106 THi: HOME, FAKM AND BUSINESS CYCLOPEDIA. 



repose, or at least of very light occupation, should be allowed before every 

 meal 



KINDS OF FOOD. It has been shown by a reference to the structure of 

 the human intestinal canal, that our food is designed to be a mixture of 

 animal and and vegetable substances. 



Inquiries with respect to the comparative digestibility of different kinds 

 of food, are perhaps chiefly of consequence to those in whom health has 

 already been lost. To the sound and healthy it is comparatively of little 

 consequence what kind of food is taken, provided that some variation is 

 observed, and no excess committed as to quantity. Within the range of 

 fish, flesh, and fowl, there is ample scope for a safe choice. There is 

 scarcely any of the familiar aliments of these kinds, but, if plainly dressed, 

 will digest in from two to four hours, and prove perfectly healthy. One 

 rule alone has been pretty well ascertained, with respect to animal foods, 

 that they are the more digestible the more minute and tender the fibre 

 may be. They contain more nutriment in a given bulk than vegetable 

 matters, and hence their less need for length of intestine to digest them. 

 Yet it is worthy of notice, that between the chyle produced from animal 

 and that from vegetable food, no essential distinction can be observed. 



Tendon, suet, and oily matters in general, are considerably less digest- 

 ible than the ordinary fibre ; and these are aliments which should be 

 taken sparingly. Pickling, from its effects in hardening the fibre, dimin- 

 ishes the digestibility of meat. Dressed shell-fish, cheese, and some other 

 animal foods, are avoided by many as not sufficiently digestible. 



Farinaceous foods of all kinds wheat, oaten, and barley bread, oaten 

 porrage, sago, arrow-root, tapioca, and potatoes are highly suitable to the 

 human constitution. They generally require under two hours for diges- 

 tion, or about half the time of a full mixed meal. The cottage children of 

 Scotland, reared exclusively upon oaten porridge and bread, with potatoes 

 and milk, may be cited as a remarkable example of a class of human beings 

 possessing in an uncommon degree the blessing of health. Green vegeta- 

 bles and fruit, however softened by dressing, are less digestible, and less 

 healthy as a diet. One important consideration here occurs. There is 

 need for a certain bulk in our ordinary food. Receiving nutriment in a 

 condensed form and in a small space will not serve the purpose. This is 

 Vecause the organs of digestion are calculated for receiving our food nearly 

 in the condition in which nature presents it, namely, in a considerable 

 bulk with regard to its nutritions properties. 



QUANTITY OF FOOD. NUMBER AND TIMES OF MEALS. With respect to 

 the amount of food necessary for health, it is difficult to lay down any rule, 



