tains more urea, and their perspirations and stools are more fetid; while the urea disappears, and the stools and perspirations lose their fetor, when they are restricted to vegetables. The same observations have been made in regard to man. Also, when the supply of an elementary principle is deficient, it ceases to be thrown off by excretion, even after it has performed its functions in the body, but is reabsorbed, and thus the body, for a time, lives, as it were, upon itself.

The chief varieties of diet, in regard to quality, depend upon their immediate effects, and in this respect, they may be divided into the simply nutritious and the stimulant. All animal flesh seems to be more or less stimulant, and, in general, the more so the darker its colour is; and upon this principle, chiefly, has Dr Darwin founded his classification of aliments; but he has erred in considering them as also more nutritious. Moor-game, pigeon, hare, and venison, are more stimulating, but perhaps not more nutritious than the turkey or barn-door fowl, veal, or lamb. The effect upon the composition of our bodies is the secondary, but most important effect. In this respect, food might be divided into the azotized, hydrogenous, carbonaceous, and oxygenous, or rather into those which supply abundantly azote, hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. This view is, however, chiefly theoretical, as we are very far from possessing facts enough to establish it completely, or to overturn it, but yet there are some which favour it. We have already noticed Magendie's experiments on substances which do not contain azote, from which he inferred that a certain supply of it was absolutely necessary to the support of animal life. Other facts lead to the same conclusion, especially the effect of restriction to one kind of aliment in the generation and cure of disease.

It is now many years since Dr Rollo* was led by the singular sweetness of diabetic urine, to conclude that, if deprived of all food which contained sugar or the principles of sugar, he should be able to cure this hitherto untractable disease. He, accordingly, restricted his patients to the use of animal food, especially fat, and absolutely prohibited all vegetables, even bread, and all fermented liquors. The effects were very striking, and some patients were believed to be cured. At least the nature of their urine was completely altered from a morbid to a healthy state. As conducted by others, the same regimen has produced the same effects, but it is so disagreeable to the patients, that they can seldom be prevailed upon to adhere to it; and, unfortunately, notwithstanding the temporary removal of this prominent symptom, the disease generally continues its fatal course. We may, however, notice, that Rollo and others were guided in their choice of regimen by the principle of withholding the elements of sugar, and hence fat formed a chief part of it, and was a principal cause of the disgust it excited; but perhaps it would be better to select a highly azotized diet, in which point of view, the muscular parts of dark fleshed animals, such as game and old mutton, and those kinds of fish, such as skate, which contain much azote in a loose state of combination, should be selected, while wheaten bread, the want of which is so distressing to many, might be allowed, and fat, which contains no azote, should not be prescribed.

Magendie† ascribes the gravel to the superabundance of azote in our food, as the uric acid of which gravel consists is a highly azotized substance, and seems to be produced as a means of throwing off the excessive azote, and among the various causes with which gravel is connected, the most active in its agency is high living, or the use of animal food in excess. A Hanseatic citizen, who kept a good table previous to 1814, was afflicted with the gravel. He emigrated and lived very miserably in England, but his gravel completely left him. He re-established his affairs, and with his fortune his gravel returned. Again he was ruined, and went to France almost destitute, and his gravel disappeared. By industry he finally acquired a competency, and with it his old complaint, for which he then consulted Magendie. A Parisian lady of 60, subject to gravel, read in a journal a short notice of Magendie's experiments, in which it was said, that he had discovered in sugar a cure for the gravel. Without more advice she set about eating sugar, often to the extent of a pound daily, and in effect she removed the gravel, but disordered her stomach so much that she was obliged to resume her usual food, and with it the gravel returned.

The chemical theory of the scurvy is, that it is owing to the want of oxygenous food, and it cannot be denied that this theory has been very ingeniously supported by Dr Trotter, Dr Beddoes, and others. The rapidity with which those afflicted with it recover by the use of recent vegetables, especially the fresh citric acid, shows that it proceeds from an error in diet, but whether from a deficiency of nourishment in general, or from a deficiency of oxygenous aliment, is not quite so clear. When we compare the accounts of the ravages formerly committed by this dreadful disease, even during short voyages, with the almost total immunity which the British fleet has enjoyed since the time of Captain Cook, we have the strongest possible proof of the influence of diet upon the human frame, either as inducing or preventing disease.‡

Hydrogenous food, such as the excessive indulgence in fat meat, butter, and oil, and still more es-

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* An Account of two Cases of Diabetes Mellitus. By John Rollo, M.D. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1747. † Recherches Physiologiques et Medicales sur les Causes, les Symptoms, et le Traitement de la Gravelle, 8vo, Paris, 1818. ‡ Observations on the Scurvy. By Thomas Trotter, M.D. 8vo. Lond. 1792. Observations on the Nature and Cure of Calculus, Sea Scurvy, Consumption, Catarrh and Fever; together with Conjectures upon several other subjects of Physiology and Pathology. By Thomas Beddoes, M.D. 8vo, London, 1793. pecially in spirituous liquors, produces a change in the chemical constitution of our bodies; independently of the exhaustion of excitability by excess of stimulus. Bilious diseases, and a tendency to unwholesome fatness, are its most common effects, and it is only in the excessive hydrogenation of the system, that we can find a rational explanation of that very singular phenomenon called the spontaneous combustion of the body. For even admitting that the clothes are accidentally set on fire in these cases, there appears no reason to doubt, that the combustion is continued by the burning of the body itself.

Now the greatest number of instances have occurred in old women addicted to the abuse of ardent spirits.*

The effects of oxygenous food, in imparting oxygen to the body, are not so well ascertained. Acids, and the subacid fruits, quench thirst, and are supposed to reduce animal heat; but their more obvious action is to affect the bowels and induce diarrhoea, and, ultimately, to render the body spare and thin. The new chemical pathology led to the exhibition of nitric acid for the cure of syphilis, as mercury was supposed to act by oxygenizing the system; and this acid has since been much employed also, from analogy, in the liver complaint. That the acid has excellent effects as a tonic, seems to be perfectly ascertained. It does not act upon the bowels like the vegetable acids, but there is no proof of its decomposition in the stomach or of its imparting oxygen to the body. The oxygenizing of the body by means of the nitro-muriatic or oxy-muriatic bath, now so fashionable in London, is a mere chimera. Pulmonary consumption was also, at one time, considered as a disease proceeding from superabundant oxygen, and the florid colour of the cheeks was adduced in proof of it.

No observations have yet been made on the effects of aliments containing an unusually large proportion of carbon, nor has any disease been ascribed to the carbonization of the system.

It would extend this article much beyond the space we can allot to it, if we were even hastily to sketch the varieties of diet recommended in disease, and to explain their action; but it will not be superfluous to enter a little into the detail of that kind of regimen which has been found by experience to bring animals and man to the highest possible state of health, at least as measured by the amount of their physical force and their power of continuing its exertions. It is to bring animals to this state that constitutes the business of trainers, as they are called. Cocks, greyhounds, race-horses, and men, are much more active and vigorous after being trained than in their ordinary condition. They are, in fact, in a higher state of health; and we are fully convinced, that, by training, many diseases might be removed, and by living according to the same principles, general ill health might be commonly prevented. The public is very much indebted to Sir John Sinclair for having taken the pains to collect the fullest information on this subject.† He was assisted in his inquiries, we have reason to believe, by Mr John Bell, whose attention was directed to the subject by having the professional care of Mr Barclay during his great walking match. From the answers procured to Mr Bell's inquiries, it appears, that the whole secrets of training reduce themselves to principles which every man may practise, and ought to practise, so far as consistent with his business and other duties; and, in particular, we think, that they ought to be studied, thoroughly understood, and enforced by all those to whom, in consequence of accidental circumstances, the care of the health and lives of many individuals are entrusted. We allude, chiefly, to military and naval officers, and the proprietors of large manufactories. In the British navy, the importance of this subject has been long appreciated; and the comparative state of health of our fleets in recent and former times, is as honourable to our naval commanders, as the laurels of victory which encircle their brows. Soldiers are left more to themselves, and their officers have neither the same control nor responsibility; but we think that more might be done in keeping the troops, as well as the military horses, when at home or in garrison, always in a state fit for active service. The evil of not attending to this was severely experienced during the Spanish campaign. The artillery horses sent from Chatham were found to be unfit for the fatigues of service, and good cart-horses were, at last, substituted with great advantage. In garrison, both men and horses are over-fed and under-worked. In manufactories the opposite evils sometimes occur; the workmen, and especially the children, are over-worked and under-fed. This subject has lately occupied the attention of Parliament; and it is connected with some interesting inquiries, which belong properly to the science of political economy. In a medical point of view, the principle to be followed is, that the food and labour bear a just proportion to each other. When the quantity and quality of the food is not limited by its expense, the best possible condition of the individual is attainable, by attending to the principles upon which training is conducted, and which resolve themselves into temperance without abstemiousness, and regular exercise in the open air. Mr Jackson, the lord of the ring, says, that a man properly trained feels himself light and coryk, as the technical phrase is; and that, during a course of training, the skin always becomes clear, smooth, well-coloured, and elastic; or that cleanliness of skin is the best proof of a man being in good condition. Another very striking effect

* An Essay, Medical, Philosophical, and Chemical, on Drunkenness, and its Effects on the Human Body. By T. Trotter, M. D. 8vo. London, 1804. Essai sur les Combustions Humaines produits par une long abus des liqueurs spiritueuses. Par Pierre-Aimé Lair, 12mo, Paris, 1801.

† The Code of Health and Longevity, Vol. II. Appendix, No. IV. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1807. of training is upon the lungs. Trained men can draw a much fuller inspiration, and retain their breath longer than others. But it is not only on the state of bodily health that the good effects of training are conspicuous; for Mr Jackson distinctly, and, we believe, correctly states, that the mental faculties are always improved, the attention is more ready, and the perceptions are more acute. From these observations some valuable hints may be derived by physicians, for the cure of many cutaneous and pulmonary affections, which obstinately resist the power of medicines.

Cookery is strictly a branch of Dietetics, and one of the most important. Only a small part of our food is consumed as it is furnished by nature. Many alimentary substances are disagreeable, and some even poisonous, until they have undergone certain preparations. Few of them are to be had at all seasons of the year, although produced at others in greater quantity than can be consumed; and all of them occur of very different qualities. Hence the selection, preservation, and preparation of alimentary substances, are arts of primary importance in life.

We hold the contempt with which cookery is very generally spoken of, to be downright affectation, we had almost said hypocrisy; for, in the practice of life, every individual who is not perfectly imbecile and devoid of understanding, is an epicure in his own way. The epicures in the boiling of potatoes even are innumerable; and every school-boy in Scotland passes a judgment on the culinary skill of the servant who makes his porridge. Cookery only becomes truly degrading when it occupies an undue proportion of attention; and that epicurism is to be utterly condemned, which produces more pain than pleasure. Boswell, the biographer of Johnson, has defined man to be a cooking animal; and in fact, man is the only animal which does not consume his food as presented to him by nature. We are not from this to conclude, that man in cooking deviates from the ordinary course of nature; but that the appetite for cooked food is given to him for wise and useful ends. Count Rumford has not considered the pleasure of eating, and the means that may be employed for increasing it, as unworthy the attention of a philosopher.

"The enjoyments which fall to the lot of the bulk of mankind are not so numerous as to render an attempt to increase them superfluous. And even in regard to those who have it in their power to gratify their appetites to the utmost extent of their wishes, it is surely rendering them a very important service to show them how they may increase their pleasures without destroying their health.

"If a glutton can be made to gormandize two hours upon two ounces of meat, it is certainly much better for him, than to give himself an indigestion by eating two pounds in the same time.

"The pleasure enjoyed in eating depends first upon the agreeableness of the taste of the food; and secondly, upon its power to affect the palate. Now there are many substances extremely cheap, by which very agreeable tastes may be given to food; particularly when the basis or nutritive substance of the food is tasteless; and the effect of any kind of palatable solid food (of meat, for instance) upon the organs of taste, may be increased almost indefinitely, by reducing the size of the particles of such food, and causing it to act upon the palate by a larger surface. And if means be used to prevent its being swallowed too soon, which may be easily done by mixing with it some hard and tasteless substance, such as crumbs of bread rendered hard by toasting, or any thing else of that kind, by which a long mastication is rendered necessary, the enjoyment of eating may be greatly increased and prolonged.

"The idea of occupying a person a great while, and affording him much pleasure at the same time, in eating a small quantity of food, may perhaps appear ridiculous to some; but those who consider the matter attentively, will perceive that it is very important. It is, perhaps, as much so as any thing that can employ the attention of the philosopher."

But we shall consider cookery in another point of view, and that one, the importance of which will not be denied by the most austere philosopher. The political economists have extolled agriculture above all other arts, and have obtained the assent of mankind to their dogma, that he who makes two blades of grass grow where only one grew before, is a benefactor to his race. And why? Truly because he thus increases the quantity of food, and enables the world to support a larger population. And is not he, who by his skill enables the raw material, whether corn or flesh, furnished to him by the agriculturist, to feed a larger population, or who renders articles alimentary which were formerly rejected, equally a benefactor of his race? Again, every country has its own favourite articles of food, and modes of preparing them; and there is perhaps no subject in regard to which local prejudices are so strong. Now, by bringing these to the test of comparison upon scientific principles, much good would ultimately arise by the gradual introduction into each country, of whatever was worthy of imitation in the practice of other nations.

The learned Krunitz, in his voluminous Economico-Technologic Encyclopedia, has anticipated many of our views of the subject. "The preparation of good food, and the directions for this purpose contained in cookery books, are commonly very much despised, or rather altogether neglected, by literary men. But in itself cookery does not deserve this contempt, for it is an important part of domestic economy. Upon its due practice depend the health and comfort of families, which must inevitably suffer from errors committed in it. The reason of this contempt is to be found in the manner in which it has hitherto been treated in cookery books, which have been prepared by common cooks, as they are accustomed to dress a ragout. Since the economical arts in general have been discussed scientifically, it is now time that the same attention should be paid to cookery, which is so generally useful, and which is capable of being considered in so many points of view. But then a totally different course, from that commonly followed, must be pursued. A man of much knowledge, especially physical, chemi- cal, and dietetical, must condescend to apply to the making experiments on vulgar and refined cookery, and collect the whole into a system, as has been done long since, in regard to the knowledge and preparation of medicines. What has been written upon dietetics, by Zuckert, Bergius, Lorry, Pienk, and others, must be compared with the practices in different countries, and a general view of the whole must be drawn up and arranged in systematic order. In regard to the preparations themselves, certain fixed processes and principles are to be determined, general operations to be accurately described, and new improvements to be brought forward. After this the subject might be treated in detail, and a variety, first of simple, then of more compound articles, with the best modes of preparing each as to palatableness, and in relation to effect upon the health, should be perspicuously and thoroughly described. Lastly, their combination into bills of fare, adapted to different ranks in society, modes of life, various tastes, the season of the year, &c. should be pointed out particularly, and with a due regard to good economical arrangements.

No such cookery book has, however, been written; but we hope to be able to give a more scientific view than has hitherto been taken of the subject, under the head of Food.

To the list of valuable publications on the subject of dietetics, given in the body of the work (Materia Medica, Part I.), may be added,

Zoonomia, by Erasmus Darwin, M.D. 2 vols. 4to, London, 1796, for the article Nutrientia, in Materia Medica, Vol. II. p. 654.—Dictionnaire des Sciences Médicales, Tom. Paris, 1812, et seq.; particularly articles Alimens, by Halle and Nysten; Diète and Diététique, by Barbier; Digestion, by Chaussier and Adelon.—Johann Hermann Becker's Versuch einer allgemeinen und besonderen Nahrungsmittelkunde, Erster Theil, Drey Abtheilungen, 8vo, Stendal, 1810-1812.—Ludwig Vogel, Diätetisches Lexicon, 2 Bände, 8vo, Erfurt, 1800-1801.—Johannis Friderici Zuckert, Materia Alimentaria, 8vo, Serolini, 1769.—Johann Friederich Zuckert, Allgemeine Abhandlung von der Nahrungsmitteln mit Anerkennung, von Kurt Sprengel, 1796; also Medicinisches Tischbuch, 8vo, Berlin, 1785.—Johann George Reyher, Allgemeine pathologische Diät. 8vo, Schwerin, 1790.—Bengt Bergius über die Leckereyen, 2 Theile, 8vo, Halle, 1792.—Melchior Sebiz de Alimentorum facultatibus, libri v. 4to, Argentor. 1650.—Georg Gottl. Richter, Pracepta Diätetica in usum Prelectionum Academicarum accommodata, 8vo, Heidelberg, 1780.—Louis Lemery Traité des Alimens. Troisième edition, par Bruhier, 2 vols. 12mo, Paris, 1755.—Amic Charles Lorry, Essai sur l'Usage des Alimens, pour servir de Commentaires aux livres Dietétique d'Hippocrate, Nouvelle edition, 2 vols. 12mo, Paris, 1781.—Otto Staab, Potographie, 8vo, Frankf. 1807.—Joannis Bruyerini, Cibus Medicus, 8vo, Lugd. B. 1560.