New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1868-07-17
SUMNER MEATS AND DRINKS.

The most honorable and important part of the
human animal is, in theory, considered to be that
which is nearest to the hat, POLITICALLY styled the
dome of thought, the palace of the soul" There
have been PSYCHOLOGISTS who placed the mind where
we still do the affections in the stomach but
the current theory has fixed the seat of intellect and
consciousness in the BRAIN and made that organ or
series of organs as phrenologsts claim it to be- the
motor in all enterprises Even hungerisnot left out.
for they point you the very spot where alimentve
ness resides
But after all, in these Summer months, we are
forced to the confession that the yassa stomach has
as much to do with our wills and deeds thoughts
and words as the superior head. To say "a man has
no stomach for anything is really as significant
TO say he has no brains for it. For the intellectual
forces can no more get on without the gastric, than
an army without a commissariat department. 1t is
related of Sir Walter Scott that he some
times kept the printer waiting for copy
1t were wonderful if he did nOt-cleyer
and wonderful scribe that no was. Thoughts cannot
be pumped ont mechanically by anybody, except
newspaper editor and reporter, and Sir Walter
though he could write the Waverley Novels, could
not we dare affirm, have edited a newspaper. One
Of the Ballantynes, on certain occasion when the
press was standing appealed to the great novelist in
person foot mon y was the answer. " how can /
max the McGregors wife talk, Wi sican twisting in
L
shorter and more expressive word which the novelist
actually used i'm his extremity. and you may imagine
the strait the man was in when tho printers devil
drove and the locomotive train whistled and sn0rted
but the tender, the fuel carriage the stomach was
OIL the track
As for writing, so for every operation which re-
quiTes thought or memory, the whole man. and es-
pecially the chemical and alimentary part of him.
must be IN order Hence, in the Summer months
particularly, il is question Of no small moment
whether there is ." death in the pot before we dip
m gHnrNfV ffr frnFn
and detotCs, gives rule TO be observed. without
which all others are of 10 ayall-"the rule
of not too much" The best of all directions 1t Is,
perhaps hardest TO follow, since IN our lauguOr
we are prone TO the dcusiOn that can take some
thing in at the month which viii restore whatever IS
wanting. cool us if heated. or strengthen us II weak
We eat and drink, moreover, for alnuSement-a JOKE
the stomach viii not always stand, however 1t may
please the palate; and when the poor Oyerworked
machinery rebels, we blame the weather or the ell
mate, or accuse our innocent bodies OF dyspepsia.
Then hey for drugs and nOstrumS, still farther to
cOmpcate matters. DR.. Combes mOss-trO0plng
countrymen in the old time had a style
of cooking admirable for its simplicity, to say the
least of it, They would fay an OK or cali;
hang the skin. bag fashion, upon four stakes. NIL
with water, and put the carcass in TO boil. one
would think that the manner Of preparing dinner,
not alluded to by Prof. Blot, would remove the
temptation TO over stulng. Yet the m0ss-tIOopers
huge feeders. Like all rude people they learned
from nature what DR.. Hall lays down as an axiom:
After dinner. play the anaconda" Az any rate
their diet simple-Oat-cakes, with beef done rs
above would not create the heterogeneous mixture
which we civilized folk depoSie IN our St0machs 10
tester and eleryesce, while we stupidity wonder
that our food dIsagTeeS with us, and take
potion or a pill, to make It disagree worse.
The comic almanaCs have "A standing joke about the
Irish maiden, for whom dose Of sedItz was pre-
scribcd. She swallowed the alkall, and then the
acid and. We need hardly add, was aStonlShed"
Yet we ell do the same thing. We put Incongru0us
matters into our stomachs, and are surprised that
they do not agree. The Summer markets tempt the
palate with their various offerings aud rich and poor
manage TO find variety enough to give the ap0the-
cary business, and to swell the bills of mortality
Things which might bee eaten with mpunlty, If taken
alone, are umbled together, and then we blame IN
uOCrut things as unhealthy whereas IT. is our own
omuiy erOus appetites which do the mischief
But the various drinks which are lmbbe1 are an
infinite deal worse than what IS eaten. Inc con
sumption of hot and rebeliOus liquors IN tins Re
public absolutely appalling Cold climates allow
stronger pOtatiOnS than are safe or prudent during
our ardent Summers. The fever which the sun en-
penders is aggravated by drinks which would suit
The EsoumauX or Sberians. The vital energies are
fcarfuily taxed. and the excitement IS followed by
prostTatiOn The system Is predlspOscd TO malauOus
influences; and the heat which one might endure IN
n sound body is fatal when the fire without Is
matched by n furious heat within. Whoever
could persuade the people INTO extreme
moderation from eXcitants. If not total
abstinence from Whisky & Co. during the Summer
months, would not only save life and prevent dis
ease but reduce the criminal calendar Tho ten
years increasing fcarfuly among 1t was once
thought that high prices would abate consumption
of alcoholic miXtuIes. Such does not appear 10 have
been the case: and while is drank than ever,
muc of the liquor which is consumed IS OF the very
worst and most deleterOus quality. Ii Is Surrepl-
tOusly manufactured and thrown into the market
by men without conscience; Tctalled by men without
q scuplc. and drank by men without sense.
More danger to the future OF the republic is TO be
apprchcnded from the vicious appette for nordnate
potations than from any other cause. Our national
politics are yitated by this fatal indulgence; for
men claim to perform the highest duties of citizens
while they are under influences which incapacltate
them from the lowest demands upon mind ANA body
Whisky is the potent means of caolery and bribery;
and il is all the worse agent of mischief that 1t
does not come within the statute Like the great
Impcached, it can be declared agaln't, but not
reached Journalists owe it to their country to strive
to bring popular opinion up To the proper stand
against the great enemy alike TO public heath and
public morals.