The Wilmington daily Republican., 1895-12-27
+ FOOD AND MORALS.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE splR-
ITuAL AND PHYSICAL.

by food on our health and our moral llfo,
and 1t Is to be feared few Of these obtain
less attention. Indeed, with an unfortu-
nately large number of pooplo tho study
Of food is looked on as almost wicked, cer-
tainly derogatory, and the duty of "high
thinking and low living is insisted on ad
hauseam.
Now TINT 1t Is possible to attach too
much Importance to tho question OF What
shall we eat and what shall we drink" no
one will for a moment deny. AT the Same
time 1t Is probable that inattention to that
very important question has far moro to
answer for From tho way some persons
talk IL would almost seem as If the phys
ical body and the montal body were two
entirely separate entities, absolutely inde-
pendent the one of the other, though for
practical purposes tho greater and moro
important was, SO to speak, imprisoned
In the lower and least considerable pnr-
tion. II this were true, no doubt much
might be said in favor of tho doctrine that
our mental and moral powers are to bo
considered above our bodily ones But as
q mntter Of fact, plainly demonstrated by
modern research, these two entities have,
at present anyway, no separate existence,
but on the contrary, are inextricably
bound up In one complex whole, the spir-
itual reactlng on tho bodily and the body
In Its turn influencing tho spirit or soul,
call 1t which you will, and it is to this re-
ciprocal action that we owe the absolute
Importance of the food question.
1t is not too much to say that no Ill fed
man can be either thoroughly safle or In
trinsically moral, and unluckily Ill fed
does not necessarily mean under or INSULT
oiently fed, for In that case tho remedy
would be of tho simplest, viz, a moro gem
erous supply Of nutriment. OF course 1t
may not bo in the poor mans own power
to obtain more food, but 1t would certain
ly mako tho task of those anxious to re-
lieve him easier, as 1t would be plain what
to do.
Broadly speaking, all disease is orlgi-
nally preventible. Eliminate dirt and its
spiritual prototype, sin, and the human
race would be both hoalthy aud happy, AS,
unfortunately we can, however, get rid
entirely of neither of these factors, we can
only do our best to minimize their effects,
and in this work, little as many appear to
realize 1t, no one has moro part than tho
house mother. Do not shirk the knowledge
that such and such tendencies are, SO to
speak, in your blood, but faco it, and
make 1t your study to counteract them, IL
not in yourself, at least in your children.
Now, in this work food Is undoubtedly q
firm ally. Take baby, for instance, and
SEQ how entirely its moral condition de-
pends on its bodily. A healthy, properly
fed and tended baby Is nevera fretful, pee
Wish, little imp always on the whine and
restless and uneasy just when it ought to
be asleep Wo hear great deal of the i'm
provement i'll the health Of our girls, and
attribute it to the increasing physiological
knowledge of tho day. Asa matter of fact,
IL is due to the increasing amount Of out
Of door exercise, fashionably considered q
part of actual education by the well to do,
which enables them to digest and assimi-
late their food better than in the old days,
whom mile was looked on as an unusu-
ally long walk for n we'll bred gcntlowom-
an, and battledoor and shuttleGock, or at
most la grace, was the extent OF their ath-
letics. A mans diet, and more particular
ly o woman's, requires TO be carefully nd
justed to tho manner Of life. If hard out
of door work is their lot, strong nitroge-
nous food is in our climate both suitable
and necessary, but when q sedentary and
confined lifo is inevitable, the diet should
DO, while nourishing enough to repair the
waste of tissue, yet light and digestiblo
enough not unduly to tax the already over
worked internal organs.
At the same time it must be borno In
mind that too much coddllng is US harm
full as neglect. From oyerzcal some house,
keepers study the wholesomus SO exclusive
ly as to hopelessly weaken the digestive
organs thoy desire TO spare. There is q
rage Just now for condensing food, so to
speak, by removing to the very uttermost
all innutritious matter from our food
stuffs, leaving as much as possible only
what can be absorbed into the system.
Now ON tho face of it this would appear a
wise plan, but as matter of fact it Is pro-
ductiye of great harm. We arc formed to
lead useful, industrious lives, bearing our
fair share of tho heat and burden of tho
day, not to be the coddled, idle inhabit-
ants of kind of intellectual hothouse So
we arc given organs of various kinds fit
ted for tho work we are to perform. But as
1t Is law Of nature that unused powers
should be taken away this coddling pro-
duees tho very effect 1t is intended to pre-
| VENT. O., by want of use it gradually
withcrs away the digestion we do not seem
to need, and then when we have to leave
this hothouse atmosphere, as sooner or Ia.
ter we all must, we and ourselves unfit
ted for tho struggle before us, and blame
| poor horedity fer tho evils brought on us
either by the ignorance or the overzeal oi
! eur uDbrlngers.
20 produce successful results our diet
| should not only DO generous and whole.
some, but 1t should bo suitable to our
manner of life, adapted to our constitti.
tions, varied enough to give work to all
our internal organs by turns and sufll-
| fstn lv IN In n
necessary and wholesome food required by
! our way of life. Unless it Is so regulated
We shall not be healthy, and In conse.
| qucnoo shall probably be morose and
| gloomy from dyspepsia, irritable and un-
| certain from nervous prostratlon, and, In
| short, untitled for the life before us long
! before we should be out Of our first youth.
| There is another very serious point to be
considered In regard to food A well fed
man is less liable to the morbid cravings
that beset an unsatislied digestion, and sc
| is less predispused to what some people
call our national sin, drink, while man
weakened by indigestion and i'll feeding is
| moro apt to fall prey to the hundred and
one diseases that surround us on all hands
Those acquainted with the awful upide
mics of hot climates will tell you that i'm
munity from such is due more to morale
than to medicine, and that once mans
morals giyo way his health pretty surely
follows it, Now, this is only another way
of saying that man who has led a whole
some, healthy life is less apt to let hi.
nerves run away with him, and, without
begging the question, 1t may unhesitat
ingly be asserted that nerves" Is only
another word for digestion-or indiges
tion, as the case may bel--London Queen
/
have used salvation OIL In my family
and find it to be a splendid linmant. Mrs
Ella Journey, 72S 7th ST., Portsmouth
| Va.
| Pretty Christmas Display.
MIR. Semirtine. No. lois Spruce street
has ono of the prettiest aud most com