CHAP. XXII.] HUNGER. 159 



in the lean of meat than the fat, which is fully proved by experi- 

 ment, fat, being of a greasy nature, causes bile, and palls the sto- 

 mach : the lean of fat meat is best. Veal and lamb are never 

 given, nor is pork. The legs of fowls, being sinewy, are much 

 approved of. The yolk of a raw egg is reckoned the best thing in 

 a morning, and is supposed to prevent bilious complaints. Beef- 

 steaks are reckoned very good, and rather underdone than other- 

 wise, as all meat in general is ; and it is better to have the meat 

 broiled than roasted or boiled, by which nutriment is lost. No fish 

 whatever is allowed, because it is reckoned watery, and not to be 

 compared with meat in point of nutriment. The fat of meat is 

 never given, but the lean of the best meat. No butter nor cheese 

 on any account ; cheese is indigestible. Meat must be dressed as 

 plain as possible without seasoning of any kind. Men will live 

 longer on beef, without change, than on any other kind of animal 

 food, but mutton is reckoned most easily digested. The meat must 

 always be fresh, and never salted. No quantity of meat is fixed ; 

 it depends upon the constitution and appetite. Little men will eat 

 as much as large men, and very frequently more. Pies and pud- 

 dings are never given, nor any kind of pastry ; as to hard dump- 

 lings, people may as well take earthenware into their stomachs." 



This system, it must be remembered, is combined with one of 

 active and even severe exercise. 



The periods for taking food, and the quantity to be taken, are 

 under the natural guidance of certain sensations, which we call 

 Hunger^ Thirst, and Satiety. 



(^IIwig&r.WiG immediate cause of hunger cannot be explained. 

 It is probably a sensation dependent on a peculiar condition of the 

 mucous membrane of the stomach, which certain states of disease 

 may blunt or may increase to an inconvenient extent, as in diabetes. 

 The nerve which is instrumental in this sensation is probably the 

 vagus nerve by its gastric branches, but there is no reason for deny- 

 ing to the sympathetic nerves, distributed to the stomach, some share 

 m this phenomenon. The experiments of Brachet and Dr. John 

 Reid, relative to the influence of the nerves on hunger, lead to no 

 satisfactory conclusion, because of the difficulty of interpreting the 

 sensations of dumb animals, and the probability that appetite would 

 be destroyed or impaired after any serious operation, even although 

 the injured nerve had nothing to do with the stomach. The sensa- 

 tions caused by extreme hunger would indicate that some further 

 change was taking place in the wall of the stomach. A peculiar 

 sense of sinking referable to the gastric region, general faintness, 



