Comments on Corpulency, 283 



taria to be changed without his positive order^ — and he was 

 right, as will appear by the following anecdote : — 



An eminent court-physician visiting a noble lady, the follow- 

 ing scene took place : " Pray, doctor, do you think I might now 

 venture on a slice of chicken and a single glass of madeira, as 

 I feel very faint and low?" ^* Most certainly; I perceive 

 nothing in the state of your ladyship's pulse, or the appearance 

 of your tongue, to forbid so reasonable an indulgence." Her 

 ladyship instantly rang the bell, and with more than usual 

 peremptoriness of manner, desired the servant to order the 

 doctor's carriage to the door immediately; then addressed him 

 as follows : ** Sir, there is your fee, and, depend upon it, it is 

 the last you shall receive from me. 1 asked you a question, 

 a serious question, Sir, to me, considering the very abstemious 

 regimen to which I have so long submitted under your di- 

 rection ; and I think it full time to withdraw my confidence 

 from a physician who delivers a professional opinion without 

 any foundation : for you must be perfectly aware. Sir, that yott 

 neither felt my pulse nor examined my tongue." 



Perhaps the most pertinent answer, after all, was that given 

 by the celebrated Dr. Mandeville to the Earl of Macclesfield. 

 •* Doctor, is this wholesome ?" *' Does your lordship like it ?" 

 **Yes." "Does it agree with your lordship.?" "Yes." 

 *• Why then it is wholesome." This was also the opinion 

 of Lord Bacon, a tolerably good authority in matters of food, 

 as well as philosophy. " There is a wisdom in this," says 

 he, " beyond the rules of physic ; a man's own observatioij 

 what he finds good of, and what he finds hurt of, is the 

 best physic to preserve health.'* So true is it, that a man, 

 according to the trite maxim, is a fool or a physician at forty. 



Mems. Relative to Diet, 



The celebrated Dr. Franklin lived on bread and water for a 

 fortnight, at the rate of ten pounds of bread per week, and was 

 stout and hearty. But the most frugal system of house-keeping 

 on record, was that of Roger Crabb, the Buckinghamshire 

 Hermit, in the 17th century, who allowed himself three 

 farthings a week. 

 A gentleman who had been a prisoner, and obliged to live 



