Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-10-10

articleon this subject, from which we quote
EAT LEIsURELY.
Ifto digest our food we should enjoy Il,
il should, Of course, be taken leisurely, and
in pleasant frame Of mind. The cheerful
society Of friends should not be absent.
Chatted food, the proverb says, is half di-
gested. And the longer time spent over the
meal thus socially enjoyed has its part in
the benefit. Next to anxiety, the worst foe
to digestion is hurry; and this for several
reasons. The stomach in its normal action,
contracts on each morsel as il is swallowed
and relaxes again 10 receive the next. In
sufficient time allowed for this interfere
with the rythm of its movements and dis
orders the play of its muscles. Cramps
and painful feelings Of distention could
have no more likely cause. That haste cuts
short mastication is obvious, and on the
perfection Of that process chiefly depends
the rapidity with which the solution of the
food can be effected. Again, it creates an
artificial thirst partly by not allowing time
for the due admixture of saliva; and above
all it deprives US of the natural guide to the
proper amount Of food, and RENTS almost TO
chance decision than which scarcely any
is more important to our well-being. For
the natural indication of suficiency of
food is the feeling of satisfaction; not sa-
tiety, which is always symptom of excess,
but a feeling of perfect comfort, the true
luxury Of eating. This feeling the hurried
eater can not know it never exists for
him. Either the unnatural violence to the
stomach induces n premature feeling of re-
pletion, and stints him Of his due supply,
or he eats on till the warning (Which even
comes too late) Of safety arrests him. But
perhaps 1t is in vain TO protest to hurried
men, against hurry in their eating; and it
is well, therefore, that there exists q means
by which its i'll effects may be, to great
degree, escaped. Meat may be eaten rapidly,
if cut small, even with very little mastica-
ton. Animal food, ifwell divided, may be,
without much risk, almost bolted but veg
etable food may not. The reason of this
difference is that the digestion of the former
is carried on entirely by the secretions of
the internal organs; that of the latter de-
pends in considerable part upon the action
of the saliva
THE QUANTITY REQUIRED.
In respect to the quantity of food required
to support life in the best way, some relia-
bIe information has been obtained by ex-
pertinent. The precise amount which in the
adult maintains the weight of the body un-
changed during life of moderate exercise
is theoretically the right average quantity.
OF course, it varies with the kind of food
employed some articles furnishing much
more nourishment in an equal weight than
others. On diet Of fresh meat, bread and
butter, with coffee or water for drink, DR..
Dalton found the entire quantity required
during twenty-four hours by man in full
health, and taking free exercise in the open
air, to be-of meat, l h.; of bread, lb. 3
o.; Of butter or fat, 81 oz. water, 81. lbs.
That is to say, rather less than p lbs. of
solid food, and rather more than three pints
of solid liquid. These weights would of
course be exceeded if less nutritious sub
stances, such as rice, potatoes, or fruits,
formed any considerable portion of the diet.
DR.. Hammond found that he maintained his
exact weight by daily consumption of l
lb. Of meat, 18 OF. bread, 6 o. of soup,
OF. beet-roots, l OF. of butter with salt,
at the same time drinking 8 pints of water
and 10 OF. of coffee, with cream and sugar.
Any excess Of this caused an increase of
weight, any diminution caused loss. Re-
membering that the Doctor is 6 feet inches
in hight, and weighs IA stone, we may take
these quantities as a fair average for a
strong man somewhat beyond the ordinary
stature.
Generally speaking, the average amount
of food necessary for healthy men is esti-
mated at II o. of beef 20 OF. of bread,
with about J OF. of butter These articles
contain force, capable, if applied by q
machine, Of raising fourteen million pounds
of weight to a hight of one foot; that is, the
oxidation the elements contained in them
70 t,eh
lent to that effect But in the human body,
though it far surpasses all machines in
economy of force, the utmost amount of
power attainable from them is not more
than equivalent to three and half millions
of pounds raised to the hight of foot; and
an average days labor does not exceed two
millions of pounds thus raised. The diff
ference is mainly due, doubtless, to the
number of internal actions which are car
ried on in the living body; such as the cir
culation, the movements of respiration, and
the production of animal heat. These con-
sumo great part of the force of the food,
and leave only a remainder to be disposed
of in muscular exertion.
But no average is of much practical
avail; for individuals in this respect differ
very widely, as much as different breeds of
cattle Some can be kept in health only
by continual abundance; with others, a
small Light diet alone will agree. But as a
rule, good and liberal diet is the right
thing for health-liberal diet and plentiful
exercise in the open air.
The army ration in the United States
amounts to about forty ounces of solid food
per day, and two quarts and pint 0 coffee.
This ration per day is several ounces per
day larger than that in European armies,
and is liberal and abundant supply, leav-
ing, when carefully husblndcd an excess
which soldiers sell or exchange for articles
Of food not included in the ration.
SLEEP AFTER DINNER.
Is sleep after dinner q good thing? On
the part of some persons of weak digestion
it seems to be so. The habit should not be
acquired without an attempt to ward off the
necessity by a reduction of the amount OF
food. If this have unfayorable effects, an
ample compensation for the time given to a
post-prandial sleep may be obtained by
earlier wakefuness in the morning. On
the other hand, DR.. Beaumont found in the
case Of st. Martin, that digestion was pro
NOTED by moderate exercise, such as walk
ing, Immediately following the meal. II
all cases experience must decide.
REPosE OF MIND.
There is one more element which plays
most important part in digestion, and tha
is the state of the nervous system. Nor