CHEERFULNESS AND APPETITE IN EATING.
The table is not the place for argument or dispute. The conversation should be cheerful, and all should try to be happy. Do not begin any kind of work, physical or mental, until fully a half hour after the meal is finished.
Showing the position of (A) Heart, (B) Lungs, (C) Liver, (D) Stomach, (f, j, etc.) Intestines.
Eat very little if the mind is excited, and do not eat at all, if you do not feel hungry. Never coax the appetite. Do not eat heartily within a few hours of bed-time.
If your appetite is poor, it is well to omit the last meal of the day. One of the best medicines in the world is a scant diet of wholesome food. Overeating and fasting are hurtful.
Remember that that which agrees with one may disagree with another. Rice is one of the most easily digested articles of food, and yet some persons cannot retain it on their stomachs. Your own sense will soon tell you what best agrees with you. Follow the advice of your parents, who know what is good for their children.
In what manner should we eat? Why? What bad habit are children likely to form?
What should constitute our principal diet? What is said of pies and cake?
What is said of fat meat, butter, and greasy food? How would our tastes change, if we lived in the arctic regions?
What is said of highly seasoned food? What is said of salt and pepper?
Of eating between meals? Of sugar, candy, and sweetmeats? How should nuts be eaten?
What are children apt to do? What is the true course?
What of argument and dispute at the table? What advice is given?
What should be done if the mind is excited, or you do not feel hungry? Should the appetite be coaxed?
Suppose your appetite is poor? What of overloading and fasting?
Is the same kind of food good for everybody? How can you learn what is best to eat? What advice should be followed?
CHAPTER V.
THE HAIR, EARS, EYES, AND FEET.
The hair needs little attention. A boy should not wear it long and it should be carefully combed and brushed. Girls who let theirs grow longer should have it frequently clipped, as it gives it vigor.
Never put oil or grease on the hair, for it catches and holds the dirt in the air, soils clothing, clogs the pores at the roots, and tends to produce baldness.
If you will brush your hair vigorously for several minutes every morning, it will soon acquire a gloss and look better than if smeared with pomatum. The odor will be pleasant and the hair will not ruin articles and clothing with which it comes in contact. Now and then it is well to clean the hair with Castile soap, warm water and a strong brush. Shampooing is excellent.
Hair is a non-conductor of heat,—that is, very little heat or cold can be made to pass through it. It serves as a protection to the brain. While a great many men are baldheaded, you very rarely see a woman thus afflicted. This is because they do not wear air-tight coverings for their heads, but the scalp is kept cool and healthy. It is a good thing for children to leave off their hats and caps, except when necessary to protect them out-of-doors.