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 OUR DIGESTION; 
 
 OR, 
 
 MY JOLLY FRIEND'S SECRET. 
 
 BY 
 
 DIO LEWIS, A.M., M.D., 
 
 PRESIDENT OF THE "NORMAL INSTITUTE FOR PHYSICAL EDUCATION," AUTHOR OF 
 
 "new onaumofl rot men, woim and children," "weak lungs, 
 
 AND HOW TO MAKE THEM STRONG," " OUR GIRLS," ETC. ETC. 
 
 "Without health wo can enjoy no fortune, honors or riches, and all other 
 advantages ftl — IIii'Pocrates. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA AND BOSTON: GEO. MACLEAN. 
 
 CINCINNATI AND CHICAGO: E. HANNAFORD & CO. 
 
 NEW YORK: MACLEAN, GIBSON & CO. 
 
 1872. 
 

 \* 
 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the v.-ar 1872; by 
 
 DIO LEWIS, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 "VYestcott & Thomson*, Hzxry B. Ashmead, 
 
 Ftsreotypers and Electroti/pcrs, Phila. Printer, Philcu 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 Tins work upon digestion is dedicated to 
 
 those of my countrymen who are " all gone 
 
 in the pit of the stomach/ 1 with the kindest 
 
 wishes of 
 
 The Author. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 11 
 
 Our Digestion — Good Teeth very Beautiful — Why do our 
 Teeth Decay?— Curious Fact about Teeth . . . .17 
 
 Mastication — About the Physiology of Mastication — A 
 Lady I Knew — Conversation with a Woman — Practical 
 Conclusion about Mastication — Curious Facts about Masti- 
 cation in Animals 27 
 
 Sense of Taste 35 
 
 What Causes the Feeling of Hunger? . . , 36 
 The Animal and Vegetable Compared . . .40 
 
 Only One Stomach 43 
 
 Food — Wheat — Superfine Flour — Receipt for Good Bread — 
 Rye — Indian Corn — Barley — Oats — Rice — Beans and Peas 
 — Potatoes — Turnips, Carrots, Squashes, Parsnips, etc. — 
 Animal Food — Phosphorus a Source of Life— Phosphorus 
 in the Human Brain — Foods Rich in Phosphorus . . 45 
 
 The Food of the Ancients 58 
 
 The Best Food — How I helped Mr. Richards — Advice to 
 Mr. Richards — Silly Pride of Poor People — An Experi- 
 ment in Cheap Living — Story of Another Kind . . 62 
 Different Theories of Digestion — True Theory of Di- 
 gestion — Our Ignorance of the Vital Force — Another Fa- 
 mous Doctor 81 
 
 Sunshine and Digestion— Sleep and Digestion . . 89 
 
 l* 5 
 
6 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Corsets and Digestion 95 
 
 Necessity of Acids in Digestion 99 
 
 Helps to Digestion — Table Furniture — Flowers at Table 
 — Music at the Table — The Table and the Chairs — Conver- 
 sation at the Table — A Lawyers Experience — Striking 
 Experience of a Merchant — Another View of the Same 
 Picture — John Smith's Method — A Word in Conclusion . 101 
 
 Kegularity in Eating — Queer Feeding of Babies— How 
 Often shall Babies be Fed ?— Bottle-fed Babies . . .117 
 
 The Story of Young Samuel 126 
 
 Large Eaters — The Squire's Indigestion — Abernethy's 
 Keceipt for Indigestion — Fault-finding of the Stomach . 131 
 
 Excess in Eating— How Much shall I Eat ?— Two Meals a 
 Day — Illustration of One Law of Digestion — Let us Con- 
 sider . .139 
 
 Perhaps a Good Idea 1-31 
 
 Water — A Word about Wells— Lead and other Pipes . .134 
 
 Cold Drinks During Meals— What shall We Drink?— 
 Intoxicating Drinks — When to Drink Water . . .161 
 
 Mineral Waters — Boston Mineral Spring — More about a 
 Curious Prejudice — The Colonel's Gout — Tom Jones' 
 Spring — Have Mineral Waters no Value ? . . . .167 
 
 Tomatoes 183 
 
 Salt 188 
 
 Pastry 191 
 
 How Fat People may Get Themselves into Ship- 
 shape 192 
 
 How Thin People may Become Plump . . . .197 
 
 Noises in the Bowels 201 
 
 Colds 204 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Treatment of Waterbrash or Heartburn . . . 207 
 
 Curious Treatment of Dyspepsia 209 
 
 Starvation as a Cure for Dyspepsia .... 224 
 Biliousness — Cornaro's Testimony — Effects of Eating Too 
 Much — Other Interesting Historical Facts — Our Boarding- 
 Houses 227 
 
 Exercise Before Breakfast 251 
 
 Our Keservoir 255 
 
 Sympathy Between the Stomach and Other Parts 
 of the System — A Sick Brain a Cause of Dyspepsia . 262 
 
 Prevention of Disease — Other Ancient Authorities . . 270 
 
 Treatment of Diseases — Bronchitis — Consumption — Dys- 
 pepsia — Neuralgia — Disease is not a Thing — Popular Treat- 
 ment of Disease 279 
 
 Weight in the Stomach — "Weakness in the Stomach a 
 Prevention Against Other Maladies 290 
 
 Bad Breath— What are the Causes of Bad Breath ?— Sources 
 
 of Bad Breath 293 
 
 What We may Expect ....... 300 
 
 Mysterious Providence — An Illustrative Anecdote — A 
 
 Bad Lot . . . . • 30 i 
 
 Influence of Imagination . . . . .312 
 
 Alcoholic Drinks 314 
 
 Other and Secret Abuses 332 
 
 Tobacco and the Stomach— Excuses for Using Tobacco — 
 
 How Tobacco Hurts Man 33G 
 
 Our Cooks— Another Glimpse at the Picture— W T hy 
 not have Yankee Cooks ?— Success in Finding a Yankee 
 
 Cook 357 
 
 Keceipts for Good Foods 3G7 
 
8 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAG* 
 
 Our Kitchens ..-•■.« 385 
 
 Adulterations of Food — Adulterating Substances — Adul- 
 teration of Bread — Alum is Poisonous — Adulterations in 
 Tea — Adulterations of Coffee — Adulterations of Butter- 
 Adulterations of Honey — Pepper, Mustard and Cayenne — 
 Confectionery, Vinegar, Pickles, Preserved Fruit?, Meats 
 and Fish 387 
 
 Final Chat with the Reader 401 
 
PREFACE 
 
 When* this work was nearly written, my 
 good friend the publisher suggested the four 
 illustrations, which I am sure will please the 
 reader. It never occurred to me before, but it 
 is the true way to illustrate a health book. 
 
 The pages of such works are generally adorned 
 with pictures of cheerful stomachs and skeletons. 
 There is no more reason why a health book 
 should present these forbidding pictures than 
 that a love story should give views of the hero- 
 ine's diaphragm. These anatomical details 
 have no more connection with the health of the 
 body than they have with the health of the 
 soul. Reason as we may about the import- 
 ance and sacredness of the backbone, it pre- 
 sents, when separated from its surroundings, 
 a scraggy, spidery appearance. I think such 
 pictures have contributed not a little to the 
 unpopularity of health books. Why may not 
 a work upon this vital subject, in which every- 
 body is interested, be embellished and enlivened 
 by pleasant scene-pictures, which contribute so 
 
10 PREFACE. 
 
 much to the attractiveness of works upon ath- 
 letic sports, temperance, travels, etc.? It's a 
 capital idea. I shall not forget it. 
 
 I wish writers upon health would weave in 
 their favorite thoughts with the finest senti- 
 ments and passions. For several years I have 
 had in pickle a love-story in which the hero- 
 ine, instead of an "alabaster neck," " gazelle 
 eyes," "wealth of rippling hair," "tiny feet," 
 " fragile form," and all the rest of that rigma- 
 role, shall have good digestion, a strong back, 
 strong willing hands and feet, and be a brave, 
 earnest worker. 
 
 The great authoress of "Jane Eyre" dis- 
 penses with physical beauty, and gives us in 
 her heroine a plain, noble, moral character. 
 Why will not some of our novelists produce a 
 romance in which the fortunes of the heroine 
 shall turn upon the possession of remarkable 
 health ? It would prove an immense contribu- 
 tion to public interest in the subject. Indeed, 
 has not the greatest of French novelists already 
 given us one of the most thrilling characters 
 whose fortunes hinge upon the possession of 
 great physical strength ? 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There were seven of us in the party, and 
 we had been looking forward to the ascent of 
 the mountain for weeks. In our little company 
 was a New York surgeon — a born leader and a 
 person of uncommonly handsome physique. 
 
 His frail wife, who had determined that she 
 would not stay down in the valley while we 
 were up in the heavens, declared that if she 
 gave out, she would cling to the Doctor's back 
 and go to the very top. 
 
 "When within sight of the Halfway House, 
 we sat down by the roadside for our third 
 breathing-spell. The Doctor was blowing at a 
 great rate. 
 
 " Well, Doctor, what's the matter with you ?" 
 asked the Colonel. 
 
 " Oh, it's this miserable liver of mine ! A 
 man may look a very Hercules, but if his 
 
 11 
 
12 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 stomach and liver refuse to work, all the hick- 
 ory in his muscles is changed into basswood." 
 
 "Yes," exclaimed the little wife; "I believe 
 that is true. The Doctor had rheumatism for 
 years, still he kept up good courage and per- 
 formed an immense amount of work. But 
 just as soon as he was taken with this trouble 
 in his digestion, he lost all courage, and hasn't 
 seemed like himself since. Now everything 
 is a mountain to him." 
 
 "While you are talking, I am taking cold/' 
 groaned the Doctor; "] reckon we had better 
 pull on." 
 
 Arrived at the Hallway House, we drank 
 four bottles of the smallest beer I ever tasted, 
 and when "time" was called again, the Doctor 
 utterly refused to come to the scratch. 
 
 "It's no use," he said; 4i I can't go another 
 step." 
 
 "But," we exclaimed, "we will wait half an 
 hour for you; we can't go without you.' 1 
 
 " You may wait half an hour or half a year ; 
 it will make no difference. I tell you I can't 
 climb another inch." 
 
 " But, my dear husband, you certainly won't 
 

 -\NV>\\^^ ON V^C.-vV.e~'-^--' ^ 
 
 " This cursed tiling makes a dish-rag of a man."— P. 13. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 13 
 
 sit down here and prevent these friends, who 
 came by your invitation, from seeing what 
 they have been looking forward to for a whole 
 month ?" 
 
 "Of course, Mary, I am perfectly ashamed 
 and disgusted with myself, and if I had any- 
 thing else — if I had rheumatism or consumption 
 or an artificial leg, or anything else in the 
 world but indigestion — I would go on, but this 
 cursed thing makes a dish-rag of a'man." 
 
 I moved that we proceed, Doctor or no Doctor. 
 The little wife seconded the motion, and two 
 hours more saw us standing on the very 
 summit. 
 
 By dark we were again at the Halfway 
 House, where we concluded to remain for the 
 night. 
 
 Gathered in the little parlor, we listened to 
 the apology which the Doctor was disposed to 
 make for his break-down. He began with — 
 
 "Of course, Colonel, you are all disgusted 
 with my miserable fizzle, and I sha'n't try to 
 defend myself; though, if you had seen as 
 much as I have of the effects of dyspepsia, you 
 would need nothing more by way of apology 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 than the simple fact that there is a snarl in 
 my stomach and liver, 
 
 " If a man has consumption, he will keep up 
 good courage to the last: the very day he 
 dies he will tell you what he is going to do 
 when he gets well ; while if a man is dys- 
 peptic, he cries out, like the Frenchman, 'I 
 will drown ; nobody shall save me !' You see, 
 Colonel, the philosophy of the thing is this: 
 
 "A man's brain and muscles must be nour- 
 ished. That nourishment must come from his 
 stomach. Now, suppose the stomach is full of 
 acidity and gas? Then what? Well, just 
 look at me, and you will see what. Why, 
 Colonel, one year ago I had rheumatism so 
 badly that I could not move without suffering, 
 but if I had had that pain multiplied by ten 
 this morning, I would have gone with you if 
 every step had made me cry out. But dys- 
 pepsia takes all the ' tuck ' out of a man — not 
 only out of his body, but out of his soul. It 
 makes him mean, sneaking, utterly unreliable. 
 Colonel, I wouldn't trust a dyspeptic's hand in 
 my till. 
 
 " When my stomach and liver were healthy, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 I stood up like a man. Now I have no con- 
 fidence in myself; I can't look people in the 
 face ; my nerves are utterly unreliable ; in fact, 
 I left the city to escape professional responsi- 
 bilities which I felt were too much for me. 
 
 "You know, Colonel, I used to be in the 
 army: I was at Fortress Monroe fifteen months. 
 "When I saw the commissary officers distrib- 
 uting their stores to the men, I used to think 
 what a perfect illustration of the stomach in a 
 man's body this great commissary cellar is. 
 
 "Suppose this fortress were besieged. The 
 enemy attacks here to-day, there to-morrow. 
 "We lose a good many men, our hospitals are 
 full, but we have no thought of surrender. So 
 long as we have men to work a single gun, we 
 thunder defiance at them. But suppose the 
 rations give out. Now, no matter how many 
 men we have, day by day, hour by hour, our 
 courage oozes out, and at length we lie down 
 and let them come and take us. 
 
 " So, Colonel, it is with the stomach. You 
 may cut off a man's leg or his arm, you may 
 knock out a teacupful of his brains, you may 
 cut and carve him pretty freely, still, he will 
 
16 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 sing and laugh and keep his pluck, provided 
 his stomach and liver are on duty. But let 
 them fail, let the commissariat give out, let the 
 rations which the stomach should supply to 
 brain and muscle fail, the man will sneak away 
 or lie down and whine." 
 
 For years I have been watching and study- 
 ing the habits of my countrymen. We are a 
 nation of dyspeptics. I am sure I have come 
 to understand the reasons for it. 
 
 In this work I shall present the results of 
 my thirty years of observation and reflection 
 upon this vital subject. 
 
Our Digestion. 
 
 WANTED, by a South Carolina planter, a 
 wife. She must be under thirty years 
 of age, must have a good disposition and good 
 teeth. Address ." 
 
 The above advertisement I found in the 
 New York Herald, and thought it worth pre- 
 serving. 
 
 I know nothing of this wife-hunter, but 
 venture the opinion that he is an uncommonly 
 bright fellow, who has been using his eyes and 
 wits, and knows exactly what he wants. 
 
 Miss Flora. " A man ought to be ashamed 
 of himself to examine a woman's teeth as if he 
 were buying a horse !" 
 
 " Miss Flora, you may sneer as much as you 
 please; I tell you that man knows what he 
 is about !" 
 
 Miss Flora. " That's just all the sentiment 
 
 you men have about women. You study our 
 
 points, and having weighed and measured us, 
 
 2* u 
 
18 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 you look at our teeth, and then you decide 
 whether or not we will do." 
 
 " Miss Flora, you put the case too strong ; 
 but I will say that a man who, in selecting a 
 partner for life, pays no attention to the matter 
 of health, deserves to be condemned to spend 
 his life nursing an invalid." 
 
 This planter may be the most mercenary 
 wretch in existence, but his advertisement 
 shows nothing of it. He has noticed that good 
 teeth mean good digestion and a sweet breath. 
 Are not these important in a wife ? 
 
 Health is impossible without good digestion, 
 and good digestion is almost impossible without 
 good teeth. Bo you see the South Carolina 
 gentleman is, after all, on the right track. 
 
 Good Teeth very Beautiful. 
 
 I really don't blame the girls for talking in 
 the streets with their mouths wide open, for, 
 although sometimes they may not speak quite 
 so plainly, they do show their teeth to ad- 
 vantage ; and especially when they give one of 
 those little, short, open-mouthed laughs, now 
 so common among girls, in which they open 
 the mouth so wide that you can see the entire 
 thirty-two teeth. I do not blame them, for a 
 mouthful of pearls is very beautiful. I don't 
 
WHY BO OUR TEETH DECAY? 19 
 
 care what the nose and eyes may be, if the 
 mouth shows complete rows of brilliant gems, 
 that face is a fine one — a sweet, wholesome 
 one. While no matter how fine the eyes and 
 nose, if the mouth shows decayed, blackened 
 teeth, that face can't be a fine one — it is not 
 sweet and wholesome. 
 
 Why do our Teeth Decay? 
 
 Now listen to the usual answers. 
 
 1st. " Because we eat sweet things. Do you 
 not remember how the affected tooth aches 
 when sugar comes in contact with it ?" 
 
 2d. "Because we eat sour things — acids. 
 We use lemon juice, vinegar, and other acids, 
 and they destroy the enamel of the teeth, and 
 then the work of destruction goes on." 
 
 3d. " Because we use very hot and very cold 
 food and drinks. We take into our mouths hot 
 coffee, then ice water, now a scalding pudding, 
 then ice cream. These extremes crack the 
 enamel, and thus begin the work of destruc- 
 tion." 
 
 4th. " Because we use saleratus in our food. 
 When saleratus was first introduced into New 
 England we had one dentist, now we have 
 thousands. Don't you see it is the saleratus ?" 
 
 I have no doubt that all of these things are 
 
20 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 bad for the teeth, but you may indulge in every 
 one of them and not lose your teeth, if you will 
 keep them clean ! Clean teeth will not de- 
 cay. Look at that man's front teeth ; see how 
 white and clean they are. How long do you 
 think it would take that front, flat, white sur- 
 face to decay if kept as clean as it is now? 
 Never, you say. You are right. Now let me 
 ask you another question. How long would it 
 take the surface between the teeth to decay if 
 kept equally clean? I answer for you, it would 
 not decay in a hundred veal'-. I will show yon 
 as many white black-birdfl as you will .-how me 
 clean white teeth beginning to decay. It is, 1 
 think, a physiological impossibility. 
 
 All there is of this business is simply this: 
 keep your teeth clean and they won't d 
 
 How shall they be kept clean? Of course 
 with a tooth-brush, says some one. Yes, a 
 tooth-brush is a good thing, hut one good tooth- 
 pick is worth an armful of tooth-brushes. The 
 tooth-brush does well in keeping the flat side 
 of the teeth clean. But on those flat surf 
 the food does not stick, and so there is little 
 tendency to decay. 
 
 The mouth is a warm place, nearly a hun- 
 dred degrees by the thermometer. It is never 
 so warm in the shade in this climate. And 
 yet in our warmest summer weather a piece 
 
WHY BO OUR TEETH DECAY? 21 
 
 of meat begins to decay in twenty-four hours. 
 If we eat meat to-day for dinner, the little 
 pieces which find their way between our teeth 
 will, exposed to the heat of the mouth, begin 
 to decompose before to-morrow noon. If these 
 particles of food are left between our teeth and 
 allowed to decompose, ought we to be surprised 
 that the teeth and gums should suffer ? I am 
 rather astonished that they do not take on dis- 
 ease even earlier. 
 
 A tooth-brush will not go between the teeth 
 (especially the double teeth, where the decay 
 begins first) and remove those bits of food. 
 The tooth-pick is the great preserver of our 
 teeth. The brush helps the teeth to look white, 
 but the means of preservation must be some- 
 thing which goes between the teeth and re- 
 moves the particles of food which find their 
 way there when we eat. 
 
 Details. — 1st. On rising from the table use a 
 goose-quill tooth-pick thoroughly, and rinse the 
 mouth, so as to remove such particles as the 
 tooth-pick may have left behind. 
 
 2d. On lying down at night use a tooth- 
 brush, broad and soft, with pulverized soap and 
 prepared chalk, with a little camphor and orris 
 root to give a pleasant flavor. Do the same 
 thing on rising in the morning. 
 
 3d. As often as you discover any tartar 
 
22 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 about the necks of your teeth go to a dentist, 
 have the tartar carefully and thoroughly re- 
 moved, and then scour away with your brush 
 and the above dentifrice, which the nearest 
 druggist will prepare for you. 
 
 Parents, see that your children attend to 
 their teeth. How they will mourn over their 
 loss! Ah, what would I not give to restore 
 some which I lost before I knew what 1 am 
 telling you ! 
 
 So complete is the protection afforded by 
 cleanliness, that a cavity in a tooth, if excava- 
 ted and kept clean, will not decay any further, 
 I once knew a young lady whose front teeth 
 were badly decayed. Two or three of them 
 were mere shells. Coming inl n of a 
 
 fortune, her friends urged attention to her teeth 
 as befitting the new surroundings. She had a 
 particular dislike of small points and masses of 
 gold shining out when she spoke or laughed. 
 She came to consult me, and I advised the 
 thorough removal of the d 1 matter by a 
 
 dentist and the use of a syringe with warm 
 water, after each meal, to keep the cavil 
 clean. After a week's practice this would take 
 but a minute. It was more than twenty years 
 a<ro that this vouns; woman's teeth were ex - 
 vated by the dentist. She lias kept those cav- 
 ities clean. I cannot see that in these years the 
 
 
CURIOUS FACT ABOUT TEETH. 23 
 
 teeth are changed. I never saw gold plugging 
 preserve teeth more perfectly. I firmly believe 
 that if the teeth were skinned — deprived of 
 their enamel — and were kept perfectly clean, 
 even the naked bone would not decay. 
 
 The dentist is a most useful member of society, 
 and should be visited frequently with reference 
 to the possibility of any new points of decay. 
 
 Curious Pact About Teeth. 
 
 Where teeth are extracted and immediately 
 replaced in their sockets, they not unfrequently 
 remain firm in the jaw for years. 
 
 Thirty odd years ago, when I first began to 
 study medicine, I thought after three days' 
 study it was high time I should begin to prac- 
 tice. A girl living in my mother's family was 
 attacked with a severe toothache, and, of course, 
 applied to the new doctor. The doctor exam- 
 ined the case very critically, and decided, after 
 the gravest thought, that it was a case of pain 
 in a tooth, and at length came to the conclusion 
 that said tooth must be extracted. In no other 
 way, with all his experience, could he promise 
 to relieve the patient. The maternal head of 
 the household was called in consultation, and 
 was rather disposed to favor pulling the tooth 
 instead of extracting it. But the doctor was 
 
24 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 firm in his conviction, basing his opinion on 
 the results of the thousands of similar cases 
 which had fallen under his observation. The 
 doctor had not at that time ever seen a tooth 
 extracted, and so practiced on the way from the 
 office on the end of his thumb with the hook 
 of the turnkey, so as to learn just how to seize 
 upon the tooth, and thus fully to prepare him- 
 self to meet with unfaltering courage and cool- 
 ness this trying emergency in his professional 
 experience. 
 
 The offending tooth was the one immediately 
 behind the eye-tooth. In my trepidation I al- 
 lowed the hook to touch the eye-tooth as well, 
 and drew them both out, the eye-tooth being 
 entirely sound. Immediately, and without any 
 definite notion of what I was doing, I replaced 
 the eye-tooth in its socket. Having recovered 
 from the hand-trembling and excitement inci- 
 dent to my acute sympathy with the deceased, 
 or rather with my suffering patient, I at once 
 saw that it was very important that she should 
 keep her tongue away from this eye-tooth, so I 
 suggested the chances of a gold tooth in the 
 emptied socket, and urged the importance of 
 keeping everything away from that part of her 
 mouth. The eye-tooth stuck in its place and 
 remained, serving faithfully many years. 
 
 There is a gentleman now living in Xew 
 
CURIOUS FACT ABOUT TEETH. 25 
 
 York City who has three beautiful front teeth 
 which he purchased from the mouth of an 
 Irishman. His own decayed teeth were re- 
 moved, and instantly Patrick's were transferred. 
 In the case of two of these teeth the success 
 was complete, and even the third one the gen- 
 tleman retains, though it is loose and seems 
 to have no vital connection with his jaw. 
 
 Not unfrequently the teeth of young animals 
 have been quickly transferred from their sock- 
 ets to the pared comb of a cock and a nutritive 
 circulation established. 
 
 I used to know a young lady who had a de- 
 cayed front tooth. It was so exceedingly sen- 
 sitive that she thought it impossible to have 
 those sharp-pointed dental instruments thrust 
 into the cavity, and, indeed, almost went into 
 hysterics when an excavation was attempted. 
 At length she was advised, as the process of 
 destruction was going forward and she must 
 soon lose the tooth, to be etherized and have 
 the tooth extracted and instantly returned to 
 its place. Of course we all know now that 
 there was a much simpler plan for destroying 
 the nervous sensibility, but in this case the ex- 
 traction was accomplished and the tooth imme- 
 diately replaced. The circulation was re-estab- 
 lished, and in a few weeks the tooth was so 
 firmly fastened in its socket that it bore the 
 
26 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 necessary force in plugging, and has remained 
 a good tooth for many years. 
 
 If it were practicable to determine the exact 
 form of the portion enclosed in the socket by 
 an examination of the protruding part of a 
 tooth, I have little doubt that it might become 
 very common to transfer teeth from one mouth 
 to another. Precious as our teeth are, many 
 persons could be found who for a consideration 
 would part with the most beautiful ones. 
 
 The introduction of rubber instead of . 
 for plates for artificial teeth is a great improve- 
 ment. A good honest dentist — and I think 
 there are a great many such — will furnish very 
 good substitutes for the natural teeth if y<>u 
 will give him a commission to spend as much 
 time as he finds necessary in making them. 
 
 
MASTICATION. 27 
 
 MASTICATION. 
 
 My old friend Dr. R., the dietetic reformer, 
 used to say that one Graham cracker eaten in 
 his way gave more pleasure than dining at 
 Delmonico's in the usual way. 
 
 I said to him one day, " Come, let me see 
 you eat a cracker in your way." 
 
 He brought the cracker, and took a seat in a 
 comfortable chair. 
 
 " You may think this a very simple affair," 
 said he, " but I am going to show you the ripest 
 wisdom, gleaned from my forty years of obser- 
 vation and thought about health." 
 
 "Well," I replied, "I am impatient to see 
 you begin." 
 
 "Don't be in a hurry," he said. "People 
 should not begin to eat in haste. Now you 
 must not laugh at me. All my life I have 
 thought about the laws of health, and I have 
 reached the deliberate conclusion that the man- 
 ner in which I am about to eat this cracker 
 is the most important discovery I have ever 
 made." 
 
 " But," I exclaimed, " you have told me that 
 
28 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 same thing before. Pray, when are you going 
 to begin on that cracker ?" 
 
 "Never," he replied, "unless you let me 
 begin in quiet and peace. A person can't eat 
 by jerk." 
 
 I remained silent a moment ; he took a small 
 bite and began, and he went on chewing, and 
 chewing, and chewing. 
 
 "You would like a little drink?'' I sug- 
 gested. 
 
 "Never," he replied; "I never drink a 
 mouthful of anything while I am eating." 
 
 After a little, I said, "Well, if that ifl the 
 way you are going on, I shall see how long it 
 takes you to eat one cracker ;" and I looked 
 at my watch. Waiting until the cracker had 
 disappeared, and finding the time six minutes, 
 I said, " Well, how do you like it P 
 
 " Nothing sweeter ever entered my mouth." 
 And then he added a fact which I have ascer- 
 tained to be quite true, viz., that plain food, 
 as, for example, brown crackers, Graham bread, 
 cracked wheat, oat-meal cakes, etc., is, when 
 masticated thoroughly, ground down to a fine 
 paste, the most delicious food in the world. If 
 one bolts his food, it is pleasant to have condi- 
 ments spread over the surface : the palate is 
 tickled as the food slips down ; but if one eats 
 his food with a deliberate, thorough mastication, 
 
PHYSIOLOGY OF MASTICATION. 29 
 
 the plainest food is the sweetest. To ascertain 
 the truth of this, try alternately a mouthful of 
 bread and butter and a mouthful of sponge- 
 cake. 
 
 If you swallow after a motion or two of the 
 jaws, with a mouthful of some liquid, the cake 
 will be found the sweeter, but if you masticate 
 very thoroughly, one mouthful of good bread 
 and butter will give more pleasure than ten of 
 sponge-cake. 
 
 This law holds good in every department of 
 our life. One hour of the quiet, gentle com- 
 fort and love of one's home, if well masticated 
 and digested, affords more real happiness than 
 many hours spent amidst the glare and parade 
 of fashionable parties. 
 
 About the Physiology of Mastication. 
 
 "While the food is in the mouth we have 
 direct control over it ; but as soon as it leaves 
 the mouth, it passes beyond our control. It is 
 of no use to say to a man after dinner, ".Digest 
 your food well !" for he has no direct control 
 over anything in the alimentary canal below 
 his throat. But, while the food is in his mouth, 
 it is entirely under his control, and he may 
 contribute more than most people imagine to 
 the completeness of the digestive function. 
 
30 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Now, it happens that the human stomach 
 cannot digest starch, and yet a yery large per- 
 centage of our food consists of starch. We all 
 know how much starch there is in the potato, 
 in bread, and in various other articles of food. 
 
 If, for example, a potato could be introduced 
 into the stomach without passing through the 
 mouth, the stomach would find it rather un- 
 manageable. But if it can only remain a few 
 moments in the mouth, and with the assistance 
 of the teeth be ground into a paste and thor- 
 oughly saturated with the saliva, the Btarch, 
 of which it so largely consists, will under 
 through the agency of tin 1 saliva, a chai 
 which will make the subsequent steps in the 
 digestive process easy. That change, it will 
 surprise sonic people who have not studied it 
 to learn, is one from starch to sugar. 
 
 The saliva contains a remarkable ingredient 
 known as ptyaline. The ptyaline compri 
 about l-200th part of the saliva. T! 
 traordinary agent has the magical power of 
 changing the starch of the food into Bug 
 and thus the potato is completely prepared for 
 the subsequent steps in digestion. 
 
 Whoever has taken a mass of wheat into the 
 mouth has experienced a very pleasing illustra- 
 tion of this change of starch into sugar. When 
 the wheat is first crushed in the mouth i; 
 
A LADY I KNEW. 31 
 
 sticky and has the starch taste, but almost in- 
 stantly it becomes sweet. In this brief moment 
 the saliva has changed the starch into sugar. 
 Need anything more be said of the importance 
 of a thorough use of the teeth upon the food ? 
 
 A Lady I Knew. 
 
 I used to know a delicate lady, long since 
 dead, whose general health was never the best, 
 and whose stomach was singularly sensitive. 
 She was a thoughtful woman, and accomplished 
 during her brief life a great amount of intel- 
 lectual labor. If she ate an ordinary dinner, 
 say a piece of beef and a slice of bread and a 
 potato, the food within a few minutes would 
 turn sour. She would have acid eructations, 
 pain and burning, and sometimes sought relief 
 from her sufferings by putting her finger in her 
 throat to provoke vomiting. But when she ate 
 the same dinner in a peculiar way she was 
 never troubled. This way was to spend three- 
 quarters of an hour, or an hour, upon a com- 
 mon dinner. If she ground every particle of 
 food, mixing it thoroughly with saliva, she 
 could digest a large dinner without stomach 
 symptoms. What was true to this unusual 
 extent with Mrs. M., is true in some degree 
 with every one. The fact is, our whole duty, 
 
32 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 after the selection of the right kind and quan- 
 tity of food, is to perform the mouth service 
 well. That being done, we may trust the di- 
 gestive apparatus to attend to every other duty 
 without our supervision. 
 
 Conversation with a German. 
 
 I was once stopping in a German city, and 
 one day, when dining at a restaurant, I heard 
 my own language spoken by some one in a 
 neighboring stall. I immediately rose, stepped 
 to the stall and said in English, "Did I not 
 hear some one speaking English ?" 
 
 "Oh yes," replied a middle-aged gentleman; 
 " I can speak English." 
 
 Having myself spoken German until I could 
 hardly swallow, it was a great joy to convei 
 during the dinner in my own dear mother 
 tongue. 
 
 " Have you a thin skin ?" he asked, while we 
 were dining. 
 
 " I don't know that I understand you." 
 
 " Have you a thin skin ? I mean to say. are 
 you sensitive to criticisms of your country or 
 your countrymen ?" 
 
 " I think I am not particularly sensitive, if 
 the truth be told." 
 
 " Well, then, let me tell you, that during my 
 
 
CONCLUSION ABOUT MASTICATION 33 
 
 six years' residence in America I saw nothing 
 which surprised me so much as the way in 
 which Yankees eat and drink. Why, I really 
 think it is worth an admission fee to stand at 
 the end of a dining-room and see a hundred 
 Yankees at the dinner-table. Each one has 
 something to eat in one hand, and something 
 to drink in the other. When the food hand 
 goes up, the drink hand is down, and when the 
 food hand goes down, the drink hand goes up. 
 It always reminded me of one of those walking 
 beams on a steamboat — when one end is up the 
 other end is down. Now, sir, I think that is 
 the reason that the American people are such 
 dyspeptics. Why, I believe that in a world's 
 exhibition of dyspeptics your country could 
 show more than all the rest of the world." 
 
 Practical Conclusion about Mastication. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the design of 
 the Creator is that we should prepare our food 
 for the stomach by mastication, grinding it 
 down to a paste and thoroughly saturating it 
 with the juices of the mouth ; and, as diges- 
 tion is the great function of the animal econ- 
 omy, and as the contribution we make to it in 
 the mouth is the only direct, voluntary contri- 
 bution we are permitted to make, nothing is 
 
34 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 more important than the proper performance 
 of that duty. 
 
 Curious Facts about Mastication in Animals. 
 
 The masticating apparatus occupies a great 
 variety of positions in different animals. In 
 some fishes it is in the mouth, in some it is in 
 the pharynx, in others in the oesophagus, and 
 again, in others, in the stomach. 
 
 Birds have no teeth; their gizzard- do the 
 grinding. This gizzard has thick, strong Avails 
 lined with a very hard membrane. It has the 
 power of crushing the densest substances. In 
 addition, Borne birds are in the habit of .-wal- 
 lowing gravel stone-, whicl hiding 
 the food. The ostrich swallows pieces of iron, 
 glass, etc., without any subsequent suffering. 
 Needles, lances and other very sharp steel in- 
 struments have been introduced into the giz- 
 zards of birds, and upon subsequent examina- 
 tion, their sharp edges have been found re- 
 moved. 
 
 Cud-chewing animals have broad, Hat teeth, 
 which they keep going constantly, to prepare 
 their coarse food for that wonderful change 
 into beef and mutton. Carnivorous animals 
 have no occasion to grind their food. 
 
SENSE OF TASTE. 35 
 
 SENSE OP TASTE. 
 
 Theke has been a great deal of very inter- 
 esting discussion about the precise seat of the 
 sense of taste. Experimenters have reached 
 widely different conclusions. Some think that 
 the sense of taste is confined to the very back 
 part of the mouth and tongue and to the over- 
 hanging palate ; in other words, to those parts 
 wdiich are seen upon widely opening the mouth 
 in the very back part. 
 
 Magendie is of the opinion that the pharynx 
 and even the gums and teeth are endowed with 
 the sense of taste. Valentin and Wagner be- 
 lieve that the top of the tongue, especially 
 about the middle part and toward the tip, has 
 no sense of taste whatever. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the back part of 
 the tongue, where the large papillae are seen, 
 and the parts immediately surrounding, both 
 at the sides and above, are most highly en- 
 dowed with the sense of taste, while my own 
 experiments lead me to the conclusion that the 
 edges of the tongue and the tip are susceptible 
 to sour, sweet and bitter substances in a moder- 
 ate and varying degree. 
 
 Ingenious experimenters have thought that 
 certain portions of the mouth are devoted to 
 bitter, sour and sw x eet tastes respectively. 
 
36 
 
 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 WHAT CAUSES THE FEELING OP HUNGER 
 
 It was thought for a long time that the sen- 
 sation of hunger was produced by the gastric 
 juiee attacking the coats of the empty stomach. 
 When food was present the stomach juice waa 
 busy with that; hut when the food had pass 
 on and left the stomach empty! the powerful 
 solvent attacked the stomach it- If. It was 
 thought that this pro-lured the gnawing- of 
 hunger. But when it was found oat that not 
 a drop of this gastric juice was furnished while 
 the Stomach was empty, that theory \ an- 
 
 doned. 
 
 Dr. Beaumont, who enjoyed the rarest oppor- 
 tunities to study the functions of the stomach, 
 suggested that the feeling of hunger was prob- 
 ably owing to a distended state of the vessels 
 which furnish the gastric juic And lie 
 
 thought tins view was greatly strengthened by 
 the prodigious rapidity with which the juic 
 poured in upon the first introduction oi 
 showing, as he argues, that the juice 
 already existing and waiting in the vessels or 
 follicles which furnish it. 
 
 Again, physiologists have thought the fe< 
 
WHA T CA USES THE FEELING OF HUNGER. 37 
 
 of hunger was caused by the two sides of the 
 empty stomach rubbing against each other. 
 
 But these and various other explanations 
 which have reference to the condition of the 
 stomach alone, fail to recognize the systemic 
 want which is the real cause of hunger. 
 
 Let me illustrate. I have eaten but two 
 meals a day for many years — one at half past 
 seven A. M. f the other at one o'clock P. M. 
 Between my dinner and the next morning's 
 breakfast is eighteen hours. During twelve of 
 these, I presume, the stomach is empty ; but I 
 never feel the sensation oii hunger. I have in- 
 duced hundreds to live in the same way, and, 
 after a short time, not one of them feels the 
 sensation of hunger. 
 
 A gentleman, now prominent in the field of 
 health reform, was in my service some years 
 ago as a teacher of gymnastics. He worked 
 very hard, and evinced remarkable endurance. 
 Now, when I state that he ate but one meal a 
 . day and never suffered from hunger, it will be 
 seen that the above theories fail to explain the 
 sensation under consideration. The stomach 
 must have been empty eighteen to twenty hours 
 out of every twenty-four ; but, notwithstanding 
 this emptiness, the gastric juice did not gnaw 
 the lining coats, the vessels were not painfully 
 distended, noi: did the coats of the stomach rub 
 
38 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 against each other, producing the discomfort of 
 hunger. 
 
 A man is hungry all over, his legs not less 
 than his stomach. The feeling in his legs is 
 restlessness, but the stomach is endowed with a 
 peculiar sensibility, so that hunger in t hat- 
 organ is a faintness and gnawing. The hunger 
 is not dependent in the least upon the empti- 
 ness of the stomach. For example, a man is 
 convalescent from a fever. He has lost thirty 
 pounds. The demand for nutriment u urgent. 
 This man may fill his stomach with bak< 
 bread and potatoes; his hunger is not appeased, 
 for, although his stomach is distended, tfa 
 tonic want is nut met, and his appetite* con- 
 tinues. 
 
 A striking illustration of this dependence of 
 the local upon the general is found in thirsty 
 which is felt mostly in the throat. If a tube 
 be carefully introduced through a d g'g a 
 into the stomach, and the dog, when very 
 thirsty, be allowed to thrust his head into a 
 tub of water, he will go on drinking for an 
 hour, stopping only a moment to rest and take 
 breath. The throat is flooded : but, as the fool- 
 ing of thirst is dependent on a want of the sys- 
 tem, and the water running out of the stomach 
 through the tube fails to satisfy this want oi 
 the system, so the thirst continues, though the 
 
WHAT CA USES THE FEELING OF HUNGER. 39 
 
 animal may have swallowed gallons. But, if 
 we inject a quantity of water into a yein of the 
 leg of this thirsty dog, the feeling of thirst in 
 his throat, though it has not been touched by 
 a drop of water, will speedily disappear. 
 
 Bernard made an opening into the oesopha- 
 gus of a horse, tied the lower portion, and then 
 allowed the animal to drink. He drank an 
 immense quantity, but the water not passing 
 into his stomach, the thirst was unquenched. 
 
 Dr. Gairdner, of Edinburgh, reports an in- 
 teresting case — that of a man whose throat 
 had been cut and the oesophagus divided. The 
 thirst, in this case, was insatiable, though many 
 gallons of water were drank in a day, but 
 when a little water was injected into the stom- 
 ach, the sensation was soon relieved. 
 
40 . QUE DIGESTION, 
 
 THE ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE COM- 
 PARED. 
 
 If we compare an animal with a vegetable, 
 one of the first differences which will strike 
 us is, that the vegetable stays in one place, 
 while the animal moves aboul ; the vegetable 
 is always at home, while the animal has juflt 
 stepped out and won't be home until near dark. 
 This distinction is not universal, hut it is a 
 common distinction, nud one of the DIOSl salient 
 
 points of difference. The tree in your door- 
 yard lias stood exactly in that plan 
 you can remember; it has never released its 
 firm hold upon the earth at that particular 
 spot, while the cow goes every morning to the 
 pasture, wanders about all day. and returns in 
 the evening. 
 
 As the mouths of the vegetable are always 
 in contact with its food, it needs no stomach to 
 hold a quantity of nutriment ; hut the animal, 
 which must be separated for considerable pe- 
 riods from its supplies, has a sack to carry 
 along a quantity. 
 
 A man docs not co to mill after flour for 
 each meal, but he brings home a large saek 
 
ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE COMPARED, 41 
 
 upon his back, which may last him a month. 
 So we all carry a sack, not upon our backs, but 
 within the body, in which we bear about a 
 quantity of food ; and in this way we get time 
 for something besides eating. What helpless 
 creatures we should be if we were compelled 
 to stay in one place and suck constantly, like 
 a vegetable ! 
 
 In some animals with indifferent means of 
 defence an enormous stomach is provided, 
 which they fill with rapidity, swallowing the 
 ! food without chewing, and then, seeking a safe 
 retreat, they deliberately raise the food from 
 the stomach in small masses and chew it thor- 
 oughly. 
 
 This is a most interesting illustration of our 
 
 Father's loving protection. How could the 
 
 gentle sheep exist in a state of nature, sur- 
 
 ■ rounded by carnivorous animals, but for this 
 
 : provision. Where food is in abundance, it can 
 
 fill its great stomach in a few minutes, and then, 
 
 hurrying away to some secluded spot, it con- 
 
 'I ceals itself, and quietly raising the food which 
 
 ; it swallowed without mastication, one small 
 
 ! mass after another, it proceeds to grind it 
 
 ; without fear and with great enjoyment. 
 
 He who can study the digestive apparatus 
 of a sheep and conclude that its wonderful pro- 
 visions came of chance, is a fool. 
 
 4* 
 
42 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 The digestive mechanism of a chicken is 
 another wonderful instance of Divine wisdom 
 and benevolence. 
 
 The study of such manifestations of God's 
 care of his creatures awakens the deepest and 
 truest religious passion. 
 
 
ONLY ONE STOMACH. 43 
 
 ONLY ONE STOMACH. 
 
 One reason for the marked constitutional 
 disturbance which comes of stomach-troubles 
 is, that we have only one stomach, and when 
 that fails the whole body must fail. One lung 
 may fail and the other go on well. I have 
 known many such cases. A former patient of 
 mine, now residing in Washington, has not 
 taken a breath into his right lung in many 
 years, and yet in an important public position 
 he works better than the average. Of course 
 his body is not vigorous, for his breathing is 
 insufficient ; still he is a comfortable, healthy 
 man, and is doing good service. 
 
 The brain is in two halves ; one may retire 
 from active service and the other go on. 
 
 We have two legs, two arms, two eyes. We 
 may lose one and not get off the track. 
 
 But we have only one stomach, and if that 
 gets off the track the whole man is knocked 
 into a heap. 
 
 My old school-fellow, Charles Brigham, lost 
 his right arm in a woolen mill. The suffering 
 was great ; the consciousness that he could no 
 longer follow his trade must have pressed him 
 
44 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 hard, but lie was cheerful and brave until, 
 lying in bed, lie had an attack of indigestion, 
 and then he became almost wild with grief and 
 despair over the loss of his arm. 
 
FOOD. 45 
 
 FOOD. 
 
 Food is generally divided into three classes : 
 carbonates, nitrates and phosphates. The car- 
 bonates are those foods in which carbon is the 
 important element, the nitrates are those in 
 which nitrogen is the important element, and 
 the phosphates are those in which phosphorus 
 is the important element. 
 
 The carbonates furnish fat and fuel, the ni- 
 trates feed the muscles, and the phosphates 
 feed the brain and bones. 
 
 Persons fed too much upon carbonates may 
 be warm and fat, but will lack muscle and 
 nerve ; those fed too much upon nitrates will 
 possess great muscles, but will lack fat and 
 nerve; those fed too much upon phosphates 
 will have wide-awake brains, but will lack 
 muscle and fat. 
 
 If these leading elements in human food 
 were not generally intermingled with each 
 other, and it were possible for each to fulfill its 
 purpose in the absence of the other, we could 
 develop three distinct physiological classes of 
 men : 1st. A warm and fat one ; 2d. One with 
 large muscles ; 3d. One with large brains and 
 nerves. 
 
46 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Let us draw an ideal picture of the three 
 classes. 
 
 1st. The man fed on carbonates would be a 
 white, greasy, sleepy lump. 
 
 2d. The man fed on nitrates would possess 
 immense muscles sticking out sharply in all 
 directions, with no fat to fill up the spaces be- 
 tween them. He would lack warmth, and 
 possess little power of thought. 
 
 3d. The man fed on phosphates would j 
 sess an immense brain and intense will-power, 
 but the muscles would be .soft, and the whole 
 body emaciated and cold. 
 
 But, as before remarked, these various ele- 
 ments are intermingled more or less in the 
 same articles of food. 
 
 Nevertheless, there are articles of food, and 
 even large classes of foods, which abound in 
 one, and which possess a very small percent 
 of the others. So certain articles of food con- 
 tribute principally to plumpness and warmth ; 
 others leave the body thin and cold, but give 
 large muscles; others still tend to develop the 
 brain and nerve, and feed but imperfectly the 
 muscles and fat. 
 
 Upon this division the modern scientific 
 classification of human food is based. 
 
 It is quite as easy to correct a physical defi- 
 ciency in our bones, brain or nerves, in the 
 
WHEAT. 47 
 
 temperature or the amount of fat, as it is to 
 redeem the non-productive lands of our farms 
 by introducing the deficient elements. 
 
 Wheat. 
 
 Wheat contains, of the carbonates, or heat- 
 and-fat producers, sixty -nine per cent. ; of the 
 nitrates, or muscle-makers, fourteen per cent. ; 
 of the phosphates, or food for brain and bones, 
 two per cent. These proportions constitute for a 
 temperate climate/ and with a moderate degree 
 of exercise, a model food. So if wheat were 
 eaten in its natural condition, without bolting, 
 it would supply all the needed elements in the 
 human body, and would sustain life for an in- 
 definite period. But in the process of bolting 
 a large proportion of the nitrates and phos- 
 phates is removed, so that bread made of super- 
 fine flour will sustain life only a few weeks. 
 
 Perhaps the most palatable way in which 
 wheat can be eaten is when boiled whole and 
 used with a little cream. For myself, I have 
 never eaten any food so sweet and satisfactory 
 to the palate as boiled wheat. When visiting 
 some friends in Georgetown, Ky., many years 
 ago, I was invited to dine with Professor 
 Thomas, of the college located in that city. 
 Mrs. Thomas served, as a dessert, boiled wheat 
 
48 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 with, cream and sugar. At that time I had 
 never eaten it. The company, which was a 
 large one, unanimously voted that they had 
 never eaten a dessert so delicious. I have tried 
 it many times since, and am always surprised 
 that an article of food so cheap, so easily pre- 
 pared, and every way so desirable, should nut 
 find general favor. 
 
 A man may perform hard labor on wheat 
 and water for years; but give him as much 
 superfine flour bread as he can eat, and add, if 
 you please, butter and sugar, he will starve to 
 death. 
 
 Several of the menageries have starved their 
 bread-eating animals by feeding them on white 
 
 bread. If they had led them upon boiled 
 wheat, and occasionally upon wheat without 
 grinding or cooking, tiny would have flour- 
 ished. 
 
 Cracked wheat, or a flour made of wheat 
 ground without bolting, is likewise very grate- 
 ful and healthful. 
 
 "The ordinary process ^ making superfine 
 white flour results in the Loss of the most nu- 
 tritious portion of the wheat. Under the mi- 
 croscope, a grain of wheat divides into three 
 principal layers — the hull, or bran pro] 
 which is not nutritious ; the gluten, which 
 next within the hull, and which is the most 
 
WHEAT. 49 
 
 nutritious part of the grain; and the starch, 
 from which the ordinary wheat flour is made. 
 Usually the gluten is removed with the bran in 
 the ordinary process, 
 
 A mode of preparing wheat and other grain 
 for grinding into flour has been invented in 
 Basel, Switzerland, the object of which is to 
 retain in the white flour the nutritive proper- 
 ties which have heretofore been lost by the 
 separation of the bran. This process, invented 
 by Herr E. Weiss, of Switzerland, has been 
 received with favor by scientific and practical 
 men of Europe. It consists simply in moist- 
 ening the wheat before grinding in a solution 
 of caustic soda in water, one hundred and forty 
 pounds of the liquid being required for two 
 thousand pounds of grain. The solution is 
 prepared by dissolving six and two-thirds 
 pounds of caustic soda in one hundred and 
 thirty-three pounds of water. The steeping, 
 which occupies from fifteen to twenty minutes, 
 can be done in vats similar to those used by 
 brewers. The caustic solution loosens the hull, 
 so that it may be removed by the slightest 
 friction, leaving the gluten with the body of 
 the grain. The flour thus prepared is as white 
 as the present superfine, and contains all the 
 highly nutritive properties of the Graham and 
 bran breads." 
 
50 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Superfine Flour. 
 
 Suj>erfine flour, which is made of the inside 
 or starch of the wheat, constitutes, with butter 
 and sugar, a very large portion of our food ; 
 but while this sort of food supplies fuel and 
 fat, it is so poor in the elements that support 
 muscle and brain, that people living on it must 
 very soon become weak in muscle and uncertain 
 in brain and nerve. I am reminded just here 
 of the testimony of an intelligent physician, a 
 friend of mine, who assures me that for many 
 years he has prescribed for neuralgia, among 
 his female patients, simply the use of bread 
 made of unbolted flour; and by my advice he 
 has recently prescribed boiled wheat, and has 
 found the results in the cure of neuralgia to 
 even more striking than the theory would 
 promise. 
 
 Recipe for Good Bread. 
 
 Obtain good wheat and grind it without 
 
 bolting; mix it with cold water until it is as 
 thick as can be well beaten with a spoon : and 
 after it is thoroughly beaten up, put it into a 
 large iron pan, composed of many little ones, 
 which must first be made hot ; put the pan 
 quickly into a hot oven, and bake it as rapidly 
 as possible. 
 
EYE, INDIAN CORN, ETC 51 
 
 The heat of the oven instantly coagulates the 
 gluten in the flour, which retains the steam 
 within, whereupon the biscuits expand and be- 
 come very light. This bread is very porous 
 and digestible. It is delicious and wholesome 
 if eaten hot, and is more so when cold. This 
 is the best bread that can be made of wheat. 
 
 If you prefer, raise the bread with good 
 yeast, but don't use it until it is at least twelve 
 hours old. 
 
 Rye. 
 
 Next to wheat, rye makes the best bread. 
 It possesses the advantage that it remains moist 
 for a long time. 
 
 Indian Corn. 
 
 Indian corn is an excellent and very strong 
 nourishment. It contains a very large amount 
 of oil, and so possesses remarkable fattening 
 qualities, and is likewise remarkable as a heat- 
 producer. 
 
 Barley. 
 This does not make light bread, but in the 
 form of porridge or mush it is quite palatable, 
 and is excellent food for the brain. Therefore, 
 it constitutes capital food for literary men to 
 use now and then. 
 
52 
 
 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Oats. 
 
 This grain is very rich in nutriment for 
 brain and muscle. It not only gives the horse 
 his highest activity and endurance, but also 
 supports the Highlander through the sevei 
 toils. 
 
 i 
 
 Rice. 
 
 This supplies a large amount of carbonates, 
 and will, therefore, keep its consumers fat, but 
 it lacks the elements which feed the muscles 
 and brain. Bice eaters must be a weak and 
 
 indolent people. Such a man as Gen, Grant 
 could be reduced to a weak and useless Bub 
 dinate in a few month- by eating rice alona 
 When Ave learn that the people of India live 
 6n rice, we no longer marvel thai a few thou- 
 sand beef-eating Englishmen should hold them 
 in subjection. 
 
 Beans and Peas. 
 These are strong ^nh. and, to those whose 
 stomachs can digest them, they furnish the 
 strongest nourishment for the muscles and 
 brain. 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 Potatoes, both Irish and sweet, are very poor 
 in food for brain and muscle ; but, as the potato 
 
ANIMAL FOOD. 53 
 
 contains a large amount of waste matter, it is 
 a capital thing to mix with strong foods, like 
 most meats. 
 
 But the potato, if eaten alone, would make 
 a poor, weak-minded and worthless people. I 
 wonder how much the potato diet of the Irish 
 has had to do in developing their peculiar cha- 
 racter ? 
 
 Turnips, Carrots, Squashes, Parsnips, Etc. 
 
 This entire class of food is nearly all water, 
 and is dear at any price, except during the 
 hot season, when we need to flood the system 
 with water and take very little strong nourish- 
 ment. Then such water-foods fill the stomach, 
 satisfy the appetite, and relieve the system of 
 the unwelcome and unnecessary labor of di- 
 gesting strong food. The hot season is the 
 natural and proper one for these foods, which 
 are ninety to ninety-seven per cent, water. 
 
 Animal Pood. 
 
 An ox contains thirty per cent, food for heat 
 and fat, mostly for heat, fifteen for muscles, and 
 four for brain. 
 
 The five principal meats may be classified as 
 follows, the first mentioned under each head 
 
 5* 
 
54 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 standing first, and the last mentioned standing 
 last: 
 
 For heat and fat — pork, mutton, lamb, beef, 
 veal. 
 
 For muscle — beef, veal, mutton, lamb, pork. 
 
 For brain and nerve — beef, veal, mutton, 
 lamb, pork. 
 
 So it will be seen that while pork stands 
 highest as a producer of heat and fat, it stands 
 lowest among the brain feeders, and low 
 likewise, amon^ the muscle feedei 
 
 Phosphorus a Source of Life. 
 
 The vitality of plants, animals and men 
 seems intimately associated with phosphorus. 
 
 The brains and flesh of men, quadra] 
 birds and fishes contain phosphorus just in 
 proportion to their activity. Wild animals 
 have much more than domestic; the most 
 active birds, like the pigeon and the migrat- 
 ing birds, more than domestic fowls and quiet 
 and lazy birds. The migrating fishes, wh 
 muscular power enables them to swim up rapids 
 and over tails, contain more phosphorus than 
 the flounder and halibut, which are clumsy and 
 comparatively dormant. 
 
 Insects which possess miraculous activity and 
 strength of muscle abound in phosphorus. 
 
PHOSPHORUS IN THE HUMAN BRAIN. 55 
 
 Active birds live on active insects. The slug- 
 gish hen or robin is contented with corn or 
 worms. The little king-bird, which is a match 
 for the great hawk, lives on bees, hornets, or 
 those very active flies that dart about in the 
 upper air, all of which are particularly rich in 
 phosphorus. A wild pigeon, which flies two 
 hundred miles sometimes for its dinner, prefers 
 millet and barley to all other grains. These 
 contain three times the phosphorus of most 
 grains. The tame pigeon, comparatively in- 
 active, is satisfied with corn or other grains 
 containing much less phosphorus. 
 
 Phosphorus in the Human Brain. 
 
 A celebrated French chemist has made many 
 analyses of brains of children, idiots and men 
 of different degrees of mental activity. Pie 
 found the percentage of phosphorus to corre- 
 spond exactly to the degree of mental activity. 
 In the brain of infants he found .80 per cent, 
 of phosphorus; in the brain of a youth, 1.65 
 per cent., while in the brains of adults, 1.80 
 per cent. ; in the brains of aged people, 1 per 
 cent. ; while in the brains of idiots there was 
 only .85 per cent. 
 
 Another fact established by chemical analysis, 
 which proves that the activity of the mind is 
 
56 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 dependent upon phosphorus, is this — immedi- 
 ately after active mental labor, the excretions 
 exhibit a larger proportion of phosphorus than 
 at any other time, e. y., on Mondays and Tues- 
 days in clergymen, and at court time in lawyers. 
 Experiments of this kind go to show that the 
 amount of phosphorus used up and excreted is 
 in an exact proportion to the intensity and 
 continuance of the mental effort, and, at these 
 times, observing clergymen and lawyers have 
 declared that their appetites call for phosphoric 
 food, as fish, cheese, unbolted wheat bread, oat- 
 meal or barley cakes, etc. ; and some desire and 
 will have made for them cakes of bran, which 
 contain all the phosphorus of the grain. 
 
 Foods Rich in Phosphorus. 
 
 Among vegetable foods, the following is their 
 order as to richness in food for the brain: South- 
 ern corn, beans, barley, oats, sweet potatoes and 
 peas. 
 
 The following is the order in which the 
 meats stand as to their capacity lor supporting 
 the brain : beef, veal, mutton and lamb. Pork 
 has about nothing for the brain. 
 
 The following is the order of the fishes : 
 salmon, codfish, haddock, smelt, lobster, hali- 
 but. 
 
FOOD BIC& IN PHOSPHORUS. 57 
 
 Among the foods in common use, abandon- 
 ing the above classification into vegetable, flesh 
 and fish, the following may be relied upon as 
 the natural order in richness of brain nourish- 
 ment. 
 
 The first article of food named is the richest 
 in phosphates or brain nutriment, and as we go 
 down the list they grow poorer and poorer ; but 
 all that are named in this list may be regarded 
 as ranking well among the brain foods : 
 
 Salmon, codfish, haddock, smelt, lobster, beef, 
 veal, Southern corn, mutton, lamb, beans, bar- 
 ley and oats. 
 
58 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 THE POOD OP THE ANCIENTS. 
 
 Not one of us but has felt a strong curiosity 
 about the food of the ancients. 
 
 Diodorus Siculus says that the first men 
 ranged over the fields and woods in search of 
 food, like the beasts, eating every wild herb 
 they could find, and such fruits as the trees 
 produced. 
 
 An ancient writer affirms that the diet of 
 the primeval race differed according to the pro- 
 ductions of their respective countries, the Ar- 
 cadians having lived on acorns, the Argives on 
 pears, the Athenians on figs, etc. 
 
 Plutarch relates that the Argives, led by In- 
 achus, searched the woods for wild pears to 
 support them. 
 
 Pliny laments the savage condition of the 
 first ages, " which subsisted on acorns." 
 
 Galen not only thinks these accounts are 
 true, but he tells us that " Acorns afford 
 good nourishment as many sorts of grain ; that 
 in ancient times men lived on acorns alone, and 
 that the Arcadians continued to eat them long 
 after the rest of Greece had made use of bread 
 
 corn." 
 
THE FOOD OF THE ANCIENTS. 59 
 
 Herodotus relates that upon the death of 
 Lycurgus, the Lacedsemonians, meditating the 
 conquest of Arcadia, were told by the oracle 
 that there were among them the best acorn 
 eaters, who would repel them in case they at- 
 tempted to carry their arms thither, as after- 
 ward happened. 
 
 At length, by what steps we cannot know, 
 agriculture, doubtless in its simplest, rudest 
 forms, began. 
 
 Hesiodus ascribes this invention to Ceres, 
 and admonishes the husbandman to pray to 
 Jupiter and to her before he enters upon his 
 labors. 
 
 Pliny attributes, still further, the invention 
 of the plough, grinding corn and making bread 
 to Ceres, and adds that " divine honors were 
 paid her in Attica, Italy and Sicily on this 
 account." 
 
 At length, as the wonderful story goes, 
 the Creator gave man permission to eat the 
 bodies of animals. This is said to have been 
 given first to Noah in the following words: 
 "Every moving thing that liveth shall be 
 meat for you : even as the green herb have I 
 given you all things." 
 
 And, immediately, another addition was 
 made to man's stomach indulgences. "Noah 
 began to be a husbandman, and he planted a 
 
60 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 vineyard, and lie drank of the wine and was 
 drunken." 
 
 Of course, lie could not permit his family to 
 indulge in wine until he had first fully tested 
 it upon himself. Might it not be poison? 
 Might it not kill? With that self-sacrificing 
 spirit so characteristic of man, Noah first tried 
 it fully upon himself. 
 
 Men struggle with all such enemies as alco- 
 hol and tobacco with a grand masculine hero- 
 ism. Sheltering wife and children in the 
 bosom of a quiet home, man goes forth to 
 brave the storm. In this field of heroic en- 
 deavor woman has ever shown herself weak 
 and uncertain. I have seen but two women 
 who could "chaw" with assured success, and 
 but very few whose smoking deserved to rank 
 high. And as to whisky, women have ever 
 shown themselves, as a sex, utterly incompe- 
 tent. 
 
 Beer was discovered not long after. Hero- 
 dotus informs us that in the corn province of 
 Egypt, where no vines grew, the people drank 
 a sort of wine made of barley. This, it is 
 thought, is the strong drink mentioned, to- 
 gether with wine, in many places in the Old 
 Testament. It is thought by those who have 
 given most attention to the food of the original 
 
THE FOOD OF THE ANCIENTS. 61 
 
 race, that different foods were introduced much 
 in the following order, viz. : " Fruits, seeds, herbs, 
 bread, milk, fish, flesh, wine and ale ; to which 
 may be added butter, honey, eggs, olive oil and 
 cheese." 
 
62 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 THE BEST FOOD. 
 
 John Stebbins is a carpenter, and earns 
 three dollars a day. At his modest home in a 
 neighboring village you may find a bright, 
 tidy little woman, with four as pretty children 
 as you could wish to see. John is a brave, 
 earnest chap, and is generally contented. 
 
 Last autumn he was at work upon a high 
 building, and the scaffold gave way. His com- 
 panion was killed outright, but John caught 
 his hands in the eave-trough, and hung on till 
 they rescued him. Ever since then he has 
 been worrying about life insurance. He 
 dropped in to see me last Sunday, and recur- 
 ring again to the subject, he declared, " I will e 
 a policy of two thousand dollars, if I have to 
 work nights for it. Suppose I had gone up 
 with poor Ned, what would have become of 
 Jennie and the little ones ¥* 
 
 "Well, John, my boy, now I am at liberty, 
 and I will devote a part of this Sunday to toll- 
 ing you how to get rich. I can't think of a 
 more holy occupation than telling you how to 
 provide for your loved ones. John, is your 
 wife a good cook ?" 
 
THE BEST FOOD. 63 
 
 " Tip top, sir. Her mother was the best cook 
 in town/' 
 
 " Yes ; I know all about these best cooks. 
 When I hear that a woman is the best cook in 
 town, I am sure she is the worst. 
 
 "John, what do you eat at your house? 
 What did you have for breakfast this morn- 
 ing?" 
 
 "We had beefsteak, baked potatoes, buck- 
 wheat cakes, bread and butter and coffee." 
 
 "White bread?" 
 
 " Yes ; I always get the best." 
 
 "Well, how about your dinner?" 
 
 "We had for dinner a small roast of beef, 
 potatoes, turnips, squash, bread and butter and 
 a bit of pie." 
 
 "What will you probably have for sup- 
 per?" 
 
 " Can't say ; but last night our supper was 
 hot biscuit and butter, with some peach pre- 
 serves and a cup of tea. We always take a 
 .light supper." 
 
 "How much money do you save in the 
 course of a year ?" 
 
 " Not a dollar ! I had four hundred dollars 
 when I was married, but to-day not a pica- 
 yune !" 
 
 " How much do you receive for your work ?" 
 
 " About nine hundred dollars a year." 
 
64 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 " How much, do you think the rent, fuel, gas 
 and clothing cost you ?" 
 
 "Oh, I know all about it. They cost me 
 just about three hundred and seventy-five dol- 
 lars ; that leaves five hundred and twenty-five 
 dollars for the table, and I tell you, with six of 
 us, it's a tight squeak." 
 
 " John, the clothing, rent, gas and fuel are 
 reasonable, but the table expenses may- be re- 
 duced." 
 
 "It can't be done. We must have some- 
 thing to eat." 
 
 " If I will tell you how to feed yourself and 
 family for two hundred dollars a year, better 
 than you are now fed for five hundred and 
 twenty-five dollars, will you try it ?" 
 
 " Of course, you're joking." 
 
 " Not a bit of it. I will tell you how to 
 live better than you are now living : your teeth 
 will be whiter, your breath sweeter, your 
 strength more enduring, your bodies plumper, 
 and your spirits better, for less than two hun- 
 dred dollars per year, so that you will save, say, 
 three hundred and fifty dollars, and be able to 
 take out your insurance policy, and, besides, 
 have two hundred dollars a year to spare. In 
 brief, it will make you a rich man. Now I 
 will tell you how this is done. I have lived in 
 exactly the way I am about to describe for some 
 
THE BEST FOOD. 65 
 
 time, not because it is economical, but because 
 I like it, and,^ besides, it gives me greater 
 strength and endurance. You have a good 
 bead and I need not go into details, but will 
 discuss the subject in a general way. 
 
 " White bread, butter and sugar are common 
 articles of food on American tables. They are 
 poor trash, furnishing almost nothing for brain, 
 muscle or bone. 
 
 " Oat-meal, cracked wheat and corn are rare 
 on our tables. They are strong, fattening foods, 
 and furnish abundant nutriment for brain, 
 muscle and bone. 
 
 " Weight and strength obtained from white 
 bread, butter and sugar cost ten times as much 
 money as when obtained from oat-meal, cracked 
 wheat and corn. 
 
 "A roast of beef costs thirty cents per pound. 
 It is not thoroughly cooked — the blood oozes 
 from it when it is cut ; the ox staggers out of 
 the car, after a journey of a thousand miles, 
 feverish, exhausted, sick ; he is killed at once, 
 and soon finds his way to our tables. In that 
 half-cooked condition the flesh is not whole- 
 some. Roasting and broiling leave the meats 
 in a good part unchanged. Boiling and steam- 
 ing will neutralize even the poison of the gen- 
 uine cattle disease. 
 
 "The French understand the economies of 
 
 6*- 
 
66 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 the table. A Frenchman will take one pound 
 of the toughest part of the neck of an ox, 
 worth five cents, and, adding three cents' worth 
 of bread and condiments, will make a stew 
 which will give a better dinner to three persons 
 than an American can furnish with roast beef, 
 potatoes, bread, butter and pastry for fifteen 
 times the money. I mean it will be more en- 
 joyable, digestible and nutritious. 
 
 " Wheat, oats and corn, cracked, boiled, and 
 eaten with a little syrup or milk, are most pala- 
 table. They are very strong foods and aston- 
 ishingly cheap. I ate for breakfast this morn- 
 ing two ounces of oat-meal cooked in water. 
 With this I used about a gill of milk. Capital 
 breakfast ; and it cost about two cents. For 
 dinner I ate about three cents' worth of beef 
 shank in a stew, with bits of bread, and closed 
 the meal with a dish of white Southern corn 
 seasoned with a little syrup. The cost of the 
 meal was not more than four cents, saying 
 nothing of the cooking. As I never eat any- 
 thing after dinner, the cost of my food for the 
 day is six cents. 
 
 " There, John Stebbins, that's the way to do 
 it. You can have an almost infinite variety of 
 food equally good and cheap. It only take- a 
 month, perhaps a week, to learn to enjoy such 
 food." 
 
 
HOW I HELPED MR. RICHARDS. 67 
 
 How I Helped Mr. Richards. 
 
 Not long since a middle-aged man, evidently 
 a hard worker, with bent form and soiled clothes, 
 came into my office and said, 
 
 " Doctor, I thought I would venture to drop 
 in, tell you my story, and ask you some ques- 
 tions. 
 
 " My story is this : I am a blacksmith, and 
 receive fifteen dollars a week for my regular 
 work. I have a sickly wife and five children. 
 My wife finds her housework all she can do. 
 My children, except the youngest, are in 
 school. 
 
 " For rent I pay two dollars a week ; cloth- 
 ing costs about two dollars ; fuel and light cost 
 about two dollars more. Now you see that is 
 six dollars a week, and we have but nine dol- 
 lars left to feed seven mouths." 
 
 " Well, do you succeed in keeping them well 
 filled with that money ?" 
 
 " No, Doctor, it cannot be done ; so I have 
 to do some over-work, and worse than this, we 
 are constantly getting into debt. I cannot bear 
 to be in debt, and as I begin to feel old age 
 creeping on, I am discouraged and heart- 
 broken. Now can you tell me any way out ot" 
 this bad business ?" 
 
 I said to him : " The rent, fuel, lights and 
 
68 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 clothing I think are all reasonable. You can 
 hardly hope to reduce the expense in those 
 departments. The only possible economy must 
 be found in the feeding department." 
 
 "Well, there is no use in talking about that ; 
 we must have something to eat, or I can't work, 
 and the children can't grow. In fact, unless 
 we have something to eat we shall starve." 
 
 " Now I have learned your story, you may 
 go home, come again one week from to-night, 
 and I will give you some written advice about 
 your table, to which you shall be most wel- 
 come." 
 
 The following is what I prepared for him : 
 
 Advice for Mr. Richards. 
 
 You must have meat every day of the year. 
 Your children should have some animal food 
 during the autumn, winter and spring. But 
 meat is very high. A sirloin steak costs in our 
 market from thirty-five to forty cents a pound. 
 And even this is not the most expensive part 
 of the animal. But do you know that in an 
 ox which, dressed, weighs eight hundred 
 pounds, only a very small part brings this high 
 price? And do you know that that small part 
 is neither the most nourishing nor the most 
 palatable? While certain portions of the ani- 
 mal sell for thirty to forty cents a pound, th< 
 
ADVICE FOR MR. RICHARDS. 69 
 
 are portions, not one whit less palatable than 
 the tenderloin (when properly cooked), that 
 can be bought for a very small price ! Take, 
 for example, what is called the shank ; the very 
 best can be bought for five cents a pound, and 
 a single pound cooked in a stew, with bits of 
 bread, will make a meal for yourself and your 
 entire family. The French soldier understands 
 the secret of getting much out of little. He 
 will take the coarsest bit of the cheapest meat, 
 and with a few crumbs of bread, an onion and 
 a condiment or two, make a delicious dinner. 
 
 When you go to the market for meat, don't 
 buy tenderloin, but buy what are called coarse 
 meats. If I were buying for my wife and self, 
 I should invariably buy such pieces, because I 
 really think them, aside from the question of 
 cost (when cooked in one of the many stews), 
 the most delicious parts of the animal. So 
 purchase for your dinner five to eight cents' 
 worth, say ten cents' worth, of the cheap, coarse 
 bits. Among our foolish people the competi- 
 tion is so slight over these coarse meats that 
 the butchers have to put all the price on the 
 small part which is in active demand, and sell 
 the rest for a mere nothing. I cannot go on to 
 tell you just what pieces you should buy, but 
 buy such pieces as are sold in this Boston 
 market — the highest market in the United 
 
70 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 States — for three, four, five or six cents a 
 pound. Good, solid meat is sold for these 
 figures, and only needs to be steamed, or to be 
 made into a stew, to be as tender and delicious 
 as the exjDensive parts of the creature. The 
 neck of the chicken is the most delicious part 
 of the animal. The neck of a beef, when made 
 tender, comes near being the most delicious 
 part of that animal. Steaming and boiling are 
 the best modes, and these modes of cooking 
 have this additional advantage — you can put 
 in any of the palatable condiments, which i 
 almost nothing. If you roast or broil you can- 
 not permeate the meat with these delicate, 
 savory condiments, but in a stew you can iill 
 every part with any which your palate may 
 fancy. 
 
 The other day I devoted an hour or tw 
 inquiries of the leading market-men about the 
 prices of different parts of the animal. They 
 generally agreed upon the foil ;: That in 
 
 an ox which, when dressed, weighs 800 pounds! 
 
 60 pounds bring 30 to 40 cents a pound. 
 140 " " 20 " 
 
 400 " " 12 " 
 
 30 " " 10 " 
 
 40 " " 6 " 
 
 90 
 40 
 
 Q 
 
 o 
 
ADVICE FOB MB. BICHABDS. 71 
 
 I have said all I need to say to an intelli- 
 gent American on the subject of animal food. 
 Perhaps I should add that an occasional use of 
 fish, which, if you live near the coast, is always 
 cheap, may be added by way of variety. 
 
 Leaving the meats, let us speak of the veg- 
 etable food. Oatmeal in the form of porridge, 
 or in the form of cakes, is one of the most nu- 
 tritious of foods. A pound of oatmeal is worth, 
 as nutriment, six pounds of superfine white flour, 
 and, pound for pound, costs less than wheat 
 flour. It is most substantial and nutritious 
 food. Not only does it sustain our powerful 
 horses, but it develops the magnificent High- 
 lander. Oatmeal porridge, or oatmeal mush, 
 with a little milk, is a breakfast which would 
 not only answer for your children, but which, 
 in proper quantity, would abundantly support 
 you during the forenoon. I noticed when you 
 were here that you were very thin. Oatmeal, 
 freely used, will help to make you plump. 
 
 Cracked wheat, or whole wheat, when prop- 
 erly cooked, is really one of the most delicious 
 articles of food ever eaten by man. One pound 
 of cracked wheat will give as much strength 
 of muscle and nerve as seven or eight pounds 
 of common baker's bread. 
 
 Hominy, samp and hulled corn are among 
 the most substantial and lasting of human 
 
72 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 foods, and are very cheap compared even with 
 wheat. 
 
 One pound of cheap meat boiled to rags, 
 with a quart of white beans, and eaten with 
 brown bread, will make a dinner that a king 
 might luxuriate upon. Your family of seven 
 persons would not be able to consume such a 
 dinner. It would be twice as much as the 
 seven could eat at one meal, while the entire 
 cost, saying nothing of fuel, would be less than 
 a quarter of a dollar. 
 
 One pound of cheap meat (when I say cheap, 
 I mean what is called coarse meat, simply those 
 portions which are not tender if cooked by 
 roasting or broiling, but which, I repeat, con- 
 stitute the best parts of the animal when cooked 
 in the way I have described), boiled with one 
 pound of split peas, and served with live cents 1 
 worth of coarse bread, will make an abundant 
 and delicious dinner for yourself and family. 
 
 Poultry and potatoes are most expensive 
 articles of food. A single bushel of beans, 
 properly cooked with condiments, will furnish 
 not only more palatable food, but more nutri- 
 ment than ten bushels of potatoes. 
 
 Silly Pride of Poor People. 
 You are a stranger in Boston. I know a 
 very large part of the people. Let us take a 
 
SILLY PRIDE OF POOR PEOPLE. 73 
 
 walk; We will go up Tremont street. It is 
 eight o'clock in the evening, and great numbers 
 are out in full dress. 
 
 Do you see that gentleman in the handsome 
 black suit, kid gloves and gold-headed cane ? 
 That man is a barber. I don't know about his 
 wages, but I venture to say that they are not 
 more than twelve dollars a week. When his 
 board is paid, he has just enough left to keep 
 up that handsome dress. 
 
 I must not point, that you know is vulgar ; 
 but do you notice that tall lady with the rich 
 brown silk, with the end of it dragging on the 
 sidewalk? She is a dressmaker. And that 
 small, quick-stepping young woman, with the 
 over-trimmed dress, just behind, is a clerk in 
 one of our dry-goods stores. 
 
 Look across the street. Do you see that large, 
 fleshy man ? He is worth about two millions. 
 His dress is not so rich, you will observe, as 
 that of several men whom we have just passed, 
 and some of them I know to be persons who 
 work by the day. 
 
 Now the same foolish emulation of the rich, 
 the same false ambition which inspires this 
 waste of everything upon dress, this living 
 from hand to mouth without any reserve for a 
 rainy day, is precisely the" spirit in which peo- 
 ple go to market and compete for those high- 
 
 7 
 
74 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 priced meats. That foolish pride is the enemy 
 which stands between many a man and a bank 
 account. 
 
 My friend Mr. Creighton, a wide and keen 
 observer of men and things, said to me this 
 morning in discussing this subject, " Why, I 
 know several rich families on whose table a 
 hasty-pudding is a frequent dish; but I don't 
 know one poor family in which it is used. 
 They are afraid it may seem a poor mans dish. 
 Tell 'em," he said, " to mix oatmeal with the 
 Indian, half and half, in making the hasty- 
 pudding." 
 
 I will add that my friend, Stephen S. F< 
 assures me that the biggest day's farm-work he 
 ever did was performed on hasty-pudding. 
 
 An Experiment in Cheap Living*. 
 
 It is now Saturday afternoon, and I will tell 
 you in confidence, my dear reader, a little of 
 my personal, private experience during the } 
 week. 
 
 On Sunday morning last, I thought I would 
 try for a week the experiment of living cheaply. 
 
 Sunday breakfast, hulled Southern corn, with 
 a little milk. My breakfast oa cents. I 
 
 took exactly the same thing for dinner. Food 
 for the day, six cents. I never take any sapper. 
 
AN EXPERIMENT IN CHEAP LIVING. 75 
 
 Monday breakfast, two cents' worth of oat- 
 meal, in the form of porridge, with one cent's 
 worth of milk. For dinner, two cents' worth 
 of whole wheat, boiled, with one cent's worth 
 of milk. Food for Monday, six cents. 
 
 Tuesday breakfast, two cents' worth of beans, 
 with half a cent's worth of vinegar. For din- 
 ner, one quart of rich bean porridge, worth one 
 cent, with four slices of coarse bread, worth two 
 cents. Food for Tuesday, five and a half cents. 
 
 Wednesday breakfast, hominy made of 
 Southern corn (perhaps the best of all food for 
 laboring men in hot weather), two cents' worth, 
 with one cent's worth of syrup. For a dinner 
 a splendid beef stew, the meat of which cost 
 two cents. A little extravagant, you see. But 
 then, you know, " a short life and a merry 
 one." Perhaps you don't believe that the 
 meat was purchased for two cents? But it 
 was, though. The fact is, that from an ox 
 weighing eight hundred pounds nett you can 
 purchase certain parts weighing about one 
 hundred pounds, for three cents per pound. 
 Two-thirds of a pound made more stew than I 
 could eat. There was really enough for two of 
 us. But then, you know how careless and reck- 
 less we Americans are in regard to our table 
 expenses, always getting twice as much as we 
 need. I must not forget to say that these 
 
76 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 coarse, cheap portions of the animal are the 
 best for a stew. The very genius of waste 
 seems to have taken possession of me on that 
 fatal day. I poured into my stew all at once, 
 slap-dab, a quarter of a cent's worth of Leices- 
 tershire sauce, and as if to show that it never 
 rains but it pours, I closed that gluttonous scene 
 by devouring a cent's worth of hominy pud- 
 ding. Food for Wednesday, eight and a quarter 
 cents. 
 
 The gross excess of Wednesday led to a very 
 moderate 
 
 Thursday breakfast, which consisted of oat- 
 meal porridge and milk, costing about two and 
 a half cents. For dinner, cracked wheat and 
 baked beans, two cents 1 worth of each, milk, 
 one cent's worth. Food for Thursday cost 
 seven and a half cents. 
 
 Friday breakfast, Southern hulled corn and 
 milk, costing three cents. For dinner, another 
 of those gormandic surfeits which so disgraced 
 the history of Wednesday. Expenses for the 
 day, eight and a quarter cents. 
 
 This morning when I went to the table I 
 said to myself, " What's the use of this econ- 
 omy ?" and I made up my mind that for this 
 day, at least, I would sink all moral restraints, 
 and give up the reins to appetite. I have 
 no apology or defence for what followed. 
 
AN EXPERIMENT IN CHEAP LIVING. 77 
 
 Saturday breakfast, I began with one cent's 
 worth of oatmeal porridge, with a teaspoonful 
 of sugar worth a quarter of a cent. Then fol- 
 lowed a cent's worth of cracked wheat, with 
 half a cent's worth of milk. Then the break- 
 fast closed with two cents' worth of milk and 
 one cent's worth of rye and Indian bread. For 
 dinner I ate half a small lobster, which cost 
 three cents, with one cent's worth of coarse 
 bread and one cent's worth of hominy salad, 
 and closed with two cents' worth of cracked 
 wheat and milk. Cost of the day's food, 
 twelve and three-quarter cents. 
 
 In all of these statements only the cost of 
 material is given. 
 
 Cost for the week, fifty-four and a quarter 
 cents. 
 
 Of course I don't pretend that everybody 
 can live in this luxurious way. It isn't every- 
 body that can afford it. I could have lived 
 just as well, so far as health and strength are 
 concerned, on half the money. Besides, on 
 three days I ate too much altogether, and suf- 
 fered from thirst and dullness. But then I 
 may plead that I work very hard, and really 
 need a good deal more food than idlers. Not 
 only have I written forty odd pages of this 
 book during the week, but I have done a large 
 amount of hard muscular labor. 
 
78 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 By the way, I weighed myself at the begin- 
 ning of the week, and found it was just two 
 hundred and twelve pounds. Since dinner to- 
 day I weighed again and found that I balanced 
 two hundred and twelve and a half pound-. 
 although it has been a week of warm weather, 
 and I have had unusual demands for exertion 
 of various kinds. 
 
 But let me feed a family of ten instead of 
 one person, and I will give them the highest 
 health and strength upon a diel which will cost 
 here in Boston not more than two dollars for 
 the ten persons for a week. Let me transfer 
 my experiment to the Far West, where wheat, 
 corn, oats and beef are bo cheap, and the c 
 of feeding my family of ton would be bo ridic- 
 ulous that I dare not mention it lest you laugh 
 at me. 
 
 And so for from my family group being one 
 of ghosts or skeletons, I will engage that they 
 shall be plumper and stronger, healthier and 
 happier, with clearer skins, brighter ej 
 sweeter breaths, whiter teeth, and, in additi 
 that they shall live longer than your Delmon- 
 ieo diners, each of whom spends enough at a 
 single dinner to feed my family ^^ ten for a 
 week. Ami last, hut not least, they shall enj 
 their meals vastly more than your I 
 diners. 
 
STORY OF ANOTHER KIND. 79 
 
 Story of Another Kind. 
 
 About two weeks ago a friend of mine from 
 the South was in town, and invited me to dine 
 with him at a fashionable restaurant. 
 
 We began with a little green turtle soup, 
 which was fifty cents ; then we took a bit of 
 spring lamb, with mint sauce, which was 
 seventy-five cents; then a little sweet-bread, 
 with Madeira sauce, at seventy-five cents ; then 
 a bit of spring chicken, with truffles, at one 
 dollar and forty cents. I said : 
 
 " Hold on, Bob, hold on !" 
 
 " No, sir ; you must go one or two more." 
 
 So he called for plover ; this was one dollar 
 and fifty cents. While this last was preparing, 
 we indulged in salmon salad, which was sixty 
 cents. 
 
 We closed this little dinner with strawber- 
 ries and cream, thirty-five cents. My friend 
 having no fear of the temperance society before 
 his eyes, indulged in a bottle of Madame Cli- 
 quot, which was three dollars. Now supposing 
 I had drunk the same thing, our dinner would 
 have cost seventeen dollars and seventy cents. 
 As it was the cost was fourteen dollars and 
 seventy cents. This is not very high. At 
 Delmonico's I have known two gentlemen to 
 pay for dinner and champagne thirty dollars. 
 
80 
 
 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 And even where a dinner table is spread for a 
 large company, it is not uncommon to charge 
 fifteen dollars a plate. I have heard of very 
 much higher figures. 
 
 So you see Bob and I were, after all, rather 
 mean in our dinner. Bob said several times : 
 
 "Why, what's the matter with you? you 
 don't seem to have any appetite !" 
 
 "Well, not much; the fact is the weather is 
 so warm, one don't feel like eating; besides, 
 you know, temperate eating is a sort of hobbj 
 with me." 
 
 But moderate as our dinner was, 1 c mldtake 
 the money which was paid for it and feed thirty 
 men for a week. And more than that, ingfa 
 of their feeling stupid and tlm who 
 
 dine fashionably do, my boarders should h 
 the finest, brightest health, while not one of 
 them should sutler gout or its cousin rheuma- 
 tism. 
 
 The last pages of this work are devoted to 
 recipes for simple and delicious foods. 
 
DIFFERENT THEORIES OF DIGESTION. 
 
 DIFFERENT THEORIES OF DIGESTION. 
 
 Hippocrates thought digestion a process of 
 stewing, and for a long time after him it was 
 regarded as a cooking, effected by the heat of 
 the stomach. 
 
 Again, among the old physiologists digestion 
 was considered a fermentation. They referred 
 to the gas frequently escaping from the stomach 
 as proof. 
 
 Next, digestion was believed to be a putre- 
 faction. 
 
 Another set of physiologists imagined that 
 trituration accounted for everything. They 
 pointed to the gizzard of the fowl. There, 
 said they, you see the process of digestion in 
 its most perfect form; and in the human 
 stomach we find various sets of muscles to 
 churn or triturate the food. 
 
 The next theory of digestion was the chem- 
 ical. This school of physiologists maintained 
 that the juices of the stomach dissolved the 
 food chemically, and that if the stomach juices 
 be pumped out and mixed with food, precisely 
 the same changes will take place without, as 
 within, the stomach. While this statement is 
 
82 pUB DldhsSTION. 
 
 not correct, there is much truth in the ch< 
 cal theory of digestion. It 
 stride yet made toward the light in the pur- 
 suit of this important physiological problem. 
 
 It is perhaps not altogether modest thai 
 although occupying a higher point in the | 
 gress of this inv< ill declare that 
 
 we know all, but tic anot be a shadow of 
 
 doubt that the present tfa stion is 
 
 the true and final one. 
 
 True Theory of Digestion. 
 
 Digestion is a vital j 
 and mechanical /( 
 
 While the motion of th I >m- 
 
 ach is necessary to mingle ' &nd 
 
 while the chemical Bolvei gtric 
 
 juice is indispensable, both of th< 
 
 cannot produce the tru Xhifl chyme, 
 
 into which every kind of food is tr ted, 
 
 can be produced nowhere m- 
 
 aeh. In this respect chyme ia Other pa - 
 
 duets of the body. We Learn all the 
 
 constituents of the saliva, or the bil . but we can 
 produce neither of them outsi the bod 
 
 That mysterious force which 11 vital 
 
 the force which determines all. Chemistry and 
 mechanics play their part, but the all-deter- 
 
OUR IGNORANCE OF THE VITAL FORCE. 83 
 
 mining, guiding and controlling power is the 
 vital force. 
 
 Our Ignorance of the Vital Force. 
 
 Let me illustrate. A few years ago, while 
 delivering a lecture in a neighboring city, and 
 while denouncing that hydra-headed monster 
 known as patent medicines, a manufacturer of 
 a famous blood purifier interrupted me with 
 several hard questions, spoken in a very loud 
 and passionate manner. 
 
 Famous Doctor. " Do you know what you 
 are talking about, sir ?" 
 
 Lecturer. " Well, I confess there are some 
 things about it which I never could under- 
 stand." 
 
 Famous Doctor. "Well, sir, I have given 
 forty years to the study, the profoundest study, 
 of the human system, and I should like to put 
 a few questions to you, sir, if you have no ob- 
 jection." 
 
 Lecturer. " Speak on." 
 
 Famous Doctor. " Will you tell me what a 
 fever is ?" 
 
 Lecturer. " I don't know." 
 
 Famous Doctor. " Will you tell me what 
 an inflammation is ?" 
 
 Lecturer. " I don't know." 
 
84 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Famous Doctor. "Well, can't you explain 
 the nature of salt rheum ?" 
 
 Lecturer. " I cannot." 
 
 Famous Doctor. " One more question. 
 Will you be kind enough to inform us whether 
 you can explain the philosophy of any kind 
 of disease whatever — the simplest thing you 
 can think of — say a slight headache V s 
 
 Lecturer. "I have to confess that I can- 
 not." 
 
 Famous Doctor. "Well, that's all T want 
 to know. Now I will take my family and go 
 home; and I advise my friends and neighbors 
 to go home too, and read the story of the babes 
 in the wood; they will find that a good deal 
 more scientific and instructive than this lec- 
 ture." 
 
 That world-renowned manufacturer of a 
 medicine "which, by cleansing the blood of all 
 impurities, eradicates every vestige of disi 
 from the entire organism," grandly rose and 
 bolted. 
 
 I went on to make a clean breast of it to 
 such of the audience a> chose to remain, 
 a very considerable number bolted with the 
 manufacturer. 
 
 Lecturer. Friends, the doctor did not half 
 sound the depths of my ignorance. T not only 
 do not understand the nature or philosophy 
 
 i 
 
OUR IGNORANCE OF THE VITAL FORCE. 85 
 
 of any disease whatever, but I really know 
 nothing of the nature of the vital principle 
 in its simple or natural manifestations, saying 
 nothing of it when it is complicated by disease. 
 But worse than this, I know nothing of the 
 philosophy of health or disease in a blade of 
 grass, nor even in one little cell in that blade 
 of grass. I must confess, for myself, that I have 
 always been sitting before the curtain. Never 
 have I been permitted a single peep behind 
 it into that secret green-room where Nature 
 manipulates the ropes, wires, and springs which 
 she employs in producing the great drama of 
 life. This strange, arrogant determination to 
 know ally in physiology, has proved a fatal ob- 
 stacle to progress in these studies. 
 
 He who will humbly sit at the feet of 
 nature may learn all that it is important he 
 should know. The good Father has hidden 
 nothing beyond our finding which is essential 
 to our welfare and happiness. But life, which 
 is probably identical with God himself, is not 
 for our mortal ken. 
 
 We return to the subject under discussion. 
 While no mortal will ever comprehend the 
 vital force, while the philosophy of digestion 
 must, in its essence, remain among the hidden 
 tilings, all that need be known about the con- 
 ditions on which this pivotal function of our 
 
86 QUE DIGESTION. 
 
 earthly life may be maintained at its highest 
 is quite within reach of the earnest inquirer. 
 
 Another Famous Doctor. 
 
 This great "Blood Purifier " reminds me of 
 a famous Thompsonian doctor from whom I 
 heard a lecture in this city thirty years ago. 
 A number of us — students in the medical de- 
 partment of Harvard — hearing that the Thomp- 
 sonian system was to he elucidated by a very 
 distinguished representative of the school, at- 
 tended, and we heard, among many wonderful 
 things, something like the following: 
 
 "And, now, do y^u know how marcury pro- 
 duces rheumatiz? I will tell you exactly how 
 marcury produces rheumatiz. Y<>u Bee, mar- 
 cury has a great many sharp pints, and them 
 sharp pints git stuck in the flesh, and when the 
 muscles rub over them sharp pints, it 
 and that is the rheumatiz !" 
 
 And when he came to lobelia, he astonished 
 us with bursts of eloquence. Among many 
 tremendous hits, I remember this erne : 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen, I have studied 
 lobely ! I have spent years in studyin' how it 
 operates on the system ; I have sot up all night 
 more than a thousand times, reflectm 1 on it. 
 And now I will tell you how it is lobely works 
 
ANOTHER FAMOUS DOCTOR. 87 
 
 on the system. The first dose stirs up the 
 morbid anatomy, the second dose scrapes up the 
 morbid anatomy, and the third dose heaves out 
 the morbid anatomy. Ladies and gentlemen, 
 that's the way that lobely does it. Ladies and 
 gentlemen, I stand here to declare, let no man 
 undertake to treat disease till he has made the 
 whole system, in all its secret recesses, the sub- 
 ject of day and night study for a life-time, and 
 that's just what I have done. When I meet a 
 case, I just set right down and take the case 
 right into my mind, and there I hold it till I 
 see all through it, ef it takes me a month ; I 
 have frequently had a hard case on my mind 
 more'n six months before I could see through 
 it in all its pints." 
 
 These are the doctors that see through the 
 whole thing in all its " pints." Let us stop 
 putting on airs and frankly acknowledge that 
 not only are we utterly ignorant of the life 
 principle, but that the essence of every force is 
 absolutely hidden from us. 
 
 Look at this simple pebble. What holds it 
 together? Why does it not fall to pieces? 
 Why, you say, that is attraction of cohesion, 
 to be sure ! Yes, but what is attraction of 
 cohesion ? 
 
 Not only is life in the vegetable or animal, 
 whether in health or disease, an inscrutable 
 
88 
 
 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 mystery to us, but the laws which preside over 
 inorganic matter are likewise entirely out of 
 our reach. 
 
 Let us modestly study such facts and make 
 such deductions as come within the range of our 
 capacity, and leave it to such distinguished and 
 magnificent greatness as the above to dive into 
 the profoundest depths of the mysteries of the 
 Creator, to fully comprehend the most k ' secret 
 pints." 
 
SUNSHINE AND DIGESTION 89 
 
 SUNSHINE AND DIGESTION, 
 
 Very intimate relations exist between the 
 sun and digestion. Digestion and assimilation 
 become weak and imperfect if the man or ani- 
 mal is not freely exposed to the direct rays of 
 the sun. 
 
 Mr. P., one of our merchants, came to see 
 me about his stomach. Dyspepsia was written 
 all over his face, was shown in his movements 
 and hoard in his voice. The conversation be- 
 tween us was essentially the following : 
 
 Mr. P. " Doctor, if you will excuse a street 
 vulgarity, I am ' played out/ I can't digest, I 
 can't work, I have lost my courage, I fear I 
 must stop." 
 
 "Tell me about your diet?" 
 
 " If you will excuse me, I know that is all 
 right. I have studied the subject, and I know 
 my food is all right." 
 
 " How about your exercise ?" 
 
 " I have a little gymnasium in my store, and 
 exercise an hour every day. I sometimes tire 
 myself out with these exercises." 
 
 " How about your sleep ?" 
 
 " Why, doctor, I go to bed every night with 
 
90 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 the chickens. At any rate, I am. always in bed 
 by nine o'clock, and I rise by six o'clock in the 
 morning, take a bath, a plain breakfast, and go 
 to my counting-room. Once in the forenoon 
 and once in the afternoon I exercise in my 
 gymnasium half an hour or so, but I am getting 
 worse and worse all the time. Isn't it carious? 
 My wife thinks I must have a cancer in the 
 stomach. Nothing seems to help me. I live 
 the most physiological life, but my digestion 
 grows worse and worse. ,; 
 
 "About your counting-room ; is that light? 
 is it sunny ?" 
 
 "No, that 18 one nuisance we have. The 
 
 store is every way pleasant, only thai the 
 
 counting-room is BO dark that we have to 
 gas nearly all the time." 
 
 " That's it, Mr. P., that explains your 
 cancer.* 
 
 "Of course you don't mean that : hut T sop- 
 pose it would be hotter if the counting-room 
 was sunny." 
 
 "Mr. P., no plant or animal can digest in 
 the dark. Try it. Plant a potato in your cel- 
 lar, Now watch it carefully. If there is a 
 little light, that potato will sprout and try to 
 grow. Put surround it with the host manure, 
 water it, do the best for it, only you shall k. 
 it in the dark, it cannot digest and grow. B 
 
 
SUNSHINE AND DIGESTION. 91 
 
 how slender and pale it is. Now open a win- 
 dow in another part of the cellar, and notice how 
 the poor hungry thing will stretch that way. 
 Or give the stalk a little twist and see how it 
 will lie down. It can't raise itself again. No 
 matter how much food and drink you give it, 
 it can't digest. The process of digestion, the 
 great function of assimilation, can't go on with- 
 out sunshine. Why, sir, with your excellent 
 habits, if your counting-room were in a flood 
 of sunlight, you would be better in a week, and 
 well in a month. 
 
 " Mr. P., did you ever go into the country 
 late in the summer? Well, did you ever notice 
 where grain is growing in an orchard, that the 
 part under the trees is smaller than that out- 
 side and away from the trees? And yet the 
 land is actually richer there. For years the 
 leaves have fallen and decayed under the trees, 
 but notwithstanding this, the wheat is only half 
 size and never fills well. Now what is the 
 difficulty ? The sun shines upon it more or 
 less, but that under the trees does not receive 
 as much sunshine as that away from them. 
 That which is partly in the shade can't digest 
 so well. 
 
 " Why, sir, if you will move your counting- 
 room up stairs, in front, and stand where the 
 sun can have a fair chance at you, even though 
 
92 OUR DIGESTIOX. 
 
 it is only three or four hours a day, you will 
 begin to digest your beef better within three 
 days. 
 
 " Have you never noticed that the only grapes 
 that become perfectly ripe and sweet, that the 
 only peaches that take on those beautiful red 
 cheeks and offer that Luscious sweetness, are 
 those that are on the outside, entirely uncov- 
 ered by the leaves and perfectly exposed to the 
 sun? God's laws are the same in the animal 
 world. It is just as true that the only girls 
 with red cheeks and sweet breaths, the only 
 girls who become ftdlyripe and sweet, are tb 
 who baptize themselves freely in God's glorious 
 sunshine. 
 
 "Don't you sec a good many pale girls in 
 your store, girls with a bloodless, half-ba] 
 sort of face, whose walk, whose voice, wh 
 whole expression is devoid of spirit and for 
 Those girls are in the green state. Lock at 
 their lips and cheeks: they are not half ripe. 
 Send them out in the country, let them throw 
 away their parasols, put on their little jock 
 hats and live out in the sunshine three monl 
 and I would give more for one ot^ them in any 
 work requiring soul and spirit than for a dozen 
 of those pale things that live in the shade. A 
 pale woman! She makes a very good gh 
 hut not much o^ a woman." 
 
SLEEP AND DIGESTION. 93 
 
 Sleep and Digestion. 
 
 " From eating conies sleep, from sleep diges- 
 tion." — Sanctorius. 
 
 " Sleep is the mother of digestion." — Blun- 
 deville. 
 
 " Nothing more contributes to digestion than 
 sleep." — Barry. 
 
 " The brute creation invariably lie down and 
 enjoy a state of rest the moment their stomachs 
 are filled. People who are feeble digest their 
 dinner best if they lie down and sleep as most 
 animals do when their stomachs are full." — 
 Darwin. 
 
 Dr. Harwood fed two dogs. Then one slept 
 and the other ran. In two hours both were 
 killed. The one which had slept had completely 
 digested his food ; in the stomach of the other 
 the process of digestion had hardly begun. 
 
 " Quiet of body and mind for two hours 
 after dinner is certainly useful to the studious, 
 the delicate and the invalid." — Adair. 
 
 "After dinner rest for three hours." — Aber- 
 nethy. 
 
 " After dinner sit awhile." — English Proverb. 
 
 "Always rest after a meal, and do not dis- 
 turb the mind with thinking." — Celsus. 
 
 " If you have a strong propensity to sleep 
 after dinner, indulge it ; the process of diges- 
 
9i OUR DIGESTION, 
 
 tion goes on much better during sleep. I have 
 always found an irresistible propensity to it 
 whenever dyspeptic symptoms were consider- 
 able."— Wfer. 
 
 "Aged men and vreake bodies, a Bhort s] 
 after dinner doth belp to nourish." — Bacon. 
 
 Chambers says: u We should indulge in the 
 muscular and mental repose which is demanded, 
 and this should las! for not much less than an 
 
 hour after each meal." 
 
 The same acute observer says, in discuss 
 this subject of resl in it- relations to dig 
 that a >h<Tt period of i , or at least very 
 light occupation, should be allowed bel 
 every meal. 
 
 In my own personal experience, I have al- 
 ways observed that an hour or an h<>ur and a 
 half of rest before dinner contributes mon 
 the completeness of digestion than the same 
 rot immediately after eating. 
 
 It is very important, a- remarked in another 
 place, that the time given t<» the meal itself 
 should be ample. Every minute saved to bus- 
 iness by hurrying the eating is an u tent 
 which, instead i^ paying a profit, involves a 
 loss. If possible, be talkative and BOCiaL 
 
CORSETS AND DIGESTION. 95 
 
 CORSETS AND DIGESTION. 
 
 One of the essential forces in digestion is a 
 certain motion of the stomach and intestines, 
 known as the vermicular or worm-like motion. 
 The contents of the stomach during digestion 
 must be constantly mixed and intermixed. 
 The motion of the stomach accomplishes this 
 mixing and intermixing. 
 
 Please go with me to the House to 
 
 dinner to-day, 
 
 Well, here we are. I want you to watch 
 the ladies as they come in. I can't bear to 
 hear men criticise ladies, but we will venture a 
 little comment in a low voice, and we won't let 
 them see that we are looking at them. 
 
 Do you see that slight, pale lady with the 
 little girl? She is the wife of Mr. II. , our 
 wealthy broker. She is in wretched health. 
 Look at her waist ! What do you think of 
 the chances of the vermicular motion in her 
 stomach? It wouldn't take very long hands 
 to clasp round that waist. And within that 
 space, not only must the stomach work, but the 
 liver, spleen, pancreas, transverse colon, several 
 feet of the small intestines, and many large 
 
96 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 arteries, veins and other organs must all find 
 room to work. What a doubled and twisted 
 hotch-potch ! 
 
 Look at that large red-faced woman leaning 
 on the arm of that little man. What immei 
 shoulders and hips! But just notice her waist 
 
 Do you know that women have naturally 
 larger waists in proportion to their shoulders 
 than men? Look on the first page of any ana- 
 tomical work and you will see. Look at the 
 Greek Slave by Powers. Compare that with 
 any of the groat master-pieces representing the 
 male 4 figure, and yon will see that the female has 
 a larger waist in proportion to the should 
 than the male. 
 
 That lady weighs over two hundred pounds, 
 while her waist is smaller than her hus- 
 band's, and be weighs not more than i 
 hundred and fifty pounds. Her stem 
 after dinner is, or should be, pretty large; her 
 liver is an immense organ; then all the other 
 organs which I have mentioned must find a 
 place in there somewhere. And now, how do 
 you suppose they manage it ? Well, they get 
 doubled up and twisted about in a very remark- 
 able way, and a very large part oi the mass 
 jammed down into the lower part of the ab- 
 domen. When she rises, it' you Will look at 
 her person you will observe that the lower 
 
CORSETS AND DIGESTION. 97 
 
 part of the abdomen is immensely protuberant. 
 Half of all which belongs in that part of the 
 upper abdomen where the corset has compelled 
 that deep scoop-shovel hollow has been pressed 
 down into the lower abdomen. 
 
 Let us watch this large woman a little 
 while she eats. Soup, salmon, beef, canvas- 
 back and plum pudding, with all the fixings, 
 and two glasses of sherry ! What do you think 
 of that for her poor squeezed-up stomach ? 
 
 Now we will go. Have you seen one in 
 this large company of ladies who gives her 
 stomach a fair chance for the vermicular mo- 
 tion? 
 
 And they can't understand this miserable, 
 dragging, faint feeling in the stomach, and that 
 other distressing sensation of pressing down in 
 the lower part of the abdomen. 
 
 You might just as well expect the arm or 
 leg to work without room, as the stomach. If 
 the stomach could speak for itself, I fancy it 
 would say : 
 
 " What do you take me for ? Do you think 
 I can digest soup, fish, meat, game, pudding, 
 pie, ice-cream, etc., and, at the same time, be 
 squeezed with those infernal whalebones laced 
 down all around me with that strong cord? 
 What do you think I am ? Do you take me 
 for a mule or a jackass ? My mistress, suppose 
 
98 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 your arms and legs were all tied with strong 
 cords, and then the cruel torturer were to com- 
 mand you to rise and toil ! What would you 
 think of it? Well, that is just what I think 
 of your tying me down and then commanding 
 me to work." 
 
NECESSITY OF ACIDS IN DIGESTION 99 
 
 NECESSITY OP ACIDS IN DIGESTION. 
 
 If men live too long without fresh meat and 
 vegetables, the malady known as scurvy appears. 
 There is in this case a morbid state of the sys- 
 tem requiring acids. Lemon juice, or vege- 
 tables containing certain acids, afford speedy 
 relief. In our artificial life extra acids are 
 frequently needed in digestion. By a sort of 
 instinct we use vinegar upon certain articles 
 of food. It is with pork and beans, lettuce, 
 cucumbers, salads, salmon, and other articles of 
 difficult digestion that we use vinegar. Even 
 the Dutchman's abominable sauer-kraut is easy 
 of digestion with its abounding acid. 
 
 A few years ago a medical brother brought 
 to my notice a singular case of indigestion. 
 The woman suffered from eructations to a most 
 distressing degree. The eructations began a 
 little after each meal, and continued often three 
 hours. The bowels were disturbed with inces- 
 sant rumbling. The rapidity with which this 
 gas was secreted surprised me. 
 
 Upon a careful inquiry into her habits, I 
 learned that she consumed daily large quan- 
 tities of saccharine matter. She ate sugar or 
 
100 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 syrup on or in everything. I directed that she 
 should eat for breakfast and dinner all she 
 might want of boiled beef or mutton, with un- 
 fermented bread, no sweets, and no drink but 
 cold water in very small quantity. No supper. 
 
 At the close of breakfast and dinner, she was 
 to suck the juice of a lemon. 
 
 The patient had been suffering for several 
 years. In a few weeks she was well; and, by 
 avoiding sweets and using lemon juice daily , 
 has continued to enjoy good digestion. There 
 is hardly a day passes that 1 have not the priv- 
 ilege of relieving some sufferer from dyspepsia 
 by advising avoidance of all sweet things and a 
 moderate use of adds. 
 
 During the last twenty years T have been in 
 the habit of saying that no family of five ] 
 sons should use more than a pound of sugar a 
 week. The importance of this rule is every 
 year growing upon me. I have a clear convic- 
 tion that much of our indigestion would dis- 
 appear upon the banishment of sugar and mo- 
 lasses from our grocery bills. The longing for 
 acids so common among our dyspeptics is the 
 language of a real organic want. 
 
TABLE FURNITURE. 101 
 
 HELPS TO DIGESTION. 
 
 Ouk manners at the table have much to do 
 with our digestion. Politeness must be set 
 down among the means of a healthy stomach. 
 
 In the first place, if we offer the bread, the 
 butter, and the sauce, to others, we interrupt the 
 otherwise unbroken shoveling-in business, and 
 thus make the eating more deliberate, which is 
 an advantage ; and in the second place, the 
 temper induced by this mutual kindness is emi- 
 nently favorable to the stomach functions. A 
 kind action always tends toward health ; an un- 
 kind or mean one tends in the opposite direc- 
 tion. This is a general law, and especially 
 applicable to table manners. 
 
 Table Furniture. 
 
 In view of the fact that as a people we have 
 rather weak stomachs, everything which tends 
 to a sense of comfort and pleasure at the table 
 should be fostered. Among the sources of 
 good feeling, I reckon good crockery, plate, 
 cutlery and linen. 
 
 China costs but little more than the common 
 
 9* 
 
102 OJJB DIGESTION. 
 
 ware, and is likely to receive better care and to 
 last longer. 
 
 Plated knives, forks and spoons are now so 
 cheap that every table may have an abundance. 
 On some accounts plated ware is preferable to 
 solid silver. When the Millennium comes in, I 
 shall prefer the solid ware, but up to the dawn 
 of that happy day, I shall listen with sincere 
 respect to the prayer of light-fingered people, 
 " Lead us not into temptation." 
 
 Nice linen gives such pleasure to everybody 
 that I shall not attempt a plea for clean table- 
 cloths and napkins. 
 
 I should be satisfied with plainer and cheaper 
 food, if neatly prepared and served upon snowy 
 linen, with china and plate. I have no doubt 
 there are people who, like blind men, only re- 
 gard the taste of the food, and, like pigs, have 
 no choice about the trough in which it is 
 served ; but most of us are filled with a sense of 
 satisfaction when surrounded by these clean, 
 bright things. 
 
 I cannot mention a table economy more wise 
 than the use of beautiful crockery and linen. 
 It induces good manners, quiet, deliberate eat- 
 ing, and other Christian decencies. And it 
 makes food look so palatable that the pur- 
 chases and labor of cooking may be sensibly 
 reduced. 
 
FLO WEES AT TABLE. 103 
 
 An intelligent lady assured me that the sight 
 of cracked wheat always turned her stomach, 
 until she was visiting at Mrs. R.'s, when the 
 wheat looked so white, the china dish in which 
 it was put on the table was so beautiful, the 
 fringed napkin and cream pitcher were so 
 pretty, that she ate cracked wheat for the first 
 time, and has ever since been fond of it. Very 
 plain things can be made appetizing by a pleas- 
 ant dress. 
 
 How true all this is of many things besides 
 our food ! I know more than one man, and 
 more than one woman, without intelligence, 
 Christian sentiments or manners, who are tol- 
 erated and even welcomed on account of their 
 fine taste in dress. And is it not true that the 
 mass of men regard the dress and manners 
 more than the quality of soul within ? It is 
 the dish and the linen which decide the fate of 
 more than one thing. 
 
 Flowers at Table. 
 
 Their beauty and fragrance add not a little 
 to the pleasure of the table hour. A large, 
 fragrant bouquet takes the place of an extra 
 dish. And nothing is so cheap as flowers. 
 During a considerable part of the year they 
 cost absolutely nothing. It is the sweetest 
 
104 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 pleasure to grow tliem. And it is surprising 
 how cheaply a small conservatory may be 
 managed. 
 
 It is such a pleasure to observe how the love 
 for flowers is increasing ! This winter one may 
 see in Boston more flowers in a week than ten 
 years ago he would have seen in three months. 
 Their sweet beauty brightens the most unex- 
 pected places, while their presence inspires 
 almost every pulpit. 
 
 As I write these 1 word-. Boston is welcoming 
 His Imperial Highness, the Grand Duke 
 Alexis, of Russia, with flowers and the - 
 of children. Every hall, hotel and chamber 
 where he is received is fragrant with flow< 
 more beautiful than the diamond crown of his 
 father. Twenty years ago it would have b 
 cannon and a series of gormandic surfeits. 
 
 The service of flowers at the table, in recall- 
 ing the lost appetite of the invalid, has 1 
 been recognized. Their service in refining the 
 appetites of all is not generally appreciated. It 
 would take a brute to eat like one. at a table 
 made sweet by the presence of flow* 
 
 Music at the Table. 
 
 Some of my readers, when they see tl. 
 ing of this chapter, will exclaim, 
 
THE TABLE AND THE CHAIBS. 105 
 
 " Now this is too much ; this is carrying it 
 too far. When I sit down to eat, what I want 
 is steak, sausage, slapjacks and coffee! You 
 may smell of your flowers and listen to your 
 music ; I'll take something to eat." 
 
 There are people who care nothing for 
 flowers or music or clean linen, beautiful 
 crockery or politeness. What they want is 
 slapjacks and ham. Of course, what I am say- 
 ing of these things will be all Greek to such. 
 But I will venture to suggest that the occa- 
 sional introduction of music during meal time 
 will prove most acceptable. Some of the mu- 
 sic-boxes are very sweet, and if several were 
 owned in a neighborhood, by an occasional ex- 
 change a variety of pleasing music would be 
 secured. TKe iEolian harp, which can be made 
 without expense by any ingenious boy, will, 
 when placed in an open window, if the air be 
 moving, discourse the sweetest music in the 
 world. And as we progress, the piano, harp, 
 violin and other instruments will be made to 
 serve us now and then on these occasions. 
 
 The Table and the Chairs. 
 
 A word or two about the table and chairs. 
 The table must be large enough to accommo- 
 date the dishes without crowding. It is trjie 
 
106 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 of the furniture of a table as it is of the furni- 
 ture of a room, that a confused crowd offends. 
 
 The chairs should be high enough to bring as 
 well above our plates. The high chair occupied 
 by the carver gives him a certain advantage. 
 
 Conversation at the Table. 
 
 A cheerful temper charms the stomach. 
 Pleasant, social companions will help u> to 
 digest what might otherwise prove unmanage- 
 able. An Englishman, without observing the 
 laws of exercise or sleep, will digest an enor- 
 mous dinner and preserve his stomach. It us 
 his two hours of chat and Uowship. 
 
 Let him eat the same quantity in the rapid 
 restaurant fashion, sitting alone, and he would 
 soon be a wretched dyspeptic. 
 
 The influence of a quiet, social temper upon 
 the stomach is one of the curious facte about 
 digestion. 
 
 A Lawyer's Experience. 
 
 A lawyer in this city told me that he had 
 been for some time in the habit of eating at 
 our best cafe, and found it difficult to explain 
 the full stomach and dull head which almost 
 uniformly followed even a very moderate din- 
 ner. This unpleasant experience had gone on 
 for some months, when a jolly legal friend called 
 
STRIKING EXPERIENCE OF A MERCHANT. 107 
 
 to see him, and, business over, they dined to- 
 gether. 
 
 The dinner lasted an hour and a half. They 
 ate many indigestible things, and three or four 
 times the quantity he usually took at his soli- 
 tary lunch. Strange to say, there was no sense 
 of fullness or headache. 
 
 This circumstance set him thinking, and 
 ever since, at considerable inconvenience to 
 himself, he has dined with his family, taking 
 great pains to foster the social spirit during 
 their meals. 
 
 Striking Experience of a Merchant. 
 
 The influence of disappointment and grief 
 upon the function of digestion has long been 
 observed. The news of some business calam- 
 ity, or death of a friend, has turned an eager 
 appetite into loathing. 
 
 Mr. W., a shipping merchant of this city, 
 had an experience which strikingly illustrates 
 this physiological sympathy between brain and 
 stomach. 
 
 One of his vessels with a very valuable cargo 
 sailed from Hong Kong, and was due in Boston 
 about the 1st of May. 
 
 As he owned something more than a score 
 of vessels, he resolved, in view of a sudden 
 
108 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 rise in the rates of insurance during the late 
 war, to insure his own vessel and cargo, saving 
 thereby, if the vessel came home in safety, 
 about twenty thousand dollar.-. 
 
 May came ; the " May Queen M did not arrive. 
 June came in, but the vessel did not The first 
 of July brought no news of the " Quden." On 
 the fourth of July, while driving in the coun- 
 try, I called at the merchant'.- residence and 
 was told that he was in the garden. I found 
 him, and was astonished at his sallow, despair- 
 ing fare. The good wife joined as, and de- 
 clared that Mr. \\\ had eaten nothing for a 
 fortnight. I was really anxious about him, and 
 
 three days after, calling at his office, I found 
 
 him down on the v\u\ of the wharf. He 
 
 SO absorbed and overwhelmed that he did not 
 
 notice me until I .-poke. 
 
 He talked of nothing hut the k * May Qu< 
 and really looked like a man becoming in- 
 sane. 
 
 While walking with him, new- came. The 
 clerk ran toward us crying out, "She is comi 
 she is coming, sirl" 
 
 Six hours after, the captain of the " May 
 Queen " stepped ashore and reported all safe, 
 
 Mr. W- took him to a hotel, and, as he after- 
 ward phrased it, made up for all his table 
 losses. 
 
ANOTHER VIEW OF .THE SAME CASE. 109 
 
 In such a case as this, and it is not a rare 
 one, except perhaps in intensity, it is really 
 difficult to comprehend this perfect subjection 
 of a mere physical function to the domination 
 of the mind. 
 
 . But what I wish to urge is the great import- 
 ance of social enjoyment during meal time. 
 Blessed are the story tellers, for they help us 
 to digest our dinners ! 
 
 A good story teller, if his stories are clean, 
 is a God-send. His best services are rendered 
 at the table. Those of us who cannot tell a 
 good story can bring to the table the funny 
 papers. Read now and then a good thing — it 
 is sure to suggest something. A good anecdote 
 is a capital condiment. 
 
 Our restaurant plan of eating has its advan- 
 tages. "We are not so likely to take a great 
 variety of dishes, nor are we so likely to eat 
 too much. When we enjoy the participation 
 of pleasant friends at the restaurant-table, it is 
 on the whole a great gain on the table d'hote 
 with its elaborate courses. 
 
 Another View of the Same Picture. 
 
 American men are hard workers. They see 
 
 their wives and children but little except at 
 
 table. That seems to be about the only family 
 
 10 
 
110 QUE DIGESTION. 
 
 gathering. What a spectacle is the common 
 management of these family meetings ! 
 
 The father sits in glum silence, and shovels 
 in as fast as he can swallow. The children 
 follow the parental example. The food ta 
 passed only when asked for, and is then 
 in silence. There Ls nothing human about it. 
 I can't see in what essential particular it difl 
 from a group of pigs gathered about a trough. 
 
 If these gatherings were wisely managed; if 
 the experiences of the children in their sch< 
 were lovingly called out by parental inter 
 if such news as the parents had picked up w 
 the last meeting were told, — if this were the 
 scene at the table three times a day, it would 
 grow by what it feeds mi. The table meetu 
 would be most attractive to the -mall people. 
 The parents would grow into a L 
 with their children. It would in truth pn 
 the greatest Messing to every member of the 
 group, and in the long run would contribute 
 more to the physical, intellectual, social and 
 moral development of the young people than 
 any other agency I can name. 
 
 John Smith's Method. 
 
 John Smith, a blacksmith residing in a New 
 England village, has a wife and several chil- 
 
JOHN SMITH'S METHOD. Ill 
 
 dren. I had the pleasure to remain two days 
 in this family, and if I could tell you what I 
 saw and heard at their table, I am sure I 
 should deeply interest eyery reader. But so 
 much of what was most delightful appeared in 
 their faces and the tones of their voices, that it 
 is impossible to give anything like a just re- 
 port. 
 
 John and his wife are illiterate, but the first 
 meal I ate with them proved them no common 
 people. 
 
 Father. " Johnny, now tell us all about 
 your school this morning; about your lessons 
 and everything that happened." 
 
 Johnny proceeded with a long story about 
 his lessons, what this boy had said and that 
 girl had said, what the teacher had said, how 
 many numbers he had gone up in the spelling, 
 and then with a good deal of embarrassment he 
 told how he had missed eight times nine. 
 
 Father. "Why, Johnny, that's the same 
 mistake you made the other day !" 
 
 Johnny. " I know it, father, but somehow 
 I can't remember the plaguy thing." 
 
 The little girl, a toddler of four years, cried 
 out, " Papa, when I go to school I will learn 
 everything, and won't never miss. I know how 
 how much eight times nine is now !" 
 
 Mother. " Well, Nettie, how much is it ?" 
 
112 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Nettie. " It's thirteen." 
 
 Johnny. " Oh, Nettie, that ain't right; it's 
 seventy-two." 
 
 Then the father related what Deacon i>.. who 
 had been two hours at the shop waiting \'<>r his 
 horses to be shod, had said aboul the fashion 
 check-reins. 
 
 '"The Deacon Bays be thinks 'thai ch< 
 reins arc the cruel things iii the world.' 
 
 He fixed a strap and checked up his Charley, 
 and asked us to watch him. Well, i must 
 I never had thought so much about it bef 
 but in a moment the horse l>< 
 head, and then turned it from aide to side. Then 
 the Deacon checked him closer, bul doI a bit 
 closer than those dandified folks ch( 
 It was really curious to see how that h 
 acted. lie threw his nose up a- high a-- lie 
 could a dozen times, trying to free his h 
 then he would turn his head just as far as he 
 could, tirst one side and then the other. The 
 Deacon said that Ids neck ached just like 
 toothache. He thinks that a pain in the n 
 is the worst pain any creature can suffer. Tie 
 asked ns to look at his eyes and see how he 
 suffering. The Deacon says 1 that's the w 
 thing Ave ever do to horses. That if a horse 
 could speak, he would tell ns he would rather 
 be cut twenty times with a whip than have 
 
JOHN SMITH'S METHOD. 113 
 
 his neck aclie that way for half an hour/ 
 When the check was taken off, the horse held 
 his head down very low, and seemed to be rest- 
 ins; his neck. 
 
 " I do think, as the Deacon says, ' that the 
 check is a cruel thing.' " 
 
 Johnny. "Til never check up a horse as 
 long as I live and breathe and draw a breath 
 of life." 
 
 Margaret " But, mother, I think that the 
 way people treat their dogs is worse than that." 
 
 Mother. "Why, Maggie, what do you 
 mean ?" 
 
 Margaret. " What I mean is this : Dogs 
 need a great deal of water, and they need it 
 very often. And I don't know hardly any- 
 body that fixes any place for them to drink. 
 All the summer long, when dogs want drink 
 every little while, they have to go from morn- 
 ing till night, unless they happen to find some 
 water. The way they suffer is awful. I say 
 that people that have dogs ought either to kill 
 them, or else fix some place where they can 
 drink as often as they please." 
 
 Johnny. "I won't never treat my dog so 
 as long as I live and breathe and draw a breath 
 of life> 
 
 3fother. " But I don't think either of those 
 
 things is half as cruel as shooting birds. I 
 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 OUR DIGEST LOS. 
 
 can't bear to think how that cruel boy of 
 Jenks's shot the robins that had a uest in 
 tree. It was bo cruel. I know just how it all 
 happened; I saw him when In- Bhot them. It 
 was nearly dark, and the father and mother 
 birds were out getting supper for their li: 
 children. They both Bat od the fence just 
 there at the corner when he shot them. ( l 
 of them fell at once, and the other flew back 
 as fast as it could go to the nest I ran out 
 
 there and found the mother bird all bloody and 
 
 gasping. I brought ber into the a and 
 
 put her down by the si ied to wash 
 
 off the blood, hut in a E 
 Long gasp and died. 
 
 44 I went out at once to * 6 how the little 
 
 father bird got along, and was astonished to 
 find that he was wounded and lying on the 
 ground. I saw there was blood on the limb 
 
 near the nest, and bo 1 kn< iiad been tip 
 
 there, hut had not strength enough to hold on. 
 
 "I just came away and watched him. He 
 tried three or four times to fly up to the D 
 before he got there. At last he hit tie 
 of the nest and fell in. 1 couldn't do any- 
 thing, and so I let him alone. 
 
 k¥ The next morning 1 went out early, and 
 everything was still about the nest Bo I got a 
 ladder and climbed up there to see. And th< 
 
JOHN SMITH'S METHOD. 115 
 
 I found the father bird dead, lying on the little 
 ones, and they were all soaked in blood. 
 
 " I took out the father, and only one of the 
 little birds was alive. I brought. that in and 
 tried to feed it, but it soon died. All this grief 
 and trouble came just because that cruel boy 
 wanted to shoot his gun. And just think, he 
 brags that he has killed twenty robins in a day !" 
 
 Johnny. " I'll never shoot a bird as long as 
 I live and breathe and draw a breath of life." 
 
 At the conclusion of an hour at that table, 
 I said, " Mr. Smith, do you always remain as 
 long as this at the dinner table ?" 
 
 " Yes," he replied ; " I always will have my 
 hour at dinner and supper. I tell you, it's 
 about the only comfort I get. And then I 
 always tell 'em, if people will have children, 
 they must sorter help 'em along ; kinder get 
 their heads and hearts goin' right, you know." 
 
 If I could give a faithful report of all that 
 was said by parents and children, with the 
 manner and spirit in which the conversations 
 were carried on, I should write one of the most 
 interesting chapters ever published. Of all 
 schools for children, this is the best. 
 
 Generally the conversations were of a cheer- 
 ful character, with a good deal of fun, but at 
 two meals the rights of animals were consid- 
 ered, and in a manner which illustrates what I 
 
116 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 have long held as true — viz. : that the Ameri- 
 can mechanic knows more of law than the law- 
 yer, more of medicine than the doctor, d 
 religion than the professional theologian, and, 
 I might add, more of the rights of animals 
 than one of the Lecturers of the "S for 
 
 the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal-." 
 
 A Word in Conclusion. 
 
 What I have been urging in I to the 
 
 table involve no self-denial, bul adds at oi 
 and largely to our pleasure s, 
 
 Eating, with its ac< 
 contribute immensely to th< 
 ments. Of the legitimate and healthful e 
 we have quite too ft w, as thii ..■■. A 
 
 change from our unsocial, piggish 
 order, beauty , deliberation and s ility Ihi 
 suggested, would increase tenfold our fa 
 pleasures, and add indefinitely to our health. 
 And this would all come, not with 
 a millionaire and at the end of tw< but 
 
 in the cottage of the poor man and to-day. 
 
 This is one of a hundred illustratioi - 
 great natural law — to wit : that all on 
 blessings are within the reach of all i 
 people, with very little regard to th< 
 or school training. 
 
BEG UL ABIT Y IN EATING. 117 
 
 REGULARITY IN EATING. 
 
 If there is one rule about eating in which 
 all persons are agreed, it is, that our meals 
 should be taken at stated and regular periods. 
 People may differ about vegetarianism, about 
 sweets, about pies and cakes, about tea and 
 coffee; but I have never met a person who 
 would insist that regularity was of no conse- 
 quence — that it was just as well to take two 
 meals to-day and five to-morrow, to take din- 
 ner at one o'clock to-day, three to-morrow, and 
 five next day. Without understanding the 
 physiological law, all are agreed that regular- 
 ity is important. 
 
 A long journey by rail does not derange the 
 stomach because of long sitting in an unventi- 
 lated car, for the traveler may occupy a still 
 worse place in the pursuit of his business at 
 home ; neither is it because of the character of 
 the food furnished at the railway lunch rooms, 
 for the food at home is often worse ; but the 
 stomach derangement which nearly always 
 comes with the long railway trip is, in great 
 part, to be traced to irregularity in the times 
 of eating. In a recent trip, we took breakfast 
 
118 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 the first morning just after daylight, m 
 morning at half-past nine o'clock, the I 
 seven, and bo with the other meals; only i 
 day we had no dinner at all. In less than a 
 week we were all suffering indigestion; some 
 were conscious of no discomfort in the stomach! 
 but not one of us escaped the dullness and de- 
 pression of spirits which of im] 
 digestion. Among the table laws, this one 
 of regularity is pre-eminently important 
 
 Queer Feeding of Babies. 
 
 How strangely oblivious of this vital law 
 mothers arc with reference to the feeding i E 
 their babies during the nursing 1 ! If the 
 
 baby worries, the mother puts it to her 
 If it cries from hunger, she gives the same 
 remedy; and if it cries from colic produced by 
 a surfeit, the same remedy is employed. If it 
 cries because a pin stick- in its back, the D - 
 ther says, " Give it to me ! give it to me I give 
 it to me!" and its bawling mouth is filL <L 
 
 A child cries from lying too long in one | 
 tion, from tight clothing, from heat, from c 
 from fifty causes, and the mother treats every 
 cry with one remedy — a dose of milk. The 
 little sufferer, in its unreasoning eagerness 
 relief, goes on sucking every time. For a few 
 
HOW OFTEN SHALL BABIES BE FED? 119 
 
 moments the new sensation relieves the old one ; 
 besides, there is a universal instinct to do some- 
 thing when we are in pain, and as the baby has 
 learned to do but one thing, it will contrive to 
 do this one thing on all occasions, no matter 
 though its stomach is already so full that on 
 adding a single spoonful it must run over. 
 
 How often shall Babies be fed? 
 
 If you would preserve your baby in health, 
 give it nourishment with perfect regularity as 
 to time. How often ? you will ask. During 
 my professional experience I have tried to ar- 
 rive at an answer to that very reasonable and 
 practical question. My best judgment is, that 
 vl\) to six months of age a baby should nurse 
 once in three hours, and after that, until it is 
 weaned, once in four hours. A baby should 
 have nothing during the night. If denied for 
 a week, it will almost invariably sleep all night; 
 but if, when it worries, the usual stuffing is 
 thrust into its open mouth, you have begun 
 the most ingenious of all expedients to make 
 it troublesome at night. In many hundred 
 babies whose nocturnal restlessness has been 
 brought to my notice, I have advised abstinence 
 during the night ; and when managed with a 
 little patience, the result has always been most 
 
120 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 satisfactory to all concerned. Many old nur 
 who have pooh-poohed at " this new-fangled 
 notion of a doctor who don't know nothin' 
 about it; how many children has he nursed, I 
 wonder?" — many such, upon seeing this plan 
 of raising children tried, have become its 
 warmest advocates. I recall one old, obstinate 
 Irish nurse, who used, at first, on entering the 
 service of some of my patients, y, thai she 
 didn't believe babies were such fools that t : 
 didn't know when they were hungry. 8 
 gave me a great deal of trouble for a whi 
 but when a sensible mother adopted the in: - 
 vals of three hours during the day, and total 
 abstinence during the night, the baby became 
 so very quiet, and gave Margaret ao good a 
 chance to sleep, her interest was aroused, and 
 at length she was converted, and every baby 
 was the "best baby that ever lived, Mesa its 
 little heart !" 
 
 Bottle-fed Babies. 
 
 While on this point. 1 must say Bometb 
 of the diet of bottle-fed babies. Milk is the 
 only article which will alone permanently sus- 
 tain human lite. It is the only one which con- 
 tains all the elements found in the animal body. 
 There is no doubt that milk is the pr 
 for infants. The hundred and one sub-tin; 
 
BOTTLE-FED BABIES. 121 
 
 which are sold at the drug stores and groceries 
 (of which preparations of arrowroot are good 
 samples) are but poor, unnutritious, unsatisfac- 
 tory stuffs. 
 
 Babies must have milk. But it disagrees 
 with them, they vomit it, and suffer from fever 
 and diarrhoea. In other words, they can't di- 
 gest milk. This common difficulty is what I 
 want to explain. I have seen a good many 
 bottle-fed babies sicken and die on a milk diet, 
 and where the diet was clearly the cause of the 
 sickness. But I have never seen a case in 
 which it was not possible to manage milk so 
 that when the little one could take nourishment 
 at all, this was not the best for it. 
 
 The child's organism is adapted to milk with 
 a very small percentage of oil or butter, viz., 
 its own mother's. When the mother from any 
 reason is unable to furnish the child its own 
 natural and proper nourishment, the little one 
 is fed on cow's milk, which contains five times 
 as much oil or butter. It generally vomits a 
 large part of it, but even the part retained is 
 too rich for its little ^weak stomach. This oily 
 richness of cow's milk is the common difficulty 
 among bottle-fed children. 
 
 What is the remedy ? Is it to abandon milk, 
 
 and feed the babe upon some such stuff as 
 
 arrowroot ? Certainly not ! The best manage- 
 
 11 
 
122 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ment, generally speaking, is simply to dilute 
 the milk with pure soft water. The degree of 
 dilution must be determined in each case by 
 experiment. Try, first, the addition of a quan- 
 tity of water equal to the milk. It is quite 
 rare that the proportion of water should be I 
 than this. Frequently, the quantity should be 
 three or four times as greal as the quantity of 
 milk. And if the little one still vomits 
 instead of milk at every feeding, once or twi 
 a day, buttermilk. This is particularly grate- 
 fill to most sensitive stomachs. It", notwith- 
 standing this management, there is deranj 
 ment of the digestive apparatus, try, occasion- 
 ally, diluted cream, for there are often found 
 
 conditions of the stomach, in these half moth- 
 erless ones, with which the chee-e matter 
 
 cow's milk diK^ not agree. 
 
 With these suggestions, no intelligent nurse 
 or mother should he at fault 
 
 Andrew Combe says : 
 
 "It is astonishing, indeed, with what exclu- 
 siveness of understanding, eating is regarded 
 even by intelligent parents as the grand wlor 
 Hum or panacea for all the pains and troul 
 which afflict the young. If a child falls over 
 a stone and bruises its leg, it- are imme- 
 
 diately arrested by a sugar-biscuit stuffed u 
 its open mouth. If its temper is discomposed 
 
bottle-fed babies. 123 
 
 by the loss of a toy, it is forthwith soothed by 
 an offer of sweetmeats, the ultimate effect of 
 which is to excite colicky pains in its bowels, 
 which are worse than the original evil, and for 
 which, in their turn, it is presented with ' nice 
 peppermint drops/ or some other equally pleas- 
 ant antidote. Because the mouth is open when 
 the child is crying, and the mouth leads to the 
 stomach, parents jump to the conclusion that it 
 is open for the purpose of being filled, and pro- 
 ceed to cram it accordingly ; forgetting all the 
 while that the mouth leads also to the wind- 
 pipe, and may be open for the admission of air 
 to the lungs as well as of food to the stomach, 
 and that if they stuff it with cake or pudding 
 when it is open only for the reception of air, 
 they run the risk of suffocating the little inno- 
 cent, when their only wish is to soothe him. 
 Everybody must have seen fits of convulsive 
 cough induced by fragments of food being 
 drawn into the windpipe in such circumstances. 
 " To confound crying and the expression of 
 pain with the cravings of hunger, is far from 
 being a matter of indifference to the child. If 
 food be given when it wishes only to be reliev- 
 ed from suffering, the offending cause is left in 
 activity, and its effects are aggravated by the 
 additional ill-timed distension of its stomach. 
 But so far is this important truth from being 
 
124 OUR DIG EST 10 S. 
 
 sufficiently impressed upon the minds of 
 parents and nurses, that nothing is m< 
 common, when the infant refuses to swallow 
 more, but still continues to cay, than to toss it 
 in the nurse's arms, as if on purpose to shake 
 down its food, and then resume the feeding. 
 And in such attempt.-, it is too true that the 
 perseverance of the nurse often gets the better 
 of the child, and force- it at I. i ive 
 
 the food at which it really Loathes. 
 
 "'Let appetite, then, be the only rule, but 
 allow it to appear, and do not attempt to pro- 
 voke it. The br< asi ought d A to In- 
 to the infant; it is for him to seek it. He lias 
 little need of sucking who takes it with in- 
 difference, <>r a- if he were confen in 
 He who is hungry acts very differently: all 
 
 his gestures express clearly the want and the 
 desire: his eye follows his nurse, and ' 
 interpret her every movement It' h 
 crying, his cries cease at her approach, and 
 smiles replace his tears. If 1 ffered the 
 
 breast, he seizes it with ardor, and the mother 
 yields to a natural want/ But it is far other- 
 wise when real appetite is wanting, and 'it 
 then becomes an act of cruel perfidy to tempt 
 the infant by the otter of the breast 11 
 can it be expected to resist the temptation, 
 when the adult, whose appetite is already 
 
BOTTLE-FED BABIES. 125 
 
 satisfied at the festive board, yields to the 
 solicitations of the host, and gorges himself 
 with aliments which he cannot digest V 
 
 " The same intelligent author remarks, that 
 the lower animals instinctively avoid this 
 'error, and, instead of offering suck too often, 
 rather allow themselves to be strongly solicited 
 before yielding to the wishes of their young. 
 By this provident arrangement, the latter are 
 protected from the evils of too frequent eating. 
 Many mothers imagine that milk is so bland 
 a fluid that it is impossible for an infant to 
 take too much of it; but the fallacy of the 
 notion is exposed when we recollect that milk 
 is coagulated the moment it reaches the 
 stomach, and that the real subject of digestion 
 is curd — a substance not quite so light as 
 milk." 
 
 11 < 
 
126 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 THE STORY OP YOUNG SAMUEL. 
 
 When I was a boy my sympathy - 
 awakened by what I thought the cruel starving 
 of the calves. They were fed only twice a day, 
 morning and evening. Eating all day mys 
 I thought it very cruel to tie up these p 
 helpless things, and give them no food or drink 
 from morning till night. 
 
 Each of my brothers had a calf, my si 
 had a calf, and I had a calf. The others 
 satisfied with John's assurance that twice a day 
 was enough; but I knew better, and made such 
 a fuss about their starving my 3am, 
 
 that the "powers that be" ordained that the 
 
 feeding in the case of young Samuel should 
 
 as Ins owner directed. Upon the proclamati 
 
 of this ukase, I determined to show 'mi wh 
 what, and, to make sure. I lid Samuel myself. 
 I gave him all he wanted about once in I 
 hours. 
 
 But at the end of six weeks how the reel 
 of Vm did crow over me! It was true, as they 
 said, that at the beginning of my saw off- 
 
 ing system, as they called it, Samuel was the 
 biggest calf in the lot : but at the end of the 
 
THE STORY OF YOUNG SAMUEL. 127 
 
 weeks, oil what a fall was there, my countrymen ! 
 Even my smallest brother's little Fan could 
 give Samuel odds. To cap the climax, when 
 we untied and turned them all out together, 
 little spotted Fan w r ent at my Sam, upon whom 
 my hopes had centred as the bully of the yard, 
 and wolloped him in just no time. For a long 
 time they wouldn't stop plaguing me about that 
 good-for-nothing calf. My little sister, who 
 could hardly speak plain, asked me one morn- 
 ing at the table, " How's 'e p'ophet Sam'el 'is 
 mornin' ?" 
 
 From that day to this I have never advo- 
 cated the frequent feeding of calves. They do 
 best on two meals a day ; and now I have no 
 doubt that some other calves I wot of would 
 do vastly better on two meals a day. 
 
 Speaking of Samuel, I am reminded of his 
 final taking off, which was ignominiously trag- 
 ical. While he was illustrating the high-press- 
 ure principle, his hair turned in the wrong di- 
 rection. At first, I rather prided myself on the 
 nice curls, and pointed them out as proofs of 
 his superior beauty ; while curly hair, they all 
 admitted, was a sign of tough constitution. 
 Very soon, however, the tendencies were so 
 distinctly pronounced, there could be no doubt: 
 Samuel's hair was all pointing toward his 
 nose. Somehow, after this, he did not seem 
 
128 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 to be a prosperous calf, and, when he was 
 about six months old, it was discovered that, 
 in addition to his other graces, he was sorely 
 afflicted with lice. John said : " All right, 
 I'll fix 'em." So he steeped up a piece of plug 
 tobacco, and, pouring the infusion on Sam's 
 back, he rubbed it backward and forward 
 with the stable sponge. Bam ran away when 
 he was released, and John remarked, "All 
 right; that tobaeker jooce will iix them liee 
 right smart." 
 
 Samuel was not at that time my calf. I had 
 exchanged with my youngest brother for spot- 
 ted Fan, giving a Maltese kitten and my ball to 
 boot. His present owner followed after Bam 
 when Doctor John discharged him as cured, but 
 soon returned with the news that Sam 
 drunk. Great as was our respect for Barn's 
 capacity for blunders and vices, we hardly be- 
 lieved this, and ran out t<> sea Sure enouj 
 he was staggering, and soon down he went. 
 Sam looked very sick, and made the most un- 
 musical sounds I ever heard ; hut after a few 
 convulsions he was dead. The boys sat upon 
 the calf, and brought in a verdict of death from 
 poisoning by tobacco juice; but John stuck to 
 it: 
 
 " Twant tobacco, nor notion' of the kind ; 
 but 'twas jest the way with that pesky, contrary 
 
' Sam looked very siek, and made the most unmusical sounds I ever heard," 
 
 P. 128. 
 
THE STORY OF YOUNG SAMUEL. 129 
 
 calf; lie never would do nothin' like other 
 calves." 
 
 I know a great many calves that are grad- 
 ually but surely poisoning themselves with to- 
 bacco juice. If they would have it rubbed all 
 over their backs, it would kill them in an hour 
 or less ; but because they keep it in contact with 
 only the limited surface of their mouths, it will 
 not kill immediately, but will be sure to poison 
 and undermine the constitution in the end. 
 
 Ho! all ye calves who smoke and chew, a 
 solemn warning I give to you : if you follow in 
 the footsteps of my red calf, you won't live out 
 your days by half. 
 
 Some will say, " Of course this has refer- 
 ence to nicotine or empyreumatic oil or some 
 other extract of tobacco ; it can't mean tobacco 
 juice of the common sort ; that wouldn't pro- 
 duce any such symptoms." My dear fellow, 
 if you are not in the habit of using tobacco, 
 just take the wrapper off a cigar, wet it, and 
 put it into your arm-pit, and then sit down and 
 make yourself comfortable. But you won't stay 
 comfortable. Very soon you will be sick, then 
 you will vomit, then you will look very pale, a 
 cold sweat will stand out all over you, you will 
 tremble and gasp fearfully, and suffer enough 
 in ten minutes to satisfy you that tobacco is 
 quite a respectable poison. 
 
130 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 But put this leaf in your arm-pit every day, 
 and soon nature will accommodate herself to the 
 new enemy. And, although a slow cumula- 
 tive poisoning will go on, no such violent flurry 
 will again occur. 
 
 
LARGE EATERS. 131 
 
 LARGE EATERS. 
 
 They are almost always wanting in mental 
 activity and j)hysical endurance. I used to 
 know a good man who tried hard to be a Chris- 
 tian, but failed because he ate too much dinner. 
 By the way, this man was really a great curios- 
 ity. He superintended a small wood-turning 
 establishment, sitting in the office constantly, 
 except when he was eating, which was four 
 times a day. And when he consulted me about 
 his "poor stomach," and I told him flat that 
 "he was a pig, a victim of stuffing/ 5 he said, 
 " Why, doctor, you are altogether mistaken. I 
 am faint half the time, and eat an extra meal 
 to keep up my strength and relieve my faint- 
 ness." I went at him w r ith fact and physiology. 
 At length he was convinced, and promised me 
 most solemnly that he would follow my pre- 
 scription. It was this : " Eat but two meals a 
 day. For breakfast a piece of boiled beef, half 
 as large as your hand, a slice of bread, a baked 
 potato, with cold water for drink. The break- 
 fast should be taken at seven o'clock. For 
 dinner use boiled or steamed beef or mutton, 
 as large as your hand, with bread and potato 
 
132 OUR DIGESTIOX. 
 
 and other vegetables at your pleasure ; no des- 
 sert; eat the dinner at about one o'clock. 
 Take no supper and go to bed early." 
 
 In fifteen days his faintness had disappeared, 
 and he was rapidly recovering. To-day he is 
 a healthy, active man, and a warm advocate of 
 two meals a day, and moderate one.-. Tem- 
 perate people, with good digestion, never feel 
 their stomachs — forge! they have jhs: 
 
 while these enormous eaters are always hungry, 
 or faint, or bloated, or troubled with eructa- 
 tions, or acidity, or diarrhoea, or some other 
 condition showing a morbid state of the dig 
 live apparatus. 
 
 All the very strong men and all the active 
 men with whom I have been acquainted have 
 been moderate eaters. The physiology of these 
 remarkable facts is simply this: It take- a la 
 amount of nerve force to digest food. With 
 these prodigious eaters aU the nerve fore 
 to the stomach, and so nothing is left for brain 
 or muscle. 
 
 Persons having a good stomach to 1 
 with can, by long practice, learn to digest an 
 enormous quantity oi food. If they give their 
 whole force and vitality to this busin< — 
 grinding grists, they can, in the course <yi e^ 
 a short life, grind through immense quantiti 
 But as a steady and regular and only occupa- 
 
LARGE EATERS. 133 
 
 tion, it is hardly consonant with the loftiest 
 ambition, and so I advise the other policy, pur- 
 sued by such as have nobler aims in life. That 
 other policy is to find out just how much food 
 is needed to run the machine, exactly what 
 fuel is best to keep the steam at the best work- 
 ing point, and then never pass these bounds. 
 
 I was astonished at the results of an experi- 
 ment upon my own person. For years I had 
 eaten three hearty meals a day. At length, 
 upon a careful consideration of the physiology 
 of digestion, I found I was probably using too 
 much of my force in that function. I reduced 
 ttf two meals a day, and to about one-half, alto- 
 gether, of the quantity of food I had been 
 using. I can't tell you what freedom in men- 
 tal and bodily activity I experienced. 
 
 I know scores of men with large heads and 
 fine, vigorous bodies, who consume so much of 
 their nerve force in digestion, that they have 
 nothing left with which to achieve those tri- 
 umphs which, otherwise, would be so easy to 
 
 them. 
 
 12 
 
134 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 The Squire's Indigestion. 
 
 Old Squire H was a very successful and 
 
 substantial farmer in an interior town of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and a more amazing eater ne 
 lived in any town anywhere. And especially 
 much did he eat when fresh pork was to be his 
 nourishment. Well, at a certain time one of 
 his hogs had been billed The next morning 
 there was fresh pork for breakfast, and the old 
 man ate most wondrously. In the coarse of 
 the forenoon lie ate his Luncheon, consisting 
 bread and batter, min and cb At 
 
 noon his dinner consisted of fresh pork, pick 
 mince pit- and the osaal accompaniments. His 
 afternoon luncheon was like that of the 
 noon. When he came home to sapper his 
 favorite dish had not been prepared as | 
 of that meal. The old man fretted and BColded 
 till fresh pork was added to the sabstanti 
 lie ate voraciously as usual. In the evening 
 he toasted some cheese, battered and ate it. 
 Just before going to bed, he roasted a couple 
 of apples and ate them. In the night he * - 
 taken with a severe colic. The doctor was w 
 him till morning, and nearly wrought a mir- 
 acle in the old man's life. The next day Bolles 
 
 W , one of his neighbors, went in t 
 
 dole with the old Squire. 
 
THE SQUIRE'S INDIGESTION. 135 
 
 " Faithful Bolles," said the old worthy, " I 
 like to have died last night, I'll never eat 
 another roast apple as long as I live, I never 
 did love them very well, and last night I ate 
 only two, and they nearly killed me." 
 
 Abernethy's Receipt for Indigestion. 
 
 The subjoined, cut from an English paper, - 
 is severe to savagery, and, to some extent, un- 
 just, but contains, nevertheless, a good deal of 
 truth. 
 
 "Alden Gobble, a lover of misrule, was dys- 
 peptic, and suffered great uneasiness after eat- 
 ing. So he goes to Abernethy for advice. 
 
 " ' What is the matter with you ?' asks the 
 doctor. 
 
 "'Why, I presume I have got the dys- 
 pepsia/ 
 
 " ' Ah/ said the doctor, ' I see ; a Yankee — 
 swallowed more dollars and cents than he can 
 digest.' 
 
 r " ' I am an American citizen/ says Alden, 
 with great dignity ; ' I am Secretary to our 
 Legation at the Court of St. James/ 
 
 " ' Then/ says Abernethy, 'you will soon get 
 rid of your dyspepsia.' 
 
 " ' Don't see that inference/ said Alden ; ' it 
 don't follow from what you predicate at all ; it 
 
136 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ain't a natural consequence, I guess, that a 
 man should cease to be ill because he is called 
 by a free and enlightened people to fill an 
 important office.' 
 
 "'But I tell you it does follow/ said the 
 doctor; 'for in the company you'll keep you'll 
 have to eat like a Christian. I never saw a 
 Yankee who didn't bolt his food like a boa 
 constrictor. How can you expect to dig 
 food that you neither take the trouble to i 
 sect nor time to masticate? It's no wonder 
 you lose your teeth, for you never use them; 
 nor your digestion, for you overload it: nor 
 your saliva, for you expend it on your 
 instead of your food. It's disgusting; it's 
 beastly! You Yankees load your atom* 
 a Devonshire man does his cart — as full as it 
 will hold, and as fast as ho can pitch it in with 
 a hay-fork : and then yon complain that such 
 a load of compost is too heavy for you, 1\ 
 pepsia ! pooh! It's beastly guzzling you mean, 
 I tell you what) Mr. Secretary of Legation, 
 take half the time to eat that you do to drawl 
 out your words, chew your food half as much 
 as you do your tobacco, and you'll be well in a 
 mouth.' " 
 
 I should hardly venture to introduce such 
 severe, almost savage, denunciations from any 
 other than the great and honest Abernethv. 
 
fault-finding of the stomach. 137 
 
 His earnestness was wont to take the form of 
 fierce, passionate exclamation. 
 
 Fault-finding of the Stomach. 
 
 I have often wondered what the stomach 
 must say while an ordinary meal is coming 
 down. This stomach knows perfectly well 
 what it needs. It asks at breakfast, say a mod- 
 erate piece of steak, a slice or two of stale 
 bread, and a baked potato. Now, just stand 
 by and see what comes down. First, a great 
 mass of greasy buckwheat cakes, now, a swash 
 of scalding hot coffee, again buckwheats, more 
 coffee, sausage, hot biscuit saturated with melted 
 butter, buckwheats, coffee, sausage, hot biscuit, 
 and so on and so on for half an hour. And 
 here we have an enormous mass of hot, greasy, 
 doughy, indigestible stuff swimming in hot 
 coffee. 
 
 The stomach asks at dinner, roast beef or 
 mutton, with bread, potatoes and other vege- 
 tables. Now, what is the conglomeration that 
 comes rushing down that red canal? Turtle 
 soup, fish, beef, duck, plum pudding, pie, nuts, 
 raisins, coffee, and several condiments ; with this 
 hotch-pitch, ice-water, ice-cream and wine. 
 
 For supper, the stomach wants nothing, and 
 
 it gets hot biscuit, butter, cake, preserves and 
 
 strong tea. 
 
 & 12* 
 
138 OUR DIGESTIOX. 
 
 Boarding-houses are beginning to occupy a 
 large place in our city and town life. Delicate 
 women, with scrofula, congregate in th 
 places, gorge themselves after the above fash- 
 ion, and for exercise wear a tight corset and 
 sit over a register. I cannot think of but one 
 good result that comes of this, and that is, a 
 large class of very respectable citizen.- — the 
 doctors — get a good living out of it. Ask one 
 of them to let you look over bis day-book, and 
 you will find ten charges for visits to women to 
 one charge for a visit t<> a man. 
 
 "That the prevalence of over-eating is a 
 genera] error in society, especially among the 
 sedentary classes, is strongly presumable, even 
 without direct proof, from two almost character- 
 istic circumstances, namely, the frequency of 
 indigestion in one or other of its numer 
 forms, and the almost universal use of purgative 
 medicines, with a view to remove from the sys- 
 tem the superfluous materials which have been 
 poured into it without any natural demand. 
 
 " It is perfectly certain that, in the natural 
 state of man, the bowels are quite able to act 
 regularly without the aid of laxatives. If they 
 are not, the Creator must have failed in accom- 
 plishing his aim, a conclusion at which no 
 rational mind can arrive." 
 
EXCESS IN EATING. 139 
 
 EXCESS IN EATING. 
 
 "Sir Francis Head, in his humorous book 
 entitled Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau, 
 by an Old Man, expresses his astonishment at 
 the ' enormous quantity of provisions ' which 
 the invalids and sojourners at these watering 
 places ' so placidly consume ;' and after notic- 
 ing 'the heavy masses which constitute the 
 foundation of the dinner, and the successive 
 layers of salmon, fowls, puddings, meat again, 
 stewed fruit, and, lastly, majestic legs of mut- 
 ton, which form the lighter superstructure,' 
 he adds : ' Nothing which this world affords 
 could induce me to feed in this gross manner. 
 The pig which lives in his sty would have 
 some excuse, but it is really quite shocking to 
 see any other animal overpowering himself at 
 mid-day with such a mixture and superabun- 
 dance of food' (p. 71). On another page he 
 returns to the subject and quaintly enough re- 
 marks that 'Almost every malady to which 
 the human frame is subject is either by high- 
 ways or byways connected with the stomach ; 
 and I must own I never see a fashionable phy- 
 sician mysteriously counting the pulse of a 
 
140 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 plethoric patient, or, with a silver spoon on hie 
 tongue, importantly looking down his red in- 
 flamed gullet (properly termed by Johnson 
 " the meat-pipe"), but I feel a desire to ex- 
 claim, "Why not tell the poor man at once — 
 Sir, you've eaten too much, you've drunk too 
 much, and you've not taken exercise enough !" 
 That these are the main causes of almost every 
 one's illness, there can be DO greater proof than 
 that those savage nation- which live actively 
 and temperately have only one great disorder — 
 death. The human frame was nol created im- 
 perfect — it is we ourselves who have made it 
 so; there exists no donkey in creation so over- 
 laden as our sfomach&i and if is I"' Iheu 
 groan under the weight so cruelly imp 
 Hum thai we set peoph driving then bef< 
 them in herds to drink at one UttL brunnen ' 
 (pp. 91, 92)." 
 
 "Professor Caldwell, of Transylvania Univer- 
 sity, Kentucky, in one of his vigorously con- 
 ceived and very instructive essays, invek 
 eloquently against the intemperance i 
 countrymen in eating as well as in drinking, 
 and tells them that one American consumes 
 much food as two Highlanders or two Swiss, 
 although the latter are among the stoutest of 
 the race. c In temperate eating/ says he, 
 perhaps the most universal fault we commit. 
 
EXCESS IN EATING. 141 
 
 We are all guilty of it, not occasionally, but 
 habitually, and almost uniformly, from the 
 cradle to the grave. It is the bane alike of 
 our infancy and youth, our maturity and age. 
 It is infinitely more common than intemper- 
 ance in drinking, and the aggregate of the 
 mischief it does is greater. For every reeling 
 drunkard that disgraces our country, it con- 
 tains one hundred gluttons — persons, I mean, 
 who eat to excess and suffer by the practice/ 
 How, indeed, he afterward exclaims, can the 
 case be otherwise, while children and youth are 
 regularly taught, hired, bribed, or tempted, i to 
 overeat themselves from their birth ? Do you 
 ask me for evidence in proof of this charge ? 
 Go to our dining-rooms, nurseries, fruit-shops, 
 confectioneries, and pleasure-gardens — go even 
 to sick-rooms — and you will find it in abun- 
 dance. You will witness there innumerable 
 scenes of gormandizing, not only productive of 
 disease in those concerned in them, but in many 
 instances offensive to beholders. The frightful 
 mess often consists of all sorts of eatable ma- 
 terials that can be collected and crowded to- 
 gether, and its only measure is the endurance 
 of appetite and the capacity of the stomach. 
 Like the ox in rich pasture-ground, or the 
 swine at his swill trough, men stow away their 
 viands until they have neither desire nor room 
 
142 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 for any more. I do not say that such eating- 
 matches always and everywhere occur among 
 us. But I do say that they occur too frequent- 
 ly, and that they form fit subjects for carica- 
 ture pictures, by Euroj^ean tourists, of our do- 
 mestic manners. I add, however, that similar 
 scenes present themselves in every country I 
 have visited where provisions are abundant and 
 cheap.' " 
 
 "It is a trite observation that medical men 
 are constantly exclaiming against the eating 
 propensities of their patients and incul 
 the practice of temperance. ( ' the m 
 
 eminent physicians of the pree - iys: k I 
 
 believe that every stomach, not actually im- 
 paired by organic disease, will perform its ftu - 
 tions if it receive reasonable attention; and 
 when we consider the manner in which 
 generally conducted, both in regard to quanti 
 and to the variety of articles of food and drink 
 which are mixed up into em* heto 
 mass, instead of being astonished at the preva- 
 lence of indigestion, our wonder must rather be 
 that in such circumstances any stomach is ea- 
 pable of digesting at all. In the regulation 
 diet, much certainly is to be done in dyspeptic 
 eases by attention to the quality oi the articl 
 that are taken; but I am satisfied that much 
 more depends ujwn the quantity ; and I am 
 
 I 
 
EXCESS IN EATING. 143 
 
 even disposed to say that the dyspeptic might 
 be almost independent of any attention to the 
 quality of his diet if he rigidly observed the 
 necessary restrictions in regard to quantity/ 
 The latter opinion is obviously borne out by 
 Dr. Beaumont's observation of the power of 
 digestion being limited by the amount of gastric 
 juice which the stomach is capable of provid- 
 ing — an amount varying with the wants of the 
 system, and consequently with the mode of 
 life." 
 
 "The stomach and bowels, in fact, are re- 
 garded very much as if they were independent 
 powers residing within us, and placed there 
 purposely for our molestation. So many heavy 
 charges are continually brought against them 
 that they can scarcely ever be found in the 
 right. They are blamed for every act of mis- 
 chief which cannot be clearly proved against 
 another organ ; and yet, influential as they are 
 in affecting our comfort, they are treated by 
 us with very little care or ceremony. Their 
 powers and wishes are consulted in nothing, 
 but their backs are loaded, at the caprice of 
 their owners, worse, as Sir F. Head observes, 
 than any pack-horse ; nevertheless we abuse 
 them most emphatically when they sink to the 
 earth overwhelmed by the weight imposed 
 on them. They are, in short, the scape-goats 
 
144 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 which must bear all our physiological delin- 
 quencies and save us the pain of blaming our- 
 selves. If they feel uneasy after a heavy meal, 
 it is not we who are to blame for having eaten 
 it. No, it is the fish which lies heavy on the 
 stomach, or the stomach which is nnfortonal - 
 ly at war with soup or potatoes, or some other 
 well-relished article. We have nothing to do 
 with the mischief, except as meek and resigned 
 sufferers. We never cat more than enough. 
 We never devour Lobsters or oysters or salmon 
 or cheese, or anything which experience lias 
 told us our enfeebled stomachs cannot digest ! 
 We arc too prudent and self-denying tor that. 
 
 And yet, somehow or another, OUT stomachs \ 
 
 hold of all these things iii spite of us, and we 
 must pay the same penally as if we had eaten 
 them deliberately and with malice prepeo 
 
 The case is hard, no doubt, that we cannot lead 
 indolent and slothful lives and yet enjoy the 
 incompatible luxury of haying the appetite 
 
 a rustic and the digestion of a tiger; hut since 
 we arc so unfortunately constituted that we must 
 act like rational creatures or suffer the penalty, 
 
 would it not be a wise proceeding to set a bet 
 watch on the stomach and try to subject it to 
 more effectual control ¥* 
 
 " According to this law of adaptation, which, 
 of course, has its limits, the stomach may he 
 
''HOW MUCH SHALL I EAT?" 145 
 
 accustomed to the reception of either a larger 
 or a smaller quantity of food than the neces- 
 sities of the system require. If it is accus- 
 tomed to too much, and less than usual be al- 
 lowed, an unpleasant feeling of vacuity will 
 arise, accompanied by a craving for more ; but 
 after a few days the unpleasant sensation will 
 disappear, and the feeling of satisfaction be as 
 great as if a full meal had been taken, and di- 
 gestion will become more healthy and vigorous ; 
 whereas, if more food continues to be taken 
 than what the system requires, merely to grat- 
 ify the temporary craving, ultimate bad health 
 will be the inevitable result." 
 
 "How Much shall I Eat?" 
 
 "I can't answer that question. You must 
 answer it for yourself." 
 
 " But can't you help me to answer it? Can't 
 you give me some test or rule by which I can 
 arrive at the true answer ?" 
 
 "Possibly. I will try. Perhaps I shall 
 serve you best by giving you my own experi- 
 ence. For a loijg time I was in doubt about 
 this matter of quantity." 
 
 I had tried the rule of Drs. Philip and 
 Paris, which is, that " one must attend to the 
 first feeling of satiety." 
 
 13 
 
I4G OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 I had likewise followed Dr. Hitchcock's rule, 
 which is to eat of only one con 
 
 I had read with interest the advice of the 
 celebrated Dr. Johnson on this point, which 
 that every one must observe after dinner, and 
 if he find from his sensations that he ha.- eaten 
 too much, he mustn't do it again. 
 
 All these opinions and teachings were inter- 
 esting and helpful, l>nt they didn't help 
 much just where I mosl needed help. I knew 
 very well that, as a habit, I ate too much. I 
 
 always knew when I had finished my usual 
 dinner that I had eaten too much, and <>n m 
 
 than one occasion ! w;s BO v. v -I with I 
 
 for the excess that I thrust niv finger in my 
 throat and provoked vomiting. 
 
 I never had any difficulty in taking t«> the 
 table with me the b lutions, but the dif- 
 
 ficulty was when I began to rat, the \ 
 
 so good and the coin, any was BO pleasant, that 
 
 I forgot my Rood resolutions and went on with 
 one delicious course aft* ber till I ate tv. 
 
 as much as I could well dig 
 
 The only rule which has ever served me is 
 this : 
 
 On sitting down at the tabl 
 plate all that you are to eat y and when th 
 finished, quit. 
 
 Fixing the mind on a definite point, it is 
 
"HOW MUCH SHALL I EAT!" 147 
 
 easy to adhere to it, and then in this way you 
 avoid desserts, and likewise the great variety 
 which so tempts us on. 
 
 I have known many persons to try this rule, 
 and so far as I can now recall, not one of them 
 has failed. 
 
 At home, of course, it is easy enough to man- 
 age, and away from home it does not excite 
 observation. The beef, bread, potato, squash 
 and turnip all come at once; when you have 
 done with these you have eaten enough. 
 
 Two Meals a Day. 
 
 In addition to this I advise but two meals a 
 day. In regard to persons of sedentary habits, 
 and persons of leisurely life, there can be no 
 doubt that two meals a day are better than 
 three. I have no doubt that the two-meal 
 system is likewise better for workingmen. 
 
 Illustration of one Law of Digestion. 
 
 A man goes hunting. He takes with him a 
 hearty lunch, but comes home at dark tired 
 and faint. He is exhausted all over, and very 
 naturally feels faint and gone at the pit of the 
 stomach. His remedy for this is to fill the 
 stomach with steak, fried potatoes, hot biscuit 
 
148 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 and butter. The next morning lie can hardly 
 stir, and makes certain deductions with regard 
 to hunting which would not have been seconded 
 by Nimrod. It was not the hunting which did 
 the mischief. The system had been inflamed 
 in every part by the attempt to digest an enor- 
 mous supper with an exhausted stomach. The 
 result was, the whole body was inflamed, and so 
 was sore all over. He thinks it was tin- long 
 walk; but if he had gone to bed after drinking 
 a cup of tea and milk, he would have risen in 
 the morning BO bright thai he would li 
 formed a different opinion of the healthfuln 
 of hunting. 
 
 I knew a number of carpenters who tried 
 the two-meal system, eating nothing after 
 o'clock, taking at supper-time a cup of milk 
 and hot tea, and retiring early. Most of them 
 were not onlv satisfied, but were enthusiastic 
 over their clear heads and nimble muscles. 
 
 When the hard day's work is done, it is not 
 the right time to fill the stomach with hearty 
 food. The stomach is as tired as other parts 
 of the body, and should be allowed, with the 
 residue of the body, to rest, and not be put at 
 five hours of hard work. 
 
 Workingmen should eat their last meal from 
 twelve to one o'clock, and take nothing after 
 that but a cup of tea and milk. At first, and 
 
LET US CONSIDER. 149 
 
 perhaps constantly, a pint of this gently stim- 
 ulating and nourishing drink may be taken at 
 the close of the day. With this management 
 the workingnian's muscles and back will remain 
 young much longer, while his brain and vision 
 will be clearer and brighter. 
 
 Let us Consider. 
 
 Is it better to eat at noon and go to work on 
 a full stomach, or to wait till the day's work is 
 done and then do the eating ? Several physi- 
 ologists have advised us to wait till the day's 
 work is done, rest for an hour, and then take 
 the principal meal of the day. This seems 
 specious, and not a few have adopted it. But 
 it is a mistake. As this is practically a very 
 important point, I will give it a careful consid- 
 eration. 
 
 One may eat a very hearty breakfast and at 
 once engage in hard work ; no harm comes of 
 it. No one even advises against going to work 
 after breakfast. It is the later meal which must 
 be managed. Why is this so? Obviously, 
 because digestion requires vital force. Early 
 in the day there is enough to spare after the 
 brain and muscles are provided for. In the 
 middle of the day, while the forces of physical 
 nature are still high and strong, there is enough 
 
 13* 
 
150 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 left to work and, in addition, digest a good 
 meal. But as night comes on, and the arms of 
 nature are folded and the man's vital stock is 
 run low, there is nothing Left to digest with. 
 
 He began the day with ten gallons of vital 
 force. At noon there irere live gallon- left. 
 At night the force is ail drawn off He hasn't 
 a pint left. With some refreshing, g atJe 
 stimulus, like a cup of weak tea, \w must go to 
 bed, and alter eight hours' sleep will have his 
 ten gallon 7e8Se] full and ready again. Now 
 
 he starts with his ten gallons of d< 
 
 another day. It takes three gallons to do his 
 
 work dining the forenoon, and two gallons to 
 
 digest hi- breakfast During the afternoon he 
 consumes three gal] r work and two to 
 
 digest his dinner. Night finds his vessel 
 empty, hut ready to 611 again during the eight 
 
 hours of sleep. 
 
 My advice to all is tin- : /■/,' hut tw 
 and take the lust am in tfu >,/. 
 
 Von can, it' your stomach feels had, in the 
 evening drink a little weak tea and milk. 
 
PERHAPS A GOOD IDEA. 151 
 
 PERHAPS A GOOD IDEA. 
 
 It is, that eating two meals a day, we should 
 eat our usual dinner at breakfast time, and our 
 usual breakfast at dinner time. Take the new 
 .breakfast, say, at seven or eight o'clock, and the 
 new dinner, say, at twelve or one o'clock. No 
 supper. 
 
 I have been trying this, and am delighted 
 with it. I will not say that I am prepared to 
 advise every one to adopt this plan. As I have 
 reason to believe that many look to me for 
 guidance in matters of health, I am filled with 
 a sense of responsibility, and cannot advise any 
 considerable change in our dietetic or other 
 habits without feeling absolutely certain that 
 the change is important. 
 
 If those who read my writings could know how 
 long I hesitate in saying certain things which 
 seem to me true, and which are absolutely true 
 in my own personal experience, but with refer- 
 ence to the universality of which I may have 
 doubts ; if my readers could know how long and 
 painfully I hesitate, how anxiously I inquire 
 after the experience of our oldest and most ob- 
 serving physicians, how many months and per- 
 
152 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 haps years I hesitate before publishing, — they 
 would learn that doctrines which I teach in lec- 
 tures and books in a jocose way (jocose that I may 
 win the attention of many) have been arrived 
 at in anything but a light and jocose spirit. I 
 trust that I fully realize the obligations resting 
 upon a public teacher of hygiene. 
 
 In regard to this interchange between the 
 breakfast and dinner, I will explain in few 
 words my reasons, and, in doing 90, I must 
 repeat a physiological law or (act which app 
 in another part of this work. 
 
 At breakfast time we are full of vital fo 
 The long sleep has filled the reservoir of our 
 physical vitality, and we can digi - >mach- 
 
 ful of hearty food without troubling brain or 
 muscle. We can go IV at and fri( 
 
 tatoes directly to <>ur books, or to a hoe, without 
 harm; but when the reservoir is half empti 
 by the work of the forenoon, roast-beef and 
 vegetables will make us a little dull, or p< si- 
 tively sleepy. 
 
 Writers never advise you to rest an hour 
 after breakfast: it is after dinner. No matter 
 how solid the breakfast, everybody 
 know that you may go to work immediately 
 with brain and body. But after dinner aim 
 everybody is dull. 
 
 Now, suppose the hearty meal usually tab n 
 
PERHAPS A GOOD IDEA. 153 
 
 at dinner time were taken at seven or eight in 
 the morning, without the stimulating drinks, 
 and then a light meal, mostly vegetable, were 
 taken at noon, with a cup of tea or coffee. The 
 strong meats would be perfectly digested early 
 in the day without any trouble, while the 
 light meal at dinner, with the stimulating 
 drink, would be easily digested without the 
 dullness which now almost uniformly follows 
 the dinner. 
 
 Mind, I do not advise this interchange be^ 
 tween breakfast and dinner, though I have 
 given you what seem to me good reasons for 
 it. With myself it has worked like a charm, 
 but that does not prove that it will work well 
 with you. 
 
154 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 WATER. 
 
 Burial-places have often polluted the water 
 of wells. 
 
 When society is more fully civilized and 
 Christianized, in my opinion human bodies 
 will not be buried in tin nd, but they 
 
 will be burned. For my own part, although 
 I know that when I Leave this body it will be 
 no more to me than my e clothing, still 
 
 I have never been able to look without hoi 
 upon my body buried in the ground, with no 
 companionship but the worms busy with my 
 eye-balls and in my mouth ; but I can contem- 
 plate without emotion its burning. 
 
 Besides, it seems to me, as the earth contains 
 but a very small — an almost infinitesimal — per- 
 centage of material which can be incorporated 
 into a human body, that it is hardly honest 
 when one dies to hurry down deep into the 
 earth that precious and scarce material which 
 nature has lent. And although this material 
 finally gets back into the great currents oi na- 
 ture, even if buried in a lead coffin, how much 
 more prompt, and therefore honest, the pay- 
 ment of our debt, if by burning the body its 
 
WATER. 155 
 
 precious constituents are given back at once 
 into the atmosphere, that vast granary from 
 which all living creatures are fed. 
 
 But returning to the subject of water, I 
 would say that rain water which falls in re- 
 mote country districts is the purest ; then comes 
 river water ; next the water of lakes ; after this, 
 common spring water, and then the water of 
 mineral springs. The waters of the Black Sea 
 and the Sea of Azof, which are only brackish, 
 follow next; then those of the great ocean; 
 then those of the Mediterranean ; and last of 
 all come the waters of lakes which, like those 
 of the Caspian Sea, the Dead Sea and the 
 great Salt Lake, possess no known outlet. 
 
 It is not necessarily the purest waters that 
 are most favorable to health. Man is fitted by 
 the Creator to the planet, and as the waters 
 upon which we must chiefly depend, and which 
 are principally tho?e coming out of the earth 
 itself, are charged with various foreign matters, 
 we are so contrived that those waters are most 
 favorable to our health. Many persons have 
 used distilled rain water under the impression 
 that the purest waters were the healthiest. Nu- 
 merous facts go to prove the contrary. 
 
 Those river waters that flow from mountain- 
 ous districts through a hard and rocky soil are, 
 on the whole, most favorable to human health. 
 
156 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Next to these the waters of lakes, next to these 
 the waters of springs and wells, though in re- 
 gard to wells one must discriminate. 
 
 A Word About Wells. 
 
 I once knew a family every member of 
 which was attacked with a peculiar kind of ty- 
 phoid fever. The fever was characterized by 
 peculiar stomach symptoms and an eruption 
 which suggested to my mind the presence of 
 some organic poison. I set about a careful 
 examination of their food and drinks. Upon 
 asking where they obtained water for the 
 family consumption, I was taken to a well in 
 the barn-yard. This well was surrounded by 
 several inches of liquid manure. Upon draw- 
 ing up a bucket of the water, not only did I 
 find that it tasted queer, but I could smell the 
 presence of the droppings of the barn-yard. 
 The exclusive use of water from a spring in 
 a hillside twenty rods away cured them all. 
 Thousands of domestic animals have been 
 killed or injured by the use of water from 
 barn-yard wells. 
 
 I met a very interesting case of a poisoned 
 well which came near proving the death oi^ a 
 large family. First a diarrhoea attacked them. 
 Then there appeared languor, restlessness and 
 
A WORD ABOUT WELLS. 157 
 
 lack of appetite, with fever, bad taste in the 
 mouth and headache. At length, a daughter 
 in the family became so ill that I was asked to 
 see her. The father, a clergyman, told me, as 
 something very curious, that all the family 
 were suffering much as Katie was. 
 
 An examination of her symptoms excited 
 my suspicions, and I inquired about their table 
 and other habits. I questioned them about 
 their flour, etc., etc. At length I said, "Let 
 me drink a glass of the water which you are 
 using." Its taste was not that of pure water. 
 Mr. G. conducted me to the well. I drew up 
 a bucket of water, tasted it, smelled of it and 
 said, " I believe the trouble in your family 
 comes from this well." But upon examining 
 the surface of the earth for many rods around, 
 there seemed to be no cause for the impurity 
 of the water. It was an old well, had been in 
 use perhaps for a century, and never had be- 
 fore been at fault. I asked about drains. There 
 certainly was a drain from the cellar, but he 
 did not know which way it ran; but as the 
 ground at the well was lower than the cellar, 
 I thought it not unlikely that the impurities 
 came from there. 
 
 We sent for the man who had cleaned the 
 drain, and learned that it terminated within 
 twenty feet of the well. The strange fault was 
 
 14 
 
153 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 corrected, and the family began slowly to re- 
 cover, and, after two or three months of con- 
 valescence, were restored. 
 
 I want to give another case. I recollect a 
 family whose supply of water was obtained from 
 a w T ell in a cellar of their house, and was 
 pumped up through a pipe into the kitchen. 
 This fact I did not know for a year or two 
 after they came under my professional care. 
 
 From time to time I had urged such a course 
 as to diet, bathing, exercise, deep, etc., as med- 
 ical men arc in the habit of urging upon their 
 patrons. I had promised them that upon mak- 
 ing certain changes they would be greatly im- 
 proved, but was mortified that the contrary 
 was the result. This puzzled me, and I deter- 
 mined at Length to find the bottom of it. 
 
 Upon the inquiry, "Where do you obtain 
 your drinking water?" they replied, " In the 
 collar;" and, taking me down, they showed me 
 a dark, damp collar, with a very disagreeable 
 smell, and, lifting up some hoard- from the floor, 
 I found an abundant explanation of the gen- 
 eral bad health of the family. 
 
 The pipe which came down from the kitchen 
 above and entered this well did nor prevent 
 the surface-water from flowing in. 
 
 I may remark that during the year previ 
 to the occupation of this house by my friend. 
 
LEAD AND OTHER PIPES. 159 
 
 a family occupying the premises had lost two 
 children. 
 
 Nothing could be done but to dig a well at 
 some little distance from the house. Soon the 
 health of the family so much improved that 
 there was no longer any doubt about the cause 
 of their ailments. 
 
 Lead and Other Pipes. 
 
 In our water service, lead pipe has been 
 very generally employed. With some kinds 
 of water, lead seems to be harmless enough; 
 with other kinds, the lead is undoubtedly mis- 
 chievous. 
 
 Common iron pipes without any lining are 
 cheap and very satisfactory. 
 
 The new paper pipe is singularly strong, 
 sweet and free from all objections ; besides, it 
 is very cheap. 
 
 In some portions of Germany, glass pipe has 
 been tried, but it is expensive and liable to 
 fracture. 
 
 On the whole, iron and paper pipes are most 
 available. 
 
 Paper pipe is made of strong paper wound 
 into pipes and thoroughly soaked in tar. It 
 becomes so hard and strong that it will bear a 
 pressure almost equal to iron, and will not rust 
 
160 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 or decay. Besides, it gives no poison to the 
 water. As this pipe is cheap, and easily joined 
 end to end, I do not see why it may not come 
 into general use. Some years ago I laid down 
 a thousand feet of two-inch paper pipe, to con- 
 vey water from a spring to my house and barn 
 in the country. It has never leaked ; it has 
 never imparted any perceptible taste to the 
 water; in brief, it has proved perfectly satis- 
 factory. 
 
COLD DRINKS DURING MEALS. 161 
 
 COLD DRINKS DURING MEALS. 
 
 Dk. Beaumont, to whom, in writing on the 
 stomach, one finds himself obliged to refer so 
 constantly, makes a very interesting statement 
 illustrating the influence of cold drinks upon 
 digestion. He placed his thermometer in St. 
 Martin's stomach, and found the temperature 
 99°. A gill of water at the temperature of 
 55° was introduced. As soon, says Dr. Beau- 
 mont, as it was diffused over the interior surface, 
 the temperature was reduced to 70°, at which it 
 stood for a few minutes, and then began very 
 slowly to rise. It was not till thirty minutes 
 had elapsed, and all the water had been for 
 some time absorbed, that the mercury regained 
 its former level of 99°. 
 
 When we reflect that in this case there was 
 but a single gill of water, and the temperature 
 was 55°, which hardly deserves the name of 
 cold, we shall not hesitate in pronouncing upon 
 the habit of drinking the usual quantities of 
 ice water with our meals, or that of consuming 
 at the end of a full meal a dish of ice cream. 
 
 When we remember that a temperature of 
 99° is absolutely required to carry forward the 
 
 14* 
 
1G2 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 process of digestion, can we doubt, if a gill of 
 water at a temperature of 56° produced such a 
 marked effect upon the stomach of St Martin, 
 a person of the rarest vigor and health — I - 
 can we doubt what must be the influence of a 
 pint of ice water upon the stomach of a pen 
 of weak digestion ? 
 
 It is not intended to say that cold water 
 should never be drunk during the meal time, 
 because if at the moment the system is thirsty 
 — really requires water — it is better to drink 
 even iee water than to undertake the m - 
 tion and in-alivatinn of a meal with a lack 
 the required water in the blood. 
 
 As stated in other places in this volum 
 certain amount of water ifi required to carry on 
 the functions of the animal economy, and one 
 important (unction is to keep the body oool 
 during the heated ej by a ra ra- 
 
 tion from the skin. This, during th< wan 
 seasons, requires considerable quantities of 
 water. So tar as possible, this should be tak 
 into the system upon rising in the morning and 
 w\xm lying down at night If, during the 
 warm season, a quart of water be introduced at 
 these two periods, it would tly lesBei 
 
 necessity of drinking at meal times. But : 
 is no doubt it is a less evil to chill the stom- 
 ach, to reduce its temperature thirty i 
 
WHAT SHALL WE DRINK* 163 
 
 and to hold it below the point of digestion even 
 a half hour or more, than to allow the system 
 to go without the requisite supplies of water. 
 
 What Shall we Drink? 
 
 What shall I drink ? is a common question 
 from those who arc seriously seeking a higher 
 life. 
 
 My answer, in most cases, is this: Drink 
 cold water on rising in the morning and on 
 lying down at night ; and, unless you find that 
 it disagrees with you, drink as much as you 
 can swallow. 
 
 If you have good teeth, drink nothing with 
 your meals, but if your teeth are imperfect, and 
 you must have some assistance in swallowing 
 the food, drink hot water and milk, or weak 
 coffer and weak tea. If you drink a single cup 
 of the best coffee or tea, quite weak, it is, per- 
 haps, all in all considered, the best drink. Of 
 course, either of these, when there exists a 
 decided tendency to cerebral congestion or 
 nervousness, may be counter-indicated. They 
 should not be drunk hot ; a little over a hun- 
 dred degrees is quite warm enough. 
 
 Beside these drinks, I may mention cocoa 
 and chocolate, both of which are healthful 
 drinks when used in moderation. 
 
164 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Sweet buttermilk is a particularly refreshing 
 and healthful drink. Soda-water is a fashion- 
 able drink, and, if not used within four hours 
 after a meal, and say one glass a day, may be 
 a harmless one. Certain root beer- (for exam- 
 ple, Ottawa beer) are very palatable and not 
 injurious. 
 
 Intoxicating Drinks. 
 
 I shall not in this place undertake to con- 
 sider the subject of alcoholic stimulus. Its 
 prescription as a medicine by an intelligent 
 
 physician will ever be respected by tin* pub] 
 but with me it is a settled conviction that ev< 
 form of alcoholic stimulus, though it Ik* that 
 of the light French wine-, is injurious. 1 
 liquors which have been employed on .-hip- 
 board, in Arctic regions, or by armies in hot 
 climates, have been shown to be evil and only 
 evil. The most overwhelming- proofs have 
 been produced before the English Parliament 
 that the use of even moderate quantities ^i 
 alcoholic stimulus helps to freeze men in the 
 Arctic regions, and to produce various fatal 
 diseases in the hot climates ; that, in a single 
 word, they are, without qualification, bad. 
 
 All those who would investigate this subject 
 further, I take the liberty to refer to Dr. Car- 
 penter's remarkable essay, which received a 
 
WHEN TO DRINK WATER. 165 
 
 handsome prize from the British Parliament. 
 He leaves us not a peg on which to hang an 
 apology for rum. He overwhelms us with 
 facts showing that alcoholic stimulus is an 
 unmitigated curse to British sailors and sol- 
 diers, in all climates and under all circum- 
 stances. 
 
 When to Drink Water. 
 
 A large quantity of water is necessary to 
 carry on the functions of the animal economy. 
 
 When shall this water be taken into the 
 system ? It may be introduced during the 
 day, when thirst requires, but it is a capital 
 practice, as I have before suggested, to intro- 
 duce a quantity on rising in the morning and 
 on going to bed at night. Thousands of dys- 
 peptics have derived signal relief from these 
 internal baths. I have sometimes thought, on 
 hearing the testimony of these dyspeptics, in 
 regard to the influence of cold water thus 
 taken into the stomach, that perhaps, of all 
 baths, this is the best. 
 
 In reading the accounts of the great Priess- 
 nitz's celebrated institution, in the Silesian 
 mountains, one is impressed with the promi- 
 nence of water drinking. His patients wan- 
 dered about from spring to spring bare-headed, 
 looking comfortably crazy, each with a tumbler 
 
166 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 in his pocket, and drank usually from five to 
 twenty tumblers of water before breakfast. It 
 is probably true that no institution has ever 
 cured so large a proportion of its patients. I 
 believe that those large and daily internal 
 baths had much to do with the success of that 
 institution. 
 
 Persons who would avail themselves of the 
 advantages of this beneficent morning bath 
 must exercise a due caution. In beginning, 
 the quantity should be small, Bay only a 
 mouthful or two. Soon a tumbler will be 
 borne, and finally the quantity drunk may be 
 very large, and the advantage correspondingly 
 increased. 
 
MINERAL WATERS. 167 
 
 MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 There is something very curious and very 
 funny about the mineral-water mania. If a 
 man, digging about in a dirty swamp, finds a 
 filthy hole in the ground which sends up a dis- 
 gusting smell, he gets down upon his kneqs at 
 once, sticks his nose into the hole, and, sud- 
 denly drawing away almost suffocated with the 
 stench, he shouts out to his companions, " Come 
 here ! Come here ! Oh, boys, smell of that ! 
 That's a big thing ! Ain't that strong ? almost 
 knocks a fellow down ! I sweow that's the 
 strongest mineral spring I ever smelt. There 
 ain't a spring in Saratoga that takes hold 
 like that. Talk about this farm being worth 
 nothing — I wouldn't sell that spring alone for 
 a hundred thousand dollars. I tell you that 
 will knock your dysj^epsia and consumption 
 and things higher than a kite." 
 
 Isn't it the strangest hallucination ? Nine 
 people in ten have a notion that if water only 
 smells bad enough it must be " awful healthy." 
 If the stuff only makes them " crawl all over " 
 as it goes down, they seem to think it is sur- 
 charged with salvation. 
 
 u o v 
 
168 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Boston Mineral Spring 1 . 
 
 I wonder if yon ever heard of the famous 
 " Boston Mineral Spring." On the morning of 
 the 16th of September, 1808, there appeared in 
 the New England Palladium (Boston) the fol- 
 lowing advertisement : 
 
 BOSTON MINERAL SPRING.— Mr. Hall, having taken op 
 his well the last week and deepened it, has the water again ready 
 for public use, and much stronger impregnated with its mineral 
 quality than before. The water of this well is so mueh like the 
 Ballstown water, that it is considered a good substitute in all c 
 where Ballstown water is useful. 
 
 Thereby hangs a tale. And, really, it is one 
 of the best stories ev< r told. 
 
 The "Boston Mineral Spring n threatened 
 to prove a dangerous rival of the Ballstown 
 Springs. 
 
 A great many exaggerations have been afloat 
 in regard to this famous spring. The simple 
 facts, without color or exaggeration, are th< 
 
 On Hawkins street in this city (Boston . 
 the old Trull estate, at a point well remembered 
 by many Bostonians still alive, a certain well 
 was so near a privy vault that, as the wooden 
 wall of the privy began to decay, the liquid 
 contents oozed through into the well. The well 
 began to taste queer, and the proprietor had it 
 examined, and it was found to be a very valua- 
 
MINERAL WATERS. 169 
 
 ble mineral spring. A general flutter ensued. 
 Ballstown water was already famous. But here 
 was a better spring at their very doors. No 
 more long stage-journeys to Saratoga. The 
 new spring rose into immediate and enthusias- 
 tic favor. It was found to be a perfect panacea 
 for many serious maladies. The enterprising 
 proprietor put up comfortable seats all about the 
 pump, and the pump-handle was constantly 
 going. The attendants flew about in response 
 to a thousand calls, and business flourished. 
 Our venerable Dr. Henchman informs me 
 that the crowd of ladies and gentlemen was 
 so great during the morning hours (it was 
 found that the waters were more strongly im- 
 pregnated in the morning, and hence the ea- 
 gerness to get early draughts) , that visitors had 
 to wait a long time before they could be served. 
 Not only was the water drunk on the prem- 
 ises, but was taken away in cans, pails, jugs, 
 etc., and the proprietor was prospectively a 
 millionaire. 
 
 But one morning Mr. Hall came in great 
 haste to the father of one of our recent mayors, 
 who has told me much of this mineral spring, 
 
 and cried out, " Mr. , the privy vault has 
 
 burst through into my mineral well." 
 
 "Well, well, say nothing; put up a notice 
 that no more water will be supplied for the 
 
 15 
 
170 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 present, as repairs are needed ; and go to work 
 and clean it out." 
 
 When the privy vault had been carefully se- 
 cured, and the well cleaned out, the above no- 
 tice appeared in the papers. The notice, you 
 observe, says, " The water is much stronger 
 impregnated with its mineral quality than be- 
 fore." This was natural, as it took a little time 
 to wash out the remains of the contents of the 
 vault. But as soon as this was accomplished 
 the mineral qualities of the water entirely dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Mayor Shurtleff, in his interesting work, 
 " Boston in Olden Time/ 1 alludes to this min- 
 eral spring in Hawkins street in the following 
 words : 
 
 " Unfortunately for tlu^ ] m >] >rieter of the min- 
 eral spring, a disagreeable story got about that 
 the well had lost its mineral qualities and med- 
 icinal virtues, and the source of revenue failed : 
 and in a short time the Boston Mineral Spring 
 was almost entirely forgotten, and kept only in 
 remembrance by those who had no specially good 
 reason for desiring to forget it. and who occa- 
 sionally recalled it as a good story of the uncer- 
 tainty of some kinds of earthly riches." 
 
 Again, the Mayor speaks of the " delicious 
 and invigorating beverage of the sulphurous 
 spring." 
 
MINERAL WATERS. 171 
 
 The celebrated Dr. Walter Channing, with 
 whom I have had an interview this very morn- 
 ing in regard to the famous Trull Spring on 
 Hawkins street, and who was more than twenty 
 years old at the time of the great excitement 
 about the wonderful spring, wrote in 1834 to 
 Henry Williams, Esq., a letter which was pub- 
 lished in the volume "Aqueducts " (to be found 
 in all our libraries), in which letter Dr. Chan- 
 ning says : 
 
 "Do you not recollect, some years ago, the very 
 valuable mineral spring, somewhat suddenly 
 burst up into a well, in Hawkins street? 
 Thousands visited that celebrated spring. Many 
 were cured of very grave maladies. The 
 fame of the water spread far and wide ; but, 
 alas for the spring and its owner, it was found 
 that the mineral impregnation was derived from 
 a source of such questionable character (if ques- 
 tion it could be), that some serious mistake 
 must have been made concerning its medicinal 
 qualities. In a day, in a moment from the dis- 
 covery, its virtues faded away." 
 
 We can talk about this spring now without 
 excitement or disgust, but for years after its 
 short-lived but brilliant career it was hardly 
 safe to allude to it in the company of the elite 
 of the city. Many would turn white around 
 the mouth, and many, when asked " How about 
 
172 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 that wonderful cure of yours?" would with a 
 sickly smile leave the room, to hurry to their 
 private rooms, there to bury themselves in a 
 train of peculiar reflections. 
 
 More about a Curious Prejudice. 
 
 The notion that these mineral waters are 
 healthy must come from the old idea that all 
 good medicines are had to take. Most folks 
 will never believe that a sagar-ooated pill can 
 be as efficacious as one that goes down with a 
 shuddering gasp. 
 
 A sort of Scotch-Yankee — a tail, gaunt, un- 
 couth customer — came into my some years 
 ago, kept his overcoat closely buttoned, and 
 asked in a whisper : 
 
 "Can I see you privately about something 
 very important ?" 
 
 "Oh," I said, "speak out: my clerk n< 
 leaks." 
 
 " Oh, I wouldn't for the world. I tell you it 
 is something very important — it's a big thing." 
 
 I sent out the clerk, and then said to my 
 mysterious visitor : 
 
 "" Now, sir, speak on ; I have but a moment 
 to spare." 
 
 He then slowly unbuttoned his overcoat, 
 looked from side to side, and, drawing out of a 
 
MINERAL WATERS. 173 
 
 deep pocket in his undercoat a black bottle, lie 
 pulled out the cork, and again looking to make 
 sure that no outsider should overhear, he stuck 
 it up to my nose, with : 
 
 "Smell of that. I've got a spring on my 
 farm that sends out a stream as big as your 
 arm, all just like that." 
 
 " I hope it ain't very near your house, for I 
 never smelt such a stink in my life." 
 
 "Why," said he, "that smells exactly like 
 some of them Saratoga waters. Don't you 
 think it must be awful healthy ?" 
 
 I fear his visions of a second Saratoga gath- 
 ered about that spring were somewhat disturbed, 
 but still before he left he charged me to keep 
 dark, " for," said he, " I tell you it's a big thing, 
 and there is enough for us all." 
 
 Another phase of this ridiculous mania is 
 often met in the profound opinions of £>eople 
 who affect science. One of this class showed me 
 the analysis of the waters of a certain spring, 
 just now much lauded, and said, "There is chlo- 
 ride of magnesium, and bromide of potassium, 
 and sesquioxide of manganese. Those must be 
 good. I think they are just what I need." 
 
 I congratulated him upon his intimate know- 
 ledge of his physiological wants, and assured 
 him that, with thirty years of physiological 
 study, I had only learned that a sick man 
 
 15* 
 
174 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 needs fresh air, sunshine, temperance in food 
 and work, a clean skin and plenty of sleep ; 
 but, as for these high-sounding ingredients of 
 mineral waters, I had not yet learned what 
 seemed so easy and clear to him. 
 
 The Colonel's Gout. 
 
 A great many people are constantly on the 
 qui vive about new drinks. Most sick folks 
 seem to think that if salvation ever comes to 
 them it will come from a bottle. Millions 
 upon millions of bottles of various fluids are 
 yearly drunk in our country for their medi- 
 cinal virtues. 
 
 I must tell you a little story. T have a friend 
 here in Boston, Colonel B, The Colonel has 
 suffered, during fifteen years, from what he calls 
 rheumatism, what 1 call gout, lie often comes 
 in to advise with me, and never fails to show 
 his favorite toe. 1 never allow sueh an occa- 
 sion to pass without repeating, in some form or 
 another, my belief that, whenever he can come 
 down to simple water and a plain diet, he will 
 <ret well. On the occasion of sueh a visit re- 
 eently I said to him : 
 
 "Colonel, I now wish to prescribe for you/' 
 
 "Well, is it your cold water and starvation 
 prescription ?" 
 
THE COLONEL'S GOUT. 175 
 
 " Colonel, I think you will be interested in 
 a new discovery which. I have made, and which 
 I am sure, if you take the remedy faithfully, 
 will cure you." 
 
 " Well, pray tell me what it is, for I would 
 give a fortune to be able to run about as I did 
 thirty years ago." 
 
 " Colonel, the new remedy is known as 'prot- 
 oxide of hydrogen! " 
 
 " Prot — prot — ox — ox — what did you say it 
 was ? Speak that again." 
 
 " It is protoxide of % hydrogen, Colonel." 
 " You will have to write that for me. I am 
 sure I can't remember it. And you must tell 
 me where I can get it." 
 
 " Well, I will write it. There it is : protoxide 
 of hydrogen." 
 
 " Now, where can I obtain it ?" 
 " Well, at almost any of the drug stores." 
 " Do they keep it in bottles, or on draught?" 
 " You can obtain it in either form." 
 The Colonel started, with the remark, "I 
 really believe, doctor, that at last you begin to 
 understand my case. I have always told you 
 that if I was ever cured it would be with some 
 new mineral water, or some such sort of stuff — 
 something that would drive this miserable devil 
 out of my foot." 
 
 ii 
 
176 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 As the Colonel was about to leave, I said to 
 him : 
 
 " Colonel, I don't know but I had better give 
 you the common name for this new fluid, for 
 the druggists may not know it by the scientific 
 name." 
 
 " Oh, well, if there is a common name, to be 
 sure you had better give it." 
 
 So I took the prescription and wrote the 
 word " water." 
 
 "But," said the Colonel, putting on his 
 glasses and reading the new word, " is not 
 that water ?" 
 
 "Yes, Colonel, that is it. Protoxide of hy- 
 drogen is the scientific name for water, and I 
 never was more certain of anything than I am 
 that, if you will confine yourself to protoxide 
 of hydrogen, leave your brandy and cham- 
 pagne, those inflamed joints will get well." 
 
 The Colonel threw down his paper and went 
 off mad. 
 
 The fact is, that thousands have so long re- 
 garded medicines as the only source of relief 
 when sick, that if water could be put in bottles, 
 slightly colored with some harmless substance, 
 and a tumblerful given three times a day, leav- 
 ing off tea, coffee and spirits of every kind, 
 thousands of people who are now inflaming 
 their tissues with these various narcotic and 
 
'But," said the Colonel, "is not this water P"— P. 176. 
 
TOM JONES' SPEING. 177 
 
 stimulating drinks would recover from their 
 sufferings. 
 
 Tom Jones' Spring. 
 
 I used to know a small farmer in the State 
 of New York who had a hard time to make 
 the two ends meet. Poor Jones was always 
 bemoaning his fate. Barely did he meet a 
 neighbor without hauling up for a groan over 
 the mysterious dispensations of Providence. 
 
 But it was observed, one day, that he went 
 straight by his nearest neighbors and hurried 
 on without a groan or a sigh. Everybody won- 
 dered. At length he went to Squire Bond, 
 and, calling him aside, whispered : 
 
 " Squire, I want to borrow a hundred dol- 
 lars. I will pay you in three months, with any 
 interest you please." 
 
 " I have the money, Tom, but I don't want 
 to lend it without good security." 
 
 " Don't you be alarmed, Squire. I have made 
 a discovery on my farm which will make me 
 the richest man in the country." 
 
 " Now, Tom Jones, what is it that you have 
 discovered ?" 
 
 " Oh, Squire, I can't tell you now, but I 
 wouldn't sell my farm for a million of dollars. 
 All I want is one hundred dollars to take some 
 samples to New York, and I'll show you a 
 
178 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 stack of money that will make your eyes stick 
 out. I just want to take some samples — some 
 samples, Squire — that's all." 
 
 "Samples of what?" 
 
 " Wouldn't tell you for the world. But I'll 
 tell you what I'll do, Squire Bond: I will sell 
 you the colt for one hundred dollars, but I am 
 to have him back at the same price whenever I 
 want him." 
 
 The trade was made, and the next day Tom 
 disappeared with a heavy trunk but with a 
 light heart. He was gone about a week, and 
 came back with a light trunk and a heavy 
 heart. He went back to work on his farm in 
 sullen despair, refusing to say anything of hifl 
 trip. He said nothing of his colt, and avoided 
 conversation even with his best friends. A 
 good many surmises and speculations were in- 
 dulged among the neighbors, but at last it v 
 given up, like a hard conundrum. 
 
 Some time after, Tom was converted at a 
 camp-meeting, and in his experience speech 
 let the whole thing out. Tom continued : 
 
 "And now, my dear brothers and sisters, I 
 will tell you all about that Xew York business. 
 You see, this was just the way of it. I was 
 out in my back wood-lot cutting a small tree 
 for a cart-tongue, and I thought I smelt some- 
 thing queer. At length it came so strong 
 
 
TOM JONES' SPRING. 179 
 
 that I cleared away the brush and leaves, and 
 finally I found a little wet spot just up under 
 a rock. I poked in a stick, and sure enough 
 that was it ; the smell came up aw r ful. I threw 
 some leaves over the place and went to the 
 house for a pick and shovel. After I got ready, 
 to go, thinks I to myself, suppose that should 
 turn out to be another Saratoga; guess I'd 
 better keep shady. So I waited till about ten 
 o'clock that night, and took my lantern and 
 tools and over I went. I hadn't dug ten min- 
 utes before I could dip up a pint. I got down 
 two feet and the hole was filled with the stuff 
 — real mineral water. I blew out my light, 
 covered up the place with brush, and then stayed 
 there till morning, studying the best places to 
 build the hotels and the best places for roads 
 where the big-bugs could ride. I w r ent to the 
 house just before daylight, told my wife an 
 awful lie about where I had been, and then I 
 began to calculate how I should manage it. 
 At length I filled twenty-eight beer-bottles 
 with the stuff, .packed them carefully in my 
 wife's trunk, borrowed a hundred dollars of 
 Squire Bond, and went to New York to sell 
 my spring to them rich New Yorkers for a new 
 watering-place. Just before I started I went 
 out to the barn, where I had hid the trunk in 
 the haymow, and poured out a teacupful of the 
 
180 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 stuff and carried it in to Nancy, I thought it 
 was hardly fair to keep my great discovery 
 from my own wife. I put it up to her nose, 
 and, says I, 'Nancy, what do you think of 
 that?' 
 
 " ' Mercy V says she ; * rotten eggs P »ya she. 
 
 " ' Nancy/ says I, ' it's all right ; you mustn't 
 say nothing about it; but you won't have to 
 work much more ; you will be a real lady/ 
 says I. 
 
 "As soon as I got down to New York, and 
 began to show it to the big-bugs, they just 
 laughed at me, because 1 they said it wa'n't strong 
 enough, it didn't take hold like the ra'al jin - 
 ine thing; and they Bent me to an old gray- 
 headed professor, who analyzed it, and said 
 'twas nothing but water with some dead ani- 
 mal in it. When he told me that and laughed 
 at me, I just threw the stuff out in a yard and 
 started for home." 
 
 Have Mineral Waters no Value ? 
 
 "But," some one asks, "do you mean to 
 that people are not improved by a season at 
 Saratoga ?" 
 
 No. I know they are improved : but those 
 who do not drink the waters are quite as much 
 improved as those who do — generally, I think, 
 
HAVE MINERAL WATERS NO VALUE? 181 
 
 more so. And those who patronize the water- 
 ing-places where they have no mineral waters 
 are quite as much improved as those who patron- 
 ize the waters — more so, probably. 
 
 Water, as every physiologist knows, is the 
 most important article of our food. But 
 neither in this, nor in any other article of 
 food, is a bad smell or taste an indication of 
 superiority. The Dutchman seems to think 
 that his stinking sauer-kraut is the best of 
 food, but in this opinion he is not sustained 
 by an intelligent public opinion. Bad smells 
 and tastes are suspicious, either in foods or 
 drinks. 
 
 " But," says my friend Col. S., who has just 
 returned from a famous spring in Vermont, 
 where he has gotten rid of his rheumatism, 
 " what do you say of my case ? I went up to 
 
 Springs unable to walk ten rods, and now 
 
 I can walk ten miles. Your theories are all 
 very nice, but will they explain my legs ?" 
 
 Well, let us see. While you were here, you 
 spent your days down in that dingy counting- 
 room, full of corroding anxieties, and ate rich 
 dinners and drank wines with your friends, 
 while you made no attempt to exercise, and sat 
 up till eleven or twelve o'clock every night. 
 Up at the Springs you spent your days out in 
 the sunshine, ate berries and milk and other 
 
 16 
 
182 
 
 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 plain, simple food, lived a jolly boy-life, tried 
 every day to see how much farther you could 
 walk, and turned in at nine o'clock every even- 
 ing. You, and the victims of dyspepsia of 
 whose cures you have told me such wonderful 
 stories, need not introduce the disagreeable 
 waters you drank to explain the cores. 
 
 I do not mean to say that bilious pills or 
 cathartic waters may not relieve a stuffed, 
 clogged, over-burdened system, but I do mean 
 to say that such means of relief are barbarous 
 as compared with temperance, deep, exercise, 
 bathing, sunshine, etc., and I db mean to say 
 that these natural agencies will cure all curable 
 cases, and cure them as rapidly as they can be 
 thoroughly and soundly cured. 
 
TOMATOES. 183 
 
 TOMATOES. 
 
 Some years ago tomatoes were called love- 
 apples, and were thought to be poisonous. I 
 remember my mother charged me to avoid 
 handling them. Some persons thought them 
 deadly poisons. That opinion was incorrect. 
 Now, you hear people say, " Tomatoes are the 
 healthiest of all vegetables, and you cannot eat 
 too many of them." That opinion is likewise 
 incorrect. The tomato is not the healthiest of 
 vegetables, and, if used at all, it should be 
 eaten with great moderation, and should be 
 cooked. I have known many persons to suffer 
 from tender and bleeding gums, from "teeth 
 set on edge/' and quite a number from loose 
 teeth, produced by eating tomatoes. I have 
 known a number of cases of piles caused by 
 excessive use of tomatoes. I have several pro- 
 fessional friends who have observed the same 
 facts among their patients. At the close of a 
 lecture which I gave eighteen years ago in 
 Cincinnati, on the subject of human food, I 
 criticised tomatoes much as I am doing now, 
 and among a dozen persons who came upon the 
 platform, after the usual fashion, to be intro- 
 
184 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 duced to the lecturer, seven testified to having 
 suffered from sore mouth, and one from having 
 had a peculiar condition of the stomach, devel- 
 oped when the tomato season first began. In- 
 deed, I believe the idea I am expressing is not 
 a new one, even among the people. A great 
 many persons have asked me, " Do tomatoes 
 contain calomel?" They inferred, from the 
 fact that tomatoes produced a sort of salivation, 
 that they contained mercury. 
 
 Let me give you a ease. Many years ago, 
 while practicing my profession in Central New 
 York, I was passing one evening a large 
 woolen mill. The proprietor raised the win- 
 dow of his office and asked me to stop. I rode 
 up to his window, and he said : 
 
 " Please step in a moment ; there is a young 
 lady up stairs who wishes to see you." 
 
 Well, I was not surprised at the request, for 
 I was then an unmarried man, so I hitched my 
 horse and went in. The young lady was sent 
 for and soon appeared, with : 
 
 " Oh, ah, yes ; excuse me a moment ; I will 
 return immediately." She came back in a mo- 
 ment, and, holding out a paper containing about 
 twenty teeth, said : 
 
 " Well, Doctor, what do you think oi that ?" 
 
 "I should think there were about twenty 
 teeth." 
 
TOMATOES. 185 
 
 " Yes, but what should you say if I should 
 tell you that they all came out of my mouth ?" 
 
 " Well, I should say that you had lost most 
 of your teeth." 
 
 " Oh yes ; but what I wish to know is, what 
 do you think is the cause of the loss of my 
 teeth?" 
 
 " I cannot answer that question. What do 
 you think was the cause of it ?" 
 
 Let me remark that, if to any feature of 
 what may be called management I attribute 
 any share of my professional success, it is to 
 the almost uniform practice of asking my pa- 
 tients what they think is the matter with them ; 
 what they think is the cause of their malady, 
 and even what they think will cure them. The 
 fact is, that sick people, thinking a great deal 
 about their symptoms, and being more inter- 
 ested in the history and cure of their maladies 
 than any doctor can be, often have clearer 
 views of the origin, the nature and the best 
 treatment, than the wisest physician can pos- 
 sibly obtain in a brief examination. 
 
 Well, this young lady said, " I will tell you 
 what I think is the cause of the loss of my 
 teeth. Last summer I fell sick, and the doctor 
 said I must leave the mill and go into the coun- 
 try to rest. I went over the river to visit my 
 uncle, a farmer, and remained with him three 
 
 16* 
 
186 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 months. Shortly after my arrival I learned to 
 eat tomatoes, and during my stay there I ate 
 them constantly. I was told that they were 
 the healthiest things I could eat, and that I 
 could not eat too many of them. I soon 
 learned to like them, picked them off the 
 vines in the garden and ate them as I would 
 apples. Almost immediately my mouth be- 
 came sore, and my gums bled freely upon the 
 use of the tooth-brush. But I was told this 
 was the disease in my stomach working off 
 through my mouth. No one suspected the to- 
 matoes. "When I came home, I brought with 
 me a bushel and a half, and ate them as long 
 as I could preserve them. In the mean time 
 my teeth had become loose. At length they 
 became so very loose that I began to rake them 
 out with my fingers, and I now have but one 
 tooth left, and, if you would like to have me 
 take that out, I can do it with my fingers." 
 
 I told her that I had often soon teeth ex- 
 tracted ; that it would be no special gratifica- 
 tion to see the last one taken out. But I as- 
 sured her, from many facts that had already 
 come under my observation, that I had no 
 doubt of the general correctness of her opin- 
 ions. 
 
 Now, my practical suggestion is this : If peo- 
 ple are fond of tomatoes they may eat them in 
 
TOMATOES. 187 
 
 small quantities, say one or two teaspoonfuls 
 of cooked tomatoes at a meal, as a sauce ; but 
 I believe that, if a person is already in good 
 health, tomatoes are not likely to improve his 
 health; on the contrary, that the tomato is 
 medicinal, and should never be used in any 
 considerable quantity by healthy people. I 
 believe that finally they will be put in the 
 category with medicines, and prescribed when 
 necessary by a medical man. 
 
188 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 SALT. 
 
 I have a friend who believes the excessive 
 use of salt has much to do with that morbid, 
 irritable condition of the solids and fluids 
 which characterizes phthisis pulmonalia 
 
 Salt, as an article of human food, has been 
 much discussed. Those who claim it is nee Sh 
 sary bring many facts to sustain their positions. 
 For example, animals in a state of nature, and 
 therefore without those morbid cravings which 
 a false civilization engenders, are so fond of 
 salt that they seek it in journeys of liundr 
 of miles, and amidst the greatest difficulties 
 and dangers. The hunter has learned that, 
 although the deer may be frightened away. 
 still, if he wait patiently, the poof creature's 
 hunger for salt is such that it will soon return. 
 Many birds have such a craving for salt that, 
 forgetting their timidity, they fly into the im- 
 mediate presence of the sportsman upon a salt 
 marsh. Our domestic animals show the greatest 
 avidity for salt. Can we deny that all this 
 tends to prove that it is not a poison ? The ad- 
 vocates of salt bring forward a number of fa 
 gathered from observation among the native 
 
SALT. 189 
 
 tribes of Africa and South America, showing 
 that the desire for salt is uncontrollably strong, 
 even among the little children of these natural 
 tribes. But so far as the question of poison is 
 concerned, I should prefer to rest the argu- 
 ment upon facts gathered from the lower ani- 
 mals. 
 
 The physiological chemist informs us that 
 salt is found in nearly all the tissues of the 
 body. The readers of history will remember 
 that criminals are said to have been tortured 
 to death — eaten alive by worms — because de- 
 prived of salt. 
 
 The argument against salt is based on physio- 
 logical hypotheses, and upon facts showing the 
 effects of its excessive use. As to the latter, 
 the advocates of salt would not make issue. 
 
 For myself, I never eat more of this condi- 
 ment than finds its way into the food while in 
 the kitchen, but I believe that a moderate use 
 of it is not only harmless, but necessary to 
 health. 
 
 I am sorry I cannot quite agree with the 
 dietetic reformers on this subject. As a class, 
 these laborers are so conscientiously and use- 
 fully engaged on behalf of human health, and 
 so much have they been ridiculed, that I feel it 
 an honor and a privilege to range myself with 
 them. But I believe the crusade against salt 
 
190 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 is one of those instances of special pleading 
 into which reformers devoted to a special work 
 are prone to fall. I take the liberty to refer 
 those who would investigate the subject far- 
 ther, to the physiological chemistries. 
 
PASTRY. 191 
 
 PASTRY. 
 
 I have often said that, if I were a minister, 
 I should frequently mention in my public 
 prayers the cake and pie mania. It is bad 
 from beginning to end — bad altogether. I can- 
 not fully explain the indigestibility of pie. For 
 example, a mince pie is a compound of those 
 very articles which abound in the most healthy 
 food — meat, apples, flour and a few simple con- 
 diments. Now, all these articles may be eaten 
 in other relations without harm. One may 
 make a full meal of them. But put them into 
 a pie and make a meal of it ! Your stomach is a 
 remarkable one if the brain is not at least a lit- 
 tle dull during the process of digestion ; while, 
 if your stomach is weak, you will not be likely 
 to repeat the experiment. What is true of 
 mince pie is, to some extent, true of all pies. 
 
 Now, when we recall that these pies are 
 usually eaten at the close of a hearty dinner, 
 when nine in ten persons have already eaten 
 too much, their use is at once seen to be a seri- 
 ous evil. 
 
 I have no hesitation in saying that pies must 
 be abandoned by all who would live the high- 
 est physiological life. Precisely the same re- 
 marks are applicable to cake. 
 
192 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 HOW PAT PEOPLE MAY GET THEM- 
 SELVES INTO SHIP-SHAPE. 
 
 Even in New England there are a great 
 many uncomfortably fat people. I say even 
 in New England, because it is supposed that 
 Yankees are a gaunt, ghostly folk. But in an 
 audience of five hundred almost anywhere in 
 New England you may see a dozen uncomfort- 
 ably fat people — waddling, wheezy, anti-going- 
 up-stairs sort of people. Down in Pennsylva- 
 nia, in an audience of the same size, especially 
 if you are in a country district, the proportion 
 of fat ones is very large. Let me give you a 
 case: An immensely fat, panting, red-faced 
 woman came to me with a fat word in her 
 mouth, "obesity," and standing before me ex- 
 claimed : 
 
 " Doctor, just look at me ! Ain't I a sight to 
 behold? This is the torment of my life. I 
 shouldn't weigh more than one hundred and 
 thirty, but I do weigh two hundred and twenty. 
 Now just think of my carrying that extra 
 ninety pounds whenever I move ! What can 
 be done for me ? All summer long I pant and 
 perspire and wish myself in Greenland. When 
 
HOW FAT PEOPLE MA Y GET SHIP-SHAPE. 1 93 
 
 I walk in the street, my sister says I look like 
 a Berkshire pig. When I go up stairs in a 
 hurry I just lose my breath altogether, and 
 plump myself down into a chair and gasp it 
 back again. Now, what can be done for me ? " 
 
 " Has your husband a horse ?" (I knew he 
 had several.) 
 
 " Oh yes ; why, you know he keeps a stable- 
 ful." 
 
 " Do they ever get too fat ?" 
 
 " Oh yes ; you know my husband keeps fast 
 horses. I hear about nothing else the year 
 round but '2.40, 2.31, 3-4/ and 'that they are 
 too fat/ and that 'they are out of condition/ 
 and all the rest of it ; you know the phrases." 
 
 "When your husband's horses get too fat, 
 can he reduce them ?" 
 
 " Oh yes, very easily." 
 
 " How does he do it?" 
 
 " Why, he reduces their food and gives them 
 more exercise." 
 
 " Madam, all I have to say is, ' Go thou and 
 do likewise.' " 
 
 " What, starve ? Why I have tried that for 
 months together. What I have eaten wouldn't 
 keep a mosquito alive, and I have grown fatter 
 and fatter all the time." 
 
 "Madam, you must excuse me, but what 
 you are saying lacks accuracy. You eat and 
 
 17 
 
194 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 drink too much, or you would not be in this 
 condition." 
 
 " Well, tell me how little I should eat." 
 
 " I cannot tell you that, but I can say that 
 you should reduce the quantity which you are 
 now eating, and you must learn to live with 
 very little drink. This last will help you 
 much. 
 
 "To be particular, let me say, go on with 
 just such food as you like. If you are fond 
 of meat, all the better ; increase the proportion 
 of that article a little. Masticate the food very 
 thoroughly, so that you will not need much 
 drink to swallow it. When you have a desire 
 for drink, content yourself with a single mouth- 
 ful. In a week or two you will be surprised to 
 find how the wish for water has disappeared. 
 If you can learn to get on with one tumblerful 
 of water, or other drink, per day, this fat, 
 shaky condition will at once begin to disap- 
 pear. 
 
 " But to speak of your food again : reduce 
 the quantity you now eat one quarter, and 
 after, say two months, reduce another quarter. 
 This reduction will probably be sufficient, if 
 you rigidly observe what I have said about 
 drinks. 
 
 "If, in addition to this, you exercise your- 
 self into a profuse perspiration once or twice 
 
HO W FAT PEOPLE MA Y GET SHIP-SHAPE. 195 
 
 a day, you will be astonished to find how soon 
 your clothes will become loose. Why, madam, 
 there is not a fat person under fifty years of 
 age in the country who might not get himself 
 or herself into comfortable proportions in less 
 than half a year." 
 
 "Doctor, what do you think of Banting's 
 system ?" 
 
 " I think just this : If people have no con- 
 trol of their appetites, that system is a good 
 thing, although sure to produce an abnormal 
 condition of the tissues. We cannot use meat 
 above a certain percentage in our food without 
 deranging the general health. A feverish, 
 hard pulse, and a certain condition of the 
 stomach and liver, which will show itself in a 
 darkening of the complexion — these and other 
 symptoms will show, when we eat more meat 
 than we should, that the vital processes are 
 not going on well ; and, besides, this expedient, 
 which Banting advises, of living on meat, is 
 entirely unnecessary. It is infinitely better to 
 keep up about the usual proportions of meat 
 and vegetable food, and simply reduce the 
 quantity." 
 
 " But, doctor, if I go into this thing as you 
 advise, it seems to me that I shall hardly be 
 able to keep on my feet, I shall be so faint and 
 weak." 
 
196 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 " Madam, you are entirely mistaken. Any 
 person, ^vhen too fat, will only experience a 
 sense of lightness and increasing strength 
 when making a judicious reduction in the 
 amount of food and drink. He or she will 
 breathe better, move quicker, and feel that a 
 great load is being removed. 
 
 "For example, a man weighs, Bay two hun- 
 dred and fifty pounds, and should weigh, to be 
 active and healthy, one hundred and seventy- 
 five pounds. This man is carrying about an 
 extra seventy-five pound-, interfering with his 
 respiration and activity : in other words, cut- 
 ting short the two great conditions of health, 
 viz., respiration and exercise. Yet that man 
 goes on pulling and Mowing until he dies, and 
 dies prematurely, too, for excessive fat is inimi- 
 cal to longevity, 
 
 "Another word or two about drinks. All 
 fat people are large drinkers; and when we 
 remember that about three-fourths of the 
 human body are water (if we put a human 
 body into an oven and make it perfectly dry, 
 it will £0 down from one hundred and fifty to 
 about forty pounds'), you see what an intimate 
 relation with this fat condition the large use 
 of drinks may have. And it is not difficult to 
 learn to s;et on with but little water. A man 
 weighing two hundred and fifty has sixtv or 
 
HO W SHALL THIN PEOPLE GET PL UMPf 1 97 
 
 seventy pounds more of water in his system 
 than it needs. So he must drink but little 
 water, and he will soon get on comfortably, 
 not only without suffering but with improving 
 health. You must exercise yourself into a 
 profuse perspiration twice or three times a 
 day. 
 
 " Madam, before you leave, I want to say one 
 other thing: you must not sleep too much. 
 Long sleep fattens. Don't go to bed very 
 early, but get up very early in the morning. 
 Seven hours in the twenty-four, or say six hours 
 for a while, will do for you. In other words, 
 madam, my prescription for you is, keep your 
 eyes open and your mouth shut" 
 
 How Shall Thin People become Plump? 
 
 But for one flit person there are, especially 
 in New England, a dozen lean ones. Here 
 comes a young woman of twenty-five, who looks 
 as though she were thirty-five, and the pre- 
 maturely old look comes from this clinging of 
 skin to the bones. See how hollow her temples 
 and cheeks are ! 
 
 Casting her eyes about the office to see that 
 nobody overhears, she says : 
 
 "Doctor, what can be done for these dry 
 bones ? Why, I can hardly make a shadow ; 
 
 17* 
 
198 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 and while I ought to be plump at twenty 
 (which she desires me to understand is her age) , 
 here I am looking like an old grandmother. 
 Can anything be done for these crow's feet 
 about my eyes and these scrawny collar- 
 bones?" ' 
 
 "Well, this is curious; a woman in just the 
 opposite condition has this moment left here. 
 She is carrying ninety pounds too much flesh. 
 That makes her miserable. Now you have 
 not enough by twenty-five pounds, and that 
 makes you miserable. I have prescribed for 
 her, and, if she follows the prescription, in six 
 months she will lose her extra pounds. If 
 you have no disease, but -imply a lack of fat, 
 I am sure I shall be able to prescribe for you, 
 so that the desired twenty-five pounds or more 
 will come in about the same length of time/ 1 
 
 "I am perfectly well, and I am strong, too, 
 only I am such a skeleton. n 
 
 " Let me question you a little. What time 
 do you go to bed ?" 
 
 " Generally about eleven or half-past eleven." 
 
 "This must be changed. Instead of going 
 to bed at eleven or half-past eleven, if you are 
 really in earnest about getting a plump, youth- 
 ful appearance, you must go to bed at half-past 
 eight or nine o'clock. With a fresh, plump, 
 youthful body, a single hour in any company 
 
HO W SHALL THIN PEOPLE GET PL UMP ? 199 
 
 will gratify you and your friends more than 
 a dozen nights with this fagged and old look. 
 So go to bed at half-past eight or nine o'clock, 
 and don't be in a hurry about getting up in the 
 morning. On going to bed and on getting up 
 in the morning, drink as much cold water as 
 you can sw r allow. Soon you will learn to drink 
 two tumblers ; and some persons may learn to 
 drink still more. Drink all that your stomach 
 will bear. Spend a good deal of time in the 
 open air without hard exercise, but exposed to 
 the sun. If practicable, ride in a carriage some 
 hours every day. Remain out enough to give 
 you a good appetite, but don't work hard 
 enough to produce excessive perspiration. Eat 
 a great deal of oat-meal porridge, cracked 
 wheat, Graham mush, baked sweet apples, 
 roasted and broiled beef, though the vegetable 
 part is more fattening than the animal part. 
 Lie down an hour in the middle of the day, 
 just before you take your dinner, to rest, and, 
 if possible, take a little nap. Cultivate jolly 
 people. ' Laugh and grow fat' rests upon a 
 sound physiological basis. A pleasant flow of 
 the social spirit is a great promoter of diges- 
 tion. There, now go home; keep your skin 
 clean, sleep in a room where the sun shines, 
 keep ,every thing sweet and clean and fresh 
 about your bed, sleep nine, if possible ten, 
 
200 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 hours in the twenty-four, eat as I have told you, 
 cultivate the jolly spirit, and in six months you 
 will be as plump as even your lover could 
 wish. 
 
 " My prescription for the fat lady was, keep 
 your eyes open and your mouth shut. 
 
 " My prescription for you is, keep) your eyes 
 shut and your mouth open" 
 
NOISES IN THE BOWELS. 201 
 
 NOISES IN THE BOWELS. 
 
 These are heard mostly in ladies of seden- 
 tary habits. And I know of nothing more 
 annoying. 
 
 A cultured and sensitive lady, whose rich 
 imagination is familiar to the reading public, 
 came to consult me about her " intestinal con- 
 certs." Within two months she came again to 
 report a perfect cure. I gave her no medicine, 
 indeed I did nothing for her. I simply told 
 her one little secret. It is this. You have 
 twenty feet of small intestine which is, say, one 
 inch in diameter. The contents of this tube 
 are constantly moving onward. So long as the 
 tube is the full size the contents will move on, 
 generally without any noise ; but if you squeeze 
 a part of the tube and make it smaller than the 
 remainder, when the liquid contents pass along, 
 in crowding through this reduced part, sounds 
 will be produced. Now that corset with the 
 long bodice does that very thing. The pres- 
 sure reduces the size of a part of the small in- 
 testine, and the contents in crowding through 
 that contracted part get up the glug-glug con- 
 cert. 
 
202 our DIGESTION. 
 
 " I see it," said she, " I see it, and my dress- 
 maker shall begin to-day." 
 
 Afterward she came in, as I have stated, to 
 report the verification of my diagnosis. 
 
 "But," said she, "why don't you doctors 
 write and talk about these things ? How are 
 we to find out about them unless those who 
 make our bodies a special study tell us ? For 
 my part, I can't see why I shouldn't have gone 
 on till I had developed a grand abdominal 
 oratorio, if some one had not explained the 
 trouble." 
 
 Well, here it is, and I hope it may inform 
 and warn many. If I had given my patient a 
 few sugar-coated bread pills, with the direction 
 that she must allow no pressure upon the 
 bowels, and had spoken a little mysteriously of 
 the wonderful ingredients of the pills, that they 
 numbered nineteen, and that a part of them 
 had been obtained from a tribe of Indians re- 
 siding in a ravine on the southwestern declivity 
 of the Himalaya mountains, while a portion of 
 the ingredients had been procured from a 
 French physician, part Indian, who was found 
 among a tribe of Indians on the western decliv- 
 ity of the Rocky Mountains, and that no man 
 on earth but myself understood the secret of 
 the compounding, I should have had a hun- 
 dred applications for the wonderful medicine ; 
 
 I 
 
NOISES IN THE BOWELS. 203 
 
 but now that the treatment has only common 
 sense to recommend it, I am afraid very fevf 
 will heed it. 
 
 Of course it will be understood that I have 
 spoken of the pressure of the whalebones as a 
 cause of these intestinal noises, though this 
 pressure is by no means the only cause. There 
 are certain articles of food, as every one knows, 
 which fill the bowels with gases. Excessive 
 eating will likewise produce a turmoil. But 
 these causes are much more likely to produce 
 sounds in a fashionably-dressed lady than in a 
 man or in a woman who dresses in a natural 
 way. 
 
 While water will pass through a pipe of a 
 given size without sound, reduce the size at one 
 point, and at that place the water, in crowding 
 through, will produce a gurgling. I have 
 known persons to suffer from intestinal sounds 
 on account of a false position in sitting, inci- 
 dent, perhaps, to some occupation. 
 
204 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 COLDS. 
 
 The old saw, " Stuff a cold and Btan 
 fever," has been the source of infinite mischief 
 When you have taken a cold and have aome 
 local inflammation, as, for example, a nasal 
 catarrh or an inflamed throat, it is just as im- 
 proper to eat stimulating food as with any other 
 inflammation. If, for example, the oold assume 
 the form of pleurisy, no one proposes to feed it 
 on beef and mince pie. Bui I aee no reason 
 why a pleuritic stitch may not be fed upon 
 beef, if lungs inflamed by a oold may be. 
 
 When you are attacked again with a hard 
 cold, treat it as follow-, and your faith in the 
 old saying will quickly disappear. 
 
 You have a hard oold. Eat no supper. < ho 
 going to bed drink two tumblers of cold water. 
 On rising in the morning drink freely of cold 
 water. For breakfast c j at a piece of dry bi- 
 as large as your hand. Go out freely during 
 the morning. For dinner eat about the same 
 as you ate at breakfast During the afternoon 
 take a sharp walk, or engage in some acti 
 exercise which shall produce a little - ra- 
 tion. Go without your supper and retire early, 
 
COLDS. 205 
 
 drinking, before you jump into bed, as much 
 cold water as you can swallow. The next 
 morning you are nearly well. 
 
 If, instead, you feed the cold, it will stay a 
 week or ten days, and wind up with a hard 
 cough and expectoration. 
 
 This feeding the cold belongs to the same 
 chapter with that stupid advice which prescribes 
 whisky in consumption, a disease always ac- 
 companied by a rapid pulse and other indica- 
 tions of inflammatory action. 
 
 A cold is not, as many think, the result 
 alone of exposure to a sudden change in the 
 atmosphere. Don't you know you sometimes 
 say, when exposed to cold or damp, " Now, I 
 shall take my death cold"? — and yet, next 
 morning you are astonished to find that you 
 have no cold. At another time you have a 
 hard cold, and you say, " Dear me ! how did I 
 take this cold ? I am sure I have not exposed 
 myself. I cannot understand when I took this 
 dreadful cold." These familiar facts ought 
 long since to have suggested to us that colds 
 depend but little upon external changes in the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 A cold is the product of two factors : one is a 
 certain condition of the within, and the other 
 is a certain condition of the without. The only 
 soil in which this plant can grow is a certain 
 
 18 
 
206 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 condition of the system, the prominent feature 
 of which is a deranged stomach. Those who 
 have good digestion very rarely have colds. 
 So, to prevent colds, you must keep your stom- 
 ach in good condition ; in other words, you 
 must keep yourself in high health. 
 
 There are some habits which give a special 
 tendency to colds. For example, the use of 
 hot drinks, which, in addition to flooding and 
 weakening the stomach, open the skin, and in- 
 crease thereby sensibility to the influence of 
 external changes. The use of warm baths, i Es- 
 pecially warm foot baths. Bleeping in cl 
 unventilated rooms. Wearing the Bame flannela 
 during the night that have been worn during 
 the day. Using fat meats and pastry, thereby 
 deranging the stomach and liver. 
 
WATER-BRASH OR HEART-BURN. 207 
 
 TREATMENT OP WATER-BRASH OR 
 HEART-BURN. 
 
 The means most commonly employed by the 
 ignorant is the use of some alkali to neutralize 
 the acid. A little soda, for example, relieves 
 the suffering at once. But this chemical rem- 
 edy is not a good one. Strange to say, the 
 opposite course is more successful, viz., the 
 employment of small doses of acids. I have 
 known persons who had suffered long from 
 water-brash, to cure themselves by the daily 
 use of a little vinegar or a few drops of lemon 
 juice after each meal. 
 
 Mr. J., a college student, consulted me dur- 
 ing his junior year for a most distressing heart- 
 burn. It seemed to me a case in which a cure 
 might be effected on the Homoeopathic law, and 
 I prescribed twenty drops of lemon juice to be 
 taken at the close of each meal. He called 
 upon me several months after to say, that it not 
 only had cured him, but that he had resolved 
 himself into a doctor among his fellow-students, 
 and that lemon juice was known as a good 
 remedy throughout the whole institution. He 
 had, in prescribing the lemon juice for water- 
 
208 - OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 brash, been careful to urge the omission of 
 drinks at and immediately after meals, and 
 likewise the avoidance of soups. In fact, 
 sufferers from the malady under consideration 
 may obtain relief by a dry diet. 
 
 In speaking of the employment of alkalies 
 in acidity of the stomach, I forgot to say that 
 the saliva, which is alkaline, gives great relief. 
 I have, for a good many years, been in the 
 habit of advising my patients, who might be 
 temporarily afflicted with heart-barn! to chew 
 spruce gum and swallow all the saliva. It 
 affords the most grateful relief, and i> not ob- 
 noxious to the same objection which may be 
 urged against soda, saleratu- and other Btr 
 alkalies. 
 
 Of course, the cure of this affection is to be 
 sought in the discontinuance of the table error 
 which produced it. It is not easy, in round 
 terms, to say what this error is. But the dis- 
 continuance of drinks at meal time and of 
 liquid foods will generally give relief. It 
 may be necessary to discontinue pastry, fat 
 meats and butter. It would be a rare i 
 that did not give way at once under a beef 
 and bread diet, drinking only water, and that, 
 so far as practicable, on rising in the morning 
 and lying down at night. I have prescribed 
 this with success in hundreds of cases. 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 209 
 
 CURIOUS TREATMENT OP DYSPEPSIA. 
 
 Some years ago a physician in New York 
 city published a small book, in which he gave 
 well-written certificates of marvelous cures of 
 dyspepsia. Patients began to flock to him. 
 Their introduction to his treatment was very 
 queer. He took the patient into his consulta- 
 tion office, examined his case, and if it was one 
 he could cure, he announced his fee as five 
 hundred dollars, to be paid in advance. If 
 the patient's confidence was strong enough the 
 money was paid, and then the doctor took him 
 through a hall, up a flight of stairs, through 
 another hall, then through a room, down a 
 flight of stairs, up a flight, down a flight, then 
 to the right, then to the left, and at last they 
 arrived in a small room without windows, 
 artificially lighted, and in that room the patient 
 was required to put his name to a solemn vow 
 that he would never reveal the modes of treat- 
 ment. 
 
 This being all finished, the patient was in- 
 troduced to the treatment. It consisted in 
 slapping the stomach and bowels. Besides this, 
 the patient was required to live temperately, and 
 
 18* 
 
210 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 much in the open air. On rising in the morn- 
 ing, he was required to spend from five to ten 
 minutes in striking his own abdomen with the 
 flats of his hands. THien he went out for a 
 morning walk after having drunk a tumbler or 
 two of cold water. At eleven o'clock in the 
 forenoon he spent a quarter of an hour or more 
 in slapping the bowels with his hands. Then 
 he laid dow r n to rest. He dined temperately 
 at two o'clock, and spent the afternoon in 
 sauntering about. At seven o'clock in the 
 evening he repeated the percussion, and went 
 to bed at nine o'clock. A majority of the 
 cases of dyspepsia that Bought relief at this 
 establishment had used all the other means 
 except the dapping; that is to say, they had 
 lived on plain food and much in the open air. 
 It was the slapping, the pounding with the f. 
 kneading with the fists, sometimes with the fists 
 of an attendant, that cured these people, for 
 cured they certainly were. Marvelous cores 
 were effected in this establishment. After the 
 death of the doctor, some of his patients felt 
 themselves absolved from the obligation, and 
 one of them described the treatment to me. 
 
 In every ease of indigestion, no matter what 
 may be its character, slapping the stomach or 
 bowels with the ilats of the hands on rising in 
 the morning, four hours after breakfast, and in 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 211 
 
 the evening on going to bed, is excellent treat- 
 ment. I cannot conceive of a case of chronic 
 indigestion which such manipulation would not 
 relieve. 
 
 If the patient be so weak that he cannot per- 
 form these slappings or kneadings upon his own 
 person, the hand of a discreet assistant should 
 be employed. 
 
 It is marvelous how the body, the stomach 
 for example, which, when these manipulations 
 are first practiced, may be so very tender that 
 the slightest touch can hardly be borne — it is 
 marvelous how in two or three weeks a blow 
 almost as hard as the hand can give is borne 
 without suffering. 
 
 Nearly all soreness is relieved by judicious 
 handling. For example, you stick a needle 
 into your finger. Let it alone, and it will ache 
 for an hour and be sore for a day. But lay 
 the finger down upon your knee and beat it 
 with your other hand, the pain and soreness 
 will disappear as if by magic. 
 
 You have a pain in the side or across the chest; 
 percussion will relieve it almost immediately. 
 But constipation, dyspepsia, torpidity of liver 
 and other affections of the abdominal viscera 
 are relieved more surely and completely than 
 any other class of affections by percussion, 
 kneading, etc. Such treatment comes under 
 
212 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 the head of counter-irritation. A new circu- 
 lation is established in the parts near the point 
 of suffering and congestion. Besides this, es- 
 pecially in abdominal troubles, the manip- 
 ulations appeal directly to the contractility of 
 the weak and relaxed vessels in the affected 
 part. 
 
 Mr. P., an esteemed clergyman, came to me 
 many years ago about his stomach. The diffi- 
 culty, from which he had suffered for a long 
 time, was bloating after each meal, followed by 
 a tumultuous flatulence. The bloating was 
 excessive that he was obliged to unbutton his 
 garments, while he Buffered from labored 
 breathing sometimes for two hours. After 
 becoming satisfied that the difficulty was not 
 likely to leave spontaneously, I determined to 
 prescribe the following manipulation and noth- 
 ing else. 
 
 1st. On rising in the morning percuss the 
 stomach and bowels with the flats of the hand-, 
 without holding your breath, for ten minutes, 
 as hard as you can bear. 
 
 2d. Just before eating your dinner, repeat 
 the dose. 
 
 3d. Just before going to bed, double the 
 dose. 
 
 In a week he was better, and in less than a 
 month well. 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 213 
 
 I am speaking within the truth when I say, 
 that I have prescribed the same thing for a 
 thousand dyspeptics with happy results. 
 
 I will briefly describe another case which 
 greatly interested me: Miss M., a music 
 teacher, came to consult me about her stom- 
 ach. She was dreadfully blue, confessed that 
 she had harbored thoughts of suicide, and 
 begged that I would give her something which 
 would either kill or cure. Her stomach was so 
 sensitive to touch that she was obliged to re- 
 move all pressure from her clothes. 
 
 When I advised percussion and knead- 
 ing she looked frightened, and exclaimed, 
 " What ! pounding right on my stomach ! why 
 it would kill me !" 
 
 But was there no part of the abdomen which 
 would bear a slight blow ? 
 
 " Perhaps so, if the blow was very slight." 
 
 Then begin at that place, and you will be 
 surprised to find how soon you can push your 
 blows near the stomach. After a little you 
 will strike the stomach itself a hard blow, and 
 a hundred of them. Then the work of restor- 
 ation will go on rapidly. 
 
 She could not believe me, but partly prom- 
 ised to try it, if I would engage to pay the 
 funeral expenses in case it killed her. 
 
 Two or three months afterward I was de- 
 
214 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 scribing the symptoms of dyspepsia in a pub- 
 lic lecture, and when I came to speak of the 
 despondency which constitutes the most un- 
 happy result of the malady, I noticed a lady 
 whispering and gesticulating very earnestly to 
 her companion, and recognized in her Miss M., 
 the pianist and my patient. 
 
 After the lecture she sought me and be- 
 gan with, " I have no doubt you thought me 
 crazy when I consulted you." 
 
 " Certainly, you were insane. All genuine 
 dyspeptics are insane. Generally their insan- 
 ity is of a harmless sort, and so they are al- 
 lowed to go at large; but I can take you over 
 to our large insane asylum and show you fifty 
 victims of dyspepsia, and they are the most for- 
 lorn wretches in the institution/' 
 
 She went on to tell me about the treatment. 
 At first it seemed impossible to bear it, but 
 after a week she began to bear the blows di- 
 rectly upon the stomach itself when her lungs 
 were full and the breath was held ; then she 
 could bear slight blows without holding the 
 breath. Now she could strike a full blow di- 
 rectly upon the stomach without flinching. In 
 fact she was well, and intended to remain well 
 if pounding would do it, and she rather thought 
 it would. 
 
 A young lawyer, suffering a painful indigos- 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 215 
 
 tion produced by irregular restaurant eating, 
 which is becoming a fruitful source of dys- 
 pepsia in our cities, came to consult me. 
 
 In addition to certain changes in his table 
 habits, I urged percussion of his stomach and 
 bowels. When I spoke of percussion, and 
 showed him how it was done by slapping my 
 own stomach, he cried out : 
 
 " You might as well tell me to pound on a 
 boil." 
 
 Well, I replied, even that is not so terrible 
 as you imagine. I once had a large boil on 
 one of these tendons on the back of my neck, 
 and suffered indescribably day and night for 
 nearly a week. I could not sit up, I could not 
 walk, I could not stand, I could not lie down. 
 At length I thought my senses must leave me. 
 Our family physician was called in. He ad- 
 vised two quarts of hot flaxseed poultice. Poul- 
 tices of many sorts we had been trying from 
 the beginning, and so we were ready to listen 
 to an old English nurse, who was sure she 
 could rub the tightness, hardness and pain out 
 of the great red mass. Of course, we thought 
 that rubbing would be dreadful. But she 
 begged so hard to be allowed to try that we 
 were at length persuaded, though my mother 
 Was sure it would kill the boy. She began at 
 a little distance from the boil, and after a time 
 
216 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 made gentle approaches. In one hour she was 
 rubbing hard upon the boil itself. She was 
 not surprised, for she had witnessed the like 
 performance in Yorkshire, at 'onie, but we were 
 astonished. 
 
 The tension of the nerves, and consequently 
 the pain, began to give way. I fell asleep, and 
 did not awuke for nine hours. 
 
 A few years ago, and nearly forty years after 
 my own experience in this novel treatment, 
 I had in my own family a negro servant who 
 was afflicted with a large and very painful boil 
 in the same spot on the back of his neck. I 
 proposed the rubbing, and he fairly screamed 
 with fright. But at length his sufferings w< 
 so great that I determined to try an experi- 
 ment, with the hope that I might help him to a 
 little sleep, for which he seemed to be alm< et 
 dying. I etherized, him profoundly, and then, 
 stripping off his poultice, I went at his great, in- 
 flamed boil as if it were nothing but a mass of 
 insensible meat. I rubbed, kneaded, percoflB 
 thumped and squeezed till the hard mass was 
 as soft as a rubber ball with the air half out. 
 
 When Tom began to return to consciousness, 
 I hastily replaced the poultice, and, when he 
 could speak, I asked him how his neck felt. 
 
 "Very queer/' he replied ; " why, it feels as 
 if it was asleep : all sorter numb." 
 
CURIO US TEE A TMENT OF D YSPEPSIA. 217 
 
 He slept all night, and the next morning I 
 overheard him telling one of his fellow-serv- 
 ants that " That sleepy thing is the bulliest 
 doctor-stuff I ever went anywhere." 
 
 Rubbing and kneading for chronic maladies 
 is no new thing. For hundreds of years a 
 class of women know T n as " rubbers " have fig- 
 ured conspicuously in England. And, while 
 their operations have in the main been con- 
 fined to persons of the lower classes, instances 
 of a very notable character have occurred, in 
 which sick people of the highest social stand- 
 ing have called in these rubbers, where all 
 other means had failed. Remarkable cures 
 under such circumstances have become historic. 
 
 A large class of women have devoted them- 
 selves to the same work in Mexico. Indeed, 
 this sort of manipulation has become nearly 
 universal. And I venture the assertion, that 
 the most remarkable cures ever achieved among 
 us have been the w r ork of the rubbers. These 
 peripatetic doctors, who cure by " laying on of 
 hands " (which means rubbing, and generally 
 of a very violent sort) , do perform wonderful 
 cures. I know that physicians generally sneer 
 at these miracle workers, but if with their 
 drugs the doctors could perform such cures as 
 these quacks do actually achieve, there would 
 be no end to the glorification. 
 
 19 
 
218 OUR DIGESTION, 
 
 We physicians may shut our eyes and ears, 
 and cry " humbug " as long as we please, the 
 people know very well that thousands of ex- 
 hausted invalids, who have passed entirely be- 
 yond our drugs, are rubbed back into life and 
 health. And I will add the opinion that still 
 other thousands who are waiting in vain f! or sal- 
 vation to come from a bottle, might be restored 
 by judicious rubbing. 
 
 There are numberless sufferers from uterine 
 disi^lacements and inflammations, who submit 
 to an endless round of indecent and torturing 
 applications without avail, who might by lying 
 down flat, with the shoulders as low as the hips, 
 and having a little daily kneading and percus- 
 sion of the lower part of the abdomen, obtain a 
 relief which they can get by no other means. 
 
 But it holds true that no other class of a£ - 
 tions is so immediately, decidedly and perma- 
 nently impressed by these manipulate 
 those of the digestive apparatus. There 
 be imagined a case of indigestion in which 
 rubbing, kneading and | don will not 
 
 prove useful. Nor do I believe there is any 
 other affection of the organs of the abdominal 
 cavity which is not benefited by such treat- 
 ment. 
 
 I should add that if the dyspeptic be weak 
 and the movements of the hands fatiguing, he 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 219 
 
 should seek other hands to do the work. The 
 value of the movements is often greatly en- 
 hanced by the patient's lying down on his 
 back, quite horizontal, and having the manip- 
 ulations administered by another person. 
 
 Ling, the great author of the " Swedish 
 Movement Cure" system, has made an im- 
 mense contribution to our means of restoring 
 chronic invalids ; but this rubbing, kneading 
 and percussion treatment, which really consti- 
 tutes the most valuable feature of his system, 
 was not original with him, but was borrowed 
 from an humble class of his countrywomen, 
 " who went about doing good " as rubbers. I 
 presume that their great success gave him his 
 first ideas of the " Movement Cure." 
 
 We doctors have long known about the value 
 of this rubbing treatment, and sometimes, when 
 we have a case that we are desperately deter- 
 mined to save, we take off our coats and go at 
 it ; but then it is such dreadfully hard work, 
 and it is so much more jirofessional and ele- 
 gant to do up a mysterious dose in a pretty bot- 
 fle with a pretty label. You see if we take 
 off our coats and go to rubbing with our naked 
 hands like any common mortal, we sink our- 
 selves in your estimation, because you can do 
 that, without going to a medical college, just as 
 well as we can. Surely, you can't fail to see 
 
220 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 that for a physician loaded down with medical 
 knowledge — anatomy, physiology, pathology, 
 surgery, obstetrics, medical jurisprudence, etc., 
 etc., to say nothing of a full equipment of 
 Latin and things — for such a man to take off 
 his coat, roll up his sleeves, and stay all night 
 to rub and lift a poor fellow back into life 
 again, — you certainly can't fail to see that such 
 a course would be a vulgarity which no edu- 
 cated medical man who respected his profession 
 would submit to. All that kind of prostitu- 
 tion of our noble calling is well enough in 
 these peripatetic quacks, bu1 f r those who 
 have been through a "regular course " — in 
 fact, it is one of those vulgar irregularities 
 which no "regular" likes even to think 
 
 But to be serious, the temptation to avoid 
 all such simple manual labor, such things 
 the nurse can do as well or better than the 
 doctor, the temptation to hold ourselves aloof 
 from such things, and to deal only in the mys- 
 teries of the dose, is very strong. In this we 
 are clearly above and apart from you, or. if 
 you doubt the " above," you will not deny the 
 " apart." We know what we are doing, or you 
 think we do, which is all the same thing, and 
 you don't know, which gives us an immense 
 advantage. Xow we can't he expected to vol- 
 untarily abandon this little illusion, which gives 
 
CURIOUS TREATMENT OF DYSPEPSIA. 221 
 
 us not only our professional dignity, but our 
 living. Strip us of this, and we should be as 
 helpless as a clergyman who is deprived of his 
 firstly, secondly and thirteenthly in his theo- 
 logical disquisitions, and compelled to preach 
 love to God and man as all there is of it. 
 
 But I appeal again to your sense of propri- 
 ety and the fitness of things. On the one hand, 
 we give you a small bottle containing a mys- 
 terious liquid. Perhaps you ask what it is. We 
 tell you it is a " preparation/' and that it con- 
 tains six ingredients : one of them attends to 
 the liver, one tones up the stomach, another 
 fixes the kidneys, still another corrects the 
 secretions, etc. ; that we have denied ourselves 
 sleep in thinking over your case in all its bear- 
 ings, and that if one day does not witness a 
 change we shall take the whole case into very 
 anxious and serious consideration, etc., etc. 
 The shallowest mind must see that all that has 
 a scientific and profound look, and gives room 
 for the imagination, but with sleeves rolled up 
 and perspiration rolling down, where's the 
 chance for the imagination? I appeal to the 
 public. 
 
 But the Doctor will say, "Why not direct 
 the nurse to do this manipulating ?" 
 
 It may be replied that it requires a rare in- 
 telligence to know just when, and how, and 
 
 19* 
 
222 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 how much. For myself, I may say that I 
 have never puzzled my brain in my selection 
 of a medicine as I have during a night when 
 trying to rub and lift a poor, fainting, dying 
 fellow back into life. And besides this, which 
 is vital in many a case, the patient's confidence 
 is a great and decisive influence. The poor 
 sufferer stands face to face with death ; he has 
 no strength of his own ; his eyes roll from 
 side to side, looking for help ; he is drown- 
 ing and catching at straws ; the night is 
 long and dreary; he cannot forget himself 
 in sleep; he would give the world if the 
 Doctor were only there; how can he wait for 
 morning ? 
 
 "Oh God, will daylight never come again?" 
 Do you really think it is of no consequence 
 that the Doctor should he present during th 
 critical night hours? Thousands, who have 
 left their weeping friends about Pour o'clock in 
 the morning, could have been carried through 
 if the Doctor, in his earnest, brave way, all 
 confidence and cheerfulness, had, with coat 
 off, and with his warm, magnetic hands upon 
 the patient's back and abdomen, imparted of 
 his vitality just what was needed to make a 
 balance in the sick one's favor. 
 
 " But," says the nice, proper Doctor, 4 * if we 
 were to treat our patients in that way, we 
 
CUEIO US TEE A TMENT OF D YSPEPSIA. 223 
 
 should not be able to treat many, and what 
 would become of our living?" 
 
 If we doctors did our duty by our patrons, 
 in warning them against the mistakes which 
 produce their sicknesses, there would be quite 
 enough of us to attend to all the very sick 
 cases, in just the way I have named. And 
 as to the compensation, nothing is more unfair 
 than when two young men start out in life, 
 giving one three years to learning the carpen- 
 ter's trade, the other three years to learning 
 the doctor's trade; nothing is more unjust than 
 that the carpenter should work all clay for 
 three dollars, and the doctor receive three 
 dollars for an hour. Generally, the carpenter 
 uses quite as much brains as the doctor. 
 
224 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 STARVATION AS A CURB FOR DYS- 
 PEPSIA. 
 
 Many dyspeptics have completed the ruin 
 of their stomachs by starvation. Observing 
 that, for the time being, it affords relief, they 
 conclude that in this they are to find a cure. 
 But after a while they learn, to their sorrow, 
 that the stomach with almost nothing to do 
 accommodates itself to this nothing, and I 
 the power of digestion. 
 
 An intelligent lady said : 
 
 " About a year ago I began to suffer from 
 heartburn and constipation. A friend advised 
 me to go without supper, and take only a 
 small quantity of bread and baked apples for 
 breakfast and dinner. At first I was delighted 
 with the change. All my nervousness and low 
 spirits passed away, and I thought I had dis- 
 covered an important secret After a time I 
 found that even the small quantity I had been 
 eating was too much, and I reduced it still fur- 
 ther. Within three or four months my stom- 
 ach and my whole body became so weak that 
 I found the least increase in the quantity of 
 food, or any unusual exercise, produced great 
 
STAR VA TION AS A CURE FOR D YSPEPSIA. 225 
 
 weakness and suffering in my stomach. Within 
 the year I have lost more than thirty pounds 
 of flesh, and my stomach is now so weak that 
 an extra swallow of water, an extra ounce of 
 bread or an extra baked apple produces great 
 suffering." 
 
 This woman, being young, will recover, but 
 it will be through much suffering. I recom- 
 mended the moderate use of meat, and a grad- 
 ual increase in the quantity and strength of 
 her nutriment. 
 
 The tone of the stomach, like the tone of 
 the muscles, may be lost by lack of exercise. 
 While it is the common thing to find dys- 
 pepsia produced by excessive and injudicious 
 eating, it certainly is not very uncommon to 
 meet cases of dyspepsia produced by starva- 
 tion. 
 
 There is a curious fact about digestion which 
 is not easily explained. It is that hard-work- 
 ing men can digest strong food with greater 
 satisfaction than light, digestible things. For 
 example, I have known many such persons 
 who could digest hard-boiled eggs easier 
 than soft ones. They not only relished them 
 better, but the hard ones seemed to agree better 
 with their stomachs. 
 
 An old woman, to whom I was mentioning 
 this fact, said : 
 
226 
 
 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 " Sartin ; I allers knowed that, and I'll tell 
 ye why. Now my old man couldn't never eat 
 pap, it turned his stummick ; but, laws 'a mercy, 
 how that critter would put down cheese ! Ye 
 see there was something in the cheese for his 
 stummick to git hold on. John never could 
 write with limber pens, but with a ra'al stiff 
 one he could write fust rate — something to git 
 hold on," 
 
BILIOUSNESS. 227 
 
 BILIOUSNESS. 
 
 A cleegyman comes to see me a dozen times 
 a year about his biliousness, I know a great 
 many people who are bilious. They have no 
 dyspepsia, they never had a symptom of dys- 
 pepsia in their lives ; they are only bilious. 
 
 Now this word biliousness is a sort of respect- 
 able cover for piggishness. Reader, are you 
 bilious? (Rather a hard question after the 
 above remark.) Let me prescribe for you. 
 If you follow my prescription, and don't get 
 speedily well, write me, and in the next edi- 
 tion of this work I will announce my error. 
 
 First, on getting up and going to bed drink 
 plenty of cold water. Eat for breakfast, until 
 the bilious attack passes, a little stale bread, 
 say one slice, and a piece half as large as your 
 hand of boiled lean beef or mutton. If the 
 weather is warm, take instead a little cracked 
 wheat or oat-meal porridge. 
 
 For dinner take about the same thing. Go 
 without your supper. 
 
 Exercise freely in the open air, producing 
 perspiration, once or twice a day. In a few 
 days your biliousness is all gone. This result 
 
228 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 will come, even though, the biliousness is one 
 of the spring sort, and one with which you 
 have, from year to year, been much afflicted. 
 
 Herb drinks, bitter drinks, lager beer, ale, 
 whisky, and a dozen other spring medicines 
 are simply barbarous. 
 
 I had a friend, a lawyer, living at Buffalo, 
 N. Y., who was famous for bilious attacks. 
 Once or twice a month he had an attack of 
 bilious headache, and sometimes was obliged to 
 ask the postponement of an important suit. 
 At length, tired and disgusted, he came to me 
 and asked if nothing could be done, for really 
 it w r as getting to be the torment of his life. I 
 told him how to eat and drink and exercise, 
 and promised him if he would follow my pre- 
 scription he should never have another bilious 
 sick headache. My prophecy proved true as 
 to two or three years, but after a time he got 
 back into the ale, strong coffee, sausage, buck- 
 wheat cakes, hot rolls, melted butter and other 
 abominations, and of course his old headaches. 
 But he knew the remedy, and when it became 
 too hard to bear he fell back upon the prescrip- 
 tion, and has never failed to obtain relief. 
 
 A great many persons seem to be quite will- 
 ing to suffer a constant depression of spirits, 
 constant indigestion, with its innumerable tor- 
 ments, entirely willing to sutler all this for 
 
BILIOUSNESS. 229 
 
 the momentary pleasure of slipping down their 
 throats something which tastes good. I can 
 think of nothing else which so strikingly ex- 
 hibits man's undeveloped condition. 
 
 Is it not funny to see a dyspeptic whose 
 life is one unbroken torture, w r ho wishes him- 
 self dead, who never has a good night's sleep 
 and never a single happy, social hour, whose 
 whole life is a failure, both as to enjoyment 
 and usefulness, but who, three times a day, 
 shovels into his stomach a quantity of greasy, 
 hot, indigestible trash, to keep up the flame, 
 producing and reproducing the suffering ? As- 
 sure him that this is the cause of all his suf- 
 fering, and he replies, in the spirit of a mar- 
 tyr: 
 
 "Oh, I suppose, doctor, it is so, but then, 
 after all, I go for 'a short life and a merry 
 one.' " 
 
 Short life and a merry one, indeed ! That's a 
 grim joke. Merry! Why, a. temperate man, 
 who eats just what he needs, and enjoys the 
 harmonious play of all his powers and faculties 
 of body and soul, has more happiness in one 
 day than one of these " short-and-merry-life " 
 fellows has in a year. The temperate man's 
 life is one constant flow of solid enjoyment. 
 He is conscious of usefulness, of filling a place 
 in the world, while this short-and-merry-life 
 
 20 
 
230 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 gormandizer and drinker is afflicted with the 
 thought that his life is blasted. 
 
 What the dyspeptic means by " a short life 
 and a merry one/' is the momentary tickling 
 of his palate with plum pudding, followed by 
 six hours of belching and groaning. 
 
 Cornaro's Testimony. 
 
 This distinguished nobleman, at about the 
 fortieth vear of his age, when he seemed lit- 
 terly ruined by his gross excesses, saw death 
 staring him in the face, and resolved upon a 
 temperance which should be as complete as had 
 been his indulgences. In his eighty-third year 
 he wrote a work known aa"Sure and Certain 
 Method of Attaining a Lon<j and Healthful 
 Life." 
 
 This work was followed by three others on 
 the same general subject, composed at the a 
 of eighty-six, ninety-one and ninety-five, re- 
 spectively. His works were translated into 
 Latin, French, German, English and oilier 
 languages. The English translation reached 
 its thirty-ninth edition in 1845. 
 
 Cornaro used to say that " He who would 
 eat a great deal must eat but little, and that 
 what we leave after making our meal does us 
 more good than what we have eaten." 
 
COBN ABO'S TESTIMONY. 231 
 
 Cornaro exclaims : " Oh, blessed temperance, 
 how worthy art thou of our highest esteem, 
 and how infinitely art thou preferable to the 
 irregular and disorderly life ! Nay, would 
 men but consider the effects and consequences 
 of both, they would immediately see that there 
 is as wide a difference between them as there is 
 between light and darkness, heaven and hell." 
 
 Again, Cornaro says: "Many have said to 
 me, € How can you, when at a table covered 
 with a dozen delicious dishes, content yourself 
 with one dish, and that the plainest on the 
 table? It must surely be a great mortification 
 to you to see so many charming things before 
 you, and yet scarcely taste them/ This ques- 
 tion has frequently been put to me, and with 
 an air of surprise, I confess it has often made 
 me unhappy, for it proves that the persons 
 have got to such a pass as to look on the grati- 
 fication of their appetites as the highest hap- 
 piness, not considering that the mind is prop- 
 erly the man, and that it is in the reflections 
 of a busy mind that a man is to look for his 
 true and highest happiness." 
 
 He goes on: "When I sit down with my 
 eleven grandchildren to a table covered with 
 various dainties, of which, for the sake of a 
 light, easy stomach, I may not at times choose 
 to partake, it is no mortification to me. On 
 
232 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 the contrary, I often find myself most happy 
 at these times. How can it otherwise than 
 give me great delight, when I think of the 
 goodness of God, who blesses the earth with 
 such immense stores of good things for the use 
 of mankind? And must it not make me very 
 happy to think that I have got such a mastery 
 over myself as never to abuse any of those 
 good things, and am perfectly contented with 
 such a portion of them as keeps me always in 
 good health ? Oh ! what a triumph of joy is 
 this to my heart ! what a sad thing it is that 
 young people will not take instruction nor get 
 benefit from those who are older and wiser than 
 themselves! I may use in this matter the 
 words of the wise man : ' I have m en all things 
 that are done under the sun.' I know the 
 pleasures of eating, and I know the joys of a 
 virtuous mind, and can say, from long expe- 
 rience, that the one excelleth the other as far 
 as light excelleth darkness. The one are the 
 pleasures of a mere animal, the other those of 
 an angel." 
 
 Again this great and good nobleman, as he 
 neared death, in his extreme old age, cried out, 
 " Oh, sacred and most beautiful temperance, 
 how greatly am I indebted to thee for rescuing 
 me from such fatal delusions, and for bringing 
 me to the enjoyment of so many felicities, and 
 
CORNARO'S TESTIMONY. 233 
 
 which, over and above all these favors conferred 
 on your old man, has so strengthened his stom- 
 ach that he has now a better relish for his dry 
 bread than he had formerly for the most ex- 
 quisite dainties. My spirits are not injured by 
 what I eat, they are only revived and supported 
 by it. I can immediately on rising from the 
 table set myself to write or study, and never 
 find that this application, though so hurtful to 
 high feeders, does me any harm. And beside, 
 I never find myself drowsy after dinner, as a 
 great many do. The reason is, I eat so tem- 
 perately as never to load my stomach or op- 
 press my nerves, so that I am always as light, 
 cheerful and active after meals as before." 
 
 " It is true indeed," says he in a letter to the 
 Right Reverend Barbara, Patriarch of Aqui- 
 leia, " that what I have to tell you is no news, 
 but I never told it you at the age of ninety- 
 one. Is it not a charming thing that I am able 
 to tell you that my health and strength are in 
 so excellent a state that, instead of diminishing 
 with my age, they seem to increase as I grow 
 old? All my acquaintances are surprised at 
 it, and I, who know the cause of this singular 
 happiness, do everywhere declare it. 
 
 " I must confess it was not without great 
 work that I abandoned my luxurious way of 
 life. I began with praying to God that he 
 
 20* 
 
234 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 would grant me the gift of temperance, know- 
 ing that he always hears our prayers with de- 
 light." 
 
 When Cornaro was ninety-five years old, he 
 writes : " I find myself as healthy and brisk as 
 if I were but twenty-five. Most of your old 
 men have scarce arrived at sixty before they 
 find themselves loaded with infirmities. They 
 are melancholy, unhealthful, always full of 
 dreadful apprehensions of dying. They trem- 
 ble day and night for fear of being within one 
 foot of the grave, and are so strongly possessed 
 with the dread of it, that it is a hard matter 
 to divert them from the doleful thought." 
 
 I take great pleasure in quoting the testimony 
 of Cornaro. An honored member of a noble 
 family, himself distinguished for the rarest 
 virtues, he fell into the prevailing vices of his 
 time — gluttony and drunkenness. At the age 
 of forty he had become immensely gross, and 
 entirely abandoned and broken down. 
 
 A. council of medical men, after long delib- 
 eration, ventured to assure him that nothing 
 but an entire change in his habits could save 
 his life ; that although he had already arrived 
 at middle life, he might recover if he would 
 observe the strictest temperance. Convinced 
 at last, Cornaro said, " I will follow your in- 
 structions." They directed twelve ounces of 
 
EFFECTS OF EATING TOO MUCH, 235 
 
 solid food and fourteen ounces of liquids per 
 day. He lived till about one hundred, in the 
 enjoyment of singular health and youthful 
 spirit. 
 
 The opinion of Mr. Abernethy, one of the 
 ablest English physicians of the past, concern- 
 ing Cornaro's system of dieting is thus ex- 
 pressed : " When patients apply to me, I offend 
 them greatly by telling them they have their 
 health in their own keeping. If a man were 
 to do as Cornaro did, he would be rewarded 
 for it by a long and happy life. The principal 
 beauty of Cornaro's life was the happy state 
 of mind in which his continued temperance 
 preserved him. Now what I propose as a diet 
 is Cornaro's diet; and it is no fanciful system. 
 The diet should always be of a moderate quan- 
 tity ; it should not be wholly vegetable or ani- 
 mal, but it ought to be of a nutritive kind." 
 
 Effects of Eating* too Much. 
 
 Prof. Hitchcock, under this head, says : 
 " But men do not perceive the bad effects of 
 over feeding, because in general they are igno- 
 rant of their character, and confine their atten- 
 tion to the more immediate effects instead of 
 looking at those which are remote. They gen- 
 erally suppose that, if the stomach or any inter- 
 
236 QUE DIGESTION. 
 
 nal organ be oppressed or disordered, pain will 
 be produced in the organ itself; whereas, the 
 uneasiness and pain are most commonly in some 
 other part, not unfrequently a remote part, of 
 the body. And, oftentimes, food which ulti- 
 mately does the man a great deal of injury 
 gives to the stomach a transient relief, just as 
 piling a large quantity of wood upon a fire 
 seems for a time almost to extinguish it. Thus, 
 the dyspeptic is oppressed with a sense of gnaw- 
 ing and faintness at the stomach previous to his 
 meals. The immediate consequence of eating 
 to satiety is to remove this uncomfortable sen- 
 sation, and to produce a glow in the system 
 which at first is not disagreeable. Hence such 
 a man concludes that his hearty meal has done 
 him good. True, he feels an indisposition to 
 bodily or mental effort, and perhaps drowsin 
 and sleep come over him for two or three hours : 
 but this he considers no bad omen ; indeed, his 
 nap refreshes him for the time, and, although 
 the thought may enter his mind that perhaps 
 he has eaten rather too much, should headac 
 or heartburn come on, yet, by a cup of tea or a. 
 little exercise, he gets rid of these, and fancies 
 that when he has forced the food from his stom- 
 ach, no farther bad effects will result from a 
 little excess in quantity. Should he have dis- 
 turbed sleep and restlessness, the nightmare or 
 
 
EFFECTS OF EATING TOO MUCH. 237 
 
 unpleasant dreams, the following night, he 
 scarcely thinks of referring the mischief to the 
 dietetic excesses of the preceding day. His 
 appetite is good the next day, and he takes the 
 same course, viz., to eat as much as his stomach 
 craves ; and although overloaded nature raises 
 those signals of distress which I have men- 
 tioned, he is ignorant of their meaning until 
 after a few weeks or months, when gloom and 
 jealousy enshroud the mind as forerunners of 
 the storm that is about to burst. 
 
 " A man never thinks of imputing these feel- 
 ings to his excess in eating, although in fact 
 they are the direct consequence ; and, indeed, I 
 am more and more convinced that most of the 
 depression of spirits which accompanies nerv- 
 ous complaints might be prevented by rigid 
 abstemiousness in diet. 
 
 "Another remote consequence of eating too 
 much is uneasiness and irritability of temper, 
 especially in the morning, which most men 
 never regard as having such an origin. The 
 greatest gluttons we ever beheld (except one), 
 says a medical reviewer, were meagre men, 
 whose tempers became so crabbed that even 
 their children have wished them dead. That 
 these are real dyspeptics is proved by their cure 
 being practicable, if they are subjected to the 
 same regimen which dyspeptics require." 
 
238 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Dr. Johnson mentions a curious case illus- 
 trative of this effect of excessive eating upon 
 the mind. He had a hypochondriacal patient, 
 who " was every second day affected with such 
 an exasperation of his melancholy forebodings 
 that he did nothing but walk about his room, 
 wringing his hands, and assuring his servants 
 that the hand of death was upon him, and that 
 he could not possibly survive more than a few 
 hours. Under these gloomy impressions he 
 would refuse food and drink, and, in fact, give 
 himself up for lost. The succeeding sun, how- 
 ever, would find him quite an altered man. 
 The cloud had broken away, hope was re- 
 kindled, and the appetite for food and drink 
 was indulged ad libitum. Next morning all 
 would be despair, and nothing but death could 
 be thought of. So he went on, as regular 
 light and darkness. But if, on the good day, 
 he could be kept on a very small portion of 
 food and the bottle unopened, the next would 
 be good also. This, however, could seldom be 
 done, for as soon as he felt a respite from his 
 miseries, procured by one day's abstinence, he 
 returned to his indulgences and again irritated 
 his stomach and bowels, and through them 
 reproduced the blue devils in the mind." 
 
 Most of the ancient philosophers might be 
 named as patterns of health, temperance and 
 
EFFECTS OF EATING TOO MUCH. 239 
 
 long life. Pythagoras, in particular, restricted 
 himself to vegetable food altogether, his din- 
 ner being bread, honey and water : and he 
 lived upwards of eighty years. His followers 
 adopted the same diet, and with results equally 
 striking. It is well known, also, that the early 
 Christians were remarkable for temperance, and 
 'for longevity too, when not removed by perse- 
 cution. Matthew, for example, according to 
 Clement, lived upon vegetable diet. "The 
 Eastern Christians, who retired from persecu- 
 tion into the deserts of Egypt and Arabia, 
 allowed themselves but twelve ounces of bread 
 per day as their only solid food, and water 
 alone for drink, yet they lived long and 
 happy." St. Anthony lived 105 years ; James 
 the Hermit, 104 ; St. Jerome, 100 ; Simon Sty- 
 lites, 109 ; Epiphanius, 115 ; and Romauldus 
 and Arsenius each 120. 
 
 Galen, one of the most distinguished of the 
 ancient physicians, lived 140 years, and com- 
 posed between 700 and 800 essays on medical 
 and philosophical subjects ; and he was always, 
 after the age of 28, extremely sparing in the 
 quantity of his food. The Cardinal de Salis, 
 Archbishop of Seville, who lived 110 years, 
 was invariably sparing in his diet. One Law- 
 rence, an Englishman, by temperance and 
 labor, lived 140 years; and one Kentigern, 
 
240 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 called St. Mongah, who never tasted spirit or 
 wine, and slept on the ground and labored 
 hard, died at the age of 185. Henry Jenkins, 
 of Yorkshire, who died at the age of 169, was 
 a poor fisherman, as long as he could follow his 
 pursuit, and ultimately he became a beggar, 
 living uniformly on the coarsest and most 
 sparing diet. Old Parr, already famous, who 
 died at the age of 153, was a farmer of ex- 
 tremely abstemious habits, his diet being solely 
 milk, cheese, coarse bread, small beer and whey. 
 At the age of 120 he married a second wife, 
 by whom he had a child. But being taken to 
 court by the Earl of Arundel as a great curios- 
 ity, in his 152d year, he very soon died, as the 
 physician decidedly testified after dissection, in 
 consequence of a change from a parsimonious 
 to a plentiful diet. Henry Francisco, another 
 famous case, lived to about 140 in this country, 
 and was, except for a certain period when he 
 became attached to ardent spirit, " remarkably 
 abstemious, eating but little, and abstaining 
 almost entirely from animal food;" his favorite 
 articles being tea, bread and butter and baked 
 apples. A Mr. Ephraim Pratt, of Shutesbuiy, 
 Massachusetts, who died at the age of 117 years, 
 lived very much upon milk, and that in small 
 quantity ; and his son, Michael Pratt, attained 
 to the age of 103 years by similar means. In- 
 
EFFECTS OF EATING TOO MUCH. 241 
 
 deed, great longevity has occurred in no in- 
 stance with which I am acquainted, where the 
 individual was not a pattern of abstemiousness 
 in diet. Great eaters never live long. A vo- 
 racious appetite is a sign of disease, or of a 
 strong tendency to disease, and not a sign of 
 health, as is generally supposed. Ill health 
 as infallibly follows the indulgence of such 
 an appetite as any other effect its legitimate 
 cause. 
 
 Dr. Cheyne was a celebrated English physi- 
 cian who flourished more than a century ago. 
 In the early part of his life, he was a volup- 
 tuary, and before he attained to middle age he 
 was so corpulent that it was necessary to open 
 the whole side of his carriage that he might 
 enter ; and he saw death to be inevitable, with- 
 out a change of his course. He immediately 
 abandoned all ardent spirit, wine and fer- 
 mented liquors, and confined himself wholly 
 to vegetables, milk and water. This course, 
 with active exercise, reduced him from the 
 enormous weight of 448 pounds to 140, and 
 restored his health and the vigor of his mind. 
 After a few years, he ventured to change his ab- 
 stemious diet for one more rich and stimulating. 
 But the effect was a recurrence of his former cor- 
 pulence and ill health. A return to milk, water 
 and vegetables restored him again, and he con- 
 
 21 
 
242 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 tinued in uninterrupted health to the age of 
 72. His numerous works are full of most 
 earnest exhortations to temperance in all re- 
 spects. As to eating, his aphorism was: "A 
 constant endeavor after the lightest and least 
 of meat and drink a man can be tolerably easy 
 under, is the shortest and most infallible means 
 to preserve life, health and serenity." He rec- 
 ommends the following quantity of food and 
 drink as sufficient for a healthy man, not 
 following a laborious employment, viz.: eight 
 ounces of meat, twelve of bread or other vege- 
 table food, and about a pint of wine or other 
 generous liquor, per day. Invalids, those of 
 sedentary employments, and students, he says, 
 must reduce this quantity if they wish to pre- 
 serve their health and freedom of spirits. 
 
 Other Interesting" Historical Pacts. 
 
 Abernethv gives the case of an English 
 
 Quaker whom he advised to eat but twelve 
 ounces a day. The Quaker afterwards wrote 
 him : 
 
 " By following thine advice, I have got rid 
 of what thou didst consider a very formidable 
 local malady ; and upon thy allowance of food 
 I have regained my flesh and feel as compe- 
 tent to exertion as formerly, though I am not 
 
INTERESTING HISTORICAL FACTS. 243 
 
 indeed so fat as I used to be. I own to thee 
 that, as I got better, I thought thy allowance 
 rather scanty, and, being strongly tempted to 
 take more food, I did so, but I continued in 
 the practice of weighing myself, and found 
 that I regularly lost weight upon an increased 
 quantity of food, wherefore I returned to that 
 which was prescribed to me." 
 
 Zeno lived to the age of 98 years, and was 
 never sick. To his great temperance and mod- 
 eration he owed his continued flow of health. 
 
 John Wesley was remarkably abstemious in 
 his habits, and yet his life was long and labor- 
 ious. 
 
 Dr. Rush, though feeble in body, and with 
 a tendency to consumption, performed great 
 labors and lived to a good age. He was very 
 temperate in eating and drinking. The testi- 
 mony of Dr. Franklin is strongly in favor of 
 a simple and abstemious diet. He says, "When 
 about sixteen years of age, I happened to meet 
 with a book written by one Tryon, recommend- 
 ing vegetable diet. I determined to go into it. 
 My brother, being yet unmarried, did not keep 
 house, but boarded himself and his apprentices 
 in another family. My refusing to eat flesh 
 occasioned inconvenience, and I was frequently 
 chid for my singularity. I made myself ac- 
 quainted with Tryon's manner of preparing 
 
244 UE DIGESTION. 
 
 some of his dishes, such as boiling potatoes, 
 rice, making puddings, and then proposed to 
 my brother that if he would give me weekly 
 one-half the money he paid for my board I 
 would board myself. He agreed to this, and I 
 found I could save one-half of what he paid 
 me. This was a fund for buying books. But 
 I had another advantage. My brother and the 
 rest, going for their dinner, left me alone, and, 
 quickly despatching my light dinner, which 
 was often no more than a biscuit or slid of 
 bread, a handful of raisins and a glass of 
 water, I had the rest of the time fur study, in 
 which I made greater | 38 fr >m the clear- 
 
 ness of head and quicker apprehension which 
 attends temperance in eating and drinking." 
 
 Again I am reminded of the question con- 
 stantly asked by honest, earnest inquirers, 
 "Well, after all, what is temperance V 
 Not long since, a young man called upon me, 
 with numberless aches and distresses. He was 
 dizzy and half sick in the morning, sleepy 
 after dinner, and restless at night. He had 
 constipation and pain in the back, sour eructa- 
 tions, and sense of heat at the pit of the stom- 
 ach. But, worse than all this, he had desperate 
 hypochondria. Without referring to my record 
 of cases, I cannot give full particulars of his 
 case : but I remember he told me that he had 
 
INTERESTING HISTORICAL FACTS. 245 
 
 been doctoring for a year, had taken several 
 boxes of pills, quantities of tonics, and had 
 recently been trying a famous dyspepsia rem- 
 edy. He had now given up all hope, and only 
 wished he was dead. I asked him about his 
 habits. 
 
 He replied, " Oh, they are the very best. I 
 have read several works on health, and have 
 given the most careful attention to health 
 rules. I bathe and walk several miles every 
 day." 
 
 I asked him about his diet. 
 
 " That is all right." 
 
 " What do you eat for breakfast ?" 
 
 "A bit of steak, just a few fried potatoes, a 
 biscuit, a very few warm cakes and a single cup 
 of coffee. Cold water makes me sick." 
 
 " Do you drink the coffee strong ?" 
 
 " Yes, just comfortable. I don't like slops." 
 
 " Well, sir, what for dinner ?" 
 
 " I take a plate of soup, a trifle of fish, just 
 a little roast beef, a very few vegetables and a 
 bit of pie or pudding." • 
 
 " Well, what for supper ?" 
 
 "A very little cold roast, a biscuit or two 
 and a cup of tea." 
 
 " Do you take the tea strong ?" 
 
 " Yes. I don't like slops." 
 
 " Is this all you eat ?" 
 
 21* 
 
246 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 "Sometimes, when I feel a little faint, I 
 lunch on a few crackers and a glass of ale. I 
 am very temperate and careful in all my habits. 
 I know with my stomach I must be so." 
 
 I said to him, " My dear fellow, if you will 
 stop your drugs and stuffing, and eat only what 
 I advise, you will get well." 
 
 "But, Doctor, will you starve me on bran 
 bread?" 
 
 "Not a bit of it; I will prescribe food for 
 you that will make you stronger by half in a 
 month. 
 
 "Your diet must be the following: A piece 
 of unleavened cracked-wheat bread, about 
 large as your hand, with a baked apple, for 
 breakfast; twice as much bread of the same sort 
 for dinner, with a saucer of cracked wheat and 
 milk and two or three baked apples. Eat 
 nothing for supper, and go to bed at eight 
 o'clock. In a month you will be somewhat 
 thinner than now, but you will be cured of 
 your horrors, of your acidity of stomach, of 
 constipation, and feel yourself a new man." 
 
 " But, Doctor, how am I to sit at the table 
 and see all the good things before me, and eat 
 nothing but bread and apples ?" 
 
 "It is a little hard at first, but you will - 
 really enjoy the self-denial, and pity those who 
 are stuffing and killing themselves." 
 
OUB BOARDING-HOUSES. 247 
 
 " But," asked my patient, " don't you think 
 there is some medicine I could take and get 
 well without resorting to such terrible starva- 
 tion as this ?" 
 
 " You are quite mistaken. It is not starva- 
 tion. The amount of food I have advised is 
 as much and as rich as your stomach can digest 
 at present ; and you must remember that it is 
 not the quantity of food you eat that deter- 
 mines the strength : it is the amount well di- 
 gested. One ounce well digested will give you 
 more strength than ten ounces which undergo 
 the morbid changes of the dyspeptic stomach." 
 
 There is hardly a day that I do not have a 
 similar conversation with some poor gorman- 
 dizer. As I have said, these poor creatures 
 take bitters, pills and doses, resort to the gym- 
 nasium, make journeys to the country, are will- 
 ing to do and suffer anything you can name, 
 except one — the simple and only thing that 
 will cure them — viz., eating plain food in mod- 
 erate quantities. 
 
 Our Boarding-Houses. 
 
 A few years ago I was one of seven boarders 
 in what is called a first-class boarding-house. 
 Beside my wife and self, I do not think any 
 one of the company was quite well. The Eng- 
 lish gentleman who sat at my left was a great 
 
248 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 sufferer from vertigo, and was in constant ap- 
 prehension of apoplexy. His excellent wife 
 was afflicted with an unseemly eruption of the 
 face and periodical headache. Farther down 
 sat a pale, elegant gentleman, whose descriptions 
 of his sufferings from dyspepsia were painful to 
 hear. His sister, who sat at his side, used to 
 say that her brother thought his dyspepsia a 
 terrible affair, but if he could bear for a single 
 hour the agonies of her indigestion, he would be 
 thankful to return to his own sufferings. Both 
 were afflicted with a hard, deep cough. Our 
 remaining boarder was a young fellow who spent 
 his two thousand a year on his appetites, and 
 suffered greatly from what is called " bilioud- 
 ness." 
 
 "We had three or four courses at dinner, and, 
 unless in the midst of a "bad turn? each one 
 of the five faced the enemy like veterans, never 
 flinching until the foe was slain. 
 
 I was moved to speak on the vsubjeet of hu- 
 man food. The discussion grew warm. My 
 English friend knew; he had tried the starving 
 plan. It might be good for some folks, but it 
 would not do for him. His wife had tried 
 brown bread, and her face had grown worse all 
 the time. 
 
 But as a man who eats and drinks temper- 
 ately can keep his temper, and as I had the 
 
OUR BOARDING-HOUSES. 249 
 
 truth on my side, I carried the day, and 
 induced all but our young sprig with the two 
 thousand a year to try the new plan. Coffee 
 and tea were thrown out ; we ate but twice a 
 day ; no one ate more than I did — this was less 
 than one-half their previous quantity — and all 
 desserts, except a little fruit, were avoided. 
 
 In less than two months the vertigo was gone, 
 redness of face entirely gone, periodical head- 
 ache much relieved, and the dyspepsia and cough 
 non est inventus. They could hardly believe it. 
 Was it possible that all their lives they had 
 been eating twice as much as they could digest ? 
 
 They labored in turn with our young sprig, 
 but he invariably ended the argument with, " As 
 long as the old governor comes down with the 
 shiners I shall give the ponies full play." 
 
 "What an abomination our hotel and board- 
 ing-house tables are ! While returning from 
 Europe in the Baltic, I picked up the bill of fare 
 for the captain's dinner, and have it before me 
 now. If the vile, indigestible French compounds 
 were printed in this book, they would cover at 
 least three pages. Think of it! On board 
 ship ; no exercise ; nearly all except the crew 
 more or less deranged in stomach with the mo- 
 tion of the ship ; needing nothing but a little 
 coarse bread-fruit and lemonade, and yet sit- 
 
250 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ting down to a table loaded with a hundred 
 indescribable compounds, each swimming with 
 grease ! No inconsiderable part of the suffer- 
 ings from sea-sickness may be traced to this 
 stupid and almost malicious management of the 
 table. What company will inaugurate a new 
 policy ? I shall soon visit Europe again, and 
 I will give fifty dollars additional passage-money 
 for the pleasure of seeing the company sit down 
 to plain, coarse bread, delicious fruits and cool 
 lemonade. 
 
EXERCISE BEFORE BREAKFAST. 251 
 
 EXERCISE BEFORE BREAKFAST. 
 
 Last autumn a robust gentleman of fifty 
 years and two hundred pounds brought his 
 frail, dyspeptic wife for some advice. 
 
 In the course of a long conversation, I asked 
 her whether she could exercise before break- 
 fast. 
 
 " No, and if I go out for a walk, which my 
 husband constantly urges, it destroys my appe- 
 tite, makes me faint, produces headache, and 
 spoils me for all day." 
 
 I saw the husband was incredulous, and 
 asked him if he could exercise before break- 
 fast. 
 
 " I can walk five miles before breakfast, and 
 when I come in I am as hungry as a wolf." 
 
 And then he added in a tone intended to be 
 kind and respectful, " I believe my wife could 
 do the same thing, if she only could make up 
 her mind to it." 
 
 " But, my friend, don't you know there is a 
 wide difference in the capacity of people to do 
 this and that, a difference growing out of age, 
 of health, strength, etc.? Don't you know 
 that what agrees with the stomach, the nerves, 
 
252 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 the muscles of one, disagrees with the stom- 
 ach, the nerves and the muscles of another ?" 
 
 It was plain enough, though he nodded his 
 head approvingly, that he still thought if bis 
 wife only had his pluck she could join him in 
 these morning sweats. 
 
 Among what is known as the better cl< 
 in America, not more than one woman in ten 
 can take an early morning walk before break- 
 fast with profit. And although I find that in 
 my own case the early morning is the best time 
 for work, both intellectual and physical, I have 
 been compelled to admit, after the observations 
 of many years, that there are many persons, 
 and probably a large majority of women, who 
 cannot avail themselves of what to me and 
 many others is a luxury. 
 
 During my student life in Paris, I watched 
 with interest a habit of the French in the 
 management of the first meal. When x\ 
 rise they take a few mouthfuls of bread and 
 coffee, upon which they go about their work, 
 postponing the real, substantial breakiast until 
 ten o'clock, or even later. I fell into this cus- 
 tom, and found that for the early hospital 
 rounds it was not bad ; and I have ever since 
 thought it might prove a good system for our 
 delicate American ladies. It would enable 
 them to go out to ride or walk early in the 
 
EXERCISE BEFORE BREAKFAST. 253 
 
 morning, and tlius give them a chance at the 
 fresh air at an hour when fashion does not de- 
 mand an elaborate dress. 
 
 So very susceptible is the system early in 
 the morning, before breakfast, that wise mili- 
 tary commanders stationed in bad climates give 
 their men breakfast before exposing them to 
 the dew or early morning air. Sir George 
 Ballingall, in speaking of the regiment quar- 
 tered at Newcastle when the typhus fever was 
 raging, says nothing contributed so much to 
 arrest its ravages as giving the men an early 
 breakfast of warm coffee. 
 
 The same early breakfast before going out 
 has been adopted in new countries, particularly 
 in malarious districts. 
 
 As during the night the stomach and upper 
 intestines become empty and weak from the 
 function of digestion having been long com- 
 pleted, and as the system has been drained by 
 the rapid insensible perspiration during the 
 night, which Sanctorius says is twice as rapid 
 as during the day, the system is unsupported. 
 
 I have long slept with open windows, at all 
 seasons and in all climates. Away from home, 
 I often find it difficult to procure the necessary 
 extra blankets. When my covering has been 
 insufficient, I find no difficulty until about day- 
 light, when I am awakened by chilliness. 
 
 22 
 
254 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 While at sea I have observed that if, uncom- 
 fortable on account of the heat during the first 
 hour after retiring, I have thrown off the bed- 
 clothes, about daylight I have been sure to 
 awaken with a sense of chilli nr 
 
 When cholera is in the atmosphere, it most 
 frequently makes its attacks about three or four 
 o'clock in the morning. During those two 
 seasons of the cholera, 1849 and 1851, 1 noticed 
 that nearly all the genuine, quickly-fatal cases 
 began early in the morning. At that hour the 
 system is least defended against the enemy. 
 
 I have never permitted myself to visit a pa- 
 tient with any form of malignant or infectious 
 disease early in the morning without first arm- 
 ing myself with a warm breakfast 
 
 Thousands of our New England women 
 spoil their appetites for breakfast, and unfit 
 themselves for the whole day, by working an 
 hour over the hot stove before eating anything. 
 If they would adopt the French custom of 
 taking a few mouthfuls of bread and some 
 warm drink on getting out of bed, it would 
 prove a grateful support. Instead of spoiling 
 the appetite for breakfast, it would increase it 
 and give them a good start for the day. 1 have 
 known a delicate woman to drink a cup of 
 weak tea and eat a small slice of bread and 
 butter, on rising, with great advantage. 
 
OUR RESERVOIR. 255 
 
 OUR RESERVOIR. 
 
 Sitting one evening near a reservoir, on the 
 brow of a hill overlooking a European city, 
 my companion, an eminent physician, told me 
 this story : 
 
 " About twenty years ago I was called early 
 one morning to visit, in great haste, a family 
 at whose house I had spent the previous even- 
 ing. The messenger exclaimed, 'Oh, Doctor, 
 come as quick as possible ; they are all vomit- 
 ing themselves to death/ 
 
 " I jumped into my clothes, seized my stom- 
 ach-pump and ran. The doctors were flying 
 in all directions. We cried out to each other, 
 'poison/ poison/' and rushed on. I assure you, 
 sir, the town was given up to the wildest ex- 
 citement I have ever witnessed. All suffered 
 with the same symptoms — vomiting, retching, 
 thirst and burning pain. 
 
 "At ten o'clock the Mayor called a few of 
 us together for a moment's consultation. I had 
 the honor to suggest that the poison must be in 
 the water. 
 
 "We ran up here, and right there in the 
 corner, just under that tree, we' caught a 
 
256 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 glimpse of a large paper package, and rushing 
 into the water, we hauled out more than ten 
 pounds of the deadly poison, still undissolved." 
 
 The Stomach is the reservoir from which 
 every part of the body receives its supplies, 
 and most of its diseases. 
 
 Let us look out at this window. 
 
 Do you see that man with a red nose ? That 
 is produced by a poison which cornea from his 
 reservoir. 
 
 Notice that lady with the ugly eruption. 
 The poison which produces that comes fi 
 her stomach or reservoir. 
 
 There, that line-looking gentleman, with a 
 bad limp, has a big toe which is too big. I 
 know him well. He insists that the moon is 
 responsible for his gout, as his bad attacks 
 come on at the full of the moon. Well, I tell 
 him that the reservoir from which the poisi >n 
 in his toe comes is somewhat like the moon in 
 shape, and so he may not be so wide of the 
 truth after all. 
 
 But look at that fellow ! Did you ever see 
 such a doleful face? That man has the blues 
 fearfully; he wishes himself dead a hundred 
 times a day. You see, his brain must receive 
 its supplies from his stomach. But his stomach 
 or reservoir furnishes not sweet, healthy chyme, 
 but acids and poisonous gases. Of course his 
 
OUR RESERVOIR. 257 
 
 brain gets poison instead of food. His face 
 tells the whole story. 
 
 If we were to stand here and see a hundred 
 people pass, we should be able to determine the 
 condition of their reservoirs. 
 
 Ah ! there's a good one ! What a fine skin ! 
 What a bright eye ! What an elastic step ! 
 That young woman's reservoir is sending to her 
 system nourishment and not poison. 
 
 It cannot be repeated too often, nor in too 
 many ways, that the stomach is the fountain 
 from which every part of the body is supplied. 
 If that is sick, then the brain, heart, lungs, 
 liver, bowels, kidneys and spine must all be 
 sick. The pain or other bad feeling may be 
 all in one spot. It may be in the stomach it- 
 self, or it may be in the brain, or spine, or in a 
 rheumatic kink. It will be felt in the weakest 
 place. The strain is alike in all parts — every 
 link in the chain must bear the same strain, 
 but only the weakest one gives way. 
 
 You will ask me why, in one man, the weak 
 place is in the eye, in another in the throat, in 
 another in the joints, and so on? The reason 
 is to be sought in inheritance and in personal 
 habits. If your father overworked himself, 
 and was careless in his dress and food, and thus 
 became the victim of rheumatism, it is but 
 reasonable that he should transmit to his off- 
 
 22* 
 
258 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 spring a tendency to that malady. Now the 
 joints and muscles are your weak place. When 
 your stomach, from table and other abuses, falls 
 into the habit of sending out poor, sickly nu- 
 triment, you will probably become a rheumatic 
 sufferer. There's the weak link in your chain, 
 and that of course gives way first, 
 
 I spoke of personal habits as determining 
 the location and form of the malady. AVe are 
 all familiar enough with this law. Your father, 
 who produced his rheumatism by overwork and 
 exposure, is a case in point. 
 
 Again, the human body may be compared to 
 a pond \wth a surrounding bank. This bank 
 is not uniform in its strength. When for any 
 reason the pressure of the contained water- 
 increased, the bank will give way in its weak- 
 est part. Just so in the case of the body. 
 When the stomach sends out an amount of im- 
 pure material too great to be borne, that part 
 of the system which is weakest will give way. 
 
 I know many men who from abuse of the 
 stomach are the victims of headache. I have 
 known many who had been suffering from 
 periodical sick headache for years, and who 
 have been cured by correcting some table error. 
 In prescribing for sick headache, I find it ne- 
 cessary to sit right down by my patient and 
 go through with his table habits, step by step. 
 
OUR BESEEVOIE. 259 
 
 A lame or stiff back is another common 
 symptom of stomach derangement. Indeed, 
 among Americans it is quite common to find 
 that the spine is the weak place, and that when 
 digestion fails, the back is first to give way. 
 
 Perhaps the most common form in which 
 imperfect digestion shows itself is in low spirits. 
 That man is rare who with a good stomach is 
 not cheerful and happy. But there is no man 
 with brain so happily constituted that indiges- 
 tion will not cast a dark shadow over him. 
 The brain and stomach are in such active sym- 
 pathy, that when the stomach is affected the 
 brain must fall into depression. 
 
 I see many cases in which the blood vessels 
 of the face are particularly susceptible to 
 stomach abuse. If a man abuses his stomach 
 with brandy, the veins of his face give way, 
 and he carries a tell-tale nose. But I see noses 
 and cheeks and eyes showing a similar stomach 
 trouble where the abuse is not with alcoholic 
 stimulants, but with bad foods. 
 
 People have the gout, and everybody is ready 
 to declaim against high living. But where 
 there is one man suffering from a gouty toe, 
 there are fifty with inflamed corns and tender 
 feet produced by similar table errors. 
 
 In one word, if fifty men, high livers, among 
 whom there are red noses, inflamed eyes, sore 
 
260 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 toes, headache, rheumatism, bad stomach, torpid 
 liver, stiff back, low spirits, etc., etc., were to 
 change their table habits and live on the right 
 quantity of the best food, eaten at the right 
 times and in the right manner, they would all 
 probably be restored to health. The man with 
 the red nose would exclaim : 
 
 "Just look at this nose of mine! It's 
 nice as any baby's nose. Who would have be- 
 lieved that my nose was a flag of warnin 
 
 While the man with a rheumatic shoulder 
 would declare : 
 
 "I am astonished to find that a month of 
 strict temperance has cured me. I really can't 
 see what the stomach has to do with the 
 shoulder! I should as soon think of doctoring 
 John Smith for his brother's rheumatism in 
 California as doctoring my stomach for my 
 shoulder. Isn't it funny? After this when a 
 man has Canada thistles on one corner of his 
 farm, he must go to the opposite corner and put 
 on the salt to kill them." 
 
 And the man with the gout would stamp his 
 foot down hard, exclaiming : 
 
 " Just listen to that, will you ? Why, fell 
 if I go on this way, in another month I shall 
 be the champion kicker. All glory to cracked 
 wheat and boiled beef, say I." 
 
 In brief, I do not know a bodily affection. 
 
OUR RESERVOIR. 261 
 
 nor a mental or moral affection, which might 
 not be cured or relieved by a wise management 
 of the table. It is inconceivable, the ignorance 
 of people about their food. Not one man in 
 ten knows anything about it beyond the fact 
 that certain things taste good, and certain 
 other things do not taste good. A great many 
 people can tell you all about the food best for 
 swine, just what will develop the largest bones 
 in them, just what will contribute most to this 
 and that quality ; but when they come to the 
 food out of which their own brains and muscles 
 are developed, they only know that some things 
 taste good and others do not. That the aver- 
 age man can quadruple his force and enjoyment 
 by a thoughtful management of his food is 
 easily proved by an experiment. 
 
262 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 SYMPATHY BETWEEN THE STOMACH 
 AND OTHER PARTS OP THE SYSTEM. 
 
 There is a wonderful sympathy between the 
 stomach and all other parts of the body. But 
 that between the stomach and brain is so active 
 and perfect, that the acutest physician is often 
 greatly puzzled in trying to decide, when one is 
 sick, whether it or the other is really to blame. 
 Nothing is more common, for example, than 
 to meet a long-standing case of dyspepsia! in 
 which the prominent and almost the only 
 symptom is a dull and fretting headache. 
 While, as shown in another place, persons have 
 suffered many years from what they believed to 
 be a serious disease of the stomach, declaring 
 that "When I am dead you will find my stom- 
 ach one mass of cancer ;" but when the curi- 
 ous medical man makes an examination, he 
 finds a healthy stomach, better than the average, 
 because of an abstemious diet ; but in the brain 
 lie comes upon evidence of long-standing and 
 serious disease. 
 
 The sympathy between the brain and stom- 
 ach is so complete, that an experienced physi- 
 cian never examines a case of disease of one 
 
INFL UENCE OF JD YSFEFSIA ON THE MIND. 263 
 
 of these organs without making the other one 
 likewise the subject of careful study. 
 
 Influence of Dyspepsia on the Mind. 
 
 I can recall many curious conversations with 
 dyspeptics. No matter how recent the attack, 
 they generally fancy themselves very, very ill. 
 The following is a sample office scene : 
 
 Dyspeptic. " Doctor, I want to consult you 
 about my health." (A very solemn face and 
 a whining voice.) " I am really alarmed, for 
 I have just found out that I have the heart 
 disease." 
 
 Doctor. " How long have you had this heart 
 disease ?" 
 
 Dyspeptic. " It has been gradually coming 
 on ; but I never felt it seriously till about a 
 week ago. Doctor, do you really think there 
 is any danger of my falling down dead ? I 
 was afraid, in coming up stairs just now, that I 
 might fall down a dead man. What will my 
 poor wife do ? I ought to have ten thousand 
 dollars more in some good company. But then, 
 it is too late now, they wouldn't take me, unless 
 'twas in some of these humbug companies. 
 Why don't men attend to such things in sea- 
 son ?" 
 
 Doctor. " Please take off your coat and vest 
 
264 OTJE DIGESTION. 
 
 and let me examine your heart." (Doctor lis- 
 tens for some time.) " Now tell me just how 
 it feels." 
 
 Dyspeptic. " Why, sir, there is a pain, and 
 a sinking, and then I feel as if my heart would 
 jump out of my mouth. I can't tell you what 
 an awful sensation it is." 
 
 Doctor. " There is nothing whatever the 
 matter with your heart beyond a little sym- 
 pathy with a deranged stomach. If you omit 
 your coffee, and go without your supper, in a 
 week you will get over this dreadful, fatal dis- 
 ease of the heart ; and then it will not come on 
 again if you will only eat and drink as you 
 should." 
 
 Dyspeptic. " Do you mean to say that, with 
 all these terrible symptoms of the heart, there 
 is nothing the matter with it? Doctor, you 
 must excuse me, but I can't believe it." 
 
 Doctor. " I will give you my head for a foot- 
 ball if all these terrible symptoms do not disap- 
 pear entirely within five days, with the slight 
 change in your table habits which I have 
 suggested. There, now, behave yourself, and 
 your fatal disease will leave you within a 
 Week." 
 
 While the dyspeptic fancies he is fearfully 
 sick, and is determined to die, the consumptive, 
 who may have extensive destruction of the lung 
 
INFL UENCE OF D YSPEPSIA ON THE MIND. 265 
 
 which will end in the grave, is almost sure to 
 be cheerful and. hopeful. The following is 
 common : 
 
 Consumptive. " Perhaps, Doctor, you had 
 better listen at my chest a little. The fact is, 
 I do cough some, but my wife is always in a 
 worry about something, you know, and she has 
 got it into her silly head that I have some 
 trouble here. So I reckon you had better make 
 a little examination — -just enough to satisfy her, 
 you know." 
 
 Doctor. "Well, you must strip your chest 
 so as to give me a good chance.' ' After listen- 
 ing, the Doctor says, * You have incurable con- 
 sumption. I find a mass of tubercle there* and 
 here, and can only say that by no treatment 
 can you be restored. Let me count your pulse. 
 Yes, that tells the same story." 
 
 Consumptive. " But, Doctor — now, really — 
 you don't mean to say that I have consump- 
 tion r 
 
 Doctor. " Yes, my dear fellow, there is not 
 a shadow of doubt about it." 
 
 Consumptive. " Upon my word, I shouldn't 
 have dreamed of it; and you mustn't be of- 
 fended, but I really can't believe it." 
 
 Despair is a common symptom of dyspepsia, 
 and hope of pulmonary consumption. 
 
 23 
 
266 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 A Sick Brain the Cause of Dyspepsia. 
 
 Plutarch says, in one of his essays, " Should 
 the body sue the mind before a court of judi- 
 cature for damages, it would be found that the 
 mind would prove to have been a ruinous 
 tenant to its landlord." 
 
 Abernethy, in discussing the causes of indi- 
 gestion, says: "The state of their minds is 
 another grand cause — the fidgeting and dis- 
 contenting themselves about what can't be 
 helped — passions of all kinds — malignant pas- 
 sions — pressing upon the mind disturb the cere- 
 bral action, and do much harm." 
 
 Dr. Parry says, " Dyspepsia may be pro- 
 duced by mental affectioi 
 
 Abernethy tells us that " There is no hurt of 
 the head that does not affect the digestion.' 1 
 
 Dr. Abercrombie, in discussing organic dis- 
 eases of the brain, says that u Symptoms which 
 really depend upon diseases of the brain are 
 very apt to be referred to the stomach." Again, 
 he says : " Many other cases of organic disease 
 of the brain are on record in which the only 
 morbid appearances were in the head, though 
 some of the most prominent symptoms were 
 felt in the stomach. Some of these resembled 
 what has been called sick headache. Others 
 
A SICK BRAIN THE CA USE OF D YSPEPSIA. 267 
 
 were chiefly distinguished by remarkable dis- 
 turbances of the digestive functions." 
 
 Then Dr. Abercrombie adds this caution: 
 "In cases of this class we must beware of 
 being misled in regard to the nature of the 
 complaint, by observing that the symptoms in 
 the stomach are alleviated by attention to regi- 
 men, or by treatment directed to the stomach. 
 If digestion be impeded, from whatever cause, 
 these uneasy symptoms in the stomach may be 
 alleviated by great attention to diet; but no 
 inference can be drawn from this source in 
 regard to the cause of the derangement." 
 
 Dr. Hastings, in the Midland Medical and 
 Surgical Register of 1813, says that not un- 
 frequently cases occur which exhibit symptoms 
 of disordered stomach, accompanied by in- 
 creased determination of the blood to the 
 head, alternate flushing and coldness, irregular 
 spirits, etc.; and he states that, in all cases 
 which terminated fatally under his care, he 
 found thickening of the membranes of the 
 brain and marks of chronic inflammation in 
 the head. Dr. Hastings believes that many 
 of the nervous symptoms of which dyspeptic 
 persons complain are produced by some alter- 
 ation of the membranes of the brain, in conse- 
 quence of chronic inflammation. 
 
 Dr. Paris relates a case of a lady who had 
 
268 OTJR DIGESTION. 
 
 been unwell for several years. She referred 
 all her sufferings to the stomach, and often said 
 that when she was dead that would he found 
 the seat of her disorder. She died rather sud- 
 denly, with fever and delirium, after exposure 
 on a very hot day; and, on examining the 
 body, no trace of disease appeared in the stom- 
 ach and bowels, but the brain exhibited marks 
 of long-standing disease. 
 
 Dr. Brigham, to whose admirable work I am 
 greatly indebted, but who, I think, pushes his 
 views as to the part played by the brain in the 
 production of dyspepsia much too for, u 
 following language, which, in part at le 
 every observing physician will endorse: 
 
 "The fact that dyspepsia is frequently cu 
 by permitting the over-tasked and tired brain 
 to rest, or by changing the mental labor or 
 excitement, is evidence that it is primarily a 
 disease of the head and not of the stomach. 
 How often do physicians fail to afford any 
 relief by medicines in what arc called stom- 
 ach affections, but which are readily cured by 
 traveling, or relaxation in accustomed stud' 
 and freedom from care and anxiety ; how often 
 a change of the mental excitement affords re- 
 lief. It seems as if certain portions of the 
 brain, having become unduly excited, become 
 diseased, and are benefited by strong excite- 
 
A SICK BRAIN THE CA USE OF D YSPEPSIA. 269 
 
 ment of other portions of the same organ. 
 How often are stomach affections cured by 
 inert medicines, aided by the imagination, 
 confidence, hope," etc. 
 
 23* 
 
270 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 PREVENTION OP DISEASE. 
 
 Probably the prevention of maladies "was 
 scarcely thought of until about the time of 
 Hippocrates, though the Egyptians attempted 
 it by emetics, cathartics and freqin nt la-ting. 
 We are told that the reason for all thi* 
 "The greatest pari of the aliment we take in is 
 superfluous, which superfluity is th 
 all our distempers/ 3 
 
 It is perhaps impossible now to determine 
 who first recommended temperance and e\ 
 cise as preventives of sickness and sources of 
 health. After Pythagoras, locus, a ian 
 
 of Tarentum, urged temperance and e.\ 
 His own sobriety was bo remarkable that " The 
 repast of Iccus" was, for a long time, a pr 
 erbial phrase, 
 
 Herodicus has been generally regarded as 
 the inventor of this meansof preserving health. 
 It is a curious fact that Plato censures him for 
 thus keeping people of crazy constitutions a. 
 to old age. Whereas Plato i . : that if a 
 sick person did not soon recover strength, he 
 had better die and be out of the way. PL 
 believed that an infirm constitution was an i - 
 
PREVENTION OF DISEASE. 271 
 
 stacle to virtue, " because such persons think of 
 nothing but their own wretched carcasses/' for 
 which reason he contended that iEsculapius 
 should not undertake to patch up persons 
 habitually complaining, lest they should beget 
 children as useless as themselves, being per- 
 suaded that it was an injury both to the com- 
 munity and to the infirm person himself, that 
 he should continue in the world, even though 
 he were richer than Midas. 
 
 So Herodotus relates that when any man 
 fell sick among certain tribes, his next neigh- 
 bor killed him directly, lest he should lose his 
 flesh, and thus his body become unfit for food. 
 So when any one of these people found himself 
 indisposed, he withdrew privately into some 
 distant place, with no one to take care of him. 
 Ah, these were the golden days of which the 
 poets dream ! 
 
 Hippocrates made more important contribu- 
 tions to the advancement of medical science 
 than any other man in the history of our race. 
 This remarkable man was born in Cos, an 
 island in the Archipelago, about 858 b. c. He 
 was a nobleman and a man of strict virtue and 
 piety. His instructions seem to us now simple 
 enough, but for the period in which he lived 
 they were little short of miracles. 
 
272 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 The following constitute the more salient 
 features of his instructions. 
 
 He says : " In the winter, to resist the cold, 
 let your food be dry and warming. In the 
 spring, when the weather grows milder, the 
 diet should be accommodated ta the season, and 
 should be somewhat cooler and lighter. In 
 summer, when the season becomes hot and dry, 
 the food should be cool and the drink diluting. 
 But after the autumnal equinox, your aliment 
 should again be of a wanning nature, and your 
 clothes thicker by degrees as you approach the 
 winter. 
 
 " It is of great moment to a man's health 
 whether his common bread be white or brown, 
 well or ill baked. 
 
 "It is very injurious to health to take in 
 more food than the constitution will bear, when, 
 at the same time, one uses no exercise to carry 
 oft' this excess. 
 
 "A variety of foods, discordant in their 
 nature, should not be indulged at one meal, 
 because they make a disturbance and create 
 wind in the bowels. 
 
 " If they who have been accustomed to one 
 meal a day should chance to eat two, they B( 
 grow dull, heavy and thirsty. 
 
 " Excess in drinking is not quite so bad as 
 excess in eating. 
 
OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 273 
 
 "When the body is impure, or loaded with 
 bad humors, the more you "nourish it the more 
 you hurt it. 
 
 " Mutton is good food for the delicate and for 
 the robust. 
 
 " Milk is hurtful to those whose bowels are 
 subject to flatulency, or grumbling, and to those 
 who complain of thirst, but good for the con- 
 sumptive and emaciated, if they are free from 
 fever and the above-named derangement of the 
 digestive apparatus. 
 
 "The healthy and strong may drink such 
 water as comes in their way indiscriminately, 
 but they who drink water for the recovery 
 of health must be careful in the choice they 
 make. The lightest, purest and softest waters 
 are most fit for those who are apt to be costive, 
 whereas the hardest waters do most service to 
 those whose bowels are moist and phlegmatic. 
 Hot temperaments receive benefit from drink- 
 ing water. Water drinkers generally have 
 keen appetites." 
 
 Other Ancient Authorities. 
 
 After Hippocrates, no other great light arose 
 in medicine for several hundred years, though 
 Polybus, a son-in-law of Hippocrates, Dioclese 
 Carysteus, who lived near the coast of Greece, 
 
274 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 and Celsus, who lived in Tiberius' time, made 
 some important contributions to the preserva- 
 tion of health. Plutarch, though not a phy- 
 sician, composed an elegant dialogue on the 
 preservation of health. Agathinus, who was a 
 contemporary with Plutarch, practiced physic 
 at Rome, and is mentioned in several places by 
 Galen. 
 
 I think it will excite surprise that Agathinus 
 wrote the following words : 
 
 "Those who desire to pass through this 
 transitory life with health should bathe them- 
 selves frequently in cold water. I can scarce 
 find words to express the benefit which people 
 receive from this practice, and even in extreme 
 old age, cold bathing to such BS have 1> 
 habituated to it will render the body firm and 
 the countenance lively, will strengthen the ap- 
 petite and assist concoctions." 
 
 Galen was born in Lessor Asia, about a. d. 
 131. He lived, by the practice of great tem- 
 perance, until he was one hundred and forty 
 years old, and was one of the most voluminous 
 authors the world has ever seen. He says : — 
 
 "I was born with an infirm constitution, 
 and was afflicted in my youth with many and 
 severe illnesses; but since I arrived at the 
 twenty-eighth year of my age and knew that 
 there were sure rules for preserving the health, 
 
OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 275 
 
 I have observed them so carefully that I have 
 labored under no distemper since that time, 
 except now and then a fever for one day, 
 which my fatigue in attending the sick brought 
 upon me. A man whose body is clear from 
 every noxious humor that can hurt it, is in no 
 danger of contracting any illness, except from 
 external violence or infection ; and why may 
 not proper care be taken to keep the body clear 
 from all such noxious humors ?" 
 
 Galen discussed what he called four articles 
 with regard to the preservation of health : 
 
 1st. Infancy. 
 
 2d. Old age. 
 
 3d. Difference of temperament ; and 
 
 4th. The care necessary to be taken by those 
 persons whose time is not in their own power. 
 
 1st. Infancy. New-born children should be 
 fed with their mothers' milk only. Nurses 
 should give them exercise in the cradle and in 
 their rooms, and should be very watchful about 
 the causes of their crying. They should be 
 fed with milk until their front teeth are cut, 
 then add bread and other forms of aliment. 
 The mother should take great care about her 
 diet, exercise and sleep, so that her milk may 
 be good. 
 
 2d. Old Age. Rubbing with the flesh brush 
 is good for old people. It increases the motion 
 
276 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 of the blood, excites a gentle heat, and helps to 
 distribute nourishment throughout the body. 
 They should walk and have much gentle exer- 
 cise, particularly such exercise as they have 
 been accustomed to. Old people should avoid 
 cheese, pork, eels and everything hard to di- 
 gest. An old man's own experience must de- 
 termine whether a milk diet be proper for him 
 or not, since it is surprising to see what differ- 
 ent effects it has on different constitutions. 
 
 3d. Of Different Temperaments. Under 
 this head Galen discusses nine temperaments — 
 the hot, the cold, the moist, the dry, the hot 
 and moist, the hot and dry, the cool and moist, 
 the cool and dry, and then one which occupies 
 a medium between all extremes, and which he 
 calls the good or healthy temperament He 
 makes many ingenious suggestions In regard to 
 the management of diet , exercise, etc., in oon- 
 nection with each of these various temper- 
 aments ; but these suggestions are more curious 
 than useful. 
 
 4th. Of those whose time is not in th 
 power. Under this head Galon advi- tea- 
 
 men, students, and others whose employm< 
 compel sedentary and other engrossing habits, 
 to observe the following rules : — 
 
 1st. After anv extraordinary mental exercise, 
 they should live more abstemiously than usual. 
 
OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES. 277 
 
 He says of himself, that when at any time lie 
 was fatigued and spent with business, he chose 
 the most simple food he could think of. 
 
 2d. That the common diet of such people 
 should be plain and simple, and such as they 
 can easily digest. 
 
 3d. He advises that they should set apart 
 some portion of their time for exercise every 
 day, whatever their engagements may be. 
 
 We cannot give more space to the writings 
 of this remarkable man, though I cannot forego 
 the pleasure of quoting the following words: 
 " I beseech all persons who shall read this 
 treatise, not to degrade themselves to the level 
 of the brutes or the rabble, by gratifying their 
 sloth, or by eating and drinking promiscuously 
 whatever pleases their palates, or by indulging 
 their appetites of every kind ; but, whether they 
 understand physic or not, let them consult their 
 reason and observe what agrees best with them." 
 
 Hufeland and other German writers, Brous- 
 sais and other French authors, but, more than 
 any of them, the great Abernethy of England, 
 have, among modern physicians, contributed to 
 the dissemination of temperance in all things 
 as a source of health and long life. 
 
 England has given us a thousand volumes 
 upon temperance as a condition of health and 
 longevity. 
 
 24 
 
278 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Is it not an interesting fact that, while the 
 treatment of disease by medical or other artifi- 
 cial means has constantly changed, the means 
 extolled to-day being condemned and ridiculed 
 to-morrow, the thoughtful physicians of all 
 time have agreed about the natural methods ? 
 The most eminent men of every age have 
 agreed, often in minute detail, about the em- 
 ployment of temperance, sleep, cleanliness, sun- 
 shine, cheerfulness, etc., etc., in the prevention 
 and cure of disease. 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact that the most distin- 
 guished men of every age and of every school 
 have, in the riper years of life, declared for the 
 natural methods, and against the artificial meth- 
 ods. Many of the most eminent might be 
 quoted as leaving to the world, at their death, 
 the testimony, that the world would be better 
 off if there had never been a doctor — that cm 
 the whole doctors had proved a curse. 
 
 And yet there can be no doubt that if doc- 
 tors would practice the natural methods, and 
 teach the divine laws of health incidental to 
 such methods, they would stand high above all 
 other men in their beneficent services to their 
 fellows. 
 
TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 279 
 
 TREATMENT OP DISEASES. 
 
 A man comes to me with Catarrh, and after 
 going oyer his disagreeable feelings, concludes 
 with, 
 
 " And now, Doctor, can you help me? Can 
 you cure me ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir; nothing is easier! Or, rather, 
 nothing is more certain (although it may take 
 a little time) , provided you are willing to do 
 what is needed." 
 
 "Why, Doctor, I am willing to swallow a 
 whole apothecary shop if I can get rid of this 
 miserable concern." 
 
 " My dear sir, medicines can do nothing for 
 you ; squirting stuff into your nose won't help 
 you (although, of course, you must keep your 
 nose clean) ; there is only one thing to do, and 
 that is, LIVE up staies !" 
 
 " Live up stairs ? Why, Doctor, I do live up 
 stairs now ! But what has that to do with it ?" 
 
 " Everything, sir. If you will live up stairs 
 I promise that you shall get well in three 
 months." 
 
 " Up how many flights ?" 
 
 " Only one flight of seven steps. I will de- 
 scribe them. 
 
280 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 "First Step. Eat wheat, oats, corn, fruits, 
 beef and mutton, plainly cooked, in moderate 
 quantity, and but two meals a day. 
 
 "Second Step. Breathe good air day and 
 night. 
 
 "Third Step. Exercise freely in the open 
 air. 
 
 "Fourth Step. Retire early and rise early. 
 
 "Fifth Step. Wear flannel next your skin 
 every day of the year, and so dis] our 
 
 dress that your limbs shall be kept warm. 
 Bathe frequently. 
 
 "Sixth Step. Live in the sunshine. Let 
 your bedroom be one which receives a flood of 
 light, and spend your days either out in the 
 sunlight or in a room which is weD lighted. 
 
 "Seventh Step. Cultivate a cheerful temper. 
 Seek the society of jolly folks. Don't be afraid 
 to laugh, 
 
 "Go up this flight of stairs. Live above. 
 Catarrh cannot crawl up there. Catarrh and 
 other maladies are prowling about in the bae - 
 nient, and cannot reach the floor above.'' 
 
 Bronchitis. 
 
 Here is a ease of Bronchitis. 
 " Doctor," (in a hoarse voice,) " what can you 
 do for me ? Can I be cured ? I have taken 
 
CONSUMPTION. 281 
 
 eight bottles of Dr. 's Syrup, four bottles 
 
 of Dr. 's Celebrated Pulmonic Balsam, 
 
 five boxes of the Pulmonic Wafers, and lots of 
 other stuff, and I am worse than ever! Can 
 anything be done for me ? What do you think 
 I had better take?" 
 
 "If you will take the trouble to live up 
 stairs, you will get well in three months." 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 But look at this poor, emaciated creature! 
 Hear his hollow cough. 
 
 " Oh, Doctor, can anything be done for me ? 
 I have taken bottle after bottle of 'famous ' 
 and ' sure ' cures for consumption, but I am no 
 better. I have taken six bottles of pure cod- 
 liver oil, and two gallons of Bourbon whisky, 
 and I am worse and worse ! What do you 
 think I had better take ?" 
 
 "You poor, miserable victim, throw over- 
 board all this quack swill, and crawl up stairs. 
 I do not know till I have carefully examined 
 your lungs how far the work of destruction 
 has progressed, but all that can be done for you 
 is to help you above. Empty your medicine 
 chest, and ask the assistance of some good 
 friend to help you into the story above." 
 
 24* 
 
282 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Rheumatism. 
 
 But do you see this poor, limping fellow ? It 
 is the rheumatism. If he will go up stairs and 
 live he will get well, and stay well, as sure as 
 the sun will rise to-morrow morning. I do not 
 believe the rheumatism ever visits the story 
 above. At any rate, I have never known in the 
 whole course of my life a single person who lived 
 habitually in the story above to suffer a twinge 
 of rheumatism. If I could establish an Anti- 
 Rheumatism Insurance Company I should be 
 willing to agree to the following terms : 
 
 First. The insured shall habitually live up 
 stairs. 
 
 Second. They shall pay into the treasury 
 of the company, each, five dollars a year. 
 
 Third. When one of the insured suffers 
 from rheumatism, he shall receive from the 
 company five dollars a day. 
 
 I should want no better business than to fur- 
 nish the capital for such a company. 
 
 Dyspepsia. 
 
 But look at this fellow now coming in ! 
 There is no mistaking his case. Dyspepsia 
 is written all over him. 
 
 " Impossible ?" 
 
DISEASE IS NOT A THING. 283 
 
 Not a bit of it ! If you will live up stairs 
 you will be better in one week, and then will 
 go on conquering and to conquer. 
 
 Neuralgia. 
 
 But here comes a pale, weary woman. Hot/ 
 plain it is ! Night after night that poor crea- 
 ture has walked her room in agony with those 
 neuralgic pains. 
 
 My poor friend, I pity you from the bottom 
 of my heart. If you will leave your "chloral " 
 and other stuffs, and find your way up stairs, 
 in a month the color will begin to come back to 
 your face, and if you will remain in that story, 
 never coming down into the lower story for a 
 single moment, your enemy will never find 
 you again. 
 
 Disease is not a Thing. 
 
 People seem to think that disease is a sort of 
 rat running about within the body, and that 
 we must send in a " black-and-tan " to kill it. 
 
 You wall hear them talk in this way : " My 
 trouble was in my stomach ; the doctor gave me 
 some stuff and drove it into my kidneys. Then 
 he gave me another sort and drove it into my 
 head. Now he is going to attack it there/' 
 
284 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 A Flag of Distress. 
 
 A ship's crew is seized with some fearful 
 malady. They hang out a flag of distr< 
 Another ship passes near the infected vessel. 
 Its captain discovers the flag of distress. A 
 boat's crew is sent to cut it down. The cap- 
 tain turns to his passengers with the triumph- 
 ant exclamation, " We have saved them. All 
 signs of distress have disappeared !" 
 
 A human body is diseased in every part. A 
 flag of distress is hung out in the form of an 
 ulcer at the ankle. Some ignorant physician 
 sees it. He covers it with a salve which com- 
 pels it to close. Then he cries, " See, it is all 
 gone !" 
 
 Popular Treatment of Disease. 
 
 A doctor sees a case of nasal catarrh, and he 
 exclaims, " Now, here's a sick nose ! The man 
 is well in every other respect, except tins square 
 inch of surface in his nose ! That is very 
 sick." And he proceeds to squirt sundry vile 
 stuffs into that nose. He charges into the front 
 end of it, and into the rear end. Now a red 
 fluid dashes in ; now it is a black one ; again 
 it is clear, and burns like fire, and anon scorch- 
 ing powders. No spot on the field of Waterloo 
 
POPULAR TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 285 
 
 was fought oyer with such desperate, fiery 
 surgings as this inch in that man's nose. After 
 infinite annoyance and disgust, to say nothing 
 of the actual suffering, the patient finds the 
 nasal discharge arrested, gives a flaming puff 
 for the newspapers, and the next month begins 
 his snuffling all over again. 
 
 Possibly the doctor may have been honest 
 and really thought the disease was in the man's 
 nose. But if he is honest, he is a professional 
 goose. 
 
 The Catarrh is not a disease of the man's 
 nose ! It's a disease of the man showing itself 
 in his nose. You might as well doctor the 
 stream down in the valley while the poison is 
 distilling from the spring up on the hillside. 
 You must doctor the man, and to cure him, 
 you need do nothing more than to tell him : 
 " Live up stairs !" 
 
 If an ignorant doctor sees a gouty toe, he 
 exclaims, " Here's a sick toe ! a very sick toe ! 
 Ah, captain, that's an awful toe ! Here is a 
 bottle of powerful medicine. You must apply 
 it to the toe every hour." 
 
 We should all cry out, "That fellow is a 
 fool ! The disease is not in Mr. Jones' toe, it is 
 in Mr. Jones. The medicine must be put on 
 Mr. Jones, and not on Mr. Jones' toe." 
 
 Let me prescribe a medicine for him, and I 
 
286 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 will cure him. My prescription would be the 
 following : 
 
 January 1, 1872. 
 
 John Jones, Esq. 
 
 My Dear Sir : 
 I have examined your case carefully, and can 
 
 promise you a certain cure. My prescription 
 
 has never failed in such a case. Here it is : 
 "Live up stairs." 
 
 Yours, etc., . 
 
 I might go on in the same way through the 
 whole list of what are called local diseafi 
 "When they can be cured at all, they are to be 
 cured by the one prescription. 
 
 The blood which is now in my brain is, be- 
 fore I am done writing this sentence, back in 
 my heart and off on a visit # to my feet> and 
 now it is back in my heart again, and now it is 
 distributed to liver, stomach, kidneys — every 
 part. Every part of the body is every moment 
 fed from the same blood. Every atom of every 
 organ and tissue is obtained from that blood, and 
 every minute all this blood comes back to the 
 heart to be mixed and intermixed. 
 
 Now do you suppose one part of the body 
 can draw away from the rest, get up a disease, 
 and carry on a little independent operation by 
 itself, on its own responsibility ? 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE LAW. 287 
 
 Illustrations of the Law. 
 
 The history of the Crimean war furnishes 
 striking illustrations of the dependence of the 
 local upon the general. The English surgeons 
 constantly observed that the wounded Rus- 
 sians who fell into their hands recovered 
 from wounds that almost uniformly killed 
 Englishmen. It was not an unusual thing for 
 a Russian with a minie-ball through his chest 
 to get well. There w r ere thirteen such men cap- 
 tured on a single day, all with great holes 
 through their lungs from minie-balls. Of 
 this number eight recovered. 
 
 If the thirteen men had been Englishmen, 
 the chances are fifty to one that they would all 
 have died. 
 
 Why this remarkable difference? The an- 
 swer is in everybody's mouth — because the 
 Russian has more constitutional vigor. 
 
 One man gets a slight fall on the sidewalk ; 
 it kills him. Another man falls from the roof 
 of a five-story building ; it does not kill him. 
 
 A beer-drinking English porter about the 
 warehouses of London or Liverpool, although 
 tremendous in appearance, has so destroyed his 
 constitutional force by beer-drinking that a 
 slight abrasion of the skin may kill him. 
 
 I once knew an inebriate who had possessed 
 
288 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 during his long life a remarkably vigorous con- 
 stitution, but who, by excessive whisky-drink- 
 ing, had at length so destroyed his powers of 
 resistance, that a very slight injury upon one 
 of his knuckles was followed by an erysipelas 
 which killed him. 
 
 Two brothers, men of about forty, residing 
 in New York, were builders. One had good 
 habits, which were forced upon him in younger 
 life by a scrofulous taint. The other, who had 
 taken after his father, and had a remarkably 
 clastic body, had indulged in gross intemper- 
 ance. The two were engaged upon a building. 
 The one with good habits was upon a Bcaffold 
 at the fifth story, the other upon a scaffold at 
 the first story. The upper Bcaffold gave way, 
 fell, struck the one below, and they both came 
 to the ground. Charles, who full from aloft, 
 came down sixty feet and struck upon a pile of 
 brick. Lawrence, who was upon the lower scaf- 
 fold, fell only thirteen feet, and struck upon the 
 same pile of brick. The one who fell from 
 above had an arm so mangled that it had to be 
 amputated at the shoulder, while one of his legs 
 was broken in three places. In less than six 
 months, with a good leg and an artificial arm, he 
 was as busy and successful as ever. Lawrence 
 received only a slight bruise on one hip, and a 
 contusion of the cheek, and was able to get up 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE LAW. 289 
 
 at once and help carry away his wounded and, 
 as was feared, dying brother to the house ; but 
 in four days Lawrence was a dead man. A 
 malignant erysipelas attacked his face and car- 
 ried him off. 
 
 I dare not tell you how important I think it 
 is that you should fully take in this idea — that 
 the general is everything, the local nothing. 
 Never till you comprehend this can you even 
 make a fair start in these health investigations. 
 And never will you be ready to make the ex- 
 penditures which the duties of life involve, till 
 you fully comprehend the importance of large 
 deposits in the bank of constitutional health. 
 Rich here, you are rich indeed. But if you 
 keep no funds in this institution, you are so poor 
 that you may well envy the poorest laborer who 
 can digest his food. 
 
 25 
 
290 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ! WEIGHT " IN THE STOMACH. 
 
 I feequently meet a case of indigestion the 
 most marked feature of which is what the pa- 
 tient calls " weight in the stomach." Sometimes 
 it is spoken of as pressure, and again as strict- 
 ure; but the most common word is weight. 
 Sometimes the patient will say, " It seems to me 
 I have a stone or a mass of iron," and one lady 
 said, the other day, " I have an iron wedge in 
 my stomach." Generally these sufferers attri- 
 bute the sensation to the weight of the food. 
 A clergyman said, " I suppose my stomach has 
 become sensitive to pressure, and the food press- 
 ing upon the surface which has become so ten- 
 der produces this sensation of weight." This 
 explanation is entirely at fault. Instead of 
 being produced by the presence of a heavy 
 mass in the stomach, in its most intense and 
 unbearable forms, I have found that it doe.- not 
 appear in connection with a full meal, but is 
 much more likely to come on after eating a few 
 mouthfuls of cracker or fine flour bread, or a 
 single hot biscuit. The patient may have 
 ground it between his teeth with the greatest 
 care, but, soon after swallowing, this sensation 
 
" WEIGHT" IN THE STOMACH. 291 
 
 of weight appears.- More frequently, however, 
 there seems to be no connection whatever with 
 the presence of food in the stomach. The 
 sensation is not produced so much by what is in 
 the stomach as by certain conditions of the walls 
 of the stomach itself; in brief, it is produced by 
 congestion of the walls of the organ. Accom- 
 panying this congestion, there is generally an 
 adhesive mucus poured out, which sticks to the 
 surface of the inner coat. I may add, that this 
 sensation of weight is nearly always a little to 
 the right of the pit of the stomach, and that 
 it is found that the congestion and adhesive 
 mucus, which seem to stand in the relation of 
 cause to this sensation, are found at the right 
 or pyloric extremity of the stomach. 
 
 This sensation of weight is not relieved by 
 stimulus. If it was produced by a load of 
 food pressing upon the weakened walls of the 
 stomach, a glass of whisky or wine would afford 
 at least a temporary relief, whereas it is found 
 that the employment of alcoholic drinks only in- 
 creases the trouble. Indeed, drunkards suffer 
 more intensely from this sensation of " weight in 
 the stomach" than any other class of dyspeptics. 
 
 The most striking relief, for the time being, 
 is obtained from hot fomentations over the pit 
 of the stomach. A mustard poultice applied 
 over the stomach is very effectual. 
 
292 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Weakness of the Stomach a Protection 
 against other Maladies. 
 
 Dyspeptics rarely have fevers or other acute 
 affections. Most acute diseases take their rise 
 from abuses of the stomach, and as the dyspep- 
 tic cannot indulge in great table excesses, or 
 cannot repeat such excesses, he is not likely to 
 suffer from that inflamed condition of the solids 
 and fluids which takes its rise in gluttony, and 
 which constitutes the main-spring of acute 
 diseases. 
 
 If the stomach were to go on digesting all 
 the food that a gluttonous appetite might de- 
 mand, the whole system would soon be crowded 
 with blood, and either a blood-vessel must give 
 way or apoplexy must ensue. 
 
 But a weak stomach stands guard against 
 this danger. If too much food be taken, the 
 stomach refuses to digest, pain supervenes, and 
 the appetite gives way. 
 
 So that dyspepsia is a safety-valve, and may 
 be spoken of as one of the sources of longevity. 
 
 Of course, it is of itself a weakness, but 
 thousands die prematurely of acute diseases, 
 who would if dyspeptic be unable to force the 
 system into that feverish and inflamed condition 
 which gives rise to acute forms of disease. 
 
BAD BREATH. 293 
 
 BAD BREATH. 
 
 I once met, on a Cunarder just leaving 
 New York for Liverpool, a very beautiful and 
 sweet-mannered lady, and congratulated my- 
 self upon the happy accident which introduced 
 me to her. I knew that two weeks' confine- 
 ment to the narrow quarters of an ocean steamer 
 was at best a dreary business, and I felt happy 
 in the prospect of at least one pleasant com- 
 panion. We met in the evening, and my first 
 impressions were fully sustained. On the next 
 evening we were singing, she at the piano, I 
 standing behind her and looking over her 
 shoulder. Soon I had occasion to lean for- 
 ward to read the words, and, making some 
 remark to me, she turned her face near 
 mine 
 
 I don't know any words that will do jus- 
 tice to the case. From that moment I could 
 not look at her, or even think of her, without 
 smelling that breath and turning away with 
 disgust. The odor was obviously an elaborate 
 compound — that of a putrescent corpse was one 
 of the ingredients. Think of it — a corpse 
 smiling, singing and walking about among 
 
 25* 
 
294 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 folks! It is now about fourteen years since 
 that voyage, and this morning, as I write 
 these lines, that sickening odor comes back to 
 me. 
 
 I went to a party the other night, and dur- 
 ing the evening asked our host to introduce 
 me to that large, gray-headed gentleman (I 
 have rather taken to large, gray-headed gen- 
 tlemen of late : " Birds of a feather," etc.), and, 
 after the white kids had been squeezed, we sat 
 upon a sofa for a chat. A subject was intro- 
 duced by my companion in which I had long 
 been interested, and at once we waded in very 
 deep. Becoming greatly interested, he drew 
 near to me 
 
 " Well, I suppose, sir," I said to him, " we 
 should attend to the music, or they will think 
 we don't understand the classical." Before the 
 young lady was done executing the piano, I 
 contrived to get as for away as possible. That 
 conversation is so mixed up with that odor 
 that, as I recall it now, it smells bad. I cannot 
 even think of that gentleman without exciting 
 that part of the imagination which resides in 
 my nose. 
 
 If you enter a room in which there is an un- 
 pleasant odor, your first impulse is to escape ; 
 and if you enter into conversation with a per- 
 son whose breath is bad, your first impulse is 
 
WHAT CAUSES BAD BREATH* 295 
 
 to get away. Many a woman lias lived and 
 died unmarried, because no man with a nose 
 could get near enough to pop the question. 
 
 What are the Causes of Bad Breath? 
 
 Most persons think that a bad breath comes 
 from the stomach : that the stomach, being out 
 of order, sends up an impure something which 
 escapes in the breath. This is impossible. A 
 bad breath never comes from the stomach. 
 Nothing ever comes upward except in vomit- 
 ing and eructations of wind. There is no open 
 passage through which an odor can rise to the 
 mouth. The passage into the stomach from 
 above is always perfectly closed, except at the 
 moment when something is entering, and even 
 then there is no chance for an odor to escape 
 from the stomach upward. The oesophagus or 
 meat-pipe closes upon the thing passing down, 
 and grasps it all the way, from the upper to 
 the lower end. For example, a whole chestnut 
 passes down the oesophagus. The moment it 
 enters the upper end of the passage, the walls 
 of the passage grasp the nut and squeeze it 
 from above so tight as to force it down. The 
 part of the canal immediately above the chest- 
 nut, all the way down, is so tightly closed upon 
 the nut that the squeezing presses it on until 
 
296 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 it is forced into the stomach. Whenever there 
 is nothing in the passage it remains shut ; the 
 sides are pressed together; nothing whatever 
 can escape from the stomach up through it. 
 And, even in vomiting, it is very difficult to 
 force solid matter upward. In most persons, 
 it requires a tremendous effort to get any- 
 thing up. And yet, strange to say, most per- 
 sons imagine the passage to be an open pipe, 
 through which bad odors may constantly pass 
 up, and escape in the breath. I repeat, that 
 the passage to the stomach is, except when 
 something is passing down, perfectly closed, 
 and even then it is only open where the mass 
 is, while above and below it the walls of the 
 passage are closely pressed against each other. 
 A bad breath never comes directly up from 
 the stomach. 
 
 Sources of Bad Breath. 
 
 There are three of them : 
 
 1. The mouth. 
 
 2. The nose. 
 
 3. The lungs. 
 
 Of twenty cases of bad breath, I estimate 
 that fifteen come from the mouth, one from 
 the nose and four from the lungs. 
 
 As generally when the mouth is at fault the 
 lungs contribute something to the odor, the 
 
SOURCES OF BAD BREATH. 297 
 
 above definite classification is probably too pre- 
 cise; but I think it a close approximation to 
 the truth. 
 
 The Mouth. — I need hardly argue that rot- 
 ten teeth and diseased gums may produce a bad 
 breath. I have but rarely met a case in which 
 the teeth were white and the gums healthy. In 
 every case of bad breath, the mouth is to be 
 suspected and examined. In a majority of 
 cases, you smell nothing while the patient 
 keeps his mouth shut and breathes through his 
 nose ; but as soon as he begins to speak, then 
 it comes. 
 
 That man must go at once to the dentist. 
 He is the doctor for the mouth. He will re- 
 move every cause of offence from that cavity. 
 
 The Nose. — The various forms of catarrh are 
 more or less productive of bad odors. Ozena, 
 which is the worst form of catarrh, produces a 
 peculiar and sickening odor. 
 
 The cure of this malady is somewhat diffi- 
 cult, but the odor arising from it can be mit- 
 igated by a thorough cleansing of the nose with 
 water, or soap and water, several times a day. 
 But a cure should be sought ; and let it not be 
 sought at the hands of one of the advertising 
 catarrh quacks. 
 
 The Lungs. — A man eats and drinks, say, 
 five pounds in a day. Now, unless he is gain- 
 
298 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ing weight, lie must part with five pounds. If 
 we place on the scales all that comes from his 
 bowels and bladder, we shall find it weighs, say, 
 one pound and a half. Three pounds and a 
 half have left the body in some other way or 
 other ways. These other ways are the skin and 
 lungs. By far the larger part should escape 
 through the skin. Sometimes the millions of 
 holes in the skin, through which this worn-out, 
 effete matter should escape, become in part 
 closed from lack of bathing and perspiration, 
 and this effete matter cannot escape freely in 
 that way. But the poisonous stuff must be 
 gotten rid of in some way. Now the lungs 
 come in to supplement the skin. To a certain 
 extent the lungs and skin are ever ready to 
 substitute for each other. If the lungs for any 
 reason leave a small part of their duty undone, 
 the skin at once steps in to assist. If the skin 
 fails to accomplish its whole task of the work 
 of excretion, the lungs are ever ready to assist 
 in working off the impurities. But, whenever 
 the lungs are obliged to perform this extra ser- 
 vice, they cannot do it as well as the skin. 
 They are obliged to work off impurities which 
 do not belong to their department, and so 
 they take on a morbid condition, and the ex- 
 cretions are so changed in character as to 
 become offensive. 
 
SOURCES OF BAD BREATH. 299 
 
 Three persons out of every four whose bad 
 breath comes from their lungs can cure them- 
 selves, or greatly mitigate the nuisance, by 
 washing themselves all over with strong soap 
 and water, and following this by the vigorous 
 use of rough towels every day for a month, and 
 exercising at least once a day till there is free 
 perspiration. By this time, the impurities 
 which should escape through the skin have 
 free escape in their natural course, the lungs 
 return to their own proper work, and the dis- 
 agreeable odor disappears. 
 
 Let us review. In twenty cases of bad 
 breath, fifteen cases come from the mouth. 
 The dentist will remove all that trouble. 
 
 One case from nasal catarrh. Use a syringe 
 to cleanse the nasal passages several times a 
 day, and cultivate a healthy stomach. If the 
 stomach be rightly managed, catarrh generally 
 disappears. 
 
 Four cases come from the lungs. Open the 
 skin by thorough bathing with soap and water, 
 and by frequent perspiration, and the badness 
 of breath which comes from the lungs will gen- 
 erally disappear. 
 
300 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 WHAT WE MAT EXPECT. 
 
 Foe twenty years temperance lecturers were 
 less respectable than drunkards. Twenty years 
 more, and we have made drinking disgraceful. 
 Within the next twenty years drunkenness 
 will disappear in the Northern States, from all 
 classes above the lowest. 
 
 Let no one lose heart. If he has a good 
 cause, and his field is in the United States, he 
 will win. 
 
 Gluttony counts a hundred victims where 
 drunkenness counts one. The movement is 
 inaugurated, and I expect to live long enough 
 to hear no more of " Whatsoever is set before 
 you, eat, asking no questions for conscience' 
 sake." I expect to see, within a score of years, 
 as much interest among men in regard to the 
 heal thf ulness of the food upon which their 
 children live, as they now feel about the diet 
 of their calves and pigs. As soon as they be- 
 lieve that the food which then* children con- 
 sume determines the character of their diges- 
 tion and blood, we shall have a basis for opera- 
 tions. But they don't believe it yet, and so 
 you see the little folks eating at all hours 
 
WHAT WE MAY EXPECT. 301 
 
 rich, indigestible food, and even in the cars you 
 will often observe them munching cake and 
 candy. 
 
 Public sentiment uttered this edict : Lei no 
 man speak against King Alcohol! Forty years 
 pass, and we kick him into the street. The 
 world learns but slowly, even from experience ; 
 so now when we declare that the present sys- 
 tem of food is one full of harm, we are con- 
 fronted by the old, blind, stupid prejudice. 
 They say, " None of your bran bread and moon- 
 shine for me," and sometimes they go so far as 
 to call us "reformers" a word hot with con- 
 tempt. 
 
 Here are thousands of pale, listless, indolent, 
 unhappy young ladies, who might be changed 
 in a few months into active, muscular, happy 
 girls, by changing their dietary. 
 
 Propose it, and you hear, not " Take a little 
 wine for thy stomach's sake," but "Whatsoever 
 is set before you, eat, asking no questions for 
 conscience' sake." The reverence for author- 
 ity among these people is really very touching. 
 They quote the Scriptures with all that relig- 
 ious awe formerly shown in quoting, " Servants, 
 obey your masters." 
 
 We are now ready for this great subject of 
 food. We have long studied it in connection 
 with the breeding and training of our domes- 
 
 26 
 
302 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 tic animals. Now we are ready for the food of 
 man. 
 
 Science has taught nothing more distinctly 
 than that certain foods feed the fat and leave 
 the muscles and brain to starve. That certain 
 other foods feed the muscles too exclusively, and 
 certain others the brain. 
 
 Our present familiarity with the composition 
 of human foods, and their adaptation to our 
 bodies, enables us to supply any deficiencies in 
 our physiological life with the same certainty 
 which marks the treatment of defective soils 
 by the agriculturist. 
 
 This food question is ten-fold more vital than 
 the whisky question. It begins with the first 
 day of our life, and links itself with the wel- 
 fare of every human being every day of his 
 life. I am not dreaming when I say that the 
 wise solution of the food question will con- 
 tribute immensely to that elevation of man 
 which burdens every saintly prayer. 
 
 I earned a reputation as a successful doctor. 
 A very considerable part of that success came 
 of what may be called the "Nutritive Cure." 
 Thousands of people starve to death. For ex- 
 ample, a large part of food among Americans 
 is composed of white flour, sugar and butter. 
 People who try to live upon such stuff grad- 
 ually starve to death. These things furnish 
 
WHAT WE MAY EXPECT. 303 
 
 food for fat and fuel for the lungs, but they 
 fail to feed the brain, nerves, bones and mus- 
 cles, and so these important parts starve. Not 
 only does the brain become uncertain in its 
 action, but headache and neuralgia are com- 
 mon, the muscles become thin and weak, and, 
 back of all this, the blood itself becomes so 
 imperfect and poor that scrofula and other 
 taints are developed. 
 
304 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 MYSTERIOUS PROVIDENCE. 
 
 My friend P., a life-insurance agent, dropped 
 in an hour ago and urged me to add twenty 
 thousand dollars to my policies. 
 
 In the course of our conversation he told me, 
 as usual, of the man who had made up his 
 mind to go in for ten thousand dollars, but put 
 it off for a week till he should come in town 
 again. In the mean time, of course, the man 
 died. " And yet he was the healthiest looking 
 man I ever saw/' said P., and then he added, 
 " but that, you know, makes no difference ; the 
 healthiest men are just as likely to die as the 
 sickly ones." 
 
 The common notion that our health and life 
 depend upon a Mysterious Providence is not 
 only mischievous and demoralizing, but it is 
 downright infidelity. That man who stands by 
 while ignorance and stupidity rule the hour, ex- 
 claiming, " What a Mysterious Providence I" 
 over a death by croup or fever, I pronounce an 
 infidel, and a most mischievous one. 
 
 When a party of thieving, reckless railroad 
 directors devote themselves to watering stock 
 and hoodwinking stockholders until a weak, 
 
MYSTERIOUS PROVIDENCE. 305 
 
 worn-out rail gives way, and a train is hurled 
 down a precipice, is there anything mysterious 
 about it ? 
 
 If a child goes out of a heated drawing-room 
 with naked arms and legs, in pursuit of its 
 daily supplies of candies, and then sickens of 
 croup — when that child dies is it a Mysterious 
 Providence ? 
 
 If a man indulges himself until he develops 
 gout, and the disease attacks his heart and 
 kills him, is his death a mystery ? If he drink 
 brandy till he dies in delirium tremens, is that 
 mysterious ? 
 
 I shall never forget a case which, during my 
 boyhood, excited wide discussion among our 
 people, and was more than once mentioned in 
 our churches as an illustration of Providential 
 interference. 
 
 Two thieves broke into our neighbor's stable 
 and stole two beautiful, high-bred mares. 
 After riding the splendid creatures more than 
 twenty miles they stopj)ed to cut some whips, 
 but on resuming their flight, one of the mares, 
 not relishing the whip, contrived to throw her 
 rider and break his neck. 
 
 The changes were rung on all the possible 
 views of Providential interference. Now the 
 fact in the case was this : the young man with 
 the dislocated neck was not half so much of a 
 
 26* 
 
306 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 rascal as his older companion, who got away 
 " just as slick as a button ;" but the difficulty 
 with the young man was, he was a poor rider 
 and couldn't stick. The older companion (a 
 great villain) was a good rider and he did 
 stick. 
 
 I remember another case which made an im- 
 pression. A young scape-grace snatched a 
 piece of mutton from a neighbor's table, and 
 tried to swallow it without chewing. He 
 was choked to death. The ignorant cried out 
 that he was killed by a Mysterious Providence ; 
 but the doctors found upon examination that it 
 was not a Mysterious Providence that killed 
 him, but a chunk of mutton. The mutton was 
 bigger than the boy's swallow, and so it choked 
 him. 
 
 The lesson of the event was, not that " God 
 moves in a mysterious way," but that people 
 must not swallow big chunks of mutton. 
 
 Perhaps no other error has done so much to 
 destroy respect for God's law, and thus to de- 
 stroy all true religious sentiment, as this blind 
 superstition. How shall we show respect, rev- 
 erence and love for God, but by a reverential 
 study of, and obedience to, his laws ? 
 
 But to return to mv friend, the insurance 
 agent. 
 
 He said, as you remember, " But that makes 
 
MYSTERIOUS PROVIDENCE. 307 
 
 no difference, you know, for the healthiest men 
 are just as likely to die as the sickly ones." I 
 know nothing of the kind, and should be par- 
 alyzed if I believed it. Not another hour 
 would I give to the "Health of our Bodies" 
 if I believed that life and health depend upon 
 some Mysterious Providence. In fact, no one 
 believes this doctrine, when it is sifted to the 
 bottom. 
 
 In our principal street there are three thou- 
 sand buildings. Some are well built, others 
 are shams, hardly strong enough to stand ; in 
 fact, some of them do fall. 
 
 Now, what would you think of a man who 
 should go about saying, " But then, you know, 
 that makes no difference, the strongest build- 
 ings are just as likely to fall as the weakest" ? 
 
 But I will not insult your common sense by 
 arguing this point further. 
 
 Our health and life are, practically speaking, 
 placed by the Good Father in our own hands. 
 A healthy man, with good habits, has a good 
 lease for a long life. 
 
 Let me select one hundred men, thirty years 
 of age, and let me control their habits and oc- 
 cupations, and I will insure their lives twenty 
 years for a percentage which would be ridic- 
 ulous compared with the previous rates. 
 
308 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 An Illustrative Anecdote. 
 
 The nature of the common superstition 
 about Providential interference is very aptly 
 illustrated in an anecdote. 
 
 A hard-shell Baptist minister, living some- 
 where on the frontier of Missouri, was in the 
 habit of saying, " Friends, you need not take 
 any unusual care about your lives : the moment 
 of your death was ' writ ' before the foundation 
 of the world, and you cannot alter it." 
 
 His wife noticed that when he left on Satur- 
 day to meet one of his frontier missionary en- 
 gagements, he dressed the flint of his rifle with 
 unusual care, put in dry powder, fresh tow, and 
 took every pains to make sure that the gun 
 would go off in case he should come upon an 
 Indian. 
 
 It struck her one day as she saw him in the 
 saddle, with his rifle on his shoulder, that his 
 conduct contradicted his teachings, and she said 
 to him, 
 
 " My dear, why do you take this rifle with 
 you? If it was 'writ' before the foundation 
 of the world that you were to be killed during 
 this trip by an Indian, that rifle won't prevent 
 it; and if you are not to be killed, of course 
 the rifle is unnecessary ; so why take it with 
 you at all ?" 
 
AN ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTE, 309 
 
 " Yes/' lie replied ; " to be sure, my dear ; of 
 course, you are all yery right, and that is a 
 proper yiew ; but, see here, my dear, you see — 
 to be sure — but then — suppose I should meet 
 an Indian while I am gone, and his time had 
 come, and I hadn't my rifle with me, what 
 would he do ? Yes, my dear, we must all con- 
 tribute our part toward the fulfillment of the 
 decrees of Providence." 
 
 A boy takes to whisky, tobacco and profan- 
 ity. No one is silly enough to speak of Mys- 
 terious Providences. The vilest have too much 
 respect for our Father to connect his revered 
 name with such filth and vice. These are the 
 vices of the boy ; and seeing this, we go to 
 him, we exhort him to reform and become a 
 decent, manly man. But if he resist all ap- 
 peals, and at length his nervous system gives 
 way, and he falls down dead in apoplexy, or 
 paralysis, you will sometimes hear people talk 
 of a Mysterious Providence, trying to cover up 
 the mean, cowardly vices. 
 
 In the name of truth, and for the sake of 
 the living, let us cease this hypocrisy and blas- 
 phemy over coffins filled with the victims of 
 vice. Let not the name of the All-Good and 
 All-Pure be associated with such shame. 
 
310 OVB DIGESTION. 
 
 A Bad Lot. 
 
 A large whisky distiller in Central New 
 York had three sons, who assisted their father 
 in his nefarious business. None but God will 
 ever know the misery of which that distillery 
 was the source. 
 
 The distiller and his sons were among the 
 victims. The father threw himself into a well 
 in a fit of delirium tremens. The oldest son, 
 during an attack, imagined his tongue a snake, 
 drew it out, bit it off, and bled to death. The 
 next son, while suffering the same horrible 
 phrensy, threw himself into the well which 
 received his father. The last one of the four, 
 while driving a wagon load of whisky to his 
 place in the country, pitched off his seat, was 
 run over by the wagon and killed. I attended 
 the funeral of this one, and while thousands of 
 the poor women and children of the county 
 were thanking God that the last of these 
 wretches was gone, the minister, in a sanctimo- 
 nious voice, spoke of that strange and mysteri- 
 ous dispensation of Providence by which the 
 > head of this household had been removed from 
 the midst of his labors and loves ! 
 
 Most devoutly do I believe in Christianity. 
 I believe there is nothing else in this world 
 worth living for ; but I should infinitely prefer 
 to hear at a funeral the bald negations of a soul- 
 
A BAD LOT. 311 
 
 less atheism, rather than the hypocritical cant 
 and falsehood which I heard at that funeral. 
 
 If the surviving friends in such a case do 
 not wish the shameless life of the deceased to 
 render its first genuine service by being shown 
 up as a warning, then pray let them look to 
 some one beside a minister of Christ to play a 
 lying farce for them. 
 
 What is needed is, that every one should feel 
 his own individual, personal responsibility to 
 God for his physical, intellectual, social, moral 
 and religious conduct. 
 
 If a man believes that everything comes of 
 accident, or out of mystery — that, for example, 
 sickness and premature death come of a Mys- 
 terious Providence — his manhood is emascu- 
 lated, and he becomes the creature of a weak 
 superstition. 
 
 Let us never give up the blessed faith that 
 we have a Father in heaven who loves us and 
 is ever ready to listen to our gratitude and peti- 
 tions. Without this precious faith the world 
 is a dark wilderness, with no ray of light, with 
 no friend, with no hope. But let us realize if 
 we thrust our hand in the fire, it will burn, or 
 if we transgress any other law, physical or 
 moral, we must suffer the penalty. Let us 
 never impute to the Great All- Wise a foolish 
 inconsistency with Himself. 
 
312 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 INFLUENCE OP IMAGINATION. 
 
 I will confess to a little experiment which I 
 made many years ago upon the imagination of 
 a susceptible patient. The lady believed that 
 her heart was falling down into her abdomen. 
 She felt it just as plain as could be. At length 
 it reached the very lowest part. Then I could 
 put her off no longer. Something must be 
 done. I gave her a vial of water, slightly col- 
 ored with a little inert vegetable dye, and 
 directed her to take thirty-three drops once in 
 thirty-three minutes, and charged her to be 
 particular about the time to a second. I prom- 
 ised to call again at five minutes before three 
 o'clock, and comparing watches I told her she 
 might expect me exactly at the minute. I told 
 her, in the most solemn and earnest way, that 
 she might look for a peculiar crawling sensation 
 in the abdomen, which would rise gradually till 
 it reached the former position of the heart, and 
 it would then pass off by peculiar flashes. I 
 called precisely at the appointed time, and 
 learned that the crawling had begun. She told 
 me, her eyes overflowing with gratitude, that 
 she could feel the heart working up after every 
 
INFLUENCE OF IMAGINATION 313 
 
 dose of tlie medicine, I promised to call again 
 at exactly twenty minutes past eight, and if, in 
 the mean time, her heart began to rise too fast, 
 she must send for me immediately. All went 
 on well till near eight, when a messenger came 
 bawling into my office : 
 
 " Dochtor ! oh, dochtor dear ! come as quick 
 as iver you can fly ! it's risin' too fast intirely !" 
 
 I had increased the dose from thirty-three to 
 forty-one drops at the three o'clock visit, and 
 the effect had been marvellous. Indeed, it had 
 been exactly what I had desired ; but the as- 
 cension was now too rapid, and I must resort to 
 a desperate expedient. I must put sixty-five 
 drops on the outside to counteract the too pow- 
 erful influence of the forty-one drops inside. 
 I remained two hours to see her through. All 
 went on wonderfully, and by ten o'clock the 
 heart was in the right place, and the doctor had 
 performed a miracle. A month later, and she 
 told me, when paying her bill, that I might 
 expect to be handsomely mentioned in her will. 
 Indeed, this trick (I now think it was an un- 
 worthy trick) secured me a gratitude which 
 no truthful, common-sense management of her 
 case could have won. 
 
 I think even intelligent people do like a 
 little mystery in their medical treatment. 
 
 27 
 
314 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 ALCOHOLIC DRINKS. 
 
 Men have swallowed alcohol for thousands 
 of years. The drinks containing it have borne 
 various names. Not less than three hundred 
 drinks containing alcohol are sold to-day. 
 They have a great variety of tastes, but they 
 are all drunk for the alcohol they contain. 
 
 Alcohol is a powerful poison. It matters 
 little in what form it is drunk — whether under 
 the name of wine, beer, gin or whisky — the 
 effects are essentially the same. It is alcohol 
 in every case, and alcohol produces certain 
 effects upon brain, digestion and muscle. 
 
 Given, the amount of alcohol in any drink, 
 and the quantity of the drink, and given, a 
 New England constitution, the effects upon 
 the physical and mental health may be pretty 
 accurately deduced. 
 
 You hear people talk of "only sherry/' or 
 "only lager beer." There is no doubt that 
 sherry contains a great deal less alcohol than 
 whisky, but if the whisky be diluted it is every 
 bit as healthful as sherry. 
 
 There are certain additions to the dilute al- 
 cohol which are more or less pleasant to this 
 
ALCOHOLIC DRINKS. 315 
 
 and that person, but the essential fact about 
 every one of them is the percentage of alcohol. 
 Milord, with his port costing five guineas a 
 bottle, swallows essentially the same thing that 
 Bill Sykes buys for twopence a horn. Bill, 
 without doubt, gets some extra poisons in his 
 tumbler, but they are a great deal milder and 
 less hurtful than alcohol, so that any discus- 
 sion about the extras is quite unnecessary. 
 
 To put the subject in another form, all wines, 
 beers, whiskies, gins, etc., etc., contain at least 
 ninety-nine per cent, of alcohol and water. In 
 some the proportion of alcohol is five and in 
 others fifty per cent., more or less. The rest is 
 water. To some drinks there is added one per 
 cent., or a fraction of one per cent., of coloring 
 and flavoring matter. The worst stuff sold in 
 our lowest dens contains but a very small 
 percentage of other poisons than alcohol. 
 
 Adulterations. 
 
 Lecturers and writers have filled the public 
 ear with these " horrible adulterations." They 
 tell us of camphene whisky, and of whisky 
 that kills at thirty paces. There is no doubt 
 that adulterating whisky is a vile trade. But 
 I do not think it a particle viler than distilling 
 pure whisky. I would quite as lief engage in 
 
316 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 one as the other. "With my convictions, I 
 would oppose a law against the adulterating 
 of alcoholic drinks while the distillation of 
 what is called pure drinks is permitted. 
 
 People make a great fuss about these adul- 
 terations. They tell us that there is more 
 champagne drunk in Xew York city in a 
 week than is imported into the whole coun- 
 try in a year. Suppose there is : I presume 
 New Jersey cider will make as good cham- 
 pagne, and pain without sham, as the vine- 
 yards of France. If the Jersey French cham- 
 pagne has twelve per cent, of alcohol, and the 
 imported article has twelve per cent., it would 
 turn out to be true that not only (if the bright 
 label on the two bottles be the same) the most 
 experienced connoisseurs cannot tell the differ- 
 ence, but no metaphysician or physiologist 
 could discriminate between the effects of the 
 two. 
 
 With this view of the case, few things are 
 funnier than the long, grave discussions that 
 you hear after dinner about the genuineness 
 of the wines. 
 
 "The fact of the business is," says Col. F., 
 " gentlemen, the only way to protect ourselves 
 is to deal with respectable houses; that's the 
 only way. I tell you, gentlemen, that's the 
 only way to save a man's insides." 
 
AD ULTEEATIONS. 31 7 
 
 It is true, that these habitual tipplers, who 
 give ten times as much attention to their wines 
 as to their souls, cannot tell the difference 
 between a bottle of champagne manufactured in 
 New Jersey, and costing twenty-five cents, and 
 a bottle of champagne coming from a famous 
 vineyard in France, and costing five dol- 
 lars. They can't tell the difference, for the 
 simple reason that there is no difference. They 
 contain, generally speaking, the same percent- 
 age of alcohol, and after that the remaining 
 differences are of little or no consequence. 
 
 People mourn over the "horrible adultera- 
 tions" of beer, whisky, brandy and other in- 
 toxicating drinks. I confess that this temper- 
 ance outcry has failed to impress me. The 
 adulterating poisons are not worse than the 
 alcohol. 
 
 It is a curious philanthropy that tries to save 
 a man who drinks alcohol from taking drinks 
 which contain other and milder poisons. 
 
 John Smith drinks alcohol which will pro- 
 duce the most terrible effects, even delirium 
 tremens, in which the maddened soul tears 
 itself from the body with agonizing shrieks. 
 These philanthropists cry out, " For God's sake, 
 save the poor wretch from alum, gypsum and 
 logw^ood ! Oh, let him have nothing but 
 alcohol !" 
 
 27* 
 
318 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 They demand laws against adulterations, and 
 urge that " if we could only have pure liquors, 
 the triumph of the temperance cause would be 
 assured." These advocates of temperance tell 
 you that if we could only have full supplies of 
 California wine we should soon become a sober 
 people. I venture the assertion, that the gen- 
 eral introduction of the pure wines of Califor- 
 nia among our people, would do for us exactly 
 what they are doing for the people of Califor- 
 nia. If we could generally believe that the 
 wines, being pure, were healthful, there would 
 be among us twenty victims of drink where we 
 now have one. 
 
 I am frequently asked to discuss, in our 
 temperance conventions, the adulterations of 
 liquors. I always answer that this aspect of 
 the subject does not interest me, but that, on 
 the contrary, I would multiply the adultera- 
 tions until a glass of any of the intoxicating 
 beverages should be pretty uniformly fatal. 
 
 I suppose the temperance cause would need 
 no further advocacy if every drink killed like 
 a dose of prussic acid. Every approach to this 
 is a help to the cause. 
 
 There is no influence at work to-day in Cali- 
 fornia which will do so much to undermine the 
 health and morals of our brethren of the Pacific 
 coast, as their unlimited supplies of pure wine. 
 
 i 
 
ADULTERATIONS. 319 
 
 A great deal of capital has been made out of 
 the assumed fact that the people of Southern 
 Europe (of France, for example) are more 
 sober than the people of Great Britain and the 
 United States. 
 
 The people of warm climates are not grossly 
 drunken. It is the people of cold climates who 
 are the victims of this vice. But, notwithstand- 
 ing it is true, as a rule, that the inhabitants of 
 warm climates are free from the vice of drunk- 
 enness, as a matter of fact the people of France 
 are far from temperate. I have never resided 
 in a city where intemperance was so nearly uni- 
 versal as in Paris. All classes and both sexes 
 are found among its votaries. I dined fifty times 
 with French ladies and gentlemen, and I never 
 heard but one lady refuse to drink wine, and 
 she made an apology. I don't know how 
 much that may mean to you, but to me it 
 means everything. Why, if women had drunk 
 in America as men have, we should have gone 
 to ruin long ago. It is because our mothers, 
 wives, sisters and daughters have refused drink, 
 that we have escaped complete ruin. 
 
 No, as a matter of fact, the people of South- 
 ern Europe are far from sober. Intemperance 
 of a moderate type is far more common than 
 in this country or in Great Britain. 
 
 In the North, a very large majority of the 
 
320 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 inhabitants drink no intoxicating beverages 
 whatever. If we include women and children, 
 I suppose that in the United States not more 
 than two in a hundred use intoxicating bever- 
 ages, while in France probably seventy-five 
 in a hundred use them. This, in the aggre- 
 gate, makes the nation far more intemperate 
 than the people of New England. 
 
 On this point, people frequently remark that 
 our grandfathers had pure liquors, which they 
 could drink constantly until old age, but now 
 the whisky kills in a year. In part, this is the 
 result of a change in our habits. Our grand- 
 fathers lived and worked in the open air. AVe 
 live and work in stove heat. They worked 
 hard — chopping and digging. We sit and 
 move our fingers. These changes in our hab- 
 its have much more to do with the present 
 quick work of rum than the change in the 
 character of the drink. 
 
 But suppose it were true that the present 
 rapid destruction was the result of a change 
 in the liquors. I can't see that it's a thing to 
 be regretted. A man who keeps himself even 
 moderately under the influence of the pur 
 alcoholic stimulus is of little value to any mor- 
 tal. He may do some useful work, but that is 
 more than balanced by his mischievous exam- 
 ple and his contribution to the weak nerves 
 
ADULTERATIONS. 321 
 
 and consuming appetites of the unhappy vic- 
 tims who will call him father. It is my con- 
 viction that the sudden removal from this life 
 of all habitual drinkers would be a great bless- 
 ing to the world. Therefore I cannot take 
 any interest in the movement which promises 
 purer liquors. I would not injure any human 
 being, and I feel especially tender toward the 
 victims of appetite, and trust that my life has 
 shown that this interest has been expressed in 
 many ways other than words, but nevertheless 
 I should acquiesce without complaining in any 
 "Mysterious Providence" that should remove 
 all the drinkers of alcoholic stimulants. I 
 certainly would not turn my hand over to 
 change the drinks so that they would last 
 longer. How can anybody wish to protract 
 their lives? 
 
 The adulterators are doing more for the 
 cause of temperance, five to one, than the 
 temperance lecturers and writers, and I for 
 one wish them prosperity. 
 
322 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Testimony against Alcohol. 
 
 Alcohol is not only an enemy to mental and 
 moral health, but is such a deadly enemy to the 
 body, that no ambitious trainer of a prize- 
 fighter will allow him to touch a teasj)oonful 
 of it, even in the form of a pure wine. His 
 own passion for drink may almost consume 
 him, while he would curse the temperance man 
 as a fanatical fool, but when preparing his man 
 for the " ring" he insists upon total abstinence. 
 I happened to be present once when a conversa- 
 tion on this point occurred between a famous 
 fighter and his trainer. The bully suggested 
 that a spoonful of whisky would certainly do 
 no harm. 
 
 " Well," said Mac, " go ahead ; down with 
 your whisky, but you can just get another 
 trainer. You don't catch me disgracing my- 
 self. You know, John, that I believe in whisky 
 as much as any man. I just lay right to it, 
 and, when you get through with this thing, 
 you can have a regular blow-out ; but while we 
 fc are fixing for the mill, not one drop of the stuff 
 goes down vour grizzle, my bov. You see, 
 John, I'll drink a double dose: every other 
 glass for you. But you can't toddy your whis- 
 tle till after the twenty-third." 
 
 What is true of prize-fighters is true of all 
 
TESTIMONY AGAINST ALCOHOL. 323 
 
 classes of men fitting themselves for great 
 physical exertion. 
 
 Go and ask those young fellows who are 
 training for a hundred-mile walk or for an 
 international boat race. It's the same story 
 over again : not one drop of any alcoholic 
 stimulus. 
 
 I have a score of times talked with men 
 interested in these great matches — prize-fights, 
 boat-races, pedestrian struggles, etc. — and have 
 frequently wished that some intelligent friends 
 of mine who think whisky healthful could 
 hear their statements and explanations. 
 
 I asked the most remarkable pedestrian 
 that we have seen in America, when he was 
 trying to walk a hundred^ miles in twenty-two 
 hours, why he did not take a little stimulus 
 during the last few miles. At length there 
 were forty minutes left and five miles to go. It 
 was pretty evident that he would fail. I am 
 ashamed to say that I really worked myself 
 into a fever of interest in his success. He came 
 out into the dressing-room for one minute, and 
 I exclaimed : 
 
 " You will fail ; nothing can save you." 
 
 He was pale, trembling and ready to faint, 
 and I honestly thought that in such an emer- 
 gency a small glass of spirits might revive and 
 help him through. 
 
324 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 He replied, doubling his fists with a desper- 
 ate energy, " I shall not fail ; but if I swallow 
 a spoonful of whisky I am lost." 
 
 Alcohol is a poison to prize-fighters, to boat- 
 racers, to pedestrians, to students, to young, to 
 old, to men, women and children, to sailors in 
 the Arctic regions, to soldiers in India, to every 
 human being, under every possible circum- 
 stance. 
 
 Beaumont's Experiments upon St. Martin. 
 
 Dr. Beaumont, after experimenting upon St. 
 Martin's stomach, gives the effect of alcoholic 
 liquors as follows : 
 
 Stomach not healthy ; some inflammation and 
 patches of ulcers. 
 
 July 28, 1833.— St. Martin has been drink- 
 ing ardent spirits pretty freely ; complains of no 
 pain and shows no symptoms of indisposition ; 
 says he feels well and has a good appetite. 
 
 Aug. 1. — Inner membrane of the stomach 
 morbid ; considerable inflammation and ulcera- 
 tion on the exposed surface ; secretions vitiated. 
 
 Aug. 3. — Inner membrane of stomach un- 
 usually morbid; the inflammatory appearance 
 more extensive and spots more livid than 
 usual, from the surface of which exuded small 
 drops of thick blood; the ulcers larger and 
 
BEAUMONT S EXPERIMENTS. 325 
 
 more numerous; the mucus covering thicker 
 than common, and the secretions much more 
 vitiated. The gastric fluids extracted this 
 morning were mixed with a large proportion 
 of thick, ropy mucus, and considerable muco- 
 purulent matter slightly tinged with blood, 
 resembling the discharge from the bowels in 
 some cases of chronic dysentery. 
 
 Dr. Beaumont says, "St. Martin complains 
 of no symptoms indicating any general derange- 
 ment of the system, except an uneasy sensation 
 and a tenderness at the pit of the stomach, and 
 some vertigo, with dimness and yellowness of 
 vision on stooping down and rising again ; has 
 a thin, yellowish brown coat on his tongue, and 
 his countenance rather sallow; pulse uniform 
 and regular ; appetite good ; rests quietly, and 
 sleeps as well as usual." 
 
 By the 6th of August the stomach had re- 
 covered its original appearance — no alcoholic 
 liquors were allowed — the patient was kept on 
 a low diet. He adds, " The free use of ardent 
 spirits, wine, beer, or any intoxicating liquor, 
 when continued for some days, has invariably 
 produced these morbid changes." 
 
 Dr. Carpenter says, " The drunkard not only 
 injures and enfeebles his own nervous system, 
 but entails mental diseases upon his family." 
 
 Dr. Howe, in a Report on Idiocy before the 
 
 28 
 
326 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Legislature, said, " The habits of the parents of 
 three hundred of the idiots were learned, and 
 a hundred and forty-five, or nearly one half, 
 are reported as known to be habitual drunk- 
 ards. Such parents, it is affirmed, give a weak 
 and lax constitution to their children, who are 
 consequently deficient in bodily and vital en- 
 ergy, and predisposed by their very organiza- 
 tion to have cravings for alcoholic stimulants. 
 Many of these children are feeble, and live 
 irregularly. Having a lower vitality, they feel 
 the want of some stimulation. 
 
 " If they pursue the course of their fathers, 
 which they have more temptation to follow and 
 less power to avoid than the children of the 
 temperate, they add to their hereditary weak- 
 ness, and increase the tendency to idiocy in 
 their constitution, and this they leave to their 
 children after them. 
 
 "Seven idiotic children were born in one 
 family, of parents who were drunkards." 
 
 Other Effects of Alcohol. 
 
 Root, the reformed inebriate, describes an 
 attack of delirium tremens. 
 
 "For three days I endured more agony than 
 pen could describe, even were it guided by the 
 hand of a Dante. 
 
OTHER EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 327 
 
 " Who can tell the horrors of that terrible 
 malady, aggravated as it is by the almost ever- 
 abiding consciousness that it is self-sought ? 
 
 " Hideous faces appeared on the walls, and on 
 the ceiling, and on the floors ; foul things crept 
 along the bed clothes, and glaring eyes peered 
 into mine. I was at one time surrounded by 
 millions of monstrous spiders, which crawled 
 slowly, slowly over every limb, whilst beaded 
 drops of perspiration would start to my brow, 
 and my limbs would shiver until the bed rat- 
 tled again. Strange lights would dance before 
 my eyes, and then suddenly the very blackness 
 of darkness would appall me by its dense 
 gloom. All at once, while gazing at a fright- 
 ful creation of my distempered mind, I seemed 
 struck with sudden blindness. I knew a candle 
 was burning in the room, but I could not see 
 it, all was so pitchy dark. I lost the sense of 
 feeling, too, for I endeavored to grasp my arm 
 in one hand, but consciousness was gone. I 
 put my hand to my side, my head, but felt 
 nothing, and still I knew my limbs and frame 
 were there. And then the scene would change. 
 I was falling — falling swiftly as an arrow, far 
 down into some terrible abyss; and so like 
 reality was it, that as I fell I could see the 
 rocky sides of the horrible shaft, where mock- 
 ing, gibing, mowing, fiend-like forms were 
 
328 OTJR DIGESTION. 
 
 perched ; and I could feel the air rushing past 
 me, making my hair stream out by the force 
 of the unwholesome blast. Then the paroxysm 
 sometimes ceased for a few moments, and I would 
 sink back on my pallet drenched with perspi- 
 ration, utterly exhausted, and feeling a dreadful 
 certainty of the renewal of my torments." 
 
 Carpenter says : " The tendency of alcoholic 
 liquors is to shorten life, either by increasing 
 the susceptibility of the system to diseases or 
 by directly causing others." 
 
 Habitual drunkenness induces apoplexy, tre- 
 mors, nervousness, paralysis, insanity, delirium 
 tremens, and other horrible, acute forms of suf- 
 fering. It also affects the digestive organs, pro- 
 ducing dyspepsia, diarrhoea, dysentery, causes 
 disturbances in the sexual functions, such as 
 sterility, impotency, and even lesions of the 
 kidneys, and dropsy. This is understood by 
 life insurance companies, who refuse all per- 
 sons of intemperate habits. 
 
 Sickness and mortality j)roduced by alcohol 
 are most common in tropical countries. 
 
 During Sir John Moore's retreat at Corunna, 
 the army was found to improve in health and 
 vigor as soon as the usual allowance of spirits 
 was withdrawn. This is particularly remark- 
 able, since many of the circumstances were 
 especially unfavorable. 
 
 
TEA AND COFFEE. 329 
 
 Dr. Carpenter says : " Nutrition is unfavor- 
 ably affected by intemperance." 
 
 This is clearly seen in the comparative dif- 
 ficulty to heal a wound or regain health which 
 an intemperate man experiences. Hawkes- 
 worth, in his voyage to New Zealand, mentions 
 of the inhabitants " the rapidity with which 
 wounds from musket-balls healed." And he 
 further states, that " water was their sole and 
 universal liquor." 
 
 Carpenter goes on to say : " It is a fact per- 
 fectly established by organic chemistry, that 
 there is not the least relation of composition 
 between alcohol and the muscular tissue ; there- 
 fore, it cannot be nourished in any way by alco- 
 hol. The nerve power is increased, but at a 
 fearful expense to vitality." 
 
 T8a and Coffee. 
 
 Although the use of tea and coffee has been 
 briefly considered in another part of this vol- 
 ume, it occurs to me that in connection with 
 what has been said on the subject of alcoholic 
 drinks, it may be well to add something on the 
 subject of tea and coffee. 
 
 While I have no doubt that the very moder- 
 ate use of both these drinks may, if used occa- 
 sionally, and even regularly by aged people, be 
 free from objection, there can be no doubt what- 
 
 28* 
 
330 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ever that the present enormous consumption of 
 strong coffee and tea is the source of many 
 maladies and much suffering. 
 
 For example, three cases in every four of 
 periodical sick headache will be cured by absti- 
 nence from tea, while thousands of cases of full- 
 ness of the head and palpitation of the heart 
 will be cured by abandoning coffee. 
 
 There is no doubt that the great mass of neu- 
 ralgia and nervousness is either produced or 
 aggravated by these drinks. 
 
 It may interest my readers to know what 
 several distinguished authorities have said in 
 regard to these drinks. 
 
 Dr. Trotter's opinion is, that the only cure 
 for nervous maladies " lies in total abstinence 
 from fermented liquors, tea, coffee and all 
 other narcotics." 
 
 Dr. Bell expressly says that " the effect of 
 coffee upon the bowels and nervous system is 
 most pernicious." 
 
 Dr. Combe savs that " coffee, though it may 
 increase our comforts for the time, exhausts 
 in the end." 
 
 Londe, a distinguished French writer, de- 
 clares that " coffee should be used only in 
 those circumstances in which spirituous liquors 
 are admissible." 
 
 Sinibaldi, an Italian medical author, makes 
 
A GOOD DBINK. 331 
 
 the following statement : " Commerce with Asia 
 has brought us a new drink (coffee), which has 
 contributed strikingly to the destruction of our 
 constitutions, producing debility, convulsions, 
 palsy, vertigo and many other disorders." 
 
 Mellingen declares that " Coffee produces 
 fever, anxiety, palpitation, trembling, weak 
 eyes and apoplexy." 
 
 Dr. Allcott affirms that "Neither tea nor 
 coffee makes a particle of blood or gives a 
 particle of strength. The stimulation which 
 accompanies their use is followed by a corre- 
 sponding depression." He affirms that tea- 
 drinkers often lose their power of self-control, 
 and do and say many things which in cooler 
 hours they deeply regret. 
 
 A Good Drink. 
 
 There is one excellent drink, to which allu- 
 sion has been made in another part of this vol- 
 ume. There it is spoken of as the protoxide 
 of hydrogen ; again, it is called aqua fluvialis. 
 It has a number of names. The one by which 
 it is better known than any other is water. It 
 is a capital beverage. If you will only try it 
 some time, you will find it better than tea or 
 coffee — better even than Bourbon whisky. 
 
332 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 OTHER AND SECRET ABUSES. 
 
 As every habit or indulgence which reduces 
 the general vigor affects first of all the stomach, 
 I have thought it my duty to allude to sexual 
 excesses in connection with indigestion. 
 
 As no indulgence among the young saps the 
 foundations of physical and mental vigor like 
 secret vice, so no habit produces such fixed and 
 incorrigible forms of dyspepsia. 
 
 As a secondary cause, a grave indigestion — 
 the result of secret vice — produces some of the 
 most hopeless cases of insanity to be found in 
 our asylums. 
 
 And I only echo the voice of the wisest 
 men in my profession, when I declare that 
 excesses among married people must be placed 
 near the head in the list of the causes of indi- 
 gestion. In such cases no visit to the springs, 
 or trip to Europe, or any other expedient, is 
 likely to afford relief, unless husband and wife 
 are separated. There are thousands of cases of 
 severe, painful and almost hopeless dyspepsia 
 among married people in this country, for 
 which the only possible cure is to be found in 
 sexual abstinence. 
 
OTHER AND SECRET ABUSES. 333 
 
 I wish to add at this point what has been 
 alluded to or partially stated in several other 
 places in this work — viz., that whilst the 
 stomach is the immediate cause of most of our 
 good and bad health, it is in its turn the victim 
 of any and every influence which exhausts our 
 stamina. 
 
 Let me illustrate : Five young men attempted 
 in this city the feat of walking fifty miles in 
 the least possible time. They were the most 
 rapid walkers in the country. As I have al- 
 ways been interested in these walking matches, 
 and have hoped they might serve to make pop- 
 ular the English habit of long and healthful 
 walks, I was present during the first two hours 
 of the match. A little Englishman, who had 
 achieved the largest success on record for a 
 single mile, astonished and delighted us with 
 his seven and a half miles square heel and toe 
 the first hour. I left, to return at a later hour, 
 but remarked to some friends who remained 
 to witness the struggle for the championship, 
 " That little fellow will beat them all by five 
 miles." 
 
 During the sixth hour, I ran in again, and 
 found my little Englishman pale and stagger- 
 ing. What's up now ? What's the matter ? 
 
 My friends explained that during the twenty- 
 seventh mile our brag walker had been seized 
 
334 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 with nausea and vomiting, and had been retch- 
 ing ever since. Brave little English bull-dog ! 
 He staggered on, still ahead, until in the forty- 
 first mile he was obliged to succumb, and was 
 helped into the refreshment-room. The second 
 fastest walker was passed by the third in the 
 forty-ninth mile, because he too had given out 
 in the stomach. 
 
 In all the great pedestrian feats, the stomach 
 is the part which fails first. The champion's 
 feet may give out — they may blister and bleed — 
 still, if his stomach remains good, he will con- 
 trive to push on ; but when that gives out, he 
 must go in. 
 
 When a watcher with the sick is exhausted, 
 it is in the stomach. 
 
 When a man is struck on the head with a 
 club, the first effect is vomiting. When a 
 woman is exhausted, she puts her hand upon 
 her stomach and exclaims : " Here it is, Doctor, 
 such a sinking, such an all-gone sensation. " 
 
 You have heard the phrase, " hit him where 
 he lives." Well, that place is in the stomach ; 
 and, while a man may be said to live in every 
 part of his person, there is a very peculiar and 
 vital sense in which he lives in his stomach. 
 And so I say, again, that while indigestion is 
 the proximate or immediate source of most of 
 our affections of the heart, nerves, blood, etc., 
 
OTHER ABUSES. 335 
 
 the stomach itself is the victim of any and 
 every abuse which lowers the vitality. 
 
 Mince-pie is not a whit more a source of in- 
 digestion than is sleeplessness or overwork. 
 Any cause which depresses the vital forces, as, 
 for example, great care, anxiety, disappoint- 
 ment, domestic discords, unrequited love, hard 
 study, too little sleep, bad air, bad food or any- 
 thing else that exhausts. 
 
336 QUE DIGESTION. 
 
 TOBACCO AND THE STOMACH. 
 
 The use of tobacco injures the stomach. Its 
 influence upon digestion and assimilation is 
 shown in the emaciation of its devotees. 
 
 Three years ago an old man, with whom the 
 author had been intimately acquainted for sev- 
 eral years, died at the age of seventy-two. Up 
 to the age of sixty, he had been a great sufferer 
 from faintness in the pit of the stomach. It 
 was the constant torment of his life. The sen- 
 sation had been growing worse for several years, 
 until his face habitually wore an air of despair. 
 At the age of sixty he was so grievously tor- 
 tured that he concluded to follow the author's 
 advice and abandon tobacco, which he had 
 chewed excessively. 
 
 Within a week his stomach was sensibly 
 better, and in three months he was so much 
 improved that all his old friends on meeting 
 him would exclaim : 
 
 " General, how well you look ! TTliv, you 
 look ten years younger than you did last sum- 
 mer." 
 
 He gained more than thirty pounds in a 
 year, and his health became better than it had 
 been for forty years. 
 
TOBACCO AND THE STOMACH. 337 
 
 Those lantern-jawed Yankees who run to- 
 bacco mills would soon become plump if they 
 would stop " chawin' " and " smokin'." 
 
 "Doctor, which is the worst, chewing or 
 smoking ?" 
 
 On the whole, chewing is the worst mode, 
 principally for the reason that it can be in- 
 dulged so constantly. The chewer begins on 
 rising, and, with the exception of the nine min- 
 utes and twenty-eight seconds devoted to break- 
 fast, the fourteen minutes and fifty-nine and a 
 half seconds given to dinner, and the eight 
 minutes three and a quarter seconds spared for 
 supper, the man runs his mill every moment 
 till he gets into bed. Just as he turns the 
 clothes down with one hand, to get into bed, he 
 takes out of his mouth with the other hand the 
 last quid. 
 
 During the day, by this close economy of 
 time, he grinds through twenty-six grists and 
 projects juice six hundred and twelve times. 
 This juice, if conscientiously gathered, would 
 measure three pints. 
 
 Smoking can't be carried on with such de- 
 voted regularity, and, although worse than 
 chewing for a given time, is practically not 
 so mischievous. 
 
 But when used in either mode it injures the 
 stomach. It can't be indulged, even moder- 
 
 29 
 
338 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 ately, without affecting prejudicially the func- 
 tion of digestion. 
 
 Excuses for Using Tobacco. 
 
 As illustrating the excuses for the use of 
 tobacco, a pleasant story is told of Dr. Nott 
 and his students. It will be remembered by 
 students of Union College that President 
 Nott's edicts against tobacco were very severe. 
 The use of it in any form was punished by 
 expulsion. 
 
 One evening the old doctor, as was his cus- 
 tom, walked through the halls of the dormi- 
 tories late in the evening to see that all was 
 going well. While making this round one 
 evening he thought he smelled tobacco smoke. 
 So resolving himself, as Gough would phrase it, 
 into a smelling committee, he put his nose to 
 this and that door until he was sure he had 
 the right one, and without knocking he opened 
 the door and walked in. There he found four 
 students puffing at long nines. 
 
 In his severest manner — and no man could be 
 more severe — he said, 
 
 " Young gentlemen, I will see you in my 
 private study to-morrow morning at nine 
 o'clock." 
 
 They knew very well what that meant, and, 
 
' He found four students puffing at long nines."— P. 322. 
 
EXCUSES FOR USING TOBACCO. 339 
 
 as they were to be expelled the next day, they 
 resolved to make a jolly night of it; so obtain- 
 ing an extra supply of cigars they smoked and 
 sang all night. At nine o'clock the next 
 morning they went together to Dr. Nott's 
 study. 
 
 On walking into his presence they were told 
 to take seats. Dr. Nott seated himself in his 
 grand arm-chair, and, turning to the first of the 
 four, he said : 
 
 " Why do you smoke tobacco ?" 
 
 The young men had no idea they would be 
 permitted to defend themselves. The one ad- 
 dressed eagerly said : 
 
 " Mr. President, the reason I smoke tobacco 
 is that I have been very much troubled with 
 water-brash, and a physician told me that 
 smoking was the only thing that would relieve 
 it. That is the reason I smoke." 
 
 " And how do you find it affects your water- 
 brash ?" 
 
 "Oh, it completely relieves it. I find it a 
 perfect cure." 
 
 "Ah, indeed! that is a very interesting fact. 
 I wonder if the profession knows that ? Then 
 you find that the smoking of tobacco relieves 
 the water-brash ?" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, I find it is a perfect 
 relief." 
 
340 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 " Well, really, this is a very important scien- 
 tific fact. I must put it down in my memoran- 
 dum.' 7 
 
 So the doctor deliberately, and with the 
 gravest possible face, wrote it down, and then 
 read what he had written, and said, as if speak- 
 ing to himself, " Indeed, this is very interesting 
 and very important." 
 
 Turning to the second he said, "And why 
 do you smoke ?" 
 
 "Well, Mr. President, the reason that I 
 smoke is this: the fact is, my family have all 
 been very much troubled with the water-brash, 
 and I thought, as smoking w T as a sure cure for 
 it, that if I smoked now and then it would 
 prevent it." 
 
 " Well, this is still more interesting than the 
 case of your friend. And do you find that 
 smoking tobacco prevents it in your case '!" 
 
 "Yes, Mr. President, it has entirely pre- 
 vented it. I am not troubled with it in the 
 least." 
 
 "Well, I must put this down. Prevention 
 is certainly more important than cure. Young 
 gentlemen, you really surprise me. This is a 
 very important development." 
 
 Turning to the third one he said, "And why 
 do you smoke ?" 
 
 " Well, Mr. President, the fact is — the reason 
 
EXCUSES FOR USING TOBACCO. 341 
 
 — the reason that I smoke — Mr. President — 
 well, I smoke because I am troubled with the 
 toothache, and I find that smoking entirely 
 cures it." 
 
 " Indeed ! Do you really find that the smok- 
 ing of tobacco relieves the pain in your .tooth ?" 
 - "Yes, sir; it entirely relieves me. I find 
 that the smoking of a single cigar perfectly 
 cures me." 
 
 "Well, young gentlemen, you have really 
 made very interesting discoveries. I am sur- 
 prised that these facts were not generally known 
 to the medical profession. It would seem that 
 the remedy is not very bad to take, and cer- 
 tainly it ought to be widely known. You don't 
 find it bad to take, do you ?" 
 
 " Not very, Mr. President ; we are willing to 
 take it for the relief it affords." 
 
 Turning to the fourth young man, President 
 Nott said, "And why do you smoke ?" 
 
 "Mr. President, the reason I smoke — what 
 makes me smoke — I will tell you why I smoke 
 ■ — the fact is, I am very much troubled with 
 corns." 
 
 President Nott rose, reached out his hands to 
 the four young men and said, " Young gentle- 
 men, will you give me your word of honor that 
 you will not smoke or use tobacco in any other 
 form during your stay in this institution ?" 
 
 29* 
 
342 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 "Yes, yes, indeed/' they all eagerly said, tak- 
 ing hold of his hands. 
 
 "Young gentlemen, good morning." And 
 they went away well pleased with the result of 
 the interview. 
 
 I know what has been said of the medicinal 
 virtues of tobacco. Its friends claim for it the 
 preservation of the teeth, the relief of throat 
 ailments, the cure of consumption, the certain 
 relief of stomach and liver diseases, the cure of 
 constipation, the sure cure of neuralgia and 
 sciatica, and now we hear that no smoker has 
 ever been known to commit suicide. 
 
 To all such advocates I commend the Gov- 
 ernor's famous argument in favor of alcohol as 
 a food. 
 
 How Tobacco Hurts Man. 
 
 The following is from a lecture delivered in Boston by Dr. Dio 
 Lewis, and reported by J. M. W. Yerrinton for u The Congrega- 
 tionalist and Recorder." 
 
 I believe that tobacco is playing an import- 
 ant part in the morbid development of our 
 nervous systems. I want to discuss this ques- 
 tion frankly. I have used tobacco, and for 
 many years I used it excessively. I both 
 chewed and smoked it. In college I smoked a 
 short black pipe, and used to show it to my 
 fellow-students with pride because of its rare 
 color; and then I chawed between the smokes. 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 343 
 
 During the last fifteen years I have used, say, 
 sixty segars, an average of four a year. I 
 have sometimes avoided it altogether for sev- 
 eral years. You see that I have had experience, 
 and I am not going to say a severe word to any 
 victim of the weed. Having used it myself 
 without evil purpose, I am only going to tell 
 you in a plain, friendly way what science says 
 of it. 
 
 Tobacco in its ordinary state — the " plug" 
 which you have in your pockets here to-night 
 — is a powerful poison. It will do what few 
 other poisons will do. I do not now speak of 
 the oil of tobacco. I do not speak of nicotine, 
 a single drop of which put upon the tongue of 
 a cat will kill her in two minutes ; three drops 
 of which put upon the tongue of a bull-dog 
 will kill him so quick he will hardly get out 
 of your arms in his struggles ; and ten drops 
 of which will kill a cow inside of ten minutes. 
 I am not talking of these things at all, although 
 they are all in the tobacco ; but to-night I am 
 talking of tobacco in the form of the original 
 "plug." 
 
 Now, gentlemen, let me suppose an experi- 
 ment. I call from this audience a boy ten 
 years old, one who has never used tobacco. 
 "Charles, will you help us make an experi- 
 ment here to-night ?" 
 
344 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 " Yes, sir." 
 
 " I will give you fifty dollars if you will go 
 through it like a plucky man." 
 
 " I will, sir." 
 
 " The experiment is this : There is a piece 
 of tobacco as large as a pea. Put that in your 
 mouth ; chew it ; don't let one drop go down 
 your throat; spit every drop into that spit- 
 toon; but keep on chewing; don't stop; just 
 chew steadily." 
 
 Before he is done with that piece of to- 
 bacco, as large as a pea, simply squeezing the 
 juice out of it without swallowing a drop, he 
 lies here upon the platform in a cold, death- 
 like perspiration ; he vomits the contents of 
 his stomach ; put your fingers upon his wrist, 
 there is no pulse ; and so he seems for two or 
 three hours as though he were dying, or, per- 
 chance, dead. 
 
 Steep a small piece of tobacco in a quart of 
 Water and bathe the neck or back of a calf that 
 may be troubled with vermin. You will kill 
 the vermin, but if you are not careful you will 
 kill the calf too. 
 
 Now, gentlemen, go to your drug stores, 
 begin with the upper shelves and take down 
 every bottle, and then open every drawer, and 
 you cannot find a single poison (except some 
 very rare ones which you never heard of) 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 345 
 
 which, taken into the mouth of that ten-year- 
 old boy and not swallowed, will produce those 
 effects. Tobacco, then, I repeat, in its ordinary 
 state is an extremely powerful poison. 
 
 That is my first point against tobacco. 
 
 Now I want to speak of the modes in which 
 this poison has been used by man. 
 
 First, chawing. Some people call it chewing. 
 That is not the word at all ; chaw is the word. 
 Everybody knows how it is done. If you don't 
 know how it is done, ask some clean house- 
 keeper and she will tell you. She will be 
 eloquent on the subject. 
 
 Second, smoking. Somebody has described 
 smoking as a small roll of tobacco with a little 
 fire at one end and a big fool at the other. 
 
 Third, snuffing. If snuffing had no other 
 claim, it is certainly the funniest way in which 
 tobacco was ever used. I can't see a man take 
 snuff without roaring. Just look at him. He 
 is a grave-looking man — a judge or a senator. 
 He is none of your jokers or buffoons. This 
 man puts his thumb and fore-finger into his 
 vest pocket and brings out a little box — puts it 
 into his hand — looks at it seriously — knocks on 
 the top of it solemnly — lifts up the cover — 
 looks in — puts in his finger and thumb and 
 brings out a little dark-colored powder, and 
 then begins to punch it at his nose. After a 
 
346 QUE DIGESTION. 
 
 few punches, lie brushes his fingers, perhaps his 
 linen, closes his box, puts it in his pocket, and 
 walks off with the air of a man who has done 
 his duty, and satisfied one of the most serious 
 claims of his existence. 
 
 Fourth, snuff-rubbing. I have been through 
 the Southern States, but I never saw this snuff- 
 rubbing. Some of our soldiers have told me 
 they saw it everywhere. The scene is this : 
 here are a dozen young ladies who have assem- 
 bled for a snuff-rub. It is said to be a common 
 thing to hear one girl ask another, "Miss 
 Mary, were you up at the Colonel's at the last 
 rub?" I was about describing the scene. A 
 dozen girls are waiting. A negro man enters, 
 bearing in his hands a tray. Upon this tray 
 there are a dozen or twenty snuff-brooms — little 
 sticks of dog-wood, one end of which has been 
 beaten into the condition of a splint broom. 
 Each girl takes one of these and puts the splint 
 into her mouth, and keeps it there until it be- 
 comes moist. Now the negro man comes along 
 again with his tray, on which he carries a box 
 x or bowl of snuff, and each girl dips the wet end 
 of her stick into the snuff, twists it round to 
 make it hold as much as possible, carries it to 
 her mouth and begins to rub her teeth inside, 
 outside and all round. Then she (ladies, excuse 
 me) spits ! Then she dips and rubs, and (ex- 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 347 
 
 cuse me) spits ! She hears a story, she tells a 
 story, but she never forgets to dip and rub and 
 spit. When this thing has been going on for 
 a couple of hours, they kiss each other good- 
 night, and congratulate each other upon the 
 happy influence this practice exerts upon their 
 teeth. For they tell you that the reason they 
 do this is because it is so good for their teeth. 
 
 Fifth, snuff-chewing. In my visits to the 
 South I never saw a woman chew snuff, but 
 Dr. Cole, Dr. Fowler, Dr. Waterhouse and 
 other writers on tobacco affirm that some 
 women in Alabama, Georgia, and other South- 
 ern States, chew snuff just as men chew cut to- 
 bacco, and I have no reason to doubt it. 
 
 Sixth, plugging. A well-known American 
 traveler tells us that the peasantry in Norway 
 and Sweden use tobacco by plugging the nose. 
 For this purpose they use small rolls about the 
 size of one's little finger. They cut off a small 
 piece, say half an inch in length, and twist it 
 up the nostril, and let it remain there until the 
 narcotic principle has been absorbed. The 
 same tourist says it is the cleanest way in which 
 tobacco was ever used. Although it spoils the 
 voice, still a man can talk so as to be under- 
 stood, and it does not cause any spitting. The 
 traveler advises everybody who must use to- 
 bacco, to try plugging. 
 
348 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 Seventh, smoke-swallowing. The same gen- 
 tleman informs us that the Russian peasantry 
 use tobacco by smoking and swallowing the 
 smoke. A single pipe of tobacco furnishes a 
 company of twenty men with as much stimulus 
 as twenty pipes would, used in the ordinary way. 
 The first man fills his mouth with smoke to its 
 utmost capacity, and then proceeds to swallow 
 that smoke, passing the pipe to the next man, 
 and so on, each in his turn filling his mouth 
 with smoke and swallowing it. 
 
 Now I want to consider the influence on our 
 health of some of these modes. 
 
 First, chawing. Look into a man's mouth 
 w r ho chaws tobacco, and see how red it is. The 
 doctor no longer appeals to it to determine the 
 condition of a man's stomach. He can learn 
 nothing by examining his patient's tongue, if 
 he be a chewer of tobacco. That congestion 
 which produces the redness extends a little far- 
 ther down than you can see, and affects the 
 speech. Dr. Cole and Dr. Waterhouse affirm 
 that they can always tell whether a public 
 speaker be a chewer of tobacco or not, so pecu- 
 liar is its influence upon the articulation. But 
 let that pass. 
 
 Next, smoking. Smoking injures the teeth : 
 it produces decay in the teeth. I produced 
 decay in two of my upper teeth and one under 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 349 
 
 tooth by holding my pipe or cigar between them 
 before I had any other decayed tooth in my 
 mouth. It is not remarkable that, with the 
 heat of the tobacco smoke, and its acrid poison, 
 the teeth should suffer. But that is nothing 
 compared with its influence upon the lungs. 
 
 Put your hand over your eye, fill your mouth 
 with smoke, and then blow the smoke up 
 under your hand. Now look in the glass. 
 How red the eye is ! The tears run down the 
 cheek. What is the matter ? There has been 
 a powerful poison in the eye. 
 
 And yet, men whose fathers and grand- 
 fathers have died of .consumption, do not scru- 
 ple to sit down in a room where there are a 
 dozen smokers, and smoke until it is all blue, 
 taking in lung-ful after lung-ful of that deadly 
 poison. 
 
 I believe, with Dr. Waterhouse, that if young 
 men would abandon cigars, consumption would 
 be confined more exclusively to women, and in 
 them be produced by their unhappy style of 
 dress. 
 
 I believe the great Liebig, who says that, of 
 the German males who die between fifteen and 
 fifty, many die of smoking tobacco. 
 
 Pass on to snuffing. In the first place, snuff- 
 ing spoils the voice. 
 
 How strange it is that any man should will- 
 
 30 
 
350 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 fully change his voice, the richest music this 
 side of heaven, into a nasal snarl, by taking 
 snuff into his nose! I tell you that a man who 
 doubts the doctrine of total depravity must be 
 staggered by that fact. 
 
 Besides, it produces headache and diseases of 
 the stomach which nobody can cure. An old 
 Scotchman came to me once about his health. 
 He said : 
 
 "Doctor, I have something ju>t here in my 
 forehead, which is not a pain, but a burning, 
 gnawing distress; and I have in my stomach 
 the same gnawing, burning distress." 
 
 And while he was telling this story he put 
 his hand in his breast pocket and brought out 
 a horn such as Highland Scotchmen use for 
 snuff. He turned back the metallic lid, put in 
 his thumb and finger, and brought out a small 
 horn spoon just adapted to the nostril, dipped 
 it up full of snuff, carried it to his nose, and, 
 presto, the snuff was gone ! Then he dipped 
 again, and filled the other nostril. 
 
 Said I, " How often do you come that ¥' 
 
 " Come what ?" said he. 
 
 "That little performance you have just I 
 through." 
 
 "Oh," said he, "I take snuff I (1-." 
 
 " Yes/' I said, ik I began to suspect you might 
 be in the habit." 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 351 
 
 "You don't think snuff is injurious, do you ?" 
 he asked. 
 
 Said I, " Now listen to me a moment. How 
 long will that horn-full last you ?" 
 
 " Well," said he, " if the neighbors let me 
 alone, that horn-full will last me all day long" 
 
 "And where do you suppose that snuff all 
 goes to ?" 
 
 "Well," he said, "I never thought about 
 that. That is the snuff's business. I never 
 thought much about that." 
 
 Said I, "It certainly don't stay in your nose, 
 because your nose isn't big enough ; it could not 
 hold it. Around your nose there are twenty 
 small cavities — each of the cheek bones has a 
 very large one — and every one of these twenty 
 cavities discharges all its secretions into the 
 nose, which is the sewer of the face. Now this 
 snuff that you take into your nose finds its way 
 into those cavities, and the consequence is you 
 have the burning, gnawing distress in your 
 head ; and, more than that, the snuff goes di- 
 rectly into your stomach, and produces that 
 gnawing, burning sensation there." I told him 
 that in no way could tobacco make its . way 
 directly into the stomach except in the form of 
 snuff. 
 
 But I will not push the details of the influ- 
 ence of these modes further. I will now say 
 
352 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 that, no matter how you use tobacco, it lets 
 down your tone. 
 
 Don't you know that most of us are satisfied 
 with a health we ought to be ashamed of? 
 
 Ask a man, "'How are you, Colonel ?" and 
 he says : 
 
 " I am perfectly well ; I am always well ; I 
 never had a doctor in my life." And yet that 
 man has no spirits, no happiness. 
 
 Happiness is the legitimate fruit of health, 
 as apples are the legitimate fruit of apple trees. 
 
 I remember in my father's neighborhood was 
 a deacon, a good man, whose name was a syno- 
 nym for every good word and work. The dea- 
 con was not well, and his sickness manifested 
 itself in low spirits. I never heard him say a 
 cheerful thing. I passed his house one day 
 and saw him in the front yard. It was a mag- 
 nificent morning ; God's smile shone out all 
 over everything. I thought I had the deacon 
 in a tight place, and I said : 
 
 " Good-morning, deacon. Isn't this a splen- 
 did day?" 
 
 "Yes," said he, "but it's only a weather 
 breeder" 
 
 The deacon wasn't well ; that was his trouble. 
 
 I did see a man once that I thought was 
 well. I was walking down Lake street in 
 Chicago one morning, and I saw a big man 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 353 
 
 with a great buffalo overcoat and a big fur cap 
 walking along in a vigorous way, and every 
 few steps he would strike his leg and jump a 
 foot off the sidewalk, and as he came down he 
 would scream a little, laugh and walk on. The 
 boys thought he was drunk. It was about 
 seven o'clock in the morning, and the boys 
 who were taking down the shutters of the 
 stores would call out to each other : 
 
 " Say, Charlie, he's all right." 
 
 But he did not act to me like a drunken 
 man. He certainly was behaving queerly, and 
 being interested in queer folks, as you all are, 
 I hurried along and got up by his side. I 
 looked him in the face and said : 
 
 " Good-morning, sir." 
 
 " Good-morning," he replied. 
 
 " Anything the matter this morning ?" 
 
 With that, flourishing his hand and giving 
 his leg a great slap, he jumped up about two 
 feet from the sidewalk, and as he came down 
 he squirmed all oyer, screamed like a railroad 
 whistle and said, " I feel good" 
 
 That man was well, and when anybody is 
 well, it crops out in hope, in happiness. 
 
 Well, friends, tobacco lets you down — lets 
 you down below the normal level. No man 
 who fills his system with opium, tobacco, or any 
 other narcotic poison, can have high spirits ; it 
 
 30* 
 
354 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 lets liim down low. Look at the Turks, poi- 
 soned with opium. There never was such a 
 solemn people. They never smile. 
 
 Our Yankees, who are chewing and squirt- 
 ing eternally, are becoming about as bad as the 
 Turks. I came up from Providence to Boston 
 to-night, and I declare to you that, when I got 
 out of the cars, I had to wade through seas of 
 tobacco spittle. 
 
 I say these Yankees, who are for ever chair- 
 ing, are not a happy people. 
 
 With all our wealth and means of comfort, 
 there Tire few nations on this planet that have 
 so little real enjoyment. 
 
 But, friends, permit me one point more. Let 
 us go a little higher. How does a man differ 
 from a horse ? Not in having a body, for a 
 horse has a body too ; not in having intellect, 
 for a horse has intellect too ; not in having a 
 social nature, for a horse, or a dog if you please, 
 is more social than a man. 
 
 Then what is the distinguishing character- 
 istic of our humanity ? It is the possession of 
 moral and religious sensibilities. These con- 
 stitute links in that chain which unites us to 
 God overhead, through which every one of as 
 hopes some day in the future to go up like an 
 electric spark, to live above our present selves. 
 
 I know I but echo the voices of the wise ones 
 
HOW TOBACCO HURTS MAN. 355 
 
 of the world when I say that this tobacco par- 
 alyzes these moral sensibilities almost more than 
 any other habit in which civilized men indulge. 
 
 Gentlemen, I advise you to clean yourselves 
 and quit. I would give it up. It is a nasty, 
 disgusting, ruinous habit. But somebody says, 
 4i I can't give it up ; I want to, and have tried, 
 but I can't do it." Can't you? 
 
 If you really are so enslaved that you can't 
 break your chains, I will help you a little. 
 Stop to-night ; don't use any to-morrow. The 
 first day will not be so very hard. You can 
 get on pretty well the first day, as everybody 
 knows who has been through the mill as I have 
 been. The second day is pretty bad. In the 
 afternoon of the second day your memory is a 
 little doubtful ; you can't exactly say whether 
 it was one brother or three brothers that came 
 over; you can't exactly say whether your 
 grandfather came from the east or the west 
 when he settled here. But be patient the 
 second day. The third morning comes the 
 tug. Now go and take an old-fashioned al- 
 cohol sweat. Place an alcohol lamp under 
 your chair, put a blanket over your shoulders 
 and sweat until your skin is fairly parboiled. 
 Then you will be just as comfortable for one 
 day as you could wish. There is no dryness 
 of the mouth, no disturbance of* the secretions. 
 
356 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 You are perfectly comfortable for one day. 
 The next day you are in trouble again, but 
 not so bad as the day before. Take another 
 sweat; take even a third or a fourth one. 
 Sweating does not hurt people; sometimes it 
 is good for them. Take three or four thorough 
 sweats, and then you will go off under easy 
 sail, and will have no further trouble from your 
 enemy. 
 
 Ladies, I advise you to sweat 'cm. "Whether 
 they will or not, sweat 'em. 
 
OUR COOKS. 357 
 
 OUR COOKS. 
 
 Deacon W , residing six miles out of 
 
 Boston, parted with his coachman and his cook 
 on the fifth of July. They returned from Bos- 
 ton late on the evening of the fourth a little 
 too patriotic for practical purposes, and the 
 result was that on the morning of the fifth they 
 were sent off. 
 
 Mrs. W , being an invalid, was in great 
 
 distress, as she expected company, while the 
 Deacon was very, very sorry about his horses. 
 But he hurried in after breakfast, put an adver- 
 tisement in the papers, with directions to call at 
 his office in Kilby street. The next morning 
 they began to come. The Deacon understands 
 the necessity of a good hostler, and questioned 
 every man who applied for the position. 
 
 " How often do you think horses should be 
 fed? What do you think is the best food? 
 Should it be given whole or ground ? When 
 should hay be given ? Should it be fed in a 
 rack or from a trough? When should the 
 horses be watered ? Should they be allowed to 
 drink all they want ?" etc., etc. The Deacon 
 had determined he would not be humbugged. 
 
358 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 He knew that if his horses were to flourish, the 
 man in charge must be intelligent, and under- 
 stand the business of feeding, driving and tak- 
 ing care of them. The Deacon asked many 
 questions about the use of the curry-comb, 
 brush, blankets, etc. Nearly thirty men called 
 before he found one that suited him. After 
 receiving satisfactory answers to his many 
 questions, and examining the man's character, 
 he concluded to engage him. The wages were 
 thirty-five dollars per month. 
 
 The Deacon engaged the second girl that 
 applied for the position of cook. The first one 
 was evidently intemperate. The second one 
 was quite young, but clean and healthy. He 
 asked her if she could do plain cooking. She 
 replied, "Bedad, and it's meself that can do 
 that same!" The Deacon wished to see her 
 "character," which, although written by an un- 
 known party, stated that she was honest, a good 
 plain cook, with but little experience. The 
 Deacon said that would do — it was simply a 
 cook they wanted. So after agreeing upon 
 three dollars a week, he gave her a car ticket 
 and a card with the directions, and forwarded 
 her to madam, that the machinery of the home 
 might be set in motion. The Deacon has four 
 children, dependent, with himself and wife, 
 upon the cook for their health. This ignorant 
 
OUE COOKS. 359 
 
 Irish girl, without experience, was given unre- 
 strained, unlooked-after charge of the prepara- 
 tion of all the food for the family. The health, 
 the happiness of the group were made to hinge 
 upon Biddy's skill in cooking. 
 
 When the Deacon returned in the evening, 
 he went directly to the barn, and for half a 
 month looked after his horses more or less every 
 day, lest Thomas' skill should not fully meet 
 the necessities of the case. But no one seemed 
 to doubt that Biddy would be able to prepare 
 the food all right for the family. 
 
 While some insist upon the best tailor, upon 
 the best upholsterer, the best dressmaker, the 
 finest church, school, actor and artist, and 
 would laugh at the idea of a green Irishman 
 in any of them, they go to an intelligence 
 office, pick up a fresh-caught Irish girl and 
 hire her to perform services more important 
 than all of these put together — I mean more 
 important to the health and happiness of them 
 and their loved ones. 
 
 I should not so much object to employing 
 Bridget to make a dress for my wife, to teach 
 the piano or to do any other similar service if 
 we were hard pushed ; but I protest that igno- 
 rance and stupidity shall not rule in the kitchen. 
 The physical, intellectual and moral life of the 
 household rests upon the kitchen, almost to the 
 
360 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 same extent that a building rests upon its foun- 
 dation. In the kitchen, if nowhere else, we 
 must have judgment and skill. 
 
 Two things must certainly be done if we 
 continue to live in the present isolated way : 
 We must establish schools for the training of 
 cooks, and we must make up our minds to pay 
 five to ten dollars a w^eek for the services of a 
 good cook. 
 
 There is no such waste in any other depart- 
 ment of our life. We provide the very best 
 flour, meats, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, 
 sauces and condiments which the capital, science 
 and skill of the world can produce. In mak- 
 ing these purchases we pour out our money 
 like water. Delivered in our kitchens, Bridget 
 OTlaherty, surrounded by ranges, boilers, steam- 
 ers, and a thousand and one conveniences, pre- 
 pares and sends up to the dining-room stuff 
 which does not gratify the palate, which dam- 
 ages the stomach, poisons the blood, and seriously 
 deranges our entire life, physical, intellectual, 
 social, moral and religious. At no other point, 
 I repeat, in our civilized life, is there such 
 stupid, reckless waste. No sane man would 
 endure such ignorance in the management of 
 his horses or his lioffs. 
 
 Christianity can make but little progress 
 under the present system of cookery. Dyspep- 
 
WHY NOT HAVE YANKEE COOKS? 361 
 
 sia is a cloud so dense that it shuts out the 
 very light of heaven. 
 
 Another Glimpse at the Picture. 
 
 The hired cook in America is an Irish girl. 
 She cooked potatoes and porridge in Ireland, 
 and, on arriving in "Afheriky," assumes the 
 management of one of our kitchens. This is 
 wretched business. I know that an Irish girl 
 may be a good cook. I have known such. 
 Still, the Irish girl's brain is mostly incapable 
 of patience, accuracy and skill. And these are 
 precisely the qualities required in good cookery. 
 
 English, Scotch and Holland girls make good 
 cooks. Yankee women make the best cooks in 
 the world. I have eaten dinners prepared in a 
 New England village which in style and flavor 
 were superior to anything I have ever seen in 
 Europe. The native New England brain has 
 just that sharpness necessary to the exact pro- 
 portions and manipulations of good cookery. 
 
 Why not have Yankee Cooks? 
 
 What a painful spectacle this is : A million 
 Yankee girls wasting and dying in crowded 
 shops, occupied with sewing and kindred tasks, 
 and a million homes dyspeptic and unhappy for 
 want of the help of those girls ! The homes 
 
 31 
 
362 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 are waiting and longing for the girls, the girls 
 are dying for the homes. The homes offer com- 
 fort, health and independence to the girls, the 
 girls are wasting, in brainless mechanical 
 routine, the bright faculties which would change 
 the homes from discomfort to comfort and 
 health. And, strange to say, these two which 
 are perishing for want of each other do not 
 live on separate continents, but in the same 
 streets, and often under the same roof. I shall 
 not discuss in this place the difficulties in the 
 way; it is enough for our present purpose to 
 know that, for some reason, these homes and 
 girls have not been able to find each other. 
 
 Success in Finding' a Yankee Cook. 
 
 One of my neighbors felt the need of an 
 intelligence in his kitchen which he did not 
 find in Biddy Finnigan. By my advice he 
 went down one day into the lower part of the 
 city to a large ready-made clothing establish- 
 ment, for a look among three hundred Yankee 
 sewing-girls. Almost the first one he saw on 
 entering seemed so pale and wretched, that he 
 instinctively asked her if she would not like 
 to change her occupation, and mentioned his 
 kitchen. 
 
 " I know nothing of cooking," she said. 
 
 
WHY NOT HAVE YANKEE COOKS? 363 
 
 " But would you be willing to learn if you 
 had an opportunity ?" 
 
 " Well, no, I had rather not at present." 
 
 "But this is such an unhealthy place, and 
 you seem so pale." 
 
 " Yes, I am not very well." 
 
 "Would you be willing to go a few weeks 
 into the country and stop with a sister of mine, 
 and learn to do plain cooking, and then come 
 and live with us ?" 
 
 " Well, sir, if you will force me to say it, 7* 
 won't be anybody's servant! I had rather be 
 my own boss." 
 
 " But don't you work under a boss here ?" 
 
 "Well, yes, there is an overseer, and he is 
 no gentleman either. Sometimes he talks to us 
 in a most outrageous way." 
 
 " How much do you receive for running that 
 machine ?" 
 
 " I get five dollars." 
 
 " How much do you pay for your board ?" 
 
 " Four dollars." 
 
 " And you are rapidly wearing your life out 
 for nothing. If you will come and live with 
 us, we will give you a chance to recover your 
 health, a nice, comfortable room, and not only 
 an opportunity to secure independence, but, if 
 you succeed, you will make us all inexpressibly 
 grateful to you ; and as soon as you can do our 
 
364 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 cooking, I will give you five dollars a week in 
 addition to home comforts. What do you say ? 
 Will you go ? I infer from your face that you 
 can easily learn all that we want done." 
 
 " I am much obliged to you, and I will think 
 of it." 
 
 My friend brought her up to his house the 
 next evening, where she was so warmly wel- 
 comed and treated with such unexpected kind- 
 ness that her prejudices gave way, and she is 
 now installed as mistress of his kitchen. Al- 
 ready she receives six dollars per week, and is 
 an honored member of the family. 
 
 In the city of Boston there are at this mo- 
 ment ten thousand bright American girls wast- 
 ing their lives in exhaustive sedentary occupa- 
 tions, almost gasping for breath, who could 
 change ten thousand homes into real comfort, 
 and secure for themselves health, independence 
 and long life,, 
 
 It is charged that the lady of the house 
 treats her cook as a menial. As things go at 
 present, there is but little kind feeling. On 
 the one side we find dirt, ignorance and dis- 
 honesty; on the other suspicion and disgust. 
 But discharge the stupid cook, and introduce 
 another who is neat, bright and honest, and she 
 will not only have things her own way, but in 
 a large majority of families she will be grate- 
 
WHY NOT HAVE YANKEE COOKS? 365 
 
 fully appreciated. Our ten thousand girls, dys- 
 peptic and wretched, could find such homes in 
 this city. And thus placed it might be truly 
 said, that they are the most independent 
 among our working people. I don't know 
 any other woman who is so comfortably, inde- 
 pendently and permanently placed as a faithful 
 cook. She is. obliged to receive wages from her 
 employer it is true, but all working people are 
 under the same necessity. On the other hand, 
 her employer and his family must depend upon 
 her for much of health and happiness. 
 
 The Yankee girl who would secure to her- 
 self an honored position in some home must 
 learn the simple arts of plain cooking. This 
 is all she really needs to know to secure such a 
 home and such independence. Of course, it is 
 understood that she is honest, and feels a sin- 
 cere, hearty interest in all that concerns the 
 treasury and comfort of the household. 
 
 The difference in religion and habits of 
 thought, with perhaps a constitutional lack of 
 honor on the part of Ann O'Finnegan, makes 
 the present relations between the mistress and 
 her cook so unsatisfactory that the change to 
 a clean, bright, honest friend, who, in addition 
 to the prompt preparation of good food, would 
 enter heartily into the interests of the family, 
 would elicit in most families such a grateful 
 
 31* 
 
366 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 enthusiasm that the cook would become the 
 pet of the family. There are thousands of 
 families in this city who would cheerfully give 
 such a cook thirty to forty dollars a month. 
 Such a cook would not only have a healthy 
 occupation, surrounded with the best comforts 
 of a home, but might lay up more money than 
 a hundred shop girls. 
 
 Is it not true that the life of a sewing-girl 
 is hard, short and wretched? Is it not true 
 that a large majority of the comely girls add 
 to their income by means which make their 
 true friends shudder ? 
 
 Is it not true that, by entering kitchens a* I 
 have suggested, they might secure the health 
 and independence named ? 
 
RECEIPTS FOB GOOD FOODS. 367 
 
 RECEIPTS FOR GOOD POODS. 
 
 These receipts have been gathered from my 
 own cook, and from others of large experience, 
 including two or three cook-books. 
 
 Bean Porridge. 
 
 Every one knows how to make bean por- 
 ridge, though perhaps it may be well to state 
 that the salt should not be introduced till the 
 porridge is nearly done. 
 
 Some cooks have a fancy that no other meat 
 than pork will do to boil with the beans, but 
 beef is quite as good, and chicken is still better 
 than either beef or pork. We have all learned 
 that bean porridge improves with age, for who 
 has not heard the lines, 
 
 "Bean porridge hot, bean porridge cold, 
 Bean porridge best when it's nine days old." 
 
 A Shin-of-Beef Soup. 
 
 Have the shin cracked up well ; put it to boil 
 in five or six quarts of water ; boil it five or 
 six hours ; skim it very often. 
 
 Cut up, very fine, half a white cabbage ; chop 
 two turnips, three onions; put them into the 
 
368 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 soup, with pepper and salt, and boil it two 
 hours ; take the bone and gristle out before 
 serving. If you have some raised dough, 
 make up a dozen little balls, the size of a nut- 
 meg, and drop them into the soup and boil it 
 half an hour. 
 
 Mutton Broth. 
 
 Boil a shoulder of mutton, the cheapest part 
 of the sheep, in four quarts of water two hours. 
 Add one onion, two turnips cut fine, one table- 
 spoonful of salt, and one cup of rice. Then 
 boil an hour and a half longer; cut a little 
 parsley, and put it in five minutes before 
 dishing. 
 
 Then the mutton can be served with drawn 
 butter and capers. 
 
 Beef Stew. 
 
 Six pounds of the flank of beef, cut in small 
 pieces, boil in two quarts of water until tender. 
 Then put in a dozen potatoes, a dozen onions, 
 four turnips ; cover it so that the steam shall 
 not escape ; salt and pepper to the taste. 
 
 Another. 
 
 Put a shin of beef, well cracked up, to boil 
 in six quarts of water; boil it four hours. 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 369 
 
 Then put in vegetables cut in large slices. 
 Salt and pepper to the taste. Ten minutes 
 before serving, put in the dumplings. 
 Veal stews made in the same way. 
 
 Lamb Stews. 
 
 Take half a shoulder of lamb, and boil it in 
 two quarts of water for two hours. Then put 
 in potatoes, onions, turnips, cut in quarters, 
 two teaspoonfuls of salt, and pepper to the 
 taste. Ten minutes before serving, put in the 
 dumplings. 
 
 Mutton stews made in the same way. 
 
 Gems or Iron-Clads. 
 
 Taking into account the time and labor 
 required in making, the care and apparatus 
 needed, and their lightness and tenderness, 
 these cakes must be considered the best form 
 of family bread. 
 
 Stir Graham flour into soft cold water, mak- 
 ing a batter a trifle thicker than for griddle- 
 cakes. The exact proportions cannot be given, 
 as flour will swell more at some times than at 
 others. Drop from a spoon into the cups of 
 the bread-pans, which are already heated, and 
 bake in a hot oven. Take them from* the pan 
 
370 . OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 as soon as they are done, and arrange them on 
 plates, taking care that no weight rests on 
 them to make them heavy. 
 
 Both Graham biscuit and drop-cakes, after 
 standing two or three days, are made as good 
 as new by dipping in cold water and setting in 
 a hot oven a few minutes, or steaming over 
 boiling water. 
 
 As a general thing, the best time for baking 
 all these unleavened cakes is in the morning, 
 when the stove is just cleared of its ashes. 
 
 If one can command the time and strength, 
 all cakes of this kind are made lighter and 
 more delicate by being beaten ten or fifteen 
 minutes while mixing the batter, but it is not 
 necessary in order to make good bread. 
 
 Corn Drop-Cakes. 
 
 Mix corn-meal with boiling new milk until 
 you have a thick batter ; put in the patent pans 
 at once, and bake fast for twenty or thirty 
 minutes. 
 
 Some people think corn-cakes of all kinds 
 are more palatable, and more easily digested, if 
 the meal is mixed the night before, and allowed 
 to stand all nisiit before baking. "When this 
 cannot be done, scalding answers nearly the 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 371 
 
 same purpose. It takes out the strong taste of 
 the meal, which some dislike. 
 
 Corn drop-cakes are also good made in the 
 same manner as the Graham cakes. Some 
 would prefer them wet with sweet milk instead 
 of water. Corn-meal batter can also be baked 
 in cards, on large tins, as it is in its nature fri- 
 able ; but wheat flour or meal, in order to be 
 light, needs to be baked in a cup that will 
 hold enough to make it the size of a common 
 biscuit. 
 
 Corn Drop-Cakes. 
 
 Beat two eggs with a tablespoonful of sugar, 
 add a pint of milk, and stir in corn-meal, mak- 
 ing a thin batter. Bake in patent bread-pans. 
 
 Rye Drop-Cakes. 
 
 Stir rye meal or flour into milk or water, 
 making a batter stiffer than for wheaten cakes. 
 These are a little liable to be heavy ; but with 
 a good hot oven, and a little care in handling, 
 they will be light, and furnish an agreeable and 
 wholesome variety to the table. 
 
 Oatmeal Cakes. 
 Now for one of the most capital articles of 
 
372 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 food ever eaten. Manage it in this way : Into 
 a quart of cold water, stir oatmeal enough to 
 make it about as thick as hasty pudding. Be 
 sure that the meal is sprinkled in so slowly, and 
 that the stirring is so active, that the mush will 
 have no lumps in it. Now, put it on a tin pan, 
 where it can spread out to half the thickness of 
 a common cracker, and smooth it down with a 
 case-knife. Run a sharp knife across it, so as 
 to divide it into the sized pieces you wish, and 
 then place it in a warm oven and bake slowly, 
 being careful, however, not to brown it. A lit- 
 tle butter or suet rubbed over the tin pan 
 before spreading the mush, will prevent stick- 
 ing. When it is done, eat as you would bread. 
 You have one of the must delicious articles of 
 food ever eaten ; besides, it will keep for some 
 time. These oatmeal cakes c< institute an admir- 
 able food, delicious and nutritious. 
 
 Oatmeal Crisps. 
 
 Mix and knead well together nicely prepared 
 oatmeal and water into quite a stiff dough ; 
 mould on a board, roll into thin sheets, and cut 
 into any form desired ; lay in baking pans, and 
 bake about fifteen minutes in a quick oven. 
 These are best when fresh from the oven. This 
 is a very favorite cake with the Scotch people, 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 373 
 
 who can get a superior kind of oatmeal. They 
 let it remain in the oven and get quite hard, 
 thinking it sweeter and more digestible. 
 
 All other kinds of meal and flour can be 
 made into crisps or wafers in this way, and are 
 excellent. 
 
 Oaten Cakes, called Clapped Bread. 
 
 Mix oatmeal, with a little salt and cold 
 water, quickly into a moderately stiff paste, 
 patting it with the hands, with plenty of oat- 
 meal strewed over and under it, until it is as 
 thin and flat as it can be made. The cakes, 
 which are about the size of a breakfast-plate, 
 must be made singly, baked on a griddle-iron, 
 turned while they are doing, and afterwards 
 toasted a little before the fire to render them 
 crisp. 
 
 Hoe-Cake. 
 
 Sift a quart of good, sweet corn-meal, yellow 
 or white ; add a spoonful of salt ; turn on to it 
 boiling water, stirring all the time ; when well 
 scalded, hot, not too soft, wet the hand in cold 
 water, spread the meal on a board, and set it 
 before the fire to bake. When baked on one 
 side, turn it and bake it on the other. Split 
 it open, butter it, serve it hot. 
 
 32 
 
374 OUB DIGESTION. 
 
 Original Rhode Island Johnny-Cake. 
 
 Into a quart of white meal put a little salt, 
 then pour boiling water until it is stiff enough 
 to hold together. 
 
 Drop it from a spoon upon a hot griddle, 
 cooking for a minute, then, without turning, 
 slip them into a hot pan, and place in a very 
 hot oven, and bake thirty minutes. 
 
 Johnny-Cake No. 2. 
 
 Into a quart of white meal put a little salt, 
 then pour in boiling milk until it is stiff enough 
 to hold together. Drop it from a spoon upon 
 a hot pan, and then place in a very hot oven. 
 After they have been in the oven two minute-, 
 cool them off a little and bake thirty minutes. 
 
 Graham Biscuit. 
 
 Stir, with a spoon, tepid water into Graham 
 flour until it is stiff enough to form into a 
 dough as soft as can be kneaded ; roll out 
 when sufficiently kneaded to be well mixed, 
 and cut into cakes three-quarters of an inch in 
 thickness. Lay them on baking-pans, so that 
 they will not touch each other, and bake in a 
 quick oven, letting them remain long enough 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 375 
 
 to become brown and crisp, which, with a good 
 heat, will require about twenty-five minutes, 
 or taking them out when just done through, 
 as one prefers ; if not sufficiently baked, they 
 will be heavy on the bottom. Put them on a 
 grate or a colander to cool, that they may not 
 steam and become heavy. 
 
 Graham Bread. 
 
 Four quarts of unbolted wheat, a teacupful 
 of good yeast, half a cup of molasses, and one 
 tablespoonful of salt, mixed with warm water 
 enough to make a stiff dough; let it rise six 
 or eight hours ; wet your hands in cold water 
 to put it into the pans ; let it rise an hour, or 
 until it has risen an inch ; bake it two hours. 
 
 It should be very well baked. 
 
 Unfermented Bread. 
 
 Take two pounds of flour, one teaspoonful 
 (heaping) of bi-carbonate of soda ; mix them 
 thoroughly with a wooden spoon. Then take 
 one pint of cold water, or as much as may be 
 needed, and mix with about one and a half tea- 
 spoonfuls of muriatic acid. Measure it in a 
 wooden spoon or some glass vessel that will not 
 corrode. Gradually add this to the flour, stir- 
 
376 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 ring constantly, and form it into loaves as 
 quickly as possible, and put into a hot oven at 
 once. It will need no salt, as the union of the 
 acid and soda forms common salt in the dough, 
 and, at the same time, gives off carbonic acid 
 gas, which distends the doughy mass in every 
 direction. 
 
 Brown Bread. 
 
 Take hot water — though not scalding — and 
 stir into it corn-meal until it is about half thick 
 enough for a good batter ; then cool it with cold 
 water, and make a thick batter by adding Gra- 
 ham flour; after which give the whole a good 
 stirring, and put into pans two or three inches 
 deep. It is better to let it stand an hour or 
 then put it into a hot oven, and bake steadily 
 two hours and a half. Take it out, and cover 
 with thick cloths for an hour or two, and it is 
 ready for the table. It is also good cold. 
 When rightly prepared, it is light enough, 
 tender, moist and sweet. 
 
 Every-Day Pudding". 
 
 Stir slowly into fast-boiling water, sprinkled 
 from the hand, sufficient Graham flour to make 
 a thin pudding. Let it boil five or ten min- 
 utes, and it is done. If set away from the fire 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 377 
 
 a few minutes before taking up, it will cleave 
 readily from the kettle, leaving it more easy 
 to be washed. Very much depends on the 
 manner of making, as from the same materials 
 a most delicious dish may be made, or one not 
 fit to eat. 
 
 The pudding left from one meal is allowed to 
 cool in the table pudding-dish — generally an 
 oval dish — and inverted on a platter of same 
 form for next meal. Any of this that may be 
 left can be dissolved in the water in which the 
 next pudding is to be made, and so made over ; 
 or a better way is to brown slices of it on a 
 griddle. 
 
 Boiled Indian Pudding. 
 
 Four teacups of Indian-meal scalded with a 
 quart of boiling water, two teaspoonfuls of salt, 
 and two gills of molasses. Tie it in a cloth so 
 as to let it swell one-third, and boil three hours. 
 Two cups of stewed apples will improve it. 
 
 Indian Hominy or Samp. 
 
 Take the prepared hominy as it is furnished 
 in the market, wash and soak it in cold water 
 sixteen hours, then boil slowly six hours in a 
 double boiler. 
 
 32* 
 
378 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Wheat Hominy. 
 
 Take good cleaned wheat, wash and soak 
 twelve hours in cold water, then boil slowly in 
 a double boiler six hours. 
 
 Pearl Barley. 
 
 It is a preparation of common barley found 
 in the market, and is to be washed and soaked 
 over night, and cooked four or six hours in 
 water, like hominy. 
 
 Corn-Meal Griddle-Cakes. 
 
 Boil a quart of milk, and scald with it as 
 much corn-meal as will make a thick mush. 
 (Yellow meal needs more boiling than white.) 
 When it is partially cooled, stir in a table- 
 spoonful of dry yeast, or half a cap of wet 
 yeast, three well-beaten eggs, a teaspoonful of 
 salt, and two tablespoonfuls of wheat flour. 
 Let it stand three or four hours, and bake on 
 a hot soap-stone griddle rubbed with salt. It 
 will be necessary to rub the griddle with the 
 salted rag between every griddle of cakes, to 
 prevent burning. Yellow meal is the best. 
 
 Griddles. 
 
 Plain raised batter, baked on a soap-stone 
 griddle, rubbed with salt. 
 
RECEIPTS FOE GOOD FOODS. 379 
 
 Baked Apple Pudding*. 
 
 Peel and slice about three quarts good cook- 
 ing apples, mostly sweet ; mix these with one 
 pint Graham flour and one pint corn-meal, one 
 teacup of sugar, and water enough to moisten 
 the whole. Sprinkle a deep pudding-dish with 
 corn-meal and put in the fruit dough, make a 
 batter of one teacup each of corn-meal and 
 wheat-meal, a tablespoonful of sugar, and water 
 or milk, and spread over the top. Bake three 
 hours. 
 
 Baked Indian Pudding 1 . 
 
 Put four heaping tablespoonfuls of Indian- 
 meal into a pan ; mix with it a teacup of mo- 
 lasses and a teaspoonful of salt. Boil three 
 pints of milk with orange peel ; pour it scald- 
 ing hot upon the meal, stirring rapidly to pre- 
 vent lumps ; put it into a pudding-dish ; pour 
 over the top a cup of cold milk or cream. 
 Bake it five hours in a hot oven. 
 
 Farina Pudding*. 
 
 Take cold boiled farina, one quart, two quarts 
 milk, one teacup sugar, and four eggs. Some- 
 times raisins are added. Stir well and bake in 
 a moderate oven. 
 
380 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 Apple Pudding. 
 
 Place in the bottom of a buttered pudding- 
 dish a layer of pared apples cut in quarters ; 
 pour over these a few spoonfuls of water ; then 
 a layer of fine bread-crumbs ; and so alternate 
 until the dish is full, finishing with a layer of 
 crumbs; moisten the whole with a little water. 
 Cover it with a plate and place it in the oven ; 
 bake an hour and a half; just before taking 
 out, remove the plate, and let the top brown. 
 Serve with this sauce : 
 
 Sauce. — One cup of sugar, one tablespoonfiil 
 of butter, one tablespoonfiil of molasses, two- 
 thirds of a pint of boiling water. Flavor to 
 your taste with nutmeg or lemon. 
 
 Rice Pudding. 
 
 One cup of rice, three quarts of milk, one 
 teaspoonful of salt, two-thirds of a cup of 
 sugar. Bake very slowly. Eat with butter, or 
 leave out the sugar and serve with this sauce : 
 
 Sauce. — One egg, one teacup of sugar, 
 beaten together twenty minutes, two-thirds of 
 a pint of boiling water. Flavor to taste. 
 
 Steanied Pudding. 
 
 One cup oi sour milk sweetened with soda, 
 one-half cup o^ thick cream, one-half cup o^ 
 
RECEIPTS FOR GOOD FOODS. 381 
 
 molasses, one cup of stoned raisins, flour enough 
 to make a stiff batter. Boil in a farina kettle 
 four hours. Serve with sauce. 
 
 Tea Sauce. 
 
 Beat up six large baked apples, skinned after 
 baking, with an egg and a tablespoonful of 
 cream ; beat the white of the egg separately, 
 and pour it upon the top. 
 
 Cauliflower. 
 
 Wash and cut into large pieces, and boil or 
 steam ; when done, put in dishes, and pour over 
 it a dressing as for cabbage. 
 
 Parsnips. 
 
 Scrape or pare off the skin, or peel, after 
 they are boiled. They will cook tender in half 
 an hour. Then set them in the oven for ten 
 minutes, and send to the table without season- 
 ing. Or, they may be pared and sliced and 
 partly boiled in water, which should then be 
 poured off and milk substituted, in which they 
 should simmer slowly until tender. They are 
 not so strong in taste in the autumn as in the 
 spring ; hence, although they are generally left 
 in the ground through the winter, a part may 
 
382 OVR DIGESTION. 
 
 be dug in the fall, and packed in the sand in 
 the cellar for winter use* They are nice in 
 soups, or are good to be eaten cold, or sliced 
 and browned on a griddle or in a hot oven. 
 
 Squash. 
 
 Summer squash is by us steamed, mashed and 
 served without dressing or seasoning. 
 
 Winter squash should be pared, cleaned 
 inside, cut into large pieces and boiled, or 
 steamed, which is better. When done, mash 
 and season with sugar, and it is ready for the 
 table. 
 
 If desired, a little cream may be added to 
 either. When steamed, the nicest, dry 
 pieces of winter squash may be taken out and 
 sent to the table as an excellent substitute for 
 sweet potato. 
 
 Baked Squash. 
 Take winter squash, cut in halves, partially 
 clean them inside, and bake slowly in an oven 
 an hour and a half ; then scrape the inner sur- 
 face and remove the squash from the rind — 
 which has served as a dish in baking — mash, 
 and serve for the table. Or, cut the squash 
 into several pieces, take off the rind, clean 
 inside and bake slowlv. Eat the same as bread 
 or baked potatoes. 
 
RECEIPTS FOB GOOD FOODS. 383 
 
 Green Beans. 
 Drop them into boiling water and cook till 
 tender, and they are good without any season- 
 ing. If any is desired, a little cream and 
 sugar are admissible. 
 
 Dried Beans. 
 Soak in water over night ; pour off the water, 
 and put them in plenty of cold water over the 
 fire to scald ; just before boiling, pour off this 
 water, and add enough more cold to cover 
 about an inch or so ; let these come to boiling, 
 and set them back on the stove to cook slowly 
 four or five hours. This renders them more 
 digestible than the ordinary mode of cooking. 
 If baked, they may be boiled one hour and 
 baked two or three, in milk and cream and a 
 little sugar. 
 
 Green Peas. 
 Shell, but do not wash them. Boil in water 
 barely sufficient to cook them ; then season 
 with cream and sugar, and they are very pal- 
 atable without salt. They can be boiled, and 
 served with new potatoes as a variety, and will 
 be found to make a pleasant dish. 
 
 Asparagus. 
 Wash and cut into small pieces ; put into a 
 kettle and pour in water sufficient to cover, and 
 
384 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 boil it half an hour, adding a little cream be- 
 fore taking from the fire, and it is ready to 
 serve. This is very nice poured over toasted 
 biscuits laid in deep dishes. 
 
 Beets. 
 
 Wash carefully, but do not cut them. In 
 summer they will boil in an hour, or less. In 
 winter they require two or three hours. When 
 done, drop them into cold water, and the skins 
 can be readily slipped off by the hand. Cut 
 in slices and set upon the table. A very nice 
 dish is made by boiling young beets and new 
 potatoes, and, after peeling, cut them up in 
 small pieces, mix well together in a deep dish, 
 and pour over them thin, sweet cream for a 
 dressing, or, if cream is not to be had, a thin 
 milk gravy will answer. Another way is to 
 pare and slice the beets, and boil them in a 
 little water, so when they are cooked it will be 
 nearly boiled away; then add a thickening of 
 flour and milk, and let them simmer ten or 
 fifteen minutes. They may also be cooked by 
 baking four or five hours in an oven. 
 
OUE KITCHENS. 385 
 
 OUR KITCHENS. 
 
 In large city houses, the kitchen is now 
 placed in the upper story. If in the basement, 
 it is difficult to keep, the atmosphere of the 
 house sweet. The accumulated odors of years 
 render many of our city houses anything but 
 " sweet 9 sweet home." 
 
 If for any reason it is impracticable to place 
 the kitchen in the garret, the next best thing is 
 to ventilate it by a simple arrangement, which 
 I will briefly describe. 
 
 Suppose the kitchen to be fifteen feet square. 
 The stove or range is at one side. Over the 
 stove or range open the ceiling, say three feet 
 by five, and extend this up to the next ceiling 
 above. It will look, in the room over the 
 kitchen, like a simple closet. Let the walls be 
 lathed and plastered on both sides. Now run 
 your stove-pipe or other flue up through this 
 blind closet, and enter the chimney at the very 
 top. You will observe that the ceiling over the 
 •stove is, say, eighteen feet high instead of eight. 
 The heat and all the odors from the cooking 
 will ascend quickly into this space. With a 
 ventilator opening into the chimney above the 
 
 33 
 
386 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 opening for the smoke-pipe, the heat and odors 
 will pass off, and you will preserve the atm 
 phere of your kitchen as pure as that of your 
 parlor. Onions, cabbage and the other strong 
 smells disappear in a trice up through the new 
 ventilator. 
 
 If in building the house the ceiling of the 
 kitchen can be made low, say only six feet 
 from the floor, and thereby the ceiling of the 
 room over the kitchen be made, say, fourteen 
 feet high, then the ventilating shaft over the 
 stove will be particularly effective, The residue 
 of the ceiling of the kitchen being only six feet 
 high, the cool air coming in from the wind 
 and doors will pass along under this ceiling and 
 keep everything singularly cool and sweet In 
 other words, the entire atmosphere of the 
 kitchen with its low ceiling will move every 
 moment toward the ventilating chamber; and 
 thus no odors can possibly come from the stove 
 or range out into the kitchen and house. 
 
 This invention is worth thousands of things 
 which are patented, and costs almost nothing. 
 
 I need hardly say that the kitchen should be 
 light, with hard, smooth, naked floor, one easily 
 cleaned, a chest of drawers, a good refrigeral 
 abundance of water, which should be kept I 1 
 in large quantities, by a pipe in the lire, and a 
 marble slab for bread and biscuit. 
 
ADULTERATIONS OF FOOD. 387 
 
 ADULTERATIONS OP FOOD. 
 
 Most of the articles which appear on our 
 tables are more or less adulterated. Most wines 
 and liquors are adulterated, while oils, pickles, 
 vinegar, preserved fruits and meats, confection- 
 ery, sugar, milk, spices, coffee, cocoa, tea, but- 
 ter and bread are more or less adulterated. 
 
 Adulterating Substances. 
 
 The articles used in adulterating these foods 
 are various sorts of copper and arsenic, various 
 compounds of lead and of mercury, Prussian 
 blue, chromate of potash, Brunswick green, 
 gamboge, indigo, catechu, alum, Venetian red, 
 sulphate of soda, yellow ochre; and besides 
 these deadly poisons, chalk, plaster of Paris, 
 chicory, starch, beans, burned peas, rye, pota- 
 toes, lard, water, turmeric, etc., are employed. 
 
 Adulterations of Bread. 
 
 Sprouted or grown wheat makes a common 
 flour sold at a low rate, and generally purchased 
 by the bakers. Sprouting in the grain changes 
 
ooz OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 the character of the gluten, bo that it is difficult 
 to make with it light and spongy bread; but 
 this lost quality can be restored by the use of 
 blue vitriol, lime-water or alum. Alum is the 
 article usually employed. From e six- 
 
 teen ounces of alum are added to each barrel 
 of Hour. 
 
 My friend, Dr. Hoekins, analyzed a 1 
 number of specimei bread purchased in 
 
 different parte of the city, and found alum in 
 every sample, and the proportion ted 
 
 above, from eight to u ounces <»r* alum to 
 
 a barrel of flour. The white and 1;. edi- 
 
 tion of baker's I is due, gem rally. to alum. 
 
 Such bread is apt to produce heart-burn. 
 
 Is it not -trail-' that the inexperience of the 
 average housekeeper can produce a better 
 bread, more palatable to everybody, than all 
 the experience and skill of the baker? 
 
 The introduction of corn meal, rye Hour and 
 potatoes into wheat bread is very common; but 
 as neither of them is ] as, we shall ] 
 
 them. 
 
 Alum is Poisonous. 
 
 Dr. Wood, in his work " Therapeutics and 
 Pharmacology/ 1 say- of alum. " When -wal- 
 lowed in a quantity of a dram or more, it not 
 unfrequently causes nausea and vomiting, and 
 
ADULTERATIONS IN TEA. 389 
 
 sometimes produces griping pains and purg- 
 
 ing." 
 
 Devergie found about six drams of dried 
 alum given to a dog to produce death, when 
 the oesophagus was tied, so as to prevent vom- 
 iting. " When used for a considerable time in 
 doses insufficient to nauseate, -alum not unfre- 
 quently j)roduces a sense of stricture in the 
 epigastrium (pit of the stomach), precordial 
 oppression (ojrpression about the heart), and 
 other dyspej:>tic feelings, probably by interfer- 
 ing with the secretion of the gastric juice, and 
 thus impairing digestion." 
 
 Adulterations in Tea. 
 
 Tea is now probably consumed by five hun- 
 dred millions, or nearly one-half, of the human 
 race. Its active principle, of which it contains 
 about two per cent., is theine, and is, so far as 
 chemistry has been able to analyze, identical 
 with the active principle of coffee, of cocoa and 
 of mate, or the Paraguay tea. 
 
 In England, spurious tea is made from the 
 leaves of the sole, elder, hawthorn and other 
 plants. Besides these, the exhausted leaves 
 collected from the hotels and restaurants are 
 dried, colored and mixed with genuine teas. 
 
 The Chinese adulterate teas extensively by 
 
 33* 
 
390 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 mixing the leaves of other plants, as those of 
 the ash, plum, camellia ; secondly, they manu- 
 facture a spurious article denominated " lie- 
 tea;" and, thirdly, they glaze and paint the 
 leaves with various coloring matters. Mr. For- 
 tune says, after describing the proa - of man- 
 ufacturing tea out of the leaves of other trees : 
 
 "Here, then, were very fair-looking green 
 teas made from the leaves of a large tree, 
 unlike the tea shrub as could well be; and an 
 article as closely resembling Mack tea could 
 have been ju>t as easily made out of th 
 leaves." 
 
 A superior looking black tea i< frequently 
 made by coloring the inferior kinds of tea 
 leaves with black lead, or what we should call 
 stove-polish. 
 
 There is no such tiling in nature a- 
 tea. The whole of this so-called green tea is a 
 yellowish green leaf colored with Prussian blue, 
 indigo, turmeric and gypsum. 
 
 "Young hyson," says Mr, Davis, "is often 
 made up by cutting and sifting, through sieves 
 of a certain size, other green tea,-." Mr. Davi< 
 says there was, when he was in China, an i\- 
 tensive manufactory of green teas from dam- 
 aged black leaves, at the village or suburb 
 called Honan. His friend, a Hong merchant, 
 conducted him to the place where the opera- 
 
ADULTERATIONS IN TEA. 391 
 
 tions were carried on. He there saw the dam- 
 aged black leaves, after being dried, transferred 
 to a cast-iron pan and stirred rapidly with the 
 hand, a small quantity of turmeric in powder 
 haying been previously introduced. This gave 
 a yellowish color, and they had still to be made 
 green. To this end some lumps of fine blue 
 were produced, together with another substance 
 in powder, which, from the names given to 
 them by the workmen, as well as their appear- 
 ance, were recognized at once as Prussian blue 
 and gypsum. These were stirred into the tea, 
 in the pan over the fire, until it had taken the 
 fine bloom color of hyson. To avoid the possi- 
 bility of error, Mr. Davis took samples of the 
 substances employed. 
 
 Mr, Bruce states that in the " last operation 
 of coloring the green teas, a mixture of sul- 
 phate of lime and indigo, very finely pulver- 
 ized and sifted through fine muslin, in the pro- 
 portion of three of the former to one of the 
 latter, is added. Into a pan containing seven 
 pounds of tea is put about half a teaspoonful 
 of this mixture. Indigo gives it the color, and 
 sulphate of lime fixes it. Mr. Fortune, during 
 each of his journeys, saw the process of color- 
 ing teas. He states that, at one of its stages, 
 the hands of the workmen are quite blue. 
 
 "I could not help thinking," he remarks, 
 
392 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 "if any green-tea drinkers liad been present 
 during the operation, their tastes would have 
 been corrected and improved." Again, he 
 says, " I have stated that the plants grown in 
 the district of Che-Kiang produce green te 
 but it must not be supposed these are the green 
 teas exported to England. The leaf has a 
 much more natural color, and has little or none 
 of what Ave call the beautiful bloom upon it 
 which is so much admired in Europe and 
 America. There is no doubt that all th 
 blooming green teas, which are manufactured 
 at Canton, are dyed with Prussian blue and 
 gypsum to suit the taste of the foreign barbar- 
 ians/' 
 
 He adds: "In every hundred pounds of 
 ored green tea, the consumer actually drii 
 more than half a pound of Prussian blue i 
 gypsum/' 
 
 The Chinese never drink colored teas them- 
 selves, and only color them because they are in 
 demand and fetch a higher price. 
 
 Adulterations of Coffee. 
 
 It is rare to purchase ground coffee which is 
 
 pure. It is adulterated with chicory, dande- 
 lion root, and very extensively with the ground 
 powder of many grains. Jusl now dried carrot 
 
ADULTERATIONS OF BUTTER. 393 
 
 roots are extensively used. Peas and beans are 
 likewise much employed. 
 
 Cocoa and Chocolate. These are so generally 
 adulterated that one may go through the shops 
 of a town without finding one pure sample. 
 
 Adulterations of Butter. 
 
 The statements of the wise ones about the 
 adulterations of butter are almost incredible. 
 
 The quantity of w^ater and salt that butter 
 should contain is about two and one-half per 
 cent, of salt and ten per cent, of water. As 
 much as fourteen per cent, of salt has been 
 found, and a much too large percentage of 
 w r ater. As high as thirty per cent, of lard is 
 frequently added to the cheaper grades of but- 
 ter. In rare cases flour has been used. 
 
 The detection of the presence of water in 
 butter is easy. Melt it, pour it into a bottle, 
 and keep it near the fire for some time, and the 
 two substances will separate. The water will 
 be seen at the bottom, milky from the presence 
 of whey, and the butter at the top. The pro- 
 portion of each may be easily estimated. 
 
 Lard of the cheaper qualities is often greatly 
 adulterated. Twenty-five and even thirty per 
 cent, of water is added, and often salt. The 
 presence of water may be detected as in butter. 
 
394 OUR DIGESTION, 
 
 There is no excuse for the use of salt ; its p] 
 
 ence in the smallest quantity is an adulteration. 
 Flour is sometimes added to lard, but as it 
 sticks and burns upon a hot vessel it is ea£ 
 detected. 
 
 Adulterations of Honey. 
 
 Honey is so commonly adulterated that it is 
 difficult to find, even among the 
 pure strained honey. The only protection 
 against adulterations in this buy it 
 
 in the comb. 
 
 The newspapers contain advertic - of 
 
 recipes for artificial honey. 1 have examined 
 a number of these, and find that they are m 
 ly made of sugar, water, cream of tartar and 
 essence of peppermint. 
 
 Sugar is not often adulterated, though the 
 very finely ground sugars sometu ifier in 
 
 this way by the addition of Hour, and a friend 
 says, marble dust. 
 
 Pepper, Mustard and Cayenne. 
 
 These are mostly sold in powder, and are 
 very rarely pure. The adulterating sube 
 consist, in considerable part, of damaged goods 
 of the same class, such as have been injured by 
 
PEPPER, MUSTARD AND CAYENNE. 395 
 
 insects or in clamp places, or such as have suf- 
 fered by injury from water. These are ground 
 up and are not easy to detect. 
 
 Allspice is frequently adulterated with pre- 
 pared flour. 
 
 Cloves are ' often adulterated w r ith various 
 kinds of bark ; and often those which appear 
 to be genuine are deficient in strength, having 
 had a portion of the strength extracted. Dr. 
 Hoskins, of this city, says in his work, " What 
 We Eat :" "I have purchased several samples 
 labelled cinnamon, none of which contained a 
 particle of that spice ; they were all the much 
 inferior article cassia, in many cases damaged, 
 and in all either mixed with corn or rice flour. 
 Two samples were colored with ochre, and 
 many were almost tasteless." 
 
 Cayenne is adulterated with corn meal and 
 salt, and this is so common that it is difficult, 
 even if you procure it of a first-class druggist, 
 to obtain cayenne pure. 
 
 Mustard is rarely pure. The adulterating 
 substances are flour and turmeric. Sometimes 
 fifty per cent, is added to the weight in flour, 
 and then the turmeric is introduced to restore 
 the color. 
 
 Horse-radish is so generally adulterated that, 
 instead of a mass of the size of a kernel of 
 
396 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 corn starting the tears, one may take a tea- 
 spoonful without any disposition to cry. 
 
 Confectionery, Vinegar, Pickles, Preserved 
 Fruits, Meats and Fish. 
 
 I find it very hard to write about the adul- 
 terations in confectionery in an amiable temper. 
 It is abominable — this poisoning children with 
 various preparations of lead and other deadly 
 poisons. 
 
 The colors are principally red-, bines and 
 greens. 
 
 Dr. Hoskins, in the work I quoted, de- 
 
 clares that he lias verified the presence of all 
 the following poisons in the coloring matter of 
 candies: Chromate of lead, gamboge^ cochin 
 Vandyke brown, amber, sienna, Antwerp b 
 Prussian blur, Brunswick green, verdigris, < m- 
 erald green and false verditer. 
 
 With one exception, these arc all deadly 
 poisons, and they are introduced in sufficient 
 quantities not only to pr^dnee derangement, 
 but in thousands of cases to poison child] 
 and, I have no doubt, in a great number of 
 cases, actually kill them. 
 
 The subject of deadly poisons in the coloring 
 matter of candies has excited very grave inter- 
 est among some of the most scientific and phi- 
 lanthropic of the men of science. 
 
CONFECTIONERY, VINEGAR, ETC. 397 
 
 Dr. Hoskins says, in regard to the quantity 
 of poisons used in coloring confectionery : 
 "They say the quantities of coloring matter 
 used are infinitesimal. Perhaps so, but I have 
 myself scraped enough Scheele's green from one 
 small sugar toy to kill a rabbit in a few min- 
 utes." 
 
 The only way to avoid poisoning is to shun 
 confectionery in toto, and, although sugar may 
 be taken in moderate quantities by children 
 without serious injury, no medical man will 
 tell you that a child will suffer by avoiding it 
 altogether. 
 
 Pickles. That bright green color seen in the 
 pickles sold in bottles and otherwise is pro- 
 duced, in every case, by some compound of 
 copper, a deadly poison. For my part, I never 
 touch them. I may add that I have seen 
 many persons affected by them. I have never 
 seen a case of death produced by these beauti- 
 ful, bright green pickles, but I have seen num- 
 berless cases in which such poisoning has pro- 
 duced a deranged stomach, with thirst. 
 
 Vinegar. Vinegar is so generally adulter- 
 ated, that there is no absolute safety except in 
 making it in your own house. It may be 
 made from cider or sweetened water, by a 
 management generally known. 
 
 Pickled Cabbage. One other curious fact in 
 
 34 
 
398 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 this matter of adulterations is found in the ar- 
 ticle known as pickled red cabbage, which very 
 frequently is common cabbage colored with 
 some vegetable, dye. 
 
 Wines and Liquors. Wines and liquors are 
 adulterated (as the public has long since learn- 
 ed) to an enormous extent; but as I feel no 
 interest in that, and would, if I could have my 
 own way, multiply the adulterations by a hun- 
 dred, I will say nothing of them. 
 
 Milk. Milk reflects the condition of the 
 animal secreting it. Dr. Van Amnion, phy- 
 sician to the King of Saxony, gives an inter- 
 esting illustration: "A carpenter quarrelled 
 with a soldier billetted in his house, and was 
 set upon by the latter with his drawn sword. 
 The wife of the carpenter at first trembled 
 from fear and terror, and then suddenly threw 
 herself furiously between the combatants, wrest- 
 ed the sword from the soldier's hand, broke it 
 in pieces and threw it away. During the tu- 
 mult some of the neighbors came in and sepa- 
 rated the men. While in this state of strong 
 excitement, the mother took her child from the 
 cradle where it lay smiling and in most perfect 
 health, never having had a moment's illness 
 she gave it the breast, and in so doing sealed 
 its late. In a few minutes the infant left off) 
 became restless, panted and fell dead upon its 
 
CONFECTIONERY, VINEGAR, ETC 399 
 
 mother's bosom. The physician who was in- 
 stantly called in found the child lying in the 
 cradle as if sleeping, and with its features un- 
 disturbed ; but all his resources were fruitless ; 
 it was irrecoverably gone." 
 
 Cows fed upon distillery slops, and kept in 
 close, heated, dark stables, give a milk unfit for 
 human food, and especially mischievous to in- 
 fants. In the distillery stables of New York 
 cows are packed together as closely as they can 
 stand, in the midst of indescribable filth, in 
 dark, heated, unventilated buildings, and are 
 fed upon hot slops from the whisky stills. 
 When these dreadful places have been investi- 
 gated, the poor creatures have been found in 
 every stage of disease and rottenness, and, al- 
 though the capital invested in this vile business 
 has been able to suborn the testimony of false 
 physicians, no thinking man can believe that 
 the milk, every drop of which is taken from 
 the blood constantly circulating through the 
 filthy ulcers and rotten tissues of these tooth- 
 less, feverish, half-blind and staggering crea- 
 tures, can be sweet and healthful ! Thousands 
 of babies in a city like New York fall sacrifices 
 to the cupidity of these swill-milk harpies. 
 
 And even when the milk comes from the 
 country, and makes its journey in the cars, it 
 is then commonly adulterated with water, a lit- 
 
400 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 tie salt, and colored with burned sugar. The 
 amount of water introduced depends upon the 
 cupidity of the milk dealer. The amount of 
 water added is, ordinarily, from twelve to fifty 
 per cent., or, to use the language of the trade, 
 "from 8-1 to splitting it right in two." It 
 would be most wise, and would soon correct 
 this evil of adulteration with water, if the lit- 
 tle instrument known as a lactometer (which 
 costs but little) were kept in every house. If 
 the instrument be a good one, it is an infallible 
 detective. Another good plan is to Bet a little 
 of the milk aside, and see, if that " dirty yel- 
 low scum," as the city boarding-hou.se keeper 
 calls it, will rise to the surface. 
 
FINAL CHAT WITH THE READER. 401 
 
 FINAL CHAT WITH THE READER. 
 
 Iisr this work I have talked to you about 
 health just as I should like to have you talk 
 to me about your business. For instance, you 
 are an engineer. If you began to reel off your 
 technical words, I should say, " Hold on ! tell 
 me these things in a simple way, so that I 
 can understand : these ports, eccentrics, dia- 
 phragms, and so on, I can't manage. If you 
 haven't the capacity to talk about these things 
 in a way which a plain man can comj>rehend, 
 then you should not speak to plain men." So 
 when a doctor talks to the people about health, 
 if he can't speak in plain language he should 
 keep silent. I know very well how easy it is 
 to talk in technicalities, how glibly such words 
 slip off the tongue. I know that it requires 
 an unusual familiarity with the subject to talk 
 of health to the people in simple words, but 
 unless one can do it, he should keep his mouth 
 shut. Sir John Sinclair very happily says : 
 
 "The speculator is always to be suspected 
 when, forsaking plain, direct facts, he involves 
 his want of meaning and conscious ignorance 
 in learned words or metaphor." 
 
 34* 
 
402 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 A physician should not gabble about the epi- 
 gastrium, solar plexus, and the cerebro-spinal 
 axis to the people. It is a habit often indulged 
 among doctors. They ought to know better. 
 It is as vulgar as the common habit of quoting 
 Latin and French; and this, I would add, is 
 not only vulgar, but insulting. Whether the 
 speaker or writer means it or not, the quota- 
 tion may always be rendered thus ■ " / have 
 been to college ! How was it with you ? What 
 was the standing of your ianiih 
 
 When I was a small chap, my older sister 
 used to talk to her young-lady callers in 
 Latin — a kind known as bog-Latin, I think. 
 For example, if she wished to say to them, 
 "Come, let us go out into the garden and leave 
 this young scalawag in the house/ 1 she would 
 add a peculiar ending to each word, and if I 
 remember correctly it was "are?* pronoun 
 in two syllables. Then the sentence would 
 read : 
 
 " Comeare, letare usare goare ontare intoore 
 theare gardenare andare leaveare thisare young- 
 are scalawagare inare theare houseare." 
 
 I could run faster than my sister, could mul- 
 tiply faster, could beat her at most games, but 
 when she retired into the classic shades she 
 was too much for me. Oh, how I longed to 
 be big enough to study Latin ! How I envied 
 
FINAL CHAT WITH THE READER. 403 
 
 people who had been to college ! How I won- 
 dered that girls could talk Latin ! 
 
 The spirit in which my sister talked her 
 gibberish was precisely that in which the ora- 
 tor quotes Latin. He does not use a Latin 
 sentence because it renders a thought clearer, 
 for the orator himself is obliged to translate 
 the words into English before he can fully 
 comprehend them. And he certainly does not 
 introduce Latin to help his hearers, because he 
 knows perfectly well that not one in a hundred 
 of them will understand a word of it, and that 
 he might, for all practical purposes, just as well 
 have spoken with his fist in his mouth. 
 
 My are friendare, itare isare aare greatare 
 humbugare, andare youare knoware itare asare 
 wellare asare Iare doare. 
 
 A priesthood which reads its prayers to the 
 million in a dead language, that not one in a 
 thousand of them can comprehend, is precisely 
 matched by a profession which talks to the 
 people of their health in technicalities, and 
 writes prescriptions for doses, which they are 
 to swallow, in Latin. 
 
 As I wasted several of the best years of my 
 life in studying and teaching Latin and Greek, 
 I speak with the more warmth on the subject. 
 
 In this work I have talked to you about 
 health in a perfectly simple way. .1 have ad- 
 
404 OUR DIGESTION. 
 
 vocated no "isms" or "hobbies/' but taking 
 man just as we find him, with all his passions, 
 weaknesses and capacities, I have given you 
 the testimony of the experience and wisdom 
 of the ages in regard to the habits and prac- 
 tices which produce the best health and highest 
 vigor. 
 
 It takes a certain quantity of force to dress, 
 sit up, eat, digest and talk. Every man must 
 have this amount to live. To work, think, 1 
 and aspire require a large amount of force. A 
 majority of our people, especially women, have 
 hardly enough force to live. Dressing, eating, 
 digesting and talking are almost too much for 
 them. If they attend upon a sick friend, for 
 example, they must give up dressing, walk: 
 sitting, eating and digesting for a number 
 days, in order to catch up. 
 
 Persons in high health have fifty per cent. 
 of their vital force to spare for mind and heart. 
 Thousands of women, and not a few men, use 
 up ninety-nine per cent, of their vital force in 
 simply living, including a little poor think] 
 and a little weak sentiment, and they are often 
 obliged to draw on the constitutional capital 
 to achieve this contemptible existence. 
 
 This poverty of health is a very sad form of 
 poverty, and yet among many distorted, feeble 
 souls, there is a real pride in such physical d< — 
 
. FINAL CHAT WITH THE READER. 405 
 
 titution. If one lias a weak mind, with little 
 power of thought, and is constantly asking silly- 
 questions, it is not thought to be particularly 
 interesting ; or if one has a weak heart, abound- 
 ing in silly sentiment, no one takes pride in it ; 
 or if one has a weak conscience, leading to 
 theft, lying, and other dishonesty, no one seems 
 particularly proud of it; or if one's soul is 
 so completely awry that, instead of words of 
 gentle reverence, the lips are familiar with 
 vulgar oathsjno one is proud of that; there is 
 only one kind of weakness and good-for-noth- 
 ingness in which people take pride, and that is 
 the fundamental one of the body. I say fun- 
 damental, because we may as well try to erect 
 any other superstructure without a foundation, 
 as to develop a noble manhood or womanhood 
 upon a weak, faddled, effeminate body. 
 
 We are always complaining that our girls 
 are so silly and trifling, that they gabble such 
 silly bosh. It is just as natural as that a poor, 
 thin soil should produce particularly small po- 
 tatoes. When these small-waisted, cold-footed, 
 soft-handed, pale-faced young ladies become 
 earnest, sensible and strong, then the sand 
 knolls will produce something better than white 
 beans. 
 
 And finally, addressing a people with weak 
 digestion, I believe this work to be the most 
 
406 OUE DIGESTION. 
 
 important I have ever written. No author can 
 be indifferent to the success of his book, and I 
 don't pretend that I have ever written anything 
 and felt no interest in the opinion of the public. 
 But upon the advent of this work I shall watch 
 the papers with a yearning anxiety. And this 
 would be but little less had some other person 
 written it. I could almost wish it had been 
 written by another, that I might feel at liberty 
 to say what I think of the vital importance of 
 its teachings. I should say, among other 
 things, that no man can read this work with- 
 out acquiring what will remain witli him as a 
 sort of conscience to make mere animal indul- 
 gences anything but comfortable. 
 
 What is imperatively demanded among us 
 is, that our table shall be removed from the 
 domain of mere animal gratification into that 
 of reason — from the sty into the home of a 
 man; that the table shall be no longer an end, 
 but a means ; that it shall be made a place 
 true refreshment on the high road to a grand 
 and noble future! What we want is a Chris- 
 tian table, and a public sentiment which shall 
 instinctively apply the words Christian and 
 unchristian to our food as well as to our 
 morals. 
 
 If those who are seeking a higher life have 
 doubts upon any of the teachings of this vol- 
 
FINAL GHAT WITH THE READER. 407 
 
 ume, or if any of its ideas shall suggest inqui- 
 ries, the author will hold himself under obli- 
 gation to answer, without charge, any question 
 which may be addressed to him, with stamp, 
 at Boston, Mass. The value of the work may 
 turn with many people upon an explanation 
 which may be conveyed in a single sentence. 
 I shall feel truly remunerated for writing this 
 book, not when my publisher's check reaches 
 me, but when I hear from its readers that they 
 are striving anew to make their bodies fit 
 temples for the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The following works by the same author can be supplied on 
 application to the publisher of this book : 
 
 "Weak Lungs, and How to Make Them Strong;" "New Gym- 
 nastics for Men, Women and Children ;" and " Our Girls." 
 
2681 - 
 

 
 
 
 
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