BIOLOGt 
 
LOCKED 
 CASE 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOEOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOEOID 
 
THE 
 
 FRIEND TO HEALTH, 
 
 BEING A SELECTION^ OF 
 
 VALUABLE TRUTHS 
 
 RELATING TO THE 
 
 FRESERVATIGST OF HEALTH? 
 
 FROM THE WORKS OF 
 
 THATCHER, TRANKLIN, THOMPSON, 
 SALZMANN, &1C. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 MARSH AND CAPEN oC)2 WASHlNfJTON STREET. 
 
 BOUEN AND GUSHING, PRINTKR9. 
 
 182G. 
 
District of Massachusetts to wit : 
 
 District Clerk's Office. 
 
 BE IT REMEMBEflED, That on the eighth day of August, 
 A. D, 1826, in the fifty-first year of the Independence of the 
 United States of America, Marsh & Capen of the said District, 
 have deposited in this Office, the Title of a Book the Right where- 
 of they claim as Proprietors in the words following, to wit : 
 
 " The Friend to Health, being a selection of Valuable Truths 
 relating to the Preservation of Health, from the works of Thatcher, 
 Franklin, Thompsoi). Salzmann, &c." 
 
 In Conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, 
 entitled *•' An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing 
 ihe Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Pro- 
 prietors of such C'-'pies, during the times therein mentioned:" and 
 al«o to an Act entitled "An Act supplementary to an Act, en- 
 titled, An Act for the encouragement of Learning, by securing the 
 <'opies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Authors and Proprietors 
 of such Copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extending 
 the Benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and 
 Etching Historical and other Prints." 
 
 JNO. W. DAVIS, 
 Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 LOCKED 
 
 If some things are to be studied more tiiaii others, 
 they are those that we hav^e most to do with, and on 
 which our heahh and existence depends. It is too 
 frequently the case that things becoming common in 
 their use, and famihar to the sight, are laid aside as 
 unimportant, as unworthy of constant consideration. 
 
 The mind, unconscious in many instances of its 
 own good, seeks and explores no farther than to an- 
 swer the immediate wants of necessity, and thereby 
 subjects itself to inconveniences that a little attention 
 and study might well avoid. 
 
 A knowledge of the air that we breathe ; of the 
 beneficial effects of exercise ; the proper measure of 
 time for sleep ; of healthy food and drink ; and, in 
 short, of all things that in any way stand in relation 
 to health, is not merely satisfactory, but necessary. 
 
 And he who would excuse himself from the trif- 
 ling task of acquiring that knowledge whereby he is 
 enabled to avoid what is prejudicial to health, and to 
 enjoy what is salutary and agreeable to the constitu- 
 tion, gives up to an element, to inanimate matter, 
 that invaluable blessing to be trifled with, which, if 
 so extended to man, would be counted nothing less 
 than madness and impiety. 
 
 The pleasures of the palate, of a morning nap, of 
 indolence, and of fashionable dress, have that asccn- 
 
 ivi373iGl 
 
dancy over the reasoning faculty of the mind that 
 they require our utmost circumspection. And the 
 compiler of these pages flatters himself, that if they 
 are properly studied, and constantly held in view, 
 they will be productive of those beneficial effects, 
 which seldom, if ever, are duly estimated, but when 
 their respective causes have ceased to operate. 
 
or AIR, OR ATMOSPHERE, 
 
 Air is that invisible, transparent, compressible, 
 and elastic fluid, which every where surrounds our 
 o-lobe ; and which generally receives the name of 
 atmosphere. It is the medium in which we breathe, 
 and without which we cannot exist. It is now very 
 generally understood that the atmospheric air, or 
 that by which we are usually surrounded, is not a 
 simple, but a compound body, consisting of at least 
 four distinct substances, viz. oxygen^ azote, car- 
 honk acid, and aqueous vapour. 
 
 The two former substances, however, constitute 
 almost the whole of the atmospheric air near the 
 surface of the earth ; the other two are variable in 
 their proportion, and exist only in minute quantities^ 
 which it is difficult to appreciate. There are va- 
 rious wp.ys known to chemists, by which these two 
 airs may be separated from each other. Vhal air, 
 or oxygen, which constitutes about one fourth of 
 the atmosphere, is necessary to respiration and com- 
 inistion, and an animal immersed in it will lire 
 A" 
 
much longer than in the same quantity of common 
 air. The remaining three fourths, called azote, or 
 mephitic air, is totally incapable of supporting res* 
 piration or combustion for an instant. 
 
 If a candle be included in a given quantity of 
 atmospheric air, it will burn only for a certain time, 
 and then be extinguished, as the oxygen is all ab- 
 sorbed, and the azote which remains is incapable 
 of supporting flame. If an animal be put in a given 
 quantity of common air, it will live only a certain 
 lime, at the end of w^hich, the air will be found di- 
 minished about one fourth, and the remainder will 
 neither support flame nor life. Were the atmos- 
 phere to contain a much larger proportion of oxy- 
 gen, by its powerful influence on the system, 
 inflammatory diseases would be induced, and the 
 excitabihty be sooner exhausted. If, on the other 
 hand, a much less proportion of oxygen should pre- 
 vail in the atmosphere, there would be a deficiency 
 of stimulus, and the excitabihty of our system 
 would morbidly accumulate, and diseases of debility 
 would be the consequence. 
 
 The oxygen wdiich is received into the lungs of 
 animals, is supposed to communicate the red colour 
 to their blood, and to impart heat and activity to 
 the system. When animals die for want of vital 
 air, their blood is always found black. There is a 
 constant consumption of the oxygenous portion of 
 atmospheric air, by the burning of combustible 
 
bodies ; by the fermentation and putreiaction ol 
 vegetable substances ; and by the calcination of 
 metals. 
 
 A greater or less proportion, therefore, of the 
 noxious ingredient azote in our atmosphere, un- 
 doubtedly arises from the innumerable processes of 
 combustion, putrefaction, and respiration of men and 
 animals, particularly in populous cities, the atmos- 
 phere of which is almost constantly prejudicial to 
 heahh. The atmospheric air is never absolutely 
 pure and salubrious in any situation, but always 
 mixed with heterogeneous particles, and the different 
 states and changes produce very perceptible effects 
 on the constitution. 
 
 Warm air, if long continued, relaxes the solid 
 parts of the body, quickens the circulation of the 
 fluids, dissipates the watery part of the blood, ren- 
 ders the bile acrimonious, and produces disorders 
 in the bowels, and fevers of a malignant kind. " A 
 moist air is universally the most productive of dis- 
 eases ; but when heat and moisture are combined, 
 it is of all conditions of the air, the most destructive 
 to the constitution, by impairing the elasticity of the 
 solids, obstructing perspiration, and disposing to pu- 
 trefactive diseases. A cold state of the air, if not 
 excessive and long continued, is favourable to bodily 
 vigour, csi)ecially in those who are accustomed to 
 take active exercise ; but extreme cold air, by ( on- 
 stringing the solids, aiul condensing the lluids, di- 
 
8 
 
 iiiinishes perspiration, and often occasions rheuma- 
 tisms, catarrhs, and other affections of the lungs. 
 The conjunction of dry and cold air, is attended 
 with salubrious effects, but a pure dry air, mode- 
 rately warm, is of ail, the, most agreeable and salu- 
 tary. All great and sudden changes from a warm 
 to cold air, and the reverse produce in general a 
 variety of complaints, and frequently diseases of a 
 fatal tendency. The surest mark of a salubrious 
 and good air in any place, is the longevity of the 
 inhabitants. 
 
 Winds, or currents of agitated air, likewise pro- 
 duce very sensible effects on the human constitution. 
 A wind steadily from the north, purifies the atmos- 
 phere of noxious vapours, renders the air serene 
 and dry, by which the system is invigorated, and 
 rendered active, though to persons of delicate habits 
 it may prove severe and injurious. 
 
 An easterly wind is cold without bracing, and in 
 our climate, is incomparably the most of all others 
 uncomfortable, and the most prejudicial to health, 
 especially to valetudinarians. To the asthmatic, 
 and such as are disposed to intermittent fevers, it is 
 particularly injurious. It has been observed that a 
 long continued easterly v;ind, renders people who 
 are naturally of a mild and placid temper, irritable 
 and morose ; and that instances of suicide are more 
 frequent in those countries and seasons, where east- 
 erly winds are generally prevalent. The south 
 
wind is frequently accompanied with a latent hu- 
 midity, which relaxes the body, and disposes to af- 
 fections of the head and breast. 
 
 The atmospheric air as already observed, is in- 
 cessantly corrupted by the respiration of men and 
 animals, and by dissolution and putrefaction of in- 
 numerable substances. In populous cities, the air 
 is constantly contaminated with sulphur, smoke, and 
 a variety of other exhalations of a deleterious ten- 
 dency, and from which asthmatic and consumptive 
 persons, and likewise those of weak nerves, experi- 
 ence the most prejudicial effect. It is therefore 
 apparent that persons of this description ought, as 
 much as possible, to avoid the corrupt air of large 
 towns, or at least to change the air, by frequently 
 visiting other situations. In the open country there 
 are few causes to contaminate the atmosphere, and 
 the vegetable prorJuctions are continually tending to 
 make it more pure. The winds which agitate the 
 atmosphere, and constantly occasion its change of 
 place, waft the pure country air to the inhabitants 
 of the cities, and dissipate that from which the oxy- 
 gen has been in a great measure extracted. Were 
 it not for this wise provision of the author of nature, 
 from the daily combustion of an immense quantity 
 of fuel, the numerous substances constantly under- 
 going putrefaction, and the exiialalions of a large 
 number of men and luii-nals, the air in populous 
 towns must soon become unfit for th« purposes of 
 
JO 
 
 life. The numerous chimney-fires in cities serve 
 also an excellent purpose, by rarefying the atmos- 
 phere, and thereby obviating the mischief which 
 otherwise might ensue. 
 
 The aif of any place where a numerous body of 
 people is assembled together, especially if to the 
 breath of the crowd, there be added the vapour of 
 a great number of candles or lamps, is rendered 
 extremely prejudicial, as it occasions a great con- 
 sumption of oxygen. 
 
 The practice of burning lamps with long wicks, 
 and thereby filling the room with smoke, is very 
 detrimental to health ; and it is not a little sur- 
 prising that common sense is so devoid of all phi- 
 losophy, as not to detect and avoid a vapour so 
 pernicious and poisonous to be received into the 
 lungs. 
 
 The fact is well known, that when air has been 
 long confined and stagnated in mines, wells, and 
 cellars, it becomes so extremely poisonous as to 
 prove immediately fatal to those who imprudently 
 attempt to enter such places. No person should 
 descend into a well or cellar, which has been long 
 closed, without first letting down a lighted candle ; 
 if it burns clear there is no danger, but if it cease 
 to burn, we may be sure that no one can enter 
 without the utmost danger of immediate suffocation. 
 It sometimes happens also, that when air is suffered 
 to stagnate in hospitals, jails, ships, &:c. it partakes 
 
11 
 
 of the same unwholesome pernicious nature, and is 
 a source of disease. It is obvious, therefore, that 
 in all confined or crowded places, the correcting of 
 vitiated air, by means of cleanliness and frequent 
 ventilation, is of the highest importance. The most 
 effectual preservative from foul air, and consequently 
 from putrid diseases, is a rigid observance of the 
 means of cleanliness in every particular ; no accu- 
 mulation of filth about houses, cloths, or in the pub- 
 lic streets, should on any pretence be suffered to 
 continue, especially during the heat of summer. 
 
 The air is often rendered impure by hot fires or 
 stoves in small rooms not sufficiently ventilated ; 
 this is pecuharly prejudicial to those who are sub- 
 ject to pulmonic complaints, and it ought to be cau- 
 tiously guarded against. 
 
 The warm rooms which are usually an appendage 
 to the luxury of the capitals, and thin clothing 
 abroad, lay the foundation for many of those com- 
 plaints, which are the precursors of consumption. 
 It is thus that catarrh usually originates in this 
 country ; and this always debilitates the lungs, and 
 often terminates in a consumption. 
 
 It is a very injurious custom for several persons 
 to sleep in a small apartment, and if it be very 
 close, and a fire be kept in it, the danger is in- 
 creased ; and from this cause persons have some- 
 limes been stifled in the night when asleep. It is 
 deemed unsafe to leave the windows of a bedroom 
 
12 
 
 ©pen at night during the summer months, as per- 
 spiration might be checked by the cool night air, 
 while the pores are relaxed by the heat of the day, 
 and the warmth of the bed.* The vapour of char- 
 coaL, when burnt in a close apartment, produces the 
 most dangerous effects. Our houses, which are 
 made close and almost air-tight, should be venti- 
 lated daily, by admitting a free circulation of air to 
 pass through opposite windows ; and even our beds 
 ought to be frequently exposed to the influence of 
 the open air. 
 
 Houses situated in low marshy countries, or near 
 lakes or ponds of stagnant water, are constantly ex- 
 posed to the influence of putrid vapours which ex- 
 hale from such noxious sources. To obviate this evil 
 fires should be made, during a sickly season, be- 
 tween the house and the place from which the 
 putrid exhalations arise. 
 
 Among the most powerful means furnished by 
 nature of correcting air which has become unfit for 
 respiration, is the growth and vegetation of plants. 
 The generality of plants possess the property of 
 correcting the most corrupt air within a few hours, 
 when they are exposed to the light of the sun, 
 during the night or in the shade, however, they 
 
 * This practice is not 'dangerous, provided it is followed with 
 proper core. There shoultl be ventilations in the sleeping room, 
 sufficient to allow a proper circulation of air, but not so as to 
 have the night air blow directly on tlie bed. 
 
13 
 
 destroy the purity of the air, which renders it a 
 dangerous practice to allow plants to vegetate in 
 apartments occupied by sleeping. 
 
 It was a custom with Dr. Frankhn to hathe in air, 
 as he termed it. " 1 rise almost every morning," 
 says he, " and sit in my chamber without any clothes 
 whatever, half an hour, or an hour, according to the 
 season, either reading or writing. This practice is 
 not in the least painful, but on the contrary, agree- 
 able ; and if I return to bed afterwards, before I 
 dress myself, as sometimes happens, I make a sup- 
 plement to my night's rest of one or two hours of 
 the most pleasing sleep that can be imagined. I 
 find no ill consequences whatever resulting from it, 
 and that at least it does not injure my health, if it 
 does not in fact contribute much to its preserva- 
 tion." 
 
 In another place he writes, " A single person is 
 said to spoil only a gallon of air per minute, and 
 therefore requires a longer time to spoil a chamber- 
 full ; but il is done, however, in proportion, and 
 many putrid disorders hence have their origin. It 
 is recorded of Methuselah, who, being the longest 
 liver, may be supposed to have best preserved his 
 health, that he slept always in the open air ; for, 
 when he had lived five hundred years, an angel said 
 to him ; ' Arise Methuselah, and build thee a house, 
 for thou shalt hve yet five hundred years longer.' 
 But Methuselah answered and said, ' If I am to livp 
 2 
 
14 
 
 but five lumdred years longer, it is not worth while 
 to build me an house — I will sleep in the air as I 
 have been used to do.' 
 
 Confined air, when saturated with perspirable 
 matter,^ will not receive more ; and that matter 
 must remain in our bodies, and occasion diseases : 
 but it gives some previous notice of its being about 
 to be hurtful, by producing certain uneasinesses, 
 slight indeed at first, such as, with regard to the 
 lungs, is a trifling sensation, and to the pores of the 
 skin, a kind of restlessness, which is difficult to de- 
 scribe, and few that feel it know the cause of h. 
 But we may recollect, that sometimesj on waking in 
 the night, we have, if warmly covered, found it dif- 
 ficult to get asleep again. We turn often without 
 finding any repose in any position. This fidgetti- 
 riess, to use a vulgar exgression for want of a better, 
 is occasioned wholly by an uneasiness in the skin, 
 owing to the retention of the perspirable matter — the 
 bed clothes having received their quantity, and being 
 saturated, refusing to take any more. To become 
 sensible of this by an experiment, let a person keep 
 his position in the bed, but throw off the bed clothes, 
 and suffer fresh air to approach the part uncovered 
 of his body ; he will then feel that part suddenly 
 
 * What physicians call the perspirable matter, is thai vapour 
 Avhich passes off from our bodies, from the lungs, and through the 
 pores of the skin. The quantity of this is said to be five eighths of 
 what v.-e eat. 
 
15 
 
 refreshed ; for the air will immediately relieve the 
 skin, by receiving and carrying off the load of per- 
 spirable matter that incommoded it. For every 
 portion of cool air that approaches the warm skin, in 
 receiving its part of that vapour, receives therewith 
 a degree of heat, that rarefies and renders it hghter, 
 when it will be pushed away with its burden, by 
 cooler and therefore heavier fresh air ; which, for a 
 moment supplies its place, and then, being likewise 
 changed and warmed, gives way to a succeeding 
 quantity. 
 
 This is the order of nature, to prevent animals be- 
 ing infected by their own perspiration. He will now 
 be sensible of the difference between the part ex- 
 posed to the air, and that which, remaining sunk in 
 the bed, denies the air access : for this part now 
 manifests its uneasiness more distinctly by the com- 
 parison, and the seat of the uneasiness is more plain- 
 ly perceived, than when the whole surface of the 
 body was affected by it. 
 
 It is an erroneous idea, that people should cool 
 themselves before going from a warm room into the 
 open air ; they should on the contrary accumulate 
 a large portion of heat, and then secure their bodies 
 by warm clothing, and the use of active exercise, 
 and being thus prepared they may pass through the 
 most intense cold with perfect impunity. But after 
 being exposed to the cold air till the natural warmth 
 begins to decline, they can never return into a 
 
16 
 
 warm room or near a fire, without a risk of danger- 
 ous consequences. Let it therefore be constantly 
 observed as a rule, that when the body or limbs 
 are affected with intense cold, the only safe method 
 is to produce the natural feeling and warmth by 
 means of gradual heat. 
 
 The fact seems to be fully estabhshed that in 
 proportion to the increased degree of heat of the 
 body, is the safety wuh which cold may be applied ; 
 provided it be applied freely and before the heat 
 begins to decline. Of this we have a sufficient 
 proof in the practice among the Russian inhabitants, 
 who first bathe in water heated to as high a degree 
 as the body can bear, and immediately after cool 
 themselves in snow, and this with perfect impunity. 
 
 It is a dangerous practice for persons when re- 
 turning from an excessive cold atmosphere, to ap- 
 proach a fire, without first waiting for the accumu- 
 lated excitability to be gradually and moderately 
 exhausted by the gentle action of heat ; and to 
 drink warm or strong liquors while the body is thus 
 chilled with cold is still more hazardous.* 
 
 When persons have their hands or feet exposed 
 to intense cold, by which the excitability of those 
 parts are accumulated, they will obtain the most 
 effectual relief by putting them into cold water, or 
 
 *"The mistaken idea of the necessity of "taking something 
 warm to keep the cold out," occasions more cold, perhaps, than 
 all the other exciting causes of the complaint united." 
 
17 
 
 by rubbing tliem with snow until the morbid ex- 
 citabihty be gradually exhausted. Few of the re- 
 finements of modern luxury and fashion, are more 
 prejudicial to health by rendering the body suscep- 
 tible of cold, than the living in single close rooms 
 heated to excess by fires or stoves. Another prac- 
 tice no less injurious, is to sleep in heated apart- 
 ments upon soft beds artificially warmed, and under 
 a load of bed clothes. It is far more salutary for 
 the strong and healthy, to go into a cold bed, re- 
 garding it as a necessary rule however to acquire a 
 moderate degree of warmth immediately previous 
 to retiring to rest, for if we get into bed cold and 
 chilly we shall remain so the greater part of the 
 night. 
 
 From the foregoing view of the subject, it is ob- 
 vious that nothing contributes to enervate the pow- 
 er of the human frame, as an excess of external 
 heat, which debilitates by its perpetual stimulus, 
 until the system becomes extremely sensible to the 
 slightest variation of temperature of the air. 
 
 It is of primary importance therefore, that young 
 persons be gradually habituated to bear the impres- 
 sion of cold, and induce that enviable state of har- 
 diness, that will enable them to brave with impu- 
 nity the vicissitudes of the atmosphere of our cli- 
 mate. 
 
 And in order to obviate the most frequent cousins 
 2^ 
 
18 
 
 ©f catarrh, which is so prevalent among us, we 
 should accommodate our dress to the season and 
 personal feeling ; when changes from cold to heat 
 or the contrary, are unavoidable, carefully guard 
 against the transition being sudden and immediate. 
 
19 
 
 OF ursExrszBi:.!: ferspiratzoit. 
 
 Among the natural evacuations on which the hfe 
 and heahh of man so essentially depends, none is so 
 important and extensive as that of insensihle per- 
 spiration. According to the calculation of some, 
 a person of a middle stature, and in perfect health, 
 perspires from three to four, or five pounds weight 
 during the twenty-four hours. It exceeds in quan- 
 tity all the other evacuations, and of course every 
 suppression of it must inevitably occasion a serious 
 interruption to health. This discharge from the 
 system, varies in different seasons, climates and 
 constitutions, and is much influenced by the casual 
 diversities in exercise, food, and exposure to heat 
 or cold. It is, however, in general, more copious 
 and uniform during the night, on account of the 
 warmth of the bed and uniformity of the surround- 
 ing atmosphere. 
 
 Insensible perspiration is weaker after a plentiful 
 meal, which accounts for the chilliness often felt 
 on that occasion. But as soon as the food is di- 
 gested, this discharge returns with increased energy. 
 The chyle, now changed into blood, imparts addi- 
 
20 
 
 tional force to ilie vital powers, as well as to the 
 circLilation of the blood itself. The process of per- 
 spiration is supposed to be most forcibly aftected, 
 and sometimes totally suppressed by the following 
 circumstances : 1. By violent pain, which in a re- 
 markable degree consumes the fluids of the body, 
 or propels them to other parts. 2. By obstruc- 
 tions of the vessels of the skin, which are fre- 
 quently occasioned by the use of salves, ointments, 
 and cosmetics. 3. By severe colds, especially 
 those contracted at night, and during sleep. 4. 
 When nature is either weak, or endeavours to pro- 
 mote any other species of evacuation ; or, as was 
 before observed, during the time of concoction, 
 particularly after using food that is difiicult to be 
 digested. Perspiration, on the contrary, is pro- 
 moted by moderate exercise, the warm bath, and 
 mild sudorific medicines ; to which may be added 
 friction, cleanliness, and the exhilarating passions, 
 hope and joy. 
 
 When perspiration is too profuse, indicating a 
 weakness of the body and laxity of the vessels of 
 the skin, it is best removed by cold bathing. 
 
 The variable state of the atmosphere, and the 
 mutability of the weather are among the most fre- 
 quent causes of obstructed perspiration ; to coun- 
 teract the influence of which, and fortify the body 
 against them, nothing is so efficacious as being 
 abroad whenever health will permit ; for those wlio 
 
seclude themselves from the open air become ex- 
 tremely susceptible of its influence on every ex- 
 posure. 
 
 The evening air, especially when accompanied 
 with dews, which fall most plentifully after the 
 hottest day in summer, is a very frequent cause of 
 obstructed perspiration ; this will suggest the pru- 
 dent caution of avoiding as much as possible ex- 
 posure to them. Those who inhabit marshy coun- 
 tries where exhalations, fogs and dews are more 
 copious, are often seized with dangerous diseases, 
 from an imprudent neglect of this caution. 
 
 Another cause by which perspiration is liable to 
 be greatly obstructed is wet clothes ; fevers, rheu- 
 matisms, and a multiplicity of diseases often origi- 
 nate from this source. Persons therefore imme- 
 diately after getting wet should change their clothes, 
 or keep constantly in motion till they become dry, 
 but to sit or lie down in the fields with wet clothes, 
 is an act of imprudence liable to produce the most 
 fatal effects. 
 
 Perspiration is very frequently obstructed in con- 
 sequence of wet feet, and this produces colics, in- 
 flammation of the bowels and other dangerous af- 
 fections ; nothing sooner induces a fit of the gout in 
 people subject to that complaint. It is therefore 
 of great importance that the feet be well guarded 
 by thick shoes against wet grounds and morning 
 dews. 
 
22 
 
 Damp houses, and rooms rendered so by being 
 newly plastered or painted are extremely unwhole- 
 some, and a frequent source of consumptions and 
 other diseases. The noxious smell of the materials 
 used in painting is well known to occasion pernici- 
 ous effects. 
 
 It has long been a received opinion that damp 
 beds are a fruitful source of diseases, such as fevers, 
 rheumatisms, consumptions, he. Although Dr. 
 Heberden, an eminent physician, maintains the op- 
 posite opinion, the respectable authority and univer- 
 sal belief relative to the danger resulting from damp 
 sheets, must deter all who' have a regard for health 
 from submitting to make a personal experiment on 
 the subject. 
 
 It is well understood that all sudden transitions 
 from heat to cold have a remarkable effect in sup- 
 pressing perspiration. Those who confine them- 
 selves in a warm room, and drink hot hquors till 
 the pores become open, and immediately go into 
 the cold air, may expect to suffer the severest con- 
 sequences ; by such imprudent conduct thousands 
 have forfeited their lives. The same disagreeable 
 effects are apt to ensue, when people while in a 
 hot room place themselves near an open window ; 
 for, the current of air being thus directed against 
 one particular part of the body, it is scarcely pos- 
 sible to escape catching cold in such a situation : 
 
23 
 
 nor is it much less hazardous to sleep with open 
 windows near the hed, even in the hottest season. 
 
 It is likewise proper to caution people against 
 the practice of drinking cold water, or other cold 
 liquors, when the blood is hot and perspiration free. 
 Numerous instances have occurred of pei sons hav- 
 ing expired before leaving the pump from which 
 they had taken the fatal draught. But the more 
 favourable consequences resulting from this prac- 
 tice are hoarseness, quinseys, and various febrile 
 affections. When therefore, a man is afflicted 
 with extreme thirst while hot, he ought not to drink 
 a large quantity at once, but first rinse his mouth, 
 which if frequently repeated has a powerful effect 
 in abating thirst. If a spoonful of brandy or other 
 spirits where it can be procured be taken into the 
 mouth, or a bit of bread be eaten with a few moutli- 
 fuls of water, much less danger is to be appre- 
 hended. But if, regardless of consequences, a 
 man has imprudently when hot, drunk freely of 
 cold liquor, his safety \v\i\ require that he take ac- 
 tive exercise till the liquor be thoroughly warmed 
 upon his stomach ; and this will counteract the 
 hurtful effects of the chilliness which would other- 
 wise ensue. 
 
 It is a well known fact, that horses have fre- 
 quently been destroyed in consequence of drinking 
 freely of cold water when their bodies were heated 
 and their exercise was soon after discontinued. 
 
<24 
 
 or FOOD AITD DHZKK. 
 
 It may with much propriety be observed that on 
 the quantity and quahty of the food, and conse- 
 quently the nourishment of the body, both heahh 
 and hfe are dependent. Habitual excess in eating, 
 is no less detrimental to the constitution than an 
 intemperate use of spirituous liquors, and perhaps 
 the number of victims to the former, is not much 
 exceeded by those of the latter vice. 
 
 With respect to the quantity of food proper for 
 every individual, no precise rule can be prescribed 
 or observed ; as the various circumstances of age, 
 sex, strength, size, and habit are to be consulted. 
 There is however, one golden rule which will ap- 
 ply to every person, and is never to be disregarded ; 
 it is to keep within the bounds of satiety, and cease 
 eating when the first cravings of appetite are satis- 
 fied. Such as transgress this rule, and indulge in 
 excess and gluttony, lay a foundation for numerous 
 diseases, a broken constitution and premature old 
 age. 
 
 The quality of our food merits very particular 
 consideration. Vegetable productions may be ren- 
 
25 
 
 dered unwholesome by unfavourable seasons, which 
 prevent the ripening of grain, or it may afterwards 
 suffer damage by the weather, or be spoiled by too 
 long keeping ; in either case, such food is rendered 
 entirely unfit for the nourishment of the body, and 
 is often productive of misery and even the mortality 
 of mankind. 
 
 There are various causes also, by which animal 
 food may be reduced to such unsound condition, as 
 to be incapable of affording wholesome nourishment. 
 All animal substances have a constant tendency to 
 putrefaction, and this disposition to corruption is 
 always increased by the blood and juices being 
 mixed in with the flesh. Such cattle therefore, as 
 die of themselves or by accident, ought never to be 
 eaten. The flesh of cattle fattened in the stall as 
 they are excluded from fresh air and exercise, is 
 destitute of the fine flavour and nourishing qualities 
 of wholesome meat. Animals designed for slaugh- 
 ter are often rendered unwholesome by being over 
 heated in travelling, and if butchered while in such 
 a state of fever, the blood will be so intimately 
 mixed in with the meat, that it cannot be separated : 
 consequently it will be rendered unwholesome. 
 There is a vile practice among some butchers, of 
 filhng the cellular membrane with air, or what is 
 called hloivin^ meat, to give it the appearance of 
 bein[; hit. This abominable cuslojn not only ren- 
 ders the ment unfit for keeping, but communicates 
 3 
 
26 
 
 to it a taint so loathsome and disgusting, as to shock 
 every person who reflects but a moment upon the 
 circumstance. Who can know but the offensive 
 breath thus blown into the meat carries with it the 
 effluvia of diseased lungs ? This horrid custom 
 ought to receive the severest animadversion when- 
 ever it can be detected. 
 
 Considerable attention is due to the kind of food 
 in particular constitutions and circumstances. It 
 was undoubtedly intended by providence, that the 
 subsistence of our species should consist of both 
 animal and vegetable food ; and a mixture of the 
 two, where neither of them disagrees with the con- 
 stitution, may be deemed the most proper. Animal 
 food in general is more nourishing than vegetables ; 
 and when it is not salted, nor hardened by smoking, 
 is likewise more easy of digestion. On this account, 
 it generally agrees best with dehcate and weak con- 
 stitutions, and such whose stomachs are much hable 
 to acidity. But to eat of several kinds of meat at 
 a meal, is certainly injurious to health ; both as a 
 variety of dishes may invite to excess, and as a 
 mixture of meats, very different in their texture, 
 must interrupt the process of digestion, and the for- 
 mation of proper chyle for the nourishment of the 
 body. It is more conformable to nature to eat of 
 one dish only, and this is doubtless the means of 
 procuring the most healthy fluids. 
 
 The quality of meat undergoes considerable 
 
27 
 
 change by the particular mode of cookery. By 
 boiling meat, it is deprived of much of its nourish- 
 ing juice ; the broth contains the most gelatinous 
 and nourishing part of it, but if taken in this form it 
 tends to relax the stomach, and thereby retard the 
 process of digestion. When meat is prepared by 
 roasting or broiling, it retains its natural juices, and 
 probably yields more nourishment than the same 
 quantity of boiled meat. Stewing in a close vessel 
 is well calculated to preserve the more substantial 
 parts of animal food, as the juices are neither ex- 
 tracted by water, noF made to evaporate by the 
 heat. 
 
 The luxurious arts of cookery contribute in no 
 small degree to the mischievous effects which we 
 frequently experience from our food. All con- 
 diments and articles of high seasoning have a per- 
 nicious tendency, by tempting to excess, and ex- 
 citing the digestive powers to an undue action. 
 Simplicity in food, both in kind and preparation, is 
 most conformable to the dictates of nature, and the 
 pampering luxuries of modern times have been the 
 bane of thousands. The true and natural appetite 
 alone should be the guide of every individual. The 
 artificial appetite, or that excited by stimulating 
 liquors and condiments, ought to be very cautiously 
 indulged : and that created by the habit of taking 
 food at certain hours cannot afford the true indica- 
 tion that nature requires a supply, and is not there- 
 
28 
 
 fore to be satisfied beyond a moderate extent, as- 
 voraciousness will increase with indulgence until 
 actual intemperance become established. A simple 
 rule which every person ought to observe is, to eat 
 slow, that the food may have sufficient time to be 
 duly masticated or chewed in the mouth ; to sw^al- 
 k)w food too quickly and before it is perfectly 
 ohew^ed, is, to say the least of it, very improper and 
 sometimes dangerous. The quantity of food taken 
 should be in some measure regulated by the dif- 
 ferent seasons ; thus in summer as heat in general 
 relaxes the body and dissipates the fluids, the sto- 
 mach cannot digest the same quantity of food as in 
 winter. The quantity of food however, in all sea- 
 sons ought to be proportioned to the degree of per- 
 sonal exercise and the indications of a healthy ap- 
 petite. A deficiency of aliment weakens the body, 
 and in young persons, retards their growth, and 
 impairs the constitution ; while intemperance in 
 fating overpowers and injures the organs of diges- 
 tion, crowds the vessels with gross humours, and 
 disposes to corpulency and inflammatory diseases. 
 After long fasting, and a person has suffered much 
 from extreme hunger, the excitabihty of the stomach 
 accumulates, and the organ is rendered extremely 
 susceptible of its accustomed stimulus, insomuch 
 that a cup of broth has been known to intoxicate 
 equally with two or three bottles of wine in com- 
 mon circumstances. Hence the great hazard in 
 
29 
 
 <yiving to such persons large quantities of food at 
 once, a full meal would undoubtedly prove fatal. 
 The only safe and proper method in such case is, 
 to administer liquid nourishment in small quantities, 
 and conduct as with a patient in a putrid or ner- 
 vous fever, abstaining from animal food of every 
 kind until the stomach be gradually restored to its 
 natural and healthy state. There is likewise con- 
 siderable danger in sudden changes of diet, par- 
 ticularly the transition from a rich and full, to one 
 that is low and sparing. When, therefore, a change 
 becomes expedient, it ought always to be gradually 
 introduced. 
 
 With respect to the choice of element as adapted 
 to particular constitutions, those who abound with 
 blood, and such as are disposed to become fat, 
 should be very sparing in the use of highly nourish- 
 ing food, rich wines, and malt liquors, and carefully 
 avoid all excess, and take much exercise. Their 
 diet ought to consist chiefly of the vegetable kind, 
 and their drink to be water, cider, or small beer. 
 People whose solids are weak and relaxed, should 
 avoid all food of hard digestion, but use such as is 
 of a nutritious nature. Persons who are much trou- 
 bled with an aridity of the stomach should make 
 the greater part of their diet consist of animal foocL 
 
 Milk is an article of food which cannot be too 
 hiiihly commended. It is intermediate between 
 animal and vegetable substances, easy of digestion. 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 and affording a mild and bland nutriment calculated 
 to obtund the acrimony of the fluids and purify the 
 blood. In weak and consumptive habits, it is in- 
 comparably the most eligible of all nutritive sub- 
 stances, provided it does not disagree with the 
 stomach. 
 
 The age, constitution, and manner of hfe, are 
 circumstances which merit attention in the choice 
 of proper diet ; and sedentary people should live 
 more sparingly than those w^ho are accustomed to 
 much bodily labour. The diet best adapted under 
 circumstances of disease, will be an object of atten- 
 tion when treating of diseases particularly. 
 
 The diet should not only be such as is best adapt- 
 ed to the particular tendency of different constitu- 
 tions, but it ought not to be too uniform, at least for 
 any considerable time. When the stomach ha^ 
 been long habituated to the most delicate and ten- 
 der kind of food, it becomes incapable of digesting 
 any thing stronger, among the great variety which 
 nature has provided for our support. Food ought 
 to be taken at regular periods, for long fasting is 
 injurious in every stage of life ; it vitiates the fluids, 
 and prevents the growth of the body. Nature re- 
 quires frequent suppHes of fresh nourishment to 
 obviate a constant tendency of the humours to be- 
 come acrimonious. Long fasting is apt also to oc- 
 casion wind in the stomach and bowels, and some- 
 
31 
 
 times even giddiness and faintness, especial]}- in 
 tliose who are weak and delicate. 
 
 The practice of eating heavy suppers juet before 
 going to rest, is exceedingly pernicious, as the di- 
 gestive powers are in a degree diminished during 
 sleep ; and in a horizontal posture the stomach 
 presses upon a part of the intestines, and the blood 
 is consequently impelled to the head which may 
 prove of dangerous tendency. The custom ol taking 
 a short sleep alter dinner, may with propriety be 
 allowed to the aged and delicate ; the indulgence 
 however, should be confined to a repose of a few- 
 minutes in a reclining posture. 
 
 We come now to notice the articles of drink, 
 which is an essential part of our aliment, and of 
 indispensable use to the digestion of our food. 
 Among the great variety of liquids, water is the 
 most universally employed, and when perfectly 
 pure it is the most salutary and natural beverage 
 of mankind. Its salubrity depends on the peculiar 
 properties which it possesses. Some waters are 
 strongly impregnated witli animal, vegetable, or 
 mineral particles, of a nature injurious to the con- 
 stitution ; and such impregnation may be known by 
 the sensible qualities of the water. The best water 
 is that which is pure, light, and without .any parti- 
 cular colour, taste or smell. Where water cannot 
 be obtained pure from springs, wells, or rivers, care 
 should be taken to deprive it of its })ernicious quali- 
 
32 
 
 ties, by boiling and filtering, but most efTectually hy 
 distillation. There are various substances which 
 possess the property of correcting putrid water. 
 Thus, half an ounce of allum in powder will make 
 twelve gallons of corrupted water pure and trans- 
 parent in two hours, without imparting a sensible 
 degree of astringency. The powder of charcoal 
 has been found of great efficacy in checking the 
 putrid tendency of water. Various expedients have 
 been devised to preserve water in a state of purity 
 on long voyages. Four ounces of fine clear pearl- 
 ash, have proved effectual for preserving one hun- 
 dred gallons of water perfectly sweet during a voy- 
 age of eighteen months. Charcoal has also proved 
 to be eminently adapted to such purpose. With 
 this view the inner surface of the staves should be^ 
 charred previously to constructing the water casks. 
 Putrid water may be restored to iis original purity, 
 by adding to each gallon ten grains of calcined 
 allum, and twenty-five or thirty of powdered char- 
 coal ; both ingredients, however, after being pro- 
 perly prepared, should be preserved in close ves- 
 sels, otherwise their efficacy will be considerably 
 diminished. Another method of restoring putrid 
 water to its original purity, is by filtering it through 
 sand and charcoal. Whether water be used plain 
 or in the form of fermented liquors, it is of great 
 importance that it be of the purest quality, otherwise 
 a considerable mass of impurities may be conveyed 
 
33 
 
 into the system with our drinks. Fermented liquors, 
 if made very strong, and drunk in large quantities, 
 inflame the blood, hurt digestion, and dispose to a 
 variety of diseases. If too weak, they produce 
 flatulences ; or if become stale, they turn sour on 
 the stomach and injure digestion. Strong beer is 
 very nourishing, and may be employed with advan- 
 tage as a medicine in emaciated habits. Beer 
 made of a great proportion of hops, and a small 
 quantity of malt, is a good beverage, and well cal- 
 culated to allay thirst. Cider, when of a proper 
 age, and well refined and pure, may be considered 
 as a pleasant and salutary beverage, and calculated 
 to obviate a putrid tendency in the humours. Wine, 
 moderately used, increases the circulation of the 
 blood, promotes the secretions and excretions, and 
 invigorates all the functions of the body. It is 
 however, only a stimulant, and not a permanently 
 strengthening cordial ; for most wine drinkers who 
 indulge in excess, die of relaxation and debility. 
 To the phlegmatic, to the aged, and to those who 
 are disposed to flatulency, wine is highly beneficial 
 if used with prudence and moderation. Plethoric 
 young men, and such as have weak stomachs and 
 lungs, should not accustom themselves to the use of 
 wine. It is believed that three or four classes of 
 wine, or one of spirits nuK h diluted with water, 
 daily, is as much as can be taken by most men 
 without producing more or less injury to the system. 
 
34 
 
 No person in the opinion of Dr. Trotter, if in good 
 health, can need wine till he be forty. He may 
 then begin with two glasses a day ; at fifty he may 
 add two more ; and at sixty he may go to the 
 length of six, but not to exceed that quantity, 
 though he should hve to an hundred. It is to be 
 remarked that we speak of pure wine in its unadul- 
 terated state ; those once of genuine quality being 
 too often shamefully adulterated with poisonous in- 
 gredients, or changed in their nature by various 
 mixtures. 
 
 Ardent spirits, are more stimulating, but less per- 
 manent in their effects than even wine ; instead of 
 promoting digestion of food, they actually tend to 
 retard it, and render strong food taken into the sto- 
 mach still more indigestible. It is therefore evident 
 that neither wine, nor ardent spirits, are proper to 
 be employed as drinks with our daily food. Vine- 
 gar is a vegetable production possessing salubrious 
 qualities ; it is an excellent antiseptic, and when 
 diluted with water, and some ginger and molasses 
 added, forms a wholesome and useful drink in most 
 constitutions, in warm climates and seasons. All 
 other vegetable acids, as the juice of oranges, 
 lemons, he. possess similar properties, and are both 
 agreeable and tiseful. Our drink, of whatever na- 
 ture, ought as well as food, to be taken in a just and 
 moderate quantity. Were we to be governed by 
 the dictates of nature, we ought to drink only when 
 
35 
 
 solicited by thirst, and he who is accustomed to 
 drink water only, will seldom be in danger of trans- 
 gressing the proper measure, if he drinks as often as 
 the calls of nature demand. 
 
 The following general account of the qualhies of 
 the different kinds of animal and vegetable food is 
 taken from Thompson's Family Physician. 
 
 ^'Beef. "When this is the flesh of a bullock of 
 middle age, it affords good and strong nourishment, 
 and is peculiarly well adapted to those who labour 
 or take much exercise. It will often sit easy upon 
 stomachs that can digest no other kind of food ; 
 and its fat is almost as easily digested as that of 
 veal. 
 
 *' FeaZ is a proper food for persons recovering 
 from an indisposition, and may even be given to 
 febrile patients in a very weak state, but it affords 
 less nourishment than the flesh of the same animal 
 in a state of maturity. The fat of it is lighter than 
 that of any other animal, and shows the least dis- 
 position to putrescency. Veal is a very suitable 
 food in costive habits ; but of all meat it is the least 
 calculated for removing an acid from the stomach. 
 
 " Mutton^ from the age of four to six years, and 
 fed on dry pasture, is an excellent meat. It is of 
 a middle kind between the fn-mness of beef and the 
 tenderness of veal. The lean part of mutton, howev- 
 er, is the most nourishing, and conducive to health ; 
 tlic fat being hard of digestion. The head of the 
 
36 
 
 sheep, especially when divested of the skin, is very 
 tender ; and the feet on account of the jelly they 
 contain, highly nutritive. 
 
 " Lamb is not so nourishing as mutton ; but it is 
 light, and extremely suitable to delicate stomachs. 
 
 ^' House-Lamb f though much esteemed by many, 
 possesses the bad qualities common to the flesh of 
 all animals reared in an unnatural way. 
 
 " Pork affords rich and substantial nourishment ; 
 and its juices are wholesome when properly fed, 
 and when the animal enjoys pure air and exercise. 
 But the flesh of hogs reared in towns is both hard 
 of digestion and unwholesome. Pork is particularly 
 improper for those who are liable to any foulness of 
 the skin. It is almost proverbial, that a dram is 
 good for promoting its digestion ; but this is an 
 erroneous notion : for, though a dram may give a 
 momentary stimulus to the coats of the stomach, it 
 tends to harden the flesh, and of course to make it 
 more indigestible. 
 
 " Smoked-hams are a strong kind of meat, and 
 rather fit for a relish than for diet. It is the quality 
 of all salted meat that the fibres become rigid, and 
 therefore more difficult of digestion ; and when to 
 this is added smoking, the heat of the chimney oc- 
 casions the snk to concentrate, and the fat between 
 the muscles to become rancid. 
 
 " Bacon is also of an indigestible quality, and is 
 apt to turn rancid on weak stomachs. 
 
37 
 
 *• The flesh of goats is hard and indigestible ; 
 but that of kids is tender, as well as delicious, and 
 affords good nourishment. 
 
 " Venison, or the flesh o^ deer, and thatof A«re5, 
 is of a nourishing quality, but is Hable to one incon- 
 venience ; which is, that though much disposed to 
 putrescency of itself, it must be kept for a little time 
 before it becomes tender. 
 
 "The blood of animals is used as aliment by the 
 common people ; but they could not long subsist 
 upon it unless mixed with oatmeal, &:c. for it is not 
 soluble alojie by the digestive powers of the human 
 stomach, and therefore cannot prove nourishing. 
 
 ** Milk is of very different consistence in different 
 animals ; but that of cows being the kind used in 
 diet, is at present the object of our attention. Milk,- 
 where it agrees with the stomach, affords "Excellent 
 nourishment for those who are weak, and cannot 
 digest other aliments. Though an animal produc- 
 tion, it does not readily become putrid, as being 
 possessed of the properties of vegetable aliment ; 
 but it is apt to become sour on the stomach, and 
 thence to produce flatulence, the heartburn, or 
 gripes, anrl in some constitutions, a looseness. The 
 best milk is from a cow at three or four years of 
 age, about two months after producing a calf. It is 
 lighter, but more watery, than the milk of sheep 
 and goats ; while on th(^ other hand, it is more thick 
 
38 
 
 and heavy than the milk of asses and mares, which 
 are the next in consistence to human milk. 
 
 " On account of the acid which is generated after 
 digestion, milk coagulates in all stomachs ; but the 
 caseous or cheesy part is again dissolved by the 
 digestive juices, and rendered fit for the purpose of 
 nutrition. It is however improper to eat acid sub- 
 stances with milk, as these would tend to prevent 
 the due digestion of it. 
 
 " Cream is very nourishing, but, on account of its 
 fatness is difficult to be digested in weak stomachs. 
 Violent exercise, after eating it, will in a httle time 
 convert it into butter. 
 
 " Some writers inveigh against the use of Butter 
 as universally pernicious ; but they might with equal 
 reason condemn all vegetable oils, which form a 
 considerable part of diet in the southern climates, 
 and seem to have been beneficently intended by 
 nature for that purpose. Butter, like every oilier 
 oily substance, has doubtless a relaxing quality, and, 
 if long retained in the stomach, is Kable to become 
 rancid ; but if eaten in moderation, it will not pro- 
 duce those effects in any hurtful degree. It is, 
 however, improper in bilious constitutions. The 
 w^orst consequence produced by butter, v/hen eaten 
 with bread is, that it obstructs the discharge of the 
 saliva in the act of mastication or chewing ; by 
 which means the food is not so readily digested. 
 To obviate this effect, it would be a commendable 
 
39 
 
 practice at breakfast, first to eat some dry bread, 
 and chew it well, till the salivary glands were ex- 
 hausted, and afterwards to eat it with butter. By 
 these means such a quantity of saliva might be car- 
 ried into the stomach as would be sufficient for the 
 purpose of digestion. 
 
 " Cheese is likewise reprobated by many as ex- 
 tremely unwholesome. It is doubtless not easy of 
 digestion ; and when eaten in a great quantity, may 
 load the stomach ; but if taken sparingly, its tena- 
 city may be dissolved by the digestive juices, and it 
 may yield a wholesome, though not very nourishing 
 chyle. Toasted cheese is agreeable to most palates, 
 but is rendered more indigestible by that process. 
 " The flesh of Birds differs in quality according 
 to the food on which they hve. Such as feed upon 
 grain and berries afford, in general, good nourish- 
 ment, if we except geese and ducks, which are hard 
 of digestion. A young hen or chicken is tender and 
 delicate food, and extremely well adapted where 
 the dit!;eslive powers are weak. But of all tame 
 fowls, the capon is the most nutritious. 
 
 " Turkeys, as well as Guinea or India fowls, 
 afford a substantial aliment, but are not so easy of 
 digestion as the common domestic fowls. In all 
 birds those parts are the most firm which are most 
 exercised : in the small birds, therefore, the wings, 
 and in the larger kinds the legs, are commonly the 
 most difficult of digestion. 
 
49 
 
 " The flesli of wild birds, in general, though more 
 easily digested, is less nourishing than that of qua- 
 drupeds, as being more dry, on account of their al- 
 most constant exercise. Those birds are not whole- 
 some which subsist upon worms, insects, and fishes. 
 
 " Eggs. In the last class of terrestrial animal 
 food we may rank the eggs of birds, which are a 
 simple and wholesome aliment. Those of the Tur- 
 key are superior in all the qualifications of food. 
 The white of eggs is dissolved in a warm tempera- 
 ture, but by much heat it is rendered tough and 
 hard. The yolk contains much oil, and is highly 
 nourishing, but has a strong tendency to putrefac- 
 tion ; on which account eggs are improper for peo- 
 ple of weak stomachs, especially when they are not 
 quite fresh. Eggs hard boiled or fried are difficult 
 of digestion, and are rendered still more indigestible 
 by the addition of butter. All eggs require a suf- 
 ficient quantity of salt, to promote their solution m 
 the stomach. 
 
 " Fish, though some of them be light, and easy 
 of digestion, afford less nourishment than vegetables 
 or the flesh of quadrupeds, and are of the animal 
 tribes the most disposed to putrefaction. Salt water 
 fish are, in general, the best ; but when salted, 
 though less disposed to putrescency, they become 
 more difficult of digestion. Whitings and flounders 
 are the most easily digested. Acid sauces and 
 pickles, by resisting putrefaction, are a proper addi- 
 
41 
 
 tion to fish, both as they retard putrescency, and 
 correct the relaxing tendency of butter, so gene- 
 rally used with this kind of aliment. 
 
 '* Oysters are eaten both raw and dressed ; but in 
 the former state they are preferable : because heat 
 dissipates considerably their nutritious parts, as well 
 as the salt water, which promotes their digestion in 
 the stomach : if not eaten very sparingly, they gen- 
 erally prove laxative. 
 
 *' Muscles are far inferior to oysters, both in point 
 of digestion and nutriment. Sea muscles are by 
 some supposed to be of a poisonous nature ; but 
 though this opmion is not much countenanced by 
 experience, the safest way is to eat them with vine- 
 gar, or some other vegetable acid. 
 
 *' Bread. At the head of the vegetable class 
 stands bread, that article of diet which, from general 
 use, has received the name of the staff of life. 
 Wheat is the grain chiefly used for the purpose in 
 this country, and is among the most nutritive of all 
 the farinaceous kinds, as it contains a great deal of 
 mucilage. Bread is very properly eaten with ani- 
 mal food to correct the disposition to putrescency ; 
 but is most expedient with such articles in diet as 
 contain much nourishment in a small bulk, because 
 it then serves to give the stomach a proper degree 
 of expansion. But as it produces a slimy chyle, 
 and disposes to costiveness, it ought not to be eaten 
 ill a large quantity. To render bread easy of diges- 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 tion, it ought to be well fermented and baked ; and 
 it never should be used till it has stood twenty-four 
 hours after being taken out of the oven, otherwise 
 it is apt to occasion various complaints in those who 
 have weak bowels ; such as flatulence, the heart- 
 burn, watchfulness, and the like. The custom of 
 eating butter with bread hot from the oven is com- 
 patible only with strong digestive powers. 
 
 " Pastry, especially when hot, has all the advan- 
 tages of hot bread and butter ; and even buttered 
 toast, though the bread be stale, is scarcely inferior 
 in its effects on a weak stomach. Dry toast with 
 butter is by far the wholesomest breakfast. Brown 
 wheaten bread in which there is a good deal of rye, 
 though not so nourishing as that made of fine flour, 
 is both palatable and wholesome, but apt to become 
 sour on weak stomachs, and to produce all the ef- 
 fects of acidity. 
 
 " Oats, when deprived of the husk, and particu- 
 larly barley, when properly prepared, are each of 
 them softening, and aflbrd wholesome and cooling 
 nourishment. Rice hkewise contains a nutritious 
 mucilage, and is less used in this country than it de- 
 serves, both on account of its wholesomeness and 
 economical utility. The notion of its being hurtful 
 to the sight is a vulgar error. In some constitu- 
 tions it tends to make them costive ; but this seems 
 to be owing chiefly to flatulence, and may be cor- 
 
43 
 
 rected by the addition of some spice, sucli as cara- 
 way, anise seed, and the Hke. 
 
 " Potatoes are an agreeable and wholesome food, 
 and yield as much nourishment as any of the roots 
 used in diet. The farinaceous or mealy kind is in 
 general the most easy of digestion ; and they are 
 much improved by being roasted. 
 
 " Green pease, and Turkey beans, boiled in their 
 fresh state are both agreeable to the taste, and 
 wholesome ; being neither near so flatulent, nor dif- 
 ficult of digestion, as in their ripe state ; in which 
 they resemble the other leguminous vegetables. 
 French beans possess much the same qualities ; but 
 yield a more watery juice, and have a greater dispo- 
 sition to produce flatulence. The leguminous vege- 
 tables in general ought to be eaten with some 
 spice. 
 
 " Salads, being eaten raw, require good digestive 
 powers, especially those of the cooling kind ; and 
 the addition of oil and vinegar, though qualified 
 with mustard, hardly renders the free use of them 
 consistent with a weak stomach. 
 
 " Spinage aflx)rds a soft hdiricating aliment, but 
 contains little nourishment. In weak stomachs it is 
 apt to produce acidity, and frequently a looseness. 
 To obviate these effects, it ought always to be well 
 beaten, and but little butter mixed with it. 
 
 " Asparagus is a nourishing article in diet, and 
 
44 
 
 promotes urine ; but, in common with the vegetable 
 class disposes a little to flatulence. 
 
 " Artichokes resemble asparagus in their qualities, 
 but seem to be more nutritive, and less diuretic. 
 
 " White Cahhage is one of the most conspicuous 
 plants in the garden. It does not afford much nou- 
 rishment, but is an agreeable addition to animal food, 
 and not quite so flatulent as the common greens. 
 It is likewise diuretic, and somewhat laxative. Cab- 
 bage has a stronger tendency to putrefaction than 
 most other vegetable substances ; and, during their 
 putrefying state, sends forth an offensive smell, 
 much resembling that of putrefying animal bodies. 
 So far, however, from promoting a putrid disposi- 
 tion in the human body, it is, on the contrary, a 
 w^holesome ahment in the true putrid scurvy. 
 
 " Turnips are a nutritious article of vegetable 
 food, biit not very easy of digestion, and m^e flatu- 
 lent. This eifect is, in a great measure, obviated 
 by pressing the water out of them before they are 
 eaten. 
 
 " Carrots contain a considerable quantity of nu- 
 tritious juice, but are among the most flatulent of 
 vegetable productions. 
 
 " Parsnips are more nourishing and less flatulent 
 than carrots, which they also exceed in the sweet- 
 ness of their mucilage. By boiling them in two 
 different waters, thev are rendered less flatulent, but 
 
45 
 
 their other qualities are thereby diminished in pro- 
 portion. 
 
 " Parsley is of a stimulating and aromatic nature, 
 well calculated to make agreeable sauces. It is 
 also a gentle diuretic, but preferable in all its quali- 
 ties when boiled. 
 
 " Celery affords a root both wholesome and frag- 
 rant, but is difficuh of digestion in its raw state. It 
 gives an agreeable taste to soups, as well as renders 
 them diuretic. 
 
 *' Onions, garlic, and shallot, are all of a stimu- 
 lating nature, by w^hich they assist digestion, dissolve 
 
 slimy humours, and pxnel flatulencv. They are. 
 nowever most suhable to persons of a cold and 
 
 phlegmatic constitution. 
 
 " Radishes of all kinds, particularly the horse- 
 radish, agree with the three preceding articles in 
 powerfully dissolving slimy humours. They excite 
 the discharge of air lodged in the intestines ; but 
 this proceeds from the expulsion of the air con- 
 tained in themselves. 
 
 " Apples are a wholesome vegetable aliment, and 
 in many cases medicinal, particularly in diseases ot 
 the breast and complaints arising from the phlegm. 
 But, in general, they agree best with the stomach 
 when eaten either roasted or boiled. The more 
 aromatic kinds of apples are the fittest for eating 
 raw. 
 
 " Pears resemble much in their efTects the sweet 
 
46 
 
 kind of apples, but have more of a laxative quality, 
 and a greater tendency to flatulence. 
 
 " Cherries are, in general, a wholesome fruit, 
 when they agree with the stomach, and they are 
 beneficial in many diseases, especially those of the 
 putrid kind. 
 
 " Plumbs are nourishing, and have besides an 
 attenuating, as well as a laxative quality ; but are 
 apt to produce flatulence. If eaten fresh, and be- 
 fore they are quite ripe, especially in large quanti- 
 ties, they occasion colics and other complaints of the 
 bowels. 
 
 " Pparhps HYP: not of a verv nourishing quMity, 
 but they abound in juice^ and are serviceable in Dll- 
 lious complaints. 
 
 " Apricots are more pulpy than peaches, but are 
 apt to ferment, and produce acidities in weak sto- 
 machs. Where they do not disagree they are cool- 
 ing, and tend hkewise to correct a disposition to pu- 
 tresce'ncy. 
 
 *' Gooseberries, as well as currants, when ripe, are 
 similar in their qualities to Cherries, and, when used 
 in a green state, they are agreeably cooling. 
 
 " Strawberries are an agreeable, cooling aliment, 
 and are accounted good against the gravel. 
 
 " Cucumbers are cooling, and agreeable to the 
 palate in hot weather ; but to prevent them from 
 proving hurtful to the stomach the juice ought to be 
 squeezed oiu before they are sliced, and vinegar, 
 pepper, and salt, afterwards added. 
 
47 
 
 *' Tea. By some the use of this exotic is con- 
 demned in terms the most vehement and unqiiahfied. 
 while others have either asserted its innocence, or 
 gone so far as to ascribe to it salubrious and even 
 extraordinary virtues. The truth seems to he be- 
 tween these extremes : there is however an essential 
 difference in the effects of green tea and of black, or 
 bohea ; the former of which is much more apt to af- 
 fect the nerves of the stomach than the latter, espe- 
 cially when drunk without cream and likewise with- 
 out bread and butter. That when taken in a large 
 quantity, or at a later hour than usual, it often pro- 
 duces watchfulness, is a point which cannot be de- 
 nied ; but if used in moderation, and accompanied 
 with the addition just now mentioned, it does not sen- 
 sibly discover any hurtful effects, but greatly relieves 
 an oppression of the stomach, and abates a pain of 
 the head. It ought always to be made of a moder- 
 ate degree of strength : for if too weak it certainly 
 relaxes the stomach. As it has an astringent taste, 
 which seems not very consistent with a relaxing 
 power, there is ground for ascribing this effect not so 
 much to the herb itself as to the hot water, which 
 not being impregnated with a sufficient quantity of 
 tea to correct its own emollient tendency, produces a 
 relaxation unjustly imputed to some noxious, quality 
 of the plant. Bui tea, like every other commodity, 
 is liable to damage, and when this happens it may 
 produce eflects not necessarily connected with its 
 original qualities. 
 
4S 
 
 •* Coffee. It is allowed that coffee promotes di- 
 gestion, and exhilarates the animal spirits ; besides 
 which, various other qualities are ascribed to it, such 
 as dispeUing flatulency, removing dizziness of the 
 head, attenuating viscid humours, increasing the cu'- 
 culation of the blood, and consequently perspiration ; 
 but if drunk too strong it affects the nerves, occa- 
 sions watchfulness, and tremor of the hands ; though 
 in some phlegmatic constitutions h is apt to produce 
 sleep. Indeed it is to persons of that habit that cof- 
 fee is well accommodated : for to people of a thin 
 and dry habit of body it seems to be injurious. — 
 Turkey coffee is greatly preferable in flavour to that 
 of the West-Indies. Drunk only in the quantity of 
 one dish after dinner to promote digestion, it answers 
 best v,4thout either sugar and milk : but if taken at 
 other times it should have both, or in place of the 
 latter rather cream, which not only improves the be- 
 verage but tends to mitigate the effect of coffee up- 
 on the nerves. 
 
 *' Chocolate is a nutritive and wholesome compo- 
 sition if taken in small quantity, and not repeated too 
 often ; but is generally hurtful to the stomach of 
 those with whom a vegetable diet disagrees. By 
 the addition of vanilla and other ingredients it is 
 made too heating, and so much affects particular 
 constitutions as to excite nervous symptoms, espe- 
 cially complaints of the head." 
 
49 
 
 ICXEHOISE. 
 
 The position is universally established that exer- 
 cise should be ranked as among the most powerful 
 agents which we can employ for the preservation of 
 life and health. The ancients as well as moderns, 
 have attributed great utihty in pursuing a proper 
 course of exercise, and even considered it the sole 
 instrument in the cure of some diseases, especially 
 those of the glandular and nervous systems. Galen, 
 was a zealous advocate for the various kinds of ex- 
 ercise as a curative remedy, and the great Syden- 
 ham, was so exceedingly sanguine in his opinion of 
 its salutary effects in the prevention and cure of nu- 
 merous diseases, that he was led to give a latitude to 
 it which can scarcely be admitted. Indeed the be- 
 neficial effects to be derived from exercise properly 
 performed, in all chronic diseases, are almost incon- 
 ceivable. It strengthens the solid parts and promotes 
 the circulation of the fluids beyond any thing else 
 within the compass of nature. It increases jierspi- 
 ration, and prevents many of those diseases which 
 cannot be cured, and may remove others where me- 
 dicine proves ineffectual. 
 
50 
 
 " A common source of consumption in our females,'^ 
 says an excellent writer, "is want of exercise ; there 
 is perhaps no place in which the common habits of 
 improved social Hfe are adopted, in which this sect 
 are less attentive to that most essential requisite for 
 the preservation of health than in this (Boston.) 
 
 "No exercise is equally salutary with that of 
 walking. This gives action to the muscles of the 
 limbs, whence the circulation, from the distance of 
 the vessels from the heart, is apt to be languid. It 
 throws the blood forcibly forward towards the lungs, 
 and thereby affords an opportunity for the mass to be 
 exposed in larger quantities to the action of the air, 
 hy which alone it is rendered fit for circulation. 
 This oxygenation of the blood by air endues it with 
 the property, by which it is enabled to excite its 
 vessels into stronger action, and by that means to 
 give strength and vigour to the whole system. 
 
 " Who does not notice, that our sedentary fe- 
 males are put out of breath by the smallest degree 
 of exertion, beyond what they have been accustom- 
 ed to ? That the lungs have become so irritable 
 for want of the stimulus, which exercise exerts upon 
 them, as to be thrown into a kind of convulsive 
 cough from the most trifling acceleration of the blood 
 in its passage through them. 
 
 " Whereas in the females of our country towns, 
 who have constantly habituated themselves to walk- 
 ing, riding, and the greatest variety of domestic la- 
 
bours, may be noticed the large play of lungs in 
 quick walking ; a deep and full respiration, with all 
 the attendant advantages of a sufficiently complete 
 oxygenation of the blood. 
 
 " Nor are these observations inapplicable to the 
 other sex. There is not one man in a hundred, that 
 exercises sufficiently in mercantile chies ; because 
 not one in a hundred, from the nature of his occu- 
 pation is obliged to do it ; and not one in two hund- 
 red will do it from principle."* The more active 
 kinds of exercise as walking, running, leaping, rid- 
 ing, swimming, fencing, &ic. are the most suitable 
 to youth and those of a middle age, and particularly 
 to the corpulent. The passive kind as riding in a 
 carriage, saihng, swinging, &;c. are best adapted to 
 mfants, to the aged, and to the dehcate and weak. 
 Walking gives the most general action to the mus- 
 cles of the body and limbs, but for the valetudina- 
 rian and those who have weak bowels, or are con- 
 sumptive, riding on horseback is preferable. It is 
 almost incredible how much the constitution may be 
 strengthened by this exercise, when continued for a 
 considerable time, especially when on long journies 
 a perpetual change of air, and of scenes and objects 
 combine their advantages. Invalids who have re- 
 course to this exercise should be accompanied by a 
 cheerful companion, and they should not commence 
 a journey for health, until they have tried theic 
 
 * Warren on Mercurial Practice* 
 
52 
 
 strength in short rides ; nor discontinue the exercise 
 abruptly but gradually. They should divest the 
 mind of all deep reflection, and gratify the sight 
 with the prospect of the various objects which pre- 
 -sent themselves to view. The unwholesome air of 
 large towns, the damps of marshes, and the morning 
 and evening dews, ought to be particularly avoided 
 by invahds when travelling for health. It should be 
 remarked that exercise immediately after eating is 
 frequently productive of hurtful consequences, parti- 
 cularly in those of nervous and irritable constitu- 
 tions ; and fatiguing exercise should never be prac- 
 ticed till the process of digestion is completed, which 
 generally requires three or four hours after eating. 
 
 The exercise of riding in a carriage is conducive 
 to health, but the greater the motion allowed to the 
 body of the carriage, the more beneficial will be its 
 effects, provided too much fatigue be avoided. 
 
 Dancing is a salutary exercise, especially in the 
 winter, if not too violent or carried to excess ; but 
 when performed in the warm atmosphere of a crowd- 
 ed assembly, and especially if, at the same time, li- 
 quors of a heating nature be taken, or cooling drinks 
 during a profuse perspiration, very serious conse- 
 quences may be apprehended from such excesses. 
 The laborious kinds of exercise attending agricultu- 
 ral employments, as hoeing, digging, raking, chop- 
 ping, &c. have sometimes been found to produce 
 advantageous effects. For children, skipping the 
 rope is a salutary kind of exercise^ 
 
53 
 
 Among the passive kinds of exercise, sailing is 
 the most efficacious. The giddiness of the head, 
 nausea and vomiting, which is often experienced by 
 those who are unaccustomed to the motion of a ves- 
 sel, are productive of very salutary effects. Con- 
 sumptive patients, if they have recourse to sailing at 
 an early stage, and also the nervous and hypocon- 
 driac, will often derive from this kind of exercise the 
 most essential benefit. But to those who are sub- 
 ject to spitting of blood sailing is not to be recom- 
 mended. Reading or speaking aloud is a salutary 
 kind of exercise ; but to exert the voice vehemently 
 immediately after a meal, is injurious both to the 
 lungs and the organs of digestion. The action of 
 singing shakes the lungs and the contents of the ab- 
 domen, which promotes in a remarkable degree the 
 circulation of the blood through those organs. But 
 ihe reverse of this takes place with those who are 
 much in the employment of wind instruments, as 
 they introduce a large quantity of air into the lungs, 
 and keep that organ too long in a state of distention. 
 Hence persons of weak lungs who play much upon 
 the flute or other wind instruments, are frequently 
 afflicted with spitting of blood, cough, shortness of 
 breath and pulmonary consumption. 
 
 There is a species of exercise yet to be noticed, 
 
 as both gentle and useful, and in the power of every 
 
 one, but which is too much neglected. I mean fric- 
 
 #on of the body by a piece of llanncl or coarse linen 
 
 6* 
 
54 
 
 cloth. Friction is a kind of exercise that remarka- 
 bly contributes to the health of sedentary persons ; 
 it excites and kindles the natural warmth ; promotes 
 perspiration, strengthens the fibres, and tends to dis- 
 sipate stagnant humours. The operation is particu- 
 larly beneficial to the nervous, debilitated and stu- 
 dious. The parts to be particularly subjected to 
 this operation are chiefly the abdomen, the spine or 
 back bone, and the arms and legs. Even in a state 
 of health this kind of exercise will be found exceed- 
 ingly useful, but in many chronic complaints it is an 
 excellent remedy which cannot be too much recom- 
 mended as a useful substitute for other exercise 
 which cannot be resorted to at all times. It should 
 be performed every morning and evening when the 
 stomach and bowels are empty, and continued for 
 twenty minutes, at a time. In rubbing the abdomen 
 the operation ought to be performed in a circular di- 
 rection as being most favourable to the course of the 
 intestines, and their natural action. It is.proper here 
 to remark, that many ill consequences may result 
 from certain unnatural positions of the body which 
 sedentary artificers and others are accustomed to 
 practice. A bending posture of the body while sit- 
 ting with the head reclined forwards, tends greatly to 
 check the circulation of the fluids in the abdomen ; 
 and the head itself suffers by such inconvenient po- 
 sition. It is likewise injurious to the lungs, for when 
 this organ is compressed, the air cannot have free 
 
access in all its parts so as to expand thcni properly ; 
 the vital motions are thereby impeded and the health 
 of course must be greatly impaired. Those persons 
 therefore, who spend much of their time in writing, 
 should employ high tables or desks, and raised seats^ 
 which will allow the body a more erect position. — 
 Artificers whose lower limbs are constantly confined, 
 as shoe-makers and taylors, ought to sit as erect as 
 the nature of their employment will permit, and 
 should change their position, and make use of active 
 exercise as frequently as possible. AUhough bodily 
 exercise is an essential requisite for the preservation 
 of health, this should not exceed the bounds of 
 moderation ; as too violent exercise, and to a total 
 want of it, are attended with equal disadvantages. 
 
56 
 
 OF SZ.EZSX'. 
 
 *'SucH is the general constitution of animal bodies^ 
 that with all the aid of aliment they cannot long sub- 
 sist unless refreshed by the natural vicissitudes of 
 waking and sleep. These periodical changes in the 
 state of our existence are as necessary to health and 
 life as the alternate returns of day and night to the 
 regularity of the solar system. In what proportion 
 they ought to divide our time, is a question worthy 
 of consideration ; and for this purpose it is proper to 
 ascertain the end for which mankind was created. — - 
 Both reason and scripture assure us that we are 
 placed here in a state of probation, to exercise our 
 natural faculties according to the laws of morality ; 
 and, by improving ourselves in habits of virtue, to be 
 rendered fit for the enjoyment of a nobler and eter- 
 nal state of existence. 
 
 " Such being the case, it follows, that the proper 
 cultivation of the mind ought always to be our prin- 
 cipal object : and as this duty can be performed 
 only when awake, we may justly conclude that the 
 smallest portion of our time should be devoted to the 
 
57 
 
 repose of the bed. In this, however, we are left en- 
 tirely to be guided by our own discretion : But it 
 happens fortunately, that the dictates of reason coin- 
 cide with the best physical rules for the preservation 
 of health. In most constitutions, six hours will be 
 found a sufficient time for the indulgence of sleep ; 
 and if protracted beyond eight it proves rather inju- 
 rious than beneficial ; though in respect of children 
 a greater latitude is allowed. 
 
 " The proper time for the periodical return of 
 sleep is pointed out by nature herself, when the light 
 of the day gives place to night, and when those who 
 have laboured from the morning stand in need of re- 
 pose. I would not, however, be understood to fix 
 the commencement of sleep precisely to the ap- 
 proach of darkness, since in winter, unless for those 
 who intend to rise early, such a practice would lead 
 to the prolongation of sleep beyond the period which 
 has been mentioned as the most salutary ; besides 
 that this would interfere with the innocent gratifica- 
 tions of society, than which nothing is more agreea- 
 ble, or more beneficial to health. 
 
 " To secure sound sleep, the best expedient is to 
 take suJlicient exercise in the open air, to eat no 
 heavy supj)cr, and to lie down in bed in perfect tran- 
 quility of mind, and without the attention being fixed 
 on any subject connected with abstruse inquiry. It 
 ought likewise to be observed, that a person should 
 not go to bed till an hour and an half after supper* 
 
58 
 
 " It is a general opinion that sleep is most re- 
 freshing in the fore part of the night : but perhaps 
 this notion arose originally from a presumption, that 
 the person who goes to bed at a moderate hour will 
 of course rise sooner in the morning. It is certain^ 
 however, that the hour of going to bed ought not to 
 be so late as to protract the time of waking till the 
 morning is far advanced : for the custom of early 
 rising is extremely conducive to health. 
 
 " When the muscles are fatigued by the labors or 
 exercise of the day, and the senses have for some 
 time been active, we stand in need of the vicissitude 
 of rest, particularly that of sleep, which is as it were 
 a periodical suspension of our existence : and the 
 ordinance of this expedient, so necessary for the sup- 
 port of animal life, is one of the wonders that excite 
 our admiration in surveying the works of the Crea- 
 tor. During a sound sleep, the senses, and the vol- 
 untary muscular motions are not exercised 5 but the 
 vital functions, such as respiration, and the circula- 
 tion of the blood, as well as digestion, and the other 
 natural functions, are regularly though more slowly 
 performed. While we are asleep, the motion of the 
 heart and the blood vessels, even the action of the 
 brain and the nervous system, as likewise the pecu- 
 liar motion of the stomach and intestines, and the se- 
 cretion of the fluids, are performed in an uniform 
 and steady manner. Previous to sleep, we per- 
 ceive a languor of the senses, of the muscles which 
 
59 
 
 are subject to our will, and of those also which keep 
 the body in an erect posture. The head inclines 
 downwards, the upper eye-hd and the lower jaw- 
 bone likewise sink ; the blood in the veins accumu- 
 lates towards the heart, and compels us to yawn, in 
 order to facilitate the transition of tlie blood into the 
 lungs by the deep breathing. The brain itself, as 
 the organ of the mind, appears to be fatigued ; hence 
 our ideas become irregular, and there arises a slight 
 imbecihty of the understanding. That the motions 
 of the heart are stronger during sleep, and that pers- 
 piration is more abundant, must be ascribed to the 
 warmth of the bed-clothes, by which the insensible 
 perspiration softens and relaxes the skin. 
 
 " As the senses are inactive during sleep ; as the 
 nervous energy is less expended, and its secretion 
 continued, a new supply of it is collected, and the 
 organs of sense, as well as the muscles, receive addi- 
 tional vigour. This occasions us to awake, particu- 
 larly if roused by any stimulus. While we are 
 asleep, the nutritive particles of the blood can more 
 easily attach themselves to the fibres, and fat also is 
 more easily generated, from the slower circulation of 
 the blood. After we have slept sufficiently, we are 
 apt on waking to stretch the limbs and joints, and 
 sometimes to yawn ; the former of these to restore 
 the equilibrium of the niucles, which had been affect- 
 ed during sleep ; and the latter from an instinctive 
 desire of promoting the circulation of tlie bloo4 
 
60 
 
 through the lungs, which was retarded during sleep. 
 Such is the process of nature in conducting the 
 transition from waking to sleep and back again, and 
 thence restoring both the body and mind to the grate- 
 ful vicissitudes of sense and action. 
 
 " To explain one remarkable phenomenon, which 
 frequently occurs during sleep, namely, that of 
 dreams, is a subject which has exercised the inge- 
 nuity of many physiological inquirers. These spor- 
 tive fancies are evidently vagaries of the imagination? 
 and take place only when our sleep is unsound. — 
 We seldom dream during the first hours of sleep ; 
 perhaps because the nervous fluid is then too much 
 exhausted ; but dreams mostly occur towards the 
 morning, when this fluid has been in some measure 
 restored. Every thing capable of interrupting the 
 tranquihty of the mind or body may produce dreams. 
 Such are affections, passions, and exertions of the 
 mind, crude and undigested food, he. Those ideas 
 which have lately occupied our mind, or made a 
 lively impression upon us, generally constitute the 
 principal subject of a dream, and more or less em- 
 ploy our imagination when we are asleep. Dreams 
 are, as it were a middle state between sleeping and 
 waking ; and when accompanied with startings, ab- 
 rupt and incoherent speeches, and a frequent change 
 of posture, they are often either the effect or the 
 forerunner of some indisposition. In general, how- 
 ever, they proceed from the irritation of the stomach. 
 
61 
 
 or intestinal canal. Sleep without dreams, of what- 
 ever kind they be, is more healthful than when at- 
 tended with these fancies. Yet dreams of an agree- 
 able kind promote the free circulation of the blood, 
 the digestion of the food, and a due state of perspira- 
 tion. 
 
 " To continue awake beyond a proper time con- 
 sumes the vital spirits, hurts the nerves, and causes 
 many uneasy sensations. The fluids of the body be- 
 come more acrid or sharp, the fat is consumed, and 
 there comes on at length a tendency to giddiness, 
 head-ach, and anxiety. Those who indulge them- 
 selves in much sleep are seldom liable to very strong 
 passions. Excess of sleep, however, is prejudicial. 
 The body sinks gradually into a complete state of 
 inactivity, the soHd parts become relaxed, the blood 
 circulates slowly, and remains particularly long in 
 the head. Perspiration is disordered, the body in- 
 creases in fat and thick humours, the memory is 
 enfeebled, and the person falls into such a state that 
 his sensibility is, in a great measure, destroyed." 
 
62 
 or CI.IJAM1.INSSS. 
 
 Among the means of extensive influence in the 
 preservation of health, a strict attention to cleanli- 
 ness is not to be considered as the least important. — 
 Uninterrupted perspiration is indispensable for the 
 security of health ; but it cannot long be maintained 
 without an uniform attention to cleanliness. The va- 
 pours which continually exhale through the pores 
 soon impregnate those parts of our apparel which 
 come in contact with the skin, and this is a frequent 
 cause of those cutaneous diseases which are often so 
 troublesome and difHcult of cure. Besides those 
 putrid vapours adhering to the skin are apt to be ab- 
 sorbed into the blood and thus becomes the source 
 of malignant fevers and other fatal diseases. Per- 
 sonal cleanliness is not only an amiable virtue, but a 
 source of much comfort and satisfaction to all who 
 pretend to the least degree of politeness and delica- 
 cy. With the laudable view of freeing the skin 
 from impurities the practice of washing the body in 
 cold or tepid water is highly to be commended. — 
 The usefulness of this mean of cleanhness is scarce- 
 ly to be conceived by those who have not experienc- 
 ed its advantages ; and those who have would not be 
 persuaded to relinquish the practice. 
 
63 
 
 OF CLOTHING, 
 
 In a climate so variable as that of the United 
 States, both the nature and the texture of the mate- 
 rials which compose our dress, merit more particular 
 consideration than in general is bestowed upon them. 
 Numerous diseases are to be ascribed to the want of 
 attention in accommodating our dress to the tempe- 
 rature of the climate, and to the various seasons and 
 vicissitudes of the weather. It ought to be varied 
 in point of thickness and warmth, according to the 
 sudden changes in the atmosphere which occur at 
 different seasons. It is however, not intended to in- 
 culcate a scrupulous nicety in changing the dress 
 with the daily fluctuations of the weather, but the 
 general precept, not to dispense with the winter 
 dress too early in the spring, nor retain that of the 
 summer till the approach of the boisterous season of 
 autumn, should be most strictly regarded. Those 
 who have a just conception of the baneful influcnct' 
 of intense cold, when applied to the skin, will duly 
 appreciate the precaution above suggested. It is 
 nevertheless, a question deserving of consideration, 
 whether in our variable climate, it is not [)referable 
 
64 
 
 to adopt a certain species of dress, that should serve 
 for all seasons, or at least, that the variation should 
 be very inconsiderable. With respect to the infirm, 
 the tender, and the aged, this mode is undoubtedly 
 the most eligible, but for the robust and youthful, 
 whose blood is warm, and perspiration free, a large 
 quantity of clothing is seldom requisite, and in the 
 hot season, it would prove tedious and inconvenient. 
 It is well known that delicate people when thinly 
 clad, experience the severest effects from the vicissi- 
 tudes of the weather ; hence we may infer the ab- 
 surdity of the airy* thin attire, which is imposed up- 
 on our females by the mandates of modern fashion. 
 
 Let those who inquire into the causes of the in- 
 creased prevalence of consumptions in the United 
 States, advert to the very essential deviation from 
 the more ancient customs and modes of dress ; and 
 to the adoption of such as are regulated only by the 
 industrious efforts of creative fancy, without con- 
 sulting their adaptation to the climate and vicissitudes 
 of seasons which continually vary from one extreme 
 to another. Let them compare the general healthi- 
 ness of the native Indians, among whom consumption 
 is scarcely known, with that of the great mass of 
 civilized society inhabiting the same parallels of lati- 
 tude, and subject to the influence of the vicissitudes 
 of the same climate. The primitive inhabitants are 
 inured from infancy, to all the severity of winter, and 
 the changes of the varied seasons, by customs and 
 
65 
 
 liabits, peculiarly their own, by which they are ren- 
 dered proof against the sudden attacks of disease. — 
 Whilst among the civilized and refined class of peo- 
 ple, it is customary to be immured within the walls of 
 close rooms heated by a fire, and to indulge on beds 
 of down under a weight of covering sufficient to re- 
 lax every fibre. From this situation it is not uncom- 
 mon to see our fashionable females, and even tender 
 children of both sexes, emerge into the cold atmos- 
 phere with their necks, breasts, and arms exposed to 
 the chiUing air of spring and autumn, while at the 
 same time, they exhibit all the colors of a rainbow. 
 It is to the baneful influence of the boisterous ele- 
 ments through most of the fall, winter, and spring 
 months, when destitute of sufficient clothing, that we 
 may attribute many of the physical evils to which we 
 are subject. 
 
 The Dutch are so sensible of the importance of 
 guarding the body against cold, that they wear more 
 than double the quantity of clothing that is customa- 
 ry in this country, and it is said that catarrhs, and 
 consumptions, are scarcely named in the catalogue 
 of diseases among those people. The inhabhants of 
 Canada are in the habit of wearing flannel next to 
 their skins, and when exposed to the severity of the 
 weathfM- they are wrapt in furs. Strangers who visit 
 our country from abroad, have frequently expressed 
 their astonishment at our thin dress, so very ill adapt- 
 ed to withstand the inclemency of the wuallier irt 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 this cold and variable climate and they were at m 
 loss to account for the coughs, catarrhs, and con- 
 sumptions, so prevalent among our inhabitants. The 
 mode of dress among our leaders in fashionable life, 
 cannot but appear strikingly inadequate to the salu- 
 tary purposes for which it is intended. It is not un- 
 common to see young gentlemen coming from a 
 warm close room, and exposing themselves to the 
 severity of cold easterly winds, storms, and night- 
 dews, with scarcely an additional garment. These 
 votaries of courteous gallantry, it would seem, are 
 more solicitous to display a handsome form, than to 
 adopt the means which Providence has put into their 
 power for the preservation of hfe and health. Nor 
 is the imprudent conduct among the other sex less 
 reprehensible. In preparing for an evening visit, it 
 is common for ladies to retire from a warm parlour 
 to a cold dressing room, and having changed a com- 
 fortable warm gown, for one of thin muslin with short 
 wide sieves, leaving the arms naked almost to the 
 shoulders, and the neck and breast bare, or covered 
 with thin lace, they walk through the streets with 
 thin shoes, by which their feet are unavoidably wet 
 and cold, and as the rules of politeness forbid their 
 drying them in presence of company, they sit a con- 
 siderable time in a shivering condition. At length, 
 tea being served about, and the fund of anecdote and 
 conversation exhausted, they retire from a warm 
 »Towded room, through the cold and damp night air. 
 
67 ! 
 
 and soon go shivering to bed. Who will be surpris- 
 ed that the consequences of such imprudent exposure, 
 are catarrhal affections of the chest and lunss, with 
 cough and Jioarseness, eventually terniinating in fa- 
 tal consumptions? " Motives of delicacy as well as 
 regard for health, have been repeatedly urged in 
 vain to enforce the necessity of relinquishing these 
 destructive habits ; the arguments of the moralist, 
 and of the physician having alike failed to convey 
 conviction ; hundreds, who would now have shone 
 forth among the loveliest of the sex, have been dres- 
 sed in shrouds, because in an evil hour, they laid 
 aside those parts of their apparel which health, as 
 well as decency, forbade them to relinquish." In 
 Scotland colds were extremely rare, and consump- 
 tions seldom met with until the thick warm Scottish 
 plaiding was relinquished for the thin English dresSj 
 these disorders became extremely rife, and are now, 
 perhaps even more frequent than in the other parts 
 of the British Island. The feet and chest are the 
 two parts of the body which are more especially lia- 
 ble to receive the ill impressions of cold and commu* 
 nicate them to the rest, and these at least should be 
 defended with the utmost care, by covering them 
 with flannel or fleecy hosiery. 
 
 There is another custom introduced among young 
 females, which ought to be noticed here for the ex- 
 press purpose of bestowing on it the severest rcpre* 
 hcnsion. It is that of wearing iron or other hard 
 
68 
 
 substance, called corslets^ against the breast bone 
 with the view of improving their shape. Could they 
 be made sensible of the folly, and absolute danger of 
 thus compressing the vital parts, they would readily 
 relinquish all claim to genteel appearance, rather than 
 incur the hazard which might attend the use of corse- 
 lets. Some instances of fatal accidents attributed to 
 this cause have been already announced. 
 
 From a just consideration of these circumstances, 
 the question may be readily solved, why consump- 
 tions have so greatly increased among our young 
 people of late years. 
 
 The perfection of dress considered merely as 
 such, consists in its being accommodated to the form 
 of the body without pressing or binding any part. — 
 Tight bandages about the neck are extremely detri- 
 mental. By impeding the circulation of the blood 
 they often produce head-ach, vertigo, and other 
 more dangerous complaints, and when applied to the 
 limbs, they prove injurious by hurting their growth, 
 and occasioning lameness and many inconveniences. 
 
 The inquiry is often made, what is the covering 
 most proper to be worn next the skin ? The advan- 
 tages and disadvantages of a flannel shirt, have re- 
 ceived such ample consideration of late years, that 
 little remains to be said on the subject, but to re- 
 commend the general employment of it, as one of 
 the most useful articles of wearing apparel. Expe- 
 rience has so fully evinced the utility of covering the 
 
69 
 
 sVin with flannel, that no person who has been habit- 
 uated to its use in our damp and variable climate, 
 can be persuaded to dispense with it at any season 
 of the year. It may not perhaps seem advisable to 
 recommend the use of flannel shirts indiscriminately 
 to infants, and young heahhy persons, but to those who 
 have passed the meridian of life, to persons of cold 
 and phlegmatic habits, to such as are subject to gout, 
 rheumatism, colds and catarrhs, and in short, to vale- 
 tudinarians of every description, this article of dress 
 should be considered as an indispensable requisite. 
 
 Linen shirts when worn a few days, are not only 
 liable to excite a sensation of coolness, but to ob- 
 struct perspiration, which effect it produces in pro- 
 portion to the thickness of its texture. Flannel, on 
 account of the gentle friction which it occasions on 
 the skin, produces a moderate warmth, and promotes 
 perspiration, at the same time, on account of the po- 
 rous nature of its substance, the matter which it ab- 
 sorbs from the skin is easily evaporated. By its 
 gentle stimulus on the skin, flannel has the benefi- 
 cial effect of keeping the pores in a state the most 
 favourable to a uniform perspiration, and when by 
 brisk exercise, the body is covered with the matter 
 perspired, it passes off through flannel into the air, 
 and the skin remains dry and warm. But during a 
 profuse perspiration in linen shirts, the perspired 
 matter instead of being dispersed into the atmos- 
 phere, is retained by the linen, and not only clogs 
 
70 
 
 the pores, but excites a very disas^reeable sensation- 
 of chilliness, often followed by a violent cold, and 
 sometimes even fatal effects. As flannel from its 
 open texture is not liable to retain the moisture dis- 
 charged from the skin, people who wxar it, are far 
 more secure from taking cold on going into the open 
 air during profuse perspiration, than those who wear 
 linen shirts. 
 
 Prejudices have been excited against flannel by 
 some people imagining that it occasions weakness by 
 too much increasing perspiration, but when it is con- 
 sidered that perspiration can seldom be immoderate 
 as long as the skin remains dry, and that flannel tends 
 to preserve It in this state, the objection will not ap- 
 pear to be founded in truth. It Is granted that flan- 
 nel when first used excites an unpleasant sensation^ 
 and the skin is apt to become red and inflamed, but 
 this Inconvenience is of short duration, and will be 
 deemed a trivial objection by those who know its^ 
 many advantages. Instead of producing cutaneous 
 eruptions, as some have asserted, a flannel shirt by 
 preserving the pores open, and increasing perspira- 
 tion, tends greatly to remove. the cause of such aflec- 
 tions. In short, there are no disadvantages attend- 
 ing the use of this valuable substance, except the 
 wearer neglects to change it sufliciently often to pre- 
 vent its becoming disagreeable by being soiled and 
 .dirty. It ought to be changed twice a week. 
 
71 
 
 Such are thf? beneficial effects to be flerived from 
 tlie iisfi of flannel, that it may be strongly recom- 
 moiuled as a preserv^atlve of health ; it is well suitt^d 
 to all seasons, and may often render a cumbrous 
 upper dress unnecessary. As a remedy in diseases, 
 a fl.^.nnel shirt has been known to prove of great 
 utility in gouty, and particularly in rheumatic habits, 
 and in obstinate coughs attended with symptoms of 
 consumption. Upon the whole this article of drees, 
 considered both as a preservative, and remedy of 
 various diseases, merits a very general and extensive 
 employment.* 
 
 Cotton is an intermediate substance between linen 
 and wool, although it increases waimih and perspi- 
 ration, it is far from being conducive to the preser- 
 vation of health. A cotton shirt, is very liable to 
 imbibe and retain the matter of perspiration, and be- 
 ing accumulated in the form of a glutinous substance, 
 obstructs the pores of the skin, and affords opportu- 
 nity for the pers}>ired humours to be taken again into 
 the blood to the great injury of lieailh. Cotton 
 sto'^kings, for the same reason, are im})roper, and 
 both linen, and silk stockings, have nothing but taste 
 and fashion to recommend them. In fact, stockings 
 made of wool, are greatly to be preferred to all 
 
 • "Those ofTicers and •^oldiers ■\vlio wore flanrel waistcoats next 
 to their S;-.ins not oulv esc;tped cold;^, bii' d'sentarie^ arid o her con- 
 tagious di- order- ; while tho^c -hni wore none were soon carried 
 off by the dif>eas)e« to coninionly fatal in camps." — l)n. Rush. 
 
72 
 
 others, on account of warmth, and their quahty of 
 promoting an uniform perspiration. 
 
 The old maxim of keeping the head cool, and the 
 feet warm, is not to be regarded in its strict unquali- 
 fied sense. The covering for the head like the 
 other parts of the body, sliould be accommodated to 
 the state of the weather. There can liowever be 
 no disadvantage in general, in keeping it lightly and 
 thinly covered, and in many instances of young per- 
 sons, the natural covering may of itself be a sufficient 
 protection in moderate weather : and indeed, those 
 who accustom themselves to wear thick warm caps 
 in common, render their heads unnaturally sensible 
 to all changes of the atmosphere. There are never- 
 theless, certain persons who suffer extreme incon- 
 venience from the w^ant of some moderately warm 
 covering for the head : deafness, head-ach, and 
 many other complaints are on some occasions to be 
 attributed to this cause. The best general rule 
 therefore,' is, to avoid the two extremes of great 
 heat, or improper exposure to cold, and when expe- 
 rience evinces the necessity of it, some proper cov- 
 ering, as a cap or wig ought to be adopted. In cold 
 weather, it will be proper to cover the head at night 
 with a cotton or flannel cap, in order to preserve 
 that part in an uniform temperature with the rest of 
 the body. 
 
 It is a point of great importance during a hot sea- 
 son, to have the head properly guarded against the 
 
73 
 
 intense vertical rays of the sun, as inflammation of the 
 brain, and even fatal consequences have been known 
 to ensue from an exposure to their influence. The 
 common black hats with very narrow brims, wliich 
 are sanctioned by the present fashion, are evidently 
 ill calculated to shield the head from the solar rays. 
 White, or light coloured hats, as they have greater 
 power of reflecting the heat, ought in summer to be 
 preferred to black, and the brims should be lined 
 with green silk and sufficiently wide to protect the 
 eyes and face. 
 
 The keeping the feet warm and dry, is to be con- 
 sidered as of the greatest importance, since nume- 
 rous diseases owe their origin to a want of care and 
 attention in this respect. In consequence of wet 
 and cold feet, the blood is accumulated towards the 
 head, a sensation of coldness over the whole body en- 
 sues, perspiration is obstructed, and not unfrequenily 
 a foundation is thus laid for incurable diseases. — 
 The feet therefore, ought to be kept somewhat 
 warmer than the rest of the body. 
 
 Having said thus much relative to the materials 
 of our dress, it remains to be observed, that the 
 quantity must be determined by personal experience, 
 as no general rule can be prescribed that will apply 
 to every individual. It will however, be found a 
 most salutary precaution on all occasions, so to in- 
 crease, or diminish, the outer garments, that the 
 body may, as nearly as possible, be })re.served in a 
 
*4 
 
 natural and uniform temperature in all seasons ol the 
 year. 
 
 It may be useful to make one remark here in be- 
 half of those who labour under the infirmities of old 
 age. Warm clothing, more especially warm bed 
 clothes, are indispensably necessary to preserve or 
 increase the natural heat of old people. The late 
 Dr. Chovet of Philadelphia, who lived to be eighty- 
 five, says Dr. Rush, slept in a baize night gown, un- 
 der eight blankets, and a coverlet, in a stove room, 
 many years before he died. 
 
75 
 
 l>r THE MEANS or PRESERVING HEAZiTH^ 
 
 jelnd of obtaining IiONGEVmr. 
 
 The human species are continually obnoxious to 
 the shafts of death in various forms. Innumerable 
 dangers hang as by a hair over the destinies of man. 
 To the sure ravages of age are superadded pesti- 
 lence, casualties and disease as auxiharies, to baffle 
 the efforts of human wisdom, and accelerate the 
 great work of mortality. Although tenacious of life 
 and its enjoyments, man is accessary to his own 
 premature dissolution. Unmindful of the laws of 
 nature and morality, he yields himself a votary to li- 
 centiousness and vice, and plunges headlong down 
 the precipice of destruction. 
 
 To impress the mind forcibly with a sense of the 
 infinite wisdom of the great Author of our existence, 
 we may contemplate the following among the various 
 astonishing phenomena by which our being is per- 
 petuated. 
 
 The heart in a healthy person, contracts above 
 three thousand times in an hour, and at each con- 
 traction, expels into the aorta or great artery two 
 ounces of blood, vvhirh, according to Baron Hallcr, 
 is thrown with a velocity equal to one hundred and 
 
76 
 
 forty-nine feet in a minute, and overcomes the resist- 
 ance of all the arteries in the body. Thus the 
 quantity of blood equal to the whole mass contained 
 in the body passes through the heart fourteen times 
 i:i an hour, which is about once every four minutes. 
 This wonderful machine never ceases its alternate 
 motion of contraction and relaxation from the com- 
 mencement to the termination of our existence. Its 
 action is continued at the rate of one hundred thou- 
 sand strokes every twenty-four hours, overcoming a 
 great resistance at every stroke, and this without 
 wear or derangement for eighty years together ; nay, 
 in some instances, the period is protracted to more 
 than a century. And though the pulse become im- 
 perceptible and apparently extinguished, yet the 
 lieart still preserves its latent power, or susceptibility 
 of motion, and needs only to be gently excited b^' 
 suitable means to revive its action.'^ Such perpet- 
 
 * It is recorded of Ve^lltj*, a celebrated professor of anatomy, 
 and physician to Charles V. aboi>t the middle of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury, that a Spanish liobleman who had been his patient, was sup- 
 posed to have expired. Dissections were at that time deemed un- 
 lawful and even impious. Vesalius, however, had the address to 
 obtain leave to intoect the body with the laudable view of ascer- 
 *"'",ing the nature of the disea-e. On opening the thorax, he was 
 astonished to perceive symptoms of life, and even to recognize the 
 pulsatory motion of the heart. Vesalius was not only prosecuted 
 for murder, but that he might be punished with greater rigour, was 
 arraigned before the Inquisition for the crime of impiety. The 
 king however, interposed and enveu iiis valanM*' ?ife oii CQiulj'i'-^'i 
 of his making a pilgrimage to the holy land. 
 
77 
 
 ual motion and friction as the heart sustains would 
 in a short period, grind to atoms the hardest steel. — 
 No one therefore, can be surprised that human life is 
 as a sliadow or a spider's web, and our continuance 
 here extremely precarious. There is, nevertheless; 
 implanted in the human breast an unconquerable 
 abhorrence of death, and a radical principal, by which 
 we are attached to this mortal state, although we suf- 
 fer pain, and sorrow, and all the infirmities of ex- 
 treme old age, and the numerous calamities which 
 afflict mankind. In a moral point of view longevity 
 must be estimated as an object of the utmost impor- 
 tance, as it carries man forward to a period when 
 the violence of the most impetuous passions have 
 subsided, and the temptations to irregular and dan- 
 gerous inclinations can have little influence on the 
 heart j when the affections of the soul are weaned 
 from this transitory state, and a more favourable op- 
 portunity is afforded of preparing it for the enjoyment 
 of the promised life everlasting. Since by the con- 
 stitution of our nature, we are solicitous of protrac- 
 ting the short span, it becomes both our duty and in- 
 terest, to examine minutely into the various means 
 by which health and length of days may be obtained. 
 It is first to be remarked, that lo!igcvity in most 
 instances, is to be ascribed to an hereditary dispo- 
 sition, or an innate principle, dilhcult to be explain- 
 ed, but which like many lamily diseases, is propagat- 
 ed from one generation to another. Healthy long 
 
78 
 
 liv^ed parents, commonly transmit to their ofi'spring 
 the same inestimable inheritance, and it would be 
 more frequently enjoyed, were it not for their own 
 habitual irregularities, which so evidently tend to the 
 abbreviation of human life. 
 
 A circumstance of essential importance in the at- 
 tainment of longevity, is the judicious management 
 and nursing the buman frame in the earliest days of 
 animal existence, and great will be its infiuence, 
 during the subsequent periods of life. The injudi- 
 cious conduct of some parents, and nurses, during 
 infancy, and the early years of childhood, too fre- 
 quently lays the foundation of those numerous dis- 
 eases, which at maturer age arise from indigestion, 
 and have in many families become hereditary. 
 
 A system of rules most essentially necessary to 
 be observed, in order to preserve health, and life, 
 may be found in the observations contained in the 
 preceding chapters, on the six nonnaturals as they 
 are termed, and these have been so amply examined 
 and detailed, that little remains to be added, though 
 it may be useful and proper to recapitulate a few 
 particulars. 
 
 It will be found in many instances altogether im- 
 practicable to conform rigidly to all the salutary rules 
 above referred to, but it may be remarked, that a 
 temperate climate, moderate exercise, pure country 
 air, clothing adapted to the season and vicissitudes 
 of weather, a strict regard to temperance, together 
 
7# 
 
 \\\[]\ a prudent regulation of the passions, will prove 
 the most efficacious in protracting life to its utmost 
 limits. All extremes should be avoided, as unfriend- 
 ly to health and longevity. Excessive heat ener- 
 vates the body ; extreme cold renders it torpid : in- 
 dolence and inactivity tend to clog the necessary 
 movements of the machine, and incessant labour soon 
 wears down the springs of life. Another essential 
 circumstance to be regarded by those who are can- 
 didates for long life, Is the choice of a particular sit- 
 uation for residence ; it should be elevated and dry, 
 open to a free ventilation by the winds, at a proper 
 distance from low swampy ground, or stagnant wa- 
 ters, and where a dry and salubrious air can be en- 
 joyed, and if near the sea shore, the situation will 
 probably be still more heaUliful. 
 
 The most efficacious means of preventing diseases^ 
 and prolonging life, are those most nearly connected 
 with the moral virtues. A course of licentiousness, 
 intemj)erance, and voluptuousness, has a direct ten- 
 dency to undermine the constitution, to generate dis- 
 eases, and to shorten the duration of life. The ha- 
 bitual indulgence of a lascivious disposition, and a 
 oromiscuous sexual intercourse, esper ially in persons 
 not arrived at the age of maturity, seldom fail to ex- 
 haust the vital energy, to enervate the system, and 
 lay a foundation for imbcciliiy, and numerous dis*^ 
 p;\ses. 
 
80 
 
 The absurd idea was in former times prevalent, 
 that blood letting, at certain seasons, is useful and 
 necessary to the prolongation of human life. It was 
 even supposed by many, that the impurities of the 
 blood may be drawn off, and the remainder of the 
 mass, thereby rendered more pure, but this ridicu- 
 lous fancy, finds no countenance in modern times ; 
 on the contrary it is a well estabhshed principle, that 
 blood letting is never requisite, but often detrimental 
 to those who are in health. Experience has long 
 since determined the fact, that persons habituated to 
 the loss of blood from the system at certain seasons, 
 cannot relinquish the practice without incurring dan- 
 ger of the most serious consequences. Still more pre- 
 posterous, were the schemes of Paracelsus, and his 
 contemporaries, who fabricated numerous nostrums, 
 and arcanums, the efficacy of which they highly ex- 
 toiled for the procurement even of antideluvian lon- 
 gevity. This celebrated insurer of the lives of others, 
 became himself a victim to death before his 50th 
 year, leaving his deluded survivors, under the sad 
 conviction, that all their art, the offspring of super- 
 stition and imposlui'e, is inadequate to the purchase 
 of health and long hfe, but that both may be barter- 
 ed, and trifled away, for pernicious enjoyments. 
 
 The plain diet, and the employments of a country 
 life, are highly conducive to health and longevity ; 
 while the luxury and refinements of large cities, are 
 equally destructive to the Inmiao species. In proof 
 
81 
 
 of this assertion, let the comparison be made between 
 the sedentary, and dehcate youths, of both sexes in 
 populous seaport towns, and the athletic, robust la- 
 bourers, who spend their days on farms in the coun- 
 try, and are constantly active in walking, riding, and 
 other exercise so essentially necessary to expand the 
 chest, to strengthen the lungs, and invigorate the 
 system. INIuch depends on wholesome diet for the 
 preservation of health, and consequently for the at- 
 tainment of long life. It is however, not absolutely- 
 necessary to conform strictly to certain rules and 
 forms in this article. A proper mixture of animal 
 and vegetable food, appears to be the best calculated 
 to subserve the purposes of nature, and in general 
 the most congenial to the human constitution. Sut h 
 however, is ll-e diversity ci Constitutions, snd ^»K'h 
 the intluence of custom and habit, that the same 
 mode of living, which in one individual, is happily 
 adapted, would in another prove extremely detri- 
 mental. The term wholesome, as applied to food, 
 is to be understood in a relative sense, and the ap- 
 plication in each individual instance must be deter- 
 mined by experience and observation. 
 
 The nauseous and disgusting practice of chewing 
 or smoking tobacco, is in many constitutions produc- 
 tive of unfavourable consecjuences ; it is partictda; ly 
 prejudicial to persons of weak digestion, or delicate 
 habits, and to those who are jnedisposed to consump- 
 rive complaints. In every instance where the use of 
 
82 
 
 tobacco produces an uncommon discharge of saliva^ 
 (that fluid so necessary in the process of digestion,) 
 its narcotic effects are more powerfully exerted, by 
 which the tone of the stomach is weakened, and 
 every kind of dyspeptic symptoms are produced. 
 
 The employment of cosmetics for the purpose of 
 beautifying the skin, which was more fashionable 
 formerly than at the present day among a certain 
 class of females, is to be reprobated as extremely 
 prejudicial to health. Most of the articles of this 
 description, which have been obtruded on the pubhc 
 attention, consist of pernicious metalic ingredients, 
 such as the preparations of lead, and other delete- 
 rious poisons, the application of which to the skin, is 
 in the highest degree injurious to the genuine com-- 
 piexion which they affect to improve. These appli- 
 cations are likewise no less prejudicial to the health ; 
 and when the painting is extended over the surface 
 of the breast, it has in some instances been found to 
 prove even fatal, by repelling the humours, and com- 
 municating their poisonous qualities to the lungs, and 
 other vital parts. 
 
 It appears from observation founded on expe- 
 rience, that if we can pass a certain period of life in 
 the fulness of health and vigour, the probability is 
 greatly in favor of hving to a considerable age. — 
 This critical period, is supposed to be in most con- 
 stitutions, about the G3d year, and it is a just obser- 
 vation, that the human constitution begins at that 
 
83 
 
 'time, if not sooner, to experience a rapid decay of 
 strength and energy. 
 
 The habit of etirly rising from bed, daily exercise, 
 or moderate labour, are among the salutary means to 
 be recommended for the preservation of health, and 
 the prolonging of life. It has been asserted that in 
 every instance of remarkable longevity, the person 
 had been from his youth accustomed to early rising. 
 Uniformity in the state of the atmosphere, particu- 
 larly in regard to heat and cold, the avoidance of 
 close hot rooms, the keeping the feet warm and dry, 
 all contribute in a considerable degree to the enjoy- 
 ment of health and the duration of hfe. These with 
 moderation in every thing that relates to both body 
 and mind, a rigid adherence to the habits of virtue, 
 and in every vicissitude to endeavour as much as pos- 
 sible to preserve a calm and tranquil state of mind, 
 constitute the means of greatest efficacy for the at- 
 tainment of that healthy condition which is the most 
 favourable to a happy longevity. 
 
84 
 
 ON BilTHIir« A372> SWIMMimG* 
 
 Were I to collect encomiums on bathing, that 
 have been published by writers on physic, philoso- 
 phy and education, I shouW fill a considerable vol- 
 ume. It is remarkable, that all, without exception, 
 recommend it : but more singular, that httle or no 
 attention is paid to it almost every where. The ex- 
 perience of ages has taught us, that the cold bath is 
 astonishingly conducive to health ; the example of 
 the ancients, who had a bath in almost every house, 
 or at least frequented the public baths ; the religious 
 use of the bath among the Jews and Mahommedans, 
 an use founded on sound policy ; the practice of our 
 ancestors, who rendered their new born infants har- 
 dy in plunging them into the cold brook ; the almost 
 universal habit of bathing in rude and half civilized 
 nations, to whom we are far inferiour in bodily 
 strength and health ; and the concordant testimonies 
 of ancient and modern physicians in recommenda- 
 tion of the bath ; all should excite us, to pursue the 
 beneficial practice. But unfortunately our prejudi- 
 ces have almost estabhshed it as a law of decorum, 
 to refrain from bathing, because, as we have no pub- 
 
85 
 
 lie buildings for the purpose, the bather must strip 
 himself in the open air : unless at a few places of 
 public resort, where it is tolerated for its medicinal 
 usos, yet of which scarcely any but the wealthy and 
 idle can avail themselves. Thus we carry about us 
 ail our lives a coat of dirt, the very idea of which is 
 sufficient to excite disgust, and, in the words of 
 Frank, from which, as from the annual circles of a 
 tree, a man's age might be lold. 
 
 Is not this universal want of cleanliness, with re- 
 gard to all parts that are not immediately exposed to 
 view, intolerable ? Does it appear credible, that it 
 should exist in a civilized nation, where it is deemed 
 a disgrace to wear dirty clothes ? Surely, to cover 
 with clean garments the filth, which adheres to the 
 whole surface of the body, displays little of the true 
 spirit of cleanliness. 
 
 Unzer says of people, who indulge in dirt out of 
 affectation, that they deserve to be treated as ob- 
 jects of general contempt. In my opinion, the gen- 
 eral custom of leaving th^ greater part of the bo<iy 
 unwashed from the f radle to the grave merits it m 
 an equal degree. At least let us not divulge this to 
 the unpolished inhabitants of the Pelew Islands, who 
 every morning, at sunrise, lave their bodies in tiiat 
 elcnijul, which was not forineu for the fish alone ; 
 for they would despise us. 
 
 Anotiier consequence of neglect of bathing is, that 
 it affects the health, which cannot be preserved with- 
 8 
 
86 
 
 out perfect cleanliness. Our body, while we are in 
 health, is constantly perspiring a viscous fluid, which 
 adheres to the skin, and, on those parts that are un- 
 covered, unites with the dust and dirt floating in the 
 air, so as to begrime the face, neck, and hands. — 
 Hence we are obhged frequently to wash these parts. 
 But those parts of the body, which are covered, 
 commonly perspire most ; our clothes cannot entirely 
 keep off the dust, which gradually insinuates itself 
 through and between them ; and besides, from the 
 continual motion and friction, to which our clothes 
 are exposed, fine particles are ever wearing off from 
 them, and increase the quantity of dust, that unites 
 with the perspirable fluid, and thus form a crust 
 over the whole body. Thus washing the covered 
 parts is at least equally necessary ; and the most 
 commodious way of doing this is the bath. 
 
 We need insist on nothing more, than the obstruc- 
 tion of perspiration, necessarily consequent to a neg- 
 lect of this. Every one knows the bad effects of 
 this obstruction ; colds, coughs, tooth-ach, head-ach, 
 rheumatic pains, sore throat, inflammation of the 
 eyes, cutaneous diseases of different kinds, he. We 
 are now accustomed to these complaints, and fancy 
 they are incident to our nature ; while scarcely any 
 one thinks of ascribing them to that want of cleanli- 
 ness, which generally prevails, and to which, in 
 great measure at least, they are owing. It is indeed 
 clear, that many of our diseases arise from our neg 
 
87 
 
 lect of cleaning the skin, and the obstruction of per- 
 spiration thence ensuing : consequently a considera- 
 ble portion of human misery might be prevented, 
 were the practice of bathing introduced into private 
 families, and encouraged by public accommoda- 
 tions. 
 
 When an individual has apparently lost his Hfe by 
 drowning, intense cold, or noxious vapours, we think- 
 highly of his restoration, and not without reason. — 
 Institutions for the recovery of such of our uniortu- 
 nate fellow creatures are estabhshed in various pla- 
 ces, and instructions for the purpose are liberally dis- 
 persed. Let us then act consistently. Surely to 
 secure the health of millions is of far greater impor- 
 tance, than to recall to life a few individuals, to some 
 of whom the boon may be little worth acceptance. 
 
 For my part, I consider the cold bath as an essen- 
 tial object in a good physical education ; and a batli- 
 ing place, as an indispensable appendage to a public 
 school. A particular building, for the purpose, how- 
 ever, is unnecessary ; a safe, retired spot appears to 
 me sufficient. V/ere children permitted to bathe In 
 such a place under proper inspection, they would 
 have no temptation, to evade the father's eye, and fill 
 the mother's heart with alarm. How many promis- 
 ing youths are annually lost to their country, merely 
 from the want of such institutions ! 
 
 No doubt I shall have many ready to start objec- 
 tions here : such as, bathing is not every where 
 
86 
 
 practicable, because water is wanting : who will take 
 upon himself the charge of superintendance? who will 
 defray the expense of bathing dresses ? These and 
 similar objections only show, that men do not take 
 up the matter in earnest, and consider education pro- 
 perly so called, as far as tuition is out of the question, 
 with an indiiFerence little to their honour. 
 
 The advantage, which youth would derive from 
 t])e cold bath, is not difficult to comprehend. I say- 
 expressly the cold bath : for I v/ould not employ for 
 the purpose the water warmed by the sun of a sum- 
 mer afternoon but the much cooler stream of the 
 early morning. This braces ever}^ muscle, and 
 every nerve ; imparts to the body a powerful capac- 
 ity of supporting cold ; steels the skin, on the tensity 
 or laxness of which so much depends, against the in- 
 fluence of the air, and renders it fit for the exercise 
 of its natural function, perspiration ; refreshes the 
 whole system ; gives alertness to the body, and ani- 
 mation to the spirits ; and is particularly serviceable 
 for coohng the blood in the heat of summer. 
 
 Still there may be timid parents, who will be ap- 
 prehensive of colds, coughs and other diseases, from 
 the cold bath. To these I shall offer the result of my 
 own experience. I have now for several years seen 
 about thirty young persons in the habit of bathing, 
 not in summer merely, but through the whole of au- 
 tumn, till winter ; in the most sultry weather, in 
 showers of rain, and on cold days, when the ground 
 
89 
 
 was covered thick with rime, and the puddles of wa- 
 ter were frozen over ; once indeed a little before 
 Christinas, on a sudden thaw, in a pond were the ice 
 was an incli tliick, through which the bathers broke a 
 hole in the middle with a large stick, while what re- 
 mained around it was strong enough to bear thern, 
 and another time in a deep collection of snow-water, 
 both at their urgent intreaty.* Brought up myself 
 too tenderly, and not early emancipated from the 
 prejudices thus imbibed, I have paid strict attention 
 to the subject ; and to the question, ' is such a prac- 
 tice free from danger ?' Experience has uniformly 
 answered me, with very few modifications, ' it is not 
 only free from danger, but beneficial to the health.' — 
 So far from either cold, or cough, or any other dis- 
 order ensuing from it ; I have found, that those, who 
 adopted this powerful preservative of health, scarcely 
 knew the meaning of catching cold, which most peo- 
 ple dread like the plague. 
 
 Among us Germans, or rather among us polished Eu- 
 ropeans, instances of this kind are very rare. AVe hear 
 with astonishment of the Russian, who runs reeking 
 from his stove, to bathe himself in the snow, and as- 
 cribe this to his hard and savage nature. But to be 
 healthy ; is not to be savage ; and health is far more 
 to be {)rized, than all effeminate refinement, than all 
 
 * 'I his very day, the 19th of February, 1799, there are four 
 boys bathing thein-eJves in a pond of snow-water, in a field beliin*! 
 my hou^e, which UhI week was covered with ukaiern.— I". 
 8* 
 
90 
 
 the polish of taste. Of memorable examples I shall 
 quote just one more. 
 
 Oil the 8th of August, 1791, a little girl was born 
 at Schnepfenthal. Her father named her Thusnelda 
 Gertrude. She was a lively little thing. When she 
 was six or seven days old, he bathed her in a cold 
 spring, and repeated this every second or third day. 
 Before this she had constantly respired the pure and 
 cool air, often been exposed to it naked, and fre- 
 quently washed with cold water. From the first the 
 child regarded it but little ; for the feeling of infants 
 is not very acute, and still less unstrung to nervous 
 debility : though she cried sometimes. By degrees, 
 however, it became so habitual, that she seldom ut- 
 tered a single cry. The weather grew cold, winter 
 came, and the water was often covered with ice ; 
 yet Thusnelda bore it very welL In the mean time 
 she was often carried out half or quite naked, in 
 wind, and rain, and snow. Pardon me tender moth- 
 ers, ever in anxiety for your darlings, if I here set 
 before you an example, which has the appearance of 
 being borrowed from the true ancient Germans, and 
 is so diametrically opposite to your principles of phy- 
 sical education. Thusnelda enjoyed such uninter- 
 rupted plenitude of health, and such strength of bo- 
 dy, as I scarcely ever observed in a child of her age. 
 Often have I thought, as 1 beheld her, our sturdy 
 forefathers were in the right, to bring up their child- 
 ren hardily ; for, according to all appearance, hardy 
 treatment is the only true way to health. 
 
91 
 
 Accordingly, we choose a convenient place in the 
 neighboring river, lor ponds are not so agreeable. — 
 The banks are skreened by bushes. The depth 
 with whi. h we are well acquainted, is not too great, 
 yet sufficient to admit of diving; and the current is 
 gentle. The bank is perpendicular, and a few feet 
 hie;h, so as to afford a commodious situation for leap- 
 ins into the water. We undress ourselves singly be- 
 hind the bushes, and put on a pair of linen drawers, 
 reachins only half way down the thigh. We are not 
 afraid of disordering our hair, for it is merely comb- 
 ed in the simplest manner. The following rules 
 are deduced from my own experience with young 
 persons. 
 
 1. A gradual progress should be observed. Be- 
 ginners should be first taken to bathe in the latter 
 part of a hot summer afternoon, because the water 
 is then warmest. But, 
 
 2. The best time for bathing is the morning ; very 
 early, if possible ; but on no account just after a 
 meal. 
 
 3. The master will never suffer his pupils to go 
 into the water when they are hot, but takes care, 
 that they suffer themselves to grow cool first. This 
 he can as(;ertain by examining their armpits. 
 
 4. It is most eligible, to leap into the water, and 
 plunge the whole body under it instantly. They 
 who cannot do this, may throw the water over their 
 heads with both hands. Divine;, however, requires 
 
92 
 
 but little previous exercise ; merely that of dipping 
 the head frequently, and then crawling along under 
 the water. When a person has acquired a Jacility 
 at this, he will soon be able to move himself under 
 water at pleasure, and in a very little time will learn to 
 leap into the water head foremost, and dart away 
 like a fish. 
 
 5. Five or ten minutes are sufncient to refresh 
 the body, and strengthen the nerves. A pair of 
 worsted gloves, or a piece of flannel, should be used 
 to rub the skin, which will then be cleansed and in- 
 vigorated. 
 
 6. I do not think it necessary to refrain from bath- 
 ing on account of a cold, or cough ; but such a case 
 w^ill seldom occur, for young persons, who are in the 
 habit of using the cold bath, seldom know any thing 
 of these complaints, if their way of life be in other 
 respects answerable to this practice.* 
 
 7. Every person, who bathes, should wipe him- 
 self dry as soon as he gets out of the water, and 
 dress himself speedily. A little exercise after it is 
 beneficial : if the bathing place be a quarter an hour's 
 walk from the house, the returning home is suffi- 
 cient. 
 
 These few simple rules, according to ray expe- 
 rience, are quite sufficient. 
 
 * I can aver, that I have often found washing the whole of the 
 upper part of the body, neck, arms and shoalders, with very cold 
 water, of excellent use in catarrhal complaints, and have cured a 
 hoarseness by this method. 
 
93 
 
 But the summer passes awav, and autumn arrives. 
 No matter : time and practice create habit. I have 
 adduced instances above, and I can enga^fe, that 
 any boy, even though of a dehcate constitution, will 
 not only be able to persevere without difficulty, if 
 he bathe constantly every two or three days, but 
 will find it conduce greatly to fortify his health, and 
 strengthen his body. 
 
 For such of my readers, as are convinced of the 
 salubrity of this physical treatment, I do not mean to 
 exclude the winter. I am persuaded, that we may 
 bathe in the open air at all seasons :* but I would 
 not require too much. May all parents have this 
 regard for the health of their children, to let them 
 bathe at least once every week : water and a bath- 
 hig tub cost much less, than the medicine that will 
 be saved in general by the practice. 
 
 In all well regulated societies, bathing houses, for 
 the sake of health and cleanhness, are indispensable 
 in every town, and every village. A clean, firm, 
 undebilitatcd skin, is requisite to health ; and this is 
 best preserved by bathing. How desirable then 
 must it be to the poor and labouring class to have it 
 in their power, to frequent a cold bath at little cost, 
 or which is still better, at the public expense ! 
 
 From bathing to swimming the transition is easy. 
 Our pupils shall be kept diligently to their bathing, 
 
 * Poor Jewesses, \\h cannot afi'o U a bath in fh«ir own houses, 
 break the ice to '^nt into a pond era rive;-, and return home through 
 frost and buow, wiUbout injury. 
 
94 
 
 that tbey may learn to swim in the mean time. To 
 be able to preserve the life of a fellow creature is 
 surely a matter of exquisite delight : but what avail 
 injunctions, excitements, or public rewards, for res- 
 cuing a man from a watery grave ; or what the 
 strong impulse of our own humanity ; when we are 
 obliged to run about in quest of that assistance, 
 which we do not possess in our own facuhies f Nay, 
 if it were possible, that we could regard our own 
 safety alone, the utility of the art is too obvious, to 
 need farther recommendation. 
 
 The Athenians, when they would express the 
 idea of a man's knowing nothing, and being fit for 
 nothing, used to say, that he could neither read nor 
 swim. All beasts can swim : therefore swimming is 
 no art, but a natural faculty of the animal body, 
 which the Creator bestowed on it, because he knew 
 it must be perpetually exposed to tiie danger of fall- 
 ing into an element so generally abundant. Man 
 only, or rather the polished European, cannot; part- 
 ly because it never enters into his mind to attempt it, 
 partly because the natural faculty is more or less de- 
 stroyed by the physical treatment of his youth. This 
 is a serious charge, because it includes with the an- 
 nihilation of this faculty a number of diseases of the 
 thorax, by which multitudes are sent to the grave. 
 
 Scarcely is the infant come into the world, when 
 his chest is compressed. This vile fashion does not 
 cease here ; our usual dress, fastened across the 
 
95 
 
 breast, is a continuation of it. In this do we not act 
 diametrically opposite to nature ? She would have 
 our body obey its innate propensities to enlarsje : but 
 we confine it by our clothinc;. The breast-bone and 
 ribs are at first mere cartillages, and should extend 
 with the growth : the increasing lungs should contri- 
 bute to this by the act of respiration, enlarge the cav- 
 ities of the thorax, and assist in forming that beauti- 
 ful arched chest, which is commonly observed in 
 strong persons. But ilils we counteract, and acquire 
 a form very different from that of the son of Nature. 
 The diminution of the chest in consequence is tlje 
 occasion of many diseases of the thorax, as well as 
 of greater difficulty in acquiring the art of swimming. 
 Practice must supply what we have lost, and to this 
 I now proceed. 
 
 I cannot here omit the testimony of Dr. Franklin, 
 who was an excellent swimmer, as is given in the 
 words of Campe. ' Nothing, in fact,' says the latter, 
 * can be easier than learning to swim. Little more 
 is necessary, than the persuasion, that you can swim 
 if you will. This I was taught by the celebrated 
 Franklin, see his letters, when I was six and ihiriy 
 years old. On this authority I made the trial and 
 succeeded. He says, "All men can swim, as well 
 as all beasts : nothing more is requisite, than to 
 have the courage to put yourself into a proper posi- 
 tion, and make the same inolions with your hands 
 and feet as you see the frogs. But this couiageyou 
 
96 
 
 will not have, till you have found by experience, that 
 you can keep yourself afloat in this manner. To 
 make this experiment, walk into the water, where it 
 deepens gradually, till you are up to your middle, 
 and turn about your face to the shore. In this situa- 
 tion, you will not be afraid to throw yourself for- 
 wards, and imitate the known motions of swimming, 
 because you are certain, that you can soon reach the 
 ground, and raise yourself up whenever you please. 
 Thus you will soon find, that water has the power of 
 supporting you : you repeat the trial, and every time 
 yonr confidence increases : you gradually venture 
 farther and farther from the shore, and thus the 
 swiihmer is formed." 
 
 For my part, f was taught to swim by Christian 
 Augustus Wolf, of Halle, who travels about as a 
 professor of the art, and shall deliver what I learned 
 from him, and our practice here. 
 
 1. The learner should be accustomed frequently 
 to plunge the whole of his head under water. At 
 first this gives a kind of stunning sensation ; for 
 which reason it is very necessary, to be perfectly fa- 
 miliarized to it, us in Hrst learning to swim it will 
 unavoidably occur. But it should be carried far- 
 ther : the learner -hould try to swim under water, 
 and keep himself i;:ider as long as possible.* With 
 
 * This I can strongly recommend J ommy own experience ; and 
 I will add, that when once a person eta move his limbs with facili- 
 ty, slowly and regularly, under the wa^er, which requires nothing 
 
97 
 
 this view I have found it very advantageous, to draw 
 as much air into the lungs as possible immediately 
 before diving and let it out again slowly under 
 water. 
 
 2. If the water reach a little above the hips, it is 
 deep enough for swimming. The whole of the 
 place intended for bathing should be accurately ex- 
 amined ; and it would not be amiss, to drive in 
 stakes as a warning against deeper places. 
 
 3. It is hkewise necessary, to have a guide, who, 
 if he cannot swim, is not afraid of the water, and 
 may support beginners with his hand, placing it un- 
 der their belly opposite the short ribs, that they may 
 learn to move their legs and arms without fear of 
 sinking. 
 
 4. When the learner has acquired some expert- 
 
 but coolness and resolution, all that is necessary for him is. to hold 
 his head back, so as to bring his face nearly as perpendicular to the 
 horizon, and in striking his hands forward, to carry them as near as 
 may be to the surface, without raising them out of the water; when 
 he will find, that he can swim. At first, it is true, he will be able 
 to swim perhaps but a very little way : but let him not be discour- 
 aged at this, all unusual motions are at first difficult and laborious, 
 but pi-actice soon renders them easy. ISTo-jt beginners exhaust 
 themselves by striking very quickly, in order to prevent their sink- 
 ing: but let them confide in the buoyancy of the water, of which 
 tliey may e^>^ily be convinced by their own experience, and by re- 
 flection on its specific <rravity, which i^ in general somewhat more 
 th;tn thai of their own bodies ; and remember, that the more slowly 
 tiicv move their limlin, the less they will fatigue them, and the les* 
 !ial)lfc they will be to move then> improperly. — T. 
 
 9 
 
98 
 
 iiess at this, and the guide feels, that he bears less 
 upon his hand, a cord should be fastened to a belt 
 passing round the body at the armpits, and while the 
 guide has hold of the end of this, he should go on 
 till the water is up to his neck, or even till he is out 
 of his depth. Here he will exert his powers, and 
 commonly learn to swim in a short time. I have 
 seen ten or a dozen boys, who had practised swim- 
 ming with the support of the guide's hand for some 
 months, or even years, to no purpose, who were thus 
 rendered swimmers in a few lessons. 
 
 5. In swimming on the belly the body hes in an 
 inclined position, the feet being deepest, and the 
 head being thrown back, so that the chin is above 
 the water, while the eyes look forward along its sur- 
 face, not down into it. Neither the hands nor feet 
 should come out of the water. The fingers and 
 thumb of each hand being close together, and the 
 elbows bent, the two thumbs should be brought into 
 contact, or the hands laid one upon the other, and 
 thus, keeping the surfaces in a horizontal position, 
 they should be thrust forward as near the surface of 
 the water as possible, till the arms are extended in a 
 straight line. At this point the hands should be 
 turned so as to be nearly perpendicular to the plane 
 of the horizon, the thumbs being downward, and the 
 fingers being very slightly bent so as for the inside 
 of the hand to form a trifling hollow ; and in this 
 manner they should be moved in a curve first out- 
 
99 
 
 wards and then backwards. While the hands are 
 pushed forwards, the heels are to be drawn up to- 
 wards the buttocks, either keeping them close to- 
 gether, or which is the practice of the best swimmers, 
 crossing the legs at the small ; and while the hands 
 are moving outwards and backwards, the feet should 
 be moved outwards and backwards likewise, the 
 soles pushing against the water, till the legs are 
 brought close together in an extended position, 
 which finishes the stroke. The same proceeding is 
 to be repeated, as often as you please ; taking care, 
 that the hands and feet move regularly, slowly, and 
 at the same time : by the first their effect will be 
 more uniform ; by the second, less fatiguing ; and 
 by the third, more forcible. 
 
 6. In swimming on the back likewise the body is 
 in a shghtly inclined position, the feet being lower 
 than the head, and the face alone being above the 
 water. The arms being laid along close by the 
 sides, to increase the surface of the body, the knees 
 are to be drawn up till they make a right angle with 
 the body, keeping them close together so that they 
 will appear above the water. This is the prepara- 
 tion for the stroke, which is to be given by separat- 
 ing them from each other, and pushing against the 
 water with the soles of the feet, in the same manner 
 as in swimming upon the belly. 
 
 This mode of swimming is very commodious when 
 the swimmer begins to be fatigued, as the arms are 
 
100 
 
 perfectly at rest, and a considerable interval may be 
 allowed between the strokes with the feet, as the bo- 
 dy remains suspended in this posture for some time, 
 the feet sinking very gradually. 
 
 If you want to rest the legs, you may keep your- 
 self afloat, by laying on the back as nearly as possi- 
 ble in a horizontal position, and moving the hands on 
 each side in very short but pretty quick strokes, 
 holding them in the same position as when you swim 
 on the belly. 
 
 If a person should be seized with the cramp in the 
 leg while swimming, Dr. Franklin recommends 
 while thus lying on the back to lift the leg out of the 
 water, and give it a sudden, vigorous, and violent 
 jerk in the air. 
 
 Treading water, as it is called, is another mode of 
 resting. To perform this, the swimmer suffers his 
 feet to sink till his whole body is in an erect position, 
 and then he raises his feet a httle way and depresses 
 them alternately, as a man does when he sets any 
 machinery in motion by means of two treadles, at 
 the same time moving his hands up and down in a 
 similar manner just before him, the elbows being 
 bent. 
 
 When a person is tolerably expert at swimming, 
 it will be highly advisable for him, to practice occa- 
 sionally with all his clothes on, as he will most pro- 
 bably be in this situation, if at any time he should fall 
 into the water by accident. My teacher never 
 
101 
 
 swims without a linen jacket, and long trowsers •; 
 and he assures me, that he can swim in his great 
 coat and boots. 
 
 Young persons after they are capable of swimming, 
 should practice leaping into the water from consider- 
 able heights, since this may be useful to them in va- 
 rious cases. In this no farther instructions are ne- 
 cessary, than to begin whh little heights, take care 
 not to fall on the belly, and, if you leap in head fore- 
 most, to protect the forehead from the stroke of the 
 water with one hand.* It is safest likew^ise to keep 
 the legs close together. — Salzmann. 
 
 ^ If the two hands be joined, and held just above the forepart of 
 the head, this I should think unnecessary. It is requisite, however, 
 that the water should be of a sufficient depth, proportionable to the 
 height from which you leap. I remember when a youth, on leap- 
 ing from a bridge into a river about eight or nine feet deep, I struck 
 the crown of my head a smart blow against a broad stone at the bot- 
 tom; this, had the place from which I leaped been higher, or had the 
 stone been pointed instead of flat, might have been attended with 
 serious consequences. Perhaps the best way of leaping into the wa- 
 ter, on several accounts, if the height be at all considerable, is with 
 the feet foremost, taking particular care, to keep the legs close, and 
 folding the arms acrost the breast. — T. 
 
102 
 
 GZ.OSSAR-S-. 
 
 A. 
 
 Abdomen. The belly. 
 
 Acidity. Sourness. 
 
 Acrid. Of a hot biting taste. 
 
 Acrimonious. Sharp. 
 
 Adulterate. To corrupt by some foreign admixture. 
 
 Antisceptic. Having the power to resist or correct 
 
 putrefaction. 
 Aqueous. Watery. 
 
 Aromatic. Spicy, fragrant, strong scented. 
 Artery. An artery is a conical canal, conveying the 
 
 blood from the heart into all parts of the body. 
 Asthmatic. Troubled with an asthma. 
 .^stringent. Binding, contracting. 
 Attenuate. Made thin, or slender. 
 
 C. 
 
 Calcination, Such amanagement of bodies by fire, 
 
 as renders them reducible to powder. 
 Carbon. Charcoal. 
 Catarrh. A disease of the head. 
 Cellular. Consisting of httle cells or cavities. 
 
103 
 
 Chyle. The white juice formed in the stomach by 
 
 digestion of the aliment. 
 C-}iicentrate. To collect into a narrow compass. 
 Condense. Thick, close, weighty. 
 Constringe. To contract, to bind. 
 Contaminate. To defile, or corrupt. 
 Costive. Bound in the body. 
 Crude. Raw, harsh, unripe. 
 Cutaneous. Of the skin. 
 
 D. 
 
 Diluted. To weaken with water. 
 
 Diuretic. Having the power to prov^oke urine. 
 
 Dyspeptic. Troubled with indigestion. 
 
 E. 
 
 Effluvia. Those particles which are continually fly- 
 ing off from bodies. 
 
 Emollient. Softening. 
 
 Exhale. To send or draw out vapours or fumes. 
 
 Exhalations. Tiie act of exhaling or sending out in 
 vapours. 
 
 Exhilarate. To make cheerful. 
 
 Equilibrium. Equipoise, equality of weight. 
 
 Exotic. Foreign, not produced in our country. 
 
 Farinaceous. Mealy. 
 Fdhrile. Constituting a fever. 
 
104 
 
 Fibre. The smallest organized part. 
 
 Filter. To strain. 
 
 Flatulent, Turgid with air, windy. 
 
 H. 
 
 Heterogeneous, Opposite, or dissimilar in nature. 
 Humour, The different kinds of moisture in man's 
 body. 
 
 L. 
 
 Laxative. Having the power to reUeve costiveness. 
 Leguminous. Belonging to pulse. 
 
 M. 
 
 Membrane. A web of several sorts of fibres inter- 
 woven together, for the covering and wrapping up 
 some parts. 
 
 Mitigate. To soften ; to alleviate. 
 
 Mucilage. A slimy, or vicous mass. 
 
 Muscles. The fleshy fibrous part of an animal body,, 
 the immediate instrument of motion. 
 
 N. 
 
 JVauseous. Loathsome. 
 
 JVostrum. A medicine known only to one* 
 
 O. 
 
 Obtund. To blunt, to dull, to quell, to deaden. 
 Oxygen. Basis of vital air, acidifying principle, S2;c. 
 
105 
 
 P. 
 
 Phenomenon, An appearance. 
 Physical. Relating to nature. 
 Physiological. Relating to the doctrine of the nat- 
 ural constitution of things. 
 Phlegmatic. Abounding in phlegm. 
 Phlethoric. Replete with blood. 
 Pulmonic. Belonging to the lungs. 
 Putrescence. The state of rotting. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rancid. Strong scented. 
 S. 
 
 Saliva. Every thing that is spit up ; it more strictly 
 signifies that juice which is separated by the 
 glands, called Salival. 
 
 Satiety. Fullness beyond desire, or pleasure. 
 
 Secretion. The part of the animal economy that 
 consists in separating the various fluids of the bo- 
 dy ; the fluid secreted. 
 
 Soluble. Capable of dissolution, or separation of 
 parts. 
 
 Solution. Matter dissolved, that which contains 
 any thing dissolved. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tepid. Lukewarm, warm in a small degree- 
 Transition. Change. 
 
106 
 
 V. 
 
 T^aletudinarian. A person of delicate health. 
 
 Vanilla. A plant. 
 
 Vitiate. To make less pure. 
 
 Viscid. Glutinous. 
 
107 
 
 INDEX, 
 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Preface 
 
 3 
 
 Of Air, or Atmosphere 
 
 5 
 
 Of Insensible Perspiration 
 
 19 
 
 Of Food and Drink 
 
 24 
 
 Exercise 
 
 49 
 
 Sleep 
 
 66 
 
 Cleanliness 
 
 62 
 
 Clothing 
 
 63 
 
 Of the means of preserving Health, and of obtain- 
 
 
 ing Longevity 
 
 75 
 
 On Bathing and Swimming 
 
 84 
 
 Glossary 
 
 102 
 
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