SUPPLY OF FOOD REQUIRED BY MAN. 357 



friends are very injurious to the patient ; who is much more likely to come 

 round, if left entirely to herself. 



474. Of the quantity which can be devoured at a time, it is scarcely the 

 place to speak ; since such feats of gluttony only demonstrate thdtextraordinary 

 capacity which the stomach may be made to attain by continual practice. 

 Many amusing instances are related by Captain Parry in his Arctic Voyages ; 

 in one case, a young Esquimaux, to whom he had given (for the sake of 

 curiosity) his full tether, devoured in four-and-twenty hours, no less than 35 

 Ibs. of various kinds of aliment, including tallow candles. A case has recently 

 been published of a Hindoo, who can eat a whole sheep at a time ; this pro- 

 bably surpasses any other instance on record. The half-breed voyageurs of . 

 Canada, according to Capt. Franklin, and the wandering Cossacks of Siberia, 

 as testified by Capt. Cochrane, habitually devour a quantity of animal food 

 which would be soon fatal to any one unused to it. The former are spoken of 

 as very discontented when put on a short allowance of 8 Ibs. of meat a day ; 

 their usual consumption being from 12 to 20 Ibs. That a much larger quantity 

 of food than that already specified, may be taken with perfect freedom from 

 injurious consequences, under a particular system of exercise, &c., appears 

 from the experience of those who are trained for feats of strength, pugilistic 

 encounters, &c. The ordinary belief, that the athletic constitution cannot be 

 long maintained, appears to have no real foundation ; nor does it appear that 

 any ultimate injury results from the system being persevered in for some time. 

 That trained men often fall into bad health on the cessation of the plan, is 

 probably owing in part to the intemperance and other bad habits of persons 

 of the class usually subjected to this discipline. The effects of trainers' regi- 

 men are, hardness and firmness of the muscles, clearness of the skin, capability 

 of bearing continued severe exercise, and a feeling of freedom and lightness 

 (or 'corkiness') in the limbs. During the continuance of the system, it is 

 found that the body recovers with wonderful facility from the effects of injuries ; 

 wounds heal very rapidly ; and cutaneous eruptions usually disappear. Clear- 

 ness and vigour of mind, also, are stated to be results of this plan ; and it is 

 probable that, where persevering attention and intense application are neces- 

 sary, a modification of this system, in which due allowance should be made for 

 the diminished quantity of exercise, would be found advantageous.* 



* The method of training employed by Jackson (a celebrated trainer of, prize-fighters 

 in modern times), as deduced from his answers to questions put to him by John Bell, was 

 to begin on a clear foundation, by an emetic and two or three purges. Beef and mutton, 

 the lean of fat meat being preferred, constituted. the principal food; veal, lamb and pork, 

 were said to be less digestible ("the last purges some men"). Fish was said to be " a 

 watery kind of diet ;" and is employed by jockeys who wish to reduce weight \ty sweating. 

 Stale bread was the only vegetable food allowed. The quantity of fluid permitted was 3 

 pints per diem ,- but fermented liquors were strictly forbidden. Two full meals, with a 

 light supper, were usually taken. The quantity of exercise employed was very consider- 

 able, and such as few men of ordinary strength could endure. This account corresponds 

 very much with that which Hunter gave of the North American Indians, when about to 

 set out on a long march. 



