There is no more important branch of the United States Government than that which protects the health of its citizens. The custom among some nations of retaining a physician to _maintain_ the health of the family rather than to _regain_ it, to _avoid_ disease rather than to _cure_ it, has its distinct advantages. We should not be satisfied with anything less than perfect health and we are beginning to realize that this perfect health is a possibility for almost every individual. In the maintenance of health, as well as in the cure of disease, diet is often more important than drugs. To-day, scientific knowledge of hygiene and of food values is within the reach of all, and every mother and teacher may learn how to guard the health of those in her charge. It is necessary to know the comparative values of foods as nutrient agents, in order to maintain our bodies in health and strength, and with economy of digestive effort, as well as efficiency. There is no study, therefore, more important than that of bodily nutrition, which comprises not only the right proportion of food and drink, but also the manner in which they must be prepared in order to yield the best returns under varying conditions—age, employment, health, and sickness. The body is certainly a marvelous machine! It is self-building, self-repairing, and, to a degree, self-regulating. It appropriates to its use foodstuffs for growth and for repair. It eliminates its waste. It supplies the energy for rebuilding, and eliminating this waste. It directs its own emotions. It supplies the energy for these emotions. It discriminates in the selection of food and casts out refuse and foodstuffs not needed. It forms brain cells and creates mental force with which to control the organism. It keeps in repair the nerves, which are the telegraph wires connecting the brain with all parts of the body. It converts the potential energy in the food into heat with which to keep itself warm. Withal it is not left entirely free to do its work automatically. It has within it a higher intelligence, a spiritual force, which may definitely hamper its workings by getting a wrong control of the telegraph wires, thus interfering with the digestion, the heart action, the lungs, and all metabolic changes. The right exercise of this higher intelligence, in turn, depends on the condition of the body, because when the mechanism of the body is out of repair it hampers mental and spiritual control. About one-third of the food eaten goes to maintain the life of the body in its incessant work of repairing and rebuilding, the remaining two-thirds being held in reserve for other activities.