Digestion and Diet. By Sir William Roberts. (Smith, Elder, and
Co.)—Sir William Roberts approaches the subject from the scientific point of view, though he does not fail to make Isis work useful by drawing practical conclusions. One of his experiments has been to mix various liquids commonly in use with a digesting mixture. (Digestion, it must be understood, is divided into the two processes of salivary and peptic digestion, the results in the latter being the less reliable.) To mix 5 per cent, of proof spirit with the mixture (in the case of peptic digestion) made no difference, the normal time of 100 minutes remaining ; but 40 per cent, tripled it, and 50 per cent. produced the result of almost no digestion. Sherry retarded digestion more than port, 5 per cent. retarding it by 15 minutes, while the same quantity of port made no difference. Half-a-pint of sherry would be "a highly inhibitory proportion ; " but "in smaller proportions, a wine-glass or so, sherry would act as a pure stimulant to digestion." Champagne shows better than hock or claret. Generally, large quantities retard, and small quantities promote digestion. There are some valuable remarks on what Sir William Roberts describes as the "mid-life revision of the diet," mid-life being the common euphemism for the threshold of old age. "The palate and appetite
of thirty with the liver and kidneys of sixty," is a dangerous combination, and is sure to result in inconvenience, if not disaster.
Unfortunately, the danger is increased by the injudicious care of relatives. Men whose appetite fails because they don't want so much food—the best of reasons—are often carefully crammed by their wives.
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