Q. Why do we like strong meat and greasy food when the weather is very cold?
A. Strong meat and grease contain large portions of hydrogen, which (when burned in the blood) produce a larger amount of heat than any other kind of food.
Q. Why do persons eat more food in cold weather, than in hot?
A. In cold weather the body requires more fuel to keep up the same amount of animal heat; and as we put more coals on a fire on a cold day to keep our room warm, so we eat more food on a cold day to keep our body warm.
Q. Why does cold produce hunger?
A. 1st—The air contains more oxygen in cold weather; and as fires burn fiercer, so animal combustion is more rapid: and
2ndly—We are more active in cold weather; and increased respiration acts like a pair of bellows on the capillary combustion.
Q. Why does rapid digestion produce a craving appetite?
A. This is a wise providence to keep our bodies in health; in order that the body itself may not be consumed, it gives notice (by hunger) that the capillary fires need replenishing.
Q. Why do we feel a desire for activity in cold weather?