J>£tfTITION AND DIET. 133 



i »n ra*. Diet of Horses — (Men often Dig their Graves 

 with iheir Teeth, and the same is true as regards 

 Horsed) — Variety of Food necessary — Effects of 



certain kinds of food as regards the requisite 



quantity; etc. 



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

 may possibly have confirmed the fact, that a great proportion ci 

 the diseases occurring among live stock are produced, either di- 

 rectly or indirectly, by errors in diet ; consequently the means of 

 prevention should be known, and used accordingly. 



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

 serve the integrity of the animal system. In order to substan- 

 tiate this assertion, we shaT show the effect of simple elementary 

 principles on the body o/ man, inferring, at the same time, that 

 man's servant, the horse, h included. The reader has probably 

 heard of the experiment made by Napoleon Bonaparte, which 

 was that of trying to supply ihs nutritive wants of his system by 

 living on a concentrated prepniilon of beef, in the form of jells". 

 He gave it a fair trial, yet cams very near starving on the same- 

 and he was led lo remark that ike stomach was a sort of scav- 

 enger, which 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 Lnghly nutritious, containing 

 more of the flesh-making principle than most articles of food 

 It was rich, not only in nitrogen, but atao in oxygen, hydrogen, 

 and carbon, four of the principal elements which compose the 

 animal fabric. 



The fact is, no single article of diet, let n be ever £ i rich in the 

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

 men subsisting long on a simple form of die*, 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 nu- 

 tritious compound, and furnishes their systems mth the equiva- 

 lents that we obtain from beef and mutton. The inhabitants of 

 the " Celestial Empire " (Chinese) are great consumers of rice. 

 It is the principal article of diet among the poorer classes, many 

 of whom are Jank and lean, and would make very respectable 



