The following is copied from Dr. Scudamore on Gout, 2d Edition, p. 509, being some of the Experiments related by Mr. Astley Cooper in his lecture delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons in 1814, which have only been published in Dr. S.’s book, who informs us, they were performed upon Dogs, with a view to ascertain the comparative solvent power of the gastric juice upon different articles of food.
“Experiment 5.
| Food. | Form. | Quantity. | Animal killed. | Loss by Digestion. |
| Cheese. | Square. | 100 pints. | 4 hours. | 76. |
| Mutton. | —— | —— | —— | 65. |
| Pork. | —— | —— | —— | 36. |
| Veal. | —— | —— | —— | 15. |
| Beef. | —— | —— | —— | 11. |
“Experiment 6.
| Food. | Form. | Quantity. | Animal killed. | Loss by Digestion. |
| Beef. | Long & Nar. | 100 pints. | 2 hours. | 0. |
| Rabbit. | —— | —— | —— | 0. |
| Cod Fish. | —— | —— | —— | 74. |
“Experiment 9.
| Roast Veal | Do. | 100 pints. | 4 hours. | 7. |
| Boiled do. | Do. | —— | —— | 30. |
[78] “Those who have weak stomachs, will be better able to digest their food, if they take their meals at regular hours; because they have both the stimulus of the aliment they take, and the periodical habit to assist digestion.”—Darwin’s Zoonomia, vol. i. p. 454.
“We often tease and disorder our Stomachs by fasting for too long a period, and when we have thus brought on what I may call a discontented state of the organ, unfitting it for its office, we set to a meal, and fill it to its utmost, regardless of its powers or its feelings.”—Abernethy’s Surg. Obs. p. 70.
[79] “A Philosopher being asked what was the best time to dine, answered,—For a Rich man, when he could get a Stomach;—for a Poor man, when he could get Meat.”