370 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



dietary to his means and to his special requirements. Pope says, 

 " The proper study of mankind is man," and, undoubtedly, if long- 

 life and comfort are to be attained, many would do well to lay his 

 aphorism to heart. In the case of a man of ordinary size doing 

 ordinary physical or mental work, this would represent an ordi- 

 nary day's food for hot weather, as far as quantity and constitu- 

 ents are concerned : 



Beeakfast, 8.30 to 9 a.m. Two cups of tea or coffee, sweetened with saccha- 

 rine, one or two teaspoonfuls of cream in each; 1 oz. of dry toast, thinly but- 

 tered; 4 ozs. of grilled or boiled fish, such as plaice, sole, whiting, haddock, cod, 

 or trout, or 4 ozs. of cold chicken, cold tongue, or of grilled steak or chop. 



Lunch, 1.30 p. m. Two or three ounces of cold mutton, beef, or lamb ; 3 or 4 

 ozs. of green vegetables, plainly boiled, plenty of green salad, made with vinegar, 

 but without oil ; 4 or 5 ozs. of stewed fruit ; water, or 2 or 3 glasses of pure dry 

 Moselles or other Rhine wines. 



Afteenoon Tea, 4.30, if desieed. Two cups of tea as at breakfast; nothing 

 to eat. 



Dinnee, 7 to 8. Julienne, or clear vegetable soup; 3 or 4 ozs. of fish; 3 or 4 

 ozs. of any red meat, or of chicken, rabbit, game, or venison ; 6 ozs. of any green 

 vegetable, with gravy from the meat only ; 4 ozs. of stewed fruit or of raw fruit ; 

 a little stale or pulled bread, and a small piece of cheese. 



This diet may be varied as to hour; but three meals only 

 should be taken daily, and only sufficient at each meal to satisfy 

 appetite. Fruit may be taken at other times, and any quantity of 

 fluid, so long as it does not contain sugar ; any number of pleas- 

 ant alcoholic and other beverages suitable for the hot weather, 

 and particularly suitable for those who should not take quantities 

 of sugar, will be found in a book I wrote two or three years ago.* 



Fruit is only beneficial in moderate quantity. If taken in ex- 

 cess, and out of proportion to other food, it is apt to derange the 

 bowels and cause diarrhoea ; more particularly is this the case if 

 it is eaten underripe or overripe in the former case, from its 

 undue acidity ; and in the latter, from its strong tendency to fer- 

 ment and decompose in the digestive tract. Fruit diminishes the 

 acidity of the secretion of the kidneys, and by virtue of this is 

 advantageous in gout. 



It goes without saying that more fluid is necessary in hot 

 weather than in cold. Indeed, so long as it is a harmless fluid, I 

 question whether too much can be taken. Fluid in this way is to 

 the kidneys what fresh air is to the lungs, and the waste of meat 

 not used in the system is carried off by its aid. 



A meat diet is healthy and life-prolonging if supplemented 

 with plenty of fluid to carry off its waste. That fluid should be 

 taken in large quantities in the summer is a wise provision of 

 Nature, as the skin carries off a large amount of waste from the 



* Foods for the Fat : the Scientific Cure of Corpulency. 



