The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1893-12-23
rs DYSPEPSIA A MYTH

Id IL L OF III OLA Il Ill i LII
A DISEASE NOBODY SEEMS ABLE TO
DEFINE OR LOCATE.
II May Mean Worry. Too Much Imagined
Goodness or Twenty Other Things-Hard
Workers and Rough Eaters Do Not Have
It-Don't Blame 1t ON the Stomach.
Some time ago we read something in one
ct our exchanges in which the writer held
shat it was all wrong that we should even
tor q moment entertain the idea that there
existed such thing a. progressive phys
ical racial deterioration, and this optimis-
tic writer would make rs believe that the
generally accepted idea that we are fast be-
coming nation of dyspeptics had no foun-
evidence would show that dyspepsia was
much more prevalent 80 years ago than
now.
We hate to undeceive any cheerful human
being, but we cannot but feel that the op-
timistic writer is laboring under fond de-
fusion. which it 10 our unpleasant task to
dispel What is this disagreeable and Ill
behaved condition that renders the lord Of
creation 30 miserable, robs him Of all spirit
and makes him feel like the wicked and 70
pentant Nebuchadnezzar as he crawled on
all foursi
The discovery Of the art Of cookery may
have given alarger list Of food whence man
might make up his bill Of fare, and many
imagine that the art has greatly contribut-
I'd toward health and the frightening of
human life. There are many good reasons
TO make US doubt these conclusions. Prim-
tive man living on grapes. berries, nuts
and grasshoppers, with milk and honey for
relishes and wild onions for appstisers
must have been the very soul Of optimism
and health. Those evil genii, the distiller,
brewer and cook, had not begun their inter
minable duel with the apothecary and the
doctor, with poor, miserable man and his
stomach for battleield, and primitive
man was consequently not dyspeptic, equity
nor uremio Has the stomach Of man
changed since those happy days, and what
has the stomach really to do with dyspepsiai
II has been asserted. and not without
reason, that the Caucasian has moro On.
durance than any other race, and that in
comparison with contemporary animals he
sxcels in capacity for work and endurance.
There IL no doubt but that his stomach has
endurance and capabilities that nearly
equal those of the ostrich. rhinooeros or
camel.
The Scotch highlander swallows his un.
derdone oatmeal porridgs, feeling that its
rawness will retard its digestion, and not
compel him to replenish his furnace for
many hours. On the same principle the
Irishman swallows his national mess Of DO
tatoes boiled with a stone In the center'-
that Is, only tho outer layer Of the potato
being boiled at all-also an expedient
learned by experience that half raw potac
to will last a. long as three well cooked
ones The French peasant makes bis meals
OF q bread made of q mixture of peas, rye,
beams or wheat 6our ground up, husks and
all, into one mass This, with the addition
of little cheese Of questionable ago and
some acrid wine, may serve for breakfast,
dinner or supper Now, what is of particu-
lar interest to US is the fact that none of
the examples given are troubled with dys-
pepsia- It is we'll known that Ireland and
Scotland present the greatest number of
past centenarians, while for an all round
long liver there Is no nation on earth that
excels the French.
The German can take down his regular
government length or allowance Of pea
home brewed lager beer. handle the fail all
day and dance in his hobnailed shoes all
night, filling in the interval with lunches
Of anything that comes handy.
The African stomach seems moro to as
similate to that of the ostrich or the rhi-
noceros. The amount required to satisfy
the ordinary appetite Of the son of Ham Is
something incredible. The more he eats
the SIMMER his skin glowA We never knew
one to require any pepsin even after din
ner Of S-pound fish, pound of roast,
half dozen eggs, olives, pickles, potatoes,
beets, turnips and other things, with some
dessert and coffee.
Evidently dyspepsia cannot be said to
depend on overfilling the stomach with
odds and ends a. il it were q secondhand
junkshop or some back yard swilltub.
BY discarding the idea Of stomach COM
plication in any connection when treating
dyspepsia we will be more likely to reach
the true origin, cause or seat of the disease.
Some cases have yielded up to exercise sys-
tematically employed, while others recover
under few days Of absolute rest. Tho |
numbers Of SO called dyspepsia that are
cured BY the disappearance Of business, do |
mestic or social annoyance are nearly un-
limited. An overdue note in the possession
Of a bottle nosed and beetle eyed creditor IL |
more productive Of dyspepsia than a meal |
II secondhand carpet tacks. In fact. It
may be safe thing to assume that in dys. |
pepSia we had better look in the uarret. |
closet or cessar Of the dyspeptic's house, or
among his business or social relations.
rather than to his stomach for the solution |
Of the difficulty.
With Americans dyspepsia has several |