Page:Book of health.pdf/18

Rh A. No. The only wholesome beverage is cold water; all warm drinks weaken the stomach and body; they do not cleanse the bowels, nor purify the blood, and are, therefore, unwholesome and hurtful to health.

Q. Why are people, particularly women, so fond of tea and coffee?

A. Because, for want of exercise, they have no natural or real thirst; and because they have been used to them from their infancy.

Q. Is wine wholesome, when drunk often, or as a common beverage?

A. No; it is not. Wine is very hurtful to the health, the intellects, and the happiness of man.

Q. Wine as a medical potion, comforts the sick, and strengthens the weak; but does it afford any real strength or nourishment to the healthy?

A. No: it only over-heats, without procuring real strength; for it cannot be converted into good blood, flesh, or bone.

Q. Does wine contribute to the digestion of our meals?

A. No; it does not. Those that drink water eat with a better appetite, and digest better, than those that drink wine.

Q: What consequences ensue from drinking wine continually?

A. The tongue loses its delicacy of taste, and rejects water and mild simple food; the stomach grows cold and loses its natural vigour, and man, under the false idea of giving warmth to his stomach, gains by degrees a passion for drinking, which leads him at last to habitual drunkenness.

Q. Is brandy a good liquor?

A No.