rcise much less, may so embarrass
their liver and kidneys as to create accumulations of waste products in
the blood sufficient to cause rheumatic twinges. The vast majority,
however, of the sufferers from chronic rheumatism, like those from the
acute form, are underfed rather than overfed, and a liberal and abundant
dietary, including plenty of red meats, eggs, fresh butter, green
vegetables, and fresh fruits, will improve their nutrition and diminish
their tendency to the attacks.

There appears to be absolutely no rational foundation for the popular
belief that red meats cause rheumatism, either from the point of view of
practical experience, or from that of chemical composition. We now know
that white meats of all sorts are quite as rich in those elements known
as the purin bodies, or uric-acid group, as red meats, and many of them
much richer. It may be said in passing, that this last-mentioned bugbear
of our diet-reformers is now believed to have nothing whatever to do
with rheumatism, and probably very little with gout, and that the
ravings of Haig and the Uric-Acid School generally are now thoroughly
discredited. Certainly, whenever you see any remedy or any method of
treatment vaunted as a cure for rheumatism, by neutralizing or washing
out uric acid, you may safely set it down as a fraud.

One rather curious and unexpected fact should, however, be mentioned in
regard to the relation of diet to rheumatism, and that is that many
rheumatic patients have a peculiar susceptibility to some one article of
food. This may be a perfectly harmless and wholesome thing for the vast
majority of the species, but to this individual it acts as a poison and
will promptly produce pains in the joints, redness, and even swelling,
sometimes accompanied by a rash and severe disturbances of the digestive
tract. The commonest offenders form a curious group in their apparent
harmlessness, headed as they are by strawberries, followed by
raspberries, cherries, bananas, oranges; then clams, crabs, and oysters;
then cheese, especially overripe kinds; and finally, but very rarely,
certain meats, like mutton and beef. What is the cause of this curious
susceptibility we do not know, but it not infrequently occurs with this
group of foods in rheumatics and also in asthmatics.

Both rheumatics and asthmatics are also subject to attacks of urticaria
or "hives" (nettle-rash), from these and other special articles of diet.

As to principles of t