"There is a marked tendency in nature to transmit all diseased conditions. Thus, the children of consumptive parents are apt to be consumptives. But of all agents, alcohol is the most potent in establishing a heredity that exhibits itself in the destruction of mind and body. [Footnote: Nearly all the diseases springing from indulgence in distilled and fermented liquors are liable to become hereditary, and to descend to at least three or four generations, unless starved out by uncompromising abstinence. But the distressing aspect of the heredity of alcohol is the transmitted drink- crave. This is no dream of an enthusiast, but the result of a natural law. Men and women upon whom this dread inheritance has been forced are everywhere around us, bravely struggling to lead a sober life.--DR. NORMAN KERR.] Its malign influence was observed by the ancients long before the production of whiskey or brandy, or other distilled liquors, and when fermented liquors or wines only were known. Aristotle says, 'Drunken women have children like unto themselves,' and Plutarch remarks, 'One drunkard is the father of another.' The drunkard by inheritance is a more helpless slave than his progenitor, and his children are more helpless still, unless on the mother's side there is an untainted blood. For there is not only a propensity transmitted, but an actual disease of the nervous system."--DR. WILLARD PARKER. [Footnote: The subject of alcohol is continued in the chapter on the Nervous System.] PRACTICAL QUESTIONS. 1. How do clothing and shelter economize food? 2. Is it well to take a long walk before breakfast? 3. Why is warm food easier to digest than cold? 4. Why is salt beef less nutritious than fresh? [Footnote: The French Academicians found that flesh soaked in water so as to deprive it of its mineral matter and juices, lost its nutritive value, and that animals fed on it soon died. Indeed, for all purposes of nutrition, Liebig said it was no better than stones, and the utmost torments of hunger were hardly sufficient to induce them to continue the diet. There was plenty of nutritive food, but there was no medium for its solution and absorption, and hence it was useless.] 5. What should be the food of a man recovering from a fever? 6. Is a cup of black coffee a healthful close to a hearty dinner? 7. Should iced water be used at a meal? 8. Why is strong tea or coffee injurious? 9. Should food or drink be taken hot? 10. Are fruitcakes, rich pastry, and puddings wholesome? 11. Why are warm biscuit and bread hard of digestion? 12. Should any stimulants be used in youth? 13. Why should bread be made spongy? 14. Which should remain longer in the mouth, bread or meat? 15. Why should cold water be used in making soup, and hot water in boiling meat? 16. Name the injurious effects of overeating. 17. Why do not buckwheat cakes, with syrup and butter, taste as well in July as in January? 18. Why is a late supper injurious?