ry healthy stomach instinctively craves
them. Strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, whortleberries,
cherries, plums, grapes, figs, apples, pears, peaches, and melons are
"food fit for gods." We pity those whose perverted taste or digestion
leads to their rejection. But some are _afraid_ to eat fruits and
berries, particularly in midsummer, just the time when nature and
common sense say they should be eaten most freely. They have the fear
of cholera, dysentery, and similar diseases before their eyes, and
have adopted the popular but absurd idea that fruit eating predisposes
to disorders of the stomach and bowels. Exactly the reverse is the
fact. There are no better preventives of such diseases than _ripe_
fruits and berries, eaten in proper quantities and at proper times
Unripe fruits should be scrupulously avoided, and that which is in any
measure decayed as scarcely less objectionable. Fruit and berries
should make a part of every meal in summer. In winter they are less
necessary, but may be eaten with advantage, if within our reach; and
they are easily preserved in various ways.

We might write a volume on the subject of food, but these general
hints must suffice. If you would pursue the inquiry, read O. S.
Fowler's "Physiology, Animal and Mental," and the "Hydropathic
Cook-Book," already referred to.

2. _When to Eat._

Eat when the stomach, through the instinct of appetite, demands a new
supply of food. If all your habits are regular, this will be at about
the same hours each day; and regularity in the time of taking our
meals is very important. Want of attention to this point is a frequent
cause of derangement of the digestive organs. We can not stop to
discuss the question how many meals per day we should eat; but whether
you eat one, two, or three, never, under ordinary circumstances, take
lunches. The habit of eating between meals is a most pernicious one.
Not even your children must be indulged in it, as you value their
health, comfort, and good behavior.

3. _How Much to Eat._

We can not tell you, by weight or measure, how much to eat, the right
quantity depending much upon age, sex, occupation, season, and
climate, but the quantity is quite as important as the quality.
Appetite would be a sure guide in both respects were it not so often
perverted and diseased. As a general rule, we eat too much. It is
better to err in the other direction. An uncomfortable feeling of
fullness, or of dullness and