434 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



and courteous manners, should not be reserved for company, but enforced as a daily 

 habit. Table decoration is not to be despised, and the cook should be encouraged to 

 make her dishes as attractive as possible. The forms of animals, and, in fact, any- 

 thing which makes us remember that the food has been a living animal at all, should 

 never be conspicuously displayed, but covered with such vegetable garnish as is 

 capable of harmonising with the character of the dish. Many people have a great 

 objection to seeing such things as calves' heads on the table on purely artistic grounds. 

 Ease of mind and ease of body are requisite for complete digestion. Muscular 

 exertion should be avoided immediately before and immediately after all substantial 

 meals. The best employment after dinner is light conversation or music, accom- 

 panied by such gentle sauntering movements as are encouraged by a well- 

 ventilated drawing-room. A cigar or cigarette is often a great help to digestion. 

 After a night's rest and the long fast which has emptied the digestive 

 organs, food should be taken before any of the material business of the day 

 is begun. Work done before breakfast is more tiring, and is not done so well as 

 after the stomach has been fortified. The hour of rising should regulate the hour of 

 breakfast. It is no proof of vigour to forego breakfast without inconvenience, but, 

 on the contrary, it is a great point to be able to lay in a good foundation for the 

 day's labour. The weak and feeble, as well as those advanced in years, will find it 

 a good plan to have a cup of tea, with some dry toast or bread-and-butter, before 

 attempting to get up. Many people prefer a tumbler of milk with a table-spoonful 

 of brandy or rum in it ; but we should certainly recommend the hot cup of tea by 

 preference. In winter it is not a bad plan to have a fire to dress by, especially when 

 the process of shaving has to be gone through. 



People as they get older often suffer from torpidity of the bowels, and con- 

 stipation is with them a constant source of trouble. The practice of taking aperient 

 pills is a bad one, and it is much better to effect the desired object, when possible, 

 by a little attention to diet. Many people can ensure an evacuation by taking 

 every morning on getting out of bed a tumblerful of cold water. The draught may 

 be made more palatable if a few cloves have been placed in a tumbler over night, 

 and had boiling water poured on them, so as, in fact, to make a weak clove tea. 

 A good way of keeping the bowels in order is to indulge in a little extra fruit, and 

 the best time to take it is an hour or so after breakfast. Apples are rather heavy, 

 but a nice ripe pear or a couple of oranges will often succeed admirably. Grapes, 

 currants, blackberries, and barberries may be indulged in for a change. Many 

 people like bananas. Roast apples and stewed prunes are much better suited than 

 pastry as a second course in the condition now under consideration. Some people 

 like stewed prunes with meat. Figs can be eaten either cold or in a pudding. 

 Green vegetables should be indulged in freely, and watercresses, dandelion, and 

 lettuces may be eaten ad libitum, provided only that they can be obtained fresh. 

 Two tea-spoonfuls of salad-oil taken at bed-time will prevent that drying and 

 hardening of the contents of the bowels which is so frequently a source of incon- 

 venience. When these remedies fail it is a good plan to substitute coffee for tea 

 at breakfast, and brown bread for white. Porridge is an excellent breakfast for 

 those who like it. The coarsely-ground Scotch oatmeal should be used. "Mix 



