FOREIGN NOTICES. 



Torv ilark, wcll-dofino<l fiinoy, nfter Moroc nn<l fins|mrin(?. Tlioro nre otlu-r flowers tlint wc may 

 tliiiik of lieivafter, but tin- i^cnoml clmrnt'ter of tlie lot is jfood onlinmy Tiirietie*, as X'\nn» po, but 

 Dotliint; to slaiul o\it in nlief. llowovcr, we liave "run tiic Knt^tli of our tctlnT," ami iiiusl halt 

 for tlic |irc.«eiit. Wo may rosume this, for wo bnvo uot above balf done what wo iiitciidoil. — 

 GardcHcra' and Farmers' Journal. 



The Use OF Fruit. — Because bowel complaints usually prevail most duriii!T the hot season of 

 the year — the latter end of summer and autumn, when fruit is most abundant, and in tropical 

 climates where fruits are met with in greatest Tariety — it is inferred, aoeording to the pos< hoc 

 propter hoc mode of reasoning, that the one is tlie consequence of the other. It were about as 

 reasonalde to attribute the occasional occurrences of sea-scurvy in the navy to the use of Lemon 

 juice, Lime juice, or potatoes. These articles of diet are j)bwerfully anti-scorbutic, and so are 

 ripe fruits anti-bilious ; and diarrhojo, dysentery, and cholera are complaints in which acrid and 

 nlkaliue biliary secretions are prominent conditions. I have seen many cases of dysentery, obsti- 

 nate diarrhoia, and liver disease in people who have been long resident in trojtical climates, anH, 

 from the history which I have been able to obtain respecting their habits of diet, I have come to 

 the conclusion that these diseases were induced and aggravated, not by the light vegetable and 

 fruit diet most in use among the natives, but because Englishmen usually carry out with them 

 their European modes of living. They take large quantities of nitrogenous and carbonaceous 

 food, in the shape of meat and wines or spirits, rather than the light native food, as rice and juicy 

 fruits, and the vegetable stimulants and condiments, the native peppers and spices so abundantly 

 provided by Nature. It is well known that, though large quantities of animal oils and fats, 

 wines, spirits, and malt liquor, which coutiiin a large amount of carbon, may be consumed with 

 comparative impunity in cold climates and in winter, when the carbonaceous matter gets burnt 

 off by the more active exercise and respiration ; in hot climates and in summer this element gets 

 retained in the liver, and ultimately gives rise to congestion of that organ and its consequences — 

 diarrhoea, dysentery, and bilious disorders. Though in extensive practice for fifteen years, in a 

 district abounding with orchards and gardens, I can not remember an instance in which I could 

 distinctly trace any very serious disorder to fruit as a cause ; though one might reasonably expect 

 some mischief from the amount of unripe and acid trash often consumed by the children of the 

 poor. I would not be supposed to advocate either immoderate quantities of the most wholesome 

 fruit, or the indiscriminate use of unripe or ill preserved fruits. But I do contend, as the result 

 of my own experience, that not only is a moderate quantity of well ripened or well preserved 

 fruit hnrmless, but that it is highly conducive to the hi alth of people, and especially of children, 

 and that it tends to prevent bilious diarrhcea and cholera. I am inclined to view the abundant 

 supply of fruit in hot climates, and during the summer and autumn, and the great longing of 

 people, especially of children (in whom the biliary functions are very active), for fruit, to a wise 

 proyision of an over-ruling and ever-watchful Providence, which generally plants the remedy 

 side by side with the disease, at a time when the biliary system is in most danger of becoming 

 disordered. I have genei-ally observed that children who are strictly, and I think injudiciously, 

 debarred the use of fruit, have tender bowels, and I have noticed that they are almost universally 

 pallid; while, on the other hand, children who are allowed a moderate daily proportion of sound 

 fruit are usually florid, especially among the poor. 1 therefore imagine that the use of fruit facilitates 

 the introduction of iron, the coloring principle of the blood, into the circulating system. "When 

 living in the country, with the advantages of a large garden and plenty of fruit, I always allow 

 my children a liberal proportion, and never had occasion to treat them either for diarrhoea or skin 

 eruptions, though, it is a very common opinion that cutaneous diseases are often brought on by the 

 too free use of fruit. On first removing my family to town, the usual supjily being cut off, two 

 or three of the younger ones became affected with obstinate diarrhasa and dysentery, which 

 resisted all the ordinary modes of medicinal treatment. My opinion on the subject afterward 

 induced rac to give them a good proportion of fruit every daj', as Grapes, Oranges, ripe Apples, 

 when all the symptoms presentlj' subsided, and they have never since been troubled 

 bowel complaints or skin eruptions to any noticeable extent The editor of the Lancet, 



