A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery

ago, in his exceedingly valuable article called "Food and Feeding," where he said that a hungry man eating clear soup for his dinner would feel a sense of refreshment in less than three minutes; that is, he would feel the effect of his plate of clear soup almost as soon as he would feel the stimulus which he would receive from a glass of wine. He would feel refreshed at once; his sense of hunger, which is the indication that his system needs food, would be practically appeased within three minutes from the time he had taken his soup. Then there is another very important question; and that is the effect of soups and liquid foods on the appetite for stimulants. I am not a temperance advocate in the sense in which the word is usually understood. That is, I neither believe in nor advocate total abstinence; but I do believe in temperance--in the temperate use of everything; no matter whether it is drink, or food, or pleasure, in a life of work, so that I speak solely from the standpoint of an advocate of the moderate use of everything. The system requires a certain amount of liquid nourishment. We have to get that in the form of liquid, and many people take it by using water to excess--drinking quantities of water. On the other hand, there are some people who never drink more than a glass of water all day long. They must drink something--some kind of liquid--to make up the quantity of water that is absolutely required by the system in the course of twenty-four hours. Some persons take it in the form of tea and coffee; others drink beer and wine; but a certain amount of liquid the system must have. Now, you can easily see that you can supply a part of that liquid in the form of soups and stews. It is not possible for many people to drink much cold water: it does not seem to agree with them. The advocates of the latest craze, for hot water, will get their quantity of liquid,