134 THE WORK OF THE DIGESTIVE GLANDS. 



than is required for the wants of the organism. In the case of the 

 poorer classes, where mental activity is less highly developed, the greater 

 amount of muscular activity and the constant lack of more than suffi- 

 cient nourishment ensure a strong and lively desire for food in a 

 normal manner, without recourse to any special regulations or customs. 

 The same conditions explain why the preparation of food is so choice in 

 the case of the upper classes and so simple in that of the lower. Further, 

 all the accessories of the meal, which are foretastes of the actual repast, 

 are obviously designed to awaken the curiosity and interest, and to 

 augment the desire for food. How often do we see that a person who 

 begins his customary meal with indifference, afterwards enjoys it with 

 obvious pleasure when his taste has been awakened by something 

 piquant or, as we say, appetising. It was here only necessary to give 

 an impulse to the organs of taste, that is, to excite them, in order that 

 their activity might be later maintained by less powerful excitants. 

 For a person who feels hungry such extra inducements are, of course, 

 not necessary. The quelling of hunger in his case affords of itself suffi- 

 cient enjoyment. It is not, therefore, without reason that it is often said 

 that " Hunger is the best sauce." This dictum, however, is only right 

 up to a certain point, for some degree of appetising taste is desired by 

 everybody, even by animals. Thus, a dog which has not fasted for 

 more than some hours will not eat everything with equal pleasure which 

 dogs usually eat, but will seek out the food which it relishes best. 

 Hence the presence of a certain kind of spice is a general requirement, 

 although naturally individual tastes differ. 



This short discussion as to how different people behave with regard 

 to the act of eating is of itself testimony that care should ever be taken 

 to keep alive the attention and interest for food and to promote enjoy- 

 ment of the repast that is to say, that care should be taken of the 

 appetite. Every one knows that a normal, useful food is a food eaten 

 with appetite, with perceptible enjoyment. Every other form of eating, 

 eating to order or from conviction, soon becomes worse than useless, 

 and the instinct strives against it. One of the most frequent requests 

 addressed to the physician is to restore the appetite. Medical men of 

 all times and of every land have held it to be a pressing duty, after 

 overcoming the fundamental illnesses of their patients, to pay special 

 attention to the restoration of the appetite. I believe that in this they 

 are not only animated by an endeavour to free their patients from trouble- 

 some symptoms, but also by the conviction that the return of appetite 

 of itself will favour the restitution of normal digestive conditions. It 

 may be said, that to the same extent to which the patient wishes back 

 his appetite, the physician has effectively employed measures to restore it. 

 Hence we have not a few remedies which are specially named " gastric 



