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Vol. II+] J A N U A R Y . [No. I.
"THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
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WM. A. ALCOTT, Editor.
Author of the “Young Minn’s Guide,” “Young Mother,” and “House
I live in ; ” and Conductor of the Annals of Education.
CONTENTS.
Prospective Remarks, . . . . . , 9 M is C F I.L.A NY.
Poisonous Medicines, . . . . . . 13 || Essay on Tobacco, . . . . . . . . 37
Tak Sisson, . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Insane, . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Man Omnivorous, . . . . . . . . . 20 | Physiology in Schools, . . . . . . 39
How to take Cold, . . . . . . . . 27 | Wheat Meal, . . . . . . . . . . . 40
City Restorators, . . . . . . . . . 33 || Bread, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Fate of Reformers, . . . . . . . . 36 || Ardent Spirits, . . . . . . . . . . 40
B O S T O N :
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Šold in all parts of the U. . . . . . . . . . .
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One sheet. Postage, under 100 miles . . . . . . s. 2 -2 c tº Int .
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PRINTERS, PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERs,
1 CORNHILL, (FACING WASHINGTON STREET,)
Are constantly receiving fresh supplies of ScHool, THEolog-
1c AI, and MISCELLANEOUs Books, which they offer for sale on
the most reasonable terms—together with a good assortment
of STATIONARY. Among their own publications they would ask
particular attention to the following popular works:
THE BOSTON BOOK, for 1837, being Specimens of Metro-
politan Literature. Edited by B. B. THATCHER. Elegantly executed, and embellished
by a Vignette of Tri-Mountain. ºf Copies in arabesque, gilt, for Presents.
THE YOUNG MOTHER, or MANAGEMENT of CHILDREN IN
REGARD To HEALTH. By DR. ALcotºr, author of the “Young Man’s Guide.” Highly
recommended by the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, and by the press generally.
Nearly all of two large editions have been sold within a few months. 3) # Copies in
elegant binding for Presents.
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN.—SEcond EDITION, entirely re-
written, enlarged and improved, with numerous engravings. By DR. ALcott. A popular
work for the Young, on the Structure of the Human Body. Adapted to Families and
Schools. (Will be out in a few days.)
THE ITALIAN SKETCH BOOK.—By H. T. TucKERMAN.
Second Edition. Descriptive of Italian Scenery and Mianners. This edition is enlarged
and improved. Handsomely executed, with a Plate. §§ Suitable for a Present.
MOGG MEGONE. A Poem descriptive of New England and
its early inhabitants. By John GREENLEAF WHITTIER. Neat Pocket edition.
SCIENTIFIC TRACTS, for the Diffusion of Useful Knowl-
edge. Complete in one volume. With an engraving of the “Tree of Philosophy.” The
Tracts furnished by B. B. Thatcher, Lt. R. Park, Dr. Alcott, D. H. Howard, Dr. C. T.
Jackson. Rev. W. M. Rogers, Wm. Ladd, Sylvester Graham, J. R. Parker, R. A. Coffin,
Dr. S. Fish. A valuable book for the library—that of young men in particular.
TJSEFUL STANDARD PERIODICAL.
THE SCIENTIFIC AND LITERARY JOURNAL, For
THE DIFFUsion of Use FCL KNow LEDGE. A periodical work, being a continuation of
the Sct ENT, Fic TRACTs, with extensive improvements. The matter and execution to
be of the first order. Price $2 a year. The first nuinber for this year is ready for exami-
nation.
TO OUR SUBSCRIBERS.
WE have concluded to change the title of this work,
on account of the fact that the name “Moral Reformer ‘’
occasioned considerable misunderstanding of its objects,
with a large portion of the community, and was conse-
quently a stumbling-block in the way of its extensive cir-
culation. The design of the work is not altered, except
that we may hereafter confine ourselves more strictly to
subjects immediately connected with health and the laws
of the human constitution.
In addition to many other subjects, we intend, in the
present and future volumes, to treat on the influence of
the various affections and passions on health—hope, fear,
love, hatred, joy, sorrow, patience, grief, &c. We also
propose to speak of the effects of occupations on health
and happiness, and the best means of guarding against
the diseases to which some of them expose us. No exer-
tion will be wanting on our part, to make the series, of
which this is the third volume, in the fullest sense a
Library of Health—worthy of a place in the library of
every family and of every young man.
[D. We wish it to be understood, that it will be impossi-
ble for us to send more than one number of this volume to
any subscriber out of the city who does not comply with
our terms in regard to advance payment, unless some
satisfactory reason is given. We feel confident that our
friends will require us to say no more on this point, than
that the life and health of the work will not permit us to
go on any other principle. We therefore hope to hear
immediately from all who wish to continue it, that we
may send them the next number in proper season. Those
who do not wish to continue, (if any,) in the city or out,
are requested to return this number, with their names and
residences on the margin of the cover.
LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
PROSPECTIVE REMARKS.
THIS work was begun as an experiment, entirely at the
risk of the editor, without the advice or countenance of
many friends, and with only one subscriber. It was
begun from a conviction of the importance and necessity
of such a work to the community, and in the belief that
when its object should be fully understood, it would be
sustained; but it was at the same time begun and contin-
ued with a determination that, whether it should receive
much or little immediate patronage, it should go on as long
as the life and health and pecuniary means of the Editor
should permit.
The experiment has now been carried on for two years;
with how much or how little ability, it is for others to
decide. It is sufficient perhaps for us to say that from a
single subscriber, the number has increased to nearly two
thousand; and this, too, without much special effort—we
mean by the usual means of travelling agents.
This number of subscribers will not, it is true, sustain
the work liberally. Neither the editor nor the publishers
are well paid for their labors. The truth is, no American
monthly journal, of the size and price of this, and almost
wholly original and thoroughly studied, can fully and
I
10 PROSPECTIVE REMARKS.
fairly pay for itself—much more be profitable to those
who are concerned in it—without a list of at least five
thousand subscribers. But we say again that the work
shall go on, whether we get our pay for it or not. We
know not but our prospects of raising the subscription to
five thousand, in two years to come, are as good as they
were, two years ago, of raising it to two thousand.
The work shall go on, because many of the same evils
which existed two years ago, and which seemed to us to
demand, most imperiously, the circulation of such a work,
are still abroad.
It shall go on, because no errors are more fruitful of
mischief than those which are connected with an univer-
sal and lamentable ignorance of the laws of nature, espe-
cially of the human constitution.
It shall go on, because every hour's observation and
experience deepen the conviction in our own mind that
man, in a civic state, and especially in a state which is
regarded as highly cultivated or refined, cannot perform,
as a rational being ought to do, the varied duties of human
life, without a knowledge of the human constitution, its
laws and relations.
We shall unceasingly maintain the great doctrine which
we believe to be clearly taught in the Bible, that it is our
duty to sustain every relation in life, and perform every
duty, in the best possible manner—in such a manner as
will most conduce to the general good; and that to this
end, and in order to act up to the dignity of this doctrine,
and our matures, we should regard it as a most reasonable
service to present or devote to God our whole bodies,
that is, our whole being, body, soul and spirit. We believe
that man's body, as the habitation of the immortal spirit,
is included in the great work of redemption; and that
until this body is trained as it should be—until physical
education is conducted on the strict principles of anatomy
FROSPECTIVE REMARKS. II.
and physiology—man cannot be in the fullest sense re-
deemed or happy. In one word, we believe that until
men are trained to be more perfect as men, and to enjoy
a greater average measure of health and bodily vigor, they
can be little more than mere fragments of men; and
that he who would think of hastening the latter day glory
of the world without improving at the same time the living
human frame, as well as the human mind and heart, loses,
by acting at a disadvantage, a large part of his labor. We
believe that Christianity should be so applied to physical
education and management as to prevent, in no small de-
gree, vice and disease; and to enable men, everywhere,
and in all circumstances, whether they eat or drink, or
whatever they do, to do all to the glory of God; and not
merely to his glory in a small or stinted degree, but in the
highest possible measure.
The work shall go on, because we feel encouraged to
continue it. Many profess, in the warmest terms, to be
benefited by our labors. It is true that few of our readers
appear to approve of all our opinions, but we find none
who have read the work faithfully from the beginning to
the present time who are willing to give it up. However
great may be their disapprobation of some of our views,
they say, with scarcely a dissenting voice, “The work
must be continued.”
It shall go on, because we are no longer compelled to
walk alone. Although we have gained strength during
the past year, it is encouraging to have company. The
editors of several periodicals, both in this country and in
Europe, have espoused the cause in which we are en-
gaged; and not a few of them are among our truest
friends, and warmest and most zealous supporters.
Neither are we the less convinced of its importance,
and usefulness, and necessity, on account of the opposi-
tion it finds. There are some individuals—some, too,
12 PROSPECTIVE REMARKS.
from whom might be expected better things—who, having
glanced at a few of our numbers, or perhaps seen some
passage which, in its insulated condition, appeared to them
objectionable, would gladly ridicule us, and thwart our
purpose, and oppose our progress. We need some little
opposition, to keep us vigilant and awake to our duty;
and should not the opposition hereafter assume a much
more formidable aspect than it now does, we shall be
quite as much indebted to it, as we are to those numerous
friends who bid us God speed.
We lay no claim to infallibility. To the LAw—the
laws of the human constitution, no less than the law of
the Bible—and to the TESTIMONY of a just, not a false,
experience, we make our appeal. If we speak not accord-
ing to these, then we are ready to admit there is no light
in us, or that the light in us has become darkness. We
are mere learners—mere infants in the science of human
life; and we trust God has given us so much of honesty
of purpose, that we are both willing to be wiser to-day than
we were yesterday, and to acknowledge our errors of
yesterday, when our duty to the reader of to-day demands
it. We are inquirers after truth; we would be humble
and honest in our inquiries, and assist our readers in
becoming so.
We are no perfectionists—no believers in what is called
human perfectibility. It has not unfrequently been told
us—sometimes with a sneer—“According to your doctrines
men would never die. You say disease and suffering are
solely the consequences of ignorance, error, and sin–and
these you would gladly remove. Now if you could gain
your end, and remove or prevent these, men could not die.
How could they die without disease ?”
Our reply to all this is, and ever has been, that we do
not presume to say, how long human life can be length-
ened, or to what extent disease may be prevented; but we
POISONOUS MEDICINES. 13
do say that just in proportion as man can be trained on cor-
rect principles of physiology, just in the same proportion
will there be an increase not only in the duration of human
life, but of human health while life lasts. To what age
life may be extended, and to what extent disease may be
prevented, physiology does not say ; nor does the Bible.
Both teach us to hope for much in this respect; but they
also teach us that, do what we may, death will atlast arrive,
whether it be by disease or not ; whether our departure is
attended by more or less of those spasms and struggles
which plainly indicate that violence has been inflicted on
the constitution, or whether life is extinguished as quietly
as the lamp goes out in the socket, for want of oil to sup-
port it. --
We say again, then, in concluding our remarks, that
our great object is the application of christianity to phys-
ical education and self-management, in such a manner as
to accomplish, in the highest possible degree, what the
scripture calls the redemption and sanctification of the
whole body; to fulfil, to the highest possible extent, the
intention of the apostolic injunction—“Whether therefore
ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory
of God.”
POISONOUS MEDICINES.
THE physiologist Broussais is greatly opposed to the
use of tartar emetic, given to produce vomiting. He says
that all emetics, but especially this, “make a direct attack
upon the sensitive expansion of the stomach, (that is, its
internal surface;) they irritate it, produce an unnatural
afflux towards it, and tend to inflame it.”
14 . POISONOUS MEDICINES.
He is still more strongly opposed to the use of tartar
emetic, where there is slight inflammation of the mucous
membrane of the stomach and of the lining membrane of
the intestines, than when we are healthy. But this slight
inflammation of the stomach, according to his views—and
we are afraid he is more than half right—exists in most
adults who have been trained to the fashionable mode of
free living—to eating and drinking things too stimulating.
In most of those persons who, having this sub-inflam-
mation of the lining membrane of the stomach and intes-
tines, take tartar emetic, he says digestion is often de-
stroyed by it for many years. They are left with a slow
inflammation of the stomach, and with a tendency to con-
vulsive motions in this organ and in the intestines; they
become hypochondriac and nervous; and if, in the belief
that these troubles arise from weakness of the stomach,
we add to the evils which afflict them, a free use of tomics,
(wine, bitters, Peruvian bark, &c.) their life thereafter is
nothing but a succession of calamities, and the most mel-
ancholy end awaits them. This is often brought about by
cancer in those parts, or by other slow and painful diseases.
Oh, what miseries do mankind suffer from the injudi-
cious use of medicine; often for so many years after they
use it, that they never dream of any connection between the
two, as cause and effect. And herein consists our trouble
as reformers in the department of public health. People
will rely solely on what they call their own experience.
Alas, how fallacious a guide! We do not ask them to
turn experience out of doors; but we do beg them not to
trust, in matters pertaining to health, to their experience
alone; at least till they know something of the structure
of their own bodies and the laws which pertain to their
interior cavities.
Jugglers, as they are called—this is a well known fact—
swallow with apparent impunity, for a series of years, flints,
POISONOUS MEDICINES. 15
knives, and other like substances. Suppose they were
to say during this period of exemption from suffering,
“Knives and flints cannot be injurious as food, for we
have swallowed them for years without any injury.”
Would they not reason from their own experience 2 But
the end of all this is, inflammation of the stomach and
intestines, and a protracted and sometimes painful death.
Let people, in view of such facts as these, beware about
trusting too much, as they are accustomed to do, to their
own experience. Let them seek the light of science to
aid them in their progress in the journey of existence.
“We must place, says Broussais, on the next line with
emetics and purgatives, all mineral preparations—all bit-
ters, acrid substances and corrosives in small doses—in a
word, all medical agents which obstinately resist assimi-
lation.”
We have often been at a loss to conceive why Broussais
and others have such a horror of the poisonous mineral
preparations, as calomel, tartar emetic, &c.—for these it is
of which they are wont to complain most—and yet seem
to care so little about the poisonous vegetable medicines.
They cannot but know that some of the most acrid poisons
in the whole catalogue of medicine are from the vegetable
kingdom. Either is bad enough, however; and Broussais
himself, in another part of his writings, along with calo-
mel, corrosive sublimate, and purgative salts, connects the
Peruvian bark and other vegetable bitters; and says that
those who have been addicted to the use of such things
“become pale, examinate and scorbutic, and end their
days in a state of marasmus or dropsy. It is not the
digestive surface alone that suffers, but the whole animal
economy.”
The mention of purgative salts along with such a poison
as corrosive sublimate should lead us to state the fact that
multitudes of the human race make it a kind of every-day
16 POISONOUS MEDICINES.
practice to take salts. “Oh, they are so harmless! If they
do no good they will do no harm l’’ Tremendous mistake.
Yet it is everywhere made. We verily believe that
thousands of American citizens go down to a premature
grave every year, victims to this taking of salts, on every
trivial occasion.
“But you would frighten us out of the use of all medi-
cine !” Would to heaven we could frighten you out of
the injurious habit of taking medicine of any kind what-
ever, without consulting a physician. Would that we
could drive you back from this wretched quackery on
yourselves, and that encouragement of quackery which is
still more wretched, to a greater reliance on the formation
of judicious early habits by way of prevention, and to a
firm and confident reliance on skilful common sense phy-
sicians to assist you in the great work. Empiricism,
quackery, everywhere rife in the community, destroys
more lives than famine, pestilence, and the sword ' We
might even say it destroys more than gluttony, intemper-
ance, and licentiousness, were it not usually connected so
closely with this abominable trio that it is difficult to dis-
tinguish the proper effects which belong to each.
We have full confidence in medicine and physicians.
We would gladly have a skilful physician to advise us
every quarter, at least, in regard to the future; and should
we become sick, so as to feel incompetent for our own
management, we should certainly give ourselves up most
cheerfully to his management; just as we should do,
were we the commander of a merchant ship, and found a
pilot necessary. We should give up the ship, for the
time, into his hands; and not presume to say one word by
way of authority, or even of advice.
“Would you take poisonous medicines?” Yes, if he
ordered it. We are of opinion that there are cases which
demand their use; and he certainly ought to know better
POISONOUS MEDICINES. 17
than we, when they occur. We do not believe a judicious
experienced physician would injure us with them by
design.
But though we have great confidence in physicians, we
have more, still, in preventive measures—measures calcu-
lated to keep us from the necessity of making use of them.
We would that the laws of life were so well understood
and observed everywhere, that we could starve them out,
or rather drive them to the necessity of resorting to some
other occupation to earn their bread. But alas, they need
not fear. This everlasting propensity to quackery in the
community will be sure to lead people to courses of con-
duct which will furnish physicians, for centuries to come,
with work enough to do. -
The mere fact that the frequent use of medicinal sub-
stances places us in such a condition that they fail to do
us the good which might otherwise be expected when we
are really sick, is quite enough to drive us away from our
reliance on medicine and apothecaries’ shops, were there
any hope of our reformation at all. We have seen many
a spirit-drinker and opium-taker, and resorter to bitters,
seized with epidemic diseases which, had they not been
in the habit of taking these poisons and drugs, would
probably have readily yielded to their medicinal action.
But their wretched habits had steeled them against their
influence; and they went down to the grave. You will
hardly find such a person recover from a dangerous dis-
ease. When will the sons of men learn wisdom on this
great and important subject :
IS TAK SISSON,
TAK SIS SON.
[The following sketch, addressed to the editor of this work, is from a
source on which we may place the most implicit reliance.]
I suppose neither yourself nor your readers have ever
heard of Tak Sisson—and as he was quite an interesting
character, I will give you a short account of him.
Thomas Sisson, a very wealthy and respectable farmer,
Hived in Tiverton, Rhode Island, before and during the
American Revolution. He had twelve slaves;–the father,
mother, and ten children. Among the children was one
called Tak—Tak Sisson. Tak, from early childhood to
adult age, could never be prevailed on to eat any flesh
meat; but he subsisted on vegetable food and milk;—
neither could he ever 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 would not eat flesh. They told him if he did
not eat meat, he would never be good for anything; but
would always be a poor puny creature.
But Tak persevered in his vegetable and unstimulating
diet; and to the surprise of all, grew fast, and his body
was finely developed and athletic; and he was very
strong and robust; and altogether the most vigorous and
active and dexterous of any of the family. He finally
became more than six feet high, and every way well-pro-
portioned; and remarkable for his agility and strength.
He was so uncommonly shrewd and bright, and strong,
and active, that he became notorious for his shrewdness
and for his feats of strength and agility. Indeed, he was
so full of his playful mischief, that he greatly annoyed
the overseer.
TAK SISSON. 19
During the Revolution, Tak was sent by his master into
the army, to serve as a substitute for another man who
was drafted. When Col. Barton took Gen. Prescott on
Long Island, Tak was one of Col. B.'s chosen men; and
the one on whom he most depended. Having entered the
house where Gen. P. was quartered, Col. B., followed by
Tak and two or three others, proceeded silently to the
door of the chamber where Gen. P. was sleeping. The
colonel finding the door fastened, turned and whispered to
Tak—“I wish that door opened, General Prescott taken,
and carried by the guard to the boat, without the least
moise or disturbance.”
Tak stepped back two or three paces, then plunging
violently against the door, burst it open, and rushed into
the middle of the room. At the same instant Gen. Prescott
sprang from his bed and seized his gold watch, hanging
upon the wall. Tak sprang upon him like a tiger, and
clasping the general in his brawny arms, said in a low,
stern voice—“One word, and you are a dead man | *
Then hastily snatching the general's cloak and wrapping
it round his body, and at the same time telling his com-
panions to take the rest of his clothes, he took the General
in his arms, as if a child, and ran with him by the guard
towards the boat, followed by Col. Barton and the rest of
his little company. I need add only, that they succeeded
in reaching the boat and escaping from the Island with
their prisoner, without giving the least alarm.
Tak Sisson lived many years after the close of the war,
and attained to great age; remarkable through life for his
activity, strength and shrewdness.
20 MAN OMNº OROUS.
MAN OMNIWOROUS.
THERE is a sense in which it may be said that the
Creator has made man omnivorous. He has a physical
capacity for eating and digesting and assimilating, (chang-
ing into flesh, bones, blood, &c.) to a far greater extent
than any other animal. He can range over and subject to
his use the whole animal and vegetable world; indeed, he
can almost derive nourishment from a few of the minerals.
He can subsist, and even enjoy a degree of health, on food
which is exclusively vegetable, on that which is exclusively
animal, or on that which is mixed; and he can accustom
himself not only to much or little at a time, but to an
almost endless variety in the form and manner and hour
of receiving it.
In like manner, he can dwell in almost every climate,
and enjoy, everywhere, if he is prudent in other respects,
a measure of health. From the equator and the burning
sands around it, almost to either pole, he can live, and in
no small degree enjoy life. Existence is to him a boon,
even in the worst climates.
The same remark, in substance, might be made in
regard tö our capability of accommodating ourselves to
almost every form and variety of dress, and exercise; and
to circumstances exceedingly various as regards sleep,
purity of body, and of the atmosphere.
We may even go farther. Man has the power or capac-
ity—given no doubt for the wisest ends—of conforming
himself to every variety of intellectual and moral food,
atmosphere, &c. The mind may grow when fed on nov-
els, and the most vitiated books; and the affections of the
heart may be in some degree developed in the worst moral
atmosphere, and under almost the worst moral influences.
In one word, man is not only omnivorous—susceptible of
MAN OMNIWOROUS. 2I
deriving nourishment from all things—physically, but also
mentally and morally.
But because he can subsist on all things, does it there-
fore follow that he must eat all things? In morals—
though he may form character under the worst influences,
does it follow that no choice is to be exercised in regard
to circumstances or condition ? In intellect—though the
mind may be fed and may even grow by reading books of
a very inferior character, is no selection therefore to be
made 2 In physical matters—because man can eat all
things, must he therefore eat all things 2
For what purpose, then, in the name of reason and
sober sense, is man a free agent? Why is it given him
to exercise the right of choice 2 why even the power of
locomotion, if he is to submit himself like a mere ma-
chine to the circumstances which surround him, and use
no effort to control them, or render them subservient to
his improvement—to the highest improvement, even, of
which his whole nature, physical, intellectual, social and
moral, is capable 2
That man has the power of choice will not probably be
doubted. That the Creator had an object or end in view
in giving him this right of choice, is at least equally true.
But do we conform to his purposes—do we execute his
will and accomplish his ends, when we refuse to exercise
it in regard to the selection of our food 2
Or are we to use our power of choice in regard to the
books we read and the company we keep, and yet eat at
hap-hazard, guided by no rules—except to eat, if possible,
everything we can—and exercising no right of selection ?
Shall we consider ourselves responsible to God for this
very right of choice in every thing else except food and
drink, while here there is no responsibility at all?
With this view—and is it not a fair one —how strange
it is, that because man can eat animal food and derive
22 MAN OFMNIVOROUS.
nourishment from it, and even enjoy a measure of health
in its use, therefore he must use it 3 How strange it is,
that while this is the strong argument—and almost the
only one worth the name of argument—in favor of flesh-
eating, mankind should so blindly adhere, with a sort of
superstitious regard, to a practice so questionable, and in
our own view, so barbarous !
In the exercise of the right of choice, and in a country
like our own, especially, which overflows with food of
almost every kind—is it not our obvious duty to select our
food; to be guided in regard to quality, quantity, modes
of preparing it, &c. by a wise reference, not merely to
health—for we have already seen that we can subsist on
almost everything—but to the highest health ? Should
we not so eat as will produce the greatest possible perma-
ment health and vigor of body, and consequently the
greatest health and vigor of mind and soul?
Here we shall be interrupted by the old objection that
it is impossible to know what food is the best; that on
this subject even “doctors disagree” most essentially ;
that it would be presumption in the mass of mankind,
unlearned as they are on this subject, to hope to arrive at
any just conclusions on this subject; and that the safest
way is to go on as we have done, guided by the dim light
of our own experience.
We will not stop here to show the fallacy of this rea-
soning, or to show that, if sound, we do not apply it else-
where. It may not be necessary to do more than to urge
people to act up to the light they already possess. We
do not ask them to be governed by rules of which they
never heard, or which they do not see to be well founded.
To him that hath, shall more be given, and in this view
we do insist on men's acting up to the light they have.
If they believe bread, two days old, for example, to be
more conducive to health than bread hot from the oven,
MAN OMNIVOROUS. 23
we do insist that they ought to use it; and not, as is the
universal practice, continue to eat an article which they
acknowledge to be inferior.
But here comes one grand objection, after all, to acting
up to our convictions of duty in this matter. “I do not
like bread two days old so well as bread newly baked;
and did the author of nature intend I should eat that
which is disagreeable to me? Ought I not, as a mere
matter of duty, to eat that which I like best, provided I
find no inconvenience from the use of it?”
This objection is founded on several errors, which are
taken for truths. It is assumed that our own experience
will determine whether a thing is best for us; or at least
that if we experience no evil from the use of a thing
which is agreeable to our taste, then it cannot injure us.
But is it not obvious that to shut out the light of science
and the testimony of others in this case, is to take a course
which no wise man will take in other matters ? Besides,
have we not admitted that we can subsist—without appar-
ent immediate inconvenience—on substances which are not
the very best for us? The mere fact that a thing does not
injure us, is no proof at all that it is the best for us.
Another error here assumed as a truth is, that our likes
and dislikes of food are innate, arbitrary—beyond our
control. Now nothing can be more untrue than this sen-
timent; and yet it seems to us almost universal. We
acknowledge that there are what physicians call idiosyn-
crasies; that is, there are persons, for example, who can-
not at all bear a medicinal substance which others will
receive with apparent advantage. This is sometimes
extended to food, as cheese or butter. Some persons are
made sick with the smallest quantity of cheese. But even
these idiosyncrasies may often be traced to an unnatural
or disgusting early association of ideas or things, and can
frequently be cured.
24 MLAN OMNIWOROUS.
Aside from these cases, however—and they are not
very frequent, (though by the way they are most frequent
in communities whose practices in regard to food are most
at war with the laws of health)—here is no rule which is
more true than that we can, in regard to food, bring our-
selves to like what we please. Not in a day or an hour,
perhaps; but in a sufficient time. In general, the change
of taste, when the conviction is strong of its usefulness, is
exceedingly rapid.
The person who, for example, does not like cold bread
quite so well at first, will soon, if his faith is strong in its
utility, and if he confines himself wholly to it, find his
dislike to it disappear. It may be best for a person, in a
case like this, to attempt only one new thing at a time.
If he is in the habit of using butter or cheese with his hot
bread, and has even come to the determination to leave off
their use, it may be as well to retain them till the cold
bread begins to have a relish, and then he may go on to
omit them also.
In this way we may gradually—as we have said before—
bring ourselves to relish almost anything. Why should
it not be so? We can change, by custom, our moral and
intellectual tastes and preferences. We can render what
books, and society, and manners, and customs, we please,
agreeable to us, if we try perseveringly. So well known
is this fact that nobody ever objected to the saying of Lord
Bacon, that “Custom is the chief magistrate of man's life;
men should therefore endeavor, by all means, to obtain
good customs; ” nor to that of Addison, that it is our
interest and our duty to fix upon those things that we know
to be best for us, and custom will soon make them agreea-
ble. And it is as true of physical matters as of moral.
Would it not be construed into a want of reverence for
the author of the remark, we might say in this connection,
“According to your faith, so be it unto you.” The power
MAN ONINIvorous. 25
of faith to change our very tastes in regard to food and
drink is surprising to those who have experienced its
effects. What we strongly believe we ought to like, we
soon come to regard as not disagreeable; then as agreea-
ble; and lastly as preferable.
The desire to change our food frequently, so common
among us, would be a difficulty here, were it not for the
curious fact that just in proportion as we confine ourselves
to articles of food, drink, &c. which we know to be best
for us, just in the same proportion do we lose the desire
for perpetual change. Thus he who has been in the
habit of using bread of inferior quality, and of being
unwilling to use any one kind for more than two or three
or half a dozen meals in succession, when he comes to
use the best wheaten bread, and to relish it, will feel no
desire to change it. The longer he uses it, the better he
will like it, and the less willing will he even be to exchange
it. And so of other articles of food. The same remark
might also be applied, to some extent at least, to dress, air,
temperature, and a thousand things connected with our
physical well-being.
This supposed difficulty—that of relishing what we
believe to be best for us—is probably one of the great
stumbling-blocks in the way of reform. Every one wishes
to enjoy his food; few indeed are willing to be always
denying themselves; and the idea of eating, through life,
a thing which at present they dislike, appears so painful
that they are discouraged. But if the principles which
have been laid down in this article are well founded, it is
obvious that no such self-denial is to be put in requisition.
The articles we so much dislike at present are shortly to
become as agreeable to us as those we now use ; and the
latter, so far as we deem them improper for our use, are
to be regarded with comparative indifference, and some of
them perhaps jih positive dislike.
26 MAN OMNIWOROUS,
Could these views be fully entered into by those who
are erring, in respect to diet, from the path most conducive
to health, how would it change the whole aspect of things!
And it is extremely desirable that they should be under-
stood, for otherwise people cannot generally be expected
to renounce their table pleasures, even though they believe
them to be injurious. It is proper to mention, here, that
it is quite important, even in a physiological point of view,
that we should relish what we eat; though physiology
does not require us to enjoy the highest degree of pleas-
ure in our food. It is sufficient for the purposes of
health, if we can take pleasure in what we eat, without
taking the highest degree of pleasure. Still it ought here
to be added, that this highest pleasure is in fact reserved
for those who eat those kinds of food most conducive to
health, as they can abundantly testify. No epicure ever
enjoyed so much of mere gustatory pleasure, in the very
midst of his dainties, as the man of simplicity and a pure
stomach does with his loaf of bread, or his basket of fruit.
There is one thing more to be added in this place. Not
that it is indispensable, but only because it will greatly
facilitate the progress and smooth the path of him who
aims at reforming himself. He should never eat a thing
which is more pleasant to the taste, when something which
is less pleasant would satisfy. If rice is before him when
he seats himself at his table, he should never add to it
butter, molasses, cream, &c. if he can get along comforta-
bly without either. Nor should he add butter, if molasses
will suffice for his wayward taste; nor molasses, if butter
will satisfy. So of pudding, or bread, or anything else.
In a word, let him never eat a mixed dish when he can
enjoy, even tolerably, a simple one; nor eat a variety
when he can be tolerably well satisfied with one dish.
Few are aware of the importance of this last rule.
Thousands, who now eat mixtures, and seem to demand
HOW TO TAKE COLD. 27
variety, would find themselves satisfied with simples, if
they have a pure, healthy appetite, provided they confine
themselves to them, and let dainties alone. But when one
has begun upon a spiced or sweetened dish, or when he
sits down to eat with only half an appetite, it is no wonder
plainer food will not serve him. No wonder he calls
boiled rice tasteless, bread dull, beans flat, and apples and
potatoes unsatisfying. No wonder he demands with them
sugar, molasses, vinegar, &c. &c. Nor must we come
back, after eating a plain dish, till our hunger is appeased,
and by way of compensation, to more savory dishes. Our
path—if we would reach the goal—must be ever onward.
HOW TO TAKE COLD.
“BETTER be out of the world than out of the fashion,”
it is sometimes said; and not a few whom we meet with
appear to believe the maxim true. Colds are very much
in fashion now-a-days; we find few people who are so
unfashionable as to be entirely without them. Yet there
are a few who seldom suffer. Perhaps they were edu-
cated wrong. I will therefore mention a method by
which nearly every individual may be so trained as to
take cold readily.
Let him be kept, during the first years of his life, in a
very warm room, without ever going out of it. Let him
wear a cap during the first months, and be tightly swathed
and bandaged. Let no water touch him except what is
quite warm ; nor even then without a little spirit or some
other drug mixed with it, and never, in any event, wash
anything but his hands. Let him be dressed constantly
in flannel, even in mid-summer. Let him sleep in a
28 HOW TO TAKE COLD.
feather bed with his parents; and see that his head and
face are completely covered; and be sure to let him sleep,
always, where both a fire and a lamp are burning.
When he is a little older, and begins to take solid food,
see that his food is as hot as he can swallow it. Do not
let him get into the monstrous habit of eating cold food.
True, he will naturally prefer it,” but never mind that.
Both children and adults prefer many things that are bad
for them, it is said ; and is not this a sufficient reason for
you? Let his drink also be hot, and gently aromatic if
possible. Or at all events let it be of a kind which is
calculated to induce free perspiration, such as tea, coffee,
chocolate, or warmed toddy. See that he goes out but
little, and, if at all, that he is well wrapped in flannel.
You must get him a rocking horse, &c. that he may prefer
to play in the house. Do you not know that if he goes
out he will inevitably be sun-burnt 2 A drop or two of
rain may also fall on him ; or he may get his hands into
cold water; or perhaps wet his feet. If he goes to school,
or to church, you should by all means get up horses and a
carriage for him, and the carriage should be well protected
from the air.
* When we say children naturally prefer cold food, and when at any
time we speak of cold food, we do not wish to be understood as meaning
to speak of a degree of cold which is painful, or which is equal to that of
ice. We only mean cool, or a temperature like that of our common cellars
or closets in the winter. In general, we mean by cold food, that which is
not warmed by any artificial process.
As to the statement above, that children naturally prefer cold food, noth-
ing can be more true. We wish, if any one doubts it, he would observe
for himself. We have done so for ourselves, and as we think, without a
bias. We have heard them say to their mothers, in regard to hot bread,
“Let it cool, ma.” “It is hot, ma.” And since we wrote this article we
have seen a child prefer potatoes and apples of a natural or medium tem-
perature to hot toasted bread ; and this too without salt;-though even urged
to take the heat and the condiments. How little are we aware of the vio-
lence done to our natures by mistaken early education!
HOW TO TAKE COLD. 29
As he advances through childhood, if you find that a
constitution, naturally strong, resists, violently, all your
efforts, still do not be discouraged. Persevere in your
course. Remember that the husbandman hath long
patience, and waiteth for the early and latter rain to
bring forth the appropriate fruits of his labor. You can
hardly expect to sow to-day and reap to-morrow. Above
all, do not lay aside the flannel, the hot food, the hot
drink, or the feather bed; and do not suffer him to wash
in cold water.
If you perceive indications of success—if your child
begins to snuffle occasionally, to have red eyes, or a little
deafness; if his skin feels dry and hot, and his breath is
feverish—you have now an opportunity of doing your
work much faster than ever before. Do not call a physi-
cian—anybody can doctor for a cold. Do not diminish
his food; “stuff a cold,” you know. Make him eat all
you can ; and if his appetite fails a little, increase it with
something gently bitter. You can cheat him to take bit-
ters, for once, by disguising them in sugar or something
of the kind. Ply him well with hot stimulating drinks,
of which hot toddy is the best; but common tea, or even
sage tea, will answer. Only contrive to heat his system
all you can, and occasionally induce a profuse perspira-
tion. Above all, guard against anything which favors a
2noderate and equal perspiration, and against abstinence
and cool water, for these might throw off the cold imme-
diately; and what then would become of your skill at
curing 3
If a cough should supervene, be sure to get somebody’s
cough drops, or cough lozenges, and ply him well with
them. Do not, I say again, call a physician ; anybody,
especially yourself, can cure such trifling complaints. Has
it not been said—time out of mind—that a good mother
is better for common complaints, than the best physician 2
30 How To TAKE COLD.
And do you not know that all these old maxims and say-
ings are founded in truth ? Besides, you may save your-
self many a dollar bill, by acting up to the spirit of this
principle. Do not be frightened by the grave advice of
some motional fellow or other that it is in these very cases
that the utmost skill is needed; and that it would be much
sounder philosophy to call the physician now, and dispense
with him in a regular fever, than to take the course you
have begun; and that you may, by your mistakes, sow the
seeds of future disease and a feeble constitution. What
does he know about it? Away with his preaching!
Or if you call in a doctor, do not send for your family
physician. Some beginner will do well enough for
a little child, and for such little complaints; besides, he
will ask but little; especially if you watch your opportu-
mity, and call him in as he is perambulating the streets, in
search of business.
By following out this plan every time you have an
opportunity, you will probably soon see the habit of taking
cold gain strength. I need hardly tell you again, to
persevere in all the principles you set out with ; but there
are some things which may be properly enough added.
If your son goes to school—though, by the way, it will
be as well to keep him at home, when the weather is not
fair, for he may get rained on during the intermission or
recess—if he goes to school, I say, be sure to send him to
some school which is very full, for there the price of tuition
is generally low; and to some cheap teacher, for such
teachers will generally help you in your work of inducing
a habit of catching cold, much faster than dearer ones.
They will be much more likely, among other things, to
suffer the school room to be heated to excess during the
afternoon, till the pupils get into a profuse perspiration, and
become exactly fitted to receive a chill when they go out.
Nothing will better comport with your own plan than this;
HOW TO TAKE COLD. 31
and nothing could better finish what the teacher has begun
than taking them into your carriage and carrying them
home, instead of suffering them to walk or run, and thus
perhaps avoid the chill.
Special pains ought to be taken with daughters. For
remember that in training them to the habit of taking cold,
you are accomplishing, at the same time, another grand
object. You are establishing that delicate appearance
which is so worthy of all admiration. Keeping them in
hot rooms—giving thern hot food, and hot drink, especially
tea—requiring them to avoid, on penalty of celibacy, the
open air, and above all, the light of the sun, and a great
many other things which to name would be but to repeat
what I have already said—will contribute at once to both
these important objects. Do not be alarmed at the croak-
ings of certain would-be wise men, who say that these
things cause that terrible disease, the consumption; for
who does not know that the most healthy people are just
as likely to die with the consumption as others?
There is one point in which the treatment of girls, in
order to bring them into the habit of taking cold easily,
should vary from that of boys. Though they are dressed
in warm flannel, winter and summer, for ten or twelve
years, like boys, yet as soon as they begin to approach an
age which is usually deemed marriageable, there must be
a change. Now the form should be graceful; and to be
graceful is to be slender. But much clothing will be
greatly in the way of this slender appearance; flannel,
above all. What girl—shocking idea—could endure that ?
Do not be told by your family physician that the cloth-
ing should be warmer at this period of life than any other;
that his object in prescribing for a child is to prevent dis-
ease, &c.; for what mother would be so unfashionable as
to employ a physician who should talk of prevention ?
The physician's business is to cure, not to prevent dis-
32 HOW TO TAKE COLD.
ease. No ; if you wish your daughter to become subject
to the habit of taking cold, as well as to many other dis-
eased habits for life, let her be as thinly clad from ten
to eighteen as possible; and do not, at all events, be so
vulgar as to make her wear flannel.
In going to church, especially—since the object of an
expedition of this sort is to be seen—let her clothing be
far more thin than on other days; especially if there is
no stove in the church, and she is to sit there two hours
in the cold, and with cold feet. On this point, too, beware
of the croakings, as I have before called them, of alarm-
ists: they may be mistaken as well as you. Selfish or
theoretical men—what do they know about these things?
One more direction about females. Be sure to encour-
age them in going out evenings to concerts, balls, parties,
exhibitions, theatres, and lectures.
Or if you have scruples about the lawfulness of some
of these, in a moral point of view, why, you can pursue
your purpose with more earnestness. The party you
certainly will not be afraid of. But if you take care to go
late—say at nine in the evening—to go thinly clad, to
keep hot while there, and to drink something that will
make the inside hot as well as the outside, to put on no
additional clothing when you go home, and to ride in a
very easy carriage instead of walking swiftly—if in addi-
tion to all this you sit in a cold room an hour or two after
you reach home, you will scarcely fail to get a good old
fashioned cold, or at least to pave the way to get one at
some future opportunity. Or if you have scruples about
the propriety of all this—for it is well known that some
people have—you can at least attend the religious meet-
ing, for that will usually be held in an underground vestry,
and in fair weather, is not unfrequently, now-a-days, as
fashionably filled as the theatre; and you will have almost
as little difficulty of catching cold when you go out as if
CITY RESTORATORS. 33
the meeting had been held for other purposes. It is
scarcely probable that any miracle will be wrought to pre-
vent such a result.
I might extend my advice much farther. I might
tell you of many other means which may be tried—and
which have generally proved successful in inducing a
habit of taking cold. But can it be necessary 2 If you
act up to the spirit of what I have already said, it is
believed success will generally attend your efforts.
Remember, however, that a great deal depends on early
efforts; and the earlier the better. If you let slip the
golden period—from birth to twenty—there is some diffi-
culty in accomplishing your object at a later period.
Your work should, at least, be commenced early. Still, if
nothing is done till a person is twenty, and if he finds
himself almost invariably free from cold, the habit may be
induced, even then, though it will cost some labor. Direc-
tions, should they be solicited, may form the subject of
another chapter.
CITY RESTORATORS.
[We have received from an unknown source the following communi-
cation.]
MR. EDITOR:—It seems to me that the establishment of
a “Graham Restorator” is needed in this city; or if not
one on the strict “Graham System,” at least a place where
a person might obtain plain and wholesome food, at a
moderate price.
There are very few establishments for eating in the city,
where one can obtain food, plainly prepared; and even if
he should be so fortunate as to obtain, say, a dish of boiled
rice, an exorbitant price is charged.
34 CITY RESTORATORS.
It is often the case, that many clerks and other young
men find it either inconvenient or impossible, to go home
to dinner every day: to such, an establishment of this
kind would be of great advantage, not only to their purses,
but also to their health. -
Many are now in the habit of paying for their dinner
from twenty-five to thirty-seven and a half cents. It is
evident that this sum may be reduced one half, and still
be sufficient for the purpose. Should you think these
remarks of sufficient importance, I should like to see your
views expressed on the subject, in some future number
of the “Library” if such an article is not of too local
a character for the work.
E. J. H.
The subject to which our correspondent refers, when
considered in its various bearings, is certainly an important
one, and we are on the whole glad he has broached it.
We had long been on the point of writing an article
expressive, in part, of our views. Nothing which is
directly connected with the health and morals of our
young men in cities, is of a character so local as to exclude
it from our pages.
We are not so much disposed to find fault with the
price of plain dishes of food, as our correspondent seems
to be. Better by far to pay twenty-five or thirty-seven
and a half cents for a plain wholesome dinner, than for
one which is of the contrary character. If a plate of rice
and a piece of brown bread constitute in reality a better
dinner than high-seasoned and unwholesome food, and if
we are charged no more for it, why should we complain }
But it is not so. We know of several young men who
find no difficulty in obtaining a good wholesome dinner
for half the sum of money which our correspondent names.
A bowl of milk to which you may add any reasonable
CITY RESTORATORS. 35
quantity of bread, costs but twelve and a half cents; a
plate of rice is but six and a quarter cents, and two of
these will make a good dinner. Or you may buy a piece
of bread or a quantity of crackers amply sufficient for a
whole dinner, for six and a quarter cents.
So far then as mere cheapness is concerned, we do not
see the indispensable necessity of any more restorators in
our city. In truth, we are averse to increasing the num-
ber, unless they were better. We homestly believe it
would tend greatly to the health, as well as the morality
of the city of Boston, if no such thing as an eating house—
we mean of the kind commonly called restorators, refecto-
ries, houses of refreshment, &c.—were found in our city.
Do you ask what multitudes of our citizens would do
for their dinners, if this were the fact 2 We reply by
asking, what is now done by the multitudes, who will not
resort to these houses 2 For to the honor of the young
men of Boston be it spoken, not a few of them never enter
a restorator, in their whole lives, unless it be to step in
once, to indulge their curiosity.
Do you still ask, what can be done? We answer—
walk to your boarding houses for dinner. This would be
for the health of thousands; and thousands suffer greatly
for want of this very exercise.
Or if the distance is too great, or the nature of your
employment absolutely prevents it, step into some baker's
shop, and buy a loaf of plain bread. This is done by
many; and is far better than to resort to a restorator, as
restorators are now conducted. We have already admitted
that you may find plain food there, but you will not always
find it in good company; and would you voluntarily place
yourself in the way of temptation ?
Or if you deem it too unfashionable to eat plain bread
for your dinner, you can purchase a little good fruit in the
market, or at some more healthy as well as respectable place
36 FATE OF REFORMERS.
than a cellar. You will not suffer, by making your dinner
half a dozen times a week on good apples, pears, or berries.
But again—you can take a piece of bread with you
from home, if the case requires it. We do not see the
necessity of this, however, in many cases. Most young
men can either walk to their lodgings or eat plain bread
from the baker's.
As to going without dinner, which some appear to think
better than going to a restorator, we cannot quite recom-
mend it. It seems to us better to dine, even if it be but
to take a few mouthfuls.
Let it not be understood, however, that we are opposed
to the principle of establishing a “Graham ” house. If
another restorator were to be fitted up in the city, we should
rejoice to see it on the true Temperance plan. But we
should rejoice still more to see Temperance in all things
carried into every family and every regular boarding
house in the city, and to see young men, except in extraor-
dinary cases, at home at their meals.
FATE OF REFORMERS.
THEY who discover and they who establish truths of
any kind soever, have a singular destiny. They are, at
first, accused of being visionary, foolish, or seditious; they
are blamed for saying that which has never before been
said, and thus threatening everything which exists; they
are exclaimed against for creating innovation, confusion,
and a contempt of the past. When, in spite of this outcry,
the truths they proclaim triumph, the tune is changed;
they are no longer innovators, they are plagiarists; what
they now say has been said a hundred times before ; all
the world has long been of the like opinion, and they have
usurped the honor of the discovery.—FRENCH PAPER.
M IS C E L L A NY.
Essay on Toe Acco, Dr. Mussey, the Reformer, has writ-
ten an essay of forty-eight pages on the Influence of Tobacco
upon Life and Health, for which he deserves and will ulti-
mately receive the thanks of our whole community. Every
friend of Temperance, whether he uses tobacco or not, should
read and ponder its pages; and there are several hundred
thousand individuals among us, who, if they have consciences,
should be moved, by its facts and appeals, to reformation.
Dr. Mussey, after a few preliminary remarks, begins with
the history of the poisonous vegetable of which he treats. He
then gives the result of a series of experiments performed with
it on dogs, cats and other animals, showing its deleterious
effects on the living system. He also mentions a number of
cases which show, in a striking manner, its positive effects on
the human constitution. It is not the mere chewing of tobacco
which is injurious; the smoker and snuff-taker come in for a
share of the same miseries which follow from chewing it.
The opinion of some, that tobacco is necessary to produce
digestion, and that it preserves the teeth, is combatted in this
work.
But Dr. M. has not only shown that “tobacco is one of the
most active and deadly vegetable poisons known,” that it
increases the general mortality of the human race; that it is
peculiarly injurious to individuals of sedentary habits and
literary pursuits; and that instead of promoting digestion or
preserving the teeth, it injures both ; but he has also shown
that its habitual use may be productive of the following symp-
tomS:
“A sense of weakness, sinking or pain at the pit of the
stomach; dizziness or pain in the head; occasional dimness
or temporary loss of sight; paleness and sallowness of the
countenance, and sometimes swelling of the feet; an enfeebled
state of the voluntary muscles, manifesting itself sometimes by
38 MISCELLANY.
tremors of the hands, sometimes by weakness, tremulousness,
squeaking or hoarseness of the voice, rarely a loss of the voice;
disturbed sleep, starting from the early slumbers with a sense
of suffocation or the feeling of alarm; incubus or night-mare;
epileptic or convulsion fits; confusion or weakness of the
mental faculties; peevishness and irritability of temper; insta-
bility of purpose; seasons of great depression of the spirits;
long fits of unbroken melancholy and despondency, and in
some cases, entire and permanent derangement.”
“How can a temperance man use tobacco P” is a question
which is pressed upon the reader towards the close of the
work; and we think very justly. How can he 2 We should
be glad to quote from the work more largely; but it is the less
necessary, since it can be bought for twelve and a half cents,
not only of Perkins & Marvin of Boston, the publishers, but
also of most other booksellers.
THE INSANE.—We learn from the last report of the Prison
Discipline Society—which, by the way, is one of the most
interesting documents which was ever printed—that Dr.
Woodward and other gentlemen connected with institutions
for the insane, are decidedly in favor of extensively employing
this class of patients in the cultivation of land. Not only does
it greatly promote their health, but it enables them to contribute,
in part at least, to their own support. It is a singular fact that
the insane are more manageable in the fields than elsewhere.
At Worcester, where the experiment has been made to some
extent, it is stated that while many have escaped from the
yard, enclosed as they are by high fences, only one has escaped
from the fields.
We have said that the last is a singular fact; but wherefore ?
Is not just such a result to be expected 2 God has made his
creatures for the open air; and we know that they who are
long excluded from it inevitably suffer. But if so, what can
be more natural than that those who are diseased should soonest
recover under its influence 2
MISCELLANY., 39
PHYSIOLOGY IN Schools.-Truly we are a peculiar people,
at least in one respect. No good measure is started, without
its becoming at once a hobby, and being hard pushed, and
sometimes over-pushed.
A few years ago, Infant Schools were going to save the
nation; at least, they were going to prevent vice and disease.
Every body, wise or foolish, was in their favor. But being
carried along quite in advance of the general intelligence, they
soon fell into disrepute, and are now greatly undervalued.
Gymnastics were introduced. These, too, for a time, were
everything, and would save at least the public health. But these,
too—and for similar reasons—soon underwent the same fate
with Infant Schools. Calisthenics also followed at a distance.
Then came Manual Labor Schools. These were the world’s
last hope—especially were they the last hope of all our literary
institutions. But here, too, our zeal outstripped our knowl-
edge; and though the manual labor system is yet popular, it is
so rather with a view to save money and enable the poor to do
something for themselves in the way of education, than to
accomplish another and still more important purpose; which is
to preserve, and promote, and restore bodily and mental vigor.
Common Schools have now become the hobby of the day.
The rage for elevating these has not yet arrived at its acne,
but it is not difficult to foresee, in the narrow-sighted views
and measures of many who are leaders in this work of reform-
ing and elevating them, that here, too, is much zeal which is
not according to knowledge.
One hobby more. Physiology, as a study in our institutions,
is fast gaining in popularity. Not only are wise and judicious
men employed to teach or lecture on this subject, but among
the rest, some who are not so well qualified. Ignorance and
presumption will soon find their way into the chair of the
professor in this department, and there will be a reaction. We
are, of course, among the last to retard the work of spreading
abroad a knowledge of the laws of life, but we would that the
measure could be kept in the hands of proper men, and not
overdone, and thus brought into disgrace and disgust.
We wish not to be misunderstood. We are the decided
friends of Infant Schools, Gymnastics, Manual Labor Schools,
40 MISCELLANY.
Common Schools, and Physiology in all schools; but for this
very reason, we would have the zeal of their friends a zeal
according to knowledge. We would improve mankind by
all these means, but we would “make haste slowly.”
WHEAT MEAL-We are often asked where good wheat meal
can be obtained. We suppose that the best way, if it were
practicable, would be for every individual to raise or buy his
own wheat, and after washing it well and drying it, get it
ground in his own manner.
The wheat meal which we use, is obtained from Abraham
Barker & Co. New Bedford, Mass.; by whom all orders duly
sent, will, we understand, be attended to.
BREAD.—Inquiries are made too about bread. Since Wood-
man has discontinued baking wheat meal loaves, we have seen
no baker's bread in Boston which we can recommend but
Shipley’s. This is, in general, tolerable. It is better still, made
in your own families; especially, if instead of bad leaven and
other useless ingredients, you use a good share of common
sense, mixed with a little knowledge of chemistry.
ARDENT SPIRITs.-The Council of the Massachusetts Tem-
perance Society are publishing a series of tracts to open the
eyes of the community on some points on which there has
hitherto been much public ignorance. One of the officers
handed us, the other day, No. 9, requesting us to examine it.
It is entitled, “A few words to those who distil and sell ardent
spirits as a drink; from one who, for twenty years, was
engaged in the same business.” We wish the makers and
venders of liquid poison would read it; for we are sure that
they could not all withstand such an appeal. There are hon-
est men among the distillers and retailers. What they want
is light and a better conscience. Did they view the matter
rightly, many of them would sooner perish than poison the
public peace, and health, and morals, by pursuing their present
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Cyrus the Great, . . . . . . . . . 49 Health of Females, . . . . . . . . 69
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
PHYSIOLOGY You will frighten the community with
such a hard word, so often repeated, some of our friends
may say. Would it not be better to substitute another
word in its place 2 Or if not, would it not be well for
you to tell us a little more fully what you mean by it?
We are not ignorant that multitudes start at the pro-
nunciation of such a new and uncouth term, but it is too
good a word to be discarded. It expresses, as well as
any single word can, what we wish to express by it. Be
it then our object to explain, rather than remove it from
our vocabulary. Be it our aim to render them better
acquainted with what seems so uncouth, only because it
is a stranger.
Physiology, then, is the study of the laws of life. The
study of the structure of organized bodies is anatomy.
The study of the laws of vegetable life—as when we
study the manner and season in which the sap ascends
and descends, the manner and process of budding, blos-
soming, &c.—is vegetable physiology. The study of the
laws which obtain in the animal body is called animal
physiology.
This last is subdivided into two departments. The
study of the laws of life in all other animals but man, is
3
42 THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
comparative physiology; the study of the living, breathing,
thinking, acting, speaking man, is called human physi-
ology.
Now when we urge the importance of studying physi-
ology, we are met with the objection—“But our fathers
knew nothing of this science, and yet we do not see but
they got along just as well as we do. Can it be neces-
sary for us, when it was not for them 2 Besides, God has
placed us in a world where everything abounds adapted
to our wants in regard to food, drink, clothing, tempera-
ture, &c., and where our wants prompt to their immediate
use ; and he has given us common sense and discretion,
to direct us in their application. Now can it be that
anything more than this common sense is demanded ?
Can it be that we ought not to eat, drink, sleep, wake,
walk, ride, dress, speak, sing, work or play, till we
have studied the laws of motion and action in the
organs by which these functions and offices are per-
formed ? If this be so, then half mankind ought to perish
at once, for it is positively out of the power of most men
to obtain this sort of knowledge.”
When it is objected that our fathers knew nothing of
physiology, and yet they got along well enough without
it, we are always reminded of a miserly gentleman—an
early acquaintance of ours—who objected to sending his
son to school, on the same principle. “Why, I never
went to school,” said he, “and yet I do not see but I have
got along just as well as if I had gone ; and why should
I send my son 2 ” But we trust there are few so ignorant
as to make such an apology; and fewer still who would
make it from sheer avarice.
Our fathers may have been ignorant of many things,
the knowledge of which would have contributed greatly
to their happiness. They may have even enjoyed a
measure of health, while they allowed themselves in
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 43
practices which were contrary to the best interests of their
physical frames. It often happens, that he who errs in
one respect is correct in another —indeed, the world is
made up of individuals partly right and partly wrong in
their conduct.
Our fathers of New England brought with them from
the mother country physical frames which were compara-
tively large, strong and substantial ; and for almost the
whole of the first century after the settlement of New
England, the circumstances in which they were placed—
their business, their poverty, their habits, their religion—
conspired to render them comparatively healthy and long-
lived, in spite of a few errors, the results of ignorance.
Nor was it until within a century past, that they greatly
erred. Error creeps along with the progress of art, and
the simultaneous progress of luxury. In the rude state
of nature, while man appeases his hunger by simply
plucking the delicious fruits of the earth, and satisfies his
thirst by stooping to the crystal fountain or stream, or
raising to his mouth with his hollowed hand—the drink-
ing cup of Diogenes—nature's own beverage, the knowl-
edge of physiology is not by any means demanded. But
when, in the progress of the arts, and of cookery among
the rest, we begin to prepare or coat our culinary vessels
with substances which may be changed, by the action of
other substances, into deadly poisons, a knowledge of the
action and effects of these poisons on the human constitu-
tion becomes necessary; and in order to understand these
matters, we must study physiology. The more we ad-
vance in what are called the arts and sciences, the more
numerous are our exposures to dangers, seen and unseen.
We touch the world, as it were, at a greater and still
greater number of points. Hence the importance of un-
derstanding the nature of the human body, and its rela-
tions to surrounding bodies, with which it is perpetually
44 THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
coming in contact.—Thus with the fathers of New Eng-
land, within the last century. They began, by degrees,
to fall more and more into habits of which most of us see
and feel the consequences, but whose unhappy tendency
must and will continue, until it can be counteracted by
the influence of habits and practices more in accordance
with the laws of human nature; in other words, with
physiology.
“But our fathers, even of the generation which imme-
diately preceded us, were more healthy and long-lived
than ourselves, even when we are far more careful to
obey what you call the laws of life. What gigantic
bodies they possessed See that aged man of ninety,
and that still more advanced woman of one hundred ;
what large, upright frames they evidently once possessed
Bowed down and shrivelled by age as their bodies now
are, they are yet much larger and more noble and digni-
fied than the present generation. Compare sons with
their fathers. Is it not obvious that there is everywhere
a falling off? Where, then, is the evidence that our
knowledge of physiology, and of the means of preventing
and curing disease, give us any advantages over them 3’’
In reply, it may be observed, in the first place, that the
little knowledge we of the present generation possess, is
principally in regard to the more obvious and general
nature of a few medicines, and the more obvious tendency
of a few diseases. What little we know, in other words,
which our fathers knew not, is almost wholly curative,
and not preventive. But this is a kind of knowledge
which adds little, if anything, to the health or longevity
of the race, if it does to that of the individual. The most
it can do is to assist us in correcting or attempting to
correct some of our more glaring errors. It seldom if
ever goes farther. It tells us nothing about preventing a
recurrence of the same evils. In fact, it leaves us, in
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 45
some respects, worse than it found us ; since it leads us
to use instruments in repairing our frames, which often
produce more serious injury to the frame than that which
they repair. Or, to change the figure, in eradicating one
poisonous weed, we sow the seeds of others, some of
which will inevitably spring up, and prove a greater evil
than the former.
But in the second place, the more serious and deplora-
ble evils which come upon our race through physical
error, follow at a distance. It is a singular fact, that the
bible statements in regard to the sins of parents being
visited upon children, is clearly confirmed by the light
of physiology. The same remark is applicable to the
saying of Solomon, that because sentence against an evil
work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
To apply this doctrine of both nature and revelation to
the case before us. Our ancestors, we are often told,
lived as “they listed.” They drank freely of cider and
beer, and some of them of coffee and tea, and even of
whiskey, cider brandy, and New England rum. They
ate, too, what they pleased, and whether it were cooked
little or much. Most of them ate freely of flesh and fish
two or three times a day, and other stimulating food.
They even indulged themselves in some of the very
things which are now-a-days so often proscribed—at least
if they could get them;—fat meat, gravies, pastry, and
heating condiments. And yet how strong and healthy
they were !
True ; but they lived at our expense. We are now
paying, in our feeble and more sensitive and more irrita-
ble bodies, the tax for their indulgence. At least we are
doing so in part. Our children who come after us will
pay their full proportion ; nor will their children and
their children's children be exempt. If we their posterity
46 THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
continue to live as they did, the evil will go on, as long
as time lasts. There is no possible escape.
“Of what use, then, is all this preaching, if there
is no door of mercy open to us? If all our penitence,
however sincere, and however faithfully accompanied, as
repentance always should be, by reformation, cannot avail
to efface the guilt, or at least remove the consequences
of past transgressions, even those of our ancestors, what
good will a knowledge of our state do us? Away with
your physiology Away with a science which only
serves to show us the thick darkness which surrounds us,
but without opening to us any door of escape l’”
But you go too fast. Just stop a little, and consider
that in sinning, just in the same way our fathers did,
we not only perpetuate the evils which their sins first
induced, but add to the catalogue of our inheritance new
evils. From these, if we stop where we are, ourselves
and our posterity may be saved.
Nor is this all. Much more may be done. As the
Creator has wisely ordered that though we cannot destroy
our race by the errors of a single generation, and though
the drunkard and the debauchee, notwithstanding they
shorten their lives by many years, may still go on, if they
inherit good constitutions from their parents, to what is
commonly called old age, and their children after them,
yet each generation will become more and more degene-
rate and enfeebled, till—unless other causes interpose—
they are extinguished from the earth; so, on the other
hand, though we cannot hope to raise ourselves much, in
the individual or in a single generation, yet we may be
raised gradually, by conformity to correct physical edu-
cation, and the sound principles of physiology, to a state
improved and elevated beyond our most exalted present
conceptions.
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 47
This is our hope. It is the office of physiology, in the
light and under the sanction of christianity, to redeem
man's physical frame from the curse under which sin,
in all ages, has brought it. Repentance and reformation,
with the necessary and appropriate faith, will prove the
instrument, and the only instrument, of the redemption of
our physical nature.
Should this doctrine—the doctrine that we come into
the world with constitutions less perfect, and more liable
to disease, notwithstanding all we can do, than they
would have been, had none of our progenitors erred—
seem severe, let it be remembered that it is not the less
true for its seeming severity ; nor any more true because
we have announced it. It is neither more nor less than
a branch of the great doctrine which the Bible teaches,
respecting man's present condition—a doctrine which is
confirmed by mature and the observation and experience
of all ages, and which it is always necessary to know, as
the first step to improvement. Let it also be remembered
that we, as individuals, are not responsible to God or to
posterity, for what we inherited, or even for the conse-
quences of what we inherited, any farther than we have
it in our power, with the divine assistance, to remove
them ; that our constitutions, in every instance, defective
or perverted as they may be, are still a blessing, incon-
ceivably so; and that we are accountable only for what
we have, and not in any case for what we have not.
Should it also be insisted, as has sometimes been dome,
that on the principles involved in the foregoing remarks,
it would be better for us to return to a savage state—a
state of nature—to drink at the pure fountain and stream,
and eat of the ripe but uncooked productions of the earth
—our reply is, that this objection confounds two things
which are really and essentially different. We cannot
4S THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
regard a state of nature and a savage state as one and
the same thing ; no, not by any means. We believe
that men may be taught to live according to nature, in
the midst and in the use of many of the productions of
civic life. To live according to nature, in this sense, is,
we believe, to live right. It is to make a wise selection
from the immense variety which God hath given us, or
permitted us or our fellow beings to prepare.
A savage life is stationary ; but we are the advocates
of perpetual progress. A savage life is dull; but we are
the advocates of unceasing mental and bodily activity.
A savage life is rude and unsocial; true nature is social
and refined. A savage life is sometimes, though not uni-
formly, a life of simplicity; but the life we advocate is
always so. In a savage state, men seem to be governed
by impulse, and to be little more than highly complicated
machines ; in a truly natural state, man is a free agent,
surrounded by an immense variety of influences, good
and bad, from which he makes a wise selection; placed
amid perpetual temptation, physical, intellectual and moral,
and yet governing himself, and coming off victorious from
every temptation and trial, and with his physical, moral
and religious character greatly improved.
It is with these views, and in this civic state, and with
this free agency, that we deem physiology so useful and
so necessary. It is necessary just in proportion as we
emerge from the savage state to a state in which every-
thing is placed before us either to tempt or to try us; and
if duly and thoroughly studied, will, in the same propor-
tion, be found to adorn, improve, and in the end exalt us,
not only as individuals, but as a race.
Some admit, at once, the importance of this science,
but imagine a thousand difficulties in the way of study-
ing it. How and where, say they, shall we get books on
this subject; and which are the best books? And if we
CYRUS THE GREAT. 49
cannot do much ourselves, how shall we give the neces-
sary knowledge to our children 2
One thing, in all this, seems to be overlooked, which is,
that an immense deal can be done without any books at
all. The motion of the blood, pulsation, the phenomena
of breathing, speech, sight, hearing and feeling may be
studied, to no small extent, by means of the living being.
This, so far as it goes, is the best book; and it is a book
from which an ingenious parent or teacher may derive a
far greater number of valuable lessons than is sometimes
supposed. In regard to other books, we must be allowed
to defer our remarks to a future occasion.
CY RUS THE GREAT.
MR. EDITOR :—I wonder if those who are continually
asserting that man cannot wholly abstain from flesh meat
without becoming a weak, puny, cowardly, inefficient
creature, ever stop to reflect for a single moment on the
history of the human race. To say nothing of the
antediluvians, who unquestionably subsisted on vegetable
food until a short time before the flood, or of the well
known fact, that ever since the deluge two thirds, at least,
of the human family have lived without flesh, even up to
the present day, the history of particular nations, and
tribes, and individuals, which at different periods of time
have been conspicuous on the great theatre of life, has
been more than sufficient to satisfy every well informed
mind, that in no respect is man benefited by the use of
animal food.
50 CY RUS THE GREAT.
The following scraps of ancient history afford an
interesting illustration of this truth, and may be amusing
if not instructing to your readers.
When the ancient kingdom of Media had subdued the
first Assyrian empire, and pushed its conquests exten-
sively in various directions, and become very rich and
powerful, and excessively voluptuous, Persia was a rude,
thinly inhabited country; and the Persians were depen-
dant allies of the Medes. Such was the state of things
when Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of Persia, and, on
his mother's side, grandson to Astyages, king of Media,
was born. Notwithstanding he was a prince and heir to
the crown of Persia, he was trained up after the estab-
lished manner of educating children and youth in his
father's kingdom. Everything effeminating was carefully
avoided, and every measure was taken in regard to diet,
exercise and general regimen, by which all his powers
might be developed in the very best manner, and rendered
most vigorous and active. His food consisted of bread
and cresses, and his drink of pure water.
As he grew up, he early became distinguished for the
symmetry and beauty of his body, the power and activity
of his mind, and the excellence and amiability of his
moral qualities. Still, with all the natural gentleness and
kindness of his temper, living in an age of war and
conquest, and being educated for the camp and for the
field, as well as for the court, he very early began to ex-
hibit that cool and exalted courage, and those enlarged
and wise views, which mark the character of a great
general.
At the age of twelve years he went to Media, and spent
some time in the luxurious and voluptuous court of his
grandfather Astyages. But amidst all the temptations
that surrounded him, he rigorously persevered in his
CYRUS THE GREAT. 51
habits of severe temperance, nor could any arts of his
grandfather induce him to taste of wine or partake of the
luxuries of the table.
At the age of sixteen he accompanied his grandfather to
the field; and it was principally by his wisdom, courage
and conduct, that the Median army achieved a complete
victory over the Babylonians. After this he returned to
Persia, and took his rank again in the class of children
for one year; and then, according to the laws of the king-
dom, was admitted, at the age of seventeen, into the class
of youth, in which he continued till he was thirty.
At the age of forty-three he marched, at the head of the
Persian army, to the assistance of his uncle Cyaxares, who
had succeeded to the throne of Media. Uniting the
Median and Persian armies, he proceeded to encounter
and subdue the king of Armenia. He next met, con-
quered and slew the king of Babylon, defeated and dis-
persed the Assyrian army, overran Chaldea, took every
fortress in his way, ravaged the country, and marched to
the gates of Babylon; but not thinking it yet time to
besiege that city, he returned to Media, and thence to
Persia.
The Babylonians, being jealous of the increasing
power of Cyrus, induced Croesus, the rich and powerful
king of Lydia, to become their ally, and to take the field
against Cyrus. Croesus accordingly raised from his
own kingdom, from Egypt, and from all the country
around, an immense army of 420,000 men. Cyrus was
not idle. He collected an army of 200,000 men, with
which he rapidly marched a thousand miles, and gave
battle to Croesus, at Thymbra, near Sardis ; and not-
withstanding the great inequality of numbers, Cyrus
completely routed the army of Croesus, with terrible
slaughter. “In this battle, the horse on which Cyrus rode
52 CYRUS THE GREAT.
was killed, and he fell among a forest of spears and
shower of javelins. But nothing could bear him down.
He defended himself, sword in hand, till he was rescued
by his guards, and re-mounted. This battle decided the
fate of the Lydians and all the nations of Lesser Asia.”
Croesus fled to Sardis, his capital, whither Cyrus pursued
him, and soon took the city and captured the king.
In a few years from this time all Lesser Asia was sub-
ject to the arms of Cyrus, except Babylon, which he
besieged and finally took by stratagem. About two years
subsequently to this event, Cyrus, who had married his
cousin, the daughter of Cyaxares, king of Media, became,
by the death of his father and uncle, king of Persia and
Media. His empire now extended from the Caspian Sea
to the Indian Ocean, and from India to Ethiopia.
Thus far, through the whole career of his life, he had
rigidly adhered to his habits of severe temperance; and
in all his conquests, not only in his great battle at Thym-
bra, but in all other engagements, he always placed his
principal dependence for success on his Persian soldiers,
who had been trained like himself in rigid temperance
and simplicity, on a diet of bread, cresses and water.
And we are informed by the historian, that, after fighting
great battles, and vanquishing their enemies, the Persian
soldiers would feast on bread and water—“Hunger being
their only ragout, and water from the river their only
drink—for that was the way of living to which they had
been accustomed from their infancy.”
After Cyrus had thus established one of the largest
and most powerful empires of antiquity, he began to
yield to the luxuries and voluptuousness of the times, and
died at the age of seventy years.
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER. 53
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
THOUGH the following extracts from Dr. Sweetser's new
work on Consumption,” have reference principally to the
diet of those who are predisposed to that disease, still
they are highly instructive to all; and are indeed, with
few exceptions, applicable to all. The doctor first speaks
of the special importance of diet in the first years of
human life.
“In a state of society where all the arts of cookery
are brought into requisition to tempt the palate, errors in
diet are almost inevitable, and may not unfrequently
operate as the occasional cause of consumption. They
may relate to the quantity or quality of the food, or to
both.
“In infancy and childhood, a careful attention to the
diet is of the highest consideration, for faults in regard to
it, at this period especially, must produce the most baleful
influence ; either creating morbid predispositions in the
system, or strengthening and exciting such as already
exist. The nourishment should be in sufficiency to
answer the demands of the economy, but never in excess.
If the diet is defective in early life, the organs will not be
duly developed, and the body will be feeble, and continue
puerile in many of its characters—a state before shown to
be intimately associated with a consumptive predispo-
sition. And, on the other hand, if it is superabundant
and exciting, a plethoric and inflammatory state of the
system will be induced, highly incompatible with the
equable and healthful play of the different functions, and
tending indirectly to waste the energies of life.
* See a “Treatise on Consumption” by Prof. Sweetser, late of the Uni-
versity of Vermont.
54 OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
“How often is it, that fat, plethoric, meat-eating children,
their faces looking as though the blood was just ready to
ooze out, are with the greatest complacency exhibited by
their parents as patterns of health ! But let it ever be
remembered, that the condition of the system popularly
called rude or full health, and the result of high feeding,
is too often closely bordering on a state of disease.”
We beg the parent or teacher—but especially the parent
—whose eye catches the last paragraph, to stop, for once,
and weigh well the sentiment. Go where we may, we find
the error alluded to in full sway. Fat, meat-eating
children, from the cradle, are regarded as the very picture
of health ; and those who are not quite so plump are
looked upon as objects of pity. And yet we find that
these full faced, ruddy-looking, greedy and greasy eaters,
suffer more from disease, on the whole, as well as die
earlier, than the children of families where the human
constitution is more studied, and the dictates of reason and
common sense are more implicitly followed. But we quote
another paragraph from Dr. S.
“Nature, the safest of guides, has plainly indicated the
diet she has designed for early infancy; and mothers will
do a positive wrong to their offspring by neglecting her
dictates. The child, during its early existence, should
derive its nourishment exclusively from human milk, and
from that of the mother, unless circumstances forbid, when
an amiable, temperate, healthy young nurse should be
employed.
“I specify such qualities, because it is well established
that turbulent and evil passions, bad diet, stimulating
drinks, and depraved health from any cause, necessarily
vitiate the secretions, and among others, that of the milk,
rendering it more or less deleterious to the tender being it
is designed to nourish. Medicines introduced into the
system of the nurse, act speedily on the infant; and, in
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER. 55
truth, few secretions are more affected by incidental cir-
cumstances than that of the milk. It therefore behoves
every nursing mother who regards the well-being of her
offspring, and especially if her constitution is feeble and
delicate, to pay particular attention to all those circum-
stances of diet and regimen which tend to ensure moral
and physical health.”
Dr. S. apologizes for prescribing the moral qualities of
a nurse ; but he need not do it. Nothing, perhaps, is better
established, than that the character of the milk is directly
affected by the temperament, the affections, the passions,
and the ingesta” of the nurse. The opinion that milk is
nearly the same, in its chemical proportions—as it is
known to be in its sensible properties—whether it is
afforded by one person or another, is believed to be
wholly unfounded.
But this doctrine, if true, is one of the utmost conse-
quence, whether we regard the child's health or his
moral character. For though by birth he is rendered a
separate being, he is still, as long as he is at the breast, in
some respects a part of the mother ; and will be likely to
—nay, inevitably must—become in character and physical
vigor, more or less what she is. If a child therefore is
nursed two years, as we believe most children ought to
be, here is the extended period of nearly three years,
during every moment of which the food, the drink, the
sleep, the exercise, the feelings, the affections, and the
passions of the mother are forming the character of the
child. Is it too much to say that more is done, during
the first two or three years, towards forming both the
physical and moral constitution of the human being, than
during the whole of the remainder of life 2
* By ingesta is meant all kinds of substances received into the stomach,
whether food, drink or medicine.
56 OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER,
Respecting the quality of the child's first food Dr. S.
observes: *
“A solid animal diet should, to say the least, never be
allowed to childhood till the teeth are sufficiently advanced
to effect its mastication with facility. The frequent prac-
tice of the nurse of artificially breaking down such food,
or of actually chewing it in her own mouth for the infant,
is hostile to nature’s clearest indications, and cannot be
too strongly reprobated. A diet of milk and mild farina-
ceous articles, with, perhaps, light animal decoctions,
appears best suited to the early years of life. Tea, coffee,
and other stimulating drinks, are surely not required; and
their effects on the system, at this tender period of exist-
ence, are undoubtedly pernicious.”
Nothing can be more just than these sentiments. And
yet nothing is more common than to see mothers, espe-
cially those who are young and inexperienced, stuffing a
child, long before it has teeth, with substances which are
not only unfit for its tender years, but unfit for any stage
of life whatever. Fat meat, for example, is often given ;
sometimes under the idea that it makes the child plump
and fat. Now as only a small part of this fat can be
digested, and as the greater part operates as a kind of
laxative, the child indeed seems to bear up under it, and
even sometimes to gain in flesh, which always en-
courages the mother; for mothers think infants healthy in
proportion to their fatness—a most unhappy mistake,
as we have already attempted to show.
Let those parents who are in the habit of giving their
infants meat and other things for which nature never in-
tended them, before they have teeth, as well as dosing
them with other drinks besides that which nature has
prepared for them, read these thoughts, and beware Let
them keep out of the child's sight, in ordinary circum-
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER, 57
stances, all drinks whatever, as scrupulously as they keep
out of the mother's reach all but water.
We do not believe in “light animal decoctions " for
children or adults, unless in those cases of disease when
there is some insurmountable objection to food which is
solid. We believe that teeth are given to be used ; and
that, as a general rule, mastication—and therefore solid
food—is indispensable. The less of liquid food, of any
sort except milk, the better. With this objection, the
doctor's prescription for the first years of human life
accords with our own views. Indeed, there are few judi-
cious medical men of modern days, who do not concur in
the opinion that milk and farinaceous vegetable food should
form the exclusive diet of our early years. The only differ-
ence of opinion seems to be in regard to the number of
these early years. Some say two or three; some, three or
four; some, five or six; some, ten or twelve. Others go
much farther. They would do well to settle the question
how long the habit should be continued of subsisting on
vegetable food, and how strong it should become in order
to break it with the greatest ease ! But the subject is too
grave for irony. We quote once more from Dr. S.
“There exists a prevalent idea that scrofulous and
tuberculous individuals require a full and nutritious diet,
and hence they are often urged to a free use of solid
animal food. Such ought certainly to be well nourished ;
but excessive nourishment may create the very evils it is
designed to remedy. I believe it to be very rare in any
constitution, surely when not influenced by habit, that
more than one meal of solid animal food is required dur-
ing the twenty-four hours. And whenever there exists
an evident inflammatory tendency, as is the case in some
scrofulous systems, solid animal food, if used at all,
should be taken with the greatest precaution. Persons
who labor or exercise much in the open air, will bear a
4
5S OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
more full and nourishing diet than those of sedentary
habits ; and, other things being equal, different constitu-
tions require a more or less nutritious diet.”
If children, in the dispensations of divine Providence,
are to be only gradually separated from their mothers; if,
during the whole of this process of separation, it is univer-
sally agreed that they must be gradually weaned from a
dependence on animal sustenance, till they are brought at
length to depend entirely on vegetable food; and if, during
several years, more or less, after weaning, the habit is to
be confirmed, we should like to know, we again say, what,
in the name of common sense, are the indications of a
necessity of returning to that diet, from which nature
and we have been for years weaning them. We should
also like to know when these indications are to be ex-
pected. Is it at two years of age; or is it at four ; or
is it at six—when habit becomes a still stronger second
nature ? Will the believers in flesh-eating be so good as
to settle this question ?
Again : If scrofulous children do not require animal
food, pray what children do 2 Here has always been the
strong hold of flesh-eating medical men. Scrofulous chil-
dren required meat, it was said, because it was necessary
that the diet should be nutritious. But now that they have
found out that bread, and rice, and beans, and peas, are even
more nutritious than meat, they begin to teach that meat is
not indicated ; and some, like Dr. S., seem to be actually
afraid of it. Observe that the latter says, in the quotation
above, it should be taken, if taken “at all,” with the
“greatest precaution.”
Since this point, therefore—the strong hold of flesh-
eaters—is at last yielded, we press the question, who is it
now to whom flesh, as food, is indispensable 2 Those who
labor much in the open air, will it be said? Dr. S. indeed
tells us that they will “bear it better than others,” but this
HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 59
cannot prove that it is useful to them; for these are the
very people who will bear rum, and brandy, and opium,
and tobacco, and cider, and beer, and tea, and coffee,
better than others.
True it is that Dr. S., towards the close of the last
quotation, says something about “different constitutions;”
but what do he and other medical writers mean by
this 2 Do they suppose that the cow of Cape Cod, who
eats fish, has a different constitution as the consequence 2
Will it be said of her offspring, that different constitutions
require a more or less nutritious diet 2 But might we
not as well argue thus, and attempt to prove that a part at
least of the calves which descend from these fish-eating
cows require fish, at least when they come to be full
grown, as that the human race do? If men have different
constitutions any more than cows, we should like to
know it. But we must close. On this supposed dif-
ſerence of constitution we propose to say something
hereafter.
HOT BUCKWHEAT CARES.
A CORRESPONDENT asks if hot buckwheat cakes, in the
morning, are injurious. No, they are not injurious, if
they are not eaten. But our correspondent probably re-
quires a more serious answer. We will endeavor to fur-
mish it.
The question then is, Are hot buckwheat cakes, eaten
in the morning, injurious 2
Our constant readers will have learned, by this time,
that we consider man, in a certain view, as omnivorous ;
that is, capable of subsisting on almost everything in the
animal and vegetable world. Circumstances may also
60 HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES.
occur, in which almost anything in either of these two
kingdoms of nature would be proper food for him.
Suppose a person to be shipwrecked on an uninhabited
island, with not a particle of anything to subsist on, but a
bag of buckwheat meal. Suppose, however, he finds the
means of preparing a fire, so that, before he is quite
starved, he can make some of the meal into cakes.
Would it be correct to advise such a person—were advice
possible—not to eat his cakes after they were prepared,
and above all, not to eat them hot, on the ground that
they were injurious ! Does any one doubt, for a moment,
the propriety of his eating them 2
They would certainly afford him sustenance, although
they were hot ; and no one would be likely to say they
were injurious to a hungry, half-famished man, even with
butter on them. Still they would be better without the
butter, and better still when cool.
It is also true that cold rye cakes would be better than
cakes made of buckwheat, were it in the power of the
mariner, in the case supposed, to procure them; and that
cakes made of unbolted wheat meal, and eaten cold also,
would be better still. But as to saying that buckwheat
cakes, even hot, are injurious when eaten in any circum-
stances whatever, we cannot do it.
But if they are never absolutely injurious, they are
often relatively so. It is, in a sense, injurious, to eat an
inferior article, when we can as well have one which is
superior ;-just as in a case which we have formerly
mentioned, it is not a wrong, absolutely, for a man to
labor for only a dollar a day, when he can get no more ;
but it is a wrong for him to labor for a dollar only, when
he can just as well have a dollar and a half, and believes,
too, that he is fully able to earn that sum.
We are driven to this frequent repetition of our senti-
ments, because we frequently receive inquiries that can-
HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 61
not be properly answered without a recurrence to first
principles. Thus, to the question whether buckwheat
cakes are injurious, we might answer both yes and no.
They are injurious when we can get better food, because
they do not sustain life and health in the best manner ;
but they cannot be said to be injurious when we are
obliged to eat them or starve.
We can scarcely conceive of a case, however, in this
land of abundance, where the use of these cakes is not
relatively injurious. We have lived in very many poor
families, and yet we never lived in a family which had
no better food than this. The worst fare to which we
were ever confined by necessity was oysters and a little
bread and butter. But this was better fare than the cakes
we have mentioned, even when eaten alone. They are
too pasty, or rather their chemical character is unfavora-
ble.
They are not so good as most other articles of food, we
say, even when eaten alone and cold. When hot, they
are still worse, in their adaptation to the wants of the
stomach ; and they are worse still, inconceivably so,
when eaten with butter or fat. They thus form a com-
pound which, though better than nothing to a starving
man, is wholly improper in any ordinary circumstances.
They are thus almost, but not quite indigestible. They
are relatively, if not absolutely injurious. Strange that
their use, in a land of abundance, should be so frequently
tolerated.
If the question is still asked, on the presumption that
mankind will continue to eat them, despite of all warn-
ings to the contrary, whether they should be eaten in the
morning, we answer without hesitation, Yes. The morn-
ing is usually the safest time for eating all doubtful sub-
stances, because the strength of the stomach is then in a
good measure restored by rest.
62 INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
We repeat it, if you will eat the cakes in question, eat
them in the morning. But we would gladly persuade
you, if we could, to eat them without butter. When we
had succeeded in this point, we would endeavor to induce
you to lay aside sugar, and every accompanying sub-
stance, and eat them entirely alone. When we had
gained upon you thus far, we would try to persuade you
not to eat them hot. This done, we would make one
more effort. We would endeavor to persuade you to lay
aside the buckwheat cake itself, and substitute for it,
plain, wholesome slices of bread.
INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
WE promised, not long since, to speak of the influence
of the affections and passions on human health and hap-
piness. The subject is curious as well as important. We
begin with a few remarks on the influence of Fear.
A volume of considerable size might be filled with facts
which show the ill effects of care, anxiety and grief, and,
above all, of fear and terror, in predisposing the human
constitution to disease—facts, too, than which none are
better authenticated.
But fear can do more than predispose the system to
disease. The universal rigor, the contracted and pale
countenance, the deep-sunk eye, the quivering lip, the
chillness, torpor, prostration of strength, the insupportable
anxiety about the region of the heart, &c., are so analo-
gous to the symptoms of fever, that no reasoning person can
doubt for a moment the unhealthy tendency of this passion.
It not only disposes to disease, but actually induces it in
INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH. 63
some instances; and where it already exists, always
greatly aggravates its symptoms.
Fear has been lºnown to change instantaneously the
complexion and character of wounds, and render them
fatal. It has occasioned gangrene, indurations of glands,
suppressions of natural or beneficial secretions, epilepsies,
and, when it proceeds to the more dangerous extreme
of terror, apoplexies. It has also sometimes induced a
permanent stupor of the brain, amounting to idiocy.
Extremes often meet; and as joy on the one hand has
produced sudden death, so on the other the agonizing
effects of fear may result in complete palsy of the vital
powers, and, like the plague, cholera, and other pesti-
lential disorders, when they appear in their worst forms,
instantly produce the torpor of death. From the best
accounts of the progress of the cholera, it appears that
many died from fear alone ; and many more from a mild
disease, transformed into a severe one by anxiety, fear or
terror. Awful consternation pervades those who live in
fear of death. Although the mortality of the disease,
among the truly temperate has been estimated at only
about 1 in 2000, yet this fear of disease and death
regularly causes the subjects of a panic to fall victims.
In every species of contagious disease, fear is peculiar-
ly dangerous. More than this, it is in itself contagious.
He who is under its influence, is not only rendered mis-
erable for the time, but is a source of misery to others.
His very features have a tendency to produce a state of
mind in others similar to his own. The whole tribe of
depressing passions produce, in some degree, similar
results.
There is, however, a fear which cannot and should not
be avoided, since it rouses us to take prudent and precau-
tionary measures. We condemn only that anxiety and
terror which undermine health.
64 INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
Why are physicians no more liable to infectious or
contagious diseases than other men 2 The principal
reason, no doubt, is, because they are not afraid of them.
On this subject there is much mistake abroad, even
among those who would take it ill to be classed among
the vulgar. An opinion prevails, to a very great extent,
that physicians take something to guard against disease.
Nothing can be more erroneous.
There may indeed be timid persons among them, as
among other classes of men ; but if there are those of
this description, they usually lose their health. Physi-
cians of sense are among the last persons in the commu-
nity to resort to drugs and medicines as preventives of
disease—a measure, they well know, calculated to invite
rather than repel it. But the idea that they take medi-
cine for this purpose certainly prevails, and cannot at
once be eradicated.
A gentleman in one of our country towns (and a gen-
tleman regarded as intelligent, too) said to me not long
since, “I have observed a peculiar appearance in the eyes
of all physicians who have had much practice, which I
suppose to be produced by taking powerful medicines to
guard against disease.” I found the impression so deeply
fixed in his mind, that it was useless to attempt to laugh
him out of it; and more useless still to reason with him
on the subject.
There are many attendants and nurses of the sick to be
found in our cities, who have followed their avocation
through every epidemic which has prevailed for forty
years, and without contracting disease. These persons,
like most physicians, have become habituated to these
scenes, and have learned to meet them fearlessly, and
without much anxiety as to results. They eat and drink,
and sleep, if possible, just as they have done before.
They have no idea of any great or sudden changes in
EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS. 65
these respects, simply with a view to meet the particular
disease which prevails. If they were temperate and
regular before, they continue so; if not, they ought to
change. They have no “smelling bottles,” or “herbs,”
or “drugs,” about them. They would as soon rely on
beads or charms to defend them from death. Nor do
we find them holding their breath in the sick room, or
placing much confidence in burning paper, vinegar, &c., or
in scattering camphor and other aromatics about the room.
Rigid cleanliness they observe, no doubt, in person and
dwelling. This subject cannot be too much attended to ;
and, if infection or contagion really exist, they make use
of means which have some efficacy—such as chloride of
lime, &c.—not relying on spells or charms.
Is it asked—How can we divest ourselves of fear, and
acquire the courage and confidence of which you speak 2
Look at existing facts, as we have here endeavored to
present them. If you believe these statements—and it
seems to us you cannot reasonably reject them—there is
no great danger. If you are involved in any errors
which predispose to the disease, avoid them at once.
This is easily done; and when done, and other proper
preventive measures are taken, set your mind at rest, and
dismiss all fear.
EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS.
A FRIEND inquires whether we meant to say, in Vol.
2, page 370, of this work, that it was never desirable, in
any possible case, to make external applications to fresh
wounds. As we expressed our views, on that occasion,
very briefly, and it may be unguardedly, we gladly seize
the present opportunity to explain.
Ö6 EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS.
Our opinion then is, that if a person is healthy, no ex-
ternal application to a wound can be of the least possible
use, in hastening the process of cure, but rather an in-
terruption to it. The healing, to be truly healthful, must
be from the bottom, as it might be termed ; by which we
mean, not that it always commences at the bottom, and
proceeds upwards, literally, but that it is an internal pro-
cess—a work of the ten thousand vessels and numerous
organs of the interior or deep-seated parts of the body, in
which the surface has comparatively little to do.
To have a wound heal kindly and rapidly, the stom-
ach, and liver, and lungs, and heart, and arteries, and
veins, and nerves, must be in good condition ; and we
must eat, and drink, and sleep, and exercise, and even
think properly. The skin, it is true, must be in a good
condition among the rest; and in so far as it is not so,
something may be done externally. If it is not clean, it
may be washed; or if it is cold and inactive, we may
apply the flesh-brush, or put on more clothing. But as
to effecting anything of consequence by the application of
ointments, or plasters, or washes to a small part of the
surface which is wounded or otherwise injured, it is, we
say again, once for all, perfectly idle to expect it.
The first great point in the treatment of wounds is, to
place the cut or torn parts as nearly as possible in their
natural situation. The second point is, to keep them so
till they unite. For this purpose, a simple bandage is
sometimes all that is necessary; though in other instances,
sticking plaster, or even sewing, may be required, In
deep or extensive injuries, the contraction of divided ten-
dons will often make the wound gape open, in which
case it is always proper to use some of the methods of
keeping the edges together which we have just indicated.
When wounded parts can be put in their natural posi-
tion and retained there, it is a common saying with sur-
DRESS OF THE NECK. 67
geons, that the cure is half completed ; by which is meant,
that art has done her share, and that nature will now
perform the rest; and if the health is perfect, this will
always be the result. Plasters—greasy applications, es-
pecially—are of no use. It is quite enough, in all con-
science, that we apply the latter, as often as meal time
recurs, to the inside of our stomachs.
But there is, thirdly, a little more for us to do, which
is, to see that nature is not thwarted in her operations.
Plasters, and ointments, and washes, it is still true, are
not the things needed. But it may be well to keep the
tender parts from being irritated by the cold air, or by our
clothing; and to this end, a piece of simple linen cloth
may be applied; and to prevent its adhering or becoming
dry, it may be moistened with sweet oil. If it is very
hot and much swelled, the heat and swelling may and
should also be reduced by the application of cold water or
camphorated spirits.
These are the general principles which should govern
us, in the treatment of ordinary external injuries. With
extensive or deep-seated burns or scalds, or long standing
or troublesome eruptive diseases or ulcers, we have not,
in these remarks—nor had we in the former article—any-
thing to do. They belong exclusively to the province of
the surgeon or the physician, whenever his services can
be obtained.
DRESS OF THE NECK.
DR. ALCOTT :—I believe the object of your publication
is, in general, the promotion of health. When conven-
Čent, will you, therefore, be kind enough to answer the
following questions:
6S DRESS OF THE NECE.
1. Should the neck always be protected by some article
of clothing? 2. If so, would you include the whole
neck, or a part of it only 7 3. If a part, how much 3
4. What is the best article of clothing for the neck?
5. What would you say in regard to covering the neck
at night ! 6. Is there the same necessity of covering,
with the female part of the population, as with the male 2
Yours, W. C. C.
Our reply to the first question is, that we do not be-
lieve any clothing of the neck would be needed, were we
trained to none. The peasants of some nations of Europe
go with both the neck and breast bare ; and the Prussian
physicians recommend it. It is true that some writers
think a covering of the neck and breast a defence against
croup, and cite authorities and facts which they think
favor that belief; but we think the exemption of which
they speak is fairly attributable to other causes. We
repeat it, we are decidedly in favor of training children
to go with the neck bare, both in summer and winter.
Our reply in the foregoing paragraph necessarily in-
cludes a reply to questions 2 and 3.
In reply to the inquiry about covering the neck at
night, there can be but one opinion among physiologists,
which is, that, let our dress for the neck be what it may
during the day, it should be laid aside during the night.
In regard to the necessity, with the female, of covering
the neck, we are not quite satisfied. God gives the adult
male a covering for the top of the throat, although chris-
tian nations generally remove it—we think injudiciously—
with the razor. Whether the female needs any artificial
protection, for the same purpose, we are uncertain ; but
probably she does not.
MISC E L L A NY.
HEALTH of FEMALEs.-The Rev. Dr. Sharp, of this city,
in an address at a late examination of the Townsend Female
Academy, gives the following testimony to the importance of
physical education to females:
“While you attend to the cultivation of your minds, permit
me to remind you that you have bodies, and that these de-
mand your care. It is your solemn duty to cultivate their
health, growth and vigor.
“It is fortunate for the rising generation, that the impor-
tance of physical education is beginning to be understood.
You cannot neglect or trifle with your persons with impunity.
Weakness, indigestion, lowness of spirits, and a train of dis-
eases, are sure to follow the student who is so occupied with
his studies as to neglect the exercise which the animal func-
tions require. And of what use will all your learning be, if
your minds exhibit a weak and sickly frame?”
It is not always necessary to remind the young that they
have bodies, for this seems, in general, to be pretty well un-
derstood. But it is exceedingly important that the doctrine
should be constantly reiterated, that it is a duty—a “solemn
duty,” as Dr. S. calls it—“to cultivate" these bodies; and we
hope his advice will not be wholly lost.
SocIETY FoR THE PREVENTION OF PAUPERISM.–We have
seldom had it in our power to notice an association, whose
direct bearing on health and morals was more obvious than
this. Half the relief which is usually afforded to the poor—
at least to the vicious poor—proves in their hands a curse
rather than a blessing. A friend of ours gave to a poor woman
who was begging with a child in her arms, one very cold day
last winter, twenty-five cents. The next day he saw the very
same woman in a grog-shop, with her child in her arms, BUY-
ING RUM!
70 MISCELLANY.,
The “Boston Society for the Prevention of Pauperism,”
therefore, as its name would indicate, aims to prevent that evil
which it is so difficult to correct. But its purposes will be
best understood by the following extract from a circular issued
by the Society, and forwarded to us by their agent, Mr. AR-
TEMAS SIMONDs.
“While our city is distinguished for its churches, and chap-
els, and schools for moral and intellectual instruction, and
while we have a multitudinous array of institutions for the
punishment of crime, the reformation of young offenders, and
the relief of sickness, impotence and want, the labors of this
new association may seem unnecessary—mere acts of super-
erogation. But we think otherwise. We believe that preven-
tive measures are better than remedial. We think that we
have, to a great extent, an unoccupied field for usefulness.
We hope to do something for the benefit of those who are
already paupers, or occasionally have their names enrolled on
the pauper list, by directing them to proper employment, en-
couraging them in habits of industry, sobriety and economy,
and to a reliance on their own efforts, rather than on eleemo-
synary aid. We hope to do more, by the same means, for
friendless strangers in the city, and for such as are on the
verge of pauperism.
“But our greatest hope is to do good for the morally exposed
children of the poor and unfortunate—children that are not
in School or any regular employment—perhaps strolling idly
about the streets and wharves, learning deceptive arts, prac-
tising beggary and petty theft, fitting for a life of dependance
and crime. Some of these must necessarily be disposed of,
for a time, in the various institutions established by public be-
neficence for the support, education and reformation of poor,
neglected and wayward children and youth. But it is be-
lieved that a large proportion of then may be placed, with
the consent of relatives, in good families in town and country,
beyond the reach of the temptations and influences that lead
to ruin, and without severely taxing public or private charity.
Many juvenile delinquents may doubtless be saved from fu-
ture infamy, by simply withdrawing them from unfavorable
associations, and placing them in respectable families, where
MISCELLANY. 7I
they will be trained to good habits. It is not intended to re-
sort to harsh or coercive measures. While we intend to act
efficiently to suppress beggary and imposition, we wish to act
with kindness.”
LECTURE To YouNG MEN.—We are exceedingly glad to
learn that a new edition of this book is about to appear, re-
vised and improved by Mr. Graham, the author. The first
edition has been, for some time, out of print; and calls for the
work are numerous and pressing. It is a work which should,
must be circulated. Light & Stearns are the publishers.
THREE ExPERIMENTs of LIVING.—This little book is sell-
ing at a wonderful rate. We are glad of it. Such a work,
by checking the propensity in people everywhere to live be-
yond their means, can scarcely fail to promote the public
health. We want now a cheap little manual to show us how
to live on very small means; and we understand such a one
is in press, and will shortly be published.
SCIENCE OF HUMAN LIFE.-Mr. Graham, the lecturer on
the Science of Human Life, is now giving a course of lectures
at Amory Hall, in this city. He has already given a course in
the city, and another at Lynn, during the present season. His
class at Amory Hall is very large—the largest, we believe, he
has ever had in Boston. Is it not evident, therefore, that the
cause in which Mr. G. is engaged is gaining a hold upon the
minds of our citizens? That it is so, would appear—had we
no other evidence of the fact—from the following resolutions
recently adopted by a committee from Mr. G.'s friends, at a
meeting held in Boston, on the 23d of December last, of which
Col. John Benson was chairman:
“Resolved, that we feel it our duty seriously and solemnly
to declare, that the more we have attended to the principles
taught by Mr. Graham in his lectures on the science of human
life, and the more fully we have reduced those principles to
72 MISCELLANY.
practise, and the more extensively we have become acquainted
with the results of the same experiment in others, the more
entirely do we feel convinced of the truth of those principles,
and of their adaptation greatly to promote the well-being of
man, both in his individual and social capacity.
Resolved, that the cause in which Mr. Graham is engaged
is not, and ought not to be considered, in any manner, as an
individual or personal interest, but as the common interest of
humanity, which eminently deserves the confidence of every
human being, and the decided support of every christian and
philanthropist.
Resolved, that we regard every expression of the press, by
which the cause in which Mr. Graham is engaged is brought
into disrepute, and by which popular prejudice is excited
against it, as an injury done to the common interests of hu-
manity and virtue.
Resolved, that we earnestly but respectfully entreat our fel-
low citizens and the public, everywhere to lay aside the pre-
judices which have been unfairly and unjustly excited against
the doctrines taught by Mr. Graham, and to give those doc-
trines their honest and serious attention.
Resolved, that Mr. Graham be requested to repeat his course
of lectures in this city, and that we take every proper means
to induce our fellow citizens to attend his lectures.”
ScIENTIFIC AND LITERARY JourNAL.—All things, it seems,
except the Source of all things, are mutable. The “Scientific
Tracts” have become the “Scientific and Literary Journal,
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” The work is to be
issued by the same publishers as the “Tracts” were, in semi-
monthly numbers of twenty-four pages each. We like the
“healthy” appearance of the numbers for January, 1837, and
for the future, wish and augur it both health and longevity.—
Light & Stearns, publishers.
VALUABLE BOOK,
Just out of Press.
SCIENTIFIC TRACTS,
For the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
With an Engraving of the “ Tree of Philosophy.”
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME.—PRICE $1.
The Publishers have been at considerable expense in the
publication of this work, and trust that the valuable matter it
contains will be appreciated by the community. We think
every subscriber to the Journal would value a copy highly.
The following is a list of the subjects and authors of the Tracts:
PHILOSOPHY OF SELF-EDUCATION, by B. B. Thatcher.
OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY, by LIEUT. Roswell PArk.
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY RISING, by DR. W.M. A. ALcott.
MAY-FLOWERS, by D. H. HowARD. -
NATURAL HISTORY OF WATER, by C. T. JAckson, M. D.
PLEASURES OF SCIENCE, by Rev. W. M. Rogers.
HISTORY OF PEACE SOCIETIES, by WILLIAM L.App.
SCIENCE OF HUMAN LIFE, by Dr. SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
HISTORY OF TELEGRAPHS, by J. R. PARKER.
COMBUSTION, by R. A. CoFFIN.
GRANITE ROCK, by DR. SAMUEL Fish.
THEORY OF THE EARTH, by DR. SAMUEL Fish.
LIGHT & STEARNS, 1 Cornhill.
WORKS IN PREPARATION.
THE YOUNG WIFE. By DR. ALcott. Intended as one of
the same series with the Young MoTHER. The matter entirely different.
THE WATER CURER. By A Medical, MAN. A small pocket
manual for debilitated Young Men.
In Press and will speedily be published,
A LECTURE TO YOUNG MEN. By SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
Second Edition, enlarged and improved. This work is highly recommended by several
distinguished men.

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WM. A. ALCOTT, EDITor.
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conteNTs.
What says Physiology 1 . . . . . 73 Misc FLLANY.
“Monstrous Little Physic,” . . . 75 Our Periodicals, . . . . . . . . . 101
Drinking at our Meals, . . . . . . 77 | Dangers of Beer Drinking, . . . 101
Case of Reform, . . . . . . . . . 86 Teaching Anatomy to Indians, . 102
“The House I Live in,” . . . . . 88 The Work Progressing, . . . . 103
Diet and Climate, . . . . . . . . . 91 I ſealth ſul Legislation, . . . . . . J04
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LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers, 1 Cornhill.
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This work contains numerous directions in relation to the preparation of food.
AN ESSAY ON THE INFLUENCE OF TOBACCO UPON
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THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING. Living within the Means
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
WHAT SAYS PHYSIOLOGY 2
THIS is the great question, in all matters which pertain
to health. We say this is the great question—we mean,
rather, that it should be. The questions now are—What
says inclination ? What says fashion ? What says habit 2
What says our own experience 2
But the time, we do believe and trust, will sooner or
later arrive, when we shall make our appeal to rules less
capricious, and arbitrary, and deceptive—to the law and
testimony of physiology. The time will arrive, when all
questions which relate to health will be settled by an
appeal to this sure and certain standard.
When that truly golden, or rather millennial period
shall have actually arrived, and the world shall have fully
learned what christianity requires of them in regard to
their physical frames, we shall not hear so many appeals
as now to our own individual experience as a certain
standard, nor to custom, however long established. A
better standard will then be set up and duly regarded.
Should the question then arise, How much ought I to
sleep, in order to answer best the intentions of the Author
of my being—to love and serve Him and his creatures
in the most effectual manner ?—the first and last appeal
will be to physiology.
5
74 WHAT SAYS PHYSIOLOGY 7
In like manner, should any other question arise in re-
gard to sleep, or in regard to exercise, recreation, tempe-
rature, clothing, cleanliness, food, drink, &c.—should it
be demanded how much or how little attention ought to
be paid to these, or either of them, with a view to fulfil,
in the best possible manner, the will of God concerning
us—the question will be, What says Physiology 2
We suppose that the question will not then arise, Will
such or such a thing hurt me ! Christianity does not
permit us to stand on ground so doubtful. “He that
doubteth is condemned if he eat.” It is very far below
the spirit and intentions of christianity, to eat, drink,
sleep, dress, &c., in a manner which is at all question-
able. Our food, our drink, our sleep, our dress—our eve-
rything which pertains to health—should be such as will
be quite above the possibility of doing ourselves or others
any harm. It should be such as will do us good ; and
not only do us good, but the most good ; and this, too,
without interfering with the good of others. Should any
individual, however, be found disposed to stand on the
ground which we have denominated doubtful, and propose
questions, the first and last and only question for him is,
What says Physiology 2
Both the Saviour and Paul have indicated, in the re-
cord of truth, what should be our object, in everything
which pertains to the well-being of our bodies; and they,
as well as other Bible writers—Moses especially—have
occasionally taught us not a little of physiology. But the
Bible was not designed as a minute text book in any of
the natural sciences; although it is curious to observe
that so far as it goes into these matters, its generals are
in perfect accordance with our particulars ; we mean,
the discoveries of science. But while the Bible has indi-
cated the object we should have in view, whether we eat
or drink, or whatsoever we do—the glory of God—it is
“MONSTROUs LITTLE PHYSIC.” 75
left to us to ascertain, by slow degrees, what the minor
rules are for accomplishing this object. And these rules,
as fast as discovered, and incorporated into a science, we
call Physiology.
It is true—and we ought not to delay to acknowledge
it—that when we ask, What says Physiology 2 she is
sometimes silent. She is yet in her infancy, like many
other sciences, and therefore cannot be expected to know
everything. What she knows, she modestly tells; when
she is ignorant, she confesses it.
And herein, let me say in conclusion, is one mark by
which we may distinguish true science from empiricism
or quackery. The former is neither dogmatical for
proud. She tells, modestly, what she knows ; and con-
fesses, humbly, what she does not know. Empiricism,
on the contrary, is so certain, in her own estimation, she
is right, that she pronounces with assurance, and some-
times almost with impudence; and so well acquainted is
she with all mysteries and all knowledge, that you can
scarcely mention a subject or science, on which she will
not pronounce with as much confidence and assurance,
and with quite as much of dogmatism, as its most learned
professors.
“MONSTROUS LITTLE PHYSIC.”
THE reader may smile to see such a curious combina-
tion of words as “monstrous little,” especially when he is
told that it is quoted from a work no less dignified than
the British Medico-Chirurgical Review, and was penned
by one of the best scholars in Great Britain. But he
would weep rather than laugh, if he knew one tenth of
76 “Monstrous LITTLE PHYSIC.”
the evils which the learned doctor had in his mind, when
he made such a “monstrous ” expression.
He was investigating the causes why the lives of medi-
cal men, in consequence of evils incident to their profes-
sion, are not shortened more than they are. It does not
appear that their average longevity is less than that of
men of most other professions. Out of 850 physicians,
M. du Bois finds 365 reached the age of 70 and upwards.
Perhaps, says our author of the Medico-Chirurgical Re-
view, it is because the physician “takes monstrous little
physic.”
It is a common opinion, we know, as we observed in
our last number, that physicians owe their escape from
disease, especially in times of great sickness, to the fact
that they have medicine about them, and can take it in a
seasonable manner.
Yet nothing is better known than that—so far at least
as the immediate friends of physicians can discover—
there are no persons so much opposed to taking medicine
themselves as physicians are.
The truth is, that physicians, as a body, do indeed take
“monstrous little physic,” or medicine. They know
enough to let it alone. And they only give it to others
as a last resort—as a choice of evils.
It is curious to observe how this matter stands. The
young and inexperienced practitioner, especially if want-
ing in common sense and a real knowledge of the human
constitution, gives a great deal of medicine. But as he
grows wiser from experience—not from years, for there
are some physicians, as well as other men, to whom age
never gives wisdom—he gives less and less medicine.
Go to some of our oldest and wisest and most trusty phy-
sicians, and ascertain, if you can, the state of the case ;
and our word for it, they give not one fourth the medicine
that young men do. Go to—but we will not call
DRINKING AT MEALS. 77
names; it is sufficient to say that our wisest physicians
not only take but give “monstrous little physic.”
Let those of you who are living on the apothecary shop,
learn a lesson from these hints. Or will you continue
to dabble with medicine till you break down what of
your constitution now remains 2 If you really wish for
exemption from disease, our advice is, to take “monstrous
little physic.”
DRINKING AT MEALS.
NoTHING is more common than the practice of drinking
with our meals. For this purpose, something poisonous
is often used, if we can get it, as rum, brandy, wine, cider,
beer, coffee or tea; but if we are afraid to risk any of the
poisonous fraternity, still some liquid must be swallowed,
so we think—shells, chocolate, milk and water, molasses
and water, hot water or cold water. Something, at any
rate, must be sipped, and sipped often, with our meals.
So common is this practice of sipping, that the individual
would excite surprise, who should refuse to drink anything
at all with his meals; and if he should inveigh against
the practice, as not only unnecessary, but injurious, he
would be stared at, and perhaps benevolently consigned
to the strait jacket.
And yet who shall say any sort of drink with our food
is indispensable % Where is the proof? Is it found in the
fact that almost everybody uses it ! If it were so—if
the universality of the practice proves it to be useful—then
we may prove, by the same rule, that many things are
useful which are wholly proscribed, not only by the mor-
alist, but by the politician—indeed, by everybody.
78 DRINKING AT MEALS.
Is it said that eating often makes us thirsty 2 This is
true ; but does eating in a proper manner ever make us
thirsty ? We may indeed be thirsty from other causes,
when we sit down to eat, or we may be thirsty while
eating too rapidly, or of improper kinds of food. If our
eating, however, be according to the laws of physiology,
we do not believe it ever induces thirst.
But eating in a proper manner is a rare thing among
us. Nowhere, perhaps, on earth, is the art of eating so
little understood—we mean, nowhere in christian coun-
tries—as in our own New England.
The art of eating properly consists in masticating our
food well, until it is fully saturated with the peculiar se-
cretion of the salivary glands. Let us watch a person
who understands this art, if such a person can be found.
He first selects food which needs mastication. He does
not prefer a substance which, naturally hard, has been
thrown into a half fluid state by beating, or mashing, or
the torturing processes of modern cookery. He does not
prefer his bread soaked to a pulp, either in water or but-
ter; nor his potatoes and turnips mashed till they can be
swallowed almost like a fluid. He does not require his
meat boiled to soup before he can eat it. Nor does he
prefer hot bread, simply because it is comparatively easy
to swallow it. He has no idea of cheating his teeth, by
depriving them of the opportunity of doing that work
which God, in nature, has assigned them.
Why is it so ordered that a number of little ducts, like
so many fountains, should pour their limpid contents into
the mouth, as soon as we begin to masticate our food 3
Why is the quantity of the liquid furnished always in
exact proportion to the dryness of the food which is
received, provided we carry the masticating process far
enough 2 Why this provision of nature for bringing all
the substances we eat to the condition of pulp, before we
DRINKING AT ME ALS. 79
swallow them 2 Do these facts indicate a necessity for
drink 2
The reader need not startle at the foregoing remarks.
We are not going to say that it is positively injurious, in
all cases, to drink with our meals. God has wisely pro-
vided for pumping the water out of the stomach, if there
is a greater quantity in it than digestion requires. Or,
to use physiological language, the excess of liquid is
absorbed, and carried into the circulation, until the mass
which remains is of the proper consistence. If the food
were perfectly well masticated, the principal evils of an
additional quantity of fluid would be, that it would retard
the process of digestion, and by imposing on the stomach
the task of getting rid of it, unnecessarily exhaust the
strength of the stomach, and lower the tone of the vital
powers in general.
But though we do not affirm that drinking with our
meals is positively injurious, we do affirm, and feel our-
selves fully competent to maintain, that it were better—
far better—in all ordinary cases, not to drink. Broussais,
the physiologist, says expressly that water is useless in
the digestion of solid aliment. People lose half the plea-
sure of eating, who wash down each mouthful before it is
half masticated. Then they deprive their teeth of half
their appointed labor; whence follow as results, in part,
their premature disease and decay, together with imper-
fect digestion, and many more evils. The salivary glands,
too, deprived of the privilege of doing their appropriate
work, are either becoming inactive or doing mischief.
For in general, if organs in the human body are
deprived of the privilege or power of performing their
accustomed offices, they sooner or later revenge them-
selves on the whole system. They form bad secretions,
or send out unhealthy sympathies.
80 DRINKING AT MEALS.
How painful it is to sit at a modern table, and observe,
if we may, the progress of things! Here is a young
merchant, who, though hungry, grudges every moment
of his time, and lo! dinner, which was to have been
ready precisely at two, is not yet on the table, though it
is a quarter past. But presently it comes on ; and after
the preliminaries, which take up five minutes more, his
turn comes to be helped. Now he has but ten minutes
remaining before he wishes to start for his counting-room.
He seizes his food, and attempts to bolt it, piece after
piece, into his stomach, giving it, perchance, a half angry
smash or two as it passes along the neighborhood of his
teeth. But unless it is something which is cooked very
soft, it will rarely go down as fast as he wishes; for nature
has wisely ordered, that unless our food is duly moistened
in some way or other, it is very difficult to swallow it.
Nobody can swallow a mouthful of perfectly dry cracker,
or biscuit, or bread, let it be pulverized ever so fine.
Our young merchant has three ways of getting down
his food without mastication, which are contrary to nature.
One of these is to stimulate the mouth, and thus excite,
in a powerful manner, the salivary glands, and make
them pour forth their accustomed torrents, whether they
will or no. No matter to him whether the liquid they
furnish is half formed or not ; the great object is to pro-
cure it. To this end” he loads his food with mustard, or
pepper, or salt; or he bathes it in vinegar. Another
method is to soak it well with gravy, or cover it with but-
ter or oil, so that though it should chance to press hard in
the gullet, it might nevertheless go down. Another is to
drink often, and wash down his food. Surely there can
be no harm, he thinks, in often drinking, especially if he
drinks cold water | The consequence is, that he finishes,
* I do not say he is conscious that he does it for this end.
DRINKING AT MEALS. 81
in ten minutes, what he ought to be forty, at the least, in
performing ; and then flies to his shop. He even says to
himself as he goes along—“I would never spend more
than six minutes at table, were it not for appearance sake.
Six minutes is time enough to waste in such vulgar mat-
ters as eating and drinking !”
There sits a blooming young miss of sixteen at her
breakfast table—and it would be nearly the same thing
were it at any other meal—despatching her accustomed
task. She is in no great haste to finish, were there any-
thing which she could relish. But the bread she does not
like ; and the cheese does not agree with her ; and the
butter she fears is not of the best quality; and the pies
were baked two or three days ago, and are cold. There
is milk on the table—a large and liberal bowl of it—but
who can be so vulgar as to eat bread and milk | Besides,
she does not very well like it, unless there is fruit of some
kind to eat with it, baked apples, pears, or peaches, or
strawberries, or whortleberries.
But she could break some bread into her coffee, you
will say, and make a meal of that. Yes, but she does not
drink coffee or tea. She has taken it into her head that
coffee and tea are hurtful, for she has heard somebody say
so—perhaps the minister or the doctor. But why these
are hurtful, she could not tell, if it were to save her life.
She has laid them aside, however; and now, poor girl,
she scarcely enjoys a breakfast once a month. If she
could go to her mother's closet when she pleased, she
would be able to get along very comfortably ; but alas !
her mother is dead, and she is obliged to live with her
aunt, who keeps a boarding-house, and consequently does
not believe in eating between meals.
What now can she do 2 How can she complete her
task, as we have just called it ! Poor girl; she is to be
pitied, indeed. It is a dreadful task to eat a plain healthy
82 DRINKING AT ME ALS,
breakfast. But she gets through with it, in the following
Iſhanner .
“Betty,” says she, “just toast me a single piece of
bread; I really do n’t feel very well this morning.” So a
piece of bread is submitted to this process—to dry up half
its sweetness. Of course, while the bread is preparing,
she is not expected to eat much. A little piece of bread
and butter, though she does not like the butter quite so
well, is begun upon ; for it is not intended to be finished.
We do not say it is masticated or tasted : the butter serves
as a passport to conduct it at once beyond the region of
the teeth and salivary glands; and a kind of spasmodic
effort of the apparatus for swallowing forces it beyond a
point whence there is, ordinarily, no return.
But now comes the toasted piece; and anon it is well
soaked with butter, bad as the butter is. Our readers
know, perhaps, that bad butter is no longer bad when you
cannot taste it; that is, when it is incorporated with pie
crust, cakes, &c., or mixed, in any other manner, with our
food ; and that it is not very bad when it has deeply pen-
etrated the toasted bread. We say, perhaps they know it;
they probably think they know it; their experience tells
them it is so ; and who can gainsay the voice of experi-
ence 2
To aid in the process, and to prolong the time so as not
to get through with her breakfast much sooner than the
rest who sit at the table, the knife and fork are gracefully
dismissed, about every ten or twelve seconds, and the tum-
bler of cold water is put in requisition. She sips it as she
would her tea, to wash down the things she hardly likes,
but which she thinks she must eat.
But is her aunt happier, with her full cup of strong cof-
fee, with which she washes down a few ounces of bread,
and a bit of cheese, and a piece of half-spoiled meat made
with apples into a pie 2 Not a whit. She does not eat her
DRINKING AT MEALS. 83
allowance because she likes it; but to set an example to
her boarders, and because she knows she must eat a little
solid food. But her coffee is the main thing, and she
would no more eat what she does, were it not that she can
wash down every mouthful with coffee, than she would
eat saw-dust or powdered fern roots.
Our readers may think this an exaggerated picture of
human society; and perhaps it is so. The cases are taken
from real life, but they are extreme ones. Something like
this exists, indeed, everywhere in fashionable society ;
but not in the same degree. There is everywhere this
sipping something to wash down what we do not heartily
relish; it is everywhere customary to butter our food, or
cover it with condiments, in order to get it down easily,
and without the trouble of mastication. Of the causes of
this strange state of things, it is not our purpose to speak
in the present article.
How much more rational would it be to follow the indi-
cations of nature ? She has provided us with teeth to
break down our food; let us then select substances which
demand their efforts. Let us neither mash them, nor soak
them, nor oil them. She has provided for the appearance
of the saliva at various points of the mouth, just fast
enough to assist the teeth in their work of reducing the
mass to a pulp, when unaided by any excess of moisture in
the food. She has so ordered things, that when this pulp,
duly wrought, comes to the stomach, the digestive process
goes on happily; and all is peace among the organs which
go to replenish the waste, and supply the wants of the
human machine. But the introduction of substances
which prevent, in any degree, the work of mastication
and insalivation from being performed in exactly the way
that nature intended, begins a series of mischiefs, the end
of which no one can foresee. And all drinks at our meals,
do, as it seems to us, belong to this class of hindrances.
84 DRINKING AT MEALS.
The truth is, that half of what we swallow, when nature
has her perfect work, is liquid. The pulp formed as it
should be and then introduced to the stomach, what is it?
Then the chyme, formed by the addition of the gastric
juice flowing from the inside of the stomach, what is it 2
Do they not contain all the drink, during the process of
eating, which the purposes of health demand 3
True, it is often said that those who perspire freely need
more drink than what is afforded through the medium of
good chyme. Admitting it were so, it does not follow
that they need this drink with their food. Nor do we be-
lieve that they do. When we follow nature at our meals,
she will not fail to call for a supply to make up deficiencies
at such a time as she wants it; that is, somewhere be-
tween our accustomed meals.
We have our doubts with regard to drinking to supply
the waste induced by perspiration. We have seen so
many people who perspired very freely, and yet habitually
drank very little, whose health was excellent, that we are
compelled to believe that nature has some way un-
known to us for introducing a supply—perhaps through
the lungs. The more people drink, the more drink they
seem to need; and, on the contrary, the less they drink, the
less they seem to require. On this point, Dr. Oliver, of
New Hampshire, seems to have some very good thoughts,
which we venture to insert in this place.
“Children drink because they are dry. Grown people
drink, whether dry or not, because they have discovered a
way of making drink pleasant. Children drink water,
because this is a beverage of nature's own brewing, which
she has made for the purpose of quenching a natural
thirst. Grown people drink anything but water, because
this fluid is intended to quench only a natural thirst, and
natural thirst is a thing which they seldom feel.”
DRINKING AT ME ALS. S5
We beg our readers to weigh well these sentiments,
especially the last. We believe, most fully, that natural
thirst is seldom felt; and that people do not often drink to
guench thirst, but for other reasons ;-to wash down their
food, to excite their nerves, to cool themselves, to pass
away the time, &c. The legitimate purpose of drink, we
say again, is to quench thirst ; but natural thirst seldom
exists during the progress of a proper and healthful meal.
“Children drink,” says Dr. Oliver, “because they are
dry.” We doubt this. Such instances, it is true, there may
be. But we believe that even little children drink, for the
most part, for other purposes, than merely to quench thirst ;
and above all, natural thirst. It is surprising how early
they acquire the habit of eating and drinking for purposes
wholly different from those which the Creator intended.
If the time should ever arrive, in the history of our world,
when people shall eat and drink as they ought, we may
find our tables, at our meals, as rarely set with drinks and
drinking vessels, as we now find them spread with medi-
cines and medicine phials. People may sometimes drink
both with and after meals; but so rare will such an occur-
rence be, that we believe they will often go to the side-
board or to the well or the fountain for this purpose.
Let him who doubts the views which we have here ad-
vanced take the first opportunity of making an experiment.
That opportunity will be the first time he is really hungry.
Then let him make his meal of good bread, or bread and
apples, or bread and potatoes; or of some other farinaceous
vegetable. Let him spend at least thirty minutes—forty
are better—in masticating eight or ten ounces of bread, and
a few ounces of some other vegetable. Let him resolve
not to drink during the whole process; and let him keep
his resolution. Let his next meal, whatever it may consist
of, be also without drink. Let him continue the practice
with strictness one month; and if he is not astonished at
86 CASE OF REFORM.
the change, we shall be greatly mistaken. We do not
mean to intimate that such an experiment will, alone,
prove anything in regard to the utility of drink with
our food ; but it may serve to give him some idea of the
power of habit, and to show him how unnatural and unne-
cessary is the habit of frequent drinking at our meals,
notwithstanding it universally prevails.
CASE OF REFORMI.
MR. EDITOR —I am a subscriber to your work, and
have observed your efforts in the cause of truth, with the
most lively pleasure. It will not be disputed, that what
knowledge of the good or bad effects of any particular
system of diet on the human body, we may gain from ex-
perience and observation, is better, and causes a deeper
conviction in the minds of others, than all the theoretical
views that can in any manner be promulgated. Knowing
then, this fact, and having had some experience in the
matter of diet, I have concluded to send you a few lines
n the subject, with which you can make what use you
may deem proper.
Being born with a rather weakly constitution, I was
necessarily more or less in ill health in my younger days,
in consequence of not knowing enough to take the proper
measures for counteracting my natural infirmities, by a
vigorous and absternious diet. But as I grew older I
was naturally led to reflect upon the matter.
The first and unavoidable conclusion I came to, was
that tea and coffee were injurious to the human system,
and especially so to myself. I was in the constant habit
of drinking from three to four cups of the strongest tea, or
CASE OF REFORM. 87
coffee at a time, and the consequence was a severe nervous
debility. I was convinced of this from reflection, and
determined to quit the use of these beverages. I did so
gradually. After six months trial I found myself in a
great measure restored to health—at least my health was
greatly improved.
I now drink nothing but clear, pure, wholesome water,
as it comes from the fountain, fresh, and in the manner
that God intended it should be used, beyond a doubt.
And, indeed, I find little occasion even for water, having
found from experience that the indulging a too free use of
drinks is nothing but a slavish habit we acquire, and a
habit which is degrading to mankind. I use no liquids
whatever at my meals—I find not the least occasion for
them.
Let me here turn aside to bear witness against medi-
cine, and especially quack medicine. I will frankly own
that for a time I was taken in by flaming newspaper ad-
vertisements, so seducing to the valetudinarian ; and con-
sequently was in the habit of buying and swallowing
poisons. As might be expected, I was still complaining,
although, as before stated, I felt myself greatly improved
in health after discarding the tea and coffee abominations.
At last I determined to follow the advice of Macbeth, and
“throw physic to the dogs;” for I found that when I ab-
stained from medicine altogether, and animal food partly,
I felt greatly improved. I then discarded medicine of
every description, with the firm conviction that it was un-
necessary to health, while on the contrary it was injuri-
ous; and, as it were intuitively, began the practice of
dieting which Dr. Graham so enthusiastically advocates.
Having thus begun the work of reformation, I did not
stop. My habits being sedentary, I found that after eating,
no matter how little, animal food, a certain somniferous
feeling took possession of me, totally incapacitating me for
8S “THE HOUSE I LIVE IN.”
any business—head work—for at least two or three hours
thereafter. Hereupon I determined to see what effect a
strict, simple vegetable diet would have. I ate no meat,
and found after my meals that I felt as fit and able to do
business as when I rose in the morning. Since that pe-
riod—some three years—I have not taken any tea or cof-
fee, (spirituous liquors I never used,) or eaten any animal
food, or butter; and have not seen an unwell hour in all
that time.
Does not this speak in favor of a vegetable diet? I think
so. At least I am satisfied with it, and thank God for
opening my eyes to my situation in time to prevent the
serious consequences that would undoubtedly have resulted
to me, by a continued indulgence in my original habits of
life, with regard to food and medicine. S. R.
Albany, N. Y. Oct. 24, 1836.
“THE HOUSE I LIVE IN.”
[Here follows a specimen—a tolerably fair one—of the new and im-
proved edition of this work. Of course it would not become us to praise
it 5 but we bespeak attention to it, especially on the part of parents and
teachers.]
Uses of THE BLooD.—All parts of the human body,
whether solid or fluid, and whatever may be their ap-
pearance or structure, are formed from the blood. I have
told you how this fluid is sent out by the heart to all parts
of the system, even to the bones. I have also said a few
words about the saliva, and the gastric juice, and the bile,
and have called them secretions.
It may be necessary to observe, in this place, that by
the word secretion, as used in this book, is meant some-
“THE House I LIVE IN.” 89
thing formed from the blood. Not only the saliva, the
tears, the gastric juice, the pancreatic fluid, and the bile
are secretions, but the mucus which is everywhere found
in the mucous membranes of the body, the water in the
brain, the lungs, &c. In short, wherever you find water
or anything else, inside of the body, except in the intes-
times or the bladder, you may be pretty sure it is formed
from the blood.
You will perhaps ask how it is formed. Sometimes it
is by means of glands, larger or smaller; sometimes with-
out them. A gland is a soft body, full of vessels—
arteries, veins and absorbents. These vessels seem so
numerous that one might be led to think the gland was
wholly made up of them. Here is a picture of the vessels
of the kidneys, as they would appear if a slice of this
organ were carefully viewed, after the blood had been
wiped away.
º
Zº
Kº
#
&-º§
2:
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º,
º
§
:
a-s
ë
tº
;
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ºS$
&:
§
Å
2-
>
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º
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242
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;
º
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N.S./*-
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º
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s
§
W
T
The kidney, however, is not so good a specimen of the
nature of a gland as the liver would be. The larger
glands of the human body are the liver, the spleen, the
*.


6
90 “THE HOUSE I LIVE IN.”
pancreas, the salivary glands, the lachrymal glands, &c.
Besides these there are small glands almost innumerable.
The cerumen of the ear, and the oil of the skin, of which
I have already spoken, are secreted by little glands.
The lymphatic or absorbent vessels are everywhere
connected, in their passage through the body, with little
glands. Some of these are larger, some smaller; and
most of them are very small indeed. Those little swell-
ings called kernels, which sometimes appear in the armpit
or groin, or in the sides of the neck, are nothing but
inflamed lymphatic glands.
All these glands, (except the lymphatic glands, whose
use is unknown,) secrete something; and the material for
secreting anything from is the blood, sent to them from
the heart, into their ten thousand little vessels.
NATURE OF SECRETION.—I have already observed that
some of the liquids, &c., of the human body, seem to be
secreted without the help of glands. They appear to be
made directly from the blood vessels. How, we do not
know. Perhaps they ooze through the sides of the
vessels.
Here, perhaps, in the vessel, is blood; there, outside of
it, but not a hair's breadth from it, is gastric juice, or some
other entirely new substance. Here is simply chyme or
chyle; there, at the distance of a hair's breadth, is chyle
or blood. Here is chyme or chyle made of common food,
with no sulphur, or iron, or nitrogen in it; there, perhaps
mot the twelfth part of an inch distant, is a fluid made
from this very liquid, containing, among other things,
nitrogen, sulphur and iron
By what secret laws of the Creator have these little
vessels this wonderful power 2 By what mysterious
process can they change—in the twinkling of an eye—a
bland milky substance, made from simple bread, or milk,
DIET AND CLIMATE. 91
or potatoes, into iron or sulphur ! But so it is. Well,
indeed, might David the Psalmist express wonder.
Not only the liquid parts, but the solid parts too, are
made from the blood. The very bones themselves, at
first gelatine, are gradually made into bone, by means of
the blood in its little vessels. First, a particle of gelatine
is taken away, by the absorbents; then comes along a
particle of blood, or something that the blood contains,
and stops in its place, and so on.
These particles, which are thus taken out to form bone
in the place of gelatine, are many of them lime, or
phosphate of lime, or at least something which makes
lime, before it can become bone. Who directs the little
particles of lime to the places where they are wanted 2
Who tells them to stop at the bones, and not before ?
DIET AND CLIMATE.
WHEN we consider the extreme pertinacity with which
the ignorant portion of mankind cling to long cherished
errors, and how blindly they often follow those errors to
their own destruction, evincing the most rancorous hos-
tility toward those who attempt to bring them to the
knowledge of the truth, it seems as if all endeavors to
reform the world in these respects, must prove wholly in
vain; and the heart of the philanthropist sinks and sickens
within him, in view of the discouragements that surround
him.
How many thousands of Europeans and Americans
have perished in the West Indies, by the yellow fever and
other kinds of disease which prevail in that climate; and
yet it seems never to have occurred to any one that there
are natural means of rendering that climate healthy to
92 DIET AND CLIMATE,
foreigners in every season of the year, till the celebrated
Dr. Jackson, of the British army, accidentally discovered
that a European could with perfect safety expose himself
at any and all times, in the West Indies, if his diet and
general regimen were in accordance with correct physio-
logical principles. And notwithstanding this important
discovery was made by so distinguished a medical gentle-
man, and notwithstanding he publicly declared his entire
conviction that a British army might be kept in the West
Indies in as good health as in England, provided they
subsisted exclusively on pure vegetable food, and drank
nothing but water, and were cleanly in their habits, yet
scarcely any attention has been paid to the discovery, and
hundreds of Europeans and Americans have continued,
as if urged on by an inexorable destiny, to disregard
every admonition of truth and wisdom, and hurry to an
untimely grave in the West Indies.
How many of our enterprising young men have found
an early grave in New Orleans, and other portions of the
South, where malignant fevers prevail, who might, by a
proper regard to the laws of life, have now been living,
and well. But a strange infatuation seems to prevail on
this subject. Man sees thousands before him plunge
into the whirlpool of destruction, and yet he deliberately
follows on, as if he must necessarily pursue the same
course, and stand his chance to perish or survive, as luck,
or fortune, or fate, or Providence shall determine.
Who has not heard the soul-sickening accounts which
have been given of the experiments of the American
Colonization Society in Africa? What numbers of
colored and white people have perished almost as soon
as they landed on the African coast. One of the strongest
arguments urged against the whole enterprise, has been the
extreme unhealthiness of the climate. This, more than
any other cause, has made the colored man unwilling to
DIET AND CLIMATE. 93
return to the land of his forefathers. This, more than
any other cause, has prevented the success of the Coloni-
zation Society.
Yet, strange as it is, many who have been the most
zealous advocates for the American Colonization Society,
and especially for the African enterprise, have treated,
either with culpable neglect or sneering contempt, the
principles by which alone that enterprise could have been,
and still may be, rendered perfectly safe and successful.
As to the matter of disagreement between the Coloniza-
tionists and the Abolitionists, I have nothing to say
here. But I do say with the utmost confidence, that any
number of blacks or whites may go from this country to
Africa, and remain there with entire safety. There is no
need of their having “the fever.” They certainly will
not have it unless they bring it upon themselves. But if
they will secure health, the strictness with which they
obey the laws of health must be proportionate to the
hazard of violating them in such climates and circum-
Stances.
There is another class of men who, I think, do not act
judiciously on this subject. I mean our foreign mission-
aries, before they leave our shores at least, and generally
on the passage. I regard it as truly their duty to study and
obey the laws on which God has made their life and health
to depend, as it is to study and obey the revealed principles
of religion. If they, at much expense of time and means,
have been educated and prepared for usefulness in the
cause of humanity and religion, they have no right to
throw their lives away; nor unnecessarily to jeopardize
them through ignorance. Our missionaries may go to
any country inhabited by human beings, and enjoy the
fullest measure of health there, of which the human con-
stitution is capable in such circumstances, if they will
properly prepare themselves before they leave their native
94 DIET AND CLIMATE,
climate, and properly obey the laws of life and health which
should govern them in the country to which they go. Yet
how often have I seen the young missionary on the eve of
departure for a foreign country, turn away from friendly
suggestions on this subject, with strong manifestations of
disgust and contempt.
Our missionary societies ought to think more on this
subject than they seem yet to have done. I know they have
given some attention to it. I know they have sent some
of their missionaries to medical institutions to attend
medical lectures. But it is seriously questionable whether
the very superficial knowledge which they acquire in
medicine does not do them more harm than good—and fit
them more to injure than to benefit others. To this
subject is the sentiment of Pope peculiarly applicable—
“A little learning is a dangerous thing.” Nothing short
of a deep and thorough knowledge of the science of
human life should satisfy the missionary ; and without
this he is, in my judgment, greatly, if not essentially
unqualified for his mission, in the present period of the
world.
As there are no known instances, at least in modern
times, in which any portion of the human family have
lived, in all respects, in accordance with the laws of
human life and health, so it is impossible to present facts
which will fully exemplify the results of such an accord-
ance with those laws. Nevertheless there are facts,
showing the effects of some degree of conformity to physi-
ological laws, which surely demand the serious considera-
tion of every one who wishes well to the human race.
Copeland's Medical Dictionary contains an article on
climate in relation to the food of man, in which the writer
says—“When travelling in the most unhealthy parts of
intertropical Africa, in 1817, I met with an Englishman
who had lived there between thirty and forty years, and
DIET AND CLIMATE. 95
was then in the enjoyment of good health. The circum-
stance was singular; and in answer to my inquiries as to
his habits, he informed me that soon after his removal to
that pestilential climate, his health had continued to suffer,
till, after trying various methods without benefit, he had
pursued as closely as possible, the modes of life of the
natives, adopting both their diet and beverages—(the na-
tives living almost exclusively on rice and maize, and
water ;) and from that time he had experienced no serious
illness.”
The Rev. Mr. Mylne, missionary to Africa, makes
the following mention of the health of his colleague, the
Rev. Mr. Crocker. Having given an account of his
own severe sickness and recovery, he adds—“Brother
Crocker has been very much favored ; he has had no
real attack of fever all this time ; which I suppose is
unprecedented for a white man here; but he began three
months before leaving America, to live on farinaceous
food, and has strictly adhered to his principles since he
arrived; living on rice, cassada, sweet potatoes, &c.—a
fact worthy of the consideration of emigrants to this
country.”
Mr. G. W. M'Elroy, of Kentucky, visited Liberia in
Africa in the summer of 1835—arriving in July. He
spent two months in Monrovia, and two months on the
coast. During his voyage to Africa, while there, and on
his passage home, he abstained wholly from animal food;
—lived on rice and other farinaceous vegetables, and on
fruits. He enjoyed the best of health the whole time,
(although much exposed while in Africa;) and in fifty-
seven days he gained fifteen pounds in weight.
Gen. Thomas Sheldon, of this state, (Mass.) had
become much impaired in health. In the summer of
1833, he adopted a diet of simple vegetable food and
water, which he has ever since persisted in. In six
96 SHORT DIALOGUE.
months from the time he adopted his vegetable diet his
health was perfectly restored; and since that, he has
spent two summers in the South, traversing the most
unhealthy districts, even in the sickly season, yet he has
continued throughout the whole time to enjoy uninter-
rupted and excellent health; and has written to his friends
at the North, that “as to climate, it is no matter where
we are, so that our dietetic and other habits are correct.”
The truth is, I repeat it, any man can go into any cli-
mate and enjoy health, if he will regulate his dietetic and
other habits according to physiological laws, and with a
just regard to the circumstances in which he is placed.
Under a proper regimen, our enterprising young men of
New England may go to New Orleans, or Liberia, or any-
where else they choose, and stay as long as they choose,
and enjoy good health. Yet thousands of the human
family will rush on in their errors, and perish in their
ignorance ; and the living will look on with Turkish
resignation, and gravely say—“It must be so | " When
will mankind be wise in these important matters ?
- G.
*
SHORT DIALOGUE.
DR. ALCOTT :—If you think the following dialogue,
which actually took place between a ship owner and ship
master in Nantucket, at the close of Mr. Graham's course
of lectures there last summer, is worthy of a place in
your valuable Library of Health, it is at your service:
Ship Owner.—Well, Captain, what kind of sailors do
you think Grahamites would make 2
Ship Master.—Why, I do n't know : but since hearing
Mr. Graham's lectures, I can look back and see many
SHORT DIALOGU E. 97
interesting facts which greatly favor his views. You
know we have a dish at sea, made of sea-bread pounded,
scalded and swelled, and eaten with molasses:—this we
call duff. Well, I remember that my men have often
said to me, after partaking of this dish—Captain, we
wish you would give us duff for dimmer every day; for we
feel as well again as we do when we eat meat.
S. O.-It is almost an invariable fact, you know,
Captain, that when our ships come in from a long voyage,
the crews come home worn out and exhausted. Do you
suppose this would be prevented in any measure by an
abstinence from animal food 2
S. M.–I do n’t know how it would be in all cases; but
since you have asked the question, I recollect that, some
years ago, on my return from a voyage round Cape Horn
—having been out eleven months, and in that time used
salt meat pretty freely—I told my men we must quit
eating salt meat, or we should all have the scurvy. The
men said they could not live without meat. I told them
they could and must, or be sick. So we struck off meat,
and lived on sea-bread during the rest of our passage
home ; or about three months’ time.
S. O. —Well, and what was the result 2
S. M.–Why, I never came home with a crew in so
fine a condition before in my life. They were fat as pigs,
and strong as lions.
S. O.-Indeed —that is an interesting fact ; and
strongly goes to prove that a pure vegetable diet would
be highly conducive to the health and comfort of our
seamen ; and that thorough-going Grahamites would
make the very best sailors in the world. Well, it is
certainly a matter worthy of serious consideration; for
everything which can serve to meliorate the condition of
sailors deserves our attention, not only on the score of
interest, but of philanthropy.
98 EFFECTS OF REFINEMENT ON HEALTH.
S. M.—It would be very difficult, however, if not
impossible, to banish animal food wholly from the diet of
sailors. They are so accustomed to the use of it, that
they really think they cannot live without it :—and few
things set them to murmuring quicker, and stir up a more
discontented and mutinous spirit, than retrenching their
allowance of meat. How much better soever therefore
a pure vegetable diet might be for them, the change
would have to be brought about very slowly, and with
great care. Still the experiment is worth trying.
EFFECTS OF REFINEMENT ON HEALTH.
[The bearing of the following article, from Dr. Gregory, of Edinburgh,
on the subject of public health, is so obvious that we trust no apology is
necessary for its insertion.]
ONE of the most certain consequences of a very extend-
ed commerce, and of what is called the most advanced
and polished state of society, is an universal passion for
riches, which corrupts every sentiment of taste, nature and
virtue. This at length reduces human nature to the most
unhappy state in which it can ever be beheld. The con-
stitution both of body and mind becomes sickly and feeble,
unable to sustain the common vicissitudes of life without
sinking under them, and equally unable to enjoy its matu-
ral pleasures, because the sources of them are cut off or
perverted. In this state, money becomes the universal
idol to which every knee bows, to which every principle
of virtue and religion yields, and to which the health and
lives of the greater part of the species are every day sac-
rificed. So totally does this passion pervert the human
heart, that it extinguishes or conquers the natural attach-
EFFECTS OF REFINEMENT ON HEALTH. 99
ment between the sexes, and in defiance of every senti-
ment of nature and sound policy, makes people look even
upon their own children as an incumbrance and oppression.
Neither does money, in exchange for all this, procure
happiness, or even pleasure, in the limited sense of the
word ; it yields only food for a restless, anxious, insatiable
vanity, and abandons men to dissipation, languor, disgust
and misery. In this situation, patriotism is not only ex-
tinguished, but the very pretension to it is treated with ridi-
cule. What are called public views, do not regard the
encouragement of population, the promoting of virtue, or
the security of liberty ; they regard only the enlargement
of commerce and the extension of conquest.
When a nation arrives at this pitch of depravity, its du-
ration as a free state must be very short, and can only be
protracted, by the accidental circumstances of the neigh-
boring nations being equally corrupted, or of different dis-
eases in the state balancing and counteracting one another.
But when once a free, an opulent and luxurious people
lose their liberty, they become of all slaves the vilest and
most miserable.
We will readily acknowledge, that in a very advanced
and polished state of society, human nature appears in
many respects to great advantage. The numerous wants
which luxury creates, give exercise to the powers of in-
vention in order to satisfy them. This encourages many
of the elegant arts; and in the progress of these, some
natural principles of taste, which in more simple ages lay
latent in the human mind, are awakened, and become
proper and innocent sources of pleasure. The under-
standing likewise, when it begins to feel its own power,
expands itself, and pushes its inquiries into nature with a
success incredible to more ignorant nations. This state
of society is equally favorable to the external appearance
of manners, which it renders humane, gentle, and polite.
100 EFFECTS OF REFINEMENT ON HEALTH.
But it is also true that these improvements are often so
perverted, that they bring no accession of happiness to
mankind. In matters of taste, the great, the sublime, the
pathetic, are first brought to yield to regularity and ele-
gance ; and at length are sacrificed to the most childish
passion for novelty, and the most extravagant caprice. The
enlarged powers of understanding, instead of being applied
to the useful arts of life, are dissipated upon trifles, or
wasted upon impotent attempts to grasp at subjects above
their reach ; and politeness of manners comes to be the
cloak of dissimulation. Yet still these abuses seem in
Some measure to be but accidental.
We believe it possible to unite the peculiar advantages
of these several stages, and to cultivate them in such a
manner as to render human life more comfortable and
happy. However impossible it may be to realize this idea
in large societies of men, it surely is not impossible among
individuals. A person without losing any one substantial
pleasure that is to be found in the most advanced state of
society, but on the contrary, in a greater capacity to relish
them all, may enjoy perfect vigor of health and spirits ;
he may have the most enlarged understanding, and apply
it to the most useful purposes ; he may possess all the
principles of genuine taste, and preserve them in their
proper subordination ; he may possess delicacy of senti-
ment and sensibility of heart, without being a slave to false
refinement or caprice. Simplicity may be united with
elegance of manners ; a humane and gentle temper may
be found consistent with the most steady and resolute
spirit, and religion may be revered without bigotry or en-
thusiasm.
M IS C E L L A NY.
OUR PERIODICALS.–It is a most melancholy fact, that
advertisements are admitted into the columns of some of
our newspapers, whose tendency cannot be otherwise than
immoral. We believe that those who permit this, whether
editors or proprietors of papers, destroy, by the practice, a
thousand times more of human health and happiness than
they have ever yet, for one moment, imagined. Would that
the community would not permit the circulation of those
papers, which are the medium of advertisements tending to
the destruction of body and soul—which are not fit even for
perusal in decent society. We have fallen upon strange times.
But alas! when the public Sentiment is so poisoned as to
permit such things And still worse—alas, for the public
sentiment of a city, which will allow a brazen-faced quackery
to post in its most conspicuous places, in glaring letters, prom-
ises of cure for diseases which, for their loathsomeness, ought
not to be named ; and which, to cap the climax, proposes
medicines which shall prevent the contraction of those dis-
eases!
Dr. Channing, in a late sermon on Temperance, affirms
that “the office of editor is one of Solemn responsibility ; and
that the community should encourage the most gifted and
virtuous men to assume it, by liberally recompensing their
labor, and by according to them that freedom of thought and
speech without which no mind puts forth all its vigor, and
which the highest minds rank annong their dearest rights and
blessings.” He is unquestionally right; and nothing would
do more towards producing a healthy state of the public mind
and heart, than a reformation in this department.
DANGER's of BEER DRINKING.—It is affirmed, on medical
authority, that a confirmed London beer drinker can scarcely
scratch his finger without the risk of his life, his body being
102 MISCELLANY.
almost gangrenous. When a London drayman—a class of
men who are, in general, models of health, strength and
soundness—receives a serious injury, Sir Astley Cooper says,
if he is a bad beer drinker, and you would give him the most
distant chance of life, it is always necessary to amputate.
We believe in the correctness of this statement, with one
exception—it is a little paradoxical. The London draymen,
models of health and strength, and yet difficult to heal their
wounds without amputation ? Impossible—absolutely so.
The truth is, that these beer drinkers, healthy as they may
appear, are really not healthy. No person whose solids and
fluids are in the state above mentioned, ought ever to be
called any other than diseased : it is a contradiction in terms.
If our blood and the rest of our fluids, together with all our
solids, are in a state of perfect health and integrity, no mere
scratch of the skin will ever make trouble. It will not even
fester. It will heal as kindly as the wounds of the skin of a
new born child, and more so. It will heal like the wounds in
the skin of the savage, or the wild animal.
There would be little trouble, in general, with sores and
wounds, if people would observe the great law of temperance
in all things. But if they will disobey the laws of the human
constitution, by eating too much food, or that which is un-
wholesome, or by drinking beer, cider, wine, tea, coffee, &c.,
or by taking drugs and medicines without necessity, they
must expect to meet with trouble, in one form or another.
TEACHING ANATOMY TO THE INDIANs.--It is curious to find
that the Indian Apostle, John Eiiot, who, about two centuries
ago, was laboring to civilize and christianize the natives in
the vicinity of Boston, made the most unwearied efforts to
give them a knowledge of anatomy and medicine. They had
become dupes of the quackery of their powaws or sorcerers,
who pretended to a mysterious power over them and over
nature herself, and to be able to cure diseases by mystic spells
and charms; and justly concluding that it was their ignorance
of the structure and laws of the human body, which produced
the mischief, he sought to remove it. Of the cause he judged
MISCELLANY., 103
correctly; but not of the means of cure. Anatomy and phy-
siology might have been useful; but they were not prepared
for a knowledge of medicine, properly so called; neither are
we, as a community, at the present day. Give us but the
means of preventing disease, and we will leave to physicians
the study and practice of medicine.
It is worthy of the profound consideration of all modern
teachers of christianity, science and morals, whether men at
the present day—even civilized men—can ever be made what
they should be, without a knowledge of anatomy and physi-
ology
THE Work PRogREssING.—We are constantly receiving
catalogues of the officers, students, &c., of our literary institu-
tions, embracing, as is customary, a brief account of the course
of instruction pursued; and it is cheering to find, frequently,
that Anatomy and Physiology are not excluded. Was this
always so 2–But we care not so much about that. It is suffi-
cient for us to know that it now receives attention. Our only
fear is that it will not be taught thoroughly. “A little learn-
ing” of this kind, especially if it sets people to watching over
their stomachs and nerves at every moment, “is a dangerous
thing.” What is taught should be taught correctly. “Drink
deep’ of principles, or taste not at all. It is not principles
that are dangerous, but scattered and isolated facts, and short
but usually fallacious experiments. Let us not be understood,
as we have often repeated, to be opposed to facts and experi-
ence; but the world is full of what we call false facts and
false experience. Our experience and facts, to be worth any-
thing, should be subunitted to the scrutiny of true science and
sound common sense.
At a County Convention of teachers and others interested
in the cause of education, held at the Court House in Troy,
New York, Jan. 27, 1837, the following, among many other
resolutions, was passed:
“Resolved, that the elements of natural science, including
an outline of Anatomy and Physiology, should be made a part
of popular education.”
104 MISCELLANY.
“The House I live in * has been introduced into some of
the schools in this state, as a juvenile text book in Anatomy
and Physiology.
The editor of this work is giving a course of ten lectures on
Practical Physiology, to the Lyceum in Holliston. The sub-
ject has gained for him a crowded audience, and secured very
great attention.
HEALTHFUL LEGISLATION.—The legislature of Vermont, at
its late session, passed two laws which we regard as highly
conducive to the moral health of the community; and which,
were it only for their rarity, deserve a place in a Journal of
Health.
The first prohibits all circus riding, theatrical exhibitions,
juggling and slight of hand, ventriloquism or magic arts,
which are declared to be common nuisances, and offences
against the state, and are made punishable by a fine not ex-
ceeding $200 for each offence.
The second prohibits card playing for liquors or any other
wager. The person who suffers it in his premises, is pun-
ishable by fine, not exceeding $200, and the person who wins,
by a fine equal to double the amount won, with costs of pro-
secution.
WAYs of LIVING on SMALL MEANs.-This little work,
which we alluded to in our last number as in preparation, is
not only now published, but has passed to a third edition,
and has the prospect of a very wide circulation. It was writ-
ten by the editor of this work. Light & Stearms, publishers.
[["This Day Published, Dr. Alcott's plain Work on Anatomy,
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN,
THE HUMAN BODY.
SECOND EDITION,
Entirely re-written, enlarged and Improved. With numerous Engravings
BY DR. W.M. A. ALCOTT,
Author of the Young Mother, the Young Man's Guide, and Editor of the Library of
Health, and the Annals of Education.
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This work is adapted to the comprehension of the Young, on
account of the simplicity of its illustrations; but will equally
interest the general reader. It is a treatise on the Structure
and Physiology of the Human Body, illustrated in a familiar
and interesting manner, by comparing it to the structure of a
House; adapted to Families and Schools. -
LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers, 1 Cornhill.
Boston, FEB. 1, 1837.










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Vol. J.H.] A PR, I L. ſno, A.
LIBRARY OF HEALTH, i.
&acá, on 4 &man &muáàon.
WM. A. ALCOTT, EDITor.
Author of the “Young Man’s Guide,” “Young Mother,” and “House
I live in ; ” and Conductor of the Annals of Education.
CONTENTS.
Some of the Causes of Disease, 105 Misc ELI. ANY.
Abuse of Calomel, . . . . . . . . 113 || American Physiological Society, 133
Influence of Hope, . . . . . . . 115 Against Quackery, . . . . . . . 133
Catching Cold, . . . . . . . . . 120 | Temperance Boarding House, . 134
Health of Farmers, . . . . . . . 124 National Temperance Paper, . . 135
How to make Pale Faces, . . . 127 | The Wine Question, . . . . . . a 135
Books on Anatomy and Physi- Health of Scamen, . . . . . . . 135
ology, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 | Lecture on Intemperance, . . . 136
Putrescent Food, . . . . . . . . 131 Graham's Lecture to Young
Eating Locusts, . . . . . . . . . 132 | Mien, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
—assº-
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
soME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE.
IN our efforts to diffuse a little of the light which phy-
siology sheds on the great subjects of physical education,
self-management, and the prevention of disease, we are
not unfrequently stared at as innovators, as bringing
strange, unheard-of things to men's ears, and as being
enthusiastic. Why, reader, it is not so. We teach very
little for the authority of which we cannot point you to
“chapter and verse,” in our best works on physiology.
But were we to do this, you would probably complain,
next, of our waste of time and space in quoting learned
authors.
We say, for example, that most people are diseased, in
a greater or less degree, though they may even for many
years be ignorant of it; and that this disease is produced
by the errors of their early life. We appeal to practising
physicians in our healthiest towns. They tell you that
almost every one, by the time he has reached the age of
forty—and indeed the far greater part who are younger—
begins to complain of something which ails him. Still
you do not seem satisfied with this, and go on doubting
with regard to the truth of our statements.
But we might, if you would allow us, appeal to those
who have written on the subject. Perhaps nobody who
106 SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE.
knows anything of the matter will question the authority
of Broussais. At page 568 of his Physiology, this
learned physician and physiologist thus remarks:
“It is, in fact, during youth, that the greater number
of men contract habits of inflammation, which make their
whole life a tissue of disorders.”
He says men, indeed, but it is obvious, from the con-
nection, that he uses the word in a general or large sense,
meaning mankind. Observe that he says, “the greater
number” of mankind—not a few merely. Observe, too,
that it is not a little disease and decrepitude for the veri-
est old age, which we lay up, but a “tissue of disorders”
for our “whole life.” Observe, lastly, that the work of
laying up this tissue of disorders for life is done during
the period of youth.
It is not to give pain that we announce to mankind the
universality of physical disease and suffering, and attempt
to fortify our statements by an appeal to facts and science.
By no means. We would most gladly be spared the task
of coming out monthly with so many unpleasant truths,
and of “ringing so many changes” on the subject. But
it must be dome. The truth must be pressed home upon
the minds of the “busy throng”—yes, and upon their
hearts too, if we can reach them—and must be reiterated.
There must be “line upon line, precept upon precept;
here a little and there a little.”
Men must be made to feel that they are sick, before
they will apply to the physician. This is as true in
regard to diseases of the body, as of the soul. And they
must be made to understand something of the nature of
the disease, and the great variety of causes which induce
it, ere they will make any considerable or hearty attempts
to prevent it. In this view, we propose to extend our
remarks a little farther, and add more of the thoughts of
Broussais.
SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 107
We have again and again insisted that error in regard
to diet is the source of a small part only of the diseases
which flesh is heir to. Yet there are two causes con-
nected with eating, so universal that, were there no other
operative sources of mischief in the world, these alone
would account for the fact that nearly everybody, in
civilized communities, is more or less sick.
1. It is a well established fact that people, almost with-
out exception, at least in our own United States, eat too
much. The process of stuffing is begun in our very infancy;
and is continued, in general, through life. Yet this, if a
fact, is a tremendous one. No person can eat too much,
for any considerable length of time, without inducing
disease, let his food be ever so plain. So says Broussais,
as well as other physiologists; and so we know, from
the very structure and character of the stomach, as a
muscular organ, it must be.
2. Food which is too stimulating—and the use of such
food, with us, is universal—must inevitably induce dis-
ease. True, if we are strong and vigorous, the “day of
retribution” may linger, but it will finally come. On
this subject, Broussais remarks:
“Strong and black meats, full of extractive matter and
Osmazome, high-seasoned dishes, and fermented liquors,
have the double bad effect of supplying chyle too abun-
dant and substantial, and of over-exercising the assimilat-
ing power of the stomach. While the man is yet young,
and grows in height and thickness, he resists, (or appears
to,) for a length of time, any excesses of this kind, espe-
cially if he is naturally robust;-often he even prides
himself in the use of them, as the strength of his stomach
is augmented, and seems daily to gain in digestive power,
while his limbs seem more and more fitted for the most
108 SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE.
violent exercises.* The consciousness of his strength
inspires him with continual gaiety; everything to him is
smiling, and the future offers only the most flattering
images.f
“This joyous mood is nevertheless occasionally inter-
rupted by inflammatory complaints, which are always of
the highest degree of intensity. Gastro-enterites, pneu-
monias, cephalites, anginas, ophthalmias and acute rheu-
matisms, come on with violence under the influence of
heat and cold, or of the passions, make rapid progress,
and sometimes terminate in a few days in death. But
as all the sympathies are active in youth, crises (termina-
tions or turnings of diseases) by hemorrhagies, sweats
* The effect, here, is precisely the same with that of high living on stage
horses, the result of which, in producing final disease and premature de-
cay, is well known.—ED.
ł Broussais is certainly right here. We have not only observed this in
the world around us, hundreds of times, but we have made experiments of
this kind on our own person. We are fully convinced that we can take
opium, brandy, coffee, or high-seasoned meats, for six months or a year,
in such quantity as to present to those around us, and even to ourselves,
knew we nothing of physiology, every appearance of increasing health
and vigor. We could even do one quarter more work, and do it better
than before. But we should certainly be sowing the seeds of disease, to
spring up, at a day more or less distant, according to our age, natural
constitution, present vigor, &c. There is no possible escape.—How uni-
versal the infatuation on this subject!
Would, however, that none but adults were the sufferers' Would that
the seeds of future pain and wo were sown only by the suicidal hand of
the sufferer himself! But alas! inſants, universally, or almost so, are
over-fed and over-stimulated ; and we glory in witnessing the effects—
seeing them thrive, as we call it. *
Every effort to enlarge, by high feeding or other means, a native breed
of animals, is now known to be injurious to the race, as they become only
the worse in ſorm, the less hardy, and the more liable to disease. The
over-stimulation of fattening them also produces disease; hence it is that
stall-fed animals are diseased animals. How, then, can we rejoice at the
sight of the full-fed overgrown human animal 2 Be assured herein is a
great mistake.—ED
som E of THE CAUSES OF DISEASE. 109
and phlegmonous collections often come to the relief of
such persons, in spite of the most incendiary treatment,
and we see them pass, in a few minutes, from appear-
ances of the last agony to the most complete convales-
CeIlC63.
“The appetite is very good at the conclusion of these
maladies; convalescents indulge it, and soon recover
as vigorous health as that which they enjoyed before.
This success encourages them. They are persuaded
they owe their life solely to the energy derived from their
rich food and fermented drinks. They indulge, once
more, in their use ; and many are happy enough to resist,
frequently, such violent asaults. But there is a limit to
everything;-to no organized being is it permitted to
raise himself beyond the volume and strength of his
species. This excess of hematosis (making or forming
blood) must necessarily turn to the detriment of the
principal organs; and these latter, after having resisted
acute congestions, sink under chronic irritations.
“In fact, the age of consistence has arrived, the activity
of the sympathies has diminished, the crises are not so
easy ; if fresh inflammations come on, they are not com-
pletely resolved, especially if they continue to be treated
with stimuli; and there consequently remains irritation
in the principal viscera. The impatience to regain their
strength, the remembrance of the good effects they for-
merly derived from tonics and substantial food, induce
convalescents to have recourse to them before irritation is
entirely quieted. The stomach is then forced too soon
into function; if it be healthy, it obeys these stimuli, and
all nutrition turns to the profit of the inflammation that
remained in the lungs, intestines, &c. If it be itself the
seat of an unextinguishable phlogosis, (inflammation or
swelling,) the stomach refuses to digest; it is over-excited,
and the disease re-commences. But very often, though
110 SOME OF THE CAUSEs of DISEASE.
diseased, it is not to such a degree as to be incapable of
all assimilation ; it still digests, but at the same time
produces a feeling of suffering. The strength returns in
an incomplete manner; a crowd of sympathies is evi-
denced during digestion, and the person becomes dys-
peptic, hypochondriac, and neuropathic, (nervous.) The
pristine vigor is not re-established; the health is lost, very
often, for the whole life time; though fulness of habit and
good complexion be yet preserved for a long period.
“Some individuals, still more fortunately constituted,
are proof against the effects of the most substantial
alimentation during the period of their youth. There
are even some who pass through their virile age without
suffering from this cause ; but it is at the epoch of
decline, when about fifty years of age, that disorders
await them.* i
“Hence, in the midst of the fullest health, when the
muscles are in the most emergetic state, when the fresh-
ness of their complexion, the warmth of their bodies, the
firmness of their flesh, and the most wonderful endu-
rance under extreme exertions, and most unusual excesses,
seem to promise them a long and vigorous old age, these
persons begin to feel a slight pain in the right hypochon-
driac region, (right side.) To this they pay little atten-
tion, because it usually vanishes by rest; but it soon
becomes troublesome, and gives some uneasiness. Their
complexion is sallow, their tongue foul, and they com-
plain of a bitter clammy taste, and sometimes they have
eructations. Their appetite is diminished, their digestion
retarded ; or even their hunger may be great, though
* Just as we have always told them; and just as they might have
learned from Solomon, who well knew that though sentence against an
evil work were not executed speedily, still it must be executed at some
time or other.—ED.
SOME OF THE CAUSES OF DISEASE, I 11
digestion should be difficult. They suffer from constipa-
tion and headache, flushes in the face, and a sensation of
fatigue and weight referred to the limbs. * * *
They then have recourse to the advice of a physician.
“This latter, if an ontologist, pronounces the words
gastric oppression, bilious turgescence, engorgement of the
liver; and he prescribes an emetic and a purge. Then
one of two things takes place; either the copious evacua-
tions produced by the medicine restore, for a time, the
equilibrium, or the irritation is exasperated; and in this
case, it sometimes passes into the acute state ; and these
persons have, for the first time, a pretended essential
fever ; or at least it remains in a chronic state, but with a
degree of intensity greater than before. Recourse is now
had to the evacuating method. If the patients resume
their customary food before the entire cessation of their
complaints, the consequence is, that they are never dissi-
pated, and they are in precisely the same state with those
of whom we have already spoken. The only difference
consists in their arriving at it later, because they were
more vigorous.”
Broussais then goes on to explain the condition of the
internal organs of the body which is produced ; but here,
for want of the necessary knowledge of physiological terms
in our readers, we must leave him. We fear, indeed,
that we have gone too far already, but thus much of this
excellent writer's remarks seemed indispensable to our
purpose. We hope they will not be merely read, but also
studied. For, let it be remembered, all the long train of
evils which has been described, may be the result of an
abuse of some of the most nutritive aliments in the
world; or in other words, the mere result of what is
usually termed good living—strong meat, high-seasoned
vegetables, and wine, cider or beer.
112 some of THE CAUSEs of DISEASE.
Let us review, for a moment, this tremendous disclo-
sure of Broussais. We call it a disclosure, because the
facts are certainly hidden from the mass of mankind; and
they are ready to deem the person mad who promulges
them. We say let us review, or rather recapitulate.
The youth who lives on what is commonly called “good”
food and drink, appears to thrive, and rapidly to acquire
mental and bodily vigor. He is active, cheerful and
happy; and there seems to be scarcely any limit to his
powers of digestion. But he frequently gets sick; and
when he does so, his disease is always violent, and often
fatal. Many, however, live through it, in spite of both
the disease and powerful and poisonous medicine.
Those who do, congratulate themselves on their excel-
lent constitution, as what saved them ; and think they
owe their good constitution to their free living. So they
return, at once, to their former habits, and, for a while,
seem to go on better than ever. Some even flatter them-
selves that their constitutions are improved by their sick-
mess.” But chronic affections soon come on, and most
of them, if not all, live out their days amid suffering.
Some last, it is true, to old age ; but generally they do
not. And those who do, live to very little purpose.
Yet there is a small number, in the whole, who go on
with apparent impunity, and appear to be fresh, healthy
and vigorous, to about fifty years of age. Here they are
suddenly taken down, and a terrible train of hypochon-
driac symptoms awaits them, such as render their lives
short, and while they last, very miserable.
And yet of all these various classes of full feeders,
hardly an individual can be found who can be made
* This strange conclusion is very common. Yet never was there pro-
pagated a notion wider from the truth. The sudden accumulation of flesh
and strength, immediately after a fit of sickness, is a very ill omen.
ABUSES OF CALOMEL, 113
to believe, for one moment, that his eating and drinking
have had anything to do in producing his diseases. The
latter class spoken of-those who seem to be well till
fifty—even plead their own good health in proof of the
correctness and healthfulness of their mode of living! So
strangely are men infatuated | So enslaved are we by
appetite, and blinded by ignorance When will Physi-
ology, like an angel of light, shed her bright beams on
this dark, sinning and suffering world !
ABUSE OF CALOMEL.
THE too frequent use of any active medicine, especially
in early life, tends to produce ultimate disease. Accord-
ing to Dr. Sweetser, in his work on Consumption, it is
particularly apt to generate, strengthen or excite phthisis
or consumption. The following remarks of this interest-
ing writer, though abounding in medical terms, will, we
think, be intelligible to our readers, if we premise that
tubercles are small knobs or tumors found in animal
bodies, and especially in the human lungs:
“The free employment of calomel during childhood, or
repeated Salivations at any age, have been often ranked
among the causes of consumption. That mercury, if
used to excess—like anything else tending to injure the
general health—may act in the predisposed as an exciting
cause of tubercles, hardly admits of a question. And
furthermore, if such practice is persisted in during early
life, it may actually generate that condition of the system
which predisposes it to tuberculous affections. A pale,
sallow, and often semi-transparent complexion, accompa-
nied with cough and other indications of a cachetic state
114 ABUSES OF CALOMIEL.
of the constitution, will not unfrequently be observed to
follow the long continued influence of mercury on the
system. I have often witnessed such peculiar manifesta-
tions of injured health, in the children of those gifted
mothers who are in the habit of administering calomel for
almost every trifling ailment which they exhibit *—thus
Sapping the energies of their constitutions, creating often
the very diseases they think to cure, and laying the
foundation for infirmity, suffering, and premature decay.
“In children of pale, delicate complexions, and scrofu-
lous constitutions, mercury should be employed, even by
the physician, with the utmost caution, and only in cases
of urgent necessity. But if the mother of such frail
offspring keeps calomel among her family medicines, and,
looking upon it as a kind of panacea, deals it out on her
own mistaken judgment, we can only commend them to
the mercy of Heaven. .
“In the year 1810, a large quantity of quicksilver was
taken from the wreck of a Spanish vessel, on board the
English ship Triumph, of seventy-four guns, and the
boxes principally stowed in the bread-room. Many of
the bladders in which it was confined—owing to the heat
of the weather, and to having been wetted during their
removal—soon rotted, and several tons of the mercury
were diffused through the ship, mixing with the bread,
* There are also some mothers and sisters who go to the other extreme,
and refuse to administer calomel, even when ordered by their family phy-
sician. We have known them throw it into the fire, even when the life of
the sick patient was suspended, as it were, upon a hair! And yet these
very individuals would not hesitate to buy, and take, and administer to
others, various quack medicines, which, for anything they could know,
might contain the very poison they so much detested. Some of the fa-
mous worm lozenges, for sale in our shops, are said, by the writers on
materia aedica, to have calomel for their basis. And yet many a mother,
who would not for the world give her child a dose of calomel, will no
scruple to dose him plentifully with these lozenges. -
INFLUENCE OF HOPE, 115
and more or less with the other provisions. The conse-
quence was, that very many of the officers and crew ex-
perienced severe salivations, and other deleterious effects,
from the mercury that was taken into their systems—two
dying from its influence; and that nearly all the live
stock, as well as cats, mice, a dog, and even a canary
bird, died. But how did it affect the lungs 2 The ac-
count informs us that the mercury was very deleterious
to those having any tendency to pulmonic affections;
that three men, who had previously manifested no indis-
position, died of pulmonary consumption; and that one
man, who had before suffered from lung fever, but was
entirely cured, and another, who had no pulmonic com-
plaint before, were left behind at Gibraltar, with confirmed
phthisis.”
INFLUENCE OF HOPE.
“HoPE,” says Dr. Cogan, “is so pleasing and so in-
vigorating an affection, that it is emphatically called the
balm of life.” A similar importance is also assigned to
this affection by the popular saying, that “the heart would
break,” were it not for its salutary influence; and by
Solomon, who assures us that “hope deferred maketh
the heart sick.”
Hope invigorates both mind and body. In a state of
health, it preserves that health; in a state of disease, it
often does more towards effecting a cure than all the
medicine which the most skilful physician can apply. It
has been the means of bringing back multitudes from
the very borders of the grave, to the enjoyment of their
friends, and of life and health; and the want of it has
also been the means of sending hundreds and thousands
116 INFLUENCE, GF HOPE,
out of the world prematurely. Hence the importance of
a cheerful physician—one in whom hope predominates,
and who has the power of inspiring his patients with the
same feeling.
But we waive for the present the influence of hope in
disease, to speak more particularly of its influence in a
tolerable state of health. In the moderate and reasonable
exercise of this affection, it communicates a pleasing sen-
sation to the region of the heart, and promotes a free
circulation of the blood in the arteries and veins. It
causes the pulse to beat somewhat slower, but at the
same time, renders it softer and fuller. If there is irregu-
lar action, it tends to make it regular ; if the person is
subject to anything like palpitation of the heart, it greatly
diminishes it.
To the lungs it gives a free and easy movement. He
who hopes cheerfully has no difficult or labored breath-
ing, nor any consciousness of oppression or stricture.
His chest, fully expanded, causes the dark, half-spoiled
blood which is sent to it, to circulate freely through its
tissue, to be fully renewed and re-invigorated.
To the brain and nervous system, hope imparts an in-
fluence which is better felt than described. Free from
any sensation of depression, as well as from everything
like violent emotion or agitation, the mind can act with
a freedom unfelt in other circumstances. We can think,
in one word, without any pain in thinking.
To the digestive system, the influence of hope is not
less salutary. Food is sought with a keen appetite, eaten
with a high relish, and digested with the utmost ease,
and in the best possible manner. The saliva and the
gastric juice are not only afforded in the most appropriate
quantity, but in the best condition.
As the action of the heart and arteries is regular and
placid, and neither too rapid nor too indolent, and the
INFLUENCE OF HOPE, 117
nervous system always in a good state, when we are un-
der the influence of hope, so the perspiration of the skin,
on which health so much depends, is also in a good
state, being neither too little nor in excess. The secre-
tions and excretions are also all properly performed.
In a word, there is no function of the body on which
hope does not produce a most salutary effect. In infancy,
in youth, in maturity and in age—by night and by day—
at home and abroad—in sickness and in health, it is in
the highest and fullest sense the BALM OF LIFE.
While therefore we insist—as we always do and must—
on the importance of exercise, temperature, air, food,
drink, repose, &c., as agents of human health, we cannot
overlook the influence, in this respect, of hope. He who
would make the most of this little life, should invite and
cultivate it. Better sell all that we have, and buy it, and
become poor in almost everything else—if necessary—
than to be without it. It is the poor man's solace, the
rich man's joy; the common comforter of both, and of all
mankind.
But whence shall this universal panacea be expected ?
Will it come at our bidding 2 Will it come without
effort 2 Is it afforded without money and without price,
like air and water; or is it, like the diamond, to be far
fetched and dear bought 2
It is not our present purpose to write an essay in de-
fence of christianity, as a means of health; though such
a work seems to us greatly needed. The hope which
this form of religion inspires, and the salutary influence
which it produces on human health and happiness, has
never, that we are aware of, been adduced as a proof of
its divine origin. But does it not afford such proof?
It is true that false religion inspires with hope ; but
the hope which it holds out is of a very different charac-
ter from that which is inspired by christianity. It is less
118 INFLUENCE OF HOPE,
equable—more elevated or more depressed. Besides,
everything which inspires hope in a false religion is un-
questionably borrowed from the true. It is not strange
that the moon should afford light, and that this light
should be most welcome, too, to many a traveller, not-
withstanding the fact that it is but a reflection of that of
the sun.
The hope in the future which christianity affords,
when pure and unmixed, is, to say the least, one of the
best means of preserving health and promoting longevity.
The hope of a comfortable old age always places the
“evil day” farther off, by several years, than it would other-
wise be placed. What then must be the effect of a steady,
cheerful, reasonable, well-founded expectation of everlast-
ing life and unending enjoyment beyond the grave 2
Banish the hopes which christianity affords—were it
possible to do so—from the world in which we live, and
how soon would the present state of things be changed
for the worse ? Is it too much to believe that five centu-
ries would not pass, before the amount of positive disease
in christian countries—to say nothing of other evils—
would be doubled ?
On whom fall, in greatest measure, the ills of life,
especially sickness? Is it not on the poor, as a class 3
How would they endure those ills, without the hope of
better things, in the future ? But as they seldom look
for much improvement of their condition in this life, what
would follow if their hopes of greater happiness after
this life is over were destroyed 2
We know not but these remarks are so trite as to
be uninteresting. Truth, however, like air, is not less
valuable because more common. It does seem to us a
point established beyond debate, and susceptible of de-
monstration, that the measure of health and longevity in
any community is in exact proportion—other things being
INFLUENCE OF HOPE. I19
equal—to the prevalence of a genuine and rational hope
of everlasting happiness.
A few words more in regard to the influence of hope
in controlling the issue of disease. An interesting medi-
cal writer says, “it is peculiarly beneficial in disorders
which proceed from fear, sorrow, and every species of
anxiety, or which occasion a great prostration of strength,
and dejection of spirits. In intermittent and pestilential
fevers, and in various chronic complaints, the most effica-
cious remedies have proved inert, if administered to per-
sons destitute of hope; while an unmeaning farrago,
which could hardly be deemed innocent, taken with
confidence of success, has exceeded, in its efficacy, the
utmost efforts of the most skilful practitioner.”
The affection of which this writer speaks, near the
close of the paragraph we have quoted, is one which here
rises into confidence, or faith, rather than hope, on the
influence of which we propose to write another article.
In other respects, his views are accordant with the obser-
vation of every judicious medical practitioner.
Could we lay open this whole subject (we mean, the
influence of hope) to our readers—could we show them
how much the medical efficacy of the nostrums and spe-
cifics which are advertised at almost every corner, and in
nearly every newspaper, is owing to the hope that is in-
spired in them—it would doubtless astonish them beyond
measure. There is nothing truly valuable to mankind,
so far as we know, but what may be converted into a
source of abundant mischief. Thus it is, even with hope.
Valuable as this affection is, in general, it is that to which
quackery makes the strongest appeal, and through which
she destroys, as has elsewhere been repeatedly said, by
ourselves and others, more human life than famine, pes-
tilence or the sword.
120 CATCHING COLD,
CATCHING COLD.
“Why, my dear sir, how hoarse you are where did
you catch such a cold 2’”
The poor man, enveloped from head to foot with fur,
surtout, wrapper, cloak and India rubbers, replied—“Oh,
I caught it night before last. The bells rang for fire, and
I stepped to the door without cap, cloak or boots, and in a
moment I felt a chill strike through me.”
“How imprudent l’”
“Imprudent? why, I’ve done the same thing a hundred
times before, and it never hurt me. And besides, I did
all I could to prevént the bad effects of the exposure.
I ate heartily of molasses candy, drank as much stewed
quaker * as I could force down, and went to bed and took
a sweat. But to no purpose ; and now I expect that this
cold will hang on until spring.”
Unhappy man undoubtedly it will; or perhaps it will
hurry him to an untimely grave.
Let us linger a moment by the couch of that interesting
girl, whose beaming eye and rosy cheek would indicate
health, did not the vapid breath and wasted form tell too
truly of the mocker; consumption. Let us ask her of the
origin of her illness.
“Oh, sir, I was always well, very well. I was one
day taking a long walk, when a shower suddenly came
up, and I wet my feet—only damped them a little. I had
* I know of no other term to designate this mess. This, I believe, is a
Rhode Islandism; and for fear it may not be understood, I will give a
recipe for making the article. To half a pint of molasses add one gill of
vinegar, of pepper and mustard a teaspoonful each, a lump of butter of
the size of a pullet's egg, (some “hot drops,” if you have them, would im-
prove it,) boil the whole fifteen minutes, and take it as hot as possible.
CATCHING COLD. 121
done it repeatedly, before, without suffering at all, and
therefore thought nothing of it at the time. After the
shower we spent the lovely hour of twilight in singing
songs on the bank of the river. From that night I have
not known a well hour.”
The man who caught the cold, (or rather, according to
his own views, whom the cold caught,) at the alarm of
fire, never once thinks that the fact which he states, that
the exposure which made him sick at one time produced
no harm at another, proves conclusively that at the latter
time he was predisposed to disease ; that there was a
great difference in his physiological condition at the differ-
ent times; and that this difference was owing mainly if not
entirely to his voluntary habits. He never thinks of his
luxurious dinners, his 9 o'clock suppers, his cigars, his ale,
or his wines; he never thinks that even his blind attempts
at prevention, his outraging his stomach with boiling hot
molasses and vinegar, may have contributed to aggravate
the disease ; no, all these, and a thousand other practices
and habits which have been imperceptibly but surely pre-
paring him for disease, are overlooked ; and the whole
mischief is charged upon the momentary imprudence of
stepping into the pure air of heaven, unmuffled and
unshod
The victim of consumption has never inquired how
the robust daughter of Erin, or the hardy Indian squaw,
will endure, without injury, a hundred times what she
endured at the price of her life. “Oh, their consti-
tutions are different ' ' Who made them to differ ? God
“made of one blood all ” men ; whence then the differ-
ence 2 We answer, from the customs of society and the
habits of the individual. Let us not be misunderstood.
We do not affirm that this lady could ever endure what the
vigorous Irish women can endure ; but we do affirm that
the whole difference is owing, partly, perhaps, to the
8
I22 CATCHING COLD.
habits of her ancestors, more to the treatment she received
from her parents, but mainly to her own voluntary habits;
not to nature. Can it be believed that it was necessary,
in the nature of things, that she should take that cold
which should result in her death 2 Has our kind Father
in heaven suspended human life upon so brittle a thread 2
Has he made it necessary that we should walk on our
feet, that the rains of heaven should fall to refresh the
earth, and furnish drink for plants, for beast and for man,
and yet we cannot put these feet upon this same wet
ground without catching our deaths 2 Has he curtained
forth the beautiful heavens over our heads to distil dis-
ease and death upon the loveliest portion of his creation ?
Has he carpeted the green earth beneath our feet, lighted
up so gloriously “the bridal chamber of the setting sun,”
spangled the heavens with night’s splendid host, and
filled all creation, air, earth and sea, with delighted life 2
and when man, with the full yearnings of a desire which
his Maker implanted in him, goes forth to join the
general joy, must he find that all these but lure him to
destruction ? Oh, let every principle of philosophy and
every sentiment of piety forbid the dishonoring thought.
And yet this loved one, around whom the affections of
the lover, the husband, the child, are just entwining them-
selves, who was formed to bless the world with a long
life, goes thus in the spring of her bright existence to her
“long home,” and “the mourners go about the streets,”
attributing her early death to that hour of girlish play.
Now we do not contend that that exposure was not the
immediate exciting cause of the disease, but we contend
that the true causes lay farther back. Must the whole evil
be charged to the evening walk, and nothing to a long
course of bad habits 2 Nothing to the garter, destroying
the circulation in the lower extremities, and to the tight
and thin stocking, and the thinner and tighter shoe—all
CATCHING COLD. 123
leaving the feet especially liable to introduce disease ?
Nothing to the lacing which was commenced in the
cradle, and has been gradually increased until the body
has been compressed into an hour-glass figure, and the
poor lungs and stomach have been compelled to labor in
one half the space which nature designed they should
have 2 Nothing to the habit of spending whole days and
weeks without one hour's vigorous exercise in the pure
air 3 Nothing to the unnatural restraints of a fashionable
boarding school 2 Nothing to balls, theatres and cotillons,
with their impure atmospheres, their excessive fatigue,
their sudden transitions from heat to cold, their sleepless
nights, and unseasonable meals of cake and wine, ices,
confectionary, &c. * Nothing to the daily, almost hourly
dosing from infancy with hot coffee, tea, spices, and per-
haps chalk, magnesia, slate pencils, &c. &c. ? No! no
we never blame any or all of these; but—she took cold!
Strange as it seems, it is true that we attribute our
diseases to anything, everything, or nothing, sooner than
to their true causes. We blame everything but our flesh-
pots and our grease-pots, our coffee-pots and our tea-pots,
—everything but our own dear habits. We seem to think
that at particular seasons, some malignant demons brood
over our dwellings; and the moment we step out, they
seize us, and we sink, the helpless victims of their malice,
until their “tender mercies' release us.
The season for “colds” is now arrived. Many a
graceful form, now treading in queenly pride the halls of
fashion, will in a short time become the prey of fatal
consumption. Many a laughing beauty, who now, night
after might, in delirious excitement, threads the mazy
dance, will soon be called to “walk through the dark
valley of the shadow of death.” Many an eye, now
flashing with delight, shall shortly be lighted up with the
unearthly brightness of disease, and, before another au-
124 HEALTH OF FARMERS.
tumn's loveliness shall greet it, shall be forever dimmed.
Our loveliest ones shall be taken, and is there no help? Oh,
turn not thoughtlessly away from this subject, parent,
lover, husband, for it is for your life; and one who knows
too well the bitterness of loss and loneliness, would press
upon you this timely caution. Disregard not the oft re-
peated warnings of our intelligent physicians, and the
dictates of an enlightened physiology. Look well to the
responsibility put upon you, in relation to those whom
you love, by a Providence who works by means.
When shall we be willing to be undeceived upon this
subject? When will we cease to “charge God foolishly 2”
When will it be believed that “God made man upright,
but that he has sought out many inventions ?” When
will the perversions of habit cease to be mistaken for the
laws of nature ? When shall our sufferings be viewed
in their true light, as the inevitable consequences of
transgression ? When shall we cease from the delusion,
that our dearest interests are at the mercy of blind chance,
of reckless fate, or of a revengeful Deity ? Oh, when
shall man be restored to the purity and the blessedness of
that period, when “the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy 3” CAWE,
HEALTH OF FARMERS.
DR. ALcott :—In looking over the May number of the
Moral Reformer, Vol. 2, my eye caught your article on
the health of farmers, upon which, hoping you will take
it kindly, I should like to make a few remarks.
It appears to me, then, that the facts quoted from Dr.
Woodward's Report on the Insane Hospital, may be made
HEALTH OF FARMERS. 125
to prove the very thing which you have employed them
to disprove.
I have heard it asserted, I think, by persons of obser-
vation and judgment, that the farmers in our country
compose seven eighths of the population ; and to call
them at least three fourths will certainly, therefore, be no
exaggeration. Now were they equally exposed to in-
sanity with other classes of society, there should be, in a
promiscuous collection of 250 insane persons, at that rate,
at least 187 farmers ; while the report referred to gives
but 52; or even including the 57 common laborers, only
109—little more than half their proportion, according to
the above estimates. The proportion of one clergyman
or one lawyer in 250 is a very unequal one ; for there
can hardly be supposed to be more than one of either of
these professions to 1000 inhabitants; yet the report
gives them four times their due average of insane, viz.
one in 250.
It may be further remarked, however, in favor of the
class of farmers, admitting that common laborers should
be classed with them, as above, that the greater propor-
tion, by far, in the community, are the farmers, while yet
the greatest absolute number of insane is that of the la-
borers. -
I do not deny, still, that farmers and laborers may be
far from being the healthy class they are supposed to be ;
but in so far as the statements of the report give a fair
exhibition of the actual distribution of the insane among
the classes of society, it shows evidently, to me, that they
are much less liable to insanity than others; and this, I
believe, is the opinion generally entertained on this sub-
-ject, as well as that literary men are, in fact, more liable
to it. ! C.
126 s HEALTH OF FARMERS.
REPLY.-We thank C. for the candor of his remarks.
But we beg him to recollect that it was no part of our
original intention to show, in the article to which he re-
fers, that farmers were more subject to mania than other
classes of men. Our article was headed “Health of Far-
mers,” not Mania of Farmers. We only took the facts
of Dr. Woodward's Report, to show that farmers, as a
body, though concerned in a healthy employment, were
nevertheless so much addicted to disobeying the laws of
God in the human constitution, as to render them far
from being very healthy; in doing which, we made com-
parisons from the report—we confess, rather carelessly—
in which we accidentally left the impression on some minds
which, it seems, was left on that of our correspondent.
But after all, our incidental mistake, even in comparing,
was not so great as our correspondent supposes. He
thinks that the farmers constitute at least three fourths of
the community. Suppose they do ; are they fairly repre-
sented in the Insane Hospital 2 Is it not a known truth,
that of all men, farmers are most prejudiced against such
institutions, and therefore least likely to avail themselves
of their benefits 2 Besides, are they not more apt than
most other classes of society, to regard themselves as too
poor to do anything for their insane : Our own observa-
tion, which has not been very limited, would lead us to
answer these questions in the affirmative.
But again : according to the census of the United
States, only about two fifths of the whole male popula-
tion, (children included,) are, after all, actually engaged in
agriculture; whereas our correspondent estimated it at
three fourths. Now the Insane Hospital receives persons
of all ages, for anything we know to the contrary. There:
certainly are persons in it, at the present time, of every
age from fifteen to seventy and upwards.
HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES. 127
The fair conclusion is, therefore, that though these
tables, of themselves, do not prove that a greater propor-
tion of farmers than of literary men and others, become
maniacs, they do show that the farmers, as a class, are
very far from being as exempt even from mania, as has
been supposed ; while the whole tenor of the article goes,
so far as its views are correct, to show that, if not less.
healthy in general than other people, they are not as
much more so as they ought to be, when we consider the
healthy nature of their employment.
HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES.
A LADY of our acquaintance once observed that, while
young, she was in the habit of taking, daily, or every
other day, a teaspoonful of cream of tartar, to prevent
becoming “fleshy,” and also to give her complexion a
white or blanched appearance. We have heard similar
statements from other females ; though they do not all
use cream of tartar for the purpose.
Now if ladies or gentlemen really wish to blanch or
whiten their complexions, we can give them—from Dr.
Dunglison—such information on the subject as will enable
them to do it on principle, and not blindly and unscientifi-
cally.
“Light,” says he, “is a healthful stimulant to the skin.
Plants deprived of light become white, blanched, or ,
etiolated—as it has been termed of late—and they require
at the same time, an excess of aqueous and saccharine
particles. This is shown in the common practice of
blanching celery. Capt. Parry found that the cress he
raised during the polar winter was devoid of its usual
12S T HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES.
color; and common plants which have vegetated in mines,
or in excavations deprived of the solar light, have been so
changed as to be scarcely recognizable.
“This kind of etiolation is observed also in man,
especially in the case of those who pass their lives in
dark places, as in mines. The inhabitants of a crowded
city may in this way be distinguished from those of the
country. When a gardener, says Dr. Johnson, wishes
to etiolate, that is, to blanch, soften, and render juicy a
vegetable, as lettuce, celery, &c., he binds the leaves
together, so that the light may have as little access as
possible to their surfaces. *
“In like manner, if we wish to blanch men and women,
we have only to congregate them in cities, where they
are pretty securely kept out of the sun, and where they
become as white, tender and watery as the finest celery.
For the more exquisite specimens of this etiolation, we
must survey the inhabitants of mines, dungeons, and
other subterraneous abodes; and for complete contrasts to
these, we have only to examine the complexions of stage
coachmen, shepherds, and the sailor on the high and
giddy mast.”
The experiments of Edwards, as mentioned in Dungli-
son's Physiology, exhibit that light is necessary for the full
development of animals; and it is probable that its priva-
tion may give occasion, with other causes, to the devia-
tions in form observed in the children of confined dark
situations. This applies especially to children in large
manufacturing establishments, who are proverbially mis-
shapen and unhealthy.
How striking is the contrast between the pale deformed
being, brought up in this manner, and the ruddy native
of country situations, who is accustomed to spend the
greater part of his time in the open air, and to take
BOOKS ON ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 129
adequate exercise ; and how rare is it for us to meet with
deformities under the latter circumstances !
“Privation of light disposes to rest and inactivity;
hence the necessity of keeping animals we are desirous
of fattening, excluded from its stimulation ;-quietness,
and the absence of all excitement preventing the loss by
exhalation, which would otherwise take place, and dis-
posing to obesity. To completely exclude the light in
these cases, the ancients not only kept their fowls in dark
places, but barbarously stitched up their eyes | *
We should hardly be willing to enjoin it on our readers
—male or female—to stitch up their eyes in order to
acquire whiteness; but if they are really determined to
be white, we would recommend it to them to go into the
city, or into some mine—which is about the same thing—
and there spend a few years of their lives. To hope to
render the bonnet, and the gloves, and the umbrella and
the covered carriage of our country a substitute for those
more effectual means of etiolation, is like using a taper at
midday when we might—if we would—just as well have
the full benefit of sunlight.
BOOKS ON ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
To the Editor of the Library of Health :
BEING anxious to study Anatomy, for the purpose of
knowing the structure and mature of the human body,
that I may be better able to avoid those habits which are
injurious, and adopt those which are indispensable to
health, I wish to inquire, through your instructive publi-
cation, what course of study or reading you would recom-
mend a young man to pursue, who expects to be engaged
130 Books on ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY.
in mercantile pursuits, and therefore will not have time
to acquire a thorough knowledge of the science.
Any suggestions you may see fit to offer will be grate-
fully received. A SUBSCRIBER.
Andover, Feb. 11, 1837.
REPLY.-This, or a similar question, has been so often
asked, that we have at length resolved to answer it, as
well as we can. We have deferred a reply only on
account of its difficulty. -
The truth is, that books, to the mass of mankind, must,
for some time to come, be the chief, if not the only means
of instruction, on this subject. But here comes the diffi-
culty: we have no books suitable for this purpose. That
we have several works on Anatomy and Physiology,
which are tolerably well adapted to the wants of him who
is studying these subjects profoundly, with a view to the
practice of medicine, surgery, &c., may be true; but we
have none for popular reading, which come up to the
wants of the times.
Were we compelled, however, to recommend some-
thing, we should say to adults, and to young men who
are in a course of liberal education, study, first, Combe
on the Constitution of Man. Reject, if you choose,
his Phrenology, for that is not by any means necessary
to the right understanding of most of his remarks and
arguments; but study the rest with great care. At the
same time, read carefully, if you have not already done
it, Paley's Natural Theology. Then it may be well to
read some portions of Lawrence's Lectures on the Natural
History of Man. After this may come in the more
scientific works of Dr. Oliver and Dr. Dunglison.
We do not feel entire confidence in this course; but it
is the best we can advise, at the present time, and in the
present dearth of books on these subjects. If further re-
PUTRESCENT FOOD. 131
flection should induce us to recommend a course some-
what different, we shall have no hesitancy in saying so.
It may not be improper, however, to say in this place, that
for children and youth, we should like, as the first book on
Physiology, “The House I live in,”—not as being a
complete work, but only as an introduction to something
more elaborate.
PUTRESCENT FOOD.
MR. EDITOR :—I am aware that you do not counte-
nance the use of animal food ; but as it is used by many,
cooked in various ways, at different ages from the
slaughter, I beg leave to make some inquiries.
I once knew a gentleman who kept his meat till it
nearly began to putrefy, for the purpose of making it
tender : and many a time I have known it to fall from its
hanging place, not being able to hold its weight. He
would then have it very rarely cooked, but little more than
warmed through, and use with it an enormous quantity
of condiments. This gentleman, I would state, was
greatly tropbled with the dyspepsia ; but to what it can
be attributed, I leave for you to decide. -
Now the inquiries I would make are these :-When is
animal food the most salutary, eaten directly from the
slaughter, or after being kept as above stated? Should it
be perfectly or rarely cooked ? INQUIRER.
REPLY.—Here are two questions ; and the answer
must be brief, to both. -
Animal food cannot be as wholesome, after being long
kept, as it is soon after the animal is slaughtered, let the
circumstances be as they may. If it is preserved by salt,
smoke, &c., the means used to preserve it, at the same
132 EATING LOCUSTS.
time render it not only difficult of digestion, but also much
more heating. The tenderness which meat acquires by
long keeping, is at least an approach to putrefaction;
and putrid meat is by no means desirable in point of
wholesomeness.
All animal food should be rarely cooked; and the more
rare, other things being equal, the better. We say other
things being equal, because of two things alike in point of
natural excellence, that would be best which was best
relished. It is very easy, however, to bring ourselves to
relish flesh, eggs, &c., but rarely cooked ; and there are
few who do not soon come to prefer them so.
EATING LOCUST.S.
MANY people express disgust at the custom of eating
locusts, which prevails in the east. But has it never
occurred to these same persons, that people are often accus-
tomed to practices which, were they not trained to them,
would be equally disgusting 2 We were led to these re-
marks, by the following passage from Niebuhr, the trav-
eller.
“It is no more inconceivable to Europeans that the
Arabs should eat locusts with a relish, than it is incredible
to those Arabs who have had no intercourse with chris-
tians, that the latter should regard oysters, lobsters, &c.
as delicacies. Yet one is just as certain as the other.”
And both, it might have been added, would be equally
ridiculous, were it not that the Arabs seem driven to eat
locusts by the iron hand of necessity, while our resort to
the practice of eating animals whole is usually needless.
M IS C E L L A NY.
AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SocIETY.—An association un-
der this name has been recently formed in this city. Its
object, as expressed in the second Article of the Constitution,
is the acquisition and diffusion of a knowledge of the laws of
life, and of the means of promoting human health and lon-
gevity. About one hundred and sixty names are affixed to
the Constitution; but we learn that since the printing of that
document, the number has considerably increased.
The members of this association propose to study in every
possible way, the Science of Human Life, or Physiology.
This is to be done by an attendance on Lectures, by procuring
a full and complete Library of the most valuable works in the
departments of Health and Physiology, in this country and in
Great Britain, and by the observation of nature and of facts.
They propose to diffuse the knowledge thus acquired by reports,
verbal or written, at their meetings, which are to be monthly,
by the publication of books, tracts, or periodicals, and especially
by an annual Report, published by the Council of the Society.
They also hope to see numerous auxiliaries springing up in
various parts of the country.
The first monthly meeting was held at the Amory Hall, in
Boston, on the evening of the 7th of March ; and an Address
was given by the President of the Society. Mr. David
Campbell, is the Corresponding Secretary.
AGAINST QUACKERY.—The following is an extract from the
“Summary Explanation” of the objects of the American
Physiological Society:
“It is not our intention to interfere, at all—in our efforts—
with the duties, or encroach upon the province of the physi-
cian; nay, we even hope to aid him greatly in the discharge
of his weighty trust. Too long have our race been sufferers—
and that, too, in no stinted degree—from the evils of quackery,
134 MISCELLANY.
in her many-headed forms. Too often have the prescriptions
of judicious physicians been made in vain. But why all this?
Simply, or at least chiefly, because the community in general,
and nurses in particular, are almost ignorant of the science
and laws of human life. Impart these, and you not only
directly prevent disease, and destroy the very ignorance in
which quackery loves to revel, but you raise up, at the same
time, a generation better prepared to nurse the sick, whenever
such services are demanded. In this, and in a thousand other
ways, we second, instead of discouraging and defeating the
best efforts of the regular bred physician.”
TEMPERANCE BoARDING Hous E.-We are truly glad to
find that Mr. David Campbell, 22 Brattle Street, in this city,
has for some time sustained a Temperance House on a plan
which approximates to the simplicity of truth and nature.
Justice to Mr. C., who is laboring to do all the public senti-
Inent among his boarders will permit, demanded that we
should have stated this fact long ago; but it has been inadver-
tently omitted. But “better late than never.”
We say that Mr. C. appears to be doing all the public senti-
ment among his boarders will permit. The truth is, that man-
kind are never truly enlightened at once, and not a few of
those who profess to have become converts to the doctrine of
“temperance in all things,” are very far from being truly so.
Multitudes seem to think that if they abstain from meat and
from all drinks but water, they have a full license to revel in
other things, nearly if not quite as injurious. Thus some will
not eat flesh, or fish, or even eggs, or milk, for the world ; but
will eat their bread smoking hot, and full of butter; or their
fruits or puddings full of wine, or cream, or something worse;
or their potatoes swimming in gravy or covered with pepper,
mustard, &c.; and will complain if these are not furnished for
the table. Now these are some of the troubles which the
rational keeper of a Temperance Boarding House has to
encounter; evils which Mr. C. cannot at once escape, but
which his good sense and general discretion will enable him,
We hope, ere long to surmount.
MISCELLANY. 135
NATIONAL TEMPERANCE PAPER.—In place of the American
Temperance intelligencer, published in Albany, we now have
the Journal of the American Temperance Union, published
at Philadelphia. It is a pamphlet of sixteen quarto pages.
Its columns are to be “open to all communications from gen-
tlemen of science, physicians, chemists, physiologists, profes-
sors in our universities, divines,” &c.; and valuable continu-
nications are to be rewarded. We wish success to the enter-
prize. We hope the “Journal” will extend a salutary influ-
ence to every corner of the Union.
THE WINE QUESTION.—We have seen a circular contain-
ing the correspondence between Mr. E. C. Delavan, and the
Rev. Dr. Sprague, of Albany, on the use of wine at the sacra-
ment of the Lord's Supper. Mr. Delavan has been regarded
by many as hostile to the use of wille, even for sacred pur-
poses, in any of its forms. The publication of this correspon-
dence sets the matter right, we suppose. Mr. D. is only op-
posed to its use for common purposes, and to the use of that
which is bad, even for sacred purposes, whenever the pure
“fruit of the vine” can be obtained.
.*
HEALTH of SEAMEN.—There are few benevolent associa-
tions of modern days whose efforts, so far as judiciously con-
ducted, do uot tell upon the health of the community in some
form or other. Such, in an eminent degree, are Temperance
Societies, Moral Reform Societies, Total Abstinence Societies,
&c. Such, too, are all associations for intollectual improve-
ment. For it ought to be most distinctly known, that intellec-
tual cultivation, to a reasonable cxtent, is always favorable to
health.
We have been led to these remarks by the receipt of the
fourth annual report of the “Seanian's Aid Society’ of the
city of Boston. The friends of this society most undoubtedly
suppose that they are promoting—among other objects—the
health of seamen and their families by their efforts. We
think so, too. We rejoice to find the society prosperous; and
hope they will not remit their exertions till all seamen that
136 M1SCELLANY.
come to the port of Boston, come in as respectable a manner,
and are as respectable—and withal as healthy—as men of
any other occupation or profession.
LECTURE ON INTEMPERANCE.-Rev. Dr. Channing has re-
cently given a lecture in this city and some of the adjoining
towns, on Intenperance. We were not a little surprised to
find the Doctor advancing, in this lecture—so far as he goes—
precisely the same sentiments which we have been long
laboring to enforce. Of course we regret the necessity of
paining the public ear with our complaints, but since the com-
plaints must in our view be made, we are glad to see individ-
uals of talent enlisted in the same cause.
GRAHAM’s LECTURE To YouNG MEN.—The sceond edition
of this work is just published by Light & Stearns, of this
city. Of its merits, there will doubtless be various opinions,
especially among those who have not reflected long on the
subject. Our own opinion has, however, been long made up.
We have abundant testinaony that the vice of which the author
of the lecture so loudly complains, exists; and to the extent
which he has there represented. We believe, moreover, that
it is in vain to attempt longer to conceal its existence, and that
parents and teachers no less than physicians must be prepared to
meet it, and unite to repress it. We have just received a letter
from a gentleman in whom we place entire confidence, which
confirms the opinion we have long entertained of the existence
of solitary vice in common schools, and that too, to an alarm-
ing degree. We have not room to extend our remarks in the
present number, but we have not yet done with the subject.
Prices—$45 a hundred—$6 a dozen—62 1-2 cts. single.
Just out of Press, and selling rapidly,
LECTURE TO YOUNG MEN
CHASTITY.
INTENDED ALSO FOR THE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION OF
PARENT'S AND GUARDIANS.
SECOND EDITION,
JMuch Enlarged by JNotes, containing interesting narratives illustrative of the
Lecture.
BY SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
This edition of the Lecture contains testimonials from several
distinguished men, recommending its universal circulation in the
warmest terms. Among them is Dr. Woodward of the Massa-
chusetts Lunatic Asylum, Worcester, who has had the most
ample opportunity to observe the effects of the vice upon which it
treats. It is calculated to be of immense benefit to the human
race, and should be in the hands of every individual in the coun-
try over fourteen years of age. #
LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers, 1 Cornhill.
WORKS ON HEALTH AND ECONOMY.
THE MORAL REFORMER, and Teacher on the Human Constitu-
tion. Wols. 1 & 2. By Dr. Alcott.
NATURE'S OWN BOOK. Second Edition, enlarged and improved.
This work contains numerous directions in relation to the preparation of food.
AN ESSAY ON THE INFLUENCE OF TOBACCO UPON
LIFE AND HEALTH. By R. D. Mussey, M. D.
THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING. Living within the Means
—Living up to the Means—Living beyond the Means.
THE YOUNG LADY'S FRIEND. By a LADY. Improved Stere-
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For sale by LIGHT & STEARNS, 1 Cornhill.
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sº





-ā-
*º-
me
•--
Vol. Jr. M A Y. [No. 5.
*
THE - -
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
&acáer on 4 3%man %maſºn.
WM. A. ALCOTT, EDI'ror.
Author of the “Young Man's Guide,” “Young Mother,” and “House
I live in ; ” and Conductor of the Annals of Education.
CONTENTS.
Botantic Medicine, . . . . . . . 137 | Dietetic Character of Man, . . . 163
Cellars, Wells, &c., . . . . . . . 142
Greens and Salads, . . . . . . . 145 Misch:LL ANY.
Experience of a Physician, . . 147 Cur Periodicals, once more, . . 165
Healthful Influence of faith, . . 151 | Lectures on Physiology, . . . . 166
Opinions of Dr. Cullen, . . . . . 154 || The Young Man's Aid, . . . . . 167
Human Gluttony, . . . . . . . . 158 The Negro, . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Physiological Vice, . . . . . . . 160 The Graham Journal, . . . . . . 168
—otto- -
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w B O S T O N :
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Sold in all parts of the United States.
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**** shººt Postage, under iſ a miles, 1 1-3 cºs. Over 100 miles, 9 T-2 cºnts.
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Prices—In meat paper covers, 25 ets. single—$2.50 a dozen—$20 a hundred;—in cloth, 371-2
cts. Single—$4 a dozen—$31 a hundred. -
Just Published, and selling rapidly,
TREATISE ON BREAD,
AND
BREAD-MARING.
BY DR. SYLVESTER, GRAHAM.
HISTORY OF BREAD.—Primitive food of man. Bruising and grinding grain.
Baking. Invention of leavened bread. Bread among the Greeks and Romans—
among the Hebrews. Simplicity of the bread now used in many countries.
LAWS OF DIET-Reasons why food in its natural state would be the best.
Concentrated nutriment. Interesting experiments on animals. Mixtures of food.
Leavened and unleavened bread. Qualifications of the best bread.
MATERIAL OF BREAD.—Wheat. Extent of climate favorable to it. Injured
by improper tillage. Removal of impurities. Washing of grain. Separation
of the bran from the nutrient particles improper. Ancient Roman bread. Public
bakers. Use of bad flour. Adulterations. Poisonous agents used to disguise
them.
PROPERTIES OF BREAD.—Superfine flour injurious—a probable cause of
some common disorders. Objections to coarse bread. Its medical properties.
Extensive experiments of its use, by soldiers and others. Use among European
peasantry. Selection, preservation and grinding of wheat.
FERMENTATION.—Chemical composition of flour. Yeast—modes of preparing
it. Substitutes for it. Fermentation, and its products. Vinous, acetous and
putrefactive fermentation.
PREPARATION OF BREAD.—Mixing. Much kneading necessary. Rising,
or fermentation. Use of alkalies—saleratus and soda. Baking. Ovens. Alcohol
in bread. Preservation of bread. -
WHO SHOULD MAKE BREAD.—Making bread by rule. Bakers. Domes-
tics. Sour bread. An anecdote. Mrs. Van Winkle. Bad bread need not be
made. How cake is made. Bread-making a drudgery. Excellent example
of a mother. Eating bad bread. Importance of having good bread.
vARIETIES OF BREAD.—Rye bread. Indian meal bread. Use of sour milk
or buttermilk. Acids. Family grinding.
There has been a considerable demand for this work for some
time, and the edition (of 3000 copies) will doubtless soon be
exhausted. •
LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
BOTANIC MEDICINE.
WE boast of the “march of mind,” of “progress,” and
of “improvement;” and yet was there ever a period in the
world's history when people were more ready, in almost
everything, to become the dupes of each other ? Was there
ever a time when “humbugging ” and quackery of all sorts
so extensively prevailed ? Was there ever a time when
any one—even the very ignoramus—could better make
proselytes or partizans ? Was there ever a time, in short,
when mankind, as a mass—notwithstanding the diffusion
of light and knowledge—were more ready to become ex-
ceeding great fools 2
We are led to reflections like these almost every day
we live, but never more irresistibly than when we think
of the quackery which prevails, especially in medicine.
Alas, how many people are deceived, how much of pain
and suffering produced, and how many lives lost annually
—yea, daily—in consequence of the loud pretensions of
ignorant or interested sellers of nostrums and dispensers of
specific cures Our cities swarm with them; our papers
are filled with nostrums and their recommendations; and
our country but we desist, for so universal is the decep-
tion, and so wide-spread the evil, that in speaking of its
character and effects, we scarcely know where to begin or
9
I3S BOTANIC MEDICINE.
to end. Since, however, we must begin somewhere, we
will commence with a few remarks on a paper which
we received in March last, from Providence, R. I. entitled
the “R. I. Botanic Advertiser.” The number received
was the third of Wol. II.
The first article is an extract from the writings of Rev.
John Wesley, on the rise and progress of the art of heal-
ing, as he calls it; which, with one or two exceptions, is a
suitable article. Next comes a long essay, the object of
which is to show that the lobelia inflata is a specific in
cases for which the “Mother's Relief" has been lately so
much lauded in the papers—of which we have spoken
in a former number. The article is at best idle and fool-
ish. There are no specifics, in these cases, but correct
physical habits and good health ; nor are any others
needed. Nature, undisturbed, and in general unaided,
will, in these cases, best accomplish her own work.
The greater part of the second and third pages of the
paper, and some other portions of it, are taken up with ac-
counts of the progress and success of the “botanic prac-
tice,” and of “wonderful cures.” Among the rest, we find
a tribute to the skill of Indian doctors—a long dialogue on
“Calomel”—and a hint that “-two or three students will
be received at the R. I. Botanic Infirmary, if application
is made soon.”
Now we have no doubt that some sick patients recover
who are treated on what is called the “Botanic System,”
just as is the case with any other system. So far as the
botanic physicians are accustomed to act on the skin and
the internal surface of the lungs, and by consequence, on
membranes and surfaces which sympathize strongly with
these, we should be led to anticipate frequent good results.
We cannot believe that a surface so extensive as that of
the skin and lining membrane of the lungs, together with
the lining of the alimentary canal, ought to be overlooked
BOTANIC MEDICINE, 139
in our attempts to cure disease ; and it has sometimes
seemed to us that bathing, and especially the vapor bath,
medicated and simple, has not received sufficient atten-
tion from scientific physicians. We are aware of difficul-
ties in the way of its frequent and general use ; but we
believe some of them could be overcome.
While, however, we make this concession, and that too
most cheerfully, we must express our most unqualified
dissent from some of the doctrines of the botanic physi-
cians. We do not believe in any specific cures for specific
diseases; not even lobelia, hot drops, or the bath. Nor
can we join them in their hue and cry against calomel.
The idea they hold out, that while calomel and other min-
eral medicines are poisomous, the vegetable medicines are
safe, (at least this is the doctrine which we understand
they inculcate, and which their name implies,) is a most
glaring error, not to say downright falsehood. The prus-
sic acid, the henbane, the solanum, and many more vege-
table medicines are among the most poisonous articles in
the whole materia medica.
We are heartily sick of this railing at calomel ; for
while we hate medicine of all sorts, and are laboring with
all our might to prevent the necessity of using it, we con-
sider it little less than ridiculous to make this poor drug
the “scape goat,” to carry off the sins of all the rest of the
poisonous tribe. Calomel is, indeed, poisonous, though,
we say again, less so than some vegetable medicines.
But it is, in judicious hands, a valuable medicine; and will
probably remain so thousands of years after the botanic
system of medicine shall have flitted its little day, and
gone to oblivion.
If we were to fix on any one thing in the profession of
these would-be medical reformers, which shows their
downright ignorance and consummate folly, it would be
their custom of denouncing anatomical and physiological
140 BOTANIC MEDICINE.
science. It is too late in the day—at least we hope so—
for ignorance to be regarded as bliss, or even as safety.
The very thing most wanted to reform the medical
practice of this and every other country, is a more thor-
ough knowledge of the structure and laws of the human
frame. What then are we to think of such stuff as the
following, copied from some other paper into this same
self-sufficient R. I. Botanic Advertiser ?
“It is all an error to suppose that a knowledge of anat-
omy contributes to skill in curing the sick. We might
just as well send a girl to an anatomist to learn all the
parts the food nourishes, in order to be completely skilled
in the art of cooking. The two essential things to be
known are the disease, and the medicine that will cure the
disease, wherever located. It is of very little consequence
to the sick, where, or how long a doctor has studied medi-
cine; if he can cure them, that is enough.”
We do not maintain that it is of consequence to the
sick to know where a doctor has studied medicine ; but it
is not true that if he can cure them it is enough. We
have all heard the old song of the quack cobbler, that in
“stopping one hole, he makes twenty more ;” and the
saying is equally applicable to the quack doctor. He may
cure quickly, but he may do it by sowing the seeds of other
diseases. The quickest cures are not always—perhaps
not usually—the safest. Is the manner or method of our
cure, then, of no consequence 3 As to the awkward com-
parison made, we should say that no person can be “com-
pletely skilled in the art of cooking,” without some know-
ledge of anatomy.
Be this latter idea, however, received as it may, anato-
my and physiology are indispensable to the right under-
standing of medicine. This we feel ourselves fully com-
petent to prove to the satisfaction of all the unprejudiced.
But we have neither time nor patience at present to com-
|BOTANIC MEDICINES. 141
bat all the silly and monstrous errors, sustained as we
know they are by the whims and ignorance which, on
this subject, extensively prevail. We might just as well
undertake to oppose Mormonism, or some religious infatu-
ation, when it seizes on the minds of the mass of the igno-
rant. -
One word with the “Advertiser " in relation to our-
selves. The editor has copied an article which lately ap-
peared in this work, entitled, “Monstrous Little Physic;”
and accompanied it with remarks which we think it were
better for him to have omitted. He says—“We verily
know that the regular physicians, as they are called, are
generally the most particular on the first appearante of
disease, to take ‘monstrous' large draughts of herb tea
and a sweat, or even a “vapor bath,’ when they can ob-
tain one without giving too much sanction to what they
are pleased to denominate ‘quackery.’”
Now in the full belief that we know as much, at least,
about the regular physicians of this country, as the editor
of the Advertiser, we do not hesitate to pronounce this
assertion wholly and totally false. We do not, indeed,
say it is maliciously so; for we will not judge of motives.
Physicians, of all men in the world—we do not speak of
some two or three sickly ones which may be found here
and there, but of the profession in general—are the last
to take herb teas of any sort, except that which public use
has licensed to all, and rendered in the view of many an
article of diet—the black and green herb tea of China ;
and this, like other people, only at their meals.
We cannot surely be regarded as siding with the regu-
lar physicians to gain their favor, since we are connected
with no school or society of medicine whatever, nor do we
intend ever to have anything more to do with the “prac-
tice.” What we say is from a simple regard to truth and
to the general welfare. If the botanic system of medi-
i42 CELLABs, wells, &c.
cine were founded in science, reason, or common sense,
we should be willing to hear its stories of “wonderful
cures” with patience, the “regular physicians” to the
contrary notwithstanding.
CELLARS, WELLS, &c.
WE were once called to visit a large family, half a
dozen of whose members were sick of a typhoid dysen-
tery. Some of the circumstances led to the suspicion of
local causes of disease, and on examination, the suspicion
was confirmed. -
It was one of those wealthy farmers of New England,
whose fertile farms enable them to fill two or three barns
with hay and grain, keep a large stock with many cows,
several pens of hogs, and poultry almost innumerable.
The concave barn yards and sties were closely clustered
around two sides of the house; the cellar, well and vault,
with the sties and barn yards, half filled with their offen-
sive contents, were almost in continuity.
The cellar contained, besides several barrels and pieces
of barrels of half spoiled meat and fish, many bushels of
damaged potatoes, apples, onions and cabbage leaves, and
numerous casks, with their quarts or gallons of cider,
cider lees, and vinegar; some of which, being unstopped,
were highly offensive. The sink, in the rear of the
kitchen, and only two or three yards from the well, was
equally offensive. Even much of the filth of the sick
rooms was deposited in and near it. Besides, the sties,
&c. &c., were so close to it, that if there were no commu-
nication, it must be by an accident upon which there
could be no human calculation.
Who will wonder that disease breaks out, in such
CELLARs, wells, &c. 143
places 2 How can we continue to live in the atmosphere
of such cellars and yards, and drink the water, especially
when the wells are low, which are poisoned with the filth
of chambers, sinks, drains, vaults, sties and barn yards 2
For our own part, we wonder not that fevers, and dysen-
teries, and bowel complaints prevail, but rather that they
are not more frequent and more fatal.
We do not exaggerate the condition of these often en-
vied citizens; no, not in the least. It is now scarcely a
month since we passed a place in this very vicinity, which
was quite as bad as the above, except that the family were
healthy, and the well not quite in continuity with the
general chain of causes of disease. Eighteen large swine,
however, ranged on almost every side of the mansion, and
came to salute us as we entered upon the premises.
Many suppose that the water of these polluted places is
purified in passing through a few yards or rods of solid
earth to reach the well. But this is just as much a mis-
take as the common belief that mud, and worms, and filth
of every description, in the common cider of the country,
work out during the regular process of fermentation.
The coarse parts, are, no doubt, left behind in the one
case or thrown out in the other, but not the essence. We
have no reason to think that there is any real purification
in either case. Both our cider and our water, in common
cases, are more or less filthy; sometimes filthy beyond
what most of us have ever conceived, or shall be likely
soon to admit.
We remember a well, in New England, which, on
being cleaned for the first time in several years, was
found to contain several dead reptiles and other animals,
in a state which, when the water was removed, could not
be mistaken ; besides much vegetable filth. In less than
a month afterward, two members of the family were seized
with fever, and hardly escaped with their lives.
144 CELLARs, wells, &c.
In another instance, the wells of a large district were
all low, and the water in them stagnant; and soon after, a
fever broke out and raged in the neighborhood, which
proved very fatal.
What connection, in the latter two instances, there was
between the water of the wells and the sickness which
followed, we do not pretend to say ; we merely state the
facts, and leave our readers to make their own conclu-
sions.
We must say, however, that the frequent practice of
neglecting cellars and wells, year after year, in city or
country, is insufferable. Every well should—if possible—
be well cleared, once a year. Cellars, without exception,
should be cleared often, but in no case less frequently
than once a year. Whatever may be thought of the
tendency of putrescent animal substances, there can be
no doubt that decaying vegetables induce disease. We
knew a youth who came home once from school, with a
little smattering of medical knowledge, and proceeded to
clean the cellar, saying afterward that he had carried
out so many baskets full of typhus fever. Would that
superficial knowledge in no instance made any worse
mistakes
As to yards, sties, vaults, &c., their contents should be
attended to often ; and they should be much farther than is
usual from our dwellings. Some of these deposits should
be received into large movable, water-tight vessels, which
should be frequently emptied and cleansed. How can we
suffer them to soak into the earth, only a few rods or
perhaps a few yards from our wells —Enlightened atten-
tion to this whole subject would save much sickness and
wo, and much premature death.
GREENS AND SALADS. 145
GREENS AND SALADs.
THE season has at length arrived, when these sub-
stances will be found at the tables of many a family in
New England. With some they are regarded not merely
as a luxury, but as a necessary ; and the season of their
return is welcomed with much joy. But we have the
following objections to their use:
1. They contain very little nutriment. They are
scarcely worth the labor of procuring. It seems to us
much better to leave them to the four-footed animals, for
whose stomachs they are far better adapted.
2. They are highly indigestible. The very stomachs
that most crave them are usually most injured by their use.
But the pure, healthy stomach would never demand such
substances; if indeed they would not be positively offen-
sive to it. -
3. They are usually rendered worse than they would
naturally be, by the addition of vinegar, oil, salt or
spices ; especially the former. It is bad enough to eat
the greens and salads themselves ; but to add vinegar, a
substance half putrescent, and unfit for any human being
to swallow, except as a medicine, is quite too much.
4. They are in the way of other substances. He who
fills his stomach with a quantity of grass or weeds, either
raw or boiled, has, of course, less room for other and
better food.
5. We ought, by all means, to eat the best of food, so
far as we know what is best, and so far as we can get it
honestly, and without interfering with the rights of our
neighbors. But every one knows that greens and salads
are not so wholesome as bread, and rice, and potatoes,
and beets, and pulse, and fruits, and other nutritive and
highly wholesome articles.
146 GREENS AND SALADS,
6. They injure the tone of the stomach. We know,
indeed, that with some persons, this appears to be other-
wise. They are confident, they say, that these crude or
raw substances agree with them, because they have used
them a thousand times, and suffered no inconvenience
from them.
But how do they know they have not suffered any
inconvenience from their use ? Have they experienced
no pain at any time, since they first began to use them 2
Suppose they have not, has their sum total of enjoyment
been as great as it might have been 2 The evils of using
things improper for us, do not always follow immediately,
but sometimes very remotely.
A person may swallow indigestible substances, accom-
panied by vinegar, mustard, pepper, spice, horse-radish,
&c., or followed by spirituous or fermented liquors, for
many weeks—perhaps many months—together, and per-
ceive no evil consequences at all; after which may come
on a train of mischiefs. Or the mischiefs may even
follow at such a distance, or in such forms and circum-
stances, that he does not perceive, at all, their connection
with each other.
But we do not believe it possible for any individual on
earth to use the substances of which we have been speak-
ing without suffering, sooner or later, as the consequence.
In what particular form the suffering may come, we will
not undertake to decide. But come it must, we are sure;
and he who does not wish to pay the penalty of eating
such things, should avoid the error and crime that lead
to 1:.
EXPERIENCE OF A PHYSICIAN. 147
EXPERIENCE OF A PHYSICIAN.
[The following is from the pen of Joseph Speed, M. D. of Caroline,
Tompkins County, New York. We have it on the authority of the Ohio
Observer.]
I AM a physician, and have been no inattentive ob-
server of the effects of intoxicating and other unnatural
substances on the human system, in producing disease
and death.
Where mal-formation does not exist, health is the
matural state of man, and disease is unnatural—and
brought on us, usually, by our own imprudences.
The usual imprudences, are improper food and drink,
and deficiency of exercise.
There is nothing in the formation of man—there is
nothing in his experience—to show that nature designed
he should use, in health, any stimulating substance of
any description, that does not possess nourishment. On
the contrary, everything of the kind is injurious to
health.
I am now far advanced in my sixty-third year. In
early life I lived as many thoughtless young men do, to
eat, drink and be merry. Few restraints were imposed
on my appetite by myself, or by those who had the care
of me, until I attended a course of medical lectures,
delivered by Dr. Rush, in 1794. This great and good
man's memory must be dear to every one who has at-
tended his lectures. The earnestness and solemnity with
which he warned us against the evils of spirits, I can
never forget; and from that time, I resolved to die a
sober man. It is remarkable, how little was said against
the use of intoxicating drinks in those days. I do not
recollect that either of the other professors in the college
said a word on the subject; and so far as I can remember,
H48 EXPERIENCE OF A PHYSICIAN.
it was rare for a parent to admonish his child against this
deadly evil—nay, he often sweetened it, to make it more
palatable to his taste.
Having determined for myself, to die a sober man, I
used intoxicating drinks of every kind moderately, as it
was called; and in consequence of it, I probably had
sickness more moderately than I otherwise should have
had. Knowing, from long observation, the dreadful evils
of intemperance, when our temperance reformation began,
I early and joyfully joined the temperance society, and
abstained entirely from the use of distilled spirits. It
was long before I was convinced of the propriety of
adopting the same course with wine, beer, cider, and
all fermented drinks. It was pleasing to feel how, step
by step, I improved in health, as I made each successive
sacrifice. Encouraged by these beginnings, and knowing
that there were other things injurious to ‘health, which
I was practising, I determined to take a new start in the
path of reformation, and successively gave up the use of
strong, high-seasoned food of every description. Even my
tobacco, yes, my tobacco, the idol of my life, which I had
used for nearly fifty years, and without which life seemed
a burden—that dear, soothing comforter of my life—
that vile, filthy, health-destroying weed—had to go ; and,
not very long after, my tea and coffee. Yes—my much
loved coffee had to go too ; but much as I loved it, our
separation produced a pang but trifling compared to the
loss of my dear, abominable, filthy tobacco.
I know that some will say, “You poor, deluded fanatic,
you have deprived yourself of all the comforts of life, and
what have you worth living for 2 ” I have health—such
health as men never enjoy who do not lead a uniformly
temperate life. For years I have scarcely known what
an ache or a pain is ; and for years I have not had a cold
worth calling a cold. My appetite is always good. I
EXPERIENCE OF A PHYSICIAN. 149
have a great pleasure in eating whatever is suitable for
man to eat, and I have lost all desire for anything but
the plain nourishing food on which I live. I feel as if I
had gone back many years of my life, and have the ability
and disposition to perform much more labor than I had
seven years ago. Here is what I have that is worth
living for ; and I will ask those inquirers, in turn, what
do they enjoy that is more worth living for 2 Do they
eat the luxuries and fat things of the earth—and drink
the fruit of the vine in its fermented and joy-inspiring
state 2 I use my plain food, and plain water, with as
much pleasure and gratification as they ; for I have tried
both, and speak from experience, and know that their
gratifications are often followed by a bitter pang, and that
mine are not. Indeed, so far am I from suffering from
my mode of living, that it has relieved me entirely from
the common sufferings of life, to which improper living
exposes us. I used to suffer much from headache, sick
stomach, want of appetite, irregularity of the bowels,
restless nights, and a most distressing affection of the
heart—a disease of which organ has become one of the
most powerful and alarming diseases of our land, and
is brought on, perhaps, nine times out of ten, by a defi-
ciency of exercise, and the use of stimulating food and
stimulating drink. Of all these I have been cured,
by abandoning stimulants and improper food.
You ask me respecting the experience of others on
this subject. To tell you all the good effects I have
known, would need a volume; and I should not know
where to begin. I will, however, state one case. My
neighbor, for whom I have often prescribed for a head-
ache which had seriously injured his health, and which
he had had, with only one exception, once a month, for
more than forty years, applied to me, two or three years
ago, to try again and do something for him; for he suf-
150 EXPERIENCE OF A PHYSICIAN.
fered excessively, and his looks showed it. In fact, his
health was seriously declining. His attacks lasted him a
day or two, and he always had to sit up one whole might,
in his chair—so severe was the pain, at every attack.
I knew he was fond of rich food, loved coffee dearly,
and his tobacco still more, and used them very freely. I
told him that I had trifled with him long enough ; I would
give him no more medicine; he must cure himself, and
that he must abandon his coffee, his tobacco, and all high-
seasoned food, and live upon milk and light vegetable
diet, and eat meat sparingly, but once a day. He tried to
reason me out of it, as he said he had the headache
before he used tobacco or coffee. I told him it mattered
not, his situation was serious, and he must follow my
advice. He did so; left off all, and for six months had
but one attack of the headache, and that produced by a
day's ride on a hard trotting horse, to which he had not
been used. In fact, he became a new man. He has since
returned slightly to his old living, and tells me he has
slight returns of headache.
Here is one case, among thousands, of the injurious
effects of stimulants; and here is the simple cure. It
matters not whether the stimulants be distilled spirit, or
fermented liquors ; they all, without exception, endanger
the health of man, produce disease of the most fatal kind,
and destroy more lives than the sword, pestilence and
famine.
HEALTHFUL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 151
HEALTHFUL INFLUENCE OF FAITH.
WE have somewhere thrown out the idea that in physi-
cal matters, no less than in morals, things are what they
are to us on account of or in proportion to the faith or
confidence we have in them. It is our object in the pres-
ent article to illustrate the truth of this position.
Among the more important agents of health, is faith or
confidence. He who confides entirely in his physician,
(if his disease is within the reach of remedies,) is half
cured. This is the secret of that success which certain
illiterate physicians, and even some quacks, often have in
the community. I have known a man of very little
medical skill who, having the art of inspiring his patients
with full confidence in his remedies, gained the reputation
of an excellent physician. He never blundered—so he
said. His medicines were always exactly the very best
which could have been administered. If the patients
recovered, he had the credit of it; if not, it was the dis-
ease which, by its severity, destroyed them | | | Quacks,
in like manner, always prescribe exactly right; and if the
patient is not cured, or is made worse, it is no fault of
theirs, or of the medicine, but the result of some latent
or mysterious cause or agent | | |
But the world may learn something, even from quack-
ery ; and the physician who would be truly honest and at
the same time useful, should imitate the quack so far as to
be always cheerful and confiding. He has real cause for
confidence. Knowing the power of the human constitu-
tion, if not hindered by the injudicious efforts of ignorance
or empiricism, to restore itself when disordered, and
having full confidence also in the curative effects of medi-
cine, so far as medicine can go, he may well possess and
inspire faith. If a physician have not so much confidence
152 HEALTHFUL INFLUENCE OF FAITH.
in himself, and the restorative power of the constitution
and medicine, that he can at all times appear before his
patient with the utmost cheerfulness and confidence, it is
ten to one but he has mistaken his calling.
Imagination, or faith, says Dr. Dunglison, may render
inert medicines efficacious ; and may even cause a medi-
cine to have effects the very opposite of those which it
usually exerts. A thousand facts might be cited to show
the truth of Dr. D.'s assertions. We will only mention
a few.
In Paris's life of Sir Humphrey Davy, we are told of
an experiment which strongly illustrates our subject.
Dr. Beddoes, believing that the nitrous oxide would cure
palsy, placed a patient under the care of Davy for the
purpose. Previous to administering the gas, a small
thermometer was placed under the tongue, to ascertain
the temperature of the body. The patient, fully confi-
dent of a cure, but not at all understanding the nature of
the experiment to effect it, no sooner felt the thermometer
under his tongue, than he declared at once he was better.
Nothing more was done, and he was requested to call
the next day. He accordingly came at the time appointed,
and the experiment was repeated. It was also repeated
every day for a fortnight, when the patient was dismissed,
completely cured ; and yet no remedy of any kind had
been used, except the thermometer.
Equally worthy of our credit is the following anecdote,
which used to be related by Dr. Gregory, of Edinburgh,
in his lectures:
A student who was sick with fever, required an
anodyne, and was accordingly informed by Dr. G. that
he would order one for him, to be taken at bed-time.
The student, however, misunderstood him, and thought
he said cathartic rather than anodyne. The next morning
when the doctor came, he asked what effect the anodyne
HEALTHFUL INFLUENCE OF FAITH. 153
produced ; “Anodyne !” replied the student, “I thought
it was a purgative. It has certainly proved such ; for it
has operated as such with great activity, and I feel much
relieved by it.” *
We have again and again observed the power of faith
in our own case, especially in relation to food and drink.
Once we were very fond of cider and wine. The former
we made our common daily drink—and drank it in large
quantities. Sometime afterward, beginning to believe it
to be injurious, we found its odor and taste begin to be
disagreeable; and at the present time, both its taste and
smell, as well as the taste and smell of wine, are quite
offensive.
The brown bread so common in Massachusetts—a
mixture of rye and Indian—was once the object of our
dislike, and almost of our disgust. But becoming con-
vinced, about three years ago, of its natural excellence,
we began to use it, occasionally, in small quantity, and
found it quite agreeable ; and we have of late become
fond of it. In like manner, we have discovered the
influence of faith in regard to many other articles of food.
What we are convinced is best for us, though before an
object of hatred or disgust, becomes very soon tolerable,
and ultimately agreeable.
When our confidence in the Supreme Being rises to a
state of feeling, best illustrated by comparing it to the
simple confidence of a child in a parent, its influence on
health cannot be otherwise than salutary. This simple
confiding disposition, we call faith. It will overcome
mountains of difficulty, and enable us to pass safely
through furnaces of trial and affliction.
He who has strong faith in God will be much more
likely, other things being equal, to escape disease. The
reason is, that it gives energy to all the vital functions;
and whatever does this permanently, promotes, and
10
154 OPINIONS OF DB. CULLEN.
ensures, and prolongs health. Or if at any time, the
man of faith becomes the victim of disease, his faith will
render it milder than it would otherwise have been. In
violent affections which disorder the brain and nerves,
such a man will be less likely than others to lose his
reason. He will even walk with more safety than others
through the dangers of contagion. Indeed, there is
scarcely a situation of life, in which the man of faith—
whether it be faith in parents, in nature or in God—has
not a decided advantage over others. Like everything
else which pertains to godliness, faith has the promise
not only of the life that is to come, but of that which
now is.
OPINIONS OF DF. CTULLEN.
SoME of our readers express much gratification in the
fact, that we are getting into the way of sustaining our-
selves by medical authority. We should have adopted
this course much sooner, had not our positions seemed to
us so clear, that we thought it idle to adduce evidence
in their support. But we have concluded, from time to
time, to do so.
Dr. Cullen, the distinguished writer on medicine, of
about fifty years ago, whose works are still regarded by
our medical schools as high authority, in speaking of
the cure of rheumatic affections, has the following lan-
guage :
“The cure, therefore, requires, in the first place, an
antiphlogistic regimen, and particularly, a total abstinence
from animal food, and from all fermented or spirituous
liquors.”
“Antiphlogistic regimen,” in medical language, means
that food and drink which is most cooling and quieting to
the stomach and to the general system.
OPINIONS OF DIR. CULLEN. 155
In the treatment of gout, Dr. Cullen recommends a
course like that which has been stated, except that instead
of proposing it as a means of cure, he recommends it as
preventive. He says— ! R
“The gout may be entirely prevented by constant
bodily exercise, and by a low diet; and I am of opinion
that this prevention may take place even in persons who
have a hereditary disposition to the disease. I must add
here, that even when the disposition has discovered itself
by several paroxysms of inflammatory gout, I am per-
suaded that labor and abstinence will absolutely prevent
any returns of it for the rest of life.” I ,
Again, in reference to the same subject, he thus
observes :
“I am firmly persuaded that any man who, early in
life, will enter upon the constant practice of bodily labor
and of abstinence from animal food, will be preserved
entirely from the disease.”
Once more.
“If an abstinence from animal food be entered upon
early in life, while the vigor of the system is yet entire,
I have no doubt of its being both safe and effectual.”
To guard against the common opinion that by vegeta-
ble food, he meant raw, or crude, or bad vegetables, Dr.
C. explains his meaning by assuring the reader, that by
a vegetable diet he means the “farinaceous seeds,” (the
mealy grains) and “milk ; ” and admits that green,
crude and bad vegetables are not only less useful, but
actually liable to produce the very diseases, which good,
mealy vegetable food will prevent or cure.
This is an important distinction. Many a person who
wishes to be abstemious, seems to think that if he only
abstains from flesh and fish, that is enough. No matter,
he supposes, what vegetables he uses, so they are vegeta-
bles; nor how much he abuses himself by excess in
--"
156 OPINIONS OF DR. CULLEN,
quantity. Nay, he will even load his stomach with milk,
or butter, or eggs; sometimes with fish, (we have often
been asked if we considered fish as animal food;) and
sometimes, worse still, with hot bread, hot buckwheat cakes,
hot short cakes, swimming, almost, in butter;-yes, and
sometimes he will even cover his potatoes with gravy,
mustard, salt, &c.
It is in vain for mankind to abstain from animal food,
as they call it, and yet run into these worse errors. The
lean parts of animals not much fattened, and only rarely
cooked, eaten once a day in small quantity, are far less
unwholesome than many of the foregoing.
But to return to Dr. C. In speaking of the proper
drink for persons inclined to gout, he thus remarks:
“With respect to drink, fermented liquors are useful
only when they are joined with animal food, and that by
their acescency; and their stimulus is only necessary
from custom. When, therefore, animal food is to be
avoided, fermented liquors are unnecessary, and by in-
creasing the acescency of vegetables, these liquors may
be hurtful. The stimulus of fermented or spirituous
liquors is not necessary to the young and vigorous; and
when much employed, impairs the tone of the system.”
Dr. C. might have added—what indeed we should
infer by parity of reasoning—that when fermented liquors
are avoided, animal food is no longer necessary, and by
increasing the alkaline state of the stomach and fluids,
may be hurtful. The truth is, they go best together. If
we use flesh and fish, which are alkaline, a small quan-
tity of gently acid drink, as weak cider or wine, taken
either with our meals, or between them, may be useful. It
is better, however, to abstain from both ; and this we
think might be a legitimate inference even from Dr. C.,
though a flesh eater himself.
OPINIONS OF DR. CULLEN. I57
For if a purely vegetable aliment, with water alone
for drink, is safe to all young persons inclining at all to
gout, to whom is it unsafe 2 If it tends to render a
young person at all weaker, that very weakness would
predispose to the gout, in some of its forms, if a person
were constitutionally inclined to that disease; if not, to
some other complaint, to which he was more inclined.
It cannot, therefore, be unsafe to any, if Dr. C. is right.
But if those who are trained to it, lose nothing, even in
the high latitude of Scotland—where Dr. C. wrote—by
confining themselves to good vegetables and water, them
they must necessarily gain, on his own principles, by this
way of living, because they get rid of any sort of neces-
sity (he might have added, lose their appetite) for fer-
mented liquors, * *
More than this, as the Dr. himself concludes in another
place, they prevent many acute diseases. His words are
these—“It is animal food which especially predisposes to
the plethoric and inflammatory state; and that food is
therefore to be especially avoided.” It is true, he is here
speaking of gouty persons; but his principles are also
fairly susceptible, as we have shown, of a general applica-
tion.
In short, it is an undeniable fact, that even a thorough-
going vegetable eater might prove everything he wished,
from old established writers on medicine and health, though
themselves were feeders on animal food; just as a tee-
totaller may prove the doctrine of abstinence from all
drinks but water, from the writings of medical men,
though themselves are still, in many cases, pouring down
their cider, their beer, or their wine ; or at least, their tea
and coffee. t
15S HUMAN GLUTTONY,
HUMAN GLUTTONY.
INTEMPERANCE in the use of wine and ardent spirits is
not the only, mor, perhaps the greatest evil to be guarded
against. Could a fair estimate be made on the subject, I
cannot doubt that excessive eating is much more injurious
to health, in our country at large, than excessive drinking.
I allude to the average of injury done by it to the com-
munity, not to that brought down on a few given indi-
viduals. The reason is plain. Comparatively few of us
are drunkards; but we are all gluttons. I speak literally
—not figuratively. We are habitual gluttons. Though
this charge is harsh, and will not be likely to be thought
over-delicate, it is, notwithstanding, indisputable." Where
food is plenty and easily obtained, all men over-eat them-
selves—and pay the penalty by some form of indisposi-
tion, corporeal or mental. This, I say, is as true of the
human race, as of the inferior animals. For, on the
score of eating, men are mere animals—mingling, usually,
in the practice, as little of reason and judgment, as their
horses, cows, sheep and pigs.
In truth, we greatly surpass the inferior animals, in
the indulgence of the appetite for food and drink. And
at no small expense and trouble, we lay our accounts to
do so. What are nine tenths of our culinary processes—
our roasting, and broiling, and, frying, and fricasseeing,
and stewing, and basting, and buttering, and spicing, and
cayenning—what are they all, but so many studied ,
provocations to intemperance? What again are our grog,
our wine, our bitters, and our hot punch, before dinner,
but so many panderers to an increase of appetite; that
we may be the better prepared to make havoc at table %
—a havoc which returns with its “poisoned chalice,”
on our own assaulted organs of digestion.
HUMAN GLUTTONY, I59
I once knew a celebrated gourmand, who, when about
to dine on turtle soup and other dainties of a like cast,
was in the practice of taking an emetic some hours before
dinner, that his palate and stomach might be the better
prepared for the savory meal To consummate, at once,
the temptation and the mischief, no sooner is the appetite
cloyed, and the stomach distended with soups, and meats,
and gravies, and their accompaniments, than in comes
the dessert, rich in sweets and fragrance, and in other
respects invitingly savory, and garnished with all the
seductive elegancies of the confectioner and the pastry
cook. And, notwithstanding the extent of antecedent
repletion, this fearful addition must be, in some shape,
stowed away, else a slight is offered to the hospitality and
taste of the bounteous entertainer—and worse still, to those
of his gentle helpmate, to whose supervision this part of
the banquet had been specially confided. Gallantry,
therefore, gives the word, and instantly the entire en-
ginery of the table, consisting of knives and forks, and
spoons and ladles, is again at the work of renovated
destruction, until the whole is demolished, and scarce a
“wreck left behind.”
And such are the well known practices pursued even
by many of our leaders in the temperance crusade, whose
declamations and denunciations are loud and vehement
against the sipping of a few gills of whiskey ſ—an act
of intemperance, which, compared to many of their own,
in grossness and depth, is but the gray of twilight to
midnight darkness | Let me not, I entreat you, be mis-
understood. I am friendly to the temperance cause,
judiciously administered. But I am also a friend to
justice and consistency.—DR. CALDwÉLL.
160 PHYSIOLOGICAL VICE.
PHYSIOLOGICAL VICE.
[The following are extracts from an Address by the Editor to the
Physiological Society recently formed in Boston.]
WE say much and hear much said of the slavery of
two or three millions of people in these United States.
And much that is said on this subject is well said. I
have surveyed, to a very considerable extent, the practical
enormity of this great national evil. I have not received
my information, at second hand; my own eyes have wit-
messed it. Yet I have witnessed other forms of slavery
among us, whose effects are to me still more shocking;
forms of slavery, too, in whose horrors twelve or fifteen,
instead of two or three millions of my countrymen are in-
volved. I allude of course to the slavery of bad physical
habits; the slavery of a being made originally in the im-
age of God, but now very generally subjected to appe-
tite, lust and passion. In this view, I feel justified in
saying that some of the worst forms of slavery with which
I am acquainted, exist around us in our own goodly New
England, as well as elsewhere; yes, in the proud city of
Boston itself.
The late excellent and philanthropic Dr. Keagy, of
Philadelphia, once made the following remark—“Three
fourths of the vice that entails wretchedness on the hu-
man family, is, if I may use the expression, physiological
vice ; that is, vice consisting in the depraved indulgence
of the three appetites, or in the moral feelings brought
immediately into action by their means. I know scores
of pious persons, who, for the want of physiological know-
ledge, cannot be the perfect men and women they desire
to be.”
This statement is one of great importance, and it comes
from good authority. Dr. Keagy was none of your vision-
FHYSIOLOGICAL VICE. 161
aries. He was a plain, practical, common-sense lover
of God and man. But is it true, then, that three fourths
of the vice among us is physiological vice? If so, at
what a disadvantage have our moral and intellectual teach-
ers labored, who have so long endeavored to reform men
without teaching them physiology, and even without un-
derstanding it themselves | If so, too, what an amazing
work remains for us and for others to do | Will there
longer remain a question in the mind of any individual,
whether or not physiological societies are necessary
We must labor, as a society, to free the community
from superstition. It is a curious historical fact, that
Eliot, the Indian apostle, about two hundred years ago,
endeavored to teach anatomy and physiology to the Indian
tribes of this very region, as a means of freeing them from
a blind and superstitious obedience to their powaws or
sorcerers, who held them in awe, and almost or quite in
adoration, by their pretensions to the art of curing diseases,
foretelling events, &c. Eliot actually attempted the
work of instruction himself; and when he found he was
unable to do everything alone, he sought with long and
patient effort to procure aid, both in lecturers and funds,
not only at home, but in England ; and only gave up the
project when he was actually compelled to do so, by the
iron hand of necessity.
This is a striking lesson to us. For the lapse of two
centuries has not diminished the necessity of liberating
people from a blind and unreasonable superstition. We,
too, have our powaws. At least, we have our quacks—
our cure-alls, by some nostrum or other—at every corner;
and the multitude are deluded by their vain and arrogant
pretensions. Is it then too much to say, that by the mass
of mankind, they are adored or worshipped ? Is it not
strictly true that we bow down to them —yes, many
millions of our race—quite into the dust.
I62 PHYSIOLOGICAL VICE.
Our object is to prevent evil in the world, rather than
attempt to do much in the way of cure. Prevention is
our motto. We would be the humble disciples, in one
respect, at least, of him who came down from heaven, not
to destroy men, but to save them. There are associations
enough in the world, already, whose objects, or at least
whose results, are to spread destruction; but there are
comparatively few whose objects and whose results are to
promote human enjoyment and happiness.
We would save men by preventing a flood of intem-
perance from sweeping over the earth, as it constantly
does. We are not willing that nearly a million of our
race should die in these United States every thirty years,
from the direct effects of intemperance in the use of spir-
ituous and fermented liquors. Nor are we willing that
the expense which it involves, in time and money, to say
nothing of the suffering and wo, should be incurred. The
amount of $100,000,000 a year wasted in the use of alco-
holic drinks, besides $10,000,000 for coffee and tea, is, in
thirty years, no less than $3,300,000,000. I have confi-
dence in the intentions of Temperance Societies. They
certainly have done something to arrest the ravages of
the destroying angel; but I fear they have done nearly
all they can do, till physiology comes to their aid, and
shows them, and through them the community, the why
and the wherefore, in this matter. The advocates for
temperance have trusted, for the most part, thus far, in
appeals to the feelings of the people, and in statements of
facts. They have done very little to show them the causes
which lead to intemperate habits, and the consequent
means of preventing them. Their efforts have been con-
fined to the work of correction, rather than to the still
greater work of prevention.
DIETETIC CHARACTER OF MAN. 163
DIETETIC CHARACTER OF MAN.
[From Lawrence's Lectures.]
|
THAT animal food renders men strong and courageous,
is fully disproved by the inhabitants of northern Europe
and Asia—the Laplanders, Samoiedes, Ostiacs, Tun-
gooses, Barats and Kamtschadales, as well as the Esqui-
maux in the northern, and the natives of Terra del Fuego
in the southern extremity of America, which are the
smallest, weakest and least brave people on the globe,
although they live almost entirely on flesh, and that often
TàW. -
Vegetable diet is as little connected with weakness and
cowardice as that of animal matter is with physical force
and courage. That men can be perfectly nourished, and
their bodily and mental capabilities fully developed, in
any climate, by a diet purely vegetable, admits of abun-
dant proof from experience. In the periods of their
greatest simplicity, manliness and bravery, the Greeks
and Romans appear to have lived almost entirely on
plain vegetable preparations. Indifferent bread, fruits,
and other produce of the earth, are the chief mourishment
of the modern Italians, and of the mass of the population
in most countries of Europe. Of those more imme-
diately known to ourselves, the Irish and Scotch may be
mentioned, who certainly are not rendered weaker than
their English fellow subjects, by their freer use of
vegetable aliment. The negroes, whose great bodily
powers are well known, feed chiefly on vegetable sub-
stances; and the same is the case with the South Sea
islanders, whose agility and strength were so great, that
the stoutest and most expert English sailors were no
match for them in wrestling and boxing.
164 DIETETIC CHARACTER OF MAN.
Physiologists have usually represented that our spe-
cies holds a middle rank, in the masticatory and diges-
tive apparatus, between the flesh-eating and herbivorous
animals—a statement which seems rather to have been
deduced from what we have learned by experience on
the subject, than to result from an actual comparison of
men and animals. *
The teeth and jaws of men are, in all respects, much
more similar to those of monkeys than of any other ani-
mal. The number is the same as in man, and the form
so closely similar, that they might easily be mistaken for
human. In most of them, except the orang-outang, the
canine teeth are much larger and stronger than in tis;
and so far, these animals have a more carnivorous char-
acter than man.
Thus we find that whether we consider the teeth and
jaws, or the immediate instruments of digestion, the hu-
man structure closely resembles that of the simiae, (mon-
key race,) all of which, in their natural state, are com-
pletely herbivorous.* Man, possesses a tolerably large
coecum, and a cellular colon ; which I believe are not
found in any herbivorous animal.
* The orang-outang naturally prefers fruits and auts; but is also very
fond of bread. On board a ship he can, however, with some little pains,
$e taught to eat flesh—especially raw flesh-ED.
M IS C E L L A NY.
OUR PERIoDICALs, once MoR.E.-A recent article of this
work, bearing rather hard upon those periodicals which favor
quackery by publishing its foolish, obscene and mischievous
advertisements, has called forth the ire, so it appears, of a
few of our brethren of the quill; and among the rest, of Dr.
Bartlett, one of the editors of the “Emerald Isle.” The latter,
instead of attacking us in an indirect or cowardly manner,
that is, “over the back” of some other publication, or by
ridicule and invective for want of argument, has come like an
honest man to open warfare, and charged on us the unpar-
donable sin of being a Grahamite.
It happens, however, that the charge of being a proselyte
to what he calls the “Graham imposture” will not “lie ’’
against us. Our little pamphlet entitled—“Rational View of
the Spasmodic Cholera,” containing many of the principles
which Dr. B. calls Grahamism, was published in Boston by
Clapp and Hull, some months before Mr. Graham had written
anything—so far as we know—on the subject. His Lecture
on Cholera, which is his “great work,” did not, at any rate,
appear till sometime afterward. Nor did we know, at this
time, that there was such a man in the world as Mr. G., al-
though we had then abstained from flesh meat and alcoholic,
fermented and narcotic drinks, about two years.
But a word is sufficient. Whether we are or are not a
proselyte of Mr. G.'s, is of no consequence to the public.
That the principles advocated by the latter—come what may
of the man—are most true, is, we were going to say, proved
by the very opposition they awaken. Men are so given to
the gratification of their lusts, that they are ready to raise, at
once, a hue and cry against those who preach the truth, let
them be ever so pure in character, or ever so inoffensive in
manners or deportment; and the purer the character, the
worse, in general, are they treated. This, the history of man,
everywhere, abundantly shows. He who is not prepared to
166 MISCELLANY.
meet with opposition, abuse, ridicule even, has not taken the
first lesson in the school of Truth. How can he expect to
seize the lion by the beard, even in his den, without having
some growling about his ears? The contest of the son of
Jesse with the robber of his father's flock, was not a more
necessary part of his education, than are the contests of the
present day with the votaries of intemperance, to fit us to
meet the coming Goliaths. -
No wonder Dr. B. manifests a little of the irascible. Perhaps
“No man e'er felt the halter draw,
With good opinion of the law;”
and our views of quackery but too well remind him of the
lessons he has received on that subject from the Massachusetts
Medical Society. However, if to pursue our own business
in a peaceable, citizen-like manner—if to labor as faithfully
and respectfully as we can, in our own little sphere, to pro-
mote the public health and happiness—if to defend the right
to do so, on our own behalf or that of others—if to do all this
in defiance of Dr. B., or any other person, notwithstanding his
or their insinuations, or threats, or sneers—if to do this is
to call down upon us the charge of being a Grahamite, or a
proselyte of Grahamism, then be it so. The monster Interm-
perance, though not yet slain, has received his death wound;
else what mean these powerful, though spasmodic struggles?
The cause of truth will ultimately prevail, in its own time,
Dr. B. and his associates to the contrary notwithstanding.
But we have done. We regret the necessity of remarks of
this sort. No circumstances of a personal character or na-
ture would have called them forth. But when the cause of
truth itself is at stake, we have no hesitation to be known
as its defender. We invite not opposition—nay, we shrink
from it constitutionally, no less than from principle ;-yet
When it comes unsought, we are prepared to meet it.
LECTUREs on PHYSIology.—A course of ten lectures on
Physiology has been given to the “Friends' Reading Room
Association,” in Philadelphia, during the past winter, of which
the managers of the association speak in terms of high praise.
MISCELLANY., 167
The subjects of the lectures were rendered more easy of ap-
prehension by “illustrative models and diagrams of superior
workinanship.” It has sometimes been said that the religious
society to whose operations we now allude, are slow to make
improvements. We suppose they may be slow to admit all
which some call improvement, but we believe they have too
much good sense not to encourage the study of what is so
obviously important to all mankind as physiology; and here
we have presented one evidence of the fact.
THE YouNG MAN's AID.—We have examined this book
with much interest, and regard it as one of the most valuable
productions of our day. Every one of our young men should
see that he possesses a copy of it;-not merely that he may
place it in his library, by the side of Hawes' Lectures, which
it somewhat resembles, but that he may study it. Mr. Winslow
does not often attempt to go deeply into the subject of health,
but where he does, his remarks are, for the most part, truly
excellent. So far as we can at this moment recollect, there
is but one principle, in the whole work, to which we should
seriously object; which is higher praise than can often be
justly accorded to a writer on this subject. We regret that he
should recommend, for daily use, that which he says is “quite
a stimulant and a tonic.” We allude to ice-water. No “stirnu-
lant,” or “tonic,” in the sense in which these terms are corn-
monly used, is indispensable to the best health and vigor either
of the body or the mind.
THE NEGRO.—Dr. Tiedemann, Professor of Anatomy and
Physiology in the University of Heidelberg, one of the most
learned physiologists of the age, has demonstrated that “no
perceptible difference exists, either in the average weight or
the average size of the brain of the negro and the European,”
and that “the nerves are not larger relatively to the size of
the brain, in the former, than in the latter.” He denies, more-
over, that there is any innate difference in the intellectual
faculties of these two varieties of the human race; and main-
tains that the apparent inferiority of the negro is altogether
168 MISCELLANY.,
the result of the demoralizing influence of slavery, oppression
and cruelty. “Nor does the negro brain,” he says elsewhere,
“exhibit any greater resemblance to that of the orang-outang
than the brain of the European, excepting, perhaps, in the
more symmetrical disposition of its convolutions.”
We do not insert this paragraph because we had any doubt
on the subject before, but because it is from the highest and
best of authority. Dr. Tiedemann has examined and compared
an immense number of brains of persons of different sexes, of
various ages, and belonging to different varieties of the human
race, both by ascertaining their exact weight, and also by
accurate measurement of the capacity of the cavity of the
cranium.
THE GRAHAM Journal.—This is a weekly paper of eight
octavo pages, lately started in this city. The first number
contains, among many other things, the experience of several
highly respectable individuals, in what is commonly called
the “Graham system.” We are pleased, in general, with the
spirit of the paper, but were not a little surprised to find, that
by speaking lightly of the character of other periodicals, and
observing that there was a “call for such a publication as
shall make mankind acquainted with themselves and their
real condition,” the editor has seemed to take it for granted
that no such publication now exists. He certainly could not
be ignorant that the “Library of Health and Teacher on the
Human Constitution,” whose avowed object always has been
to “make mankind acquainted with themselves and their real
condition,” has been published in this city for more than two
years. Now we do not say this because we wish to be noticed
by the Journal; but because we are hardly willing to be thus
undervalued. We would still say to the friends of the work,
as we always have done since it was proposed, Go forward;
but we would also say, Render to every one his due.
Prices—$45 a hundred—$6 a dozen—621-2 cts. single.
Just out of Press, and selling rapidly,
LECTURE TO YOUNG MEN
CHASTITY.
INTENDED ALSO FOR THE SERIOUS CONSIDERATION OF
PARENTS AND GUARDIANs.
SECOND EDITION,
JMuch Enlarged by JNotes, containing interesting narratives illustrative of the
Lecture. * *
BY SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
This edition of the Lecture contains testimonials from several
distinguished men, recommending its universal circulation in the
warmest terms. Among them is Dr. Woodward of the Massa-
chusetts Lunatic Asylum, Worcester, who has had the most
ample opportunity to observe the effects of the vice upon which it
treats. It is calculated to be of immense benefit to the human
race, and should be in the hands of every individual in the coun-
try over fourteen years of age.
LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers, 1 Cornhill.
wORKS ON HEALTH AND ECONOMY.
THE MORAL REFORMER, and Teacher on the Hunan Constitu-
tion. Wols. 1 & 2. By Dr. A 1. Cott.
NATURE'S OWN BOOK. Second Editien, enlarged and improved.
This work contains numerous directions in relation to the prº ) aration; of food.
AN ESSAY ON THE INFLUENCE OF TOBACCO UPON
LIFE AND HEALTH. By R. D Muss Ey, M. D.
THREE EXPERIMENTS OF LIVING. Living within the Means
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—-º-mºtº. -à-
Vol. III.]
J U N E .
[No. 6.
THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
AND
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WM. A. ALCOTT, Epiron.
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CONTENTS.
Are the Healthy most Exposed MISC FI, LANY.
to 19isease " . . . . . . . . . . 169 “The whole Medical World,” . 197
Sketches of a Centenarian, . . 175 The Way to Begin, . . . . . . . .107
Established Principles of Health,180 || Bread and Bread-Making, . . . 198
Rosy Cheeks, . . . . . . . . . . 183 | Channing on Temperance, . . . 198
How to put down Quackery, . . 134 T}r. Mussey’s Prize Essay, 190
Physical Culture, . . . . . . . . 189 The IHousekeeper's Book, 190
Three Score and Ten, . . . . . 191 | The Sabbath, . . . . . & a s tº g s $200
Effects of Eating Potatoes, . . . 192 | The License Law, . . . . . . . . 200
Fulness of Bread, . . . . . . . . 196 | Nancy Le Baron, Kitty Grafton, 200
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ARE THE HEALTHY MOST EXPOSED TO
DISEASE 2
IT is often said of epidemic diseases, that they take
away the very healthiest persons in the community.
Even the poet Young says that “death loves a shining
mark.”
But are these things so 2 How can it be 2 Is it rea-
sonable to suppose that when we are nearest the line of
health, we are actually the nearest to siekness 2 Or is it
true that when a disease once fastens itself on a healthy
person, it usually goes harder with him than with one
who is less healthy and vigorous?
The latter, we believe, is the more common opinion.
And yet, so far as we have observed—and our opportu-
nities for observation have not been few—no opinion is
more erroneous. Diseases of every description, the
plague and small pox not excepted, are light or severe
in proportion to the general constitutional health of the
patient. The most healthy are always in the least de-
gree sufferers.
We are not surprised, when we come to reflect, at this
mistake, especially as it has been customary to regard
obesity, or fatness, as a sure sign of health, and leanness
as a certain sign of disease. A very fat babe is, with
11
170 THE HEALTHY EXPOSED TO TISEASE.
most mothers, and of course with other people, synony-
mous with a very healthy babe ; and so it is, more or less,
in regard to persons of all ages. Experience, it is true,
does partially correct the error, but not entirely. Though
we often find the lean person outlive the fat one, we
do not seem to get rid of our early association of fatness
with health.
Now we do not wish to say that extreme leanness is
not as far removed from a state of health, as extreme fat-
mess. Undoubtedly it is so. Whether it be the case of
infants or adults, the paleness and leanness of the city and
the fatness and ruddiness of the country are both unfavor-
able. Health—genuine health—lies somewhere between
them.
There is, however, a constitutional difference. Some
families are thicker, constitutionally ; others, leaner. But
thickness is easily distinguishable from ſatness. Why,
then, is not the distinction oftener made 2 Why is it,
we say again, that a very ſat babe is everywhere deemed
the “picture of health 3’ Why do we not discover our
error 2
Because children have so strong a tendency to health,
that though they become slightly diseased, it is a long
time before they run completely down. The vital func-
tions, though embarrassed, push on. But when some lo-
cal cause sets in upon a system predisposed, and more
than predisposed to its reception, then it is that the in-
cipient disease, in spite of the child's tenacity of health,
bursts forth, destroying as it goes.
Now the fact that these violent attacks of disease often
fail to make their appearance for several years, has lulled
people into security, and led them to attribute croup,
dropsy of the brain, bowel complaints and fevers, to the
cause which immediately excites them ; just as a person
wholly ignorant of the nature of fire arms might—and
THE HEALTHY EXPOSED TO DISEASE, 171
indeed naturally would—attribute the whole effect of the
discharge of a piece of cannon to the “priming,” as it is
called, and to the spark which ignites it ; whereas nothing
is more obvious, upon a moment’s reflection, than that
such a slight cause is not adequate to the effect produced;
and that if the barrel of the piece had not been previously
loaded, the application of a match to a teaspoonful or two
of powder would never have caused such a tremendous
explosion.
It is true, many people have observed that fat children
are more subject than others to croup ; but this is consid-
ered only as a confirmation of the maxim, so common,
that diseases as often attack the healthy as the feeble,
and that the former are more likely to die than the latter.
Whereas it would be more easy to show, had we room
and time, that the contrary of all this is true; that dis-
eases attack soonest the feeble—we mean, those whose
vital organs are enfeebled—and even that diseases do
not and never can attack those who are in perfect health,
at all.
We shall never forget the ravages of typhoid pneumo-
nia, in the neighborhood in which we were brought up,
in the spring of 1813. The almost universal remark
then was, that it took down first those who were the most
healthy; and though we knew the facts of the case, we
did not then see the error of the public sentiment. But
on arriving at maturity, and studying the laws of life, we
saw, at once, that not one of those persons thus suddenly
taken down and carried off was, at the time, in a state of
perfect health, or anything like it. Nearly one half of
them were corpulent—one of them excessively so; all
but one were excessively addicted to the use of cider,
and more than half of them to the use of cider brandy.
Several of them were tobacco chewers, and all of them
were tea and coffee drinkers, and enormous consumers of
172 THE HEALTHY EXPOSED TO DISEASE.
animal food. The single individual among them not
much addicted to the use of cider, besides being a glut-
ton, was a smoker, and extremely fond of hot drinks, and
fat or oily food.
When we look back on this scene of sickness and gen-
eral distress, and a few other sickly seasons, as they are
called, and see with the utmost clearness how closely and
exactly disease and death, even in these supposed epi-
demic cases, followed upon the heels of gluttony, licem-
tiousness and intemperance, we are astonished, utterly
so, that adult persons, of good common sense, do not dis-
cover the connection. But such is the delusion—so riv-
eted are the mass of mankind to the idea that diseases
are either scattered at hap-hazard by some malignant
demon, or sent down as punishments or judgments by a
benignant one—that it will probably require a lapse of
centuries to dispel the delusion, and convince them that
disease, as a general rule, to say the least, never lights
on a person, let the dispenser of disease be who he may,
till that person has first prepared the way, by abuses
either of body or mind, or both.
As to diseases being sent down upon us as judgments,
they undoubtedly are so, in one point of view. The God
of nature has established certain laws within our frames,
and though these laws may be disobeyed, for a long time,
with apparent impunity, yet there is a point beyond
which we cannot go, without suffering the penalty. Even
though sentence against an evil work is not executed
speedily, as Solomon says, it must sooner or later be exe-
cuted. There is no escape. In this sense alone, then, it
is, that disease may be regarded as a judgment or pun-
ishment.
Correct views on this subject—should they ever come
to prevail—will not only do much for mankind physi-
cally, but also. morally and religiously. Our views of
THE HEALTHY EXPOSED TO DISEASE. 173
3.
the Creator will be much and happily modified. We
shall regard him less frequently as arbitrary in his pro-
ceedings. His character will more and more appear to
resemble that of a wise and good parent ; and we shall
be less and less inclined to think of him as a monarch—
perhaps a capricious or haughty one.
Whenever right views come to prevail, the mortality
of infants will be greatly lessened. It will not always
be believed that an inscrutable Providence has doomed
one half of mankind to die in early childhood. It is our
own ignorance and error, more properly speaking, which
pronounce the doom. The Creator of the human ma-
chine made it to last—did not man interfere to spoil it—
for a century, at least. Let any one look carefully into
this subject, and he will discover no defect inherent in
the body or mind of man, independently of human error
and depravity, which subjects the infant to early disease
and death, more than the adult; no, nor even as much.
There is much room for doubt whether the predisposition
to disease in any individual, at birth, is so strong as to
prevent long life, were all the laws of our nature to be
faithfully obeyed afterward. Some would indeed be
more vigorous, and others less so ; that is, the measure
of health would be greater in one than in another; but
in mone, perhaps, would there exist anything worthy of
the name of disease. Let us be understood, however.
We do not positively affirm that such would be the fact;
we only throw out the idea as worth considering. Dis-
ease is the result of sim—the punishment or consequence
of transgression ; and were there no trangression, how
could there be any punishment 2
Were this matter rightly understood, many a mother
would cease to “dose ’’ her child, or even to feed it in
the manner she now often does. She would discover that
all excess of food or drink, as well as every error in rela-
I74 THE HEALTHY EXPOSED TO DISEASE,
tion to infantile management, sows the seeds or paves the
way to disease. She would cease to lavish her smiles on
the enormously fat child, while she looks with compara-
tive coldness, perhaps with discouragement, or even with
sorrow, on one who, though perfectly quiet, and happy,
and healthy, is a little leaner. She would cease the
practice of pressing the infantile stomach, long before
nature has given to the mouth the appropriate instruments
of mastication, with food wholly unfit for it. She would,
in one word, try to follow nature, and not whim, and
fashion, and caprice.
Another good result would follow. People would not
be so much frightened at the appearance of what are
commonly called epidemic diseases. We do not, at pres-
ent, undertake to combat the notion that there are causes
of disease existing in the atmosphere or elsewhere, on
these occasions. But these causes, we do say, would be
inoperative, had there been no previous sin in the world—
sin, we mean, against the organic laws. And they are
even now inoperative, just in proportion to our health.
We might extend our remarks much farther; but we
forbear. We will only add, that just in proportion as we
succeed in escaping the fear of disease from causes which
man cannot control, and learn to throw the blame back
to its true causes—even upon human ignorance, error
and turpitude—just in the same proportion shall we
escape one of the most active causes, as well as most
efficient agents, in the production of disease, whether
epidemic or otherwise—and of its present mortality. The
effects of fear and apprehension—may, even of expectation,
in rendering diseases frequent or fatal, or both, have never
been overrated. Perhaps one half of human wo might
be traced to this very source. Perhaps the fear of dis-
ease and death, has destroyed more of health and life
than any other single cause yet known.
SKETCHES OF A CENTENARIAN. 175
SKETCHES OF A CENTENARIAN .
MR. JoHN BRONson, of Wolcott, New Haven County,
Connecticut, will be 102 years old next month. We have
known him personally from our earliest youth ; but as he
had passed his grand climacteric before our acquaintance
commenced, we were not able to state the facts relative to
his character and habits with accuracy, and therefore soli-
cited one of his sons—himself now nearly eighty—to give
us particulars. The request was kindly complied with
some months ago, and answers given to the questions we
proposed, in the following order. They were not at first
intended, by the writer, for publication, at least, in the
present form.
The general bearing of these facts is highly in favor of
temperance; and if some mental and physical habits seem
adverse to the doctrines which we teach in this work,
it must be observed that the balance of his habits is in our
favor; and this is all we can say of the most temperate.
Every man is guilty of transgression enough against the
organic laws to destroy him sooner or later ; and he who
reaches an advanced age, only does so on account of his
fewer transgressions, and his having a better constitution
than those around him. No man is perfect, physically.
No one, in this respect, any more than in morals, is righte-
ous ; no, not one. Besides, truth is our object, and not
the support of a theory, whether right or wrong.
The reader will make due allowance for the brevity of
the replies to our questions. The writer's object was
simply to give the facts.
What has been Mr. Bronson's hour of rising 2
“Uniformly between the break of day and sunrise—
earlier on particular occasions.”
Did he perspire freely 2
176 SKETCHES OF A centenAR1AN.
“I never knew him suffer by suppression, neither was
his perspiration ever profuse. It was a rare circumstance
for his shirt to appear moistened, when mowing on a hot
day.”
What have been his drinks 2
“Very little spirit—generally none in haying and harvest;
—some cider, but sparingly;-coffee mone; but as a substi-
tute with his breakfast, a crust of bread burnt and infused;
—no fermented liquor except cider and common (or what
used to be common in the country) small beer. Since the
revolutionary war, he has generally drank tea in the morn-
ing:—never drank very freely of anything.
“Perhaps I ought to make one exception to the truth of
this remark. He was remarkable for going without drink
when he could not conveniently have access to it. Some-
times in these circumstances, when he had been laboring
very hard, in hot weather, if he came where he could
get beer or water, he would drink it very freely indeed ;
and then I remember the perspiration would break forth
in great drops on his hands, &c. His drinks were cold,
except in the morning—his food generally warm when at
home; occasionally “pot luck ’’ for supper.”
What has been his clothing 2
“Warm—flannel shirts always in winter—fulled cloth
coat, vest, and pantaloons, and sometimes a surtout. He
has been remarkable for enduring heat, but has usually
dreaded the cold.”
What can you say of his habits in regard to sleep 3
“Perhaps he could be deprived of sleep with as little
real inconvenience as others; yet he was peculiar in en-
joying the happiness—if it was one—of sleeping in his
chair almost as soon as he was seated ; and if nothing de-
manded his immediate attention, would at once fall asleep.
All the long winter evenings, stormy days, &c., he would
sit and sleep. My mother used to say he laid up sleep in
SKETCHES OF A CENTENARIAN. 177
that way, against time of need; for in the summer, when
the days were long and the nights short, he would work
all day, frequently until dark, and be at it again as soon
as the sun rose. I believe he never was troubled much
with dreams, for the other day he observed to me that he
did not sleep as quietly as formerly—that he dreamed al-
most every might.”
Has he been irritable in his temper ?
“He was what we call quick-tempered, and somewhat
violent, but soon over it. I do not know that he was more
fretful than men in general. He was more sovereign and
morose with his children than common, yet he would have
his seasons of mirth and hilarity with them and with oth-
ers. He was very fond of young children, particularly
if their mothers kept them meat. Though generally
gräve, I believe he was not melancholy. As far as I know,
when he became a man, he “put away childish things.”
Became pious about twenty-one years of age.”
Has he been subject to colds 2
“He sometimes had colds, but I believe more seldom
than most people.”
Has he been sick much 3
“When about thirteen years of age, he had the dysen-
tery, which he says is the only sickness he ever had.”
Has he made much use of medicine !
“I had almost said none at all, sick or well; though
sometimes slightly indisposed.”
Has he ever used tobacco, opium, or snuff?
“Nothing to do with either, but to detest them.”
Has he made much use of condiments 2
“He sometimes used a little pepper and mustard, and
possibly spice, though seldom—horse-radish never, that I
know of. He was particularly averse to vinegar, pickles,
and indeed all acids. Salted provision, boiled, was his
general diet. When he ate fresh meat, he chose to have
I78 SKETCHES OF A CENTENARIAN.
it well seasoned, as he termed it. He was very fond of
turnips, but not at all fond of potatoes, and always chose
to have his food well done.” s
Did he use gravies 2
“Not at all. He ate rather moderately, unless hurried
about something—not, I believe, hardly as much as labor-
ing men in general ; though he was remarkable for endur-
ing fatigue and abstinence for a long time, when circum-
stances seemed to require it; and afterwards ate quite free-
ly: and if he went immediately to bed, he seemed to suffer
no inconvenience from it.”
What can you say of his food 2
“Simple—no complications—no modern refinements—
but the good old pilgrim manner of living, which pre-
vailed one hundred years ago. Boiled Indian pudding
was his favorite.” -
Was he accustomed to bathing 2
“He seldom or never practised it (perhaps for want of
conveniences) except face and hands; though until he be-
came very old and almost blind, he was esteemed a neat
man. Slovenliness, especially in females, he never could
endure as long as his faculties permitted him to discern
it.”
What do you know of the longevity of his ancestors?
“His mother and six maternal uncles, whom I knew, all
lived to be old people—some of them nearly one hundred
—and I do not know that any of them were ever sick, ex-
cept of the illness of which they died, which with many of
them was old age Further back on his mother's side, I am
uninformed, only I understand that his grandfather lived to
be an old man. There were other maternal uncles and
aunts, but of their history I am ignorant, though I have
often heard of their posterity. His father died in middle
life, of dysentery; and of his ancestors on that side, I
have never had much information. Some of them lived
SKETCHES OF A CENTENARIAN. 179
to old age ; but his brothers and sisters have none of them
lived to uncommon age.” +
The following are the closing remarks of our informant.
“Thus I have endeavored to answer your inquiries as
far as was in my power; but many things which I might
once have learned, are now buried in oblivion. That my
father had a good constitution, is self-evident; but per-
haps temperance and hard labor have helped to prolong
his life ; though the excessive hardships and privations he
endured during three campaigns in the French war, at
Crown Point and elsewhere, in what was then a howling
wilderness, were sufficient to have broken down a com-
mon constitution. But his was, by no means, a com-
Iſl OI! OI) e.
“One or two more circumstances I will mention for their
singularity. He is this day (his letter was dated the 16th
of Jan. last) half-way in his 102d year, and yet he says he
mever knew what the headache was. Another thing. His
lungs appear to have been uncommonly strong. When
greatly pleased, he would laugh so immoderately loud,
that a man of the most undoubted veracity affirmed he
had heard him very distinctly at his house, which was a
mile distant. In his common conversation, his voice was
not remarkable ; but his powers of vociferation, when put
in requisition, were of a stentorian order. When com-
pared with men in general, it was like contrasting a forty-
eight pounder with a howitzer. I never knew but one
man who could speak to a team with such loudness, force,
and clearness as he, and with a voice so free from any
clog, or the most remote tendency to any break or shrill-
ness, whether of greater or less prolongation.”
* It should be observed here, that all the children of Mr. Bronson, six in
number, are still living, and as far as we can learn, in tolerable health; and
all except one over seventy years of age. The eldest is about eighty. Of
the individual who furnished the foregoing facts, we have already spoken.
180 ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH.
ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF HEALTH.
THE reader will find in Vol. II. of the Moral Reformer,
at page 344, a list of thirty-seven established, and as we
believe, incontrovertible principles in regard to health, to
which we promised to add, at some future time, as we
might have opportunity. We proceed, now, to the fulfil-
ment of our promise.
DRESS.
Light colored clothes are, in most respects, better for
health than those which are dark colored.
The hats worn among us are generally much too
heavy.
The more frequently our apparel is washed, the better,
provided we do not put it on damp.
We should never sleep in clothing which we have worn
during the day.
EXERCISE.
One of the best forms of exercise for adults, is gar-
dening and light farming. Boys and girls require sports
which are more active.
Next to light out-of-door work, household labor is the
best for females.
Walking is an excellent mode of exercise.
Riding on horseback is highly useful.
All parts of the system, which are muscular, require
€XerCl Se.
CLEANLINESS AND PURE AIR.
Our whole bodies should be washed at least once a day.
The more free the air we breathe, provided it does not
fall upon us in currents, the better for health.
The fewer persons occupying, long, the same bed—
or even the same room, unless it be large—the better.
ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLES OF HEACTH, 181
The mouth should be rinsed well after eating, and after
taking medicine.
The furniture and vessels we use at our tables, should
always be made clean and sweet when we have finished
our meal.
SLEEP AND REST.
We should sleep most on the right side, but should be
able to sleep on both.
We should never cover our heads with the clothing.
The thinner the night cap the better.
Six hours of sound sleep are enough for active adults,
but it may be necessary to lie in bed something longer, in
order to get six full hours of repose. Children require
I(\OI’é. - .
Lazy people appear to require more sleep than those
whose minds and bodies are very active.
We should, if practicable, be asleep by nine o'clock;
and at the latest, by ten.
Sleeping after dinner is not generally advisable.
FOOD.
Life and a measure of health—provided all other hab-
its are good—may be sustained to a tolerable old age, on
almost any kind of food. s
Vegetables and fruits are the natural, and therefore the
best food of man.
They are best for us when they are eaten as nearly in
their natural state as possible.
Solid food is usually easier of digestion than liquid.
Food is healthier freed from all condiments but salt.
If you will eat animal food, wild animals are better than
tame, and those which are in their natural state, better
than those which are fattened.
Fat meats contain more nutriment, but are less whole-
some than lean. •.
182 ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLEs of HEALTH.
Bread made of unbolted wheat meal is the best kind of
cooked food. It is rather better unfermented than raised.
Variety of food, at different meals, is probably better
than confinement to any one sort, even the best.
Nothing should be eaten between meals. -
Sugar, honey, and molasses in any considerable quan-
tity, are forms of saccharine matter too concentrated for
health.
A part of every meal we eat should be innutritious mat-
ter,
DRINK.
The best drink between meals is pure water.
If we use drinks with meals, a small quantity of milk
or molasses or sugar, may be mixed with them, with more
safety than at other times.
IMISCELLANEOUS.
Many people live at the expense of life.
Too little food, drink, sleep, clothing, and exercise, are
injurious, as well as too much.
Most persons who call themselves healthy, are laboring
under incipient diseases produced by wrong habits.
Most persons would be benefited by going without Sup-
per once or twice a week.
Fruits, when eaten, should make a part of a meal.
Cheerfulness is of more importance to health than al-
most anything else.
Hope has been justly called the balm of life.
The housekeeper's ignorance of chemistry and physi-
ology, is the means of destroying many lives, and render-
ing a still larger number more or less useless.
ROSY CHEEKS. 183
ROSY CHEEKS.
It is often said of such or such a person, “What rosy
cheeks she has ” or “She is the very picture of health !”
Now the truth is that these rosy cheeks do not indicate
the best of health. People labor under a mistake about
it. They may not, indeed, indicate more of disease than
the other extreme, that of pale faces.
Sometimes these rosy faces accompany children, who
are troubled with worms or other intestinal diseases. At
other times they seem to indicate some deeply seated dis-
ease, as consumption, scrofula, &c. In every case they
are undesirable, to say the least.
Miss was an assistant teacher in one of our New
England schools. Dr. was giving a course of lectures
in the school on health and disease. One day he observed
that red cheeks, instead of being the certain sign of health,
were on the contrary the almost certain marks of incipient
disease. Every eye was now almost unconsciously turned
towards Miss , whose cheeks were uncommonly glow-
ing. At this time, however, she was regarded as heal-
thy; and no doubt many a pupil thought within herself,
“Here, at least, is an exception to the doctor's rule.”
But the sequel shows that it was otherwise. About a
week afterward, Miss took a cold, and the long accu-
mulating causes of disease were soon excited to action. A
course of ſever followed, which gradually became more
and more severe, and appeared to baffle all medical skill;
and in a short time, Miss was laid in the grave.
There is good reason for believing that a cold would
never operate thus—to throw the individual into fever,
consumption, &c.—if there was no previous tendency in
the system to disease; and there is as quite as little doubt
that cheeks remarkably red, always indicate such a ten-
dency.
184 . How To PUT Down QuAcKERY.
How To PUT Down QuACKERY.
[From the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal.]
ANOTHER step towards elevating the medical profession
to the rank in society which it ought to occupy, must be to
enlighten the public mind with respect to the subjects with
which medical science is conversant. Every medical man
must have observed the lamentable ignorance of the whole
community on these important subjects—ignorance not
confined to the illiterate and vulgar, but extending to near-
ly all.
How few, even of the most enlightened and educated,
have anything like correct ideas as to the structure of their
own bodies, the various diseases to which they are subject,
and the means of correcting those deviations from a heal-
thy state which constitute those diseases . The crude and
miserable notions entertained on these points by nearly all
men not of the profession, must have excited, in the mind
of every physician, emotions of grief, disgust and ridicule.
Still so extensive, I might almost say, so universal, are
these erroneous views, that those who see their absurdity,
seldom give themselves the trouble to correct them in oth-
ers; and that, for the very sufficient reason that the at-
tempt would be unavailing.
In the present state of things, it is utterly impossible to
make those comprehend the grounds of medical treat-
ment who have not the most remote idea of the elements
of medical science. The only effect of attempting to ex-
plain them must be to give an imperfect or erroneous idea,
and thus to confuse the patient and embarrass the course
of treatment. The consequence is, that the great portion
of mankind have no criterion to direct them in the choice
of a physician, save his standing with his brethren, or,
what is oftener the fact, the voice of rumor or popular ap-
plause.
HOW TO PUT DOWN QUACKERY. 185
How often must it have fallen to the lot of all, to see
talented, judicious and scientific practitioners unceremoni-
ously dismissed from families, whose members they have
attended for years with fidelity and success, and to see their
places supplied by rash, conceited or ignorant men, if not by
actual and arrant quacks How often are the most appro-
priate prescriptions rejected by those who are as capable
of judging as to their propriety, as they are of naming the
constellations in their order; and how often is the place of
these prescriptions supplied by multifarious decoctions of
various useless and inefficient herbs, whose only effect is
to disturb the stomach of the sufferer, and interfere with
the salutary operations of nature How insuperable are
the prejudices of the friends of the sick, and on what mis-
taken and ridiculous notions are these prejudices generally
founded ! We find the sick attributing their diseases to
causes which are either wholly imaginary, or utterly and
evidently inadequate to the production of the effects sup-
posed to arise from them.
From this general ignorance on medical subjects, arise
all the varied forms of quackery. It is useless to tell me
of the gullibility of man; I know of no such faculty of
the human mind ; but I do know, that ignorance is the
parent of credulity, and that nothing is easier than to im-
pose on those who are unable to detect the cheat. True,
sooner or later, dear-bought experience assures the credu-
lous that they have not only been swindled out of their
money, but also physicked out of their health ; true it is,
that a few doses only of the inestimable hygeian pills are
sufficient to convince the patient that gamboge and aloes
were not intended to be used as aliments. But how much
better to have known this simple fact before the quack had
filled his pockets, or the patient inflamed his bowels
But the fruits of this general ignorance on medical sub-
jects, are not confined to the manufacture and sale of indi-
12
IS6 How To PUT Down QUACKERY.
vidual nostrums or panaceas: they are displayed in the
rearing of monsensical systems. Does any man believe
that a system so ridiculous as that of Thomson, could
have subsisted for a moment in a community, the mem-
bers of which were acquainted with the structure of their
own bodies 3 or that this erudite hostler could have suc-
ceeded in making any one believe, at this age of the world,
that the human body is composed of the four elements,
earth, air, fire and water ; and not only so, but, upon an
assumption so false and so absurd, build up a theory of
disease ? Yet this very “system " has traversed the
whole Union, from Maine to Georgia : hardly a village
can be found in some of the States, where a Thomsonian
doctor has not located himself temporarily : and even
where they cannot be found, we are brought in daily con-
tact with the parboiled bodies of some of their votaries.
All these and similar ruinous deceptions would flee be-
fore the general extension of medical knowledge. And
who can say that quacks and quackery do not exercise up-
on medicine a most injurious influence 2 Except in point
of general respectability, the community, or at least a por-
tion of it, regard the scientific practitioner and the illite-
rate quack, as upon nearly the same level; having in view
the same object, and only differing somewhat as to the
means by which that object is to be accomplished. They
regard their mutual hostility as perfectly matural; and they
look upon the efforts of the scientific practitioner to put
down the Thomsonian, as arising from precisely the same
motives which might prompt an envious tradesman, or la-
borer, to undervalue the labor or commodities of some
more successful rival. To place medicine upon its proper
basis, and to raise its practitioners to their proper standing,
the non-professional world must be made acquainted with
the elements of anatomy and physiology.
How TO PUT DOWN QUACKERY. 187
But here let me guard against misrepresentation. Med-
ical practice must always be, to a certain extent, conjectu-
ral; the science itself will probably never be ranked among
the exact branches of learning. So infinitely varied are
the symptoms of the same disease in different persons, and
so opposite are sometimes the remedial means required,
that it is vain and idle to suppose that, at any future peri-
od, every man will be his own physician. The necessity
for the medical man will always exist, and his office and
his art can never be superseded. Constant study, both of
books and nature, is essential to his character ; and the
value of his advice must always be nearly in proportion to
the extent of his experience. I would by no means have
all men treat their own diseases; such an attempt would
be impracticable and absurd.* But it must be evident
that correct knowledge of the general structure of the hu-
man body, would free the world from quackery and impos-
ture, and render the task of the physician very much more
easy.
Allowing this truth, then, and admitting also that a cer-
tain amount of medical knowledge among the non-profes-
sional part of the community is essential to the dignity of
the profession itself, the question immediately arises, how
is this knowledge to be communicated ? In answer, I re-
mark, that medical men themselves must be the principal
agents. If the blind lead the blind, we all know the ne-
cessary consequence. True it doubtless is, that some few
men, not the uselves physicians, have attended to medical
science; and true it no doubt is also, that some physicians
know nothing of it. But these are exceptions to the rule.
* No one who has reflected much on the subject can entertain a different
opinion. We would have all men know how to prevent diseases. If this
can be accomplished—if disease can be prevented—we may then, perhaps,
but not till then, dispense with physicians.—ED.
HSS HOW TO PUT Down QUACKERY.
-
The requisite amount of medical knowledge, then, may
be readily disseminated, first, by the press. Nearly all
the anatomical works which have been issued until within
a few years, have been designed exclusively for the pro-
fession ; and from the necessity of learning a new lan-
guage before they could be comprehended, those out of the
profession, who have attempted to master them, have found
the effort vain, and the study itself tedious and disgusting.
It ought to be a matter of congratulation to those who
wish well to Inedicine, that within the few last years, some
very well-written books on anatomy have been struck off,
designed exclusively for general readers; and it may be
sufficient to prove that the community itself would second
the efforts of those who attempt to disseminate knowledge
of this nature among them, to state that these works have
met with a ready and somewhat extensive sale.
In fact, as has been before remarked, the study must
commend itself to all. It need not, it ought not to be ac-
companied with demonstrations upon the dead body ; all
the knowledge necessary for general students, may be ea-
sily obtained without passing through the disgusting scenes
of the dissecting room ; plates and explanations would be
amply sufficient. The possibility of rendering the whole
subject of anatomy simple and easy of understanding, is
amply proved by the fact that in some of our academies
and high schools, the attempt has been made, and has been
successful.
Let the works of competent and clear-headed men, who
are able to write with clearness and simplicity, without the
technicalities of art, and without tedious and unnecessary
minutemess, be more extensively circulated and read by
general scholars, and a great part of the work would be
accomplished.
But, again, anatomy and physiology should form a part
of college education. The ignorance on these subjects, as
PHYSICAL CULTURE. 189
I have already remarked, is nearly as great among the in-
telligent and educated, as among the illiterate and vulgar.
Until within a very short time, they formed no part of a
university education; and while four years were employed
in the unceasing study of other sciences, valuable, indeed,
and important, but of no immediate application, these ex-
ceedingly interesting branches have been entirely neglect-
ed, or attended to only for the purpose of illustrating other
studies; as, for instance, natural theology.
In some of our first collegiate institutions, at the present
time, however, lectures on these subjects are regularly de-
livered, to the general acceptance of the students. At
Harvard, regular lectures on anatomy and the means of
preserving health, are delivered by the professors in that
college. At Yale, the impressive and elegant lectures of
Dr. Knight will not soon be forgotten by those who have
heard them. In Brown, also, and Dartmouth, these sub-
jects are ably treated; and perhaps in some other colleges
with which I am not acquainted.
Let lectures on anatomy and physiology be delivered in
all our collegiate institutions, by competent professors, and
much will be done towards elevating the medical profes-
sion to a more determinate and higher rank. An influ-
ence would go forth from them, and from their students
and their graduates, potent to put down quackery and dif-
fuse correct medical knowledge.
PHYSICAL CULTURE.
A school has recently been established in Buffalo, N.Y.,
in which great attention is said to be paid to physical
development. We presume the teachers will not be sat-
isfied, as many teachers are, if their pupils do not actu-
190 - PHYSICAL CULTURE.
ally get sick at school. They wish them to improve in
health of body, as well as in mind and morals. The fol-
lowing is an exposition of their plan of physical culture,
to which we ought to add, that a course of lectures on
physiology is also contemplated. We copy from the first
semi-annual catalogue.
CLEANLINEss will be insisted on, and secured by the use
of the bath ; and in this the object can be the more easily
attained, inasmuch as the pupils, having ample grass-
ground to play upon, will be unmolested by the dust of
the streets.
FooD.—A delicate but important subject to broach.
Our patrons will excuse us for asking them to confer
discretionary power in this as in other matters. The pupil
must be abundantly supplied with regular, nourishing,
digestible food; but all parental kindnesses in the shape
of fruit, fruit-cake, confectionary, &c., should be left with
us for management. An excess of bodily leaves the less
room for mental aliment. In the season of green fruits,
especial care will be had of the pupil.
ExERCISE.-The grounds attached to and occupied by
the school, afford room for all sorts of athletic sports, with
opportunity for the cultivation of shrubbery or flowers, just
as the pupils are disposed. The violent are restrained,
and the languid encouraged in their exercises.
SLEEP,-Particular care is had of the dormitories, that
they may be kept free from anything which may affect
the lungs. They are aired and arranged daily, as in a
well regulated family. Currents of air, unwholesome
air, and sudden changes, will be avoided, as far as possi-
ble. The pupils all retire and rise at regular hours.
DREss.—Here we can only recommend that clothing
be plain, durable, sufficient, and made in such manner as
THREE score AND TEN. I91
to fit the person. An uncouth, uncomfortable garment
causes more discomfort and distraction of mind than
teachers, scholars and parents are aware. The dressing
a child richly, or scantily, or oddly, should be avoided.
Dress should be such as to attract no especial attention,
unless it be for its order, cleanliness or propriety. The
feet should be well protected.
TEMPERATURE.—The oppressive heat, and consequent
bad air, of unventilated stove rooms, and the uncomforta-
ble, unhealthy opposite extreme of cold, will be equally
avoided. This is but one of the many plain points in
physiology which have been hitherto culpably neglected.
The more educators are enlightened, the less the educated
will suffer.
THREE SCORE AND TEN.
THE days of our years are three score and ten, says the
Psalmist; but who will believe that this is anything
more than the mere expression of a fact 2 Did the Psalm-
ist mean to say, or even to intimate, that the Creator had
fixed this as the general limit of man's earthly pilgrimage 2
We know indeed that, in versifying the passage, Dr. Watts
has said—“The age of man at seventy 's set ;” but this in-
terpretation is the doctor’s, and not David’s. We know,
too, that comparatively few exceed this age ; but we be-
lieve there is nothing in Holy Writ to preclude the hope
that a better state of things will one day exist. Nay, we
even believe encouragement is most distinctly held out,
that in the latter days of the church, human life will be
materially extended.
We were led to this course of remark, by finding in the
writings of Dr. Gregory, of Edinburgh, the following sen-
192 EFFECTS OF EATING POTATOES.
timents. They are extracted from a work entitled, “A
comparative view of the state and faculties of man with
those of the animal world; ” published in Edinburgh in
1765.
“If we would inquire into the cause of our weak and
sickly habits, we must go back to the state of infancy.
The foundation of the evil is laid there. Habit soon suc-
ceeds the place of nature, and however unworthy a suc-
cessor, requires almost equal regard. As years come on,
additional causes of these evils are continually taking
place, and the disorders of the body and mind mutually
inflame each other; * * * * and leave us in a more help-
less and wretched situation than that of any animal what-
eVer.
“Yet there is reason to believe that this melancholy
exit is not our natural one, but that it is owing to causes
foreign and adventitious to our nature. There is the high-
est probability that if we led natural lives, we should re-
tain, to the last, the full exercise of all our senses; at least,
the full possession of those superior faculties which we
hope will survive with us in a future and more perfect
state of existence. There is no reason to doubt but it is
in the power of art to protract life even beyond the period
which Nature has assigned to it.”
EFFECTS OF EATING POTATOES.
WHAT do men mean—men, for example, of as much
general intelligence as Dr. Brigham, of Hartford—when
they represent potatoes to be an unhealthy article of food 3
We have already shown, in a former article, that their
statements are untrue, as respects Ireland. Let us now
EFFECTS OF EATING POTATOES. 193
attend to the testimony of facts respecting another people
—the New Zealanders.
In the Encyclopædia Americana, we are told that “the
food * of the New Zealanders “consists of the root of the
fern, which grows to a large size, and in the greatest
abundance, in every part of the island ; and of potatoes.”
It is true that “many of the chiefs possess also herds of
swine,” but they “seldom or never use the flesh of the
latter, as an article of food, when they can dispose of it in
trading with the Europeans.” Observe, however, that
even if they did, it is none but the chiefs that are here
spoken of ; and only a part of those. There is no reason
to think that the mass of the common people ever have
swine at all.
It is also true that they sometimes eat the flesh of those
whom they slay in war ; and even of their slaves, when
hard pressed by hunger. But these occasions come but
seldom, and cannot have much influence on the general
character of the people.
Now what is that general character 2 He who believes
all the frightful, foolish stories told by men who ought to
know better, about the effects of vegetable food, especially
of potatoes—and fern roots are not probably any better
than potatoes—he who believes that all the Irish who
have lived almost exclusively on potatoes, are already be-
ginning to go on all-fours, from sheer inability to stand or
walk upright; he, I say, who believes all the falsehoods
which are industriously propagated by the ignorant and
the gluttonous on this subject, will naturally expect to
hear that the New Zealanders, who have from time imme-
morial lived on potatoes and fern roots, are puny, sickly
and miserable.
But is it so 2 Let us hear the testimony of travellers,
as we find it in the work above mentioned, as well as else-
where.
194 EFFECTS OF EATING POTATOES.
“They are generally tall, strong, active, and well-shap-
ed.” Yes, reader; astonished as you may be—and as-
tonished as Dr. Brigham & Co. may be to hear it, they
walk on two legs yet; and not merely walk, but walk up-
right. Yes, and more than all this, they are tall, strong,
active and well-proportioned. That is to say, they are
distinguished for their physical perfection, notwithstand-
ing their potatoes and fern roots.
Their mental character, however, how is that ? Are
they not as stupid and ignorant as other savages 2 you will
ask. And suppose they were. If they were no worse
than other savages, in this respect—if they have as much
energy as other men in similar circumstances—then no
argument can be drawn from their history against the use
of potatoes. Let us hear testimony on this point, also.
“The New Zealander does not, like some savages, de-
spise the habits of civilized life ; nor is he, like others, in-
capable of appreciating its advantages.”
“The New Zealanders are, perhaps, superior in vigor
of mind and in forecast, to all other savages who have
made so little advance in the arts of civilized life. They
are remarkable for their energy and self-denial in the pur-
suit of distant advantages ; and their discernment in ap-
preciating the benefits of civilization, is equally striking.
They are also acquainted with the practice of agriculture,
and the art of weaving ; and have some musical wind
instruments.”
We have made these extracts just as we find them, in the
book from which they are quoted ; but we must be allow-
ed to point the reader to the statement, in the last, that
they are “remarkable for their energy and self-denial in
the pursuit of distant advantages.” Does this look like
inferiority ? If so, and if their food is the cause of it, not
a few, in countries usually said to be in advance of them,
would do well to go to eating potatoes and fern roots.
EFFECTS OF EATING POTATOES. 195
But let us look at one more fact. Let us compare the
New Zealander with the New Hollander. The latter is
only a thousand miles farther west; and cannot, there-
fore, in a savage state, be under influences materially dif-
ferent; certainly in regard to climate. Let us see how
he lives, and what his character is.
We learn from Myers' Geography, that the New Hol-
landers, “who live on the sea coast, depend entirely on
fish for their subsistence, while the few who dwell in the
woods, subsist on such animals as they can catch.” Of
those who live on the sea coast, it is also said, that “when
a dead whale is cast on shore, they live sumptuously,
flocking to it in great numbers, and seldom leaving it till
the bones are well picked.”
But do they use no vegetable food at all ? Yes, those
who live on the coast do ; but it is in small quantity. Mr.
Turnbull says that “their substitute for bread" is a spe-
cies of root resembling the fern, roasted and then pounded
between two stones, and mixed with their fish.
And now for their character, physical, intellectual and
moral. Surely the condition of these flesh-eaters cannot
be behind that of their starving, potatoe-eating neighbors
“Very few men or women among them could be said
to be tall, and still fewer well made. In their persons
they are meagre to a proverb. In a word, they compose
altogether the most loathsome and disgusting tribe on the
surface of the globe. They appear incapable of any im-
provement, or even change.”
In view of such large and important facts as these, how
diminutive appear the reasonings—if they deserve the
name of reasonings—of those who, under the influence of
an idea which they have imbibed, they know not how—
perhaps from mere tradition—that flesh meat is indispen-
sable to human health and vigor ; that even bread, how-
ever excellent, will not long sustain us; and that potatoes
196 FULNESS OF BREAD.
are not only innutritious, but unwholesome; and that
those who use them as a principal part of their diet, soon
become feeble and sickly Would not such individuals
do well not only to make an excursion, for once, beyond
the “smoke of their own chimney,” but to go and spend
a few days at New Zealand 2
FULNESS OF BREAD.
THIs was one of the four remote causes of the over-
throw of Sodom. Ezekiel the prophet (xvi. 49) distinctly
says that her iniquity consisted in pride, fulness of bread,
idleness, and a neglect of the poor and the needy.
Now either of these sins is enough to sink a nation.
To us, it appears, however, that prosperity, or “fulness of
bread” is more dangerous than all the rest. The wisest
nations and the wisest of individuals have sunk under it.
What, then, have we to hope from the future ? Needs it a
prophet to tell us that, human nature continuing as it now
is, the same effects will continue to follow the same causes :
Never was there such abundance—such fulness of
bread—as in these United States. Our very paupers—
were they not dependent—are rich. Poverty, such as is
known in other countries, as yet, has no place among us.
Our citizens, to a man, are, to say the least, comfortably
clothed and fed. Our tables are loaded, and our cups
filled. The land is filled with bread.
But in the midst of this abundance, a cry not unlike
that of Sodom is ascending to Heaven. We have become,
to a most alarming extent, the slaves of appetite. What
security have we then, that a doom not unlike that of the
cities of the plain may not await us 2 Will retributive
justice always sleep 2
M IS C E L L A NY.
“THE whole MEDICAL World" are turning their atten-
tion to the “science of preserving health,” especially by cor-
rect physical education. Discase will be forestalled. A
sound mind, in a sound body, will be the common inheritance
of man, when he shall have learned that “health depends upon
established laws,” and that disease is, for the most part, “ of his
own creating.” So says Dr. Yandell, a medical professor in
Transylvania University, and late editor of the Transylvania
Journal of Medicine. This Journal may be regarded as one
of the oracles of the west; and Dr. Yandell as high authority.
A writer in the Boston Medical Journal also insists that the
only means of putting an effectual stop to quackery in this
country, is by training the whole community, in the schools
and elsewhere, to a knowledge of the laws of life;—in other
words, to a knowledge of Anatomy and Physiology.
These are favorable signs of the times. We rejoice that
such efforts are making. It is just as certain that the work of
reform in which we are engaged, cannot go on prosperously,
without the co-operation of medical men, as it is that they alone
never would have originated it. When and where—we have put
the question before—has a profession or occupation of men
reformed itself? But let some Luther or Calvin rise up, and
ere long the doctors—whether of law, theology, or medicine—
will join in the work.
THE WAY to BEGIN.—The grand secret of individual
reformation, consists in beginning immediately. If you know
of a single thing which, in reference to health, you ought to
do or refrain from doing, attend to it at once. If you believe
that water is the best drink for you, and that consequently all
other drinks are worse, then lay aside all other drinks and use
water. Or if you believe early rising to be healthy, then from
henceforth make yourself an early riser. Do it, too, with
198 - MISCELLANY.,
strong faith or confidence. Do it not timidly, or tremblingly.
We know many a person who suffers prodigiously from half-
way measures and half-way efforts. Let what you do be
done wholly and entirely.
BREAD AND BREAD MAKING-It is high time that the pub-
lic mind were set right on the subject of what is called bran
bread; and if it were the object of this little treatise to do no
more than this, it would perform an excellent service. But
Mr. Graham's object appears to be a much higher one. He
believes that bread is indeed the “staff of life;” and that as
such, the history of the article, the laws by which it sustains
us, the material of which it is made, the nature of fermenta-
tion, the general preparation and the healthy properties of
bread, ought to be better understood. He regards bread-
making, moreovºr, as a matter of too much consequence to be
committed to ignorant, careless or uninterested servants, or to
public bakers; but that its preparation is peculiarly the busi-
ness of the mothers and daughters of the family in which it is
to be used.
We do not know that there is a single sentiment, in this
little manual, to which we should not fully subscribe. It is
certainly the best thing on the subject of dietetics which has
ever issued from the American press. Could it be read with-
out prejudice by every family, it would do more towards
effecting that dietetic reform in our community which the
cause of social, intellectual and moral improvement so much
demands, than any mere tract which has ever yet been written.
CHANNING ON TEMPERANCE.-This address, beautifully
printed, in a volume of seventy-three pages, and extended by
notes and an appendix to one hundred and nineteen, is one of
the best things of the kind we have seen. The leading prin-
ciple is, that the great evil of intermperance is inward, or spir-
itual—a principle so plain and undeniable that no one will
doubt, for a moment, its justness. We need not say more—
especially as we have marked several passages of the work
for insertion in this journal.
MISCELLANY., 199
DR. Mussey’s PRIZE Essay.—Our readers are probably
acquainted with Dr. Mussey's Prize Essay on ardent spirits
and its substitutes, as a means of invigorating health.
Its reputation is so well established, that we have little hope
of adding to it by any remarks of our own; but having learned
that a new edition has just been published, in a very cheap
form, we could not help commending it, once more, to the
friends of temperance, especially for gratuitous distribution.
We had also another object in view. Dr. M. has not only
given his own testimony in favor of water as the best drink
of mankind, but has adduced the testimony of a long list of
distinguished physicians of modern times, to the same point.
The following are some of his remarks, in closing the argu-
In eInt :
“Not only at the present day, but in times gone by, and
even far back, up to the remote periods of regular medicine,
eminent physicians have commended water as the best, or as
the only proper and healthful beverage for man. Among
thern may be mentioned Parr, Cheyne, Arbuthnot, Sydenham,
Haller, Stahl, Van Swieten, Boerhaave, Hoffman, and even
Celsus, Galen, and Hippocrates.”
Now all we have to say in regard to this testimony in this
place, is, that if the fact is established that water is the best
and only proper and healthful drink of man, then the question
is settled in regard to wine, cider, beer, coffee, tea, & c. For
by what sort of logic shall we attempt to prove that we have
a moral right to use the worse instead of the better, when the
better can be the most easily obtained P
THE House KEEPER's Book, by a Lady.—“Get up" in a
very good dress, and containing about thirty pages, at its
eommencement, which are worth reading. The great ºr part
of the remainder of the work is just such a mass of infor-
mation—if it deserve the name of information—as wº do not
wish to see circulated, precisely for the reason that we believe
it will do no good, but much harm. We doubt whether the
intelligent female has a moral right to spend her titue on such
preparations of food as this work recommends; and we are
not a little surprised that the author should spend time in
recommending them.
200 MISCELLANY.
THE SABBATH.-A law has passed, in the legislature of
Massachusetts, entirely prohibiting the sale of intoxicating
liquors on Sunday. If this law could be enforced, and if
it could have been made to include a prohibition of the
sale of segars, we should rejoice at its enactment. We have
witnessed scenes on the Sabbath, in Massachusetts—the heart
of New England—at which all would blush, were they not
so common. We do hope, however, that the new law will
have some effect in awakening the half-way men in the ranks
of temperance, to more vigorous and efficient action.
THE LIcENSE LA w.—A petition is in circulation in Wash-
ington County, N. Y., against the practice of granting licenses
for the sale of intoxicating liquors. The petition is said to be
receiving the signatures of all classes of citizens. The peti-
tioners think it liecessary to apologize for their apparent ul-
traism, by saying that Luther, Wilberforce, and all other
reformers, were ultraists; and that even truth itself is ultra.
We do lit.: believe any apology to be necessary. The case is
a plain one. It is but the voice of the people against the
taskmaster, IntCirperatice.
NANCY LE BA RoN.—None of the excellent series of books,
of which this constitutes number thirteen, has interested us
half so much as the story of Nancy Le Baron. Tales of such
thrilling interest, especially when founded on fact, can never
be too widely circulated. We do not attempt to describe it;
any description of ours, would do it positive injustice.
KITTY GRAFTON.—This is number fourteen of the same
series. It “goes the whole,” as a Kentuckian would say,
against all distilled and fermented liquors. The writer is
especially at War, this time, with cider. He is evidently on
the right road. In a few years he will renounce his dear hot
drinks—tea and coffee. &
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LAWS OF DIET-Reasons why food in its natural state would be the best.
Concentrated nutriment. Interesting experiments on animals. Mixtures of food.
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MATERIA L OF BREAD.—Wheat. Extent of climate favorable to it. Injured
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Vol. HI.] J U 1, Y. [No. 7
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
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WM. A. ALCOTT, EDITOR.
Author of the “Young Man's Guide,” “Young Mother,” and “ House
I live in 5” and Conductor of the Annals of Education.
= ...º “-
CONTENTS.
like The Bengal Conjurors, . . . . . 201 | Dr. Channing on Dancing, . . . 227
How to Spoil Teeth, . . . . . . .905 Misc ELI, A NY.
*- Case of Reformation in Maine . 210 | Macaroni, . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Importance of Ablution, . . . . 213 | Cherry Stones, . . . . . . . . . . $220
|||s food before the Flood, . . . . . 216 || Cobwebs swept Away, . . . . . 23
Eating between Meals, . . . . . 218 Laudable Efforts, . . . . . . . . 2.31
Danger from Earthen Vessels, . 220 Boston Piggery, . . . . . . . . . 232
Do the Sick ever get Well, . . . 224 | Thomsonianism, . . . . . . . . . 232
B O S T O N :
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
THE BENGAL CONJURORs.
WE learn from a report on the state of Education in
Bengal, by Mr. Adam, that practitioners of medicine are
in great demand there, as must necessarily be the case
in all ignorant or vicious communities. In the little
subdivision of country called Nattore, containing only
three hundred and fifty square miles—a territory not
larger than eight or ten of our New England towns—he
found one hundred and twenty-three regular medical
practitioners. True, the population is greater to a square
mile than with us; so much so, that for each regular
physician, there are about fifteen hundred inhabitants;
though many of them are under the influence of other
“doctors,” as we shall see presently.
Some of the regular practitioners—perhaps the ma-
jority—are educated, as it is called, in their medical
schools; but their education is of very little value. The
only skill they think it affords them is in the art of dis-
tinguishing diseases; for when they have once made
up their minds what a disease is—that is, can give it a
name—they prescribe for it, in precisely the manaer laid
down in the books which they have studied; from which
it would be deemed unheard of presumption to depart.
Here we see how little difference there is between.
ignorance in Bengal and ignorance in the United States.
13
202 THE BEING AL CONJURORS.
The mass of the people, even here, and the majority of
our quacks, entertain the idea that if a name can only be
attached to a disease, nothing remains but to administer
a remedy. If it cures, why, very well; if not, the disease
was so severe as to baffle medical skill !—When will it
be understood that diseases are not creatures, but only
modes of irregular action ; that these modes of action
are as variable as the various individuals of our race ;
and that strictly and philosophically speaking, no two
persons were ever sick exactly alike, or required exactly
the same treatment, since the world began. Could this
simple idea obtain everywhere, it would strike a death
blow at quackery.
The medicines administered by the Nattore doctors,
are both vegetable and mineral. Some of the vegetables
consist of barks, leaves, roots or fruits ; others, of sub-
stances kept and sold by druggists, as camphor, cloves,
cardamomums, &c. They are given in various forms, ac-
cording to a certain routine.
Besides the one hundred and twenty-three physicians,
they have also in Nattore, two hundred and five village
doctors, and twenty-one small pox inoculators. The latter
consist chiefly of brahmins, but are destitute of science,
and distinguished for nothing, so far as we can learn,
except their prejudice against the kine or cow pox.
The village doctors are of both sexes, and make no
pretensions to science. They give a few simple vegeta-
ble preparations, which are either preceded or followed
by pronouncing an incantation, and by striking and blow-
ing upon the body. To these should be added—to com-
plete the list—two hundred and ninety-seven female
practitioners of obstetrics.
We come now to the conjurors—the main subject of
this article. These are best described in the language of
Mr. Adam himself.
THE BEING AL CONJURORS, 203
“Still lower than the village doctors, there is, a numer-
ous class of pretenders who go under the general name of
conjurors or charmers. The largest division of this class
are the snake-conjurors—their number in the single police
subdivision of Nattore being not less than seven hundred
and twenty-two. There are few villages without one, and
in some villages there are as many as ten.
“They profess to cure the bites of poisonous snakes, by
incantations or charms. In this district, particularly during
the rainy season, snakes are numerous, and excite much
terror among the villagers. Nearly the whole district
forming, it is believed, an old bed of the Ganges, lies very
low ; and the rapid increase of the waters during the
rainy season, drives the land snakes from their holes, and
they seek refuge in the houses of the inhabitants, who
hope to obtain relief from their bites by the incantations
of the conjurors.
“These take nothing for the performance of their rites,
or for the cures they pretend to have performed. All is
pecuniarily gratuitous to the individual; but they have
substantial advantages which enable them to be thus lib-
eral. When the inhabitants of a village hitherto without
a conjuror think that they can afford to have one, they
invite a professor of the art from a neighboring village
where there happens to be one to spare, and give him a
piece of land and various privileges and immunities.
“He possesses great influence over the inhabitants. If
a quarrel takes place, his interference will quell it sooner
than that of any one else ; and when he requires the aid
of his neighbors in cultivating his plot of ground, or in
reaping its produce, it is always more readily given to
him than to others.
“The art is not hereditary in a family, or peculiar to
any caste. One I met with was a boatman, another a
chaukidar, and a third a weaver. Whoever learns the
204 THE BENG AL CONJURORS.
charm may practise it, but it is believed that those prac-
tise it most successfully who are “to the manner born,”
that is, who have been born under a favorable conjunction
of the planets.
“Every conjuror seems to have a separate charm, for
I have found no two the same. They do not object to
repeat it merely for the gratification of curiosity, and they
allow it to be taken down in writing. Neither do they
appear to have any mutual jealousy, each readily allowing
the virtue of other incantations than his own.
“Sometimes the pretended curer of snake bites by
charms, professes also to possess the power of expelling
demons; and in other cases, the expeller of demons dis-
claims being a smake-conjuror.
“Demon-conjurors are not numerous in Nattore; and
tiger-conjurors, who profess to cure the bites of tigers,
although scarcely heard of in that thana, are more numer-
ous in those parts of the district where there is a consid-
erable space covered by jungle inhabited by wild beasts.
“Distinct from these three kinds of conjurors, and called
by a different name, is a class of gifted (guni) persons,
who are believed to possess the power of preventing the
fall of hail, which would destroy or injure the crops of the
villagers. For this purpose, when there is a prospect of
a hail-storm, one of them goes out into the fields belong-
ing to the village with a trident and a buffalo's horn.
The trident is fixed in the grour, l, and the gifted makes
a wide circuit around it, running naked, blowing the horn,
and pronouncing incantations. it is the firm belief of the
villagers that their crops are by this means protected from
hail-storms. Both men and women practise this business.
There are about a dozen in Nattore, and they are provided
for in the same way as the conjurors.”
HOW TO SPOIL TEETH. 205
HOW TO SPOIL TEETH.
SoME writer on health has said, that if it were our
supreme object to spoil our teeth at as early a period of
life as possible, we could scarcely take a more successful
course than that which is now usually, though blindly,
adopted.
If this is the case, however, why—it may be asked—
should any rules or laws be given on the subject. If
people are already spoiling their teeth as fast as they can,
what need of any further information or advice 3
Answer. The destructive course to which I have
alluded is not quite universal. There are a few—odd
fellows, shall I call them 2–who venture to be singular
in this matter; and for their sakes it is, that I venture
farther in a short article. Those who need it not, can
stop when they get to the end of this paragraph, and
read something else.
The first and most important general rule for spoiling
the teeth is, to avoid using them. In early infancy, let
the mother or nurse do the work of mastication. This
accomplishes the object in two ways. It injures the
teeth directly; and it injures them through the medium
of the stomach.
Injures the teeth not to use them : you will exclaim.
Yes; it is so. The Creator has made the teeth to be
used ; and neither the teeth, nor the gums, nor the glands
that furnish the saliva, will do as well when not used as
when used moderately. This is a general law of the
animal economy. In order to have full strength, the
muscles must be used in walking, &c.; in order to have
a good brain and nervous system, the mind must be used ;
in order to have good lungs, we must breathe, cry, talk,
206 HOW TO SPOIL TEETH.
read and sing properly; in order to have a good stomach,
we must use that too; and so of the teeth.
Now then, I say again, that if you wish to know the
first and most important great rule for spoiling the teeth,
it is to oppose the intentions of the Creator, by neglecting
to use them.
When, therefore, an infant's teeth begin to appear, and
the Creator by this indication seems to say—“Give him
now a little solid food”—you should adopt very different
language. Let his food continue to be as soft as it can
be. Chew it for him. Or if not, soak it to a complete
pulp, before you give it to him. Or give him some-
thing that will dissolve in his mouth, as sugar, candy, or
soft pap. Or—dear little fellow—give him some ice
cream, now and then. The latter, besides injuring the
teeth by not calling them into use, will do so by excessive
cold, as applied to the stomach.
As he advances and requires more and more food in
addition to his native milk, and as it requires more and
more time to masticate or even to soak it for him, you can
adopt another plan, which is to oil it. Give him buttered
bread, or bread dipped in gravy. Let it all be soft, too ;
never let him eat crusts. Soak it in milk. Make him
puddings, pies, &c. Anything, in short, that will save
the trouble of using the teeth.
As life advances still farther, let more and more pains
be taken to save trouble to the teeth. Let his food
always be boiled soft, or mashed, or soaked, or buttered.
But need I repeat 2 To do so, would be to name almost
every article of our ordinary bills of fare. I will only
add, that it will be well to adopt the commonly received
opinion, that fat meat is better for the health of young
folks than lean.
Among the rest, it must not be forgotten to wash down
nearly every mouthful of food with some liquid or other.
HOW TO SPOIL TEETH. 207
It is true that water and oil are not usually thought to
agree well out of the stomach, and may not in it. But,
by the way, you are not obliged to drink water, and
indeed it is not so good for your purpose as other drinks,
such as coffee, tea, chocolate, beer, cider and wine. Let
especial pains be taken to give him hot drinks.
If the little fellow shrugs his shoulders at the heat, or .
bitterness, or nauseousness of any of these things, do not
heed it. Let him have your example. Let him see that
to be like you, they must go down, and you will find that
he will not only at length relish them, but even prefer
them.
Another important means of destroying the teeth is to
neglect them. I know that many people tell us that they
last the longer for neglecting them—that no people have
better teeth than those who take the least pains to pre-
serve them —just as they tell us that people who most
meglect their bodies, in general, have the best health.
But do not believe this ; for it is not—and never was—
true.
I say again, therefore, if you wish to destroy your
teeth, then see that you neglect them. Never rinse or
wash your mouth after eating. Never use a brush to get
off the filth or tartar. If a tooth begins to decay, and
even becomes quite offensive, do not be in haste to have it
extracted; but let it stay in, till it injures some of the rest.
Above all, never consult a dentist. I know it is gener-
ally thought that if we consult a physician, he will do
something to make us sick, to get a fee; and you may
hence suppose that the dentist will act on the same princi-
ple. But, however it may be with the physician, and with
some young quacks who call themselves dentists, I can
assure you that all respectable and valuable dentists, if
you set them to work, will act otherwise. They will
try to preserve the teeth. They will file, fill, extract, &c.
208 HOW TO SPOIL TEETH,
Another way to spoil the teeth is, to chew, or smoke,
or snuff tobacco. Now I do not suppose that tobacco
injures the teeth by coming in contact with them ; nay, it
even has one effect to preserve them. He who chews
tobacco will usually put a piece of it in his mouth, imme-
diately after eating, and begin to chew it, which washes
his teeth, and so far does good. But then the evil which
the filthy stuff does to his gums and tongue, the membrane
of his nose, the salivary glands, his eyes, his ears, his
stomach, and his whole nervous system, is so great as to
counteract, and much more than counteract, the good
which results from rinsing the teeth well three times a
day. So that, on the whole, if you wish to leave nothing
undone which shall have a tendency to accomplish your
object, by all means use tobacco. Chew it, if you can ;
if not, smoking or snuffing will answer the purpose.
I have thrown out the idea, more than once, that the
teeth may be injured through the medium of the stomach.
I suppose I have said just enough on that point to excite
curiosity, and lead you to wish for an explanation. An
explanation—so far as I can give it without going deep
into physiology—you shall accordingly have.
The membrane or skin which lines the mouth, and
nose, and gums, and salivary glands, extends also to the
stomach, and beyond it. Whatever affects any part of
this membrane, to injure or to benefit it, affects, by what
we call sympathy, every other part of it. Why this is
so, is not so easily explained to you ; but it is a fact.
Now, then, anything which weakens and thus injures
the stomach, weakens or injures at the same time the
membrane that covers the gums; and whenever the gums
are injured in any way whatever, the teeth begin to be
affected. Thus hot drinks, which weaken the stomach,
soon make the gums soft and spongy, or at least more
- irritable or tender.
HOW TO SPOIL TEETH. 209
If this explanation is sufficient, you see what I mean
by injuring the teeth through the medium of the stomach.
In any event, if you have faith enough, you may believe
that they are thus injured, and govern your conduct
accordingly.
This will open to your view a great variety of means
for destroying the teeth. The practice, begun in early
life, of soaking, oiling, chopping and mashing food, and
of washing it down, especially with hot drinks, must be
continued and increased. And if you can by any means
afford it, I would advise you to get a stomach pump, and
after reducing all your food, of whatever kind it may be,
to the consistence of a thin jelly, and heating it boiling
hot, introduce it into your stomach through the pump. I
might perhaps suggest the importance of making an
opening into the stomach ; like that which Alexis St.
Martin had by means of a wound—but perhaps this
would be attended with a little danger. But at any rate
do all you can to save the labor of the teeth.
Do not heed the outcries of those who say that all this
is cheating the teeth ; and that we must inevitably be
sooner or later punished for it. One principal part of the
punishment to which they refer is the loss of the teeth—
the very thing you wish to effect. The world, you know,
think it a serious evil to lose the teeth early ; though, in
their ignorance they do so. They think—perhaps—that
they not only contribute to comfort and beauty, but to
health. It is true that the penalty of cheating the teeth
falls upon our whole frame as well as upon the teeth
themselves; but then it comes later. We may die long
before our general health begins to suffer from their loss.
Is it not folly to dread an evil which we may not live to
experience 2 s
One thing more, patient reader. I have spoken of the
effects of tobacco on the teeth; and I have told you that
210 CASE OF REFORMATION IN MAINE.
a part of the evils produced by using it, affect us through
the medium of the stomach. Now tobacco is a medi-
cine; and all medicines—spirits, opium, Salts, &c., &c.—
have also an injurious effect, while we are in health, on
the teeth. It will therefore be desirable that among other
things, you should live on the contents of an apothecary’s
shop as much as you can ; or what is still better for your
purpose, convert one of your own rooms into a shop of
this kind. A smaller assortment than is commonly found
in most of our regular apothecaries’ shops will do very
well, when you can have it constantly at hand.
In short, the way to the ruin of your teeth—if you
really desire it—is, as Franklin said of the way to wealth,
as plain as the way to market. But I need not enlarge.
It is a road on which most of the present generation have
entered, and which, whether I proffer my aid or not,
mankind will be likely for some time to pursue.
CASE OF REFORMATION IN MAINE.
DR. ALCOTT :—Having had an opportunity, during the
year past, to read your Moral Reformer—now Library of
Health—and thinking that I might possibly add one mite
to encourage you in your good work, I have ventured to
send you a short account of my own experience in the
science of Physiology. *
I am now over fifty years of age, and was taught to
work in my youth. My constitution was good, and I
possessed uncommon muscular power. I had nothing
but my hands to begin the world with, and being pretty
ambitious, I was not at all sparing of my strength. I ate
heartily of meat and everything else that was brought
upon the table, asking no questions. I also drank tea,
coffee, &c.
CASE OF RF FORMATION IN MAINE. 21 |
Something more than twenty years ago my digestive
organs gave way; everything I ate hurt me, and I hardly
knew a well day, for almost twenty years. I became
very mervous—was greatly troubled with flatulence,
almost continually belching wind—had much low spirits,
&c. In the summer of 1829, my mental faculties gave
way. I lost my enjoyment of everything, and gave up
business. My sleep was greatly disturbed. I fell into
despair ; wished myself dead a thousand times, &c.—But
I forbear,
After about five years of fruitless wishes to die, and
finding at last that I must live my appointed time,
(medicine, journeying and every effort of my friends
having failed to give me any relief,) as a good providence
would have it, I resolved to help myself; and imme-
diately set about it. I had seem and heard, by chance, a
sketch or two about some persons being cured by diet.
Two years ago last fall, I commenced and made a despe-
rate effort, and by the blessing of God, succeeded beyond
all expectation. I lived almost wholly on coarse bread,
and apples, and potatoes, and drank cold water, (or as a
preventive of flatulence, vinegar and water, sweetened
with molasses,) used friction powerfully on my skin, and
began to try to work.
I soon began to recover my health. My food digested
well, and did me good, and my mind became cheerful ;
and for two years past I have enjoyed better health than
before for twenty-five years, and almost uninterrupted
peace of mind. I enjoy my food, my sleep, my friends,
my property, and everything else that is good ; and few
men of my age can perform more labor than I can,
although I endeavor to be temperate in all things. From
my articles of food I have discarded everything of a
greasy nature, such as meat, butter and gravies ; and
pepper, spice, and all kinds of seasoning and stimulants,
except salt.
212 CASE OF REFORMATION IN MAINE.
About four months after I began to diet, a friend who
had heard Graham lecture, put into my hands some of
his books—his cholera lecture, and a pamphlet containing
nearly one hundred cases of cure by means of diet. I
now entered, as far as my circumstances would admit,
into a thorough investigation of his theory ; and as my
own experience corroborated it, I was not slow of belief.
I became a warm advocate of his very unpopular doc-
trimes.
In view, sir, of the light and experience I have had on
this subject, I judge that it never was the original inten-
tion of the Creator that man should eat flesh. Before
Noah's flood he never did eat it.* But when man had
become corrupt, and his appetite depraved, he lusted after
flesh, and God indulged him in its use ; the consequence
of which was to shorten his life remarkably. And when
mankind return, as with the increase of light, and virtue,
and religion, they will, I see no reason why they may
not live as long as they did before the flood.
Originally, a garden was all that was necessary for the
support of man. A garden with a spring of pure water is
all that he needs now, unless he wants the pleasure and
profit of much doctoring and a premature grave. All his
other cravings of appetite are the effects of a bad education,
long habit, or a corrupt heart. I say to you, sir, Go on
and prosper. A bright era is beginning to dawn on the
world. The signs of the times are not to be mistaken.
Man will soon be able to live on angels' food instead of
flesh, and the glorious reign of peace, and virtue, and
holiness will be consummated on earth.
* We think this a mistake. We believe that the error of eating flesh
was oue of the causes of the depravity of the antediluvian world.
IMPORTANCE OF ABLUTION, 213
IMPORTANCE OF ABLUTION.
So great is the importance and necessity of ablution,
even in cold climates like our own, that we cannot refrain
from pressing the subject in every form and on every
proper occasion, upon the attention of our readers. Here
follow some valuable extracts from old authors on the
subject ; for which we bespeak the attention of our
readers.
Ablutions were common among the Romans, and even
constituted a religious ceremony. Sometimes they
washed their hands and feet, sometimes the head, and
oftentimes the whole body ; for which purpose, at the
entrance into their temples, were placed marble vessels
filled with water. The Romans used to wash the feet of
new married women, as an emblem of purity. If a man
committed murder, or any other act of violence, he was
not allowed to approach the altar till he had washed
himself.
Ablution, however, was not always performed by bath-
ing ; they sometimes made use of aspersion, or sprinkling
with water, which was done with a branch of olive,
laurel, or an instrument made on purpose.
But the more august mysteries, such as those of Ceres,
required ablution, or dipping of the whole body ; and the
oracle of Trophonius could not be consulted, till a man
had first dipped himself several times in the river Her-
cyna. Eneas dared not handle sacred things till he had
purged himself by a proper ablution.
The Jewish religion, even, required continual ablu-
tions or washings; and we read that Moses was com-
manded “to make a layer of brass for Aaron and his
sons to wash their hands and feet in, when they went into
the tabernacle of the congregation.” But as people
214 IMPORTANCE OF ABLUTION.
accustom themselves to regard things appointed for sacred
uses with a kind of awe, this very practice, which was
only intended as a sign of inward purity, at length
became an essential part of their religion—an error with
which Christ reproached the Jews.
Thus it appears that Moses enjoined ablutions, the
heathen adopted them, and Mahomet and his followers
continued them ; and thus they have got footing among
most nations, and make a considerable part of most estab-
lished religions.
Ablutions, nevertheless, owe their origin to a more
ancient source. The custom of ablution, in warm coun-
tries, is essential to cleanliness and health, where the
luxurious habits of indolent indulgence are too apt to
prevail over remote advantages which are to be obtained
by exertion ; thence it appears to have been introduced
by wise legislators or lawgivers among the religious
duties.
The Brahmins of India, and all the numerous inferior
casts, perform certain ablutions at stated periods in every
day. The Brahmins must bathe their whole bodies
before they eat, when they eat, and before they retire to
rest. The Shaster obliges them to undergo an ablution
after the nuptial rite. Both sexes practice this ablution,
and have a high veneration for the waters of the Ganges.
But as they cannot always be near enough to wash them-
selves in the sacred waters, the Brahmins tell those so
situated, that other waters will have the same virtue, if,
while bathing, they pronounce certain words.
The Egyptians seem to have borrowed this practice,
along with others of their religious institutions, from the
Asiatics, for priests had their diurnal and nocturnal ablu-
tions; the Grecians, their sprinkling ; the Romans, their
lustrations and lavations; the Jews, their washing their
hands and feet, besides their baptism; the ancient christians
IMPORTANCE OF ABLUTION. 215
had their ablutions before communion, which the Romish
church still retains before their mass, sometimes after ; the
Syrians, Copts, &c., have their solemn washings on Good
Friday ; and the Turks, their greater and lesser ablutions.
From the establishment of the custom under the sanc-
tion of religion, the transition to a symbol ºf purity was
neither difficult nor unreasonable, and behee it had been
diffused through all ancient religious institutions, even
where the same motives to frequent ablutions did not
exist. -
However whimsical these ablutions may appear to the
unreflecting, it strongly marks the wisdom of the institu-
tors. And even in cold or temperate climates, few
things would tend more to prevent disease than a frequent
practice of them. Were every person, for example, after
visiting the sick, handling a dead body, or touching
anything that might convey infection, to wash before he
went into company or sat down to meals, he would run
less hazard of catching the infection himself, or of com-
municating it to others.
Whence does it arise that the Asiatics and Africans
have such fine teeth, and that in our cities, the fair sex
especially, rarely possess fine teeth, for any length of
time ! It is owing, in part, to the ablution of the mouth
after meals by the former, and its neglect by the latter.
Frequent washing not only removes the filth and sores
which adhere to the skin, but likewise promotes the per-
spiration, braces the body, and enlivens the spirits. The
custom of washing the feet, though less necessary in cold
climates, is, nevertheless, a very agreeable piece of clean-
liness; and contributes greatly to the preservation of
health.
This piece of cleanliness would often prevent colds
and fevers. Were people careful to bathe their feet and
legs in lukewarm water, at night, after being exposed to
216 FOOD BEFORE THE FILOOD.
cold or wet through the day, they would seldom experi-
ence the bad effects which proceed from these causes.
The Armenians, who are the Quakers of the East, are the
most healthy people in Asia, and they attribute this happi-
mess to the constant use of the hot bath.
FOOD BEFORE THE FLOOD.
MR. EDITOR:—The following extracts, which I have
made from several works, will serve to show your readers
that the opinion that man is not maturally a flesh-eating
animal, is not peculiar to a few individuals in Boston.
G.
“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
observations I have to make accord strongly with this
tradition ; for while mankind remained in a state of
innocence, there is every ground to believe, that their
only food was the produce of the vegetable kingdom.”—
SIR. EveRARD Homſ E.
“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 para-
dise, 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 future ages of the world,
the use of animal food will be gradually laid aside, and
he will return again to the productions of the vegetable
kingdom, as the original food of man, as that which is
FOOD BEFORE THE FLOOD. 217
best suited to the rank of rational and moral intelligence.
And perhaps it may have an influence, in combination
with other favorable circumstances, in promoting health
and longevity.”—Dick on THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION.
“We have no hesitation in saying, that the grant of
animal food originated, not in the idea of adding to
man's enjoyments, but in necessity. Many excellent
divines have argued that God changed the diet of man
because he had already determined to abbreviate the
span of human life. This may be true, because we
believe experience has established the fact, that a diet of
which animal food forms no part, if it tend not to increase
the muscular power of man, renders him much less
liable to disease.”—GLEIG’s HISTORY OF THE BIBLE.
“Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in
the which is the fruit of a tree, yielding seed; to you it
shall be for food.”—Gen. i. 29. &
“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 animal
economy; and this it must have been lawful for him to
employ, unless self-destruction had been his duty. The
true import of the phrase, therefore, doubtless is, that
God had appointed, constituted, ordained this as the
staple article of man's diet. He had formed him with a
nature to which a vegetable aliment was better suited
than any other. It cannot, perhaps, be inferred from this
language that the use of flesh?meat was absolutely for-
bidden, but it clearly implies that the fruits of the field
were the diet most adapted to the constitution which the
14
218 EATING BETWEEN MEALS.
Creator had given. This view of the sense of giving is
confirmed by the ensuing verse, where the same language
is employed; and God is said to have given the green
herb to the beasts and birds. This cannot mean a per-
mission, but an appointment, such as we have described
above.”—PROF. Bush's MANUSCRIPT NoTES ON GENESIS.
EATING BETWEEN MEALS.
THE habit of eating or taking something between our
meals is almost universal. Not that all mankind, or
even the majority of them, are in the habit of eating
anything between their regular meals which can be pro-
perly called solid food, though we are not quite sure of
even that. But something or other, and in some form or
other, either solid or liquid, most persons contrive to be
frequently found chewing or swallowing.
Some chew tobacco. Others, as the East Indians,
chew the betel nut. Some chew opium. Some take
snuff. Some smoke the pipe or the cigar. Some drink
almost incessantly ; and the stronger the drink the better
they like it, provided it does not quite intoxicate them.
Some would not stoop to all this. They are, as they
suppose, far wiser. Perhaps they are really so. And
yet they chew or eat something often. It may be ordi-
nary food. It may be meat or bread. It may be some-
thing a little expraordinary. It may be some other com-
mon eatable. It may be pies, cakes, sauces, sweetmeats.
It may be apples, pears, peaches, figs, raisins or nuts.
But there are some who know better than to meddle,
between their regular meals, with any of the things we
have mentioned. They assent to the doctrine of the physi-
EATING BETWEEN MEALS. 219
ologist, that the stomach, like every other organ which is
muscular, needs its seasons of repose ; and that anything
swallowed, during these seasons, unless it be a little
water, breaks in upon its rest.
And yet these very persons are often among the worst
disturbers of the stomach, and interrupters of its repose.
They would not, for the world, eat or drink anything
between meals. And yet they are often found drinking
a littte soda water, chewing a little gum arabic, a little
liquorice, calamus, lemon or orange peel, cinnamon,
cloves, &c. Or if they are females, they indulge them-
selves with a small lump of sugar now and then, or a
little candy, or a little fennel, or dill, or caraway, or
coriander ; or think they need a little candy or some
other article of confectionary, and sip a little at that now
and then. Some few, still more depraved, eat charcoal,
chalk and clay ; and we have known children at school
to eat slate pencils.
True, they have bad feelings, and do it to obtain relief;
but what then 2 Do not others eat, drink, chew, snuff,
smoke, &c., between their meals for the same purpose ?
And are not the consequences in the one case about as
deplorable as in the other ? What these consequences
are, it seems needless for us to say just now. They have
often been presented in detail, in this work, as well as
elsewhere. We need only say, now, that the tendency of
all these errors is not only unfavorable to health, but to
morality; and that it is one of the first things which a
person who has caught the true spirit of reform ought to
set himself to correct.
220 DANGER FROM EARTHEN VESSELS.
DANGER FROM EARTHEN WESSELS.
We believe it to be generally understood by those who
know anything of chemistry, that the common or red
earthen vessels of this country are glazed with an oxyde
of lead ; that this oxyde combines readily with the com-
mon acids of food and fruits, forming a poisonous com-
pound, often the acetate or sugar of lead ; and that it is,
of course, unsafe to use these vessels for culinary pur-
poses.
This, we say, is the general understanding of scientific
housewives. And yet we are afraid these vessels are
still used to a very great extent, even by them. How it
should happen, we cannot tell, unless it be a fact, as some
assert that it is, that many intelligent people are more
anxious to save money than to preserve health.
But be this as it may, one thing is certain, which is,
that in many parts of this country, the earthen vessels
of which we have spoken are extensively used, and peo-
ple are as extensively poisoned. Few, indeed, die out-
right; nor are the causes of disease so obvious, in every
instance, that physicians at once detect them. Besides,
where these causes alone produce disease once, they
probably fall in with and aggravate other diseases pro-
duced by other causes, a hundred or five hundred times.
One of the most shocking cases of poisoning in this
manner, occurred in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, in the
fall of the year 1814. A strange epidemic disease broke
out, which affected large numbers of the inhabitants, and
among the rest, many whole families. For a time, it
seemed to baffle the skill of the physicians, some of
whom had not less than forty or fifty patients. Many
died, and those who survived suffered the most excruciat-
DANGER FROM EARTHEN WESSELS. 221
ing pain; and were only snatched from the gates of
death by very large doses of opium and calomel.
At last the physicians, who perceived that the symp-
toms of the disease were like those which exist in what
is called the lead or painters’ colic—made the following
discovery :—A new pottery had been established in the
neighborhood during that year, and the inhabitants of
Elizabethtown, pleased with the idea of furnishing them-
selves with its cheap wares, procured from it large num-
bers of kitchen utensils, among which was a considerable
number of red earthen jars, into which they had put their
apple butter, as they called it, or apple sauce. The latter
had decomposed the lead glazing of the jars, and formed
an acetate of lead, (sugar of lead,) and this had without
doubt produced the disease. -:
We do not remember the precise number that died in
Elizabethtown during his severe sickness; but it was
very considerable. And the reflection is the more pain-
ful, when we consider that a little scientific knowledge of
housewifery would have saved them.
There can be no doubt that hundreds of lives are lost
every year among us by errors in cooking and preparing
food, drink, medicine, &c. But for one who dies, as we
have already said, hundreds if not thousands, are more
or less injured ; some of them for their whole lives.
We will here relate a singular case in our own history.
It is copied from the Boston Medical and Surgical Jour-
mal, and took place about the first of May last. If it
should be a means of awakening one individual to the
importance and responsibility of housewifery, and to the
necessity of studying it scientifically, we can never regret
that we related it.
“The family in which I boarded had stewed a con-
siderable quantity of pears, which they had put in the
common red earthen pots of this country. Of this fact
222 DANGER FROM EARTHEN WESSELS.
I was not, however, aware, and ate very freely of the
pears, much more so than the rest of the family. After
several days, I thought I observed a sweetish taste to
them, but as I did not suspect they were kept in earthen,
I continued to eat them. Presently my mouth began to
be sore, and subsequently my throat. Still I did not for
two or three days suspect the cause. At last, one evening,
as I was eating of the pears, and observing their sweetish
taste, the thought struck me that they might be poisonous.
On examining the jar in which they were kept, I found
that the glazing was off in several places; and in a few,
to a considerable extent. I now had little doubt that I was
poisoned by acetate of lead, formed by the chemical combi-
nation of the acid with the metallic substance of the glazing.
“But I will be a little more particular in my descrip-
tion. The soreness of my mouth was preceded by con-
siderable thirst, especially at evening ; a thing quite
unusual with me. Then followed a general redness,
tenderness, and ultimately a deep soreness of nearly the
whole mouth and fauces. The inflammation, however,
was greatest under my tongue. My appetite was not
affected, nor my general thirst increased ; it was con-
stantly a little greater at evening. Almost every sort of
food, except of the mildest kind, such as rice, gave me
pain, both by its presence in the mouth and by the heat
and smarting it occasioned. My mouth was usually
more dry in the morning than at evening, though the
thirst was rather less. Sometimes there was a temporary
salivation, and a slight (if I mistake not) metallic taste.
There was, for four or five days, an almost constant feel-
ing of constriction of the mouth, especially of the lips,
which I was prompted frequently, and, as it were, invol-
untarily, to extend. The roof of the mouth was very
little affected at all ; and none with this sense of astrin-
gency.—The soreness of the mouth continued more
I)ANGER FROM EARTHEN WESSELS. 223
than a week, after which it gradually diminished, and at
length disappeared. Only one of the rest of the family
(four in number) appeared to be affected. She had a
slight redness about the region of the palate, for one or
two days.
“No other troublesome symptom appeared during the
whole time, except a degree of lientery, accompanied
with an unusual irritability of the first passages, and occa-
sional, sometimes severe pains in the stomach. Nor am
I sure that the pain in the stomach was not aggravated
by imagination. The healthy state of the bowels was
restored a day sooner than that of the mouth. The con-
traction of the lips, and the desire to stretch or extend
them, continued till the mouth was quite well.
“There were no other causes to which I could trace
the affection I have described, which could have been
half adequate to its production. I had not for some time
previous departed in any considerable degree from my
usual habits of diet, &c., which are extremely simple,
except in the following respects:—I had once or twice
eaten of some peas not quite boiled ; and once of a very
small quantity of maple sugar.”
We will only add, that the instances in which human
health is exposed more or less by the errors of ignorance
or carelessness in modern housewifery are innumerable.
We are sometimes poisoned—i.e. injured—by our bread,
our cheese, our vegetables, our meat, our drinks. We
have frequently known whole families made sick in this
way. The evil would be less, it is true, if the system
worked itself clear after having been subjected to these
evils, (as filthy apple juice is supposed to do by fermenta-
tion, or filthy water by running through a few feet of
earth interposed between the sink, sty, vault or yard, and
the well,) as many suppose it does. But if not, the whole
case is altered.
224 DO THE SICK EVER GET well, ?
DO THE SICK EVER GET WELL 2
THIS question, to some, may appear singular. There
are not a few who are so removed from a state of doubt
on this point, that they even suppose many persons to be
healthier after an attack of disease, than they were before.
Nothing is more common than to hear about favorable
changes of constitution, produced by sickness.
We do not say that sudden changes from worse to bet-
ter may not take place in the human constitution, espe-
cially at particular periods of life. Nor do we deny that
these changes are sometimes so closely connected with a
paroxysm or attack of disease, as to present the appear-
ance of cause and effect. But that the favorable change
is always, or indeed often the effect of the disease itself,
we do not believe ; nor do we think such an opinion can
be sustained by any sound views, either of pathology or
physiology.
The general rule, on the contrary, is, that disease of
every description cuts short human life. How much, it is
not always possible to tell; because we can never know the
number or extent of the other abuses to which the system
has been subjected. The rule, however, is subject to as
few exceptions as any general rule ; nor are we quite
sure that a thorough acquaintance with the laws, both of
health and disease, would not show conclusively that no
exceptions exist.
We would, if it were possible, remove some of the errors
which prevail on this subject. We would lead mankind
to regard disease, even in its milder forms, as always a
serious evil ; and then it might be hoped more pains
would be taken to guard against it.
If people believed, for example, that each cold which
they take, however slight, always exhausts in too rapid a
DO THE SICK EVER GET well, ? 225
degree, the vital powers, besides bringing us one step
nearer the confines of some other disease, would they not
be more careful to prevent it ! And yet is it not true !
Is not every individual’s life actually shortened by every
cold he takes 2 Is not consumption, in a person constitu-
tionally inclined to it, always hastened a little by a cold 2
Are not rheumatisms, mania, fevers, and, in short, all other
diseases, especially in those who are predisposed to their
occurrence, always hastened more or less by the slightest
cold they can take 2
Again; if people could be made to believe that sudden
and great excitement of the stomach and bowels always
weakens them permanently, by diminishing, unnecessa-
rily, the sum total of their vitality, would they be as ready
as many are, to take emetics, cathartics, &c., every time
they feel any unpleasant or troublesome symptoms ?
Nothing is more common, with many people, upon the
slightest attack of disease, than to take a cathartic. We
are acquainted with a distinguished divine, who boasts of
his success in dispelling the first symptoms of discase in
his family, and particularly in his own person. He does
it, almost uniformly, by taking calomel. “If anything
ails me,” says he, “I take down the calomel.” Now if
this gentleman knew a tenth of the mischief which he
thus does—and calome] is probably no worse, in this re-
spect, than many other catharties—he would not dare to
expend the powers of life in this manner. He would al-
most as soon cut away, by small pieces, one of his limbs.
Nor would it, though more painful, be more destructive or
more dangerous to cut away by inches or quarter inches,
an arm, beginning with the tip of our fingers, than to take
a dose of medicine on every little indisposition, without
the advice of a physician.
Will it be said that we are wandering from our subject 2
Not at all. These medicines, if they do good at all, usu-
226 DO THE SICK EveR GET WELL }.
elly do it by creating what might be called a new disease,
which supersedes the old one. The instances in which
an emetic or a cathartic appears to do immediate good,
merely by emptying the stomach or the infestines, are
comparatively few. They generally afford relief in the
manner before mentioned. But the trouble is, that though
they often afford relief, and thus appear to do immediate
good, the remedy is generally worse for the human sys-
tem than the disease was ; or, in other words, the new dis-
ease will exhaust the powers of life more than the old one
would have done. This, we say, is the general rule.
We call the action, therefore, which is the effect of all
medicine, diseased action. In other words, he who has
taken medicine, is made sick by it. Not that this sick-
ness or disease should not sometimes be induced by the
skilful physician ; for we have already made this conces-
sion. Still it is a disease; and is only justifiable on the
principle of eradicating an old disease, by implanting, for
a time, a new one.
Now, them, iſ the general rule is, that all diseases, by
diminishing the vital energies of the human system, do,
in themselves, tend to shorten iife, and if all medicines do,
in fact, induce disease, is it not obvious that we ought to
be extremely cautious about taking medicine, unless by
the advice of a physician 2 And does it not greatly add
to the importance and necessity of this caution, if it be ad-
mitted, as has been elsewhere intimated, that every disease
produces irreparable injury Ż
Nothing, in our view, is better sustained by physiology,
than the doctrine that every dorangement of the vital or-
gans of the human system, or any one of them, which is
so serious as to be worthy the name of disease, does, in
fact, produce more or less of irreparable evil to the con-
stitution; or, in other words, that those who are sick,
never get entirely well again, but are injured for life.
DR. CHANNING ON DANCING, 227
DR, CHANNING ON DANCING.
WE have been taken to task more than once for what
is said in the “Young Man's Guide,” in favor of dancing,
to certain classes of the community. Neither solicita-
tions nor threats have, however, altered materially our
opinion. We know, too well, the great value of this
exercise, under due restrictions, in the promotion of
health, to be willing to give it up wholly. For this reason
we were as much gratified as we were surprised, to find
in the Rev. Dr. Channing's Address on Temperance,
recently published in this city, the following sentiments.
The reader will see, however, that the Dr. disapproves of
balls as strongly as he approves of dancing.
“Dancing is an amusement which has been dis-
couraged in our country by many of the best people, and
not without reason. Dancing is associated in their mind
with balls ; and this is one of the worst forms of social
pleasure. The time consumed in preparation for a bail,
the waste of thought upon it, the extravagance of dress,
the late hours, the exhaustion of strength, the exposure
of health, and the languor of the succeeding day,+these
and other evils, connected with this amusement, are
strong reasons for banishing it from the community.
“But dancing ought not, therefore, to be proscribed.
On the contrary, balls should be discouraged for this
among other reasons, that dancing, instead of being a
rare pleasure, requiring elaborate preparation, may be-
come an every-day amusement, and may mix with our
common intercourse. - -
“This exercise is among the most healthful. The
body as well as the mind feels its gladdening influence.
No amusement seems more to have a foundation in our
nature. The animation of youth naturally overflows in
228 DR. CHANNING ON DANCING.
harmonious movements. The true idea of dancing
entitles it to favor. Its end is, to realize perfect grace in
motion ; and who does not know, that a sense of the
graceful is one of the higher faculties of our mature ?
“It is to be desired, that dancing should become too
common among us to be made the object of special pre-
paration as in the ball; that members of the same family,
when confined by unfavorable weather, should recur to it
for exercise and exhilaration; that branches of the same
family should enliven in this way their occasional meet-
ings ; that it should fill up an hour in all the assemblages
for relaxation, in which the young form a part.
“It is to be desired, that this accomplishment should
be extended to the laboring classes of society, not only as
an innocent pleasure, but as a means of improving the
manners. Why shall not gracefulness be spread through
the whole community ? From the French nation we
learn that a degree of grace and refinement may pervade
all classes.
“The philanthropist and christian must desire to break
down the partition walls between human beings in differ-
ent conditions; and one means of doing this is, to remove
the conscious awkwardness, which confinement to labori-
ous occupations is apt to induce. An accomplishment,
giving free and graceful movement though a far weaker
bond than intellectual or moral culture, still does some-
thing to bring those who partake it, near each other.”
M IS C E L L A NY.
MACA RoNI.—This is becoming quite a common dish among
us. They who are fond of foreign things, either because they
are far-fetched or dear-bought, have only to say that they have
had or now have the dyspepsia, and then, it seems, they are
licensed to use macaroni. We have sometimes used it when
dining with the fashionable, because, though hurtful, it is less
so than most of their dishes, and out of many evils we always
prefer the least; but we never add to it any other substance,
as Sugar, molasses, nutmeg, grated clieese, &c. It is bad
enough without these.
For the benefit of those who think us heterodox on this
subject, especially for dyspeptics, we extract the following
from Willich's Lectures:
“The vermicelli and macaroni of the Italians, as well as all
the different dishes made of ſlour inixed up into paste, and
either boiled in water or stewed in butter, are ill calculated for
patients and convalescents, to whom they are frequently ad-
ministered. A paste, when it is so elastic that it can be trade
into balls, is extremely difficult to be digested. All unfermented
pastry is excessively trying to the stomach ; and instead of be-
ing a suiject of surprise that the lovers of such dainties are
continually troubled with indigestion alid other stomachic
complaints, it would be against the Order of things if it were
otherwise.”
CHERRY SToxEs.—We have taught, in our public lectures
in schools and elsewhere, that cherry stones ought not to be
swallowed ; and given the reasons for our opinion. Oue day,
not long since, we received from a highly respected friend,
whose son we had instructed, the following truly laconic note:
“Dear Sir —My old friend Willich says you are wrong
about the cherry stones.” S, S-
230 MISCELLANY.
On turning to Willich, the author referred to, we found the
opinion thus expressed :
“The kernels or seeds of apples are bitter and aromatic. :
Nature seems to have intended these productions for correct-
ing 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 to be thrown away as useless.”
This seemed decisive ; but on examining still further, we
also found another and a very different opinion. We leave it
to our readers to decide which is correct, merely observing
that the second opinion corresponds with the views of other
writers on the same subject, as will be seen below.
“To swallow cherry stones is highly permicious, as these
stones have sometimes been found to accumulate in the intes-
tines, to form lumps cemented together by viscid phlegm, and
thus to produce the most violent and fatal symptoms.”
An Edinburgh physician, in an article which has gone the
round of the papers in this country, says—“A very common
practice, in eating such fruit as cherries, is to swallow the
stones, with the vague notion that these promote digestion.
No error can be more fatally absurd. Many cases have oc-
curred, where such practices have been the cause of death,
and that of a most excruciating nature. One instance is on
record, of a lady, who died in great agony of suffering, and
the cause was found to be several large balls found in the in-
testines, accumulated around clusters of cherry stones.”
CoB webs sw EPT Away.—This is the title of a Fast day
sermon, recently published in Newburyport. The author is
Rev. L. Withington of Newbury. The object of the discourse
is to expose some of the popular delusions of the day. Among
other things, Mr. W. has encountered quackery, and as we
think, with much success. Not satisfied with this, however,
he has assailed those who write or teach on dietetics, and after
uttering a few truisms, he comes out against those who teach
hygiene and physiology—ranking them, for anything which
We can discover, with “despicable hypocrites,” and “shamc-
MISC ELLANY. 231
less wretches,” who, as he says, are deserving of being “driven
from decent society to the den or the brothel.”
Now we doubt not, this learned theologian had other game
in view than ourselves, as a principal object; but his charge
is so sweeping as to include us. We, in our writings and
public lectures, “enter into the physiology of the human
frame;” and if all this class of teachers are “deserving of the
highest degree of popular indignation,” we can searcely hope
to escape his mighty besom of destruction. Mr. W., how-
ever, has a Herculean task before him. The whole medical
world are coming out in favor of teaching physiology in our
families and schools; and unless he is exceedingly active, he
will need assistants. We believe, however, he can obtain aid
enough ; and we recommend to him the several worthies in
this city who have shown so much valor in his cause.
The truth is, that Mr. W. is one of those witty, eccentric
men, who do not hesitate to level their shafts of wit in almost
all company, and on almost all occasions—no matter where
they hit; nor is he always careful, so it seems to us, how closely
he adheres to truth. Of this, we need no better evidence
than can be found in the sermon before us. Some of his
sallies in the “Puritan’—a work which, in many respects,
does great credit to his head and heart—contain also a few
things so unsuitable for a minister to utter, that many have
have thought and said, “the man must be insane.” Put we
leave the public to judge of his sanity, and him to his favorite
employment of brushing at cobwebs.
LAUDABLE FEFoRTs.—A committee of the Physiological
Society, in this city, are making efforts to contract with agri-
culturists and horticulturists for vegetables of all kinds, raised
on correct physiological principles. They wish to obtain the
very best of grain, and all sorts of bread stuffs, rice, peas,
beans, potatoes, cabbage, squashes, pumpkins, and all garden
vegetables and fruits. We believe their object is, ultimately,
to have a market in Boston, which shall contain wholesome,
ripe vegetables of all sorts, to the exclusion of those which are
unripe or permicious. The object is a noble one, and we wish
it success.
232 MISCELLANY.,
Boston PIGGERY.—About six miles from the city, in West
Cambridge, says the Springfield Journal, is the Bostol, Pig-
gery. At least seven hundred hogs are constantly kept here,
in condition for the market. They are fed entirely on the
offal from the dwelling houses in Boston, every one of which
is visited in turn by the city carts. The offal increases, and
the contractor calculates that it will be sufficient hereafter to
fatten one thousand hogs. The pig pen is an enclosure, with
places of shelter from the storm. As the hogs attain their
size, they are slaughtered on the spot, the fat barrelled up, and
the lean sold in the city.
Precious morsels, country reader, are they not? Do you not
greatly desire to live in Boston and taste them 2 But we have
reason to believe that you sometimes have bits equally choice
and sweet in the country. It is stated that hogs in Vermont,
are occasionally fattened for the market on the dead bodies of
sheep, (from large flocks,) which die of the rot or other dis-
eases; and our own eyes have witnessed things which fall
little short of this.--Who is there that would not love pork #
THOMSONIANISM.–We have received, through a medical
friend in Connecticut, “A Report of the New Haven County
Medical Society, on the expediency of repeating that section
of the Medical Laws of Connecticut, which excludes irregular
practitioners from the benefit of law in the coli.ection of
fees.” It appears from this very valuable and highly accept-
able document, that an attempt has been made to bring
about a state of things in Connecticut highly favorable to the
Thomsonian doctors. Our readers already know our utter
abhorrence of quackery in all its forms; and we do liope,
for the honor of our native state as well as for the honor of
hurrian nature, that no legislative ideasures will be adopted
which will sanction it. There is quite enough of quackery
ameng the most learned physicians of our own or any other
country.
Prices—In neat paper covers, 25 cts. single—$2.50 a dozen—$20 a hundred 5–in cloth, 37 1-8
cts. Single—$4 a dozen—$3] a hundred.
Just Published, and selling rapidly,
TREATISE ON BREAD,
ANTD
BREAi}-MAKING.
BY DR, SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
Contents.
HISTORY OF BREAD.—Primitive food of man. Bruising and grinding grain.
Baking. Jnvention of leavened bread. Bread among the Greeks and Romans—
among the Hebrews. Simplicity of the bread now used in many countries.
LAWS OF DIET.-Reasons why food in its natural state would be the best.
Concentrated nutriment. Interesting experiments on animals. Mixtures of food.
Leavened and unleavened bread. Qualifications of the best bread.
MATERIAL OF BREAD.—Wheat. Extent of climate favorable to it. Injured
by improper tillage. Removal of impurities. Washing of grain. Separation
of the bran from the nutrient particles improper. Ancient Roman bread. Public
bakers. Use of bad flour. Adulterations. Poisonous agents used to disguise
them.
PROPERTIES OF BREAD.—Superfine flour injurious—a probable cause of
some common disorders. Objections to coarse bread. Its medical properties.
Extensive experiments of its use, by soldiers and others. Use among European
peasantry. Selection, preservation and grinding of wheat.
FERMENTATION.—Chemical composition of flour. Yeast—modes of preparing
it. Substitutes for it. Fermentation, and its products. Vinous, acetous and
putrefactive fermentation.
PREPARATION OF BREAD.—Mixing. Much kneading necessary. Rising,
or fermentation. Use of alkalies—saleratus and soda. Baking. Ovens. Alcohol
in bread. Prescrvation of bread.
WHO SHOULD MAKE BREAD.—Making bread by rule. Bakers. Domes-
tics. Sour bread. An anecdote. Mrs. Van Winkle. Bad bread need not be
made. How cake is made. Bread-making a drudgery. Excellent example
of a mother. Eating bad bread. Importance of having good bread.
VARIETIES OF BREAD.—Rye bread. Indian mueal bread. Use of sour milk
or buttermilk. Acids. Family grinding.
There has been a considerable demand for this work for some
time, and the edition (of 3000 copies) will doubtless soon be
exhausted.
LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers,

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Vol. III.] S E P T E M B E R .
[No. 9.
THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
AND
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WM. A. ALCOTT, EDITor.
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CONTENTS.
The Laws of fieaith, . . . . . . 265 Misc ELLANY.
Danger of Earthen Wessels, . . 271
* - • . . . r Physiological Society, . . .
Chewing and Smoking Tobacco, 272. y sº y;
rT \ - . . . . . ..., | Reform in Schools, . . . . .
The Science of Medicine, . . . 273 - w
- Over-loading the Stomach, .
Jones, the Monomaniac, . . . . 276 Dosing
OS 1119 . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Quackery Illustrated, . . . . . . 280 S-3 ×
--- ". . . . ..., | Effects of Saltpetre, . . . . .
Effects of Opium, . . . . . . . . 286 -
* ~ 1. . . . . . . ooo | Poisoned Beef, . . . . . . . . .
Consumptive Children, . . . . . 288 . . . *
- - - so | Diseased Milk. . . . . . . . . .
Fashionable Dining, . . . . . . . 289 A Healthy summe
- rºw Ić8. Uliil Illéſ. . . . . .
A Vegetable Eater, . . . . . . . 291 y S 2
The Splendid Champagne, . . . 292
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
THE LAWS OF HEALTH.
ONE of the ancients, when asked what was the first
great qualification of an orator, replied, ACTION. When
asked what was the second, he replied, ACTION. And
when asked what was the third, he still replied, ACTION.
In nearly the same manner might the teacher of the
laws of Hygiene or Health, respond to the question—
What are the first, and second, and third laws of Health 2
His replies, like those of the noble ancient, might be,
Action, Action, Action.
Health depends chiefly on PROPER ACTION. But what
this proper action is, it would take a volume to tell. For
the sake of method, and that we may be distinctly under-
stood, we will take a bird’s eye view of the subject, in
three divisions. 1. Temperature. 2. Cleanliness. 3.
Nutrition.
1. TFMPERATURE.-The first rule for the security of
health, is a proper temperature of the body. This de-
pends chiefly on action—the due action of the stomach,
the heart and blood vessels, the lungs, the muscles, the
nervous system, &c. If these act correctly—if every
part of the human frame which is intended for motion
performs its part—heat is evolved, and the body, in the
17
266 THE LAWS OF HEALTH.
most favorable climates, is of a proper temperature. But
if one or more of these organs is weakened by any cause
whatever, the heat evolved may be insufficient. The organs
of the body, whether considered singly or combined, may
be injured in a thousand different ways. To which
should be added, that owing to errors in education and
numerous other circumstances known or unknown, the
most vigorous persons we find in some of our colder cli-
mates, appear to be unable to evolve heat so fast as the
atmosphere and surrounding bodies carry it off. In these
circumstances, action of the lungs and other organs falls
a little short ; and to compensate for the deficiency, we
add first clothing, and secondly, if necessary, artificial
heat. Neither of these warm us directly; for the warmth
is still supplied by our own bodies. Still they do for us
what amounts to nearly the same thing ; they prevent
the heat which action has generated from being con-
ducted, too rapidly, out of the system, and thus prevent
our becoming too cold.
If the organs or a part of them overact or act in excess,
the heat may at first be too great, as the consequence;
but this excessive heat, if long continued, will be followed
by a diminished temperature, because the increased action
soon tires or wears out the organs. All things, therefore,
which tend to keep the living machine and all its parts in
the most healthful and well balanced action, are most
ſavorable to health ; and those things which tend to keep
it in a degree of action which is less healthful, and less
well balanced and duly proportioned, are less favor-
able.
One general rule for keeping the human machine in
this most favorable state ; is, to KEEP cool—as cool as pos-
sible without uncomfortable or disagreeable sensations.
Not only the body and all its parts must be kept cool, but
the mind, and the affections or heart.
THE LAWS OF HEALTH. 267
Does the statement, that the best way to keep warm is
to keep cool, seem paradoxical ? It will not seem so
when the effects of every single degree of heat above our
most positive wants is duly considered. For every scien-
tific physician in the world may tell you, that a single
degree of heat, whether applied externally or internally,
beyond what is indispensable to keep us from being too
cool, is more or less debilitating. Hence the grand evil
of too much clothing, soft feather beds, too warm apart-
ments, and hot or over-stimulating food and drink.
Hence, too, one evil of other excitants, mental or moral—
of excessive study, grief, fear, anger, &c. But we can-
not, in this place, enter much into detail.
2. CLEANLINEss-One reason why cleanliness is an in-
dispensable law of health is, that it is so highly favorable
to action—the action of the heart and arteries, the action
of the nerves and brain, the action of the stomach and
intestines, and the action of the lungs.
The arteries which carry blood to all parts of the hu-
man body become, on its surface or skin, divided into ten
thousand little streams called capillaries. From these
arise, in every part of the surface, veins of the same
diminutive size. Indeed, so fine are both the minute
arteries and veins, and so interlocked are they with each
other, that we do not know exactly where the arteries end
or the veins begin ; and the whole mass of these minute
streams, whether truly arteries or veins, is hence called
capillaries.
From these capillaries, so long as we are in perfect
health, there always exudes a watery fluid, commonly
called the matter of perspiration. In general, it passes
off in a dense fog, imperceptible to the eye. When it is
poured out faster than can be carried off in vapor, and the
drops appear on the skin, it is called sweat. The places
268 THE LAWS OF HEALTH.
through which it oozes out, or is poured out, whether we
call them pores or not, are exceedingly numerous. Some
have estimated them at a million to a square inch,
Now health requires a steady, regular perspiration
through these openings. But if the skin is dirty, can
this take place 2 Is not action impeded ? Besides, it
should be observed that if the perspiration cannot take
place through the skin, by reason of dirt or filth, or any
other cause, mature seems to make an effort to discharge
the surplus water in some other direction. Perhaps it is
through the lungs, or it may be into the intestines or first
passages. In either case, disease is apt to follow.
It would seem as if there were hurtful properties in
this fluid, that thus seeks to escape at some outlet of the
body; for if it is long retained in us, it excites too much
action of the larger arteries, and veins, and the heart, as
if to make up for the want of action in their extreme ends.
Again; the surface is everywhere as full of little
nerves as it is of little vessels. But the action as well as
the sensibility of these, too, is hindered by our neglect of
cleanliness. This is particularly true of the action of the
nerves which go to the organs of sense. The senses,
seeing, hearing, smelling, and touch, and perhaps taste,
are rendered less active and therefore less acute, by the
inaction of the whole surface of the body.
But once more. The same change which is effected
in the lungs by the circulation of the blood through their
tissue—a change of the blood from bad to good—takes
place also, or should take place, in every part of the sur-
face of the body. In other words, the skin is designed,
like the internal surface of the lungs, to be a purifier of
the blood. Does any one believe that this office can be
duly effected while it is loaded with dust or filth
Hence we see a few of the ways in which neglect of
cleanliness may endanger health. From these and other
THE LAWS OF HEALTH, 269
considerations, we lay it down as indispensable to action
and health, that we should use frequent, and even daily,
partial and general ablutions.
3. PROPER NUTRITION.—This great law of health is so
connected with the proper action of a wide range of organs,
that we might almost be justified in speaking of it as
wholly depending on action for its existence. But we
mean not so much. There is a wide difference in the
material which is submitted to the digestive process.
Still, let the material be as excellent as it may, if the
teeth do not act upon it, if the salivary glands do not
perform their part of the work, and if the stomach and
the vessels which secrete the gastric juice, and the bile,
and the pancreatic fluid, have not their appropriate action,
the function of nutrition will be imperfect. Nay, if all
were perfect thus far, and good chyle should be formed,
yet if perspiration do not go on through the action of the
skin, and respiration through the action of the lungs, the
body will not be well nourished. There is also a sort
of nourishment afforded by proper air; but this, to be
healthy, requires healthy action of the lungs. We might
add still more and say, that without full action of the
muscles of the body, if everything else were right, every-
thing will still go wrong in the system.
Are we not, hence, fully justified in considering proper
action as the great law of human health 2 And have we
not shown, in as compendious a manner as the nature of
the case will admit, that disease is the consequence of
inaction ? We say have we not done so ; but here, per-
haps, from our brevity, we have failed. It is impossible to
bring into the compass of half a dozen pages, what
requires for its full illustration a volume. The case
could be made out satisfactorily, had we space enough.
We may be asked, if sleep has nothing to do with
270 THE LAWS OF HEALTH.
health. But sleep may be regarded as an intermission of
muscular exercise and of the action of the thinking
powers. Too much sleep, therefore, besides producing
other evils, leaves too little time for action, as too little
does too much ; and profound sleep injures by suspend-
ing action too completely.
Cheerfulness, it will also be said, has much to do with
health. It has ; but cheerfulness, too, depends upon the
appropriate action of the mind and heart. In short, turn
which way we will, and human health and happiness
may, almost without exception, be resolved into proper
action as the great procuring cause ; and disease, into a
want of it.
This may be regarded as a compendium—imperfect,
indeed, but yet a compendium—of our views on health.
It embraces, we believe—at least, has a place for—every
topic which is discussed by the most elaborate writers on
hygiene. Hence will be seen the very great mistake of
those who charge us with being a mere teacher on die-
tetics, and the still greater mistake—not to say folly—of
those who will have it that it is a leading object with us
to teach people not to eat animal food. But we must
wait with all patience, in regard to being understood.
Flesh eating forms about as conspicuous a figure among
our instructions, perhaps, as the little state of Massachu-
setts does among the twenty-six states of the confederacy.
We have prepared the foregoing article, not only to
commend, in a new form, our subject, but to endeavor to
scatter, as we pass, a little light. We beg those who
accuse us of narrow views, and of making too much of
particular subjects, to look carefully over our various
numbers, and to read the foregoing article.
DANGER OF EARTHEN WESSELS. 271
DANGER OF EARTHEN WESSELS.
MR. EDITOR —In the July number of the Library of
Health, you state that the common or red earthen vessels
of the country, are glazed with an oxyde of lead, &c.
The object of this communication is to inquire whether
any other substance but acids will combine with this
oxyde to form a poison, and whether it is unsafe to use
these vessels for other culinary purposes, such as baking
puddings and beans, and preserving milk, or any other
food not containing acids. Is there, moreover, entire
safety in using stone vessels—jugs, jars, &c. .*
IGNORAMUs.
REPLY.—It is entirely safe to use the red earthen ves-
sels alluded to, for baking puddings, &c., or for cooking,
or preserving anything where there is no acid evolved, or
likely to be. If milk stands in them till it is sour, the
acid might then act upon the glazing ; and so might
puddings or anything else, in similar circumstances.
But as long as we are sure they are perfectly sweet, there
is safety. Stone jugs, jars, &c., are usually glazed with
salt, and are therefore, so far as we know, perfectly safe.
This we regard as a sufficient reply to the foregoing
questions; but let not those who read the reply suppose
they now understand all the dangers of modern cookery,
or see all the pit-falls over which a diseased refinement
requires us to pass.
The question often arises—How can it be that the
Creator has placed us in a world where we cannot per-
form the commonest offices without endangering our
health 2 We reply—The Creator did not, strictly speak-
ing, place us in such a state. He placed us in a state
from which we have fallen ; and now the common lot of
272 CHEWING AND SMOKING TOBACCO.
man seems to be to alternate from a savage state, which
is one extreme of society, to a state of fashionable refine-
ment, which is the other. We do not, however, say that
truth is midway between these extremes ; for it seems to
us that truth would consist in a civilization which is pro-
portionate and harmonious ; whereas, in passing upward
in the cause of civilization and refinement, all is out of
proportion and wanting in harmony. As long as people
remain in a savage state, they need not study the science
of living; but if we will advance, (and we believe God
intended we should,) we must study the laws of the
objects to which we thus introduce ourselves, and their
relations to other objects and to ourselves. Otherwise,
every step is fraught with danger.
When we speak of the general ignorance of the com-
munity on the subject of chemistry, and the consequent
unfitness for performing with safety the duties of house-
wifery, we mean no reproach ; and we are sorry if any
person understands the matter so. We consider it a sub-
ject of regret, indeed, but not of reproach.
CHEWING AND SMOKING TOBACCO.
“How small the number of young men,” said a lady
one day, as she sat by a window where multitudes were
continually passing, “who are not perpetually seen with a
cigar in their mouth, or throwing forth from their mouth
large quantities of tobacco juice 3’” “It is most painful,”
she added, “to think to what a pitch the detestable habits
of smoking and chewing tobacco have arrived. For
my part, I can scarcely avoid associating all who use
tobacco in any form ; and regarding them, whatever may
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE. 273
be the difference of their external appearance, as belong-
ing to one common herd.”
Is it possible, said I, that you make no discrimination ?
“Not in the least; ” said she, “and I know of other
ladies who say the same. They say they can scarcely
endure the sight of them. And how astonishing it is
that young men of the present day, in view of all the light
which has been shed around them on the subject, should
persist in such disgusting practices 2 ”
It is truly astonishing, I said. But pray do you mean
to say that you regard all tobacco chewers and smokers
as intemperate 2
“Not precisely so bad as that,” she replied; “but we
set them down as mean men. We cannot regard them
as gentlemen. No real gentleman, it seems to us, can
follow these disgusting practices.”
If this sentiment of the ladies were as universal as I
hope it will be fifty years hence, we should have very lit-
tle occasion for uttering our anathemas against the use
of tobacco. It would soon be confined to the shelves of
the apothecaries; nor would its neighbors on the same
shelves be as often called up as they now are.
A.
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE.
[We go “the whole,” as our readers well know, for the doctrines of the
following article. It is extracted from the Report of the New Haven
County Medical Society, to which we adverted in a late number.]
T THERE is not, within the range of our knowledge, a
more complicated piece of mechanism than the human
system. Taken in the number of its parts, and the va-
riety and intricacy of its laws, it is without an equal. A
274 THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE.
perfect knowledge of its construction and composition, as
a simple machine, is the work of years; and this knowl-
edge does not require a tithe of the study necessary to
comprehend it fully as a living system.
It is upon the system that the physician is obliged to
operate. It is his business to understand its powers, to
perceive the nature and seat of its disorders, and on pro-
per occasions, to speed, to check, to modify, or in some
way to correct its movements. Surely, then, two or three
years is a period short enough in which to lay in a com-
petent store of the knowledge in question.
It is agreed that he who would put in order even the
simplest mechanical contrivance, must inform himself
in regard to its construction. An old wooden clock that
needs repair is not put into the hands of a man who never
saw the interior of a clock; or if placed in such hands,
the owner expects it will be spoiled. He who would
prescribe successfully for a disordered time-keeper, must
acquaint himself with the number and relation of its parts,
and the mechanical forces which originate and regulate
its motion ; or, in other words, he must study its anatomy
and physiology.
And is a man fitted for the office of superintending,
regulating and repairing the human machine—of pre-
scribing correctly for its multiplied disorders, who knows
nothing of its parts, powers and operations—nothing of
its anatomy and physiology 2 And would it not be well to
require of him who takes upon himself this office, at
least that amount of knowledge respecting his business
which we are accustomed to demand of our ordinary
mechanics? Undoubtedly it is as difficult and intricate
a piece of work to patch up a broken constitution as a
leaky pair of boots—to keep a-going a rickety human
system as a rickety timepiece ; while the consequences
of blundering and bungling workmanship are even more
In OmentOuS.
THE SCIENCE OF MEDICINE. 275
But a knowledge of anatomy and physiology merely,
is not all that is required of the physician. Besides
being acquainted with disease in all its various and ever
varying forms, he must know the means best adapted to
cure it. Disease is to be removed by the application of
certain agents or instruments which have power to modify
the functions, to rouse or diminish vital energy, to correct
disordered movements, and to restore the lost balance of
the system.
These agents are to the physician what tools are to the
mechanic. They have multiplied powers, and multiplied
and varying relations to our organs, which it is no easy
matter to learn. To understand their nature fully, the
purposes to which they may be applied, and the effects
which they are calculated to produce, in all the different
forms of disease, and under the different circumstances of
constitution, age, sex, season, climate, &c., is a task suffi-
cient for the acutest mind and the most persevering in-
dustry.
It cannot with reason be disputed, then, that medicine,
in order to be understood, must be studied. Medical skill
can be the result of nothing else than severe and pro-
tracted application. It is not a thing that men are born
with, or purchase of strolling Indians and seventh sons,
or learn by dreaming, or even discover by meditation, any
more than shoe-making or ship-making. There is nei-
ther magic nor witchcraft about it. It cannot be acquired
without some expense, both of time and money, and with-
out, at least, a common share of understanding. The
lazy and the lounging, as well as the weak and the igno-
rant, can never possess it. That which comes without
industry is pretension, and makes—up in bustling and
boasting what it lacks of something better.
But perhaps what we have said on this point is better
than more. Those who look upon study and application
276 JONES, THE MONOMANIAC.
as, of course, indispensable to true medical skill, will per-
haps regard what has been offered as mere trifling, and
unworthy even the little space which has been allotted it;
while such as consider our art as nothing better than a
sort of knack, which certain men and women get by in-
heritance, or as a kind of juggling akin to fire-eating, and
best exercised by mountebanks and vagabonds, will hardly
be convinced by anything in the shape of argument.
JONES, THE MONOMANIAC.#
Jones was once a school-mate of mine ; and though
regarded by his companions and friends as a little defi-
cient in mental energy, he gave no more evidence of dis-
order or derangement than any other boy. He was quiet,
modest, unoffending and unassuming ; and if he had but
few friends, he certainly had still fewer enemies.
His father and mother, and most of his other near
relatives, left him at an early age. Some of them died.
Jones was thus thrown upon his own resources. He had
no one to advise or assist him—hardly to converse with
him. Something, however, he must do for a livelihood;
and he soon turned his attention to basket-making. In
company with a distant relative, he followed this employ-
ment for many years.
Having arrived at the age of thirty; having acquired
a few hundred dollars and added it to the avails of a
small patrimonial inheritance, he now purchased a small
farm, on which was a comfortable dwelling and barn.
* The real name of this individual it has been thought proper to Sup-
press.
JONES, THE MONOMANIAC. 277
He suffered the house to be occupied, for a time, by a
tenant, in whose family he boarded; but when, after the
lapse of a year or two, this tenant removed, Jones re-
mained, and kept what is called in the language of the
country where he resided, bachelor's hall.
He had already become excessively attached to pro-
perty, and as regardless almost of everything else, as if
there was nothing else in the world. If he ever con-
versed with a neighbor or a friend, he was sure to fall to
talking, soon, of his possessions, or those of others; and
if it be true, that out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh, no one could doubt where his heart
was, and what it was that had engrossed almost all his
thoughts, and quite all of his affections.
In short, he had become the slave of avarice, and a
hermit in spirit, long before he became one in reality. He
had, for some time, studiously avoided society, except
that of the family to which he belonged; and now, left
entirely alone, he shunned the whole world. If he had
anything to sell, he would indeed go abroad to sell it ;
but in other cases he lived entirely a recluse. What he
had done of washing and cooking was done by himself;
but the truth was, he had little labor of the kind done.
He was too parsimonious to eat or drink much, or to
expend much time on his person or clothing.
At last he was observed, by those who saw him, to
labor under derangement. He accused his neighbors of
trespassing upon his grounds, stealing his timber, &c.
They endeavored, at first, to convince him of their inno-
cence, or to appease his feelings; but the attempt was at
length given up. They found him to persist in his
—opinions with an obstimacy which left no hope of effecting
a change.
At the present time, he is observed to converse with
the most perfect propriety on every topic with which he
278 JONES, THE MONOMANIAC.
is acquainted, except the single one of his own posses-
sions. Here he is, at once, bewildered. He fancies all
men are combined to wrong him; and complains of
every one whom he finds at labor anywhere in the vicinity
of his own premises, threatening him with prosecution,
costs, &c. He even talks, and with uncommon fluency,
of the cases he already has in court; and if you meet
him going abroad and ask him in regard to his business,
he is going—so he will tell you—to attend some court
where the trial of a neighbor is going on for trespass
upon his possessions. The poor imaginary defendant has
been ploughing, or sowing, or planting, or mowing his
fields, or he has—with more boldness—erected a house,
barn, &c., upon his princely territories.
It is indeed quite amusing to the neighbors of young
Jones, (for he is yet but about forty,) to find him so per-
fectly same on all other topics, and such a perfect madman
on this single one, of property. So striking a case of
monomania has never been witnessed in that part of the
country.
And yet I greatly fear that instances not unlike this of
Jones, are of every day occurrence, throughout our coun-
try. I do not mean by this that they are all equally con-
firmed, or equally incurable. But I am most fully con-
vinced, that amid the rage for speculation, and the over
eager desire for accumulation, men fix their thoughts so
exclusively on this one topic that they soon get bewil-
dered. They come to attach undue importance to wealth
in general, and ultimately to lose the sense of right and
wrong. There is, in my view, no other way of account-
ing for the conduct, at the present day, of many other-
wise good men, and especially of some who appear, in all
other respects, except property, to be the genuine disciples
of Christ.
JONES, THE MONOMANIAC. 279
Nor is it men of speculation and wealth alone who
lose their mental balance. Persons devoted exclusively
to other objects as well as to accumulating property, if
they fix their whole thoughts and souls on it with inten-
sity, come at length to the same state of derangement.
True, their progress is gradual, but the end is almost
certain. The God of nature never made his creatures
to fix their minds or hearts so exclusively on themselves
or their own concerns, or even on any darling earthly
project. Man was made a social as well as a civil and
moral being. He has numerous and varied objects for
his attention, and duties for his fulfilment to those around
him, in his own family and neighborhood, as well as to
the state and to the great Creator. And he who foregoes
these, is sure, in my view, to become a monomaniac-not
to as great an extent, perhaps, as Jones; but the essential
causes and characteristics are the same, and the conse-
quences may come to be similarly if not equally disas-
trous. Health, peace of mind, and ultimately everything
else will be sacrificed.
Let him who has devoted himself so exclusively to any-
thing, no matter how excellent or praise-worthy, as to
deny himself the privilege of looking into other things—
who is so intent perhaps on some great and glorious
object, as in passing through Rome not to see Rome—let
him, I say, beware. He is certainly in danger of mono-
mania. I do not say that he cannot escape shipwreck,
but I do say he is in great danger. I know such men—
just such men—such reformers—such Howards—seem
everywhere necessary. Yet I say again, and I repeat it,
that the caution may be heard and pondered, the course
is not without danger.
To no class of men do the foregoing remarks apply
with more force than to Reformers. Of all men, without
well-balanced minds, they will be most likely to become
280 QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED.
the victims of monomania; if, indeed, some of them are
not already such. Let them I say, once more—may, let
ws—beware. There are few Pauls among us, to deter-
mine to know nothing, except on a single subject, to do it
boldly and fearlessly, and to pursue our path with a brain
and nervous system unscathed. Nor do we know that
Paul could have withstood so successfully the danger, had
he not applied himself so diligently, during much of his
time on week days, to laboring with his hands; and had
he not, occasionally, turned aside to regard the common
hospitalities of friends, relatives and acquaintances. But
all reformers have not his native mental energy, nor the
tenth of his mental discipline. Between him and the
monomaniac Jones, is an extensive range and variety of
mind; and multitudes who have not, and perhaps some
who have the stock of the former to begin with, will be
likely to end with the bankruptcy of the latter.
QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED.
[From the First Annual Report of the American Physiological Society.]
A PERSON has cut his foot with an axe. The physi-
cian or surgeon is called. He ties up the bleeding
vessels, if necessary, and examines the nature—the depth
and character—of the wound. If the edges contract, or
recede from each other on account of the division of ten-
dons or strong muscles, he may find it necessary to fasten
the divided edges by a stitch or two. But if there is no
particular difficulty in so doing, he simply puts the di-
vided edges of the wound together, and contrives some
method—bandages or sticking plaster—to keep them
QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED. 281
there, and the work, on his part, is completed. Nature
does the rest. Should there be too high a degree of
inflammation, it is kept down by the occasional applica-
tion of a little cold water.
But what does quackery 2 Perhaps she puts the di-
vided edges of the wound together properly, and contrives
to keep them there ; perhaps she does not. Then she
applies something that she affirms will cure everybody—
a peach leaf, for example. And this—and not nature—
performs, she thinks, the cure ; or at least, nature could
not do the work without the peach leaf.
Here, however, doctors—quack doctors, at least—differ.
One will tell you the peach leaf is an infallible cure for
all wounds; another says it is some other leaf. One
says molasses is the best thing; another, tobacco juice.
Another applies a piece of snake skin, another, perhaps
some healing ointment. In short, there are hundreds, if
not thousands of different cures in vogue, not only among
some of those who are called physicians or surgeons,
but among the whole mass of a quackish community.
Every one is sure his prescription is best, because it is a
certain cure. It never failed.
And do not all these various applications cure ? But
if so, how happens it that a hundred different things per-
form the cure equally well ?
The secret is, that none of them cure. Not one of
them, in one case in a hundred, does any good. Nay,
they usually do hurt, by retarding the cure slightly. No
external application, in this way, has any power over a
deep cut or wound, to cleanse, or draw, or heal it. You
might just as well, or nearly as well, attempt to heal or
cleanse a wound made with an axe in the side of a tree,
by external applications, as a wound in a human body.
You might as well hope to extract a nail from a post or a
plank, into which it had been driven, as by means of an
18
282 QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED.
ointment or plaster to draw anything out of the human
body.
The truth is, the cure, if it takes place at all, is an
internal process. It is the result of what we, in our igno-
rance, call the powers of nature. Wounds heal from the
bottom, if they heal right. If substances come out of
the wound, they are pushed out by the powers of nature;
not drawn out by anything. The wound heals, and all
things go on well in spite of any external application, and
not on account of any aid they afford. A soft piece of linen,
or something of the kind, may be useful in keeping the
tender, wounded surface from the cold air, or from being
fretted or otherwise injured by surrounding objects ; but
this is the extent or nearly the extent of its value.
There is a beautiful illustration of this subject, found
in history. A traveller—a naturalist—in one of the
northern countries of Europe, was surprised to find so
many different cures for the bite of the viper. Almost
every family had its certain cure ; and some of these
cures were as utterly opposed to each other in their
nature, as light is to darkness. How could the puzzle be
explained . At last he discovered that some families used
nothing at all, and with equal success; and on investigat-
ing the subject profoundly, he learned the secret. The
bite of the viper, though often fatal in hot climates, was
seldom if ever dangerous in cold northern climates.
Every medicine, therefore, provided it did no great harm,
was a certain cure
We have extended these remarks to so great a length,
because we wish to expose, fully, the principle of quack-
ery. We do not undertake to affirm that it belongs
exclusively to one class or profession of citizens; but
more or less to all. We find it in all men; we find it in
ourselves. Have we taken something for a cold or a
headache, or have we made an application externally to
QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED. 2S3
a sore or wound, and has restoration soon followed ? How
apt are we to use the same medicine or make the same
application whenever we fancy ourselves in a similar
condition, without taking into consideration the ten thou-
sand different circumstances in which we are now placed,
and without asking ourselves whether, in the former case,
it was nature or the medicine that wrought the cure :
And how apt are we to go even farther, and if a certain
remedy has been administered, in our own case, and we
recovered soon after, not only ascribe the cure to the
medicine, but recommend it to all other persons, whom,
in our haste, we believe to be affected in the same man-
ner Yet this, whenever it is done, whether by ourselves
or others, is quackery. It is deducing general rules for
all men, from single facts, in our own experience. It is
acting from experience, it is true ; but it is a narrow
experience. The facts in the case are, or may be, false
facts. Whereas science is the results of large experience
—an experience drawn from numerous cases, and various
observations and circumstances.
No doubt many of our favorite medicines, the world
over, are medicines of great power and efficacy, in the
cases to which they are adapted. Hence it is, that
they sometimes not only seem to cure, but actually do
cure. This we do not attempt to deny or conceal. It
would be strange if such should not be the occasional
result.
It is also true—another fact we are studious not to
conceal—that certain medicines may actually cure us of
the disease for which they are given, perhaps several
times, or a number of years in succession ; and yet be
tered. The disease for which they were applied was the
infliction of a penalty for some previous organic transgres-
sion. The medicine benumbed the nerves, so as to
284 QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED.
diminish the pain, or it forced open the pores of the skin;
and an apparent recovery was the consequence. But
what sort of a recovery It may be a recovery whose
effects are worse for us than the original disease. That
is, had we endured the first disease, at least, had we
withheld our hot tea, or our liquid aeriform substances,
and left the cure to nature, and had we never again
repeated the transgression, the relief might have been
permanent. But we forced a cure, and in so doing we
may have inflicted, by violence, a species of injury which
prepared the way for a repeated attack of the same dis-
€3.Se.
In this way it often is, that a cup of tea cures the
nervous headache, or an emetic relieves the stomach. It
affords relief, indeed, for the time; but it weakens the
organs so that when we again transgress its laws, the
disease returns; and if other things are all equal, with a
greater or less degree of increased violence.
There is even room for alarm, both on account of the
ignorance and the danger of an individual who is fre-
quently curing his complaints with some specific applica-
tion, or dose, or lotion. The very fact, that a substance
seems to afford this repeated relief should make us afraid
of it, and should not only lead us to doubt its safety,
but to perceive the depth of our own ignorance.
No person, in philosophical strictness of language, ever
required the same treatment twice since the world began;
nor is the same treatment ever applicable to two different
individuals. The reason is obvious; ourselves are never
twice the same persons, at least in a physical point of
view, nor are two persons, sick or well, ever precisely
alike.
We repeat it, therefore, the world is full of ignorance
and its consequent quackery, while true science, espe-
cially the science of human life, is as rare, almost, as the
QUACKERY ILLUSTRATED. 285
gems of Golconda. There is little if any safety even in
the ordinary domestic practice of medicine in our fami-
lies for colds, headaches, &c., abundant in good sense as
most of our wives and mothers are. As nurses, there
may be some safety in relying on them. A good nurse,
indeed, is almost everything. But as physicians, even in
the little complaints of our households, more of mischief
is usually done than good. And perhaps it is not far
from the truth to say, that the greater the apparent success
of this domestic doctoring, the greater is the danger of
injuring the constitution, and sowing the seeds of disease,
in such a manner that they shall inevitably spring up and
bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some an
hundred fold.
How great, then, the necessity of medical advice and
aid in the early management of our children How
important that the twig be bent right, and that it be bent
right by skilful hands ! And how great the error of those
who suppose that “anybody’ can manage the colds,
and eruptions, and other little complaints, as they are
regarded, of early infancy; nay, and even of adult years'
The reverse were more true. The physician is indeed
useful, if he is skilful, in the larger complaints of life, but
in regard to the smaller ones, useful is too cold a word;
he is indispensable. We know this may be a hard say-
ing ; but we are confident that however heterodox it may
be, it is true, and must be heard, ere quackery can be
banished, or the human constitution disabused or regen-
erated.
286 EFFECTS OF OPIUM.
EFFECTS OF OPIUM.
THE direful effects of opium, except as a medicine, are
as yet but little known in this country. Alcohol, in its
various forms, and tobacco, have hitherto been the promi-
ment excitants. In proportion as these are driven away
by public opinion to the pit whence they emerged, there
is great reason to fear that the use of other excitants as
substitutes will increase. Trained as children now are,
to the use of high seasoned and other improper food, and
to warm tea and coffee, they will not be likely wholly to
omit other excitants. There is even great reason to fear
that opium is already becoming, in many instances, a
substitute for alcohol. We knew four persons, not long
since, in a single town, who used this drug to excess. To
those who doubt whether opium is often used to excess in
any country, we commend the following extract of a letter
from Mr. Johnson, missionary at Bankok, in Siam, as
published in the Missionary Herald for July. We beg
them, moreover, to remember that human nature, in its
essentials, is the same here as it is in Siam.
“Great as have been the evils resulting from the use
of ardent spirits among our own countrymen, the use of
opium is an unspeakably greater evil among the perish-
ing millions of the Chinese. Did time permit, I could
fill sheets on this melancholy subject. It has been thought
by some that it is in daily and habitual use by more than
three fourths of the Chinese residents in this city, and by
multitudes of the Siamese, male and female, though a
prohibited article. I have seen misery in my native
land, but nothing to be compared to the various forms of
wretchedness which here often meet my eyes and pain
my heart.” “No one can calculate the awful ravages
EFFECTS OF OPIUM. 2S7
produced among the Chinese by the use of this poisonous
drug. To see and reflect upon them is heart sickening.
But this poison is furnished them principally by those
who are called christians.”
These statements are confirmed by the Chinese Re-
pository. In the last numbers of that most excellent work
there is a controversy on the subject, which was excited
by some remarks of Arch-deacon Dealtry, of Calcutta.
The latter comes out against the use of this drug, and
above all against the sale of it to the Chinese ; and talks
like a good and wise man. This offends somebody in
Canton—some person, no doubt, whose purse would be
affected by a discontinuance of the trade; and forth
comes a hot reply. This calls forth another writer in
Canton, who takes the side of the Arch-deacon, and ex-
poses the false reasoning of the other. He shows, espe-
cially, in a light quite ridiculous, the weakness and wick-
edness of the plea, that “if I do not take the profit of the
trade, bad as it may be, somebody more unprincipled
would.” We should verily suppose that no man with
half a conscience would again presume, for one moment,
to enter upon a defence of opium using, opium selling, or
opium smuggling.
But this is not all. The Chinese themselves are get-
ting awake on the subject. In the Repository, for Decem-
ber, is a memorial of Choo Tsun, member of the Council
and Board of Rites, to the Chinese Emperor, treating of
the nature of opium, the odious character of the trade in
it, the impolicy of continuing it, and its baneſul effects
not only on the physical happiness, but also on the moral
well being of the people. He says that the amount con-
tributed by the Bengal presidency alone, (we suppose he
means yearly,) through the opium trade, to debase the
morals, and destroy the mental and corporeal vigor of the
2SS CONSUMPTIVE CHILDREN.
Chinese nation, has now reached £2,000,000; and adds
that “one might almost fancy that the trade arose out of
some preconceived plan for stupifying the Chinese, to
pave the way for conquering the empire.”
The same journal also contains the memorial of Heu
Kew, another great man among the Chinese, pleading with
great earnestness and with much cogency of argument,
the impolicy of admitting opium into the empire, com-
plaining of the conduct of foreigners in regard to it, and
urging the necessity of checking their efforts. These me-
morials are followed by an edict of the emperor, referring
them to the chief provincial officers of Canton, and
charging them to examine the subject and ascertain how
much smuggling there is, and how much truth in the
views of Choo Tsun and Heu Kew. Had we room to
insert them, the whole series of articles would be instruc-
tive, so much light do they throw on the whole subject of
temperance, so clearly do they exhibit the weakness of
the arguments usually employed in the defence of the
manufacture and trade in spirituous liquors, and so loudly
do they warn us against the mischiefs which would follow
from the substitution of other poisonous articles for intoxi-
cating liquors.
CONSUMPTIVE CHILDREN.
No fact, we believe, is better established by the observa-
tions of judicious practitioners of medicine and surgery,
than that intemperate parents are apt to have scrofulous
and consumptive children.
Enter any country or city alms-house, where there are
considerable numbers of children collected together, and
FASHIONABLE POISONING. 289
you will be struck, at once, with the appearance of the
children. A very large proportion of them will have
scrofulous constitutions; and if an examination could be
made, not a few of them would be found to have small
tubercles in their lungs—the foundation of phthisical
complaints, or consumptions.
The physician who has for some years past superin-
tended the House of Industry at South Boston, has fre-
quently made this remark; and we are confident that it
needs but one visit to that institution to convince any
thinking person that his remark is well founded.
If the use, them, of stimulating drinks, whether in large
quantity or small, is paving the way in every generation
for an increase of scrofula and comsumption in the next
—and if the same is true of food which is unnecessarily
heating and stimulating, as well as of medicine taken
without just cause, what a powerful argument do we hence
derive for “temperance in all things 2 ”—We beg the
reader, especially the christian parent, to ponder this sub-
ject; and not only consider, but beware.
FASHIONABLE DINING.
AN individual chanced to be present, not long since,
at the ordinary dinner of a fashionable family in one of
the country towns in New England; and she gives the
following account of it.
In addition to the usual round of meat and vegetables,
there was on the table a full supply of ketchup, Cayenne
pepper, mustard and vinegar; and for the fish, about a
pint of melted butter. Added to these was an apple pie,
and to each person a hard boiled egg,
290 FASHIONABLE POISONING.
The husband was absent, for that time, but the lady
ate most enormously—in other words, most gluttonously
—of all the various dishes I have named, and several
others. She plied especially the fish and melted butter.
She also prevailed with her guest and her two children
to eat freely, though not so freely as herself.
As soon as dinner was over, she complained of pain in
her stomach, and was obliged to lie down. After resting
a little while, and getting easy, she rose and ordered a
quantity of apples, to eke out the dinner. I say ordered,
for she had servants in great numbers about her, and had
only to say the word and everything was done.
Now this whole family, with strong native constitu-
tions, are almost perpetually complaining of illness in one
form or other. When not ill, they do indeed appear to
be remarkably strong and vigorous ; but their gluttony
and intemperance soon bring them down again ; and the
physician is called. I do not think their bill for physi-
cians and medicine, during the last three years, can have
fallen short of $500, to say nothing of loss of time. Yet
it need not have been $50.
You cannot indeed convince one of this family, espe-
cially the lady, that they use anything which they should
not, or that they use anything in an improper manner.
They use 400 or 500 pounds of sugar, and a hogshead of
molasses in a year, for example; but they think they need
it, and all the abundance of their condiments. Besides,
their business is flourishing, and God has given them the
good things of life, they say, to themselves ; and why
should they not use them 2 They seem to forget the
penalties they are perpetually paying ; and the still
greater penalty they are dooming their children and
grand-children and great grand-children to pay.
I say nothing at present about the use of melted butter
on food—that mother of abominations—but let us look a
A. VE GE TABLE EATER. 29]
moment at the condiments. They are, besides salt,
ketchup, Cayenne pepper, mustard and vinegar. Now
take a mixture of these substances, together with the food
which they accompany, just as it is in the stomach while
digestion is going on, and at the same temperature, and
bind it in the form of a poultice on the arm or any part of
the body, and what would be the consequence 2 In half
an hour would there not be a redness—a degree of ob-
vious inflammation ? But if the tough skin is inflamed
by it, will any person of common sense suppose the tender
lining of the stomach can escape 2 Need we ask them
why the consumers of such substances are so often the
subjects of disease ?
A WEGETABLE EATER.
I WAS sitting at a window in one of the villages in
New England, not long since, while some boys who at-
tended the High School in the vicinity, were amusing
themselves on a green bank a few rods distant. One of
our company observed—“See that young Samson; how
he makes them all fly before him.”
Young Samson, as they called him, was a youth of
sixteen from Ohio. On inquiry I learned that he was so
much more than a match, in point of strength, for any boy
of his age in the neighborhood, that he was singled out,
by them all, as their champion.
For an example of his strength, it was mentioned that
as a person was rolling into a store or shop some bar-
rels of flour, our young Samson who was standing there,
or happened to come along just at the time, took up the
barrels, one by one, with almost as much ease as if they
had been so many tops, and walked into the shop with them.
292 THE SPLEND ID CHAMPAGNE.
I learned that his strength was considered the more
remarkable on account of his dietetic habits. The gen-
eral belief in that region is that a person cannot have
strength without eating flesh meat. Yet this youth of
sixteen, weighing 130 or 140 pounds, and possessing the
strength of most men of 30 years of age, has seldom tasted
of flesh or fish. He has been brought up chiefly—indeed
almost entirely—on milk, bread, and other vegetables, and
fruits.
No young man that I have seen has a more healthy
countenance than he. It has none of that unnatural red-
mess which many regard as the “picture of health,” but on
the contrary an uniformly flesh colored and clear appear-
ance, with an unusual brightness and prominence of the
eye, as well as other general marks of cheerfulness.
I also found that he was as remarkable for the mildness
of his temper and the goodness of his heart, as for his
physical strength ; and that there was no person in the
neighborhood who knew him who did not both love and
esteem him.
THE SPLEND ID CHAMPAGNE.
A FAvoRITE editor, in one of our American cities, in
commenting on certain changes in a coffee house says—
“Hereafter all the good fellows will collect at 2 o'clock,
and sit down together to discuss the rarities and luxu-
ries of the table; the wine and wit will sparkle brighter,
and a better digestion wait upon appetite. It is a mys-
tery to many where W obtains his splendid cham-
pagne.”
If this does not cap the climax of silliness, to say noth-
ing of its anti-temperance tendency, pray what would 3
M IS C E L L A NY.
Physiologic AI, SocIETY.—The members of this Society
amount to two hundred and seven. They hold monthly
meetings for lectures, discussions, &c., which are well at-
tended. They are preparing a Physiological Library. The
First Annual Report of the Society has been prepared, and is
in press. A specimen of it may be seen in the present num-
ber of this work.
The grand point at which the society aim, is the prevention
of vice, and crime, and disease, and premature death, by dif-
fusing the light of physiology. They do not expect any great
or very salutary changes—political, social or moral—that
shall not include an entire reformation in the present physical
habits of our community, and a deeper, and more rational,
and philosophical regard to physical education as the basis of
individual and national happiness. They do not hope for any-
thing sufficiently stable to stand against the torrents now rising
in the earth, till men are taught to know and respect the laws
of their internal nature, their relation to nature around them,
and the entire harmony of the external with the internal or
spiritual world.
They do not and cannot expect the millennial glory of the
latter day to dawn, while men, as a mass, remain ignorant of
the laws of life, and health, and longevity. How can the
child be expected to die a hundred years old, while it is almost
universally deemed necessary, as a part of the Creator's plan,
that one third or one half the race should die under ten years
of age 2
REForM IN Schools.-Strict attention, says a writer in the
“Annals of Education,” is paid to the health of the pupils, in
the Collegiate Institute at Poughkeepsie, and they are attended
by a skilful and experienced physician when necessary. In-
294 MISCELLANY.
deed, it has become quite common of late to compliment the
subject and laws of hygiene in this manner. Yet after all,
we greatly fear that what is done does not amount to much.
If it consists chiefly in a little dosing with medicine, after the
pupil actually gets sick, and curing him thereby as quickly as
possible, we have little confidence in it. The slowest cures,
as a general rule, are most likely to be permanent. Besides, it
is not cure for which physicians to these institutions are
wanted, so much as prevention.
There was an article in the same “Annals of Education,”
about a year ago, entitled, “What an educator should know,”
abounding with good sense on this subject. The experiments
mentioned in that article by a German educator, are highly
interesting and important.
OVER-LoADING THE STOMACH.—It is said that in some parts
of South America—we believe about Demerara—mothers
make it a point to feed children to the full, and then shake it
down as you would ears of corn in a bag. A friend of ours,
well known in this city, says he has seen mothers toss their
children in their arms repeatedly, to shake down the bananas
they had given them, in order that the stomach might hold
II].OI’é.
Now is this custom, unnatural as it may seem, much more
so than some of the customs which prevail to a very great
extent among us? Are not the processes of soaking, oiling
and mashing food to get it down the casier, almost as irra-
tional P And yet do they not extensively prevail?
In travelling in a canal packet boat, not long since, we saw
a mother take her child, as soon as it had finished its regular
dinner, and feed it largely with pudding, interposing a draught
of water between about every two or three mouthfuls; and
urging and hurrying on the process till the child was literally
full, and could swallow no more.
About the same time, we sat at a dinner consisting of hot
flour bread, potatoes mashed and highly seasoned, boiled
bacon, boiled salted beef, fresh fish covered with some condi-
ment, veal, boiled greens, hot pudding, lettuce, raw onions,
MISCELLANY. 295
and soft cheese, for every single dish of which except the
cheese, there were sauces, gravies, oily substances, or vinegar,
or other condiments to make them. Was there a single natu-
ral or rational dish among them 2 And were not those who
were stuffed or who stuffed themselves in this way, as much
to be pitied as the poor children of South America?
Dos!NG.—In travelling recently, nearly every mother of
a family had phials and medicine with her; and some of them
did not seem to think it possible for their children to have a
night's rest without elixir. A friend observed to me, in strong
language, that it appeared to be quite fashionable for ladies,
when they travelled, to carry their medicine chests with them.
Sometimes the mother herself would take a dose, though pro-
fessedly in good health. Perhaps she thought if it did her
poor fatigued or sick child so much good, it must be still more
useful to the strong and healthy. We have heard of worse
logic than this.
A child with the hooping cough, not more than four or five
years old, was seen the other day about the streets with a
bottle, and every time he inclined to cough was seen to drink
a little. On inquiry, it was found to be elixir; and that he
was only using it according to his mother's directions.
To what is the world coming 2
EFFECTs of SALTPETRE.-Saltpetre is usually put on meat
to render it more tender, by partially destroying the fibre. No
doubt is usually entertained, we believe, of its being healthy.
And yet the liquor in which saltpetred meat has been boiled is
said to poison hogs when given them with their food. This
is the only direct evidence of its poisonous nature with which
we are acquainted. But there are other strong reasons for
supposing so.
Saltpetre is composed of nitric acid or aqua fortis, which is
a violent corrosive and poison. In its compound form of a
Salt it may not be so hurtful as when pure, but even then it
may not be wholly harmless. But when it is put into the
296 MISCELLANY.
brine, a chemical action begins, the acid is freed from the salt-
petre and begins to assail or eat the fibre of the meat and
make it tender, just as it would do the living fibre, except that
so little is used that the effect is not very conspicuous. There
can be little doubt that the brine of pork containing saltpetre
is poisonous.—CoM.
PoisonED BEEF.—We are assured that from the wash of
the grain which is distilled in a single town in Oneida county,
in New York, one thousand cattle are annually fattened for
the market. And yet it is said that all animals fed in this way
are positively diseased, and would die so, if their death was
not prevented by the butcher.
DISEASED MILK.—Foreign medical writers of high reputa-
tion, say that all the milch cows in Paris have tubercles in
their lungs, and would die of consumption if they were not
fattened and killed in time to prevent it. Epicures, it is said,
prefer their milk, when consumptive, as well as their beef.
All cows and other domestic animals confined unnaturally,
sicken, as do the animals in our menageries. Nearly all the
meats of our markets—fish, perhaps, excepted—are, in one
way or another, poisoned.
A HEALTHY SUMMER.—The Graham Journal says “the
doctors” complain that it is a healthy summer. All summers
are healthy enough, were people wise and self-denying enough
to take care of themselves. There is no need of much dis-
ease, even in the worst physical locations and most unfavora-
ble climates.
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS.
[From the Annals of Education.]
CoRRECT physical management not only prevents dis-
ease of body and mind, but it improves the health. This,
it is acknowledged, may seem to many, like a contradic-
tion. Health, it is often supposed, is a positive state ; and
how can health be improved 2
Now, though it were philosophically true that health is
a positive state, and that a person in health can never
become more healthy, it would still be true that there is a
very great difference of physical activity and vigor, and
of consequent enjoyment. A child or an adult may be
free from pain and suffering, and yet his enjoyment—
considered as mere animal enjoyment—may be increased
tenfold. We believe, therefore, that no person is ever so
healthy and happy, but that he may be made healthier
and happier.
As the health of the child depends in no small degree
on the health of the parent, the first lessons which the
physician might be called upon to give, with a view to
the future well being of their offspring, should be given
to the parents. They should be taught the structure and
laws of the human frame, and the netessity of obeying
19
298 THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS.
the latter. The consequences of disobedience, both to
themselves and others, should be plainly pointed out. No
conscientious parent could fail to derive the most impor-
tant benefits, even to himself, from such instruction. And
if he should find the power of habit too strong for him,
the discovery of his own slavery, and the experience of
its consequences, might at least rouse him to exert him-
self to prevent others from wearing the same chains.
But we will suppose a “child is given.” The physician's
advice to the parent will be still important. For if the
infant should inherit no special tendencies to evil, his
constitution may be much injured for life, by one short
month of error on the part of the mother. The general
rules which are usually given, for once, in these circum-
stances, are not sufficient. There needs line upon line—
precept upon precept. There needs much of explanation
and illustration. There needs also appeal—to the sense
of duty, to the conviction of responsibility to God.
How often the child should be nursed ; how often and
how much he should sleep; how much, sleeping or wak-
ing, he may be with safety exposed to noise, strong light,
or disagreeable objects; what should be the temperature
of the water in which he is daily washed; what should
be the material and tightness of his dress—all these, and
many more matters of importance, though subject to fixed
rules in general, require from time to time, and in certain
circumstances, various modifications. Every one, for
example, should be thoroughly washed daily ; but the
appropriate hour, its nearness or remoteness from the
time of nursing, the temperature of the water, length of
time the child remains in the bath, treatment after taken
out, &c., &c., will require some variation with reference
to strength, health, season, and other circumstances.
The physician's counsel will be invaluable in determin-
ing when our treatment of a child should be modified by
THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS. 299
peculiarities in the weather, season, state of the parents'
health, the prevalence of epidemic or other diseases, cut-
ting teeth, &c. Action, action, action, which, after all,
are the first, second and third laws of health, especially
in infancy, he will be able to give some direction to. He
will say whether in his opinion a child should be rocked
in the cradle or tossed on the arm perpetually ; whether
or not there is danger in holding it long in certain posi-
tions; in letting it sleep always or chiefly on one side or
on the back; whether cradles and go-carts are useful;
whether creeping should be restrained or encouraged;
whether teething, walking, speaking, laughing and crying
should be, or can safely be encouraged or repressed ; how
are we to ascertain whether the child cries from pain or
not; and whether it should be encouraged to employ
itself, or be led to depend solely or chiefly on others.
The effects of strong light, unpleasant odors, disagreea-
ble sounds, ugly or deformed objects, especially in the
nursery, the structure, quality, &c., of beds, the effect of
burning lamps in the night, and a thousand other things,
will be much better understood by parents when they
converse freely and frequently on these subjects with
their physician.
The food of the child, whenever any becomes neces-
sary in addition to the mother's milk; its quality, quan-
tity, times of receiving it; whether it may safely be
bruised, mashed or masticated, (especially by a set of
decayed teeth in another person's mouth ;) its tempera-
ture, degree of solidity, &c., all these become interesting
and important topics of inquiry in the progress of a child’s
history. The premature use of condiments, of too large
a proportion of flesh, and of too much liquid food; the
habit of eating too frequently, and between the regular
meals; and the exceedingly common and pernicious
habit of over-ſeeding, have done not a little in our world
300 THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS.
to sow the seeds of those diseases which timely care, in
obedience to judicial medical advice, might have easily
prevented.
A physician will also discover, sooner than the parent,
the first indications of disease, should disease arise.
Should the legs become crooked, the head begin to en-
large unduly, the abdomen become hot or tumid, the skin
dry, and the stomach or bowels irregular; or should colds
become frequent, or symptoms of scrofula or rickets super-
vene, he will be ready to oppose the tendency in due
season, while there is a well grounded hope of averting
the evil.
He will, moreover, greatly assist in determining what
should be the kind of amusements, and what kind and
how much he needs of society, and when and how far,
consistently with the state of cerebral development, he
may be instructed, by conversation, by observation, by
pictures or by tasks.
If the question arise, whether or not he shall be sent
to the infant school, who, like the physician, can deter-
mine whether his health will be safe there ? Who can
so well decide whether the nature of the exercises are
such as to develope body, mind and affections in due pro-
portion and harmony ? Whose advice could be more
important in determining, in one word, whether bodily
health and future happiness are likely to be sacrificed to
a premature display of parrot work—the committing to
memory of things not understood, and the understanding
of things before the brain is prepared for it 2
And when the age arrives at which it is customary to
send children to other schools, how much is the physician
needed to tell us whether our children are prepared for
these important places, and whether these places are pre-
pared for them. How often is health destroyed in the
district school room. How often is the temperature too
THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS, 301
high or too low, or too suddenly varied. How often is
the air impure. How seldom is much attention paid to
ventilation. How often are children seated on improper
benches. How many a spine is made crooked by sitting
on seats without backs, and at writing desks which are
too high, or are otherwise defective. How often are the
pupils of our schools injured by drinking cold water, and
by sitting in currents of air, while too much heated with
exercise : how often, by swallowing their meal, half
masticated, and rushing to play violently in the hot sun.
How many bad habits—of picking the nose, ears, rubbing
the eyes, or biting the nails, are acquired in school to be
lasting as life. To counsel and remind us and assist us
on all these and many more points, how important is it
to have at hand a judicious physician, and to send him
on a voyage of discovery to the school room
Perhaps the health of female pupils is more frequently
put in jeopardy, in school rooms, than that of males.
Perhaps there are among them, more crooked spines and
depressed shoulders, as well as a greater number of over-
tasked brains, and more of that morbid state of the hu-
man system, commonly called nervousness. Perhaps,
moreover, their appetite is oftenest affected. We believe
it cannot be doubted that it is they who are most addicted
to eating chalk, charcoal, clay and slate pencils. The
state of things, however—we mean so far as it is worse
among females than males—is in part owing to tight
dressing ; and so far as this is the fact, is not chargeable
on the school room. But the consequences of this error
of tight lacing, whether of males or females, especially
the latter, will never, we fear, be fully understood until
parents make physicians their privy counsellors in the
work of physical education. Some of the effects of that
reprehensible practice have never yet been dwelt upon
publicly; and for reasons which are well known to the
302 THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS.
medical man. But in the family circle the difficulties to
which we allude disappear. There, the whole truth may
be told. And when this shall be done—and we fear not
before—then it may be expected that mothers will begin
the work of reform.
Physicians can greatly aid parents in determining on
the future destiny of their offspring, as regards occupa-
tion or employment. When and where has the physician
been consulted in this matter? How many a feeble child
is ruined for life, by being placed at the wrong employ-
ment—rendered not only a burden to himself, but to the
whole community. How universally is this matter left
to the control of chance or hap-hazard. Or if any direc-
tion has been given by the parent, it has frequently been
precisely that which should not have been given.
Many a boy, for example, has been “put to learning,”
as it is called, because he was constitutionally feeble and
unable to perform much labor. Now the very reasons
for putting him to learning were the very reasons why he
ought to have been placed upon the farm. A large pro-
portion of the young men who receive a liberal education
in this country, begin their course of study with constitu-
tions comparatively feeble. The consequence of this and
of subsequent errors is, that our literary men, whose
duties involve a sedentary life, for the most part soon
break down. Whereas the smaller number, who begin
their studies in health, and sometimes get through their
course without breaking down, though they may not be
among the most brilliant scholars, are nevertheless, as a
general rule, far more useful than the former class.
It is the strong and vigorous in body and mind, and
they alone, that should become students, and lead a life
necessarily more or less sedentary. This the wise and
faithful physician will be likely to tell the parent, when-
ever he seeks his advice on the subject. And when he
THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS. 303
does so, how many a valuable citizen will he save, to be
useful to himself and to the world !
We do not say that no boy, now feeble, should ever go
to school or to college. By no means. But we do say
that, continuing feeble, he ought not to go. We care
not how great his thirst for knowledge. Invigorate him
in the first place. Then place him at an institution
where his vigor will be preserved, if you place him at
any.
But we need medical advice in regard to the destina-
tion of all our children, as well as the few who are feeble
or who go to college. One of the first inquiries of a
parent should be—For what occupation is this son, by
his physical constitution, best adapted 2 For what this
daughter The physician is the man to aid him in
obtaining a correct answer.
If a son is of a sanguine temperament, with light hair,
light eyes and a fair, thin skin; if he has a narrow chest,
slender neck, and emaciated frame, with shoulders pro-
jecting like wings, no physician of sense would ever con-
sent to sending that son to the shoe bench or the tailor's
bench, or to the school, or college; or to any employment
which should be too sedentary. Agriculture, tanning and
currying, engineering, or some moderately active employ-
ment in the open air would be far better.
Nor would the mother of a daughter with a form like
that above-described, ever be advised to suffer her to go
into a factory, especially into one where she would con-
stantly be inhaling bad air and small particles of dust.
She would be advised to bring her up, rather, to the per-
formance of household duties. In this way she would
prolong her days, and render her a useful member of
society; whereas by sending her to a factory she would
either cut short her days, or render her feeble all her life
304 THE RIGHT USE OF PHYSICIANS.
long—the helpless mother, perhaps, of a large family of
feeble and helpless children.
We do not pretend that parents and physicians can
entirely control the tastes or guide the choice of the
young in regard to employment. But if the work be
early commenced, they may do much. And if after all
they can do, and the dangers are clearly set forth, the
young will rush obstinately where they ought not, the
parent will at least clear his garments of their blood. In
general, however, as we have already intimated, we may,
by wise and judicious management early commenced,
lead the young to prefer the very employment which we
believe to be best for them.
How great, then, if the foregoing remarks are well
founded, is the work of the parent; and how great the
demand for medical counsel and skill ! Even if the pro-
gress of temperance were, in twenty years, to remove
from the world three fourths of the disease which now
prevails in it, there would still be labor enough for physi-
cians. The only difficulty would be to apprise parents
of the fact, and convince them that the great doctrines at
which we have now barely hinted, are true. And this
can only be done, in proportion as parents can be induced
to study anatomy and physiology. Let these sciences be
thoroughly understood, and how will the parent rejoice to
seek medical advice in the great work of education. No
services, moreover, will be more cheerfully and liberally
rewarded. When the parent can be induced to seek, as
his wisest and most faithful assistant in the work of edu-
cation, the aged and long tried physician ; when, side by
side, they talk of the physical management which each
child, constituted as he is, respectively requires ; and
when each is trained according to the demands of his
whole nature, and made to fill the very niche in society
which the great Creator intended; them may the work of
EPITOME OF HEALTH. 305
human improvement be considered as fairly begun. Then
will physical education be properly understood and appre-
ciated, and the labors of medical men cease to be almost
universally misapplied.
EPITOME OF HEALTH.
THE MIND.—In order to health, the mind must be in a
proper state. All of its faculties—perception, attention,
reflection, comparison, &c.—must be cultivated in due
proportion and harmony. There must not be precocity;
there must not be inequality.
THE PASSIONS AND AFFECTIONs.—Hope, love, confi-
dence and cheerfulness, are as favorable to health as fear,
hatred and despair are unfavorable to it. Emulation, envy
and ambition, if in their full force, are also unfavorable.
Governments.-These have some influence on health,
as has been ingeniously shown by Dr. Rush. However
excellent we may suppose our own to be in other respects,
it stands not among the foremost in its tendencies on
health. No government on earth, with which we are
acquainted, favors, to so great an extent, the production of
most of the long catalogue of diseases, called nervous.
RELIGION.—The influence of religion on health has
been treated—we should rather say, caricatured—by Dr.
Brigham, of Hartford. We hope somebody will ere long
write on this subject who understands what true religion
is ; and who will not confound it with the false. The
superstitions of a false religion and the abuses of the true
306 EPITOME OF HEALTH.
are one thing; the excellencies of both are quite another.
We believe it will be found that christianity, in itself, is
strikingly favorable to health and longevity.
EDUCATION.—We have alluded to the influence of
education on health, in speaking of the mind. It is much
greater, without doubt, than most persons have ever sup-
posed. But the full development of this part of our sub-
ject would require far more space than we can devote
to it.
HABITs.—These, indeed, are the result of education in
its largest sense, but as they are not always so under-
stood, we prefer, in treating of the causes of health or
disease, to consider them under a separate head. There
are a thousand little habits, scarcely deemed wrong, which
tend to disease, and ought to be corrected.
BoDILY EXERCISE.—Not only must the whole body,
as a whole, be duly exercised, but so must its various
organs. Some are made for more action ; some for less.
There must also be both recreation and labor. Finally,
there must be not only a due proportion of all these, in
order to secure and preserve health, but there must also
be a suitable proportion of rest and sleep.
CLIMATE AND AIR.—There are some climates which
never were and probably never will be as favorable to
health as others. Still, there are few places in the world
in which, if everything else is favorable, a tolerable share
of health and longevity may not be secured. But in the
more healthy climates we often breathe bad air. Such is
the case, often, in the thickly populated city; and in the
case of small or unventilated sleeping rooms, factories,
school rooms, churches, &c., even of the country.
EPITOME OF HEALTH. 307
ABLUTION.—If every other law of health were duly
observed, no person could be perfectly healthy without a
proper attention to cleanliness. In vain, therefore, are
we told that it is healthy for children to play in the dirt.
It is healthy for them to breathe the fresh air and enjoy
the exercise afforded by playing in the dirt; so much so,
that in spite of the dirt, they remain healthy compared
with those who are confined. This is the real truth in
the case. Dirt can never be healthy. The more cleanly
our persons, our dress, our rooms—our world, in fact—
the better, Grant that some employments do not admit
of constant cleanliness, still they admit of daily ablutions;
and
“Who does the best his circumstances allow,
Does well; acts nobly; angels could do no more.”
CLOTHING.—More of health depends on a due regard
to clothing than is commonly supposed. It is a subject
of more importance as we approach either pole. But
we are giving an epitome, and not a volume, or even an
essay.
FooD, DRINK AND DIGESTION.—If every other law of
health were perfectly obeyed, and if all other things were
just as they should be, while all which relates to nutrition
was wrong, man could not, as a mere animal, be truly
happy. Hence the importance of dietetics. They form
an important chapter in every code of health, and demand
a measure of the time and attention of all who would
honorably fill the sphere which God, in nature, has
assigned them.
308 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
It is not a little remarkable that those employments
which are the most indispensable to human happiness
are, in general, the most healthy. Not that the less
healthy are wholly useless, or ought not, in any circum-
stances, to be pursued; but as they are usually less neces-
sary to our happiness, they should be followed with due
caution.
Among the most healthy laborers are agriculturists,
house-keepers, cabinet makers, house carpenters, joiners,
wheelwrights, coach builders, coopers, coachmen, and
teamsters. A few, indeed, of the more useful employments
are rather unhealthy; such as heavy gardening with the
spade, cloth dressing and weaving, tailoring, and shoe
making; but even these last employments, pursued with
caution, may be so managed as to be pretty healthy. On
the other hand, distillers, malsters, confectioners, painters,
plumbers, (workers in lead,) potters, snuff-makers, waiters,
cooks, house servants, and millers, are either unhealthy
or short lived, or both.
But are not cooks, millers, waiters and house servants
usefully employed 2 A part of the work which they per-
form is highly useful, but not in the manner and to the
extent which modern fashions require. Rational cookery,
which, while it better subserved the purposes of health,
could not and ought not to take up one fourth of the time
now spent on it, is no doubt a useful employment. So
in regard to grinding, waiting and serving. But are we
sure that the labor of cooks, and waiters, and house ser-
vants, so far as really necessary in the abstract, is not
exactly the sort of exercise which health demands that we
should perform for ourselves? And should it be found
that social happiness, domestic economy, and moral pro-
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS. 309
gress are best secured, in the same way, would not this
add force to the argument ? And since it is the fine
flour which destroys the lungs of the miller, as well as
injures gradually the stomachs of the eater, how know
we that millers are necessary 2 How know we that it
would not be best for families, as a healthy exercise, to
grind coarsely their own corn and grain, in hand mills, as
certain eastern nations used to do, and as a few still do 2
Or if committed to millers, grinding the grain coarsely
would not be very injurious to health.
Some of the employments which we have set down as
unhealthy, ought to be entirely dispensed with. Distillers,
malsters, confectioners, snuff makers, painters, plumbers,
and perhaps potters, are not needed in a healthy state of
civilization. Diseased, as civilization everywhere is, we
know not but some or all of them may be temporarily
useful; but in a perfectly healthy state of things it could
not be so.
We are aware that we bring upon ourselves, by remarks
like these, the frequent charges that we are for bringing
mankind back to a savage state; that we would destroy
commerce and the arts, and everything which polishes
and adorns human nature, and give the world a retrograde
direction. But it is not so. It is precisely the contrary.
The doctrines we inculcate, instead of shutting up man-
kind to a few things, like the savage, would tend to in-
crease the variety, if not the extent, and the real if not
the apparent amount of their enjoyments. It is diseased
civilization—a morbid refinement—which is already run-
ning the world down towards semi-barbarism, to say the
least; and we aim to elevate it, not perhaps in the swift-
est, but in the most healthy manner. The growth of
civilization, and the arts and commerce it has brought
with it, has been a morbid or hot house growth, and must
experience the results of all hot house processes. We
$310 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
would encourage a natural growth, on the contrary,
which shall abide when all dross, and wood, and hay, and
stubble shall be burnt up.
Our readers will pardon this long digression, as painful
to ourselves as tedious to them. But we must defend
ourselves somewhere, not so much from the attacks of
malice, as of ignorance or prejudice. The slaves of
habit, and fashion, and lust, who not only never stop to
think for themselves, but who dare not so much as to
eat, drink, walk, sleep, dress or exercise “on their own
hook,” are perpetually crying out at us, and though we
neither think it necessary nor desirable to stop at every
corner to defend ourselves, we suppose it is duty to pause
here and there, and explain. We are not whimsical, nor
visionary, nor reckless. We have weighed the matters
of which we speak; we have counted the cost before we
engaged in war, offensive or defensive.
But to resume our subject. In endeavoring to ascer-
tain whether an employment is healthy or unhealthy, we
must carefully distinguish between the circumstances
which, from its nature, are inseparable from it, and those
which are connected with it, as it were, accidentally.
1. THE FARMER.—His employment is naturally heal-
thy, because it is pursued in the open air, because it
exposes him both to sunshine and storm, because he may
be pretty regular in his habits, because it brings into
proper exercise, during the progress of the year, and often
almost daily, a very large proportion—perhaps nearly all
—the muscles of the body, and because it gives a more
equal development than almost any other employment,
of all his powers, physical, social, intellectual and moral.
Yet farmers are not always healthy. Some labor too
hard, either from choice or necessity ; some commit
enormous errors in regard to their temperature, and in
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS. 311
regard to eating, and drinking, and cleanliness. The
fact that a man's employment is naturally healthy will
not wholly save him from the consequences of gluttony,
intemperance and licentiousness, should he indulge them.
Nor will it wholly prevent the necessity of his paying
the penalty of other transgressions, such as cooling him-
self suddenly when greatly heated, over-straining his
muscles, eating heavy suppers just before going to bed,
&c. It may ward off a blow for a time, but it must
finally come.
Gardening is productive of effects quite similar to those
of farming. It is indeed less liable to excess, except
when the spade is much employed, in which case, the
lungs are sometimes injured by too much stooping.
To one of these employments, either farming or gar-
dening, so long as the season will permit, we think every
person old enough ought to devote a portion of time
daily; excepting, of course, Sundays. This we mean
should be the general rule ; to which we suppose excep-
tions must be made not only for ill health, but for storms
and a few other things; but none in favor of other occu-
pations or engagements, or in favor of sex.” How much
time should be spent daily, in this way, we do not under-
take to decide; at least we cannot say how much is
indispensable to the preservation of health. The more,
however, the better, for the male sex. Females—those
who have children to take care of and house work to
perform—need much less than males; but we doubt
whether less than a couple of hours is safe, as a general
rule, even for them. Their work should of course be
light, in proportion to their smaller muscular powers.
* We are not here speaking of what we expect soon to see. But the
question is not whether we shall live to see a change so beneficial ; but
whether the change is, in its nature, necessary.
312 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
It would add greatly to the health and happiness of our
farmers, as a body, if they were to cultivate their minds
and hearts more than they do. Many of them are fond
of reading and study, but, viewing them rather as an
amusement than as a duty with reference to health and
morals, do not exert themselves as much as they might
to find the necessary leisure. Whereas if they believed
every degree of mental and moral progress would at the
same time have a tendency to improve their health, it
might furnish them with an additional motive to effort.
We are sorry this point is so often overlooked.
2. THE House-KEEPER.—Besides taking care of children,
which, if done as it ought to be, is of itself no light task,
the health of every female requires more or less of what is
called house work. Even if she takes two or more hours'
light exercise daily, in the open air, she still needs to
perform other work within doors. We believe that the
amount of this exercise may safely be regulated by the
rational demands of a family. If a wife has none but
her husband to take care of, she should, as a general
rule, after performing her house work, devote the rest of
her hours to study, gardening and social visits. If she
has one or more small children, her labors with and for
them will diminish the necessity for other society, if not
for study. Before the family becomes very large, the
eldest children will begin to afford her a little aid ; and
elder daughters will do much for themselves and others.
3. THE CARPENTER.—His employment pursued, as
much of it is, in the open air, is healthy. In some
respects, it has the advantage even of farming, especially
in point of cleanliness. The old notion that dirt is
healthy is a mistaken one. But of this we have spoken
at sufficient length in another place. The carpenter is
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS. 313
liable to commit the same errors as those to which we have
alluded, in speaking of the farmer; and when he yields
to the temptation, is as sure to pay the penalty. Perhaps
there are rather more among this class of men who
actually do yield and suffer, than among farmers.
4. THE JoineR.—The remarks of the preceding para-
graph will apply, in nearly every respect, to the condition
of the joiner. His, in one word, if judiciously pursued,
is a healthy employment.
5. THE CABINET MAKER.—Cabinet makers, says Mr.
Thackrah in his very valuable work on this subject, are
generally healthy, though employed within doors. The
labor is good, and there is no hurtful accompaniment,
with the exception of the dust which is produced by
sawing certain kinds of wood.
6. THE COOPER.—Coopers have good muscular exer-
cise. When lads first enter upon this employment, the
stooping posture affects the head, and the noise the
hearing. The latter indeed is often permanently, though not
greatly impaired. The stooping posture also sometimes
appears to injure adults, producing pain in the loins. But
on the whole, the employment is healthy, and it would
seem to be a wise ordinance that it should be so, for how
much are we, in civic life, indebted to the cooper
20
314 ON THE USE OF FRUITS.
ON THE USE OF FRUITS.
[The following excellent remarks on the Utility of Fruits for food and
the preservation of health, are abridged from Kenrick’s Orchardist.]
THE fruits of various countries and climes, should be
regarded as one of the most valuable gifts which Divine
Providence has bestowed upon man. And the cultivation
of those of superior kind, should on all accounts be pro-
moted—not merely as the source of luxury, nor yet alone
as a delicious, healthy and most nutritious article of food;
but as connected, in other respects, with all that eminently
concerns the family of man.
“The palate,” says the celebrated Mr. Knight, “which
relishes fruit, is seldom pleased with strong fermented
liquors ; and as feeble causes, continually acting, ulti-
mately produce extensive effects, the supplying the public
with fruit at a cheap rate, would have a tendency to ope-
rate favorably, both on the physical and moral health of
the people.”
The belief is but too prevalent, that fruits produce dis-
eases during the months of summer and autumn, and
especially the dysentery. The belief is untrue—and the
very reverse is certainly true; fruits being the true pre-
ventives of disease.
The “Annales d’Horticulture" says—“One of the
best aliments, and the best appropriated to the different
ages of life, is that which fruits afford. They present to
man a light nourishment, of easy digestion, and produce
a chyle, admirably adapted to the functions of the human
body.
Fruits, when perfectly ripe, never occasion ill conse-
quences, if they are eaten only to satisfy the demands of
nature.
ON THE USE OF FRUITS. 315
Thoroughly ripe fruit, eaten with bread, is the most
innocent of aliments, and will even insure health and
strength.
The following is found in “Advice to People upon
their Health,” by Tissot :
There is a permicious prejudice, with which all are too
generally imbued—it is, that fruits are injurious in the
dysentery, and that they produce and increase it. There
is not perhaps a more false prejudice.
Bad fruits, and those which have been imperfectly
ripened, in unfavorable seasons, may occasion colics, and
sometimes diarrhoea—but never epidemic dysentery.
Ripe fruits of all kinds, especially in the summer, are the
true preservatives against this malady. The greatest
injury they can do, is in dissolving the humors, and par-
ticularly the bile, of which they are the true solvents, and
occasion a diarrhoea. But even this diarrhoea is a protec-
tion against the dysentery.
Whenever the dysentery has prevailed, I have eaten
less animal food and more fruit, and have never had the
slightest attack. Several physicians have adopted the
same regimen.
I have seen eleven patients in the same house ; nine
were obedient to the directions given, and ate fruit; they
recovered. The grandmother and a child she was most
partial to, died. She prescribed burnt wine, oil, powerful
aromatics, and forbade the use of fruit; it died. She
followed the same course, and met the like fate.
This disease was destroying a Swiss regiment, which
was stationed in garrison, in the southern part of France.
The captain purchased the grapes on vines. The sick
soldiers were either carried to the vineyard, or were sup-
plied with grapes from it, if they were too feeble to be
removed. They ate nothing else; not another died—nor
were any more attacked with the complaint after they
commenced eating grapes.
316 HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES,
A minister was attacked with the dysentery, and the
medicines which were administered gave no relief; he
saw by accident some red currants, and had a great desire
to eat them ; he ate three pounds between seven o'clock
in the morning and nine o'clock in the evening; he was
better during the day, and entirely cured the next.
In new countries, and in new settlements—in places
remote—in the wilderness or on the ocean—in times of
privation, and in the absence of the useful fruits, the taste
and habitual use of tobacco, of alcohol, and of strong
fermented liquors, has been acquired. The friends of
abstinence, who would abolish the use of these as perni-
cious, must encourage the cultivation of fruits, as the
healthy antidote and useful substitute.
HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES.
WE have presented our readers, not long since, with
an article under this head. We recommended it to those
of them who desired to have pale faces, to reside in a
city, or in a mine, a few years. We endeavored to
dissuade them from trusting to the hats, the bonnets, the
gloves, the umbrellas, and the covered carriages of our
country. The process, in this way, though effectual, is
slow.
As neither the city nor the mine seems to be accessible
to all, we will venture to commend to their consideration
a few things more.
The practice of taking calomel for every ailment,
whether important or unimportant, will do much towards
producing a certain ghastly whiteness of face. So will
the habitual use of opium. The appearance of the
HOW TO MAKE PALE FACES. 317
excessive eater of opium is truly haggard and melan-
cholic, as well as pale.
Licentious habits, in some constitutions, produce a sen-
sible paleness. This is true of all ages, sexes and condi-
tions. The same remark may be made of spirit drinkers.
The majority of the latter, however, have first a preter-
natural redness. It is usually many years before the
pallid appearance supervenes.
Sitting up late at night and lying in bed late in the
morning produces paleness. On this point, however, few,
as we apprehend, need any urging. Most people already
sit up late and lie in bed late ; at least, late enough to
answer every important purpose.
Sitting, constantly, in the parlor or the study, or the
school room ; where there is less light and more heat
than there ought to be ; and especially when all sorts of
exercise are despised or neglected, is one effectual means
of securing that etiolation or bleaching of the human
countenance of which we have already spoken so largely
in a former article.
Great care and anxiety about the rise and fall of stocks,
goods, wares and merchandize. Great anxiety in regard
to the results of business. Gloomy forebodings of evils
to come, of any sort. In short, over anxiety about the
future, however it may be elicited, seems to give a centri-
petal tendency to the fluids, and leaves the whole surface
pale and somewhat colder.
Tobacco chewing and smoking will, in general, pro-
duce paleness. Indeed we scarcely know an exception.
Let him who doubts persist in the habit; and twenty
years will not probably elapse before his face will attain
the much desired appearance ; and the color will be per-
Imanent.
There is one thing more which will often succeed. It
is to become suddenly a Grahamite. Drop your meat;
3.18 DOING GOOD.
do n't taste a mouthful of that for the world; even though
you continue the use of hot short cake, butter, toasts,
gravies, sauces and condiments. Be careful, moreover,
not to make your change in faith, but with great fear and
trembling. And do not fail to gather round you, during
the experiment, a multitude of croakers and alarmists, to tell
you that you are destroying yourself as fast as possible.
The use of condiments with our food—pepper, mustard,
salads, sauces, sugar, molasses, butter, cheese, &c.—may,
even the excessive use of any substance whatever, is very
apt, ultimately, to produce a greater or less degree of
paleness.
On the advantages of paleness we need not dwell.
Our readers know how much more beautiful a pale per-
son is; and most of them may be aware how much it
attracts the notice of foreigners when they arrive among
us—giving us a sort of unearthly, or as they term it,
resurrection appearance. That it invites disease, and
gradually shortens human life, may not, it is true, be
quite so well understood. But is not this one of its
greatest advantages 2 Who is there that does not rejoice
at any new method of shortening our pilgrimage through
a vale of tears, and of hastening the hour when sorrow
and sighing are to flee away, and tears are to be wiped
from all faces !
DOING GOOD.
AN eminent minister of the gospel in this city once
said, there was nothing more favorable to health than
doing good. His remark may have been deemed by
some as not a little extravagant, but we believe it was
nevertheless substantially true.
DOING GOOD. 319
That it is more blessed, or in other words, more happy
to do good than to receive, is the language of our Lord
and Saviour himself. But wherein is this happiness to
consist 2 Is it in the mind alone 2 We doubt it. We
believe the apostle who quotes this as the language of
Christ, included in his idea of blessedness the happiness
of both mind and body.
Be this as it may, however, experience demonstrates
the truth of the position, that active benevolence has a
most salutary tendency on our physical well-being. Hardly
anything is more hurtful than the very common practice
of thinking and talking about our little indispositions, or
even our greater bodily pains. It cannot mitigate them ;
on the contrary, it aggravates them. Now he whose
heart is set on doing good—who is constantly devising or
executing schemes of benevolence, is apt to forget his own
troubles. Or, to say the least, they recur to his mind
more seldom than to the idle. And just in proportion as
he forgets them, will they be found gradually to disappear.
This, however, is not all. The person whose heart is
warmed with the love of his fellow men, and who not
only delights to do them good prior to the execution of
any of his plans, but also enjoys that increase of pleasure—
that blessedness—which the execution of those plans itself
produces, has his cheerfulness greatly increased. Now
cheerfulness is always accompanied with a better state of
circulation of the fluids, and with a more healthy and
energetic activity of the brain and of the nervous system,
than its opposite. And we know of no person in the
world so likely to possess—all other things being equal—
a good state of the internal organs of the body, through-
out, as the active, and cheerful, and happy doer of good;
especially if the doing good be of the most enlarged kind—
we mean, of that kind which Dr. Dwight does not hesitate
to describe as extending beyond the fellow creature, and
320 A CHAPTER ON “BEGINNING.”
going out to the Creator—the love and desire of pleasing
God and promoting his glory.
The idea of doing good to the Creator may seem a
little strange ; yet we believe it is not altogether inappro-
priate. Not that men can increase his happiness in this
way; but they can render him, if possible, more glorious,
which seems to us to amount to nearly the same thing.
In short, the great sum and substance of the moral law,
to love God with all the heart, and our neighbor as our-
selves, if duly obeyed in its complete extent by all intelli-
gent beings, would do more in the way of promoting
human health and longevity, than has ever yet been done
by all the physicians, and physiologists, and dieteticians
which the world has afforded. We are sorry this ten-
dency of christianity is so often and so unnecessarily
overlooked. But we believe it will not always be so.
We believe there is a better day dawning. We believe
it is already beginning to be seen, more clearly than at
any former period, that christianity proposes to accomplish
the redemption of the whole body; that is, of the whole
being—body, soul and spirit.
A CHAPTER ON “ BEGINNING.”
SoME persons never accomplish anything in the world,
because they do not know how to begin ; or to speak
more correctly—because they have not the necessary
decision of character. I once had my patience put to
the test by a person of this description.
He had come to me for medical advice ; and I had
given him my opinion. Some months afterward we
met again in the street; and on inquiry he had done
nothing, because he had not yet made up his mind to
A CHAPTER ON “BEGINNING.” 321
begin. I advised him again, and again left him. Several
months more having elapsed, he came again. He was
still hesitating in regard to some unimportant point or
other. I pressed upon him the necessity of making a
beginning; but with little hope. The man is probably
still undecided, and still suffering.
Experience had, long before this, taught me the neces-
sity of beginning what I knew to be my duty to do.—
The best lesson I ever had on this subject was eleven
years ago. I will relate the story.
For many years, I had been subject to repeated colds
during the winter and spring, which in the spring often
left me in a state that seemed bordering on consumption.
In the spring and summer of 1826, I was threatened
more severely than ever. My cough and the expectora-
tion became quite alarming. I became feverish, and sub-
ject, at times, to violent perspiration, both by night and
by day. Attacks of drowsiness were frequent and op-
pressive ; and sometimes I could hardly walk without
falling to sleep. I became feeble and emaciated ; and
as feeble in mind as in body. I did little but pore over
my troubles, watch the symptoms of disease, and prog-
nosticate evil. Besides, I was in extreme poverty, and
destitute of any immediate prospect, in this respect, of
improvement.
What could be done 2 Muscular courage remained, in
some degree. I could walk, in a day, several miles. At
length, after much reflection, I decided on a course ; and
the next day, I proceeded to put it into execution.
I resolved to visit Wadsworth's tower—then nearly
twenty miles distant. Accordingly I set off the ensuing
morning, (it was the 5th of July,) on my journey. I was
about half a day in getting five miles ; so disposed was
I to linger among my friends, and so reluctant to go.
But my resolution was made; and the journey must now
be attempted. I was resolved, at least, on a beginning.
322 A CHAPTER ON “BEGINNING.”
The third day found me at the Tower. I was some-
what fatigued, but success encouraged me, and seemed to
give me strength. The Tower, in itself, is an object of no
great importance—certainly not enough to require a pass-
ing description here. The view from its top is exceedingly
fine, and the air around it pure and exhilarating.
From the Tower I went to the Asylum for the Deaf
and Dumb, in Hartford, where I spent several hours very
agreeably. From the Asylum, I went to the Retreat for
the Insane. I also called on an old acquaintance in that
region, and passed the night with him.
In the morning I visited the State Prison, at Wethers-
field, Conn.; also Mr. Joseph Emerson, Principal of a
Female Seminary there. Here, also, I found several old
friends. In Wethersfield I spent the Sabbath. All this
while, I was living in the most abstemious manner, both
from principle and necessity ; though at the same time
evidently gaining strength of body and mind.
When Monday came, I went to Middletown. The
object of curiosity here, was Capt. Partridge's Military
Academy. This, however, did not long interest me; and
I soon began to bend my course homeward. On my way
thither was a curious mountain, which I hoped the next
day to ascend. But reaching it while the heat was
excessive, I gave up this part of my project, and pro-
ceeded directly to my father's.
I was absent about one week, and during the time had
travelled, as nearly as I could judge, about seventy-five
miles. I had gained something of vigor, but more of
courage. I had found that I need not immediately die
that there was hope of prolonging my days, and of yet
being happy. In short, I had made a beginning /
The next day after reaching home, July 12, I took up
a scythe and resolved to go to work. My friends had as
little confidence in my ability to labor as I had myself.
APHORISMS OF HIPPOCRATEs. 323
But I was determined to make a beginning; and accord-
ingly a beginning was made.
We were all disappointed. I was able to mow much
better than I expected. I continued my efforts. The
second or third day I succeeded in performing nearly a
common day's work. My cough, in the mean time
was abating; the appearance of the matter expectorated
becoming less and less alarming; my seasons of sweating
were becoming less and less troublesome and exhausting,
and I was slowly gaining flesh as well as strength. I
continued on the farm, as nearly as I can recollect, about
two months, when I found myself comparatively well. I
was at least so far restored, as to engage in the duties of
a laborious profession—and no such symptoms have ever
returned. What decision of character had enabled me to
begin, temperance enabled me to continue; and to this day,
which is now eleven years, I have been gaining in mental
and bodily vigor, as well as in enjoyment.
APHORISMS OF HIPPOCRATES.
1. OLD men bear abstinence best ; next, those who
have attained their (grand) climacteric ; adolescence, less;
and infancy least. But of all these the vivacious support
it most easily.
2. Those aliments which quickly and aggregately
nourish are soonest ejected.
3. The aged are, for the most part, less disposed to fall
into disease than the young.
4. That nourishment which is beneficial in the conva-
lescent stage of fever, would be highly injurious during
the prevalence of the disease.
5. Impure constitutions when most nourished are most
injured.
324 INTEMPERANCE ON VEGETABLES.
REMARKs.—How different some of these views are
from those which are common among the vulgar ! How
seldom is it believed that old men can bear abstinence
And how universal is the belief that they need a more
plentiful, as well as a more stimulating diet ! How uni-
versal is the belief that pain and old age are almost
inseparable ! How seldom is it known that until we
reform and become truly temperate, the more freely we
live, the more do our vital organs suffer
INTEMPERANCE ON WE GETABLES.
INTEMPERANCE is by no means confined to the drinking
of ardent spirits. There are multitudes who becloud the,
mind, and render the soul's upward aspirations difficult,
if not impossible, by the indulgence of an appetite which
they never dream of being inordinate, but continue to
cherish as an indication of hearty health. If a man may
be a drunkard upon wine, so he may be a glutton upon
vegetables. “Our elegant eaters,” says Cicero in one of
his letters, “in order to bring vegetables into fashion,
have found out a method of dressing them in so high a
taste, that nothing can be more palatable. It was imme-
diately after having eaten very freely of a dish of this
sort, at the inauguration feast of Lentulus, that I was
attacked with a disorder which has never ceased till this
day. Thus you see that I, who have withstood all the
temptations that the noblest lampreys and oysters could
throw in my way, have at last been overpowered by pal-
try beets and mallows.” If all the philosophy of Cicero
could not save him from being overcome in this manner,
perhaps even the Graham bread may not always preserve
its disciples from temptation.—CHEEVER.
MISC E L L A NY.
EDUCATION of THE FUNCTIons.—The Rev. E. White, of
South Carolina, in the Introductory Address before the Ameri-
can Institute, at its eighth session, spoke with much earnest-
ness of the prevalent neglect of that part of education, which
he called the education of the functions; such as muscular
motion, digestion, respiration, &c. He represented the laws
of life to be as fixed as the laws of the planetary system, or
those of chemistry or mathematics. He spoke, almost with
contempt, of the strange but prevalent belief that health and
disease are, as it were, matters of hap-hazard ; and labored
with great earnestness to impress the idea that the laws of
external nature were not more certain than the good results of
enlightened patient efforts in physical education and physical
management.
This is no new doctrine; it is older than any person now
living; it is as old, at least, as Hippocrates and Paul. But it
is painful to think how it has been overlooked or forgotten, or
cloistered. It is only within a few years that it has been
revived and made common public property, by the labors of
Rush, Broussais, Bell, Coffin, Mussey, Woodward, Lambe,
Graham, and others.
THE PUBLIC PREss.—Of this we must and will complain,
So long as it tolerates so much abuse of all sorts. A friend
assures us—we have not, ourselves, witnessed anything quite
so abominable, though we have seen many things scarcely
less so—that he lately observed, in a Boston paper, at the end
of a long advertisement in regard to some “blessing to
mothers,” a hint not to take the medicine without great cau-
tion during gestation, lest it should produce abortion | If this
is not high handed villany, what is? And if the willing
receiver of stolen goods is partaker of the guilt of the thief,
what shall we say of those who, with their eyes open, and in
326 MISCELLANY.
the face of repeated warnings, encourage and promote that
destruction of life and health which must inevitably follow in
the train of these advertisements of panaceas, and nostrums,
and wonderful cures? Is it not time for honest men to rid
themselves of this method of shedding human blood P
But there is everywhere enough of encouragement to pre-
vent despair. We occasionally imeet with a conscientious
editor of a newspaper—one who will sooner remain poor than
suffer his paper to become the vehicle of spreading disease,
and error, and vice, and crime. We met with one lately, in
the interior of this state. He is a thorough-going reformer
of himself and those around him. Such men deserve—not
statues—but what is a thousand times more valuable, and
what we hope they will ultimately receive, the approbation
and thanks of millions of their reformed countrymen.
MAKING HEALTH.—The Hon. Mr. Mann, of this city, in a
recent public address before the Worcester County Conven-
tion on Common Schools, spoke of health as an article of
manufacture, and not as a gift of Providence, in the sense
commonly received. True, he said, it was a gift of God, just
as skill in music or a profound knowledge of mathematics is a
gift, and in no other way. He did not doubt that some per-
sons inherited a predisposition to certain diseases—the iniqui-
ties of the fathers being thus often visited upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation—still, by obedience to
the laws of life, every individual could just as surely improve
health—manufacture it, even—as improve his mind or heart.
He might have gone further, and inculcated the doctrine
that health can be improved—yes, manufactured—in propor-
tion to the capital we possess ; in other words, though the
feeble may do much in this respect, those who are already
comparatively strong and healthy can, as a general rule, do
much more. He might thus have done something towards
removing the prevailing opinion that the study of the laws of
life may be well enough for the sickly, but that the healthy
have nothing to do with it.—But we will not complain that no
MISC EIGLANY., 327
more was done; we will rejoice rather that so much is accom-
plished. Let but the idea prevail that health is an article of
human manufacture—as much so as any mental or moral
acquirement—and the world is, prospectively, reformed.
CURIOUS AND IMPORTANT FACT.-It is a curious fact, says
a British Magazine, that the consumption of malt in England
and Wales has been stationary for nearly half a century,
though the population has more than doubled during that
period; while the tables show that the public brewers, since
1787, have contrived to manufacture one third more of strong
beer, out of the same quantity of malt. Does any one doubt
the cause 2 Is it not known that the brewers use active poi-
sons to give strength to their liquors, and make up for the
diminished quantity of the malt 2
ENCOURAGING.—A family of five or six persons, who have
been accustomed to the use of cider, at the rate of from
fifteen to twenty-five barrels a year, with some spirit, and tea,
and coffee, and beer in addition, have recently begun the
work of reform. The father laid aside spirit, cider, tea,
coffee, &c., on the very day of completing his fortieth year of.
matrimonial life, and has for some time used nothing but
water. One of the family has laid aside the use of cider and
tea; another, of cider. One has discontinued the use of pork.
This is but the picture of many a family in New England.
The work of reformation—the cause of temperance in all
things—goes bravely on, and the world may, we trust, begin
to hope.
The leader of a Bible class in the interior, has also com-
menced teaching his Bible class much of physiology at the
close of the religious lesson. He introduces his subjects as
proofs or illustrations of the goodness, mercy, &c., of the
Creator. We say once more there is much—very much—in
the world that is encouraging.
328 - MISCELLANY.
Rich ENough ; a Tale of the Times. This little book, by
the Author of “Three Experiments of Living,” is a most
capital production, worthy of the source from whence it came.
We hope it will be circulated as widely as people can be
found who sacrifice health, and life, and eternal happiness to
the love of money; and who worship mammon rather than
Jehovah.
PHYSIologic AL REForM ; an Address by Mr. F. W. Bird,
before the Physiological Society of Boston. This is an able
article of forty-eight closely printed pages, and will be read,
by every friend of improvement, with the most intense
interest.
ANNALs of EDUCATION.—Nearly every number of this
work contains articles on the subject of early physical educa-
tion; and we wish its character, as a companion to the parent
and teacher, were more widely understood. It seems to us
that the friends of “temperance in all things,” and of “physi-
ological reform,” find it advantageous to examine it.
UNCLE Solomon, or THE HomAN FAMILY.—This is the
name of a capital story, printed by Cassady & March, of this
city. It is good, we say ; but perhaps it appears so, because it
inculcates our own views in regard to domestic economy.
But good, bad, or indifferent, we hope everybody who can
will read it.
[[F NEW EDITION.—Enlarged and Improved. FT
Prices—$20 a hundred—$2.50 a dozen—25 cts. single.
[EP This Day Published, Fifth Edition of the work on Economy,
WAYS
LHWHNG ON SMALL MEANS.
AUTHOR OF THE YouNG MAN's GUIDE, EDITOR
OF THE LIBRARY OF HEALTH, &c.
CONTENTS.
Est ATES AND BUSINEss. Medicine AND PhysiciaNs.
Houses AND FURNITURE. Books AND Schools.
EQUIPAGE AND SERVANTs. CUsTo Ms AND HABITs.
DRESS. Socł ETY.
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Dr. Alcott has revised this little work with care, and added a
number of pages. His views are now so well explained, that
they will doubtless be treated with favor by all who desire a
reform in regard to many of the fashionable customs of life.
The work is adapted to all classes of society ; but especially
to that large class of the community in the various occupations,
who feel the necessity of making their expenses as small as
is consistent with true respectability. It is the object of the
writer to explain principles which, carried out, lead to independ-
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editions of 1000 copies each, were sold in a short time.
GEO. W. LIGHT, Publisher, I Cornhill.
BosTon, OCT. 1, 1837.
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GEO. W. LIGHT, I Cornhill.

Vol. HI.] FEBRUAR Y. [No. II.
--------------------
* --------------------------------------------- ~~~~~-------------,
– ' ' ' ' '
THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
&ao/e, on //, 7%man %mºzón.
WM. A. ALCOTT, EDITor.
Author of the “Young Man's Guide,” “Young Mother,” and “House
I live in ; ” and Conductor of the Annals of Education.
ºfº” ----->
CONTENTS.
The Study of Physiology, . . . . 41 MISC ELLANY.
Cyrus the Great, . . . . . . . . . 49 | Health of Females, . . . . . . . , 69
5
Opinions of Dr. Sweetser, . . . , 53 Society to Prevent Pauperism, . . 69
Hot Buckwheat Cakes, , , , . . .
5
9 J.octºre to Young Mien, . . . . . 71
Influence of Fear on Health, . , 6.2 Three Expcriments of Living, . . 7]
External Applications to Wounds, Ö5 Science of Human Life, . . . . . 71
Dress of the Neck, . . . . . . . . G7 Scientific and Literary Journal, . 72
B O S T O N :
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§3. This Day Published, Dr. Alcott’s plain Work on Anatomy,
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN,
THE HUMAN BODY.
SECOND EDITION,
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BY DR. W.M. A. ALCOTT,
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This work is adapted to the comprehension of the Young, on
account of the simplicity of its illustrations; but will equally
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and interesting manner, by comparing it to the structure of a
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LIGHT & STEARNS, Publishers, 1 Cornhill.
LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
PHYSIOLOGY 1 You will frighten the community with
such a hard word, so often repeated, some of our friends
may say. Would it not be better to substitute another
word in its place : Or if not, would it not be well for
you to tell us a little more fully what you mean by it?
We are not ignorant that multitudes start at the pro-
nunciation of such a new and uncouth term, but it is too
good a word to be discarded. It expresses, as well as
any single word can, what we wish to express by it. Be
it then our object to explain, rather than remove it from
our vocabulary. Be it our aim to render them better
acquainted with what seems so uncouth, only because it
is a stranger.
Physiology, then, is the study of the laws of life. The
study of the structure of organized bodies is anatomy.
The study of the laws of vegetable life—as when we
study the manner and season in which the sap ascends
and descends, the manner and process of budding, blos-
soming, &c.—is vegetable physiology. The study of the
laws which obtain in the animal body is called animal
physiology.
This last is subdivided into two departments. The
study of the laws of life in all other animals but man, is
3
42 THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
comparative physiology; the study of the living, breathing,
thinking, acting, speaking man, is called human physi-
ology.
Now when we urge the importance of studying physi-
ology, we are met with the objection—“But our fathers
knew nothing of this science, and yet we do not see but
they got along just as well as we do. Can it be neces-
sary for us, when it was not for them 2 Besides, God has
placed us in a world where everything abounds adapted
to our wants in regard to food, drink, clothing, tempera-
ture, &c., and where our wants prompt to their immediate
use ; and he has given us common sense and discretion,
to direct us in their application. Now can it be that
anything more than this common sense is demanded ?
Can it be that we ought not to eat, drink, sleep, wake,
walk, ride, dress, speak, sing, work or play, till we
have studied the laws of motion and action in the
organs by which these functions and offices are per-
formed ? If this be so, then half mankind ought to perish
at once, for it is positively out of the power of most men
to obtain this sort of knowledge.”
When it is objected that our fathers knew nothing of
physiology, and yet they got along well enough without
it, we are always reminded of a miserly gentleman—an
early acquaintance of ours—who objected to sending his
son to school, on the same principle. “Why, I never
went to school,” said he, “and yet I do not see but I have
got along just as well as if I had gone; and why should
I send my son 2 ” But we trust there are few so ignorant
as to make such an apology; and fewer still who would
make it from sheer avarice.
Our fathers may have been ignorant of many things,
the knowledge of which would have contributed greatly
to their happiness. They may have even enjoyed a
measure of health, while they allowed themselves in
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 43
practices which were contrary to the best interests of their
physical frames. It often happens, that he who errs in
one respect is correct in another ;-indeed, the world is
made up of individuals partly right and partly wrong in
their conduct.
Our fathers of New England brought with them from
the mother country physical frames which were compara-
tively large, strong and substantial; and for almost the
whole of the first century after the settlement of New
England, the circumstances in which they were placed—
their business, their poverty, their habits, their religion—
conspired to render them comparatively healthy and long-
lived, in spite of a few errors, the results of ignorance.
Nor was it until within a century past, that they greatly
erred. Error creeps along with the progress of art, and
the simultaneous progress of luxury. In the rude state
of nature, while man appeases his hunger by simply
plucking the delicious fruits of the earth, and satisfies his
thirst by stooping to the crystal fountain or stream, or
raising to his mouth with his hollowed hand—the drink-
ing cup of Diogenes—nature's own beverage, the knowl-
edge of physiology is not by any means demanded. But
when, in the progress of the arts, and of cookery among
the rest, we begin to prepare or coat our culinary vessels
with substances which may be changed, by the action of
other substances, into deadly poisons, a knowledge of the
action and effects of these poisons on the human constitu-
tion becomes necessary; and in order to understand these
matters, we must study physiology. The more we ad-
vance in what are called the arts and sciences, the more
numerous are our exposures to dangers, seen and unseen.
We touch the world, as it were, at a greater and still
greater number of points. Hence the importance of un-
derstanding the nature of the human body, and its rela-
tions to surrounding bodies, with which it is perpetually
44 THE STUDY of PHYSIOLOGY.
coming in contact.—Thus with the fathers of New Eng-
land, within the last century. They began, by degrees,
to fall more and more into habits of which most of us see
and feel the consequences, but whose unhappy tendency
must and will continue, until it can be counteracted by
the influence of habits and practices more in accordance
with the laws of human nature; in other words, with
physiology.
“But our fathers, even of the generation which imme-
diately preceded us, were more healthy and long-lived
than ourselves, even when we are far more careful to
obey what you call the laws of life. What gigantic
bodies they possessed See that aged man of ninety,
and that still more advanced woman of one hundred ;
what large, upright frames they evidently once possessed
Bowed down and shrivelled by age as their bodies now
are, they are yet much larger and more noble and digni-
fied than the present generation. Compare sons with
their fathers. Is it not obvious that there is everywhere
a falling off? Where, then, is the evidence that our
knowledge of physiology, and of the means of preventing
and curing disease, give us any advantages over them 2 ”
In reply, it may be observed, in the first place, that the
little knowledge we of the present generation possess, is
principally in regard to the more obvious and general
nature of a few medicines, and the more obvious tendency
of a few diseases. What little we know, in other words,
which our fathers knew not, is almost wholly curative,
and not preventive. But this is a kind of knowledge
which adds little, if anything, to the health or longevity
of the race, if it does to that of the individual. The most
it can do is to assist us in correcting or attempting to
correct some of our more glaring errors. It seldom if
ever goes farther. It tells us nothing about preventing a
recurrence of the same evils. In fact, it leaves us, in
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 45
some respects, worse than it found us; since it leads us
to use instruments in repairing our frames, which often
produce more serious injury to the frame than that which
they repair. Or, to change the figure, in eradicating one
poisonous weed, we sow the seeds of others, some of
which will inevitably spring up, and prove a greater evil
than the former.
But in the second place, the more serious and deplora-
ble evils which come upon our race through physical
error, follow at a distance. It is a singular fact, that the
bible statements in regard to the sins of parents being
visited upon children, is clearly confirmed by the light
of physiology. The same remark is applicable to the
saying of Solomon, that because sentence against an evil
work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the
sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
To apply this doctrine of both mature and revelation to
the case before us. Our ancestors, we are often told,
lived as “they listed.” They drank freely of cider and
beer, and some of them of coffee and tea, and even of
whiskey, cider brandy, and New England rum. They
ate, too, what they pleased, and whether it were cooked
little or much. Most of them ate freely of flesh and fish
two or three times a day, and other stimulating food.
They even indulged themselves in some of the very
things which are now-a-days so often proscribed—at least
if they could get them;—fat meat, gravies, pastry, and
heating condiments. And yet how strong and healthy
they were !
True ; but they lived at our expense. We are now
paying, in our feeble and more sensitive and more irrita-
ble bodies, the tax for their indulgence. At least we are
doing so in part. Our children who come after us will
pay their full proportion ; nor will their children and
their children's children be exempt. If we their posterity
46 THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY.
continue to live as they did, the evil will go on, as long
as time lasts. There is no possible escape.
“Of what use, then, is all this preaching, if there
is no door of mercy open to us? If all our penitence,
however sincere, and however faithfully accompanied, as
repentance always should be, by reformation, cannot avail
to efface the guilt, or at least remove the consequences
of past transgressions, even those of our ancestors, what
good will a knowledge of our state do us? Away with
your physiology Away with a science which only
serves to show us the thick darkness which surrounds us,
but without opening to us any door of escape l’”
But you go too fast. Just stop a little, and consider
that in sinning, just in the same way our fathers did,
we not only perpetuate the evils which their sins first
induced, but add to the catalogue of our inheritance new
evils. From these, if we stop where we are, ourselves
and our posterity may be saved.
Nor is this all. Much more may be done. As the
Creator has wisely ordered that though we cannot destroy
our race by the errors of a single generation, and though
the drunkard and the debauchee, notwithstanding they
shorten their lives by many years, may still go on, if they
inherit good constitutions from their parents, to what is
commonly called old age, and their children after them,
yet each generation will become more and more degene-
rate and enfeebled, till—unless other causes interpose—
they are extinguished from the earth ; so, on the other
hand, though we cannot hope to raise ourselves much, in
the individual or in a single generation, yet we may be
raised gradually, by conformity to correct physical edu-
cation, and the sound principles of physiology, to a state
improved and elevated beyond our most exalted present
conceptions.
THE STUDY OF PHYSIOLOGY. 47
This is our hope. It is the office of physiology, in the
light and under the sanction of christianity, to redeem
man's physical frame from the curse under which sin,
in all ages, has brought it. Repentance and reformation,
with the necessary and appropriate faith, will prove the
instrument, and the only instrument, of the redemption of
our physical nature.
Should this doctrine—the doctrine that we come into
the world with constitutions less perfect, and more liable
to disease, notwithstanding all we can do, than they
would have been, had none of our progenitors erred—
seem severe, let it be remembered that it is not the less
true for its seeming severity ; nor any more true because
we have announced it. It is neither more nor less than
a branch of the great doctrine which the Bible teaches,
respecting man's present condition—a doctrine which is
confirmed by nature and the observation and experience
of all ages, and which it is always necessary to know, as
the first step to improvement. Let it also be remembered
that we, as individuals, are not responsible to God or to
posterity, for what we inherited, or even for the conse-
quences of what we inherited, any farther than we have
it in our power, with the divine assistance, to remove
them ; that our constitutions, in every instance, defective
or perverted as they may be, are still a blessing, incon-
ceivably so; and that we are accountable only for what
we have, and not in any case for what we have not.
Should it also be insisted, as has sometimes been done,
that on the principles involved in the foregoing remarks,
it would be better for us to return to a Savage State—a
state of nature—to drink at the pure fountain and stream,
and eat of the ripe but uncooked productions of the earth
—our reply is, that this objection confounds two things
which are really and essentially different. We cannot
4S THE STUDY of PHYSIOLOGY.
regard a state of nature and a savage state as one and
the same thing ; no, not by any means. We believe
that men may be taught to live according to nature, in
the midst and in the use of many of the productions of
civic life. To live according to nature, in this sense, is,
we believe, to live right. It is to make a wise selection
from the immense variety which God hath given us, or
permitted us or our fellow beings to prepare.
A Savage life is stationary ; but we are the advocates
of perpetual progress. A savage life is dull; but we are
the advocates of unceasing mental and bodily activity.
A Savage life is rude and unsocial; true nature is social
and refined. A savage life is sometimes, though not umi-
formly, a life of simplicity; but the life we advocate is
always so. In a savage state, men seem to be governed
by impulse, and to be little more than highly complicated
machines ; in a truly natural state, man is a free agent,
surrounded by an immense variety of influences, good
and bad, from which he makes a wise selection; placed
amid perpetual temptation, physical, intellectual and moral,
and yet governing himself, and coming off victorious from
every temptation and trial, and with his physical, moral
and religious character greatly improved.
It is with these views, and in this civic state, and with
this free agency, that we deem physiology so useful and
so necessary. It is necessary just in proportion as we
emerge from the savage state to a state in which every-
thing is placed before us either to tempt or to try us; and
if duly and thoroughly studied, will, in the same propor-
tion, be found to adorn, improve, and in the end exalt us,
not only as individuals, but as a race.
Some admit, at once, the importance of this science,
but imagine a thousand difficulties in the way of study-
ing it. How and where, say they, shall we get books on
this subject; and which are the best books 2 And if we
CYRUS THE GREAT. 49
cannot do much ourselves, how shall we give the neces-
sary knowledge to our children 2
One thing, in all this, seems to be overlooked, which is,
that an immense deal can be done without any books at
all. The motion of the blood, pulsation, the phenomena
of breathing, speech, sight, hearing and feeling may be
studied, to no small extent, by means of the living being.
This, so far as it goes, is the best book; and it is a book
from which an ingenious parent or teacher may derive a
far greater number of valuable lessons than is sometimes
supposed. In regard to other books, we must be allowed
to defer our remarks to a future occasion.
CY RUS THE GREAT.
MR. EDITOR :—I wonder if those who are continually
asserting that man cannot wholly abstain from flesh meat
without becoming a weak, puny, cowardly, inefficient
creature, ever stop to reflect for a single moment on the
history of the human race. To say nothing of the
antediluvians, who unquestionably subsisted on vegetable
food until a short time before the flood, or of the well
known fact, that ever since the deluge two thirds, at least,
of the human family have lived without flesh, even up to
the present day, the history of particular nations, and
tribes, and individuals, which at different periods of time
have been conspicuous on the great theatre of life, has
been more than sufficient to satisfy every well informed
mind, that in no respect is man benefited by the use of
animal food.
50 CY RUS THE GREAT.
The following scraps of ancient history afford an
interesting illustration of this truth, and may be amusing
if not instructing to your readers.
When the ancient kingdom of Media had subdued the
first Assyrian empire, and pushed its conquests exten-
sively in various directions, and become very rich and
powerful, and excessively voluptuous, Persia was a rude,
thinly inhabited country; and the Persians were depen-
dant allies of the Medes. Such was the state of things
when Cyrus, son of Cambyses, king of Persia, and, on
his mother's side, grandson to Astyages, king of Media,
was born. Notwithstanding he was a prince and heir to
the crown of Persia, he was trained up after the estab-
lished manner of educating children and youth in his
father's kingdom. Everything effeminating was carefully
avoided, and every measure was taken in regard to diet,
exercise and general regimen, by which all his powers
might be developed in the very best manner, and rendered
most vigorous and active. His food consisted of bread
and cresses, and his drink of pure water.
As he grew up, he early became distinguished for the
symmetry and beauty of his body, the power and activity
of his mind, and the excellence and amiability of his
moral qualities. Still, with all the natural gentleness and
kindness of his temper, living in an age of war and
conquest, and being educated for the camp and for the
field, as well as for the court, he very early began to ex-
hibit that cool and exalted courage, and those enlarged
and wise views, which mark the character of a great
general.
At the age of twelve years he went to Media, and spent
some time in the luxurious and voluptuous court of his
grandfather Astyages. But amidst all the temptations
that surrounded him, he rigorously persevered in his
CYRUS THE GREAT. 51.
habits of severe temperance, nor could any arts of his
grandfather induce him to taste of wine or partake of the
luxuries of the table.
At the age of sixteen he accompanied his grandfather to
the field ; and it was principally by his wisdom, courage
and conduct, that the Median army achieved a complete
victory over the Babylonians. After this he returned to
Persia, and took his rank again in the class of children
for one year; and then, according to the laws of the king-
dom, was admitted, at the age of seventeen, into the class
of youth, in which he continued till he was thirty.
At the age of forty-three he marched, at the head of the
Persian army, to the assistance of his uncle Cyaxares, who
had succeeded to the throne of Media. Uniting the
Median and Persian armies, he proceeded to encounter
and subdue the king of Armenia. He next met, con-
quered and slew the king of Babylon, defeated and dis-
persed the Assyrian army, overran Chaldea, took every
fortress in his way, ravaged the country, and marched to
the gates of Babylon; but not thinking it yet time to
besiege that city, he returned to Media, and thence to
Persia.
The Babylonians, being jealous of the increasing
power of Cyrus, induced Croesus, the rich and powerful
king of Lydia, to become their ally, and to take the field
against Cyrus. Croesus accordingly raised from his
own kingdom, from Egypt, and from all the country
around, an immense army of 420,000 men. Cyrus was
not idle. He collected an army of 200,000 men, with
which he rapidly marched a thousand miles, and gave
battle to Croesus, at Thymbra, near Sardis ; and not-
withstanding the great inequality of numbers, Cyrus
completely routed the army of Croesus, with terrible
slaughter. “In this battle, the horse on which Cyrus rode
52 CYRUS THE GREAT.
was killed, and he fell among a forest of spears and
shower of javelins. But nothing could bear him down.
He defended himself, sword in hand, till he was rescued
by his guards, and re-mounted. This battle decided the
fate of the Lydians and all the nations of Lesser Asia.”
Croesus fled to Sardis, his capital, whither Cyrus pursued
him, and soon took the city and captured the king.
In a few years from this time all Lesser Asia was sub-
ject to the arms of Cyrus, except Babylon, which he
besieged and finally took by stratagem. About two years
subsequently to this event, Cyrus, who had married his
cousin, the daughter of Cyaxares, king of Media, became,
by the death of his father and uncle, king of Persia and
Media. His empire now extended from the Caspian Sea
to the Indian Ocean, and from India to Ethiopia.
Thus far, through the whole career of his life, he had
rigidly adhered to his habits of severe temperance ; and
in all his conquests, not only in his great battle at Thym-
bra, but in all other engagements, he always placed his
principal dependence for success on his Persian soldiers,
who had been trained like himself in rigid temperance
and simplicity, on a diet of bread, cresses and water.
And we are informed by the historian, that, after fighting
great battles, and vanquishing their enemies, the Persian
soldiers would feast on bread and water—“Hunger being
their only ragout, and water from the river their only
drink—for that was the way of living to which they had
been accustomed from their infancy.”
After Cyrus had thus established one of the largest
and most powerful empires of antiquity, he began to
yield to the luxuries and voluptuousness of the times, and
died at the age of seventy years.
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER, 53
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
THOUGH the following extracts from Dr. Sweetser's new
work on Consumption,” have reference principally to the
diet of those who are predisposed to that disease, still
they are highly instructive to all; and are indeed, with
few exceptions, applicable to all. The doctor first speaks
of the special importance of diet in the first years of
human life.
“In a state of society where all the arts of cookery
are brought into requisition to tempt the palate, errors in
diet are almost inevitable, and may not unfrequently
operate as the occasional cause of consumption. They
may relate to the quantity or quality of the food, or to
both.
“In infancy and childhood, a careful attention to the
diet is of the highest consideration, for faults in regard to
it, at this period especially, must produce the most baleful
influence; either creating morbid predispositions in the
system, or strengthening and exciting such as already
exist. The nourishment should be in sufficiency to
answer the demands of the economy, but never in excess.
If the diet is defective in early life, the organs will not be
duly developed, and the body will be feeble, and continue
puerile in many of its characters—a state before shown to
be intimately associated with a consumptive predispo-
sition. And, on the other hand, if it is superabundant
and exciting, a plethoric and inflammatory state of the
system will be induced, highly incompatible with the
equable and healthful play of the different functions, and
tending indirectly to waste the energies of life.
* See a “Treatise on Consumption” by Prof. Sweetser, late of the Uni-
versity of Vermont.
54 OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
“How often is it, that fat, plethoric, meat-eating children,
their faces looking as though the blood was just ready to
ooze out, are with the greatest complacency exhibited by
their parents as patterns of health ! But let it ever be
remembered, that the condition of the system popularly
called rude or full health, and the result of high feeding,
is too often closely bordering on a state of disease.”
We beg the parent or teacher—but especially the parent
—whose eye catches the last paragraph, to stop, for once,
and weigh well the sentiment. Go where we may, we find
the error alluded to in full sway. Fat, meat-eating
children, from the cradle, are regarded as the very picture
of health ; and those who are not quite so plump are
looked upon as objects of pity. And yet we find that
these full faced, ruddy-looking, greedy and greasy eaters,
suffer more from disease, on the whole, as well as die
earlier, than the children of families where the human
constitution is more studied, and the dictates of reason and
common sense are more implicitly followed. But we quote
another paragraph from Dr. S.
“Nature, the safest of guides, has plainly indicated the
diet she has designed for early infancy; and mothers will
do a positive wrong to their offspring by neglecting her
dictates. The child, during its early existence, should
derive its nourishment exclusively from human milk, and
from that of the mother, unless circumstances forbid, when
an amiable, temperate, healthy young nurse should be
employed.
“I specify such qualities, because it is well established
that turbulent and evil passions, bad diet, stimulating
drinks, and depraved health from any cause, necessarily
vitiate the secretions, and among others, that of the milk,
rendering it more or less deleterious to the tender being it
is designed to nourish. Medicines introduced into the
system of the nurse, act speedily on the infant; and, in
OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER. 55
truth, few secretions are more affected by incidental cir-
cumstances than that of the milk. It therefore behoves
every nursing mother who regards the well-being of her
offspring, and especially if her constitution is feeble and
delicate, to pay particular attention to all those circum-
stances of diet and regimen which tend to ensure moral
and physical health.”
Dr. S. apologizes for prescribing the moral qualities of
a nurse ; but he need not do it. Nothing, perhaps, is better
established, than that the character of the milk is directly
affected by the temperament, the affections, the passions,
and the ingesta” of the nurse. The opinion that milk is
nearly the same, in its chemical proportions—as it is
known to be in its sensible properties—whether it is
afforded by one person or another, is believed to be
wholly unfounded.
But this doctrine, if true, is one of the utmost conse-
quence, whether we regard the child's health or his
moral character. For though by birth he is rendered a
separate being, he is still, as long as he is at the breast, in
some respects a part of the mother; and will be likely to
—nay, inevitably must—become in character and physical
vigor, more or less what she is. If a child therefore is
nursed two years, as we believe most children ought to
be, here is the extended period of nearly three years,
during every moment of which the food, the drink, the
sleep, the exercise, the feelings, the affections, and the
passions of the mother are forming the character of the
child. Is it too much to say that more is done, during
the first two or three years, towards forming both the
physical and moral constitution of the human being, than
during the whole of the remainder of life 2
* By ingesta is meant all kinds of substances received into the stomach,
whether food, drink or medicine.
56 OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
Respecting the quality of the child's first food Dr. S.
observes :
“A solid animal diet should, to say the least, never be
allowed to childhood till the teeth are sufficiently advanced
to effect its mastication with facility. The frequent prac-
tice of the nurse of artificially breaking down such food,
or of actually chewing it in her own mouth for the infant,
is hostile to nature's clearest indications, and cannot be
too strongly reprobated. A diet of milk and mild farina-
ceous articles, with, perhaps, light animal decoctions,
appears best suited to the early years of life. Tea, coffee,
and other stimulating drinks, are surely not required; and
their effects on the system, at this tender period of exist-
ence, are undoubtedly pernicious.”
Nothing can be more just than these sentiments. And
yet nothing is more common than to see mothers, espe-
cially those who are young and inexperienced, stuffing a
child, long before it has teeth, with substances which are
not only unfit for its tender years, but unfit for any stage
of life whatever. Fat meat, for example, is often given ;
sometimes under the idea that it makes the child plump
and fat. Now as only a small part of this fat can be
digested, and as the greater part operates as a kind of
laxative, the child indeed seems to bear up under it, and
even sometimes to gain in flesh, which always en-
courages the mother; for mothers think infants healthy in
proportion to their fatness—a most unhappy mistake,
as we have already attempted to show.
Let those parents who are in the habit of giving their
infants meat and other things for which nature never in-
tended them, before they have teeth, as well as dosing
them with other drinks besides that which nature has
prepared for them, read these thoughts, and beware Let
them keep out of the child's sight, in ordinary circum-
OPINIONS OF DR. sweetSER. 57
stances, all drinks whatever, as scrupulously as they keep
out of the mother's reach all but water.
We do not believe in “light animal decoctions " for
children or adults, unless in those cases of disease when
there is some insurmountable objection to food which is
solid. We believe that teeth are given to be used ; and
that, as a general rule, mastication—and therefore solid
food—is indispensable. The less of liquid food, of any
sort except milk, the better. With this objection, the
doctor's prescription for the first years of human life
accords with our own views. Indeed, there are few judi-
cious medical men of modern days, who do not concur in
the opinion that milk and farinaceous vegetable food should
form the exclusive diet of our early years. The only differ-
ence of opinion seems to be in regard to the number of
these early years. Some say two or three; some, three or
four; some, five or six; some, ten or twelve. Others go
much farther. They would do well to settle the question
how long the habit should be continued of subsisting on
vegetable food, and how strong it should become in order
to break it with the greatest ease | But the subject is too
grave for irony. We quote once more from Dr. S.
“There exists a prevalent idea that scrofulous and
tuberculous individuals require a full and nutritious diet,
and hence they are often urged to a free use of solid
animal food. Such ought certainly to be well nourished ;
but excessive nourishment may create the very evils it is
designed to remedy. I believe it to be very rare in any
constitution, surely when not influenced by habit, that
more than one meal of solid animal food is required dur-
ing the twenty-four hours. And whenever there exists
an evident inflammatory tendency, as is the case in some
scrofulous systems, solid animal food, if used at all,
should be taken with the greatest precaution. Persons
who labor or exercise much in the open air, will bear a
4
58 OPINIONS OF DR. SWEETSER.
more full and nourishing diet than those of sedentary
habits ; and, other things being equal, different constitu-
tions require a more or less nutritious diet.”
If children, in the dispensations of divine Providence,
are to be only gradually separated from their mothers; if,
during the whole of this process of separation, it is univer-
Sally agreed that they must be gradually weaned from a
dependence on animal sustenance, till they are brought at
length to depend entirely on vegetable food; and if, during
several years, more or less, after weaning, the habit is to
be confirmed, we should like to know, we again say, what,
in the name of common sense, are the indications of a
necessity of returning to that diet, from which mature -
and we have been for years weaning them. We should
also like to know when these indications are to be ex-
pected. Is it at two years of age; or is it at four ; or
is it at six—when habit becomes a still stronger second
nature ? Will the believers in flesh-eating be so good as
to settle this question ?
Again : If scrofulous children do not require animal
food, pray what children do 2 Here has always been the
strong hold of flesh-eating medical men. Scrofulous chil-
dren required meat, it was said, because it was necessary
that the diet should be nutritious. But now that they have
found out that bread, and rice, and beans, and peas, are even
more nutritious than meat, they begin to teach that meat is
not indicated ; and some, like Dr. S., seem to be actually
afraid of it. Observe that the latter says, in the quotation
above, it should be taken, if taken “at all,” with the
“greatest precaution.”
Since this point, therefore—the strong hold of flesh-
eaters—is at last yielded, we press the question, who is it
now to whom flesh, as food, is indispensable 2 Those who
labor much in the open air, will it be said? Dr. S. indeed
tells us that they will “bear it better than others,” but this
HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 59
cannot prove that it is useful to them; for these are the
very people who will bear rum, and brandy, and opium,
and tobacco, and cider, and beer, and tea, and coffee,
better than others.
True it is that Dr. S., towards the close of the last
quotation, says something about “different constitutions;”
but what do he and other medical writers mean by
this 2 Do they suppose that the cow of Cape Cod, who
eats fish, has a different constitution as the consequence 2
Will it be said of her offspring, that different constitutions
require a more or less nutritious diet 2 But might we
not as well argue thus, and attempt to prove that a part at
least of the calves which descend from these fish-eating
cows require fish, at least when they come to be full
grown, as that the human race do? If men have different
constitutions any more than cows, we should like to
know it. But we must close. On this supposed dif-
ſerence of constitution we propose to say something
hereafter.
HOT BUCKWHEAT CARES.
A coRRESPONDENT asks if hot buckwheat cakes, in the
morning, are injurious. No, they are not injurious, if
they are not eaten. But our correspondent probably re-
quires a more serious answer. We will endeavor to fur-
mish it.
The question then is, Are hot buckwheat cakes, eaten
in the morning, injurious 2
Our constant readers will have learned, by this time,
that we consider man, in a certain view, as omnivorous ;
that is, capable of subsisting on almost everything in the
animal and vegetable world. Circumstances may also
60 HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES.
occur, in which almost anything in either of these two
kingdoms of nature would be proper food for him.
Suppose a person to be shipwrecked on an uninhabited
island, with not a particle of anything to subsist on, but a
bag of buckwheat meal. Suppose, however, he finds the
means of preparing a fire, so that, before he is quite
starved, he can make some of the meal into cakes.
Would it be correct to advise such a person——were advice
possible—not to eat his cakes after they were prepared,
and above all, not to eat them hot, on the ground that
they were injurious 2 Does any one doubt, for a moment,
the propriety of his eating them 2
They would certainly afford him sustenance, although
they were hot; and no one would be likely to say they
were injurious to a hungry, half-famished man, even with
butter on them. Still they would be better without the
butter, and better still when cool.
It is also true that cold rye cakes would be better than
cakes made of buckwheat, were it in the power of the
mariner, in the case supposed, to procure them; and that
cakes made of unbolted wheat meal, and eaten cold also,
would be better still. But as to saying that buckwheat
cakes, even hot, are injurious when eaten in any circum-
stances whatever, we cannot do it.
But if they are never absolutely injurious, they are
often relatively so. It is, in a sense, injurious, to eat an
inferior article, when we can as well have one which is
superior ;-just as in a case which we have formerly
mentioned, it is not a wrong, absolutely, for a man to
labor for only a dollar a day, when he can get no more;
but it is a wrong for him to labor for a dollar only, when
he can just as well have a dollar and a half, and believes,
too, that he is fully able to earn that sum. -
We are driven to this frequent repetition of our senti-
ments, because we frequently receive inquiries that can-
HOT BUCKWHEAT CAKES. 61
not be properly answered without a recurrence to first
principles. Thus, to the question whether buckwheat
cakes are injurious, we might answer both yes and no.
They are injurious when we can get better food, because
they do not sustain life and health in the best manner ;
but they cannot be said to be injurious when we are
obliged to eat them or starve.
We can scarcely conceive of a case, however, in this
land of abundance, where the use of these cakes is not
relatively injurious. We have lived in very many poor
families, and yet we never lived in a family which had
no better food than this. The worst fare to which we
were ever confined by necessity was oysters and a little
bread and butter. But this was better fare than the cakes
we have mentioned, even when eaten alone. They are
too pasty, or rather their chemical character is unfavora-
ble.
They are not so good as most other articles of food, we
say, even when eaten alone and cold. When hot, they
are still worse, in their adaptation to the wants of the
stomach ; and they are worse still, inconceivably so,
when eaten with butter or fat. They thus form a com-
pound which, though better than nothing to a starving
man, is wholly improper in any ordinary circumstances.
They are thus almost, but not quite indigestible. They
are relatively, if not absolutely injurious. Strange that
their use, in a land of abundance, should be so frequently
tolerated.
If the question is still asked, on the presumption that
mankind will continue to eat them, despite of all warm-
ings to the contrary, whether they should be eaten in the
morning, we answer without hesitation, Yes. The morn-
ing is usually the safest time for eating all doubtful sub-
stances, because the strength of the stomach is then in a
good measure restored by rest.
62. INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
We repeat it, if you will eat the cakes in question, eat
them in the morning. But we would gladly persuade
you, if we could, to eat them without butter. When we
had succeeded in this point, we would endeavor to induce
you to lay aside sugar, and every accompanying sub-
stance, and eat them entirely alone. When we had
gained upon you thus far, we would try to persuade you
not to eat them hot. This done, we would make one
more effort. We would endeavor to persuade you to lay
aside the buckwheat cake itself, and substitute for it,
plain, wholesome slices of bread.
INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
WE promised, not long since, to speak of the influence
of the affections and passions on human health and hap-
piness. The subject is curious as well as important. We
begin with a few remarks on the influence of Fear.
A volume of considerable size might be filled with facts
which show the ill effects of care, anxiety and grief, and,
above all, of fear and terror, in predisposing the human
constitution to disease—facts, too, than which none are
better authenticated.
But fear can do more than predispose the system to
disease. The universal rigor, the contracted and pale
countenance, the deep-sunk eye, the quivering lip, the
chillness, torpor, prostration of strength, the insupportable
anxiety about the region of the heart, &c., are so analo-
gous to the symptoms of fever, that no reasoning person can
doubt for a moment the unhealthy tendency of this passion.
It not only disposes to disease, but actually induces it in
INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH. 63
some instances; and where it already exists, always
greatly aggravates its symptoms.
Fear has been known to change instantaneously the
complexion and character of wounds, and render them
fatal. It has occasioned gangrene, indurations of glands,
suppressions of natural or beneficial secretions, epilepsies,
and, when it proceeds to the more dangerous extreme
of terror, apoplexies. It has also sometimes induced a
permanent stupor of the brain, amounting to idiocy.
Extremes often meet ; and as joy on the one hand has
produced sudden death, so on the other the agonizing
effects of fear may result in complete palsy of the vital
powers, and, like the plague, cholera, and other pesti-
lential disorders, when they appear in their worst forms,
instantly produce the torpor of death. From the best
accounts of the progress of the cholera, it appears that
many died from fear alone; and many more from a mild
disease, transformed into a severe one by anxiety, fear or
terror. Awful consternation pervades those who live in
fear of death. Although the mortality of the disease,
among the truly temperate has been estimated at only
about 1 in 2000, yet this fear of disease and death
regularly causes the subjects of a panic to fall victims.
In every species of contagious disease, fear is peculiar-
ly dangerous. More than this, it is in itself contagicus.
He who is under its influence, is not only rendered mis-
erable for the time, but is a source of misery to others.
His very features have a tendency to produce a state of
mind in others similar to his own. The whole tribe of
depressing passions produce, in some degree, similar
results.
There is, however, a fear which cannot and should not
be avoided, since it rouses us to take prudent and precau-
tionary measures. We condemn only that anxiety and
terror which undermine health.
64 INFLUENCE OF FEAR ON HEALTH.
Why are physicians no more liable to infectious or
contagious diseases than other men ; The principal
reason, no doubt, is, because they are not afraid of them.
On this subject there is much mistake abroad, even
among those who would take it ill to be classed among
the vulgar. An opinion prevails, to a very great extent,
that physicians take something to guard against disease.
Nothing can be more erroneous.
There may indeed be timid persons among them, as
among other classes of men ; but if there are those of
this description, they usually lose their health. Physi-
cians of sense are among the last persons in the commu-
nity to resort to drugs and medicines as preventives of
disease—a measure, they well know, calculated to invite
rather than repel it. But the idea that they take medi-
cine for this purpose certainly prevails, and cannot at
once be eradicated.
A gentleman in one of our country towns (and a gen-
tleman regarded as intelligent, too) said to me not long
since, “I have observed a peculiar appearance in the eyes
of all physicians who have had much practice, which I
suppose to be produced by taking powerful medicines to
guard against disease.” I found the impression so deeply
fixed in his mind, that it was useless to attempt to laugh
him out of it ; and more useless still to reason with him
on the subject.
There are many attendants and nurses of the sick to be
found in our cities, who have followed their avocation
through every epidemic which has prevailed for forty
years, and without contracting disease. These persons,
like most physicians, have become habituated to these
Scenes, and have learned to meet them fearlessly, and
without much anxiety as to results. They eat and drink,
and sleep, if possible, just as they have done before.
They have no idea of any great or sudden changes in
EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS. 65
these respects, simply with a view to meet the particular
disease which prevails. If they were temperate and
regular before, they continue so; if not, they ought to
change. They have no “smelling bottles,” or “herbs,”
or “drugs,” about them. They would as soon rely on
beads or charms to defend them from death. Nor do
we find them holding their breath in the sick room, or
placing much confidence in burning paper, vinegar, &c., or
in scattering camphor and other aromatics about the room.
Rigid cleanliness they observe, no doubt, in person and
dwelling. This subject cannot be too much attended to ;
and, if infection or contagion really exist, they make use
of means which have some efficacy—such as chloride of
lime, &c.—not relying on spells or charms.
Is it asked—How can we divest ourselves of fear, and
acquire the courage and confidence of which you speak 2
Look at existing facts, as we have here endeavored to
present them. If you believe these statements—and it
seems to us you cannot reasonably reject them—there is
no great danger. If you are involved in any errors
which predispose to the disease, avoid them at once,
This is easily done; and when done, and other proper
preventive measures are taken, set your mind at rest, and
dismiss all fear. *
EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS.
A FRIEND inquires whether we meant to say, in Vol.
2, page 370, of this work, that it was never desirable, in
any possible case, to make external applications to fresh
wounds. As we expressed our views, on that occasion,
very briefly, and it may be unguardedly, we gladly seize
the present opportunity to explain.
66 EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS TO WOUNDS.
Our opinion then is, that if a person is healthy, no ex-
ternal application to a wound can be of the least possible
use, in hastening the process of cure, but rather an in-
terruption to it. The healing, to be truly healthful, must
be from the bottom, as it might be termed ; by which we
mean, not that it always commences at the bottom, and
proceeds upwards, literally, but that it is an internal pro-
cess—a work of the ten thousand vessels and numerous
organs of the interior or deep-seated parts of the body, in
which the surface has comparatively little to do.
To have a wound heal kindly and rapidly, the stom-
ach, and liver, and lungs, and heart, and arteries, and
veins, and nerves, must be in good condition ; and we
must eat, and drink, and sleep, and exercise, and even
think properly. The skin, it is true, must be in a good
condition among the rest; and in so far as it is not so,
something may be done externally. If it is not clean, it
may be washed; or if it is cold and inactive, we may
apply the flesh-brush, or put on more clothing. But as
to effecting anything of consequence by the application of
ointments, or plasters, or washes to a small part of the
surface which is wounded or otherwise injured, it is, we
say again, once for all, perfectly idle to expect it.
The first great point in the treatment of wounds is, to
place the cut or torn parts as mearly as possible in their
matural situation. The second point is, to keep them so
till they unite. For this purpose, a simple bandage is
sometimes all that is necessary; though in other instances,
sticking plaster, or even sewing, may be required, In
deep or extensive injuries, the contraction of divided ten-
dons will often make the wound gape open, in which
case it is always proper to use some of the methods of
keeping the edges together which we have just indicated.
When wounded parts can be put in their natural posi-
tion and retained there, it is a common saying with sur-
DRESS OF THE NECK. 67
geons, that the cure is half completed; by which is meant,
that art has done her share, and that nature will now
perform the rest; and if the health is perfect, this will
always be the result. Plasters—greasy applications, es-
pecially—are of no use. It is quite enough, in all con-
science, that we apply the latter, as often as meal time
recurs, to the inside of our stomachs.
But there is, thirdly, a little more for us to do, which
is, to see that nature is not thwarted in her operations.
Plasters, and ointments, and washes, it is still true, are
not the things needed. But it may be well to keep the
tender parts from being irritated by the cold air, or by our
clothing; and to this end, a piece of simple linen cloth
may be applied; and to prevent its adhering or becoming
dry, it may be moistened with sweet oil. If it is very
hot and much swelled, the heat and swelling may and
should also be reduced by the application of cold water or
camphorated spirits.
These are the general principles which should govern
us, in the treatment of ordinary external injuries. With
extensive or deep-seated burns or scalds, or long standing
or troublesome eruptive diseases or ulcers, we have not,
in these remarks—nor had we in the former article—any-
thing to do. They belong exclusively to the province of
the surgeon or the physician, whenever his services can
be obtained.
DRESS OF THE NECK.
DR. ALCOTT :—I believe the object of your publication
is, in general, the promotion of health. When conven-
ãent, will you, therefore, be kind enough to answer the
following questions:
6S IdFESS OF THE NECK,
1. Should the neck always be protected by some article
of clothing? 2. If so, would you include the whole
neck, or a part of it only ; 3. If a part, how much?
4. What is the best article of clothing for the neck?
5. What would you say in regard to covering the neck
at night 2 6. Is there the same necessity of covering,
with the female part of the population, as with the male 2
Yours, W. C. C.
Our reply to the first question is, that we do not be-
lieve any clothing of the neck would be needed, were we
trained to none. The peasants of some nations of Europe
go with both the neck and breast bare ; and the Prussian
physicians recommend it. It is true that some writers
think a covering of the neck and breast a defence against
croup, and cite authorities and facts which they think
favor that belief; but we think the exemption of which
they speak is fairly attributable to other causes. We
repeat it, we are decidedly in favor of training children
to go with the neck bare, both in summer and winter.
Our reply in the foregoing paragraph necessarily in-
cludes a reply to questions 2 and 3.
In reply to the inquiry about covering the neck at
night, there can be but one opinion among physiologists,
which is, that, let our dress for the neck be what it may
during the day, it should be laid aside during the might.
In regard to the necessity, with the female, of covering
the neck, we are not quite satisfied. God gives the adult
male a covering for the top of the throat, although chris-
tian nations generally remove it—we think injudiciously—
with the razor. Whether the female needs any artificial
protection, for the same purpose, we are uncertain ; but
probably she does not.
M IS C E L L A NY.
HEALTH of FEMALEs.-The Rev. Dr. Sharp, of this city,
in an address at a late examination of the Townsend Female
Academy, gives the following testimony to the importance of
physical education to females:
“While you attend to the cultivation of your minds, permit
me to remind you that you have bodies, and that these de-
mand your care. It is your solemn duty to cultivate their
health, growth and vigor.
“It is fortunate for the rising generation, that the impor-
tance of physical education is beginning to be understood.
You cannot neglect or trifle with your persons with impunity.
Weakness, indigestion, lowness of spirits, and a train of dis-
eases, are sure to follow the student who is so occupied with
his studies as to neglect the exercise which the animal func-
tions require. And of what use will all your learning be, if
your minds exhibit a weak and sickly frame?”
It is not always necessary to remind the young that they
have bodies, for this seems, in general, to be pretty well un-
derstood. But it is exceedingly important that the doctrine
should be constantly reiterated, that it is a duty—a “solemn
duty,” as Dr. S. calls it—“to cultivate” these bodies; and we
hope his advice will not be wholly lost.
SocIETY FoR THE PREVENTION of PAUPERISM.–We have
seldom had it in our power to notice an association, whose
direct bearing on health and morals was more obvious than
this. Half the relief which is usually afforded to the poor—
at least to the vicious poor—proves in their hands a curse
rather than a blessing. A friend of ours gave to a poor woman
who was begging with a child in her arms, one very cold day
last winter, twenty-five cents. The next day he saw the very
same woman in a grog-shop, with her child in her arms, BUY-
ING RUM!
70 MISCELLANY.
The “Boston Society for the Prevention of Pauperism,”
therefore, as its name would indicate, aims to prevent that evil
which it is so difficult to correct. But its purposes will be
best understood by the following extract from a circular issued
by the Society, and forwarded to us by their agent, Mr. AR-
TEMAS SIMonds.
“While our city is distinguished for its churches, and chap-
els, and Schools for moral and intellectual instruction, and
while we have a multitudinous array of institutions for the
punishment of crime, the reformation of young offenders, and
the relief of sickness, impotence and want, the labors of this
new association may seem unnecessary—mere acts of Super-
erogation. But we think otherwise. We believe that preven-
tive measures are better than remedial. We think that we
have, to a great extent, an unoccupied field for usefulness.
We hope to do something for the benefit of those who are
already paupers, or occasionally have their names enrolled on
the pauper list, by directing them to proper employment, en-
couraging them in habits of industry, sobriety and economy,
and to a reliance on their own efforts, rather than on eleemo-
synary aid. We hope to do more, by the same means, for
friendless strangers in the city, and for such as are on the
verge of pauperism.
“But our greatest hope is to do good for the morally exposed
children of the poor and unfortunate—children that are not
in school or any regular employment—perhaps strolling idly
about the streets and wharves, learning deceptive arts, prac-
tising beggary and petty theft, fitting for a life of dependance
and crime. Some of these must necessarily be disposed of,
for a time, in the various institutions established by public be-
neficence for the support, education and reformation of poor,
neglected and wayward children and youth. But it is be-
lieved that a large proportion of them may be placed, with
the consent of relatives, in good families in town and country,
beyond the reach of the temptations and influences that lead
to ruin, and without severely taxing public or private charity.
Many juvenile delinquents may doubtless be saved from fu-
ture infamy, by simply withdrawing them from unfavorable
associations, and placing them in respectable families, where
MISCELLANY. 71
they will be trained to good habits. It is not intended to re-
sort to harsh or coercive measures. While we intend to act
efficiently to suppress beggary and imposition, we wish to act
with kindness.”
LECTURE To YouNG MEN.—We are exceedingly glad to
learn that a new edition of this book is about to appear, re-
vised and improved by Mr. Graham, the author. The first
edition has been, for some time, out of print; and calls for the
work are numerous and pressing. It is a work which should,
must be circulated. Light & Stearns are the publishers.
THREE ExPERIMENTs of LIVING.—This little book is sell-
ing at a wonderful rate. We are glad of it. Such a work,
by checking the propensity in people everywhere to live be-
3yond their means, can scarcely fail to promote the public
health. We want now a cheap little manual to show us how
to live on very small means; and we understand such a one
is in press, and will shortly be published.
SCIENCE of HUMAN LIFE.-Mr. Graham, the lecturer on
the Science of Fiuman Life, is now giving a course of lectures
at Amory Hall, in this city. He has already given a course in
the city, and another at Lynn, during the present season. His
class at Amory Hall is very large—the largest, we believe, he
has ever had in Boston. Is it not evident, therefore, that the
cause in which Mr. G. is engaged is gaining a hold upon the
minds of our citizens? That it is so, would appear—had we
no other evidence of the fact—from the following resolutions
recently adopted by a committee from Mr. G.'s friends, at a
meeting held in Boston, on the 23d of December last, of which
Col. John Benson was chairman:
“Resolved, that we feel it our duty seriously and solemnly
to declare, that the more we have attended to the principles
taught by Mr. Graham in his lectures on the science of human
life, and the more fully we have reduced those principles to
72 MISCELLANY.
practise, and the more extensively we have become acquainted
with the results of the same experiment in others, the more
entirely do we feel convinced of the truth of those principles,
and of their adaptation greatly to promote the well-being of
man, both in his individual and social capacity.
Resolved, that the cause in which Mr. Graham is engaged
is not, and ought not to be considered, in any manner, as an
individual or personal interest, but as the common interest of
humanity, which eminently deserves the confidence of every
human being, and the decided support of every christian and
philanthropist.
Resolved, that we regard every expression of the press, by
which the cause in which Mr. Graham is engaged is brought
into disrepute, and by which popular prejudice is excited
against it, as an injury done to the common interests of hu-
manity and virtue.
Resolved, that we earnestly but respectfully entreat our fel-
low citizens and the public, everywhere to lay aside the pre-
judices which have been unfairly and unjustly excited against
the doctrines taught by Mr. Graham, and to give those doc-
trines their honest and serious attention.
Resolved, that Mr. Graham be requested to repeat his course
of lectures in this city, and that we take every proper means
to induce our fellow citizens to attend his lectures.”
ScIENTIFIC AND LITERARY Journ AL-All things, it seems,
except the Source of all things, are mutable. The “Scientific
Tracts” have become the “Scientific and Literary Journal,
for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.” The work is to be
issued by the same publishers as the “Tracts” were, in semi-
monthly numbers of twenty-four pages each. We like the
“healthy” appearance of the numbers for J anuary, 1837, and
for the future, wish and augur it both health and longevity.—
light & Stearns, publishers.
VALUABLE BOOK,
Just out of Press.
SCIENTIFIC TRACTS,
For the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
With an Engraving of the “Tree of Philosophy.”
COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME-PRICE $1.
The Publishers have been at considerable expense in the
publication of this work, and trust that the valuable matter it
contains will be appreciated by the community. We think
every subscriber to the Journal would value a copy highly.
The following is a list of the subjects and authors of the Tracts :
PHILOSOPHY OF SELF-EDUCATION, by B. B. Triarclien.
OUTLINE OF PHILOSOPHY, by LIEUT. Roswell, PAE K.
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY RISING, by DR. W.M. A. ALcotºr.
MAY-Fi, OWERS, by D. H. How AR p. -
NATURAL HISTORY OF WATER, by C. T. Jacksox, M. D.
PLEASURES OF SCIENCE, by Rev. W. M. Rogers.
HISTORY OF PEACE SOCIETIES, by WILLIAM L.App.
SCIENCE OF HUMAN LIFE, by DR. Sylves.TER GRAILAM.
HISTORY OF TELEGRAPHS, by J. R. PARKER.
COMBUSTION, by R. A. Coppin.
GRANITE ROCK, by DR. SAMUEL FISH.
THEORY OF THE EARTH, by DR. SAMUEL FIs H.
LIGIIT & STEARNS, I Cornhilſ.
WORKS IN PREPARATION.
THE YOUNG WIFE. By DR. ALcott. Intended as one of
the same series with the You Ng Morii ER. The matter entirely different.
THE WATER, CURER. By A MEDICAL MAN. A small pocket
manual for debilitated Young Men.
1n Press and will speedily be published,
A LECTURE TO YOUNG MEN. By SYLVESTER GRAHAM.
second Edition, enlarged and improved. This work is highly recommended by sever;"
distinguished mcil.
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vº. III.] D E C E M B E H . [No. 12 ſ
THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
2 . 2 Z &
&ac/e, (272, ſ/e .3%maze &omoſº/on.
CONTENTS.
Taking Cold, g = * * * * * * * 361 MISC ELLANY.
Effects of Employments, . . 370 Sweetser on Digestion, . . . 383
Age of Early Risers, . . . . 375 The Family Nurse, . . . . . 383 .
Future Longevity of Man, . 376 Physiological Reform, . . . . 383
Borrowing Trouble, . . . . . 378 | Popular Lectures, . . . . . . 384
Health of Females, . . . . . 379 | Charitable Infirmary, . . . . 384
Mince Pies, . . . . . . . . . 380 | New Work, . . . . . . . . . 384
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LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
TAKING COLD.—No. II.
CAUSES OF COLD.
THE first thing I shall notice, under this head, is error
in regard to dress. “The warmer the body is kept by
clothing,” says the Philadelphia Journal of Health, “the
greater is its ability to create heat and resist cold.”
Though not true in its full extent, there is some truth in
this remark. Wearing too thin clothing, for any consid-
erable time, certainly diminishes our power to resist the
cold ; but it is also true that too much clothing is, in one
form or another, equally injurious.
It can never be too frequently repeated, that the heat
of the body should be promoted as much as possible, by
the healthy vigorous action of all its functions; and that
what the internal machinery of the body cannot do to-
wards making us just comfortable, that is, neither too
warm nor too cold, should be made up by clothing.
This is an universal rule ; and when properly under-
stood and applied, might nearly supersede all other rules
on the subject. No matter how much or how little the
actual amount of the clothing;—it must be exactly enough
to make us comfortable. If it is not so, we are weakened
and inevitably injured.
23
362 TAKING COLD.
But it is equally true that too much clothing, let the
increase be ever so trifling—if it be long continued—
though it may not expose us to take cold directly, does so
indirectly ; that is, by weakening us gradually. It is not
true, though we find it often repeated, that the excessively
hot rooms and hot clothing of Norway, Sweden, Russia,
Siberia, Greenland and Labrador, harden the inhabitants
of those regions permanently. A temporary vigor may
indeed seem to be induced, but it is only temporary. Who
does not know that most of the inhabitants of our globe
who practice in this way, are stinted, unhealthy, and
short lived 2 Exceptions there may indeed seem to be, in
favor of some parts of European Russia ; but I believe
that the benefits which are claimed to result from hot
rooms and clothing, in these cases, may be traced to other
and very different causes.
That this excess of heat, whether in Europe, America,
or elsewhere, tends to debilitate, we have the unequivocal
testimony of physiologists. Dr. Oliver, in his “First
Lines of Physiology,” while speaking of the power of
living human bodies to resist an excess of heat, has the
following remarks :
“When living bodies are exposed to a degree of heat
superior to the standard of their own temperature, the
development of organic heat from within is immediately
checked, and the excess of caloric, applied to the surface,
excites the exhaling vessels of the skin to a copious se-
cretion of perspirable fluid, which absorbs the excess of
caloric, and flies off with it, in the state of vapor. The
development of organic heat is checked, under these
circumstances, because an excess of external temperature
depresses and weakens those functions, by the activity of
which caloric is generated in the system. Thus the ner-
vous power is debilitated by extreme heat; respiration
TAKING COLD. 363
becomes slower and less perfect ; digestion, nutrition,
secretion, and, in short, all the processes connected with
the nutrition of the system, and carried on in the capillary
vessels, where the evolution of animal heat takes place,
are more or less enfeebled.”
These facts of physiology are not, in general, suffi-
ciently attended to, and for a very obvious and natural
reason, because not generally known. Thousands and
tens of thousands wear more clothing at certain times of
the day or at certain seasons of the year, than is neces-
sary, or sleep under a great deal too much clothing at
night. Other thousands are also immersed, a part or the
whole of the time, in rooms where the temperature is too
great. Nothing is more common than the practice of
keeping the body quite too warm, and thus making too
small a demand on the calorific powers of the system.
And yet, Dr. O. is correct—and we cannot doubt it, since
his views are confirmed by other sound physiological
writers—every degree of external heat which is supplied
by clothes or fires, which the internal organs ought, by
their action, to supply, weakens those organs, and injures
the health.
While however I have insisted here and elsewhere on
the importance of keeping cool, I must be allowed to in-
sist, with equal pertinacity, on the importance and neces-
sity of keeping warm. The occasional and momentary
application of cold, by a shower bath, a common cold
bath, by affusion, or a plunge in the snow, may be and
undoubtedly is, often useful. In the case of most persons
who are healthy, it causes a reaction or glow, and renders
us warmer afterwards than before.
There can be little doubt that many individuals, espe-
cially among the poorer of our citizens, injure their health
by going too thinly clad. Were they trained otherwise
364 TAKING COLD.
than they now are, the amount of clothing they use
might be sufficient. But no person—I repeat it—is bene-
fited by going, for any considerable time, thinly clad so as
to produce sensations of cold, and above all, of chilliness.
“There cannot be a more absurd practice, or one that
more frequently gives rise to a ‘violent cold,’ than care-
fully covering every portion of the body at one period,
with warm clothing ; and at another, under even a
greater degree of exposure, exchanging this, in part, for
the thinnest vesture. It may, indeed, be received as a
general truth, that those who are accustomed to clothe
themselves warmly, will be much more liable to suffer
from cold by going more lightly clad than ordinary, than
the individual whose body is always less carefully pro-
tected.”
“It is not so much in regard to the actual warmth of
their clothing,” says a writer on health, “that people err,
as in its sudden change during the same day—not ac-
cording to the change of temperature, or the degree of
exposure, but to the requirements of fashion. The ball
room or the parlor in which the evening is spent, may be
equally warm with the apartment occupied during the
day by our ladies, or the store room, office, or counting
house of our gentlemen; but the passages which lead to
the door are cold ; which, in connection with the excite-
ment of dancing, and the subsequent exposure to the
night air, or to apartments of a diminished temperature,
would require a warmer dress to be worn in the one than
in the other; whereas the laws of fashion demand that
the comfortable and equal envelopment of the body
which prevails in the domestic circle, or during the hours
of business, should be exchanged for a dress of chilling
lightness, and which leaves bare or but scantily covers
parts, the preservation of which from cold is essential to
health.”
TAKING COLD. 365
One serious error in regard to clothing, and one, too,
which is the cause of many colds, consists in throwing off
a part of our clothing, after being heated by exercise, or
in consequence of a high degree of temperature, either
natural or artificial. Females, after the exercise of danc-
ing, by neglecting this precaution, often greatly injure
their health.
A person who is heated to excess may throw off, for a
few moments, a part of his clothing, and thus take off, as
a smith would say, a little of the “edge of the heat,”
but it must be for a few moments only. If the clothes
are not put on again till a chill arises, the individual is
almost inevitably injured, and may be destroyed. There
is no rule I could give which requires more discretion or
more caution than the one which I have presented in this
paragraph. It is like some instruments in the arts, of
great service if properly used ; but highly dangerous in
the hands of the unskilful.
Hardly anything is more common than for people to
walk with more clothing on than they usually wear while
sitting, and with more than is necessary to render them
comfortable. There may be indeed a plausible reason for
it—that they may not take cold when they come to sit.
This plea was formerly often made for wearing a load of
clothes to church ; but in these days the stove has found
its way into the church, and fashion has obtained such
sway among females, that they seldom err in this matter.
But let the case be as it may, “all excess of temperature
depresses and weakens the functions,” as Dr. O. ex-
presses it ; and thus disables them from resisting—on
the next occasion which arises—the effects of a lower
temperature.
Connected with this subject of clothing is another
error still. It is that of neglecting to put off our wet
clothes, or what is much worse, sitting in them. While a
366 TAKING COLD.
person is strong and vigorous, as in the early part of the
day, there is seldom any harm in getting a little wet, so
long as he keeps stirring ; and there may be some per-
sons so strong and healthy that it does not injure them,
at this time of day and in these circumstances, even to
suffer their wet clothes to remain on till they become dry.
The observation of this fact, it probably is, which has led
to a belief, quite common in many places, that after get-
ting wet, the surest way to prevent taking cold is to let
our clothes dry on us. As a general rule, however, no
maxim can be more erroneous; nor would any that I
know of, indiscriminately obeyed, lead to more unhappy
results.
The necessity of changing wet and damp clothing
cannot be too strenuously urged. For the present I have
merely room to relate a fact which first appeared in Wol.
I. of the Moral Reformer. The young lady whose dis-
tressing case is there presented, had the misfortune to
reside in a neighborhood where the maxim that wet
clothes should be suffered to dry on us, had extensively
obtained, and though pride or other causes had their full
share in producing the sad catastrophe, I cannot doubt
that the maxim too, which I have mentioned, had its
influence.
“There is no greater mistake abroad, than that they
whose stockings are wet should suffer them to dry on
their feet. To those who sit down in their wet garments
and thus let them dry, it is always unsafe, let the indi-
vidual be ever so robust; but if he is feeble, the result
may be fatal.
“We knew a young lady, six years ago, who scarcely
thought of the possibility of sickening or dying—such
was her vigor—for a century or two to come ! And yet
in one year afterward, her emaciated body was laid in the
grave, a victim to pride and ignorance.
TAKING COLD. 367
“It was in March, and her daily employment was in a
comb-factory. Going to her accustomed labor one morn-
ing, amid ‘snow porridge,’ she fell and wet her feet and
clothes. Too proud to let anybody know it, and probably
in the belief that her wet clothes had better dry on her,
she proceeded to the shop, and spent her forenoon in this
sad predicament. A check was thus given to her perspi-
ration ; and a cold came on, attended with cough and
other troublesome symptoms; and finally the matter
ended in consumption and death.”
There is no part of the body to which the application
of wet or moisture is productive of worse effects than the
feet. Hence in wet weather it is all important that
these be clad in woollen stockings and substantial boots
or shoes, and if they imbibe moisture, while we are
abroad, they should, before we sit down for any considera-
ble time, be changed. The feet of many feeble persons
perspire so freely, especially while they are in active
exercise, as to render this caution important to them at
all times; and it is hoped they will not overlook it.
Here it will probably be inquired—If these views are
correct, what becomes of the frequent doctrine among
medical men, that the feet, and indeed the whole body,
ought to be wet occasionally with a view to harden us 3
Is there not here a little clashing of doctrines 2
Not at all. The cautions just given, were based on a
knowledge of society as it is ; and of the dangers to
which people are exposed, as the fashions now are, rather
than if they were as they should be. As the great
majority of the community are now trained, especially in
fashionable life, these cautions are indispensable. In
regard to changes which should be effected by correct
physical education, and which would render it less dan-
gerous—may, perhaps positively useful—to get slightly
368 TAKING COLD.
wet, occasionally, I shall have occasion to speak when I
come to treat of the means of preventing colds.
One fruitful source of colds is too much perspiration.
It is supposed by many that a free and indeed copious
perspiration indicates vigor ; and hence they sometimes
make extraordinary efforts to induce it. We have even
heard scripture quoted to this effect. In the sweat of our
faces, we are told, we are to eat our bread.
I have no disposition to deny the healthiness of manual
labor, to an extent even, which increases the perspiration.
But it is one thing to perspire moderately, and quite
another to sweat profusely. Indeed it is essential to the
best of health, that we always perspire more or less ; for,
as I have already said, if that constant transpiration of
moisture through the pores of the body, which physiolo-
gists call insensible perspiration, is long interrupted, dis-
ease—especially catarrh, the very disease in question—is
almost certain to ensue. And yet I repeat it, there is
room for many doubts whether a scanty perspiration has
done more mischief in the world in which we live, than
one which is profuse.
Here I shall be told of thousands of healthy hard
laborers, of every age, who have always perspired freely.
Yes, and I can tell you of thousands of hard laborers of
every age who seem also to be healthy, but who have
always drank fermented or spirituous liquors freely.
Does this prove that these drinks are useful ? Many of
both these classes may seem healthy, and some, no doubt,
are comparatively so. And yet many of them, as is well
known, are more or less diseased. I have known multi-
tudes of aged laborers who had been in the habit of
sweating profusely, but I have never known one who had
not his complaints, and in some of the cases they were
numerous. These complaints are various. Among them
are diseases of the kidneys, bladder and bowels; gout,
liver complaints and rheumatism.
TAKING COLD. 369
Many people are sorry that they do not sweat freely;
whereas they ought to be grateful to their Creator on this
very account. It is the laborer whose clothes are often
drenched with perspiration who is to be pitied, and not
he who sweats moderately in the face and elsewhere, as
the known purposes of health demand.
But is it not true that laborers who sweat freely are
cooler than those who do not ? Most certainly it is.
Every one knows that evaporation from the surface of the
body produces cold, for the time. But if there were not
unusual heat internally in the first place, the necessity of
evaporation to produce cold would not exist. The person
who perspires more freely than his neighbor, other things
being equal, does so because his vital powers are weaker
than his, and are less able to keep down the excess of
bodily heat which external and internal causes are tend-
ing to produce. The system must first be subjected to
extra heat, before a copious perspiration can break out.
The fact that free perspiration cools us then, no more
proves that free perspiration is healthy, than the fact that
the sweating stage of fever cools us proves that this
sweating stage is healthy, when every one knows or may
know that the preceding cold stage causes the sweating
stage ; and that he would be the happy man—without
detriment to his health—who could escape or prevent both.
It is the erroneous idea that sweating cools us, and is
consequently healthy, on which is founded the more com-
mon plea in summer, for using improper drinks. Rum,
gin, cider, beer, tea and coffee, favor a free perspiration
and cool us, and are therefore thought to be healthy. At
least this flimsy excuse is often made for using them by
those who are glad to shelter themselves under almost
any excuse whatever. In like manner hot food cools us,
and is on this very account preferred. I have often
smiled to see laborers, in midsummer, heated already to a
370 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
temperature which they could scarcely endure, sit down
to a dinner blazing hot; or, if perchance the food was not
hot enough to burn their mouths, manifest a disposition
to complain. Such people might cool themselves in
another way, quite as rational. They might have a hot
oven prepared of sufficient size for their use, and instead
of using heating food, or fiery, stimulating drink for the
purpose, they might remain for a short time in the oven.
This would undoubtedly produce a free perspiration, and
be followed by a corresponding coolness; though I will
not undertake to say how pleasant it would be to undergo
the process. It would certainly be as reasonable to
go through an oven or a fire for the sake of the coolness
which would follow, as to make ovens of our stomachs.
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.—No. II.
THE BLACKSMITH.—Smiths have been supposed to
suffer more than most other men from diseases of the
eyes. Mr. Tha krah, however, did not find this opinion
confirmed by the observation of facts; neither do we.
Our range of observation has been limited, but so far as
we can now recollect, we have known but one blacksmith
whose eyes appeared to be injuriously affected by his
employment. And even this man was a tobacco chewer;
and might have suffered more from the effects of a filthy
poisonous plant than from the strong light and heat. It
is even stated that smiths are more exempt than other
men, from catarrh and rheumatism.
One thing, however, must be acknowledged respecting
them. They do not usually attain to old age. Mr. T.
could find but one old smith in the whole town of Leeds
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS. 371
—which is larger than Boston. We believe there is a
greater proportion among us ; still the number is by no
means very large. Why is it so 2 Are they more intem-
perate than other men 2 Or are there any other peculiar
causes operating out of the line of their profession ?
Our belief is, that the employment is one of those
which produce temporary health, at the expense of future
premature decline. All the efforts of the ordinary black-
smith of this country are such as to call his muscular
powers into constant activity. This is especially true of
the muscles of the arms and chest, which are usually
well developed. Nor does it end here. The circulation
in general, and all the organic functions, are also invig-
orated for the time. For youths of a strong constitution,
it is said that nothing is better than smith work; while
young men naturally delicate, especially those of a scrofu-
lous constitution, are apt to sink under it. This shows
that while it destroys those for whom it is too hard, it
brings those who are hearty and robust to the “top of
their condition,” and even carries them beyond it ; or in
other words, leads them beyond themselves, and thus
shortens their lives. More than this; it is highly proba-
ble that the over-action or at least violent action of the
muscles of the upper extremities may injure some of the
vessels. This injury may consist in over-straining; and
the consequences may be various, among which may be
mentioned an early ossification of the arteries. The great
and sudden changes of temperature to which they are
subjected, though the process may be, at first, hardening,
is effected by a premature expenditure of vitality, and
must result in a corresponding abridgment of human
existence.
They who design to follow this employment for a live-
lihood, should not begin too young. Eighteen or twenty
is an age sufficiently early. They should also labor
372 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
moderately ; and spend a part of each day in some lighter
out-of-door employment.
THE TAILOR.—No useful employment is attended with
more evils than that of a tailor. The atmosphere in
which they sit is confined, to say nothing of the dust or
other impurities it may contain. Their position is bad;
as bad, almost, as it can be. The legs are crossed and
inactive, the spine bent, and the bowels compressed. In
this condition, neither circulation nor digestion can be
well performed. And hence, as we might naturally
expect, diseases of the stomach, the liver, and the intes-
times are very common among them.
The following anecdote will give some idea of the
health of tailors in London ; and the reader need not
suppose they are materially better off in this country.
Of 334 tailors in the employment of a firm in London,
in the year 1830, only 6 are above 60 years of age; 14
about 50 ; and the greater number of the remainder
about 40. 3 of the 6 above 60, had curvature of the
spine. So many of them were troubled with fistula, that
there existed among them a “fistula club,” as it is called.
Their most common affections—and they were numerous
—were dyspepsia, diarrhoea, and dull headache with
giddiness.
The structure of the chest, in the case of the tailor as
well as the shoemaker, is not so often altered by a bent
posture of the body as one might naturally suppose; the
mischief falling chiefly on the softer parts of the abdo-
men. Still the function of respiration is apt to be greatly
impeded, and the heart is even sometimes injured. Con-
sumption is quite common among them ; and there are
very few indeed who are of fine form, and strong and full
muscle, or who have the appearance of perfect health.
The following, from Mr. Thackrah, exhibits, in a striking
EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS. 373
manner, the condition of the lungs in some of these oper-
at IWeS :
“A young tailor presents himself, laboring under ex-
tensive disease of the right lung, which percussion and
the stethoscope prove to be hepatization. He is nineteen
years of age, wretchedly meagre and sallow. He came
from the country, six years ago, blooming and healthy.
But since this period he has lived in Leeds, been con-
fined to his baneful position from morning to night, in a
small low room, in which thirteen other tailors are at
work. He cannot take more exercise than about half a
mile's walk a day, except on Sundays. This case pre-
sents nothing rare. It is adduced as a fair specimen of
the lamentable state of a great number of artisans.”
And yet journeymen tailors will often tell you they
are well, until long after the heart, the stomach and even
the lungs begin to be seriously injured. “The prejudi-
cial influence of their employment is more insidious than
urgent; it undermines rather than destroys life. Appren-
ticed at an early age, tailors have their constitution modi-
fied in some measure, “to their employment. But its
native vigor, drawn off in youth to this adaptation of
organs to external circumstances, gradually declines, and
finally ceases before the natural termination of life.”
This is another instance, in addition to those already men-
tioned, of living at the expense of life.
“Can we correct these evils 2 " says Mr. Thackrah,
after having faithfully depicted the dangers of this em-
ployment. “The position of the tailor,” he adds, “might
be amended. He now sits cross legged on a board;
because in the ordinary sitting posture, he could not hold
a heavy piece of cloth high enough for his eyes to direct
his needle. Let a hole be made in the board of the cir-
cumference of his body, and let his seat be placed below
it. The eyes and the hands will then be sufficiently near
374 EFFECTS OF EMPLOYMENTS.
his work; his spine will not be unnaturally bent; and
his chest and abdomen will be free.”
This position, he thinks, would assuredly render tailors
much more healthy. It is essentially the same plan
which we have known devised for the relief of shoe-
makers; and would, in our view, be equally useful.
Still we should not be satisfied to have any person, let
his health be ever so good, continue at the bench more
than six hours a day. Four or six hours more should be
spent in agricultural exercise ; or in that, and dancing or
some other recreation or employment that would call into
full exercise the lower limbs. In short, the same remarks
will apply here which were made in treating of the shoe-
maker. Their circumstances, while at their employment,
are nearly the same ; and their education and subsequent
management should be based upon the same principles.
THE WEAveR.—There are more aged weavers than
aged tailors or shoe-makers. Still it is said by those
who have examined the subject, that they who follow
weaving as an employment in factories, seldom enjoy
health. This may be, and undoubtedly is, as in the case
of other employments, owing to a variety of causes.
The rooms in which they sit are often but poorly venti-
lated; the body is kept too still, especially the chest; and
they are not always sufficiently attentive to bathing and
cleanliness.
Thus, kept constantly sitting, in a confined atmosphere,
many of the same evils often befall the weaver, which
befall the shoe-maker and the tailor. Digestion is im-
paired, and the circulation, except in the limbs, is greatly
impeded ; and asthma and other affections of the chest,
with ſevers, are a frequent consequence.
Every weaver should cultivate a small farm or a large
garden. Pure air and plenty of exercise in it are as
AGE OF EARLY RISERS. 375
essential as good food. “Be it remembered,” says
Thackrah, “that man subsists upon the air, more than
upon his meat and drink.” It is vain to think of evad-
ing one of Heaven's first laws with impunity—an eva-
sion which we regard as attempted by every man who
wholly neglects to cultivate the earth, and thus, in scrip-
ture language, to eat his bread in the sweat of his face.
AGE OF EARLY RISERS.
THE following is a catalogue of above twenty early
risers. Their age has been mentioned, when it was
known. The average age, so far as ascertained, is about
70.
FRANKLIN was an early riser. He died at the age of
84 years.
President CHAUNCEy of Harvard college, made it his
constant practice to rise at four o'clock. He died at 81.
FUSELI the painter, rose with or before the sum. He
died at 81.
WESLEY rose at three or four o'clock, and slept but six
hours. Died at 88.
BUFFON, the celebrated naturalist, says he was indebted
to the habit of early rising for all his knowledge and the
composition of all his works. He studied fourteen hours
a day. Died at 81.
FREDERICK THE GREAT, rose at three or four o'clock.
SAMUEL BARD, M. D., of Hyde Park, rose at daylight
in summer, and an hour before in winter (say about five)
through life. Died at 79.
Dr. PRIESTLY was an early riser. He died at 71.
376 FUTURE LONGEVITY OF MAN.
PARKHURST rose at five in the summer and six in the
winter. Died at 74.
Bishop Jewel rose at four o'clock.
Bishop BURNET commenced rising at four while at
college, and continued the practice through a long life.
Died at 72.
Sir MATTHEw HALE rose at four or five. Died at 67.
Dr. ADAM rose at five, and for a part of the year at
four. He died at 68.
PALEY, though naturally indolent, began early to rise
at five, and continued the practice through life. Died at
63.
Bishop HoRN was an early riser. Died at 62.
WALTER Scott was an early riser. Died at 61.
BROUGHAM is said to rise at four. He is now about 58.
STANISLAUs I, of Poland, always retired at nine and
rose at three. Died at 89.
ALFRED THE GREAT, it is believed rose at four. Died
at 52.
NAPOLEoN was a very early riser. Died at 52.
Sir THOMAS MoRE, in his Utopia, represents the Uto-
pians as attending public lectures every morning before
daybreak. He himself rose at four. He was beheaded
at the age of 55.
FUTURE LONGEVITY OF MAN.
THEY who believe in the return of man to antedilu-
vian longevity, are sometimes regarded as visionary, if
not insane. And yet there are men, against whom
nobody will presume to bring such an accusation, who
nevertheless entertain the opinion to which we have al-
FUTURE LONGEVITY OF MAN. 377
luded. Among these is Dr. Scott, the author of the
well known commentary on the Bible. In speaking of
the prophecies in the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah respect-
ing the latter days of the christian church, he has the fol-
lowing remarks:
“Longevity is here promised ; and premature death
seems excluded, insomuch that he will be thought to die
in his youth who lives to the age of a hundred years,
while the sinner who lives to a hundred years of age shall
at last die accursed ; or he that shall die at the age of a
hundred years shall be considered as dying in his youth
as a punishment for his sins.
“The universal prevalence of real christianity would so
terminate wars, murders, contentions, idleness, intempe-
rance and licentiousness, as greatly to lengthen out the
general term of man's life. Many diseases which now
destroy thousands and tens of thousands in the prime of
life, and communicate distempers and feeble bodies to
succeeding generations, would in that case scarcely be
heard of any more; and thus the human constitution
would soon be greatly improved, and children would gen-
erally come into the world more vigorous and healthy
than they can do while vice so greatly prevails.
“Every one, in these happy days, shall be allowed to
possess the fruit of his labors, and shall live long to enjoy
it, and even to wear it out; for their days shall be “as
the days of a tree.” An oak is supposed to be meant,
which will sometimes endure a thousand years; and thus
the days of God’s chosen shall be as those of the ante-
diluvians.
“Even the matural evils of the world would be incon-
ceivably diminished if all men were true and consistent
christians.”
24
378 BORROWING TROUBLE.
BORROWING TROUBLE.
“Would you believe it 2" said Mrs. Mardine, the
consul's lady, to Mrs. La Place, one day—“Would you
believe it ! I lay awake half an hour, or an hour, last
night, thinking about Mr. Lanneau, our teacher?”
“Lay awake thinking about him, Mrs. Mardine !”
replied Mrs. La Place; “Why, my dear friend, what can
you mean 2 ”
“Why, you know, surely, how much we all value him.
Such a teacher we have not had in the village before,
these twenty years.”
“True enough ; but what then 2 Why should that
thought keep you awake 3"
“Why, do n't you remember–Oh, I know you don’t,
for you were too young to remember much about it—how
we all loved Mr. Mariatt, the teacher whom we had here
about twenty years ago Z Mr. Lanneau is the very pic-
ture of Mr. Mariatt; and is just such an excellent teacher.
Every pupil honored him as a father, and loved him as a
brother. And yet he had been in the school but just six
months when he sickened and died.” -
“Still, all this does not show what it was that kept
you awake so much.”
“I was going on to tell you. You know it is now
almost six months since Mr. Lanneau was settled; and
yesterday I heard he was quite unwell; and I fear he is
going to be just as Mr. Mariatt was. I worried myself
about it all day, after I heard of it, and all the evening ;
and I lay awake too, thinking about it; and once, in the
midst of my reflections, I could not refrain from tears.”
Mrs. La Place felt a strong disposition to laugh at this
whim of her friend, but she suppressed her feelings.
What surprised her most was, that a person of so much
HEALTH OF FEMALES. 379
good sense as the consul's wife, should fall into such use-
less trains of thought; and lose her own health in
debelling on the imaginary woes of others.
And yet there was not one of the whole company free
from whims, unless it was Mrs. L. herself; and she was
a believer in the arrival, every spring and fall, of an
equinoctial storm. Melinda never knew a Christmas day
—so she said—but what was stormy; Mr. L. believed
there was always a January thaw ; Theophilus believed
that if a funeral procession moved rapidly from a house,
to go to the church yard, it was a certain sign that
another member of the family would be carried out soon ;
and Catharine has believed—these ten or twelve years—
that those whose marriages are celebrated in a stormy day
are never happy.
So that every one, as you see, borrows trouble. How
much it were to be wished that people would universally
lay aside their whims, and become rational Is it because
there are not real evils enough in the world, that we tor-
ture ourselves with those which are imaginary 2
HEALTH OF FEMALES.
[From the “Young Wife.”]
NoTHING short of the actual performance of the usual
labors of the kitchen will secure and preserve the health
of the young wife. Without this she will almost inevi-
tably suffer. If proof were necessary in the case, we
might find it in the actual condition of this class of the
community—diseased, most of them, more or less, for
want of suitable exercise; and this before they are twen-
ty-five, or at most, thirty years of age.
3S0 MINCE PIES.
There are, however, other forms of exercise which will
serve as partial substitutes for house work. Among the
most important of these is walking. She who dares not
venture to be so singular as to work in the garden or in
the field, and is yet too proud to labor in the house, may
preserve her health, in some good measure, by walking.
Some females cannot walk, they tell us. And they
say this, no doubt, in sincerity. Much depends on habit.
Some who are constitutionally vigorous, and can perform
a great deal of in-door labor, soon tire, if they attempt to
walk. But the reason is, they have never been accus-
tomed to it. Let them begin by walking a short distance
at a time, and they will soon find themselves able to
walk several miles at once, with as much ease as they
could at first a quarter of a mile.
MINCE PIES.
IN a list of seventy-five receipts said to be prepared by
a lady of Philadelphia, we find the following strange
collection of materials, for a common and very fashionable
table article :
“One pound and a half of boiled beef’s heart, or fresh
tongue, chopped when cold; two pounds of beef suet,
chopped fine; four pounds of pippin apples, chopped fine;
two pounds of raisins, stomed and chopped; two pounds
of currants, picked, washed and dried; two pounds of
powdered sugar ; one quart of white wine; one quart of
brandy; one wine-glass of rose-water; two grated nut-
megs; half an ounce of cinnamon ; a quarter of an ounce
of cloves; a quarter of an ounce of mace, powdered ; a
tea-spoonfull of salt; two large oranges; and half a
pound of citron, cut in slips.”
MINCE PIES. 381
Now for the method of bringing together the materials
for this ruinous article—fashionable mince pie.
“Parboil a beef’s heart or a fresh tongue; after you
have taken off the skin and fat, weigh out a pound and a
half of it. When it is cold, chop it very fine. Take the
inside of the suet, weigh out two pounds of it, and chop
it as fine as possible. Mix the meat and suet together,
adding the salt. Pare, core, and chop the apples, and
then stone and chop the raisins. Having prepared the
currants, add them to the other fruit, and mix the fruit
with the meat and suet. Put in the sugar, and spice, and
the grated peel and juice of the oranges ; then wet the
whole with the rose-water, and liquor, and mix all well
together. Make the paste, allowing for each pie half a
pound of butter, and three quarters of a pound of sifted
flour; make it in the same manner as puff paste, but it
will not be quite as rich. Lay a sheet of paste all over
a soup-plate, and fill it with the mince-meat, laying strips
of citron on the top. Roll out a sheet of paste for the
lid of the pie, put it on, and crimp the edges with a sharp
knife. Prick holes in the lid. Bake the pies half an
hour in a brisk oven. Keep your mince-meat in a jar
tightly covered, set it in a dry cool place, and occasion-
ally add more brandy to it.”
Now reader, if this is not ridiculous, what is ? Here are
beef’s tongue, beef Suet, fine flour, butter, apples, raisins,
currants, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, mace, citron,
oranges, salt, rose-water, wine and brandy—no less than
eighteen ingredients, three of which ought never to enter
a human stomach, unless in Greenland, and all of which
except three or four, are, to say the least, doubtful, mixed
together to form a compound to destroy gradually the
powers of the human stomach.
If this destruction were effected by mere machinery, or
if the great Creator had prepared a substance like this,
382 MINCE PIES.
which required no labor but to reach forth the hand and
take and eat, and slowly and gradually die, the case
would be altered, and the evil would be far more tolerable.
But to require an immortal spirit—the immortal soul of
woman—made to be the help-meet of man, the companion
of angels and the child of God, to employ itself for whole
hours of precious time, in preparing and mixing a host
of the most heterogeneous substances to form a compound
which shall slowly destroy her father, her mother, her
brothers, or her sisters; nay, worse than this, the child
at her breast—for this horrid mixture called mince pie
is sometimes given even to children—and the companion
of her bosom ; what is it but the most destructive tyranny ?
And yet Fashion is just such a tyrant, and millions of
immortal spirits daily bow at her shrine.
We have no hostility to cookery, in itself considered ;
on the contrary, we would do all in our power to induce
woman to excel in that preparation and preservation of
food, drink, dress, rooms, beds, furniture, &c., which will
conduce to health and happiness. Not one female in ten
understands perfectly the art of making bread or boiling
plain vegetables. Sometimes they are well prepared,
sometimes not ;-it is a matter of chance or hap-hazard.
Now these things ought not so to be. Woman ought to
be the intelligent director of the physical and intellectual
and moral education of her household; and among the
rest, ought to understand the important art of duly prepar-
ing plain food. And yet how much of her life is wasted
in preparing mere flummery :
M IS C E L L A NY.
Sweets ER on DIGESTION.—Mr. T. H. Carter, of this city,
ſhas recently issued a work on Digestion, by Dr. Swectser, the
talented author of a work on Consumption which we formerly
noticed. This volume, like that on Consumption, is intended
for general readers, and is therefore divested of “technics,”
and written in a style which everybody can understand. We
rejoice at its appearance, even if we cannot entirely concur in
everything which it says; and wish it an extensive circulation.
“Nothing,” says the Medical and Surgical Journal—and we
half believe it—“would so suddenly and effectually exterminate
the entire army of American quacks, as a series of volumes,
in the manner of Dr. Sweetser's, widely circulated over our
vast republic.”
Dr. Sweetser is now engaged in giving a course of Lectures
on the “Principles of Health,” in the Masonic Temple in
Boston.
THE FAMILY NURSE, by Mrs. Child.—This work, though it
contains many good things, well said, has also so many things
which we believe will prove injurious to the community, that
we cannot commend it. The array of recipes and prescrip-
tions for the names of diseases, cannot fail to perpetuate
quackery among us; and this sad result will be the more
certain from the known reputation of other popular, and in
most instances excellent works by the same author.
PHYSICAL AND PHYSIologic AL REFORM.—The first annual
Report of the Physiological Society of this city is a duodecimo
volume of about 150 pages, containing many facts and experi-
ments in vegetable living, as well as many bitter things against
the evils which exist in civic life, particularly in crowded
cities.
384 MISCELLANY.
PopULAR LECTURES.–The Physiological Society of this
city has established a weekly course of popular lectures on
subjects connected with Health and Longevity, which have
hitherto been well attended. Among the lecturers have been
Dr. J. W. C. Smith of this city, Dr. Haskell of South Boston,
J. S. Sleeper of Charlestown, and the editor of this journal.
This society, as we have already repeatedly mentioned,
holds monthly meetings of its members, which are also well
attended, and highly interesting. We believe it is not so
generally known that the society has a library, consisting prin-
cipally of works on Health, and Longevity, and Anatomy, and
Physiology, to which each member has access. It is kept at
the bookstore of Marsh, Capen & Lyon.
CHARITABLE INFIRMARY.-We doubt whether there is an-
other city in the Union—the city of brotherly love itself not
excepted—so abundant in charitable institutions as Boston. It
is this, even more than her literary institutions, which so ele-
vates and adorns this metropolis.
But there is room for more. And one more has recently
been added. This is a Charitable Infirmary for the treatment
of diseases of the Lungs. It is in the old stone Court House,
facing School Street, and is open from 12 to 1 o'clock on
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The attending physicians
are Drs. M. S. Perry, H. I. Bowditch, H. G. Wiley, and J. W. C.
Smith. From a personal acquaintance with some of these
gentlemen, and their general reputation, we are justified in
commending the institution to the favorable notice of that
unfortunate but numerous class for whose benefit it is in-
tended.
NEw Work.-A volume is in preparation containing the
testimony of physicians from various parts of the United
States, in regard to the tendency of a diet exclusively vege-
table, to promote health and longevity, especially when com-
menced in early life. Such a work will at least be “some-
thing new under the sun.”
THE
LIBRARY OF HEALTH,
.AND
&ae/e, on 4 &man (oned/adom.
WM. A. ALCOTT, EDIToR.
WOL. I.
B O S T O N :
GEORGE W. LIGHT, 1 CORNHILL.
1837.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1837, by W.M.
A. ALcott, in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of Massa-
chusetts.
ADVERTISEMENT.
THE Library of Health is designed to answer the
precise purpose indicated by its title—to supply, by a
series of cheap yearly volumes, a fund of instruction in
regard to the laws of the human body, which is no
where else to be found, in a popular form. To accom-
plish this end is not only the main purpose of this
volume and the preceding two volumes under the title
of the “Moral Reformer,” but will be the purpose of
all succeeding ones.
It were a task comparatively easy, in teaching on the
human constitution, to fill our numbers with direct
instruction on the structure and functions of the body,
for we have books before us from which we might draw
an almost never failing supply of information. Nor
need it be dry. We believe it to be nearly as much
the fault of the writer as of the subject itself, if pure
anatomy and physiology are not made perfectly intelli-
gible and full of interest.
And yet we have not believed these direct instruc-
tions most needed. Our object has been twofold.—
1. To stir up the community to a sense of studying
anatomy and physiology for themselves ; 2. To furnish
instruction in such connections as they would be likely
to turn to immediate advantage. Our space is also too
4 ADVERTISEMENT.
limited to give that free scope which we desire. Thirty-
two small pages in a month hardly suffice for more than
a few hints.
Some of our readers appear to have imbibed the idea,
that we hang all our hopes of promoting human health
and longevity on a mere reformation in eating and
drinking. Some also go farther, and seem to suppose
us pledged, directly or indirectly, to sustain the views
taught by Mr. Graham. Now let it be distinctly under-
stood, once for all, that in this work we have nothing
to do, either directly or indirectly, with Mr. G. or his
doctrines. Nay, more; to repeat what we have said
on a former occasion, we adopted nearly all our present
views as independently of Mr. G. as if he had never
spoken or written on the subject.
Nor are we disposed to make everything of mere
eating and drinking. Their connection with human
health is indeed obvious and important ; but so is that
of air, temperature, dress, and the state of the mind,
affections and passions. Perhaps there is no one thing,
at the present time, more destructive of health and
longevity, than that murderous system of quackery
which, in one or another of its numerous ramifications,
pervades nearly or quite the whole mass of civilized
society. On this subject we have said something in the
present volume ; but we shall endeavor to expose the
evil still more thoroughly hereafter. We shall endeavor
to awaken an enlightened and virtuous—may we not
add, christian 7–indignation against it, till it is expelled
from our land and from the world.
CONTENTS.
Ablution, . . . . . . . 213 Caution, . . . . . . . . 359
Abuse of Calomel, . . . . 113 Causes of Colds, . . . . . .361
Age of Early Risers, . . . 375 Cellars, Wells, &c., . . . 142
Alcohol, . . . . . . . 40 Channing on Dancing, . . . 227
American Physiological Society,133 Channing's Lecture, . . .136
Anatomy and Physiology, 103, 129, Channing on Temperance, . 198
293, 328, 360 Chapter on Beginning, . . . 320
Annals of Education, . . . 328 Charitable Infirmary, . . . 384
Apartments, Heat of, . . . .329 Cherry Stones, . . . . . 229
Aphorisms of Hippocrates, .. 323 Chewing and Smoking Tobacco,272
Ardent Spirits, . . . . . 40 City Restorators, . . . . 33
Are the Healthy most exposed Cobwebs swept away, . . 230
to Disease ? . . . . . 169 Colds, . . . . . 120, 333, 361
Asylums for Lunatics, . . . 263 Cold Bathing, . . . . 357
A Forward Youth, . . . . 358 Consumption of Malt in Eng., 327
A Vegetable Eater, . . . 291 Consumptive Children, . . 288
Correspondence, . . . . . 255
Bathing, . . . . . . . . 357 Culinary Poisoning, . . . 262
Bengal Conjurors, . . . . 201 Cyrus the Great, . . . . 49
Blacksmiths, . . . . . . 370
Books on Anat. and Physiology, 129 Dancing, . . . . 227
Borrowing Trouble, . . . 378 Dangers of Beer Drinking, . 101
Boston Piggery, . . . . . 232 Danger of Earthen Vessels,220,271
Botanic Medicine, . . . . 137 Diet and Climate, . . . . 91
Bread, . . . . . . . 40, 198 Digestion, Treatise on, . . 383
Bread-making, . . . . . 198 Dietetic Character of Man, . 163
Diseased Milk, . . . . . 296
Calomel, Abuse of . . . . 113 Do the Sick ever get well ? . 224
Cases of Reform, . . . 86, 210 Doing Good, . . . . . 318
Catalogue of Early Risers, . 375 Dosing, . . . . . . . . 295
Catching Cold, . . . 120, 333 Dr. Mussey's Prize Essay, . 199
6 CONTENTS.
Dress of the Neck, . . . . 67
Drinking at Meals, . . . . 77
Earthen Vessels, Danger of, 271
Early Rising, . © 375
Eating Locusts, . . . . . 132
Eating between Meals, 218
Editorial Correspondence, 255
Education of the Functions, .. 325
Effects of Eating Potatoes, 192
Effects of Opium, 286
Effects of Salt Petre, 295
Effects of Employments, 308, 370
Effects of Refinement on Health, 98
Employments, Health of, 308,370
Epitome of Health, . 305
Essay on Tobacco, . . . . 37
Established Principles of Health,180
Experience of a Physician, 147
External Applications to Wounds,65
Faith, 151
Family Nurse, 383
Farmers, Health of, 124.
Fashionable Dining, 289
Fashionable Poisoning, 242
Fate of Reformers, . . . . 36
Females, Health of, . 69,379
Fine Flour, . º . 345
First Principles, . .
351
Food before the Flood, 216
Fruits, Use of, 314
Fulness of Bread, 196
Future Longevity of Man, , 376
Gluttony, . . 158
Gooseberries, , . 263
Graham Journal, . . . . . 168
Graham’s Lect, to Young Men, 136
Greens and Salads, . . . . 145
Headache, . 233, 358
Health of Employments, 308,370
Health of Farmers, . 124
Health of Females, . . . 69,379
Health of Seamen, . 135
Healthy Summer, 296
Healthful Legislation, . 104
Healthful Influence of Faith, 151
Heating our Apartments, . 329
Hitchcock's Temperance Essay,264
Hot Buckwheat Cakes, . . 59
House I live in, . . . . . 88
Housekeeper's Book, 199
How to make Pale Faces, 127, 316
How to put down Quackery, 184
How to take Cold, . . . . 27
Human Gluttony, . . . . 158
Importance of Ablution, 213
Independence, 356
Influence of Hope, 115
Influence of Faith, 151
Influence of Employments, 308,370
Influence of Fear, . . . . 62
Intemperance on Wegetables, 324
Jones, the Monomaniae, 276
Kitty Grafton, . . . . 200
Laudable Efforts, 231
Laws of Health, . 265
Lectures on Health, . . .383
Lectures on Physiology, 166, 384
Lecture to Young Men, . . 71
License Law, . . . . . . 200
List of Early Risers, . . 375
Literary Giant, Picture of, 237
Living at the Expense of Life, 340
Locusts, Eating of, . . . . 132
Longevity, . . . . . . . 376
Macaroni, . . . . . . . 229
Making Health, . . . . . 326
Man Omnivorous, . . . . 20
CONTENTS. 7
263
345
264.
263
197
Manilla Mattresses, . . . .
Manufacture of Fine Flour, .
Mass. Temperance Society, .
Mattresses,
Medical World,
Mince Pies, . . . . . .
Monstrous little Physic, . . 75
Mrs. Child's Family Nurse, . 383
Nancy Le Baron, . . 200
National Temperance Paper, 135
Natural Bonesetting, . . , 348
Neck, Dress of, . . . . . 67
New Work, . . . 384
On the Use of Fruits, . 314,
Opium, Effects of, . . .286
Opinions of Dr. Cullen, , . 154
Opinions of Dr. Sweetser, . 53
Our Periodicals, . 101, 165
Overloading the Stomach, 294,
Picture of a Literary Giant, . 237
Poisoning . . . . . . . 242
Poisoned Beef, , . 296
Poisonous Medicines, . . . 13
Poor Rich Man and Rich Poo
Man, . º 264.
Popular Lectures, . 384
Potatoes, gº tº 192
Progress of Physiology, 103
Prospective Remarks, . . . 9
Physical Culture, . . 189
Physicians, Right Use of, . . .297
Physiological Reform, .. 328, 383
Physiological Society, . 293
Physiological Vice, . . . . 160
Physiology in Schools, .. 39, 360
Putrescent Food, 131
Quackery, . . . . . 133, 246
Quackery Illustrated, . . 280
Rational Apothecaries, . 263
Reform in Schools, . . . . 293
Reformation, 327
Reformers, Fate of, . . . . 36
Rich Enough, . . . . . 328
Right Use of Physicians, . . .297
Rising Early, . . . . . . 375
Rosy Cheeks, . . . . . . 183
Sabbath, . . . . . . 200
Salads, . . . . . . 145
Salt Petre, . . . . 295
Science of Human Life, . . 71
Scientific and Literary Journal, 72
Seamen, Health of, . . 135
Short Dialogue, . . . 96
Sick Headache, . 233, 358
Sketches of a Centenarian, 175
Smoking Tobacco, . 272
Some of the Causes of Disease, 105
Society for Preventing Pauperism,69
Spoiling the Teeth, 205
“Struck with Death,” . 336
Study of Physiology, . . . 41
Sweetser on Digestion, . 383
Swimming, 250
Tailors, . . . . . . . . 372
Taking Cold, . 361
Tak Sisson, . . . . . . 18
Tasting too much, . . . 359
Teaching Anatomy to Indians, 102
Teeth, . . . . . 205
Temperance, 134, 198,264, 299
Temperance Boarding House, 134
Temperance Hotel in Boston, 261
The Insane, . . . . . . 38
The Negro, e G 167
The Public Press, . . 325
The Science of Medicine, 273
The Splendid Champagne, 292
The Way to Begin, . . 197
8 CONTENTS.
Thomsonianism, . . . . 232
Threescore and Ten, . 191
Three Experiments of Living, 71
Tobacco, . . . . . . . 272
True Independence, . . . 356
Uncle Solomon, . . . . 328
Use of Fruits, 314
Vegetable Eater, . . . . 291
Vegetables, Intemperance on, 324
Ways of Living on Small Means,104
Weavers, . . . . . . . 374
What says Physiology 1 . . 73
Wheat Meal, . . . . . . 40
Where shall I Begin 7 . 254
Wine Question, . . 135
Wounds, . . . . . . . 65
Young Man's Aid,
Young Wife, Extract from, .
167
379
II; SIGCOIND EDITION.—Already ºn
IrºThis Day Published, Dr. Alcott’s new and valuable work,
THE YOUNG WIFE,
DUTIES OF WOMAN IN THE MARRIAGE RELATION.
SECOND STEREOTYPE EDITION,
Embellished by d beautiful steel Frontispiece and Pignotte.
BY WM. A. ALCOTT,
Author of the Young Mother, IIouse I Live In, and Young Man’s Guide, and Editor of the
Library of Health.
The first edition of this interesting work was sold in one fort-
night after its publication; and the second is going off rapidly.
Tor explanation and contents of it, see advertisement on the
cover of the Library of Health for November.
CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR PRESENTs.
We have made arrangements in New York and Philadelphia,
as well as in this city, to have on hand a superior assortment of
the most attractive, interesting and useful Books For PRESENTs
this season, including the best ENGLISH AND AM ERICAN ANNUALs.
Copies of the Bos'Fox Book, the You Ng WIFE, and the You Ng
Moth ER, will be ready in elegant style. Those who call in good
season will have the best chance for selection.
GEO. W. LIGHT, I Cornhill.
GRAHAM BOARDING HOUSE,
At 23 Brattle Street, Boston.
Transient company furnished with board and lodging, or their
meals without lodging. Tickets for single dinners for sale at the
office of the Graham Journal. , . . . . . -
Regular hours for meals are 6, 12, and 6 o'clock, during sum-
mer, and 7, 12, and 5, during the short days of winter.
GRAIIAM JOURNAL OF HEALTH AND LONGEVITY.
Published by DAVID CAMBELL, No. 9 Washington Street, Boston.
The second volume of this work will commence the first of Jan-
uary, 1838, and be issued once in two weeks; each number con-
taining 16 pages, octavo. The whole 26 numbers making a vol-
ume of 400 pages. Price $1 50 a year, or if paid in advance
$ I will be received.
TERMS OF THE LIBRARY OF HEALTH.
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