The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1870-02-04

ceases 10 live Dclofc ue Is ILL., lc PEI
ishes from exhaustion ike lamp that
is diving ont. Diogenes used to say
that it is with body that is overload
ed with succulent food as it is with
oarl ct i'm which yictuals are accumu-
lated. Diseases pullulate i'll the one |
as rats do in the other.
Condiments are in themselves no |
more hurtful in moderation than food. |
1t is only when used to stimulate the
appetite to eat more than can be east
" digested that they become hurtful.
Civilized men, DIR. Noifot declares, all |
eat more, especially of animal matter,
than is necessary for the support of
life. Nature is content with little.
Moderation in food is, indeed, one of
the great principles of health, adyO-
Gated in all sacred books. The prac-
tice is, indeed, as essential to every
day health and everyday enjoyment
of life as it is to the prolongation. LOT
life itself. But while such practice
has been preached from the oldest
times it has seldom been practised.
Yet ifpeople were fully imbued with
the knowledge Of the many other far
more enjoyable sources of gratifica-
ton that are to be derived from sobri-
ETY., they would neither exceed mode
ration in eating or drinking. An
English author who used to have to
dine oul a good deal used to faston
the SUNDAYS with great advantage to
his well-being. Temperance and abb
stinence are, further, not only cOpdu-
Give to health, but they are also the
most effective means tor combating
illness. They constitute the sheet an
Choir of homeophathy, which from its
inadequacy in acute complaints has
Justly been forbidden IN Russia as
practice not to be depended upon
DIR. Noirot, considering man as an
omnivorous animal, does not advocate
vegetable diet solely, but, oil the
contrary, insists upon the advantages
of an occasional change. The school
of Salerna used even to recommend
the laws of temperance being broken
once a month. If fat, tloated, go:-
mandizing man can scarcely be very
intelligent man, so also diet which
agrees with one man may not always
do so with another. The error i'll
Mr.. Bantings,s system was that it was
not modified to suit particular eases.
So il is also with regard to systems or
modes of living. What is suited to
one constitution may by no means be
adapted to another. Many men can
eat or drink more than others with
impunity. Itwould be as absurd to
attempt to lay down positive rules OF
sobriety. as it would be TO fit all man.
kind with clothes after the. measure
of one person. Every one should
know when he has eaten or drunk
more than is good for him. Modera-
ton is the secret Eere, as in all other
things. Use. not abuse. Saint AM
brose called an exaggerated austerity
a gross superstition, and Saint Basil
said, "Abstain from vices, not from
meat. Fast in your disputes, calum-
MES am! injustice"
ITO chew well and 10 walk well,
said Bosquiilon, ARE the two greatest
secrets of longevity that L know Of"
One of the most perniciOus habits
that can be acquired is that of eating
fast. The loss of teeth is not neccssa-
riIy conducive to a short life, if the
imperfection in chewing is remedied
by more careful and slower process.
Simplicity in diet is another great
point. Two, or at the most three
dishes ought to suffice, but mOnotOny
should be avoided. There should he
variety in simplicity. 1t is also of
importance to preserve certain de-
gree of regularity in repasts. The
number of repasts may vary with age
and constitution but three repasts,
light breakfast, a good dinner in the
middle of the day, and a light supper,
are admittedly more favorable to
health than late dinners, which leave
the stomach unoccupied for long in
terval, and overloaded at night. 1t is
further of importance that the mind
should be at ease during meals. That
which is pie SAINT promotes digestion
everything that is the reverse is OBJ
noxious. Plutarch declared laughter
to be the best sauce. Exercise should
precede Authorization, not follow it.
The advantages of water are suffici-
emily attested by the various people
sects, philosophers and learned men,
who have used such exclusively. But
it is, Oh the other hand, admitted that
wine and beer are indicated where
there is exhaustion induced by hard
work, mental OF bodily, and in old
age. Where the exhaustion is great,
alcoholic stimulants mixed with wa
ter are also admittedly useful. In
such cases, alcohol is TO water what
condiments are to food. 1t is tenn
perance and moderation that should
be preached, not total abstinence.
CELSIUS laid it down as a precept ''to
abstain totally from no one thing: to
permit ourself, occasionally, slight
infraction of the laws of temperance,
but to live habitually in sobriety."
Brown, an Irishman, was always
drunk, and vet he lived hundred and
twenty years. He was so formidable
when in q state of inebriatiOn, tina!
contemporary declares that death him
self was afraid of him.
Inaction weakens the body, work
strengthens il. The first brings on
premature old age. the second pro-
longs youth-that is to say, as in eve
rything else, in moderation. The
structure of man and his mental ma
ture show that he was not created for
inactivity. Almost all those who are
quoted for longevity led more or less
active or laborious life Exercise ac-
CELEBRATES assimilation, and with an
accelerated assimilation, or process of
loss and restoration, the body under
goes more prompt and complete re-
novation. The secret of longevity,
according to DR.. Noirot, lies in this
fact. Ifwomen live to good old age,
notwithstanding their sedentary hab-
its, Tisset says this is TO be explained
by the want of bodily exercise being
compensate for their talking so much.
Women are, however, much more
lively and cheerful than men, and the
most trifiing incidents abstract their
attention from more serious matters
"a state of mind highly conducive to
longevity. The most simple, most
natural. and most beneficial kind of
exercise is walking on foot. Such
walks should, as far as possible, be in
the open air, and in the morning.
Next 10 pedestrianiSm, comes equita-
ton. No one who can enjoy the Use
ofhis legs can. however, envy those
who take their so-called exercise in
carriages. They obtain the benefit of
fresh air and light, but they lose that
reinvigoration cfthe organs, that slim
lus to the vital forces, and that in