The Pedestrian's Record

THE PEDESTRIAN'S RECORD. 53 distillation, if it may so be called, during its opera­ tion is hidden from the eyes of man, and is involved somewhat in mystery, and, therefore, the various changes effected, and how they are brought about, are left to physiologists to discover by experiment; but, although such is the case, still it is a well-esta­ blished fact that starch, when within the system during the function of digestion, becomes sugar, and is finally deposited throughout the tissues of the body in the form of fat. That sugar existed natur­ ally in the liver, and was abundant during digestion, was long since proved by Magendie, but it remained for Bernard and Henson to discover the existence of a sugar-producing substancein that organ, which, under the influence of saliva and blood, possessed the power of converting starch and similar sub­ stances into sugar ; and from the experiments of Bernard and Lehmann on dietary, we learn that this sugar-producing material is obtained from nitro­ genous food, such as meat, eggs, etc. ; but is greatly increased in amount by a non-nitrogenous diet, such as potatoes, bread, beer, &c.,which amount of increase Dr. Parry estimated at nearly double. Bernard con­ siders this transformation of starch into sugar the result of fermentation. The above is a superficial consideration of foods, concerning which all athletes should possess a certain amount of knowledge, and will serve, it is hoped, as a slight guide to the dietary training table. From it will be recognized what kind of aliment each