Lineaments of Leanness, 6B 



quarian pill-box, for the engraissing and beautifying that por- 

 tion of the population. Let us also flatter ourselves, that 

 although we do not now know our way to Mr. Payne's toy-shop 

 for his three-and-sixpenny bottle of" Pinguefying Specificj*' a 

 specific will be found amongst the arcana of modern chfe-» 

 mistry*. 



Amongst the most singular propositions for fattening the 

 person, that our inquiries have furnished us with, that of flagel- 

 lation is the most whimsical. In the " Artificial Changeling/' 

 We read that the Mangones, to make their bodies more fat for 

 sale, ** were wont to whip their posteriors and loins with rods, 

 and so by degrees make them more fleshy ;" and it is even 

 said that this is noticed by Galen, as no contemptible strata- 

 gem to attract the nourishing particles to the outer parts. 



The operation of flagellation has been, in former times, re- 

 sorted to by ecclesiastical doctors, as well as medical; and 

 some very curious secrets were laid open in the Abbe Boi* 

 leau's ^* History of the Flagellants." But the work most to 

 our purpose is that of Meibomius, " De rUtilit6 de la Fla- 

 gellation." 



*' Jerome Mercurialis," says Meibomius, "nousapprend que 

 plusieurs m^decins ont ordonne la flagellation d des personnes 

 maigres pour les engraisser, et leur donner de V embonpoint. 



•' Galien citant d ce sujet les stratagemes des marchands 

 d'esclaves qui se servoient de ce moyen pour les faire paroitre 

 plus brillans de fraicheur et d'embonpoint, ne laisse aucun 

 doute sur I'efficacit^ de ce remade. II est certain qu'il fait 

 gonfler la chair et attire d elle les alimens. Personne n' ignore 

 que la flagellation avec des ortus vertes a le plus grand succes 

 pour raffermir les membres et rappeler la chaleur et le sang 



* When the Spectator was first published in the form of a newspaper, 

 advertisements were attached to it, of which the following is a spe- 

 cimen : — 



•* An assured cure for leanness, which proceeds from a cause which 

 few know, but easily removed by an unparalleled specific tincture, which 

 fortifies the stomach, purifies the blood, takes off fretfulness in the mind, 

 occasions rest, and easy sleep, and as certainly disposes and causes the 

 body to thrive and become plump and fleshy, if no manifest distemper 

 afilicts the patients, as water will (juench fire, &c. &c. 



** It is pleasant to taste, and is sold only at Mr. Payne's toy-shop; 

 price 3$, Qd, a bottle with directions," 



G2 



