Miss Beecher's Domestic Receipt Book. Catharine Esther Beecher
in the mucous membrane of the stomach. And this, too, was the case when neither unpleasant feelings nor diminished appetite indicated such an effect.
1 This case of St. Martin’s referred to, was that of a soldier, who by a gun shot, had an opening made into his stomach, which healed up, leaving so large an orifice, that all the process of digestion could be examined, after he was restored to perfect health.
Dr. Bell, of Philadelphia, remarks thus: “The recorded experience of men in all situations and climates, under all kinds of labor and exposure, prove that abstinence from alcoholic drinks gives increased ability to go through the labors of the farm and the workshop, to resist heat and cold, to encounter hardships on sea and land, beyond what has ever been done under the unnatural excitement of alcohol, followed, as it is, by depression and debility, if not by fever and disease. The observation and testimony of naval and military surgeons and commanders are adverse to the issue of alcoholic drinks to men in the army and navy.”
The reports from all our chief state prisons also prove that intemperate men can be instantly deprived of all alcoholic drinks, not only without danger, but with an immediate improvement of the health.
Wine is often useful as a medicine, under the direction of a physician, but its stimulating, alcoholic principle, makes it an improper agent to be drank in health. The same is true of cider and strong beer. Some wine, beer, and cider drinkers do, by the force of a good constitution, live to a good old age, and so do some persons, also, who live in districts infected by a malaria, which destroys the health and life of thousands. But these exceptions do not prove that either wine, or malaria are favorable to health, or long life. They are only exceptions to a general rule.
Meantime, the general rule is established by an incredible amount of experience and testimony, that alcoholic drinks, in no cases, are needed by those in health, and that the indulgence in drinking them awakens a gnawing thirst and longing for them, that leads the vast majority of those who use them, to disease, debility, poverty, folly, crime, and death.
In this detail of the various drinks that may be used by man, we find that pure water is always satisfying, safe, and sufficient. We find that acid and effervescing drinks, so acceptable in hot weather, are also demanded by the system, and are safe and healthful. We find that milk and broths are also healthful and nourishing.
Black tea, also, when taken weak and not above blood heat, is a perfectly safe and agreeable warm drink.
Chocolate and cocoa are nourishing and safe to persons who can bear the oil they contain; and shells are perfectly healthful and safe to all.
In the vast variety of drinks provided for man, we find very few that are not safe and healthful. Green tea and coffee, as ordinarily used, are very injurious to very many constitutions. They contain but very little nourishment, except what is added by the milk and sugar, and training a family of children to love them (for no child loves them till trained to do it) is making it probable that all of them will be less healthful and comfortable, and certain that some will be great sufferers. Training children to drink tea and coffee is as unreasonable and unchristian, as training them to drink foxglove and opium would be—the only difference is, that in one case it is customary, and the other it is not; and custom makes a practice appear less foolish and sinful.
There is no need, at this period of the world, to point out the wickedness and folly of training children to love alcoholic drinks.
In regard to the use of green tea and coffee, one suggestion will be offered. These are drinks which contain very little nourishment, and their effect is to stimulate the nervous system without nourishing it. They are, also, usually drank hot, and heat also is a stimulant to the nerves of the mouth, teeth, throat, and stomach, inducing consequent reacting debility. For it is the unvarying law of the nervous system, that the reacting debility is always in exact proportion to the degree of stimulation.
It is in vain to expect that the great multitudes, who have been accustomed, from childhood, to drink hot tea and coffee, once, twice, and sometimes thrice a day, will give up such a favorite practice. But it is hoped that some may be induced to modify their course, by reducing the strength and the heat of their daily potations. It will be found by housekeepers that, if once a month the daily quantity of tea, or coffee is slightly reduced, the taste will imperceptibly accommodate; and that, in the course of six or eight months, the habits of a family, by these slight monthly variations, may be changed so as that, eventually, they will love weak tea and coffee as much as they once loved the strong.
Young housekeepers, who are just beginning to rear a family of children, will perhaps permit one plea for the young beings, whose fate in life so much depends on their physical training. It is the weak and delicate children who are the sufferers, where the habits of a family lead them to love stimulating drinks. The strong and healthy children may escape unharmed, the whole evil falls on those, who are least able to bear it. Oh mother, save the weak lambs of your fold! Save them from those untold agonies that result from rasped and debilitated nerves, worn out by unhealthful stimulus! And set before your household the Divine injunction—“We, then, that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
In regard to the selection of food, a housekeeper can have small excuse for ever risking the health of her family by providing unhealthy food, or cooking it in an unhealthful manner. Innumerable dishes, and enough to furnish a new variety for every day of the year, can be made of food that is safe and healthful, and cooked in a healthful manner.
Avoid condiments, fats, and food cooked in fats, and always provide light and sweet yeast bread, is the rule which shuts out almost everything that is pernicious to health, and leaves an immense variety from which to select what is both healthful and grateful to the palate.
There are some directions in regard to times and manner of taking food, that are given more at large, with the reasons for them, in the “Domestic Economy,” but which will briefly be referred to, because so important.
Eating too fast is unhealthful, because the food is not properly masticated, or mixed with the saliva, nor has the stomach sufficient time to perform its office on the last portion swallowed before another enters.
Eating too often is unhealthful, because it is weakening and injurious to mix fresh food with that which is partly digested, and because the stomach needs rest after the labor of digesting a meal. In grown persons four or five hours should intervene between each meal. Children, who are growing fast, need a luncheon of simple bread between meals.
Eating too much is unhealthful, because the stomach can properly digest only that amount which is needed to nourish the system. The rest is thrown off undigested, or crowded into parts of the system where it is injurious.
Eating food when too hot is injurious, as weakening the nerves of the teeth and stomach by the stimulus of heat.
Eating highly seasoned food is unhealthful, because it stimulates too much, provokes the appetite too much, and often is indigestible.
Badly cooked food is unhealthful, because it is indigestible, and in other ways injurious.
Excessive fatigue weakens the power of digestion, and in such cases, a meal should be delayed till a little rest is gained.
Bathing should never follow a meal, as it withdraws the blood and nervous vigor demanded for digestion, from the stomach to the skin.
Violent exercise should not follow a full meal, as that also withdraws the blood and nervous energies from the stomach to the muscles.
Water, and other drinks, should never be taken in large quantities, either with, or immediately after a meal, as they dilute the gastric juice, and tend to prevent perfect digestion. But it is proper to drink a moderate quantity of liquid while eating.
Where there is a strong constitution and much exercise in the open air, children and adults may sometimes violate these and all other laws of health, and yet remain strong and