I have no intention at present to take up the subject of food in its
relation to weather, but I must be permitted to say that in our country,
as a rule, summer dinners are served on mistaken principles. Why, they
differ but little, if at all, from the same meals as placed before us in
the winter season--soup, fish, and great joints, pastry and cheese.

To the robust I have nothing to say. Let them eat what they choose; in
time they will find out their mistake. But I do seriously advise
delicate girls to live rather abstemiously and on light, easily digested
dishes during the hot weather. Salads (and fruit, if good and ripe) may,
however, be taken with great benefit.

We constantly hear young folks complaining of thirst during very warm
weather. The reason is not so much to be sought in the heat itself as in
the way they live. Overloading the stomach with strong meats in the
summer season not only induces thirst but positively enfeebles the body
and hurts the digestion.

Ice and ices should be avoided as much as possible; at the best their
use is but a very artificial way of cooling the overheated body. A
mixture of ice and stimulants is worse ten times. A cup of good tea is
one of the most wholesome beverages one can take in warm weather. It
exhilarates, it cools, and while it cools the body it calms the mind.

Lime or lemon juice and water make a good drink. It should be sipped.

Ginger beer is somewhat too gassy for a delicate stomach. Raspberry
syrup in water, acidulated to taste with a little citric acid, is very
refreshing, and the same may be said of many other of the fruit syrups.