The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1889-04-19
ABOUT EATING.
A Word -of Warning to the Igno-
rant and Imprudent.
The Many Bodily Ills Arising from a Dis
eased Disordered Condition of
the Digestive Organs-How to
Remedy Existing Evils.

The first organ that nature made for
a living creature was a stomach It is
the most important to-day, after many
thousands of years. and after the evo-
luton of many other organs. But it
is that one part of the body which we
persist in neglecting or destroying;
and just where nature began to build
we begin to pull down. The posses
sion OF good digestive organ Is really
more important than good eyes and
ears and even more than large brain;
for the relation of the nerves of nutri-
tiOn are as intimate with the other
parts of the body as are the blood YES
sels. If the stomach be disordered the
thinking and recOllecting apparatus is
also disOrdered, and the unseating Of
clear vision and good hearing is as
liable to be from bad nutrition as from
local causes. So it comes about that
the first lesson of education is how to
eat and not how TO think; how to warm
up and run the organism and not clog
II, rather than how to think; for if
there be no hindrances or interferences
the brain is sure TO do good
thinking and plenty of it. Nine-tenths
of scholarship is wasted owing to iudi-
gestion- Many fine brains are rem
dered useless by a dyspeptic stomach.
There is no getting around this. II
you want to do good hard work you
must digest suitable food to nourish
the brain-enough of il, and not too
much This is exactly the reverse of
the common practice, because we have
not got over the old celibate and
ascetic idea that the mind is somehow
higher and better than the body, and
can despise it. a college is the para
disc of ignorance and stupidity on all
matters pertaining TO the stomach.
Brains are supposed to have the entire
control and alone to be worthy of con-
sideration. The object of the whole
curriculum is 10 culture heads; and
the result is, the foundation OF good
head-work becomes impossible. Four
out of five graduates are permanently
disabled from doing their level best
in the world, while the coarsest fellows
in life Outstrip the finer because they
have better stomachs. We need q
University of the Stomach, with a full
set of professors of nutrition. diges-
tion, assimilation and waste, as well
as Of general physiology, anatomy and
general biology. Or better yet, each
college and every common school in
the land should teach how to take care !
of the body and how to save the stom-
ach.
The relation OF food to morals IS a
matter so generally overlooked that
most people would deny that character
was anyway dependent on eating.
But start with an extreme and you viii
see that nothing is clearer than that
morals and table manners go together.
The glutton we all recognize as fairly
classible with the drunkard. There
is no one but can see that it is sin to
live TO eat as it is a sir TO live
TO drink-with no Interior pur-
pose for eating and drinking. The
reason clearly is that the glutton
is a useless creature, Incapable of
high thought or noble purpose. Il
is only when We come down to say
that a little 100 much food, or food OF a
sort innutritious, is a sin, that the av-
erage man stGres in amazement Very
much of our wickedness of all sorts
comes from disordered stomach. You
can make up list of direct conse-
quences of that sort, and then another
list of the indirect. sOf the direct are
fretfulness. and moroseness, and un-
due irritability of every application.
The nerves are goaded and rasped by
unnatural efforts at digestion. Indi-
rectly the blood is poisoned and the
system is bent toward animalism and
brutality. The passions are begotten
in place of generous love. Prior put
the matter in a straightforward way in
these lines:
" Observe the various operations
or food and drink in several nations
Was ever Tartar fierce md cruel
Upon the strength OF water grueIg
But who shall stand his rage and force
When first he riGes, Ihen eats his horse
Salads and eggs and lighter fare
Tune the Italian spark's guitar
And II take Don Cor fuse ght
Pudding and beef make B-itons feht.r
1t is especially easy 10 test this mat
ter with children. Let them eat as
they will, and what and when they
viii Of rich dishes, greasy foods, pas
tries and condiments, and you will have
a peeVlsh, quarrelsome household.
When child's breath is bad, his dis
position is bad also. When his blood
Is pure and his digestion unimpaired,
his affections flow readily and generos-
ity Is natural If his nerves are ir-
rltable he is compelled to think of
and is selfish. The best
cure for unpleasant behavior and a
character is a decent diet