As a nation is made up of individuals which are mutually interdependent, so the human body is made of organs which depend upon the smooth working of each other to establish a harmonious whole. It was Liebig who formerly said that the Tripod of Life consists of the brain, the heart, and the lungs. This may be conceded. But the tripod must have a basis for its support. Surely this consists of the stomach, or rather the alimentary canal of which the stomach is but a specialized portion. The brain, heart and lungs cannot work without energy; and, equally with other parts of the body, these organs will fail in the performance of their functions if they be not supplied with food. The alimentary canal is the laboratory in which is prepared the material to supply the organism with food and its complicated machinery with energy. Therefore, whatever disturbs the "stomach" shakes the foundation on which the vital tripod is supported. Conversely, whatever improves the alimentary functions renders more firm the basis on which the tripod rests.

The following pages, on Diet in Dyspepsia or distrubances of the alimentary functions, consist of a course of lectures originally written for "The Nursing Mirror," and are now reprinted in the hope that they will be of general utility.

W.T. Nottingham.

June, 1913.