Man's best diet, and twenty year's trial of it / by W. Couchman.

  • Couchman, W. (William)
Date:
[1873?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Man's best diet, and twenty year's trial of it / by W. Couchman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    his only fare. The Moorish porters, and those who work on board ship in Spain, are strong men of great muscular power, and their food consists of coarse brown wheaten bread and grapes. In Scotland, the bulk of the rural population eat but little flesh, living largely on oatmeal in the shape of porridge, brose, or oatcakes, and nowhere in the British Empire are finei’ specimens of men to be found than among the Scottish Highlanders, who have seldom tasted such a thing as roast beef. The native Irish, fed on potatoes, milk, and vegetables, are strong and well-formed, and those who come over to harvest seem to be able to do their work as well as other labourers alongside of them. Then again, observe that men trained for the prize ring are fed largely on raw flesh. Experience early taught trainers that there was something in the diet of the lion and tiger which kindled in man the ferocity of those beasts of prey. Theophrastus, a disciple of Plato and Aristotle, who died at he age of 107 years, says—“ Eating much, and feeding upon flesh, makes the mind more dull, and drives it to the extreme of madness ” The maxim of Pytha¬ goras, which, if acted upon, would morally, physically, and spiritually re¬ generate the world, is familiar to all Yegetarians—‘‘ Fix upon that course of life which is best: custom will render it most delightful.” Zeno, and many other philosophers of antiquity, who have been highly lauded for purity of morals and profundity of thought, restricted themselves entirely to a diet of fruits and farinacea. Lord Byron believed that the eating of flesh excited men to war and bloodshed ; while Fuseli, the painter, was in the habit of eating raw meat for the purpose of engendering in his imagination the horrible fancies which he wished to depict. And it is related of Mrs Radcliffe when she was writing the ‘^Mysteries of Udolpho,” that she ate uncooked meat for the same purpose. Sir John Sinclair observes that “ vegetable food has a happy influence on the powers of the mind, and tends to preserve delicacy of feeling and liveliness of imagination and acuteness of judgment, seldom enjoyed by those who make free use of animal food. “ Vegetable aliment,” he says, “ as never over-extending the vessels or loading the system ; never in¬ terrupts the stronger motions of the mind, while the heat, fulness, and weight of animal food is an enemy to its vigorous efforts.” In proof of the assertion that a “ vegetable diet promotes clearness of ideas, and quickness of thought, and that a transition from a vegetable to an animal food produces injurious effects,” a friend of mine states, that he has more than once selected from his tenants’ children in Ireland a boy remarkable for that smartness of intelli¬ gence so common in the Irish youth, while in the capacity of errand bovs on the farm, or helpers in the stables, and before they became pampered with richer food than their parents’ cabin afforded. The lads, at first, were lively and intelligent, and displayed a degree of shrewdness exceeding what is met with from the youth of more elevated walks of life in England ; but he in¬ variably found that in proportion as those boys became accustomed to animal food, and (according to common notions) were better fed, they relaxed in activity, and became dull and stupid ; and he is confident that this change in their disposition was the effect of the change of the diet, andwas not owing to