408 BACTERIOLOGY. 



drinking too much, especially when eating, 

 although if the food is properly prepared no 

 drink is usually needed while eating, and chil- 

 dren at first resist instinctively the bad ex- 

 ample set by their elders in this matter. The 

 action of the gastric juice and the other diges- 

 tive juices is impaired by much drinking, and 

 the specific weight of the body is diminished. 

 An over concentrated form of nourishment on 

 the other hand causes peculiar chemical bodies 

 to accumulate in large quantities in the intes- 

 tine ; these are taken up into the circulation 

 and act injuriously as self-poisons or leuco- 

 mains and as substances inducing fatigue, and 

 at times may even bring about grave manifes- 

 tations of disease, such for example as are rec- 

 ognized in tetany and coma. Such an over- 

 concentration hinders also the mechanical 

 development of the digestive organs, especially 

 of the stomach, so that the adult takes as small 

 a portion of food as a child. Many ladies af- 

 ford astonishing examples of this condition, 

 through their efforts to remain slender and 

 interestingly pale by taking a very small quan- 

 tity of food. A child naturally eats a large 

 quantity of food in order to accustom its diges- 

 tive organs to the quantity needed later by the 

 adult and to properly develop the capacity of 

 the stomach, and an increase in quality and 



