522 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



But of all things the most I would have you beware 

 Of breathing the poison of once breathed air; 

 When in bed, whether out or at home you may be, 

 Always open your windows, and let it go free. 



With clothing and exercise keep yourself warm, 

 And change your clothes quickly if drenched in a storm: 

 For a cold caught by chilling the outside skin 

 Flies at once to the delicate lining within. 



All you who thus kindly take care of your skin, 

 And attend to its want without and within, 

 Need never of cholera feel any fears, 

 And your skin may last you a hundred years! 



FOOD. 



The ancient philosophers located the soul in the stomach; later it was 

 located in the heart ; but after Harvey and others demonstrated this organ 

 to be nothing but a lump, the soul was located in the cranium. However, I 

 am inclined to think that the ancient philosophers were right. For it is 

 truly said that dyspepsia and religion do not go well together, but good 

 digestion and holiness are twins. A holy man is a healthy, whole man, with 

 all the functions in good order. Dyspepsia is the remorse of a guilty stomach, 

 a physiological sin. Good digestion is more to be desired than great riches. 



Man in some respects resembles a plant. He carries his soil in his 

 stomach, which is a kind of portable flowerpot, and he grows round it, 

 instead of out of it. He differs from the plant in having a complex nutritive 

 apparatus and a nervous system. 



What is a food to one person may not be a food to another ; and that which 

 is a food at one time may be a poison at another time; thus to a person whose 

 vitality is so low that more substantial foods cannot be assimilated, alcohol 

 may be a valuable food, and such a person may be saved from death by the 

 use of this much abused article ; but to the healthy man alcohol is not a food 

 because it prevents changes in other substances. If a healthy man takes a 

 certain amount of beefsteak and alcohol, the latter is changed in the body and 

 produces a certain amount of force, but the alcohol prevents the complete 

 change of the beefsteak, and consequently the sum total of forces acquired 

 from taking the two is less than if the meat only had been taken. The 

 laboring man needs hearty food. A diet for a professonal or business man 

 is not necessarily the best for one laboring hard in the open air. 



The most suitable food for breakfast is milk, bread, butter, potatoes, oat- 

 meal, or cracked wheat, and eggs, as they are rich in fat. Lean meat is a 

 stimulant, and if partaken of at all, in the morning, it should be sparingly. 

 There is probably no food that better fits a man for work than fat. This 

 should be taken in a finely divided state, as butter spread upon bread, and 

 thin sliced bacon. Good butter is an essential constituent of any meal. 

 Many fruits and berries may be taken with profit either at or just before 

 breakfast. Apples, oranges or grapes before breakfast are very beneficial to 

 health. No great amount of physical exercise should be undertaken before 

 breakfast. Pies, cakes, etc., are out of place on the breakfast table. The 

 healthy man needs no coaxing to enjoy this meal, and you seldom hear com- 

 plaint of eating too much for breakfast. I think you never would if tea,. 



