226 MORE POT-POURRI 



a potato, in full possession of her faculties and at liberty 

 to make the best use of them a liberty, it must be owned, 

 she does not neglect. For how agreeable she is ! I like 

 Lady Morley ; she is what I call good company.' 



The really difficult part of practising any form of 

 diet, especially if you have gained immensely by the 

 results, is the irritation it causes to the people who 

 surround you. I was told the other day that having 

 mentioned in a letter the fact that I had become a 

 vegetarian was more than enough to account for my 

 receiving no answer. If any sufferers feel tempted to 

 follow my example of a strict diet, I strongly recommend 

 them to do all in their power to make it as unobtrusive a 

 factor in family life as possible. It will also be found a 

 great advantage to those who go out in Society to cheat ; 

 by which I mean, take things on your plate as a * blind/ 

 though you have no intention of eating them. The sym- 

 pathy expressed lest you should kill yourself, and the 

 terror lest your influence should prove the death of some- 

 body else, make life a martyrdom for a very insufficient 

 cause. 



I never realised till this year that there is consider- 

 able danger in a sudden change of diet, especially in hot 

 weather and to those who are most in need of it. One 

 is always hearing of cases where abstention from meat 

 answers for a few months, and then has to be given up 

 because the patient finds himself less well, and attributes 

 everything to his change of diet. Dr. Haig fully explains 

 the reason for this. He may, of course, be wrong in his 

 deductions ; if he is right, it should lead to great changes 

 in diet in this country through the conversion of the 

 medical profession. 



One of the great advantages of the non-sentimental 

 over the sentimental vegetarian is that in case dislike of 

 foods occurs, as it very commonly does, and with it a 



