Part 18 (2/2)

278. As the chyle supplies the blood with the newly vitalized particles of matter, there is, consequently, an increased demand for food. This want of the system induces, in general, a sensation of hunger or appet.i.te, which may be regarded as an indication of the general state of the body. The sympathy that exists throughout the system accords to the stomach the power of making known this state to the nervous system, and, if the functions of this faithful monitor have not been impaired by disease, abuse, or habit, the call is imperious, and should be regarded.

276. At what age is the appet.i.te keen and the digestion vigorous? Why?

What is said in regard to the quant.i.ty of food when the youth has attained his growth? What exception, as given in the observation? 277.

Give another demand for food. What effect has increased exercise upon the system? 278. How are the new particles of matter supplied? What does this induce?

279. _When exercise or labor is lessened, the quant.i.ty of food should be diminished._ When a person who has been accustomed to active exercise, or even hard manual labor, suddenly changes to an employment that demands less activity, the waste attendant on action will be diminished in a corresponding degree; hence the quant.i.ty of food should be lessened in nearly the same proportion as the amount of exercise is diminished. If this principle be disregarded, the tone of the digestive organs will be impaired, and the health of the system enfeebled.

280. This remark is applicable to those students who have left laborious employments to attend school. Although the health is firm, and the appet.i.te keen from habit, yet every pupil should practise some self-denial, and not eat as much as the appet.i.te craves, the first week of the session. After some days, the real wants of the system will generally be manifested by a corresponding sensation of hunger.

_Observation._ It is a common observation that in academies and colleges, the older students from the country, who have been accustomed to hard manual labor, suffer more frequently from defective digestion and impaired health than the younger and feebler students from the larger towns and cities.

281. _Food is essential in maintaining a proper temperature of the system._ The heat of the system, at least in part, is produced in the minute vessels of the several organs, by the union of oxygen with carbon and hydrogen, which the food and drink contain. The amount of heat generated, is greatest when it is most rapidly removed from the system, which occurs in cold weather. This is the cause of the system requiring more food in winter than summer.

279. Why should the quant.i.ty of food be diminished when the exercise is lessened? What effect if this principle be disregarded? 280. To what cla.s.s is this remark applicable? What is often observed among students in academies and colleges? 281. State another demand for food. What is one source of heat in the body?

_Observation._ Persons that do not have food sufficient for the natural wants of the system, require more clothing than those who are well fed.

282. The last-mentioned principle plainly indicates the propriety and necessity of lessening the quant.i.ty of food as the warm season approaches. Were this practised, the tone of the stomach and the vigor of the system would continue unimpaired, the ”season complaints” would be avoided, and the ”strengthening bitters” would not be sought to create an appet.i.te.

_Observation._ Stable-keepers and herdsmen are aware of the fact, that as the warm season commences, then animals require less food. Instinct teaches these animals more truly, in this particular, than man allows reason to guide him.

283. _The quant.i.ty of food should have reference to the present condition of the digestive organs._ If they are weakened or diseased, so that but a small quant.i.ty of food can be properly digested or changed, that amount only should be taken. Food does not invigorate the system, except it is changed, as has been described in previous paragraphs.

_Observation._ When taking care of a sick child, the anxiety of the mother and the sufferings of the child may induce her to give food when it would be highly injurious. The attending physician is the only proper person to direct what quant.i.ty should be given.

Why do we eat more in the winter than in the summer? What practical observation is given? 282. Why should the quant.i.ty of food be lessened as warm weather commences? What would be avoided if this principle were obeyed? 283. Why should the present condition of the digestive organs be regarded in reference to the quant.i.ty of food? Mention an instance in which it would be injudicious to give food.

284. _The quant.i.ty of food is modified, in some degree, by habit._ A healthy person, whose exercise is in pure air, may be accustomed to take more food than is necessary. The useless excess is removed from the system by the waste outlets, as the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys, &c. In such cases, if food is not taken in the usual quant.i.ty, there will be a feeling of emptiness, if not of hunger, from the want of the usual distention of the stomach. This condition of the digestive organs may be the result of disease, but it is more frequently produced by inordinate daily indulgence in eating, amounting almost to gluttony.

285. _Large quant.i.ties of food oppress the stomach, and cause general languor of the whole body._ This is produced by the extra demands made on the system for an increased supply of blood and nervous fluid to enable the stomach to free itself of its burden. Thus, when we intend to make any extraordinary effort, mental or physical, at least for one meal, we should eat less food than usual, rather than a greater quant.i.ty.

286. _No more food should be eaten than is barely sufficient to satisfy the appet.i.te._ Nor should appet.i.te be confounded with taste.

The one is a natural desire for food to supply the wants of the system; the other is an artificial desire merely to gratify the palate.

287. Although many things may aid us in determining the quant.i.ty of food proper for an individual, yet there is no certain guide in all cases. It is maintained by some, that the sensation of hunger or appet.i.te is always an indication of the want of food, while the absence of this peculiar sensation is regarded as conclusive evidence that aliment is not demanded. This a.s.sertion is not correct, as an appet.i.te may be created for food by condiments and gormandizing, which is as artificial and as morbid as that which craves tobacco or ardent spirits. On the other hand, a structural or functional disease of the brain may prevent that organ from taking cognizance of the sensations of the stomach, when the system actually requires nourishment.

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