Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1863-12-17
Hints on Eating and Long Life.

Great eaters never live long. A voracious
appetite, so far from being sign of health, is
a certain indication of disease. Some dys-
peptics are always hungry; feel best when
they are eating, but us soon as they have
eaten they enter torments, so distressing in
their nature as to make the unhappy victim
wish for death. The appetite of health is that
which inclines to cat moderately, when the
time comes, and which, when satisfied, leaves
no unpleasant reminders. Multitudes mea-
sure their health by the amount they can eat ;
and of any ten persons, nine are gratlhed at
an increase of weight, as if mere bulk were
an index Of health; when, in reality, any en-
cess Of fatncss is, in proportion, decisive
proof of existing disease showing that the
absorbents of the system are too weak to dis
charge their duty; and the tendency to fat
ness, to obesity, increases, until existence
is burden, and sudden death closes the his
tory. Particular inquiry will almost unya-
ryingly elicit the fact, that fat person, how
ever rubicund and jolly, is never well; and
yet they are envied.
While great caters never live to an old age,
and arc never, for single day, without some
"symptom," some feeling sufficiently disa-
greeable to attract the minds attention UNI
pleasantly, small eaters, those who eat rcgu-
Iarly of plain food, usually have no "spare
flesh" are wiry and enduring, and live to an
old age. Remarkable eXcmplifcations OF
these statements are found In the lives OF
centenarians of Il past age. Galcn, one OF
the most distinguished physicians among the
ancients, lived very sparingly after the age
of 2S; and died in his l40th year. Kenti-
germ, who never tasted spirits or wine, and
worked hard all his life, reached lS5 years.
Jenkins. a poor Yorkshire fisherman, who
lived upon the coarScst diet, was 169 years
old when he died. Old Parr lived to l53 his
diet being milk, cheese, whey, small beer and
coarse bread The fayorite dict of Henry
Francisco, who lived to l40, was tea, bread.
and butter and baked apples. Ephraim Pratt,
of Shutesbury, Mass, who died aged III,
lived chiefly on milk, and even that in small
quantity his son Michael, by similar means,
lived to lO3 years old, Father Gull, Mctho-
dist clergyman, died last year at the age OF
los, the main dict of his life having been
salted swine's flesh (bacon) and bread made
of Indian meal.
From these statements, nine general read
ers out of ten will jump to the conclusion
that milk is "healthy," as are baked apples
and bacon. These conclusions do not legiti-
mately follow. The only inference that can
Ue Stlell uIdNllJ 10 IIOul thS oHS ieSN
through all these cases-that plain food and
a life Of steady labor tend to great age. As
to the hcalthfilness and life-protracting quail
tiles of any article Of diet named, nothing
can be inferred, for no two men lived on the
same kind of food all that can be nationally
and safely said is, either that they lived so
long in spite of the quality Of the food they
ate, or that their instinct called for a particu-
lar kind of food and the qualification of that
instinct, instead Of its perversion, with life
of steady labor, directly caused health and
great length of days. We must not expect
to live long by doing any one thing which an
old man did, and omit all others, but by do
ing all he did ; that is, work steadily, as well
as eat mainly of particular dish.-HaRS
Journal of Health.