Part 32

It required two years of the circulation of the original publications and the constant, persistent, personal assertion of the author before any continued credence of his assertions was secured, with the one exception of a lay friend in New York who happened to be in a state of great need of reform at the time, as related under the heading of "A Five Year's Lay Experience."

It was only about two years ago that the new claims had received sufficient recognition to admit of explaining them to busy men of prominence in the medical profession. After the confirmation at the laboratories of the University of Cambridge, England, the author had an opportunity to make a statement and give a demonstration to Sir Thomas Barlow, the private physician of King Edward VII. Sir Thomas was most sympathetic with the physiological possibilities, and there has been frequent evidence since to show that he pursued thought of the suggestions, and that his interest has been responsible for the aristocratic lay interest which originated the so-termed "Munching Parties" in London.

The English term "munching," signifying chewing or masticating, is an excellent amendment, which is gladly adopted. "Masticating" is technical and formal. "Chewing" has been disgraced by its application to gum and to tobacco, and the other English expression, "biting," suggests the carnivorous, savage use of the jaws and teeth, while "munching" implies enjoyment, as the munching of delicacies by children.

As reported from London, "Munching Parties" were inaugurated to teach attention, to encourage mouth preparation of food for digestion, and also for the æsthetic purpose of gaining all the gustatory pleasure possible from food while conserving the economies of nutrition. The method employed was most ingenious, and with some modification is approved by the author. When a course was served at "Munching Lunches," the manager of the ceremony employed a stop watch to time the treatment of the first morsel of food taken by each of the guests. Five minutes was prescribed for consideration of the morsel. It was an extravagantly long delay over any one morsel, but it set the pace of deliberation, and time, under the circumstances of a social function, was not a matter of moment.

A five minute, or even a one minute consideration of a morsel of delicious food, tends to give a new appreciation of its taste value and suggests more careful enjoyment than is usual when nervous conversation is the main business of a meal and food is a mere accompaniment.

Industrious munching performs about one hundred acts of mastication to the minute, and from twelve to fifteen mouthfuls of ordinary food is sufficient to satisfy completely a hearty appetite. Tender or well-prepared or well-cooked food is fully treated by munching for natural swallowing in even much less time than a minute. The necessary time ranges from one-twentieth to one-fifth of a minute, or ordinary food is reduced so as to excite the natural Swallowing Impulse by from five to twenty masticatory acts; and this applies equally to the tasting movements required by sapid liquids. Hard or coarse breads, and even potato, may require more attention and longer time, and deficiency of saliva delays the process; but it is a very refractory food that will require more than half a minute to the ordinary mouthful. Small sips and small mouthfuls demand less proportionate time, so that the actual time necessary to satisfy a good appetite does not exceed twelve or fifteen or at most twenty minutes when the secretion of saliva is ample, as in the case of real hunger; but the enjoyment of taste does not stop short with the actual cessation of the psychological sensation. The memory of taste continues after the actual sensibility has ceased, and one of the most agreeable compensations of a meal is enjoyed in the form of complete satisfaction following the act of eating. It is a very different and a very much more agreeable sensation than that attending a distended stomach, and must be felt and understood to be fully appreciated.

"Munching Party Functions," then, reveal more possible pleasure and benefit than the mere tickling of the palate, so-called, and diffuse their benefits to cover the mechanical act and a long-continued feeling of satisfaction that is more subtly pleasing than the immediate physiological cause of the contentment.

The "Munching Party" scheme of education and enjoyment has been carried to America, and has received the name of the "Chewing Fad." As such it has been cartooned in the newspapers, but in no matter what form the suggestion is spread it can do only good.

Appreciation of the suggestion has been generously expressed in the letters of Dr. Kellogg of the great Battle Creek Sanitarium and by Dr. Dewey, the author of the "No Breakfast Plan," as well as by the author's intimate colleagues, Drs. Van Someren and Higgins, of Venice, Italy.

There are many physicians from whom the author has heard report, and perhaps thousands who have not yet been heard from, who are conveying the slow-eating and appreciative-attention suggestions to their patients; and as the reform in dietetic technique has sprung up since the publication of the booklets of the author--"What Sense? or, Economic Nutrition," and "Nature's Food Filter; or, What and When to Swallow," which were afterwards coupled together under the title of "Glutton or Epicure"--he has good reason to suppose that the spread of the idea originated with the publication of his discovery even where the personal influence had not been given direct.

While visiting recently in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the author met a distinguished professor of Harvard University who had been suffering from nervous prostration. He had spent some time in Europe consulting the most eminent neurologists, but with little or no relief. On his return to the United States he was advised to go to a sanitarium in Bethel, Me., under the direction of Dr. Gehring, where effective cures of cases of nervous prostration have been performed. The professor was given "Menticulture" and "Glutton or Epicure" to read, and was recommended to practise the advice of the books in connection with his treatment. These two books are an account of the way the author promoted his own salvation from the uncertainty relative to physical health and mental control, and it is by these means that the psychic, mechanical, and chemical necessities of nutrition are satisfied.

The author spent an hour with Dr. Alexander Haig, of London, while undergoing the Cambridge University Examination reported upon by Sir Michael Foster, and exhaustively argued the claims of thorough mouth treatment of nutriment to that distinguished dietetic specialist. The argument met with much incredulity, as has been the case in all first presentations of the idea. Dr. Haig pronounced the appeal to even a normalised appetite dangerous, and clung to the prescription theory of regulating food. He seems, however, to have since learned the efficacy of munching and tasting in assisting the empirical prescription method, and now recommends it as enthusiastically as do Drs. Van Someren, Higgins, Kellogg, and Dewey. He has even sent patients to a resort in the country in England to acquire the habit of munching where there was present in them the strong pernicious habit of nervous haste and inattention in connection with their ingestion of food.

This is bound to be the case with physicians where the subject is given attention and the method is accorded a fair trial without lapses. Credit for the origination of the suggestion is here taken to increase the effectiveness of the claims presented in the "A. B.-Z. of Our Own Nutrition" and in this book. Readers are recommended not to imitate the prevalent error of thinking that so simple a suggestion is not important or otherwise scientists would have proclaimed it long before now. The ancient hypotheses of text-book physiology were mainly based upon the study of nutrition, beginning in the stomach, and after the danger of indigestion had been forced upon the alimentary system; and hence they often dealt with confused, abnormal, and pathologic conditions, and they rarely had opportunity to observe the normal condition intended by Nature.

Professor Pawlow, of St. Petersburg, confirmed the necessity of a right psychic environment; Dr. Cannon, of the Harvard Medical School, showed the influence of mechanical thoroughness and nervous shock upon digestion; and Dr. Harry Campbell, of London, explained the mechanical and salival efficacy of mastication in procuring good assimilation of nutriment and an economic nutrition. The work of Professor Pawlow and Dr. Cannon was independent scientific research, and so was that of Dr. Campbell; but the latter was undoubtedly suggested or stimulated by Dr. Van Someren's presentment of his paper to the British Medical Association. The investigations of Sir Michael Foster, Professor Chittenden, Drs. Higgins, Kellogg, and Dewey were directly inspired by the author in connection with his Venetian colleague, Dr. Ernest Van Someren. The papers, reports, articles, and lectures of these authorities are given in the "A. B.-Z. of Our Own Nutrition," and are repeatedly mentioned in this volume because this book is revised and reissued as an extended explanatory companion of the larger scientific presentation.

In pursuit of true menticulture the personality of the individual should be completely suppressed. He becomes the agent of his inspirations, his revelations, or his altruistic convictions, and as such speaks for the ideas presented, and in no immodest spirit of vain egotism. In descending from the plane of high literary propriety to impress by simile and analogy, the object foremost in mind is to attract a variety of sympathies. The author reveres the dignified in art and in demeanour, and deplores the necessity of personal association to spread the merits of what he believes to be fundamental truths of the philosophy of true living. But so strong is the conviction of the author that he possesses fundamental truths which have been overlooked in the rapid progress of the race in the luxuries of living, that where it is seemingly desirable to employ unusual means to attract attention he feels compelled to do so.

SPECIMEN ECONOMIC DINNER

IN A

SUMPTUOUS MODERN AMERICAN HOTEL

The author was invited to dine with some friends one evening in summer at a hotel in New York, and the invitation concluded with "Menu à la Fletcher."

The dinner was to be served in the sitting-room of my host, and when I arrived had not yet been ordered. "You must order the dinner for us," said my host, "and we will agree to your selection." "But I cannot order for any one but myself," said I in reply. "The chief contention I make for natural nutrition is that the appetite is the only true indication of the bodily need, and you must interpret your own appetite both as to estimated quantity required and the sort of food craved."

After some discussion I agreed to stand as go-between and take the symptoms of appetite from each and give the order. The waiter was standing by with pencil in hand and urged a number of expensive dishes that were the specialties of the day. I asked him to "be quiet, please, and let us make our own selection." I first placed the bill of fare in the hands of the daughter of my host and asked her to name the first thing that came into her mind in connection with the order. She replied, "Baked potatoes and--" "Stop," said I; "baked potatoes it is; now it is your turn to choose, R----. What comes first to your mind?" "Green corn," was the answer. "Very well, waiter; one order of baked potatoes, one order of green corn, and a lemon ice. Bring these and we will order more if we require."

The waiter hesitated and was about to protest something when I stopped him with the assurance that the order given was all that we would specify at first, and that if the service was unusual and caused trouble we would submit to an extra service charge to square accounts.

While the order was being filled there was considerable funmaking, but I would give no explanations. The waiter returned shortly with the order as given, and it was laid out to the accompaniment of a complete dinner utensil service. I asked the young lady to please prepare one of the potatoes in the way she liked best, and this was done by taking the mealy heart out of the jacket and mixing it with butter, salt, and pepper to taste. In the meantime the father had taken an ear of corn and was prepared to enjoy it in response to his appetite the same as he would if he were in the woods with a lumberman's appetite and only corn to be had. The large glass of lemon ice was then placed between us as a "centrepiece." "Aren't you going to take your ice now?" queried the young lady. "Not now," replied I. "I must attend to your method of taking your potato to see that you do it economic justice, and I must see that your father does not waste any of that delicious corn. Now, Mary, let me see how much good you can munch out of your first mouthful. Do not swallow any of it until it is actually sucked up by the Swallowing Impulse, and when that happens you will note that only a portion of it is taken and the rest will naturally return to the front of the mouth, if you do not restrain it, and will still be a delicious liquid most agreeable to taste." This happened as suggested, and there were three distinct swallowing acts before the last of the mouthful had disappeared in response to the Swallowing Impulse. "My! but I never realised that potato was so good," exclaimed the young lady; and "Gracious! isn't this corn bully!" echoed the father. "Good!" added I. "If that is true of the first mouthful, I think you will find it true of the other mouthfuls until your appetite for potato and corn is satisfied; and as long as your appetites hold good for them, you are being nourished as your body-needs require." With the slow eating, the appetite of each for the chosen food was soon quieted; one, we will say for illustration of the principle, with a single potato and the other with a single ear of corn. "I think I should relish a little of your second potato if you are not going to take it," said the father, addressing his daughter; and she replied, "Your corn seems nice, father; may I have your second ear in exchange for my potato?" This was agreeable to each, and each partook somewhat of the other's original selection until the appetite of each was so completely satisfied that neither could more than taste a little of my lemon ice as a final delicacy; and as I did not want all of it, the one order sufficed for us. I had breakfasted quite heartily at one o'clock in the afternoon, after having written several thousand words of correspondence, and really wanted but half the generous portion of ice that had been brought. I had ordered it set into ice-water, after placing it ceremonially as a centrepiece, and it had kept its icy consistency waiting for what I thought was likely to happen.

Both my host and my hostess declared that they had never enjoyed a summer evening meal more, and yet all that was ordered was not consumed, while the cost, for the three, was less than a dollar for the food alone.

The method employed to interpret appetite was a revelation to my friends. They were accustomed to ordering several courses for each person, although they thought they were "small eaters" and economic feeders. Had they ordered for us three without my assistance, the dinner would not have cost less than four or five dollars, and with a plethora of food on the table all would have felt it necessary to eat as much as possible, in order to get value received.

The above, as related, was an actual happening, but it in no way indicates what another trio would have ordered in response to their appetites. That is immaterial. The principle of consulting the leanings of appetite is the thing of first importance, and giving appetite a chance to naturally discriminate is the second natural requirement. Had the weather been cooler, and had the appetite earned been like that of a labouring man, more food and more variety might have been required to satisfy appetite, and hence the needs of the body. In that case, after plying the appetite to repletion on the first dish ordered, a second or a third could easily have been added. With this principle of learning the real demands of appetite, any number of combinations can be had for variety. In summer, with light physical exercise, very little proteid-bearing food is needed; but in winter, with vigorous exercise or hard physical labour, the appetite will crave foods that have proteid and fat whether one knows what proteid is or the difference between carbohydrate elements and fat. Any empirical idea of the possible elemental requirements is likely to lead to false suggestion and do harm. It is difficult to stand by and let Nature do the ordering if there is too much elemental intelligence, and that is where the animals, when allowed free choice of food, get on better with their nutrition than man himself, and man's only protection is to carefully heed the delicate discrimination of appetite. This is not a difficult thing to do, for appetite can be easily satisfied within a small range of simple foods.

With any desired variety of sumptuous food to choose from, and no restraint from any cause whatever, the author fed himself nine-tenths of the time during the examination at Yale University, in cold winter weather, on griddle cakes well buttered and accompanied with an abundance of maple syrup. Occasionally more proteid would be demanded,--say once a week, or once in five days,--and then baked beans was the preferential choice.

I am now relating the experiences of a student of hygienic epicureanism and am not considering money economy alone. Were mental or even physical improvement in efficiency to be purchased at high prices, and lack of efficiency could be had for nothing, the high-priced article would be well worth its cost, no matter what it might be, for the reason that total lack of efficiency is equivalent to death and any proportionate lack is the next thing to death. Hence it is not a money economic reform that is being advocated, and this must be borne in mind.