ONE MEAL A DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7002, 26 April 1884, Page 2 (Supplement)

ONE MEAL A DAY.

Da. Geobge Fords-ce, the anatomist and chemical lecturer, was accustomed to dine everyday, for more than twenty, years, at Dolly's chop house, in Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row. His researches in comparative anatomy had led him to conclude that man, throughcustom, eats oftener tban nature requires, one meal a day being, sufficient for that noble animal, the lion. He made-the experiment on himself at his favourite dininghouse, and finding it successful, he continued the following regimen for the above term, of years : At four o'clock, his accustomed dinner hour, he entered Dolly's chop house and took a seat at a table always reserved for hitn, on which were instantly placed a silver tankard full of strong ale, a bottle of port wine, and a measure containing a quarter of a pint of brandy. The moment the waiter announced him, the cook put a pound and a half of rump steak on the gridiron, and on the table some delicate trifle, as bonne bouche, to serve until tho steak was ready. This delicacy was sometimes half a broiled chicken, sometimes a plate of fish; when he had eaten this he took a glass of his brandy, and then proceeded to devour his steak. We say devour, for he always ate as rapidly as if eating for a wager. When he had finished his meat he took the remainder of his brandy, having during his dinner drunk the tankard of ale, and afterward the bottle of port. The Doctor then adjourned.to the Chapter Coffee Honse in Paternoster Row, and stayed while he sipped a glass of brandy and water. It was then hi 3 habit to take another at the London Coffee House, and a third at the Oxford, after which he returned to his house in Essexstreet, where he gave his lectures on chemistry. He made no meal till his retnrn next day at four o'clock at Dolly's. The subeditor of a newspaper in the north of England was a man of very similarhabits. He invariably dined about six* every day, and comraensed his evening duties about an bonr later ; and it is only fair to say he was one of the quickest workers at his own particular business. His one meal a day was, however, a prodigious affair, and his landlady had a full afternoon's work set in preparation for the meal. From a pound to two pounds weight of chops or steaks, with vegetables in proportion, generally formed the first portion of the meal. This was followed by a rice pudding, tapioca padding, apple, plum, or other seasonable pies, and invariably backed up by a good serving of bread and cheese ; the whole washed down with a pint of beer,, tea, or coffee. The meal of chops or steaks was varied now and then, withaplentiful serving of fowl, duck, goose, hare or rabbit ; but in all cases the amount consumed was enough to have satisfied most men for at least a couple of days. The most singular part of the business was that he slept the whole of the day, always on an empty stomach so far as meat was concerned, although, •as he many times remarked, he had gone to bed scores of times "with a good skinful of drink." His capacity in the latter respect was as wonderful as the quantity he ate at his one day meal. For instance, half-a-dbzen or more glasses of beer, followed by a dozen or more glasses of brandy and soda of an evening was a dose he could carry off to bed comfortably, and be ready at six next day for his meal, and at seven for his daily round of duty. He was a strong, healthy-looking, robust fellow, excelling in all kinds of field sports and gymnastic exercises, with muscles of iron, and he could hit a blow which would fell an ox. At a push, he could, and did, occasionally indulge in an extra meal, but this was only in deference to social custom, or at the earnest solicitation of friends.—Newcastle ■Weekly Chronicle.