The Power of Position and Temperature to alleviate the Paroxysms of many Chronic Disorders, has not received the consideration it deserves—a little attention to the variations of the Pulse, will soon point out the effect they produce on the Circulation, &c.—extremes of Heat and Cold, with respect to Food, Drink, and Air, are equally to be guarded against.

Old and Cold Stomachs—The Gouty—and those whose Digestive Faculties are Feeble—should never have any thing Cold37, or Old, put into them—especially in Cold Weather.

Food must take the temperature of our Stomach, (which is probably not less than 120,) before Digestion can commence.

When the Stomach is feeble, Cold Food frequently produces Flatulence—Palpitation of the Heart, &c.—and all the other troublesome accompaniments of Indigestion.—The immediate remedy for these is Hot Brandy and Water, and the horizontal Posture.

Dyspeptic Invalids will find 75 a good temperature for their drink at Dinner, and 120 for Tea, &c.

Persons who are in a state of Debility from Age,—or other causes,—will derive much benefit from laying down, and seeking Repose whenever they feel fatigued, especially during (the first half-hour at least of) the business of Digestion—and will receive almost as much refreshment from half an hour’s Sleep—as from Half a Pint of Wine. The Restorative influence of the recumbent Posture, cannot be conceived—the increased energy it gives to the circulation, and to the organs of Digestion, can only be understood by those Invalids who have experienced the comforts of it.

The Siesta is not only advisable, but indispensable to those whose occupations oblige them to keep late hours.

Actors especially, whose profession is, of all others, the most fatiguing—and requires both the Mind and the Body to be in the most intense exertion between 10 and 12 o’clock at Night,—should avail themselves of the Siesta—which is the true source of Energy—half an hour’s repose in the horizontal posture, is a most beneficial Restorative.

Good Beef Tea38, (No. 563), with a little bit of slightly toasted Bread taken about nine o’clock—is a comforting restorative, which will support You through exertions that, without such assistance, are exhausting—and you go to bed fatigued—get up fevered, &c.

When Performers feel Nervous, &c.—and fear the circulation is below Par,—and too languid to afford the due excitement, half an hour before they sing, &c.—they will do wisely, to wind up their System, with a little “Balsamum VitÆ.”—See “Peptic Precepts.”—Or tune their throats to the pitch of healthy vibration with a small glass of Johnson’s39 “Witte Curacoa,” see (No. 474) and Index, a glass of Wine, or other stimulus.—

To “Wet your Whistle,” is occasionally, as absolutely necessary, as “to rosin the Bow of a Violin.”—See “Observations on Vocal Music,” prefixed to the Opera of Ivanhoe.

Actors and Singers are continually assailed by a variety of circumstances extremely unfavourable to Health—especially from sitting up late at night—to counteract which, we recommend the Siesta, and plenty of Exercise in a pure Air.

When they feel Nervous—Bilious, &c. i. e. that their whole System is so deranged by fatigue and anxiety, that they cannot proceed effectively and comfortably,—they must give their Throats two or three days’ rest—cleanse the Alimentary Canal with Peristaltic Persuaders—see Index—and corroborate the Organs of Digestion with the Tonic Tincture (No. 569), see Index.

Strong Peppermint Lozenges, made by Smith, Fell Street, Wood Street, Cheapside, are very convenient portable Carminatives:—as soon as they are dissolved, their influence is felt from the beginning to the end of the Alimentary Canal—they dissipate Flatulence so immediately, that they well deserve the name of Vegetable Ether; and are recommended to Singers and Public Speakers—as giving effective excitement to the Organs of Voice—as a support against the distressing effects of Fasting too long—and to give energy to the Stomach between Meals.

The Power of the Voice depends upon the vigorous state of the circulation supplying the Organs of Voice, with energy to execute the intentions of the Singer or Speaker—without which—the most accurate Ear and experienced Throat, will sometimes fail in producing the exact quality and quantity of Tone they intend.

That the Voice is sometimes too Flat, or too Sharp, &c. is not a matter of astonishment—to those who really understand how arduous a task Singers have sometimes to perform;—it would only be wonderful if it was not—how is the Throat exempted from those collapses which occasionally render imperfect the action of every other fibre and function of our Body?

The Dyspeptic, who Tries the effect of Recumbency after Eating,—will soon be convinced that Tristram Shandy was right enough, when he said, that “both pain, and pleasure, are best supported in an horizontal posture.”

“If after Dinner the Poppies of repletion shed their influence on thy Eyelids—indulge thou kind Nature’s hint.”—“A quiet slumber in a comfortable warm room, favoureth the operation of Digestion—and thou shalt rise, refreshed, and ready for the amusements of the Evening.”

The Semi-Siesta is a pleasant position—(i. e. putting up the feet on a stool about eight inches high;) but catching a nap in a Chair is advisable only as a substitute when the Horizontal posture is not convenient—when you can, lie down on a Sofa—loosen all ligatures—and give your Bowels fair play.

These opinions,—which are the results of Personal experience—are exactly in unison with those of the following Medical Professors.

“From Eating comes Sleep—from Sleep Digestion.”—Sanctorius, Sec. iv. Aph. 59.

“Perhaps one of the uses of Sleep, and of the horizontal posture during that period—may be to facilitate the introduction of Chyle into the Blood.”—Cruickshank on the Absorbents, p. 95.

“The Brute Creation invariably lay down and enjoy a state of rest, the moment their stomachs are filled. People who are feeble, digest their Dinner best, if they lie down and sleep as most Animals do, when their stomachs are full.”—Darwin’s Zoonomia, vol. iv. p. 137.

“Dr. Harwood, Professor of Anatomy at Cambridge, took two pointers who were equally hungry, and fed them equally well,—one he suffered to follow the promptings of Instinct—curled himself round till he was comfortable—and went to sleep, as animals generally do after eating—the other was kept for about two hours in constant exercise. On his return home—the two Dogs were killed.—In the Stomach of the one who had been quiet and asleep, all the food was digested; in the Stomach of the other, that process was hardly begun.”

“Quiet of Body and Mind for two hours after Dinner, is certainly useful to the Studious, the Delicate, and the Invalid.”—Adair on Diet, p. 44.

“After Dinner, rest for three hours.”—Abernethy’s Surgical Obs. 8vo. 1817, p. 93.

“After Dinner sit a while.”—Eng. Prov.

“If you have a strong propensity to Sleep after Dinner—indulge it, the process of Digestion goes on much better during Sleep, and I have always found an irresistible propensity to it—whenever Dyspeptic symptoms were considerable.”—Waller on Incubus, 1816, p. 109.

“Aged Men—and weake bodies, a short Sleepe after Dinner doth help to nourish.”—Lord Bacon’s Nat. Hist. Cent. I. 57.