The Physiology Of Digestion (1840)

[Rafe]

@Amazoniac
The quotes you are posting are exciting to read. Who ever thought that recovering a really real view of ourselves would be so rare that we'd never been taught to think that way? And that recovering it would seem like having a birthday every day? I liked your quotes so much that I found a cheap copy of the 6th ed. & ordered it. I started reading on temperature.

 

[Rafe]

Oh, wait. I'm referring to Starling's. Sorry, wrong thread. But I still mean what I said about the quotes. This is a thread I look forward to opening.

 

[tara]

Amazoniac, thanks, I like these quotes you have been posting too.

 

[Amazoniac]

 

[Jayfish]

Its so interesting for me to read through this book. I love that in a time long before pubmed, everything was centered around observation.

What a novel idea.

 

[Amazoniac]

Yes, pboy would be proud..

 

[Mr. God of Cars]

"There is no kind of alimentary substance of which it can be said absolutely that it is always proper for the sustenance of man. To be serviceable, the food must be adapted to the age, constitution, state of health, and mode of life of the individual, and, to the climate and season of the year. The same diet which, administered to an adult, is healthful and nutritious, may prove irritating and injurious to a child; and, in like manner, the stimulating animal diet which in winter is highly grateful to the system of a hard-working unexcitable labourer, may prove utterly destructive of health when indulged in during summer by an inactive and excitable female. It becomes, therefore, an object of deep interest to determine the principal causes and states of the system which render modifications of diet necessary."

"The prevalent and pernicious custom of tasking the minds and confining the bodies of children for hours in succession at home and in schools, at a time of life when the growth of the body and the welfare of the system require constant and playful exercise in the open air, and perfect freedom from care and excitement of mind, is the fruitful source of much future bad health, and is eminently calculated to defeat the object aimed at by parents, namely, the mental excellence of the child. The premature exertion of intellect to which it is stimulated by the constant excitement of emulation and vanity, far from strengthening, tends to impair the health and tone of the brain, and of ail the organs depending on it ; and hence we rarely perceive the genius of the school manifesting in future years any of the superiority which attracted attention in early life; but we find him, on the contrary, either sunk below mediocrity, or dragging out a painful existence, the victim of indigestion and melancholy. On the other hand, some of the most distinguished men who ever lived were in childhood remarkable only for health, idleness, and apparent stupidity. The illustrious Newton was, by his own account, an idle and inattentive boy, and "very low in the school," till he reached twelve years of age; and the young Napoleon himself is described as "having good health, and being in other respects like other boys." Adam Clarke was considered " a grievous dunce" when a boy, and was seldom praised by his father except for his ability in rolling large stones, which his robust frame and good health enabled him to do. Shakspeare, Gibbon, Byron, Scott, and Davy, were in like maimer undistinguished for precocious genius, and were fortunately allowed to indulge freely in those wholesome bodily exercises, and that freedom of mind, which contributed so much to their future excellence. The mother of Sheridan, too, long regarded him as "the dullest and most hopeless of her sons.""

"Experience, indeed, amply demonstrates, that precocious and excessive activity of intellect and vivacity of feeling are most powerful impediments to healthy and vigorous digestion, and consequently to a sufficient nutrition. In early life, therefore, when not only health, but future usefulness, depends main-ly on the completeness and vigour with which the system shall proceed towards its full development the preservation of the digestive organs by suitable diet, exercise, and regimen, ought to be a primary object of attention with every sensible parent. Even as regards superiority of mind, the healthy development of the body is of essential importance, as the only sure foundation on which mental excellence can be built; because, so long as mind and body are intimately connected with each other, the former must continue to be affected by every change in the condition of the organization on which it depends. We enjoy acuteness of vision by preserving the eye in high health, and exercising it regularly and moderately; and, in like manner, we can obtain and preserve intellectual power only by preserving the health of the brain, and exercising it in conformity with its natural constitution."

"Like almost every organ of the body, the stomach requires a period of repose after the labour of digestion, and accordingly, in the healthy state, the sensation of appetite never returns till it has been for some time empty. To give food sooner, therefore, is analogous to making a weary traveller walk on without the refreshment of a halt."

"In this respect children are like adults. Give' them something to do and to think about, and they will seek meat only when hungry. But leave them idle and listless, and eating will become their chief subject of contemplation."

Late comment of mine, but your quote from that book (or from whatever it is) is awesome. I knew physical exhaustion is not good for the mind and body -- only nutrition is, and sleep.

 

[Amazoniac]

Spoiler

 

[Amazoniac]

- Intestinal epithelium - Wikipedia
- cell junction micrograph - Google Search