Physical beauty, like virtue, is a type to which all approximate in
different degrees, and which, when not wholly departed from, admits
the possessor among the number of the accepted in the eyes of the
world; but if, in the case of outward figure as with inward morality,
any human attribute should appear distorted or unseemly, it gives rise
immediately to a feeling of displeasure and aversion.
Occupied at present with the consideration of physical form only, it
may be averred that one of the most frequent deformities of the human
body consists in an excessive development of fat.
In accordance with the opinions of able physiologists, fat ought to
constitute one-twentieth of the entire weight of the body in man (in
the female about one-third more than in the male). It consists of
a multitude of minute cells, frequently forming large masses held
together by a very delicate membrane, the areolar tissue, which serves
as a reservoir, and prevents the fat (which is fluid during life) from
floating.
When once fat begins to make its appearance in more than ordinary
amount, there is no reason why this augmentation should naturally cease
at any given point. This corpulence continues to increase until some
disease, often occasioned by the condition itself, terminates this
frightful increase of size.
Cases of obesity are rarely met with in mountainous countries, and
those having a great elevation above the level of the sea, where the
atmosphere is dry; whilst they are frequent in valleys and plains at
the level of the sea, having a moist atmosphere.
Men are less subject to obesity than women. The areolar tissue which
contains the fat is firmer in the male than in the female, and is not
so readily distended by the accumulation of adipose matter. Corpulence
is usually developed after the body has acquired its full growth, but
childhood is not exempt.
Not long ago, a child of four years old was exhibited at Paris, which
weighed one hundred and four pounds. Dr. Coe, an English physician,
makes mention of a man named Edward Bright, who weighed one hundred
and four pounds at ten years of age; at twenty, three hundred and
fifty-six pounds; and thirteen months before his death, five hundred
and eighty-four pounds. Another person, a native of Lincolnshire,
weighed five hundred and eighty-three pounds, and was ten feet in
circumference: he died in his twenty-ninth year. In another instance
a man weighed six hundred and nine pounds: his coat, when buttoned,
could contain seven medium-sized persons. A case is recorded of a man
who weighed six hundred and forty-nine pounds, and measured four feet
three inches across the shoulders. In the "Javannah News," for June,
1853, the following case is communicated by a medical writer: "A young
man, who lived about eighteen miles from Batavia, was remarkable for
his great size. When twenty-two years of age, he weighed five hundred
and sixty-five pounds. He continued to increase to over six hundred
pounds. He lived upon his plantation in easy circumstances. Four
weeks since, his weight began to increase at the rate of a pound and
a half, and subsequently two pounds a day. He died one day last week,
suddenly, while sitting in his arm-chair. Three days before his death,
he weighed six hundred and forty-three pounds." Dupuytren has recorded
the case of one Mary Frances Clay, of whom a plaster cast is preserved
in the Museum of the Ecole de Médecine, at Paris. This woman, a native
of Vieille Eglise, was of humble parents. Her husband travelled as
a pedler from town to town. When thirty-six years of age, she was no
longer able to accompany her husband, and took her place at the door
of a church, to beg her bread. Her height was five feet one inch, and
her circumference five feet two inches. Her head, which was small in
proportion to her size, was almost lost between two enormous shoulders,
giving her an appearance of immobility. A furrow, several inches deep,
was the only boundary between the head and chest. Her breasts were
enormous. Looking at her from behind, the shoulders were elevated by
fat, and formed two huge protuberances. The arms stood out from the
body, in consequence of cushions of fat in the armpits. On observing
the plaster cast of this person, the right side will be seen to be
much more developed than the left, owing to her habit of lying on that
side, and the fat gravitating towards it. For several years she was
able to walk from her dwelling to the station at the church door, about
a mile; but finally she was compelled to stay at home. She suffered,
while walking, from loss of breath, and had violent palpitations of
the heart. She was unable to lie down, from a sense of impending
suffocation, and was obliged to retain an upright position night and
day, seated in an arm-chair. Under these circumstances, nature soon
gave out. She fell sick, and was taken to the hospital, where she died.
About twenty years ago there was a German in Paris, named Frederick
Arrhens. He was then twenty years of age, and weighed four hundred
and fifty pounds. In circumference he measured five feet five inches,
which corresponded exactly with his stature. He was poor, and had lived
chiefly on vegetable and milk diet.
It is almost unnecessary to describe obesity, since it is known at
the first glance. The face is animated; the circulation is impeded,
and renders the complexion turgid, and sometimes almost of a deep
wine-colour. The eyes suffer from this impeded circulation; they are
sparkling, and frequently suffused with blood. The ears, which are
generally colourless in health, are, for the most part, red in those
labouring under obesity. The circulation through the head being greater
than through any other part of the body, and being impeded, an almost
continual perspiration with great heat is established; thus it is that
fat people can seldom bear to have the head covered; in some cases it
even produces dizziness. As this condition progresses, if fortunate
enough to escape threatened cerebral affections, the blood loses its
chief characteristic, and becomes watery; such persons are pale and
flabby. The integument of the lower part of the face is capable of
great distension, and here, in obesity, fat accumulates, and forms
on both sides an unsightly mass, sometimes reaching to the chest. A
roll of fat is often found on the back of the neck. The trunk becomes
enormously developed, and the breasts particularly enlarged. The arms
are very fat; and as the areolar tissue which surrounds the wrist is
of a close texture, fat cannot accumulate there, and the skin not
being distended, a deep groove or furrow is formed, as is the case in
very fat children. The hands usually participate in this excess of
_embonpoint_, but at a later period than other parts of the body. The
abdomen attains a vast size, and impedes walking; so that a person
labouring under obesity carries the head erect, and the body thrown
back, as in the case of a pregnant woman, in order to preserve the
necessary equilibrium and not fall forward. The intestinal mass, with
its surrounding fat, being connected with the kidneys, by its weight
gives rise to a dragging sensation, and causes pain on walking. It
also pushes up the diaphragm, compresses the lungs and the heart,
and becomes one of the causes of the sense of oppression complained
of by fat people. Many such, especially females, have between the
abdomen and the thighs deep furrows, which become scalded, and require
the application of starch, or of some other powder, as is the case
with infants when very fat. The integument of the thigh is readily
distensible, and allows the deposition of fat as far down as the knee
joint. At this point the areolar tissue is more dense, and less in
quantity. The skin of the thigh, being thus distended, forms large
folds, falling over the knee joint. The legs become likewise enlarged,
frequently engorged, and troubled with varicosities, more especially
towards the lower portion of the limb. Gradually the feet participate
in this engorgement.
This general view of the outward appearance of the body of a person
labouring under obesity, may give some idea of the disturbance which
an excessive amount of fat can produce when situated within the body.
On the outer surface it causes an extraordinary distension of the
integument, giving rise, as we have before said, to various diseases,
such as pimples, boils, eczema, prurigo, &c., which can only be cured
by a reduction of corpulence. In the interior of the organism this
same excess of fat causes displacement of the viscera, interferes with
the due performance of their functions (as we have already explained),
and leads to the sudden death of the patient, whilst occupying his
arm-chair rather than his bed, for he can rarely assume a recumbent
position.
It has been said, moreover, that excessive corpulence modifies the
intellectual faculties, diminishes their power, and may even completely
annihilate them. The incessant desire for sleep, the somnolence with
which fat people are tormented, is sufficient proof of the correctness
of the assertion.
The experience of all medical men goes to shew that when persons of
obesity are attacked by any acute form of disease, they succumb more
easily than those possessing an ordinary _embonpoint_. Death usually
occurs in such cases unattended with great suffering. Destruction goes
on so quietly and imperceptibly, that the physician becomes aware of it
only when it is too late to grapple with it.
Excessive corpulence is promoted by want of sufficient exercise, riding
in a carriage, lying in bed too much, and the continued use of the
warm bath. Having been told by many females, as I have said before,
that their _embonpoint_ had commenced after giving birth to their
last child, which they had not suckled, and that they attributed the
development of this _embonpoint_ to their not having suckled the child,
it may be asked, can this be assigned as one of the causes of excessive
corpulence in females? I mention these facts without venturing at
present to give an opinion.
Some physicians, and many of the laity, think that repeated bleedings
tend to the development of fat. For my part, the fact is indisputable,
both theoretically and as the result of experience. Bleeding removes
a portion of the blood, which is flesh in a fluid state, having for
its object not only the nutrition of the several organs, but also the
stimulation of the heart's movements, and thus the maintenance of life.
Taking a little blood, is taking a little of that which maintains
life, and is therefore a weakening of every organ of the body. Areolar
tissue, which becomes more extensible in proportion as the body
becomes more feeble, must have its power of resistance diminished
by the bleeding, and more readily permit the deposition of adipose
matter. This affords an explanation of the fact stated by many of my
female patients, that their excessive corpulence had manifested itself
subsequent to repeated blood-lettings.
Bleeding encourages the development of fat in the lower animals,
as well as in the human species; a fact well understood by
cattle-breeders, who put it in practice in the case of cattle which
they wish to fatten. The only exception made by them to this rule, is
in reference to those animals which have a soft and yielding skin,
as more frequently happens with beasts of a red-and-white colour,
which are said to fatten readily. With this intention, agricultural
writers recommend the use of blood-letting. An article which appeared
in an agricultural journal recommends that every animal intended for
fattening should be bled twice, at an interval of a few days.
Some people think that exercise on horseback is apt to produce
corpulency, while others entertain a different opinion. The former
maintain that persons whose business requires them to be much on
horseback, are frequently fat; a remark which is made especially
in reference to cavalry officers, and which is quite true. But the
following explanation may be offered: A man on horseback undergoes
severe exercise; and if he possesses a strong constitution, and takes a
sufficient amount of food, this exercise will facilitate the digestive
function, and the volume of his body will be increased. But it is
necessary that the horseman should be of a very vigorous constitution.
In truth, few cavalry officers are corpulent, and these few are to
be met with among those who are somewhat advanced in life, and who
are by nature well adapted to the profession. The greater number of
cavalry soldiers, whether officers or privates, suffer much at first
from fatigue. The young men who join a cavalry regiment soon grow
thin, and, with but few exceptions, remain thin so long as they are
in the service; and indeed it has happened that both in the case of
officers and privates, in consequence of not being able to endure horse
exercise, they have been obliged to be transferred to the infantry.
It is therefore incorrect to regard this kind of bodily exercise as
favourable to the development of corpulence.
For the development of obesity, there must exist a certain
predisposition. We meet with many who do all in their power to grow
fat, and who still remain thin, because, no doubt, they possess some
peculiarity of organization which prevents the development of fat.
Obesity may be hereditary; that is to say, the father or the mother
may transmit to their children a peculiar formation, having a tendency
to make fat. From certain physiological conditions, we may recognize
at an early age a natural tendency on the part of some persons to
become corpulent. In the young of both sexes, where this predisposition
exists, the face is broad and short, the eyes round, and the nose
short and thick; the hands and feet are small, and there is a general
roundness of limb. When possessed of such an organization, obesity
may be warded off by a rational system of diet, to be indicated in the
following pages. But the immediate and producing cause of corpulence is
to be sought and discovered in the character of the food. The present
system is founded upon this principle. Medical authors assert that
food has a most important bearing in the production of corpulence.
They forbid the use of meat, and recommend watery vegetables, such as
spinage, sorrel, salad, fruit, &c., and for beverage water; and at the
same time they direct the patient to eat as little as possible. These
instructions, like too many others, are given because they are asked,
and that in every disease, curable or incurable, the physician is bound
to offer some advice. Medical men themselves put no faith in them,
since they pronounce obesity to be incurable.
Having devoted a great deal of attention to this enquiry, I have
arrived at the conclusion that it is not to be wondered at that obesity
should be incurable, because the very means which have been recommended
to overcome it, are exactly those best fitted to induce and maintain it.
I lay it down as an axiom, in opposition to the received opinion
of centuries, that a very substantial diet, such as meat, does not
develop fat, and that nothing is more capable of producing the latter
than aqueous vegetables and water.
It is a principle which at first sight may appear inadmissible.
Nevertheless, the consideration of a few physiological and chemical
facts, within the comprehension of everybody, will suffice to prove its
correctness.
The most favourable physiological condition for the production of
fat, in man as in the lower animals, is a large extent of intestinal
absorbent surface, the absorbent vessels being proportional in number
to the amplitude of the intestinal surface. The intestines, however,
are conformable to the nature of the aliment. The intestines are
small in the lion, tiger and panther, because their food consists of
a small quantity of flesh. The ox, on the other hand, a herbivorous
animal, possesses an enormous paunch, to contain the large mass of
food, yielding but little nutritive matter; consequently the herbivora
must have a larger absorbent surface than the carnivora. The length of
the intestinal tract in herbivorous animals is equal to fifteen times
the length of the body; in the carnivora the length of the intestines
is about three times that of the body; while in the tiger, feeding
exclusively on blood, it equals only the length of the animal. In this
respect man holds an intermediate position, the intestines being equal
in length to about five or six times the height of the individual.
This provision of nature is in keeping with the character of his
food--partly animal, partly vegetable. It is at his option, however,
to modify this natural condition, by living wholly upon meat or wholly
upon vegetables. A person whose food is very substantial, but small in
quantity (as, for example, meat), does not possess the dilated stomach
and intestines of the vegetable feeder, and consequently has a less
absorbent surface than the latter. Among animals, we notice that the
carnivora have naturally but little fat, scarcely any belly, but an
enormous development of muscular power; whilst the herbivora are more
or less laden with fat. Among men, it may be noticed that the corpulent
shew a preference for vegetable and farinaceous food, and partake
largely of water, beer, &c.
If we examine this question from a chemical point of view, we obtain
the most satisfactory evidence that flesh must be productive of less
fat than vegetable matter. The composition of human fat in 100 parts is
Carbon 79.000
Hydrogen 15.416
Oxygen 5.584
------ 100.000
The principal constituents of fat, therefore, are carbon and hydrogen.
Again, chemistry teaches that all food not consisting of flesh, such
as vegetables, farinacea, sugars, &c., resemble fat, being chiefly
composed of carbon and hydrogen; and, still more, that fat exists,
already formed, in some vegetable substances, as oil of olives, oil of
nuts, and oleaginous seeds. If, therefore, we introduce into the system
substances rich in carbon and hydrogen, we must make fat as inevitably
as the bee makes honey from its elements contained in the flowers.
On the other hand, we learn also from chemistry, that one of the
principal constituents of meat is nitrogen, an element which does not
enter into the composition of fat. Food consisting chiefly of meat
must be less productive of fat than food mainly composed of carbon and
hydrogen, such as vegetables, &c.
Distinguished chemists have endeavoured to shew in what manner the
development of fat takes place in the animal economy. A paper was read
by me before the Academy of Sciences, at Paris, on the 15th December,
1851, from which the following extract is made:
"Three different opinions are entertained by distinguished
chemists, who have given attention to this subject. The
first, that of Dumas, maintains that the fatty matter of the
body is derived solely from substances analogous to fat in
composition, which pre-exist in the food. The second opinion,
that of Liebig, is to the effect that the formation of fat
is due to a modification of those ternary compounds which
constitute so large a proportion of the food of animals. The
third opinion suggests that fat may arise in consequence of
some special fermentation taking place in the stomach.
"Numerous experiments have been made, in order to determine
which of these opinions is correct; but it may be safely said
that no satisfactory conclusion has been arrived at.
"In the first place, the experiments have never been conducted
under circumstances favourable to the formation of a correct
opinion. It is obviously of the first importance, when
conducting experiments of this nature, that the food should be
supplied so as not to interfere with the tone of the general
health, considered morally as well as physically. We can
conceive that the deprivation of liberty, in the case of an
animal usually in the enjoyment of freedom, may render the
experiment of dubious import. Although man is omnivorous, it
is impossible that any one can submit, for a great length of
time, to live upon one kind of food only, without suffering a
sense of loathing.
"What inference can be drawn from those experiments, made
for the purpose of ascertaining whether sugar is capable of
producing fat, when they were made upon pigeons and doves,
which were fed solely upon this substance; at one time being
deprived altogether of water, and at another time allowing
them as much as they chose to drink?
"Chemists wished to know if butter could engender fat, and
doves have been gorged with it, being deprived of all other
food during the few days that the experiment lasted; at the
end of which time they died, of course excessively lean; and
the experimentalists thence concluded that butter does not
produce fat. What an extraordinary idea, to feed a granivorous
animal upon butter solely, in order to test the question
referred to! This experiment forms the subject of a paper
written by me, and inserted in the proceedings of the Academy
of Sciences, for the year 1844.
"Other experiments upon animals, conducted likewise by men of
science, are less open to criticism than the one just referred
to; yet it must be confessed that no safe inference could be
drawn from them. I am about to submit a few established facts,
which may throw some light upon the question as to the cause
of the development of fat.
"For several years past I have given much consideration to the
reduction of corpulency in cases where it interfered with the
comforts of life, and I can reckon by thousands those who have
followed my instructions. I have established it as a fact,
without a single exception, that it is always possible to
diminish obesity, by living chiefly upon meat, and partaking
only of a small quantity of other kinds of food. Make use of
whatever medicine you please, it is impossible to obtain the
same result in the case of a person partaking indiscriminately
of everything which may be placed upon the table. There is
yet another condition, without which success is impossible;
that is, to absorb but little fluid, whether in the shape of
soup or drink, or by means of the bath. A moist atmosphere is
favourable to the development of fat: we increase in weight in
wet weather.
"I have thousands of cases on record, in support of my
statement. Persons from all parts of the world, who have
followed my teachings, have experienced a decrease of their
corpulence."
The paper upon this subject ended by saying, that according to my
opinion, fat might be assimilated by either of the three several
methods set forth in the beginning of the essay, one not forbidding the
action of the others. I begged to be acknowledged by the Academy as the
first who had established the fact that, in order to reduce corpulence
without interfering with the general health, it is necessary to live
chiefly upon meat, avoiding an excess of vegetable and aqueous food, or
of any of which the basis is carbon or hydrogen.
These chemical principles are founded upon facts--upon observation. As
I have said, carnivorous animals are never fat, because they feed upon
a substance rich in nitrogen--flesh; which flesh makes flesh, and very
little fat. They have no belly, because flesh, taken in small quantity,
suffices for one day, or twenty-four hours.
It has been objected that the carnivora do not always obtain food
when hungry, and that they are often obliged to chase their prey for
a long time before catching it. This is true; but on the other hand,
carnivorous animals, when domesticated and fed upon meat, are not more
fat, and have no belly. The celebrated traveller, Levaillant, in his
Travels in Africa, says that he has seen, in the southern part of the
continent, flocks of gazelles, which live in the interior, numbering
from ten to fifty thousand. These flocks are almost continually on
the move; they travel from north to south, and from south to north.
Those of the flock which are in advance, and in the enjoyment of a rich
pasturage, frequently come upon the borders of the settlements of Cape
Colony, and are fat; those composing the centre of the herd are less
fat; while those in the rear are extremely poor, and dying with hunger.
Being thus stayed in their course by the presence of man, they retrace
their steps; but those which composed the rear are now in advance, and
regain their fat, while those which were in advance become the rear,
and lose fat. Notwithstanding the vast numbers which daily perish,
their natural increase suffices to maintain the integrity of the herd.
In connexion with my subject I may state that these flocks are always
accompanied or followed by lions, leopards, panthers and hyenas, which
kill as many of them as they please for food, devour a part, and leave
the rest to the jackals and other small carnivorous animals, which
follow upon their steps. Now, these lions, panthers, leopards and
hyenas, which need make but the slightest exertion to find food when
hungry, are never fat.
It has been said, by way of objection to my system, that butchers are
generally fat, due to their living upon meat. Now, I have made some
enquiries in this matter, and have satisfied myself that butchers, as
a general thing, are not fond of meat, but live chiefly upon vegetable
food, and usually drink a great deal. It has been said also that their
good condition is due to the atmosphere (filled with animal miasm) in
which they live, a supposition which has yet to be proven. Again, it
has been said that hogs can be fattened upon horse-flesh. My reply is,
that they drink at the same time a large amount of water. And here I
may remark, that the lard of hogs thus fattened upon flesh is soft
and watery, and is considered by dealers to be of little value. It is
evidently not due to the flesh upon which these hogs are fed, that
their fat is soft and watery, but to the great amount of fluid they
imbibe.
On the other hand, those animals which are enormously fat, live
exclusively upon vegetables, and drink largely. The hippopotamus, for
example, so uncouth in form from its immense amount of fat, feeds
wholly upon vegetable matter--rice, millet, sugar-cane, &c. Naturalists
long entertained the opinion that this animal, living mostly in the
water, fed chiefly upon fish. It is now, however, well ascertained that
the hippopotamus never touches fish, and is wholly a vegetable feeder.
The walrus, which, according to Buffon, seems to afford the connecting
link between amphibious quadrupeds and the cetacea, is a veritable
mass of fat, and lives exclusively upon marine herbage. The walrus
of Kamschatka measures from twenty to twenty-three feet in length,
sixteen to eighteen feet in circumference, and weighs from six to eight
thousand pounds.
The following fact may be cited as a remarkable proof that the quantity
of fat in any animal is mainly dependent on the character of its food:
Among the whale tribe, those monsters in size, that of Greenland
(Balæna mysticetus of Linnæus) possesses the greatest amount of
blubber, and it feeds upon zoophytes, of which many resemble as much in
character the plant as the animal. The fin-backed whale (Balæna böops
of Linnæus), which does not feed upon mucilaginous matter, but upon
small fish, has a much thinner layer of blubber than the former. The
sperm whale or cachalot (Balæna physalus of Linnæus), which feeds on
mackerel, herrings, and northern salmon, although nearly as long as the
Greenland whale, is much thinner. The layer of blubber is not so thick
as in the fin-backed, and yields only ten or twelve tuns of oil; while
the Greenland whale yields fifty, sixty, and even eighty tuns.
Now, chemistry, as we have said, furnishes a rational explanation of
these facts. With the exception of flesh, all alimentary substances
(the mucilaginous, the gummy, the saccharine, the aqueous, &c.) consist
of carbon and hydrogen, and fat is composed of the same elements.
Success in the treatment of disease would be more frequent, if medical
practitioners would pay greater attention to the chemistry of the vital
functions; and the reason why certain articles of diet have a greater
tendency than others to the formation of fat, would, by the aid of the
exact science of chemistry, be rendered self-evident.
All medical writers agree that want of sufficient exercise--as by
lying too much in bed, riding in a carriage, &c.--is favourable to the
development of obesity. The explanation is simple. We are all cognizant
of the fact, that the body is sustained chiefly by means of food; but
we also know that the atmosphere by which we are surrounded, plays
an important part in the nourishment of the body. The atmosphere we
inspire contains oxygen gas, a portion of which is destined to revivify
the blood in its passage through the lungs; another portion we expel,
we expire, no longer pure, but in combination with carbon obtained
from the body, in the form of carbonic acid gas. In proportion as the
respiration is more active, a larger quantity of oxygen is taken into
the system, and more carbon in combination with oxygen is expelled as
carbonic acid gas. There is consequently a less amount of carbon left
in the system to form fat. The greater the activity of the animal,
the more frequent do the respirations become. Having said this, it is
readily understood why want of exercise, riding in a carriage, lying
too much in bed, tend to the development of fat; because, with this
want of activity, respiration is less frequent, and the oxygen combines
with a less amount of carbon, and a larger quantity is left to enter
into combination with the existing hydrogen, forming fat. Consequently
the mountaineer, breathing an atmosphere rich in oxygen, is generally
less prone to the formation of fat than the dweller in the valley.
The Bedouin Arab, owing to the activity of a nomadic life, is never
fat. Our peasantry are rarely over fat, unless they have acquired
wealth sufficient to relieve them from the necessity for labor. Animals
which are in constant motion, such as the roebuck and the deer,
although feeding upon substances rich in carbon and in hydrogen, have
usually but little fat.
Those birds which are continually on the wing are never very fat. On
the other hand, birds or animals leading an inactive life readily take
on fat. A means frequently resorted to, in order to fatten them, is to
feed them in a small enclosure. Some domestic animals are even deprived
of all power of motion in order to hasten their fattening.
Among orientals, where the men remain seated the greater part of the
day, and the women are obliged to stay in the house without ever going
out, frequent examples of obesity are to be met with.
Nuns in their cloistered convents, prisoners in jails often grow fat
in spite of their wretched food, because the air they breathe being
deficient in oxygen, withdraws but a small portion of the carbon from
the system, the remainder going to the formation of fat. It is when the
human body has attained its full growth, and especially in the decline
of life, that fat in excess begins to be developed. I am of opinion
that want of exercise is one of its principal causes. With increasing
age the step becomes more guarded, and a repugnance is felt for all
bodily exertion. In this way the quality of the air, and the quantity
of oxygen it contains have much to do with the formation of fat.
By virtue of that happy distribution and balance of forces to be met
with throughout the universe, the expired carbonic acid gas of men
and animals is destined to the nutrition of plants, which assimilate
the carbon and set free oxygen gas. Plants being thus chiefly composed
of carbon, are, when taken as food, rich in the chief constituent of
fat; and fat itself is frequently a vegetable production. Mutton fat
resembles that of the cacao bean, and human fat is similar to olive oil.
It is therefore clearly established that the immediate and direct
cause of the development of fat in the case of men and animals is to
be sought in the nature of the aliment, giving, at the same time due
weight to the several general conditions which have a tendency to favor
the development of obesity. All food which is not flesh--all food rich
in carbon and hydrogen must have a tendency to produce fat. Upon these
principles only can any rational treatment for the cure of obesity
satisfactorily rest.