Kitap 2
41
But Heraclides of Tarentum asks, Whether sweetmeats ought to be put on the table before supper, as is done in some parts of Asia and Greece; or whether they ought to be brought on after supper is over. If it is decided that they are to be brought on at the end of supper, then it follows, that when a great deal of food has already been put into the stomach and bowels, the nuts which are eaten afterwards as provocatives of drinking, get entangled with the rest of the food, and produce flatulence, and also cause what has been eaten to turn on the stomach, because it is followed by what is by nature unmanageable and indigestible; and it is from such food that indigestions and attacks of diarrhœa arise.
42
Diodes asserts that almonds are nutritious and good for the stomach, and that they have a heating effect because they contain something like millet; but green almonds are less likely to have an injurious effect than dry ones; and almonds soaked in water have such an effect less than those which are not soaked; and when toasted less than when raw. But walnuts, which are also called nuts of Heraclea, and acorns of Jupiter, are not indeed so nutritious as almonds, but still they have something like millet in them, and something apt to rise to the surface; so, if they are eaten in ay quantity they make the head feel heavy; they, however, are less likely to produce injurious effects when green than when dry.
