this rock should be finely pulverized and used as a compost to assist in
restoring and maintaining the original fertility of the soil and thus
aid the development of healthy plant and animal life.

Indeed the instincts of both animals and human beings lead them under
certain conditions right back to the rock and its lesson. Note the
avidity with which hens confined in arid runs devoid of vegetation,
worms, insects and small stones devour a compound of lime and ground
bones and oyster shells. Observe a child whose ration is deficient in
mineral elements eating egg shells, wall plaster, chalk and other earthy
substances. What do these things mean? Nothing more than this: both
chicken and child express a natural craving for the essential elements
to build bone and form the basis for the tissue.

I have discussed the important part the minerals play in both the
vegetable and animal kingdoms for the purpose of laying stress upon our
great need of more of them in our daily diet, and I may add that this is
equally as true in the case of those we call healthy as of those who are
diseased. No matter how carefully the diet may be regulated as regards
the quantity of protein and carbohydrates and fats and the ratio between
them, healthy metabolism is impossible without a sufficiency of the
essential minerals.


II.

How can we perform this imperative duty to mankind?

The solution of the problem of supplying these essential minerals
demands that our soil shall be properly fertilized for the growing of