VII. FOOD.--The comfort, energy, usefulness, and moral character of a man depend largely upon his digestion, and this in turn depends largely on what it has to act upon--viz. food. There are, it is true, many men who boast that they can digest anything, and who are really comparatively indifferent as to the kind, or mode of preparation, of the food set before them, so that the quantity be sufficient; but were it not that habit and heredity--which is the family habit--combine with natural selection to adapt men to their food, it is probable that the frying-pan, the pie, and soda-bread would depopulate large portions of this country. As it is, there can be no doubt that fried food swimming in grease, leathery, sodden pie-crust, and heavy bread tend to make life short and the reverse of merry; and when the effect of these is combined, as it often is, with those of malaria, damp soil, and a free use of whiskey, the result is plenty of work for the doctor and very little to pay him with. This state of things is being gradually improved, but in all classes of society and in almost all parts of the country the rule is, that while the raw materials of food are abundant and of excellent quality, the cooking is bad. This is due, in part, to an idea that it is to a certain extent discreditable to a person that he should give much attention to his food, at least so far as its appearance and taste are concerned, and that a man who can plan a good dinner must be more or less of a sensualist and a glutton.