Volume 4

Cassell's people's physician : a book of medicine and of health for everybody.

Date:
[between 1900 and 1915]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Cassell's people's physician : a book of medicine and of health for everybody. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    An experiment was once made at a dinner at a restaurant in London. The dining-room, unknown to the guests, was specially ventilated, so that the air was kept perfectly pure. The result was that the guests ate more per head than had ever been eaten at that restaurant before. Even health, open air, and exercise, however, are not always suffi¬ cient to provoke appetite. We have seen that when food is put into a dog’s stomach without the dog’s knowledge, digestion is rendered much less efficient. Just in the same way, if food be gulped down or eaten • inattentively, appetite is lacking and digestion retarded. Hence the bad effects on the appetite and digestion of sorrow and worry. Hence, too, the bad effects of reading at meals. George Herbert, the poet, recommends that we should eat our food with the thought, “ Dust to dust we commit.” Thoreau, when asked at dinner which dish he would prefer, was wont to answer, “ The nearest'^ Nothing could be a greater mistake. To eat in such a spirit is to court dyspepsia. On sitting down to a meal the senses of sight and smell and taste should be concentrated on the food, and all gloomy thoughts should be so far as possible banished. Many people notice that they can eat better in company, especially in good company, than by themselves ; the reason being that lively conversation diverts the thoughts from worrying subjects. Wine that maketh glad the heart of man also thereby assists his digestion. A change of garb may assist digestion, by assisting the mind to forget the cares of the workaday world. Even flowers on the table, and ornamental dishes, may be considered appetisers. It will often be noticed that children who eat lazily, and languidly, and inattentively, can be made to eat with much more relish by insisting that they eat with more vigour. It will be noticed, too, that the gour¬ mand or epicure, who takes a lively interest in the menu, rarely suffers from indigestion. In the case of the man who has to hunt for his prey, probably the very keen mental attitude of the chase is itself conducive to appetite. In order to stimulate appetite, accordingly, it is advisable to do all things to render feeding interesting and enjoyable. Sometimes, however, in spite of all that is done in the ways above indicated, appetite still remains a minus quantity. What is to be done, then ? There are still a few measures to be tried. We may try the effect of condiments and piquant sauces. Taste and smell, as we have