130 THE NATURE AND TREATMENT OF 



forcing system of feeding therefore is the principle cause of 

 this affection. 



ON DIET 



Variety in food necessary — Effects of certain hinds of food — 

 As regards the requisite quantity^ etc. 



It is admitted by medical men, and the experience of my 

 readers may possibly have confirmed the fact, that a great 

 proportion of the diseases occurring among live stock are 

 produced, either directly or indirectly, by errors in diet ; 

 consequently the . means of prevention are within the reach 

 of every husbandman, and should be used accordingly. 



No special form of diet, can for any great length of time, 

 preserve the integrity of the animal machine ; and in order to 

 substantiate this proposition I shall show the effect of simple 

 elementary principles on the system of man ; considering what 

 is known to be a fact, that the same is true of his servants, 

 horses, and cattle. 



Some of my readers have heard of the experiment made by 

 Napoleon Bonaparte: which was that of trying to supply 

 the nutritive wants of his system by living on a concentrated 

 preparation of beef, in the form of jelly. He gave it a fair 

 trial, yet came very near starving on the same, and he was led 

 to remark, that the stomach was a sort of scavenger, hence 

 required a given amount of rubbish to sort from, and select the 

 necessary elements for renovating the tissues. He probably 

 selected jelly because it is highly nutritious, containing more of 

 the flesh-making principle, than most articles of food. It was 

 rich, not only in nitrogen, but also in oxygen, hydrogen, 

 and carbon, four of the principal elements which compose the 

 animal fabric. 



The fact is, no single article of diet, let it be ever so rich in 

 the elements of organized tissues, can long support life. A nation 

 of men subsisting long on a simple form of diet, without variety, 

 would soon become emaciated, and die of innutrition. Let the 

 Grahamites abstain from milk, and live on bread and water, 

 and they would soon exterminate themselves. Milk is a highly 



