Delaware tribune. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1867-1877, 1869-07-15
/" POPULAR CIE,S CON
CERNING HYGTENEn

III. UcOrSe M. Bcaru Ill recent number
of Applrtons journal discusses in a manner
somewhat novel various modern ideas con.
cerning Hygiene, which he declares TO be
Popular Fallacies." We shall state the
points he makes with brief view of his
arguments:-
]. " IL is iallacy to suppose that people,
as rule, cat too much, and that most of the
diseases Of the world come from overfeed
ing"
The truth is, our Doctor declares, that
among civilized people the tendency is di-
rectly the reverse. Thousands die annually
from actual starvation; little children of
poor people, and hard working persons who
accustom themselves to the use of q small
quantity of food. The stomach receives
less nutriment than the system demands;
the vital powers are weakened, the strength
grows less, the spirits become morbid, and
when some serious disease attacks the sys-
tenn it falls at once, simply because of its
previous starvation. The civilized people
eat more than savage, and they ought to,
for they work harder, aud labor of the brain
breAks down the tissue, three OF four times
us fast as mere muscular exertlon.
9. " II is n fallacy to suppose that vege-
table food is healthier and custer of digestion
than animal.
Comparative anatomy, physiology, expe-
rlence, our natural appeltes, and the histo-
ry OF the world. all show us that man should
have mixLd diet-llesh, fish, fruit, and
vegetables.
The truth is that vegetables, potatoes tur-
nips, carrots, etc, are not only less digeslble
than fresh beef and mutton, but they are
also less nutritious. They lingcr longer on
the stomach, and being composed mostly OF
water gives less nutrlment to the system.
Therefore, many, who cannot digest vegcta-
bles ut all, can eat and relish and assmilate
bceistcak, mutton, lamb, chicken, turkey,
ETC., without difficulty. Chronic invalids
and dyspeptics should, as rule, eat largely
of fresh meat and fish, and very moderately
Of vegetables.
s. "Auotlcr fallacy,i in regard to diet is to
suppose that the natural appetite is not the
best guide us to the quantity and quality of
our food"
IIideous doctrines have been taught on
this subject. We have been solemnly told
10 rise from the table as hungry as when we
sat down. We have been told to be always
ready for meal-in other words, to live in
state OF perpetual hunger. We have been
told to cat those things we most hate, and to
avoid those things that we most love-that
to have longing for any article, is the very
reason why we should be denied it.
These doctrines are monstrous. They are
unworthy OF the nineteenth century. They
are a libel on the Creator who gave us taste
and appetite, in order that we might know
what to cat and drink, and gave us also
judgment to direct appetite and taste when
the system becomes diseased.
Notwithstanding all its liability to perver-
sion, the appetite is, on the whole, better
guide in selecting food, aud in measuring Its
quantity, than all the books on hygiene that
have ever been written.
4. "Another common falacy, in regard to
diet, is the theory that one or two kinds of
food, at each meal, are more easily digested,
and more wholesome, than large and pala-
table variety"
Our books on health tell us over and over
again that two articles at each meal are suf-
ficient, and that we shall be liable to eat
more ii the table is covered with generous
variety.
My advice is emphatic and clear. Let
there be as generous, agreeable, and attrac-
vn rt..t, NJ al, aH. ,rl