5C2 Dr. Percivdl en the Effects of Famine^ y<r, 



ofphyficat Edinburgh, confined himfclf, for «| 

 longer fpace of time, to a pint of milk, and 

 half a pound of white bread daily : And he 

 aflures mc, that he paflcd through the ufua} 

 labours of ftudy and exercife, without feeling 

 any decay of health or ftrength, and without 

 any fenfible lofs of bulk % The cutaneous, 

 urinary, and alvine excretions were very fcanty 

 during the whole period j and the difcharge 

 of fEces occurred only once in a week. In thig 

 cafe, the oily and coagulable parts of the milk 

 probably furniflied a larger proportion of aliment, 

 and at the fame time contributed to check the 

 wafte, by perfpiration and other difcharges. For 

 oleaginous fubftances are retained long in the 

 body, by their vifcidity. Dr. RufftJ, in his 

 Natural Hiftory of Aleppo, relates, that in 

 thofe feafons when oil abounds, the inhabitants, 

 by indulgence in it, are difpofed to fever, and 

 affedled with infardtions of the lungs ; maladies 

 which indicate both retention and obdruflion. 

 Milk has been fufpected, by fome, of producing 

 fimilar effects, though in a flighter degree ; and 

 the free ufe of it has been, on this account, 



» 



\ The following fads, cited by Hrfller, fhews the powers 

 of milk, in fmall quantities, to fupport life ; but does not 

 afcertain how far it fupplies or ob'.iates the wafte of the 

 body. Lailis in diem libra, tres femina, a nivis ruina obrut^ 

 ^er 37. dies -vitam fujlentarwit . Haller. Element, 

 "fHrsioLOG. vol. VI. p. 255. 



J forbidden:, 



