HYGIENE OF DIGESTION 267 



the walls of the stomach ; he could see that the stomach was getting 

 ready to digest that food. The flavor of the food had given notice that 

 it was coming, but it didn't come, so the poor stomach was disap- 

 pointed. In like manner your mouth will water for grapes which you 

 see and which are out of your reach, and so a boy's mouth will water 

 for a pie which is placed upon a top shelf or somewhere where he can 

 see it, and it is out of his reach. Now when this dog didn't see the 

 food brought to him and didn't smell of it, nor get a chance to chew it, 

 and it was surreptitiously slipped into his stomach, there was no flow 

 of gastric juice, and no digestion. Now if you eat food .too fast, or in 

 the form of mushes, for example, it slips down into the stomach before 

 the stomach has notice of its coming, and so has not made preparation 

 for the disposal of the food. The nose does not smell the food, and 

 the mouth does not chew and taste the food sufficiently to excite the 

 stomach to set up the general process of digestion. Numerous simi- 

 lar facts might be presented, showing very clearly the close relation 

 existing between the various digestive processes and intellectual states. 

 Long observation and experience prove that it is far better for a per- 

 son to eat what is set before him, asking no questions, either for con- 

 science' sake or the stomach's sake, than to take food in an anxious 

 and worried state of mind, questioning or doubting the nutritive value 

 of the food to be eaten. Many a chronic dyspeptic maintains his dis- 

 order by keeping his stomach in a sort of "stage fright," through the 

 concentration of his attention upon this portion of his anatomy during 

 the whole digestive process. Good Health. 



