It appears, then, that a daily amount of food, varying from 35 to 25 ounces, is sat l. dent to maintain health; and of this a fourth or fifth part ought to be animal food; but in special cases, much more or much less may be taken without apparent injury. T114 smallest quantity of food upon which life is known to have been supported with health and strength, is that on which Coruaro—whose history is recorded in most books on D. and dietetics—states that he subsisted, in order to reduce extreme corpulence, for a period of 58 years—viz., 12 ounces of food, chiefly vegetable, with 14 ounces of light wine. In contrast with Cornaro's case, we may refer to instances recorded by Parry and other arctic voyagers of the voracity of the natives of those cold regions. A young Esquimanx, who was allowed " unlimited diet," availed himself of the privilege to the extent of devouring, in 24 hours, 35 lbs. of various kinds of food, including tallow-can. dies; and the Cossacks of Siberia, are reported to consume daily froM 12 to 20 lbs. of food.
An article upon D. would be imperfect without a reference to the best mode of dress ing meat, for cooking and digestibility arc closely allied. Most persons find meat that has been broiled most easily digested. The fire should be brisk, so that the albumen on the surface of the meat may be coagulated rapidly, and thus retain the internal juices. A similar rule applies, for the same reason, to boiling and roasting. When meat is to be boiled, it should be plunged into water already boiling; while, if soup is to be made, the meat should be put into cold water, and the temperature and gradually raised —the object, in the former case, being to retain, in the latter, to extract, the nutritious fluids. (See Bort,Eco and BROILING.) Fried meat and rich stews are usually very indi gestible. Salted meat is not only harder and more indigestible than fresh meat, but the process of salting extracts important salt, and much of the nutrient juice from the meat; the only exception being fat ,pork, which is rendered more digestible by salting. On this subject, see Liebig's Researches on Food, 1847.
We shall conclude with a notice of certain substances which, although they are hardly entitled to be termed foods, may fairly be considered, from the universality of their use, to exert a definite influence on the organism. and to supply certain existing, although, perhaps, undefined wants. We refer to alcohol, tobacco, tea, and coffee.
From three series of observations made upon himself, Dr. Hammond arrives at the
conclusion, that "alcohol increases the weight of the body, by retarding the metamor• phosis of the old, and promoting the formation of new tissues, and limiting the con• sumption of fat." The respiratory and urinary excretions, and the faces, were invaria bly diminished. These effects occurring when the amount of food was below the quantity required to maintain the weight of the body, were productive of no deleterious result to the system; but when the food was sufficient to balance the waste from the excretions, and still more, when an excess of aliment over the demands of the system was ingested, the health seas disturbed, and disease almost induced. Hence the laboring-man, who can hardly find bread and meat enough to preserve the balance between the formation and decay of his tissues, finds in alcohol an agent which, if taken in moderation, enables him, without disturbing his health, to dispense with a certain quantity of food, and yet keeps up the weight and strength of his body. On the other hand, he who uses alcohol when his food is more than sufficient to supply the waste of tissue, and, at the same time, does not increase the amount of his physical exercise, or drink an additional quan tity of water (by which the decay of tissue would be accelerated), retards the metamor phosis, while an increased amount of nutriment is being assimilated, and thus adds to the plethoric condition of the system which excessive food has a tendency lo produce.
Tobacco, according to the experiments of the same excellent observer, resembles alcohol in these respects, that when the food is sufficient to preserve the weight of the body, it increases that weight; and when the food is not sufficient, and the body, in con sequence, loses weight, it restrains that loss; but it differs from alcohol in being unat tended with any unpleasant effects upon the circulation, though its action on the brain is apparent in increased nervous excitement, followed by a pleasant feeling of ease and contentment. In these experiments, Dr. Hammond, who was not in the habit of using tobacco in any form, smoked 450 grains daily.* Tea and coffee are usually believed to have a somewhat similar effect to that which, as we have shown, is produced by alcohol and tobacco. The power of tea in arresting the waste of tissues has, however, been called in question. The value of alcohol and other stimulants was the subject of an elaborate controversy in several numbers of the Contemporary Review for 1878.