70 PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. 



stomach, there is, generally, no return ; whatever is once 

 there, although out of place, must remain, or go onward at 

 the cost of comfort and strength of this organ, and of the 

 whole body. 



146. It would seem that these principles must be plain to 

 every one, so that no man would overload or improperly load 

 his stomach, any more than he would his ship or his wagon, 

 for so slight a motive as the pleasure of the first step in the 

 work. Yet this error is among the most common in society. 

 It seems to be forgotten that the appetite and the mouth are 

 made to subserve digestion and nutrition ; and the world eats 

 as if the whole digestive system were the mere servant of the 

 palate, and made to carry whatever burden this may impose 

 upon it. 



147. The pleasures of good eating occupy many men's 

 thoughts ; they are the subject, of much conversation ; they 

 have had their praises sung by many a poet; while the fitness 

 of food for the purposes of life is scarcely thought of, and still 

 more {infrequently discussed. Few there are who do not 

 understand the flavor of the various articles of diet, or the 

 pleasantness or unpleasantness of the different methods of 

 cookery. Yet the nutritive power, or digestibility of these 

 articles, and the effects of cookery upon their qualities, are 

 almost unknown to the world. 



148. With this ignorance of the true purposes and conse- 

 quences of eating, and with the too common disregard of 

 the wants of the body and the powers of the stomach, it is 

 not surprising that appetite should very frequently be the 

 governing law in this matter, and that men should eat for 

 pleasure, rather than for nourishment and strength ; and such 

 is the fact. The stomach is made the receptacle of what- 

 ever the capricious and ungoverned appetite selects and 

 sends to it. Our tables are spread, not only with substan- 

 tials that nourish the body, but with delicacies that tempt 

 the palate. We eat not only enough to support the body, but 

 often we add to this much more for the mere enjoyment of 

 the act, and we urge our friends to partake of the various 



