ANIMALS. 9 



the emperor Arcadius, an hundred and twenty ; 

 St Epiphanius, an hundred and fifteen ; Simeon, 

 an hundred and twelve ; and Rombald, an hun- 

 dred and twenty. In this manner did these holy 

 temperate men live to an extreme old age, kept 

 cheerful by strong hopes, and healthful by mo- 

 derate labour. 



Abstinence which is thus voluntary, may be 

 much more easily supported than constrained 

 hunger. Man is said to live without food for 

 seven days; which is the usual limit assigned 

 him ; and, perhaps, in a state of constraint this 

 is the longest time he can survive the want of it. 

 But in cases of voluntary abstinence, of sickness, 

 or sleeping, he has been known to live much 

 longer. 



In the records of the Tower, there is an ac- 

 count of a Scotchman, imprisoned for felony, 

 who, for the space of six weeks, took not the 

 least sustenance, being exactly watched during 

 the whole time ; and for this he received the 

 king's pardon. 



When the American Indians undertake long 

 journeys, and when, consequently, a stock of pro- 

 visions sufficient to support them the whole way 

 would be more than they could carry, in order to 

 obviate this inconvenience, instead of carrying 

 the necessary quantity, they contrive a method of 

 palliating their hunger, by swallowing pills made 

 of calcined shells and tobacco. These pills take 

 away all appetite, by producing a temporary dis- 

 order in the stomach ; and, no doubt, the fre- 

 quent repetition of this wretched expedient must 



