The philosophy of eating. By Albert J. Bellows, M.D.

214

OUR DUTY TO EAT GOOD FOOD.

appropriate elements so badly cooked, or so miserably
served, as not to be eaten with relish; and this explains the well-known fact that Frenchmen live and
keep in good condition at one third less expense than
Yankees or Englishmen.
Having now given my views of the sources of
benefit to be derived from tea, coffee, and all other
agreeable beverages, and shown that they are useful
in promoting digestion by their osmazome, and not
by any special principle contained in them, it will be
useless to go into an analysis of each beverage. The
whole matter may be summed up as follows: The
system needs the three classes of elements included
in the terms Nitrates, Carbonates, and Phosphates, and
pure water; -and these elements, to be rightly appropriated, must be presented to the digestive organs
flavored so as to be agreeable to them; and this
flavor is as important as the other elements.
The experiment has been tried of shutting up a dog,
with good natural food, containing all needed elements
but osmazome, but having been cooked and re-cooked
till all taste and smell were removed; the stomach
would not receive it, and the dog pined away until it
was evident he would starve without this element,
although all others were supplied. And this one experiment, it seems to me, is worth more than a volume
of commentaries on the importance of osmazome. It
shows us not only that it is duty to eat good food, containing nutritive elements in right proportions, but it is
duty to eat it also with a good relish.