THE DOG, THE MAN, AND THE MEAT.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1247, 23 January 1896, Page 27

THE DOG, THE MAN, AND THE MEAT.

A friend of mine and I were walking together the other day ; a dog dashed past us after something he saw on the pavement, it was a big piece of meat. He pounced on it and swallowed it in two seconds. My companion looked at the dog with envious admiration. “My humble friend/’ he said, “ I’ll give you =£sooo for your appetite and your digestion. You are not afraid to eat; J am.” But the dog knew what happiness is made of. He declined the offer and trotted away.

It is astonishing how many different people use this expression. “ I am ”or ” 1 was ” afraid to eat. As the writer pens these lines five letters lie on the table before him, every one of them containing it.. Yet the persons who wrote the letters are not known to one another. There was, therefore, no agreement among them. Why should there be, even if they were acquainted r No, there is nothing in it to wonder at. They went through the same experience, and express it in che most natural way, that’s all.

But wliat does it mean ? Are people suspicious of poisoned food ? No, no; that is not so. The food is not poisoned before it is eaten, but afterwards. An example will show ivhat really occurs, and why so many are afraid to eat. We quote from one of the letters : “ One night, early in 1592,” says the writer, “ 1 was seized with dreadful pains in the pit of the stomach, and a choking sensation in the throat. 1 feared I was going to die. My wife called in a neighbour. They applied hot flannels and turpentine, but I got no relief. Then a doctor came and gave me medicine. He said he never saw anyone’s tongue iu such a condition. It was of a yellow colour, and covered with a slimy phlegm, so thick I could have scraped it with a knife. I had a foul, bitter taste in my mouth, and my eyes were so dull I could scarcely see. I bad a heavy pain in the side, and felt sodejected and miserable I didn’t know what to do with myself. What little food L took gave me so much pain I was af raid to eat. " The doctor put me on starvation diet, and injected morphine to ease the pam. “ Getting no real benefit from the first doctor I saw another, who said I had enlargement of the liver, He gave me medicines, but I got r.o bettor. In August S' went to Exmo.uih to see what my nativeair would do for mo, but came back worse* than over. I had lost over three stone in weight, and being too weak to move about I used to lie on the couch most of the time. I never expected to get well, and didn’t care much what became of me.

“ One day in October my wife said, * It appears the doctors can do nothing for you so I am going to doctor you myself f She went to tho Southern Drug Stores, in Camberwell road, and got a bottle of Mother Seigel’s Curative Syrup. After taxing this medicine for a few days the pain in my stomach left me, my appetit© improved, and I gained some strength Soon afterwards I was back at my work. The people in tfln office, seeing how well I looked, asked what had cured me and I answered, Mother Seigef’s Syrup. I shall be gmd to reply to any enquiries about mw case. (Signed) Charles Harris, 74, Beresford street, Camberwell, London, December iSu,

Harris statement goes straight to the point Why was he afraid to eat ? Because his food gave him pain without giving him strength. This was dead, wrong. It was exactly the reverse of whatit should have been. When a man is in proper form he gets vigour and power from, his meals, and eats them with eniovment. and relish. If he doesn’t there is Something eke matter with him. What is it ? Now let your thoughts expanda bit, ‘so as to take m a broad principle. OnemanV, meat is another man’s poison, they sav That s so, but Ns only half the truth” Aaxj man s meat as any man’s poison, under conditions. If grain never got than the mill hopper we shnnlr? never have bread, and if bread (or o ?h® food) never got further than the stomTeß we should never have strength Se Well, when the stomach i s t omL? inflamed, and “on strike,” what liens P Why, your food lies in H rots. Tho fermentation produces - /n i. which get into the blood worst sort of mischief all oven the This is indigestion and +B V the doctors call each and every trick of g W by a separate name. Yet thev “>aiQ thing afteaU ™ r&l Bat Mother Se>igel’s *o does, as Mr Harris says and affb of others say. * ’ ‘ thousand*