HIS CHARACTERISTICS AND CHARACTER. 47 1 



cruse " this man lived an unusually long and active life of 

 both work and thought, and enjoyed the highest health 

 and vigour. In this respect, his experience is a fresh 

 testimony to the fact which modern scientific cookery is 

 demonstrating that a simpler, more vegetarian diet would 

 be healthier and better for us all. 



Yet with all this plainness of food, or perhaps because 

 olit, his appetite was unusually strong, and remained so to 

 tie last. He was, as one of his young friends at Milton 

 observed, "a hale-stamach man," that is, a man with a 

 whole or healthy stomach. His simplicity of taste, not- 

 withstanding this strength of digestion, is well illustrated 

 by an incident related by James Black. 



John ate, as a rule, Mr. Black observes, whatever 

 was placed before him heartily and contentedly, and one 

 thing only at a time, never mixing meat and potatoes 

 together, for instance ; and James had often to resort to 

 artifice, to avoid giving offence, in order to get the due pro- 

 portions observed. This want of preference sometimes made 

 his friend think that his sense of taste was defective, an 

 idea that was increased by his general " hard and horny " 

 aspect ; and tempted, as he confesses, by him who sat 

 "squat like a toad " by the ear of mother Eve, he determined 

 to test it one day when John came late to dinner, and he 

 himself was left free to experiment. 



There was a bottle of pickles on the table. " Will you 

 have some pickles, John ? " asked he. " Oo, ay," replied 

 John, " I carena. Pickles ? What's that ? " Not being able 

 to answer precisely, James merely said, " Mixed pickles, 

 John ; very nice indeed ! " " Oo, ay," returned he ; " weel, 

 I can eat onything, wi' ae single exception honey ; I 



