"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground." (Genesis 2:7)

This statement, incomprehensible to the human mind as it is, is most beautifully confirmed by chemical analysis. At least it is proved, that the elements of the human system and the elements of the soil, taken anywhere on the surface of the earth, from the equator to the poles, are identical; and it is also proved that the "grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind,"(Genesis 1:11) which the earth brought forth before man was made, all are endowed with power to take from the soil these elements, one by one, and fit them to be received and appropriated directly to the supply of the human system, or indirectly accomplish the same purpose by being first appropriated by the " beast of the field and the fowl of the air,"(Genesis 2:19) and then in their flesh to furnish these necessary elements to man.

Geological evidence is conclusive that man was not made till this whole arrangement was perfected, so that wherever he chooses to live, — in Africa or Greenland, - he finds at hand food adapted to his wants in the climate in which he finds himself. But when we attempt to trace the process by which this complicated and beautiful arrangement was made for man, we are lost in wonder and admiration. The mineral elements, which constitute the great mass of the surface of the earth, all came originally from solid rock, and must have been produced by the slow process of disintegration, by which, by the action of heat, cold, and water, particle by particle it accumulated, age after age, till the great mass was formed which should afterwards become the place of deposit for water, salt, coal, &c., which man must have, and which also furnishes the fourteen different minerals which were to make a part of the human system.

And then ages of time more must have been required to produce the organic elements, which were formed by the growth and decay of plants and trees, which grew one after another, as the appropriate elements of soil were accumulated, and gave way in turn for more perfect vegetation, till organic elements had accumulated in sufficient quantity to supply the surface of the whole earth with all that should be needed for the composition and repair of the human system. Then other ages still were required to float these crudely mixed elements over the face of the earth, and so intimately mix them that some portion of every element necessary should be found in every foot of soil on the face of the earth.

And after all this preparation the world was not fitted for man till ages more of time were consumed in raising the hills and the mountains, so that the ocean might be formed and dry land appear, and mists, condensed into rain and dews, be collected in brooks and rivers, to carry the waters back to the ocean, to be again evaporated, and a supply be insured, and the atmosphere prepared with its due proportion of oxygen and nitrogen. And when all the fourteen necessary elements were prepared in the water, and the atmosphere, and the soil, and laws instituted by which they should be forever at his command and forever perpetuated, then man was made; and then, that he might never fail to be supplied with everything he should need, God gave him "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth," which, with " every herbe bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed,"(Genesis 1:26-28) should all contain the necessary elements, so that any one of them would sustain life.

Having thus bountifully provided for every contingency of climate or circumstance, he gave man a test by which he could select that which would be appropriate and reject that which would be injurious — that article which contained the proper elements rightly organized and adapted to his condition at any time, the appetite would demand and the palate and stomach receive gratefully and pleasantly; while that which was not organized according to this plan, or had afterwards become disorganized, or contained the wrong elements, or the right elements in wrong proportions, should offend the taste, and be rejected with disgust; or, if forced into the stomach, should cause an excitement, by efforts to get rid of it, which would be more or less poisonous or injurious according to the degree of harm which it was adapted to do the system. For example, sugar contains important elements rightly organized to supply the system with requisite heat, and it is pleasant to the healthy palate, and gratefully received in proper quantities by the stomach when needed; but alcohol, which is sugar decomposed, and which contains the same elements in the same proportions, is offensive to the natural taste, and if forced on the stomach, produces an immediate excitement, which is injurious and poisonous to the organs engaged in the effort to resist it.

Fish, which was prepared with all the elements rightly organized, and in right proportions to be appropriate food, is pleasant to the taste when properly cooked, and is gratefully received and quickly digested; but being exposed to a hot sun for a single hour, and disorganization or decomposition commencing, it becomes disgusting and poisonous. Phosphorus, which is valuable and necessary food for the brain, &c., when organized in fish, or peas, or oat-meal, &c., is, when once disorganized, a virulent poison; and thus in physiology as in ethics, "in keeping the commandments there is great reward." To obey the simple laws of our being is to enjoy eating, and the health, vigor, and happiness which come from the appropriate exercise of all our functions and faculties; while to seek to enhance our enjoyment by unnatural combinations of food is to clog the appetite, to lose all real enjoyment in eating, and to burden the system with untold miseries, to be suffered through life and transmitted to children " to the third and fourth generation."

If science in farming is important, as it is proved to be, may not science in eating be more important?

The scientific farmer analyzes his soil, and ascertains what elements it contains; then analyzes his grains and vegetables, and ascertains what elements they require; then analyzes the different manures and composts, and ascertains which contains, in the best combination, the elements to be supplied. This gives him an immense advantage over the unscientific farmer, who, not knowing the requirements of his soil, wastes his compost by using many materials not necessary, and too large a supply of elements that may be necessary, while many important elements will be omitted altogether.

I propose, upon the same principles, to give an analysis of the human system, - show the elements it contains, and the necessity for their constant supply, — and then to give an analysis of the food which Nature has furnished for the supply of these necessities; and I think it can be readily proved that as the scientific farmer has advantages in point of economy, the scientific eater has not only advantages in economy of living, but vastly greater advantages in the enjoyment of health and happiness. And as a matter of economy, it can be shown that in Boston and other cities more than half the expense of food is lost by want of adjustment of the proportions of requisite elements, just as all the expense of guano would be lost on the land already supplied with phosphorus and ammonia.

Classification of Food.

The fourteen elements and seventeen combinations of these elements are all being consumed every day, and, therefore, must be supplied in food, or in the atmosphere, or in water. Food may be divided into three classes.

That class which supplies the lungs with fuel, and thus furnishes heat to the system, and supplies fat or adipose substance, &c., we shall call Carbonates, carbon being the principal element; that which supplies the waste of muscles, we shall call Nitrates, nitrogen being the principal element; and that which supplies the bones, and the brain, and the nerves, and gives vital power, both muscular and mental, we shall call the Phosphates, phosphorus being the principal element. These last might be subdivided into the fixed and the soluble phosphates, - the fixed being a combination principally with lime to form the bones, and the soluble being combinations with potash and soda, to work the brain and nerves; but our analyses as yet are too imperfect to allow a subdivision, and as all the mineral elements are more or less combined with each other, and all reside together in articles of food, we shall include all mineral elements under the term Phosphates.

The waste, and consequently the supply, of these three classes of elements, is very different, four times as much carbonaceous food being required as nitrogenous, and of the phosphates not more than two per cent. of the carbonates. Altogether, the waste of these principles will average in a man of moderate size, with moderate heat, more than one pound in a day, varying very much according to the amount of exercise and the temperature in which he lives. These elements must all be supplied in vegetable or animal food, not one being allowed to become a part of the system unless it has been first organized with other elements of food, in some vegetable, or in water, or the atmosphere; but being appropriated by some animal, remain organized and adapted to the human system, so that animal and vegetable food contain the same elements in the same proportions and nearly the same chemical combinations, and are equally adapted to supply all necessary elements.

The Phosphates, in both animal and vegetable food, are found inseparably connected with the nitrates, none being found in any of the carbonates, and generally in the proportion of from two to three per cent. of all the principles in vegetable, and from three to five in animal food.

The Carbonates of both animal and vegetable food are chemically alike — fat, sugar, and starch, all being composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen, and in about the same chemical combinations and proportions.

The Nitrates, also Albumen, Gluten, Fibrin, and Casein, are alike in chemical combinations and elements, being composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen, and a little carbon not digestible.