and must be replaced by the food we eat and the water we drink.Therefore, it is obvious that in order to maintain the humanbody in a healthy state it is necessary that we eat the rightfoods in the right combinations, and drink the right water.From a biological standpoint human beings may be classifiedinto well-defined groups according to the geographical areasin which the individuals are born and live. This is so becausethe food that is eaten, and the water that is drunk, varyconsiderably in chemical content according to the geographicalarea in which the food is grown and the water is formed. Forexample, a given cereal, or vegetable, or fruit that is grownin one type of soil will vary greatly in its chemical compositionfrom the same kind of cereal, vegetable, or fruit that may begrown in a widely different type of soil.Similarly, water that flows through the earth in a givengeographical area will contain in solution, or otherwise, differentchemicals which it derives from the earth through which it flowsand these chemicals will vary in character and combinations ineach geographical area.It is clearly understandable, therefore, that persons born andliving in one geographical area with its particular type of soiland water will eat foods and drink water containing differentamounts of different chemicals than persons living in othergeographical areas that may be widely separated. Inasmuch aswe are what we eat and drink, human beings will vary mentally,physically and emotionally, according to the geographical areain which they are born and live.*For the purposes of this book, the words "fluoride" and "fluorine"are to be considered as being synonymous.1---2Some of the chemical elements found in food and water arenecessary to the maintenance and welfare of the human body sinceeach is needed to replace the same element which is a necessaryconstituent of the body. Other chemicals found in food and waterare not necessary in the economy of the body as they are notnormal bodily constituents.The chemical plan and mechanism of the body, under normalconditions, selects those chemical elements in food and waterwhich are necessary to its maintenance, and rejects and disposesof the chemical elements that are not necessary to its normalfunctioning.It has been noticed that natives living in certain geographicalregions, particularly in central Africa, parts of southern Europe,Mongolia and southwestern China, and in some sections of centraland southwestern United States, have mottled and ugly teeth. Thisphenomenon has puzzled scientists for many centuries and, fromtime to time, efforts have been made to determine the cause ofmottled teeth, but it was not until 1931 that the true cause ofendemic mottling of tooth enamel was definitely established.Prior to 1931 fluorine, a chemical of the halogen group, whichis an abundant constituent of the earth's crust in certain