The practical rule of avoiding serious exertion of mind or body immediately after eating, which is directly deducible from the physiological law above explained, has long been acted upon in our treatment of the lower animals; and no one who sets any value on the lives of his horses or dogs, ever allows it to be disregarded with respect to them. And yet the same man who would unhesitatingly dismiss his groom for feeding his horse immediately after a fatiguing chace or a gallop home, would probably think nothing of walking into the house and ordering dinner to be instantly served for himself in similar circumstances. In the army, the difficulty of managing recruits on a march, in this respect, has often been remarked. Fatigued with the day’s exertions, they are impatient for food, and, when they get it, can scarcely refrain so long from devouring it as to admit of its being even moderately cooked. They consequently labour under the double disadvantage of eating before the system is in a sufficient state of repose to benefit by the supply, and of having the food itself in a condition unfit for easy digestion. The old campaigner, on the other hand, instructed by former experience, restrains his appetite, systematically kindles his fire, cooks his victuals, and makes his arrangements for the night, with a coolness of deliberation which surprises the recruit; and he is amply repaid for his temporary self-denial, by the greater enjoyment and support which he derives from the very same materials which the impatience of the other has caused him in a great measure to waste. Let any one who doubts the advantages resulting from attention to this rule, consider for a moment its universal and scrupulous observance by postmasters and jockies, and think whether these are persons likely to throw away time and trouble on a useless ceremony. When a horse is taken out of harness, an interval of repose is always allowed, that the excitement of the system may have time to subside; and then not only an eager appetite but an active digestion are sure to follow. Many a valuable horse has been killed by being prematurely fed after fatiguing exercise, and man himself is no exception to the rule. He not only enjoys a meal with superior relish, but digests it better, when due repose has removed the fatigue and excitement of exertion. Even after continued activity of _mind_, a period of tranquillity or of gentle bodily exercise is eminently conducive to the healthy action of the stomach, precisely because it favours the new distribution of the circulating blood which that process requires.