ASSIMILATION 65 



large part of their trade depends upon the fact that 

 people chew their food insufficiently, or eat food that is 

 too soft. Sudden changes of temperature from hot cof- 

 fee to iced water, for example, may crack the enamel. 

 The teeth should be cared for, otherwise they decay. 

 They then not only cause great pain but they are not 

 able to do their work well, which may result in serious 

 indigestion or dyspepsia, and they become lodging 

 places for disease germs. 



Emphasis should be laid upon the fact that the body 

 needs a large quantity of water to dissolve food and 

 carry it throughout the body. Water should not, how- 

 ever, be taken in large quantities with meals, because it 

 dilutes the digestive juice and renders it less effective. 

 Xeither should very cold water be taken at that time, as 

 the digestive juices work only at certain temperatures. 

 If water is taken immediately upon rising in the morn- 

 ing and an hour or two before meals the desire for it 

 with the meals will disappear for the thirst is already 

 appeased. 



Bad cases of nervous indigestion and catarrh of the 

 stomach have been cured by the simple expedient of 

 drinking, an hour before breakfast, a quart of hot water 

 containing a half teaspoonful of salt and the juice of 

 half a lemon. The large quantity of water washes clean 

 the walls of the alimentary canal so that they are more 

 fit for the absorption of the digested food. 



Summary. — Every movement of the body is accom- 

 panied by the disintegration of protoplasm, or other 

 complex and unstable substances. These substances are 

 replaced by new substances made through the assimila- 



