Science.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 270, 11 October 1884, Page 5 (Supplement)

Science.

The Preservation of Health.

Sib Bisdon ; Bennett gives some muchneeded advice as to the timea and frequency of meals. In his opinion the present more usual practice of three meals a day has "good reason, as well as custom, m its favor. When work of any kind is being done, whether mental or bodily, the intervals between taking food should not be so long as to entail demands on the system when its store of material for the .generation of force is exhausted. An pircliriary, full meal, m the oase of a healthy 'man, is 'generally considered to have been' completely digested and to have passed out' .ofthe stomach m four hour b. = A period of rest should then be granted to the stomach. Assuming that two hours are allowed for this, the interval between one meal and another' 1 would 1 be six hours ; and this accords with the experience of most men. During rest and sleep ■ there is .Jess .waste going on, and especially during sleep there is a greatly diminished activity of all the functions of the body. The

interval, therefore, between the last meal of one day and the first of the next may bo longer, as it generally is, than between the several day meals. Assuming that breakfast be taken about eight or nine o'clock, there should be a mid-day meal about on 9or two. The character of this must depend on the nature of the day's occupation and the convenieney of the individual. Withwomen and children this is generally their hungry time, and the mid-day repast, whether called luncheon or dinner, is the chief meal. So is it with the, middle and laboring classes, for the most part. Bat for merchants, professional men, and others, whose occupations take them from home all the day, this is inconvenient, and moreover, it is not found conducive to health or comfort to take a full meal m the midst of the day's work. There can, however, be no doubt that much evil arises from attempting to go through the day without food, and then with exhausted powers sitting down to a hearty meal. Something of a light, easily digestible, but sustaining character should be taken towards one or two o'clock." "Meat teas" are a very common institution among the middle classes, but m Sir Bisdon Bennett's opinion the practice of taking tea rwith a principal meal is not to be commended. Tea does not promote digestion of the food m the stomach, and especially is not adapted to accompany meat, but ;rather bread and far- ! inaoeous articles. Meat teas, as a daily habit, are calculated to promote dyspepsia. The best time for tea is an hour or two after food. While fully recognising the value of alcohol and other stimulants under special circumstances, and while admitting that their moderate use is comparatively harmless to health, Dr. Lander Brunton speaks very foroibly'on the subject of intemperance, and points out the evil effects of stimulants upon the healthof persons who cannot be called intemperate, yet who are m the constant habit of taking very small quantities of wine, beer, or spirit at all hours throughout the day; The following table of comparative mortality is instructive: — \ An intemperate per- A temperate person's ~son's chance of--- - chance of living-, living is : — is : — . At 20— 15-6 years. At 20—44*2 years. „ 30— 13*8 „ „ 30—36-5 „ „ 40—11-6 „ „ 40—28.8 „ „ 50—10.8 „ „ 50—21-25 „ „ 60—8.9 „ „ 60-14-285 V,, In these days, when there is so much talk about over-work of the brain, it is not a little encouraging to find an eminent authority stating that for one instance m which the brain is: over- worked there must be many hundreds or thousands of cases m which it is not used enough, even for the ordinary conditions of health. And yet, although the brain may suffer from want of exercise, the evils of over- strain — especially m the case of young people— must be fully recognised. Evening preparation of sohool lessons is not without its dangers ; night- work often induces sleeplessness and a long train of attendant evils, and contributes largely to the nervousness and debility which are becoming so common amongst school-children, particularly m towns, while it fails m securing advancement at all equal to what might be got from much less strenuous and protracted study earlier m the day. The most arduous mental work required of a child ought to be imposed on it when mind and body are m their prime vigor, between 9 a.m. and noon, and certainly nothing but the lightest work should devolve upon it after 5 p.m. Questions of food, drink, and labor naturally lead on to another important health consideration—rest and sleep. It cannot be denied that, as a rule, the largest amount of the best work m life is done by those who can sleep well. Nor to a healthy man is any amount of work— apart from worry and anxiety, perhaps — injurious whioh is followed by a due amount of sound sleep. What is a due amount varies widely m different persons. " This is due m part to the varying degrees of aotivity of the vital changes. Thus, although these are most active m the young, the young require much sleep, because the rapid rate of repair during that period is met by the rapid rate of waste during the day. Both by day and night the changes are then most active. The aged also require much sleep, because, although there is comparatively little waste during the day, the process of repair is slow also." Harrassed brain-workers should encourage sound sleep as much as possible if they wish to preserve their health and strength. Late meals should be avoided, and mental work should be put aside at least an hour or two before retiring to rest. To sum up the whole matter, how is health to be preserved? By temperate and discriminating use of food and drink ; by due exercise of both mind and body, but with the avoidance of worry, and of haste to get wealthy or to acquire all knowledge ; by attention to all natural health laws, such as the need of pure air, clothing adapted to climate and the body of the wearer, &c. ; and by paying due regard to the necessity of sleep and rest. From such things result " a sound mind m a sound body," and a healthy and vigorous old age, with all the faculties unimpaired. — Cassel's Magazine.