The Laurel Health Cookery: A Collection of Practical Suggestions and Recipes for the Preparation of Non-Flesh Foods in Palatable and Attractive Ways

slow digestion or subject to acidity, 3 hours. If very cold or hot drinks are taken, the temperature at which digestion is carried on is affected, causing another delay. As a rule, the body gets the greatest benefit from water taken early in the morning. Pastor Kneipp recommended the use of small quantities of water (1 teaspoonful), often. If one is situated so as to be able to take a few swallows frequently, it is better than to deluge the stomach three or four times a day; as a steady, gentle rain is more beneficial than a torrent. Hot water, at one time the great panacea, is responsible for many cases of serious indigestion by causing the muscles of the stomach to relax and become weak. A cup of hot water occasionally, when one feels that he has taken a little cold, will help to ward off the cold but it should not be often repeated. The advice of one doctor of great sense and considerable reputation was “Drink cold water _when thirsty_.” Pure _Distilled Water_ is unquestionably the best drink. _Mineral Waters_ sometimes have a beneficial effect when used for a short time, but that is lost by their continued use and after a few weeks the individual begins to suffer with serious stomach and kidney difficulties. “_Very Hard Water_ is not only unpleasant to the skin and difficult to make into a lather, but, what is more important still, it exerts a more or less harmful influence upon the digestive system. Constipation is not infrequently the direct result of the constant use of hard water. Wherever possible apparatus should be used for the purpose of distilling hard water. If this is impracticable, boiling the water will materially reduce the hardness. The flatness of boiled water is easily and quickly remedied by aerating it. Pouring water back and forth from one glass to another will speedily restore its oxygen.”--_English Good Health._ The liberal use of _Fresh Juicy Fruits_ helps out in the amount of fluids. I have known a few people who ate no meat and almost no vegetables,