If, in adopting the precepts of ultra-temperance, we dine early, live actively, and go to bed with the stomach entirely empty, we may sleep, but our dreams will scarcely be more pleasant, or our sleep more tranquil, than if the stomach were overloaded. A gnawing sense of vacuity is felt in such circumstances, which is apt to induce restlessness, and nervous impatience and irritability. I have repeatedly seen these unpleasant symptoms dispelled, and sound sleep obtained, by no other prescription than a cupful of arrow-root an hour or two before bedtime.
Except in early life, and in the case of those who lead a very laborious existence and observe very early hours, supper as a fourth meal is altogether superfluous, at least where any thing is eaten at tea. In youth, waste, growth, and nutrition are so active, that a moderate supper is often indispensable, especially when the muscular system is freely exercised in the open air. But it ought to be of a light nature, and taken at least an hour or two before going to bed. If dinner be taken early, and tea be used in the afternoon, not as a meal but merely as a diluent, a light supper will be very proper.
In short, the grand rule in fixing the number and periods of our meals, is, to proportion them to the real wants of the system, as modified by age, sex, health, and manner of life, and as indicated by the true returns of appetite; and, as an approximative guide, to bear in mind that, under ordinary circumstances of activity and health, three, four, or five hours are required for the digestion of a full meal, and one or two hours more of repose before the stomach can again become fit for the resumption of its labours. If the meal be temperate and the mode of life natural, digestion will be completed in from three to four hours, and one hour of rest will serve to restore its tone; but if the quantity of food be great, or the general habit be those of indolence, digestion may be protracted to five or six hours, and two or more be required for subsequent repose. It is therefore utterly absurd and inconsistent with the laws of Nature to pretend, as many writers have done, to lay down rules which shall apply to every individual and to every variety of circumstances. As already mentioned, rules applicable to classes may be prescribed, because there is a considerable similarity in the circumstances of all the individuals comprehended in each; but even there numerous exceptions must occur, which can be judged only by the standard of the individual constitution.
The Creator indeed has obviously never intended that we should be bound down to the rigid observance of a very strict order in diet; but, to fit us for the ever-varying circumstances in which we are placed, has wisely and benevolently allowed us considerable latitude, and made appetite to vary in the extent and earnestness of its demands in proportion to the waste to which we are subjected for the time. It is astonishing how rapidly a healthy frame accommodates itself even to great changes, when temperance is duly observed, and a proper regard is paid to the intimations of appetite.
In suiting my own mode of life to the circumstances under which I have at various times been placed, I have repeatedly, even as an invalid, made sudden changes in the hours of eating, with no further injury than temporary discomfort; but then I always adhered to the general principles above insisted on. It was by some of these experiments that my attention was first drawn to the great influence of the accessary conditions in retarding or promoting digestion. At one time, on altering my place of residence from Aix to Marseilles, I changed at once from breakfasting at eight o’clock, dining at two, and taking tea in the evening, to breakfasting at eleven, and dining at six. For the first few days I felt uncomfortable in waiting so long in the morning; but by following the plan of taking a cup of coffee and a crust of bread soon after rising, and attempting no considerable bodily exertion till after breakfast, every feeling of inconvenience ceased, and the system completely adapted itself to the change. Three months afterwards I embarked on the Mediterranean, and again passed at once to breakfasting between seven and eight o’clock, dining about noon, and taking tea in the evening, which I continued to do for some time after arriving in Italy. On my way home the hours of eating were never two days the same, and yet I did not suffer. If breakfast was early I ate it with relish. If it was late, I had recourse to a biscuit, or some dried fruit early in the morning, to sustain the system in the mean time, and was ready for it when it came. In the same way, if dinner was to-day at one o’clock, I took it when it was offered, and had recourse to some refreshment in the evening: if to-morrow it was postponed till eight o’clock, which sometimes happened, the refreshment came in the forenoon, and a moderate meal was taken in the evening.
In these changes, however, it will be remarked that the laws of digestion were in reality much less infringed upon as to time than one might imagine from merely hearing that I dined one day at noon and the next day at eight o’clock in the evening. At whatever hour the meal was taken, the real wants of the system were supplied when they manifested themselves in the form of appetite, and the requisite intervals were observed. If a substantial breakfast was taken at eight o’clock, then a corresponding interval elapsed before another meal followed at one or two. If, again, the morning allowance was trifling, then the real breakfast followed at an interval correspondingly short, namely, at eleven o’clock. So also with dinner. And if dinner was at one o’clock, tea followed at the distance of six or seven hours; whereas, if it came at six or seven o’clock, a refreshment preceded and nothing followed it, and the results were comfort and sound digestion. If, however, we yield unguardedly to the impulse of appetite in travelling, and eat and drink plentifully instead of temperately, no arrangement of hours that we can make will render our situation either pleasant or healthful.
While, therefore, it seems to be obvious beyond a doubt, that those who live according to the laws of Nature and begin their activity with the morning, should breakfast betimes, dine early in the day, and take a lighter meal in the evening, and that those who do so will reap a reward in health and vigour of mind and body, unattainable to the same extent by those who live differently, and convert night into day,—it would be not less hurtful than absurd to prescribe the same hours for meals to all, whatever their hours of activity, and whatever their modes of life; and I cannot help thinking, that it is the preposterous attempt to generalize too much, which, losing sight of true principle and the modifications which it requires in individual cases, has brought dietetic precepts into disrepute, and led to the belief that the rules laid down are merely arbitrary assumptions, resting on no solid foundation in the human constitution, or in the designs of our Creator.
As experience is the best guide to knowledge, I may be allowed to add, that, when travelling on the Continent in health and strength, I suffered more from feverish fatigue and stomachic discomfort, induced by ignorant infringement of the laws of digestion, than I ever afterwards did, even from more continued exertion when travelling as an invalid under a better regulated system of diet. I did not, in either case, make any exception to the meals which awaited our arrival at the inns, or to the hours at which they were served. The chief difference was, that, when well, I ate till my appetite was fully satisfied, under the notion that, in travelling, a full diet is necessary to enable one to withstand the fatigue; and that, as an invalid, on the other hand, I ate more sparingly, and, if the regular meal was much later than usual, had recourse to biscuit, fruit, or a slice of cold meat, as an intermediate refreshment, to prevent the stomach becoming exhausted from too long a fast. Following the dictates of experience, I have long adhered to the latter plan, and am convinced that few who have tried both will long prefer the former.
CHAPTER II.
ON THE PROPER QUANTITY OF FOOD.
Quantity to be proportioned to the wants of the system—Appetite indicates these—Cautions in trusting to appetite—General error in eating too much—Illustrations from Beaumont, Caldwell, Head, and Abercrombie—Mixtures of food hurtful chiefly as tempting to excess in quantity—Examples of disease from excess in servant-girls from the country, dressmakers, &c.—Mischief from excessive feeding in infancy—Rules for preventing this—Remarks on the consequences of excess in grown persons—Causes of confined bowels explained—And necessity of fulfilling the laws which God has appointed for the regulation of the animal economy inculcated.