It is the practise in some oriental and European countries to "hang" poultry for a few days before they are eaten. This process, as in the case of ripened meats, is simply one of partial decay. The enzymotic action taking place in the meat is arrested only by the process of cold storage. Decomposition proceeds slowly until it reaches that point when it is pronounced high-flavored and "ripened." This is very largely practised in this country at the present time. It is a custom that is instinctively condemned by everyone from the standpoint of both hygiene and aestheticism. The people should demand and force Congress to pass a law labeling all cold storage meats with the date of slaughter, and all canned meats with the date of packing.
[Sidenote: Slaughter of game as sport, a step backward]
What is true of domestic poultry is also true of all wild game. The amount of actual food contributed to the world by the slaughter of game is exceedingly small. A similar quantity of domestic food could be produced at one-tenth the cost of time and labor, without slaughtering the wild creatures of our forests. The popularity of hunting as a sport, and the idea that the flesh of all wild animals is a rare and dainty article of diet, is merely an illustration of anthropoid inheritance. It is a step backward toward savagery instead of forward toward a higher civilization.
Eggs and milk occupy a unique place in the catalog of foods. The purpose for which they were produced in nature throws much light upon their value as food.
[Sidenote: Every form of life exists for itself alone]
As will be learned from the lesson, "Evolution of Man," no living creature exists for the sole benefit of other creatures, but because once created, the inherent struggle of all living matter to survive and to reproduce itself has evolved wonderful and various adaptations. Every organic substance is primarily produced in nature for a specific purpose in the life of its species. The lumber in our houses owes its existence to the plant's struggle for sunlight, which made it necessary for the tree to possess a strong storm-withstanding stem to hold aloft its leaves above the shade of other foliage.
The leaves and the stems of grass are primarily an essential part of the life of the plant, and not food for animals. The greater part of the human food of plant origin represents in nature the nutrient material supplied by the parent plant for the early life of the seedling. All grains, nuts, fruits and roots, and tubers are merely modified forms of food material adapted to the rapid nourishment of the young plant.
