COOKERY. 59 



altogether their dinner hour. I know well enough my- 

 self, that a keen appetite may be instantly dissipated by 

 the receipt of unpleasant, news, or any accident that oc- 

 casions fear or anxiety. 



Dr. B. Healthy digestion always requires a cheer- 

 fulness of disposition and a serenity of the passions. 

 When anxiety is clouding the mind, or some secret pas- 

 sion preying upon its happiness, the appetite soon fails, 

 food becomes loathsome, a morbid irritability of the 

 stomach ensues, and the blanched cheek and wasted 

 muscle proclaim the origin and effects of the disease. 



Emily. I need scarcely ask, I suppose, whether the 

 usual drinks taken with our food are the best adapted to 

 promote the digestive process. As they are all artificial 

 and more or less stimulating, you would say they are 

 more injurious than beneficial. 



Dr. B. We can have no very strong objections to 

 any but those which contain a portion of alcohol. They 

 sharpen the appetite no doubt, but it is none but a jaded 

 and artificial appetite that needs such stimulus. Pure 

 well-water in consequence of the salts which it holds in 

 solution is perhaps better suited than any other fluid, to 

 dissolve the aliments, and afford a healthy stimulus to the 

 digestive organs. 



Emily. The refinements of modern cookery then are 

 liable to the same objections, for they are in the highest 

 degree artificial and stimulating. 



Dr. B. Some cookery is always required, before 

 our food is capable of being eaten. But beyond this, 

 cookery is useful, only as it renders palatable and agree- 

 able what would otherwise be entirely rejected, and it is 

 therefore conducive to economy. Perhaps nearly as 

 much food is absolutely wasted every day in some parts 

 of our country, as is consumed, for want of a proper 

 knowledge of the art of cookery. 



Emily. And yet notwithstanding all this diversity of 

 food, is not the nutritious portion that which is alone 

 suited to the nourishment of the body very nearly the 



