148 HUMAN BIOLOGY 



England, butter is not salted and its delicate taste is enjoyed : in 

 America, salt is added to preserve it, and most people have come to 

 prefer the strong taste of salty butter to the delicate taste of pure butter, 

 and do not like it unless its true taste is partly hidden by the taste of 

 salt (Exp. 9). 



Deceiving the Sense of Taste. — The habit of using narcotics like 

 tea and coffee is usually begun by concealing the repulsive bitter taste 

 of the substance by mixing sugar, cream, and other agreeable things 

 with it. Licorice is sometimes mixed with tobacco to weaken its biting 

 taste. Pure alcohol would never be drunk by any one who had the 

 least respect for the sense of taste, but the agreeable flavor of grapes, 

 apples, and other fruit which still remains in wine, cider, and brandy, 

 conceals the repulsive taste of the alcohol. Beer has the insipid taste 

 of grain which has undergone decomposition or partial rotting, and 

 hops are added because the strong bitter taste of hops is needed to 

 hide the stale, rancid taste of the rotted grain. Eggnog is made of 

 eggs, a nourishing food; sugar, which has an agreeable taste; water, a 

 refreshing drink, and alcohol, a fiery poison. A very good eggnog is 

 often made without alcohol, but a good one could hardly be made with 

 any of the pleasant ingredients left out. The best eggnog is made by 

 using the fresh juice of lemon, orange, or grape, instead of alcohol. 



Effect of Narcotics. — Tobacco, alcohol, opium, and other narcotics 

 dull the senses of taste and smell and prevent the enjoyment of delicate 

 flavors. They accomplish this as much by their effect upon the brain 

 as upon the nerves themselves. 



It is Wrong to eat Food that is not Relished. — Unpalatable food is 

 not likely to be well digested. It is a law of the body that the food 

 which is enjoyed the most is digested the best. This applies to a hungry 

 person eating food with its own honest taste, not to food disguised by 

 the taste of something else. The rule does not apply to a taste per- 

 verted by having been forced to become accustomed to poisonous 

 things. People who munch their food slowly enjoy the pleasures of 

 taste the most, and digest their food the best. The nerves of taste 

 and smell easily become fatigued. The first whiff from a cologne bottle 

 is the strongest. Highly flavored foods should be eaten moderately, 

 if we would obtain the greatest enjoyment from them. 



Thought Questions. — 1. Interfering with the Body. What is 

 the natural direction of growth of the big toe? 2. Think of six evil 

 results, direct or indirect, which will follow from displacing it by tight 

 shoes (p. 48). 3. Which part of the spinal column, designed in 

 infinite wisdom to be most flexible, do some people try to make the 

 most inflexible? 4. The mobility of the false and floating ribs was 



