and eel will move about as usual, for a day or two, without intestines; but these parts are so sensible and vital in the human frame, that the removal of them would occasion immediate death.

There is generally a connection between the colour of the eye, the hair, and the complexion among human beings. A black eye is usually accompanied by black hair, and a pale skin; a blue eye, by light hair, and a fresh complexion. The disposition and mental ability seem to be regulated, in some respects, by these peculiarities. The latter is more variable in temper, and less intellectual. But we are so much affected by education, and so much dependent on our own control, that a man may become, by practice, almost the opposite of what he was by birth, — most of our speculations, therefore, on the internal qualities of men by the external appearance, are liable to deception.

It has been supposed, by some persons, that the expression of the countenance, and the form of the cranium, will discover the habitual character of the mind and the passions. But these notions may be deemed, perhaps, rather fanciful than reasonable. Indeed, when the hypothesis is drawn out to such a length, that only to measure a man's head, and you will discover his history, it becomes rather ludicrous; and resembles the system of animal magnetism, which was supposed capable of discovering all mysteries, and curing all diseases. Health is a blessing of great importance to mankind. I shall allude to this subject in some of the follow ing chapters.

CHAP. II.

THE PRESERVATION OF HEALTH.- FOOD.

HEALTH is one of the greatest blessings which human beings can enjoy. The poor, the ignorant, the obscure man, who comes into life and dies as the flower of some unfrequented spot, may, with the possession of health, be vigorous, cheerful, and contented. But the rich, the man of learning and eminence, may be afflicted with sickness; and when his spirits are dull, when the pains of his body distort his features, and the silent season for repose brings no relief, but rather restlessness and anxiety, — wishing for the morning when it is evening, and for the evening when it is morning, then will he barter wealth, and learning, and splendour, for the more substantial blessing of rest and a healthful constitution.

The treatment of the human body, in regard to food, clothing, air, and exercise, is worthy of our attention. The cure of diseases belongs to the physician; the preservation of health to ourselves. I shall treat, in this chapter, on the nature and effects of food.

Human life may be supported on a very coarse and scanty diet. Dio Nicæus says, that the aboriginal inhabitants of this kingdom were accustomed to live on roots and the bark of trees. In an

Oxford prize poem the repast of one of the ancient Britons is thus described:

"On acorns shaken from the neighbouring oak, Or sapless bark, that from the trunk he broke, His meal he made; and in the cavern'd dell

Drank the hoarse wave that down the rough rocks fell."

The savages of Florida used to eat spiders, ants, worms, and serpents. They even devoured bones, which were ground into powder and mixed with water. Lopez de Gamar relates (according to Montesquieu), "that the Spaniards found near St. Martha several baskets of crabs, snails, grasshoppers, and locusts; which proved to be the ordinary provision of the natives." In New Caledonia the inhabitants eat spiders, and many other kinds of vermin. The Kalmuc Tartars and the natives of Tonquin eat snakes. The Bedouins feed on rats, locusts, and serpents. The ancient Syrians, and some of the Egyptians, used to eat crocodiles. Plutarch, in alluding to the hard living of the ancients, and the introduction of animal food, observes, "What wonder if we made use of flesh contrary to nature, when mud was eaten and the bark of trees; and when it was thought a happy thing to find any sprouting grass or the roots of plants ?”

The most wholesome and appropriate subsistence for human beings is a mixture of vegetable and animal food. The stomach is capable of digesting both; and this is one reason for concluding that nature has intended them for the use of

man. Among brutes, some are restricted to vegetable, and others to animal food. In these cases, the teeth and the stomach are calculated for masticating and digesting the one sort, but not the other. Many errors have arisen among mankind on the subject of diet. Some have supposed that the flesh of animals is more conducive to health; and others, that a vegetable diet is more innocent, and advantageous for the exercise of the bodily and mental powers. Both extremes, however, are injurious. There should be a portion of each varying according to the quantity of exercise or inactivity. When our engagements consist of a corporeal kind, a larger quantity of animal food may be used; when they are mental, the diet should be principally vegetable. Animal food occasions an accumulation of salt and other acrid substances (except there be much exercise to carry them off) which clog the minuter vessels, impede the circulation, and produce scurvy. Vegetable food occasions a serous or watery state of the blood, which affords too little vigour for great bodily labour.

Some substances are much more digestible than others. The following observations relating to this subject have been principally taken from the experiments of Mr. Gosse (in the Appendix to Spallanzani's Dissertation), from the writings of Dr. Cheyne, and others. Substances of difficult digestion are the tendinous, fat, and oily parts of animals; the white of an egg hardened by heat; bacon and eggs fried together; most substances fried in butter or oil. Broths, soups, and jellies (if they be strong) are harder of digestion than the

same weight of solid food. Wine and other spirituous liquors require as much time for digestion as solid substances. Malt liquor is crude and improper for delicate stomachs. Chocolate is heavy and indigestible. Fish is harder of digestion than the flesh of land animals; and salt-water fish is more indigestible than fish taken in fresh water. All substances of a dark colour (owing to the consistency of the substance, which occasions the colour) are more difficult of digestion than food of a light colour. Animals and vegetables are harder of digestion when they are out of season than when they arrive at maturity in the course of nature. There has been a difference of opinion with regard to the flesh of young and mature animals. Mr. Gosse and Dr. Cheyne found that lamb, veal, and other soft and immature substances, were more easily digested than mutton and beef. But Spallanzani fancied that the flesh of full-grown animals was easier of digestion than that of young animals. However, both sorts are nutritive, and may be digested by ordinary stomachs. The dif

ference of opinion which has arisen may have been occasioned by a variation in the tone of the stomach, or the healthiness and freshness of the meat. Eggs, not hardened by boiling, are very digestible; and so is the pulp or meal of wheat, barley, rice, peas, and beans. Turnips, parsneps, and potatoes are also digestible. Milk is adapted for the young and the aged. Cheese, in a moderate quantity, is not injurious. Brown bread is less nutritious and less digestible than white bread; both sorts ought to be eaten on the second day of