Beef and Mutton, and some General Directions. - Cutting-up the Food. - Yeal and Lamb. - Pork. - Ham and Bacon. - Poultry, Game, Wild Fowl. - Yenison and Hare. - Rabbit. - Fish. - Shell Fish. - Wholesomeness and Digestibility of Various Articles of Food: Bread; Cheese and Cream Cheese; Milk; Vegetables.

Beef and Mutton, and some General Directions

A healthy stomach will generally digest either of these with ease, but a stronger digestive power as regards meat is required, as a rule, for beef than for mutton. There are exceptions to this, however, and much depends on the quality of the meat, some beef being easier of digestion than some mutton (assuming the cooking to be equally good in both cases).

There are peculiarities of stomach with regard to "flavours" which need consideration - and it may be found that, whereas the solid inside-meat of either beef or mutton can be digested easily, the stomach is "upset" if the more specially flavoured parts are eaten, and this will occur sometimes with mutton and not with beef, and vice versa. This remark applies to nearly all "flavoury" foods; it is partly explained by the fact that "flavours" are so often dependent upon volatile and empyreumatic oils, which, are apt to regurgitate. But in the case of meats, when roasted, baked, fried, or grilled, the surface is apt to be over-done, and the action of the heat on the superficial fat produces acrid compounds, consisting of acrolein and fatty acids; and it is these which disagree, although the meat itself may digest and agree.

This difficulty does not occur with boiled meats. Another point, and one of great importance, which applies to all solid food, is the way in which it is cut up. It must be taken for granted that, with the best of teeth and the greatest care, portions of solid food will occasionally be swallowed imperfectly masticated, that is, not converted into a pulp; but when we consider how often teeth are defective and how carelessly people eat while talking, as a matter of fact, ill-masticated food is swallowed at every meal. Now nearly all the difficulty may be avoided by a judicious mode of cutting up the food while eating.

It must be remembered that the essential point to be obtained, is that the digestive juices in the stomach shall penetrate to the centre of every particle of food, and this within a certain time, limited to a few hours at the outside. If the food is cut up into dice-like cubes it will often be impossible for the centre to be reached before the stomach has expended its digestive force, and thus -a number of undigested particles will be left, either to encumber the stomach, when it ought to be clean and ready to prepare for the next meal; or, if they have passed out of the stomach, to call upon the second processes of digestion to attempt to do what ought to have been completed in the stomach; or to irritate the intestines by throwing into them an abnormal quantity of waste. The same thing occurs, though to a less extent with meats and other foods when their tissue is long-fibred if they are cut in thick slices "the way of the grain." But if the food is thinly sliced "across the grain" every fibre is presented to the stomach juices in a thin section with both its ends exposed, and it is then quickly and easily saturated by the juices of the stomach, favoured by capillary attraction in the direction of the fibres. This is really the great secret in enabling the stomach to deal with solid food - Cut everything across the grain and in thin slices while eating.

It must be remembered, however, that one object of mastication is insalivation, and no cutting up can entirely take the place of a sufficient mastication as far as insalivation is concerned. But this is of less importance with animal than with vegetable foods; and it so happens that the quickest eaters and worst masticators are those whose saliva is abundant and readily poured out; because a deficiency of saliva necessitates better mastication to render the food moist enough to swallow. Advantage may be taken of this fact when people are inclined to swallow their food half masticated, by giving it to them dry. In either case, the thin cross-grained slice will be most rapidly saturated with saliva and soonest fit for swallowing.

Another point of great importance in facilitating the digestion of hard and solid substances, is the addition of a proper quantity of water to assist the stomach juices in dissolving them.

Very few articles of food are soluble in alcohol, and many are rendered less soluble by its presence. It is not sufficient, therefore, to drink alcohol with meals; a certain quantity of water must be taken whether alcohol is also taken or not. On the other hand, it is a mistake to deluge the stomach with fluid during digestion, for this dilutes the natural juices to such an extent that they lose their solvent power.

Different persons have different requirements in this respect, according to the power of secreting saliva and gastric fluids freely or scantily, and in a concentrated or diluted state. But, on an average, about half to three quarters of an imperial pint of water is a proper quantity to drink while eating an ordinary dinner, and this is better sipped during the meal than drunk at a draught either before or after it.