76 



ATHLETIC EXERCISES. 



The d*«ta a- painful disease, which are narrated by Mr. Pouteau*, 

 whoUy "^ upon ^"^ which have been corroborated by the experience of 



water, of great that respectable surj^eon, Mr. J. Pearson, have, till very 

 advantage in , , , , , , , i • i . 



cancer, lately at least, been unaccountably neglected m this coun- 



try. It is a singular fact, that after two or three days the 

 desire for solid food entirely subsided, and the stomach 

 appeared completely satisfied when filled with the aqueous 

 , , fluid, of which four or five pints were drunk dail.y The pain 



of the sore was soon diminished, accompanied with a favor- 

 able appearance of the discharge. It is natural to suppose 

 that a person would submit to almost any privation that 

 promised to alleviate the anguish of so distressing a com" 

 plaint; but those familiar with the manners of the diseased, 

 know how much more readily a sick person will swallow 

 the most nauseous drugs, than agree, to abstain from any 

 , of their habitual indulgencies. 



__ , , The example of CornarO is the more deserving of at- 

 Mocern in- . / . =• . 



ftancea of the tention and imitation, because he adopted a peculiar regi- 



efFects of regi- j^gn j,^ order to effect a specific purpose, in which he corn- 

 men. Cornaro. - * ^ ^ 



pletely succeeded. At forty years of age, he laboured 



iinder such a complication of disotders, that his life was 

 despaired of. By stricily adhering to a measured diet, he 

 not only perfectly recovered his health, but prolonged'his 

 life to more than a hundred years. 



The celebrated Wesley is another instance of a delicate 

 y^esUy, constitution, by strict temperance, regular exercise, and 



eaily rising, protracting his existence to nearly ninety years. 

 Mr. Wood, the miller of Billericay, in Essex, whose cas>e 

 W d h M'l ^^ ^*^^®^ ^^ ^^® Transactions of the College of Physicians, 

 Icf of Billeri- 1-ondon, by Sir George Baker, affords an example of the 

 "y* possibility of reducing, by means of diet, a degree of cor- 



pulency, such as to render life a burthen, to a moderate 

 bulk, accompanied with the return of health and strength. 

 The miller's diet consisted of a simple pudding, made by 

 boiling coarse flour in water, without salt. Of this he 

 coiisumcd about three pounds in twenty four hours, and took 



• See Oeuvies Postbumes de M. Poutkau, Docteur en Medicine et 

 Cbirurgien en Chf f de I'Hotel.Dieii de Ly^n. — Paris, 1783, 



no 



