When we consider the best time to eat, we come back to our old friend, moderation, and find that it is the best solution of the question, for if the meals are moderate we may with benefit take three meals a day, but no more, for there is not time enough during the day to digest more than three meals. However, it is not necessary to eat three times a day. CHAPTER VIII. HOW TO EAT. It seems that all of us ought to know how to eat, for we have much practice; yet the individuals who know the true principles of nourishing the body are comparatively few. Very few healers are able to give full and explicit directions on this important subject. Some can give partial instructions, but we need a full working knowledge. In one period of our racial history there were times when it was difficult to obtain food, as it is now among some savage people. Then it was without doubt customary to gorge, as it is among some savages now when they get a plenteous supply of food, especially of flesh food. Even among so-called civilized people, the distribution of food is so uneven that some are in want somewhere, nearly all the time. In parts of Russia, we are informed, the peasants go into a state of semi-hibernation during part of the winter, living on very small quantities of inferior food. With rapid transportation and the extensive use of power-propelled machinery, famine should be unheard of in civilized countries. In our land there is a sufficient quantity of food and people seldom suffer because they have not enough, but considerable suffering is due to excessive intake and to poor quality of food. Weight for weight, white bread is not as valuable as whole wheat bread, though it contains as much starch. Measure for measure, boiled milk is inferior as a food to untreated milk, either fresh or clabbered. Such facts make it necessary for us to know how to eat. The correct principles of taking nourishment to the best advantage have been fairly well known for a long time, and perhaps they have been fully discussed years ago by some author, but so far as I know Dr. E. H. Dewey is the first one who grouped them and gave them the prominence they deserve. He employed many pages in explaining clearly and forcibly these principles, which can be briefly stated as follows: First, Be guided by the appetite in eating. Eat only when there is hunger. Second, During acute illness fast, that is, live on water. Third, Be moderate in eating. Fourth, Masticate your food thoroughly. Dr. J. H. Tilden teaches his patients the same in these words: "Never eat when you feel badly. "Never eat when you have no desire. "Do not overeat. "Thoroughly masticate and insalivate all your food."