The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-29
SECRETS OF LONGEVITY.
The Diet That Keeps One Healthy
 and Alive.

London Chronicle.
 In a little book called Diet in Rela- tion to Age and Activity Sir Henry Thompson. hale and hearty at &' gives were the habit of mankind to proht by sound, advice, most of us would carry this volume in our pockets med- itate upon 1t as our psychological brev- tors. Luckily for the medical profess sion, Sir Henry Thompson's example demands a renunciation almost as diin-
 cult for men in genera. as monastic | age of 52 he gave up alcohol. For the | sake of experiment, five or six years
 back he tried the effect of claret glass | of good wine at dinner every day for | two months. Then came back the SICK | headaches and pains In the joints from | which he mad suffered in early life until | drinks. Moreover" after his abandon
 ment of alcohol "the joints gradually | lost their stiffness. and ultimately be- | came as supple and mobile as they were 1 in youth, and continue absolutely so to | this day. We may tell Sir Henry Thomp- son that we do not suffer from sick | headaches; but how many moderate
 driRkers of S2, or even S. are ready to
 swear that their joints have all the sup pleness of youth? Are old gentlemen | willing to ascribe what they call rheu-
 matism to the habitual though modest
 glass? There is so much controversy about alcohol among the medical ex- perts that the moderate drinker I plumes himself on the ancient wisdom | of the middle course between topers
 and abstainers. On the subject Of
 cakes Calverley's schoolboy had learned that "excruciating aches resulted If we | ate too many" For the moderate drinker | this philosophy comprises cakes ana ale,
 and when the aches come up puts them Il down to chills. A French writer mas II co elected the opinions of sixty physicians | in Paris on the effects of alcohol. Thir- II ty-four affirm that moderate use, say, Il bottle of wine day Is beneficial. Nine will have no compromise with al
 cohol in any form. and seventeen oe-
 clare that to the health of most people one bottle a day makes no difference lI whatever. One doctor declined to haz- Il ard any opinion on the plea that the
 varieties of human physiology are too
 great to warrant any positive Judgment.
 But Sir Henry Thompson is In po-
 sition to speak not only for himseif.
 Tt may be fairly said that one example
 does not suffice to prove case But It Is not a single example, and really des- ignates a very large class of active men
 among all ranks, possessing more or
 less similar temperament or wnlch a
 type is here described, and 1t is for sucn
 that I have found 1t so successful. This | vision of a shining band of veterans, all
 az supple as athletes ought to give | pause to many an aged man when ne IS
 about to order his evening toddy. put ne may say that the zeal of the convert
 belongs to youngsters of 02
 Food. not drink, however. is the bur,
 den of Sir Henry Thompsons pracucsaI counsel. Half our bodily ills are que 70 improper eating, It is common 1al,
 lacy that as we grow older, we nee9
 more nourishment, the extra glass or
 cordial, the superlatively strong extract
 of food" Sir Henry Thompson draws
 an alarming picture of the head or the
 familS sinking to decay because ms ar
 fectionat spouse plies him with 1ai9ties n Wit sherry. the insidious calf's foot jelly, the inopportune cup of cocoa. Many fond r wife Is slowly doing her lord to death
 for all the world as if she were a pols-
 oner in one of Miss BraddOn's early nov els. She urges him to try patent toods' which are so nutritious that ms stom- , ach cannot stand them. and she mag 5 ines that even his drinks must have nu- triment, forgetting that the primary object of drink is to satisfy thirst, ana , that to take milk for example, with meat is ''one of the greatest dietary
 blunders that can be perpetrated. Even ! the dentist is an unwilling agent oi mlS= chief. He gives you new set or mastl+ : cators as etficacious as the originals. but he does not warn you that the loss Of : your natural teeth is an indication that the body needs less food than 1t de- manded in your heyday. Your tailor IS
 also in the innocent conspiracy. for he
 congratulates you on the increase of
 your girth. as if it were the glory ot the
 citizen to cut into a deal of material when he is ordering new clothes Here, we suspect, Sir Henry Thompson Is overriding the case. Is man really hattered when he 's told that ms ms waist as, . poor. deluded victim, are more than halr willing to believe that your increasing size Is an equivalent to increasing healtfl and strength. especially as your wife en- . phatically takes this view and regards , your augmenting portliness with approv,
 al" Is she sincere? Oh Is her approval part of the dissimulation from which wo- e men are not yet freed? Does the fond est wife. when the husbands broad ] back is turned, sometimes drop tear of aesthetic regret because it is SC | personal dignity by physical bulk I is question on which we should l. classes Can thin man rule his house t hold with the moral weight of a stou t man? Sir Henry Thompson does not n go into that but he says that not Ont r. age The typical man of eighty ol e ninety years. still retaining a respect . able amount of energy of body and mind : is lean and spare. and lives on slender e | rations" Ii does not follow that h' = must have hungry look. and be con e spirator like Cassius. Very thought l. fully Sir Henry has put his portrait 1T - this volume. and an instructive picture t it is of a spane and dignifed body. Gnl f ar alert but not dangerous brain. N1 Y men may contemplate 1t with passing | misgiving. If only they had taken t' y have had not only the prospect of liv if ing as long as Sir Henry Thompson l. but also of escaping those confounde s ailments which "nortliness' is heir to-. ,t Sir Henry Thompson Is not a vegeta ! rian. and he banters the vegetarians ol
 their partialitv for egbss and milk. Bu he maintains that three-fourths Of ou
 food should he vegetable. Such die
 tary mast Increase the zest of food
 especially by eXpellng from club am
 restaurant the penetrating odors O
 meat cookery" It abolishes the terri
 ble ennui of beef and mutton and in
 sures Tighter and more active brain. , This is so revolutionary that some peo ple may suspect a likeness between St
 Henry Thompson and Cassius after all
 There is ;ln undouhted fascina tion In Si Henry's portrait of the light ;eeder
 whose palate is sensible to mild i'm
 nre ssions'' After the meal is ove
 his wit is fresher, his temper nor n cheerful" and he does not snore in tn 1t armchair Dyspepsia is unknown t. II him. for he eats slowly Remember MI |, Gladstone's habit of biting every piec H of meat thirty two times), and he neNe ss drinks till the meal is ended. An s. what are the slender rations?" Egg )- or fish for breakfast a little tPnde le meat or fowl for luncheon soup, gam d and vegetables for dinner, with farinace ii ous pudding. ana soup and dry toast a sr bedtime.
 f. Old Forefather Rye does not mak . small heads large.