--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Cannon, C. Y. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 27 number: 3 published: 1924-01 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: "C. Y. Cannon, “New Proof for the “Word of Wisdom”,” *Improvement Era 27, no. 3 (January 1924)*: 244–245." source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2703unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2703unse start_page: 244 end_page: 245 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1924-01) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2703unse publication_year: 1924 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1924, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # New Proof for the “Word of Wisdom” NEW PROOF FOR THE "WORD OF WISDOM" By C. Y. Cannon, Dept. of Animal Husbandry, Brigham Young University That there is a fundamental and scientific basis for the "Word of Wisdom," as enunciated by Joseph Smith, has often been shown, and recent experiments on a phase of the subject dealt with in the revelation, which is not so commonly discussed, bear an interesting re- lationship to the famous doctrine of the Latter-day Saint. Section 89:14-17 of the Doctrine and Covenants reads as follows: All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth. All grain is good for the food of man, as also the fruit of the vine, that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground. Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats fo: the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and mild drinks, as also other grain. It is noted from these verses that all grains can be used both for man or for beast, but certain grains are best for certain animals. The 1 7th verse says that specifically wheat is for man, corn for the ox, oats for the horse, and rye for fowls and swine. In the light of this very definite statement a series of experiments carried out by the Experiment Station, at Madison, Wisconsin, (Wis. Bui. 275) are extremely interesting. These experiments deal with only certain phases of the statement above cited but the results are quite conclusive. Swine were fed on a ration that was composed, in a large measure, of wheat. After about nine months on this ration they began to lose weight, finally showing difficulty in moving about, labored breathing, and muscular twitching. The motor cells of the spinal cord were shrunken, surrounded by fluid, and appeared to be under pressure, a condition similar to that produced in beri-beri. In beri-beri these effects are due to a deficiency of the vitamin water soluble, while in these cases it was due to the poison in the wheat embryo. Although in this experiment the swine were not fed rye alone to see the effect it would have on them, still the experiment distinctly shows that wheat fed alone over long periods of time, is not healthful for swine. In experiments with chickens fed on wheat, there was an increase in the death rate, and when on corn the death rate appeared slightly larger, although the ones that lived in both cases appeared healthy and vigorous and laid fertile eggs. It must be noted here that the death rate was large and that in another experiment involving young chickens, only about 5/6 of the chickens survived the experiment. It would NEW PROOF FOR THE "WORD OF WISDOM" 245 appear then that neither of these grains gave ideal results. In the poultry producing section of Belgium it is customary to feed the fowls almost exclusively on a rye diet, and the results obtained are very favorable. Undoubtedly work along this line will be done in the future and we can watch for the results with considerable interest. No work in this series of experiments was done with oats and horses, still it is the consensus of opinion that this is the best horse feed known. The work with cows is probably most significant, for it was done with both wheat and corn. Let me quote from the authors of this bulletin, "In all the work a chemically balanced ration from the wheat plant and its product has never produced normal calves, while a ration from the corn plant has always produced vigorous offspring." When the products of the wheat plant alone were fed, the calves were born blind and weak and lived only a short time. It seemed that the effect of feeding wheat was cumulative in the cows, for when the effect did not show at first, it always showed at the next birth. Products from the corn plant on the other hand, proved extremely successful in the production of vigorous calves for in no case in these trials did it fail. It must not be concluded from the results here indicated that it is bad practice to feed other grains than the particular ones to the par- ticular animals as given in the quotation from the revelation by Joseph Smith, for "All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts." These experiments do prove that when a ration is balanced entirely from one single grain plant the results on the animals were disastrous, except in the one case where corn was fed to cows. A contemplation of these things ought to fill one with a greater faith in the inspiration of Joseph Smith, and this great revelation on the "Word of Wisdom." Ptovo, Utah. i I Books We have received from the Brigham Young University Extension Division Circular No. 1 entitled, "Suggestions on Plays and Their Produc- tion," by T. Earl Pardoe, professor of public speaking and dramatic art of this institution. The twenty-four-page pamphlet is very helpful on the sub- ject that it treats and should be of great value to members of the M. I. A. who contemplate producing plays during the season. A great part of the pamphlet is devoted to the naming of plays of one-act, more than one-act, oriental plays, books about plays and the theatre, play publishers, costumes, and make-up, language on the stage, for dramatic students and other infor- mation. There is also a list of plays that may be borrowed from the Uni- versity for reading purposes only, which must be returned within ten days. This ought to be a great help to those who are hunting for the right kind of plays to be produced.