Diet

(di'et.) [Gr. dia ita, maintenance.] (Hygiene.) Food regulated by the rules of medicine. The best way to preserve health is to live upon plain simple food lightly seasoned, and in a quantity agreeable to the age, strength of the stomach, sex, and constitution. Generally, indeed, hunger shows the best time for eating, as thirst does for drinking; but if either be indulged in to exce , our health and spirits will both suffer. In summer, when the fluid parts quickly evaporate, the diet should be moist, cooling, and easy of digestion, to repair the lo with the greater speed: but in winter, the stomach will admit of more solid and heating aliments. The golden rule, however, seems to be, to use moderation both in eating and drinking; and it is indisputable that early habits of self-command, in the regulation of the appetite, are of paramount importance to all who would enjoy good health, and attain a vigorous old age. -(Hist.) Ger. diüt, from L. dics, a day.] The name given under the old German empire to the convention or a embly of the legislative bodies of the realm. It consisted of 3 chambers:- that of the electors; that of the sovereign princes,both temporal and spiritual; and that of the representatives of the imperial free cities. A decree of theD. was termed a rece of the empire. Under the Austrian monarchy, the Hungarian D. consists of the sovereign, and the body of estates; the latter consisting of the hierarchy, the magnates, the two appellant courts, and the representatives of the municipalities; divided into 2 chambers, styled tabulæ.-In Switzerland, the D. is the federal congre or parliament, and is independent of cantonal jurisdiction. It consists of the delegates from the cantons, and is held bi-annually at Zurich, Berne, and Lucerne alternately, which cantons are termed the Vorort, or presidiary cantons; the governor of the canton in which the D. meets is, ex-officio, the landammann, or chief magistrate of the republic. Each canton sends one representative to the D. Similar legislative a emblies were formerly held in Poland under the legitimate monarchy, and elected by special conventions of the Polish nobility called dietines. [s. 286] IMG:p0315_0.jpg:Gravür