54 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



waits impatiently for its food ; but gradually it accommodates 

 its wants to the new regulation, and hunger waits quietly till 

 the newly adopted hour. Again, the same persons have sud- 

 denly returned to their early hours, but the stomach does not 

 go back so readily ; at first, it was not in want of food at 

 twelve; but in a short period, finding its supply come early, 

 it manifested an early want, and became hungry at twelve. 



107. Whatever the accustomed hours of eating may be, 

 the stomach does not bear sudden changes, not even for a sin- 

 gle meal, without some complaint. One's appetite returns at 

 established periods ; then his stomach craves food, and the 

 gastric juice is ready to flow and dissolve it. If this want 

 is gratified, his dinner is digested easily, and he feels com- 

 fortable, and prepared for business during the afternoon. 

 But if, for any cause, he varies from his regular habit, and 

 eats at a later or an earlier hour, his digestion is not so 

 easy, and his body and mind are not so free for labor. 



108. A gentleman, being one day occupied abroad, did 

 not return to his dinner until three o'clock. He felt more 

 hungry than usual. But, after he had eaten, his stomach 

 reminded him that it did not perform its work with its cus- 

 tomary ease. His body was not so light and buoyant, his 

 brain was not so clear, as usual ; he could not apply his 

 mind with its accustomed energy to its work. And the re- 

 sult of the afternoon's labors was less than on other days. 

 The same has generally happened at other times when he 

 has postponed bis dinner beyond its accustomed hour. He 

 feels the same loss of energy and of command of his powers 

 whenever he anticipates the hour and dines at twelve. If 

 he had been a mechanic, he would have had the same dif- 

 ference in the precision and success with which he could 

 use his tools ; or, if he had been a farmer, there would have 

 been the same failure in the energy and effect of wielding 

 the axe, swinging the scythe, or striking with the hoe, after 

 such a disturbance of the hours of eating. 



109. Some families have no regular hours of eating. 

 They eat whenever it suits the convenience of the cooks to 



