Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned By Medical Men, And By Experience In All Ages - free ebook by William A. (William Andrus) Alcott

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Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned By Medical Men, And By Experience In All Ages

William A. (William Andrus) Alcott

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SYSTEM OF VEGETABLE COOKERY.

SYSTEM OF VEGETABLE COOKERY.

AUTHOR OF THE YOUNG MAN'S GUIDE, YOUNG WOMAN'S GUIDE, YOUNG MOTHER, YOUNG HOUSEKEEPER, AND LATE EDITOR OF THE LIBRARY OF HEALTH. SECOND EDITION, REVISED AND ENLARGED. NEW YORK: FOWLER AND WELLS, PUBLISHERS, No. 308 BROADWAY 1859. Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, By fowlers &amp; wells , in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. BANES &amp; PALMER, STEREOTYPERS, 201 William st. corner Frankfort, N. Y....

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PREFACE

PREFACE

The following volume embraces the testimony, direct or indirect, of more than a hundred individuals—besides that of societies and communities—on the subject of vegetable diet. Most of this one hundred persons are, or were, persons of considerable distinction in society; and more than fifty of them were either medical men, or such as have made physiology, hygiene, anatomy, pathology, medicine, or surgery a leading or favorite study. As I have written other works besides this—especially the "Young

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TO THE SECOND EDITION.

TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The great question in regard to diet, viz., whether any food of the animal kind is absolutely necessary to the most full and perfect development of man's whole nature, being fairly up, both in Europe and America, and there being no practical, matter-of-fact volume on the subject, of moderate size, in the market, numerous friends have been for some time urging me to get up a new and revised edition of a work which, though imperfect, has been useful to many, while it has been for some time out of

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CHAPTER I.

CHAPTER I.

Experience of the Author, and his Studies.—Pamphlet in 1832.—Prize-Question of the Boylston Medical Committee.—Collection of Materials for an Essay.—Dr. North.—His Letter and Questions.—Results, 13 -20...

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CHAPTER II.

CHAPTER II.

Letter of Dr. Parmly.—Dr. W. A. Alcott.—Dr. D. S. Wright.—Dr. H. N. Preston.—Dr. H. A. Barrows.—Dr. Caleb Bannister.—Dr. Lyman Tenny.—Dr. J. M. B. Harden.—Joseph Ricketson, Esq.—Joseph Congdon, Esq.—George W. Baker, Esq.—John Howland, Jr., Esq.—Dr. Wm. H. Webster.—Josiah Bennet, Esq.—Wm. Vincent, Esq.—Dr. George H. Perry.—Dr. L. W. Sherman, 21 -55...

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CHAPTER III.

CHAPTER III.

Correspondence.—The "prescribed course of Regimen."—How many victims to it?—Not one.—Case of Dr. Harden considered.—Case of Dr. Preston.—Views of Drs. Clark, Cheyne, and Lambe, on the treatment of Scrofula.—No reports of Injury from the prescribed System.—Case of Dr. Bannister.—Singular testimony of Dr. Wright.—Vegetable food for Laborers.—Testimony, on the whole, much more favorable to the Vegetable System than could reasonably have been expected, in the circumstances 56 -66...

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CHAPTER IV.

CHAPTER IV.

Letter from Dr. H. A. Barrows.—Dr. J. M. B. Harden.—Dr. J. Porter.—Dr. N. J. Knight.—Dr. Lester Keep.—Second letter from Dr. Keep.—Dr. Henry H. Brown.—Dr. Franklin Knox.—From a Physician.—Additional statements by the Author. 66 -91...

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CHAPTER V.

CHAPTER V.

General Remarks.—Testimony of Dr. Cheyne.—Dr. Geoffroy.—Vauquelin and Percy.—Dr. Pemberton.—Sir John Sinclair.—Dr. James.—Dr. Cranstoun.—Dr. Taylor.—Drs. Hufeland and Abernethy.—Sir Gilbert Blane.—Dr. Gregory.—Dr. Cullen.—Dr. Rush.—Dr. Lambe.—Prof. Lawrence.—Dr. Salgues.—Author of "Sure Methods."—Baron Cuvier.—Dr. Luther V. Bell.—Dr. Buchan.—Dr. Whitlaw.—Dr. Clark.—Prof. Mussey.—Drs. Bell and Condie.—Dr. J. V. C. Smith.—Mr. Graham.—Dr. J. M. Andrews, Jr.—Dr. Sweetser.—Dr. Pierson.—Physician in N

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CHAPTER VI.

CHAPTER VI.

General Remarks.—Testimony of Plautus.—Plutarch.—Porphyry.—Lord Bacon.—Sir William Temple.—Cicero.—Cyrus the Great.—Gassendi.—Prof. Hitchcock.—Lord Kaims.—Dr. Thomas Dick.—Prof. Bush.—Thomas Shillitoe.—Alexander Pope.—Sir Richard Phillips.—Sir Isaac Newton.—The Abbé Gallani.—Homer.—Dr. Franklin.—Mr. Newton.—O. S. Fowler.—Rev. Mr. Johnston.—John H. Chandler.—Rev. J. Caswell.—Mr. Chinn.—Father Sewall.—Magliabecchi.—Oberlin and Swartz.—James Haughton.—John Bailies.—Francis Hupazoli.—Prof. Ferguson.

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CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VII.

The Pythagoreans.—The Essenes.—The Bramins.—Society of Bible Christians.—Orphan Asylum of Albany.—The Mexican Indians.—School in Germany.—American Physiological Society, 223 -235...

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CHAPTER VIII.

CHAPTER VIII.

General Remarks on the Nature of the Argument.—1. The Anatomical Argument.—2. The Physiological Argument.—3. The Medical Argument.—4. The Political Argument.—5. The Economical Argument.—6. The Argument from Experience.—7. The Moral Argument.—Conclusion, 236 -296...

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CLASS I.

CLASS I.

Bread of the first order.—Bread of the second order.—Bread of the third kind.—Boiled Grains.—Grains in other forms—baked, parched, roasted, or torrefied.—Hominy.—Puddings proper, 291 -308...

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CLASS II.

CLASS II.

The large fruits—Apple, Pear, Peach, Quince, etc.—The smaller fruits—Strawberry, Cherry, Raspberry, Currant, Whortleberry, Mulberry, Blackberry, Bilberry, etc., 308 -309...

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CLASS III.

CLASS III.

The Common Potato.—The Sweet Potato, 309 -311...

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CLASS IV.

CLASS IV.

Buds and Young Shoots.—Leaves and Leaf Stalks.—Cucurbitaceous Fruits.—Oily Seeds, etc., 311 -312...

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ORIGIN OF THIS WORK.

ORIGIN OF THIS WORK.

Experience of the Author, and his Studies.—Pamphlet in 1832.—Prize Question of the Boylston Medical Committee.—Collection of Materials for an Essay.—Dr. North.—His Letter and Questions.—Results. Twenty-three years ago, the present season, I was in the first stage of tuberculous consumption, and evidently advancing rapidly to the second. The most judicious physicians were consulted, and their advice at length followed. I commenced the practice of medicine, traveling chiefly on horseback; and, tho

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LETTERS TO DR. NORTH.

LETTERS TO DR. NORTH.

Letter of Dr. Parmly.—Dr. W. A. Alcott.—Dr. D. S. Wright.—Dr. H. N. Preston.—Dr. H. A. Barrows.—Dr. Caleb Bannister.—Dr. Lyman Tenny.—Dr. J. M. B. Harden.—Joseph Ricketson, Esq.—Joseph Congdon, Esq.—George W. Baker, Esq.—John Howland, Jr., Esq.—Dr. Wm. H. Webster.—Josiah Bennet, Esq.—Wm. Vincent, Esq.—Dr. Geo. H. Perry.—Dr. L. W. Sherman. My Dear Sir ,—For two years past, I have abstained from the use of all the diffusible stimulants, using no animal food, either flesh, fish, or fowl; nor any al

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LETTER XVII.—FROM DR. L. W. SHERMAN.

LETTER XVII.—FROM DR. L. W. SHERMAN.

Falmouth , Mass., March 28, 1835. Sir ,—In compliance with the request you recently made in the Medical Journal, I inclose the following answers to the queries relative to regimen you have propounded. They are given by a lady, whose experience, intelligence, and discernment, have eminently qualified her to answer them. She, with myself, is equally interested with you in having this important question settled, and is extremely happy that you have undertaken to do it. This lady is now fifty years

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REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING LETTERS.

REMARKS ON THE FOREGOING LETTERS.

Correspondence.—The "prescribed course of Regimen."—How many victims to it?—Not one.—Case of Dr. Harden considered.—Case of Dr. Preston.—Views of Drs. Clark, Cheyne, and Lambe, on the treatment of Scrofula.—No reports of Injury from the prescribed System.—Case of Dr. Bannister.—Singular testimony of Dr. Wright.—Vegetable food for Laborers.—Testimony, on the whole, much more favorable to the Vegetable System than could reasonably have been expected, in the circumstances. "Reports not unfrequently

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ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

ADDITIONAL INTELLIGENCE.

Letter from Dr. H. A. Barrows.—Dr. J. M. B. Harden.—Dr. J. Porter.—Dr. N. J. Knight.—Dr. Lester Keep.—Second letter from Dr. Keep.—Dr. Henry H. Brown.—Dr. Franklin Knox.—From a Physician.—Additional statements by the Author. During the years 1837 and 1838 I wrote to several of the physicians whose names, experiments, and facts appear in Chapter II. Their answers, so far as received, are now to be presented. I have also received interesting letters from several other physicians in New England and

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TESTIMONY OF OTHER MEDICAL MEN, BOTH OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES.

TESTIMONY OF OTHER MEDICAL MEN, BOTH OF ANCIENT AND MODERN TIMES.

General Remarks.—Testimony of Dr. Cheyne.—Dr. Geoffroy.—Vanquelin and Percy.—Dr. Pemberton.—Sir John Sinclair.—Dr. James.—Dr. Cranstoun.—Dr. Taylor.—Drs. Hufeland and Abernethy.—Sir Gilbert Blane.—Dr. Gregory.—Dr. Cullen.—Dr. Rush.—Dr. Lambe.—Prof. Lawrence.—Dr. Salgues.—Author of "Sure Methods."—Baron Cuvier.—Dr. Luther V. Bell.—Dr. Buchan.—Dr. Whitlaw.—Dr. Clark.—Prof. Mussey.—Drs. Bell and Condie.—Dr. J. V. C. Smith.—Mr. Graham.—Dr. J. M. Andrews, Jr.—Dr. Sweetser.—Dr. Pierson.—Physician in N

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GENERAL REMARKS.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The number of physicians, and surgeons, and medical men, whose testimony is brought to bear on the subject of diet, in the chapter which follows, is by no means as great as it might have been. There are few writers on anatomy, physiology, materia medica, or disease, who have not, either directly or indirectly, given their testimony in favor of a mild and vegetable diet for persons affected with certain chronic diseases. And there is scarcely a writer on hygiene, or even on diet, who has not done

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DR. GEORGE CHEYNE.

DR. GEORGE CHEYNE.

This distinguished physician, and somewhat voluminous writer, flourished more than a hundred years ago. He may justly be esteemed the father of what is now called the "vegetable system" of living; although it is evident he did not see every thing clearly. "In the early part of his life," says Prof. Hitchcock, in his work on Dyspepsia, "he was a voluptuary; and before he attained to middle age, was so corpulent that it was necessary to open the whole side of his carriage that he might enter; and

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DR. GEOFFROY.

DR. GEOFFROY.

Dr. Geoffroy, a distinguished French physician and professor of chemistry and medicine in some of the institutions of France, flourished more than a hundred years ago. The bearing of the following extract will be readily seen. It is from the Memoirs of the Royal Academy for the year 1730; and I am indebted for it to the labors of Dr. Cheyne. "M. Geoffroy has given a method for determining the proportion of nourishment or true matter of the flesh and blood, contained in any sort of food. He took

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MESSRS. PERCY AND VAUQUELIN.

MESSRS. PERCY AND VAUQUELIN.

As I have alluded, in the preceding article, to the experiments of Messrs. Percy and Vauquelin, two distinguished French chemists, their testimony in this place seems almost indispensable, even though we should not regard it, in the most strict import of the term, as medical testimony. The result of their experiments, as communicated by them to the French minister of the interior, is as follows: In bread, every one hundred pounds is found to contain eighty pounds of nutritious matter; butcher's

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DR. PEMBERTON.

DR. PEMBERTON.

Dr. Pemberton, after speaking of the general tendency, in our highly fed communities, to scrofula and consumption, makes the following remarks, which need no comment: "If a child is born of scrofulous parents, I would strongly recommend that it be entirely nourished from the breast of a healthy nurse, for at least a year. After this, the food should consist of milk and farinaceous vegetables. By a perseverance in this diet for three years, I have imagined that the threatened scrofulous appearanc

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SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.

SIR JOHN SINCLAIR.

Sir John Sinclair, an eminent British surgeon, says, "I have wandered a good deal about the world, my health has been tried in all ways, and, by the aid of temperance and hard work, I have worn out two armies in two wars, and probably could wear out another before my period of old age arrives. I eat no animal food, drink no wine or malt liquor, or spirits of any kind; I wear no flannel; and neither regard wind nor rain, heat nor cold, when business is in the way."...

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DR. JAMES, OF WISCONSIN.

DR. JAMES, OF WISCONSIN.

Dr. James, of Wisconsin, but formerly of Albany, and editor of a temperance paper in that city, one of the most sensible, intelligent, and refined of men, and one of the first in his profession, is a vegetable eater, and a man of great simplicity in all his physical, intellectual, and moral habits. I do not know that his views have ever been presented to the public, but I state them with much confidence, from a source in which I place the most implicit reliance....

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DR. CRANSTOUN.

DR. CRANSTOUN.

Dr. Cranstoun, a worthy medical gentleman in England, became subject, by some means or other, to a chronic dysentery, on which he exhausted, as it were, the whole materia medica, in vain. At length, after suffering greatly for four or five years, he was completely cured by a milk and vegetable diet. The following is his own brief account of his cure, in a letter to Dr. Cheyne: "I resolutely, as soon as capable of a diet, held myself close to your rules of bland vegetable food and elementary drin

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DR. TAYLOR, OF ENGLAND.

DR. TAYLOR, OF ENGLAND.

This gentleman, who had studied the works of Dr. Sydenham, and was therefore rather favorably inclined toward a milk and vegetable diet, became at last subject to epileptic fits. Not being willing, however, to give up his high living and his strong drinks, he tried the effects of medicine, and even consulted all the most eminent of his brethren of the medical profession in and about London; but all to no purpose, and the fits continued to recur. He used frequently to be attacked with them while

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DRS. HUFELAND AND ABERNETHY.

DRS. HUFELAND AND ABERNETHY.

The celebrated Dr. Hufeland taught that a simple vegetable diet was most conducive to health and long life. The distinguished Dr. Abernethy has expressed an opinion not very unlike it, in the following eccentric manner: "If you put improper food into the stomach it becomes disordered, and the whole system is affected. Vegetable matter ferments and becomes gaseous, while animal substances are changed into a putrid, abominable, and acrid stimulus. Now, some people acquire preposterous noses; other

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DR. GREGORY.

DR. GREGORY.

Dr. Gregory, a distinguished professor and practitioner of medicine in Scotland, in a work published more than seventy years ago, strongly recommends plain and simple food for children. Till they are three years old, he says, their diet should consist of plain milk, panada, good bread, barley meal porridge, and rice. He also complains of pampering them with animal food. The same arguments which are good for forming them to the habits of vegetable food exclusively for the first three years of lif

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DR. CULLEN, OF EDINBURGH.

DR. CULLEN, OF EDINBURGH.

The name of Dr. Cullen is well known, and he has long been regarded as high authority. Yet this distinguished writer and teacher expressly says, that a very temperate and sparing use of animal food is the surest means of preserving health and obtaining long life. But I will quote his own language, in various parts of his writings. And first, from his Materia Medica: "Vegetable aliment, as never over-distending the vessels or loading the system, never interrupts the stronger emotions of the mind,

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DR. BENJAMIN RUSH.

DR. BENJAMIN RUSH.

I find nothing in the writings of this great man which shows, with certainty, what his views were, in regard to animal food. The presumption is, that he was sparing in its use, and that he encouraged a very limited use of it in others. This is presumed, 1, from the general tenor of his writings—deeply imbued as they are with the great doctrine of temperance in all things; and, 2, from the fondness he seems to have manifested in mentioning the temperance and even abstinence of individuals of whom

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DR. WILLIAM LAMBE, OF LONDON.

DR. WILLIAM LAMBE, OF LONDON.

Dr. William Lambe, of London, is distinguished both as a physician and a general scholar, and is a prominent member of the "College of Physicians." He was a graduate of St. John's College, Cambridge, and a fellow-student with the immortal Clarkson. Dr. Lambe is the author of several valuable works, among which are his "Reports on Cancer," and a more recent work entitled, "Additional Reports on the Effects of a Peculiar Regimen, in Cases of Cancer, Scrofula, Consumption, Asthma, and other chronic

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PROFESSOR LAWRENCE.

PROFESSOR LAWRENCE.

Professor Lawrence is the author of a work entitled Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man. He is a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, Professor of Anatomy and Surgery to the College, and Surgeon to several Hospitals. In his work above mentioned, after much discussion in regard to the natural dietetic character of man, he thus remarks: "That animal food renders man strong and courageous, is fully disproved by the inhabitants of northern Europe and Asia, the

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DR. SALGUES.

DR. SALGUES.

Dr. Salgues, Physician, and Professor of Anatomy, Physiology, etc., etc., to the Institute of France, some years ago wrote a book, entitled "Rules for Preserving the Health of the Aged," which contained many very judicious remarks on diet. There is nothing in the volume, however, which is decidedly in favor of a diet exclusively vegetable, unless it is a few anecdotes; and I have introduced his name chiefly as a sort of authority for those anecdotes. They are the following: "Josephus informs us

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THE AUTHOR OF "SURE METHODS," ETC.

THE AUTHOR OF "SURE METHODS," ETC.

The British author of "Sure Methods of Improving Health and Prolonging Life," supposed by many to be the distinguished Dr. Johnson, speaks thus: "It must be confessed that, in temperate climates, at least, an animal diet is, in one respect, more wasting than a vegetable, because it excites, by its stimulating qualities, a temporary fever after every meal, by which the springs of life are urged into constant, preternatural, and weakening exertions. Again; persons who live chiefly on animal food a

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BARON CUVIER.[10]

BARON CUVIER.[10]

Perhaps it is not generally known that Baron Cuvier, the prince of naturalists, in the progress of his researches came to the most decisive conclusion, that, so far as any thing can be ascertained or proved by the investigation of science in regard to the natural dietetic character of man, he is a fruit and vegetable eater. I have not seen his own views; but the following are said, by an intelligent writer, to be a tolerably faithful transcript of them, and to be derived from his Comparative Ana

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DR. LUTHER V. BELL.

DR. LUTHER V. BELL.

I have alluded, in another part of this work, to the prize essay of Dr. Bell, awarded to him by the Boylston Medical Committee on the subject of the diet of laborers in New England. Dr. Bell is a physician of respectable talents, and is at present the Physician to an Insane Hospital in Charlestown, near this city. Dr. Bell admits, with the most distinguished naturalists and physiologists of Europe,—Cuvier, Lawrence, Blumenbach, Bell of London, Richerand, Marc, etc.,—that the structure of man res

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DR. WILLIAM BUCHAN, AUTHOR OF "DOMESTIC MEDICINE."

DR. WILLIAM BUCHAN, AUTHOR OF "DOMESTIC MEDICINE."

"Indulgence 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. I am inclined to think that consumptions , so common in England, are, in part, owing to the great use of animal food. But the disease most common to this country is the scurvy. One finds a dash of it in almost every family, and in some the taint is very deep. A disease so general must have a general cause, and there is none so obvious as the g

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DR. CHARLES WHITLAW.

DR. CHARLES WHITLAW.

Dr. Whitlaw is the author of a work entitled "New Medical Discoveries," in two volumes, and of a "Treatise on Fever." He has also established medical vapor baths in London, New York, and elsewhere; and is a gentleman of much skill and eminence in his profession. Dr. Whitlaw says— "All philosophers have given their testimony in favor of vegetable food, from Pythagoras to Franklin. Its beneficial influence on the powers of the mind has been experienced by all sedentary and literary men. "But, that

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DR. JAMES CLARK.

DR. JAMES CLARK.

Dr. Clark, physician to the king and queen of Belgium, in a Treatise on Pulmonary Consumption, has the following remarks: "There is no greater evil in the management of children than that of giving them animal diet very early. By persevering in the use of an over-stimulating diet, the digestive organs become irritated, and the various secretions immediately connected with and necessary to digestion are diminished, especially the biliary secretion; and constipation of the bowels and congestion of

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PROF. MUSSEY, OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

PROF. MUSSEY, OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.

Prof. R. D. Mussey, of Hanover, New Hampshire, whose science and skill as a surgeon and physician are well known and attested all over New England, has for many years taught, both directly and indirectly, in his public lectures, that man is naturally a fruit and vegetable eater. This he proves, first, from the structure of his teeth and intestines—next from his physiological character, and finally, from various facts and considerations too numerous to detail here. He thinks the Bible doctrines a

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DR. CONDIE, OF PHILADELPHIA.

DR. CONDIE, OF PHILADELPHIA.

The Journal of Health, edited by some of the ablest physicians of Philadelphia, has the following remarkable language on the subject of vegetable food. See vol. 1, page 277. "It is well known that vegetable substances, particularly the farinaceous, are fully sufficient, of themselves, for maintaining a healthy existence. We have every reason for believing that the fruits of the earth constituted, originally, the only food of man. Animal food is digested in a much shorter period than vegetables;

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DR. J. V. C. SMITH, OF BOSTON.

DR. J. V. C. SMITH, OF BOSTON.

The following remarks are extracted from the Boston Medical Intelligencer, at a period when Dr. J. V. C. Smith was the editor. They have the appearance of being from Dr. Smith's own pen. Dr. S. is at present the editor of the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal: "It is true [13] that animal food contains a greater portion of nutriment, in a given quantity, than vegetables; but the digestive functions of the human system become prematurely exhausted by constant action, and the whole system eventu

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SYLVESTER GRAHAM.

SYLVESTER GRAHAM.

Although Mr. Graham does not, so far as I know, lay claim to the "honors" of any medical institution, it cannot be doubted that his knowledge of physiology, to say nothing of anatomy, pathology, and medicine, is such as to entitle him to a high rank among medical men; and I have, therefore, without hesitation, concluded to insert his testimony in this place. Of his views, however, on the subject before us, it seems almost superfluous to speak, as they are set forth, and have been set forth for m

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DR. JOHN M. ANDREW.

DR. JOHN M. ANDREW.

Dr. Andrew is a practitioner of medicine in Remsen, Oneida county, State of New York. His letter was intended for chapter iv., but came too late. This fact is the only apology for inserting it in this place. Several interesting cases of dietetic reform accompanied the letter, but I must omit them, for want of room, in this work. Remsen , April 28, 1838. Dear Sir —It is now about sixteen months since I adopted an exclusively vegetable diet. I have, however, never been very much inclined to animal

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DR. WILLIAM SWEETSER, OF BOSTON.

DR. WILLIAM SWEETSER, OF BOSTON.

Dr. Sweetser is the author of a "Treatise on Consumption," and of a "Treatise on Digestion." He has also been a medical professor in the University of Vermont, and a public lecturer on health, in Boston. In his work on consumption, while speaking of the prevailing belief of a necessity for the use of animal food to those children who possess the scrofulous or consumptive tendency, he thus remarks: "A diet of milk and mild farinaceous articles, with perhaps light animal decoctions, appears best s

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DR. A. L. PIERSON.

DR. A. L. PIERSON.

Dr. Pierson, of Salem, in Massachusetts, a physician and surgeon of considerable eminence, in a lecture some time ago, before the American Institute of Instruction, observed that "young men who were anxious to avail themselves of the advantages of a liberal education, and were therefore compelled to consult economy, had found out that it was not necessary to pay three or four dollars a week for mere board, when the most vigorous and uniform health may be secured by a diet of mere vegetable food

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STATEMENT OF DR. C. BYINGTON, OF PHILADELPHIA.

STATEMENT OF DR. C. BYINGTON, OF PHILADELPHIA.

A physician of some eminence, residing in Philadelphia, has been heard to say that it was his decided opinion that mankind would live longest, and be healthiest and happiest, on mere bread and water. I may add here, that there was every evidence but one that he was sincere in this statement, although I do not fully accord with him, believing that the best health requires variety of food—not, indeed, at the same meal, but at different ones. The exception I make in regard to his sincerity, is in r

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TESTIMONY OF A PHYSICIAN IN NEW YORK.

TESTIMONY OF A PHYSICIAN IN NEW YORK.

In the work entitled "Hints to a Fashionable Lady," by a physician—his name not given—we find the following testimony: "Young persons invariably do best on simple but moderately nutritious fare. Too large a proportion of animal food and fatty substances are pernicious to the complexion. On the contrary, a diet which is principally vegetable, with the luxuries of the dairy (not butter, surely, for that is elsewhere prohibited), is most advantageous. Nowhere are finer complexions to be found than

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THE FEMALE'S CYCLOPEDIA.

THE FEMALE'S CYCLOPEDIA.

From a fugitive volume, entitled "The Female's Cyclopedia," I have concluded to make the following extract, because I have reason to believe the writer to have been a physician: "Animal food certainly gives most strength; but its stimulancy excites fever, and produces plethora and its consequences. The system is sooner worn out by a repetition of its stimuli, and those who indulge greatly in such diet are more likely to be carried off early by inflammatory diseases; or if, by judicious exercise,

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DR. VAN COOTH.

DR. VAN COOTH.

Dr. Van Cooth, a learned European writer—I believe a Hollander—has recently maintained, incidentally, in a learned medical dissertation, that the great body of the ancient Egyptians and Persians "confined themselves to a vegetable diet." To be sure, Dr. V. does not seem to be a vegetable eater himself, but the friends of the latter system are not the less indebted to him for the concession. The physical and moral superiority of those vegetable eating nations, in the days of their glory, are well

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DR. WILLIAM BEAUMONT.

DR. WILLIAM BEAUMONT.

The work of this gentleman, entitled "Experiments and Observations on the Gastric Juice, and the Physiology of Digestion," is well known—at least to the medical community. The following are some of the conclusions to which his experiments conducted him: "Solid aliment, thoroughly masticated, is far more salutary than soups, broths, etc. "Fat meats, butter, and oily substances of every kind, are difficult of digestion, offensive to the stomach, and tend to derange that organ and induce disease. "

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SIR EVERARD HOME.

SIR EVERARD HOME.

This distinguished philosopher and medical gentleman, though, like many others, he insisted that vegetable food did not produce full muscular development, yet admitted the natural character of man to be that of a vegetable eater, in the following, or nearly the following, terms: "In the history of man—in the Bible—we are told that dominion over the animal world was bestowed upon him at his creation; but the divine permission to indulge in animal food was not given till after the flood. The obser

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DR. JENNINGS.

DR. JENNINGS.

Dr. Jennings is the author of a work published at Oberlin, Ohio, in 1847, entitled "Medical Reform." In this volume, at page 198, we find the following facts and statements. The author is comparing the effects of animal food on the human system with those of alcohol, from which we learn his views concerning the former: "Position I.—Animal food, in common with alcohol, creates a feverish diathesis, evidences of which are—1. An impaired state of the respiratory function. 2. The pulse is rendered m

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DR. JARVIS.

DR. JARVIS.

This gentleman, in his "Practical Physiology," at page 86, has the following thoughts: "Some have contended that man was designed to eat only of the fruits and vegetables of the earth; while others maintain, with equal confidence, that he should add to these the flesh of beasts. There are many individuals, both in this and other countries, who confine themselves to vegetable diet. They believe they enjoy better health, and maintain greater strength of body and mind, than those who live on a mixe

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DR. TICKNOR.

DR. TICKNOR.

"From the fact," says this author, "that animal food is proper and necessary for health in polar regions, and that a vegetable diet is equally proper and necessary in the torrid zone, we may conclude that in winter, in our own climate, an animal diet is the best; while vegetables are more conducive to health in the summer season." It would not be difficult to prove, from the very concessions of Dr. T., that vegetable food is better adapted to health, in general , than animal; but I forbear to do

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DR. COLES.

DR. COLES.

The author of a small volume recently published at Boston, entitled the "Philosophy of Health; or, Health without Medicine," is more decided in his views on diet than any late writer I have seen, except Dr. Jennings and O. S. Fowler. He says, at page 35: "Man, in his original, holy state, was provided for from the vegetables of that happy garden which was given him to prune. This was the Creator's original plan; * * * * the eating of flesh was one of the consequences of the fall. Living on veget

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DR. SHEW.

DR. SHEW.

This active physician is zealously devoted to the propagation of hydropathy. He uses no medicine in the management of disease—nothing at all but water. To this, however, he adds great attention to diet. In his Journal, [15] and elsewhere, he is a zealous and able advocate of the vegetable system, preferring it himself, and recommending it to his patients and followers. Dr. Shew's opinion, in this particular, is entitled to the more weight from the fact of his having been very familiar with disea

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DR. MORRILL.

DR. MORRILL.

Dr. C. Morrill, in a recent work entitled, "Physiology of Woman, and her Diseases," says much in favor of an exclusively vegetable diet in some of the diseases of woman; and among other things, makes the following general remarks: "Even by those who labor (referring here to the healthy), meat should be taken moderately, and but once a day. The sedentary, generally, do not need it."...

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DR. BELL.

DR. BELL.

This gentleman's testimony has been given elsewhere. I only subjoin the following: "By far the greater number of the inhabitants of the earth have used, in all ages, and continue to use, at this time, vegetable aliment alone."...

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DR. BRADLEY.

DR. BRADLEY.

Dr. D. B. Bradley, the distinguished missionary at Bangkok, in Siam, though not exactly a vegetable eater, is favorably disposed to the vegetable system. He has read Graham and myself with great care, and is an anxious inquirer after all truth....

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DR. STEPHENSON.

DR. STEPHENSON.

Dr. Chauncy Stephenson, of Chesterfield, Massachusetts, in what he calls his "New System of Medicine," commends to all his readers, for their sustenance, "pure air, a proper temperature, good vegetable food, and pure cold water." And lest he should be misunderstood, he immediately adds—"The best articles of food for general use are good, well-baked cold bread, made of rye and Indian corn, wheat or barley meal; rice, good ripe fruits of all kinds, both fresh and dried, and a proper proportion of

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DR. J. BURDELL,

DR. J. BURDELL,

A distinguished dentist of New York, has long been a vegetable eater, and a zealous defender of the faith (in this particular) which he professes....

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DR. THOMAS SMETHURST,

DR. THOMAS SMETHURST,

In a work entitled Hydrotherapia, says, "Children thrive best upon a simple, moderately nourishing vegetable diet." And if children thus thrive the best, why not adults?...

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DR. SCHLEMMER.

DR. SCHLEMMER.

Dr. C. V. Schlemmer, a German by birth, but now an adopted son of old England, in giving an account of the diet of himself, his three sons of eleven, ten, and four years of age, with their tutor, observes: "Raw peas, beans, and fruit are our food: our teeth are our mills; the stomach is the kitchen." And all of them, as he affirms, enjoy the best of health. For himself, as he says, he has practiced in this way six years....

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DR. CURTIS, AND OTHERS.

DR. CURTIS, AND OTHERS.

Dr. Curtis, a distinguished botanic physician of Ohio, with several other physicians, both of the old and the new school, whom I have not named, do not hesitate to regard a pure vegetable diet, in the abstract, as by far the best for all mankind, both in health and disease. Dr. Porter, of Waltham, for example, when I meet him, always concedes that a well-selected vegetable diet is superior to every other. He has repeatedly told me of an experiment he made, of three months, on mere bread and wate

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PROF. C. U. SHEPARD.

PROF. C. U. SHEPARD.

The reputation of this gentleman, in the scientific world, is so well known, that no apology can be necessary for inserting his testimony. As a chemist, he is second to very few, if any, men in this country. The following are his remarks: "Start not back at the idea of subsisting upon the potato alone, ye who think it necessary to load your tables with all the dainty viands of the market—with fish, flesh, and fowl, seasoned with oil and spices, and eaten, perhaps, with wines;—start not back, I s

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BLACKWOOD, IN HIS MAGAZINE.

BLACKWOOD, IN HIS MAGAZINE.

"Chemistry," says Blackwood's Magazine, "has already told us many remarkable things in regard to the vegetable food we eat—that it contains, for example, a certain per centage of the actual fat and lean we consume in our beef, or mutton, or pork—and, therefore, that he who lives on vegetable food may be as strong as the man who lives on animal food, because both in reality feed on the same things, in a somewhat different form." There is this difference, however, that in the one case—that is, in

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PROF. JOHNSTON.

PROF. JOHNSTON.

This gentleman, in a recent edition of his "Elements of Agricultural Chemistry and Geology," tells us that from experiments made in the laboratory of the Agricultural Association of Scotland, wheat and oats, when analyzed, contain of nutritious properties the following proportion: Thus oats, and even wheat, are quite rich in that which forms muscular matter in the human body....

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SIMEON COLLINS, OF WESTFIELD, MASS.

SIMEON COLLINS, OF WESTFIELD, MASS.

This gentleman, in his fifty-first year, states that having been for several years afflicted with a severe cough, which he supposed bordered upon consumption, he "discontinued the use of flesh meat, fish, fowl, butter, gravy, tea, and coffee, and made use of a plain vegetable diet." "My bread," says he, "is made of unbolted wheat meal; my drink is pure cold water; my bed, for winter and summer, is made of the everlasting flower; and my health is, and ever has been, perfect, since I got fairly cl

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REV. JOSEPH EMERSON.

REV. JOSEPH EMERSON.

Mr. Emerson was a teacher of eminence, known throughout the United States, but particularly so in Massachusetts and Connecticut. He died in the latter state, in 1833, aged about fifty-five. He had long been a miserable dyspeptic, but was probably kept alive amid certain strange violations of physical law, such as studying hard till midnight, for example, for many years, by his great care in regard to his diet. Mrs. Banister, late Miss Z. P. Grant (the associate, at Ipswich, of Miss Lyon, who die

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TAK SISSON.

TAK SISSON.

Tak Sisson, as he was called, was a slave in the family of a man in Rhode Island, before and during the Revolution. From early childhood he could never be prevailed on to eat any flesh or fish, but he subsisted on vegetable food and milk; neither could he be persuaded to eat high seasoned food of any kind. When he was a child, his parents used to scold him severely, and threaten to whip him because he refused to eat flesh. They said to him (as I have been told a thousand times), that if he did n

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TESTIMONY OF PHILOSOPHERS AND OTHER EMINENT MEN.

TESTIMONY OF PHILOSOPHERS AND OTHER EMINENT MEN.

General Remarks.—Testimony of Plautus.—Plutarch.—Porphyry.—Lord Bacon.—Sir William Temple.—Cicero.—Cyrus the Great.—Gassendi.—Prof. Hitchcock.—Lord Kaims.—Dr. Thomas Dick.—Prof. Bush.—Thomas Shillitoe.—Alexander Pope.—Sir Richard Phillips.—Sir Isaac Newton.—The Abbé Gallani.—Homer.—Dr. Franklin.—Mr. Newton.—O. S. Fowler.—Rev. Mr. Johnston.—John H. Chandler.—Rev. J. Caswell.—Mr. Chinn.—Father Sewall.—Magliabecchi.—Oberlin and Swartz.—James Haughton.—John Bailies.—Francis Hupazoli.—Prof. Ferguson.

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GENERAL REMARKS.

GENERAL REMARKS.

This chapter might have been much more extended than it is. I might have mentioned, for example, the cases of Daniel and his three brethren, at the court of the Babylonian monarch, who certainly maintained their health—if they did not even improve it—by vegetable food, and by a form of it, too, which has by many been considered rather doubtful. I might have mentioned the case of Paul, [17] who, though he occasionally appears to have eaten flesh, said, expressly, that he would abstain from it whi

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PLAUTUS.

PLAUTUS.

Plautus, a distinguished dramatic Roman writer, who flourished about two thousand years ago, gives the following remarkable testimony against the use of animal food, and of course in favor of the salubrity of vegetables; addressed, indeed, to his own countrymen and times, but scarcely less applicable to our own: "You apply the term wild to lions, panthers, and serpents; yet, in your own savage slaughters, you surpass them in ferocity; for the blood shed by them is a matter of necessity, and requ

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PLUTARCH.

PLUTARCH.

"It is best to accustom ourselves to eat no flesh at all, for the earth affords plenty enough of things not only fit for nourishment, but for enjoyment and delight; some of which may be eaten without much preparation, and others may be made pleasant by adding divers other things to them. "You ask me," continues Plutarch, "'for what reason Pythagoras abstained from eating the flesh of brutes?' For my part, I am astonished to think, on the contrary, what appetite first induced man to taste of a de

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PORPHYRY, OF TYRE.

PORPHYRY, OF TYRE.

Porphyry, of Tyre, lived about the middle of the third century, and wrote a book on abstinence from animal food. This book was addressed to an individual who had once followed the vegetable system, but had afterward relinquished it. The following is an extract from it: "You owned, when you lived among us, that a vegetable diet was preferable to animal food, both for preserving the health and for facilitating the study of philosophy; and now, since you have eat flesh, your own experience must con

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LORD BACON.

LORD BACON.

Lord Bacon, in his treatise on Life and Death, says, "It seems to be approved by experience, that a spare and almost a Pythagorean diet, such as is prescribed by the strictest monastic life, or practiced by hermits, is most favorable to long life."...

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SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE.

SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE.

"The patriarchs' abodes were not in cities, but in open countries and fields. Their lives were pastoral, and employed in some sorts of agriculture. They were of the same race, to which their marriages were generally confined. Their diet was simple, as that of the ancients is generally represented. Among them flesh and wine were seldom used, except at sacrifices at solemn feasts. "The Brachmans, among the old Indians, were all of the same races, lived in fields and in woods, after the course of t

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CICERO.

CICERO.

This eminent man sometimes, if not usually, confined himself to vegetable food. Of this we have evidence, in his complaints about the refinements of cookery—that they were continually tempting him to excess, etc. He says, that after having withstood all the temptations that the noblest lampreys and oysters could throw in his way, he was at last overpowered by paltry beets and mallows. A victory, by the way, which, in the case of the eater of plain food, is very often achieved....

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CYRUS THE GREAT.

CYRUS THE GREAT.

This distinguished warrior was brought up, like the inferior Persians, on bread, cresses, and water; and, notwithstanding the temptations of a luxurious and voluptuous court, he rigorously adhered to his simple diet. Nay, he even carried his simple habits nearly through life with him; and it was not till he had completely established one of the largest and most powerful empires of antiquity that he began to yield to the luxuries of the times. Had he pursued his steady course of temperance throug

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PETER GASSENDI.

PETER GASSENDI.

Two hundred and twenty years ago, Peter Gassendi, a famous French philosopher—and by the way, one of the most learned men of his time—wrote a long epistle to Van Helmont, a Dutch chemist, on the question whether the teeth of mankind indicate that they are naturally flesh-eaters. In this epistle, too long for insertion here, [18] Gassendi maintains, with great ingenuity, that the human teeth were not made for flesh. He does not evade any of the facts in the case, but meets them all fairly and dis

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PROF. HITCHCOCK.

PROF. HITCHCOCK.

This gentleman, a distinguished professor in Amherst College, is the author of a work, entitled "Dyspepsia Forestalled and Resisted," which has been read by many, and execrated by not a few of those who are so wedded to their lusts as to be unwilling to be told of their errors. I am not aware that Professor H. has any where, in his writings, urged a diet exclusively vegetable, for all classes of the community, although I believe he does not hesitate to urge it on all students; and one might almo

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LORD KAIMS.

LORD KAIMS.

Henry Home, otherwise called Lord Kaims, the author of the "Elements of Criticism," and of "Six Sketches on the History of Man," has, in the latter work, written eighty years ago, the following statements respecting the inhabitants of the torrid zone: "We have no evidence that either the hunter or shepherd state were ever known there. The inhabitants at present subsist upon vegetable food, and probably did so from the beginning." In speaking of particular nations or tribes of this zone, he tells

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DR. THOMAS DICK.

DR. THOMAS DICK.

Dr. Dick, author of the "Philosophy of Religion," and several other works deservedly popular, gives this remarkable testimony: "To take the life of any sensitive being, and to feed on its flesh, appears incompatible with a state of innocence, and therefore no such grant was given to Adam in paradise, nor to the antediluvians. It appears to have been a grant suited only to the degraded state of man, after the deluge; and it is probable that, as he advances in the scale of moral perfection in the

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PROFESSOR GEORGE BUSH.

PROFESSOR GEORGE BUSH.

Professor Bush, a writer of some eminence, in his "Notes on Genesis," while speaking of the permission to man in regard to food, in Genesis i. 29, has the following language: "It is not perhaps to be understood, from the use of the word give , that a permission was now granted to man of using that for food which it would have been unlawful for him to use without that permission; for, by the very constitution of his being, he was made to be sustained by that food which was most congenial to his a

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THOMAS SHILLITOE.

THOMAS SHILLITOE.

Mr. Shillitoe was a distinguished member of the Society of Friends, at Tottenham, near London. The first twenty-five years of his life were spent in feeble health, made worse by high living. This high living was continued about twenty years longer, when, finding himself fast failing, he yielded to the advice of a medical friend, and abandoned all drinks but water, and all food but the plainest kinds, by which means he so restored his constitution that he lived to be nearly ninety years of age; a

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ALEXANDER POPE.

ALEXANDER POPE.

Pope, the poet, ascribes all the bad passions and diseases of the human race to their subsisting on the flesh, blood, and miseries of animals. "Nothing," he says, "can be more shocking and horrid than one of our kitchens, sprinkled with blood, and abounding with the cries of creatures expiring, or with the limbs of dead animals scattered or hung up here and there. It gives one an image of a giant's den in romance, bestrewed with the scattered heads and mangled limbs of those who were slain by hi

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SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS.

SIR RICHARD PHILLIPS.

Sir Richard Phillips, in his "Million of Facts," says that "the mixed and fanciful diet of man is considered as the cause of numerous diseases, from which animals are exempt. Many diseases have abated with changes of natural diet, and others are virulent in particular countries, arising from peculiarities. The Hindoos are considered the freest from disease of any part of the human race. The laborers on the African coast, who go from tribe to tribe to perform the manual labor, and whose strength

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SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

SIR ISAAC NEWTON.

This distinguished philosopher and mathematician is said to have abstained rigorously, at times, from all but purely vegetable food, and from all drinks but water; and it is also stated that some of his important labors were performed at these seasons of strict temperance. While writing his treatise on Optics, it is said he confined himself entirely to bread, with a little sack and water; and I have no doubt that his remarkable equanimity of temper, and that government of his animal appetites, t

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THE ABBE GALLANI.

THE ABBE GALLANI.

The Abbé Gallani ascribes all social crimes to animal destruction—thus, treachery to angling and ensnaring, and murder to hunting and shooting. And he asserts that the man who would kill a sheep, an ox, or any unsuspecting animal, would, but for the law, kill his neighbor....

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HOMER.

HOMER.

Even Homer, three thousand years ago, says Dr. Cheyne, could observe that the Homolgians—those Pythagoreans, those milk and vegetable eaters—were the longest lived and the honestest of men....

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DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

DR. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

Dr. Franklin, in his younger days, often, for some time together, lived exclusively on a vegetable diet, and that, too, in small quantity. During his after life he also observed seasons of abstinence from animal food, or lents , as he called them, of considerable length. His food and drink were, moreover, especially in early life, exceedingly simple; his meal often consisting of nothing but a biscuit and a slice of bread, with a bunch of raisins, and perhaps a basin of gruel. Now, Dr. F. testifi

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MR. NEWTON.

MR. NEWTON.

This author wrote a work entitled "Defence of Vegetable Regimen." It is often quoted by Shelley, the poet, and others. I know nothing of the author or of his works, except through Shelley, who gives us some of his views, and informs us that seventeen persons, of all ages, consisting of Mr. Newton's family and the family of Dr. Lambe, who is elsewhere mentioned in this work, had, at the time he wrote, lived seven years on a pure vegetable diet, and without the slightest illness. Of the seventeen,

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O. S. FOWLER.

O. S. FOWLER.

O. S. Fowler, the distinguished phrenologist, in his work on Physiology, devotes nearly one hundred pages to the discussion of the great diet question. He endeavors to show that, in every point of view, a flesh diet—or a diet partaking of flesh, fish, or fowl, in any degree—is inferior to a well-selected vegetable diet; and, as I think, successfully. He finally says: "I wish my own children had never tasted, and would never taste, a mouthful of meat. Increased health, efficiency, talents, virtue

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REV. MR. JOHNSTON.

REV. MR. JOHNSTON.

Mr. Johnston, who for some fifteen or twenty years has been an American missionary in different foreign places—Trebizond, Smyrna, etc.—is, from conviction, a vegetable eater. The author holds in his possession several letters from this gentleman, on the subject of health, from which, but for want of room, he would be glad to make numerous extracts. He once sent, or caused to be sent, to him, at Trebizond, a barrel of choice American apples, for which the missionary, amid numerous Eastern luxurie

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JOHN H. CHANDLER.

JOHN H. CHANDLER.

This young man has been for eight or ten years in the employ of the Baptist Foreign Missionary Board, and is located at Bangkok, in Siam. For several years before he left this country he was a vegetable eater, sometimes subsisting on mere fruit for one or two of his daily meals. And yet, as a mechanic, his labor was hard—sometimes severe. Since he has been in Siam he has continued his reformed habits, as appears from his letters and from reports. The last letter I had from him was dated June 10,

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REV. JESSE CASWELL.

REV. JESSE CASWELL.

Mr. Caswell went out to India about thirteen years ago, a dyspeptic, and yet perhaps somewhat better than while engaged in his studies at Andover. For several years after his arrival he suffered much from sickness, like his fellow-laborers. His station was Bangkok. He was an American missionary, sent out by the American Board, as it is called, of Boston. About six years ago he wrote me for information on the subject of health. He had read my works, and those of Mr. Graham, and seemed not only co

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MR. SAMUEL CHINN.

MR. SAMUEL CHINN.

This individual has represented the town of Marblehead, Mass., in the state legislature, and is a man of respectability. He is now, says the "Lynn Washingtonian," above forty years of age, a strong, healthy man, and, to use his own language, "has neither ache nor pain." For the ten years next preceding our last account from him he had lived on a simple vegetable diet, condemning to slaughter no flocks or herds that "range the valley free," but leaving them to their native, joyous hill-sides and

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FATHER SEWALL.

FATHER SEWALL.

This venerable man—Jotham Sewall, of Maine, as he styles himself, one of the fathers of that state—is now about ninety years of age, and yet is, what he has long been, an active home missionary. He is a man of giant size and venerable appearance, of a green old age, and remarkably healthy. He is an early riser, a man of great cheerfulness, and of the most simple habits. He has abstained from tea and coffee—poisonous things, as he calls them—forty-seven years. His only drinks are water and sage t

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MAGLIABECCHI,

MAGLIABECCHI,

An Italian, who died in the beginning of the eighteenth century, abjured cookery at the age of forty years, and confined himself chiefly to fruits, grains, and water. He never allowed himself a bed, but slept on a kind of settee, wrapped in a long morning gown, which served him for blanket and clothing the year round. I would not be understood as encouraging the anti-cookery system of Dr. Schlemmer and Magliabecchi; but it is interesting to know what can be done . Magliabecchi lived to the age o

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OBERLIN AND SWARTZ.

OBERLIN AND SWARTZ.

These two distinguished men were essentially vegetable eaters. Of the habits of Oberlin, the venerable pastor and father of Waldbach, I am not able to speak, however, with so much certainty as of those of Swartz. His income, during the early part of his residence in India, was only forty-eight pounds a year, which, being estimated by its ability to procure supplies for his necessities, was only equal to about one hundred dollars. He not only accepted of very narrow quarters, but ate, drank, and

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THE IRISH.

THE IRISH.

Much has been said of the dietetic habits of the Irish, of late years, especially of their potato. Now, we have abundant facts which go to prove that good potatoes form a wholesome aliment, equal, if not superior, to many forms of European and American diet. Yet it cannot be that a diet consisting wholly of potatoes is as well for the race as one partaking of greater variety. Mr. Gamble, a traveler in Ireland, in his work on Irish "Society and Manners," gives the following statement of an old fr

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JOHN BAILIES.

JOHN BAILIES.

John Bailies, of England, who reached the great age of one hundred and twenty-eight, is said to have been a strict vegetarian. His food, for the most part, consisted of brown bread and cheese; and his drink of water and milk. He had survived the whole town of Northampton (as he was wont to say), where he resided, three or four times over; and it was his custom to say that they were all killed by tea and coffee. Flesh meat at that time had not come into suspicion, otherwise he would doubtless hav

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FRANCIS HUPAZOLI.

FRANCIS HUPAZOLI.

This gentleman was a Sardinian ecclesiastic, at the first; afterward a merchant at Scio; and finally Venetian consul at Smyrna. Much has been said of Lewis Cornaro, who, having broken down his constitution at the age of forty, renewed it by his temperance, and lasted unto nearly the age of a century. His story is interesting and instructive; but little more so than that of Hupazoli. His habits were all remarkable for simplicity and truth, except one. He was greatly licentious; and his licentious

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MARY CAROLINE HINCKLEY.

MARY CAROLINE HINCKLEY.

This young woman, a resident of Hallowell, in Maine, and somewhat distinguished as a poet, is, from her own conviction and choice both, a vegetable eater. Her story, which I had from her friends, is substantially as follows: When about eleven years of age she suddenly changed her habits of eating, and steadfastly refused, at the table, all kinds of food which partook of flesh and fish. The family were alarmed, and afraid she was ill. When they made inquiry concerning it, she hesitated to assign

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JOHN WHITCOMB.

JOHN WHITCOMB.

John Whitcomb, of Swansey, N. H., at the age of one hundred and four was in possession of sound mind and memory, and had a fresh countenance; and so good was his health, that he rose and bathed himself in cold water even in mid-winter. His wounds, moreover, would heal like those of a child. And yet this man, for eighty years, refused to drink any thing but water; and for thirty years, at the close of life, confined himself chiefly to bread and milk as his diet....

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CAPT. ROSS, OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

CAPT. ROSS, OF THE BRITISH NAVY.

It is sometimes said that animal food is indispensably necessary in the polar regions. We have seen, however, in the testimony of Professor Sweetser, that this view of the case is hardly correct. But we have positive testimony on this subject from Capt. Ross himself. This navigator, with his company, spent the winter of 1830-31 above 70° of north latitude, without beds, clothing (that is, extra clothing), or animal food, and with no evidence of any suffering from the mere disuse of flesh and fis

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HENRY FRANCISCO.

HENRY FRANCISCO.

This individual, who died at Whitehall, N. Y., in the year 1820, at the age of one hundred and twenty-five years, was, during the latter part of his life, quite a Grahamite, as the moderns would call him. His favorite articles of food were tea, bread and butter, and baked apples; and he was even abstemious in the use of these....

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PROFESSOR FERGUSON.

PROFESSOR FERGUSON.

Professor Adam Ferguson, an individual not unknown in the literary world, was, till he was fifty years of age, regarded as quite healthy. Brought up in fashionable society, he was very often invited to fashionable dinners and parties, at which he ate heartily and drank wine—sometimes several bottles. Indeed, he habitually ate and drank freely; and, as he had by nature a very strong constitution, he thought nothing which he ate or drank injured him. Things went on in this manner, as I have alread

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HOWARD, THE PHILANTHROPIST.

HOWARD, THE PHILANTHROPIST.

Although individual cases of abstinence from animal food prove but little, yet they prove something in the case of a man so remarkable as John Howard. If he, with a constitution not very strong, and in the midst of the greatest fatigues of body and mind, could best sustain himself on a bread and water, or bread and tea diet, who is there that would not be well sustained on vegetable food? And yet it is certain that Howard was a vegetable eater for many years of the latter part of his life; and t

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GEN. ELLIOTT.

GEN. ELLIOTT.

The following extract exhibits in few words, the dietetic history of that brave and wise commander, General George Augustus Elliott, of the British army: "During the whole of his active life, Gen. Elliott had inured himself to the most rigid habits of order and watchfulness; seldom sleeping more than four hours a day, and never eating any thing but vegetable food, or drinking any thing but water. During eight of the most anxious days of the memorable siege of Gibraltar, he confined himself to fo

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ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA.

ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA.

The following testimony is from the Encyclopedia. I do not suppose the writer was the friend of a diet exclusively vegetable; but his testimony is therefore the more interesting. His only serious mistake is in regard to the tendency of vegetable food to form weak fibres. "Sometimes a particular kind of food is called wholesome, because it produces a beneficial effect of a particular character on the system of an individual. In this case, however, it is to be considered as a medicine; and can be

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MR. THOMAS BELL, OF LONDON.

MR. THOMAS BELL, OF LONDON.

Mr. Thomas Bell, Fellow of the Royal Society, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, Lecturer on the Anatomy and Diseases of the Teeth, at Guy's Hospital, and Surgeon Dentist to that institution, in his physiological observations on the natural food of man, deduced from the character of the teeth, says, "The opinion which I venture to give, has not been hastily formed, nor without what appeared to me sufficient grounds. It is not, I think, going too far to say, that every fact connec

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LINNÆUS, THE NATURALIST.

LINNÆUS, THE NATURALIST.

Linnæus, in speaking of fruits and esculent vegetables, says—"This species of food is that which is most suitable to man, as is evinced by the structure of the mouth, of the stomach, and of the hands."...

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SHELLEY, THE POET.

SHELLEY, THE POET.

The following are the views of that eccentric, though in many respects sensible writer, Shelley, as presented in a note to his work, called Queen Mab. I have somewhat abridged them, not solely to escape part of his monstrous religious sentiments, but for other reasons. I have endeavored, however, to preserve, undisturbed, his opinions and reasonings, which I hope will make a deep and abiding impression: "The depravity of the physical and moral nature of man, originated in his unnatural habits of

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REV. EZEKIEL RICH.

REV. EZEKIEL RICH.

This gentleman, once a teacher in Troy, N. H., now nearly seventy years of age, is a giant, both intellectually and physically, like Father Sewall, of Maine. The following is his testimony—speaking of what he calls his system: "Such a system of living was formed by myself, irrespective of Graham or Alcott, or any other modern dietetic philosophers and reformers, although I agree with them in many things. It allows but little use of flesh, condiments, concentrated articles, complex cooking, or ho

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REV. JOHN WESLEY.

REV. JOHN WESLEY.

The habits of this distinguished individual, though often adverted to, are yet not sufficiently known. For the last half of his long life (eighty-eight years) he was a thorough going vegetarian. He also testifies that for three or four successive years he lived entirely on potatoes; and during that whole time he never relaxed his arduous ministerial labors, nor ever enjoyed better health....

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LAMARTINE.

LAMARTINE.

Lamartine was educated a vegetarian of the strictest sort—an education which certainly did not prevent his possessing as fine a physical frame as can be found in the French republic. Of his mental and moral characteristics it is needless that I should speak. True it is that Lamartine ate flesh and fish at one period of his life; but we have the authority of Douglas Jerrold's London Journal for assuring our readers that he is again a vegetarian. [17] Some, however, represent the great apostle to

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SOCIETIES AND COMMUNITIES ON THE VEGETABLE SYSTEM.

SOCIETIES AND COMMUNITIES ON THE VEGETABLE SYSTEM.

The Pythagoreans.—The Essenes.—The Bramins.—Society of Bible Christians.—Orphan Asylum of Albany.—The Mexican Indians.—School in Germany.—American Physiological Society....

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GENERAL REMARKS.

GENERAL REMARKS.

The following chapter did not come within the scope of my plan, as it was originally formed. But in prosecuting the labors of preparing a volume on vegetable diet, it has more and more seemed to me desirable to add a short account of some of the communities and associations of men, both of ancient and modern times, who, amid a surrounding horde of flesh-eaters, have withstood the power of temptation, and proved, in some measure, true to their own nature, and the first impulses of mercy, humanity

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THE PYTHAGOREANS.

THE PYTHAGOREANS.

Pythagoras appears to have flourished about 550 years before Christ. He was, probably, a native of the island of Samos; but a part of his education, which was extensive and thorough, was received in Egypt. He taught a new philosophy; and, according to some, endeavored to enforce it by laying claim to supernatural powers. But, be this as it may have been, he was certainly a man of extraordinary qualities and powers, as well as of great and commanding influence. In an age of great luxury and licen

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THE ESSENES.

THE ESSENES.

The following account of this singular sect of the ancient Jews is abridged from an article in the Annals of Education, for July, 1836. The number of this vegetable-eating sect is not known, though, according to Philo, there were four thousand of them in the single province of Judea. "Pliny, says that the Essenes of Judea fed on the fruit of the palm-tree. But, however this may have been, it is agreed, on all hands, that, like the ancient Pythagoreans, they lived exclusively on vegetable food, a

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THE BRAMINS.

THE BRAMINS.

The Bramins, or Brahmins, are, as is probably well known, the first of the four castes among the Hindoos. They are the priests of the people, and are remarkable, in their way, for their sanctity. Of their number I am not at present apprised, but it must be very great. But, however great it may be, they are vegetable eaters of the strictest sect. They are not even allowed to eat eggs; and I believe milk and its products are also forbidden them; but of this I am not quite certain. Besides adhering

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SOCIETY OF BIBLE CHRISTIANS.

SOCIETY OF BIBLE CHRISTIANS.

This society has existed in Great Britain nearly half a century. They abstain from flesh, fish, and fowl—in short, from every thing that has animal life—and from all alcoholic liquors. Of their number in the kingdom I am not well informed. In Manchester they have three churches that have regular preachers; and frequent meetings have been held for discussing the diet question within a few years, some of which have been well attended, and all of which have been interesting. Among those who have ad

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ORPHAN ASYLUM OF ALBANY.

ORPHAN ASYLUM OF ALBANY.

I class this as a community, because it is properly so, and because I cannot conveniently class it otherwise. The facts which are to be related are too valuable to be lost. They were first published, I believe, in the Northampton Courier; and subsequently in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and in the Moral Reformer. In the present case, the account is greatly abridged. The Orphan Asylum of Albany was established about the close of the year 1829, or the beginning of the year 1830. Shortl

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THE MEXICAN INDIANS.

THE MEXICAN INDIANS.

The Indian tribes of Mexico, according to the traveler Humboldt, live on vegetable food. A spot of ground, which, if cultivated with wheat, as in Europe, would sustain only ten persons, and which by its produce, if converted into pork or beef, would little more than support one, will in Mexico, when used for banana, sustain equally well two hundred and fifty. The reader will do well to take the above fact, and the estimates appended to it, along with him when he comes to examine what I have call

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SCHOOL IN GERMANY.

SCHOOL IN GERMANY.

There is, in the Annals of Education for August, 1836, an account of a school in which the same simple system which was pursued in the Orphan Asylum at Albany was adopted, and with the same happy results. I say the same system; I believe plain meat was allowed occasionally, but it was seldom. Their food was exceedingly simple, consisting chiefly of bread and other vegetables, fruits and milk. Great attention was also paid to daily cold bathing. The following is the teacher's statement in regard

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THE AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

THE AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

This association was formed in 1837. When first formed, it consisted of one hundred and twenty-four males, and forty-one females; in all, one hundred and sixty-five. Their number soon increased to more than two hundred. Most of these individuals were more or less feeble, and a very large proportion of them were actually suffering from chronic disease when they became members of the society. Not a few joined it, indeed, as a last resort, after having tried every thing else, as drowning men are sa

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VEGETABLE DIET DEFENDED.

VEGETABLE DIET DEFENDED.

General Remarks on the Nature of the Argument—1. The Anatomical Argument.—2. The Physiological Argument.—3. The Medical Argument.—4. The Political Argument.—5. The Economical Argument.—6. The Argument from Experience.—7. The Moral Argument.—Conclusion. In the progress of a work like this, it may not be amiss to present, in a very brief manner, the general arguments in defence of a diet exclusively vegetable. Some of them have, indeed, already been adverted to in the testimony of the preceding ch

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OF A

OF A

In the work of revising and preparing the foregoing volume for publication, the writer was requested to add to it a system of vegetable cookery. At first he refused to do so, both on account of the difficulty of bringing so extensive a subject within the compass of twenty or thirty pages, and because it did not seem to him to be called for, in connection with the present volume. But he has yielded his own judgment to the importunity of the publishers and other friends of the work, and prepared a

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CLASS I.—FARINACEOUS, OR MEALY SUBSTANCES.

CLASS I.—FARINACEOUS, OR MEALY SUBSTANCES.

The principal of these are wheat, oats, Indian corn, rice, rye, barley, buckwheat, millet, chestnuts, peas, beans, and lentils. They are prepared in various forms....

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DIVISION I.—BREAD.

DIVISION I.—BREAD.

The true idea of bread is that coarse or cracked and unbolted meal, formed into a mass of dough by means of water, and immediately baked in loaves of greater or less thickness, according to the fancy. Some use bolted meal; most raise bread by fermentation; many use salt; some saleratus, or carbonate of potash; and, in the country, many use milk instead of water to form the paste. I might also mention several other additions, which, like saleratus, it is becoming fashionable to make. All these th

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DIVISION II.—WHOLE GRAINS.

DIVISION II.—WHOLE GRAINS.

Some have maintained that since man is made to live on grain, fruits, etc., and since the most perfect mastication is secured by the use of uncooked grains, it is useless, and worse than useless, to resort to cookery at all, especially the cookery of bread. I have mentioned Dr. Schlemmer and his followers already as holding this opinion. Many of these people confine themselves to the use of uncooked grains and fruits. They do not cook their beans and peas. Nor can it be denied that they enjoy th

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DIVISION III.—CAKES

DIVISION III.—CAKES

This species of farinaceous food is much used, and is fast coming into vogue. The term, in its largest sense, would include the unleavened bread or cakes, of which I have spoken so freely in Division 1. They are for the most part, however, made by the addition of butter, eggs, aromatics, milk, etc., to the dough; and in proportion as they depart from simple bread, are more and more unhealthy. I shall mention but a few, though hundreds might be named which would still be vegetable food, as good o

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DIVISION IV.—PUDDINGS.

DIVISION IV.—PUDDINGS.

These are a species of bread, only made thinner. They are usually unfermented. I shall speak of two kinds—hominy and puddings proper. This is usually eaten hot; but it improves on keeping a day or two. It may be warmed over, if necessary. Receipt 1. —Wheat hominy, or cracked wheat, may be made into a species of pudding thus: Stir the hominy into boiling water (a little salted, if it must be so), very gradually. Boil from fifteen minutes to one hour. If boiled too long, it has a raw taste. Receip

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DIVISION V.—PIES.

DIVISION V.—PIES.

Pies, as commonly made, are vile compounds. The crust is usually the worst part. The famous Peter Parley (S. G. Goodrich, Esq.), in his Fireside Education, represents pies, cakes, and sweetmeats as totally unfit for the young. Within a few years attempts have been made to get rid of the crust of pies—the abominations of the crust, I mean—by using Indian meal sifted into the pans, etc.; but the plan has not succeeded. It is the pastry that gives pies their charm. Divest them of this, and people w

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CLASS II.—FRUITS.

CLASS II.—FRUITS.

So far as fruits, at least in an uncooked state, have been used as food, they have chiefly been regarded as a dessert, or at most as a condiment. Until within a few years, few regarded them as a principal article—as standing next to bread in point of importance. In treating of these substances as food, I shall simply divide them into Domestic and Foreign....

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DIVISION I.—DOMESTIC FRUITS.

DIVISION I.—DOMESTIC FRUITS.

Receipt 1. —The apple. May be baked in tin pans, or in a common bake pan. The sweet apple requires a more intense heat than the sour. The skin may be removed before baking, but it is better to have it remain. The best apple pie in the world is a baked apple. Receipt 2. —It may be roasted before the fire, by being buried in ashes, or by throwing it upon hot coals, and quickly turning it. The last process is sometimes called hunting it. Receipt 3. —It may be boiled, either in water alone, or in wa

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DIVISION II.—FOREIGN FRUITS.

DIVISION II.—FOREIGN FRUITS.

The more important of these are the banana, pine-apple, and orange, and fig, raisin, prune, and date. The first three need no cooking, two of the last four may be cooked. The date is one of the best—the orange one of the worst, because procured while green, and also because it is stringy. Receipt 1. —The prune. Few things sit easier on the feeble or delicate stomach than the stewed prune. It should be stewed slowly, in very little water. Receipt 2. —The good raisin is almost as much improved by

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CLASS III.—ROOTS.

CLASS III.—ROOTS.

These are the potato, in its numerous varieties, the artichoke, the ground-nut, and the comfrey. Of these the potato is by far the most important. This may be roasted, baked, boiled, steamed, or fried. It is also made into puddings and pies. Roasting in the ashes is the best method of cooking it; frying by far the worst. I take this opportunity to enter my protest against all frying of food. Com. Nicholson, of revolutionary memory, would never, as his daughters inform me, have a frying-pan in hi

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DIVISION II.—SWEET AND WATERY ROOTS.

DIVISION II.—SWEET AND WATERY ROOTS.

These are far less healthy than the mealy ones; and yet are valuable, because, like potatoes, they furnish the system with a good deal of innutritious matter, to be set off against the almost pure nutriment of bread, rice, beans, peas, etc. Receipt 1. —The beet is best when boiled thoroughly, which requires some care and a good deal of time. It may be roasted, baked, or stewed, however. It is rich in sugar, but is not very easily digested. Receipt 2. —The parsnep. The boiled parsnep is more easi

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CLASS IV.—MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD.

CLASS IV.—MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES OF FOOD.

Under this head I shall treat briefly of the proper use of a few substances commonly and very properly used as food, but which cannot well come under any of the foregoing classes. They are chiefly found in the various chapters of my Young Housekeeper, as well as in Dr. Pereira's work on Food and Diet, under the heads of "Buds and Young Shoots," "Leaves and Leaf Stalks," "Cucurbitaceous Fruits," and "Oily Seeds." Receipt 1. —Asparagus, well boiled, is nutritious and wholesome. Salt is often added

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Publishers of Scientific and Popular STANDARD WORKS,

Publishers of Scientific and Popular STANDARD WORKS,

In order to accommodate "The People" residing in all parts of the United States, the Publishers will forward, by return of the first mail , any book named in this List. The postage will be prepaid by them at the New York Post-office. By this arrangement of paying postage in advance, fifty per cent. is saved to the purchaser. The price of each work, including postage, is given, so that the exact amount may be remitted. Fractional parts of a dollar may be sent in postage-stamps. All letters contai

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Works on Phrenology.

Works on Phrenology.

Phrenology Proved, Illustrated and Applied ; accompanied by a Chart, embracing an Analysis of the Primary Mental Powers in their Various Degrees of Development, the Phenomena produced by their Combined Activity, and the location of the Phrenological Organs in the Head. Together with a View of the Moral and Theological Bearing of the Science. By O. S. and L. N. Fowler. Price, $1 25. This is a Practical, Standard Work , and may be described as a complete system of the principles and practice of Ph

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American Phrenological Journal.

American Phrenological Journal.

A Repository of Science, Literature, and General Intelligence; Devoted to Phrenology, Physiology, Education, Mechanism, Agriculture, and to all those Progressive Measures which are calculated to Reform, Elevate, and Improve Mankind. Illustrated with Numerous Portraits and other Engravings. Quarto form, suitable for binding. Published Monthly, at One Dollar a Year. It may be termed the standard authority in all matters pertaining to Phrenology, while the beautiful typography of the Journal, and t

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Combe's Lectures on Phrenology;

Combe's Lectures on Phrenology;

Including its application to the present and prospective condition of the United States. With Notes, an Essay on the Phrenological Mode of Investigation, and an Historical Sketch. By Andrew Boardman, M.D. Illustrated. Muslin, $1 25. Education Complete . Embracing Physiology Animal and Mental, applied to the Preservation and Restoration of Health of Body and Power of Mind; Self Culture and Perfection of Character, including the Management of Youth; Memory and Intellectual Improvement, applied to

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Fowler and Wells,

Fowler and Wells,

If the people can be thoroughly indoctrinated in the general principles of Hydropathy , and make themselves acquainted with the Laws of Life and Health , they will well-nigh emancipate themselves from all need of doctors of any sort— Dr. Trall . Hydropathic Encyclopædia : A System of Hydropathy and Hygiene. Containing Outlines of Anatomy; Physiology of the Human Body; Hygienic Agencies, and the Preservation of Health; Dietetics, and Hydropathic Cookery; Theory and Practice of Water Treatment; Sp

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Fowler and Wells,

Fowler and Wells,

The Complete Gymnasium . A profusely illustrated work. Being the application of Gymnastic, Calisthenic, Kinesipathic, and Vocal Exercises to the Development of Body and Mind, and the Cure of Disease. By R. T. Trall, M.D. Price, $1 25. Hereditary Descent : its Laws and Facts applied to Human Improvement. By O. S. Fowler. Price, 87 cents. Food and Diet ; with Observations on the Dietetic Regimen suited to Disordered States of the Digestive Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of some of the Pri

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Miscellaneous.

Miscellaneous.

How To Write : a New Pocket Manual of Composition and Letter-Writing, embracing Hints on Penmanship and choice of Writing Materials, Practical Rules for Literary Composition in general, and Epistolary and Newspaper Writing, Punctuation, and Proof Correcting in particular; Directions for Writing Letters of Business, Relationship, Friendship and Love, Illustrated with numerous Examples of Genuine Epistles from the pens of the Best Writers, to which are added Forms for Letters of Introduction, Note

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Mesmerism and Psychology.

Mesmerism and Psychology.

A NEW AND COMPLETE LIBRARY OF MESMERISM AND PSYCHOLOGY, embracing the most popular works on the subject, with suitable Illustrations. In two volumes of about 900 pp. Price, $3 00. ELECTRICAL PSYCHOLOGY, Physiology of. In a Course of Twelve Lectures. By John Bovee Dods. Muslin. Price, 87 cents. MACROCOSM AND MICROCOSM; or, the Universe Without and the Universe With in; in the World of Sense, and the World of Soul. By Wm. Fishbough. Price, Paper, 62 cents; Muslin, 87 cents. FASCINATION; or, the Ph

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