AS the enjoyment of 'a sound mind in a sound body' is one of the greatest of terrestrial blessings, it is incumbent on ev­ery rational inquirer, to devote some portion of his time and industry to the research of such useful and practical objects, as may con­tribute to improve and insure so desirable a state.

As long as the various functions of the hu­man body, the voluntary as well as the invol­untary motions, are performed with ease, and suffer no interruption, we usually pronounce the body to be in a state of health; in the contrary case we call it diseased. I shall ad­vance a step further, and assert, that when we do not feel ourselves encumbered with the [Page 70] weight of our own frame, and when we are not disposed to reflect, with uneasiness and so­licitude, upon its physical condition, then we have a right to consider our health as being in a perfect state.

Although we are liable to suffer from the attacks of disease, in a variety of shapes, yet we have abundant reason to contemplate with satisfaction the chequered condition of human life: for, even in the present imperfect state of things, we find comforts more than suffi­cient to counterbalance our sorrows. Con­sidering the innumerable accidents, to which we are daily and hourly exposed, it is a mat­ter of just surprise, that frail, imbecile man should remain in health during the greater part of his life; and still more so, that, upon an average, the number of healthy individu­als should be found far to exceed those in a contrary state. If we further advert to the want of thought and circumspection, which marks the conduct of man in general, in the treatment of his body, our astonishment will necessarily increase, that he so often escapes the dangers prepared by his own hands. But pa­rental Nature frequently repairs the injury, though we are not conscious of her salutary efforts. She powerfully co-operates, when art is called in aid, to restore that harmony and order in the system, which had been im­prudently or inadvertently disturbed. To her healing powers we are principally indebt­ed, if the sufferings resulting from ignorance or obstinacy are less severe, than the extent of the mischief seemed to portend.

[Page 71] It cannot be expected, that persons unac­quainted with the economy of the human frame should be able to discriminate between internal and external causes, and their effects. Where a competent share of this knowledge is wanting, it will be impossible to ascertain, or to counteract, the different causes by which our health is affected; and should a fortunate individual ever fix upon a suitable remedy, he will be indebted to chance alone for the discovery.

This has been the case in all ages, and alas! it is still deplorably the case. Remedies have from time to time been devised, not merely to serve as Nostrums for all diseases, but also for the pretended purpose of prolonging human life. Those of the latter kind have been ap­plied with a view to resist or check many op­erations of nature, which insensibly consume the vital heat, and other powers of life, such as respiration, muscular irritability, &c. Thus, from the implicit credulity of some, and the exuberant imagination of others, observations and experiments, however discordant with sound reason and philosophy, were multiplied, with the avowed design of establishing proofs or refutations of this or that absurd opinion. In this manner have fanaticism and imposture falsified the plainest truths, or forged the most unfounded and ridiculous claims; so that one glaring inconsistency was employed to combat another, and folly succeeded folly, till a fund of materials has been transmitted to posterity, sufficient to form a concise history of this subject.

[Page 72] Men, in all ages, have set a just value on long life; and in proportion to the means of enjoying the same, this value has been felt in a greater or less degree. If the gratification of the sensual appetite formed the principal object of living, the prolongation of it would be, to the epicure, as desirable, as the prospect of a life to be enjoyed beyond the limits of the grave, is to the moralist and the believer.

In the Old Testament, the promise of a long life was held up as one of the most im­portant sources of consolation: and, conform­ably to the principles of Christianity, a patient continuance in well-doing, or, in other words, a long life rich in good works, can best insure the hope of a more happy state in a future world. Hence the wish of a speedy termina­tion of our existence here, is one of those ec­centricities, into which only persons deprived of reason are liable to be drawn, either from extreme anxiety, or the want of mental forti­tude. The desire of longevity seems to be inherent in all animal life, and particularly in human nature: it is intimately cherished by us, throughout the whole of our existence, and is frequently supported and strengthened, not only by justifiable means, but also by va­rious species of collusion.

The possibility of prolonging human life was never doubted by the Orientals, even in the earliest ages. One of the most ancient methods on record, is that of placing the aged and decrepit in the vicinity of an atmosphere, replete with the exhalations of blooming youth. It is not improbable, that a certain [Page 73] custom then prevailing in the East, by alluring the fancy with beautiful images, and by im­posing upon the understanding through poet­ical fictions, first induced man to entertain this singular notion. The bloom of a juve­nile age, and particularly the healthful virgin, was compared, by the Orientals, with roses, lilies, and other elegant flowers; she was in­troduced in allegorical description, to repre­sent odoriferous spices, balms, and oils, and was made the subject of pastoral and other poems. How easy, then, the transition from fancy to belief, that the exhalations of vigor­ous and healthy persons must be highly con­ducive to the support of exhausted age; that they were capable, like the fragrant balms of the East, of softening the rigidity of the fibres, of exciting the vital spirits, and, in short, of supplying the aged with a fresh stock of health. The history of KING DAVID furnishes us with a striking illustration of this renovat­ing process.

In the writings of the ancient physicians, we meet with various accounts, from which we learn, that this method has ever been a favourite resource of invalids, worn out with age. Modern physicians also mention the practice, and the celebrated BOERHAAVE in­forms us, that he advised an old and decrepit burgomaster at Amsterdam to sleep between two young persons; and that his patient, who before was sinking under the weight of infirmities, obviously recovered strength and cheerfulness of mind.

The great age of some schoolmasters has [Page 74] likewise been ascribed to the benefit they de­rive from breathing, almost constantly, among young and healthy children. It has been far­ther observed, that young persons, if they sleep in company with the aged, become lean and enfeebled.—Upon more accurate inqui­ries, however, it is pretty evident, that most of the benefits (perhaps all of them) which the aged derive from this expedient, may be placed to the account of the imagination, and its surprising effects on the body. It is this power which, in my opinion, renews the lan­guishing flame of the aged, and which may preserve them for some time longer in that renovated state, provided it be supported by a proper attention to diet and other circum­stances.—We frequently see a debilitated and peevish old man assume a complacent smiling aspect, when a sprightly maiden addresses him in the language of courteous pleasantry. The most charming images recur to his stimulated imagination; and the powers of life are, as it were, again roused, and directed to one object. That such means of reanimating old age, may have a favourable effect on health, cannot be disputed.

To imagine, however, that the vigour of health and the bloom of youth can be trans­fused by insensible perspiration, or exhala­tion, into the body of the aged, is to labour under a very palpable mistake. I shall prove, in the next Chapter "On Air and Weather," that every living being necessarily corrupts the air more or less by its respiration; and that the atmosphere, thus impregnated, be­comes [Page 75] unfit for other beings to breathe in; because every expiration contains certain par­ticles, which are separated by the lungs, as be­ing useless and noxious to the body. How then is it conceivable, that matters or sub­stances should be hurtful to one body, if re­tained in it, and useful to another, if commu­nicated to it? Or was it supposed, that the watery parts of insensible exhalation from the young body, could moisten and refresh the parched fibres of the aged? To accomplish this purpose, we are possessed of remedies much purer and more effectual. Natural warmth or heat is the only means competent to produce such a salutary effect; as that alone is capable of exciting the slumbering energy of life. And in this respect, I appre­hend, we ought to do justice to the above-de­scribed method practised by the ancients.

When young persons live or sleep with old people, and are observed to grow thin and infirm, (which however is not always the case) that proceeds from another circum­stance, namely, that the former absorb or in­hale the noxious particles of the latter; but from this it by no means follows, that the aged body attracts the vital principle from the younger. Although free caloric, or mat­ter of heat, may probably pass over from the young body into that of the aged; yet this transfusion, under certain circumstances, would be rather to the advantage than disad­vantage of the former; inasmuch as this de­privation of superfluous caloric is not unfre­quently found to be serviceable and whole­some.

[Page 76] From the preceding remarks we may con­ceive, that a school-room filled with the va­rious exhalations of children, cannot conduce to the prolongation of life; and, consequent­ly, that the great age of certain schoolmasters must be ascribed to some other cause. An accurate account of the mortality prevailing among that class of men would satisfactorily demonstrate, that the age of schoolmasters is in a just proportion to that of other classes of society.

I shall now consider several other plans, that have been adopted for the prolongation of human life.

The Egyptians, who lived in a country rendered unwholesome by intense heat and frequent inundations, could not long remain ignorant of the comparative longevity of their northern neighbours, the Greeks. Af­ter many fruitless attempts to discover the true cause of their short life, and to provide the means of removing that cause, they at length became fanatical enough to imagine themselves possessed of the grand secret for prolonging life—in the constant use of sudo­rifics and emetics. The air of Egypt, being impregnated with aqueous and putrid parti­cles, not only checked the process of perspira­tion, but also generated various epidemic dis­tempers. In such cases, sudorific medicines were necessary and proper; and even emet­ics, by exciting a forcible commotion through the whole system, not unfrequently restored the activity of the cutaneous vessels, and thus produced a favourable effect in those mala­dies. [Page 77] Farther, the heat of the climate in­spissated their fluids; this circumstance, con­nected with their usual mode of life, and their crude articles of food, necessarily brought on an excess of bile, which overflowing the stom­ach upon the least occasion, could not fail, sooner or later, to occasion very obstinate dis­eases. The emetics, therefore, being emi­nently qualified to evacuate the bile, would of course obtain general reputation among the Egyptians. These and the sudorifics were for a long time considered as specific remedies; from their tendency to expel the matter so dangerous to life; and because in those ages diseases were considered the only enemies to longevity: the Egyptian physi­cians and philosophers not being able to dis­tinguish between effects and their causes, the latter of which existed in the pestilential va­pours of a hot climate.

Thus it became a custom to take at least two emetics every month; to inquire of ac­quaintances and friends, how those medicines had operated, and to wish each other joy up­on these occasions. I need not observe, that this singular method of prolonging life is not to be recommended as worthy of imitation; that the periodical custom of taking medici­nal remedies renders their frequent repeti­tion necessary, while it destroys their occa­sional efficacy; and that it therefore chiefly belongs to the department of the physician to determine, when, and in what degree, such medicines are to be administered.

The Greeks lived in a more romantic and [Page 78] picturesque country; their conceptions with regard to the structure and functions of the human frame were more correct and con­formable to nature. Their philosophers and physicians were more enlightened and less prejudiced than those of Egypt; they were not, like the latter, under the capricious in­fluence of a wild imagination, too frequently disordered by the effects of BLACK BILE. Na­ture, displayed in all her charms, in the sub­lime and beautiful scenery of their country, every where invited them to the enjoyment of free and pure air; the effects of this on their susceptible nerves, combined with an excellent system of bodily exercise, proved the best specific for counteracting the effects of time, and thus prolonging their active, healthful lives. For this great and beneficial purpose, particular methods and rules were contrived, in order to give the body the most varied and effectual, yet gentle motions;—these athletic exercises were judiciously adapt­ed to the different constitutions, situations, and ages of life, so that the sagacious Greeks arrived at an extraordinary degree of perfec­tion in the gymnastic art.

The great advantage of such a course of bodily exercise cannot be disputed, when we consider how many individuals in all coun­tries die prematurely from want of activity, motion, and nervous energy; though their organization may be in no respect faulty. Besides, a body inured to frequent and labo­rious exercise, will not be easily affected by external causes of disease; being secured, as [Page 79] it were, by a coat of mail, against the attacks of many acute disorders.

The Greeks carried, to a still greater de­gree, the system of gymnastic motions. By the same method they attempted to cure dis­eases in their first stages, not excepting such as were already formed, and to put a stop to their further progress. They caused the pa­tient to move in various positions; they ap­plied gentle friction to the whole surface of the body; and used different methods to overcome the languor of the muscles, by ex­citing and stimulating the muscular energy.

In relaxed, weakly individuals, whose or­ganization is deficient in the proper degree of tension or elasticity, this method must be allowed to possess great advantages; but I do not conceive it necessary to prove here, that it cannot be consistently applied to all diseases. It is not to be supposed, that the weary traveller can be either strengthened or refreshed by additional exercise.

The modern methods of bracing the hu­man body, such as frequent bathing in cold water, exposing the body to all the vicissi­tudes of climate and weather, the various modes of supporting bodily fatigue, as trav­elling on horseback and on foot, &c. which are so indiscriminately recommended to our aspiring youth, cannot in every instance for­tify and render the human frame indestruc­tible:—on the contrary, all such violent efforts have a tendency to bring on the symptoms of age, at a much earlier period than it ought to appear; as the joints and muscles are there­by [Page 80] rendered liable to contract an uncommon degree of stiffness and rigidity.—To load ten­der youth with burthens disproportionate to their age, and to impose upon them the task of men, can never be the most proper means of hardening and preparing them for a long and active life.

A distinction, however, should be made here, between bracing the fibres, of which all solid parts of the body consist, and bracing the sense of touch or feeling. The animal fi­bres may be solid, but should not be so rigid as to become insensible; a certain degree of irritability is necessary to the proper exercise of their contracting and relaxing power. If, further, there should exist in the body a dis­position towards rigidity and insensibility, any artificial modes of bracing it will be of dangerous tendency. If, on the contrary, the fibres should be too irritable, the Grecian method may, in that case, be resorted to with safety and advantage. A striking instance of this occurs in the history of Captain Cook. On his arrival in the Friendly Islands, he was seized with an acute rheumatism, attended with excruciating pains. He was soon reliev­ed from this torturing situation, by the easy and instinctive process of gentle friction, which the Islanders generally followed on such occasions. Thus a few untutored per­sons completely effected what could not have been sooner, nor more easily accomplished by the systematic art of the learned.

From these considerations we may safely infer, 1. That the cold bath, gymnastic exer­cises, [Page 81] bodily fatigue of any kind, and all ex­pedients to brace and invigorate the consti­tutions, ought only to be adopted under cer­tain limitations, viz. with a proper regard to particular cases and circumstances: and, 2. That these severe remedies cannot and ought not to be universally nor indiscriminately recommended, as methods of prolonging life.

Let us not, however, disparage the merits of that ingenious race of men, whom we only know from their inimitable works. For, al­though the method of the Greeks cannot be safely introduced among us, without many and great exceptions, we must do them the justice to allow, that in their operations of hardening the human body, they proceeded in a more cautious, gradual, and judicious manner, than the moderns seem willing to submit to. Sudden changes of any kind pro­duce a sort of revolution in the body, and this is necessarily attended with a waste of strength, proportionate to the violence of the shock.

Plutarch possessed clear and rational ideas on the subject of preserving and prolonging human life; the truth of which he confirm­ed by his own experience, during a series of many happy years. He advises to keep the head cool and the feet warm, not immediate­ly to take medicines on every slight indispo­sition, but rather to let Nature relieve herself by fasting a day, and, in attending to the mind, never to forget the body. Much learning is compressed in these golden pre­cepts, which will be valuable as long as hu­man [Page 82] nature remains the same. The atten­tion bestowed upon the mind, however lau­dable, should not authorise us to neglect the care of the body; the intimate connexion subsisting between both requires a due pro­portion of care and attention to be paid to each. In the same degree, as a diseased body sympathetically torments the mind, so does an infirm mind agitate and harass the body; and such tortures and reciprocal affections are unavoidably attended with the consumption of animal life.—What Plutarch enjoins, with respect to keeping the head cool and the feet warm, is agreeable to reason and experience; we should not, however, imagine, that the grand secret of prolonging life consists in the sole observance of these maxims. The head and feet are not the only points, in which life is concentrated; they may indeed have a beneficial or pernicious influence on the whole body, and in this respect they demand a shore of our attention; but no other part ought on that account to escape our notice.

I now enter upon a very unpleasant task, namely, that of reviewing a period of dark­ness, during the barbarity of the middle ages, when the progress of true knowledge was obstructed by the most absurd fancies and childish conceits; when conjectures, caprices and dreams supplied the place of the most useful sciences, of the most important truths. Chemistry, so essentially requisite to explain the phenomena of known and unknown sub­stances, fell into the hands of jugglers and fa­natics;—their systems, replete with philo­sophic [Page 83] nonsense, and composed of the most crude, heterogeneous materials, served rather to nourish superstition than to establish facts and illustrate useful truths. Universal rem­edies, in various forms, met with strenuous advocates and deluded consumers. The path of accurate observation and experiment was forsaken; far from penetrating into the mys­terious recesses of Nature, they bewildered themselves in the labyrinth of fanciful specu­lation; they overstepped the bounds of good sense, modesty, and truth, and the blind led the blind.

The prolongation of life, too, was no longer sought for in a manner agreeable to the dic­tates of Nature; even this interesting branch of human pursuits was rendered subservient to Chemistry, or rather to the confused sys­tem of Alchemy. Original matter was looked upon to be the elementary cause of all beings; by this they expected literally to work mira­cles, to transmute the base into noble metals, to metamorphose man in his animal state by chemical process, to render him more dura­ble, and to secure him against early decline and dissolution. Millions of vessels, retorts, and phials were either exposed to the action of the most violent artificial heat, or to the natural warmth of the sun; or else they were buried in some dunghill, or other fetid mass, for the purpose of apprehending this original matter, or obtaining it from putrescible sub­stances.

As the substance called Gold always bore the highest value among metals, these mon­grel [Page 84] philosophers concluded, from a ridicu­lous analogy, that its value, with respect to the preservation of health, and the cure of diseases, must likewise surpass that of all oth­er remedies. The nugatory art of dissolv­ing it, so as to render it potable, and to pre­vent it from being again converted into met­al, employed a multitude of busy idiots, not only in concealed corners, but in the splendid laboratories of the palaces of the great. Sov­ereigns, magistrates, counsellors, and impos­tors, were struck with the common frenzy, entered into friendship and alliance, formed private fraternities, and sometimes proceeded to such a pitch of extravagance, as to involve themselves and their posterity in ruinous debts. The real object of many was, doubt­less, to gratify their avarice and desire of ag­grandisement, although this sinister motive was concealed under the specious pretext of search­ing for a remedy, that should serve as a tinc­ture of life, both for the healthy and diseased; yet some among these whimsical mortals were actuated by more honourable motives, zealous only for the interests of truth, and the well­being of their fellow-creatures. The com­mon people in some countries, particularly Italy, Germany, and France, often denied themselves the necessaries of life, to save as much as would purchase a few drops of the tincture of gold, which was offered for sale by some superstitious or fraudulent chemist: and so thoroughly persuaded were they of the efficacy of this remedy, that it afforded them in every instance the most confident and [Page 85] only hope of recovery. These beneficial ef­fects were positively promised, but were look­ed for in vain. All-subduing Death would not submit to be bribed with gold, and Dis­ease refused to hold any intercourse with that powerful deity, who presides over the trade and commerce of nations.

As, however, these diversified and almost numberless experiments were frequently pro­ductive of useful inventions in the arts and manufactures; and as many chemical reme­dies of real value were thereby accidentally discovered, the great and general attention to those bold projectors, was constantly kept alive and excited. Indeed, we are indebted to their curious operations, or rather perhaps to chance, for several valuable medicines, the excellence of which cannot be disputed, but which, nevertheless, require more precaution in their use and application, and more perspi­cacity and diligence in investigating their na­ture and properties, than the original prepar­ers of such articles were able or willing to af­ford.

All their endeavours to prolong life, by artificial means, could not be attended with beneficial effects; and the application of the remedies thus contrived, must necessarily, in many cases, prove detrimental to the health of the patient. In proof of this assertion, it will be sufficient to give a slight sketch of the different views and opinions of the Goldma­kers, Rosencrucians, manufacturers of Astra­lian Salts, of the Drops of Life, and Tinctures of Gold, hunters after the Philosopher's Stone, [Page 86] &c. &c. Some of these enthusiasts fancied life to resemble a flame, from which the body derived warmth, spirit, and animation. This flame they endeavoured to cherish and to in­crease by their remedies, supplying the body with materials to feed the same, as we pour oil into a burning lamp.

Others imagined they had discovered some­thing invisible and incorporeal in the air, that important medium in supporting the life of man. They pretended to catch, to refine, and so to reduce and materialize this undefin­able something, that it might be swallowed in the form of powders or drops; that by its penetrating powers it might insinuate itself into the whole animal frame, invigorating and qualifying it for a longer and healthier duration than usual.

Others again were foolish enough to cher­ish a notion, that they could divest themselves of the properties of matter during this life; that in this manner they might be defended against the gradual approaches of dissolution, to which every animal body is subject; and that thus fortified, without quitting their ter­restrial tabernacle, they could associate at pleasure with the inhabitants of the spiritual world.

The Sacred Volume itself was interpreted and commented upon by the Operators and Alchemists, with a view to render it subser­vient to their interested designs. Indisputable historical facts, recorded in this invaluable book, were treated by them as hieroglyphical symbols, which contained chemical processes: [Page 87] and the fundamental truths of the Christian religion were applied, in a wanton and blas­phemous manner, to the purposes of making Gold, and distilling the Elixir of Life.

The productions of Alchemy, far from an­swering the purpose of prolonging life, have rather a contrary tendency. All the remedies which it affords, are of a heating and stimu­lating nature. The person who takes them will feel himself more cheerful for some time, and on that account he may fancy himself more vigorous and juvenile; as they certain­ly give an additional impulse to the sensations of life, like wine, spirits, and all other stim­ulants. But this increase of the sensation of life should by no means be confounded with an increase of the power of life. It may be even safely affirmed, that by the increase of vital sensations, the career of life itself is ac­celerated, and the consumption of it sooner exhausted; consequently the duration of the body is necessarily shortened.

I should not omit to mention, that these remedies strongly increase the sensitive power of man, they predispose him to sensual pur­suits, stimulate him to commit excesses of every kind, incite him to take continual or excessive exercise, as dancing, and the like, and thus by inevitable consequence hasten the waste and dissolution of the body. That, for instance, which, according to the natural course, ought to be expended or consumed in three days, is dissipated perhaps in as many jovial hours. This premature loss is attend­ed with relaxation, irksomeness, and even [Page 88] aversion to life, till a new dose of stimulants reproduces the former false vivacity. It fares with the patient here, as it does with the hard drinker, who trembles in the morning that follows his nightly debauch, feels his whole frame relaxed, inactive and torpid, and is in a manner obliged to take a fresh dram of his favourite liquor, before he can enter on any serious business, with pleasure or effect.

These famous essences, balms, tinctures of life, &c. are farther dangerous, as they con­tract the small vessels, so necessary to the preservation of life, as well as to the repara­tion of the losses sustained, and thus render them unfit to perform their offices. Hence arise rigidity or stiffness, and exsiccation; the body shrivels, and the symptoms of old age appear at an earlier period than they would otherwise have done. Man is seldom un­provided with the supplies of vitality;—every draught of air we inhale, and every particle of food we swallow, is a fresh accession to the stock of life. But as soon as the susceptibility or power of receiving those supplies becomes languid, we then may be considered as unfit to perform the functions of life; and all the medicaments of nature and art will be found insufficient to relieve us. He who searches for the supplies of life in alchemical produc­tions, elixirs, balsamic essences, &c. will soon­er or later, but always prematurely, experi­ence the want of susceptibility. Even that impudent boaster and celebrated insurer of lives, THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS, although he pretended to have in his possession the [Page 89] stone of immortality, died—in his fiftieth year! His vegetable sulphur was a heating and stimulating remedy, partly similar to the Anodyne Liquor of Hoffmann.

The world of spirits also was invaded, and summoned, as it were, to contribute to the prolongation of human life. Spirits were supposed to have the rule of air, fire, earth, and water; they were divided into particu­lar classes, and particular services ascribed to each. The malevolent spirits were opposed and counteracted by various means of pre­vention: the good and tutelary were oblig­ed to submit to a sort of gentle, involuntary servitude. From invisible beings were ex­pected and demanded visible means of assist­ance—riches—health—friends—and long life. Thus the poor spirits were profanely mal­treated, nay they were sometimes punished, and even miserably flogged in effigy, when they betrayed symptoms of disaffection, or want of implicit loyalty.

As men had thus, in their weakness and folly, forsaken the bounds of this terrestrial sphere, it will easily be believed, that with the help of an exuberant imagination, they would make a transition to the higher re­gions—to the celestial bodies and the stars, to which indeed they ascribed no less a power than that of deciding the destinies of men, and which, consequently, must have had a considerable share in shortening or prolonging the duration of human life. Every nation or kingdom was subjected to the dominion of its particular planet, the time of whose [Page 90] government was determined; and a number of ascendant powers were fictitiously con­trived, with a view to reduce under its in­fluence every thing which was produced and born during its administration.

The professors of astrology appeared as the confidants of these invisible rulers, and the interpreters of their will; they very well un­derstood the art of giving a respectable ap­pearance to this usurped dignity. Provided they could but ascertain the hour and minute of a person's birth, they confidently took up­on themselves to predict his mental capacities, future vicissitudes of life, diseases, together with the circumstances, the day, and the hour of his death. Not only the common people, or the less informed classes of society, but the most respectable men for learning and abilities, nay even those of the highest rank and station, did homage to those "gods of their idolatry," and lived in continual dread of their occult powers. With anxious coun­tenances and attentive ears, they listened to the effusions of those self-appointed oracles, which prognosticated the bright or gloomy days of futurity. Even physicians were so­licitous to qualify themselves for an appoint­ment no less lucrative than respectable:—they forgot, over the dazzling hoards of Mam­mon, that they were peculiarly and professedly the pupils of Nature. The curious student in the Universities found every where public Lecturers, who undertook to instruct him in the profound arts of divination, chiromancy, and the famous cabala.

[Page 91] Not to mention other instances, I shall cite that of the noted Thurneisen, in the last century, who was invested at Berlin with the respective offices of Printer to the Court, Bookseller, Al­manack-maker, Astrologer, Chemist, and First Physician. Messengers daily arrived from the most respectable houses in Germany, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, and even from England, for the purpose of consulting him respecting the future fortunes of new-born infants, ac­quainting him with the hour of their nativity, and soliciting his advice and directions as to their management. Many volumes of this singular correspondence are still preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin. The business of this fortunate adept increased so rapidly, that he found it necessary to employ a num­ber of subaltern assistants, who, together with their master, realized considerable fortunes. He died in high reputation and favour with his superstitious cotemporaries; and Thur­neisen's Astrological Almanack is yet publish­ed in some of the less enlightened provinces of Germany. But it may be asked, how it hap­pens, that an art which determines the fate of mortals, and ascertains the impassable lim­its of human life, can at the same time serve as the means of prolonging it? This I shall now proceed to account for. The teachers of divination maintained, that not only men, but all natural bodies, plants, animals, nay whole countries, including every individual place and family, were under the government of some particular planet. As soon as the masters of the OCCULT SCIENCE had discov­ered, [Page 92] by their tables, under what constellation the misfortune or distemper of any person originated, nothing further was required, than that he should remove to a dwelling ruled by an opposite planet, and confine him­self exclusively to such articles of food and drink, as were under the influence of a dif­ferent star. In this artificial manner; they contrived to form a system, or peculiar clas­sification of plants, namely, lunar, solar, mer­curial, and the like—and hence arose a con­fused mass of dietetic rules, which, when con­sidered with reference to the purposes of health, cleanliness, exercise, &c. form a re­markable contrast to those of the Greeks.

Neither was this preventive and repelling method confined merely to persons suffering under some bodily disorder. In the case of individuals who enjoyed a good state of health, if an unlucky constellation happened to forebode a severe disease, or any other misfortune, they were directed to choose a place of residence influenced by a more friend­ly star; or to make use of such aliment only as, being under the auspices of a propitious star, might counteract the malignant influ­ence of its adversary.

It was also pretty generally believed and maintained, that a sort of intimate relation or sympathy subsisted between metals and plants; hence the names of the latter were given to the former, in order to denote this supposed connexion and affinity. The corresponding metals were melted into a common mass, un­der a certain planet, and were formed into [Page 93] small medals or coins, in hopes, and with the firm persuasion, that he who carried such a piece about his person, might confidently ex­pect the whole favour and protection of the planet thus represented.

The transition from one degree of folly to another is easy; and this may help us to ac­count for the shocking delusions practised in the manufacturing and wearing of metallic amulets of a peculiar mould, to which were attributed, by a sort of magic influence, the power and protection of the planet, to whom they related: these charms were thought to possess virtue sufficient to overrule the bad effects presaged by an unlucky hour of birth, to promote to places of honour and profit, and to be of potent efficacy in matters of commerce and matrimony. The German soldiers, in the dark and superstitious ages, believed, that if the figure of Mars, cast and en­graved in the sign of the Scorpion, were worn about the neck as an amulet, it would render them invulnerable, and insure success to their military enterprizes: hence amulets were found upon every soldier, either killed in bat­tle or taken prisoner.

But let us quit a subject which excites dis­gust, as it exhibits such glaring deviations from reason and truth. It is much more pleasant to dwell upon examples, which af­ford satisfactory proof, that the human mind has never been entirely and universally debased, and that there have always existed some in­dividuals, though few in number, who would not submit their necks to the yoke of popu­lar [Page 94] prejudice, and whose superior talents and virtues rescued them from the impositions of general folly or depravity. A memorable in­stance of this rare merit is to be found in the noble Venetian LEWIS CORNARO, whose his­tory illustrates this agreeable and instructive truth, that nature, left to herself, or, in other words, a property chosen mode of life and di­et, regularly persisted in, will achieve great things; and that a frame, disordered and even reduced to a state bordering on the grave, may yet be re-established, and preserve its health and vigour for a great number of years.

Cornaro had been a professed epicure and libertine, till he entered into the fortieth year of his age. His constitution was so far reduced by the colic, rheumatic pains, fevers, &c. that his physicians at length gave him up, assuring him he could not survive much longer than two months; that no medicines whatever could avert this catastrophe, and that the only possible means of preserving his life would be a regular adherence to a frugal diet. He punctually followed this advice, perceived symptoms of convalescence within a few days after entering on his plan of ref­ormation, and, after the lapse of twelve months, was not only completely restored, but found himself in a better state of health than he had ever been during any period of his life. He resolved therefore to confine himself to a still more parsimonious regimen, and to take nothing more than what he judg­ed to be absolutely requisite for his support. [Page 95] Thus, during sixty years, he confined himself to exactly twelve ounces of food a day, (bread and other nourishment included) with thir­teen ounces of beverage. It should be also observed, that during this long period he carefully avoided violent heat, cold, passions, and extremes of every kind; and by rigidly and uniformly adhering to this moderate diet, not only his body, but his mind also, acquired so determined a tone, that no com­mon incidents could affect them. At a very advanced age he lost a law-suit, which involv­ed pecuniary concerns of great importance, and on account of which two of his brothers died of broken hearts; but he still retained his pristine health and tranquillity. His car­riage happening on some occasion to be over­set, he was dragged by the horses, in conse­quence of which his arms and legs were dis­located. He caused them, however, to be reduced again, and, without taking any med­icines, we find him in a short time restored.

A striking instance of the dangerous ef­fects likely to attend the slightest deviation from long custom and habit, is the following: When Cornaro had reached his eightieth year, his friends prevailed upon him to add a small portion to his daily quantum of food; alleging that his advanced age neces­sarily called for additional support. Although he was not convinced by this argument, be­ing of opinion, that, with the general decrease of strength, our powers of digestion are like­wise impaired, and that we ought to dimin­ish rather than to increase our food, in pro­portion [Page 96] to the decay of nature; yet he yield­ed to the solicitations of his friends, and in­creased his food from twelve to fourteen, and his drink from thirteen to sixteen ounces. "Scarcely," to quote the words of our die­tetic veteran, "had I proceeded in this alter­ed mode of living for ten days, before I found my spirits visibly affected; a fretful, peevish temper succeeded to my former cheer­fulness and gaiety, so that I became a burden to myself and others. This change of tem­per was followed by other symptoms still more alarming. On the twelfth day, I was attacked with a pain in my side, which con­tinued for twenty-four hours together, and soon after found myself oppressed by a fever that raged with unabating fury for thirty-five days, so that my life was at times despaired of. By the blessing of God, however, on re­turning to my former regimen, I recovered from this shock, and now enjoy, in my eigh­ty-third year, perfect health of body and se­renity of mind. I can mount my horse with­out assistance; I can climb steep precipices, and but lately I wrote a comedy, abounding with traits of innocent mirth and raillery. When I return home, after being engaged in my private affairs, or from attending the councils of state, I feel inexpressible satisfac­tion in the company of my grandchildren, eleven in number, whose education, amuse­ment, and songs, are the comfort of my age. I frequently join them in singing, as my voice is now stronger and clearer than I ever knew it to be in my youth, and as my happiness is [Page 97] not disturbed by the complaints, the morose­ness, and discontented humours, so frequent­ly the lot of intemperate old age."

In this happy frame of body and mind, Cornaro attained to his hundredth year; his virtuous and memorable example, however, has hitherto had but few followers. He found by actual observation and experience, that a strict and uniform regimen, or a regular daily allowance of food and drink, ascertained by weight, was the best method he could pur­sue, for the purpose of prolonging his life. He did not wish however to be understood, nor does it follow in general, that this or any other precise portion of nutriment is to be held out as a proper standard, by which all persons are to regulate their diet. His advice, that we should take no more food than what is absolutely necessary to our subsistence, may be thus explained; namely, that the restora­tion of strength, derived from supplies of nu­triment, ought to bear an exact proportion to the losses sustained by the body. He, for in­stance, who spends little of his time in bed, and much in the open air, takes frequent ex­ercise, is constantly employed in some labo­rious occupation, makes long journies on foot or horseback, or the like, will feel himself re­freshed and strengthened after partaking of a plentiful meal, and cheering beverage; and such a repast is even indispensable to him, to recruit the sources of his muscular strength and activity. If, on the other hand, a person who lounges away half of his time in bed, or upon the sofa, were to consume a quantity of [Page 98] food equal to the former, he would no doubt feel himself heavy and uncomfortable. Yet here too, the consequent loss of strength may vary in degree, in different sedentary persons; and this circumstance will afford me an op­portunity, in the sequel, to apply to individ­ual cases the doctrine suggested by the expe­rience of Cornaro.

There was another period, during which blood-letting came into general use, and obtain­ed great credit, as one of the most effectual means of prolonging life: the superfluity and vitiated state of the blood, or what physicians term a plethoric habit, being looked upon, at the same time, as a principal means of short­ening life. Through the veins thus regular­ly opened, at certain seasons, the superfluous or vitiated blood was supposed to be emitted, while that of a more salubrious quality was left behind. Considered as a medical reme­dy, phlebotomy must certainly be allowed to possess its uses, and it is sometimes a necessary expedient, to produce an immediate diminu­tion in the fulness of the blood, particularly when the time is too short, and the danger too pressing, to admit of any other method for effecting that purpose. As there can be no doubt, that blood-letting is an invaluable remedy in many disorders, it is the more pe­culiarly incumbent on the practical physician, to distinguish with care those cases, in which imminent danger may be averted, and health restored by the use of it. I am of opinion, that there are two cases, and only two, in which venesection is likely to be attended [Page 99] with real advantage; 1st, When it is requir­ed to prevent the fluids gaining access to the parts more essential to life; and, 2dly, Where means must be speedily used, to counteract a threatened inflammation in the intestines. But, even in these two cases, the intelligent physician is at no loss for other remedies, which may be frequently administered with a greater probability of success. In the treat­ment of every disorder, it is necessary to single out that remedy, which is found most suitable to the stage of the complaint. And here we have no occasion to start the question, Whether the method and the means, by which the disease is checked and health restored, are, in the end, best calculated to prolong the life of the patient? Physicians professionally look upon every disease as an evil, which cannot be too speedily removed; and it would be to hazard the recovery of their patients, in ma­ny cases, were they to waste time in reflecting upon the consequences of the remedy with respect to its influence on the duration of life. Hence the art of prolonging life, strictly speaking, is not a distinct branch of medicine, but rather forms a separate art, and as such is the common property of all: it should therefore constitute a part of the education and studies of every rational individual, what­ever be his other engagements and occupa­tions. The absurd notion, that blood-letting is useful and necessary to the prolongation of human life, is still pretty generally received among the common people of all countries. Neither the good nor the bad days, supersti­tiously [Page 100] marked in the almanacks for amusing the vulgar, can palliate or justify the mis­chiefs, with which this dangerous error is pregnant. Bleeding can be of service only, when it is performed at a proper time; and to express my opinion of it, in a few words, it is always noxious to the healthy.

The blood contains and affords to the bones, ligaments, tendons, membranes, mus­cles, nerves, vessels, in short, to the whole or­ganized body, all the parts, which form the bones, ligaments, tendons, &c. Each of these parts is evolved from the blood, and adapted to its proper place, in so artificial a manner, that the human mind is totally at a loss to comprehend, how this operation is perform­ed; neither have the researches of the most acute and attentive observers been able to ac­count for it. And as the blood serves to re­plenish the diminution, and to make up the losses, which those parts occasionally sustain, it may be considered as the original source of our whole organization. By its stimulating powers it also causes the heart and the arte­ries to contract; and by that means preserves the circulating motion, by which it is pro­pelled through all the parts of the body, for the purposes designed by nature.

Now, it requires little reflection to perceive, that he who wastes this vital fluid, thereby obstructs, and, as it were, cuts off the sources of his support and regeneration. And though it be true, that the blood evacuated by pe­riodical bleedings is soon re-produced by the activity of the vital powers, yet this restora­tion [Page 101] is not effected without considerable ef­forts, and at the expense of the whole ma­chine. As this exertion, therefore, is a great pressure upon the vital powers, it must of course be attended with a proportionate de­gree of their consumption. It is too well known, that the corrupted part of the blood cannot be separated from the mass, so that the sound and uncorrupted particles alone may remain behind. If the quality of the blood ever become vitiated and diseased; if it be too thick and viscous, or too acrid, and dissolved, the whole mass participates in the infectious taint; neither is it in the power of art, to contrive any method, by which the corrupted part may be kept asunder, from that which is in a sound state. It would be equally unreasonable to expect, that a spoiled cask of wine could be cured of its tartness, by drawing or tapping the acid and corrupt­ed portion from the top, and leaving the sweet and wholesome part behind. Lastly, experience has shewn in numberless instances, collected from different observations, that per­sons accustomed to frequent blood-letting are not only rendered more delicate in their con­stitutions, and thereby more subject to dis­eases, but also that they die, for the most part, at an earlier age than others; and al­though cases have occurred of some persons, who, having been bled twice or four times a year, have nevertheless arrived at a consider­able age, they can only prove, that venesec­tion was to them a proper medical remedy, perhaps adapted to their peculiar habit of [Page 102] body; or that the activity of their vital pow­ers, their mode of life, and other favourable circumstances, internal and external, may have been sufficient to counterbalance the dangerous consequences, resulting from the frequent loss of this essential fluid.

On the Doctrine of Transfusion.

AT a time, when the shortness of life was imputed to a distempered state of the blood; when all diseases were ascribed to this cause, without attending to the whole of what re­lates to the moral and physical nature of man, a conclusion was easily formed, that a radical removal of the corrupted blood, and a com­plete renovation of the entire mass, by sub­stitution, was both practicable and effectual. The speculative mind of man was not at a loss to devise expedients, or rather attempts, for effecting this desirable purpose; and this undoubtedly was one of the boldest, most ex­traordinary, and most ingenious attempts ever made to lengthen the period of human life. I allude here to the famous scheme of transfusion, or of introducing the blood of one an­imal body into that of another; a curious discov­ery, attributed to ANDREAS LIBAVIUS, Pro­fessor of Medicine and Chemistry in the Uni­versity of Halle, who, in the year 1615, pub­licly recommended experimental essays to as­certain the fact. Libavius was an honest and spirited opposer of the Theosophic Sys­tem, [Page 103] founded by the bombastic Paracelsus, and supported by a numerous tribe of cred­ulous and frantic followers. Although Li­bavius was not totally exempt from the fash­ionable follies of that age, since he believed in the transmutation of metals, and suggested to his pupils the wonderful powers of potable gold; yet he distinguished rational Alchemy from the fanatical systems then in vogue, and zealously defended the former against the disciples of Galen, as well as those of Para­celsus. He made a number of important dis­coveries in Chemistry, and was unquestiona­bly the first professor in Germany, who read Chemical Lectures, upon pure principles of affinity, unconnected with the extravagant notions of the Theosophists.^*

[Page 104] The first experiments relative to the trans­fusion of the blood, appear to have been made, and that with great propriety, on the lower animals. The blood of the young, healthy, and vigorous, was transfused into the old and infirm, by means of a delicate tube, placed in a vein opened for that purpose. The effect of this operation was surprising and important: the aged and decrepit animals were soon ob­served to become more lively, and to move [Page 105] with greater ease and rapidity. By the inde­fatigable exertions of LOWER, in England, of DENIS, in France, and of MORITZ HOFFMAN, and others, in Germany, this artificial mode of renovating the life and spirits was success­fully followed up, and even brought to some degree of perfection. The vein usually open­ed in the arm of a patient was resorted to for the purpose of transfusion; into this a small tube was placed in a perpendicular direction; the same vein was then opened in a healthy individual, but more frequently in an animal, into which another tube was forced in a re­clining direction; both the small tubes were then slided into one another; and in that po­sition the delicate act of transfusion was safely performed. When the operation was com­pleted, the vein was tied up in the same man­ner as in blood-letting. Sometimes a quan­tity of blood was discharged from the patient, previous to the experiment taking place. As few persons however were to be found, who would agree to part with their blood to oth­ers, recourse was generally had to animals, and most frequently to the calf, the lamb, and the stag. These being laid upon a table, and tied so as to be unable to move, the opera­tion was performed in the manner before de­scribed.

In some instances, the good effects of these experiments were evident and promising, while they excited the greatest hopes of the future improvement and progress of this new art. But the increasing abuses, to which it led bold and inexpert practitioners, together [Page 106] with the great number of cases, wherein it proved unsuccessful, induced the different governments of Europe to put an entire stop to the practice, by the strictest prohibitions. And, indeed, so long as the constitutions of men differ from each other materially as they now do, this is, and ever will be, a hazard­ous, if not a desperate remedy. The blood of every individual is sui generis, or of a pecu­liar nature, and suits or accords, as it were, with that body only, to which it belongs, and in which it is generated. Hence our hopes of prolonging human life, by artificial evac­uations and injections, must necessarily be dis­appointed.

We are not however to suppose, that these and similar pursuits, during the times of which we treat as well as those which succeeded, were solely or chiefly followed by mere ad­venturers and fanatics. No; the greatest wits and geniuses of those times, together with the most learned and eminent men, deemed them objects worthy of their sedulous attention. LORD BACON, that sagacious explorer of the ar­cana of Nature, that luminary of science and talents, represents life as a flame, which is continually wasted by the surrounding atmos­phere, and asserts that all the fluids of the body may from time to time be renovated, and re­quire such renovation. The remedies, which he prefers and prescribes, are conformable to this hypothesis. To prevent the external con­sumption produced by the circumambient air, he recommends the bath, and, after quitting it, friction with oils and salves, with a view [Page 107] to fortify the pores, and exclude the influence of the external air. As means to counteract the internal waste of the body, he inculcates the propriety of a cooling, moderate diet, and, above all, extols the narcotic or soporific rem­edies, as the true balm of life, and the best adapted to attain the desired effect. Tran­quillity of mind, and a cooling diet, may no doubt be very necessary in some cases, where there is too great an irritability of tempera­ment, and where the circulation of the blood is too rapid. But to a phlegmatic habit, they will rather be injurious than serviceable. Nar­cotic remedies, too, are but ill qualified to cool and to moderate the body, since they never fail to act as a certain stimulus, are at­tended with heat and relaxation, and there­fore must accelerate the consumption of the vital powers: that sleep, also, which is artifi­cial, and which they have a tendency to pro­cure, cannot upon the whole be salutary. It is no less evident, that the vital power sup­plied by heat or caloric (which is principally evolved from the air,^* and introduced into the body by means of respiration) must be much less considerable during sleep, than while we are awake.

For improving the fluids of the aged, and renovating the dry and corrupted part of them, Lord Bacon thinks nothing can be put in competition with powerful laxatives, and [Page 108] advises the use of a full course of them, every two or three years at least. These remedies are, in his opinion, the best qualified to evac­uate vitiated humours, and afterwards to pro­duce, in lieu of them, milder and more heal­thy juices. The exhausted, and, as it were, thirsty vessels may be replenished and strength­ened, according to his ideas, by a refreshing and nourishing diet.

However plausible this theory may appear, the execution of it is impracticable, and the basis on which it rests, merely conjectural. If it were possible to withdraw the corrupted part of the fluids from the body, by means of evacuants, and at the same time to remove the causes, which produce this tendency to corruption, then the doctrine laid down by Lord Bacon would deserve every praise, and the most minute attention to its merits. But it ought to be observed, that the activity and energy of the whole organized system is indis­pensably necessary in the process of separating the noxious or useless particles. As, there­fore, laxatives remove only the more watery fluids; as they have a bad effect on the stom­ach and intestines, by rendering them too ir­ritable, and consequently less tonic or vigor­ous; as the bile, a fluid so essential to the concoction of food and assimilation of ali­mentary matter, is thereby uselessly wasted; as the balance between the solid and fluid parts of the body is in this manner destroy­ed; and as, upon the whole, the vital powers must sustain a considerable degree of diminu­tion in affording supplies, to repair what is [Page 109] lost;—the precarious nature of evacuants, as the means of prolonging human life, appears too evident to require further illustration.

It is not, therefore, in such remedies as these, which can only be employed with safe­ty, where a judicious attention is paid to the case and circumstances of the patient, that we ought to confide, as the most proper to pro­long the period of our existence: we must search for means less dangerous and more ef­fectual.

There is a pretty numerous class of men, who profess to calculate the length of their lives, not so much by the number of years or days they have lived, as by the use they have made of them, or, to speak more plainly, by the quantum of sensual pleasure they have en­joyed. Persons of this cast, though fully sen­sible of the unavoidable consequences, are not averse to what is called fast living. Accus­tomed to reckon only upon the enjoyments of life, they wish to attain these in a shorter period of time, and in more rapid success [...], rather than slowly and by degrees; especially as the duration of our life ever remains un­certain. Men of this sanguine character may be aptly compared to a plant forced in a hot­house, which will indeed grow up suddenly, but, if contrasted with a plant of flower growth, or any kind of fruit which gradu­ally ripens to maturity, will be found much degenerated, neither possessing the solidity and strength of stalk, nor the astringent, aro­matic, and other properties, in that vigour and perfection, which we find in vegetables [Page 110] raised in the open air. Many similar hot­house plants are discoverable among men, in the different stages of society. In childhood, they display the premature acquirements of youth; in youth, they show the sense, am­bition, and other qualifications of manhood; and before they have well passed through the prime of virility, they are either snatched away by untimely death, or their faculties become blunted and impaired.

It is the unalterable plan of Nature, to pro­ceed, in every one of her operations, by de­grees; all outrage and extravagance militate against her established laws. The true enjoy­ment of life does not consist in the hasty pur­suit of pleasure, nor in the intemperate indul­gence of our sensual appetites. The epicure is soon laid up by dangerous surfeit, resulting from indulgence in a variety of highly-fla­voured dishes, and is obliged to spend that time in reluctant confinement, which he pro­posed to devote to his bottle, to his debauch­ery, or to some scene of gaiety; he is com­pelled to lead as it were a vegetable life, scarcely pitied by his friends, and, in the fullest sense of the word, to exist rather than to live.

In one respect, we have little occasion to extol our own enlightened age, at the expense of those which are so frequently and justly termed dark: I allude to the bold and artful designs of imposture, and particularly medical imposture. We daily see illiterate and auda­cious empirics sport with the lives of a cred­ulous public, that seem obstinately resolved [Page 111] to shut their ears against all the suggestions of reason and experience.

The host of empirics and mountebanks, to be found in our great cities, and the tinctures, essences, and balms of life, so much in vogue with even the polished classes; the celestial beds, the enchanting magnetic powers, lately introduced into this country by Messmer and his numerous disciples; the prevailing indif­ference to all dietetic precepts; the singular imposition practised on many females, in per­suading them to wear the inert acromatic belts (which shall be further noticed in the eighth chapter); the strange infatuation of the opu­lent to pay five guineas for a pair of metallic tractors, ^* not worth a sixpence; the tables for [Page 112] blood-letting, and other absurdities still insert­ed in popular almanacks, sufficiently evince, that this is far from being the "Age of Rea­son;" that the Temple of Superstition is yet thronged with numberless votaries; that hu­man reason is still a slave to the most tyran­nical prejudices; and that there is no readier way to excite general attention and admira­tion, than to affect the mysterious and the marvellous.

The visionary system of JACOB BÖHMEN has lately been revived in some parts of Ger­many. The ghosts and apparitions, which have disappeared from the times of THOMA­SIUS and SWEDENBORG, have again, it seems, left their graves, to the great terror of fa­naticism. New and unheard-of prophets an­nounce their Divine mission, and, what is worse, find implicit believers! The inventors of secret medicines are rewarded by patents, and obtain no small celebrity; while some of the more conscientious, but less fortunate adepts, endeavour to amuse the public with popular systems of medicine! These, however, [Page 113] are harmless, in comparison with the daring experiments, of which I shall briefly sketch the history.

One of the most dazzling and successful In­ventors in modern times was MESSMER, who began his career of Medical Knight-errantry at Vienna. His house was the mirror of high life; the rendezvous of the gay, the young, the opulent, enlivened and entertained with continual concerts, routs, and illuminations. At a great expense he imported into Germa­ny the first Harmonica from this country; he established cabinets of natural curiosities, and laboured constantly and secretly in his chem­ical laboratory; so that he acquired the repu­tation of being a great Alchemist, a philoso­pher studiously employed in the most useful and important researches.

In 1766 he first publicly announced the ob­ject and nature of his secret labours:—all his discoveries centered in the magnet—which, according to his hypothesis, was the greatest and safest remedy hitherto proposed against all diseases incident to the human body. This declaration of Messmer excited very general attention; the more so, as about the same time he established an hospital in his own house, into which he admitted a number of patients gratis. Such disinterestedness pro­cured, as might be expected, no small addition to his same. He was, besides, fortunate in gaining over many celebrated physicians to espouse his opinions, who lavished the greatest encomiums on his new art, and were instru­mental in communicating to the public a [Page 114] number of successful experiments. This seems to have surpassed the expectations of Messmer, and induced him to extend his original plan farther than it is likely he first intended. We find him soon afterwards assuming a more dogmatical and mysterious air, when, for the purpose of shining exclusively, he appeared in the character of a Magician—his pride and egotism would brook neither equal nor com­petitor.

The common Loadstone, or Mineral Mag­net, which is so well known, did not appear to him sufficiently important and mysterious: he contrived an unusual and unknown one, to the effect of which he gave the name of 'Animal Magnetism.' After this he proceeded to a still bolder assumption, every where giv­ing it out, that the inconceivable powers of this subtle fluid were centered in his own person. Now the Mono-drama began; and Messmer, at once the hero and chorus of the piece, performed his part in a masterly man­ner. He placed the most nervous, hysteric, and hypochondriac patients opposite to him; and by the sole act of stretching forth his fin­ger, made them feel the most violent shocks. The effects of this wonderful power excited universal astonishment; its activity and pen­etrability being confirmed by unquestionable testimonies, from which it appeared, that blows, resembling those given by a blunt iron, could be imparted by the operator, while he himself was separated by two doors, nay even by thick walls. The very looks of this Prince of Jugglers had the power to excite painful cramps and twitches.

[Page 115] This wonderful tide of success easily insti­gated his indefatigable genius to bolder at­tempts, especially as he had no severe criti­cisms to apprehend from the superstitious multitude. He roundly asserted things, of which he never offered the least shadow of proof; and for the truth of which he had no other pledge to offer, but his own high repu­tation. At one time he could communicate his magnetic power to paper, wool, silk, bread, leather, stones, water, &c.—at another he pro­nounced, that certain individuals possessed a greater degree of susceptibility for this power than others.

It must be owned, however, to the honour of his cotemporaries, that many of them made it their business to encounter his ex­travagant pretensions, and to refute his dog­matical assertions with the most convincing arguments. Yet he long enjoyed the triumph of being supported by blind followers; and their too great number completely overpow­ered the suffrages of reason.

Messmer perceived at length, that he should never be able to reach, in his native country, the point which he had fixed upon, as the term of his magnetical career. The Germans began to discredit his pompous claims; but it was only after repeated failures in some im­portant promised cures, that he found him­self under the necessity of seeking protection in Paris. There he met with a most flattering reception, being caressed, and in a manner adored, by a nation which has ever been ex­travagantly fond of every thing new, whim­sical, [Page 116] and mysterious. Messmer well knew how to turn this national propensity to his own advantage. He addressed himself partic­ularly to the weak; to such as wished to be considered men of profound knowledge, but who, when they are compelled to be silent from real ignorance, take refuge under the impenetrable shield of mystery. The fashion­able levity, the irresistible curiosity, and the peculiar turn of the Parisians, ever solicitous to have something interesting for conversa­tion, to keep their active imagination in play, were exactly suited to the genius and talents of the inventor of Animal Magnetism. We need not wonder, therefore, if he availed him­self of their moral and physical character, to insure easy entrance to his doctrines, and suc­cess to his pretended experiments: in fact, he found friends and admirers, wherever he made his appearance.^*

[Page 117] What splendid promises! what rich pros­pects! Messmer, the greatest of philosophers, the most virtuous of men, the physician and saviour of mankind, charitably opens his arms to all his fellow-mortals, who stand in need of comfort and assistance. No wonder that the cause of Magnetism, under such a zealous apostle, rapidly gained ground, and obtained every day large additions to the number of its converts. To the gay, the nervous, and the dissipated of all ranks and ages, it held out the most flattering promises. Men of the first respectability interested them­selves in behalf of this new philosophy; they anticipated, in idea, the more happy and more vigorous race to proceed, as it were by enchantment, from the wonderful impulsive powers of Animal Magnetism. Nay, even the French Government was so far seduced by these flattering appearances, as to offer the German Adventurer thirty thousand livres for the communication of his secret art. He ap­pears, however, to have understood his own interest better than thus to dispose of his hy­pothetical property, which upon a more ac­curate investigation might be excepted against, as consisting of unfair articles of purchase. He consequently returned the following an­swer to the credulous French Ministers:— [Page 118] "That Dr. M. considered his art of too great importance, and the abuses it might lead to, too dangerous for him at present to make it public; that he must therefore reserve to himself the time of its publication, and mode of introducing it to general use and observa­tion; that he would first take proper mea­sures to initiate or prepare the minds of men, by exciting in them a susceptibility of this great power; and that he would then under­take to communicate his secret gradually, which he meant to do without hope of re­ward."

Messmer, too politic to part with his secret for so small a premium, had a better prospect in view; and his apparent disinterestedness and hesitation served only to sound an over­curious public; to allure more victims to his delusive practices; and to retain them more firmly in their implicit belief. Soon after this, we find Messmer easily prevailed upon to institute a private society, into which none were admitted, but such as bound themselves by a vow to perpetual secrecy. These pupils he agreed to instruct in his important myste­ries, on condition of each paying him a fee of one hundred louis. In the course of six months, having had not fewer than three hundred such pupils, he realized a fortune of thirty thousand louis. It appears, however, that his disciples did not long adhere to their engage­ment: we find them separating gradually from their professor, and establishing schools for the propagation of his system, with a view, no doubt, to reimburse themselves for their [Page 119] expenses in the acquisition of the magnetising art. But few of them having clearly under­stood the enigmatic terms and mysterious doctrines of their foreign master, every new adept exerted himself to excel his fellow-la­bourers, in additional explanations and inven­tions: others, who did not possess, or could not spare the sum of one hundred louis, were industriously employed in attempts to discov­er the secret by their own ingenuity; and thus arose a great variety of magnetical sects. At length, however, Messmer's authority be­came suspected; his pecuniary acquisitions were now notorious, and our humane and dis­interested philosopher was assailed with critical and satirical animadversions from every quar­ter. The futility of his process for medical purposes, as well as the bad consequences it might produce in a moral point of view, soon became topics of common conversation, and at length excited even the apprehensions of Government. One dangerous effect of the magnetic associations was, that young volup­tuaries began to employ this art, to promote their libidinous and destructive designs.

As soon as matters had taken this serious turn, the French Government, much to its credit, deputed four respectable and unpreju­diced men, to whom were afterwards added four others of great learning and abilities, to inquire into, and appreciate the merits of the new discovery of animal magnetism. These phi­losophers, among whom we find the illustrious names of Franklin and Lavoisier, recognized indeed very surprising and unexpected phe­nomena [Page 120] in the physical state of magnetised in­dividuals; but they gave it as their opinion, that the power of imagination, and not ani­mal magnetism, had produced these effects. Sensible of the superior influence, which the imagination can exert on the human body, when it is effectually wrought upon, they perceived, after a number of experiments and facts frequently repeated, that Contact or Touch, Imagination, Imitation, and excited Sensi­bility, were the real and sole causes of those phenomena, which had so much confounded the illiterate, the credulous, and the enthusi­astic; that this boasted magnetic element had no real existence in nature; consequently that Messmer himself was either an arrant Impos­tor, or a deceived Fanatic.

In the mean time, this magnetising business had made no small progress in Germany; a number of periodical and other publications vindicated its claims to public favour and at­tention; and some literary men, who had rendered themselves justly celebrated by their former writings, now appeared as bold and eager champions in support of this mystical medley. The ingenious LAVATER undertook long journies for the propagation of Magnet­ism and Somnabulism^*—and what manipula­tions and other absurdities were not practised on hysterical young ladies in the city of Bre­men? [Page 121] It is further worthy of notice, that an eminent physician of that place, in a recent publication, does not scruple to rank magnet­ism among medical remedies! Yet it must be confessed, that the great body of the learned, throughout Germany, have endeavoured, by strong and impartial criticism, to oppose and refute Animal Magnetism, considered as a medical system. And how should it be other­wise, since it is highly ridiculous to imagine, that violent agitations, spasms, convulsions, &c. which are obviously symptoms of a dis­eased state, and which must increase rather than diminish the disposition for nervous dis­eases, can be the means of improving the con­stitution, and ultimately prolonging human life? Every attentive person must have ob­served, that too frequent intercourse between nervous and hypochondriac patients is infec­tious; and, if this be the case, public assem­blies for exhibiting persons magnetised can neither be safe nor proper. It is no small proof of the good sense of the people of this country, that the professors of this fanatical art could not long maintain their ground; that they were soon exposed to public ridi­cule on the stage; and that the few who are still left, are banished to dark alleys and ob­scure cellars of the metropolis.

Some other plans for the prolongation of life deserve to be mentioned, though scarcely less absurd than the preceding.

The French Count of ST. GERMAIN made large sums, by vending an artificial Tea, chiefly, composed of Yellow-Saunders, Se [...]na-leaves, [Page 122] and Fennel-seed; passing it off by the specious name of Tea for prolonging life. It was once swallowed with great avidity all over the continent; but its celebrity was short-lived, and its promised beneficial effects were never realized.

Another impudent adventurer, the Cheva­lier D'AILHOUD, presented the world with a Powder, which met with so large and rapid a sale, that he was very soon enabled to pur­chase a whole Comté. Instead, however, of adding to the means of securing health and long life, this famous powder is well known to produce constant indisposition, and at length to cause a most miserable death; be­ing compounded of certain drugs, which are clearly of a poisonous nature, although slow in their operation. And yet there are on the continent, even to this day, several re­spectable families, who persist in the use of this deleterious powder, from an ill-judged partiality for its inventor.

COUNT CAGLIOSTRO, that luminary of modern Impostors and Debauchees, prepared a very common stomachic Elixir, which he sold at an enormous price, by the name of "Balm of Life;" pretending, with unparallel­ed assurance, that by the use of this medicine he had attained an age exceeding 200 years, and that he was thereby rendered invulnera­ble to all attempts by poison. These bold as­sertions could not fail to excite very general attention. During his residence at Strasburg, while he was descanting, in a large and re­spectable company, on the virtues of his an­tidote, [Page 123] his pride was mortified by a severe check. A Physician who was present, and had taken part in the conversation, quitting the room privately, went to an Apothecary's shop, where having ordered two pills to be made of an equal size, and agreeably to his directions, he suddenly appeared again before Cagliostro, and addressed him as follows: "Here, my worthy Count, are two pills; the one contains a mortal poison, the other is perfectly innocent; choose one of these, and swallow it, and I engage to take that which you leave. This will be considered as a de­cisive proof of your medical skill, and enable the public to ascertain the efficacy of your extolled Elixir." Cagliostro took the alarm, made a number of apologies, but could not be prevailed upon [...]o touch the pills. His opponent swallowed both immediately, and proved by his Apothecary, that they might be taken with the most perfect safety, being on­ly made of common bread. Notwithstanding the shame of this detection, Cagliostro still retained numerous advocates and partisans, by circulating eccentric notions, and conceal­ing his real character by a variety of tricks.

The inspired FATHER GASSNER, of Bava­ria, ascribed all diseases, lameness, palsy, &c. to diabolical agency, contending from the history of Job, Saul, &c. recorded in Sacred Writ, that Satan, as the grand enemy of man­kind, has a power to embitter and shorten our lives by diseases. Vast numbers of cred­ulous people flocked to this fanatic, for, the purpose of obtaining relief. Whole cargoes [Page 124] of patients, afflicted with nervous and hypo­chondriac complaints, besieged him as it were in his quarters every day; all stimulated and heated with a wild imagination, all eager to view and to acknowledge the works of Sa­tan! Men of literary character, even the Natural Philosophers of Bavaria, were hurri­ed away by the stream, and completely blind­ed by this sanctimonious Impostor.

It is no less astonishing than true, that in the year 1794, a COUNT THUN, at Leipzig, pretended to perform miraculous cures on gouty, hypochondriac, and hysterical patients, merely by the imposition of his sacred hands. He could not, however, raise many disciples in a place, that abounds with Sceptics and Unbelievers.

It would be trespassing too much on the limits I have proposed to myself, were I to enumerate the various remedies advertised in the daily papers, both British and foreign, under the fictitious and fraudulent pretence of prolonging life. I shall therefore only re­mark, in general, that all these celebrated specifics are obviously composed upon wrong principles; inasmuch as their inventors pro­ceed on the hypothetical idea, that disease is the only cause of shortening life; and, being thus mistaken, it is no wonder that they carry the strengthening or bracing system to an extrav­agant degree.

The highest point of bodily vigour and health may of itself contribute to shorten life; although no external causes should ap­pear as co-operating to hasten the consump­tive [Page 125] process. Nay, the very remedies we use, and the regimen we attend to, for the pre­vention or cure of diseases, may be of such a nature as to promote that consumption.

Absurdity of Specific Remedies.

FROM the doctrines now laid before the reader, I hope I shall not be thought unrea­sonable, in drawing this conclusion:—That the plans for prolonging human life are gen­erally erroneous and injudicious; that all ar­tificial means have rather a tendency to short­en than to prolong it; and that we can nev­er safely expect the accomplishment of this great object, unless we pursue methods more consonant to nature, more verified by ex­perience.

The truth of this inference will be more evident, when we come to inquire into the conditions, which are essentially requisite to the attainment of a long life.

The first of these is a certain bodily and mental disposition to longevity, not easily de­fined, yet sufficiently known and understood. In whatever this disposition may consist, it is a matter of astonishment, and inexplicable by the laws of animal economy, that many indi­viduals, frequently under the most unfavoura­ble circumstances, and in the most unwhole­some climates, have attained to a great and hap­py age. It may indeed be confidently affirmed, that, without this principal requisite, all other [Page 126] advantages are often of no avail; the most salubrious country air, a district abounding with aged inhabitants, a rigid adherence to the diet of Cornaro, a regular course of exer­cise and recreations, with the best art of the physician, are not alone sufficient to insure the felicitous prospect of a long and healthy life.^*

Secondly: It is certain that there is, in most cases, a sort of hereditary disposition to lon­gevity; an innate principle or quality, which, like many family diseases, is propagated from one generation to another. Perhaps nine out of ten old persons could make it appear, that their parents and ancestors also lived to a great age; a reason which may be admitted without having recourse to any material sub­stance, as the cause or effect of this inherent virtue.

The third requisite to longevity is a perfect birth of the child, and a proper subsequent conduct in the mother; upon which subject it is not my intention to expatiate in this place. That acute physiologist, Lord Bacon, somewhere remarks, "that children partake more of the nature of the mother, the longer [Page 127] time she has nursed them; and that those children which most resemble the mother, will be generally found to have a claim to longevity."

Fourthly: A gradual, and not too precipi­tate culture of the physical and mental facul­ties may be properly considered as an excel­lent preliminary step towards prolonging life. The age of man bears a certain proportion to the growth of his various powers; and the longer we can protract the different stages of life, the more extended will be the whole compass of our existence. As it is evidently the design of nature, that man should live longer than most of the lower animals, he of course requires a greater space of time, to de­velope the faculties both of mind and body. Animals, which arrive soon at the perfection of their nature and form, live but a short time. Man requires upwards of twenty, and accord­ing to some, twenty-five years, before he at­tains to full maturity; and if it be a rule of nature, that animals in general live eight times the number of years, which is requisite to the attainment of their perfect growth, a strong presumption arises, that the age of man might be extended to nearly two hundred years. In the works of the illustrious Bacon, and parti­cularly in his "Historical View of Life and Death," are given many strong arguments to confirm this assertion. Surprising as it may appear to some, there is a possibility at least, if not a probability, that the term of human life might be still further extended, if man­kind could by any means be persuaded to re­turn [Page 128] to that primeval state of nature, from which history and tradition have furnished us with such astonishing and almost incredible instances of longevity. It is not my inten­tion here to inquire into the degree of credit, which may be due to the accounts of some ex­traordinary facts of individual longevity, re­corded by the sacred historian; as the learn­ed vary much in their opinion, relative to the mode of computation, and whether the Solar, the Arabic, or the Lunar year, or a still short­er measure of time, is alluded to. This, at least, seems to be generally admitted, that the antediluvians enjoyed an enviable, uninter­rupted state of health; that their vegetable aliment, and general mode of living, were ex­tremely simple and no wise prejudicial; that the constitution and temperature of the globe itself must have been greatly affected and de­teriorated, in consequence of the Flood, or other causes of which we are ignorant; and, lastly, that those impetuous and inordinate appetites and passions, which, like flames, may now be said to consume the powers of life, were then either less violent, or exerted their baneful influence at a much later period of life.

Nature resents every outrage committed on her treasures, and seldom fails to punish the transgressors with lingering disease, or early dissolution. This observation may be applied to the moral as well as the physical faculties of man. It is commonly said, and not with­out some degree of truth, that very forward [Page 129] children seldom live to any age; and that too early an exertion of mental powers is in most cases destructive. The same remark holds good in what relates to the body. The inhabitants of hot climates, who frequently marry at the age of ten and twelve, or twelve and fourteen, begin to be old at thirty, and rarely survive the sixtieth year. Every thing which hastens the evolution of the natural powers, every exertion of strength, dispropor­tionate to the ability of the individual, should be carefully avoided, as of a dangerous ten­dency. Hence the great art of education, the great art of living, consists in following the path of nature.

Fifthly; We should constantly inure our­selves to the habits of supporting and resisting the various impressions of external agency.—Some persons who have paid a very rigid at­tention to diet, have notwithstanding been unable to reach even a middling age; while others, who have been addicted to the most irregular and extravagant courses, have been observed to live to one very advanced. Hence arise contradictory maxims in dietetics, which can only be reconciled by deciding chemically between the two extremes, and ascertaining pretty nearly the absolute and relative salu­brity of things. All deviations from the rules of diet are in a certain degree hurtful; al­though these may, in most cases, have only a limited value. Many epicures have been known to reach their seventieth and eightieth year, if they have once survived a certain [Page 130] critical period of their lives.^* As soon as the body becomes accustomed to the use of certain things, at first disagreeable and perhaps hurt­ful, the noxious tendency will not only be re­moved, but we shall find our frame hardened and strengthened by the habit of using them. Nature must stand many a shock, if she would familiarize herself to the vicissitudes of climate and opposite modes of life, but every victory she gains in these encounters, will be a means of rendering her more vigorous and uncon­querable. How could the sublime mind of FREDERIC THE GREAT have remained so long in its earthly vehicle, if he had not improved, by constant culture and discipline, his original disposition to a long life? A thousand other men, who have endured as much exercise of body and exertion of mind in their younger years, have yet not attained to any remarka­ble age.—Severe and obstinate diseases have also been thought, in many instances, to con­tribute to the prolongation of life: this is at best, however, but a doubtful point; although it cannot be denied, that many sick persons have, to all appearance, acquired additional [Page 131] strength and spirits, after having recovered from a distressing quartan ague, or some threatening pulmonary disorder.

Sixthly: We may take notice of a certain steady and equal progress through life, as highly conducive to the great object in view, wheth­er it flows in the manner of a gentle stream, or resembles the more active course of a rap­id river. The mind, when accustomed to certain situations and pursuits, which almost constantly affect it in an uniform manner, is most likely to preserve its reasoning powers unimpaired and strong. He whom neither violent joy convulses, nor deep melancholy corrodes, whose drama of life is not chequer­ed by too sudden vicissitudes, may, with some probability, expect a long enjoyment of that life, to which he has become so habituated. There are many whose days quietly glide away, like those of a simple rustic, in contin­ual sameness: such persons, it is observed, generally live to a great age.

Seventhly: A very necessary cause of the at­tainment of an advanced age, is a sound state of digestion. In very old persons, we gen­erally find the digestive organs in excellent condition; nor is there a surer symptom of approaching dissolution, than complaints in the stomach, or frequent returns of indiges­tion. The Swiss are indebted, it is thought, to the vigorous tone of their digestive pow­ers, for the long preservation of their lives, in general, and for the great number of aged persons among them. Milk and vegetable food seem remarkably well adapted to invig­orate [Page 132] the stomach. To effect the same pur­pose, Lord Bacon advises old people to have recourse to strengthening baths, fomentations, and similar external remedies, which operate upon the absorbent system. At the same time, a thin but nourishing and moderate di­et should be observed, in order to spare the organs of digestion.

Eighthly, and lastly: We may recommend equanimity, or that state of the mind, when, from the happy nature of its pursuits, it is not disquieted by too violent exertions. In the literary professions, and particularly among such individuals as are placed in easy circum­stances, we discover as many instances of lon­gevity, as in the more laborious occupations. It was remarked by the Ancients, that gram­marians and rhetoricians commonly attained a great age. The mind being engaged in sci­entific pursuits, and other objects in which it finds pleasure, such as conversation on literary and mixed topics, collecting the productions of nature, a continual series of mental research, diversifying the pursuits or amusements, yet gradually and constantly persevering in exer­tions towards the attainment of some princi­pal object—all supply the vital power, as it were, with materials, like the cruse of oil, which proved a never-failing support to the widow of Sarepta. On the other hand, it is a general remark, that deep thinkers, specu­lative philosophers, and those whose powers are continually absorbed in abstruse inquiry, soon feel the effects of age, from the great ex­ertions of their mental powers. This must [Page 133] be understood, however, with exceptions, as in the cases of SIR ISAAC NEWTON, HALLER, EULER, and the pride of his nation and age, the profound and venerable KANT, still living at Koenigsberg.

I venture to say thus much on the various rules and precautions requisite to attain a long and healthful life. Some of the particulars are, no doubt, found united in a certain pro­portion of the individuals, who arrive at a re­spectable age. It is commonly remarked al­so, that the inhabitants of mountainous coun­tries, for the most part live to a greater age than those of plain and, particularly, marshy districts. This is in part true; yet we are not to consider the lofty regions in the Alps and Pyrenees as possessing these salubrious qualities; for it is only upon moderate heights, and in hilly rather than mountainous coun­tries, that we so frequently meet with people of an unusual age. Persons who are con­stantly travelling, are likewise said to enjoy a long and healthful life; and Lord Bacon fur­ther includes, in the list of long livers, such as are of a melancholy temperament. It is a questionable point, whether the great age of many Turks is to be ascribed to the serenity of their climate, their daily use of the bath, or their uncommon temperance in eating and drinking. For, as to their copious use of opium, which is considered by them almost as necessary as food, we have already shown the noxious tendency of such practice; opium generating, in a remarkable degree, a disposi­tion of the fluids, in many respects resembling [Page 134] that of hypochondriasis. There is scarcely an instance of any person, that has attained to uncommon longevity, who has not been par­ticular in his diet and manner of living. But in this respect we cannot hope to derive ad­vantage from excessive solicitude:—for, as when in want of sleep, the more we think of it, the more it shuns us; so those who are most anxious for longevity, are the least likely to attain it. Age is a gift, which Heaven frequently bestows upon mortals, when they are asleep, or in other words, when they are scarcely sensible of it!

On the Symptoms of actual Dissolution.

THAT many unfortunate individuals are consigned to the grave, before they are actu­ally dead, is a truth too well attested to re­quire demonstration. If this were not, or never had been the case, it could not have ex­cited that degree of attention on the Conti­nent, and particularly in Germany, which of late years has been bestowed on this impor­tant subject. The most respectable Physicians have proved by incontrovertible facts, that sick persons have often been hastily buried, or to speak more properly, smothered in their coffins, either from accidental mistake, or from the most detestable motives. But, as many false and scandalous reports are generally cir­culated, in addition to those founded on truth, we need not wonder, that this business has [Page 135] not been conducted, hitherto, with that de­gree of calm and patient attention, to which it is justly entitled. Houses for the reception of persons apparently dead have been, at length, erected in various parts of Germany, in Berlin, Jena, Coburg, &c. This idea, at the first view of it, may to some appear whim­sical; but those who know the extent of the power of vitality, and the almost infinite modifications of which that power is suscepti­ble, will not ridicule a proposal, which origi­nated in motives of prudence and humanity. Into these houses every inhabitant of the town, or district, has a right to send the body of a deceased person, on paying a trifling sum per night, towards the expenses of the insti­tution. Here the body i [...] deposited on a couch, lightly covered, and provided with a string fastened to the hand, which pulls a bell on the top of the house. A watchman is ap­pointed to receive and register the bodies brought into the house, and to give the alarm, if necessary. This, to say the least of it, is no small convenience to families in a large city, crowded into narrow apartments, with a number of children, who must necessarily suf­fer from the pestiferous exhalations of dead bodies. But this is not the principal advan­tage attending such establishments: it is un­questionably a great satisfaction to the rela­tives of the deceased, to be assured that every means have been used to preserve from the most dreadful of all deaths, a friend whose memory they revere.

[Page 136] The cases, in which death can be clearly as­certained, are nearly the following:

1. When putrefaction has actually taken place over the whole animal frame; as in­stances are common, in which a partial mor­tification of an arm or a leg is by no means mortal.

2. In the nervous apoplexy of the aged; as such persons generally die in consequence of slowly wasting disorders, various species of palsy, &c.

3. If the patient expires after a long stand­ing consumption, hectic fever, or ulcerations of the breast and lungs, diseases now very common.

4. If any of the larger blood-vessels, or other parts essential to life, have received ex­ternal injury, by violent blows, bruises, or cuts, attended with great loss of blood, which could not be stopped by artificial means. If we are unable to supply the loss of this vital fluid, and to restore the organization of the parts thus destroyed; particularly if the brain, the lungs, the heart, the stomach, or any of the intestines, have suffered from a severe wound, a speedy dissolution may be considered as inevitable.

5. After chronic disorders of the intes­tines, obstructions of the abdominal vessels, and dropsy thence arising—or if an incurable weakness in the breast has occasioned the or­ganic destruction, or ossification of the pecto­ral vessels, there is little prospect of the re­covery of such a person; as these complaints of asthmatic sufferers, in general, are not in a [Page 137] just proportion to the whole state of the body; for instance, if their appetite and digestion have been unimpaired previous to their dis­ease, or if their muscular strength has not suf­fered from the like affections.

6. In persons of tender and debilitated nerves, who have been long subject to spasms or epileptic fits, particularly if they die in child-bed, in consequence of violent hemorr­hages, or after repeated and oppressive agita­tions of mind;—in such cases there is no hope left, as it is too late to think of changing or improving the constitution of the nervous system. Lastly,

7. If a person gradually wastes away in a malignant nervous or putrid fever, or after long fasting from want of food. In these in­stances it is not in the power of the medical art to restore the shrivelled vessels to their proper tension and energy; consequently all our ef­forts to reanimate the body will be unavail­ing.

There remains now to be stated also, in what cases and situations the symptoms of apparent death are less certain, so that some hope of recovery is still left to the disconso­late friend and relative. These are principally the following: after faintings, sudden loss of blood from diseased intestines,—in certain cases of repelled morbid matter, for instance, in the small-pox, measles, poisons, and the like, which frequently produce a spurious kind of apoplexy;—after hysteric and hypo­chondriac spasms and colics of a transitory kind, which have not too often recurred; af­ter [Page 138] mental anxiety, perturbation, terror, and other oppressive passions, where every thing depends on a speedy removal of the causes. To this list we may likewise add the cases of drowned, hanged, and otherwise suffocated persons, or those who appear to be dead, in consequence of a fall from high scaffoldings, without any external injury. In such acci­dents, an internal pressure or stoppage of the vital functions, as breathing, and circulation of the blood, often produces a state of appar­ent death.—Even the suppressed pulse in the arteries, imperceptible respiration, the cold­ness and rigidity of the limbs, the want of contractibility in the pupil of the eye, the in­voluntary loss of excrementitious substances,—all these symptoms of approaching dissolution should not discourage us from trying the prop­er means of recovering the patient's life. In children and young persons, in particular, we must not too hastily decide, whether they be absolutely dead or not;—teething is frequently attended with diversified convulsive symp­toms, and the tape-worm is capable of produc­ing the most alarming effects, which the in­experienced by-standers may unwarily ascribe to very different causes. Hence every possi­ble degree of precaution is requisite in man­aging the bodies of infants apparently dead, and above all things not to remove them from the warm temperature of the sick-room, before the last lingering spark of life is extin­guished. Indeed, it must strike even super­ficial observers, that the hasty removal of a body from a warm to a colder temperature [Page 139] is highly improper and dangerous. And here the excellent rules, published by the Royal Humane Society of London, for the recovery of persons apparently dead, cannot be recommended in too strong terms; al­though some of the more violent methods detailed in their plan, such as inflation of the bowels with the fumes of tobacco, clysters pre­pared of this herb, violent agitation, and too early and indiscriminate application of the elec­tric shock, might well bear a few modifications and improvements.

Summary of Dietetics.

THE knowlede of those objects which re­late to the preservation of the human body, in its natural state, may be called the Doctrine of Health. Life and Health are, therefore, the proper objects of this doctrine; as the second department of Medicine solely relates to the preternatural states of man, viz. Disease and Death, and forms that branch of professional study, which we call 'Pathology.'

The compass of the former science, or an investigation of the objects included in the doctrine of health, must be very extensive. It furn [...]es us with rules and cautions as to every thing we ought to do, or to avoid, in order to remain healthy. This useful science is properly denominated DIETETICS, or a sys­tematic view of all objects relative to health in gen­eral, and to food and drink in particular.

[Page 140] The following Chapters will, therefore, be exclusively devoted to Dietetics. My princi­pal object will be, to lay a solid foundation for that important science, by investigating and combating the chief prejudices, which have hitherto retarded the progress of this branch of knowledge. Hence, a System of Di­etetics must not only contain all those rules, which are requisite to guide us in the preser­vation of health, together with such as relate to the choice of a proper mode of life, but should likewise inform us with regard to the beneficial or hurtful influence, which external objects produce on the health and life of man, and teach us the just application, or practical use, of these objects.

DIETETICS include the whole of what the Ancients understood by the singular name of the SIX NON-NATURALS; namely, Air, Ali­ment, Exercise and Rest, the Passions and Affec­tions of the Mind, Wakefulness and Sleep, and Repletion and Evacuation. Although these gen­eral heads do not comprise, strictly speaking, every thing that relates to the different func­tions of the human body; yet they contain all such conditions of life, as are absolutely necessary, and the greatest part of those cir­cumstances, which are connected with the health and well-being of the individual. In each of these particulars we are liable to com­mit errors, either by intemperate use, or an improper application. I propose, therefore, to lay down a System of Rules, by which we may be assisted to choose, according to par­ticular circumstances, the best and most ra­tional [Page 141] means of insuring heath, and of avoid­ing whatever may have a contrary tendency.

Our mode of life is no longer that natural and simple one, which prevailed in the prim­itive ages of mankind; in the present state of society such habits are scarcely conceivable. Man in a state of nature had little occasion to attend to his health; he wanted no rules for the preservation of it; for, as the seeds of dis­eases are rarely scattered in such a state, instinct would be to him in most cases a sufficient guide. It now seems to be impossible to re­turn to that primeval state, without return­ing, at the same time, from our present de­gree of mental improvement to that of pris­tine barbarity. We have, to all appearance, purchased our improved state of mental cul­ture, by sacrificing to it a considerable share of our bodily welfare;—happy, however, we may still consider ourselves, if we have actu­ally gained in moral and intellectual improve­ment.

Innumerable are the causes, which have con­spired to render the true knowledge of the means conducive to health, difficult in the acquisition, and uncertain in its application. The chief of these are probably the following, which include most of the subordinate partic­ulars:—the present very artificial method of living; the prodigious number of the em­ployments of mankind; the different modes of dwelling and dressing; the endless variety of articles used as food and drink; the great diversity of national customs and manners; and the difference of climate and situation;— [Page 142] all these circumstances have greater or less in­fluence, conjointly or separately, not only on the passions, inclinations, and instinctive desires of individuals, but also on the general state of the health and physical welfare of a people. By the present mode of living we are exposed to diseases wholly unknown in the first ages of the world, and we suffer from a variety of complaints, originating either in artificial hab­its, or the constraint under which we labour, in consequence of blindly complying with the caprices of custom, or fashion, without perhaps apprehending any ill consequences from such pernicious practices.

Many ingenious writers have lately endeav­oured to point out the disadvantages arising from causes apparently trivial. Thus the fash­ion of using paint, hair-powder, and pomatum; of wearing ill-shaped shoes, laced stays, &c. have deservedly incurred severe ridicule and pointed censure. The custom of applying lead to earthen vessels has not escaped their attention: the danger, however, resulting from the use of that substance, has been great­ly exaggerated. Writers, with the best in­tentions, have sometimes, from an excess of zeal, descanted on the worst side of the ques­tion only, by attributing to certain things many dangerous qualities, which in fact are owing to a great diversity of circumstances.

This partial method of inquiring into the sources of the evil, is, generally speaking, a serious error; as it not only leads to false conclusions, but also draws our attention from other pressing injuries, to which, in a more [Page 143] dispassionate state of mind, our care might be directed.

Many, and perhaps the greater number, of dietetic writers have fallen into another er­ror of an equally bad tendency. They judge of every thing, according to the agreeable or disagreeable effect it produces on their own palates and constitutions, and hence recom­mend their favourite articles to others; al­though what is salutary in particular cases, may have a pernicious tendency, if prescribed indiscriminately.

The multiplicity of our-wants, all deserving attention in a Dietetic System, has also con­siderably multiplied the rules of health. Of all living beings, indeed, none require such rules more than those, who servilely submit to the arbitrary mandates of luxury and fashion.

Many are the open and secret enemies to the health and prosperity of man. Even the most healthy, and those who rigidly adhere to the rules of Diet and Regimen, cannot al­together evade their attacks. Hence we should make it our study, to acquaint our­selves minutely with every thing, so as to be enabled to judge of its good or bad qualities. Whatever we are obliged to have more im­mediately about and around us, ranks in this class: the arrangement of our dwelling places, beds, clothes, furniture, &c. in the choice of which we are less accustomed to consult what nature requires, or to contrive what may be most likely to promote the welfare of the body, than to follow fashion, vanity, or our own habits.

[Page 144] Some of our organs of sense, and other fa­culties of the body, must unavoidably suffer from inattention to a proper mode of living in general. From the great exertions, to which we often subject them (the eyes, for instance, in reading) they are liable to a vari­ety of accidents, and frequently become de­bilitated and impaired. It appears, therefore, perfectly consistent with the plan of this work, to treat of the management of the eyes, teeth, and other individual parts of the body.

In a complete System of Rules for preserv­ing the health of man, attention must be paid to the separate wants of individual constitu­tions; provided they be not too minute and trivial. Such a system must contain more than what relates to the first and most sim­ple rules of living;—its precepts must not ap­ply to the healthy alone, or those whose life is regulated by the simplicity of nature,—it should also lay down instructions, how, in all contingent circumstances, we may be secured from danger and bodily injuries. It is not, however, proposed to treat of diseases after they have taken place, if the removal of them requires any thing more than a strict adher­ence to temperance, and the other rules laid down in these Lectures.—But to prevent any misapplication of those rules which are estab­lished by the accumulated observations of ages, it may not be improper to introduce here some previous general remarks, relative to the individual use and advantage to be derived from a connected view of Dietetics.

[Page 145] It may be laid down as a preliminary ob­servation, that the rules contained in this work are not to be considered as strictly ap­plicable, in every instance, to the particular situation of any individual, or as essentially necessary to the preservation of his health.—It is not so much the healthy, as the valetu­dinary and infirm, who stand in need of mi­nute precepts for their conduct; and even the latter ought not to engage too solicitous­ly in their compliance with them; since it is only a very limited number that require such accurate attention.

A vigorous and persevering method of in­uring ourselves to the unavoidable difficulties and diversified accidents of life, is of greater importance to the preservation of health, than any dietetical rules whatever. Man is capa­ble of undergoing all the vicissitudes and in­conveniences of air, weather, and climate; he can digest any articles of food, if his stom­ach has not been wantonly indulged; he can sustain the severest bodily exercise and labour, without paying too minute attention to time or regularity, when his employment or duty renders exertion necessary. But he who from his infancy has been treated with extreme tenderness, or who, after having been previ­ously accustomed to a hardy mode of life, is seized with the whim of bestowing too much care on his health, will suffer from the most trivial hardships, and catch cold at every change of the air; every heavy or high-seas­oned dish will be oppressive, and the smallest deviation from the rules of temperance indis­pose [Page 146] him. Yet, by the same rules, every healthy person will learn, that the grand se­cret for preserving himself in that state, con­sists principally in the art of moderating his desires and enjoyments. We may thus ar­rive at the knowledge of such things, as are generally conducive to the welfare of the body; and more than this ought not to be expected. Rules of health, universally applicable to the state of every individual, are not discoverable in nature; nor can they be derived from any experimental knowledge we possess of corpo­real objects.—The best general precept is, that every one study himself, and his own partic­ular constitution; that he choose and regu­late his mode of life accordingly; and that he make his own experience his guide in what­ever he finds most suitable and convenient.

Of Air in general.

AS soon as an infant enters into the world, the air of the atmosphere penetrates into his lungs, filled up till then with aqueous mucus, and renders them fit for the circula­tion of the blood, which immediately com­mences. From that moment the alternate ex­tension and contraction of the breast and lungs, the inspiration and expiration of the air, or in other words, the function of respi­ration, becomes indispensably necessary to the preservation of animal life. While the child remained within its mother, it required no external air. As soon, however, as it has drawn breath, as soon as the lungs are open­ed, the act of respiration begins, is constantly renewed through life, and can never absolute­ly cease, but with death. As, therefore, air is the principal medium by which animal life is supported, it becomes highly import­ant to acquire correct ideas of this refined substance, that pervades all the parts of ani­mate and inanimate matter, and is so essen­tial to man, for the preservation of both his life and health.

Air is that colourless, transparent, compres­sible, heavy, and elastic fluid, which every [Page 148] where surrounds our globe, and which gen­erally receives the name of Atmosphere. ^* This ambient matter, in its common state, is com­bined with a great variety of foreign ingre­dients. It contains water in a state of solu­tion; by means of water it combines with salts; in many places we find it impregnated with sulphur, with putrid exhalations, and the like; nay, frequently we even meet with earthy particles floating in this element.—When all foreign ingredients are separated from it, the subtle aërial body still remains of [Page 149] a compound nature, and is by no means a simple elementary substance, as was formerly believed.

According to the late discoveries in chemis­try, the aërial basis of the atmosphere consists of three different species of air, namely, of pure, respirable, or dephlogisticated air; of azotic, or phlogisticated air; and of fixed, aërial, or carbonic acid air.—The proportion of the first, namely, pure or vital air, consists, accord­ing to the French Chemists, who have given it the name of Oxygen, of 27 or 28 in the hundred parts; the second, viz. the Azote of the French, of 72 or 73 in the hundred; and the third, namely, the Carbonic acid air, of about one part only in the hundred.^*

[Page 150] Oxygen is much better adapted to the respi­ration of animals, than common atmospheric air. If two animals be inclosed in vessels, one of which contains pure oxygen, and the other common atmospheric air, in proportions equal to the size of the animals, the former in the oxygen will be found to live from six to sev­en times longer, than the latter in common air. It is properly this oxygen which we in­spire, and which is the grand support of an­imal life. Persons apparently dead, or in a state of suffocation, have been instantly re­stored to life by its influence, and from the corresponding testimony of several respectable physicians, it appears to have been employed with advantage in many obstinate diseases.—The celebrated INGENHOUZ therefore gave it the name of vital air. It promotes com­bustion in a very high degree. A candle will burn in it from six to seven times longer than in common air, with a much greater degree of heat, and a more brilliant flame. Bodies in a glowing state, are immediately inflamed, when put into oxygen gas; and even metals, which are not very fusible, are melted in it, and converted into oxyds, or calces, with the greatest facility.

[Page 151] Azote, by others called phlogisticated, me­phitic, corrupted, or suffocative air, is abso­lutely irrespirable, and not miscible with wa­ter. It arises from the change which atmos­pherical air undergoes in every process of combustion, putrefaction, and respiration, whether produced by nature or art.

Azote enters into no combination with wa­ter, but may be rendered less hurtful by shak­ing it with that fluid: this accounts in some measure for the salubrity of the sea-air. It greatly promotes the growth of plants, and readily accumulates in apartments filled with people, or containing articles fresh-painted with oil-colours, or in which strongly frag­rant flowers are kept, without having any access of fresh air. We should be extremely cautious in entering such places; as diseases of the breast and lungs are too frequently the consequences of neglect, obstinacy, or igno­rance.

The Carbonic acid of the French is the fixed air of Dr. BLACK, and the Aërial acid of BERG­MAN. This species of air is miscible with wa­ter; but in its pure state equally irrespirable as the Azote. It derives its origin, partly from the vinous fermentation of vegetables, and some animal substances, and partly from the mild alkaline salts and earths combined with acids. Much of this air is found in mines, where it frequently distresses the workmen by its suffocating qualities. It is also observed in most mineral waters, where a stratum of it sometimes swims upon the surface of the well. These waters, as well as fermented liquors [Page 152] which contain a considerable portion of fixed air, receive from it the well known pungency so agreeable to the palate. Hence flat and spoiled beer, or wine, may be corrected and restored to its former briskness, by the addi­tion of fixed air evolved from chalk and vit­riolic acid, or by mixing it with new beer or wine in a state of fermentation.

This species of air quickly extinguishes fire, and strongly attracts the fumes arising from candles. As it is unfit for respiration, ani­mals cannot live in it. The warm-blooded animals die in it much sooner than any other; those of an amphibious kind somewhat later; insects are not irrecoverably killed by it; ir­ritability is suddenly destroyed, and the heart of an animal so deprived of life, though still warm, no longer exhibits any signs of mo­tion.

There is another species of mephitic air, which is not miscible with water, which burns with a flame, and if mixed either with atmos­pheric air, or oxygen gas, instantly catches fire, and is exploded: this has received the name of inflammable air,^* and deserves to be [Page 153] mentioned here, although it cannot be con­sidered as a constituent part of the atmosphere.

With respect to the specific gravity of the different airs before enumerated, it is in this place only necessary to observe, that the heav­iest is the fixed air, or carbonic acid gas; next to this comes the azote and oxygen, both of which are heavier than the common air of the atmosphere; and lastly, hydrogen, or in­flammable gas, which is the lightest of all; for it is even lighter than the purest atmos­pheric air.

When the atmosphere is too much impreg­nated with any of the mephitic gases, its in­fluence on the human body is extremely nox­ious. Thus we see many of the workmen in lead-mines dying in the prime of life, of an obstinate and incurable colic, which is attend­ed with the most painful obstructions.—Paint­ers, glaziers, potters, and manufacturers of glazed carthen ware, are from a similar cause exposed to the same dreadful disease; being obliged to make use of great quantities of lead^* in different forms.

[Page 154] It is almost unnecessary to mention the fre­quent and sudden deaths that have taken place from the explosion of inflammable air in mines, or from the opening of pits, deep wells, and other confined places. Neither is any thing so much calculated to corrupt and poison the air, to fill it with noxious vapours, and to generate diseases, as the burying-grounds established within the walls of populous cities, where human bodies are deposited, as if with an apparent design to produce an atmosphere, which is particularly fatal to the tender lungs of children, and in no small degree hurtful to adults.

As the mass of atmospheric air is incessantly corrupted by the respiration of men and ani­mals, by the burning of so many natural and artificial fires, by the dissolution and putrefac­tion of innumerable substances, and by vari­ous other phlogistic or desoxygenating pro­cesses, it would at length become altogether incompetent for its original designation, if Nature had not provided effectual means for its improvement and restoration. Among the most powerful of these, we may place the growth and vegetation of plants.—For this very important discovery we are indebted to Dr. PRIESTLEY, who was so fortunate as to hit upon it, after he had long employed him­self [Page 155] in fruitless attempts, to improve and re­store corrupted air, by artificial means. He found that air, rendered mortal by the breath­ing of animals which had expired in it, was again so completely restored by the vegetation of plants, that, after the lapse of some days, an animal could live in it with equal ease, and for the same length of time, as in a similar quantity of common atmospheric air.

These experiments, indeed, did not succeed with some Naturalists; and Priestly himself, upon repeating them with different plants, found the results rather varying and doubt­ful: but Dr. INGENHOUZ removed the great­er part of these difficulties, by his book, "Ex­periments upon Vegetables, 8vo. London, 1779." This ingenious philosopher remark­ed, 1st, That most plants have the property of correcting bad air within a few hours, when they are exposed to the light of the sun; but that, on the contrary, during the night, or in the shade, they corrupt the common air of the atmosphere;—2d, That plants, from their own substance, afford a very pure dephlogis­ticated air, or Oxygen, when exposed to the rays of the sun; but a very impure air or Azote at night, or in the shade;—3d, That not all the parts of plants, but only the green stalks of leaves, particularly through the sides opposite to the soil, produce this beneficial ef­fect;—4th, That the disengagement of pure or vital air does not commence until the sun has been some time above the horizon; that it ceases altogether with the termination of day-light; and that the disadvantage arising [Page 156] from the impure exhalation of plants, during the night, is far exceeded by the great advan­tage they afford during the day; insomuch, that the impure air, generated by a plant dur­ing the whole night, scarcely amounts to a hundredth part of the pure vital air or Oxy­gen, exhaled from the same plant in two hours of a serene day.—Thus we discover a most striking phenomenon in the oeconomy of na­ture; since the vegetation of plants continu­ally counteracts the noxious effects of respira­tion, combustion, and putrefaction.^* In this manner, the atmosphere is constantly preserv­ed in that necessary state of purity and tem­perature, which is the most salutary both to animals and vegetables.

We have learnt the effects produced on the human body by the atmosphere and the changes of the weather, partly from observations made by ourselves and others, and partly from their influence on inanimate matter, by which we can judge in some measure of its analogous effects on the human frame; but we should not thence conclude that our knowledge, in this respect, is either complete or infallible. Ob­servations may frequently deceive us, since the [Page 157] human body, besides the weather, is incessant­ly exposed to the effects of other external agents, which may easily elude our attention. Further, the atmosphere surrounding us, be­sides the properties cognizable by our senses, or discoverable by the assistance of particular instruments, may also be impregnated with substances which have hitherto escaped our researches, and which nevertheless may have the power to effect important changes. Last­ly, we ought not to consider the arguments deduced from analogy as strictly conclusive; we should remember, that the effects of ex­ternal objects on the living animal fibre are, in many instances, totally different from those which they produce on lifeless or inanimate bodies.

Recommending these general remarks to the consideration of the reader, I proceed to consider those particular and positive effects, which the different states of the atmosphere produce on our frame, and in what manner they influence our health.

Warm air relaxes the solid parts of the body, and occasions a stronger circulation of the flu­ids. Heat is chiefly oppressive to the Nerves; hence the tender and infirm suffer severely in hot weather; hence arise hysteric and hypo­chondriac complaints, convulsions, and diar­rhoeas. Cold renders bodies more compact, particularly the solid parts of the animal struc­ture, such as the muscles, nerves, bones, &c. They become more elastic in winter; the ap­petite for food is stronger, and digestion easier and quicker. On the contrary, the resistance [Page 158] of the fluid parts becomes so great, that even the increased powers of the solids cannot over-come it, if the cold be too violent. In winter the blood is much disposed to inflammations; hence stitches in the side, inflammatory sore throats, rheumatisms, &c. In persons who take little exercise, the fluids are apt to stag­nate, and the solids to chill during the win­ter;—upon the whole, however, the effects of cold weather may be rendered less hurtful, and even salutary to the body, if proper ex­ercise be not neglected.

Damp or moist air suddenly relaxes and de­bilitates; it occasions a slowness in the cir­culation of the fluids, which gives rise to ob­structions, and impedes both the circulation of the blood and the secretion of humours, by checking insensible perspiration. If the moisture of the air increases, we experience an unaccountable torpor and ennui; with the loss of energy we lose our gaiety, and the mind is depressed with the body. Damp places and districts are always unwholesome, but more particularly so in cold weather. Mois­ture, by diminishing perspiration, produces disorders of the throat, the breast, and the abdomen. But the most dangerous and fatal effects on the human body have been observ­ed to arise from moist air accompanied with hot weather; for, when moisture has impair­ed our energy, heat increases the evil in a great degree, by opening the pores through which the moisture penetrates into the body, and predisposing every part of it to putrefac­tion and dissolution. This accounts for the [Page 159] great mortality prevalent during the hot sea­son at Batavia, and some of the West India islands.

Dry and cool air, from possessing a due de­gree of elasticity, promotes in an extraordi­nary degree the serenity and alertness of mind and body; hence it is found uncommonly salubrious to hypochondriacs. But a dry and very cold air generates inflammatory diseases; because it inspissates the blood. Dry and hot air affects us like heat, and enervates the body. But a dry air, which is not too warm, is both agreeable and healthy.

Great and sudden changes from a warm to a cold, or from a light to a heavy air, are high­ly injurious to valetudinarians, and even to the healthy. Soldiers in camp, and, some­times, travellers, feel very severely the bad effects of cold and moist night air, after long marches and journeys. Weakly and infirm persons have frequently ominous sensations, previous to any remarkable change of the air.

A moderately heavy and elastic air is the most agreeable and salutary to the human bo­dy; hence nature has not assigned us our con­stant residence on the summits of mountains. Yet a light and rarefied air, such as is felt on the highest mountains, is not so unfit for res­piration, nor does it manifest so noxious an influence on the human body, as was formerly believed. The latest travellers assure us of the contrary, and speak in decisive terms of the salutary effects of the air, during a short stay in those elevated regions.

[Page 160] Among the different WINDS—which are nothing else but strong commotions of the air—the long continued North wind is compara­tively the most wholesome; it purifies the at­mosphere of noxious vapours, renders the air serene and dry, and thus imparts to the hu­man body elasticity, vigour, activity, and a lively colour. It is, however, troublesome to persons of delicate habits, and occasions in them coughs, inflammation of the throat, pains in the side, obstructions, and febrile dis­eases. The South wind weakens and relaxes the body, and is very apt to produce catarrhal affections. The Morning wind is very drying; but Evening winds are cool and moist, being frequently accompanied with rain and change­able weather. All these winds differ materi­ally in their qualities, from local circumstan­ces, and accordingly as they blow over a Con­tinent, over the Ocean, or over high moun­tains and icy regions, from which they carry along with them more or less [...] cold and hu­mid particles. But upon the whole, too dry weather is always more healthy, than that which is too moist.

Of the four SEASONS of the year, the Au­tumn is the most unhealthy; because then the particles of perspiration not only remain on the body, but are in a state inclining to pu­trefaction. This disadvantage, however, may be easily obviated by guarding ourselves with proper dress and choosing a suitable diet. Too light a dress, and too thin stockings, are not advisable at this season. The Spring sea­son is, in general, the most healthy. Spring, [Page 161] and the beginning of Summer, are most saluta­ry to children and young persons; while the Summer, and the beginning of Autumn, agree best with the aged. The latter end of Au­tumn, and the beginning of Winter, are com­monly the most healthy seasons to persons of a middle age.

It has been remarked by medical men, that certain diseases appear and disappear accord­ing to the different seasons. Thus, putrid and bilious disorders prevail in Summer; in­flammatory diseases in Winter, and the ca­tarrhal, mucous, and gastric or stomachic af­fections, in Spring and Autumn. It has been further observed, that in Spring the blood usually circulates more freely; hence proba­bly arose the ancient practice of blood-letting, and taking laxatives at certain regular peri­ods; both of which I have already pointed out, in the preceding Chapter, as dangerous in their tendency, and always hurtful to the healthy.

As the vegetable kingdom is renewed in Spring, and as vegetation, in general, is most lively in that season, there can be little doubt, that the pure vital air is then most copiously evolved, by means of the solar light and heat. Hence it follows, that the vernal air is more wholesome than that of Autumn, which is saturated with corrupted and putrifying par­ticles. Still the cold of Autumn, and the frequent winds then prevalent, prove ex­tremely efficacious in counteracting the bane­ful effects of corruption and putrefaction.

[Page 162] If the temperature of the air correspond with the natural constitution of the season, we may expect what is called a healthy year, and that the prevalent diseases will be of a mild nature; but if the weather does not agree with the general laws of the season; if, for instance, the Winter prove warm, or at least moderate, or the Spring cold and severe, with sudden alternations of heat, we may ex­pect to find the year pretty generally marked with serious and obstinate diseases.

The temperature of the air depends not a little on the natural situation of the country, whether it lie high or low; whether its moun­tains oppose or give a free passage to the winds; whether it contains flowing or stagnant wa­ters or morasses, and whether it is open or covered with woods.—Country air, upon the whole, is always purer than that of towns, narrow streets, and crowded buildings.

All strongly-scented bodies are more or less pernicious; as well those of a disagreeable smell, as the greater number of fragrant per­fumes. The latter, if too strong, are more particularly dangerous, as a sense of disgust does not naturally incline us to avoid them. Among these may be comprehended all veg­etable odours strongly volatile and pungent, and which thereby stimulate and stupify the nerves. Hence people, who carry large nose­gays in the hot days of summer, are apt to feel themselves variously and strongly affected, particularly with drowsiness. From this ap­parently innocent cause, head-achs, vertigoes, fainting-sits, and apoplexies have frequently [Page 163] been produced in persons of a plethoric habit. These, as well as people of a delicate constitu­tion, are liable to such affections, from the fragrance of many balsamic plants, but par­ticularly from the strong scent of lilies, roses, pinks, the blossoms of oranges, hyacinths, and the like.—Many flowers emit a more power­ful fragrance in the night than in the day-time, and the effluvia of several trees and other vegetable bodies are peculiarly dangerous, and sometimes mortal. Of this nature are the walnut and yew trees, under whose shades persons have actually died, who had fallen asleep; and likewise the deadly Upas of Suri­nam, and the no less poisonous Manchineel tree of the West Indies.

Aromatics of every kind taint the air in a similar manner, introducing into the human body particles foreign to its nature, all exciting more or less an inclination to sleep. Saffron and hops have sometimes proved fatal; the former in particular has often produced a sleep terminating in death, in those incautious indi­viduals, who had lain down in the ware-houses or upon the bags, in which it was packed. Ambergris and musk are also, on account of their powerful fragrance, very hurtful to per­sons of an irritable and nervous temperament.

Dwellings in the vicinity of lakes, fens, and marshes, are exposed to all the noxious effects of a moist atmosphere, namely, to the various species of intermittent fevers or agues;—on the other hand, it has been observed, that persons living on the banks of rivers, though at times subject to these, are not very liable to [Page 164] other diseases, and that running water has a tendency to purify the air, when it is saturated with inflammable particles.

Too sudden a transition from warm to cold air, or the reverse, is pernicious; but to ex­change, however suddenly, an unhealthy at­mosphere for a healthier, is at all times safe and highly advisable. Numberless instances have proved, that such as were constantly in­disposed in the corrupted air of a town very quickly recovered their health, on removing to the purer atmosphere of the country. Yet the question, Which air is the most wholesome to live in? will admit only of a conditional an­swer. We must attend not only to the par­ticular constitution of the air, but also to the nature and habits of the individual. Neither should we too hastily pronounce every air unwholesome, that does not appear to agree [...]with us. The air of every climate, whether hot, cold, or temperate, may be called healthy, provided it be pure and clear, and occasionally agitated by wind: but a gross atmosphere, and one loaded with animal or vegetable ex­halations, is certainly deleterious. After all, perhaps the longevity of the inhabitants may be considered as the best evidence of a healthy district. Thus we find uncommonly long-lived persons in high countries, or such as are visited by frequent winds, and also in small sea-port towns. In villages and places thinly inhabited, the proportion of aged people is considerably greater than in cities or populous towns. This may be ascribed partly to a less degree of corruption in the air, and partly to [Page 165] a more simple mode of life prevailing in such places: for wealth and riches, the concomi­tant effects of which are greater luxury and extravagance in living, usually keep pace with the increase of population; and if the numer­ous chimney-fires of our populous cities did not serve as so many well-contrived machines for rarefying the atmosphere, incalculable mischiefs must inevitably ensue.

Of the Improvement of Air in Dwelling-Houses.

A HOUSE built on a rising ground, on a healthy soil, in an open, dry country, and neither exposed to the greatest degree of cold in winter, nor to the highest point of heat in summer, may be said to stand in a healthy sit­uation. Hence those apartments are the most healthful as well as comfortable to the indi­vidual, which enjoy a pure and free circula­tion of air in summer, and the cheering rays of the sun in winter: the heat of summer be­ing considerably tempered by the former, and the severity of winter much abated by the latter. Farther, a proper size and height are requisite to constitute a healthful apartment; for low rooms are detrimental to health, par­ticularly when inhabited by large families, and seldom aired, or rather, which is fre­quently the case, when all air is carefully ex­cluded by close doors, shutters, curtains, &c. The most proper place of residence in winter is one with a southern aspect, not only as be­ing [Page 166] more dry, but also more cheerful, and therefore attended with a favourable influence on the spirits. In summer, the situation of a room may be chosen either to the North or to the East, the latter of which is preferable, because it admits the first enlivening rays of the Sun.

Although it is not in every person's power to choose his habitation agreeably to the laws of health; yet this choice of a pure and healthy air is not sufficiently attended to, and it cer­tainly deserves as much consideration in pur­chasing an estate or country-house as the qual­ity of the soil or other lucrative advantages.

The local constitution of the air depends not merely on the exhalations of the soil itself, but likewise on the different vapours, con­ducted to and blended with it by the winds, from adjoining places. Thus in a dry and sandy country, considered of itself as healthy, the air may be rendered extremely unwhole­some from the vicinity of marshes or other stagnant waters.

The better to judge of the salubrity of the air in any district, we should examine the properties of the wells and springs; for both air and water absorb the saline and mineral particles of the soil. We may pretty certainly conclude, that a country producing good wa­ter, enjoys likewise a salubrious air; and as the best water is tasteless, so the purest air is free from any smell whatever.

The most certain marks, by which to dis­tinguish whether the air in rooms be damp or not, are the following: the walls or tapes­try [Page 167] change their colour; bread in closets ac­quires a mouldy surface; spunges in the rooms retain their moisture; loaf-sugar turns soft; iron rusts; brass and copper acquire a green colour, or verdigris; and wooden fur­niture moulders and crumbles to pieces.

The sitting-room ought, if possible, to be above the ground floor, or in the second story; it should be so constructed as to admit a free current of air; but if this cannot be done, it should be frequently aired by opening the windows in dry weather, or by fumigating the room, either with vinegar dropped upon warm stones, or evaporated in a bason over a lamp, or with sugar, juniper-berries, and the like.

Every room is filled with three different strata of air: 1. The lower part of the room contains the heaviest species of air, namely, fixed or carbonic acid gas, particularly in apartments situated on the ground-floor, or even under ground; 2. The middle part of the room is filled with the lighter atmospheric air; and 3. The uppermost stratum contains the lightest or inflammable air, the most cor­rupted of the three, in consequence of the processes it has undergone by respiration and combustion. In lofty apartments this con­taminated species of air is not inspired by the lungs; because the middle stratum, or the most wholesome of the three, extends to a height above that of a man.

A continual change of the air, by opening the doors and occasionally the windows, how­ever advisable, is yet not sufficient to preserve [Page 168] a healthy atmosphere in an apartment. For this important purpose the following improve­ments may be suggested as useful: 1st, Small apertures in the ceiling of the room, or through the walls close to the ceiling, in an oblique direction, so that the rain and snow cannot penetrate into it; 2d, Ventilators, that is, small moveable wheels made of brass or sheet-iron, which are applied to some part of the window-panes, and set in motion by the pressure of the external air. This is an ex­cellent contrivance to introduce fresh atmos­pheric air into a room, by occasionally open­ing and shutting the door. The most proper height for placing these ventilators is about seven feet from the floor; 3d, Air-tubes run­ning in a straight direction from the door to the fire-place, or rather to the wall of the chimney, and concealed under the floor of the room. As such tubes, however, are very expensive, and appear better calculated to con­vey the smoke up the chimney, after all means have been tried in vain, than to conduct the corrupted air from the upper part of a room, I shall mention a better and much easier me­thod of effecting this purpose. It is a late discovery of a physician in France, who con­trived it with a view to save the great expense of ventilating or airing large wards in hospit­als, filled with patients who laboured under putrid distempers, particularly in the heat of summer. He caused a number of small holes to be made in the uppermost part of the win­dow-frames; into these holes he placed from without an equal number of funnels, present­ing [Page 169] an aperture of nine or twelve inches di­ameter, and terminating in the inside almost in a point, or at least in an opening not ex­ceeding the size of a small quill. By means of these simple machines, the air in the sick rooms was so effectually renewed, by the great and constant pressure of atmospheric air from without, that any other artificial process for correcting the putrid air in a large hospital was judged to be unnecessary.

Above all things, the windows and doors of sitting and bed-rooms, when it can be done conveniently, ought to be left open for a cer­tain space of time, every day. This, howev­er, requires to be done at the proper time, neither too early in the morning, nor when it grows dark in the evening, during the ver­nal and autumnal months; nor at the time when the horizon is overspread with a thick fog. The windows should be opened, when the air is pure and serene; or, in general, when there is less danger to be apprehended from the external air than from that within. Sometimes it may be proper to make use of what is called pumping the room, or moving the door backward and forward for some minutes together; but in spring and autumn, our sitting-rooms, and even in winter, bed-rooms, ought to be perflated every clear day, by currents of fresh air, for a considerable time.

In the hot days of summer, the windows may be opened early in the morning and in the evening, in order to cool and refresh the heated air of the room by that from without. [Page 170] It is however not safe (and has sometimes proved fatal) to leave the windows of a bed-room open at night during the summer-months, as there is no small hazard of check­ing perspiration by the cool night-air; the susceptibility of the pores being then very much increased by the heat of the day, and the warmth of the bed. Rooms which we inhabit in the day-time may be safely left open during the night. In summer-houses, or such as are surrounded with plants and trees, it will be proper not to open the windows of bed or other rooms, till some time after sun-rise, and to shut them at sun-set; they require also to be opened and shut sooner in hazy than in serene weather.

The airing of apartments should not be ne­glected even in winter, as coal-fires alone are not sufficient to carry off the corrupted parti­cles of air, unless they be assisted by ventila­tors.—Here I must oppose and contradict a prevailing, yet mistaken notion, that fire in a room where the windows are open, introdu­ces moist air. On the contrary, the most proper time for opening the windows is after lighting up a brisk fire; as the warmer air of the room will then be powerfully attracted by the colder atmospheric air, and the cor­rupt particles of the air within most speedily dissipated.

In moist and cold air, the dress should be somewhat warmer than usual: Flannel may then be worn with double advantage next the skin, and the rooms we inhabit should be warmed, or at least fumigated, with the ber­ries [Page 171] of Juniper or similar shrubs. Fumigation is likewise attended with this advantage, that it contributes to dry and in some degree to warm the air.

In moist and warm air the explosion of a lit­tle gunpowder will be of use, or vinegar may be evaporated with greater safety, and the floor and walls sprinkled over with this ex­cellent antiseptic.

Hot and dry air may be tempered by pla­cing vessels filled with cold water in different parts of a room; or, as is often practised in hot climates, by sprinkling water over the floor. The greater or less degree of corrup­tion of the air, in an apartment, depends very much on the kind of labour or exercise per­formed in it: Six watchmakers will not cor­rupt the air nearly so much as two carpenters would do in the same space and time; hence appears the necessity of appropriating lofty rooms instead of low garrets, for the work­shops of mechanics.

Green plants and flowers placed before the windows are both an agreeable and useful or­nament, if not of too strong a fragrance. In serene weather, it may be expedient to strew fresh plants (not flowers) in a dwelling-room, exposed to the rays of the sun, taking care, however, to remove them as soon as the sun withdraws. This method of exposing plants, or even the branches of trees with green leaves, in apartments, may have a beneficial influence on valetudinarians, and particularly on asthmatic persons, as vital air, or oxygen is [Page 172] thereby generated, and introduced very grad­ually into the lungs.

Large trees with thick foliage should not be placed very near the windows of a house; for, besides that they obstruct the access of day-light and fresh air, and have thus a ten­dency to make the rooms damp, their exha­lations in the evening, and during the night, are by no means wholesome. Trees planted at the distance of eight or ten yards from the house, do not prevent the free access of air; they present an agreeable object to the eye, and cannot be too much recommended, both on account of their cooling shade in summer, and the salutary exhalations they emit during the day.

It has been already mentioned, that the burning of candles corrupts the air; for which reason the custom of illuminating assembly or other large rooms, with a superfluous number of candles, must be very detrimental. This extravagance becomes still more dangerous in places where, beside the crowd of people, great quantities of provisions, dressed with the rich­est spices of the East and West, contribute to saturate the air with the most heterogeneous particles. And as persons of tender lungs must suffer extremely in such an atmosphere, it would be proper to provide all public rooms with a competent number of conic ventilators, of the description before mentioned.

Strictly speaking, we ought not to sit in the room where we dine, or take victuals, until it be aired again: those who can afford this luxury, should be careful not to stay for hours [Page 173] together over their bottle in the dining-room: the bad effects of such contaminated air are not perceived by the persons continuing their libations after dinner, but are very sensibly felt by any one coming in from the fresh air.

It is no less unhealthy to sleep in a room where a quantity of green fruit is kept, a cir­cumstance not attended to in country places, particularly by those who deal in fruit. From its fragrance a portion of inflammable matter exhales, which soon impregnates the air. Hence females of delicate habits have been known to faint, in approaching places where a few quinces were kept. For the same rea­son, store-rooms and pantries are extremely unwholesome, if provisions of all kinds, ani­mal as well as vegetable, be kept in them; es­pecially oil, candles, fat, flesh meat, whether raw, boiled, or roasted, pastry, and the like.

As foul linen readily imbibes the perspira­ble matter of the skin, it should never be suf­fered to remain any time in a bed-room, or sitting-room.

If possible, we should not sit through the day in a room in which we have slept; as the bed-clothes, and particularly feather beds, very slowly part with the exhalations they have imbibed during the night, neither is it suffi­cient for purifying the air of the room, that it has been ever so well aired in the morning.

The vapour of charcoal produces, particu­larly in close apartments, dangerous and fre­quently fatal effects. It fills the atmosphere with sulphuric particles which may be inspir­ed, but cannot be expired:—they retard the [Page 174] motion of the blood-vessels, stagnate the blood itself, penetrate into the head, and produce an acute pain, vertigo, and torpor. Hence the greatest precaution is necessary, where char­coal is used, as innumerable fatal accidents have happened from this source. Dyers, who employ it for drying their cloth upon frames, seldom fail to experience great injury to their health.

All employments, in which persons work among impure wool, oil, colours, and the like, are to a certain degree detrimental to health. Washing, ironing, dressing the hair with greasy curling-irons, burning lamp oil, fre­quent painting of the walls, all saturate the air of a room with pernicious damp and sul­phuric vapours. From the change, which oil and candles in a state of combustion pro­duce in the colour of a white wall and white curtains, we may infer, that this fetid steam must also penetrate into the human body, and if so, must materially affect it.

It farther deserves to be remarked, that all damp vapours are prejudicial, although they should not in themselves have a tendency to corrupt the air. Hence the keeping of wet linen, or even wet clothes, umbrellas, and the like, in dwelling-rooms, should by all means be avoided. Mechanics and others, who are obliged to dry wet things in their strongly heated apartments—joiners, turners, potters, bookbinders, &c. are particularly liable to swellings, and other disagreeable affections in the relaxed vessels of absorption.

Of Heat and Cold.

As observation and experience inform us, that immoderate heat relaxes the body, over­heats the blood, and exsiccates or consumes the other fluids; and that the people who live in temperate regions are more hardy and vigorous, and attain to a greater age, than the inhabitants of warmer climates; it fol­lows from these premises, that we ought not to enervate the human body by keeping it immoderately warm, by dressing it with a su­perfluity of clothes, by plunging it unneces­sarily into hot baths, by using too strong fires in temperate weather, or least of all, by sleep­ing in warm rooms, and perhaps on the most heating of all substances, feather beds. The temperature of a sitting-room should not ex­ceed 60° of Fahrenheit's thermometer; that of a bed-room may be about 50°, as the me­dium temperature of our climate is between 50 and 55°.

Although man is, no doubt, capable of in­uring himself to a very great degree of heat as well as of cold, yet sudden changes can be supported only by the few who possess very hardened constitutions. The gradual changes of the seasons prepare us in the safest manner to sustain all the alternations of cold and hot weather. It is therefore an error, and of no small consequence, in the modern system of education, that we generally endeavour to habituate our children to the support of cold weather only. Persons who cannot bear the heat of the sun, or strongly heated rooms, are, [Page 176] from their excessive delicacy, frequently ex­posed to the most violent, nay to mortal acci­dents. Hence children ought to be slowly and gradually accustomed to these inconve­niencies, which indeed occur frequently, and are more dangerous than those arising from sudden transitions to a colder temperature: for the effects of the latter may, in a great measure, be obviated by exercise and muscu­lar action.

In the sultry days of summer, we should be particularly on our guard against violently overheating the body;—in autumn, we should not dress too lightly, and in the mornings and evenings always somewhat warmer;—in short, we ought to avoid every thing that appears likely to check and repel perspiration. The baneful custom of accommodating our dress to the almanack and the fashion, rather than to the vicissitudes of the weather, in this inconstant climate, must necessarily be pro­ductive of many disagreeable consequences. Above all things, we ought to change our summer-dress pretty early in autumn, and to clothe ourselves gradually warmer, according to the variations of the weather. Yet after all, perhaps it would be most advisable to ac­custom ourselves to one kind of dress only for all seasons. The propriety of this custom I shall more particularly consider in the fourth Chapter.

With respect to the proper time for heat­ing rooms in autumn, it has been supposed, that early fires are unwholesome and produc­tive of frequent catarrhs. This assertion is [Page 177] certainly ill founded; for in warming a room, as well as in clothing the body, we should not so much be regulated by the particular time of the year, as the state of the weather, and the degrees of actual heat and cold: in at­tending to this circumstance, we cannot easily mistake. If, in the temperate days of autumn, the room should feel colder than the external air, it is time to make a moderate fire: in damp and cold weather this is an useful pre­caution, even in summer. Those who from caprice, parsimony, or prejudice, would rather shiver on some weeks longer, than consult their sensations, often feel the consequence of a violent cold. The Dutch and German stoves certainly afford more uniform heat in a room, though they might not be considered cheerful enough for an English company.

As we can neither breathe nor live without fresh air, we ought not to withdraw our bod­ies too much from the bracing effects of cold. In this respect, we should act conformably to nature, that is, in the same degree as the warmer weather changes to a colder state, we should gradually expose ourselves to the various changes of temperature. The cold will then neither feel unpleasant, nor impede the necessary perspiration; especially if we oppose it with vigour and bodily exercise. We ought also to take more solid sustenance in winter than in summer; because, by the longer continued motion or digestive process of the stomach, the circulation of the blood is accelerated, from which the natural heat of the body is produced. Nature herself dictates [Page 178] a compliance with this precept, as she has pro­vided us with more substantial articles of food during the former season than the latter.

Lastly, as every sudden change of the weath­er from heat to cold, and the reverse, is preju­dicial to the body, we ought to guard against every circumstance by which perspiration may be suddenly checked. Hence we never should remove from a strongly heated apartment in­to a fresh and cold air, unless we are provided with a warmer dress;—in hot days, or after violent exercise, we should not frequent vaults, cellars, or ice-houses, undress immediately af­ter overheating the body, nor take rest upon a damp soil or upon stones, nor bathe in cold water. Such transgressions have often been punished with instant death, or, what is still worse, have brought on a painful and linger­ing species of consumption, which has hither­to baffled the united efforts of the Faculty, and which annually makes dreadful havoc among people of a middle age.^* It is devout­ly to be wished, that the experiments, now [Page 179] pursued with factitious airs or gases, and with the fox-glove, may afford some remedy against this formidable destroyer of the human spe­cies, which cuts off incredible numbers in the bloom of life, and spares neither age, rank, nor sex. And, as there is so much reason to believe, that a great proportion of consump­tive cases originate from the sudden transi­tions above mentioned, no language can be strong enough to deprecate practices, as inju­dicious as they are destructive.

Of Cleanliness in general.

THIS domestic virtue ought to extend its influence to every object connected with the human frame; to the preparation and consumption of food and drink; to dress, habitation, household furniture, and all our physical wants; in a word, cleanliness should not be confined merely to the interior do­mestic economy; it claims our attention in every place which we occupy, and wherein we breathe.

Let our clothes, linen, beds, covers, blank­ets and sheets, be clean and dry; as all these substances absorb perspirable matter, and check the process of perspiration. Articles of dress which are soiled, and come into contact with the skin, being placed immediately over the pores, reimbibe the humours already per­spired, and return them to the body by the absorbents. Dirty linen will never attract the useless or noxious matter, which is secreted from the blood, and ejected from the body; it remains on the pores of the skin, and is ei­ther again absorbed by the vessels, or clogs those emunctories which require always to be kept open. For a similar reason, it is highly [Page 181] improper and dangerous to wear the clothes of sick persons, especially in contagious dis­tempers.

Let the body, and particularly the joints, be frequently washed with pure water, espe­cially in summer, when the perspirable mat­ter, being of an unctuous, clammy nature, obstructs the excretion by the pores. The face, neck and hands, being most exposed to the air, dust, and the like, ought to be daily washed, both morning and evening. Atten­tion should also be paid to the ears, by clean­ing them occasionally; so that the sense of hearing may not be impaired by an accumu­lation of wax, which from its acrid nature may prove unpleasant as well as injurious. The whole head ought to be frequently wash­ed and cleaned, even though no hair-powder be used; as it perspires very much, and is be­sides exposed to dust and other particles in the atmosphere. Washing opens the pores, while the comb, by its close application to the skin, dissolves the viscid humours, and ren­ders them fluid.

The mouth should be rinsed every morn­ing, after dinner, and at night, with cold wa­ter, but in winter the chill should be taken off. The frequent washing of the mouth is otherwise necessary, because the viscid slime, and small particles of food which settle about the interstices of the teeth, are very apt to putrify, and, if not removed, will infect the breath, and gradually injure the teeth them­selves. Besides, this slime settles on the tongue, [Page 182] covers the papillae by which food is tasted, and renders the palate less sensible.

It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the nose also should not be overlooked, as by neg­lecting to remove the secreted moisture in due time, the effects may become troublesome and detrimental to the organs of smell. In chil­dren, the nose ought to be occasionally wash­ed; it having been found that the unpleasant smell, peculiar to some infants, is owing to the habitual neglect of cleaning that organ.

The tongue should be cleaned every morn­ing, either with a small piece of whalebone, or with a sage leaf. This leaf is likewise use­ful for polishing the teeth. To clean the throat, we should gargle it with fresh water, and swallow a mouthful of water every morn­ing—the latter, however, must not be at­tempted too hastily▪ but, when we once ac­custom ourselves to the practice, we shall find it attended with advantage.

It is necessary, particularly in hot weather, to wash the feet frequently; as they perspire much, and are more exposed to dust than any other part of the body. The water should be warm, but not too much so, because hot water thus used relaxes the fibres, drives the blood upwards, and occasions head-achs. The proper degree of heat for young persons to wash in, between 96 and 98° of Fahrenheit, and for the aged between 98 and 100°, or somewhat more than milk-warm.

The removing of the beard and nails is no insignificant matter in the care of health, By shaving, we promote perspiration. Long [Page 183] nails, especially as they were in fashion some years ago, disfigure the hands, and prevent the feet from expanding properly: but the nails ought not to be cut too close, otherwise the toes will be obstructed in their pressure on the ground, and the fingers in feeling. They may also be easily wounded; and wounds under the nails are generally attended with disagreeable consequences, on account of the many nerves running in that direction. Too long nails on the toes are apt to grow into the flesh, to become an obstacle in walking, and sometimes to occasion considerable pain.

In the vessels used for preparing food and drink, we ought likewise to pay proper atten­tion to cleanliness. Every particle of filth in­troduced into the stomach may prove hurtful to it, to the tender intestines, to the blood, and consequently to the whole body. For the same reason, it is not only indelicate, but also unwholesome, to dine or take any food in places where an offensive smell prevails.

On the management of the Teeth.

THE principal requisite for the preservation of the teeth is, never to retire to rest without having cleaned them: for this prevents the viscous matter of food, collected during the day, from corrupting them in the night. The tooth-ach, now so common, is frequently ow­ing to a hollow state of the teeth, but still more frequently originates in a want of clean­liness. [Page 184] The cleaning of the teeth, however, requires precaution. What is called the Tar­tar of the Teeth, is of a corrosive nature, and should be removed with the greatest care. The manner in which most Dentists treat the teeth, as well as their powders, tinctures, and other dentifrices, although highly puffed off and strongly recommended, are obviously pernicious. They deprive the teeth of their enamel, make them loose, and spoil the gums. The various dentifrices, whether Royal or Im­perial, advertised in the public papers, are at least of doubtful, if not injurious effect. It is an astonishing instance of credulity and infat­uation, that people will take external and in­ternal medicines upon trust, when they would hesitate to take any food, with which they are unacquainted.

If there be too much tartar, so that it ad­heres like a cement between two teeth, its be­ing incautiously removed will deprive the teeth of the tartarous cohesion, and conse­quently of their support; thus, from the constant contact of the tongue, lips and food, they will be shaken and loosened. The same will happen, should the tartar be allowed to eat away the gum from the root of the tooth. If in this case the foundation of the tooth be injured, it will necessarily be rendered loose, the gums being no longer able to retain a tooth, which is deprived of its intermedi­ate cement.

The tartar therefore must not be broken, all at once, with iron or glass instruments; but may be gradually scraped away with a [Page 185] blunt or broad cut quill, or some similar sub­stance, from which the enamel of the teeth can suffer no injury. Most kinds of dissolvent drops, especially those sold as specifics for whitening the teeth, are made up of vitriolic acid, diluted with some distilled waters—They are of no service, but, on the contrary, remove the enamel with the tartar, and thus spoil the teeth for ever. The common tooth-brushes are liable to the same objection.

To prevent the tartar from settling on the teeth, they ought to be kept clean, by wash­ing them every morning and evening. Cer­tain articles of food and drink should likewise be mentioned, as having a tendency to pro­duce and accumulate the tartar—such are all viscous and saline substances, as salted and smoked meat, cheese, roasted eggs, the flesh of tame and wild animals kept too long for the sake of making it more tender and pala­table, truffles, and all species of mushrooms; beans, peas, chesnuts, vinegar, tart wines, and all kinds of acid fruit.

An expedient equally safe and effectual, for removing the tartar, is, to cover the teeth with a fine powder of Gum Tragacanth, or with soft wax, and by that means to extract the tartar at once, together with this adhe­sive covering.

Although it does not enter into the plan of these Lectures to treat of the various diseases to which the teeth are subject, or to describe the different methods pursued in curing them, yet I judge it necessary to point out some of the most simple and approved remedies in that [Page 186] very painful affection, the tooth-ach. If the complaint proceed from a hollow and carious tooth, some soft extract of the Peruvian Bark may be placed in the cavity of the tooth; if this should not remove the pain, a few drops of Cajeput oil upon cotton may be applied to the hollow tooth, or rubbed externally upon the painful side of the cheek. THUNBERG, the Swedish Traveller, introduced the use of Cajeput oil into Europe, having often wit­nessed its powerful and almost instantaneous effects in the East Indies, where it is the last and only comfort of gouty and rheumatic sufferers.

Dr. Richter, an eminent Physician of Göt­tingen, informs us that he has frequently re­lieved the most violent tooth-ach, by applying externally the essence of pimpinella, or Burnet-saxifrage, with an equal quantity of lauda­num, adding to it a drop or two of the essen­tial oil of cloves. Though external remedies are not likely to effect a radical cure of this malady, yet in urgent cases they may be safe­ly resorted to, especially if applied so as not to injure the skin of the face; for they will often produce a temporary relief. If, how­ever, the tooth-ach proceed from no local cause; if, for instance, it be owing to a corrupted stomach, to catarrhal, rheumatic, hysteric, venereal, or other affections; all the specifics ever discovered cannot remove the pain, until the cause also be, wholly or in part, removed. In my own practice, I have found the oil of Savin, or Juniper oil, preferable to laudanum, in its effects on a hollow tooth; the latter is at best an uncertain remedy.

[Page 187] In scorbutic affections of the teeth and gums, a vegetable diet, consisting chiefly of ripe fruit, and mucilaginous vegetables, will be found the best corrective. Beside these, a fine powder, made of three parts of double-re [...]ined sugar, and one part of burnt alum, may be employed with advantage for the pur­pose of rubbing them. Sugar is an excellent antiseptic; and IMBERT DE LONNES, a French Physician, reports, that a whole ship's com­pany was once cured of an alarming scurvy, by living for some time, from necessity, upon sugar alone. We should also consider the connexion subsisting between the teeth and the stomach; if the former be unequal to the purposes of mastication, the digestive powers will be gradually impaired, and the soundest stomach corrupted. To neglect the teeth, therefore, is to neglect the stomach; and if the stomach be weakened, the whole mass of the fluids, and particularly the blood, will ul­timately be tainted with crude, unassimilated, and acrimonious humours.

To dissolve and wash away the superfluous, slimy, and unctuous matters which produce the tartar, fresh water is sufficient; or it may be rendered a little more acrid by the admix­ture of a small quantity of common salt. Acids and alkalies, so frequently employed as dentifrices, are of too corrosive a nature; and alkalies in particular injure the gums, perhaps the teeth themselves, while acids deprive them of their enamel, and thus occasion a speedy external corruption and inevitable gangrene within.

[Page 188] The most simple dentifrice is a crust of bread hard toasted, and reduced to a fine powder. This is fully calculated to absorb the viscid, oleaginous particles, and to remove the stony or tartarous matter. The bread, how­ever, should not be toasted too black, as in that case it would evolve an acrid alkaline salt, which might prove hurtful. A still better dentifrice is a moderately fine powder of the Peruvian Bark, particularly of the genuine red species, which strengthens the gums, without inflaming them.

In cleaning the teeth we ought not to make use of brushes or sponges, but of the finger, which being provided with the finest papillary vessels, is a much better and more proper in­strument, and precludes the necessity of re­sorting to artificial means. Besides, the fin­ger has the advantage of being soft and plia­ble, and of feeling any immoderate pressure too sensibly, to permit us to do injury to the teeth or gums:—hence, it is an ill-judged delicacy alone which can prevent us from making use of it, preferably to even the best tooth-brushes.

For cleaning the interstices between the teeth, we should not employ pins or needles, whether made of gold, silver, or steel; for all metallic substances are apt to canker the teeth. If toothpicks be at all advisable, they should be made of soft wood, or quills cut in a blunt point. In my own opinion, none should be used; for, of whatever materials they are made, they open, loosen, and injure the teeth, by making room for the tartar and [Page 189] other matters, to prey upon the teeth and gums. To answer every purpose of tooth­picks, a thick and soft cotton cloth should be used, to rub the teeth over gently after eve­ry meal: but if people have once accustomed themselves to regularly picking their teeth, then indeed the cotton frictions may perhaps be too late.

Lastly, the cleaning and brushing of the teeth, however useful and necessary, is insuf­ficient to prevent the settling of the tartar, and the consequent injury to the teeth; for the source of both evils does not exist in the mouth, but really proceeds from the stomach, and a corrupted state of the fluids. For this reason, the medical treatment of the teeth re­quires a particular regimen and diet, accord­ing to the individual case of every patient.

Of the Use of Baths.

THIS important branch of dietetic regimen is of excellent use and efficacy, both in the cure and prevention of diseases. Though the ancients could less dispense with the use of the bath, on account of the frequently of their athletic exercises, as well as from the want of linen, which was then much less in use than at present, yet in our times it would be of great service, if the use of baths were more general and frequent, and this beneficial practice not confined to particular places or seasons, as a mere matter of fashion. Con­sidered [Page 190] as a species of universal domestic rem­edy, as one which forms the basis of cleanli­ness, bathing, in its different forms, may be pronounced one of the most extensive and beneficial restorers of health and vigour. I am not so sanguine, however, in my expecta­tions, as to think that the cure of all mala­dies and diseases may be effected by the bath, as was lately promised by a noted empiric in this country, who most sagaciously impreg­nated his vapour baths with the collective produce of the vegetable kingdom. Such a general remedy is just as chimerical as the most famous panaceas, the tincture of gold not excepted.

Bathing, whether in warm or cold water, produces the most salutary effect on the ab­sorbent vessels; which would otherwise re­conduct the impurities of the skin through the pores, to the no small injury of health. To those in a perfect state of vigour, the fre­quent use of the bath is less necessary than to the infirm; as the healthy possess a greater power to resist impurities, by means of their unimpaired perspiration, the elasticity of their minute vessels, and the due consistence of their circulating fluids. The case is very dif­ferent with the infirm, the delicate, and the aged. In these, the slowness of circulation, the viscidity or clamminess of the fluids, the constant efforts of nature to propel the im­purities towards the skin, combine to render the frequent washing of their bodies an essen­tial requisite to their physical existence.

[Page 191] Baths, considered as the means of curing diseases and restoring health, if judiciously applied, are likewise of peculiar advantage; and though, in this respect, they do not prop­erly make part of a regular system of dietetics, yet I shall request the indulgence of the read­er, while I make a few necessary remarks rel­ative to the proper application of the bath, it being so frequently used as a mere dietetic remedy. Much depends on a clear and ac­curate knowledge of the properties and effects of the different baths. I shall therefore di­vide them into two principal classes, the warm and the cold bath.

The warm, that is, the tepid or lukewarm bath, being about the temperature of the blood, between 96 and 98° of Fahrenheit, has usually been considered as apt to weaken and relax the body; but this is certainly an ill-founded notion. It is only when its heat exceeds that of the human body (as in the Hot Bath and King's Bath at BATH, both of which are from 18 to 20 degrees higher than blood-heat) that the warm bath can produce a debilitating effect. Indeed, baths of the above immoderate heat ought not to be used in their natural state, that is, without redu­cing their temperature by cold water, except in particular cases, and under the immediate advice of a physician. On the contrary, the lukewarm or tepid bath, from 96 downwards to 85, is always safe; and is so far from re­laxing the tone of the solids, that it may just­ly be considered as one of the most powerful and universal restoratives with which we are [Page 192] acquainted. Instead of heating the body, it has a cooling effect; it diminishes the quick­ness of the pulse, and reduces it in a greater proportion, according as the pulse has been more quick and unnatural, and according to the length of time the bath is continued. Hence tepid baths are of eminent service, where the body has been over-heated, from whatever cause, whether after fatigue from travelling, or severe bodily exercise, or after violent exertion and perturbation of mind; as they allay the tempestuous and irregular movements of the body, and consequently, in the strictest sense, invigorate the system. By their softening, moistening, and tumify­ing power, they greatly contribute to the formation and growth of the body of young persons, and are of singular benefit to those, in whom we perceive a tendency to arrive too early at the consistence of a settled age; so that the warm bath is particularly adapted to prolong the state of youth, and retard for some time the approach of full manhood. This effect the tepid baths produce in a man­ner exactly alike, in the coldest as well as in the hottest climates.

From what has been advanced, it will not be difficult to discover, in what particular dis­orders the tepid bath may be of the greatest service, and the reason why they prove so eminently useful (particularly in a parched and rough state of the skin) in paralytic, spas­modic, bilious, consumptive, hypochondriac, hysteric, and insane cases, as well as in an ac­rimonious and corrupted state of the fluids, [Page 193] such as scorbutic and leprous eruptions, lues, &c. One obvious effect of the habitual use of the bath, particularly the tepid, is, that it soft­ens and renews the external integuments of the body. It considerably increases the pressure on the body from without; hence breathing, particularly on entering the bath, is frequent­ly somewhat difficult, until the muscles have by practice become inured to a greater degree of resistance. Yet this effect, which in most instances is of small importance, requires the greatest precaution in some particular cases, so far as to prevent the use of the bath alto­gether; for instance, in persons of a full hab­it, who are in danger of breaking some of the internal blood-vessels, by the precipitate use of the bath, whether warm or cold.

These few hints will be sufficient to deter­mine the cases, in which the lukewarm bath may be resorted to with safety and advan­tage, as a dietetical remedy. Its application in the treatment of diseases is foreign to the object of this Chapter, and demands the most minute inquiry into the nature of the cases which indicate the use of it, as it is of itself a potent remedy, which, if improperly used, may produce a contrary effect.

Bathing in rivers, as well as in the sea, is effectual for every purpose of cleaning the body; it washes away impurities from the surface, opens the cutaneous vessels for a due perspiration, and increases the activity of the circulation of the blood. For these reasons, it cannot be too much recommended, not only to the infirm and debilitated, under cer­tain [Page 194] restrictions, but likewise to the healthy. The apprehension of bad consequences from the coldness of the water, is in reality ill-founded; for, besides that it produces a strengthening effect, by its astringent property, the cold sensation is not of itself hurtful.

The same precaution, however, is requisite in the use of the cold as that of the tepid bath; for after having overheated the body, especially in the hot days of summer, it may prove instantly fatal, by inducing a state of apoplexy. Hence the plethoric, the asthmatic, and all those who perceive a great determina­tion of the blood to the head, should be very circumspect in its use. For although the con­sequence may not prove immediately fatal, yet the too great strain and pressure may easily burst some of the smaller blood-vessels in the head or breast, and thereby lay the foundation of an incurable disorder. To such as are of a sound and robust constitution, bathing may be rendered an agreeable exercise, by swim­ming against the stream; for, the fibres and vessels being obliged to resist the power of the undulating waves, the nerves are thereby ex­cited into action.

Before I proceed to lay down dietetical rules for the use of the bath, I shall premise a brief historical narrative of this excellent prac­tice, and generally explain its sensible effects.

Among the Greeks, and particularly the Spartans, bathing was not intrusted to the ca­price of individuals, but considered as a pub­lic institution, being governed and arranged agreeably to the express laws of the State. We [Page 195] learn also from Sacred History, that among the Jews, at a much earlier period, persons under certain circumstances were pronounced unclean, and consequently unfit to hold any intercourse or communion with others, until they had performed the appointed ablutions. The Greeks, according to their own histori­ans, learnt this practice from the Egyptians, and the Romans from the Greeks. With those celebrated nations, public and private baths formed an important branch of useful and ornamental architecture. Many opulent individuals courted the favour of the people by lavishing their treasures in the establish­ment and decoration of public baths; and to this day we frequently discover the valuable remains of these national edifices. Among the Romans, the baths were in time convert­ed into regular and luxurious dwelling-places, in which the sons of the patricians and of the wealthy were educated; a circumstance suffi­ciently ascertained in the history of CHARLES the Great.

The changes which the contact of cold wa­ter produces on the body, naturally lead us to inquire into the physical nature and properties of the cold bath. The lightest water is at least 800 times heavier than air; from which it has been concluded, that the former presses upon the human body with a force propor­tionally great. If, therefore, the column of air, which presses upon our body with a force equal to 39,900lb. could be converted into water, the whole weight of that pressure would amount to 31,920,000lb. Yet, as our health [Page 196] is affected by a difference in the pressure of the air, occasionally varying from 3 to 4000lb. we may easily understand, that the human body is not calculated to sustain, for any length of time, the great pressure of water. From this cause, the most experienced negro divers dare not venture beyond a certain depth of the sea; well knowing it would be impossible to rise up against the additional weight of wa­ter incumbent upon their bodies.

The sensible properties of the Cold Bath, in general, consist in its power of contracting the solid parts, and of inspissating the fluids. Any part of the body, which is exposed to the sudden contact of cold water, experiences at the same instant a degree of tension and contraction, and becomes narrow and smaller. Not only the blood-vessels, but likewise the small capillary tubes, are liable to this con­traction and subsequent relaxation. What is vulgarly called goose-skin is an effort of the cu­taneous fibres, a contraction of the orifices of the absorbent and exhalant vessels, occasioned by mental perturbation, spasms, or the effect of cold.—Hence it happens, that by the cold bath all the blood-vessels of the skin, and of the muscles in immediate contact with it, are so constricted and diminished, that at the time of this violent exertion they are unable to re­ceive the usual quantity of blood. The small­er vessels of the skin are likewise closed, and press upon the humours contained in them, so as to prevent all perspiration during this pressure. Thus all the fibres of the skin and muscles are brought into close contact; and [Page 197] if the humours contained in these tubes had no other outlets, by which to discharge them­selves, they would become thick or inspissa­ted, and lose their natural warmth. Were this inspissation of the fluids really to take place, it would be attended with dangerous stagnations and obstructions. That it does not, however, produce these fatal effects, may be ascribed to the following cause. As soon as the pressure is made against the external vessels, the blood retreats from them, in search of places where it may find less resistance. All the great vessels within the body afford receptacles, into which it [...] flows, till the principal arteries, and the veins of the intes­tines, being filled, extended, and enlarged, it rises to the heart. Although the effect con­sequent on the cold bath may be considered as altogether mechanical, yet this simple ope­ration is frequently productive of the most important and beneficial effects.

All other strengthening remedies, opera­ting, in general, only on the fluid parts of the body, require to be previously dissolved by the fluids, blended with the mass of blood, and thereby conducted to the solid parts. The cold bath, on the contrary, acts almost instan­taneously on the solid parts themselves, and produces its bracing effect, before a single drop of blood has been commuted. From which remedy, therefore, is it most likely we should derive the desired effect, that which imme­diately answers the purpose, or that which must pass through so many canals, and under­go so many changes, before it arrives at the [Page 198] place where it is to exert its efficacy? The sudden changes arising from the application of the cold bath contribute in various ways to brace the human body. The relaxed fibres of the skin and the muscles acquire more solidi­ty and compactness from contraction. Their elasticity is increased, and thus a considerable defect removed: the nerves are stimulated and incited to those powerful exertions, on which the ease, vigour, and habitual spright­liness of the body so much depend. From that degree of irritability which the nerves possess, when in a debilitated state, arise all hysteric, spasmodic, and convulsive symptoms and affections. These may be mitigated or removed by the cold bath; because it greatly affects and alters the state of the nerves; it shakes and animates them, and by its forcible operation overcomes their tendency to preter­natural rigidity and other disagreeable sensa­tions. Here then we have two causes, which illustrate the excellent effects of this remedy: there remains, however, a third, more im­portant and powerful, yet to be explained.

The blood, which by external pressure is driven into the internal vessels, extends and enlarges them, without diminishing that con­tractile force or tendency which is peculiar to every artery. At the moment when the ex­ternal pressure ceases, all the internal vessels exert their powers of self-contraction more forcibly than usual, as they are more strongly extended, and consequently enabled to exer­cise a greater force. The blood returned to the cutaneous and muscular vessels, finds its [Page 199] reservoirs contracted and invigorated; it flows through muscles, the fibres of which have acquired greater elasticity and power of resistance. It is accelerated in its new motion by these improved fibres and veins, and the result of the collective powers is a fresh im­pulse and rapidity given to its circulation. Although, at the first immersion, the uniform course of it is somewhat interrupted, this tem­porary stoppage serves afterwards to re-estab­lish and promote it. The blood can now penetrate with ease into the smallest capillary vessels; and it can circulate freely through every part of the animal machine, without affecting or relaxing the solids.^*

[Page 200] The healthy and the vigorous, who resort to the cold bath, on account of its cleansing and bracing effects, may continue in it, with safe­ty, for a considerable time. But to strengthen and to give elasticity to the solid parts, every thing depends upon the sudden impression of the cold. This primary effect will be weak­ened or frustrated by remaining in the bath till the water feels warm, whereby the pres­sing or vibrating action on the nerves at length ceases. The most proper time of bathing is, when the stomach is not employed in diges­tion; as in the morning or forenoon, or from three to four hours after dinner.

The cold bath, between 65 and 32° of Fahrenheit, is not, strictly speaking, a dietetic [Page 201] remedy;—its effects are not so much calcu­lated for the healthy and robust, as for the in­firm and diseased, under peculiar circumstan­ces. The external use of cold water is of sin­gular benefit, when applied to particular parts of the body, where its use may be much long­er continued without danger, and where we may accomplish the intended effects, in a man­ner, by compulsion and perseverance.

Of all the parts of the body, the head re­ceives most benefit from the affusion of cold water; this is a simple and effectual remedy against too great an impulse of the blood to­wards the head, where persons are threatened with apoplexy; in disorders of the brain and cranium; in wounds and other complaints, to which the head is subject. In these instan­ces, its effects may be still farther improved by frigorific or cooling salts. The affusion of water upon the abdomen has likewise been employed with great advantage, in cases of obstinate costiveness, affording almost instan­taneous relief, when internal remedies have produced no effect. This should not, how­ever, induce any person to try that remedy indiscriminately, or without proper advice.

On the contrary, in all those cases where the cold bath might repel certain eruptive humours, which Nature determines towards the surface of the body, it cannot be resorted to without danger. Apoplexies have been the frequent consequences of an unwary use of the cold bath; more frequent, indeed, than is generally suspected. And yet the popular opinion still prevalent, is, that there can be no [Page 202] better practice, than to plunge into the cold bath at all times, and in all states of the body, in order to strengthen the nerves. Children, in particular, are indiscriminately accustomed to it from their infancy, to restore them to that degree of bodily vigour, for which our ancestors were so famed. That many chil­dren, by the daily practice of bathing them in cold water, grow and continue healthy and strong, proves as little, as that many infants become vigorous and robust in the most un­wholesome climates, and under the most un­favourable management.—Some think to for­tify the body, by the use of the cold bath, against the vicissitudes of the weather; but it can be proved that children, who from their infancy have been bathed in cold water, are as much exposed to coughs and catarrhs, as those who have not been habituated to this violent practice, provided they have not been mismanaged by effeminating indulgence. In general, all artificial plans of hardening and bracing the bodies of children, are commend­able only, when the child shows no strong and lasting aversion to them.

It should be considered that, as the cold bath powerfully contracts the fibres by its frequent use, it imparts to the juvenile body an unnat­ural degree of solidity and compactness, whereby it too early acquires the properties of an adult. The skin of such children as have been too frequently bathed, is generally much drier and harder than it ought to be at their age. It is a remark of GALEN, that the cold bath does not agree with a growing per­son, [Page 203] and he advises young people not to bathe at all till the body be completely formed. Is it not inconsistent, that by cold bathing we expect to bring the body of youth to the vig­our of age, and that afterwards, when age ap­proaches, we should wish to render it softer, and restore its energy, by lukewarm bathing? Hence the cold bath, for the purpose of strengthening children, must ever be consid­ered as a doubtful remedy.

We now proceed to lay down some rules for the use of the cold bath, in the cases where it may be of service. 1st, Every cold bath applied to the whole body ought to be of short duration; all depends upon the first impres­sion the cold makes on the skin and nerves, it being this impression which hardens us against the effects of rough and cold weather:—2d, The head should be always first wetted, either by immersion, or by pouring water up­on it, or the application of wet cloths, and then plunging over head into the bath:—3d, The immersion ought always to be sudden, not only because it is less felt than when we enter the bath slowly and timorously, but likewise because the effect of the first impres­sion is uniform all over the body, and the blood in this manner is not driven from the lower to the upper parts. Hence the Shower Bath possesses great advantages, as it pours the water suddenly upon the whole body, and thus in the most perfect manner fulfils the three rules above specified:—4th, The due temperature of the cold bath can be ascertain­ed only in relation to individual cases: as it [Page 204] extends from 33 to 56° of Fahrenheit, except in partial bathings, where, as has been already observed, the degree of cold may, and often ought to be, increased by ice, nitre, alum, salt, sal ammoniac, or other artificial means:—5th, Gentle exercise ought to precede the cold bath, to produce some reaction of the vascular sys­tem in entering into it; for neither complete rest nor violent exercise are proper, previous to the use of this remedy:—6th, The morn­ing or forenoon is the most proper time for cold bathing, unless it be in a river,—then the afternoon, or towards the evening, when the water has been warmed by the sun, and the dinner has been digested, are the most eli­gible periods of the day. A light breakfast will not be detrimental before using the bath:—7th, While in the water, we should not re­main inactive, but move about, in order to promote the circulation of the blood from the centre of the body to the extremities:—8th, After immersion, the whole body ought to be wiped, as quickly as possible, with a dry and somewhat rough cloth. Moderate exercise out of doors, if convenient, is proper, and in­deed necessary.

To specify the various situations, in which the cold bath may be used with perfect safety and advantage, would lead me too far, and does not belong, strictly speaking, to the sub­ject of this book. I shall, however, enumerate generally certain cases, in which we must ab­solutely refrain from the cold bath. 1. In a general plethora or full habit of body, and in the febrile disposition which attends it; in he­morrhages [Page 205] or fluxes of blood, and in every kind of inflammation. 2. In constipations or obstructions of the abdominal intestines. 3. In diseases of the breast, difficult breathing, and short and dry coughs. 4. In an acrimo­nious state of the fluids, bad colour of the face, difficult healing of the flesh, and the scurvy, properly so called. 5. In gouty and rheumat­ic paroxysms. 6. In cutaneous diseases. 7. In a state of pregnancy. And lastly, 8. In a deformed or ill-shaped state of the body, ex­cept in some particular cases to be determined by a physician.

The best method of cold bathing is in the sea or a river. Where, from necessity, it is done in the house, I recommend the Shower Bath, for which a proper apparatus is to be had at the tinman's. Where the saving of expense is an object, it may be effectually sup­plied by the following easy expedient: Fill a common watering-pot with cold water; let the patient sit down undressed upon a stool, which may be placed in a large tub; and let the hair, if not cut short, be spread over the shoulders as loosely as possible; then pour the water from the pot over the patient's head, face, neck, shoulders, and all parts of the body progressively down to the feet, till the whole has been thoroughly bathed. Let the patient then be rubbed dry, and take gentle exercise, as has been already recommended, until the sensation of cold be succeeded by a gentle glow all over him. When we first resort to this kind of bath, it may be used gently, and with water having some degree of warmth, [Page 206] so as not to make the shock too great; but, as the patient becomes accustomed to it, the degree of cold may be increased, the water may be allowed to fall from a greater height, and the holes in the pan may be made larger, so as to make the shower heavier. A large sponge may, in some measure, be substituted for a watering-pot.

Although the Shower Bath does not cov­er the surface of the body so universally as the usual cold baths, this circumstance is rather favourable than otherwise: for those parts, which the water has not touched, feel the impression by sympathy, as much as those in actual contact with it. Every drop of wa­ter becomes a partial cold bath in miniature, and thus a stronger impression is excited than in any other mode of bathing. The Shower Bath, for the following reasons, possesses ad­vantages superior to all others. 1. The sud­den contact of the water, which in the com­mon bath is only momentary, may here be prolonged, repeated, and made slow or quick, or modified at pleasure. 2. The head and breast, which are exposed to some inconve­nience and danger in the common bath, are here at once secured, by receiving the first shock of the water; the blood is consequent­ly impelled to the lower parts of the body; and the patient finds no obstruction in breath­ing, or undulations of blood towards the head. 3. The heavy pressure on the body occasioned by the weight of the water, and the free cir­culation of the blood in the parts touched by it, being, for some time at least, interrupted, [Page 207] make the usual way of bathing often more detrimental than useful. The Shower Bath, on the contrary, descends in single drops, which are at once more stimulating and pleas­ant than the immersion into cold water, and it can be more readily procured, and more easily modified and adapted to the circumstan­ces of the patient.

I shall conclude this Chapter with some account of what is called the Aërial or Air Bath. This is a late invention, the effects of which have not yet been sufficiently ascer­tained. Experience informs us, that by ex­posing the naked body for a short time to an agreeable cool, nay to a cold air, we perceive effects somewhat similar to those produced by the cold bath; particularly that of a pleasant sensation of heat diffused over the whole body, after having again dressed. There is little danger of catching cold upon this oc­casion: for in a place where we already feel a certain degree of cold in our usual dress, the sensation of it will not be much increased, if we undress altogether. It may also be re­marked, that with the whole body naked, we have much less to apprehend from the effects of cold, than by exposing or keeping one part of it less covered than another.^*

[Page 208] This species of bath certainly deserves far­ther trials. A spacious apartment, with open windows, may serve every purpose of moving in the free air. And here I would recom­mend to all who are engaged in sedentary and literary pursuits, to walk with their heads uncovered in an open, and even in the coldest air, as being a simple and excellent means to strengthen the head, and to remove those complaints which arise from intense thought and close mental application.

To rub the body with woollen cloths, or with soft brushes, is of great advantage, by gently stimulating the fibres, increasing the circulation of the fluids to the external parts, and promoting a free perspiration, together with all the other evacuations. Persons of a delicate habit, of a sedentary life, and those who are liable to sudden twitches of the ten­dons, cramps, and lameness, may effectually relieve, or rather prevent these complaints, by causing the whole body, particularly the limbs, to be rubbed every morning and evening, for about half an hour, with rough cloths or soft brushes, till the skin becomes red. This fric­tion is still more beneficial to the aged than to the young; and it may in a great meas­ure produce the salutary effects of bodily ex­ercise.

Frequent cutting the hair is of advantage to the eyes, the ears, and to the whole body. So the daily washing of the head with cold water, is an excellent remedy against periodi­cal head-achs. In coryzas, or defluxions of the humours from the head, and in weak eyes, [Page 209] the shaving of the head often affords im­mediate relief; while at the same time it opens the pores, and promotes perspiration. It is altogether a mistaken idea, that there is a danger of catching cold from the practice of washing the head, or leaving it exposed to the free air, after having been washed. The more frequently the surface is cleansed of scurvy and scaly impurities, the more easy and comfortable we feel. The oftener the hair is cut, the more quickly it grows again; and this easy operation supplies the place of a constant blister or artificial issue.^*

Friction of the soles of the feet is very ad­vantageous; but, on account of the great number of highly sensible nerves in them, such practice must not be carried to excess. A proper degree of warmth and perspiration in the feet is always a favourable symptom of health. Besides, they should often be bathed in cold, or, still better, in lukewarm water, well rubbed, and the nails cautiously cut. There will then be no danger of the nails growing into the flesh, or of corns or other callosities arising in the feet. All the methods hitherto discovered of extracting corns, afford only [Page 210] temporary ease; and it is very dangerous to cut them too deep, on account of the many nerves running in every direction of the toes. Easy shoes, frequent bathing the feet in luke­warm water, with a little salt and pot-ashes dissolved in it, and a plaster made of equal parts of Gum Galbanum, Saffron, and Cam­phor, are the only remedies I can recommend against this troublesome complaint.

IN considering the various articles of Dress, attention must be paid both to their sub­stance and form. Our mode of clothing may occasion trouble, disease, and death—1. When we attempt by it to improve some supposed defects of the body, which cannot be done without injury; and, 2. When it consists of improper substances, whether used from ne­cessity, or in compliance with fashion and ca­price.

To avoid ridicule, we comply with the pre­vailing fashions of the day; but, if this com­pliance be prejudical to health, it shows great weakness to allow ourselves to be carried away with the stream; and although a deviation from the mode may, for the moment, excite the ridicule of the thoughtless, yet those who have the boldness to oppose the Tyrant, when his dictatorial mandates are injurious to health, will in the end triumph, and they may them­selves have the satisfaction to introduce dress­es, at once healthful and elegant. Happily, in this respect, people begin in some degree to think for themselves; that rigid adherence to the mode, which heretofore dressed both men and women as much in uniform suits as a regiment of soldiers, does not now dis­gust us.

[Page 212] The general properties of a good dress are the three following:—1. That it be not so hard and unpliable, as to obstruct the free and easy motion of the joints, and be uncomfort­able, either from its weight or tightness:—2. That it preserve the body in that degree of temperature which is most agreeable, as well as most suitable to the different functions and motions in a healthy state;—and, 3. That it do not produce any detrimental effects, by in­creasing perspiration in an unnecessary degree, or too much absorbing the vapours of the at­mosphere.

On the Materials used for Articles of Dress.

THE property of receiving, repelling, and emitting heat and cold, depends not only on the substance from which our dress is made, and its shape or form, but also on the colour. Clothes of a light colour have the least attrac­tion for heat, and therefore are the most prop­er in hot weather. Substances of a very smooth and shining surface strongly reflect the rays of the sun, which cannot penetrate through them; hence the advantage, in hot climates, of hats covered with oil-skin, partic­ularly of a green or white colour, of smooth and shining shoes, glazed gowns, and the like. Dazzling colours are offensive, and a person who suffers from weak eyes will injure them still more by wearing crimson or scarlet, or being much in company with others thus dressed. For a similar reason, splendid white [Page 213] dresses, steel buttons, gold and silver lace, and all ornaments of this sort, are detrimental to vision.

Animal Wool produces a moderate warmth, on account of the stimulus and gentle friction it occasions on the skin. By its use, animal electricity is elicited, perspiration promoted, the perspired humours are absorbed, and again easily evaporated, on account of the porous nature of this substance.

Linen Cloth, by diminishing the elasticity of the skin, increases the internal warmth, and at the same time, from its compactness, retains too readily the perspirable humours, and does not part with them so readily as wool. Soil­ed shirts therefore produce a disagreeable cool­ing sensation, and stop perspiration, especially if made of thick strong cloth, and not regu­larly changed every day.

Silk occasions a gentle stimulus, but does not sufficiently promote perspiration, though it attracts less humidity from the atmosphere than linen.

Oil-skin, or wax-cloth, increases perspiration in an uncommon degree, but does not admit it to evaporate again, and is therefore appli­cable only in certain diseases.

Cotton stands in the middle between animal wool and linen; it increases warmth and per­spiration, imbibes and retains the perspired humours, to the injury of the wearer, and like wool readily attracts infectious matter.

All kinds of Fur are more noxious than use­ful, both with respect to their structure and constituent parts. They contain many alka­line [Page 214] and oily particles; they are generally too compact and unequal on the surface; they too much stimulate and increase perspiration, by promoting the access of humours to the skin; they do not allow the perspirable matter to escape, soon acquire an intolerable smell, and, more than any other substance, attract and retain contagious effluvia. Experience in­forms us, that nations who dress in fur, par­ticularly in hot countries, are frequently ex­posed to diseases, owing to a want of cleanli­ness and free perspiration; such are the putrid fevers of Hungary, the plague among the Turks, and the singular disease of the hair in Poland, called plica polonica, which curls the whole hair into a number of twists, that have the appearance of so many greasy strings, and afford a ghastly spectacle.

We ought, therefore, to choose a dress agreeable to the season and weather, as well as to the constitution of the body. Woollen clothes are the most proper in spring, autumn, and winter; because they moderately warm the body, do not weaken it by the abstraction of too many exhalations, and have the fewest points of contact, or, in other words, do not attach so close to the body, as any other ma­terials of dress.

In summer, most people are accustomed to wear thin clothes, which are scarcely proper in our changeable climate. It is not, in that season, advisable to take much exercise in thin dresses, particularly in the heat of the day. Nor should we venture to wear such clothes early in the morning, when the air is cool, [Page 215] and the pores of the skin have been dilated by the warmth of the bed;—but still less in the evening, when the heat of the day has so much opened them, that perspiration may be easily checked, and health materially injured.

In our variable climate, it would be prefer­able to adopt a species of dress, which is near­ly uniform in all seasons; for as thin clothes are more immediately pervaded by heat, dur­ing the least exercise, it certainly would be more prudent and rational to wear a dress that is calculated to withstand the effects both of cold and heat. That there is no danger in adopting a general dress for all seasons; that, on the contrary, it is the most beneficial plan of managing the body, with regard to the most important function, namely, that of per­spiration, I shall endeavour to prove in the next Section.

On the immediate Covering of the Skin.

THE first and principal rule with respect to this subject is, that the covering of the skin ought to be always the same, and not be changed accord­ing to the season and the weather. The usual consequence of this change is, in the first place, an uneasy and painful sensation. A skin ac­customed to fine linen only, cannot endure the sensation occasioned by a coarser kind; and cotton is still more disagreeable, but, most of all, animal wool or flannel. In the next place, to change the dress according to the weather, [Page 216] occupies more time, and requires more ex­pense, than is convenient to the great mass of the people.

Nevertheless, there are many who, from mistaken maxims of health, accommodate the covering of their skins to the seasons: they dress themselves in winter in flannel, towards spring and autumn in cotton, and in summer in linen; a method as absurd as it is danger­ous. Notwithstanding the difficulties, which each of these changes must produce, while we undergo this new trial on our skin, we expose ourselves at the same time, in every such change, to all possible dangers arising from cold and repelled perspiration. This custom is the more dangerous, as it is usually prac­tised by the infirm, the tender, and the aged, who regulate themselves less by the tempera­ture of the weather, than by the days of the almanack, when they are periodically accus­tomed to change their dresses.

The question, then, which is the most proper covering of the skin, is easily answered. Animal wool seems to recommend itself to us by the very circumstance, that hair is the general covering of those animals which most resem­ble man in their structure. If men were ha­bituated to go naked in the colder climates, the human body would, no doubt, also be bet­ter covered with hair. Animals, in winter as well as in summer, have the same coat, except that in the coldest season their hair is uni­formly somewhat thicker and longer, conse­quently also warmer than in summer, especially in the northern countries.

[Page 217] Not only analogy, but experience also proves, that wool worn next the skin has indisputa­ble advantages over all other substances. For, 1. Flannel is but a slow conductor of external heat to the body, and it the more easily at­tracts internal heat, and allows it to evaporate the more readily, as it is more porous than any other texture. 2. A sultry atmosphere is extremely troublesome, particularly where great heat is combined with moisture, the hu­midity checking perspiration, and at the same time conducting too many aqueous particles to the absorbent vessels from without. Here then flannel is of incomparable service, since it keeps the vessels of the skin constantly open, causes them to perspire freely, and admits but a very small degree of external moisture.

The principal good effect of flannel, how­ever, consists in its gentle and beneficial stim­ulus, or that friction which it occasions on the skin, and by which it opens the pores. We must not imagine, that flannel of itself heats more than linen or cotton; for it is not the heat which occasions inconvenience, but the circumstance of the perspirable matter adher­ing to the skin. In flannel, we may perspire without danger, and undertake any exercise of the body, without disagreeable sensations; not so, when linen remains wet on the skin. If we taken violent exercise in flannel, perspi­ration is necessarily increased, but the perspired matter is communicated through the flan­nel to the atmosphere, and the skin remains dry, warm, and comfortable. If we take the same exercise in linen shirts, perspiration is [Page 218] indeed also increased, but the perspired matter is not imparted to the atmosphere, but is in­spissated in a fluid state, clogs the linen, and remains in contact with the skin.

Another advantage which flannel possesses over linen and cotton is, that people perspiring profusely in flannel shirts, may safely ven­ture into the open air, and will not easily catch cold, because flannel does not absorb the per­spired humours. If we do the same in linen shirts, the skin will soon be wetted by perspi­ration, which will occasion a sensation of cool­ness and shivering; in most cases a violent cold, and very frequently an inflammation of the lungs, will be the consequence. This dan­ger arises from the fluid matter settling on the skin; and we may be still more severely injured, if we at the same time expose our­selves to the action of the wind, or a current of air.

Numberless writers, both ancient and mod­ern, confirm the good effects of flannel next the skin: of these I shall only quote COUNT RUMFORD, who says, in one of his earlier Es­says, that he is convinced of the utility of flannel shirts in all seasons; that he has worn them in all climates, in the warmest apart­ments, and in the most fatiguing exercise, without the least difficulty; that he was re­lieved, by the use of flannel, from a pain in his breast he had been frequently subject to, and never since knew an hour's illness; and that nothing exceeds the agreeable sensation of this dress, when people have been once ac­customed to it.

[Page 219] Indeed after the praises bestowed upon flan­nel, by so many respectable authorities, and by men who from long experience have as­certained its beneficial effects, it is surprising that any individual, however great his repu­tation, should be whimsical or hardy enough to dispute its general salubrity, merely with a view to establish a favourite hypothesis.

It has been objected, that flannel worn next the skin is debilitating, because it too much increases perspiration; but this is not found­ed on truth, since perspiration, as long as the skin remains dry, never can be hurtful, nor im­moderate. Such mistaken notions have been propagated, from the circumstance, that flan­nel is frequently ordered by physicians, to in­crease perspiration in some diseases, where it is necessary to the recovery of the patient: but the copious perspiration is then the effect of the disease, and not of the flannel.

The uneasy sensation occasioned by flannel is of very short duration. That it may make the skin red and inflamed, if it be too much rubbed and scratched, cannot be denied; but it is a palpable falsity that it produces cutane­ous eruptions. It has quite a contrary effect; as it preserves the pores open, increases per­spiration, and thus removes the cause of cu­taneous diseases, which arise chiefly from a checked and irregular state of excretion by the pores.

In answer to another objection against the wearing of flannel, it is certain, that a flannel shirt or waistcoat may preserve the body as [Page 220] clean, and much cleaner, than linen, if as fre­quently changed. ^*

Wool, on account of its rough surface, is more calculated to absorb infectious morbid matter, than a more smooth substance; but we have nothing to apprehend from flannel on the skin, and under the usual dress. I am rather of opinion, that it is a better preven­tive against contagion than any other; because, while it encourages perspiration, it at the same [Page 221] time removes the inhaled poisonous particles, particularly if, in cases of danger, perspiration be increased by other suitable means. Hence people wearing flannel on their skin, never suffer from cold. I have been informed, that the manufacturers in the different founderies of Birmingham, as well as at the iron-works of Colebrook-Dale and Kettley, in the most intense heat, wear no other but flannel shirts; and that without these it would be impossible to prevent continual colds, and the most fa­tal diseases. With this beneficent intention, the British soldiers upon the Continent, some years ago, were furnished with flannel waist­coats, by the liberal subscriptions of individu­als, which, I am convinced, saved many lives that must otherwise have fallen victims to the effects of a cold and moist climate.

These advantages strongly recommend the use of flannel to every one anxious to preserve his health, but particularly to those who are exposed to all kinds of weather, as husband­men, fishermen, mariners, soldiers, and trav­ellers. As flannel is suitable to all seasons; as it requires no great changes in the under dress; and as it is a tolerable substitute for a defi­ciency of upper dress; it deserves every atten­tion among those who provide for orphan and poor-houses, as well as for the indigent of eve­ry description. Many desperate diseases in the legs of the common people, many inflam­mations of the throat, breast and lungs, might be prevented, and many lives saved, both of children and adults, if flannel were more gen­erally worn.

[Page 222] Those who complain of cold legs and feet, are never comfortable nor healthy; if they could be prevailed upon to wear worsted stockings and flannel drawers, they would acquire a quicker circulation of the blood in the lower extremities, and prevent many trou­bles and indispositions, from which, without this precaution, they cannot escape. Most valetudinarians and patients slight this advice, because they imagine that the wearing of flan­nel is attended with uneasy sensations. This idea, however, ought not to prevent them from giving it a fair trial; for the uncom­fortable feeling continues only for a few days, as I have myself experienced; and this trifling sacrifice cannot be compared with the saluta­ry effects, which flannel next the skin almost uniformly produces. By continuing it suffi­ciently long, and changing it frequently, the most obstinate gouty and rheumatic com­plaints have often been removed, and many other imminent dangers averted. Children afflicted with rickets, cannot be better reliev­ed than by a proper diet, and flannel shirts, which may be daily fumigated with amber, petroleum, or other fragrant substances; a process, which has been frequently productive of the most beneficial effects.

Of Stockings.

COTTON stockings, which are so generally worn at present, are highly objectionable.— [Page 223] There is no part of the human frame, which perspires so much as the feet. The disagree­able sensation cold feet produce is well known; for the connexion between the feet and head, the stomach, the uterus, and many other im­portant parts of the human system, is so inti­mate, that gout, suppression of the critical evacuations, pain in the excretory organs, nay cancer, inflammation of the uterus, and abortion, may be the consequence of cold feet and legs, which are the necessary effects of wearing cotton and silk stockings. Cotton and linen worn next the skin, if once filled with perspirable matter, do not admit any more to pass through them; a glutinous and cooling moisture accumulates, and it is not easy to keep the feet thoroughly clean in this dress. Those who alternately wear cotton and worsted stockings, must soon observe the difference in the exhalation and moisture pe­culiar to each. Cotton, though somewhat better than linen, is still much inferior to wool, which is alone calculated to absorb and exhale the noxious humours emitted by the pores.

The reciprocal effect of the perspiration of the feet, and of the leather of the shoes, is greater than is commonly believed. Hence those, who wear cotton stockings, ought, from respect to cleanliness, as well as health, to change them according as their exercise increases perspiration.

Although the feet are the principal sources or conductors of exhalation from the body, little attention has been paid to them, with a [Page 224] view of promoting this salutary secretion. Instead of pro [...]iting by this hint of nature, mankind have been imprudently and unac­countably studious to stop that canal; imag­ining this to be the safest way of preserving the feet dry, and free from all disagreeable smell. Dry feet are certainly preferable to moist: but the means of promoting perspira­tion are also the only means capable of keep­ing the feet dry, and free from any unpleas­ant fetor. It is also improper and unhealthy to wear any other but woollen gloves, which ought to be worn by all females, who wish to improve the skin of their hands and arms; no cosmetics OF washes are so certain and so powerful in their effects: on the contrary, all external applications, unless assisted by inter­nal remedies, are attended with the positive ruin of skin, bloom, and health.

Persons who have a great tendency to per­spire in their feet, and who increase this ex­udation by much walking or dancing, will no doubt be sensible, that their cotton, thread, or silk stockings, instead of removing the transpired matter, actually absorb it; bring it in contact with the skin; preserve it in a state of heat favourable to putrefaction; and check all farther perspiration.

That the feet are more exposed to the ef­fects of cold, and to stagnations of the fluids, than any other part of the body, is unques­tionable: 1st, because they are the most re­mote parts from the heart, and the quickness of the circulation of the blood decreases in proportion to that distance; and 2d, the [Page 225] blood circulating downwards makes its way to the heart somewhat slower, on account of its own gravity. By this slowness in the cir­culation, more watery particles are deposited by the blood. It is therefore necessary to keep the feet somewhat warmer than the rest of the body, in order to encourage the mo­tion of the fluids to the upper parts. Wool­len stockings are excellently adapted for that purpose, and they ought to be chosen rather thicker than those flannels used for shirts and drawers. For the same reason, it is proper to prevent all moisture from without, by means of water-proof shoes, provided with thick cork soles for the winter, or with elastic socks of horse-hair.

The most disagreeable sensation produced by the feet in perspiring, is between the toes: this can only be prevented by wearing stock­ings made with toes, like the fingers of gloves; because these alone can absorb and prevent the viscid and fetid particles from fettling there. But as this proposal is not likely to meet with the approbation of the votaries of fashion, I shall substitute an easier method of remedying the unpleasant effects of violent perspiration in the feet. A powders of burnt alum will overcome this fetor, by neutraliz­ing the acrid particles; and, at the same time, will not obstruct the necessary perspiration.

Of Dress, as to its Form.

ALL coverings of the head, of whatever kind, produce more mischief than benefit. [Page 226] The well known and excellent rule of keep­ing the head cool and the feet warm, is too much neglected, especially by the lower classes of the people in many countries, as in Scot­land, Holland, and Germany, and likewise among people of a certain age and description in this country. The Scotch peasant wears his heavy bonnet, the Dutchman his cap, and the Turk his turban, without considering that such heavy loads are stupifying, and that, while no attention is paid to keep their feet warm and dry, their heads are virtually con­verted into vapor-baths. In all countries, the man who lives at his case, carefully covers his head with a warm night-cap; he spends per­haps one half of the day in this unnatural dress, and prepares his head for frequent colds, at every sudden change in the atmosphere. Besides, weakness of the head, pains, erup­tions, local plethora or fulness of blood, loss of the hair, lethargy, and at length stupor or insanity are often the effects of this impru­dence.^*

In our moderate climate, we might safely accustom our youth to go with the head un­covered; as Nature has already provided it with hair for that purpose. In very cold and hot countries, however, the head must be [Page 227] slightly covered, to shelter it from cold, [...] from the still more dangerous vertical rays of the sun.

It is an instance of improvement in the edu­cation of children in England, that their ten­der heads are not so much shut up in close caps, and fur bonnets, as those upon the Con­tinent. A practice so injudicious and hurtful deserves no imitation; and yet there are ad­vocates for warm night-caps and wigs; they would starve their feet, while the head is en­closed in an artificial stove, which enfeebles their mental faculties, and diminishes their bodily vigour.

New-born children, and those who are most tender, require only an easy and moderately warm covering for the head, and this chiefly during the first weeks, on account of the soft­ness of their cranium, then but imperfectly ossified. Yet such a cap should be loosely tied, that it may not press the head, nor cripple the muscles of the ears.

That the ear is naturally capable of some motion, is proved by the muscles with which it is provided. Its form, resembling a shell, is admirably adapted to receive and convey sound. In the vain conceit, that a projecting ear, so as the Author of nature has created it, is a deformity, nurses and overwise matrons endeavour to press the child's ear, from its first appearance, close to the head. Thus they render the shell of the ear immovable, and diminish the capacity of hearing. A properly-expanded ear not only strengthens the acute­ness of hearing, but likewise preserves this [Page 228] useful sense to a great age, when the muscles of the internal organs of hearing become re­laxed.

To go with the head uncovered, in sunshine, is certainly improper, both for children and adults; but our common black hats are ill calculated to avert the mischief, as they do not reflect the heat, but rather concentrate it in the most sensible manner upon the head. Hats of a white, or any other light colour, made of straw or similar light materials, would be far preferable, particularly for peo­ple labouring in the fields, soldiers, and trav­ellers. In very hot weather, a piece of white paper may be fastened with advantage on the crown of the hat.

As the hat ought likewise to shelter the eyes from too vivid a light, the brim should be broad enough to protect them, and the in­ner side of a green or blue, but not of a black, nor a dazzling colour. From the present mode, however, it appears that both ladies and gentlemen think a brim almost, if not al­together unnecessary, even when the power of the sun is most oppressive.

Persons suffering from periodical head-achs, or whose heads are otherwise unhealthy, should have their hair cut short. By this petty sacrifice, they will promote the neces­sary perspiration, the head will remain cool, and the cold bathing of it can be practised with more advantage. In this point of view, wigs cannot be altogether condemned, as long as hair-dressing, artificial braids, and other or­naments, form an essential part of fashionable [Page 229] dress. Besides, the wearers of wigs are, in a great measure, exempt from many inconve­niences and evils attending the use of pow­der and pomatum. Lastly, if we must choose one of the two maladies of the times, it is most rational to adopt the least noxious to health: and so far I think a light wig is justly preferable to a head enveloped in an artificial paste of powder and pomatum. Those, how­ever, who are once accustomed to wear a wig, should not upon any account again let their hair grow in order to have it dressed, pasted, and powdered anew.

With respect to Shirts, the most proper sub­stance having been before investigated, I shall only add, as to their form—that they may be seriously prejudicial to health, if too narrow in the collar, and in the wristbands. I have seen several instances of people attacked with shortness of breath and difficulty of speech, from this reason only, because the blood can­not circulate freely, if the neck and wrists be tied or buttoned up too closely. I was once present where a young man, playing at rack­ets, was suddenly seized with an apoplectic fit, the cause of which seemed at first inexplicable. As soon, however, as his shirt-collar, wrist­bands and garters were loosened, he recov­ered.

Neckcloths, cravats, ribands, and necklaces of all sorts, when they are too tight, stop the ac­cess and retreat of the blood to and from the head, occasion accumulations of the blood and other fluids, head-achs, faintings, stu­por, apoplexy, corrosive ulcers of the skin, [Page 230] and innumerable other maladies. All cover­ings of the neck ought therefore to be con­stantly worn loose. People who are liable to sore throats, and diseases of the breast, might gradually accustom themselves, in mild and dry weather, to go with their necks as slightly covered as possible, and if fashion would per­mit it, to have no other covering but the col­lar of the shirt. In cold and moist weather, a thin handkerchief might be added. But the modern cravats, filled with a stiffening of cotton or wool, are extremely injurious to the part which they are intended to protect. For, by occasioning too great heat, they ren­der the neck unnaturally sensible to every change of the atmosphere. It is rather sur­prising, that from a due sense of their perni­ciousness, we have rejected all coverings of the neck in children, as being troublesome and useless; and yet, in defiance of reason and experience, we continue to incumber our own necks with such bandages.

Necklaces and ribands, likewise, are gen­erally tied so close, as to press with violence on that supposed deformity of the throat, vulgarly called the Adam's apple, which pro­jects less in the female than in the male sex. These ribands and necklaces, when worn tight, are the more inconvenient and dangerous, if they be narrow and edged. Upon taking them off, which is too frequently neglected at night, they leave an impression on the neck, clearly proving the impediment they are to free muscular action, and what stagna­tions, pain, and dangerous consequences they [Page 231] may occasion. The neck and throat, being alternately expanded and contracted, in speak­ing, chewing, and swallowing, it is the high­est degree of imprudence to obstruct its mo­tion, for the sake of appearance, vanity, or fashion.

Equally objectionable are those black stocks, that were formerly much in fashion, and are still worn by some old beaux and military men. The latter indeed deserve our compas­sion, from being obliged to wear these uncom­fortable collars; but the former ought to consider, that they expose themselves to dan­gers, increasing as they advance in age, and rendering them every day more liable to ap­oplexy. I knew a regiment of soldiers on the Continent, whose Colonel was so excessive­ly fond of what he considered a martial ap­pearance, that he caused his officers and men to have every article of their uniform remark­ably tight, particularly the stocks, waistbands, and knee-garters. The consequence was, that in the course of a few months above the half of his regiment became subject to very obsti­nate cutaneous diseases, and other obstruc­tions, so that they were unable to perform duty. Other regiments in the vicinity also suffered from this destructive custom; but the proportion of their disabled soldiers was like one to ten in the former. The late Dr. FOTHERGIL asserts, that these tight stocks are productive of apoplexy, if a person look for some time, with his head turned, without moving his body. By this alone, he believes, people have brought on apoplectic symptoms. [Page 232] For such a turn of the neck, when the body stands fixed, diminishes the diameter of the jugular veins so much, that a proportionate quantity of blood cannot return to them, from the vessels of the head and the brain.

Neckcloths or cravats, loosely tied, and not too thick, are therefore the only proper ones for Men; but as to Women and Children, it cannot be disputed, that they would be bet­ter without any.

Laced Stays are, among the better ranks of society, at present out of fashion; since the Grecian form is justly preferred to all artifi­cial shapes. Yet, when we have adopted an useful habit ourselves, it is our duty to rec­ommend it to those also who are still follow­ing a destructive practice. And with this in­tention I cannot but reluctantly observe, that nine tenths of the community still wear these oppressive strait jackets, merely because their mothers and grandmothers have done the same. I shall therefore briefly state a few of the consequences, arising from this unnatural part of female dress, namely, diseases of the breast, external callosities, and cancer itself; the ribs are comp [...]ed; the spine is bent out of its place; the free expansion of the lungs is prevented; hence shortness of breath, in­durations and tubercles of the lungs, cramp of the stomach, defective digestion, nausea, irregularities in the secretory and other or­gans, and the like: in short, the list of the maladies thus produced is too long to be here detailed; and both married and unmarried ladies, for the sake of compassion, should ex­ert [Page 233] all their influence, to convince the com­mon people of the injuries occasioned by stiff laced stays. If any such part of dress be at all admissible, it ought to consist of soft and pli­able materials, such as fine chamois leather, hatter's felt, or, what is still better, the knit­ted and more elastic texture used for gloves and stockings.

All that has been said, with regard to laced stays, is also applicable to small waists, and tight coverings of the breast and the abdo­men.^*

Narrow sleeves in gowns and coats, tight wristbands in shirts, and bracelets, occasion a swelling of the veins on the back of the hand, rigidity, weakness of nerves, and incapac­ity of bending the arm. If the arms be in this manner twisted from infancy, their growth and formation are impeded; and it is probably owing to this cause, that we see so many persons with short, thin, and ill-formed arms.

Women suffer much more by this bandage than men, whose arms possess more muscular strength, and have not the interstices of the muscles filled with fat, like the former. In this respect, the modern fashion of tying the sleeves of ladies' gowns close to the elbow, de­serves particular censure; as the circulation of the blood, together with the motion of the [Page 234] arms, is thus obstructed, and many disagreea­ble consequences wantonly induced. Farther, the female arm is naturally somewhat fuller from the shoulder downwards, and again be­comes smaller towards the joints of the hand: but in man, it is always more muscular a lit­tle below the elbow. From this difference in the structure, it is obvious, that the sleeves in a female dress lie close to the whole arm, while those of a man's coat but partially at­tach to it.

Many of the remarks already suggested, respecting the form and substance of other parts of dress, are likewise applicable to the article of breeches. If these be made of im­proper materials, or too tight in the waist­band, they must occasion both uneasiness and injury to the body. Yet the ingenious ob­servations, lately published on this subject by Dr. FAUST, an eminent physician in Germa­ny, are by no means so conclusive, as to in­duce us to abandon an article of dress, not on­ly rendered necessary by the laws of decorum, but which, when properly constructed, is even of considerable service; inasmuch as breeches, by their moderate pressure, tend to strengthen the relaxed parts of the body, particularly at a tender age.

The most proper form of this vestment is, upon the whole, that of pantaloons; but they ought to be sufficiently wide, of a thin cool­ing substance in summer, and of a warm elastic woollen cloth in winter. Tight and contracting leather breeches, purposely con­trived to display an elegant shape of the limbs, [Page 235] are extremely inconvenient, occasion numb­ness and chilliness all over the hip and thigh, and a painful pressure of the pudenda. Leath­er is also an improper substance for this part of dress; as, on account of its close texture, it is apt to check insensible perspiration. If the waistband be too strait, the free mo­tion of the internal parts of the abdomen will be obstructed, the absorbent vessels of the in­testines prevented from performing their of­fices, and hypochondriacal complaints be easily induced. This inconvenience may be entire­ly avoided, by the use of braces, now almost generally adopted, and which, as they render a tight cincture altogether unnecessary, can­not be too much recommended, both to men and women, for the sake of health as well as comfort.

There are many reasons, which delicacy for­bids me to mention, why it would be highly beneficial to the physical and moral condition of females, to wear some kind of drawers, at least after a certain age. This additional piece of dress would effectually prevent several in­conveniencies to which women are subject.—There are other circumstances attending their usual dress, which contribute to bring on a premature sexual impulse, and are apt to in­duce them to habits equally irregular and in­jurious to health. This hint cannot be mis­understood by judicious mothers, and, it is humbly presumed, will not be totally disre­garded;—especially as young females but too readily accustom themselves to sit in an im­proper posture.

[Page 236] Concerning the clothing of the legs, I must in the first place censure the use of tight garters, particularly in men, to whom they are altogether unnecessary. Whether females can do without them, is scarcely fair to ques­tion: but if any substitute or contrivance can be adopted in their place, it will amply com­pensate any little trouble or inconvenience: the stockings can easily be tied to some tape fastened to the waistband. This apparently trifling improvement is of greater moment, than many are inclined to imagine; for garters are undoubtedly the cause of much mischief, whether tied below or above the knee. The part to which they are applied, acquires an unnatural hardness; they dispose the thighs and legs to dropsy, induce great fatigue in walking, and are very probably the cause, that certain persons so frequently stum­ble, fall, and dislocate or break the knee-pan. The great difference in walking, with and without garters, I have myself sufficiently ex­perienced. Many years ago, when in com­pliance with early habits and prejudices, I was accustomed to the use of garters, I could not walk or ride half a dozen miles without fa­tigue; which inconvenience I found immedi­ately remedied, on abandoning those improp­er ligaments.

The advantages of woollen stockings have been already pointed out. Upper stockings of silk, cotton or linen, will be no impediment; and they may be chosen of thicker or thinner quality, according to the weather and season. But the best stockings may become hurtful, if [Page 237] too short in the feet, and may bring on a spasmodic rigidity, and distortion of the toes. If, on the other hand, the feet of the stockings are too wide, so that they make folds in the shoes, they will injure the skin by their fric­tion, and be attended with painful consequen­ces. The stockings of children ought neither to cover the knees, nor be tied in any other manner, than by fastening them with strings to the waistband; otherwise they will increase the size of the knees, render them preternat­urally thick, and may produce white swell­ings, and other dangerous maladies.

Boots, if too tight, and made of thick leather, are so injurious to health, and so troublesome in walking, that no reasonable being will be inclined to force his feet and legs into them. The consequences of a prac­tice, as hurtful as it is injudicious, are obvi­ous from the preceding observations.

The constant use of boots contracts the size of the legs, particularly the calves, as may be daily observed in military men, and the fash­ionable loungers of Bond-street and Pall-Mall.

I now proceed to the last, but not the least important part of our dress, namely, Shoes. The celebrated Dutch anatomist, CAMPER, did not consider this subject unworthy of his attention, as he published a particular work, "On the proper Form and Size of Shoes," as late as the year 1781. The shoes ought to be of the size of the foot; they should be also ac­commodated to the degree of motion or exer­cise, and to the nature of the soil and place, in which we wear them; circumstances that [Page 238] are at present too little attended to. A shoe that is bigger than the foot, prevents a firm step; while one which is too narrow occa­sions pain and troublesome corns. Many volumes have been written on the Art of Shoeing that noble and useful animal, the Horse:—it is considered as a fundamental rule in Farriery, that the shoe must be nei­ther smaller nor larger than the hoof; and yet mankind can submit to screw their feet into a narrower compass than is intended by Nature. How frequently do we smile at the Chinese, who, from a tyrannical custom, squeeze and compress their feet, that they may remain small and crippled. Yet these feeble Orientals proceed more rationally in this practice, than their European rivals. They begin with it gradually, and from the earliest infancy. We do not think of con­tracting the feet of our children, till they have almost attained the natural size, and thus en­deavour to counteract the progress of Nature, when it is too late to do it with impunity. Who then are the greater slaves of fashion, the Chin [...]se, or their enlightened antipodes?—It is pitiable to see the young and old, of both sexes, advancing into an assembly or ball-room, with the most painful sensations. Without consulting Lavater's Physiognomy, it is easy to discover, by their distorted features and compressed lips, what many whimsical persons suffer from too tight, or, what is still worse, from short shoes. Our knees would be more flexible, and our toes more pliable, more use­ful, and better adapted to perform the various [Page 239] motions of the feet, if they were not contin­ually pressed and palsied by this improper case­work. Nature has designed the toes to be as moveable as the fingers. Those unfortunate beings, who are born without hands, learn to perform with the toes the most astonishing tasks, to write and cut pens, to sew, to draw; in short, to supply almost completely the want of their hands.

Our feet, no doubt, would be more com­fortable, easy, and useful, if we were not at the greatest pains to deprive, them of their elasticity and vigour. The numerous nerves, crossing the feet in every direction, plainly evince that Nature has endowed them with peculiar powers, of which we can scarcely form an adequate conception. The untutor­ed Indian, or the wild African, excels not only the enlightened European, but likewise the lower animals, in running, leaping, and, in short, in swiftness and agility of every kind, where muscular motion is required. Either of them would heartily laugh at us, when we are obliged to employ professional operators for extracting corns, and to contrive oint­ments and plasters for the cure of those evils, which we have wantonly brought on our­selves.

The judicious BUCHAN says: "Almost nine tenths of mankind are troubled with corns; a disease that is seldom or never occa­sioned but by strait shoes;" and I presume to add, that the remaining tenth part do not envy their fellow-creatures for this modern improvement. Our ancestors, even within [Page 240] my memory, wore their shoes with broad toes, which showed at once their good sense, and due attention to health and comfort. He who is regardless of the pain and trouble oc­casioned by warts, excrescences, and callosities of various forms; he who wishes to convert his feet and toes into so many barometers, to indicate the present state, and to foretel the fu­ture changes of the weather, will ever agree with his shoemaker, to save as much leather as possible; and he is scarcely to be pitied for his imprudence. Such a person will not un­frequently be disappointed in his excursions, when his crippled feet require temporary rest. I am further persuaded, that such cessations of exercise are extremely detrimental to health in general, and that they may be registered among the predisposing causes of the gout, rheumatism, and dropsy. Many people are thus almost deprived of the use of their legs; and the pain of the more virulent species of corns, as well as of the nails, when grown in­to the flesh, is excruciating.

For these obvious reasons, the soles of the shoes ought to be sufficiently broad, especially under the toes, where we are accustomed to see them so pointed, that they appear to be intended for weapons of attack or defence. If, for instance, the greatest breadth of the foot be four inches, the shoe should not be three and a half, but rather four and a half inches broad, since the bulk of the foot, and the seam of the leather, require an allowance of half an inch. The soles also ought not to be bent hollow, as is frequently done in wo­men's [Page 241] shoes; for since the foot is not so con­structed as to present a spherical surface, it is improper to deprive it of that firm hold, which Nature has given it by a nearly flat form. The foot must necessarily suffer from this ill-contrived shape, which deprives it of its flexion, occasions difficulty in walking, and renders every step unpleasant and unsafe.

In the same manner as some persons strange­ly endeavour to diminish the breadth of the foot, others are equally dissatisfied with its length. Hence we see them make use of an instrument, to force their feet into shoes per­haps an inch shorter than is requisite for an easy motion. This custom is the most de­structive of any, and, though not much prac­tised at present, since a long and narrow pointed shoe is the most fashionable, yet the inconvenience and danger is not thereby re­moved. Instead of bending the toes with their nails inwards, as was formerly the case with short shoes, we now squeeze them to­gether, and often lay them crossways over one another, so as to carry them about with­out motion, like a mere insensible mass of matter. Upon striking the foot against a stone, we feel the punishment due to such outrage. Shoes of this kind may be aptly compared to the wooden boxes worn by the Dutch and French peasants, from necessity, in wet seasons, and which admit of quite as much motion as the long and sharp pointed machines, in which our beaux and belles cramp their feed from choice.

[Page 242] A convenient shoe, therefore, ought to be somewhat round at the toes, sufficiently long, with thick soles, and the upper leather soft and pliable. If it be deficient in any of these requisites, the skin will be rendered callous; the perspiration indispensable to these parts will be stopped; warts and corns will appear in numbers; the nails will grow into the flesh, and various complicated maladies be produced, which not only affect the feet, but the whole body. Beside these more serious consequences, a person walking with narrow shoes will be much sooner and more sensibly fatigued, than he whose shoes are sufficiently wide and easy.

The poor, as well as country people, who wear shoes sufficiently large, have not only a much safer step, but their feet are less subject to the multiplicity of complaints, with which ours are annoyed. Those who, either from inclination or frugality, go barefooted in summer, have not even to plead the reason of the Ancients, who considered it as a mark of chastity; and I cannot help remarking, that it is both indecorous and unwholesome, as well as an injudicious species of economy. The shoe, in our climate and mode of life, is a necessary defence against many accidental in­juries, to which the foot is liable; and it is likewise a crime against decency, to expose any part of the human body to dust and mire.

With respect to the substance of which shoes should be made, no other general rule can be given, than that it ought to be sufficiently com­pact, [Page 243] to prevent the water from penetrating it; so elastic and soft, as to admit an easy motion of the whole foot; and accommodated to the weather, exercise, and soil in which it is used. To those who have not the means or opportu­nity of procuring the patent water-proof leath­er, I shall suggest a method of preparing this species of leather, at a very small expense. One pint of drying oil, two ounces of yellow wax, two ounces of spirit of turpentine, and one ounce of Burgundy-pitch, are to be carefully melted together, over a slow fire. Those to whom the smell of pitch and turpentine is un­pleasant, may add a few drachms of some cheap essential oil, as of lavender, thyme, and the like. With this composition new shoes or boots are rubbed, either in the sun, or at some distance from a fire, with a sponge or soft brush: this operation is to be repeated as often as they become dry again, until they be fully saturated. In this manner, the leather at length becomes impervious to wet; the shoes or boots made of it last much longer than those made of common leather, acquire such softness and pliability, that they never shrivel nor grow hard and inflexible, and, thus prepared, are the most effectual preservatives against cold and chilblains.

To conclude, I shall only remark, that it is not advisable to change the shoes from one foot to the other. Let us rather tread one of the shoes somewhat crooked, than injure our feet and health, by an adherence to a cus­tom, which has nothing but custom to recom­mend it. If it be our serious wish to avoid [Page 244] corns and other painful accidents, to which the rage of fashion subjects the feet of its vo­taries, we should persuade the shoe-makers to provide us with a particular shoe for each foot; and this can be done only by keeping separate double lasts, for every wearer. Is it not in­judicious and absurd, to have both shoes made of the same size and form, when Nature has not formed both feet alike, or at least not in the same direction?

It gives me great satisfaction to add, that since the first edition of these Lectures was published, the rational practice of having sep­arate shoes purposely made for each foot, has already been adopted among the more en­lightened classes of society. From a full con­viction of its great utility, I sincerely wish that it may soon become universal!

ALTHOUGH it be certain, that animal life could not be supported without food and drink, few individuals give themselves the trouble of reflecting, how the very important function of assimilating our aliment is accom­plished. That office of the stomach, by which all living creatures are supported, deserves the attention of every inquisitive mind. Were I not confined in my plan to the relative salubri­ty of Food and Drink, without entering into physiological disquisitions, how the digestive organs prepare and conduct the food from one stage to another, till it is converted into chyle, and from that into blood, I might amuse my readers with a variety of speculations and [Page 14] theories, none of which are fully established; but such digressions, however entertaining or gratifying to curiosity, would be of little ser­vice, either in making the proper choice of al­iment, or in ascertaining its wholesome or pernicious qualities.

If, in the early periods of society, when men subsisted upon roots, plants, and animal food, as they were promiscuously found, people did not reflect upon the relative salubrity of things, we have no right to censure them; as they often might have been starved, before they could have discovered their qualities. But if we, in our present state of knowledge, neglect such inqui­ries; if we indiscriminately [...]eed on whatever is presented to our palate; such conduct de­serves severe animadversion. For, if man as­sume the right of calling himself Lord of the Creation, it is a duty incumbent on him, to make himself acquainted with the nature and properties of those substances, which so essen­tially contribute to animal existence.

Hence it may be justly asked, what are the constituent parts of aliment—how are they to be distinguished—are they of different kinds, or do they, with all the difference of form and taste, still manifest the same properties, powers, and effects—do they promiscuously supply all the parts of the human body, or are particular kinds of food more or less adapted to supply the wants of different parts of the body—and lastly, have all substances, we make use of as food, an equal share in this nutritive principle?

Such are the questions, which must arise in every reflecting mind; and as the preservation [Page 15] of the body depends so much on the manner in which the continual waste is supplied, it is a matter of the first consequence, to choose the substances which are most congenial to the different states and conditions of the body.

An eastern Dervise was once asked by a wealthy Mahometan, ‘Of what service to society is an order of men, who employ themselves in speculative notions of divinity and medicine?—If you were more cau­tious and temperate in your meals, an­swered the Dervise; if you would learn to govern your passions and desires, by a due attention to abstinence, you all might be sages, and have no occasion for Dervises a­mong you. But your appetite and aliment impair your understandings!’

In the consumption of food and drink we are liable to commit errors, both as to their quan­tity and quality. The error in the quantity, however, is generally the most detrimental. A small portion of food can be better digested and more easily prepared into chyle, or that alimentary fluid, from which the blood derives its origin, than a large portion of food, which injures the coats of the stomach, and prevents them from exerting their force. Hence every satiety, or superfluity, is noxious.

It is in infancy, and early age, that the foun­dation is laid for the many diseases arising from indigestion, which are now found in al­most every family. If children are fed immod­erately, and beyond the real wants of nature, the first passages become too much distended, and their stomach by degrees acquires an un­natural [Page 16] craving for food, which must be satis­fied, whatever be the consequence. These ex­cessive supplies not only are unnecessary, but produce the most serious and fatal disorders. There is a certain relation subsisting between what is taken in, and what is lost by the body: if we eat and drink much, we likewise lose much, without gaining any more by it, than we might do by moderate meals. For that which affords the alimentary particles, is as it were drowned by the current; and muscular energy is not only decreased, but in a great measure destroyed. Yet eating too little would be going to the opposite extreme, weaken the growth to bodily perfection, and eventually diminish the digestive power of the stomach, by depriving it of its due share of exercise and support.

Nature is easily satisfied, and is always best provided, if we do not intrude upon her more than she is accustomed to. If we have, for some time, taken little nourishment, nature be­comes so habituated to it, that we feel indispo­sed, as soon as the usual measure is transgress­ed; and both the stomach and its digestive powers are thereby impaired.

The hardy countryman digests the crude and solid food, at which the stomach of the luxu­rious citizen recoils. In order to strengthen the stomach, we ought not to withhold from it what keeps it in proper exercise. But, for this purpose, we should rather improve the quality, than increase the quantity of alimen­tary substances. It is with this organ as with all other parts of the body: the more exercise [Page 17] we give it, the more strength and vigour it ac­quires. Hence, it is highly improper to leave off eating food of difficult digestion, as some people are apt to do; for this is not the way of improving the energy of the body.

It would be a fruitless and impracticable at­tempt, to lay down fixed rules, by which the respective salubrity or perniciousness of every species of aliment might be determined, in its application to the individual. It has been be­fore observed, that such rules do not exist in nature; and that the particular state and con­dition of the person, time, and circumstances, must serve as our guide. Hence it may be considered as a general rule, that all incon­gruous mixtures and compositions, for instance milk and vinegar or other acids, or milk and spirits, are hurtful, by generating an acid and acrid whey in the stomach, and at the same time producing an indigestible coagulated mass.

Having premised these introductory re­marks, I proceed to treat

Of Food in particular.

1. As to its quantity. A much greater num­ber of diseases originate, upon the whole, from irregularities in eating, than in drinking; and, in the latter respect, we commit more frequent errors with regard to quantity, than quality: otherwise the heterogeneous mixture of provisions, with which we load our stom­achs, would disagree with all. This indeed but too often happens. One who eats slowly, [Page 18] and a little only of a variety of dishes, will less injure his stomach than another, who eats immoderately of one or two favourite articles, and partakes of the others only for the sake of custom, or as a compliment paid perhaps to a fair hostess.—The gastric juice which is generated in the stomach, is capable of dis­solving and digesting the most diversified ma­terials, provided they be not unsuitably mix­ed; and a perfectly healthy stomach can pre­pare a chyle, or a milky fluid, of the same nourishing principle, from all eatable sub­stances whatever.

The general rule then is, to eat as much as is necessary to supply the waste suffered by the body; if we transgress this measure, we produce too much blood; a circumstance as detrimental, though not so dangerous to life, as that of having too little. If we were never to tres­pass the due limits of temperance, our natural appetite would be able accurately to deter­mine, how much food we might consume, without diminishing our vivacity. But, from the usual physical education of children, this can scarcely be expected in adults. We ought therefore to pay strict attention to the state of those intestines, which serve to prepare the ali­mentary fluid; and when these are in a relax­ed or diseased state, we should instantly begin to be more moderate in eating.

There are three kinds of appetite: 1st, The natural appetite, which is equally stimulated and satisfied with the most simple dish, as with the most palatable; 2d, The artificial appetite, or that excited by stomachic elixirs, liqueurs, [Page 19] pickles, digestive salts, &c.; and which remains only as long as the operation of these stimu­lants continues; 3d, The habitual appetite, or that by which we accustom ourselves to take victuals at certain hours, and frequently with­out a desire of eating.—Longing for a particu­lar food is likewise a kind of false appetite.—The true and healthy appetite alone can ascer­tain the quantity of food proper for the indi­vidual; if in that state we no longer relish a common dish, it is a certain criterion of its not agreeing with our digestive organs. If after dinner we feel ourselves as cheerful as before it, we may be assured, that we have taken a diet­etical meal. For, if the proper measure be ex­ceeded, torpor and relaxation will be the ne­cessary consequence; our faculty of digestion will be impaired, and a variety of complaints gradually induced.

The stomach being distended by [...]uent and violent exertions, will not rest sa [...]fied with the former quantity of food;—its [...] will increase with indulgence in excess; [...] temperance alone can reduce it to its natu [...] state, and restore its elasticity. Fulness [...] blood, and corpulency, are the disagreeable ef­fects of too much eating; which progressively relaxes the stomach, and punishes the offender with headach, fever, pain in the bowels, diar­rhoea, and other disorders.

The more suddenly this expansion takes place, the more forcibly and dangerously it affects the stomach; and its fibres, being too much extended, are the more sensible of the subsequent relaxation. Slow eating, therefore, [Page 20] preserves the fibres in a due state of elasticity. Hence, to eat slowly, is the first maxim in Di­etetics: the stomach suffering in this case but a very gradual distension, as the food has suf­ficient time to be duly prepared by mastication. He who observes this simple rule, will feel himself satisfied, only when he has received a due proportion of aliment. But he who swal­lows his food too quickly, and before it is per­fectly chewed, will imagine he has eaten enough, when the unmasticated provisions oc­casion a sense of pressure on the sides of the stomach.—The teeth are designed by nature to grind our food, and to mix it with the sal­iva, produced by innumerable glands, and destined to promote its solution.

A healthy appetite is also determined by the season, to the influence of which the stomach is exposed, in common with the other viscera. Hence heat, in general, relaxes and exhausts the body, from its tendency to dissipate the flu­ids, or to diminish their quantity; and conse­quently the stomach cannot digest the same portion of food in summer, which it does in winter. There are however persons, who have the strongest appetite, and possess the most vigorous digestive powers, in the extreme heat of summer. The bile of such individuals is of a watery consistence, and too sparingly se­creted; a defect, which is best remedied by heat. Those who take more exercise in winter than in summer, can also direst mor [...] food. But as individuals leading a [...] life usu­ally suffer in winter from a [...] state of diges­tion, owing to a want of exercise, they ought to take less food in that season.

[Page 21] We call those substances nutritive, which re­store and supply what has been wasted. They conduct to the body homogeneous or assimi­lated parts, by means of the intestinal canal, and by changing these parts into muscular substance or flesh, or into the fluid form of blood. Since some alimentary articles com­municate their nutritive element sooner than others, as they contain coarser or more delicate particles, which according to their nature are more or less apt to be assimilated with the body, it follows, that all of them cannot be equally nourishing.

Too little aliment debilitates the body, which thereby acquires less than it loses by respiration; it hastens the consumption of life; the blood becomes inert and rarefied; or is rendered acrid and liable to putrefaction. Af­ter long fasting the breath is fetid, and the an­imal body becomes disposed to putrid fevers.—We can more easily digest a heavy meal, in four hours of accelerated respiration and mus­cular action during the day, than in eight hours of sleep. This circumstance has led mankind to make their principal meal about the middle of the day. A person who sits up five or six hours after supper, will feel himself much more inclined to take a second [...] to go to bed.

Abstinence readily induces [...] a fasting of twenty-four hours is [...] a disgust and aversion to food, which [...] a symptom of putrescency, and is at length suc­ceeded by delirium.—After taking for some time too little food, the body is enfeebled; [Page 22] the vessels are not sufficiently supplied; their action on the whole mass of the blood, and of the blood on the several vessels, is interrupted; its free circulation is checked; and the small­er vessels corrugate, so that the thinnest blood is no longer capable of pervading them, as is the case in old age. When a person has suf­fered so much from extreme hunger, that his fluids are already in a putrescent state, much food must not be given him at once; for his contracted stomach cannot digest it. Such a body must be supported with liquid nourish­ment, in small quantities, and be treated alto­gether like a patient in a putrid or nervous fe­ver. Hence, no animal food of any kind, but subacid vegetables alone, can be given with propriety.

2. As to the quality of aliment, we must here investigate the nature of Digestion. This func­tion may be aptly divided into two different▪ processes: Solution and Assimilation. Solution takes place in the stomach, where the food is changed into a pulp, where it is dissolved ac­cording to its greater or less solubility, and where its nourishing particles are absorbed. Assimilation only begins, when the solution has already taken place in the stomach, when the nutritive substance, or the alimentary juice, is inhaled by the absorbent vessels, and con­ducted to the blood, by means of the lacteals. Assimilation, therefore, is that function, by which the aliment is as it were animalized: and hence it has been conjectured, that animal food is easier digested than vegetable, as being more analogous to our nature, and more easily converted into animal fluids.

[Page 23] There are articles of easy and of difficult di­gestion, in the animal as well as in the vegeta­ble kingdom: in both we find some substances, which are completely indigestible, and which pass through the alimentary canal, without af­fording any nourishment.

The most simple dishes are the most nourishing. The multiplied combinations of substances, though they may please the palate, are not con­ducive to health. All substances containing much jelly, whether animal or vegetable, are nourishing; for this alone affords nutriment; and the hard, watery, and saline particles of food cannot be assimilated or converted into chyle. Nourishing substances would, indeed, be more conformable to Nature; but, as our appetite generally incites us to eat somewhat more than is necessary, we should acquire too much alimentary matter, and become too full of blood, if we were to choose only such articles of food as contain a great quantity of jelly.

Dr. BUCHAN very justly observes, that ‘the great art of preparing food is to blend the nutritive part of the aliment with a sufficient quantity of some light farinaceous substance, in order to fill up the canal, without over­charging it with more nutritious particles than are necessary for the support of the ani­mal. This may be done either by bread or other farinaceous substances, of which there is a great variety.’ Those, who are not employed in hard labour or exercise, do not require such nourishing food as those, whose nutritive fluids are in part consumed by mus­cular exertions and violent perspiration. [Page 24] Such as have suffered frequent losses of blood, from whatever cause, will best restore it by strong aliment; which, on the contrary, ought to be avoided by the plethoric. Those, lastly, whose frame is weakened and emaciated by irregularities and dissipation, should not at­tempt to eat much at a time, but rather repeat their meals more frequently, at proper and regular intervals.

Whether we ought to make use of articles of easy or difficult digestion, cannot be deter­mined by general rules: every person must attend to the effects, which substances of dif­ferent degrees of digestibility produce on his stomach. The chyle, when prepared of sub­stances not easily digestible, is solid and con­centrated, and consequently affords a substan­tial muscular fibre▪ but such substances as the stomach cannot digest, ought never to be used as food.

It is an important rule of diet, to eat if pos­sible of one kind of meat only, or, at all events, to eat of that dish first which is the most palata­ble. The stomach is enabled to prepare the best chyle from simple substances, and will thence produce the most healthy fluids. And if we follow the second part of this rule, we are in no danger of overloading the stomach. At a table dietetically arranged, we ought to begin with those dishes which are most diffi­cult to be digested, and finish our meal with the most easy; because the former require stronger digestive powers, and more bile and saliva, all of which become defective towards the end of a heavy meal. The power of di­gestion [Page 25] in the stomach is undoubtedly most vigorous and active, when that organ is not too much distended; and the more coarse sub­stances also require a longer time for being duly assimilated.

To begin meals, as the French, Germans, and Scots generally do, with soups or broths, is highly improper and noxious. These liquid dishes are ill calculated to prepare the stomach for the reception of solid food; as they not only weaken and swell it by their bulk and weight, but also deprive it of the appetite for the succeeding part of the dinner. Every tension is attended with relaxation, so that we imagine ourselves satisfied sooner than we are in reality. Besides, broths and soups require little digestion, weaken the stomach, and are attended with all the pernicious effects of oth­er warm and relaxing drinks. They are ben­eficial to the sick, to the aged, and to those who, from the want of teeth, have lost the power of mastication; but for such persons they ought to be sufficiently diluted, and not too much heated with spices;—otherwise they will be digested with some difficulty.

Many individuals are accustomed to spend the whole forenoon without breakfast, and feel no inconvenience from it, while others of a more delicate stomach could not bear such abstinence, without unavoidable cravings and debility. The business of digestion is usually accomplished within three or four hours after a meal; hence the stomach is empty at rising in the morning, and the body often enfeebled by long fasting. Our breakfast should there­fore [Page 26] consist of more solid and nourishing sub­stances, than are now generally used for that meal; especially if our dinner is to be delay­ed till the late hours which modern fashion prescribes. We should breakfast soon after we get up, dine about mid-day, and not pro­tract the hour of supper till the time which Nature points out for rest.

A principal rule of diet is to take food with an easy and serene mind; hence it is prefera­ble to dine or sup in company: our food has thus more relish, it agrees better with us, and we eat more slowly and cheerfully. But we ought not to indulge ourselves in sitting too long at table, which is a ways pernicious to health. For digestion takes place, even [...] we sit at table; and as the stomach, when gradually supplied, craves for additional quan­tities of food, especially when a variety of pal­atable dishes stimulates the appetite, we ought to be much on our guard against these seduc­tions. Hence it is most advisable to make our dinner on one or two dishes; because we can eat more of a plurality of dishes than of one or two only, and do not so easily perceive when the stomach is overloaded.—To read, or otherwise exercise the mind, during the time of eating, is likewise improper.

Gentle exercise, before dinner or supper, is very conducive to increase our appetite, by pro­moting the circulation of the blood. But too violent exercise impairs the appetite, and weakens the powers of the stomach, by means of its sympathy with the other parts of the body. In proof of this, we seldom see peo­ple [Page 27] worn out with fatigue able to partake of their usual repasts. The exercise, however gentle, ought to be over at least half an hour before dinner; because it is hurtful to sit down to table immediately after great fatigue.

As to our conduct after dinner, it is scarcely possible to give rules that are generally appli­cable, and much less so to every individual. From the contradictory opinion of the most esteemed authors, they appear not to have discriminated between the various states and conditions of animal life; and as exercise was found to agree with some constitutions, and to disagree with others, a diversity of opinions necessarily arose among those who were so passionately fond of reducing every thing to general rules. In order then to remove these difficulties, I think it necessary to observe, that though it be apparently consistent with the instinct of nature to rest some time after dinner, according to the example of ani­mals, yet this time, as well as other concur­rent circumstances, deserves to be more pre­cisely determined.

As soon as the food has entered the stom­ach, the important office of digestion begins: the vigour of the organs exerted on this occa­sion ought certainly not to be abridged by vio­lent exercise; but muscular and robust people feel no inconvenience from gentle motion about one hour after the heaviest meal. On the con­trary, it is highly probable that the abdominal muscles receive additional impetus, by exer­tions of a moderate kind. But as the whole process of digestion is of much longer duration [Page 28] than is generally imagined, the afternoon hours cannot be employed advantageously to health, in any labor requiring strong exer­tions.

The transition of the alimentary fluid into blood, which takes place in the third or fourth hour after a meal, and in some people of a weak and slow digestion much later, is always attended with some increase of irritability, which, in persons of great sensibility, may de­generate into a painful sensation or illness. At this time, therefore, nervous and hypochon­driac persons are frequently troubled with their usual paroxysms; they are seized with anguish, oppression, and an inclination to faint, without any external cause. Persons in this condition of body, as well as all febrile patients, and especially those who are troubled with stomachic complaints, would act ex­tremely wrong and imprudent, to undertake any exercise whatever, before their victuals be completely digested; as during digestion all the fluids collect towards the stomach. In violent exercise, or in an increased state of perspiration, the fluids are forced to the ex­ternal parts, and withdrawn from the stomach, where they are indispensable to assist the proper concoction.

As to the propriety of sleeping after dinner, we may learn from those animals, which sleep after feeding, that a little indulgence of this kind cannot be hurtful. Yet this again can­not be established as a general rule among men. For the animals which sleep after food, are for the most part supplied with articles of [Page 29] so very difficult digestion, and so hard in their nature, that great digestive powers are required to convert them into alimentary matter. Hence this practice can be recommended only to the nervous and debilitated, to weakly persons in general, who are much employed in mental exercise, and are past the middle age—es­pecially after a heavy meal, in hot weather, and warm climates.

Experience, however, teaches us, that, in this respect, a short sleep, of a few minutes only, is sufficient and preferable to one of longer duration; for, in the latter case, we lose more by an increase of insensible perspira­tion, than is conducive to digestion.—But the position of the body is far from being a matter of indifference. The best is a reclined and not a horizontal posture, from which head-ach may easily▪ arise, when the stomach presses upon the subjacent intestines, and the blood is thereby impelled to the head. The old practice of standing or walking after dinner is so far improper, as it is hurtful to take exercise, while the stomach is distended by food, the sensation of which lasts at least for one hour.

In the primitive ages, people subsisted chiefly upon plants and fruits. Even to this day, many sects and whole nations, the Bra­mins for instance, abstain from the use of an­imal food. The ancient Germans, also, who were so renowned for their bodily strength, lived upon acorns, wood apples, four milk, and other productions of their then unculti­vated soil. In the present mode of life, here as well as on the Continent, a great propor­tion [Page 30] of the poorer class of country-people sub­sist chiefly on vegetables; but although they duly digest their vegetable aliment, and be­come vigorous, yet it is certain, that animal food would answer these purposes much better. Hence in countries where the labouring class of people live principally upon animal food, they far excel in bodily strength and duration of life.

A popular writer observes, that ‘ani­mal food is less adapted to the sedentary than the laborious, whose diet ought to consist chiefly of vegetables. In­dulging in animal food renders men dull and unfit for the pursuits of science, espe­cially when it is accompanied with the free use of strong liquors.’ This is so far true, but Dr. Buchan ought to have added, that the infirm, and those who labour under complaints of indigestion, will suffer still more from the use of vegetable substances, which by their pe­culiar nature produce too much acid, and re­quire stronger digestive organs, in order to be changed into a good alimentary fluid.

Dr. Buchan farther observes, that ‘con­sumptions so common in England, are in part owing to the great use of animal food.’ To this assertion no one will give his assent, who is acquainted with that class of men, who carry on the business of butchers, among whom it is as rare to hear of a consumptive person, as it is to find a sailor troubled with the hypochondriasis. I must quote another observation of this gentleman, to which I cannot implicitly subscribe. Having remark­ed, [Page 31] that the most common disease in this coun­try is the scurvy; that we find a taint of it in almost every family, and in some a very deep taint, he says,—‘that a disease so general must have a general cause, and there is none so obvious, as the great quantity of animal food devoured by the natives. As a proof, that scurvy arises from this cause, we are in possession of no remedy for that disease equal to the free use of fresh vegetables.’ He likewise remarks, ‘that the choleric dispo­sition of the English is almost proverbial, and if he were to assign a cause of it, it would be their living so much on animal food;’ and finally, that ‘there is no doubt but this induces a ferocity of temper un­known to men, whose food is chiefly taken from the vegetable kingdom.’

There is much truth mingled with much fallacy in these assertions. I will allow, that animal food predisposes people to scorbutic complaints, and that it renders men more bold and sanguinary in their temper; [...] there are a variety of other causes which produce a sim­ilar effect. Nor are the English [...] choleric a people as the Italians and Tur [...]s, both of whom, though sparing in the use of animal food, are uncommonly vindictive. It is farther not to be imputed to the consumption of flesh­meat, or the want of vegetables alone, that the scurvy is so frequent in this country, both on land and at sea. There appears to me to exist a powerful cause, to which people pay very little attention, and from which the scurvy more frequently derives its origin than from [Page 32] any other; the difference of food being in fact only a concurrent cause.

If we consider the very sudden and frequent changes of temperature in our climate; if we compare the present mode of living with that of our ancestors, who did not interrupt the di­gestion of one meal by another, such as our rich luncheons in the forenoon, and our tea and coffee in the afternoon, when the digestive organs are, as it were, drowned in these favour­ite liquids;—if, farther, we reflect upon the irregular manner in which our time of repose is arranged, so that we spend a great part of our life in the unwholesome night-air, partly at late suppers, and partly in the modern practice of travelling at night;—if all these cricumstanc­es be duly weighed, we cannot be at a loss to dis­cover a more general cause of scorbutic com­plaints, than that of eating too much animal food.

After these reflections, it will not be diffi­cult to comprehend, that the most important of the human functions is materially injured, by these habitual irregularities. I allude to the insensible perspiration which is so far from being encouraged and supported by such conduct, that the noxious particles, which ought to be evaporated, are daily and hourly repelled, a­gain absorbed by the lacteals, and reconducted to the mass of the circulating fluids. Here they can produce no other effect than that of tainting the humours with acrimonious par­ticles, and disposing them to a state of putres­cency and dissolution, which is the leading symptom of scurvy. Upon the minutest in­quiries among sea-faring people, as well as the [Page 33] inhabitants of the country, I have been in­formed, that those individuals, who pay due attention to the state of their skin, by wearing flannel shirts and worsted stockings, and by not exposing themselves too often to night-air, or other irregularities, are seldom, if ever, trou­bled with scurvy.

To return to the subject of animal food and its effects, it deserves to be remarked, that a too frequent and excessive use of it disposes the fluids to putrefaction, and, I believe in some sanguine temperaments, communicates to the mind a degree of ferocity. Nations living chiefly upon the flesh of animals, like the Tar­tars, are in general more fierce than others; and the same effect is manifest in carnivorous animals: they emit a very disagreeable smell, and both their flesh and milk has an unpleasant and disgusting taste. Even a child will refuse the breast, when its nurse has eaten too much animal food. Those who eat great quantities of meat, and little bread or vegetables, must necessarily acquire an offensive breath. It ap­pears, therefore, to be most suitable and con­ducive to health, to combine animal with vege­table food, in due proportions. This cannot be minutely ascertained, with respect to every individual; but, in general, two thirds or three fourths of vegetables, to one third or fourth part of meat, appears to be the most proper. By this judicious mixture, we may avoid the diseases arising from a too copious use of either. Much, however, depends on the peculiar prop­erties of alimentary substances, belonging to one or the other of the different classes, which we have now to investigate.

Of Animal Food.

It may serve as a preliminary rule, that fresh meat is the most wholesome and nourishing. To preserve these qualities, however, it ought to be dressed so as to remain tender and juicy; for by this means it will be easily digested, and afford most nourishment.

The flesh of tame animals is, upon the whole, preferable to game; and although the latter be, in general, more mellow, and easier of diges­tion, it does not contain the sweet jelly, and mild juices, with which the former is almost uniformly impregnated.

By the usual mode of dressing victuals, they lose a considerable part of their nutritious qual­ity, and become thereby less digestible. Raw meat certainly contains the purest and most nourishing juice. We do not, however, eat raw flesh, but there are some substances which are frequently consumed in a state nearly ap­proaching to that of rawness. Such are the Westphalia hams, Italian sausages, smoked geese, salted herrings, and the like.

Various modes of preparing and dressing meat have been contrived, to render it more palatable, and better adapted to the stomach. By exposure to the air, flesh becomes more soft, which obviously is the effect of incipient putrefaction; for, by this process, the volatile particles of ammoniacal salt are disengaged, and it is rendered more agreeable to the taste. [Page 35] Pickled and smoked meats,^* so commonly used in the northern and eastern countries of Eu­rope, acquire an unnatural hardness, and com­municate a great degree of acrimony to the flu­ids of the human body. By boiling, flesh is de­prived of its nourishing juice, as the gelatinous substance of the meat is extracted, and incor­porated in the broth; and it is thus converted into a less nutritive and more oppressive bur­den for the digestive organs; because the spirituous and balsamic particles are too much evaporated during the boiling. The broth indeed contains the most nourishing part of it, but it is too much diluted to admit of an easy digestion. A better mode of dressing meat is roasting, by which its strength is less wasted, and the spirituous particles prevented from evaporating; a crust is soon formed on its surface, and the nutritive principle better pre­served. Hence, one pound of roasted meat is, in actual nourishment, equal to two or three pounds of boiled meat.

The boiling of animal food is frequently per­formed in open vessels; which is not the best method of rendering it tender, palatable, and nourishing: close vessels only ought to be used for that purpose. The culinary process called stewing is of all others the most profitable and nutritious, and best calculated to preserve [Page 36] and to concentrate the most substantial parts of animal food.

When we expose articles of provision to the fire, without any addition of moisture, it is call­ed baking. That such articles may not be too much dried by evaporation, they are usually covered with paste. Thus the meat, indeed, re­tains all its nutritive particles, becomes tender and easily digestible; but the paste is the more detrimental to the stomach, as it generally con­sists of an undue proportion of butter, which cannot be readily digested in that state. When meat is fried, it is in some degree deprived of its substance; but, if the fire be strong enough, a solid crust will soon be formed on its surface, by which the evaporation will be checked, and the flesh rendered mellow: the butter, or other fat used to prevent its adherence to the pan, gives it a burnt or [...] taste, and renders its digestion in the stomach rather difficult.

Vegetables are, in general, not so readily di­gested, as even hard and tough animal sub­stances; which from their nature are more speedily assimilated to the body; but the flesh of young animals, with a proportionate quan­tity of wholesome vegetables, is the diet best adapted to our system. The flesh of fattened cattle is by no means wholesome; these ani­mals lead a sluggish and inactive life, and as they are surrounded in their dungeons by a bad and putrid air, they consequently do not afford fluids salutary for the stomach.

Though fat meat is more nourishing than lean, fat being the cellular substance of animal [Page 37] jelly, yet to digest this oily matter, there is re­quired, on account of its difficult solubility, a good bile, much saliva, and a vigorous stom­ach. To prevent any bad effects, we ought to use a sufficient quantity of salt, which is an excellent solvent of fat, and changes it into a saponaceous mass.

Luxury has introduced an unnatural ope­ration, which makes the flesh of certain ani­mals at once delicate and nutritious; but the flesh of the same animals is still more whole­some in their unmutilated state, before they have been suffered to copulate. The mucil­aginous and gelatinous parts of animals alone afford nourishment; and according to the pro­portion of these contained in the meat, it is more or less nourishing. We find mucilage to be a principal constituent in vegetable, and jelly or gluten in animal bodies: hence far­inaceous substances contain the most of the former, and the flesh of animals most of the latter. A substantial jelly, as for instance that of calf's feet, is more nourishing than a thin chicken broth; but it is more difficult to be digested.

In summer, it is advisable to increase the proportion of vegetable food, and to make use of acids, such as vinegar, lemons, oranges, and the like; the blood being in that season much disposed to putresency. The man who contin­ually takes nourishing food, is liable to become fat and plethoric; while on the contrary the parsimonious, or the religious fanatic, from their abstinence, become thin and enfeebled: hence the medium, or a proper mixture of both [Page 38] vegetable and animal nutriment, seems to be most conducive to health. I cannot sufficient­ly recommend the following caution to those who are frequently troubled with a craving appetite: the more food the stomach demands, it ought to be the more sparingly furnished with strongly nourishing substances, in order to avoid obesity, or fatness; and much vegetable food is in this case required, to counteract that disposition to putrescency, which the frequent eating of nutritive substances necessarily occa­sions.

There are people who feel the sensation of hunger in a painful degree, which generally arises from too much acid being generated in the stomach. A vegetable diet would be prej­udicial to such individuals; they ought to in­crease the proportion of animal food; and dishes containing oily substances, in general, agree well with them. Bread and butter is useful to such persons, in order to neutralize their acid acrimony, and at the same time, to change the fat into a more soluble saponaceous substance. The cause of this acid is frequent­ly a weakness in the stomach, which cannot be cured in any other manner, than by strengthening bitters, and articles of nourish­ment that are mildly astringent, and promote warmth in the intestines; and in this respect, cold meat, as well as drink, is preferable to hot.

The jelly of animals being the very sub­stance, which renovates the solid parts, is ob­viously serviceable and necessary to nourish the human body. As, however, each kind of an­imal [Page 39] has its peculiar jelly and fat, which can be nourishing only when assimilated to our na­ture by the digestive organs; and as the differ­ent parts of animals require different degrees of digestion, it will be necessary to enter into more minute inquiries, respecting these par­ticulars.

Experience informs us, that the flesh and intestines of young animals afford a thin, easi­ly digestible, and nutritive jelly. Old ani­mals, hard and tough flesh, cartilages, sinews, ligaments, membranes, membranous thick in­testines, and the sinewy parts of the legs, pro­duce a strong and viscid jelly, which is diffi­cult to be digested and assimilated to our flu­ids. The more healthy the animal is, the stronger will be the jelly, and the more nour­ishing its fluids. The most nutritious flesh is that of animals living in the open air, having much exercise and a copious mass of blood, and particularly, if they are kept in dry and warm places. The alkali contained in the flesh of carnivorous animals is the cause of the bad nourishment it affords, and of the injurious consequences attending its use. From the similarity in the structure of quadrupeds to that of man, it may be conjectured, that their jelly is similar to ours; that such as are fed upon milk give the best nourishment; and that the flesh of female animals is more easily digested, but less nutritious than that of the castrated males, which in every respect deserves the preference. After quadrupeds, we may class birds, in point of nourishment; then fishes; next to them amphibious animals; and lastly insects.

[Page 40] As animal food is strongly nourishing, it generates blood, fat, and spirituous particles, in a much greater quantity than vegetable ali­ment. The activity and courage of carnivo­rous animals prove, that the feeding upon flesh gives spirit and strength, heats the body, and preserves the muscles in a lively state. For these reasons, much animal food is improper for those of a full habit and abundance of blood, for febrile patients, and those who are disposed to hemorrhages or losses of blood. The phlegmatic, on the contrary, and those of thin watery fluids, and a weak digestion, may with safety eat more animal than vegetable food.—Of the different kinds of flesh, game is most heating; that of young domestic ani­mals least; for instance, of calves and chickens, particularly when they are eaten with vegetable substances containing an acid, such as sorrel, asparagus, &c. That animal food disposes to putrescency, I have before re­marked; hence it ought to be sparingly used in summer, and in hot climates. Persons, whose fluids already show a putrid tendency, and who are reminded of it by frequent erup­tions of the skin, or who are already corpulent, should abstain from a too copious use of ani­mal food.

I have also observed, that the flesh of carnivo­rous animals has an extraordinary tendency to putrefaction, as is obvious from their fetid per­spiration; that it contains an acrimony and al­kalescency foreign to our nature; and that it does not afford mild nutriment. The flesh of gra­nivorous animals, partaking more of the vegeta­ble [Page 41] principle, is less subject to putrefaction; and though it be less nourishing, and less abounding in spirituous particles than that of the former, yet it supplies us with a milder and more congenial aliment.

The flesh of fishes, being, like the element in which they live, most distinct from the nature of man, is of all others the least whole­some and nutritive.

The tame quadrupeds that suck the moth­er's milk, if they rest too much and are quick­ly fed, do not afford a good and well-prepared food. In animals, which have tender mus­cles and little exercise, those parts are probably the most wholesome which are more in motion than others, such as the legs and head.

Poultry furnishes us with the most valuable aliment, as it has excellent and well-digested fluids, from its more frequent exercise and constant residence in the open and pure air. Some animals, when young, have tough and spongy flesh, which is mollified and improved by age, and can be eaten only after a certain time, such as eels and carp. Others are hard when young, and must be used early, because that hardness increases with their age; as the haddoc, and many other species of fish. The flesh of old animals, that have less muscular parts than the young ones of the same spe­cies, is indigestible; and we may lay it down as a general rule, that the more the flesh of an animal is disposed to putrefaction, it is the more unwholesome.

Veal, although affording less nutriment than the flesh of the same animal in a state of ma­turity, [Page 42] contains many nourishing and earthy particles, and produces little or no disposition to flatulency: it ought, however, not to be brought to market, till the calf is at least six weeks old, and fed, if possible, on the mother's milk. Veal is not of a heating nature, and may therefore be allowed to febrile patients in a very weak state, especially with the addition of some acid;—it is also the most proper food for persons who have a disposition to hemorrha­ges. On account of the great proportion it contains of viscidity, persons disposed to phlegm and complaints of the abdomen, ought to ab­stain from its use. For these reasons, we rec­ommend veal-broth, especially in pectoral and inflammatory diseases. The lungs, the liver, and the tongue of veal, are less viscous than the flesh; and being easily digested, soft, and mild, they are very proper for sick persons and convalescents. No animal fat is lighter than this; it shows the least disposition to putres­cency; and it may therefore be used, in pref­erence to any other, by persons of a scorbutic taint. The fat of veal should not be boiled; the operation of boiling softens its fibres too much, dissolves the jelly, and renders it unfit for digestion. But, by roasting, it becomes drier, and somewhat more solid; both the se­rous and thick parts of the blood are incrassated in the external vessels, the fibres are dried up, and a crust is formed, beneath which the flu­ids are moved, and changed into vapour, by the continued application of heat. In this op­eration all the fibres lie, as it were, in a vapour­hath, and are perfectly softened without losing [Page 43] any of the jelly. Roasting, therefore, may be considered as the best mode of preparing this meat. Baking also forms a crust over it like roasting, but the fat incrassated by heat may occasion inconvenience, as it possesses an oily acrimony, and is with difficulty digested. For the same reason, it is improper to eat the burnt crust of any meat, of which some people are particularly fond, though it contains an empy­reumatic oil, highly pernicious, and altogether indigestible by the stomach. For roasting, the mellow and juicy kidney-piece, or the breast of veal, deserves the preference: the leg is too dry and fibrous; it requires good teeth to be well chewed, renders the use of tooth-picks more necessary than any other dish, and is fre­quently troublesome to the stomach. In short, veal does not agree well with weak and indolent stomachs, which require to be exercised with a firmer species of meat. When boiled, it is but slightly nourishing, and when we make a meal upon veal alone, we soon feel a renewal of the cravings of the appetite. For removing the acid from the stomach, veal is the most im­proper article of diet. But to patients recov­ering from indisposition, first may be given veal-broth, then roasted veal, and lastly beef; the properties of which we shall now consider.^*

Beef affords much good, animating, and strong nourishment; and no other food is [Page 44] equal to the flesh of a bullock of a middle age. On account of its heating nature it ought not to be used, where there is already an abun­dance of heat; and persons of a violent tem­per should eat it in moderation. It is pecu­liarly serviceable to hard-working men; and its fat is nearly as easily digested as that of veal.

It deserves, however, to be remarked, that the tongue, the intestines or tripe, and the sau­sages made of beef are more difficult of diges­tion than the muscular part; and that it would be extremely improper to give them to nurses, children, or lying-in women.

The meat of old bullocks, fed and kept in the stall, when unfit for labour, is scarcely di­gestible; it is burdensome to the stomach, and contains, as well as that of old cows, (which is still worse) no wholesome fluids. Though beef be more frequently eaten boiled, yet it is more nourishing and digestible when roasted. Finally, beef is almost the only species of an­imal food, with which the stomach is not ea­sily surfeited, and which is in proper season throughout the whole year.

Pork yields a copious and permanent nour­ishment, which does not disagree with the ro­bust and laborious, but which, from its abund­ance of acrid fat, is not wholesome to persons of a weak stomach or sedentary life; as these animals live and are fed in sties without exer­cise, and in an impure air. From the want of clean water, their flesh acquires a tough and strong consistence, and is indigestible but by a strong and healthy bile. Persons who have [Page 45] impure fluids, and a tendency to eruptions, as well as those who have wounds or ulcers, should refrain from the use of pork; for this food will dispose them to inflammation and gangrene: it is equally improper in a catarrh­al state of the breast, in weak stomachs, coughs, and consumptions.

The antient physicians considered pork as the best and most nutritious meat, if supported by proper digestive powers. But they were cer­tainly mistaken in this supposition; for, al­though its quality is such as renders a smaller quantity of it necessary to satisfy the cravings of the stomach, yet veal and beef, taken in in­creased proportions, afford equal, if not more nourishment, and doubtless a more wholesome supply of animal jelly, than pork, under simi­lar circumstances of the individual, would produce. By allowing these animals clean food, and the enjoyment of pure air and ex­ercise, their flesh might be much improved in salubrity; but the farmer is little anxious about the quality of the meat, if he can pro­duce it in greater quantity, which he is certain to obtain from the present unnatural mode of feeding swine. People of delicate habits may sometimes eat pork sparingly; but it is an er­roneous notion that it requires a dram to assist its digestion; for spirituous liquors may in­deed prevent, but cannot promote its solution in the stomach. It would be much better to drink nothing after pork for a short time, as it is usually very fat, and this fat is more subtle and soluble than any other, and has nothing in it of the nature of tallow.

[Page 46] Pork, eaten in moderation, is easily digested. With those whose digestive organs are weak, no other species of meat agrees in general so well, as a small quantity of this. Hence the objections made against it relate more to the quantity than to the quality or substance; for if it be eaten in too great quantity, it is apt to corrupt the fluids, and to produce acrimony. We ought therefore to eat it seldom and spar­ingly, and the appetite which many people have for this food should be kept within mod­erate bounds. The most proper additions to pork, are the accidulated vegetables, such as gooseberry or apple-sauce; which not only gratify the palate, but correct its properties, neutralize, in a manner, its great proportion of sat, and thus operate beneficially on the alimentary canal.^*

The flesh of wild hogs, as they have more exercise than the tame, and do not live upon substances so impure and corrupted, is more palatable, more easily digested, less tough, not so fat, and on account of their residence in the open air, is, like all game, purer, but more li­able to putrefaction.

[Page 47] Smoaked hams are a very strong food. If eaten at a proper time, they are a wholesome stimulus to the stomach; but boiling them ren­ders the digestion still more difficult.—In salt­ing any kind of meat, much of its jelly is wash­ed away, the fibres become stiff, and thus heavier for the stomach. The salt penetrates into the jelly itself, prevents its solution in the alimentary canal, and consequently makes it less conducive to nutrition.—By smoaking, the fibres of meat are covered with a varnish, the jelly is half burnt, the heat of the chimney oc­casions the salt to concentrate, and the fat be­tween the muscles to become rancid; so that such meat, although it may stimulate the palate of the epicure, cannot be wholesome.

Sausages, whether fried or boiled, are a sub­stantial kind of nourishment; they require, therefore, a strong bile to dissolve them, and a good stomach to digest them. They are not of an acrid nature, provided they have not too much pepper in their composition, and be close­ly [...]illed, so as to contain no air. Blood Sau­sages, usually called Black Puddings, consisting of bacon and coagulated blood, which is to­tally indigestible, are a bad and ill-contrived article of food; and still more so, if they have been strongly smoked, by which process the blood becomes indurated, and the bacon more rancid: thus prepared, nothing can be more pernicious and destructive to the best fortified stomach. The spices usually added to sausa­ges, correct, in some degree, their hurtful prop­erties, but are insufficient to counteract the [Page 48] bad and highly disagreeable effects of rancid substances.

Bacon is chiefly hardened fat, accumulated in the cellular texture under the skin, and is of all meat the most unwholesome; it easily turns rancid in the stomach, or it is so already by long hanging, and is particularly pernicious to those who are subject to the heartburn.

Lard, a softer fat collected from the entrails and the mesentary of hogs, becomes easily ran­cid, and is otherwise relaxing to the digestive organs: for which reasons, it is seldom used in English cookery.

The mutton of sheep fed on dry pastures is a better and more nourishing food than that of others reared in moist places. Those also fed upon the sea-shore are excellent meat, the sa­line particles which they imbibe giving at once consistency and purity to their flesh. The flesh of rams is tough and unpleasant, but that of ewes and still more that of weathers, is of a rich, viscous nature. Young mutton is juicy and easily digested, but it is rather tough, and has not that balsamic alimentary juice peculiar to sheep above a certain age. The best mut­ton is that of sheep not less than three, and not above six years old. Under three years of age, it has not attained its perfection and flavour.

A roasting piece of mutton ought to be ex­posed to the open air for several days, according to the weather and season; it affords then a palatable dish, which is easily digested, and agrees with every constitution. But the fat of mutton is almost indigestible; for it easily co­agulates [Page 49] in the stomach, and oppresses that or­gan: hence the lean part of mutton is more nourishing and conducive to health.—The feet of this animal are nourishing, on account of their jelly, and are of great service for injec­tions, in those diseases which originate from acrimony in the intestines.

Lamb is a light and wholesome food, not so nutritious as mutton, but extremely proper for delicate stomachs. The vegetables most prop­er to be eaten with lamb are those of an acid­ulated nature, as gooseberries, forrel, and the like. It is fashionable to eat this meat when very young; but a lamb that has been allowed to suck six months, is fatter and more muscu­lar, and in every respect better, than one which has been killed when two months old, and be­fore it has had time to attain its proper con­sistency.

House Lamb is a dish, prized merely because it is unseasonable. Like all animals reared in an unnatural manner, its flesh is insipid and detrimental to health.

The flesh of Goats is hard, indigestible, and unwholesome; hence the meat of kids only is esculent, being more easily digested, and yield­ing a good nourishment.

The flesh of Deer (Venison), and that of Hare, contain much good nutriment; but, to the detriment of health, these animals are generally eaten when half putrified, though they are naturally much disposed to putrescen­cy. When properly dressed, they afford a mellow food, and are readily assimilated to our fluids. But as wild animals, from their [Page 50] constant motion and exercise, acquire a drier fort of flesh than that of the tame, it should never be boiled, but always ought to be roast­ed or stewed. From the same cause, the fluids of wild animals are more heating, and more apt to putrify, than those of the domestic. Persons, therefore, who already have a pre­disposition to scurvy or other putrid diseases, should not eat much game, particularly in sum­mer. This pernicious tendency of game may be corrected by the addition of vinegar, acid of lemons, or wine; salad also is very proper to be eaten with it. Those parts of wild ani­mals, which have the least motion, are the most juicy and palatable: the back, for in­stance, is the best part of a hare.

The lungs of animals contain nothing but air and blood-vessels, which are very tough, solid, difficult to be digested, and afford little nourishment. Besides, on account of the en­cysted breath, and the mucus contained in them, they are in reality disgusting. The liv­er, from its dry and earthy consistence, pro­duces a vitiated chyle, and obstructs the ves­sels; hence it requires a great quantity of drink, and ought never to be used by the plethoric: the blood-vessels and biliary parts adhering to it, are particularly disagreeable. The heart is dry, scarcely digestible, and not very nourishing. The kidneys also are acrid, hard, tough, and not easily digested by the delicate. These intestines, however, of young animals, such as calves and lambs, produce aliment sufficiently wholesome.

[Page 51] The fat and marrow of animals afford, in­deed, solid and elastic alimentary juice, in­crease the blood and fluids, but are difficult to be digested; they require a powerful stomach, perfect mastication, sufficient saliva and bile, and agree best with persons who take much bodily exercise. If not duly digested, they occasion diarrhoea, weaken the stomach and the bowels, stimulate too much by their un­common acrimony, and easily turn rancid, especially when eaten together with meat much disposed to putrefaction. They are apt to de­stroy the elastic power of the first passages, as well as of the whole body, to produce the heart-burn, cramp of the stomach, and head-ach, particularly in irritable habits, and, at length, to generate an impure and acrimoni­ous blood.

The blood of animals is completely insoluble, consequently in no degree nourishing.

The milk is of very different consistence and properties, not only according to the different kinds and species of animals, but also in the same species, in consequence of the difference in feeding, constitution of body, age, time of milking, and so forth. Milk takes the lead among the articles of nourishment. It affords the best nutriment to persons whose lacteals and blood-vessels are too weak for deriving nourishment from other provisions; because it is already converted into an alimentary fluid in the intestines of an animal.

Nature has appointed this nutritive sub­stance, milk, as the food of children; because infants, on account of their growth, require [Page 52] much nourishment. From this circumstance, we may also conclude, that milk is easily di­gested by healthy stomachs, since at this early age the digestive powers are but feeble. Milk-porridge, however, as well as those dishes in the composition of which milk and flour are used, have a manifest tendency to obstruct the lecteals or milk-vessels of the intestines and the mesentary; a circumstance which renders them extremely unwholesome, particularly to chil­dren. Milk, although an animal production, does not readily undergo putrefaction; as it is possessed of the properties of vegetable ali­ment, and turns sooner [...] than putrid. It affords a substantial alimentary fluid; and hence it is of service to persons enfeebled by dissipation of disease.

As the milk of animals contains more cream than that of the human breast, it ought to be diluted with water, when given to infants. It combines both saccharine and oily particles, and is a very serviceable article of diet, in a putrescent state of the blood, in inveterate ul­cers, and in the scurvy. It is well calculated to assuage rigidity, cramps, and pains, being a diluent and attenuating remedy, especially in the state of whey; it promotes perspiration and evacuation in general, and is highly beneficial in spitting of blood, hysterics, hypochondriasis, dysentery, inveterate coughs, convulsive affec­tions, the putrid sore throat, and in complaints arising from worms. Milk is also used for fo­mentations, baths, emollient injections, and washes for inflamed and fore parts. If intend­ed as a medicine, it should be drunk immedi­ately [Page 53] or soon after it comes from the cow. Through boiling, and even by long standing, the best and most nutritious balsamic particles evaporate.

The milk to be employed for diet in diseases ought to be taken from healthy and well-nour­ished animals; for we see in children how much depends on the health of the mother, and how suddenly they suffer from an un­healthy or passionate nurse. In Spring and Summer, the milk is peculiarly good and whole­some, on account of the salubrious nourish­ment of herbs. In Winter it is much inferior. It is farther necessary, that the animal furnish­ing the milk should be kept in the free air, and have daily exercise. In order to obtain good milk, it would be adviseable, for persons who have the opportunity, to keep a cow; for, be­sides the adulteration of that which is sold, cows are frequently milked at an improper time, by which the milk is much injured, and cannot be wholesome.

The best milk is obtained from the cow at three or four years of age, about three months after producing the calf, and in a serene Spring morning. Good cow's milk ought to be white, without any smell; and so fat, that a drop be­ing allowed to fall on the nail will not run down in divisions. It is lighter, but contains more watery parts than the milk of sheep and goats; while, on the other hand, it is more thick and heavy than the milk of asses and mares, which come nearest the consistence of human milk. Ewe's milk is rich and nour­ishing; and it yields much butter, which is so [Page 54] unsavory, that it cannot be eaten. Both this and goat's milk produce much cheese, which is tough, strong, pungent, and difficult to be digested.

As goats are fond of astringent herbs, their milk is superior in strength to that of other animals; hence it has been sometimes used with the most happy success in hysteric cases. Goat's whey and ass's milk are chiefly used in pulmonary consumptions; where ass's milk cannot be got, that of mares may be used as a substitute.^*

Milk consists of caseous, butyraceous, and watery parts; that which contains a well-pro­portioned mixture of the three, is the most wholesome. But this mixture is not always met with in due proportion—frequently the two first, namely, cheese and butter, predom­inate; and in this case it affords indeed a strong food, but is difficult of digestion. If the water form the greatest proportion, it is then easily digested, but less nourishing. This is particularly the case with ass's milk, which, more than any other, affects the urine and stool, while it has a tendency to purify the blood.

On account of the warmth, and the mechan­ical process of the digestive organ, joined to the chemical properties of the acid generated in it, milk necessarily coagulates in every stom­ach. The caseous part is dissolved, and dilut­ed [Page 55] by the admixture of the digestive liquors, and thus prepared for being changed into a pure chyle or milky fluid. Indeed, it makes no difference, whether we take cream, cheese, and whey in succession, or whether we consume them united in the mass of the milk: in the former case, the separation takes place without, and in the latter within the stomach.

It is however improper to eat acid substan­ces together with milk, as this mass would oc­casion fermentation and corruption: while, on the contrary, the natural coagulation is on­ly a separation of the constituent parts, not a transition of this mild fluid into the stage of acid fermentation; for this is prevented by the saponaceous digestive liquors, though the milk itself be coagulated.

Yet milk is not a proper food for the debil­itated, in all cases; nay, under certain cir­cumstances, it may even be hurtful. It does not, for instance, agree with hypochondriacs; as it occasions cramp of the stomach, cholic, heartburn, and diarrhoea. Febrile patients, whose weak organs of digestion do not admit of nutritive food, and whose preternatural heat would too easily change the milk into a rancid mass, must abstain from it altogether. It disagrees also with the plethoric, the phleg­matic, and the corpulent; but particularly with tipplers, or those addicted to strong spir­its. Its butyrous and cheesy parts may ob­struct digestion and oppress the stomach.

Lastly, sour milk is unfit for use, on account of the chemical decomposition which has taken place in its constituent parts, and because it [Page 56] can hardly be digested by the most powerful stomach: even sweet milk ought not to be eaten together with flesh meat, and in most cases the whey is preferable to the milk.

With these exceptions, milk is an excellent species of diet, which does not require strong digestive organs, unless a variety of other sub­stances be eaten along with it. On the con­trary, persons much reduced in bodily vigour have received benefit, and in a great measure been cured, by eating milk only. We daily observe that children at the breast, with the natural inclination to acidity and viscosity, feel its bad effects only, when, together with milk, they are fed upon cakes, pastry, ginger­bread, and other trash. Milk being free from all acrimony, produces wholesome, light, and sweet blood. Sugar and salt are almost the only proper spices to be added to it.

Cream is exceedingly nourishing, but too fat and difficult to be digested, in a sedentary life.

Butter possesses at once all the good and bad properties of expressed vegetable oils; it is the sooner tainted with a rancid bitter taste, if it be not sufficiently freed from the butter­milk, after churning,—Bread and butter re­quire strong and well-exercised powers of di­gestion.—It is a most pernicious food to hot­tempered and bilious persons, as well as to those of an impure stomach. The good qual­ity of butter is marked by a very fat shining surface, yellow colour, agreeable flavor, and sweet taste.^*

[Page 57] Butter-milk is a species of whey, but con­tains a great number of butyrous particles. If we drink it while new and sweet, it is refresh­ing and cooling.

Before I quit the subject of milk, I cannot omit remarking, that this fluid, besides the qualities before enumerated, contains some spirituous parts, in a latent-state, with which our chemists are little acquainted. And al­though these parts cannot be disengaged from the milk, and exhibited in a separate form, yet it is certain, that the Persians, and other inhabitants of the East, prepare a kind of wine from milk, which possesses all the prop­erties of intoxicating liquors. Such is the report of respectable travellers; but I am in­clined to suspect, that these Orientals make some addition to the sweet whey, after the caseous parts are separated from it, by which they induce a vinous fermentation. Wheth­er they add honey, sugar, or any mucilagi­nous vegetable, containing the saccharine principle, I shall not attempt to decide: but it is well known, that the Chinese ferment and distil a liquor from a mixture of rice and veal, which is not unpleasant when new.

Cheese is obtained from the tough part of the milk, which subsides in coagulation, and which must be completely freed from the whey. All cheese is difficult to be digested, [Page 58] being the coarsest and most glutinous part of the milk, which the healthy and laborious on­ly can concoct in their stomach. To others, it is too heavy; it imparts a thick and acrid chyle to the blood; it hardens in a weak stomach, and accumulates an indurated earthy lump. When eaten new, in any considerable quantity, it corrupts▪ the fluids; and if old, it becomes putrid. In small quantities after dinner, it can do no great harm, but it is ab­surd to suppose that it assists digestion; its effects, at best, being of a negative kind, that is, by producing a temporary stimulus on the stomach: and even this is the case only with sound old cheese which is neither too fat, nor too far advanced in the process of putrefaction.

Toasted cheese, though more agreeable to some palates than raw, is still more indigesti­ble. Cheese, if too much salted, like that of the Dutch, acquires, when old, a pernicious acrimony. The green Cheese of Switzerland, which is mixed with a powder of the wild Melilot, or the Trifolium Melilotus, L., and the milder Sage-Cheeses prepared in Eng­land, are the almost only kind which may be eaten without injury; and even these should be used in moderation.^*

[Page 59] Birds, as they move in the purest and most healthy atmosphere, possess the best prepared and most wholesome alimentary substance; yet the flesh of birds, though more easily di­gested, is less nourishing than that of quadru­peds; as on account of their constant exercise the whole winged tribe have drier muscles, consequently a less nutritious juice. Those birds particularly, which subsist upon worms, insects, and fishes, are not wholesome; and if they frequent swampy and filthy places, their flesh will afford meagre and impure nourish­ment.

Some parts of fowls are less wholesome than others. The wings of those whose prin­cipal exercise is flying, and the legs of those that generally run, are the driest parts of their bodies: hence the breast is, in all, the softest and most nutritive part. Young poultry is preferable to that of some years old, which have very tough muscles, and are heavier to the stomach.

Birds living upon grain and berries are in all respects the best; next, those feeding upon insects; and last of all, that class of birds which preys and subsists upon fishes. These indeed, like all other animals, whose proper food is flesh, are eaten only by savage nations, wild and tame ducks and geese excepted; which, by their strong flesh, and the inclina­tion [Page 60] of their fluids to putrescency, are less wholesome than any other bird. Water fowl afford the least beneficial food. In general we find winged animals out of season in Spring; partly because most of them are then pairing, and partly on account of the long journeys of those that are birds of passage, by which they become leaner than at any other time of the year; yet some birds of passage do not arrive in this climate till towards Autumn.

It is remarkable, that most birds, when tak­en from their wild state, and fed in captivity, such as partridges, larks, and others, lose much of their peculiar flavour, which is also the case with wild quadrupeds. Yet those tame and domesticated fowls and animals, that are well fed in yards and stalls, are gen­erally more fat and muscular than those which are obliged to seek their own food. Old fowls are the most serviceable for broth; or they might be boiled in close vessels, where they can macerate for some hours, till they are com­pletely softened by the steam. Fowls lose much of their fine flavour, if boiled; they are therefore best roasted, except the smaller kinds, which ought to be baked.

All birds living upon grain and berries afford good nutriment, except geese and ducks. The flesh of the goose is unwholesome, especi­ally when fed in small inclosures, without exercise; which practice is sometimes carried so far, as cruelly to n [...]il the animal to a board through the feet, to prevent its motion. Its fat is almost totally indigestible: its flesh pro­duces a very obvious and bad effect upon [Page 61] wounds and ulcers. It is also pernicious to those who are disposed to inflammatory diseases, and to cutaneous eruptions.—A young hen, or chicken, is a very wholesome dish; its veg­etable aliment produces a mild and sweet chyle; and the whiteness of its flesh shows its excellent quality. As it is easily digested, it is a dish to be recommended to the weak and de­bilitated; and it agrees best with individuals of an acrid and mucous tendency, or such as are troubled with biliary and stomachic disorders.

The Capon is one of the most delicate dish­es; if eaten when young, he yields a strong and good chyle; his flesh is not of a heating nature, is not disposed to putrescency, and the fat itself is easily digested. Turkeys, as well as Guinea or India fowls, yield a strong ali­ment, but are more difficult of digestion than the capon; particularly the legs, wings and fat. These birds, when roasted, are usually filled with some kind of heavy pudding, which is a favourite morsel with many, but requires the strongest digestive powers.—The old prej­udices, that the flesh of capons is productive of the gout, and that of sparrows brings on epileptic fits, are too absurd to require refuta­tion.

Among the birds subsisting on insects, there are few eaten, except the various kinds of snipes and starlings. All of them, without ex­ception, consist of hard, unsavoury, and scarce­ly digestible flesh.

It would be useless to enumerate the vari­ous birds living upon fish, which are eaten in other countries. They all have a taste of fish, [Page 62] and afford a poor aliment. The ducks and geese only are eaten in Britain: of these the former afford the better nourishment, as they are generally not so abundantly fat as the lat­ter, and are permitted to move about in the open air. But they ought not to be suffered to repair to stagnant waters, which they swal­low, and which taint their fluids and flesh with qualities detrimental to health.

Next to milk, no nutriment is so simple and salutary as that of bird's eggs, among which those of hens justly deserve the preference, in respect of nourishment, taste, and digestion. The albumen, or the white of eggs, corres­ponds to our serum, or the water of the blood; it is dissolved in a warm temperature, but considerable heat makes it hard, tough, dry, and insoluble. The yolk of eggs is more soluble, contains much oil, and is uncommon­ly nourishing, but has a strong tendency to putrefaction: hence eggs must be eaten while fresh. People of a weak stomach ought to eat no kind of food easily putrescible, consequent­ly no eggs. To those, on the contrary, who digest well, a fresh egg, boiled soft, (or rath­er stewed in hot water, from five to ten min­utes, without allowing it to boil) is a very light, proper, and, at the same time, nour­ishing food.

Hard-boiled eggs, fried eggs, pan-cakes, and all artificial preparation of eggs, are heavy on the stomach, corrupt our fluids, and are unwholesome. The eggs of ducks and geese ought not to be eaten, but by persons of the most active and powerful stomachs. All eggs [Page 63] require a sufficient quantity of salt, to promote their solution in the digestive organ; yet but­ter renders them still more difficult of di­gestion: hence it is equally absurd and perni­cious to use much butter, with a view to soften hard boiled eggs. We cannot be too circum­spect in the use of eggs, as to their freshness; for there are examples, of persons, after hav­ing used corrupted, or only tainted eggs, being seized with putrid fevers.^*

[Page 64] Fish, though of a tender flesh, afford upon the whole but a weak nourishment. They are more or less difficult to digest, according to the different kinds of water in which they live. Being of all animal substances the most pu­trescible, they are much inferior in quality to birds and quadrupeds, on which account they ought not to be eaten by febrile patients and convalescents. Their fat is still more in­soluble and indigestible than that of other an­imals, and readily turns rancid. On account of their indifferent qualities, no satiety is more noxious than that of fish.

Acid sauces and pickles, calculated to resist putrefaction, render fish somewhat better, and more wholesome for the stomach, while butter has a tendency to prevent digestion, and to promote the corruption of their flesh. On the contrary, spice and salt, used in moderate quantities, stimulate the fibres of the stomach to exert their action, and facilitate the digest­ive process.

Fish dried in the open air, and afterwards boiled soft, are easily digested; but all salted sea-fish, as well as smoked fish, are injurious to the stomach, and afford little nutrition. The same remark, though in an inferior de­gree, applies to fish preserved in vinegar and spice. In general, the heads and tails con­taining the least fat, are the lightest parts for digestion, as on the contrary the belly is the heaviest. Such as have a tender flesh are sooner digested than those of a hard and tough consistence.

The soft and mucilaginous fishes, like the eel, are partly composed of an oily slime, part­ly [Page 65] of tough fibres, and are consequently not easily digested. Those living in ponds, ditch­es, and other standing waters, are certainly less wholesome than river fish, whose exercise is greater, and whose natural element is purer. For standing water easily putrifies, and the fish lodging in the mire of such reservoirs, contin­ually feed upon the putrid parts. But the same kind of river fish is also of different qual­ities, according to their different nourishment. Thus, those caught in rivers contiguous to great towns, are less salubrious than others; because they necessarily receive great quanti­ties of the impurities thrown into such rivers.

Salt-water fish are perhaps the best of any, as their flesh is more solid, more agreeable and healthy, less exposed to putrescency, and less viscid. These excellent qualities they possess when fresh; when salted, they have all the properties of salt-flesh, and consequently its disadvantages. With respect to herrings, it is certain, that of all the sea-fish they are most easily digested: and salt-herrings, in particu­lar, if eaten in small quantities, dissolve the slime in the stomach, stimulate the appetite, create thirst, and do not readily putrify by long keeping.

Among the amphibious animals, the legs of frogs are in some countries esteemed a delicate dish; yet, as they contain a large portion of fat, the stomach cannot easily digest them, without the addition of much salt. The same observation applies to the Turtle, as well as the West-Indian Guana, a species of Lizard, two or three feet long, of a most forbidding ap­pearance; [Page 66] but its flesh is delicate and salu­brious, much resembling that of a chicken.—We also eat lobsters and crabs, which are species of water-infects: as both of them, how­ever, generally arrive at a stage approaching to putrefaction, before they are sold in inland towns, their consumption is attended with con­siderable danger. Besides, the flesh of lobsters, in particular, is not easily digested, as it pos­sesses a peculiar acrimony, which in swallow­ing sometimes occasions pain in the throat. Some people, it is said, have been affected with eruptions of the skin, pain in the stom­ach, and rheumatisms, arising from the use of lobsters. Their jelly, however, is mild and nourishing.^*

[Page 67] Oysters are eaten both raw, and dressed: when raw, they are in every respect preferable; for, by cooking, they are deprived of the salt-water which promo [...] their digestion in the hu­man stomach, as well as of a great proportion of their nourishing jelly. Raw oysters are easily digested, and may be eaten, with great advantage, by the robust, as well as by the weak and consumptive; as this shell-fish pos­sesses more nutritive animal jelly than almost any other. They farther are generally at­tended with a laxative effect, if eaten in any quantity: hence they afford an excellent sup­per to those liable to costiveness.

Snails, though seldom eaten in this coun­try, are equally nourishing and wholesome. On account of their gelatinous nature, they have lately been much used against consump­tions; and as these complaints are now very frequent in Britain, it were to be wished that such patients may give this remedy a fair tri­al, by boiling a dozen of the red garden­snails every evening in a quart of sweet milk or whey, for half an hour, then straining the liquor through a coarse cloth, and drinking it with sugar every morning gradually upon an empty stomach; and repeating these draughts for a month or two, if required. This red garden-snail (or the Helix Pomatia, L.) has also been used externally in the open hem­orrhoids, where fresh snails were applied, every two or three hours, in a raw state, with remarkable success.

Muscles are of a more solid texture, and therefore not so easily digested as oysters. The sea-muscles afford a hard, indigestible, [Page 68] and, as some imagine, poisonous food. Al­though the examples of their deleterious na­ture be very rare, yet they ought not to be eaten without vinegar, or some other vegeta­ble acid, acting as a corrector of their bad qualities, or, in the opinion of others, as an antidote.

Of Vegetable Aliment.

The various articles of nourishment we derive from the Vegetable Kingdom, may with propriety be divided into five orders:

1st, The different species of farina, or grain, such as wheat, rye, barley, and oats.

2d, The legumes, or pulse, such as peas, beans, &c.

3d, The various kinds of salads and pot­herbs.

4th, All the different roots; and,

5th, Fruit, or the production of trees and shrubs.

The first of these, namely the farinaceous, are very nourishing, on account of the copious mucilage they contain; but they are likewise difficult to digest. Bread itself, though justly called the staff of life, if eaten too freely, or to serve as a meal, produces viscidity or slime, obstructs the intestines, and lays the founda­tion of habitual costiveness. All dishes pre­pared of flour, are not only nourishing, but are emollient, attenuating, and correct acrimony. Leavened bread, or such as has acquired an acidulated taste by a slow fermentation of the dough, is cooling and antiseptic; a circum­stance [Page 69] well established by experience. By this process of preparing the dough, all the tough parts are most intimately mixed with the drier parts of the [...]our, and the fixed air is expelled in baking. New-baked bread always contains much of an indigestible paste, which is reme­died, either by allowing it to dry for two or three days, or by toasting it. This ought to be done regularly, particularly in times of scarcity, both on account of health and econo­my. Stale bread, in every respect, deserves the preference: and persons troubled with flat­ulency, cramp of the stomach, and indigestion, should not upon any account eat new bread, and still less hot rolls and butter. Indeed, all pastry whatever is unwholesome, especially when hot. Those who devour hot pies with avidity, should consider, that they contain an uncommon quantity of air, which distends the stomach, and produces the most alarming and dangerous cholics, and incurable obstructions, insomuch that the stomach and bowels have been known to burst. The porous quality of bread arises from the fixed air having been ex­pelled in baking; and the more spongy the bread, it is the more wholesome. But new­baked bread, and rolls in particular, require a sound stomach; because they contain much mucilage, not having parted with all their moisture; and wheat-flour is more viscid than that of rye, which is the bread-corn of most nations on the Continent.

Bread and butter, together with cheese, as they are eaten in Holland and Germany, form a mass scarcely digestible. The external sur­face [Page 70] of bread, or the crust, which has been more dried by the heat of the oven, is easiest digested; it contains the empyreumatic part, expelled by fire from the flour; it produces an emollient effect on the bowels; but, at the same time, is more heating and less nourishing than the softer part, or crumb.

The great difference in bread is owing, partly to the different species of grain from which it is made, partly to the time the flour has been kept; for, when new, it is more dif­ficult to deprive it of its tenacity; partly to its being more or less cleaned from the bran; partly to the different methods of fermenting and baking it; to the difference in the water with which the flour has been kneaded; and lastly, to the various ingredients of which the paste has been compounded. The softness of the mill-stones used in grinding the flour, may also vitiate the bread, by introducing particles of sand and marble, so as to make it equally noxious to the teeth, and oppressive to the stomach. Well-baked, and thoroughly dried bread, is easily dissolved by water, without rendering it viscid or gelatinous: hence it is well adapted [...]or the use of the debilitated, as well as for every age or temperament.

Hasty-pudding, on account of its tenacity, and the quantity of mucilage it contains, is not so easily digested as people, who feed their infants upon this dish, are apt to imagine. Porridge made of oatmeal, the common food of children and the lower class of adults in Scotland, is not so heavy as that of wheat flour; though both of them require vigorous diges­tive [Page 71] organs, robust constitutions, and strong exercise, in order to produce a proper nutri­ment.

The vermicelli, and macarone of the Italians, as well as all the different dishes made of flour mixed up into paste, and either boiled in water or stewed in butter, are ill calculated for patients and convalescents, to whom they are frequently administered. A paste, when it is so elastic that it can be formed into balls, is extremely difficult to be digested. All unfermented pastry is excessively trying to the stomach; and instead of wondering that the lovers of such dainties are continually troubled with indigestion and other stomachic com­plaints, it would be against the order of things if it were otherwise.

Bread ought not to be eaten with every dish; it is more useful and necessary with those articles that contain much nourishment in a small bulk, in order to give the stomach a proper degree of expansion. Besides, the addition of bread to animal food has another advantage, namely, that of preventing the disgust attending a too copious use of flesh, and its strong tendency to putrefaction. But if we accustom ourselves to eat new baked bread, to provisions already indigestible in themselves, such as fat geese, bacon, blood-sausages, and the like, we make them still more insupportable to our digestive organs. Of the different kinds of grain, from which bread is prepared, that of rye is by far the most whole­some for people of a sedentary life, as well as the delicate and nervous. For though it be [Page 72] less nourishing, it is likewise less tenacious, and more easily digested, than bread made of wheat.^*

Rice contains a thin, unelastic, and easily soluble mucilage. It is one of the popular prejudices, that rice has a tendency to produce costiveness: this is only so far true as the use of it, by persons of languid and debilitated constitutions, is sometimes attended with flat­ulency, which sufficiently accounts for its sec­ondary effect. To avoid such unpleasant con­sequences, rice ought to be eaten with the addition of some spice, such as cinnamon, fen­nel, carraway, annis-seed, and the like; par­ticularly by those of a phlegmatic habit, and slow digestion.—In India, where this plentiful grain is almost the only food of the natives, it is regularly eaten with such quantities of pepper, and other strong spices, that Europe­ans, on their first arrival, cannot partake of this high-seasoned dish. From a custom so beneficial in its physical effects, we may con­clude, that the Indians, though directed more by instinct than scientific induction, are not altogether unacquainted with the rules of diet.

[Page 73] One of the best preparations of rice is the mucilage, or jelly, which is obtained by boil­ing two ounces of it ground to fine powder, and a quarter of a pound of loaf-sugar in one pint of water, until it becomes a transparent thick broth: this, when expressed through a cloth, and allowed to cool, is a palatable and wholesome jelly.

Oats, when hulled or deprived of the husk, and reduced to groans, are used as the common dish for the infirm and sick in England, France, and Germany. They impart to the water a thick mucilage, which, with the addition of a few currants boiled in it, is of a nourishing and slightly aperient quality.

Barley, or rather pearl-barley, may be used with a similar intention, and is perhaps still more nutritive; but, after decoction, the gross­er parts which remain ought not to be eaten.

Millet, or hirse, is inferior to either oats or barley; it possesses too crude a mucilage for relaxed or inactive stomachs.

Manna-grass (the festuca fluitans) is so called in Germany and Poland, because its seeds have a remarkably sweet and agreeable taste, particularly before the plant comes to its full growth. It excels in richness and nutriment all the other vegetable productions of Europe; and, boiled in milk, it affords excellent soups as well as puddings. Two ounces of this manna, properly cooked in milk and water, would be a sufficient meal for the most robust and laborious man. Boiled in water alone, in the proportion of one ounce to three pints of water evaporated to one quart, with the [Page 74] addition of some sugar and white wine, it makes an agreeable and nourishing dish for lying-in women, and other patients for whom animal food is improper, and whose situation requires the occasional stimulus of wine.

The second order of vegetable aliment in­cludes all the leguminous productions, as beans, peas, lentils, and the like; these con­tain a solid gluten or mucilage, and afford a rich and strong nutriment, which best agrees with a vigorous stomach. They also have a considerable proportion of crude particles, which cannot be assimilated to our fluids, and must therefore remain undigested in the bow­els, to the great detriment of the alimentary canal. The meal of the leguminous class is digested with more difficulty than that of grain; besides, it contains much fixed air; on which account it is extremely flatulent, is apt to pro­duce costiveness, and to communicate various kinds of acrimony to the blood. These effects, however, it produces only when it is eaten too frequently and copiously. Hence bread, made of peas or beans, either alone or mixed and ground together with wheat, is improper for daily use.

Yet we must not imagine, that even the most wholesome articles of food are altogether free from air: this element is a necessary and use­ful ingredient, to promote the digestion of alimentary substances. The proportion of fix­ed air varies extremely in different vegeta­bles:—all the leguminous plants particularly [Page 75] abound with it; and even persons with whom they agree well, must have experienced flatu­lency and torpor, after a copious use of peas or beans. Those who are fond of peas-soup, would better consult their health, by boiling the peas whole, than split and deprived of their husks; for these promote the grinding of the peas, and prevent them from turning acid in the stomach, which split peas readily do, while they are apt to occasion oppression in the bow­els, and a very troublesome heart-burn.

Green peas, as well as French beans, boiled in their fresh state, are equally agreeable and wholesome; for they are less flatulent, and more easy of digestion, than in their ripe state. It deserves to be remarked, in general, that all vegetables of the pulse kind, as they advance in growth, become more oppressive to the stomach, and consequently less salutary in their effects.

The third order of Vegetables comprises the various kinds of salads and herbs used in cooking, such as greens, cabbage, spinage, and the like. These contain a great propor­tion of water, and little nourishment: they serve to fill the stomach, resist putrefaction, and may therefore be eaten more freely in summer than in winter; being, besides, of a softening, laxative, saponaceous, and conse­quently solvent nature, they are well calcu­lated to relieve the bowels. On account of their watery consistence, they are of peculiar service to lean people, to those who lose much [Page 76] moisture by perspiration, or who are troubled with flushings and undulations of the blood (in which case animal food is improper)—and as these vegetables assist insensible perspira­tion, they are cooling, and assist all the emunc­tories of the body. Their nourishment is in proportion to the mucilage contained in them; but as this is in a very diluted state, the ali­ment they afford is inconsiderable. They are further distinguished by the earthly, acrid, and aërial particles which they contain, both with respect to their nutriment, and their ef­fects upon the first passages. They become soft by boiling, many of the aërial particles are expelled, and they are thus rendered more digestible. But the practice of boiling them in large quantities of water, which is afterwards poured off, is extremely absurd and injudicious; for, with the water, their best and most nutritious parts are consequent­ly thrown away: hence these vegetables ought to be thoroughly washed, and, cabbage ex­cepted, stewed in a small quantity of water, which will so far be reduced by slow boiling, that it may be brought to the table, together with the vegetables. To improve their relish, as well as to render these vegetables less flatu­lent, we generally add spices, which also assist digestion. And for the same reason, in a raw state, they are eaten with vinegar, salt, pepper, and the like.

Salads, being in general eaten with oil and vinegar, call for all the powers of the stomach, to digest these liquids, together with the raw herbs. Baked vegetables with paste and milk, [Page 77] as they are prepared in some countries, lose all their principal virtues, and readily acquire an empyreumatic oil upon the crust, which is indigestible, and taints the fluids with a dan­gerous acrimony.

Asparagus is an excellent article of nu­triment, although somewhat flatulent and di­uretic in its effects. The young shoots of this plant are not only the most palatable, but at the same time the most salutary.—As a good substitute for sparrowgrass, I can from experi­ence recommend the young buds of hops, which are more easily procured, scarcely inferior to the former in taste, and, on account of their aromatic quality, very grateful and wholesome.

Artichokes afford a light and tender food, perhaps still more nutritive but less diuretic than asparagus; for this reason, they are pref­erable for culinary uses.

Spinage, a favourite dish with many, affords no nutriment, passes quickly through the sto­mach and bowels, almost undigested; and, being usually dressed with butter, it weakens the alimentary canal, produces looseness, and consequently is not proper food for the weak and debilitated.—In languid stomachs, spinage is apt to produce acidity and the heart-burn.

Sorrel possesses an acrid acidity, which de­prives the teeth of their enamel, and ought to be avoided by those who are already troub­led with an acid taste in the mouth.

Red Cabbage is one of the most indigestible vegetables, particularly as the French and Germans eat it, with ham and chesnuts; it is thus rendered heating, flatulent, and laxative, [Page 78] and contains no nourishment.—More digesti­ble, cooling, and less hurtful to the bowels, are the young sprigs of cauliflower; but the most indigestible of all is the Colewort (Caulis ra­picius.) What has been said with respect to cabbage, is applicable also to the Orach, or Atriplex, and the Lettuce, when eaten boiled or stewed.

White Cabbage is possessed of excellent prop­erties; it is less flatulent than the common greens, and, being full of water, it is diuretic, and somewhat laxative.—It is remarkable, that all herbs and plants, in general, are more or less flatulent, according to their digestibil­ity, and are disposed to putrescency; in pro­portion to the time they remain in the ali­mentary canal.

Of White Cabbage sliced or cut in thin shreds, and afterwards seasoned and salted, the Germans make Sauer Kraut; which is easily digested, on account of the salt mixed with it, and the acetous fermentation it has undergone, before it is used, and by which the greatest part of its fixed air is expelled. Sauer Kraut may be preserved fresh for a long time; it operates powerfully on the first pas­sages, being one of the most excellent antisep­tics; it has proved of singular service at sea, in resisting the ravages of the scurvy, and curing it in the most alarming stages. We are indebted to Capt. Cook, for introducing this salutary dish among the sailors, in spite of all prejudices, and thus preserving the health of many brave mariners. Lastly, Sauer Kraut has been found the best preventive [Page 79] against epidemic distempers, particularly a­gainst the dysentery, and the putrid and pe­techial fevers, which it has even frequently cured.

Lettuce contains many nitrous particles, is very cooling, and useful in the evening to those who cannot sleep, from the too great heat and undulations of the blood. But the copi­ous addition of oil and the yolk of eggs ren­ders it less digestible than when eaten in its simple state; but if these must be used it is better to add some sugar, which decomposes these substances. The most suitable ingredi­ents of Salads, besides the Lettuce, are the va­rious Cresses, Chervil, (Chaerophyllum bulbo­sum, Linn.) and the scurvy-grass, which, to­gether with other cooling herbs, produce the effect of cleansing the humours, or, as some say, of purifying the blood, and are at the same time diuretic; especially if eaten in Spring, [...]and upon an empty stomach.

The fourth order of Vegetables consists of all the esculent roots, or such as are used at our tables. They are either of the mild, or of the astringent and acrid kind. The former are much more nourishing and less flatulent than the latter, which however possess some medic­inal powers, such as the various species of rad­ishes, onions, garlic, and the like.

Roots are neither so nourishing, nor so easily digested as animal food. Yet we may consid­er it as a certain rule, that any kind of ali­ment, [Page 80] for which we feel a natural and perma­nent appetite, is conformable to our nature. Of this kind is that beneficial root, the potato, which, in the most simple preparation, and without any addition, affords an agreeable and wholesome food to almost every person, and particularly to children. It is one of the light­est alimentary substances, occasioning neither viscidity nor flatulence, and can be hurtful only, when immoderately used. But, being a dry vegetable, and containing many earthy particles, it requires a proper quantity of drink to prevent obstructions. Its excellent nour­ishment is sufficiently obvious in the healthiness of those country people, whose principal food is potatoes, as well as animals that are fattened upon these roots.

The quickness with which the chyle made from potatoes is assimilated to the blood, leaves no doubt that they are easily digested; for it is a general remark, that labouring people sooner feel a renewal of their appetite, after potatoes, than any other species of food. It is a groundless assertion, that they generate a thick and crude chyle, and consequently a gross and viscous blood. It is an equally un­founded supposition, which is amply refuted by experience, that the potato is a narcotic root, and that it is apt to stupify the powers of the mind. This effect is produced only from a too copious use of it, together with want of exercise; in which cases any other food would be attended with similar conse­quences.

[Page 81] The stimulating powers ascribed to potatoes appear to me merely fanciful. Those of a farinaceous consistence are much more easily digested, than the heavy and gelatinous kind. The flour made of potatoes is more wholesome for pastry, and for all those dishes prepared of meal, than any other. The French have late­ly contrived a method of preparing a granula­ted flour from this root, which is grateful to the palate, and very nourishing. It is per­formed by a machine of simple construction, a representation of which, together with a de­scription, was given, some time ago, in the Repertory of the Arts and Manufactures;—and it has also been used successfully, when mixed with wheat flour, in making bread.^*

The Beet-root contains a large proportion of saccharine matter. By the latest experiments of M. Achard, of Berlin, it has been proved, that about fourteen pounds weight produced one pound of raw sugar, exceedingly sweet, and without the intermixture of any other taste. Independent of this consideration, the beet is a valuable root, both in an economical and culinary respect; it is possessed of mild aperient qualities, and ought to be eaten more frequently, for supper, by those who are of a costive habit. Although it is not difficult of digestion, yet some less flatulent root, such as parsley, celery, or even potatoes, ought to be used together with the beet; which addition [Page 82] will render it not only more palatable, but al­so more suitable to the stomach and bowels.

Carrots are extremely flatulent, and there­fore an improper food for the weak, and those inclined to acidity; by such individuals they can scarcely be digested, unless taken with the addition of spice, and a proper quantity of salt; by which means their fermentation and corruption in the stomach will be in a great measure prevented. In other respects, they contain a good and copious alimentary fluid, at the same time powerfully affect the kidneys, and are likewise anthelmintic, or destructive of worms.

Parsnips, besides their sweet mucilage, con­tain somewhat of the aromatic principle, be­ing more nourishing and less flatulent than carrots. To deprive them entirely of the latter quality, they ought to be boiled in two different waters; but by this precaution they partly lose their sweet taste, and become less nourishing.

Turnips are nutritive, but flatulent, and not easy of digestion; they become still more in­digestible with age.—The least flatulent and most nourishing of these roots are the long kind, or Swedish Turnip, lately introduced into this country.

Parsley, as well as Smallage, are of a sweet, stimulating, and aromatic nature. The for­mer, especially, was by the older physicians supposed to purify the blood; an effect which modern medical observers would not only doubt, but even ridicule. So much, howev­er, is certain, that parsley is a mild aperient [Page 83] and diuretic. Yet, for these salutary pur­poses, it ought not to be eaten in a raw but boiled state.

Celery is one of the most fragrant roots we possess in our climate, though its shoots and leaves are more commonly used for salads, than the root itself. There are two species of celery known among gardeners, both of which are estimable: one produces thick knobby roots, not unlike the size and figure of a short pine-apple; the other has a variety of small white, tender, and odorous roots. The latter species is more common in this country, while the former is much esteemed in France and Germany, where it is eaten in thin slices, previously soaked in vinegar; a preparation which, in summer, affords a cool­ing and wholesome dish. In a raw state, cele­ry is digested with some difficulty, which may be removed by boiling it in water, or soaking it, as before observed, for a short time in vine­gar.—The Germans prepare an artificial cof­fee from this root, by cutting it into small square pieces, which are dried and roasted in the usual manner. Dr. UNZER occasionally recommends this native coffee to his patients, particularly to nurses and lying-in-women, as a wholesome substitute for either tea, or the real coffee of the shops.

The Skirret-root, and the Scorzenera of Spain, possess more spicy and stimulating than nutritive qualities. Both these roots, as well as the three preceding, are diuretic, and con­sequently in a slight degree stimulating. The skirret, in particular, has an agreeably sweet [Page 84] and spicy flavor, and is so tender, that it can scarcely bear to be boiled. For this reason, it is most properly eaten when raw, like fruit, or may be used as an excellent ingredient in soups and broths.—The Scorzenera, on the contrary, ought to be deprived of its black skin, and only eaten boiled: by soaking the raw root for half an hour in cold water, it loses its bitter taste, and is likewise rendered less flatulent.

The Salsafy, or Goat's-beard, is a root con­taining still more of the saccharine principle, than the scorzenera: being a good substitute for sparrowgrass, and more easily reared in this climate, it certainly deserves to be more generally cultivated in our gardens.

Onions, Garlic, Shallot, and Chives, are stimulants: they assist digestion, relieve the bowels, expel flatulency, dissolve slime or mu­cus, and are therefore beneficial in diseases which proceed from too much viscidity; be­sides, they increase the appetite, and ought to be used principally as spices, or medicines. They are powerful expectorants, but must be avoided by very hot, irritable, and choleric temperaments. Although these roots are eaten in quantities by whole nations, yet from their penetrating and volatile smell, which they communicate to the human breath, it is certain they agree best with individuals of a cold and phlegmatic habit, and those whose stomachs require so powerful a stim­ulus.

All kinds of Radishes may be considered as medicinal roots; they are peculiarly calculat­ed [Page 85] to dissolve slimy humours, to generate, and also to expel flatulency; moving the air in­closed in the intestines, and expelling it, by the copious air contained in themselves. They are salubrious to strong and active stomachs; but in those which are deficient in elasticity, radishes increase flatulency to the highest and most troublesome degree. The small salad­radishes are more readily digested than the large root; they propel all the alimentary fluids towards the stomach, increase the ap­petite, and are therefore proper to be eaten before a meal. Old radishes are altogether indigestible, and the whole genus, like onions and garlic, occasion a very offensive breath.

The Arrow-root powder, lately imported in­to this country from the East Indies, appears to afford a larger proportion of nutritive mu­cilage than any vegetable hitherto discovered: but it is to be regretted that the exorbitant retail-price (eight shillings the pound weight) will preclude many invalids and convales­cents from using this excellent root in broths and jellies.

The fifth and last order of Vegetable sub­stances comprehends the Fruit, or productions, of the different trees and shrubs.

Fruit, in general, possesses strongly resolv­ent powers, and it is the more beneficial, as it comes to maturity at a time when the body is relaxed by the heat of summer, and when the blood has a strong tendency to inflamma­tion. [Page 86] It is besides of great service in attenua­ting the thick bilious impurities collected dur­ing the summer, and of evacuating them by its laxative virtues. The acid contained in most kinds is as useful to quench thirst, as to resist putrefaction. In weak stomachs, how­ever, or such as are filled with impurities and slime, it is apt to ferment, and occasion some inconvenience; but this may be avoided by a temperate use, and especially by eating it boiled.

The more sap or juice we meet with in fruit, it will prove the more flatulent; and as the juicy, cooling, and watery species of fruit require strong digestive organs, to prevent them from producing fermentation, flatulen­cy, and diarrhoea, a glass of old wine is very proper to promote their digestion. A gentle diarrhoea, brought on by eating ripe fruit, in summer, has frequently a salutary effect.—Acrid and astringent fruit, being rather a med­icine than food, is less hurtful to the healthy, and to children, than is commonly imagined. Instead of being noxious, as some imagine, in inflammatory disorders, it is of the greatest service. Persons of a thick and black blood cannot eat any thing more conducive to health than fruit, as it possesses the property of atten­uating and putting such blood in motion; but those of a watery and phlegmatic constitution ought carefully to avoid it.

Fruit preserved with sugar is antiseptic and nourishing, but at the same time flatulent; and if preserved with sugar and spices, it is heating and drying. It is most wholesome when eat­en [Page 87] on an empty stomach, which can exert all its power to dispel the air disengaged from it, and to remove it, before it begins to ferment. Boiling, as well as drying, corrects the flatu­lent tendency of fresh fruit, so that, thus pre­pared, it will agree with every body. By ei­ther of these methods it is deprived of its superfluous humidity, as well as of its fixed air; whence it becomes more nourishing, but less cooling, than in the fresh state.

Sago is the medullary part, or marrow, col­lected from a species of palm-tree growing in the Mulucca and other islands of the East-In­dies. This substance, although not strictly the fruit of a tree, well deserves the first place here; for it is used as bread by the natives of India, who macerate it in water, and form it into cakes. The grains of sago, sold in the shops, are obtained by a more artificial process: they furnish a nourishing and agreeable jelly with water, milk, or broth; but require to be previously cleaned of the dust, mould, and sea-water. To make a complete solution of sago, the first decoction ought to be strained, and afterwards boiled a second time, for about half an hour. Prepared in this manner, it is a proper dish for the consumptive and con­valescent, as well as those whose digestion is weak or impaired.

Cherries produce the effects now stated, in a very pre-eminent degree; they are excellent in scurvy, in putrid fevers, and in dysentery; they correct the blood when inclined to pu­trescency, and by their saponaceous and mel­liferous juice, they powerfully resolve obstruc­tions [Page 88] in the intestines. Those who use them with this intention, may eat them at any time of the day, though they operate most effectu­ally in the morning, on an empty stomach. Even the sweet species contain a stimulating acid, which, in proportion to their juicy con­sistence, disagrees more or less with the weak and debilitated; for this sap or juice easily ferments in the stomach, and produces flatu­lency, diarrhoea, and acidity. On account of these peculiar effects, persons whose stomachs are bilious and vitiated, who are troubled with putrid eructations, and an offensive breath, ought to eat them freely, to counteract that disposition to putridity.

Cherries are divided into the aqueous-sweet, aqueous-acid, and the dry pulpous kinds. The Spanish cherries are the most difficult to digest, but are also the most nourishing. The aqueous-sweet kind, as our early common cherries, are unwholesome; because their juice easily ferments, and occasions colic and diar­rhoea. The watery-acid sort are the best of any; their juice strengthens the stomach, pu­rifies the blood, and is the least flatulent. Dried cherries are in many diseases an excel­lent article of diet, on account of their cooling and antiseptic properties. The swallowing of cherry-stones, however, is highly perni­cious, as these stones have sometimes been found to accumulate in the intestines, to form lumps cemented together by viscid phlegm, and thus to produce the most violent and fa­tal symptoms.

[Page 89] Plums also possess medicinal virtues; they are nourishing and attenuating. Prunes, or dried plums, are of peculiar service to costive habits, affording an agreeable and nutritive dish; but, as they are apt to produce flatulency, it would be adviseable to eat them either when the stomach is empty, or for supper, without mixing them with other aliment. Under this limitation, they are both aperient and cooling, and agree with almost every constitution; but plums eaten fresh, and not quite ripe, espe­cially in large quantities, are very apt to oc­casion looseness, colics, and other maladies of the stomach and intestines. The larger sort of plums are in general more dangerous, in this respect, than the small ones, as they (par­ticularly the green and yellow kind) are sel­dom allowed to grow perfectly ripe.

Tamarinds are more frequently employed for medicinal purposes, than as an article of diet. The pulp of this fruit is one of the most grateful acids; which, if taken in the quanti­ty of from half an ounce to an ounce or more, proves gently purgative. By its acidity, it is well calculated to quench thirst and allay im­moderate heat.

Peaches abound with juice, and though not very nourishing, they are not productive of diarrhoea. This salutary fruit was formerly decried as unwholesome; but it is rather ser­viceable in obstructions and bilious disorders. Sugar, wine, and the like, diminish the good qualities of peaches; and even when preserv­ed in brandy, they are not so wholesome as when fresh; since they become hard by all ar­tificial [Page 90] preparations. The kernels likewise of peaches are a wholesome bitter, and are clean­sing, on account of their astringent properties.

As there are various kinds of peaches, of an inferior quality, it will be useful to point out the distinguishing marks of that fruit, in a mature state. The best sort of peaches have a delicate thin skin, which is easily separated from the pulpous part. Those which are not naturally smooth ought to be covered with only a small quantity of down; for too much down or wool on the surface is a sign of their inferior quality. They are likewise not to be depended upon as being wholesome, if they are of a size either too small or preternatural­ly large. Their pulp ought to be delicate, yet solid, somewhat fibrous, and full of juice; it should not adhere to the stone or kernel, and readily melt in the mouth.

Apricots are more pulpy than peaches, but perhaps less nutritive: their juice readily fer­ments and turns acid in weak stomachs; yet, when ripe, and used with moderation, they are cooling and antiseptic, particularly for bil­ious and plethoric individuals.

Of Pears, some are extremely hard, astrin­gent, and difficult of digestion; but the more juicy pears have a saponaceous, nourishing, and readily digestible fluid; in their effects they resemble the sweet kind of apples, ex­cept that they are less relaxing to the bowels. Pears are of a more flatulent tendency than any of the fruits before mentioned, and es­pecially the hard winter-pears, which are eaten [Page 91] at a time when the stomach requires stimulat­ing more than cooling food.

Apples are, in their general effect, similar to other fruit, and, besides their aromatic virtues, are possessed of laxative properties. They are serviceable in diseases of the breast, to remove spasmodic contractions, to neutral­ize acrimony, and to attenuate viscid p [...]gm. With this intention, apples are most bene­ficial when eaten either roasted or boiled. The common people in Germany are so sensible of their excellent properties, in inflammatory diseases, that they boil even the wild apples, and drink the water. This process deserves imitation, especially when apples become scarce in Spring.

Apples may be divided into the spicy, the acidulated, and the watery species. The first, the various kinds of rennet, for example, have the most delicate flavor, and are certainly the best; they do not contain a superfluity of wa­ter, and, from their vinous nature, are not apt to excite flatulency. Other kinds of apples, like the pippins, are too hard, consequently heavy to the stomach, though somewhat more nourishing than the former. Stewed apples are easily digested and wholesome.

The kernels or seeds of apples are bitter and aromatic; Nature seems to have intend­ed the seeds for correcting the watery and fermentable fluids of this and all other fruit, apricots excepted. Hence the kernels of ap­ples and pears, as well as those of plums and cherries, ought to be eaten with the fruit, and not be thrown away as useless.—The but­ter [Page 92] in the paste of apple-pies may be consid­ered as an useful addition, on account of its tendency to prevent fermentation, though the pastry itself always disagrees with weak and irritable stomachs.

Of Quinces we have two species, namely, the apple and pear-quince: the latter are the most wholesome, particularly those of Portu­gal. They are an excellent antiseptic, and in this respect the best kind of fruit, contain­ing an acid and much mucilage. They are not productive of obstructions; but their pulp, like that of all other fruit, is digested with some difficulty. They are generally eat­en boiled with sugar, and are excellent in dysentery, on account of their copious mu­cilage.

In Lemons, Oranges, and other fruit of that kind, we meet with three different substances. The external rind contains an essential oil, strongly astringent and heating; the second or white rind is without taste; the third part of them is a salubrious, cooling, and acid pulp, highly efficacious in counteracting the putrid tendency and dissolution of the blood. The juice of lemons and limes is one of the strongest vegetable acids;^* and that of oran­ges [Page 93] and shaddocks, though milder, is not less salutary.

These acids are of a very saponaceous con­sistence; they attenuate the fluids, remove obstructions, encourage digestion, stimulate the appetite, quench thirst, cool the blood, counteract putrefaction, are a principal reme­dy in pectoral, bilious, and inflammatory dis­eases, as likewise in scurvy, in all affections of the kidneys, and an antidote against the narcotic vegetable poisons. Hence the larg­est dose of opium may be checked in its nar­cotic effects, if a proper quantity of the acid of lemons be taken with, or immediately af­ter it. Four grains of pure opium, for in­stance, or one hundred drops of laudanum, is a very powerful and sometimes fatal dose; yet if one ounce of the pure acid of lemons, or two ounces of orange juice, be added to every grain of opium, or to twenty-five drops of laudanum, it will produce a very different effect. Instead of stupifying the person who takes it, and of being attended with painful costiveness, it will not only prove laxative, but induce first a cheerfulness, not attainable by the use either of opium or strong liquors, and afterwards bring on a gentle and refresh­ing sleep.

[Page 94] Of these effects I can speak from my own experience, as well as that of others. Opium, used with this addition, is one of the most sal­utary and beneficial substances with which we are acquainted. I am farther inclined to be­lieve, that the Turks, who eat very little ani­mal food, could not bear the large quantities of opium they swallow, were it not for the copious use of vegetable acids. And that these form a principal part of a Turkish sum­mer diet, every traveller knows, who has visited the eastern climates.

For these reasons, I cannot sufficiently rec­ommend the use of acids to persons, who are either accustomed, or obliged, to take opiates in large doses. In choleric, bilious, and pleth­oric habits, in those liable to obstructions, whose alimentary canal is unclean, and lastly, in those who feel a determination of the blood to the head, opium is an uncertain, and even dangerous medicine, without the addition of vegetable acids. The want of the acid of lemons may be effectually supplied by an in­digenous production:—barberries afford an acid fully as strong, and nearly as agreeable, as that of lemons.

The juice of the various species of Raisins is not unlike that of ripe lemons in its properties, but less efficacious. There are various kinds of that excellent fruit. Among the larger sort, those of a blueish colour, imported from Marseilles, are the best; while the Spanish raisins, of a light brown colour, are inferior to those of any other species. Both kinds, as well as Currants, contain much nutriment, [Page 95] but cannot be recommended for frequent use, as they all tend to produce flatulency, partic­ularly in individuals of relaxed habits and a sedentary life. On this account, they ought to be eaten with other food, in which case they are emollient, gently laxative, and some­times anodyne.

Gooseberries, having less of the acid than either raisins or currants, are perhaps more wholesome, especially if their skin and other impurities are not swallowed together with the juice. When used in a green state, for sauces and pies, they are cooling and refreshing; and, when ripe, possess similar properties with cherries.

Figs abound with saccharine matter, and are uncommonly nutritive, though at the same time of a flatulent nature, unless eaten with bread or other mealy substances.—Of similar effects are mulberries and raspberries: the former have a more mucilaginous and nourish­ing juice, while that of the latter is more of a vinous nature, and one of the best cordials for allaying thirst and affording refreshment.

Grapes and Strawberries are both excellent fruits. They are uncommonly resolvent, lax­ative without debilitating, and promote all the natural evacuations; but at the same time, grapes are in a high degree flatulent.

The quality of grapes depends much on climate and soil. Those of a sweet taste, and aromatic flavour, only ought to be used. They agree best when eaten on an empty stomach, with a small quantity of bread. Besides their slightly nourishing quality, it is affirmed by [Page 96] some writers, that they cool the blood and an­imate the nerves.

Strawberries, if eaten plentifully, have been found a safe preventive against the stone in the kidneys; as is attested by the experience of the celebrated LINNAEUS. Yet the small stones contained in strawberries, as well as in grapes, are said to accumulate in the intestines of some individuals, and to give rise to the most obstinate constipations, nay even to the iliac passion. The best method of eating straw­berries is with pure water, and sweetened with a little sugar; they are more heating with wine, but less wholesome; with milk or cream they are an agreeable but improper compo­sition. As a medicine, the wild strawberry is far preferable to any other.

Cucumbers are a wholesome, gently opening, and cooling fruit, which may be of consider­able service to the consumptive, as it has the property of sweetening acrid humours. They show a tendency to ferment, and produce diar­rhoea; but this may be prevented by the ad­dition of vinegar and pepper, which also coun­teracts their natural coldness. Prepared with oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper, they are insup­portable to some weak stomachs, and occasion frequent eructations and flatulency. But properly pickled, they are an excellent anti­septic, though unfit to be given to children and wet-nurses.

Much of the same nature with cucumbers are Melons; but they are more aromatic, and, in this respect, more wholesome. Water-melons require more spice and wine than Musk-melons; [Page 97] as they partake more of the nature of Cucum­bers.

Gourds, a fruit of the melon-kind, but less sweet, and of a much larger size, if boiled in milk, after the first water has been poured off, and with the addition of salt and popper, af­fords sufficiently wholesome and nutritive food.

Olives, in their natural state, are bitter, acrid, and exceedingly disagreeable; though their taste is much improved when pickled, as we receive them from abroad, particularly in the smaller kind, or Lucca olives. On ac­count of the abundance of oil which they con­tain, they are unfit for delicate stomachs, and are pernicious, especially when eaten for de­sert, after a heavy dinner.

Almonds, Walnuts, Hazlenuts, and Nuts in general, are extremely difficult of digestion, on account of the oil they contain, which readily turns acrid and rancid o [...] the stomach, and occasions the heart-burn. Bilious indi­viduals should by no means eat them; and there is nothing so absurd as to administer al­mond-milk as a common diet-drink to febrile patients. This milk consists altogether of oily and almost insoluble parts, which heat and vi­tiate the stomach, stimulate the bile, and are easily decomposed from the water with which they are mixed. It quickly spoils; frequent­ly, indeed, before it is introduced into the stomach: it is not in the least degree cooling, and its nourishing quality is very improperly employed in fevers, and all those diseases which are attended with debility of the ali­mentary canal.

[Page 98] Nuts and almonds ought to be eaten only while fresh, and when the skin, which is ex­tremely astringent and hurtful, can be re­moved. They should be well chewed, and eaten with salt; for every piece swallowed entire is indigestible, and the salt renders them miscible with our fluids as a saponaceous mass. If eaten in large quantities, they remain in the stomach, cannot be expelled by any med­icines, and produce alarming and sometimes fatal disorders. In general, they occasion dif­ficult breathing, vomiting, and complaints in the bowels, which have been observed to be very common in those autumns that were pro­ductive of great quantities of nuts.

Last among the vegetable productions, we may class the various species of Mushrooms. They are all of a tough, leathery consistence; and being almost indigestible, they afford little nutriment, notwithstanding they, in a great measure, resemble animal food.

Several kinds of mushrooms are said to con­tain a narcotic and acrimonious poison. And as those of a harmless kind cannot be easily distinguished from the bad ones, this might be a sufficient reason to abstain from the use of them altogether. But if they must appear at our tables, vegetable acids, or vinegar, are the best antidotes, to counteract their pernicious effects. Pickled with vinegar, or salted, mush­rooms become still more tough; and roasted with butter, they are an indigestible mass, and extremely liable to turn rancid in the stomach.

Of Drink in particular.

Of Spices.

Spices, of themselves, are not nourishing, but are used merely to improve the taste and flavour of substances, to prevent flatulency, and to promote digestion. Some spices, being extremely volatile, and occasioning too strong a stimulus, do more harm than good. As they are apt to heat the blood, to increase perspiration, occasionally to affect the head, and to stimulate the nerves, spices, in general, should be used only by persons possessing a strong constitution, or by those of a lax fibre, and cold phlegmatic habit: as, on the contra­ry, individuals naturally lean and dry, as well as the choleric and phlegmatic, ought to be sparing and cautious in the use of heating spices. The most conducive to health would be the indigenous spices, though some of the foreign kind have now become indispensable in our present mode of living. The most com­mon, and perhaps the most useful, are:

1. Salt. It corrodes the fibres of plants and animals, disorganizes the connection of parts too firm for the solution of the stomach, dis­solves the glutinous parts, and prepares them for being better digested by the stomach. Pro­visions of a tough and viscid consistence, there­fore, require much salt; for instance, beef, mutton, fish, peas, beans, fat, &c.^*—Hence [Page 136] salt beef and herrings agree so well with veg­etables, because the abundance of salt in the former, seasons the latter. But too copious a use of salted provisions is extremely prejudi­cial; they weaken the solids, and the blood becomes thin, acrid, and disposed to putres­cency; hence arise scurvy in all its stages, eruptions of the skin, consumptions, and other diseases.

2. Sugar is at present one of the first neces­saries of life. It is an unfounded conjecture, that sugar renders the blood thick or viscid; on the contrary, it is possessed of diluent and attenuating properties. But the immoderate use of sugar, especially the moist and coarse sort, may in a considerable degree prevent di­gestion, by consuming the oleaginous part of our fluids, impeding the assimilation of food, and generating mucus and acidity in the ali­mentary canal.

It has frequently been asserted, that sugar injures the teeth: this, however, is not strictly [Page 137] true; for it is only by its vitiating the stomach, and generating impure blood, that the teeth become sympathetically affected. Hence per­sons of weak digestion, those with debilitated nerves, the hypochondriac, hysteric women, and especially children subject to complaints arising from worms, ought to use this luxuri­ous substance sparingly, and only occasionally. If moderately used, it promotes digestion, being a gently solvent and stimulating salt. But, where people take it without moderation, su­gar may prevent digestion, not on account of its substance, but by obstructing the assimila­tion of food, so that it produces slimy and acid matters in the alimentary canal. The acid which sugar contains, renders it an excellent remedy against putrescence. The finest sort of sugar being freed of all impurities, is the best and most wholesome. Yet, in sore throats and other catarrhal affections, I would prefer sugar-candy or moderately fine loaf-sugar, to that which is double refined, on ac­count of some particles of lime and clay, ne­cessarily remaining in the latter, from the manner in which it is prepared.—Other sweet substances, such as honey, cannot altogether supply the place of sugar, as they are not pos­sessed of the same properties; but there have been already made some very successful exper­iments with the American maple-tree, (Acer saccharinus) which afford great hopes that we may obtain this valuable and indispensable salt, in future times, from that quarter of the globe, in sufficient quantities, and at a reason­able price, when the most flagitious of all [Page 138] trades, that in human flesh, shall have been entirely abolished.^*

3. Honey, like sugar, contains an acid, but many more inflammable particles; it easily ferments, and therefore occasions flatulency. In some particular habits it is apt to occasion gripes and looseness: as a medicine, it is use­ful to the asthmatic, to promote the expecto­ration of tough phlegm; and so far it is an useful detergent and aperient. But, as a part of diet, when immoderately used, it is hurtful to weak stomachs, and ought to be avoided by people who are troubled with a superabun­dance of bile, and whose humours incline to putrefaction.

4. The different species of Pepper, being strongly heating and stimulating, should be used with precaution. Yet its peculiar warm­ing and stomachic virtues make it an excellent spice, and proper to be used with fat, tough, and smoked meat, with flatulent vegetables, with the cooling cucumbers and melons, as well as with fish and other substances difficult of digestion. Pepper ought, for these purpo­ses, to be coarsely ground. If taken in whole grains, it imparts to the stomach only a small part of its virtues, and cannot be reduced in digestion. In this form it is an old and ef­fectual domestic remedy of the Germans, a­gainst viscidity in the stomach, flatulency, weak digestion, and consequent giddiness. For these purposes, from six to ten pepper-grains [Page 139] should be swallowed in the morning, on an empty stomach. Yet I would not ad­vise this practice to be followed, except to some very vitiated stomachs, which have been accustomed to spices and spirituous liquors, and with whom the pepper may serve as a sub­stitute for drams.

5. Cubebs, Cardamoms, Vanilla and Cloves, are hot, pungent, and consequently improper for daily use.—Cubebs are much inferior in pungency to pepper.—Cardamoms are a warm and grateful aromatic; they do not, like those of the pepper kind, immoderately heat and inflame the bowels; hence they certainly de­serve the preference for common use.—Vanil­la ^* is warming, resolvent, strengthening to the stomach, and a remedy for flatulency. In chocolate, it assists the digestion of the oily substance of the cacao.

Cloves are hot and stimulant aromatics, but formerly seldom obtained genuine in this coun­try, as the Dutch frequently mixed them with other cloves, previously deprived of their es­sential oil by distillation.—Mace and Nutmeg are less heating, and therefore preferable for common use; but the former is still more [Page 140] so than the latter, which is supposed to have an astringent virtue, and is employed with that intention in diarrhoeas and dysenteries.—Cinnamon is undoubtedly the most delicate spice, but is seldom obtained pure from the mercenary Dutch, who were accustomed to send us more Cassia than real cinnamon. The Cassia bark, though resembling that of cinna­mon in taste, is much less heating, and cer­tainly more beneficial for common use than cinnamon, which is better calculated to an­swer medicinal purposes. The bark of cas­sia is thicker and coarser; it breaks short and smooth, while the cinnamon breaks fibrous and shivery.—Pimento, or Jamaica pepper, re­sembles in its smell a mixture of cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, whence it has received the name of all-spice; it is milder than the East-India pepper, and is an useful addition to broths and stewed dishes, when used, as it ought to be, in whole grains.—Ginger is one of the most agreeable and wholesome spices, espe­cially boiled whole in beer, and drunk by people moving in the open air, and in cold weather. But this spice, as employed by the bakers for gingerbread, does a great deal of mischief, especially to the stomachs of chil­dren; though it may occasionally be service­able to travellers, early in the morning, and on an empty stomach.^*

[Page 141] The indigenous, spicy, and balsamic herbs, such as parsley, marjoram, thyme, sage, and the like, cannot be too much recommended for culinary use, especially in broths; as they are well calculated, by their aromatic virtues, to assist the digestion of many strong articles of food, which daily cover our tables; and these excellent herbs are not liable to the adultera­tions with which most of the foreign spices are vitiated.

6. Among all the native spices, there is none, in my opinion, which excels, in medicinal virtues, the common Caraway. The seeds of this plant are the mildest and most useful car­minative we possess. To people of a weak digestion, troubled with flatulency and colics, they afford the most certain relief, if used in sufficient quantity; for instance, a table-spoon­ful at a time, early in the morning, and one hour before a meal: or still better, if these seeds are plentifully used in bread, and among cooked victuals. Yet here I must caution those of a hot and bilious temperament, as likewise individuals liable to obstructions and habitual costiveness, not to use these seeds in­discriminately, and without consulting a pro­fessional man.

Caraway-seeds, finely pounded, with a small proportion of ginger and salt, spread upon bread and butter, and eaten every day, espe­cially early in the morning, and at night be­fore going to bed is successfully used in Ger­many as a domestic remedy against hysterics, and will, no doubt, effectually cure the dis­ease, provided it does not arise from improper [Page 142] diet, obstructions of the intestines and other vessels, passion, bile, acrid humours, and the like; in all which cases the caraway and ginger will certainly do more harm than good; as each of these causes must be removed by the apposite means.

If, however, caraway be kept in a pounded state, for the purpose of overcoming the dis­position to flatulency and indigestion, it soon turns rancid, and may prove hurtful, on ac­count of the strong oil it contains.—The plant of caraway is one of the early spring-herbs, and makes an excellent addition to salads. The seeds, when distilled with ardent spirits, yield a very heating and pernicious oil, which ren­ders such spirits still more detrimental to health, than when they are in a pure state.

CLASSIFICATION Of the various Species of Food, Drink, and Spices, according to their individual sa­lubrity.

THE evacuations of the body, from its su­perfluous, impure, and noxious parti­cles, are no less necessary than its nourishment. The same power which changes and assimilates our food and drink, likewise effects the due and timely evacuation of what is secreted. It is an object of the first consequence, that nothing remain in the body, which ought to be evacuated; and that nothing be ejected, which may be of use to its preservation.

How many persons do we find complaining of bad health, notwithstanding every attention they pay to the air they breathe, to aliment, exercise, sleep, &c.; while others enjoy a good state of health, though totally careless with regard to these particulars. Indeed, much depends on a proper state of the evacu­ations.—If these be disordered, the most rigor­ous observance of dietetic rules is insufficient to insure our health; while, on the contrary, most of those rules may be neglected, for some time, without any injurious consequen­ces, if the evacuations be duly attended to.

[Page 150] Nature removes not only the noxious mat­ter, or such as is in a state of corruption, but likewise the useful fluids, if they become su­perabundant; for instance, the milk, the semen, the blood. In such cases, therefore, these must be considered as objects of evacua­tion, equally natural and salutary.

By stool, the thick and feculent remains of assimilated food are evacuated; for every ar­ticle of aliment contains more or less dregs, and their smallest particles only can be changed into the milky fluid, or chyle.

By urine, we eject the oily and saline parti­cles secreted from the blood, in a diluted state; which prevents these particles from injuring the external membranes, by their irritating acrimony.

By insensible perspiration, which is carried on through the smallest orifices of the pores, the most subtile and noxious particles of the fluids are evaporated; which, if they were retained within the body, would lay the foun­dation of its total corruption.

Nature expels all crude and acrid substances by these three principal emunctories; and ac­cordingly as they are disordered, diseases of different degrees of malignity and duration will necessarily ensue.—Nature also frequently relieves herself by more unusual channels; such are, the bleeding of the nose in plethoric young men, the hemorrhoids with which per­sons of a middle age are sometimes troubled, the various ulcers common to those whose fluids are in an impure state, the excretions of saliva, and the expectorations of others, &c. [Page 151] By a premature suppression of these trouble­some but salutary efforts of nature, great mis­chief may be produced to the individual.

Many persons perspire much under the arm­pits, others in their hands or feet; others again are subject to eruptions in the face or other parts of the body; such canals, howev­er, if Nature be once accustomed to eject by them certain useless and hurtful particles, can­not be hastily stopped, without occasioning greater and more dangerous inconveniences; cleanliness, in the strictest sense of the word, is almost the only safe remedy to counteract their fatal effects.

Of Evacuations by Stool.

As the food and drink we consume every day, necessarily deposits useless matter, a daily opening by stool is extremely salutary; par­ticularly to persons subject to costiveness and the many disagreeable consequences thence arising. Of these I shall only enumerate fre­quent head-achs, difficult breathing, flatu­lency, eructations, and spasms: hence peev­ishness of temper, general lethargy, and at length, hypochondriasis;—the abdomen of such persons feels tumid; the circulation of the blood in the intestinal vessels is retarded; and, consequently, the general circulation in­terrupted. These complaints, sooner or later, certainly attend habitual costiveness; especial­ly if no other kind of evacuation, as that by urine, or insensible perspiration, be in an uncommon degree increased.

[Page 152] In healthy individuals, the evacuation by stool usually takes place once or twice a-day; and, according to the habits of the person, either in the morning or evening. Those who are troubled with costiveness should visit the customary retreat, regularly every morn­ing at a fixed hour, and thus endeavour to pro­mote this necessary evacuation by proper ef­forts, though they may not, at the moment, feel much inclination; for it is well founded on experience, that Nature at length will be habituated, by perseverance, to observe a cer­tain regularity in this respect. The most proper time for these attempts is early in the morning, or late in the evening.

Whatever dietetic means may be adopted to promote stool ought to be employed either from three to four hours previous to the time we wish to succeed, or immediately before go­ing to bed. If in the morning, we ought to rise early, to take first a slice of bread with much fresh butter; then eat some boiled prunes; drink two or three cups of the decoc­tion; and, if necessary, assist the operation of the whole with a tea-spoonful or two of cream of tartar in treacle. Thus prepared, we ought to walk a little in the open air, or, if the weather be unfavourable, about the room; to rub the lower belly with the palm of the hand; and, when we sit down, to re­tain the breath, by frequently, though mod­erately, inspiring; and, lastly, to change the posture of the body, from a straight to a crooked and sidelong direction, till we suc­ceed in the attempt.

[Page 153] Although these trials should repeatedly fail, we must not be discouraged from persevering in them; nor ought we, without absolute necessity, to choose any other than the wonted hour to attain the end proposed; so that this, at length, may become the only time, when Nature shall spontaneously assist our endeav­ours. During these practices, however, the choice of our diet is of the greatest moment; as we can powerfully promote the desired end, by living chiefly upon rye-bread, spinage, boil­ed fruit, particularly prunes, decoctions of currants, the sweet and emollient vegetables, especially the beet-root, and occasionally salted meat; the last of which should be assisted with much drink, not of the spirituous kind, but rather of a mild and aperient nature, such as sweet table-beer, whey, infusions of malt, ap­ples, pears, and the like.

It deserves to be remarked, that if every effort of this kind prove abortive, the volun­tary exertions in promoting stool should not be carried to an extravagant degree; as by such unnatural pressure we may bring on rup­tures, the bursting of veins in the rectum, or the piles. Hence it is more adviseable to ab­stain, for some time, from all crude and solid aliment, and to use only such articles of food and drink as have been before pointed out. And if this also should not be attended with the desired effect, we may then have recourse to the mild purgatives, such as rhubarb, senna, cream of tartar, and the neutral salts.

While too much rest, and a sedentary life, prevent this species of daily evacuation, gentle [Page 154] exercise, accompanied with serenity of mind, almost certainly promote it. In many fami­lies, costiveness is an habitual and hereditary distemper. Sometimes too it originates from a weakness of the intestinal canal brought on by diseases, but more frequently from the hab­itual use of certain substances of food and drink; for instance, the lean flesh of quadrupeds, game, the leguminous vegetables, red Port wine, strong and bitter malt liquor, and the like. Hence the pre-disposing cause of the complaint should always be attended to. If it arise from weakness, red wine, bitter ale, and other cor­roborants, are well calculated to effect a cure. In every instance, frequent exercise in the open air is extremely useful. Persons living sparingly on animal food, and who are other­wise temperate in their passions and desires, are seldom deprived of this natural benefit; and even though they should be without it for two or three days together, they have little to apprehend from such irregularity; for, as they do not wantonly overload their stomach, the accumulation of impurities cannot be con­siderable.

Where weakness and atony, or laxity of the intestines, are the causes of a costive habit, the external use of cold water, by affusion on the lower belly or merely washing it with that fluid, is frequently preferable to all other dietetic remedies. This is one of the most simple means of preventing painful costiveness; though it ought not to be applied indiscrimi­nately, and least of all in those cases where [Page 155] the use of the cold bath is improper and hurt­ful.—If debility and relaxation of the intestin­al canal be the cause of costiveness, clysters of cold water alone are generally productive of singular benefit; yet these also cannot be used without many exceptions—not, for instance, by females, during the menses, by persons af­flicted with the piles, or having weak lungs, nor in certain kinds of colics and spasms.

The discharges by stool ought to be neither in too liquid nor too dry a state. Strong labour, heating drinks, and long fasting, ren­der them disagreeably hard, even in the health­iest individuals; from the feces remaining too long in the region of the lacteals, so that the nutritious or milky part of the concocted mass is exhausted to the last drop, and there re­mains behind no other but dry, excrementi­tious matter. These stools, therefore, are frequently a symptom of good digestion, such as attends sound constitutions in general.

Too dry excrements, in the form of balls, especially in delicate individuals, occasion head-ach, inflammation of the eyes, febrile complaints, hemorrhoids, ruptures, paralytic affections, and frequently produce flatulency and spasms, in persons subject to hysterics and hypochondriasis: nay, even the suppression of flatulency is extremely dangerous. Those who are apt to delay going to stool, expose them­selves to many serious inconveniences. When this sensation is lost, it does not usually return for some time. The feces collected in the intestinal canal powerfully distend it, give rise to the blind hemorrhoids, and sometimes even [Page 156] to a falling down of the anus; the excrements become dry, and their re-absorbed fluid parts irritate and vitiate the blood, and produce many obstinate distempers. If a person has been costive for several days, the inclination to go to stool is sometimes lost, until restored by artificial means.

Loose and too frequent stools are common with those, who take more aliment than their stomach can digest; for the food, from the stimulus occasioned by its corruption in the alimentary canal, is too soon ejected, without being duly assimilated. Hence debilitated per­sons, who eat immoderately, generally are thinner and less muscular than others, who observe a regular and temperate diet. The stools are a tolerable criterion of the quantity and quality of the food we have taken, and whether the digestive powers be adequate to its concoction. For, in weak intestines, the unassimilated matter of food turns acrid, and contributes nothing to the nourishment of the body. Thus it happens, that debilitated indi­viduals, and such as are of a phlegmatic hab­it, continue lean and emaciated, whatever quantity of food they consume. For this rea­son, they ought to live principally on milk, eggs, broths, tender meat, emollient vegetables; and to eat only when they feel a true appetite, and after moderate exercise.—It is not the man who takes comparatively little food, that can be called temperate; but rather that per­son who makes use of no more aliment, than he is able to digest. Thin and copious stools, therefore, are a certain proof of indigestion.

[Page 157] Some persons are accustomed to go to stool more than once a-day, others only every second day, and yet enjoy a good state of health. It is, however, more desirable and wholesome to have a regular evacuation every day; and children especially ought to have two or three discharges daily. Aged persons, in general, have but one stool in a day. The air we breathe, makes, in this respect, a re­markable difference. The more we perspire in summer, the fewer are the evacuations; and, on the contrary, moderate exercise is pro­ductive of more regular excretions, than that which is too violent. Robust and muscular individuals perspire more than the weak and enervated; hence the evacuations of the for­mer, by other emunctories, are more limited; while the latter, whose fluids are not duly de­termined to the surface of the body, have more frequent openings by stool.

Obstructions and costiveness, of which ma­ny persons now complain, are owing to a vari­ety of causes, but chiefly to our luxurious mode of living, and to the custom of making too many meals through the day. The time requisite to the digestion of a meal cannot be well ascertained, as some stomachs concoct quickly, and others slowly; and there is a re­markable difference in the degrees of digesti­bility, among the various species of food; the nature and properties of which have been already pointed out in the fifth Chapter. But this may serve as a general rule, that we ought never to take a new supply of food, till the preceding meal be digested.

[Page 158] Some moderate livers, after having deviated from their usual temperance, do not feel any inconvenience till after two or three days, when they are troubled with copious evacua­tions, head-ach, uneasiness and dejection of mind. Such excesses are frequently accom­panied with serious consequences, of which costiveness is only the forerunner. Neither the emetics, or laxatives, to which the glutton has recourse, nor the fashionable stimulants and strengthening bitters, can prevent or rem­edy the ultimate effects of such brutal habits. The emetics and purgatives inevitably weaken the first passages, and lay the foundation of [...]nstant obstipations; while the stimulants deprive the intestines still more of the neces­sary humours, and render the evil much great­er. The most proper means of preventing these hurtful consequences, are the following:

1. A due degree of bodily exercise, by which the muscular power will be invigorated, the nervous system strengthened, and the cir­culation of the blood promoted.

2. We ought to take a proportionate quan­tity of drink to our victuals; a circumstance not always sufficiently attended to, by persons of a sedentary life. Drink dilutes the food, and softens the bowels. A weak, well-fer­mented, and well hopped beer, is an excellent beverage: so is water with the addition of a little wine. Warm diluents, on the contrary, have a manifest tendency to increase obstruc­tions, by the relaxation they produce in the intestines.

[Page 159] 3. Let us choose the quality of our food, according to our constitutional wants. Those who cannot digest well, ought to avoid all thick, mealy dishes, pastry, onions, warm and new bread, and such as is not thoroughly bak­ed. Costive persons frequently complain of an acid generated in their stomach; while others, on account of this acid, are subject to loose and very frequent stools. Vinegar and tart wines are but rarely the cause of this acidity; never, indeed, except when they disagree with the stomach. New wines on the contrary, as well as vegetables of an acescent kind, and particularly long kept and roasted fat meat, have the strongest ten­dency to produce acidity, the heart-burn, and, at length, obstructions in some constitutions, and diarrhoeas in others. The proper species of food, in such cases, are herbs, carrots, su­gar-peas, french-beans, parsley-roots, the scor­cenera, artichokes, horse-radish, mustard-leaves, and similar plants, boiled soft in broth, sufficiently salted, and without the addition of sat, or butter. Besides these, only a small quantity of meat ought to be used, and this should be tender; but no fat fish, nor game kept too long, for the purpose of rendering it mellow; and lastly, all kinds of fruit ought to be eaten boiled rather than raw.

4. We should not too much indulge in sleep, which, particularly after dinner, is hurtful to persons whose digestion is languid, and whose evacuations are preternaturally slow. During sleep, all the motions in the system are per­formed with less vigour, and more tardily: [Page 160] and, in this respect, to keep awake may be considered as a spe [...]es of exercise; as the nerves, in that state, are more active, and the circulation of the blood is carried on with greater energy.—Evacuations by stool can be suppressed, by sleeping an improper length of time, for instance, ten or twelve hours instead of seven or eight; and we may prevent these salutary discharges, by sitting down to any inactive employment, previous to the usual in­clination to retire to stool.

If it be our wish to preserve health, we ought not only to guard against costiveness, but likewise to prevent, by all proper means, to frequent excretions. Copious evacuations of this kind exsiccate the body, and deprive it of that strength, which is necessary to sup­port its exertions. Persons subject to diar­rhoea, cannot be too cautious in the use of watery, saline, and easily fermentable articles of food and drink, and in avoiding violent fits of anger and other passions. On the contrary, they will promote their health, by using pro­visions of a drying nature, drinking a well-fermented, bitter beer or ale, or, if they can afford it, good old wine:—all of which have the beneficial tendency to promote perspira­tion, and thus prevent superfluous humidity in the body.

If too copious evacuations proceed from a relaxed state of the intestines, daily exercise is of considerable efficacy; for the fibres of the whole body are thereby invigorated; and, if irritating or peccant humours should be the cause of the complaint, nothing is better cal­culated [Page 161] to expel them by perspiration, urine, or stool, than spirited and persevering muscu­lar motion, until the body be tolerably fa­tigued. But, in this case, we must not at­tempt to remove or suppress this material stimulus by astringent remedies; for, instead of evacuating the noxious matter by the proper emunctories, such medicines will necessarily produce dangerous, and often fatal diseases.

It would be a desirable object, in houses which are not provided with water-closets, that every individual were furnished with his own night-chair; as most of the common places of retirement are literally ventilators, where some parts of the body are exposed to a cur­rent of air, which is frequently the cause of disorders, particularly in persons subject to colds, and all other complaints originating from suppressed perspiration; accidents, which may injure still more those, whose lungs are unsound. Men who are troubled with the piles, and, above all, women during the menses, ought to be very cautious in resorting to such places.—In the usual privies, there generally prevails in summer a pestilential fetor; so that it becomes almost impossible to wait for the proper evacuation, both because of the disagreeable smell, and the danger of being infected with disease.

After every stool, there is a slight bearing down of the anus; a circumstance which ren­ders some precaution in the cleaning of it ne­cessary. The substance used for that purpose ought to be previously examined, whether its surface contain any rough and loose particles, [Page 162] which would be immediately communicated to the anus, and might gradually produce the blind hemorrhoids.—Lastly, all unnatural for­cing and straining of costive persons, is not only useless, but may also be attended with dangerous consequences. It is, therefore, more advisable to use all proper means of keeping, if possible, this important excretion in due regularity; and, to attain that desira­ble end, it is further necessary to abandon all strait garments, especially laced stays, and tight waistbands.

Of Urine.

IN a state of health, this discharge takes place oftener than once in a day. The urine of those who live moderately, and take proper exercise, if examined in the morning after rising, and after having spent a quiet and com­fortable night, is thin, clear, of a straw colour or inclining to yellow, with a white, loose, and uniform sediment rising in the middle; it makes no foam, but what immediately van­ishes, and has no unusually disagreeable smell. If it correspond to this description, it is a symp­tom of good digestion, and of the body being free from impurities. The quantity of this evacuation, in healthy persons, depends on their constitution, the season and the weather. It is less in warm than in cold climates, on account of the increased perspiration. In win­ter, [Page 163] we generally eject more urine than in sum­mer; and this nearly in proportion to the de­gree of insensible exudation. In spring and autumn, it is probably voided in an equal proportion.

We may judge (not prognosticate) respect­ing the state of the body, from the appearance of the urine in the morning only; for, during the day, this would be a fallacious criterion, from the nature and quantity of food and drink we consume. The ancients were ex­tremely fond of predicting the different states of health and disease in the human body, from the appearances observed in the urine. Among the moderns, who are better acquainted with the animal economy, these appearances are not implicitly attended to, as they have fre­quently been found to mislead the observer; yet, the early morning urine, if allowed to stand for an hour or two, exhibits some phe­nomena, which render it an object worthy the attention of the medical practitioner. Thus, a thin, pale urine, which is voided by the hy­pochondriac, the hysteric, and persons afflict­ed with spasms in the abdomen, indicates great weakness, or the approach of cramps, originating from a contraction of the smaller secretory organs. It is likewise of a whitish colour, after taking much weak drink. In debilitated individuals, the urine is foamy, and this froth remains on the top for a consi­derable time; because it abounds in tough and viscid particles. The health of such persons, however promising in appearance, is by no means permanently established.

[Page 164] The urine is of a red colour, after too little drink, or after drinking spirituous liquors, af­ter violent exercise, profuse perspiration, and after having spent a restless night. It yields a sediment resembling brick-dust, when the stomach is impure, and the tongue white with a yellowish taint, and covered with viscous matter. According to the higher or paler colour of the urine, in an ordinary state of health, the body may be considered as being more or less vigorous. If, after long standing, no sediment be deposited in it, great weakness is indicated: yet the conclusion is more favour­able, although the urine be thick and sandy, if a cloud be observed swimming in the middle.

Indeed it is less dangerous to suppress the evacuations by stool, than those by urine; for, if this remain too long in the bladder, it be­comes acrid and corrosive. If the inclination to make water is accompanied with a discharge of a few drops only, it is called a strangury; if the difficulty of voiding it is attended with pain, a dysuria; and, if a total suppression of it takes place, it is then called an ischuria. These diseases are frequently the effects of some malt-liquors, or of certain articles of food, particularly vegetables containing much acidity. In the beginning of such painful complaints, relief can be given by fomenting the patient, about the genitals, with flannel­cloths, as hot as he can bear them, by keep­ing him sufficiently warm, and allowing him plenty of warm, diluent drink.

Although the quantity of the urine to be voided through the day cannot be accurately [Page 163] ascertained, yet this evacuation ought always to be proportionate to the drink we have taken, and to the greater or less degree of perspiration. If we perceive a deficiency in this discharge, we ought to take moderate ex­ercise, to drink light, thin, and acidulated diluents, and to eat a variety of such herbs and fruits, as possess diuretic virtues: of this nature are, parsley, asparagus, celery, juni­perberries, strawberries, cherries, and the like. We should be careful, not to retain the urine too long; a practice which would occasion relaxation and palsy of the bladder, and which might at length produce the gravel or stone.

Many maladies may arise from voiding too small a quantity of urine; hence the necessity of attending to this excretion, from which we may frequently discover the cause of the dis­ease. The relative state of vigour or debility in the individual, the mode of life, more or less drink, dry or damp weather—all produce a difference in the quantity of this evacuation. Robust persons eject less urine than the debili­tated: a copious emission of it is always a symptom of a relaxed body, which is not pos­sessed of sufficient energy to expel its noxious particles by transpiration through the cuta­neous vessels.

The more exercise we take, the less we lose by the urinary passage; since they are drain­ed by the pores. Cold and moist air checks perspiration, but promotes the excretion by urine. When this canal is suppressed, the bladder sometimes becomes so much distended that it bursts, as may easily happen to parturi­ent [Page 166] women; and hence arise incurable fistulae; or, if the passages be obstructed, the urine re­treats into the cellular texture of the whole body, and penetrates even into the cranium. Women, however, are able to retain it longer than men.—Too copious an evacuation of urine constitutes a peculiar disease, known by the name of diabetes, which not unfrequent­ly proves fatal to the sufferer, after he has dis­charged several gallons a day, for a consider­able length of time.

Among the rules and cautions for the prop­er management of this evacuation, it deserves to be remarked, that it is hurtful to make wa­ter too often, or before a proper quantity of it be accumulated in the bladder. By such practice, this vessel gradually contracts into a narrower compass than is assigned by nature, and cannot again be easily distended. Too long a retention of urine, on the contrary, preternaturally enlarges the bladder, weakens its muscular power, and may, with the ad­vancement of age, occasion ischuria or a total suppression; besides which it promotes the deposition of mucus and sand in the bladder, and inevitably leads to that troublesome and painful complaint, the stone.

Of insensible Perspiration.

OF all the natural evacuations, none is so important and extensive, none is carried on with less interruption, and none frees the [Page 167] body from so many impurities, particularly from acrid and thin humours, as insensible perspiration. The health of man chiefly de­pends on the proper state of this function: the irregularities occurring in it, occasionally produce peevishness of temper, head-ach, dis­turbed sleep, heaviness in the limbs, &c.; and, on the contrary, we find ourselves most lively and vigorous, when it is duly and uniformly performed.

A person of a middle stature, and in perfect health, perspires, according to the calculation of some, from three to four pounds weight, according to others, about five pounds, within twenty-four hours. The exudation by the pores is most essential during the night; the noxious particles only being then separated; which, on account of the disturbances we are exposed to through the day, cannot be so well effected, as the circulation of the blood is thereby interrupted, while at night it is com­paratively more calm and regular;—besides which, the nocturnal perspiration is more co­pious, from the greater uniformity of the sur­rounding atmosphere.

Most of the febrile diseases arise from a sup­pressed perspiration; as the exuded matter is of an acrid and irritating nature. To transpire beneficially, means, that the impure and per­nicious particles only be ejected, in which case the perspiration is invisible and imperceptible. This is so essential a requisite, that without it the health of the individual cannot long subsist. The reciprocal connection between the func­tions of the stomach, and of perspiration, is [Page 168] so obvious, that if the latter be checked, the former is immediately affected; and the re­verse takes place, if the stomach be disordered.

The more vigorously a person perspires, (it ought to be well remarked, that the question here is not of sweating) the more active are the powers of the body, in the regular con­coction of the alimentary juices; and the more certain it is, that no fluids will superabound: for the fluids though refined and subtile, far exceed in weight the more compact and solid parts of the system, so that they would oppress the machine like a heavy burden, if not evac­uated by the pores of the skin. Most individ­uals; however, are accustomed to direct their attention only to evacuations of a more gross nature, or such as are more obvious to the senses. But insensible perspiration is of greater moment than all the other excretions; and by paying due regard to that function, if it should be accidentally disturbed, we may frequently discover the lurking cause of a distemper, and remove it, before it has materially injured the body.

Yet, even in the most healthy, this perspira­tion is not at all times, nor at all hours of the day, equally active. It is weaker after a plen­tiful meal, but as soon is the food is digested, we again perspire with increased energy; for the new chyle being changed into blood, im­parts additional efficacy to the vital powers, as well as to the circulation of the blood itself. As we perspire considerably more in summer than in winter, our mode of life, with respect to sleep, as well as to food and drink, ought to be regulated [Page 169] accordingly. We know from accurate obser­vation, that if we retire to bed immediately after supper, the process of perspiration is checked in a remarkable degree: we also know, that it is highly conducive to health, that this important function of the body be preserved in the most uniform state; hence it necessarily follows, that, after supper, we ought to sit up at least two hours; and to afford this benefit both to the organs of digestion and perspiration, our suppers should not be delay­ed to the late hours now so absurdly in fashion.

According to the experiments made by dif­ferent inquirers into the nature of insensible perspiration, this process is most forcibly af­fected, and sometimes totally suppressed, by the following circumstances:

1. By violent pain, which in a remarkable degree consumes the fluids of the body, or propels them to other parts.

2. By obstructions of the cutaneous vessels, which are frequently occasioned by the use of salves, ointments, and cosmetics.

3. By severe colds, particularly those con­tracted at night, and during sleep.

4. When nature is employed with other ob­jects. Thus perspiration is weaker during the time of concoction, particularly after using food difficult of digestion. This is likewise the case, when nature endeavours to promote any other species of evacuation, which more engages the attention of the senses; for in­stance, vomiting, diarrhoeas, considerable hemorrhages, and the like: farther, when the efforts of Nature are too weak; hence the [Page 170] aged, the debilitated, and poor persons, una­ble to supply the wants of the body, or to pay due attention to cleanliness, perspire less than others: lastly, the same must happen to indi­viduals of a sedentary life, who neglect the necessary exercise of the body; and those like­wise who wear too tight garments, and im­proper ligatures about the joints.

Perspiration, on the contrary, is promoted:

1. By stretching or expanding the limbs; as, by such means, the lungs and muscles acquire an additional impulse, and the fluids circula­ting too slowly in the smaller vessels, are pro­pelled to the larger veins and arteries, and thus forwarded to the heart; so that this prin­cipal muscle is then impelled to extend and contract its ventricles with greater force, and consequently to quicken the whole circulation of the blood.

2. By the lukewarm bath, which is well calculated to soften the skin, and thus to open the pores for a better perspiration.

3. By moderate bodily exercise.

4. By mild sudorific remedies;—and for this reason it is extremely proper, in case of a recent cold, to drink two or three cups of tea, especially previous to going to bed.

If perspirable matter collect in drops, it should then be called Sweat, and is no longer a natural and necessary evacuation; on the contrary, we find very healthful and robust persons who seldom or never sweat. By means of this exudation, both noxious and useful particles are at the same time ejected from the surface; the body is enfeebled; the blood is [Page 171] rendered impure; and the secretion of bad humours is prevented by every violent effort of the cutaneous vessels.

If sweating be carried to excess, it is ex­tremely noxious, and may even be productive of consumption. By insensible perspiration, on the contrary, the superfluous particles only are expelled; because the circulation of the fluids is slower, and more calm and uniform. This important purification of the blood ought never to be checked: if, therefore, we wish to take a bracing exercise, it should by no means be continued till profuse perspiration take place.

Cold then only checks perspiration, when it occasions an unusual stimulus on the skin, and if we too suddenly remove from a warm to a cold atmosphere. Hence the necessity of ac­customing ourselves, from early youth, to the vicissitudes of heat and cold, of walking ev­ery day in the open air, and of washing the whole body, at least once a week, with luke­warm, or still better, with cold water. By this practice the pores are braced, and inured to undergo the different changes of the weather and seasons, without suffering (as most people now do, upon the slightest occasion) by severe cold and catarrhs.

It is never too late to begin this strengthen­ing process, by frequently washing and rub­bing the whole surface of the body with cold water; for, if cautiously managed at first, it cannot fail to invigorate young persons and adults, as well as the aged.—To sleep on feath­er-beds occasions a constant vapour-bath at [Page 172] night, which again destroys the beneficial ac­quisitions of the day.—To remove from a cold temperature to a still colder one, is not nearly so prejudicial, as to exchange suddenly the air of a warm room, for that of a moist and cold atmosphere. This accounts for the frequent colds caught in summer, even by going from the burning rays of the sun to the cooling shade; and hence too the first cold of autumn is most sensibly felt, because we are then un­accustomed to that impression.

Much also, as has been before observed, de­pends on the nature and properties of our food and drink, in respect to the state of insensible perspiration. The subtile and rarefied fluids only, not those of a coarse and oily consistence, can pervade the skin. Too many oleaginous, viscous, and crude articles of nourishment, such as fat meat, pastry, boiled mealy dishes, smoked hams, sausages, &c. have a strong ten­dency to obstruct the free perspiration of the body, and consequently to affect the serenity of the mind.

All the depressing passions and emotions are a powerful check to insensible perspiration; while, on the contrary, those of an exhilarating nature may promote and increase it to such a degree, as sometimes to prove the pre-dispos­ing, though distant cause of consumptions. Moderate daily exercise is eminently calculat­ed to support this function, and to strengthen the whole body. Cleanliness produces a sim­ilar effect; for some impurities continually set­tle on the surface of the body; and these, if not removed in time, clog the pores, and are [Page 173] so detrimental to health, that they may occa­sion many obstinate distempers, which might be easily prevented, or at least checked in their progress, by a proper and constant attention to the skin.

Too violent a perspiration indicates great debility of the body, or a laxity of the cutane­ous vessels, which may frequently be removed by cold bathing or washing. When persons are troubled with unusual night-sweats, they may receive benefit (if it be not a symptom of hectic fever) by taking, immediately before go­ing to bed, two or three drachms of cream of tartar, in either beer or water. But if this simple remedy, after repeated trials, should prove ineffectual, a professional man ought to be consulted; as long-continued night-sweats may in the end produce great weakness, and even consumption.

In most of the common colds, the popular stimulant remedies, such as heating liquors, and particularly sudorifics, are ill calculated to relieve the complaint. If the patient, at the same time, be troubled with pain in the bowels, head-ach, a foul tongue, &c. a gentle laxative will be of greater service than the diaphoretics. But if the stomach be peculiarly affected, if the tongue be clean and the appetite good; two or three cups of warm diluent drink, a tepid bath of the legs, a moderately warm room and dress, gentle exercise, and friction of the skin with warm cloths, are the most proper and generally effectual means of relief.

As the retention of useless and superfluous matter is hurtful, it is not less detrimental to [Page 174] health, if substances not ready to be evacuated are ejected from the body.—Of this kind are bleedings from the nose, the mouth, and the vessels of the anus: though these are not nat­ural evacuations, yet they may occasionally be beneficial, as Nature sometimes makes an ef­fort to expel noxious matter in an unusual manner. But these parts or fluids ejected as pernicious, strictly speaking, ought not to exist in the body; and though the evacuation of them be beneficial, it is a symptom of disease. If, therefore, such preternatural discharges take place too violently or frequently, they ought to be checked with judgment and circumspec­tion; and we should endeavour to lead (but not to force) Nature to a more salutary canal, than that she has chosen, either by accident or wanton compulsion.

Of the Saliva.

THE saliva should not be confounded with mucus, or slime; the former is a fluid, not in­tended by Nature to be evacuated, as it serves the important purpose of mixing and prepar­ing the food for the stomach; hence it ought not to be unnecessarily wasted by frequent spit­ting; the latter, mucus, may be safely thrown out as burdensome and offensive. The absurd custom of smoking tobacco is extremely prej­udicial, as it weakens the organs of digestion, deprives the body of many useful fluids, and [Page 175] has a direct tendency to emaciation, particular­ly in young persons, and those of lean and dry fibres. To these it is the more detrimental, that it promotes not only the spitting of saliva, but likewise other evacuations. This plant is pos­sessed of narcotic properties, by which it pro­duces in those who first begin to smoke it, gid­diness, cold sweats, vomiting, purging, and, from its stimulus on the salival glands, a copi­ous flow of the saliva.

Frequent and much smoking makes the teeth yellow and black; the clay-pipes are apt to canker the teeth to such a degree as to in­fect the breath, and produce putrid ulcers in the gums. Delicate persons especially suffer from this nauseous habit; as it has a direct tendency, not only to exsiccate their bodies, by contaminating the fluids, rendering them acrid, and vitiating the digestion and assimilation of food, but likewise to impair the mental facul­ties. These effects, however, are less to be ap­prehended from smoking tobacco, if it has be­come habitual, and is not carried to excess. To persons of a middle age, or those of full growth, particularly the corpulent, the phleg­matic, and such as are subject to catarrhal com­plaints, it may occasionally be of service, if used with moderation, especially in damp, cold, and hazy weather. Yet such persons ought never to smoak immediately before or after a meal, as the saliva is materially requisite to assist the concoction of food, which is not accomplished till about three or four hours after a meal;—they should smoke slowly; frequently drink small draughts of beer, ale, tea, or any other [Page 176] diluent liquors, but neither spirits nor wine; and, lastly, they should use a clean pipe with a long tube; for the oil of tobacco, settling on the sides of the pipe, is one of the most acri­monious and hurtful substances, and may thus be accidentally absorbed, and mixed with the fluids of the body.

Of the Mucus of the Nose.

THE secretion of this humour is intended by Nature to protect the olfactory nerves: hence every artificial mean of increasing that secre­tion is preposterous, unless required by some particular indisposition of the body. The re­marks, then, made with respect to the saliva and smoking, are also applicable to the mucus of the nose, and the habit of taking snuff. The question here is not of that catarrhal se­cretion of viscid slime, which is ejected as use­less. Snuff stimulates the mucous membrane of the nose, and, sympathetically, the whole body; by which the mental powers are in a degree affected. If used as a medicine^* only, [Page 177] and on occasions that require such a stimulus, it may be productive of some advantage; but a liquid sternutatory deserves every preference to a powder, which, though at first stimulating and occasioning a flow of viscous matter, in the end always obstructs the nostrils. And if this stimulus be too violent; it may bring on so profuse a discharge of matter from the deli­cate membrane lining the nose, as to relax and corrode it, and to produce a polypus, or a con­cretion of clotted blood in the nostrils.

In several diseases of the head, eyes, and ears, however, the taking of snuff may occa­sionally supply the place of an artificial issue; though an extravagant use of it will most cer­tainly produce a contrary effect; namely, ac­cumulation of matter in the head, bleeding of the nose, and other complaints. Farther, it would be extremely injudicious to advise the use of snuff to persons of a phthisical constitu­tion, or those afflicted with internal ulcers, and subject to spitting of blood; as, by the violent sneezing it at first occasions, such individuals might expose themselves to imminent danger.—Public speakers of every kind, as well as teachers of languages, and, in short, all those [Page 178] to whom a clear and distinct articulation is of consequence, ought to avoid this habit, which, when carried to excess, is, in this respect, ex­tremely prejudicial. Those, too, who have a regard for cleanliness will not accustom them­selves to this hurtful practice. In short, the continual use of snuff gradually vitiates the or­gans of smell; weakens the faculty of sight, by withdrawing the humours from the eyes; impairs the sense of hearing; renders breath­ing difficult; depraves the palate; and, if taken too copiously, falls into the stomach, and in a high degree, injures the organs of digestion.

Besides the many bad effects already men­tioned, taking snuff may be attended with an­other consequence, equally dangerous to the alimentary canal. While the nose is continu­ally obstructed, and a free respiration is imped­ed, the habitual snuff-taker generally breathes through the mouth only; he is always obliged to keep his mouth partly open, and conse­quently to inspire more frequently and with greater efforts. Thus, by inhaling too much air, he probably lays the foundation of that troublesome flatulency, which is common a­mong those hypochondriacs who habitually take snuff. Hence every person, unless good reasons can be assigned in favour of it, ought to be seriously dissuaded from the use of snuff, as well as of tobacco: and it deserves to be remarked, that both these practices may be safely, and cannot be too suddenly relinquish­ed, as soon as reason prevails over sensual grat­ifications.

Of Wax in the Ears.

IF the ears be seldom, or not properly clean­ed, there sometimes accumulates a species of wax, which grows tough and hard, diminishes the acuteness of hearing, obstructs the passage to the ear, and may at length produce total deafness. Copious ear-wax, if it become thin and acrid, may occasion pain, and sometimes a running or suppuration in the ears. Daily washing with cold water strengthens these or­gans, and is an excellent preservative of the sense of hearing.—If it be apprehended, that insects have made their way into the cavity of the ear, it may be useful to introduce some sweet oil into the orifice, and to repose on that side, the ear of which is the seat of the com­plaint.

Hemorrhages.

THESE are fluxes of blood, salutary to both sexes, when required and regulated by Na­ture; but, if suppressed, they may be productive of serious and fatal consequences. The menses are irregular in their appearance and disap­pearance; being much influenced by climate, and the constitution of the body: the hemorr­hoids, on the contrary, originate from the mode of living, joined to a particular temper­ament of the individual. Bleeding of the nose arises either from a superabundance of blood, [Page 180] and its impetuous circulation, or from the bursting of one of the small arteries.—As long as these fluxes continue within proper limits, and do not exhaust the strength of the person subject to them, there is not the least necessity to employ any artificial means of suppressing them; because Nature must not be rudely checked in her beneficent efforts. Nay, even the affections and passions of the mind ought to be duly regulated, particularly by females of an irritable temper, during the recurrence of the menses; for these may, according to circumstances, be either preternaturally in­creased, or totally suppressed, to the great in­jury of health.

Lastly, it is extremely imprudent for young women to expose their feet and legs to danger­ous colds, in washing the floors of rooms and passages upon their knees, at a time when they ought particularly to guard against the access of damp and cold. Humane and sensible per­sons would not require their servants to follow this prejudicial practice, by which they are liable to contract the most obstinate disorders: it produces obstructions in the abdomen, swell­ing of the legs, dropsical complaints, palsy, and even consumptions;—hence the multitude of female servants continually taking refuge in the different hospitals.

Of the retention of Milk.

NOT less hurtful than the suppression of hemorrhages, is the retention of the milk in [Page 181] the female breast. This, likewise, is general­ly occasioned by indulging in fits of passion, or by exposing the body, and particularly the lower extremities, to the influence of damp and cold places, or wearing wet clothes, and linen not properly aired. Hence may arise nodules, or small lumps in the breasts, trouble­some swellings, especially if the milk be abun­dant, inflammations accompanied with excru­ciating pain and violent fever, ulcers in one or more parts of the body at the [...], or s [...]irrhous callosities; and, at length, [...] neglected or mismanaged, cancer itself. [...] instances, a premature stoppage of the [...] in lying in women, has produced inflammation of the womb, and a severe child-bed fever. Lastly, imprudence with regard to food and drink, dress, air, &c. may occasion the sup­pression of the milk, as well as of every other evacuation.

I. On the importance of bestowing proper care on these organs.

THERE is scarcely any part of the sensitive faculties, which contributes more to our physical enjoyments than the unimpaired power of vision. Hence the management of the eyes deserves the care and attention of every person, who wishes to preserve them in a sound and perfect state, and to retard, although we can­not altogether avert, the natural consequences which accompany the advance of years. By our mode of life, this infirmity is much accel­erated, and the eyes are weakened and worn out, or at least rendered too irritable. Such is particularly the case in those classes of peo­ple, who are much employed in sedentary oc­cupations, who work by candle-light, or are much exposed to dust, &c.

[Page 275] The remarks, rules, and observations of this Chapter will relate chiefly to the treatment, both of sound and weak eyes, and occasionally also to the regimen of them in a diseased state.

More accuracy and attention is required in this respect, than inexperienced persons gen­erally imagine. Till of late years, proper at­tention has not been paid, to lay down and es­tablish well-founded and practical rules on the subject of the eyes, and their treatment. Some modern physicians and oculists, however, have usefully devoted much time and labour to in­quiries into the maladies of this organ. The fruits of these researches, as well as my own experience, on this point, I now proceed to lay before the reader.

II. Of short-sightedness, and the reverse.

MAN probably enjoys his sight to a later period of life than any of the lower animals, and might preserve it still longer, if he were better informed respecting its preservation. Those who are naturally short-sighted, are en­titled to expect an improvement of vision with the advancement of age; for their eyes then gradually begin to lose that uncommon round­ness which produces this defect, and thus to arrive at a greater enjoyment of the beauties of Nature. Persons who can see objects distinctly at a great distance only, cannot, however, be considered as less unfortunate; as they stand [Page 276] in need of glasses, chiefly for the better dis­tinguishing of more minute objects.

The nursery, or the room appropriated to the use of children, is generally the smallest, if not the lowest apartment in the house; so that the infant, having the opportunity to ex­ercise its eyes on near objects only, often be­comes more short-sighted than it is naturally. Hence children ought at least to be frequently carried to the window, and have their eyes di­rected to a distant view. On this account, a nursery enjoying an extensive prospect is much preferable to one where the view is confined. Many persons who see well at a distance in their infancy, injure their sight by reading and writing by candle-light, but particularly fe­males, by fine needle-work; as the eye is there­by too much accustomed to near and minute objects.

One of the bad consequences of short-sight­edness is, that people get into a habit of mak­ing use of one eye only. The effort of direct­ing both pupils to the object before them is attended with too much trouble; hence they look at it sideways. It would be less detrimen­tal, if they were to use the eyes alternately; but here too it is equally easy to acquire a bad habit; for the eye, which is spared or not ex­ercised, becomes inert and useless. Still worse is the use of a magnifying or reading glass, by which people accustom themselves to shut the eye then unemployed. The other, which is thus unduly exerted, somewhat shifts its posi­tion, it becomes progressively less flexible in its internal parts, and persons who take advan­tage [Page 277] of this temporary aid, do not find their powers of vision improve with the advance­ment of age.

To prevent these bad habits, the following advice may be useful:—Children suspected of being short-sighted, should have their eyes di­rected to an object held close to them; and if they appear to make use of one eye only, that eye should be occasionally closed, so that they may be obliged to exercise the other. When they learn to read, they should be taught to hold the book straight before their eyes; thus they will exert themselves to discover the printed letters at the greatest distance at which they are made to place it. The eyes, by de­grees, become accustomed to the necessary in­ternal change of their posture, and the child will, in time, certainly improve in the exten­sion of its sight. Many persons indeed have, at a juvenile age, got rid of their short-sight­edness; but there cannot be found one in­stance of this improvement among those who have, either from fashionable indulgence or necessity, habituated themselves to use only one eye.

It is to be regretted, that in short-sighted individuals the breast and abdomen suffer much from compression during sedentary oc­cupations, so that they are frequently troubled with hypochondriasis, and, what is still worse, are sometimes thrown into a consumption of the lungs. Though standing at intervals agrees with employments that do not require great mental exertion; yet, in the contrary [Page 278] case, it consumes more strength than is gen­erally imagined; and, in acute reflections, the mind ought not to be fatigued by the body. In this case, well-chosen concave spectacles may be used with advantage, so that the body may be placed, while reading or writing, in the most convenient posture: for such glasses will oblige the wearer to remove the object some­what farther from the eyes.

After severe diseases of the eyes, one of them frequently becomes short-sighted, while the other is scarcely, if at all, affected. The consequence is, that we employ the sound eye alone, while the weak one is totally impaired by this neglect. In such a situation, we ought to use glasses in reading or writing, one of which should be carefully selected for the short-sighted eye, (according to the rules hereafter to be specified) and the other of plain, clear glass, chiefly for the sake of affording an equal degree of light to both eyes. If, by this pre­caution, the weaker eye has perceptibly gained strength, we may employ a less concave glass instead of that first used, so that in time it may be similar with the other, and at length the patient be enabled to do without this assistance.

Eyes which form too extensive a focus, re­quire no aid, unless they be extravagantly so. Then, indeed, we should not hesitate to make use of convex glasses. It is, however, a vul­gar prejudice, that by such glasses the eye is too much indulged, and rendered still more far-sighted. On the contrary, it is generally improved during the use of these spectacles, [Page 279] and, after the lapse of several years, they may again be dispensed with.

It is a consolation in many diseases of the eyes, that a long-continued weakness is seldom the forerunner of total blindness. This fatal event generally happens by sudden accidents, and is speedily decided.—Adults are not very subject to external complaints of the eye, or such as deprive the cornea of its transparency.

Small round spots, hovering before the eyes like strings of hollow little globules connected with one another, are defects of no great con­sequence, and of which, perhaps, no eye is completely free.

III. General Rules for the Preservation of the Eyes.

IN all employments whatever, let us attend as much as possible to this circumstance, that the eyes may have an uniform and sufficient light, so as to affect the retina on all sides alike.—The eyes materially suffer, when the rays of the sun are strongly reflected from the opposite wall or window.

In children, many disorders of the eye, which would never have had so fatal an issue, have terminated in total blindness, when pa­rents have neglected to provide the cradle or window with proper curtains. For this rea­son, we ought to be extremely cautious in the choice of an apartment appropriated to the [Page 280] labours of the day. We should not place ourselves directly opposite to the light, in reading and writing; we ought rather to take the light in a lateral direction.

A great obstacle to this arrangement is the change of light in the same apartment, by the progress of the sun. Where the sun dazzled in the morning, we find in the middle of the day the most uniform light, which again in the afternoon, particularly in towns, becomes reverberatory, and extremely hurtful. This inconvenience should be remedied, if possible, by a frequent change of the room; or, at least, we might produce more uniformity in the light by means of window curtains, or blinds; and it may be observed, that blinds of green or whited-brown linen are best adapted for this purpose.

It is an useful practice to protect weak eyes from the descending rays by means of shades; because the vivid light striking them from above, is thus intercepted. But we ought to consider, that the lower part of the eye is by such means completely shaded; while the up­per part of this organ is stimulated by the light it receives from below;—a practice which can­not be productive of good consequences. If the malady be situated in the upper part of the eye, this conduct is still more improper: for the healthy part is in this manner protected, and that already relaxed is still more weaken­ed.

Darkness, or shade, is then only beneficial to the eyes, when they are unemployed, when the obscurity is natural, and consequently [Page 281] every where extended. To rest a little during the twilight, is very suitable to weak eyes. No artificial darkness during the day is ever so uni­form, but that the eye must exert itself at one time more than at another, and necessarily suffer by this change. Persons with weak or diseased eyes, who spend the whole day in an apartment darkened with green curtains, injure their sight still more by this pernicious practice. It is far more prudent to repair to clear day-light and the fresh air, and to direct the eyes to distant prospects, than to confine them to the close atmosphere of a room, and to the sight of near objects.

Lastly, it is an error, that weak eyes, when employed in minute vision, ought to have a faint light; for by this practice they are cer­tainly still more weakened. Thus green spec­tacles are very hurtful to some eyes, as they deprive them of that light which is necessary to a distinct perception of objects.

IV. Of the Conduct to be observed in Weak Eyes.

THE artificial light of candles and lamps is detrimental to weak eyes; not, as some imag­ine, on account of the light being too strong for the eyes, but because the flame of a candle too powerfully illumines the eye in one point, and does not uniformly stimulate the retina.

The means used to prevent the great stimu­lus from the rays of light are, in general, so [Page 282] regulated, that the screen may not only cover the flame, but also concentrate the greatest part of the light. Thus the room is darkened, and only a small spot above and below the ap­paratus is illumined; a practice highly inju­dicious. The study lamps, with large round screens, seem to be purposely contrived to im­pair the soundest eyes, by their continued use.—The green parchment screens formerly used were likewise objectionable; for, though they admitted the free access of light on both sides, yet they produced too great a shade before the eyes. The best and most proper defence of weak eyes by candle-light is a flat screen, projecting about two or three inches over the forehead; or even a round hat, with a brim of a proper size.

Those who are afflicted with weak eyes should always make use of two candles, placed so that their flame be neither too low, nor too high for the eye. This is a circumstance of great importance, as the light, when placed too low, is uncommonly stimulating and fa­tiguing. Candles have this advantage over lamps, that their light is less offensive to the eye and less pernicious to the lungs; as they do not, in general, emit so much smoke. But, on the other hand, all candles have the follow­ing disadvantages: 1. that, by their burn­ing downwards, the fatigued eye is progres­sively more strained in the later hours of can­dle-light; 2. that the unequal light they give is attended with the additional trouble of snuffing them; and, 3. that by the least com­motion of the air, or, if made of bad materials, [Page 283] they offend the eye by their flaring light.—Hence a clear chamber-lamp, burning with the least possible smoke and smell, is far prefera­ble and more soothing to the eye, than even wax-candles. Some of the lately-improved Patent-lamps, originally contrived by M. D' ARGENT, in Switzerland, are well calculated to answer every useful purpose; but, instead of the common round screens, I would re­commend another, immediately to be de­scribed.

Those screens are the best, which are appli­ed to one side of the light only, which are not larger than is necessary to cover the flame, and which still admit a small quantity of light to pass through them. This is obtained by a simple contrivance of taffety, slightly gummed, and folded so that it can be carried about in the pocket. These little screens are very con­venient in travelling, and are possessed of the essential advantage, that they overshade only the small angle formed for the individual who is affected with weak eyes, without depriving the rest of the company of light. In the day­time, on the occasion of sealing letters, for instance, the light of a candle or taper is more prejudicial to the eye than in the evening.

In the morning we should not too much exert the eyes immediately after rising. Hence it is adviseable to remove the candle to some distance and under shade in the long winter mornings, till the eye be gradually accustom­ed to it. For the same reason, the window-shutters ought not to be suddenly opened in very bright day-light. This immediate change, [Page 284] from darkness to the clearest light, occasions sensible pain even to the strongest eye.

Writing fatigues the eyes less than reading; for the letters we form on paper are pre­viously imprinted on the imagination, and consequently require much less acuteness of sight, than the series of letters and words we read. It is, for the same reason, much easier to the eye to read our own hand-writing, than that of a stranger, however distinct. Besides, the letters and lines in writing are more distinguishable by the lower part of the blank paper, than the lines in a printed book, or on a manuscript; in both of which they appear to flow together, and can be kept asun­der only by great exertion of the eye. The case is considerably changed, when we en­deavour to write remarkably well; when we make use of a glossy white paper, and particu­larly when we copy the writing of another person with great accuracy—in all which instances the sight is more impaired than in reading, especially by changing the direction of the eyes too frequently to papers, or books of different types.

The extravagant elegance in the letter-press of many modern books, the splendid whiteness and smoothness of vellum paper, or of hot-pressed woven paper, and the broad margin injudiciously contrasted with the printer's glossy ink, are ill calculated to preserve our eyes. And if the lines be too close to each other, the columns too long, as in our news­papers, the ink too pale, as is now becoming fashionable, and the paper of a bluish cast— [Page 285] the eyes are then in a fair way of being total­ly blinded.

I read in the Gentleman's Magazine for April, 1794, a proposal, to print on dark blue paper with white letters, or on green pa­per with yellow letters. This plan certain­ly deserves a fair trial, though it might meet with great difficulties in the execution.—The eyes would also be greatly preserved, by mak­ing use of a fine light blue writing-paper, rather of a greenish tint, instead of the fash­ionable white or cream-coloured paper.

Every exertion of the eyes is most hurtful immediately after a meal, as well as at any time when the blood is in great agitation.—In the dawn, in twilight, and in moonshine, we ought not to read or write, nor direct our sight too attentively to objects.

Refracted rays afford an unpleasant light, and oblique rays are particularly painful. When we take exercise in a long, irregularly-lighted apartment; we feel sensible vibrations in the pupil of the eye. The most suitable apartment, in this respect, is one forming a regular square, with large windows to the east, in which there is an uniformly-divided light, or still better by means of sky-lights. Garret windows afford a bad light; it being general­ly introduced, as it were, by a funnel, and il­lumining only one part of the room, while the rest remains dark.

A sitting-room is best adapted to preserve the eyes, the walls of which are pale green, without paintings; two or three uniformly high windows, so as to give an equal light; (yet so contrived as to prevent its being too [Page 286] strong) close and moveable green blinds; a green carpet on the floor; and, lastly, such shutters as may occasionally leave the upper part of the window uncovered, in order to admit sufficient light—To sit with the back to the window, occasions a shade which forms a disagreeable contrast to the surrounding light. The writing-desk, therefore, ought to be placed so, that the last window may be on the left hand, and that the right hand may throw no shade on the paper, and not too near a corner of the room, as this generally has an unfavour­able light. A space sufficiently broad, between two windows, is a still more convenient situa­tion for a desk; but we should not sit too near the wall; a custom which is excessively hurtful to the eyes.

An oblique position of the desk is the most proper; for it presents to us the writing ma­terials in that position, in which we are habit­uated to place a book, when we hold it in our hands, and from which the rays of light di­verge more gradually than from a horizontal table. It is less hurtful to the breast, to the abdomen, and also to the eyes, to use a desk of this form, and to write standing rather than sitting; provided that the height of the desk be proportionate to the length of the body, that it stand firm, and that both arms rest upon it, without being fatigued by raising them too high—In standing before a desk, we have this additional advantage, that there is less occasion to direct the eyes upwards, than in sitting. Hence the conversation between tall persons and those of a low stature is most [Page 287] troublesome to the latter, as they are constant­ly obliged to look upwards.—Those with whom we converse ought not to stand between our body and the light, as it is both rude, and prejudicial to our eyes.

At night we ought to place the candle so that we may receive light from it in the same direction as we do from the window in the day-time. Even if it be provided with a green screen, as before described, a weak eye will not long be able to support its glare in a straight line. Were the candle to be elevated at our back, so as to allow the light to come down over our shoulders, we should then ex­perience the same inconvenience, which at­tends that posture in day-light. Hence it is necessary to place it sideways, and to keep the book or paper in a lateral direction.

We should not expose ourselves in a straight direction to objects strongly illumined by the flame of a candle, or fire from a grate. Thus the highly-polished senders and other fire-irons are injurious to sight; and not less so is a smooth and shining wax-cloth over a table, as refracting too much the rays of light: a green cloth is preferable. In all cases, the light should at least be of equal height with the fore­head; not close to a white wall, and still less before a looking-glass or other polished body. To walk up and down a room lighted with a single candle, so that at one time we have the light full in our eye, and at another are nearly in darkness, is very prejudicial to weak eyes. It is better to place the candle in the middle of the room, in order to illumine it more uni­formly, [Page 288] or, what is still preferable, to hang it higher than the shade of our own body.

Where persons must have a light during the night, it ought to be placed in the next room, or at least within the chimney, that it may be entirely out of sight. If neither of these methods be convenient, we should place it be­hind or at the side of the bed, rather than in an opposite direction. For, if this be not at­tended to, the light may produce very noxious effects during sleep, even through the closed eye-lids. The same attention is required, to prevent the rays of the sun or moon, either directly or by reflection from the opposite wall, from striking the eyes of the person asleep.—As some men are known to sleep with their eyes open, it would be advisable to employ somebody to shut them, that they may not suffer by the accidents before mentioned.

Those who have weak eyes should carefully avoid strong fires and even hot rooms; for heat still more dries the eyes already suffering from want of moisture. Indeed, it is highly probable, that the weakness of sight and early blindness, so common in this country, are in a great measure owing to the bad custom of hastening to the fire-side, whether coming from the cold air, or from the dark streets.

Weak eyes must be indulged with shady places, and protected against every dazzling object. But green arbours should be avoided, on account of the twinkling light occasioned by the agitation of the leaves. The exercise of the eyes ought never to be suspended for any considerable length of time: too much rest [Page 289] is hurtful; and to sit whole hours of the eve­ning without candle-light, is extremely perni­cious. It is, however, very soothing to the eyes, to let them rest for half an hour during twilight. This should teach us to adopt the general and salutary rule, to rise with the dawn, and gradually to accustom ourselves to the artificial light of the evening. For a sim­ilar reason, those who complain of weakness of sight, ought not to resort to places artificial­ly lighted in the day-time, such as theatres, &c. Even the soundest eyes must inevitably suffer by a sudden change from light to darkness, or from darkness to strong light.

If it become necessary to let the eyes rest, we should by no means press the eye-lids too closely together, which if long continued, is very hurtful. So is strong and frequent fric­tion, which powerfully stimulates the nerves and injures the eyes. If we sit for any length of time with closed eyes, we are easily overta­ken by sleep, which, though beneficial, ought to be of short duration, that the eyes may not be overheated. As a protection against inju­ry from external causes, it is most useful to wear a shade at such a distance, as may allow the ey [...] free motion, and not keep it too warm. The green veils worn by ladies are, in this res­pect, well calculated to prevent the dust from entering the eye, as well as to protect it against cold winds, and the burning rays of the sun.

The common eye-cases, used by travellers, and by artificers who work in substances a­bounding with dust, are, for the following rea­sons, [Page 290] improper: 1. the glass in the case stands too prominent, and diminishes the horizon; hence, as those who wear them cannot see sideways and downward, but only straight for­ward, they travel unsafely on an uneven road; 2. the glass in these cases being easily covered with vapour, both from internal perspiration and external cold, prevents distinct vision. These eye-cases might be much improved by making the brim somewhat narrower, and substituting a fine silken gauze, or rather a thin plate of ivory, dyed green, with a small horizontal incision, in preference to glass.

All glasses used to assist vision appear to re­quire some effort of the eyes, and, unless they be indispensable, they should never be employ­ed by persons at an early time of life. In proof of this assertion, I shall only remark, that by looking through a window of the finest glass, we feel our eyes much more fatigued, than if the window had been open. This is particu­larly the case in locking through coach-win­dows, where additional injury is occasioned to the eyes, by the motion of the carriage, and the impure air arising from respiration. Green curtains in coaches are, therefore, judicious and proper.

Of all the remedies for preserving weak eyes (for diseased eyes require professional assist­ance,) bathing them in pure cold water is the most refreshing and strengthening. But this ought not to be done above three or four times a day; otherwise it has a tendency to give an unnecessary stimulus to the eyes. Nor should it be done immediately after rising in the morning, [Page 291] but only when the moisture, which dur­ing sleep is deposited even in the soundest eyes, is nearly evaporated. This partial cold bath may be repeated after dinner and supper, at which times the eyes stand as much in need of it as in the morning. Not only the eyes, but also the brow, the region behind the ears, sometimes the whole head, and particularly the upper lip, which is closely connected with the optic nerves, should be bathed or washed as well as the eyes. In the morning, the eye ought not to be precipitately, but gradually exposed to the water: and the washing should be expeditiously performed. In drying or wiping the eye, we should proceed gently and with caution; and immediately after washing, we should particularly guard against any rays of light, as well as every kind of exertion.

A large piece of sponge, containing a good deal of water, so that it may not too soon be­come warm, is far preferable in these partial bathings, to the warm, smooth hand, or towel. The sponge should be frequently dipped into cold water, and occasionally allowed to lie for a few moments on the eye, with the head bent backward while the eye is generally moved and a little opened during the operation.

The bathing of the eyes, in small glasses, is less advantageous, as the water very soon turns luke-warm, and is perhaps too cold, when sud­denly renewed. These glasses occasion an­other disagreeable sensation, as their edges will, in some degree, attach themselves to the skin, not unlike cupping-glasses.

[Page 292] The cold bath, under certain restrictions, is useful; as it invigorates the whole body, and consequently strengthens the eyes; but in some cases it may injure them, by propelling the blood too forcibly to the head. This may, in a great measure, be prevented by not only washing the eyes and the whole head previ­ously to entering the bath, but also by diving the whole face and head under water.

V. Dietetical Precepts respecting the Eyes in general.

ABOVE all things, we must observe the old rule; to try carefully what best agrees with us, and to attend to moderation and regular­ity in our manner of living.

Smoking tobacco, and taking snuff, are in­jurious; as by either practice the eye is too much stimulated. It is a vulgar error, that people cannot resign these improper habits, without injury to their health. They may be safely abandoned at once, though occasionally prescribed as medicines.—Tobacco^* has only been known in Europe since the beginning of the seventeenth century, and was long merely [Page 293] used as a luxury. This plant is now much abused; and those who are once accustomed to it, cannot leave it off without great resolu­tion. To such persons it does not afford relief as a medicine; their olfactory nerves having become almost insensible to its stimulus. As a medicinal remedy, it serves to draw superflu­ous humours from the head; but in those who use it extravagantly, especially in snuff, it imperceptibly weakens the nervous system, and especially the memory.

After meals, and the above-stated bathings, it is beneficial to the eyes to remain in the open air, to direct our looks to a grass-plat, or to divert them with some amusing employ­ment.—Some have observed, that their eyes are not so strong after they have eaten weak soups or broths, as after solid food: they further affirm, that their sight is stronger after a meal consisting entirely of vegetable aliment, than after a very moderate portion of animal food. These observations are far from being unimportant, and, if fully confirmed by ex­perience, they may throw some light on the dietetical treatment of the eyes—a branch of medicine that has hitherto been too much neg­lected.

A short sleep after dinner can only be bene­ficial to the eyes of those, with whom this practice does not disagree; at all events, the eyes ought to be protected from day-light, which would hurt them more than they can be refreshed by a short slumber.—The particu­lar rules respecting this practice, I have stated [Page 294] in the Seventh Chapter.—The steam of boiled coffee, gently applied, has also been recom­mended after dinner to persons afflicted with weak eyes; but nothing has a more salutary tendency, in this respect, than to go to bed at an early hour; for most people impair their sight by heavy suppers and heating liquors, so that their eyes remain inflamed till next day. The same, indeed, is also the case with those who indulge too much in sleep.

A pure, serene air is an essential requisite to the preservation of the eyes. Fetid exhalations sometimes instantaneously affect the eye; hence we should avoid the putrid effluvia from marshes and ditches, or other places in which the air is filled with noxious vapours; for instance, the vicinity of colour-shops, hartshorn-distil­leries, and the like. It is, perhaps, unneces­sary to point out every species of mephitic va­pours to be shunned as the enemies of sight; yet it deserves to be remarked, that the exha­lations of stables are injurious, while the stalls, and other places where cattle are kept, are far less hurtful. Lastly, the galleries of churches, as well as the higher boxes and galleries of playhouses, are most pernicious places; for the exhalations, ascending from a great num­ber of people assembled below, are extremely detrimental to sight.

On the other hand, the frequent enjoyment of a pure and fresh air, the occasional resort to elevated situations, nay, even the exposure to a moderate wind, are means of improvement. The more vigorous species of bodily exercise also, are in a certain degree useful; provided [Page 295] we do not exert the eye by reading, writing, &c. before the circulating fluids are reduced to their proper medium.—The application of electricity, which has benefited many weak eyes, by its fluid being conducted through a wooden point, is somewhat analogous to the going and standing against the wind; as it probably operates more by the gentle vibrations of the air, than by the communication of the electric fluid itself.

To read in the open air is hurtful to sound, and still more to weak eyes, unless the light of a clear day be modified at least by the foliage of a tree from above; yet even here the vivid light surrounding the book is fatiguing.

The greater or less interest we take in our employments, is of considerable importance to the organs of sight; particularly if they be in a weak state. The more alluring a book or any other amusement is, the longer we are in­duced to continue it. Hence the important rule: to reserve the most interesting labours for the half-wearied eyes; yet, with prudent severity, always to appoint a task; for, with­out this precaution, the sight, though at a later period, will inevitably experience more or less injury from such practices.

The state of the weather has great influence on the power of vision; hence persons troubled with weak eyes should not be alarmed, if in a tempest or thunder-storm, in rainy, or foggy weather, their sight be less acute, or even much impaired.—Such individuals are easily affected by standing too long on cold or damp ground, by a too light dress, and particularly by a too thin covering of the legs and feet.

[Page 296] Riding on horseback is beneficial to weak eyes, as is also walking and riding in carriages. The principal advantage in all these exercises is, perhaps, derived from employing the eye with a great variety of objects, none of which occupies the attention too long.

Lastly, persons having black eye-lashes gen­erally possess greater powers of vision, than those whose eye-lashes are of a light colour; be­cause the former are a better screen for the eye, and reflect no light from their outside, by which the image on the retina would be ren­dered weaker and more indistinct.

MONTALDUS gives an account of a person whose eye-lids and eye-lashes were completely white; who consequently saw but indifferent­ly in the day-time, but much better in the evening and at night. This man happened to be taken prisoner by the Moors, who dyed his eye-lids black, by which his sight was much improved: but, as soon as the colour was lost, his vision also became weaker.

Dr. RUSSELL mentions, in his "History of Aleppo," that the Turkish ladies usually dye the inner side of their eye-lids black, not so much for the sake of ornament, as with a view to strengthen their sight.—It has farther been observed, that when we lose the eye-lash­es, as is often the case in the small-pox, the sense of vision is thereby considerably weaken­ed. For a similar reason, the hair combed down the forehead, if of a dark colour, will assist the sight, as well as any other contriv­ance over the brow.

VI. Some additional Rules, addressed to those who are obliged to make use of Eye-glasses.

THE cases in which eye-glasses may be used with advantage, are nearly the following: 1. when we are obliged to hold small objects at a considerable distance, before we can distin­guish them: 2. when, in order to discern ob­jects, we require more light than usual; for instance, when we are obliged to place a can­dle between the eye and the object; for this is one of the most destructive practices, by which the optic nerves and muscles are much injured;—and, as the eye employs itself with the object in proportion to the degree of light reflected upon it, the pupil ought to dilate accordingly; instead of which, it is forced to contract, on account of the too powerful light produced by the intermediate candle: 3. when a near object, upon accurate and attentive ex­amination, becomes obscure, and begins to appear covered, as it were, with a mist or fog: 4. when, in reading or writing, the letters seem to flow into one another, and look as if they were double or treble: 5. when the eyes are easily fatigued, and we are obliged from time to time to shut them, or to direct them to fresh objects, for temporary relief.

In the choice of spectacles we need not at­tend so much to their magnifying power, as to the circumstance of their agreeing with our sight; that is, when they enable us, clearly and without exertion, to see at the same dis­tance, in which we formerly were accustom­ed to read or work. Hence we ought out of [Page 298] a number of glasses to choose those, which afford the best and clearest light in every state of the eye. But, if a person be short-sighted, he should choose a second glass, magnifying a little more than the other, but somewhat less distinct, yet so that it may not obscure the ob­ject. This is unpleasant at first, but the eyes in time become accustomed to it, and daily im­prove. If, after some time, we make use of less concave glasses, there is no doubt, that in the course of a few years, according to partic­ular circumstances, the defect of short-sight­edness may be gradually removed.

He who observes this regular gradation with his spectacles, may preserve his eyes to the latest period of life. But we should not make these changes too suddenly, lest the aid of art be too soon exhausted, and the wearer of glasses perhaps be unable to find any of sufficient magnifying powers. It is farther a hurtful practice, to use any other but our own glasses, to which the eye has been accustomed;—every irregularity is injurious, and the pres­ervation of the eyes depends chiefly on uni­formity, with respect to glasses as well as to the light, in which the organs of sight are exercised.

In using one glass only, people accustom themselves to neglect one of the eyes; and, on this account, spectacles are preferable. Yet both glasses must be separately fitted to each eye, and by no means indiscriminately used; for this would increase the disease.—If, how­ever we make use of one glass only, each of the eyes ought alternately to be habituated to it.

Many persons wear glasses in the evening, and can dispense with them in day-light. This [Page 299] is rather an imprudent practice; and, if it be not too late, they should choose a second pair of glasses, somewhat more magnifying, and to be used by candle-light only. In this man­ner, the retina would receive an equal propor­tion of light, at one time as well as another, and the eye longer preserve its vigour.

Green glasses are said to be most suitable to the eye, since they modify the impression of light on the retina. Though this be in a great measure true, they cannot be indiscriminately recommended, and certainly not to such as have weak eyes. Green is indeed pleasing to the eye, more than any other colour, but, at the same time, it somewhat obscures objects, especially at first. Those of a vigorous sight only should make use of them as preservatives, especially against the fire or candle-light. But, if white or light-coloured objects appear red, after having used green glasses for a short time, we should discontinue their use; as this phe­nomenon is a certain proof, that they will in the end destroy the eyes. If the green colour does not in two or three days become imper­ceptible, but appears constantly upon the pa­per as it did at first, it is a farther criterion that the use of them is improper.

Many give the preference to large reading-glasses; in order to avoid wearing spectacles. It is however obvious, that it must be a per­nicious practice, to keep the eyes in constant exertion, as is the case here, where every mo­tion of the hand and the head necessarily al­ters the distance. In addition to this inconve­nience, the dazzling splendour of the rays, reflected from the surface of the glass, weak­ens [Page 300] the eye to such a degree, as to render the use of spectacles ultimately indispensable, with this only difference, that the eyes require greater magnifying powers, than might have been necessary without this depravation.

Hence spectacles are in every respect pref­erable, as they are not only more conformable to the nature and mechanism of the eye, but also more convenient: they are uniformly placed before the objects by the imperceptible motion of the head; they leave the space be­tween the object and the eyes open and free; and being generally thinner, and lying at an uniform distance before the eye, they present the objects more clearly and distinctly than reading-glasses.

Those who have weak eyes, ought not to employ themselves, even occasionally, in a manner that may be fatiguing to the sight. Particularly hurtful are those occupations, in which one eye only is exerted, and must con­sequently be placed in positions, different from those of the other eye, which is at rest. For this reason, the use of magnifying glasses, of whatever kind, is more pernicious to weak eyes, if we always use the same eye and pur­posely shut the other, than if we alternately make use of either. On this account, micro­scopical investigations are less hurtful, if, while one eye be employed, we can keep the other open.

We should not make too frequent trials to discover, whether we have improved in sight, or not; for the exertion necessary upon these occasions, is uncommonly stimulating and fatiguing

[Page 301] Spectacles ought to be used only for the pur­poses for which they are designed; namely, [...] such employments as require the assistance [...] art, and where the eye is always kept at an equal distance; for instance, in reading or writing. We should not without a full trial make choice of a pair of glasses, nor be satis­fied with those which, at first, exhibit the ob­jects clearly and distinctly. For objects will not always be at the same distance before us as they appear at the first experiment. It would be proper to try a pair of glasses for a short time, especially by candle-light; to use them in that posture of the body to which we are accustomed; and, if with the usual kind of labour, we do not feel our eyes fatigued, but rather somewhat relieved, we then ought to adopt these glasses. But, as it is almost impossible to meet with a pair of glasses in the shops, which fit both eyes, there is nothing more absurd, than to purchase spectacles ready made. Certain as it is, it may not be gener­ally known, that there is perhaps not one per­son among thousands, whose eyes are both of an equal size and constitution. For this rea­son, different eyes should be accommodated with different glasses; and, if we consult our interest in an affair of such consequence, we shall be cautious in selecting for each eye a proper glass. The following advice is sub­mitted to those who have no optician at hand:

Short sighted persons, who wish for a prop­er concave or magnifying glass, may take the exact focus, or point of vision, by presenting the smallest print very close to the eye, and [Page 302] gradually removing it, as far as they can read the letters distinctly, and without much ex­ [...]on. When they have accurately ascer­tained the focus, after frequent trials, let them employ another person to take the measure of this distance, with a slip of paper, in the ni­cest possible manner. An optician, on re­ceiving this measure, and being informed at what distance the glasses are intended to be used, will be able to judge, in a certain degree, although by no means so accurately as by a per­sonal conference with the short-sighted person.

Such as observe their eyes to be inclined to far-sightedness, may proceed exactly in a sim­ilar manner. But all eye-glasses ought to be furnished with double joints or springs; as those with single joints are not only inconve­nient on the nose, but what is worse, they are apt to shift the point of vision with every motion of the head, and consequently injure the eyes.

Lastly, in such occupations as require a more or less extended view of the objects, for instance, in playing at cards, where the dis­tance of the objects must be frequently varied, it would be extremely injudicious to use spec­tacles; as no eye whatever can bear such ex­ertions, without uncommon fatigue. For a similar reason, it is hurtful to these important organs, to keep the spectacles on the head at close work, when by some accident we are obliged to search for something dropt, or mis­laid. Thus we force the eye to make uncom­mon efforts, in seeing farther than it is ena­bled to do, by the construction of the specta­cles. I need not observe, that many good eyes are spoiled by such imprudent practices.