818 



tion, so, also, is eating things out of due season. Think of lamb at 

 Christmas, ducks in February, or turkeys in June. Why, they have not 

 attained quarter their natural flavour; they are tasteless and indigestible 

 instead of being tempting and wholesome. Forced fruit and vegetables 

 are equally to be objected to. 



Many people eat too often, even though they may do so in a small 

 quantity at a time. A good substantial breakfast of meat and eggs, 

 or whatever else a man can make best his morning meal oflT, at 9 a.m., 

 and a good plain dinner, such as I have described, at 7 p.m., with a 

 biscuit or small sandwich for lunch, is all a healthy strong man ought 

 to require for food in the twenty-four hours. To be sure, there are 

 many who cannot eat a substantial breakfast, and to them their mid- 

 day meal is the meal of the day ; but give me the " round-of-beef 

 breakfast." Decidedly if a man has breakfast earlier than 9 a.m. or 

 dinner later than 7 p.m. he must have a fairly good luncheon, but 

 what I find fault with is eating little and oftt-n. 



There are many, both men and women, who eat daily as follows : — 



8.0 a.m. Tea with bread and butter, 



generally in bed. 

 10.0 a.m. Breakfast, often in bed 

 1.30p.m. Luncheon, three courses. 

 5.0 p.m. Tea and cake. | 



Could any except cast-iron organs stand such wear and tear ? 



An eminent doctor once told me — and I think his observation from 

 a common-sense point of view is conclusive on the subject— the digestive 

 organs require rest just as much as any other portion of the human 

 structure. Thus if through continuous eating the gastric organs are 

 kept in perpetual exercise, they break down just the same as any other 

 machinery would do. Directly food enters the stomach digestion 

 begin.^, and continues till its work is finished which takes some three 

 or four hours, more or Itss. If, therefore, a man eats, though little, 

 every three or four hours, the organs of digestion never get any rest, 

 and so they in a very short time wear out. Whereas if a man feeds, no 

 matter how heartily, only tvvice a day, with a light collation in the 

 interim, those most important functions get a chance, and they return 

 it by doing their work eflfectually, thus promoting both good health and 

 long life. 



Of all things in the world a man should never touch a drop of liquor 

 between meals. Let him drink what he may wish for at and after his 

 seven o'clock dinner, but at no time else. Day drinking and nipping 

 are some of the curses of the present generation. As 1 said before, 

 fifty years ago a man would be blackballed for a club if he was known 

 to drink before dinner. 



I am looked upon by some people as a sort of lusus naturce because I 

 neither back horses nor drink in the daytime, but, adopting Jorrocks's 

 translation of the appellation, I think the " loose 'uns by nature " are 

 generally found among those who practise both. To my mind, anyway, 



