FRUIT IN SUMMER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1674, 28 September 1887, Page 3

FRUIT IN SUMMER.

la spite of the cold winds which prevailed during Apiil and May, the fruit orop thus far has been fairly abundant, and we are not without signs of a moderate rainfall, which ought to en&ure for the season at least an average yield. That thii is m itself a fortunate circumatanoe it Is needless to oeaert, and it surely Implies aloj g with much advantage a con* siderable riak to the pablio health. Let It not be thought that we seek to disparage the value of fruit as an article of diet. If ripe and sound, there is every reason that the great majjrlty of people shouid pactftke of it ir-iely. Though persons of markedly {/only o: rheumatic temperament require tj be acmewhat sparing m ita Use, and othe.b w.tu a dyeloterlc tendency much na^re ao, while diabetics muefc regard It, m moat of ita fo-ma as a forbidden daiaty ; still iti general utility ao a stimulant tv digestion, a light food, and an aid to the regular action of the bowels, ia beyond question. In order lo reap the full benefit of its •use, however, onu i.r two facts muat be kept m view. Wo inu&t remember th t m <eh depends upon hs kind and everything upon its quality. Thua ika hopeful stimulation afforded to the mucouß membrane cf the Btomach by subacld fruits may ba tamed to good account, when the appetite 1b jaded, as m some atonic cases of dyapepia. The same slight acidify is valuable m cases of chronic constipation, and acts partly by its chemical attraction for the intestinal juice, and partly as a stimulant of intestinal oontraotion. Other kinds of fruit, again— such as the, banana, which abounds m starch— have a distinct, nutritive value. The same is true of nute, m virtue of the albumen, fat, and starch which they contain, but here the question of digestibility comes m, and it cannot be said to have found m the case of man a completely satisfactory solution. A* regards quality, the oardinal properties of ripenees and soundness cannot be too strongly insisted on. Fruit which is still unripe 1b practically a chemical irrl tant, and m its degree a poison. That which ia passing the stage of ripeness 1b likewise am irritant, and owes its effects to the chemical products of decay or the germ poison of putrefaction. The question of the treatment of such effects need not now occupy up, but enough has been said to remind our renders that some degree of care Is needful of the fruit harvest, and that with due oare they have nothing to fear. — " lancet "