with flesh and fowl;-finally " the vegetable world is ransacked from the cryptogamia upwards ;" and to this miscellaneous aggregate are added the pernicious pasticcios of the pastry-cook, and the complex combinations of the confectioner. It is not to one or two good dishes, even abundantly indulged in, but to the overloading of the stomach, that such strong objections are to be urged. Nine persons in ten swallow as much soup and fish as would amply suffice for a meal, and as far as these are concerned, would rise not only satisfied but saturated; yet a new stimulus appears in the form of stewed beef, or côtelettes à la suprême: then comes a Bayonne or Westphalia ham, or a pickled tongue, or some analogous salted, but proportionately indigestible dish, and of each enough is eaten for a single meal. Alas! this is not all; game follows; and to this again succeed the sweets, and a quantity of cheese; and the whole is crowned with a variety of flatulent fruits and indigestible knick-knacks, included under the name of dessert, and accompanied with a mountain of sponge cake. Thus the stomach receives not one full meal, but a succession of meals, rapidly following each other.

"But it may be said, that this is a mere tirade against quantity; against over-distention of the stomach; that it argues nothing against variety of food, provided the sum of all the dishes does not exceed that which might be taken of any single one. Without availing myself of the argument so usually applied against plurality of food, that it induces us to eat too much,' I will meet the question upon fair grounds. It is evident that the different varieties of food require very different exertions of the stomach for their digestion; it may be that the gastric juice varies in composition, according to the specific nature of the stimulus which excites the vessels to secrete it; but of this we are uncertain, nor is it essential to the argument: it is sufficient to know, that one species of food is passed into the duodenum in a chymified state in half the time which is required to effect the same change in another. Where, then, the stomach is charged with contents which do not harmonize with each other in this respect, we shall have the several parts of the mixed mass at the same time in different stages of digestion: one part will, therefore, be retained beyond the period destined for its expulsion, while another will be hurried forward before its change has been sufficiently completed. It is then highly expedient, particularly for those with weak stomachs, to eat but one species of food, so that it may be all digested and expelled at nearly the same period of time; that when the duodenal digestion has been fully established, the operations of the stomach shall have ceased. I have, on a former occasion, insi5ted upon the importance of such a regulation, and it now leads one to make some remarks upon the periods best adapted for our meals, and upon the intervals which should be allowed between them."-185.

On the Periods best adapted for Meals, and on the Intervals which should elapse between each. An invalid may safely take three frugal meals; or, on some occasions, even four, provided a certain quantity of exercise be enjoyed.

1. Breakfast. This is, perhaps, the most natural, and not the least important meal; since, from the long period of abstinence, the stomach ought to be in a condition to receive aliment. But this is not always the fact; the gastric juice does not appear to be secreted in any quantity during sleep, while the muscular energies of the stomach, although invigorated by repose, are not immediately called into action. It is, therefore, advisable, and the practice is confirmed by experience, to allow an interval to pass prior to breakfasting. The solidity of the breakfast should be regulated by the labour and exercise to be undergone, and the time of dining. Where the dinner hour is late, a more nutritious meal may be recommended, to supersede the necessity of luncheon, or what the French designate un déjeuner à la fourchette. Yet it must not be forgotten that dyspeptic invalids are frequently incommoded by such a repast, if it be copious. Heartburn is a common effect, especially if the heavy breakfast be accompanied with much diluting liquid. Hence a question has arisen as to the propriety of taking much fluid on such occasions. It will not be difficult to show the reasons why liquids are essentially necessary at breakfast; because, overlooking obvious ones, there is a certain. acrimony and rankness in all the secretions at that period; and, likewise, the breath has commonly a peculiar taint in the morning, which is not observable at subsequent times of the day. Every physician must have been consulted upon the propriety of taking meat, tea, or coffee, at breakfast. A person who has not strong powers of digestion, is frequently distressed by the common association of tea with bread and butter, or, what is more injurious, with hot buttered toast or muffin; the oily part of which is separated by the heat of the liquid, remains in the stomach, and produces, in its cardiac orifice, an irritation tantamount to heartburn. Here dry toast is preferable. New bread, or spongy rolls, should be carefully avoided. Tea, to many individuals, is a beverage which contains too little nutriment; and when so, barley water, or a thin gruel, is a very useful substitute. A constant acidity between breakfast and dinner, but at no other period, has been removed by eating toasted bread, with a slice of the lean part of cold mutton, and a large cup of warm barley-water for the purpose of dilution. Hard eggs, although they require a long time for their digestion, are not generally offensive to the stomach; and con

sequently may be taken with propriety at breakfast whenever the hour of dinner is late.

2. Dinner. This is the principal meal of modern times, and at which every species of luxurious gratification is practised. Invalids should dine in the middle of the day, or at two or three o'clock. The exact period, however, must be directed by the physician with reference to the necessary habits of his patient, the nature and time of his breakfast; and, above all, to the rapidity or tardiness of his digestion. For instance, a gentleman dining at three, had scarcely any appetite, and constantly experienced a sensation of weight and uneasiness afterwards; but was cured by always taking his dinner at six o'clock, because, when he dined at the former hour, his breakfast had not been duly digested in consequence of his digestion. being remarkably slow.

3. Tea. This subject has already been considered; and, where it is practicable, exercise should follow the repast.

4. Supper. When Queen Elizabeth flourished, the nobility and gentry were accustomed to dine at eleven, to sup between five and six, and to go to bed at ten. Any argument, therefore, in favour of this meal, founded upon the healthy condition of our ancestors, must be fallacious. By supper, in modern times, a late meal before bed-time is understood. But as sleep is not favourable to every stage of digestion, it is very questionable whether retiring to rest with a full stomach can, under any circumstances, be salutary. During chymification a person so situated may perhaps sleep quietly, unless indeed the morbid distention of the stomach should impede respiration, and occasion distress; but when the food has left the stomach, and chylification and sanguification have been established, the natural propensity of the body is for activity, and the invalid awakes at this period, and remains in a feverish state for some hours. Upon this general principle, then, suppers are to be avoided; that is, hearty ones, which require for their digestion the active powers of the stomach. The same cannot be urged against a light repast, which is generally useful to dyspeptics; and it has been truly and facetiously observed, that "some invalids need not put on their night-caps, if they do not first bribe their stomachs to good behaviour." An egg lightly boiled, or a piece of dry toast, with a small quantity of white wine negus, will often secure a tranquil night. Among the intellectual part of the community, there has ever existed a strong predilection in favour of suppers; for the labour of the day has been performed; the hour is sacred to conviviality, and is one not likely to be interrupted by business. To those in health,

such indulgencies may occasionally be allowed; yet the physician should be cautious in giving his sanction to their wholesomeness.*

On the Quantity of Food that ought to be taken at different Meals. We cannot deprive our readers of the pleasure of perusing the following no less happy than just, observations. We have not shrunk, and we never will shrink, from the labour of analysis; but there are times when it is peculiarly proper to permit an author to appear in his own language, since not to concede this to him, is to rob him of the merit of his best. passages. Our wish is to blazon forth, and not to darken intellectual light.

"Mr. Abernethy says, that it would be well if the public would follow the advice of Mr. Addison, given in the Spectator, of reading the writings of L. Cornaro; who, having naturally a weak constitution, which he seemed to have ruined by intemperance, so that he was expected to die at the age of thirty-five, did at that period adopt a strict regimen, allowing himself only twelve ounces of food daily.' When I see the habits of Cornaro so incessantly introduced as an example for imitation, and as the standard of dietetic perfection, I am really inclined to ask with Feyjoo did God create Lewis Cornaro to be a rule for all mankind in what they were to eat and drink? Nothing can be more absurd than to establish a rule of weight and measure upon such occasions.

In regard to suppers, the wisest method is to be guided by the feelings of the patient. Some dislike suppers, and take them with reluctance, while others, toward night, become hungry, and endure an aching, and a disagreeable emptiness of the stomach, which are commonly removed by eating a little animal food, and drinking a glass of ale, or of wine and water. We wonder the author has not interdicted the use of green tea, which is exceedingly pernicious to all dyspeptics, and indeed often produces cardialgia, and gastrodynia in the healthy. With respect to drinking during dinner, the best general rule is to avoid the practice, provided it can be done without distress, but certainly not otherwise, yet great moderation ought to be observed. If malt liquor be drunk after dinner, it should be very slowly, and not exceeding twelve ounces in half an hour, since, quickly taken, it unpleasantly distends and disorders the stomach. The same observation applies to wine ;-for instance, a glass every quarter of an hour, not advancing beyond three, or four glasses of wine, and of which madeira and sherry are the most salutary, But where both malt liquor, and wine are indulged in, the proper plan is to drink the former first, and when an hour and a half have expired to commence with the latter. For, it is a well known fact, that, about two hours after dinner, the dyspeptic sufferer often experiences what he expressively terms, a terrible sinking of the stomach," and which doubtless arises from the weakness consequent to chymification. Now wine taken prior to this period, and as we have advised, does, to our certain knowledge, either prevent, or overcome this much dreaded sinking.-Rev.

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Individuals differ from each other so widely in their capacities for food, that to attempt the construction of a universal standard, is little less absurd than the practice of the philosophical tailors of Laputa, who wrought by mathematical calculation, and entertained a supreme contempt for those humble and illiterate fashioners who went to work by measuring the person of their customer: but Gulliver tells us, that the worst clothes he ever wore were constructed on abstract principles. How then, it may be asked, shall we be able to direct the proportion of food which it may be proper for an invalid to take? I shall answer this question in the words of Dr. Philip, whose opinion so exactly coincides with my own experience, that it would be difficult to discover a more appropriate manner of expressing it. The dyspeptic should carefully attend to the first feeling of satiety. There is a moment when the relish given by the appetite ceases: a single mouthful taken after this, oppresses a weak stomach. If he eats slowly, and carefully attends to this feeling, he will never overload the stomach.' But that such an indication may not deceive him, let him remember to eat slowly. This is an important condition; for when we eat too fast, we introduce a greater quantity of food into the stomach than the gastric juice can at once combine with; the consequence of which is, that hunger may continue for some time, after the stomach has received more than would be sufficient, under other circumstances, to induce satiety. The advantage of such a rule over every artificial method by weight and measure, must be obvious; for it will equally apply to every person, under whatever condition or circumstances he may be placed. If he be of sedentary habits, the feeling of satiety will be sooner induced; and if a concurrence of circumstances should have invigorated his digestive powers, he will find no difficulty in apportioning the increase of his food, so as to meet the exigencies of the occasion."-196.

Although we all take more solid food in health than may be necessary for supporting the body; yet too great an abstinence will also tend to weaken and distress both mind and body. The effects of low feeding are obvious in the diseases of the poor and ill-fed classes in many parts of England and Ireland; and these are still more striking in those districts where the food is chiefly or entirely vegetable, and, therefore, less nutritious. The obstinate fasting of maniacs often produces a disease resembling the sea scurvy. But those who, from their situation in life, constantly exceed the proper standard of diet, will preserve their health by occasionally abstaining from food, or rather, by reducing the usual quantity, and living low. This subject deserves farther consideration. A person after an attack of acute disease, when his appetite returns, is in the condition of a pugilist who is about to commence a system of training; but he is still more obnoxious to the evils presumable to accrue from excessive feeding. Weak, emaciated,