Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

212 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS his diet consists chiefly of cheese, onions, and bread, together with a modicum of a: few half-pints of beer. Can you find a better specimen of physical- perfection than he? Starch foods, such as rice, sago, :potatoes, and bread, must be chewed or masticated thoroughly. Bread– our principal starch food- must be digested practically in the mouth. The bread, which is chiefly starch, must be converted into sugar by the saliva before . being swallowed and landed into the stomach. If starch substances be swallowed, such as tbe bread in bread and milk, with the ease of flummery, and not converted in the mouth, they have to remain in the stomach like a heavy poultice for a couple of hours- until discharged into another digestive portion of the tract undigested ; and if there be a superabundant mass of starch material thus passed along, an over amount of work is put upon the pancreas to com- plete the work which ought to have been performed by the digestive process of the mouth. With this error of digestion comes flatulence, or "wind," and with this comes a hampering of the heart's action and consequent difficulty in staying power. Flatulence, or " wind," is the most frequent cause of " stitch." The athlete must be careful in the matter of his mid-day meal on the day of competition. He should not indulge in food for at least two hours before he appears upon the track, otherwise he may find that a recently taken lunch may interfere with his chances of success. Coffee, tea, and cocoa are deemed by athletes to be innocent substances, but often these are more in– sidiously pernicious than a healthy glass of British