THE USE AND ABUSE OF FOOD. 345 



of their strength. They thus overtax the digestive organs, 

 and not only fail of their purpose, but weaken instead of 

 strengthening the system. Especially serious is the mistake 

 often made by persons in delicate health of swallowing 

 no other word can be used, for the digestive organs alto- 

 gether refuse to respond to the action of the mouth large 

 quantities of some concentrated form of food, such as even 

 the strongest stomach could not deal with in that form. I 

 knew a person who, though suffering from weakness such 

 as should have suggested the blandest and simplest forms 

 of food, adopted as a suitable breakfast mutton-chops and 

 bottled stout, arguing, when remonstrated with, that he re- 

 quired more support than persons in stronger health. He 

 was simply requiring his weak digestive organs to accom- 

 plish work which would have taxed the digestive energies 

 of the most stalwart labourer working daily in the open air 

 for many hours. 



On the other hand, a too abstemious diet is as erroneous 

 in principle as a diet in excess of the natural requirements 

 of the system. A diet which is simply too abstemious is 

 perhaps less dangerous than persistent abstinence from the 

 use of certain necessary forms of food. Nature generally 

 prevents us from injuring ourselves by unwisely diminish- 

 ing the quantity of food we take; but unfortunately she 

 is not always equally decided in her admonitions re- 

 specting the quality of our food. A man may be injuring 

 his health through a deficiency in the amount either of the 

 heat-forming or of the flesh-forming food which he consumes, 

 and yet know nothing of the origin of the mischief. It may 

 also be noted that systematic abstinence, either as respects 

 quantity or quality of food, is much more dangerous than 

 an occasional fast Indeed, it is not generally injurious 

 either to abstain for several days from particular articles or 

 forms of food, or to remain, for several hours beyond the 

 usual interval between meals, without food of any sort. On 

 the contrary, benefit often arises from each practice. The 

 Emperor Aurelian used to attribute the good health he 



