DIET FOB DYSPEPSIA. 331 



may be taken in moderation if skins and seeds be rejected; oily 

 fruits, such as nuts of all kinds and olives, are objectionable. 



Bread should be stale or toasted dry. Hot-buttered toast, made 

 spongy and fat, must be rejected ; so also must hot rolls, muffins, 

 crumpets, and likewise new or fatty cakes ; bread -puddings are safe, 

 when plain and not sweet; water-biscuits are far better than fancy 

 sorts; pastry, puddings and rich cakes are condemned. Cheese 

 should not be taken after dinner. 



The most innocent and useful beverage is good, pure, filtered 

 water; the softer the better, if it be pure. The temperature at which it 

 may be drunk should be proportionate to the temperature of the body 

 and its susceptibility to neat and cold. To fermented and alcoholic 

 drinks reference has already been made. Cocoa, made from " nibs," 

 is the best kind of drink for breakfast; one small cup of black tea, 

 infused only two minutes and a half, with a slice of lemon and a lit- 

 tle crystallized sugar in it instead of cream or milk, is sufficient in 

 the evening. New milk is not easily digested by some persons; but 

 most people can take it better than skim-milk, whether boiled or 

 unboiled; milk is, however, better not boiled as a rule. Butter is 

 sometimes too rich, but good, fresh farm-butter is not often found to 

 disagree; of all fatty substances it is the most easily assimilated. Yery 

 salt butter is often, rancid butter always, objectionable. Fruit, 

 fresh or preserved, jellies or marmalade, often prove a good substi- 

 tute for butter. Eggs are usually not only wholesome, but easily 

 digested, if they are soft boiled. 



In dyspepsia the cooking cannot be too simple. Dishes fried 

 in butter, rich sauces and savory compounds are quite out of place. 

 The appetite should not be thus tempted ; the natural flavor ot the 

 food so cooked as to make it readily soluble and digestible, and 

 served attractively, should present sufficient temptation. The food 

 should be eaten and the meal nearly completed before the patient 

 drinks. A more objectionable practice than that of drinking 

 with solid food is the too common habit of drinking before the 

 meal. Food should never be taken hot; to scald either tongue or 

 stomach is to injure two useful organs. 



The following dietaries are recommended for persons suffering 

 from flatulent dyspepsia: 



BREAKFAST Half a pint of milk, with or without soda-water, 

 one egg lightly boiled, dry, cold toast, bread and butter, with beef- 

 steak or mutton chops. 



DINNER Roast or boiled mutton or beef, better taken warm ; 

 roast or boiled fowl or game, without any sauces; any kind of fish 

 except salmon, without sauces ; any kind of vegetable except pota- 

 toes; a small quantity of stale, brown or white bread; salt to be 

 taken freely, all other condiments tp be avoided ; fruit stewed with 

 plenty of sugar, if more sugar be added subsequently it does not 

 sweeten the fruit so well ; rice-preserves in small quantities; cheese 

 to be avoided. 



