INDIGESTION, OR DYSPEPSIA, 361 



and absolute indigestion, and must then be avoided. No one with a grain of 

 sense would take what he knows will upset him, and any one who has been 

 suffering for some time with dyspepsia has a wonderfully correct knowledge 

 of the aliments which best agree with him. 



It is important not only to refrain from substances which are indigestible, 

 but also to avoid mixing together in the stomach different substances of various 

 degrees of solubility. Hence there are two reasons why it is salutary to dine 

 off one dish. In the first place you avoid the injurious admixture just adverted 

 to ; and as to the second, you escape that desire to eat too large a quantity, which 

 is provoked by new and various flavours. 



"We have already referred to the importance of allowing the stomach time 

 to perform one task before another is imposed upon it. Abernethy always 

 exhorted his patients to allow five or six hours to elapse between one meal and 

 the next, and there can be no doubt that his advice was as much founded in 

 reason as justified in practice. There are very, very many people who allow 

 a much shorter interval than this between each of the three principal meals of 

 the day, and the effects of such a system are every bit as injurious as those of 

 over-eating. Many delicate people think it is necessary to eat often to keep up 

 their strength, but fail to recognise the fact that when meals are taken frequently 

 they should be small. The injurious effects of eating between the meals cannot 

 be over-estimated. When meat is eaten in tolerable quantities two or three 

 times a day, the addition of milk, eggs, wine, beef -tea, bread and cheese, biscuits, 

 <fec., destroys the beneficial effects of all. It should be remembered also that the 

 amount of food required varies with the expenditure of the system, and that a 

 person leading a sedentary, inactive life requires far less food than one who is 

 performing considerable bodily or mental labour. 



Attention to general hygienic conditions will do much in the treatment of 

 -dyspepsia, although it will seldom effect a cure unless the diet be also regulated. 

 The sufferer from dyspepsia should take plenty of exercise, especially in the 

 open air. Walking and riding often exert a considerable influence in increasing 

 the digestive powers of the stomach, and in the case of those who of necessity 

 lead sedentary lives in large cities, the use of the gymnasium often proves of 

 the greatest service. Exhaustion, however, is most carefully to be avoided, 

 and after active exercise time should be allowed for the body to cool before 

 food is taken. The effects of cold or tepid bathing, and the daily use of the 

 hair glove or flesh-brush, are often very beneficial. . Mental distress, mental 

 solicitude, mental toil, and over-much study, are all prolific sources of dyspepsia, 

 and those harassed by care or anxiety, as well as those engaged in absorbing 

 intellectual pursuits, should take their meals in cheerful society. A light heart 

 is a great digester. You will do well to encourage an indolent sense of contentment 

 for some little time after eating, so as not to divert from the stomach the nervous 

 force which is so essential for the due and proper performance of its functions. 

 A change of scene often does a great deal of good, and a run down to Brighton, 

 or Margate, or Folkestone, or Eastbourne, if only for a few days, may be tried 

 with advantage. Six weeks among the mountains of Switzerland, or upon the 



