60 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



and a lighter meal a few hours before sleeping meets the 

 wants of the body, and corresponds with the powers of diges- 

 tion. But when we add to these, lunches during the day, 

 or take a supper of feasting for hospitality or self-indulgence 

 at night, we overstep the demands for nourishment, and 

 overtask the powers of digestion, and prevent the full, 

 refreshing effects of sleep at night. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Quantity of Food. Fleshy Persons not always great Eaters. Lean 

 Persons not always small Eaters. Action causes Changes of Par- 

 ticles. Laborers eat more than the Sedentary. 



123. THE quantity of food, as we shall see hereafter, is 

 not to be governed by a fixed law. Men differ in their 

 wants, and their necessities, and their powers. Dr. John C. 

 Dalton, after making a series of experiments in diet and nu- 

 trition, says he " found that the entire quantity of food re- 

 quired during twenty-four hours by a man in full health, and 

 taking free exercise in the open air, is as follows : 



Meat, 16 ounces, or .... I'OO Ib. 



Bread, 19 " . 1-19. 



Butter or fat, . . 3 " '22. 



Water, 52 fluid oz., 3'25 pints.'"* 



124. The seamen in the British navy are allowed 1 Ib. 

 bread, 1 Ib. fresh meat, Ib. vegetables ; and, when fresh 

 meat and vegetables are not given, Ib. salt meat and f- Ib. 

 flour are allowed, being 40 oz. solid food for each day's 

 support. The dietary for emigrants going from Great Britain 

 to the East Indies and New Holland gives 9 oz. animal 

 food, 12 oz. bread, 4 oz. flour, 2 oz. rice, 1 oz. raisins; in 

 all, 28 oz. per day. The soldiers of the army of the United 

 States are allowed to have f Ib. pork or bacon, or 1 Ib. beef, 



* Human Physiology, 3d ed. p. 113. 



