The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-12-18

has a good stomach he doesn't know
that he has stomach, that so soon
as he finds out that his food digests,
there Is indigestion. How often we
hear a man say, Il wish | could eat
anything, just as l used to eat, with
out giving It o thought" The physi'
clan is often called upon TO deal with
cases in which people have destroyed
their digestion by thinking about It;
as the story goes
The centipede was happy quite.
TIL the frog for mischief asked him.
Pray which foot comes after which?
And ever after he rolled helpless In
the ditch.
The man who eats because he likes
10 eat has much In his favor. II there
Is only one reason for eating he Is
fortunate In having chosen 1t, despite
the adage, formulated In some hermit
tage or monastry, centuries ago.
Live not TO eat but eat to live
Tho latest word from the physiolog.
ical chemist is that appetite juice
is one of the chief requirements OF
good digestion.
But there Is another side 10 tho
question. Why do we eat? The ath-
lete who eats what he likes, as he
likes and when he likes, cannot win
the race. Paul advised taking lit
tie wine for the stomach's sake, even,
presumably, though It might be dis.
tasteful, and the highest medical au'
thorities are unanimous in prescribing
certain diet to be eaten under certain
circumstances. Evidently It is not
always best to eat as one feels dis.
posed.
Tho lower animals are able to Sc
lect their food by instinct but man
has lost this power TO n large extent
and It must be supplemented by rea'
son, by science by living In unnat.
ural conditions imposed by civ'liza'
ton, we have acquired unnatural APP
petites that are destructive OF health.
physical and moral. A man may
drink n pint OF brandy because he
wants 1t. but who will say that that
is reason sufficient? We have an ap.
petite for flesh. but are we sure that
such appetite is normal, that we are
| the better for eating meat becauee
we feel disposed to eat II? Is 1t, as
vegetarians claim, an acquired appe-
tito, like that for tea and coffee,
| nh, nnthnritiRa
to be injurious?
It would seem that the obvious an
swer to the question, Why do you
eat? Is, Because | am hungry Yet
one who hahItually eats too much can
not be hungry. The desire for food
arises frequently from that. gnawing
sensation resulting from the fer
| mentation of supcrnuous food, pro-
ducing a condition OF adto-intoxica-
ton. In fasting there is an almost
irresistible desire for food the first
two or three days; then the appetite
leaves one for several days; there is a
gain in strength with loss in weight;
and when distinct desire for food
returns IL is a natural hunger. easily
satisfied. but this natural appetite in
many cases does not come for 30 days
or more, showing that the former ap
petite was unnatural.
We do not feed horse on the the
ory that he should be guided solely
BY his incinations in eating and drink
ing, but largely by our knowledge oil
what is best for him under the arti
fetal conditions under which he lives
and that he may be able to do his
best work And why should not
human being have the benefit OF such
knowledge? should not the child, es
pecially, have the benefit OF right feed
Ing?
With ali due allowance for the fac
that one mans meat may DO another
mans poison, that authorities are no
unanimous on foods and feeding, yet
Il is true that there is science o.
human feeding, that we have lost oul
instinct for determining what the sys
tenn needs for nutrition and therefore
appetite should be to some extern
guided by reason. Certainly on'
should eat because he enjoys II, bu
also, whether he be an athlete, a Ia
borer or a professional man, because
eating largely determines efficiency
and because health depends upon foot
more than upon anything else exccp
pure air, pure water, and right think
ing which is fundamental,
savages In Civilization.
Civilization does not change pas