[12] _Chemical Composition of American Food Materials_, Atwater and Bryant, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bull. 28. [13] _Experiments on Losses in Cooking Meats_ (1900-03), Grindley, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bull. 141. [14] Laboratory number of specimen, as per _Experiments on Losses in Cooking Meats_. CHAPTER X DIET IN ABNORMAL CONDITIONS In the dietetic treatment of any disordered organ, the object must be to give that organ as much rest from its regular work as is consistent with keeping up the general nutrition of the system. The stomach and intestines and liver are so closely allied that, when one is affected, the others are liable to affection also, and the dietetic treatment is regulated accordingly. In abnormal conditions it is necessary to say that the food must be regulated according to the case. Yet, broadly speaking, a diet largely of protein, which is digested in the stomach, rests the intestines and stimulates the liver, and a diet largely of carbohydrates rests the stomach, because the gastric juice is not active in starch digestion. When the body is not in normal condition, because certain elements are lacking in the blood, these elements must be supplied in larger proportions in the food, and the case is one for a food chemist, or for one who has made food conditions a study. The better medical colleges, recognizing the importance of proper food in health and disease, have in the last few years broadened their curriculum to include the subject of dietetics. Educated physical culturists and food specialists, for the correction of deranged conditions of the system, due to poor circulation and abnormal nerve and blood conditions, are doing much of the corrective work, due to the fact that instruction has not been given in the medical colleges. Diets for the reduction of an abnormal amount of fat must also be governed according to the individual condition. In the early stages of various diseases, when toxins are being produced, as a rule the system is not properly eliminating the waste, and it is often advisable to abstain from food for from one to three days, according to conditions. Brisk exercise, deep breathing, and a free use of water are desirable. A laxative is often recommended. The diets given here for abnormal conditions are to enable those in charge of an invalid to gain an intelligent understanding of the needs of the system and to supply those needs through the proper foods. In serious cases, however, special diets will be ordered by the medical attendant to suit the needs of the individual. A chemical analysis of the blood and the excretions is often the only method of determining just the diet in the individual case. Government chemical laboratories in charge of efficient chemists should be so located as to be accessible to every physician.