"Little and often, perhaps?" I asked.
"Not at all, sir; loss of appetite is one of my troubles. Weak digestion! If you should be afflicted in that way, I possess an excellent specific, and I have with me one or two valuable treatises on the stomachic functions."
"But have they not failed in your own case?"
"They have lost some of their efficacy, I allow; but they had a marvellous effect at first. I take it, all remedies wear themselves out, so that we need continual change."
"Of diet?"
"Of regimen, sir! You will find it so, if you will make health your study."
"I won't dispute your conclusions, but I am in the habit of leaving matters to nature, and she has served me hitherto excellently well."
"Very true; but she wants renovating perpetually. It is fatal to rely upon her unassisted efforts. The artificial life we lead is too much for her. Cooks have done for nature, and doctors are called in to restore her powers."
"But you would not physic a man in health merely because he lives, as is contended, artificially?"
"Certainly, most certainly! Prevention is better than cure."