A CURB FOR DYSPEPSIA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1110, 14 January 1885, Page 3

A CURB FOR DYSPEPSIA.

The English Press are at present discussing Mr Andrew "W. Tver's method of making " good digestion wait on appetite, and health, on both." He wrote an article on this most important subject for Chambers' Journal, and it must have done good, for that popular publication has a universal circulation. The general opinion in America is that Englishmen never have dyspepsia, but this seems a popular error. Mr Andrew "W". Tver thinks dyspeptics should be "fuer," so he fixed up a dose, which we may suppose will result in a perfect " cuer." Mr Tver's remedy is glycerine — unpre fixed with nitro, of course. %o doubt a dose of nitro-glycerine and some hearty exercise after it would effectually cure dyspepsia and other '11s the flesh is heir to. However, the difficulty of getting enough of the patient together to hold an inquest on aft6r the operation of nitro-glycerine no doubt impressed itself upon Mr Tver, so he contents himself with the plain glycerine, which, is not so boisterous in its results. Nitro-glycerine is one of those remedies that are not to be shaken after being taken. Mr Tver says : A drachm of glycerine mixed in half a wineglassful of water is to be swallowed with, or immediately after, each meal until the enemy takes its flight, which" in an ordinary case will be iv from one to two days, and in an obstinate one, perhaps a fortnight. Sooner or later, unless the predisposing- causes are removed,; another attack will follow, and the glycerine will bare to be resumed.

" Predisposing causes " having been referred to, it musb now be the endeavor to find out what they are, so that a perfect cure may be effected and the glycerine discarded altogether. One's own common sense would suggest that food! known to" disagree should be avoided. Indigestion is often set up at tlje earliest and, to the dyspeptic, the lightest meals of the day, at which ha • probably confines himself to crisp toast buttered as soon as cold, bread and butter, with a lightly boiled egg, or a little fat bacon, the whole moistened with a little tea* In tbe word just 'use' l , "moistened," probably lies the "predisposing cause." The food, when only half chewed, is moistened with a sip of tea to expediate its departure to the stomach ; but to ensure its digestion, be it ever so simple, the food must'be thoroughly masticated, and receive during the process the necessary moisture from the saliva. Food should be swallowed without extraneous aid in liquor form, and ought never to be washed down. A sip of tea may be taken between the bites, but not when there is fcrod in the mouth, of. which a fail quantity ought to be disposed of before the tea is even thought of. The tea itself, by being slowly sipped, receives its share of the saliva, an I is rendered more digestible. And this assertion is borne out by the f»<> fc that, many persons who cannot digest milk when gulped or drank down quickly readily do so when it is slowly sipped. The habit of taking one's breakfast in the manner recommended is so very easily acquired that after the first trial no inconvenience will be felt ; in fact, the food will be> enjoyed aud the pleasure of the meal greatly increased. Indiscretions committed at the dinner table are credited to the cause of many dyspeptic attacks, but probably more may be traced to the pernicious habit indicated and indulged in by so many persons at breakfast and tea.

A final hint as to use of tea at breakfast. The epicurean method of making it,and that,webelieve,practised by professional tea-tasters, is to put a single spoonful — let it be of the best and without any admixture of green — into a breakfast cup, which is filled up with boiling water, covered with a plate or saucer, and allow to stand for three minutes only, when — after decanting into another cup, so as to dispose of the leaves, which still remain behind — the tea is made. Sugar is added to taste, and, lastly, milk — and very little if any of it. Tea made in this manner is not only more deliciousiy aromatic, but most digestible ; for the bitter fcannin, which is apt to harden — literally to tan — the food in the stomach, is left behind.

The Melbourne "Leader" of 29th November, referring to the crops, ,says: — The showers of last week are reported as likely to be of some slight benefit to the late grain crops in the way of filling the ears, but the majority are now beyond the power of being helped, and in the earlier districts i north ward.. wheat harvesting will be general within the next fortnight. ! Twelve months < since the supply of grain sacks could barely reach the demand, but now it will be a matter of difficulty to distribute the enormous pile of cornsacks lying on the railway platform. When such reports come from the Goulburn Valley it promises ill for less favored districts further north. Prom South Australia news of the wheat harvest continues, to be satisfactory. The first load of new wheat was delivered at Port G-ermein on 14th November; it was part- of |a crop which averaged 13 bushels to the acre. In New South "Wales welcome showers have been received, especially in Eiverina and other southern districts, where the rainfall will, considerably mitigate the situation, so far as supplying the waterholes is- concerned, although little improvement can be expected in the grass. Deplorable, reports are received from Northwestern Queensland with reference to the wholesale deaths of stock on cattle stations. From 10,000 to 20,000 head are reported to have died r on single sta,tiqns, ajid high ; pri6es in ttie 1 Sydney and Melbourne" fat cattle markets are anticipated.