The Democratic press. (Eaton, Preble County, Ohio) 1860-1865, 1861-11-07

.'- EAT LEIsURELY.t
If to digest our food We should
enjoy it, 1t should, of course, BEL
taken leisurely, and In, a pleasant
frame of mind, The cheerful so.
ciety of friends should not be alb.
sent. "Chatted food" theproverb
says, "is half digested." And the
longer time spent over a heal thus
socially enjoyed, has, its 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 1t is swallowed, |
and relaxes again to receive the
next. insufficient time allowed
for this interferes with the rhythm
of its movements, and disorders
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
submits almost to chance a decision,
than which scarcely any is more
important to our well being. For
the natural indication of a suf.
fciency Of food is the feeling of
satisfaction, not safety, which is.
always a symptom Of excess, but a
feeling Of perfect comfort, the true
luxury of eating, This feeling the
hurried eater cannot know; it never
exists for-him. Either the unnatu-
raj violence to the stomach in
duces premature feeling of reple-
tion, and stints him of his due sup
| ply, or he eats on until the warn
ing (Which however comes too
late) of safety arrests him. But
perhaps it is in vain to protest, to
buried men, against hurry in their
eating; and it is well, therefore,
that there exists a means by which
its ill effects may be, to a great
degree, escaped. Meat may be
eaten rapidly, if cut small, even
with very little mastication. An
imal food, if well divided, may be,
without much risk, almost bolted I,
but vegetable food may not. The
. reason of this difference is, that
the digestion of the former is car
ried on entirely by the sccretions
of the internal organs that of the
latter depends, 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 reliable informa
ton has been obtained by expert
ment. The precise amount which,
in the adult, maintains the weight
of, the body unchanged during a
life of moderate exercise Is theo-
retically the right quantity. Of
course, it varies with the kind of
food employed; some articles fur
nishing 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 one pound;
OF bread, one pound three ounces ;
of butter or fat, three and halt
ounces :; OF water, three and one
: third pounds. That is to say,
rather less than two, and a halt
pounds of solid food, and rather
more than three pints of liquid.
These weights would, of course, be
exceeded, If less nutritious substan-
ces, suchas rice, potatoes, or fruits,
formed any considerable, portion of
the diet. Dr. Hammond found
4 that he maintained his exact weight
by a daily consumption of one
{ pound Of meat, eighteen ounces OF
bread, six ounces Of soup, four
ounces of beet roots, one of butter,
with salt; drinking at the same
? time three pipts of water, and ten
} ounces of coffee with. cream and
sugar. Any excess of this caused
an increase of weight, any diminu-
itlon caused "a loss. Remembering
t that the Dr.. is. six feet two inches
+ in hight, and weighs fourteen
J stone, we may take these quantities
. as a fair average for strong mar
: somewhat beyond the ordinary
stature.Halj ..'g..i g...t
+ . Generally speaking, the average
9 amount of food necessary TO
, healthy men is estimated at twelv,
ounces of meat, twenty ounces 0
bread, with about one and a bal
ounces of butter. These article
= contain a force capable, if applied
by a machine, of raising fourtee1