injurious,--Meat taken more than once a day is liable to the same
Objection. I still persevere in the disuse of malt Liquors and Spirits,
and Suppers, seldom taking more than four Glasses of Wine as a
habit,--although I do not now deem it necessary to make myself so far
the Slave of habit, as to refuse the Pleasures of the Table when they
offer.
I am, dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
* * * * *
The following are the most interesting Facts in Dr. Bryan Robinson's
Essay on the Food and Discharges of the Human Body, 8vo. 1748, which has
become scarce.
"I am now, in _May_ 1747, in the 68th year of my age. The length of my
Body is 63 Inches: I am of a sanguine but not robust constitution--and
am at present neither lean nor fat. In the year 1721 the Morning weight
of my body without Clothes, was about 131 Avoirdupois pounds, the daily
weight of my food at a medium was about 85 Avoirdupois ounces, and the
proportion of my Drink to my Meat, I judge was at that time about
2.5--to 1.
"At the latter end of _May_ 1744, my weight was above 164 pounds, and
the proportion of my Drink to my Meat was considerably greater than
before, and had been so for some time. I was then seized with a
Paralytic disorder, which obliged me to make an alteration in my diet.
In order to settle the proportion of my Drink to my Meat, I considered
what others have said concerning this proportion.
"According to _Sanctorius_, though he reckons it a disproportion, the
drink to the meat in his time, was about 10 to 3 in temperate bodies.
CORNARO'S drink to his Meat, was as 7 to 6.
Mr. RYE'S, in winter, as 4 to 3.
Dr. LINING'S, at a medium 11 to 3.
And my drink to my meat 5 to 2.
A mean taken from all these makes the
Drink to the Meat--about 2 to 1.
B. ROBINSON _on Food and Discharges_, p. 34.
"At the age of 64, by lessening my food, and increasing the proportion
of my meat to my drink, _i. e._ by lessening my drink about a third
part, (_i. e._ to 20 ounces) and my meat about a sixth, (_i. e._ 38
ounces) of what they were in 1721, I have freed myself for these two
years past from the returns of a _Sore throat_ and
_Diarrhœa_,--Disorders I often had, though they were but slight, and
never confined me. I have been much more costive than I was before, when
I lived more fully, and took more Exercise, and have greatly, for my
age, recovered the paralytic weakness I was seized with three years ago.
"Hence we gather, that good and constant Health consists in a just
quantity of food; and a just proportion of the meat to the drink: and
that to be freed from chronical disorders contracted by
Intemperance--the quantity of food ought to be lessened; and the
proportion of the meat to the drink increased--more or less, according
to the greatness of the disorders, p. 61.
"I commonly ate four ounces of Bread and Butter, and drank half a pound
of a very weak infusion of Green Tea for _Breakfast_. For _Dinner_ I
took two ounces of Bread, and the rest Flesh-meat,--Beef, Mutton, Pork,
Veal, Hare, Rabbit, Goose, Turkey, Fowl tame and wild, and Fish. I
generally chose the strongest meats as fittest, since they agreed well
with my stomach, to keep up the power of my body under this great
diminution of my food; I seldom took any _Garden stuff_--finding that it
commonly lessened perspiration and _increased my weight_.--I drank four
ounces of water with my meat and a pound of Claret after I had done
eating. At night I ate nothing, but drank 12 ounces of water with a pipe
of Tobacco, p. 63.
"There is but one Weight, under which a grown body can enjoy the best
and most uninterrupted Health. p. 91. That Weight is such as enables the
Heart to supply the several parts of the body with just quantities of
Blood. p. 100.
"The weight under which an Animal has the greatest strength and
activity--which I shall call its _Athletic weight_,--is that weight
under which the Heart--and the proportion of the weight of the Heart to
the weight of the body are greatest: the strength of the Muscles is
measured by the strength of the Heart, p. 117.
"If the weight of the body of an Animal be greater than its _Athletic
Weight_, it may be reduced to that weight by evacuations, dry food and
exercise. These lessen the weight of the Body, by wasting its fat, and
lessening its Liver; and they increase the weight of the Heart, by
increasing the quantity and motion of the blood. Thus a game Cock in ten
days is reduced to his athletic weight, and prepared for fighting.
"If the Food, which with Evacuations and Exercise, reduced the Cock to
his athletic weight in ten days, be continued any longer, the Cock will
not have that strength and activity which he had before under his
athletic weight; which may be owing to the loss of weight going on after
he arrives at his athletic weight.
"It is known by experiment, that a Cock cannot stand above 24 hours at
his athletic weight, and that a Cock has changed very much for the worse
in 12 hours.
"When a Cock is at the top of his condition, that is, when he is at his
athletic weight, his Head is of a glowing red colour, his Neck thick,
and his Thigh thick and firm;--the day after his complexion is less
glowing, his Neck thinner, and his Thigh softer;--and the third day his
Thigh will be very soft and flaccid. p. 119.
"If the increase of weight in a small compass of time, rise to above a
certain quantity, it will cause disorders.
"I can bear an increase of above a pound and a half in one day, and an
increase of three or four pounds in six or seven days, without being
disordered; but think I should suffer from an increase of five or six
pounds in that time.
"An increase of weight may be carried off by lessening the Food,--or by
increasing the Discharges.--The discharges may be increased either by
exercise, or by evacuations procured by art.
"By lessening the daily quantity of my food to 23 ounces, I have lost 26
ounces;--by fasting a whole day, I lost 48 ounces, having gained 27 the
day before.
"Mr. Rye was a strong, well set, corpulent man, of a sanguine
complexion; by a brisk walk for one hour before breakfast he threw off,
by insensible perspiration, one pound of increased weight; by a walk of
three hours, he threw off two pounds of increased weight. The best way
to take off an increase of weight which threatens a distemper, is either
by fasting or exercise. p. 84.
"The mean loss of weight by several grown bodies caused by a purging
medicine composed of a drachm of _Jalap_ and ten grains of _Calomel_,
was about 2-3/4 Avoirdupois pounds; and the mean quantity of Liquor,
drank during the time of Purging, was about double the loss of
Weight."--ROBINSON _on the Animal Economy_, p. 458.
"I have lost, by a spontaneous _Diarrhœa_, two pounds in twenty-four
hours; and Mr. Rye lost twice that quantity in the same time."--_On the
Food and Discharges of Human Bodies_, by B. ROBINSON, p. 84.
"Most _Chronic Diseases_--arise from too much _Food_ and too little
_Exercise_,--both of which lessen the weight of the Heart and the
quantity of Blood;--the first by causing fatness; the second by a
diminution of the blood's motion.
"Hence, when the LIVER is grown too large by Intemperance and
Inactivity, it may be lessened and brought to a healthful magnitude by
Temperance and Exercise.--It may be emptied other ways by art; but
nothing can prevent its filling again, and consequently secure good and
constant Health--but an exact Diet and Exercise. Purging and Vomiting
may lessen the Liver, and reduce it to its just magnitude;--but these
evacuations cannot prevent its increasing again, so long as persons
live too fully, and use too little exercise--and can only be done by
lessening the Food and increasing the Exercise."
"Much sleep, much food, and little exercise, are the principal things
which make animals grow fat. If the Body, on account of Age or other
Infirmities, cannot use sufficient Exercise, and takes much the same
quantity of Sleep, its weight must be lessened by lessening the Food,
which may be done by lessening the Drink, without making any change in
the Meat; as I have proved myself by experience."--p. 90.
On this subject, see also--Dr. STARK on _Diet_, and SANCTORIUS'
_Medecina Statica_. Dr. HEMING on _Corpulency_.--Mr. WADD on
_Corpulency_.--Dr. ARBUTHNOT on _Aliment_.
SLEEP.
"When tired with vain rotations of the Day,
Sleep winds us up for the succeeding dawn."
YOUNG.
Health may be as much injured by interrupted and _insufficient Sleep_,
as by luxurious indulgence.
Valetudinarians who regularly retire to rest, and arise at certain
hours, are unable, without injurious violence to their feelings--to
resist the inclination to do so.
"Pliant Nature more or less demands
As Custom forms her; and _all sudden change
She hates_, of Habit even from _bad_ to _good_.
If faults in Life--or new emergencies
From Habits[24] urge you by _long time_ confirm'd,
Slow must the change arrive, and stage by stage,
Slow as the stealing progress of the Year."
ARMSTRONG'S _Art of Preserving Health_.
How important it is, then, to cultivate good and convenient
Habits:--_Custom_ will soon render the most rigid rules, not only easy,
but agreeable.--
"The Strong, by bad habits, grow weaker, we know;
And by good ones, the Weak will grow stronger also."
The Debilitated require much more rest than the Robust:--nothing is so
restorative to the nerves, as sound, and uninterrupted Sleep, which is
the chief source of both Bodily and Mental Strength.
The Studious need a full portion of Sleep, which seems to be as
necessary nutriment to the Brain, as Food is to the Stomach.
Our Strength and Spirits are infinitely more exhausted by the exercise
of our Mental, than by the labour of our Corporeal faculties--let any
person try the effect of _Intense Application_ for a few hours--He will
soon find how much his Body is fatigued thereby, although He has not
stirred from the Chair He sat on.
Those who are candidates for Health--must be as circumspect in the task
they set their mind,--as in the exercise they give to their Body.
Dr. ARMSTRONG, the Poet of Health, observes,
"'Tis _the great Art of_ LIFE to manage well
The restless Mind."
The grand secret seems to be, to contrive that the exercise of the Body,
and that of the Mind, may serve as relaxations to each other.
Over Exertion, or Anxiety of Mind, disturbs Digestion infinitely more
than any fatigue of Body--the Brain demands a much more abundant supply
of the Animal Spirits, than is required for the excitement of mere Legs
and Arms.
"'Tis the Sword that wears out the Scabbard."
Of the two ways of fertilizing the Brain--by Sleep, or by Spirituous
Stimulus--(for some write best in the Morning, others when wound up with
Wine, after Dinner or Supper:) the former is much less expensive--and
less injurious to the constitution than either Port, or Brandy, whose
aid it is said that some of our best Authors have been indebted to, for
their most brilliant productions.
Calling one day on a literary friend, we found him reclining on a
Sofa--on expressing our concern to find him indisposed, he said, "No, I
was only _hatching_,--I have been writing till I was quite tired--my
paper must go to Press to day--so I was taking my usual restorative--_A
Nap_--which if it only lasts five minutes, so refreshes my Mind--that
my Pen goes to work again spontaneously."
Is it not better _Economy of Time_, to go to sleep for half an
hour,--than to go on noodling all day in a nerveless and
semi-superannuated state--if not asleep, certainly not effectively
Awake--for any purpose requiring the Energy of either the Body, or the
Mind.
"_A Forty Winks Nap_," in an horizontal posture, is the best preparative
for any extraordinary exertion of either.
Those who possess, and employ the powers of the Mind most--seldom attain
the greatest Age[25]:--see BRUNAUD _de L'Hygiene des Gens de Lettres,
Paris_, 8vo. 1819:--the Envy their Talent excites,--the Disappointment
they often meet with in their expectations of receiving the utmost
attention and respect, (which the world has seldom the gratitude to pay
them while they live,) keep them in a perpetual state of irritation and
disquiet--which frets them prematurely to their Grave[26].
_To rest a whole Day_--under great fatigue of either Body or Mind, is
occasionally extremely beneficial--it is impossible to regulate Sleep by
the hour;--when the Mind and the Body have received all the refreshment
which Sleep can give, people cannot lie in Bed, and till then, they
should not Rise[27].
"Preach not me your musty Rules
Ye Drones, that mould in idle cell;
The Heart is wiser than the Schools,
The Senses always reason well."
COMUS.
Our Philosophical Poet here gives the best practical maxim on the
subject for Valetudinarians--who, by following his advice, may render
their Existence, instead of a dull unvaried round of joyless, useless
self-denial,--a circle of agreeable sensation;--for instance, go not to
your Bed till You are tired of sitting up--then remain in an Horizontal
posture,--till You long to change it for a Vertical: thus, by a little
management, the inevitable business of Life may be converted into a
source of continual Enjoyment.
All-healing Sleep soon neutralizes the corroding caustic of Care--and
blunts even the barbed arrows of the marble-hearted Fiend, Ingratitude.
When the Pulse is almost paralysed by Anxiety,--half an hour's repose,
will cheer the circulation, restore tranquillity to the perturbed
spirit--and dissipate those heavy clouds of _Ennui_, which sometimes
threaten to eclipse the brightest Minds, and best Hearts.--Child of Woe,
lay thy Head on thy pillow, (instead of thy Mouth to the bottle,) and
bless me for directing Thee to the true source of Lethe--and most
sovereign _Nepenthé_ for the Sorrows of Human Life.
The Time requisite to restore the waste occasioned by the action of the
Day--depends on the activity of the habits, and on the Health of the
Individual,--in general it cannot be less than Seven--and need not be
more than Nine hours[28].
Invalids will derive much benefit from indulging in the _Siesta_
whenever they feel languid.
A Sailor will tell you, that a Seaman can sleep as much in five hours,
as a Landsman can in ten.
Whether rising very early lengthens Life we know not,--but think that
sitting up very late shortens it,--and recommend you to rise by eight,
and retire to rest by eleven; your feelings will bear out the adage,
that "_one_ Hour's rest before midnight, is worth _two_ after."
When OLD PEOPLE have been examined with a view to ascertain the causes
of their Longevity, they have uniformly agreed in one thing only,--that
they ALL _went to Bed early, and rose early_.
"Early to bed, and early to rise,
Will make you healthy, wealthy, and wise."
Dr. FRANKLIN published an ingenious Essay on the advantage of early
rising--He called it "_an Economical Project_," and calculated, that the
saving that might be made in the City of Paris, _by using Sunshine
instead of Candles_--at no less than £4,000,000 Sterling.
If the Delicate, and the nervous, the very Young, or the very Old--sit
up beyond their usual hour, they feel the want of artificial aid, to
raise their spirits to what is no more than the ordinary pitch of those
who are in the vigour of their Life--and must fly from the festive
board--or purchase a few hours of hilarity at the heavy price of
Head-Ach and Dyspepsia for many days after; and a terrible exasperation
of any Chronic Complaint they are afflicted with.
When the Body and Mind are both craving repose--to force their action,
by the spur of spirituous stimulus, is the most extravagant waste of the
"VIS VITÆ," that Fashion ever invented to consume her foolish
Votaries--for Fools they certainly are, who mortgage the comfort of a
Week, for the conviviality of an Hour--with the certainty of their term
of Life being speedily foreclosed by Gout, Palsy, &c.
Among the most distressing miseries of this "Elysium of Bricks and
Mortar," may be reckoned how rarely we enjoy "the sweets of a Slumber
unbroke."
Sound passes through the thin PARTY WALLS of modern Houses, (_which of
the first rate, at the_ FIRE PLACE, _are only four inches in
thickness_;) with most unfortunate facility; this is really an evil of
the first magnitude,--if You are so unlucky as to have for next door
neighbours--fashionable folks who turn night into day, or such as
delight in the sublime Economy of Cindersaving, or Cobweb catching,--it
is in vain to seek repose, before the former has indulged in the
Evening's recreation of raking out the Fire, and has played with the
Poker till it has made all the red coals black; or, after _Molidusta_,
the Tidy One, has awoke the Morn--with "the Broom, the bonny, bonny
Broom."
A determined Dusthunter, or Cindersaver, murders its neighbour's
sleep--with as little mercy, as Macbeth did Malcolm's--and bangs doors,
and rattles Window shutters, till the "Earth trembles, and Air is
aghast!"
All attempts to conciliate a Savage who is in this fancy--will be labour
in vain--the arrangement of its fire[29] is equally the occupation of
the morning, and the amusement of the evening; the preservation of a
Cinder and the destruction of a Cobweb, are the main business of its
existence:--the best advice we can give you, gentle Reader--is to send
it this little Book--and beseech it to place the following pages
opposite to its Optic nerves some morning--after you have diverted it
from Sleep every half hour during the preceding Night[30].
Counsellor SCRIBBLEFAST, a Special Pleader, who lived on a ground-floor
in the Temple--about the time that Sergeant PONDER who dwelt on the
first floor, retired to rest, began to practise his Violoncello, _"And
his loud voice in Thunder spoke."_--The Student above--by way of giving
him a gentle hint, struck up _"Gently strike the warbling Lyre,"_ and
Will. Harmony's favourite Hornpipes of _"Dont Ye,"_ and _"Pray be
Quiet:"_ however, the _dolce_ and _pianissimo_ of poor PONDER produced
no diminution of the _prestissimo_ and _fortissimo_ of the indefatigable
SCRIBBLEFAST.
PONDER, prayed "silence in the Court," and complained in most pathetic
terms--but, alas! his "_lowly suit and plaintive ditty_" made not the
least impression on him who was beneath him.--He at length procured a
set of Skettles, and as soon as his musical neighbour had done fiddling,
he began _con strepito_, and bowled away merrily till the morning
dawned.--The enraged Musician did not wait long after daylight, to put
in his plea against such proceedings, and received in reply, that such
exercise had been ordered by a Physician, as the properest Paregoric,
after being disturbed by the thorough Bass of the Big Fiddle below--this
soon convinced the tormentor of Catgut, who dwelt on the Ground-Floor,
that He could not annoy his superior with Impunity, and produced silence
on both sides.
People are very unwisely inconsiderate how much it is their own
Interest to attend to the comforts of their Neighbours, for which we
have a divine command "to love our neighbour as ourself." "_Sic utere
tuo, ut alienum non lædas_," is the maxim of our English law.
Interrupting one's Sleep is as prejudicial to Health, as any of the
nuisances Blackstone enumerates as actionable.
The majority of the _Dogs_,--_Parrots_,--_Piano-Fortes_, &c. in this
Metropolis, are _Actionable Nuisances_!!!
However inferior in rank and fortune, &c. your next door neighbour may
be--there are moments when He may render you the most valuable
service.--"A Lion owed his life to the exertions of a Mouse."
Those who have not the power to please--should have the discretion not
to offend;--the most humble may have opportunities to return a Kindness,
or resent an Insult.
It is Madness to wantonly annoy any one.
There is plenty of Time for the performance of all offensively noisy
operations, between 10 in the Morning and 10 at Night--during which the
industrious Housemaid may indulge her Arms in their full swing--and
while she polishes her black-leaded grate to the lustre which is so
lovely in the eyes of "_the Tidy_," the TAT-TOO her brush strikes up
against its sides may be performed without distressing the irritable
ears of her Nervous Neighbours--to whom _undisturbed Repose is the most
Vital Nourishment_.
_Little Sweep Soot Ho_ is another dreadful disturber.--The shrill
screaming of these poor boys, "making night hideous," (indeed at any
time) at five or six o'clock in cold dark weather, is a most barbarous
custom, and frequently disturbs a whole street before they rouse the
drowsy sluggard who sent for him--his _Row dy Dow_ when he reaches the
top of the Chimney, and his progress down again, awaken the soundest
sleepers, who often wish, that, instead of the Chimney,--he was smiting
the skull of the Barbarian who set the poor Child to work at such an
unseasonable hour.
The Editor's feelings are tremblingly alive on this subject.
"Finis coronat opus."
However soundly he has slept during the early part of the night--if the
finishing Nap in the morning is interrupted from continuing to its
natural termination--his whole System is shook by it, and all that sleep
has before done for him, is undone in an instant;--he gets up distracted
and languid, and the only part of his head that is of any use to him, is
the hole between his Nose and Chin.
The firm Health of those who live in the Country, arises not merely from
breathing a purer Air,--but from quiet and regular habits, especially
the enjoyment of plenty of undisturbed Repose,--this enables them to
take Exercise, which gives them an Appetite, and by taking their food at
less distant and more equally divided intervals--they receive a more
regular supply of that salutary nourishment, which is necessary to
restore the wear of the system, and support it in an uniform state of
excitement,--equally exempt from the languor of inanition, and the
fever of repletion.
Thus, the Animal Functions are performed with a perfection and
regularity, the tranquillity of which, in the incessantly irregular
habits of a Town-life, is continually interrupted,--some ridiculous
Anxiety or other consumes the Animal Spirits, and the important process
of Restoration is imperfectly performed.
_Dyspeptic and Nervous disorders_, and an inferior degree of both
extensive and intensive Life[31] are the inevitable consequence, and are
the lowest price for (what are called) _the Pleasures of Fashionable
Society_.
Dr. Cadogan has told us (very truly) that Chronic diseases, (and we may
add, most of those equivocal Disorders, which are continually teasing
people, but are too insignificant to induce them to institute a medical
process to remove them,) are caused by Indolence--Intemperance--and
Vexation.
It is the fashion to refer all these Disorders to Debility--but Debility
is no more than the effect of Indolence, Intemperance, and Vexation--the
two first are under our own immediate control--and Temperance, Industry,
and Activity, are the best remedies to prevent, or remove the Debility
which reduces our means of resisting the third.
During _the Summer_ of Life[32], _i. e._ the second period of it, (see
page 34,) while we hope that every thing may come right, the Heart
bounds with vigour, and the Vital flame burns too brightly to be much,
or long subdued by vexation.
This originally least cause, soon becomes the greatest, and in _the
Autumn_ of our existence, when Experience has dissipated the theatric
illusion with which Hope varnished the expectations of our earlier days,
we begin to fear that every thing will go wrong.
"The whips and scorns of Time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd Love, the Law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes."
The insatiable ruling passions of the second and third periods of
Life,--Ambition and Avarice,--the loss of our first and best friends,
our Parents,--regret for the past, and anxiety about the future, prevent
the enjoyment of the present,--and are _the cause of those Nervous and
Bilious Disorders_, which attack most of us at the commencement of the
third period of Life--these _precursors of Palsy and Gout_, may
generally be traced to Disappointments and Anxiety of mind[33]; and