This book was written originally for "A System of Physiologic Therapeutics" so ably planned and edited by Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen. The title given to this series of treatises devoted to nonmedicinal therapeutics has been generally adopted as the best and most expressive for the methods discussed. At the time of its appearance the information contained in it could not be found in any other one place, and it has aided in calling forth much valuable study and many useful publications. This volume was devoted to a subject which had been written upon frequently but by few American authors with as much fullness.

In revising it much of it has been rewritten and additions have been made to almost every subject discussed in it. This was made necessary by additions to our knowledge of physiology and of the management of diseases by diet. Moreover, the presentation of this volume to the public independent of its original setting in "A System of Physiologic Therapeutics" has made some changes necessary.

A description of the principles of dietetics has been attempted, as well as a full and practical consideration of the problems of diet and their solution in health and in the most important diseases.

It is hoped that by explaining the principles and the limitations of dietetic treatment in each disease it will be easy for physicians and nurses to construct appropriate menus for individual patients.

N. S. Davis.

Chicago, 8 East Huron St.

Preface To First Edition

It has been my aim to make as practical a book upon dietetics as possible. For that reason the diet best suited in individual diseases has been described fully under the heading of each ailment, although this has necessitated some repetition. The preservation of health is of as much importance as the treatment of the sick, and in order that the food may be adapted to both these purposes the principles underlying its use must be understood. It has therefore seemed best to review the chemical and physiologic data concerning the nutritive and other qualities of various kinds of food; to discuss briefly their relations to the digestive organs and to the organism as a whole; and to trace many of the changes that food must undergo before it can be appropriated to the needs of the human system and prepared for elimination. The first part of this volume treats of these subjects, with such brevity as has seemed compatible with thoroughness. For a similar reason, in the section devoted to the consideration of diet for invalids, attention has been given to the causation of disease, especially as diet, and digestive and nutritional processes are related to it. Symptoms are described whenever it seems best in order to make clear the indications for dietetic and general hygienic treatment.

I wish to call special attention to the numerous studies of food and dietetics prosecuted under the auspices of the United States Department of Agriculture, and under the supervision of Professor Atwater. The value of these investigations is not fully appreciated by the medical profession, yet they constitute the most valuable original contributions to this subject that have emanated from America, and rank with the best studies made in other countries. I have, therefore, made numerous quotations from them. Use has been made also of standard works upon dietetics, and of monographs and case reports by various writers, to whom I thus make acknowledgment. I have likewise availed myself of the valuable analytic studies to be found in the recently published treatise of Hutchison on

"Food and the Principles of Dietetics," which came to hand while I was revising the manuscript of this volume. The recommendations made both as to diet for invalids and as to diet for persons in health under various conditions, are, however, largely based upon my own observation.

N. S. Davis, Jr. Chicago.