PROPER TIME FOR MEALS. 12$ 



meals keeps the stomach at work all the time, and it 

 is not ready to do its duty properly when the meal- 

 time comes. 



4. Meals should be taken at Regular Hours. Three 

 meals a day are sufficient, and many persons do better 

 with two. Their regularity is of more importance than 

 their number. The stomach, like the rest of our organs, 

 soon forms habits, and only works with comfort when 

 they are not interfered with. A little before the usual 

 time of eating, we begin to feel an appetite, which grad- 

 ually increases to a pleasant degree of hunger. If a man 

 keeps at his work instead of heeding this hint, his whole 

 system becomes run down from want of nourishment. 

 His stomach itself is unable to secrete properly, and 

 when at last he sits down to eat, utterly tired out, he 

 has no appetite, and his meal is probably followed by a 

 fit of indigestion. 



A heavy meal should not be eaten within two hours 

 of going to bed. The presence of much food in the 

 stomach, is very apt to cause troubled sleep. 



5. Meals should be Eaten Slowly and with Pleasant 

 Surroundings. The dinner-table should be the scene of 

 a cheerful gathering, and merry talk. To bolt a meal 

 in gloomy silence, thinking of one's work or worries, 

 is not only bad manners, but bad hygiene. Talking of 

 unpleasant things is often necessary, but should always 

 be put off until an hour or two after dinner, when one is 

 in much better condition to meet annoyances. 



4. Proper number of meals ? Why should they be taken at regular 

 times ? What happens if a man allows his business to postpone a 

 meal much beyond the proper time ? What is said concerning eating 

 before bedtime ? 



5. What is said concerning the dinner-table ? About eating while 

 thinking of work or worry ? About talking of unpleasant things ? 



