770 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



strict moderation should be the guiding maxim. The diet suita- 

 ble for most aged persons is that which contains much nutritive 

 material in a small bulk, and its quantity should be in proportion 

 to the appetite and power of digestion. Animal food, well cooked, 

 should be taken sparingly and not more often than twice a day, 

 except under special circumstances. Dr. Parkes advocates rice as 

 a partial substitute for meat when the latter is found to disagree 

 with old persons. " Its starch-grains are very digestible, and it 

 supplies nitrogen in moderate amount, well fitted to the worn and 

 slowly repaired tissues of the aged." Its bulk, however, is some- 

 times a disadvantage ; in small quantities it is a valuable addition 

 to milk and to stewed fruits. 



The amount of food taken should be divided between three or 

 four meals at fairly regular intervals. A sense of fullness or op- 

 pression after eating ought not to be disregarded. It indicates 

 that the food taken has been either too abundant or of improper 

 quality. For many elderly people the most suitable time for the 

 principal meal is between 1 and 2 P. m. As the day advances the 

 digestive powers become less, and even a moderately substantial 

 meal taken in the evening may seriously overtask them. Undi- 

 gested food is a potent cause of disturbed sleep, an evil often very 

 troublesome to old people, and one which ought to be carefully 

 guarded against. 



It is an easier task to lay down rules with regard to the use of 

 alcoholic liquors by elderly people. The Collective Investigation 

 Committee of the British Medical Association has lately issued a 

 " Report on the Connection of Disease with Habits of Intemper- 

 ance," and two at least of the conclusions arrived at are worth 

 quoting : " Habitual indulgence in alcoholic liquors, beyond the 

 most moderate amount, has a distinct tendency to shorten life, the 

 average shortening being roughly proportional to the degree of in- 

 dulgence. Total abstinence and habitual temperance augment 

 considerably the chance of death from old age or natural decay, 

 without special pathological lesion." Subject, however, to a few 

 exceptions, it is not advisable that a man sixty-five or seventy 

 years of age, who has taken alcohol in moderation all his life, 

 should suddenly become an abstainer. Old age can not readily 

 accommodate itself to changes of any kind, and to many old peo- 

 ple a little good wine with their meals is a source of great com- 

 fort. To quote again from Ecclesiasticus, " Wine is as good as 

 life to a man, if it be drunk moderately, for it was made to make 

 men glad." Elderly persons, particularly at the close of the day, 

 often find that their nervous energy is exhausted, and require a 

 little stimulant to induce them to take a necessary supply of 

 proper nourishment, and perhaps to aid the digestive powers to 

 convert their food to a useful purpose. In the debility of old 



