184 



HITCHCOCK'S ANATOMY % 



are easily satisfied by the simplest food. Nor does man's 

 intellectual superiority demand a greater variety in diet, all 

 that is requisite being the materials necessary to support the 

 growth of the different tissues. 



335a. 4. It is evident that condiments and spices should 

 be always used very sparingly, and generally spices not at 

 all. To be sure nature seems to indicate the want of a mode- 

 rate supply of salt (perhaps for the juices of the stomach), 

 but pepper, mustard, and ketchup excite the coats of the 

 stomach to an action that is unnatural. And it seems to be 

 a law of the system that stimulants and opiates, if used 

 regularly, must be constantly increased in quantity, other- 

 wise they will lose their effect, and disorder will follow. In 

 fine, all experience seems to prove that the demands of nature 

 for food are very simple and easily gratified ; but the appetite 

 may be so trained as to loathe every thing of a simple and 

 natural kind, and be satisfied only with the stimulating com- 

 pounds of modern cookery. The law of nature, however, 

 cannot be reversed, that he who lives in the simplest manner 

 lives the longest, and suffers the least from pain or disease. 



336. Wc must not eat too fast. — 5. Most persons eat too 

 fast. No time is gained on the sum total of life, by taking 

 any from that demanded by nature for eating and digesting 

 food. A fortune or great reputation, it is true, may some- 

 times he gained a little quicker by using the time which the 

 stomach rightfully claims, yet the penalty for such robbery is 

 a shorter life, or a disease which makes life miserable. 



337. The Time of Eating— 6. We see that the time of 

 eating should not encroach upon the hours devoted to sleep, 

 or those of hard labor. During sleep the brain needs quiet; 

 but if there be any function going on such as that in the 

 earlier stages of digestion, the brain, as a matter of necessity, 



Does intellectual superiority require so great a variety as is often introduced ? 335. 

 Why are condiments and spices to be used very sparingly ? What are the demands of 

 natm-e upon the appetite? How much may the appetite be perverted? 336. What 

 danger in eating too fast? 337. What time during the day should we eat? 



