in strength to those of the anthropoid
apes, but the cause of this is to be sought not so much in their
original character as in the fact that they have been weakened and
degenerated by the use of cooked food for thousands of years.
It may perhaps be objected that anthropoid apes, which have been cited
as typical frugivorous animals, are not so much so as I have contended;
that, while their _chief_ food is doubtless fruits and nuts, they do
occasionally feed upon all kinds of substances—roots, insects, small
animals when they can catch them, etc. Thus Professor Robert Hartmann
in his “Anthropoid Apes” p. 255 says:
“Although they are for the most part content with vegetable diet,
gibbons sometimes eat animal food, such as lizards; and Bennet saw a
siamang seize and devour one of these animals whole.... They do not,
however, display the keenness of scent and quickness of sight which
distinguish some animals of a lower order; such as canine beasts of
prey and ruminants manifest in many different ways.” (p. 256).
Now, it will be noticed in the above connection that (1) these
apes are, by reason of their peculiar anatomical and physiological
construction, incapable of competing with the carnivora for food of
that character—and hence naturally disqualified to live upon it; and
(2) these animals do not _naturally_ live upon this food by choice,
when other and, to them, more natural food is forthcoming. Only in the
last stages of hunger do they resort to food of this nature, which they
are obviously driven to by extremity, and are disqualified to eat by
reason of their peculiar construction. An animal can be driven to eat
anything if he is hungry enough. That does not prove that what he eats
is his natural food, nevertheless! Instinct, and other considerations,
must determine that.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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