ues may be likened to the ashes from
a furnace; it is finally eliminated from the body through the kidneys
and lungs, and to some extent through the skin and bowels. The part of
the food that is not digested of course never soaks through the
intestinal walls; it merely passes through the small and large
intestines and is finally expelled as feces or bowel movements. The
characteristic odor of fecal matter results from the action of bacteria
upon it while in the large intestine.

It must be remembered that the body is not nourished merely by
swallowing food: in order to nourish the body food must also be
digested, absorbed, and made use of by the tissues. Many factors may
operate both in health and in sickness to render food indigestible. It
may be originally unsuited to the human digestive apparatus, or spoiled,
or poor in quality, or badly cooked. But even when wholesome in itself
it may be ill-adapted to a particular person at a particular time; thus
it may be too great in amount, or eaten at improper hours. Moreover a
person's own idiosyncrasy or manner of living or fatigue or illness may
render it especially indigestible for him.

Experiments have shown that pain, fear, worry, and other unpleasant
emotions actually stop the action of the digestive juices and check
muscular contractions of the small intestine. Furthermore, even the
absence of pleasant anticipation of food has been shown to delay
digestion for hours. Thus scientific knowledge confirms our common
experience that such mental states seriously interfere with digestion.
The converse is also true. Agreeable taste and odor of food, or even
pleasurable thought of it, start the secretion of digestive fluids. It
is a common saying that the mouth waters at the prospect of inviting
food, but it is less well known that appetizing food does actually start
the stomach juices also. A person who understands the physiological
effect that the emotions have upon digestion is in a far better frame of
mind to cope successfully with the difficulties of feeding the sick than
one who considers sick persons' likes and dislikes entirely irrational.

FEEDING THE SICK

Nourishing the sick is not always an easy problem, but its importance
can hardly be overestimated. Indeed, proper feeding in many illnesses
makes the difference between life and death. The actual amount of
nourishment needed in sickness is often less than in health, but it may
be just as great, or even greate