DIGESTION 



exhalations of marshy countries as produce fever and ague 

 or other malady, should eat their breakfast before going 

 abroad. Travellers and others, who go abroad in winter, 

 or in stormy weather, will maintain their heat better and 

 defend themselves more effectually against the elements, if 

 they breakfast before they go out. But if they go out in the 

 morning hungry, they suffer much more from chills and 

 dampness, and are in greater danger of taking cold. 



115. If this precaution of early eating be requisite for 

 the healthy and the robust, it is much more so for the 

 feeble and the invalid. Inasmuch as those, whose strength 

 and vitality are in any way reduced below the average stand- 

 ard, are more susceptible of disorder from any disturbing 

 cause, and are more easily fatigued with labor, it is more 

 necessary for them than for others to strengthen and defend 

 themselves with the early morning refreshment, before they 

 engage in laborious occupation, or expose themselves to cold 

 or infection. 



1 16. The time of the dinner differs very materially in vari- 

 ous nations, and among people in different places of the same 

 nation. Three hundred years ago, the king of Englapd and 

 his court dined at eleven. Some of the nobility, previous to 

 that time, breakfasted at seven, dined at eleven, and supped 

 at four. More recently, both in America and Europe, 

 twelve at noon was the established hour ; and at present, in 

 the rural districts, almost every where, this dining hour is 

 still observed ; while in towns and cities the time varies from 

 one to six or seven. But, in families who dine so late, 

 breakfast is also late, and the interval between the first and 

 second meal is not so wide as the lateness of the dining hour 

 would seem to indicate. In about five or six hours after the 

 morning meal, the appetite returns, and the system calls for 

 new refreshment. This is the true guide for the time of 

 dining. Whatever may be the hour of breakfast, not more 

 than about six or seven hours should elapse before the sys- 

 tem is again refreshed with food. 



117. In some of the European cities, breakfast is suffi- 



