Rensselaer Union, Volume 1, Number 32, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 May 1869 — The Principle Which Gives Relish to Food and Drink. [ARTICLE]

The Principle Which Gives Relish to Food and Drink.

Much too little has hitherto been thought by physiologists, and almost nothing has been written on that beautiful provision for our happiness by which everything that is useful as food or drink is most agreeable to the palate, so that the higher our relish for any given article, the more perfectly is it digested, and made to supply the wants of the system; we have, therefore, a natural guide to the right kind of food at the right time, and, on the other hand, have a disrelish for articles which, not bejng suited to our condition, would 'be injurious. But a little reflection will show us that in this adaption of our palates to the peculiar taste or osmazome of every distinct article of food, we have a' faithful sentinel, inviting the admission of friends and protecting us from the approach of enemies. Place before a child who ha« never tasted of sugar, or butter, or superfine fldur, or any other elements of food that have been separated from their natural connections, and whose tastes are therefore unperverted, milk, unbolted bread, meats,fruits, or any other natural food, and he will choose just that article which is best adapted to his condition at the time, and may be trusted to eat as. much as he pleases. » But the taste is perverted with food in which the flavor is excessive, as in butter, sugar, fine flour, etc., and it is no guide, but deceptive; - And here we are liable to err. Our natural gustatory pleasures are not in proportion to the amount of osmazome in our food or drink. Nature’s fl&vora are very delicate, and the very choicest relish is that produced by very slight traces ot osmazome. For example, take nntmeg, a very slight grating of which will flavor a large bowl of porridge. Attempt to increase the relish by increasing the quantity of the spice, and you utterly fail, making your beverage less and less agreeable as you increase the quantity of nutmeg, till it becomeg disgusting, and positively injurious to the digestive process; and this ib true of all other condiments, aud, indeed, all other good things. Delicate flavors are agreeable and useful in prompting digestion; but every article which

ii capable of promotiog health and hapSineie in appropriate qnantitiee, ia cap.le of doing harm in'unnatural qaantitiea. —Dr. BtUtiu. The Nubbery.—Tbe May number of thli splendid little magazine for yonngeat readera contalna over twenty telling pictarea, with reading matter to correapond. The. tfvrury has been Introduced Into tbe primary acboola of Lee, Maaa , and tbe echool committee, In their report for April, 180$, aaj: “We have Been the Internet with which children take np thla magazine. There la nothing atale about it, and each month It may be changed. The reading leeeon than become* a real, live. Intereating exerdeo, to which the claaa looka forward with pleasure.” Published, by Joan L. baoniT, 18 Washington atreet, Boston, Haas, $1 BO per year, with - extra lndncementa to clnba. Specimen copies fnrnlahed gratis. The Book Business.— But few persons have any proper comprehenalon of how vast la the book business In thla country. Take one “ Item,” for Instance, as illustrative: Matthew Bale Smith’s “ Sunshine and Shadow ih Nzw Yobk," which la the exciting work of the times, la selling at the rate of 1,000 copies per day and Is sold exclusively by agents, (tee advertisement in another column.) The publishers (J. B. Bnrr <fc Co., of Hartford, Conn.,) use two tons of paper a day and ran six large roller presses constantly to supply the current demand. This la doing a wholesale business with one book alone. This la a large work too, it must be remembered, between seven and eight hundred pages rove! octavo, and yet It rivals In rapidity of sale “ Uncle Ton’s Cabin ” of old. Think of the countless number of the small books published. Surely ours Is a reading country.

The Riverside Magazine for Youno People.— The number for May contains: The Giant—with a full-page picture-by John La Farge; Chapter V. of White and Red—with Illustration—by Mrs. Helen C. Weeks; Tiny Brook, by M. Angler Alden; The Philosophy of the Hoop, by Jacob Abbott; Chapter VII. of tbe Young Virginians—three illustrations— by Porte Crayon; Annie Gray,; Part 11. of Rambles in the City of tbe Grand ,Tnrk—three Illustrations— by S. G. W. Benjamin; To my Little Love ; One of Twenty Questions—with illustration; Sketches Illustrative of the Wild Life of a Hunter In South Africa, by F. J. Mills—illustrated; To the Doo-dle-bug, by Mra. Mary 11. Nealy; Ned's Account ol how Amber was found on an Island In the Baltic, by X. J. Kuntza; Fairy’s Cradle Song—with Illustration—by Annette Bishop; May Sports in the Olden Time; The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer, by Abby Bage—with illustration; Sunshine Stories—with illustration—by Hans Christian Andersen; The Arabian Nights’ Entertainment; The Merry Month of May—with Illustration; Little Rose—words and music. Hans Andersen will tell a new Btory, written for the Riverside, In the June number. Published by Hurd & Houghton, New York, $2.80 a year. —The case of the ship Mary Lowell, for the seizure of which our Government complains to Spain and Great Britain, is briefly this: The Mary Lowell is an American brig, and was under the protection of the British revenue officials in the Bahamas, when she was seized. The complaint of our Government is that the Spanish authorities violated the rights of the American flag, and that the British revenue authorities, under whose protec tion she was permitted or countenanced tbe outrage.