milk-and-water or pure soft water for drink, and be allowed to indulge pretty freely in the use of good fruits in their seasons, none of the evils which result from concentrated forms of aliment, or which are attributed to vegetable diet, will be experienced; but the child, if in other respects properly treated, will be healthy and robust and sprightly. (See case at 372). 223. "Bulk", says Dr. Beaumont, "is nearly as necessary to the articles of diet, as the nutrient principle. They should be so managed, that one will be in proportion to the other. Too highly nutritive diet, is probably as fatal to the prolongation of life and health, as that which contains an insufficient quantity of nourishment. It is a matter of common remark among old whale-men, that, during their long voyages, the coarser their bread the better their health. "I have followed the seas for 66 35 years", said an intelligent sea captain to Mr. Graham, and have been in almost every part of the globe; and have always found that the coarsest pilot-bread, which contained a considerable proportion of bran, is decidedly the healthiest for my men." "I am convinced, from my own experience", says another captain, "that bread made of the unbolted wheat-meal, is far more wholesome than that made from the best superfine flour;-the latter always tending to produce constipation. Captain Benjamin Dexter, in the ship Isis, belonging to Providence, R. J., arrived from China in December 1804. He had been about 190 days on the passage. The sea-bread, which constituted the principal article of food for his men, was made of the best of superfine flour.-He had not been long at sea, before his men began to complain of languor, loss of appetite, and debility: these difficulties continued to increase during the whole voyage; and several of the hands died, on the passage, of debility and inanition. The ship was obliged to come to anchor about 30 miles miles below Providence; and such was the debility of the men on board, that they were not able to get the ship under way again; and the owners were under the necessity of sending men down from Providence, to work her up. When she arrived, the owners asked Captain Dexter what was the cause of the sickness of his men. He replied "The bread was too good." 224. These instances confirm the excellent observations of Dr. Prout, who says—“ Of the numerous shapes assumed by lignin, the best adapted for excremental purposes is undoubtedly the external covering of the seeds of the cerealia, and particularly of wheat. Bread, therefore, made with undressed flour, or even with an extra quantity of bran, is the best form in which farinaceous and excremental matters can be usually taken; not only in diabetes, but in most of others varieties of dyspepsia accompanied by obstinate constipation. This is a remedy, the efficacy of which has been long known and admitted ; yet, strange to say, the generality of mankind choose to consult their taste rather than their reason; and, by officiously separating what nature has beneficially combined, entail upon themselves much discomfort and misery." * The mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines is, * NATURE AND TREATMENT OF STOMACH AND RENAL DISEASES. P. 45. in some persons so irritable, that it cannot bear furfuraceous substances; and in such cases the green matter of the leaves of plants, and the skin of fruit, may form a proper substitute. 225. "Debility, sluggishness, constipation, obstructions, and morbid irritability of the alimentary canal, have been among the principal roots of both chronic and acute disease in civic life in all parts of the world, and in all periods of time; and concentrated forms of food, compound preparations, irritating stimuli, and excess in quantity, have been among the principal causes of these difficulties." CHAPTER II. EXPERIENCE OF NATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS. 226. It will perhaps be objected, that these are new doctrines; which, if true, would have been long since discovered to be so. Yet were this the first time of proclaiming the truth, the cry of novelty ought not to negative the evidence adduced in its support. No pretensions, however, are made to originality; for wise and good men, in all ages, have strenuously advocated the claims of a vegetable diet, and have strictly refrained from animal food. Such being the case, it may be asked, why these claims have not been more generally acknowledged, and the diet more extensively adopted. Various reasons might be assigned for this. Few think it necessary either to investigate the subject, or to attend to it when introduced to their notice; and many have neither time nor opportunity for giving it a proper consideration. It is long, therefore, ere a scientific truth can extend its influence over the mass of mankind;-particularly if of a practical nature, and opposed to long established habits, rendered almost sacred and invulnerable by the pleasing associations of past enjoyment, and the almost incessant gratifications of the palate. Our daily meals, our social visits, our family ties, and our friendly intercourse with each other, all tend to strengthen and confirm our dietetic habits,-whether right or wrong; so that we cannot so much as listen to one who would introduce any material change, especially when it seems to threaten a diminution of our pleasures. No wonder, then, that the discoveries of science-with regard to health, happiness, and morals-make so slow a progress; nay, even when the judgment of a generally accounted wise and rational man is convinced of an error in a dietetic habit, how seldom does it lead to reformation! "There is a difference", observes Chalmers, "between such truths as are merely of a speculative nature, and such as are allied with practice and moral feeling. With the former, all repetition may be often superfluous; with the latter, it may just be by earnest repetition that their in fluence comes to be thoroughly established over the mind of an inquirer." I have already quoted the opinions of some of our best anatomists and philosophers, in support of the views advocated in this work; and shall now mention a few more, who have preceded me in the same cause. 227. Pythagoras, one of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity, is the first we read of as defending a vegetable diet. He not only totally refrained from animal food himself, but also strictly prohibited the use of it by his disciples; so that those who abstain from it, at the present time, are frequently called Pythagoreans. Pythagoras flourished about 500 years before the Christian era. He was a man of immense learning, and extraor |