many students almost completely incapacitate themselves for afternoon work by a too-heavy noon meal.  Frequently an afternoon course is rendered quite valueless because the student drowses through the lecture soddened by a heavy lunch.  One way of overcoming this difficulty is by dispensing with the mid-day meal; another way is to drink a small amount of coffee, which frequently keeps people awake; but these devices are not to be universally recommended.

The heavy meal of a student may well come at evening.  It should consist of a varied assortment of foods with some liquids, preferably clear soup, milk and water.  Meat also forms a substantial part of this meal, though ordinarily it should not be taken more than once a day.  Much is heard nowadays about the dangers of excessive meat-eating and the objections are well-founded in the case of brain-workers.  The undesirable effects are “an unprofitable spurring of the metabolism—­ more particularly objectionable in warm weather—­and the menace of auto-intoxication.”  Too much protein, found in meat, lays a burden upon the liver and kidneys and when the burden is too great, wastes, which cannot be taken care of, gather and poison the blood, giving rise to that feeling of being “tired all over” which is so inimical to mental and physical exertion.  When meat is eaten, care should be taken to choose right kinds.  “Some kinds of meat are well known to occasion indigestion.  Pork and veal are particularly feared.  While we may not know the reason why these foods so often disagree with people, it seems probable that texture is an important consideration.  In both these meats the fibre is fine, and fat is intimately mingled with the lean.  A close blending of fat with nitrogenous matter appears to give a fabric which is hard to digest.  The same principle is illustrated by fat-soaked fried foods.  Under the cover of the fat, thorough-going bacterial decomposition of the proteins may be accomplished with the final release of highly poisonous products.  Attacks of acute indigestion resulting from this cause are much like the so-called ptomaine poisoning.”

Much of the benefit of meat may be secured from other foods.  Fat, for example, may be obtained from milk and butter freed from the objectionable qualities of the meat-fibre.  In this connection it is important to call attention to the use of fried fat.  Avoid fat that is mixed with starch particles in such foods as fried potatoes and pie-crust.

The conditions during meals should always be as pleasant as possible.  This refers both to physical surroundings and mental condition.  “The processes occurring in the alimentary canal are greatly subject to influences radiating from the brain.  It is especially striking that both the movements of the stomach and the secretion of the gastric juice may be inhibited as a result of disturbing circumstances.  Intestinal movements may be modified in similar fashion.”