In other words, there was a close approach to what the physiologist calls nitrogenous equilibrium. In fact, it will be noted that on several days the nitrogen output was slightly less than the nitrogen taken in. We are, therefore, apparently justified in saying that the above diet, simple though it was in variety, and in quantity far below the usually accepted requirement, was quite adequate for the needs of the body. In this connection it may be asked, what were the needs of the body during this seven days' period? This is obviously a very important point. Can a man on such a diet, even though it suffices to keep up body-weight and apparently also physiological equilibrium, do work to any extent? Will there be under such condition a proper degree of fitness for physical work of any kind? In order to ascertain this point, the subject was invited to do physical work at the Yale University Gymnasium, and placed under the guidance of the director of the gymnasium, Dr. William G. Anderson. The results of the observations there made are here given, taken verbatim from Dr. Anderson's report to the writer.

On the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th of February, 1903,1 gave to Mr. Horace Fletcher the same kind of exercises we give to the Varsity Crew. They are drastic and fatiguing and cannot be done by beginners without soreness and pain resulting. The exercises he was asked to take were of a character to tax the heart and lungs, as well as to try the muscles of the limbs and trunk. I should not give these exercises to Freshmen on account of their severity.

Mr. Fletcher has taken these movements with an ease that is unlooked for. He gives evidence of no soreness or lameness, and the large groups of muscles respond the second day without evidence of being poisoned by Carbon dioxide. There is no evidence of distress after or during the endurance test, i. e., the long run. The heart is fast but regular. It comes back to its normal beat quicker than does the heart of other men of his weight and age.

The case is unusual, and I am surprised that Mr. Fletcher can do the work of trained athletes and not give marked evidences of over-exertion. As I am in almost constant training I have gone over the same exercises, and in about the same way, and have given the results for a standard of comparison. [The figures are not given here].

My conclusion, given in condensed form, is this: Mr. Fletcher performs this work with greater ease and with fewer noticeable bad results than any man of his age and condition I have ever worked with.

To appreciate the full significance of this report, it must be remembered that Mr. Fletcher had for several months past taken practically no exercise other than that involved in daily walks about town.

In view of the strenuous work imposed during the above four days, it is quite evident that the body had need of a certain amount of nutritive material. Yet the work was done without apparently drawing upon any reserve the body may have possessed. The diet, small though it was, and with only half the accepted requirement in fuel value, still sufficed to furnish the requisite energy. The work was accomplished with perfect ease, without strain, without the usual resultant lameness, without taxing the heart or lungs, and without loss of body-weight. In other words, in Mr. Fletcher's case at least, the body machinery was kept in perfect fitness without the consumption of any such quantities of fuel as has generally been considered necessary.

Just here it may be instructive to observe that the food consumed by Mr. Fletcher during this seven days' period - and which has been shown to be entirely adequate for his bodily needs during strenuous activity - cost eleven cents daily, thus making the total cost for the seven days seventy-seven cents ! If we contrast this figure with the amounts generally paid for average nourishment for a like period of time, there is certainly food for serious thought. Mr. Fletcher avers that he has followed his present plan of living for nearly five years; he usually takes two meals a day; has been led to a strong liking for sugar and carbohydrates in general and away from a meat diet; is always in perfect health, and is constantly in a condition of fitness for work. He practises thorough mastication, with more complete insalivation of the food (liquid as well as solid) than is usual, thereby insuring more complete and ready digestion and a more thorough utilisation of the nutritive portions of the food.

In view of these results, are we not justified in asking ourselves whether we have yet attained a clear comprehension of the real requirements of the body in the matter of daily nutriment? Whether we fully comprehend the best and most economical method of maintaining the body in a state of physiological fitness? The case of Mr. Fletcher, just described; the results noted in connection with certain Asiatic peoples; the fruitarians and;nutarians in our own country recently studied by Professor Jaffa, of the University of California; all suggest the possibility of much greater physiological economy than we as a race are wont to practise. If these are merely exceptional cases, we need to know it; but if, on the other hand, it is possible for mankind in general to maintain proper nutritive conditions on dietary standards far below those now accepted as necessary, it is time for us to ascertain that fact. For, if our standards are now unnecessarily high, then surely we are not only practising an uneconomical method of sustaining life, but we are subjecting ourselves to conditions the reverse of physiological, and which must of necessity be inimical to our well-being. The possibility of more scientific knowledge of the natural requirements of a healthy nutrition is made brighter by the fact that the economic results noted in connection with our metabolism examination of Mr. Fletcher is confirmatory of similar results obtained under the direction and scrutiny of Sir Michael Foster at the University of Cambridge, England, during the autumn and winter of last year; and by Dr. Ernest Van Someren, Mr. Fletcher's collabora-leur, in Venice, on subjects of various ages and of both sexes, some account of which has already been presented to the British Medical Association and to the International Congress of Physiologists at its last meeting at Turin, Italy. At the same time emphasis must be laid upon the fact that no definite and positive conclusions can be arrived at, except as the result of careful experiments and observations on many individuals covering long periods of time.

This, however, the writer hopes to do in the very near future, with the cooperation of a corps of interested observers.

The problem is far-reaching. It involves not alone the individual, but society as a whole, for beyond the individual lies the broader field of the community, and what proves helpful for the one will eventually react for the betterment of society, and for the improvement of mankind in general.