464 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



chips and cubes in the coach-dog's stomach had not changed their 

 form at all ; the process of assimilation had not even begun ! Rail- 

 road laborers, who bolt their dinner during a short interval of hard 

 work, might as well pass their recess in a hammock ; instead of 

 strengthening them, their dinner will only oppress them, till it is 

 digested, together with their supper, in the cool of the evening. In 

 a manner essentially similar, mental activity tends to hinder the di- 

 gestive process for a considerable time ; and I believe, more espe- 

 cially, the digestion of the very substances that are often selected as 

 brain-food 2^<^^ excellence. Even after a fashionable dinner of six or 

 seven courses {curses, Dr. Abernethy used to call them), two hours 

 of absolute rest will set our wits a-work again ; but, if that time be 

 passed behind a double-entry ledger, a feeling of lassitude, often 

 combined with an almost resistless somnolence, will advise the brain- 

 worker that his vital energy is needed for other purposes. " I could 

 eat with more comfort if it wasn't for the consciousness of having to 

 hurry back to my drudgery," I heard a poor class-teacher say, and the 

 same consciousness embitters the noonday-meal of millions of school- 

 children and overworked clerks. 



Andrew Combe, M. D., informs us that a century ago the trades- 

 men of Edinburgh used to indulge in a " nooning," a general suspen- 

 sion of business for two hours, in the middle of the day. But an hour 

 or so was thus probably spent in going home and back, dressing, 

 etc., and half an hour at the meal itself ; so that, after all, only 

 thirty minutes remained for digestion ; and, considering the anachro- 

 nism of that nooning practice, the best plan, on the whole, would 

 seem to be a general return to the method of the ancient Romans, 

 who postponed their principal meal till their day's work was done. 

 It would be an insvdt to common sense and humanity to doubt that 

 the eight-hour system will ultimately prevail, and, where it has been 

 already adopted, I can see no reason why mechanics could not ar- 

 range to finish their day's job at 4 p. m. Schools should always close 

 at four. Bankers and govei'nment clerks often get home before 

 that time, and competitive shopkeepers might carry on their business 

 by relays. At half- past four, or, say, five o'clock, the coena domestica 

 might begin, conclude before six ; then dolce far niente, pleasant con- 

 versation, and four blessed hours for digestion. 



But that principal meal should be the last. It is an important rule 

 that we should digest our food thoroughly before we replenish the 

 stomach. To counteract the effects of overeating, the gluttons of an- 

 cient Rome used emetics, the Parisian gastronomes stimulants. Dr. 

 Alcott wants us to "leave off hungry" ; the exponents of the move- 

 ment-cure prescribe a cei-tain system of gymnastic evolutions before 

 and after dinner. But there is a better plan : Lengthen the interval 

 between meals. Two meals a day are enough, perhaps more than 

 enough, though we can accustom ourselves to swallow (not digest) five 



