bland, agreeable taste, yield proper nourishment; while those of an acrid, bitter, and nauseous taste are generally improper. We use, indeed, several acrid substances as food; but the mild, the bland, and palatable, are in the largest proportion in almost every vegetable. Such as are very acrid, and at the same time of an aromatic nature, are not used as food, but as spices or condiments which answer the purposes of medicine rather than any thing else. Sometimes, indeed, acrid and bitter vegetables seem to be admitted as food. Thus celery and endive are used in common food, though both are substances of considerable acrimony; but they are previously blanched, which almost totally destroys their acrimony. Or, if we employ other acrid substances, we generally, in a great measure, deprive them of their acrimony by boiling. In different countries the same plants grow with different degrees of acrimony. Thus, garlic seldom enters our food; but in the southern countries, where the plants grow more mild, they are frequently used for that purpose. The plant which furnishes cassada, being very acrimonious, and even poisonous in its recent state, affords an instance of the necessity of preparing acrid substances even in the hot countries; and there are other plants, such as arum roots, which are so exceedingly acrimonious in their natural state, that they cannot be swallowed with safety; yet, when deprived of that acrimony, afford good nourishment.

Animal food, although it gives strength, yet loads the body; and Hippocrates long ago observed, that the athletic habit, by a small increase, was exposed to the greatest hazards. In the first stage of life animal food is seldom necessary to give strength; in manhood, when we are exposed to active scenes, it is more proper; and in the decline of life a considerable proportion of it is necessary to keep the body in vigor. There are some diseases, says Dr Cullen, which come on in the decay of life, that are at least aggravated by it: among these he ranks the gout as the most remarkable. But the late Dr. Brown, from repeated experience, found that the gout was highly aggravated by vegetable food, and that animal food was the most proper regimen in that disease, and all others arising from debility. It is allowed, however, on all hands, by the friends of both the old and new systems of medicine, that animal food, although it gives strength, is yet of some hazard to the constitution, which, by the frequent repetition of this stimulus, is sooner exhausted than by a diet chiefly vegetable. Therefore it is to be questioned, whether we should desire this high degree of bodily strength, with all the inconveniences and dangers attending it. Those who are chiefly employed in mental researches, and not exposed to much bodily labor, should avoid an excess of animal food. But in nervous disorders, hysterical and hypochondriacal cases, and in general all diseases arising from weakness, fresh animal food, given frequently, and not in too great quantities, either in the form of soup, or that of a steak, will be found a much more speedy and effectual restorative.

Another question, Dr. Cullen observes, has been much agitated, viz. What are the effects of

variety in food? Is it necessary and allowable, or universally hurtful? Variety of a certain kind seems necessary; as vegetable and animal foods have their mutual advantages, tending to correct each other. Another variety, which is very proper, is that of liquid and solid food, which should be so managed as to temper each other; for liquid food, especially of the vegetable kind, is too ready to pass off before it is properly assimilated, while solid food makes a long stay. But this does not properly belong to the question, whether variety of the same kind is necessary or proper, as in animal foods, beef, fish, fowl, &c. It does not appear that there is any inconvenience arising from this mixture or difficulty of assimilation, provided a moderate quantity he taken. When any inconvenience does arise, it probably proceeds from this, that one of the particular substances in the mixture, when taken by itself, would produce the same effects; and indeed it would appear, that this effect is not heightened by the mixture, but properly obviated by it. There are few exceptions to this, if any, e. g. taking a large proportion of acescent substances with milk. The coldness, &c., acidity," flatulency, &c., may appear; and it is possible that the coagulum, from the acescency of the vegetables being somewhat stronger induced, may give occasion to too long retention in the stomach, and to acidity in too great degree. Again, the mixture of fish and milk often occasions inconvenience. The theory of this is difficult, though, from universal consent, it must certainly be just. Can we suppose that fish gives occasion to such a coagulum as runnet? If it does so, it may produce bad effects. Besides, fishes approach somewhat to vegetables, in giving little stimulus; and are accused of the same bad effects as these, viz. bringing on the cold fit of fever. Thus much may be said for variety. But it has also its disadvantages, provoking to gluttony; this and the art of cookery making men take in more than they properly can digest; and hence, perhaps very justly, physicians have almost universally recommended simplicity of diet; for, in spite of rules, man's eating will only be measured by his appetite, and satiety is sooner produced by one than by many substances. But this is so far from being an argument against variety, that it is one for it; as the best way of avoiding a full meal of animal food, and its bad effects, is by introducing a quantity of vegetables. Another means of preventing the bad effects of animal food is to take a large proportion of liquid; and hence the bad effects of animal food are less felt ir. Scotland on account of their drinking much with it, and using broths, which are at once excellent correctors of animal food and preventives of gluttony.

Dr. Paris thus compares the relative advantages of an animal and vegetable diet, particularly in this country. 'As every description of food,' says he, whether derived from the animal or vegetable kingdom, is converted into blood, it may be inferred that the ultimate effect of all aliments must be virtually the same; and that the several species can only differ from each other in the quantity of nutriment they afford,

in the comparative degree of stimulus they impart to the organs through which they pass, and in the proportion of vital energy they require for their assimilation. Were the degree of excitement which attends the digestion of a meal commensurate with the labor imposed upon the organs which perform it, less irritation and heat would attend the digestion of animal than of vegetable food; for, in the one case, the aliment already possesses a composition analogous to that of the structure which it is designed to supply, and requires little more than division and depuration; whereas, in the other, a complicated series of decompositions and recompositions must be effected before the matter can be animalised, or assimilated to the body. But the digestive fever, if we may be allowed the use of that expression, and the complexity of the alimentary changes, would appear, in every case, to bear an inverse relation to each other. This must depend upon the fact of animal food affording a more highly animalised chyle, or a greater proportion of that principle which is essentially nutritive, as well as upon the immediate stimulus which the alimentary nerves receive from its contact. In hot countries therefore, or during the heats of summer, we are instinctively led to prefer vegetable food; and we accordingly find that the inhabitants of tropical climates select a diet of this description: the Brahmins in India, and the people of the Canary Islands, Brasils, &c., live almost entirely on herbage, grains, and roots, while those of the north use little besides animal food. On account of the superior nutritive power of animal matter, it is equally evident that the degree of bodily exertion, or exercise, sustained by an individual should not be overlooked in an attempt to adjust the proportion in which animal and vegetable food should be mixed. Persons of sedentary habits are oppressed, and ultimately become diseased, from the excess of nutriment which a full diet of animal food will occasion; such a condition, by some process not understood, is best corrected by acescent vegetables. It is well known that artizans and laborers, in the confined manufactories of large towns, suffer prodigiously in their health whenever a failure occurs in the crops of common fruits; this fact was remarkably striking in the years 1804 and 1805. Young children and growing youths generally thrive upon a generous diet of animal food; the excess of nutritive matter is consumed in the development of the body, and, if properly digested, imparts strength without repletion. Adults and old persons comparatively require but a small proportion of aliment, unless the nutritive movement be accelerated by violent exercise and hard labor.

Those who advocate the exclusive value of animal food, and deny the utility of its admixture with vegetable matter, adduce in proof of their system the rude health and Herculean strength of our hardy ancestors. The British aborigines, when first visited by the Romans, certainly do not appear to have been conversant with the cultivation of the ground, and according to the early writers, Cæsar, Strabo, Diodorus, Siculus, and others, their principal subsistence was on

flesh and milk; but, before any valid conclusion can be deduced from this circumstance, the habits of the people must be compared with those of their descendants. The history of later times will furnish us with a satisfactory answer to those who deny the necessity of vegetable aliment. We learn from the London bills, that scurvy raged to such an excess in the seventeenth century as to have occasioned a very great mortality: at this period the art of gardening had not long been introduced. It appears that the most common articles of the kitchen garden, such as cabbages, were not cultivated in England until the reign of Catharine of Arragon; indeed, we are told that this queen could not procure a salad until a gardener was sent for from the Netherlands to raise it. Since the change thus happily introduced into our diet, the ravages of the scurvy are unknown. It follows, then, that in our climate a diet of animal food cannot, with safety, be exclusively employed. It is too highly stimulant; the springs of life are urged on too fast; and disease necessarily follows. There may, nevertheless, exist certain states of the system which require such a preternatural stimulus; and the physician may, therefore, confine his patient to an animal regimen with as much propriety as he would prescribe opium, or any other remedy. By a parity of reasoning, the exclusive use of vegetable food may be shown to be inconsistent with the acknowledged principles of dietetics, and to be incapable of conveying a nourishment sufficiently stimulating for the active exertions which belong to our present civilised condition. At the same time it must be allowed, that an adherence to vegetable diet is usually productive of far less evil than that which follows the use of an exclusively animal regimen."

Dr. Paris quotes some curious experiments made by M. Majendie to ascertain the relative quantities of azote (nitrogen) yielded by animal and vegetable food. 'He took a small dog of three years old, fat, and in good health, and put it to feed upon sugar alone, and gave it distilled water to drink it had as much as it chose of both. It appeared very well in this way of living for the first seven or eight days; it was brisk, active, ate eagerly, and drank in its usual manner. It began to get thin in the second week, although its appetite continued good, and it took about six or eight ounces of sugar in twenty-four hours. Its alvine excretions were neither frequent nor copious; that of the urine was very abundant. In the third week its leanness increased, its strength diminished, the animal lost its liveliness, and its appetite declined. At this period there was developed upon one eye, and then on the other, a small ulceration on the centre of the transparent cornea; it increased very quickly, and in a few days it was more than a line in diameter; its depth increased in the same proportion; the cornea was very soon entirely perforated, and the humors of the eye ran out. This singular phenomenon was accompanied with an abundant secretion of the glands of the eyelids. It, however, became weaker and weaker, and lost its strength; and, though the animal ate from three to four ounces of sugar per day, i. became so weak that it could neither chew nor

swallow; for the same reason every other motion was impossible. It expired the thirty-second day of the experiment. M. Majendie opened the animal with every suitable precaution. He found a total want of fat; the muscles were reduced more than five-sixths of their ordinary size; the stomach and intestines were also much diminished in volume, and strongly contracted. The gall and urinary bladders were distended by their proper fluids, which M. Chevreul was called upon to examine. That distinguished chemist found in them nearly all the characters which belong to the urine and bile of herbivorous animals; that is, that the urine, instead of being acid, as it is in carnivorous animals, was sensibly alkaline, and did not present any trace of uric acid, nor of phosphate. The bile contained a considerable portion of picromel; a character considered as peculiar to the bile of the ox, and, in general, to that of herbivorous animals. The excrements were also examined by M. Chevreul, and were found to contain very little azote, whereas they usually furnish a considerable quantity.

'M. Majendie considered that such results required to be verified by new experiments: he accordingly repeated them on other dogs, but always with the same conclusions. He therefore considered it proved, that sugar, by itself, is incapable of supporting dogs. This want of the nutritive quality, however, might possibly be peculiar to sugar: he therefore proceeded to enquire, whether other substances, non-azotised, but generally considered as nutritive, would be attended with the same consequences. He fed two dogs with olive oil and distilled water, upon which they appeared to live well for about fifteen days but they afterwards underwent the same series of accidents, and died on the thirty-sixth day of the experiment. In these cases, however, the ulceration of the cornea did not occur.'

The result of these experiments, in M. Majendie's opinion, was, that the azote of the organs is produced by the food, and consequently that no substance which does not contain this principle can support life. Dr. Paris distributes what he calls the Nutrientia, into the following classes.

Class I. Fibrinous Aliments.-Comprehend ing the flesh and blood of various animals, especially such as have arrived at puberty: venison, beef, mutton, hare.

Class II. Albuminous.-Eggs; certain animal

matter.

Class III. Gelatinous Aliments. The flesh of young animals: veal, chickens, calf's foot, certain fishes.

Class IV. Fatty and Oily Aliments.—-Animal fats, oils, and butter; cocoa, &c.; ducks, pork, geese, eels, &c.

Class V. Caseous Aliments.-The different kinds of milk, cheese, &c.

Class VI. Farinaceous Aliments. - Wheat, barley, oats, rice, rye, potatoe; sago, arrowroot, &c.

Class VII. Mucilaginous Aliments.-Carrots, turnips, asparagus, cabbage, &c.

Class VIII. Sweet Aliments.-The different kinds of sugar, figs, dates, &c.; carrots.

Class IX. Acidulous Aliments.-Oranges, apples, and other acescent fruits.

To these we may add condiments; such as salt, the varieties of pepper, mustard, horseradish, vinegar, &c.

In classing the different species of potations, we may, in like manner, be governed by the chemical composition which distinguishes them. They may be arranged under four divisions, viz. Class I. Water. Spring, river, well water, &c. Class II. The Juices and Infusions of Vegetables and Animals.—Whey, tea, coffee, &c. Class III. Fermented Liquors.—Wine, beer, &c.

Class IV. The Alcoholic Liquors, or Spirits.— Alcohol, brandy, rum, &c.

By cookery,' he says, 'alimentary substances undergo a twofold change; their principles are chemically modified, and their textures mechanically changed. The extent and nature, however, of these changes, will greatly depend upon the manner in which heat has been applied to them; and if we enquire into the culinary history of different countries, we shall: trace its connexion with the fuel most accessible to them. This fact readily explains the prevalence of the peculiar species of cookery which distinguishes the French table, and which has no reference, as some have imagined, to the dietetic theory, or superior refinement, of the inhabitants.'

By boiling, according to this author, the principles not properly soluble are rendered softer, more pulpy, and, consequently, easier of digestion; but the meat, at the same time, is deprived of some of its nutritive properties by the removal of a portion of its soluble constituents: the albumen and gelatin are also acted upon; the former being solidified, and the latter converted into a gelatinous substance. If, therefore, our meat be boiled too long or too fast, we shall obtain, where the albumen predominates, as in beef, a hard and indigestible mass, like an overboiled egg; or, where the gelatin predominates, as in young meats, such as veal, a gelatinous substance equally injurious to the digestive organs. Young and viscid food, therefore, as veal, chickens, &c., are more wholesome when roasted than when boiled, and are easier digested. Dr. Prout has very justly remarked, that the boiling temperature is too high for a great many of the processes of cooking, and that a lower temperature and a greater time, or a species of infusion, are better adapted for most of them. This is notorious with substances intended to be stewed, which, even in cookery books, are directed to be boiled slowly (that is, not at all), and for a considerable time. The ignorance and prejudice existing on these points is very great, and combated with difficulty; yet, when we take into account their importance, and how intimately they are connected with health, they will be found to deserve no small share of our attention. The loss occasioned by boiling partly depends upon the melting of the fat, but chiefly from the solution of the gelatine and osmazone: mutton generally loses about one-fifth, and beef about one-fourth, of its original weight. Boiling is particularly applicable to vegetables, -endering them more soluble in the stomach, and

depriving them of a considerable quantity of air, so injurious to weak stomachs. But, even in this case, the operation may be carried to an injurious extent; thus, potatoes are frequently boiled to the state of a dry, insipid powder, instead of being preserved in that state in which the parts of which they are composed are rendered soft and gelatinous, so as to retain their shape, yet be very easily separated. On the other hand, the cabbage tribe, and carrots, are frequently not boiled long enough, in which state they are highly indigestible. In conducting this process, it is necessary to pay some attention to the quality of the water employed; thus, mutton boiled in hard water is more tender and juicy than when soft water is used; while vegetables, on the contrary, are rendered harder and less digestible when boiled in hard water.

By roasting the fibrine is corrugated, the albumen coagulated, the fat liquefied, and the water evaporated. As the operation proceeds, the surface becomes first brown, and then scorched; and the tendinous parts are rendered softer and gluey. Care should always be taken that the meat should not be over-done, nor ought it to be under-dressed; for, although in such a state it may contain more nutriment, yet it will be less digestible, on account of the density of its texture. This fact has been satisfactorily proved by the experiments of Spallanzani; and Mr. Hunter observes, that 'boiled, and roasted, and even putrid meat, is easier of digestion than raw.' Animal matter loses more by roasting than by boiling it has been stated above, that by this latter process mutton loses one-fifth, and beef one-fourth; but by roasting, these meats lose about one-third of their weight. In roasting, the loss arises from the melting out of the fat, and the evaporating of the water; but the nutritious matter remains condensed in the cooked solid; whereas, in boiling, the gelatine is partly abstracted. Roast are, therefore, more nutritive than boiled meats.'

Frying,' Dr. P. thinks, 'is, perhaps, the most objectionable of all the culinary operations. The heat is applied through the medium of boiling oil, or fat, which is rendered empyreumatic, and therefore extremely liable to disagree with the stomach.

"By the operation of broiling, the sudden browning or hardening of the surface prevents the evaporation of the juices of the meat, which imparts a peculiar tenderness to it. It is the form selected, as the most eligible, by those who seek to invigorate themselves by the art of training.

"The peculiarity of baking depends upon the substance being heated in a confined space, which does not permit the escape of the fumes arising from it; the meat is, therefore, from the retention of its juices, rendered more sapid and tender. But baked meats are not so easily digested, on account of the greater retention of their oils, which are, moreover, in an empyreumatic state. Such dishes accordingly require the stimulus of various condiments to increase the digestive powers of the stomach.'

Condiments and Drinks have not so distinctly received our attention, in the former part of this

work, as the more solid contributions of nature to the food of man. The former are divided by the popular author whom we have already quoted into the saline, the aromatic, and the oily.

'Salt,' he says, 'appears to be a necessary and universal stimulus to animated beings; and its effects upon the vegetable as well as animal kingdom have furnished objects of the most interesting enquiry to the physiologist, the chemist, the physician, and the agriculturist. It appears to be a natural stimulant to the digestive organs of all warm-blooded animals, and that they are instinctively led to immense distances in pursuit of it. This is strikingly exemplified in the avidity with which animals in a wild state seek the salt pans of Africa and America, and in the difficulties they will encounter to reach them : this cannot arise from accident or caprice, but from a powerful instinct, which, beyond control, compels them to seek, at all risks, that which is salubrious. To those who are anxious to gain further information upon this curious subject, I would recommend the perusal of a work entitled Thoughts on the Laws relating to Salt, by Samuel Parkes, Esq., and a small volume by my late lamented friend, Sir Thomas Bernard, on the Case of the Salt Duties, with Proofs and Illustrations. We are all sensible of the effect of salt on the human body; we know how unpalatable fresh meat and vegetables are without it. During the course of my professional prac tice, I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing the evils which have attended an abstinence from salt. In my examination before a committee of the house of commons in 1818, appointed for the purpose of enquiring into the laws respecting the salt duties, I stated, from my own experience, the bad effects of a diet of unsalted fish, and the injury which the poorer classes, in many districts, sustained in their health from an inability to procure this essential condiment. I had some years ago a gentleman of rank and fortune under my care, for a deranged state of the digestive organs, accompanied with extreme emaciation. I found that, from some cause which he could not explain, he had never eaten any salt with his meals: I enforced the necessity of his taking it in moderate quantities, and the recovery of his digestive powers was soon evinced in the increase of his strength and condition. One of the ill effects produced by an unsalted diet is the generation of worms. Mr. Marshall has published the case of a lady who had a natural antipathy to salt, and was in consequence most dreadfully infested with worms during the whole of her life.-London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. xxix. No. 231). In Ireland, where, from the bad quality of the food, the lower classes are greatly infested with worms, a draught of salt and water is a popular and efficacious anthelmintic. Lord Somerville, in his Address to the Board of Agriculture, gave an interesting account of the effects of a punishment which formerly existed in Holland. The ancient laws of the country ordained men to be kept on bread alone, unmixed with salt, as the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate. The effect was horrible; these wretched criminals are said to

have been devoured by worms engendered in their own stomachs.' The wholesomeness and digestibility of our bread are undoubtedly much promoted by the addition of salt which it so universally receives.

'An excess of salt is,' however, we are told, 'as injurious as its moderate application is salutary. This observation applies with as much force to the vegetable as to the animal kingdom; a small proportion, applied as a manure, promotes vegetation in a very remarkable manner; whereas a larger quantity actually destroys it The experiments of Sir John Pringle have also shown, that a little salt will accelerate putrefaction, and a large quantity prevent it. In explaining the operation of salting meat, and in appreciating the effects of such meat as food, it will be necessary to advert to a chemical fact which has not hitherto attracted the attention which its importance merits. The salt thus combined with the animal fibre ought no longer to be considered as the condiment upon which so much has been said; a chemical combination has taken place, and, although it is difficult to explain the nature of the affinities which have been brought into action, or that of the compound to which they have given origin, it is sufficiently evident that the texture of the fibre is so changed as to be less nutritive, as well as less digestible. If we are called upon to produce any chemical evidence in support of such an assertion, we need only relate the experiment of M. Eller, who found, that if salt and water be boiled in a copper vessel, the solution will contain a notable quantity of that metal; whereas, if, instead of heating a simple solution, the salt be previously mixed with beef, bacon, or fish, the fluid resulting from it will not contain an atom of copper. Does not this prove that the process of salting meat is something more than the mere saturation of the animal fibre with muriate of soda?

'Vinegur, in small quantities, is recommended as a grateful and wholesome stimulant; it will often check the chemical fermentation of certain substances in the stomach, and prevent vegetable matter in its raw state from inducing flatulence; but its use requires caution, and in some morbid states of the system it is obviously improper. Fatty and gelatinous substances frequently appear to be rendered more digestible in the stomach by the addition of vinegar, although it is difficult to offer either a chemical or physiological explanation of the fact. The native vegetable acids may also be occasionally substituted: the addition of lemon juice to rich and glutinous soups renders them less liable to disagree with the stomach; and the custom of eating applesauce with pork is, undoubtedly, indebted for its origin to the same cause.

The aromatic condiments comprise the foreign spices, as pepper, Cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger; and the indigenous herbs and roots, such as parsley, thyme, sage, garlick, leek, onion, horse-radish, mustard, &c. The former of these were not intended by nature for the inhabitants of temperate climes: they are heating, and highly stimulant. I am, how ever, not anxious to give more weight to this objection than it deserves. Man is no longer

the child of nature, nor the passive inhabitant of any particular region: he ranges over every part of the globe, and elicits nourishment from the productions of every climate. It may be therefore necessary that he should accompany the ingestion of foreign aliment with foreign condiment. If we go to the East for tea, there is no reason why we should not go to the West for sugar. The dyspeptic invalid, however, should be cautious in their use; they may afford temporary benefit at the expense of permanent mischief. It has been well said, that the best quality of spices is to stimulate the appetite, and their worst to destroy, by insensible degrees, the tone of the stomach. The intrinsic goodness of meats should always be suspected, when they require spicy seasoning to compensate for their natural want of sapidity. But, mischievous as the abuse of aromatic condiments may be, it is innocent in comparison with the custom of swallowing a quantity of brandy to prevent the upbraiding of our stomachs, or an increased libation of wine to counteract the distress which supervenes a too copious meal-as if drunkenness were an antidote to gluttony.

'Oil and butter, constitute what is called the oleaginous condiments. Melted butter is, perhaps, the most injurious of all the inventions of cookery: oil, when used in extremely small quantities, as a seasoning to salads, appears to prevent their running into fermentation, and consequently obviates flatulency.'

Of the different kinds of water used as drink we are told

'Rain water, when collected in the open fields, is certainly the purest natural water, being produced as it were by a natural distillation. When, however, it is collected near large towns, it derives somè impregnation from the smoky and contaminated atmosphere through which it falls; and, if allowed to come in contact with the houses, will be found to contain calcareous matter; in which case it ought never to be used without being previously boiled and strained. Hippocrates gave this advice; and M. Margraaf, of Berlin, has shown the wisdom of the precaution, by a satisfactory series of experiments.

'Spring water, in addition to the substances detected in rain water, generally contains a small portion of muriate of soda, and frequently other salts: but the larger springs are purer than the smaller ones; and those which occur in primitive countries, and in silicious rocks, or beds of gravel, necessarily contain the least impregnation. An important practical distinction has been founded upon the fact, that the water of some springs dissolves soap, while that of others decomposes and curdles it: the former has been termed soft, the latter hard, water. Soft water is a more powerful solvent of all vegetable matters, and is consequently to be preferred for domestic as well as medicinal purposes The brewer knows well, from experience, how much more readily and copiously soft water will dissolve the extractive matter of his malt; and the housewife does not require to be told, that hard water is incapable of making good tea. Sulphate of lime is the salt which generally imparts the quality of hardness to water; and it has