16 



THE CABINET OF NATURAL HISTORY 



" By various sports, 

 O'er hills, throug-h valleys, and by river's brink, 

 Is life both sweetea'd and proloDg^'d."' 



THE USEFULNESS OF SPORTING. 



It has often been said, that the benefit from any exercise 

 depended very much upon the immediate efl'ect on the mind 

 and feelings, and that those amusements were consequently 

 the most useful, that jjroduced the greatest portion of gaiety 

 and hope. 



Of all the active relaxations that can be enjoyed, few rank 

 in the production of these charms of life, with the various 

 modifications of Sporting. 



Independent of the simple exercise which can be prac- 

 tised in other modes, the mind and heart become so inte- 

 rested, that few of the ills of life can " bear with heavy 

 hand" on the enthusiastic railer, or the industrious hunter 

 of the woods. He forgets, in the all-absorbing excitement, 

 the pains of body or of mind diseased; throws aside the 

 pressure of care, and loses, in the thrilling luxury of the 

 moment, the recollection of distresses that had almost borne 

 him to the earth. Men who are fond of these amusements, 

 are enabled by the simple exhilaration of mind, to pass 

 through exposure and fatigue, that in more dispassionate 

 moments would have produced overwhelming exhaustion 

 and disease, and, in the infatuating enjoyment of successful 

 sport, we feel transported to a state of bliss, the recollection 

 of which 



" Will well repay, 

 For many a long cokl night antl weary day." 



To a sportsman the sight or sound of a gun, of a hunting 

 dog or game bird, has music in it that will reach his very 

 heart, and recall 



" Many a pleasure of daj'S gone by," 



and even in the " sear and yellow leaf" of existence, I have 

 seen the remembrance of field-delights, long since faded in 

 ihe vista of years, recall a rejuvenescence of feelings that 

 seemed to rob life of its tedium, and age of its feebleness. 

 Of the advantages of Sporting to the health, too much 

 cannot be said. Whether confined to the diminutive cir- 

 cumference of a boat, or roaming the wide, wild range of 

 mountain forest, the immediate effects are immense. The 

 circulation of the blood is increased and regulated, nervous 

 derangements corrected, digestion improved, muscular 

 pain and debility destroyed, and even some of the alarming 

 complaints of the lungs more certainly removed, than by 

 all the nostrums that ever emanated from a "licensed 



murderer." Many astonishing cures have been made by 

 that most effective of all surgical instruments, the gun; 

 and the fishing pole and box of worms have cheated death 

 of more victims than the pestle and pill boxes of half the 

 apothecaries. This I have often seen exemplified in cases 

 that had long been targets for medical archery, and would 

 still live in spite of the doctors; when, after every regular 

 means had been used to "kill or cure" in vain, the patient 

 has turned tail on the quackeries of science, and fled to the 

 more grateful medicaments of country air and sylvan music, 

 and, instead of being co/o/ef/ into vain hope by bread pills, 

 or frightened to death by long bills, he is consoled into 

 certain health by administering lead pills, and charmed 

 into a long life by being at the death of many a bill far 

 more agreeable to the sight. 



Even some of the very serious complaints of the lungs, 

 as discharges of blood, I have known entirely removed by 

 these means; and in one gentleman of this city, the fatiguing 

 amusement of partridge shooting was his only effective 

 remedy when the blood would appear at every cough. A 

 physician of respectability, " who would infallibly have 

 consumption if he in the least exposed himself," according 

 to the omniscient opinion of one of these retailers of health, 

 was perfectly cured of all his ailments by the rugged la- 

 bours of a sportsman. 



I have known cases of rheumatism, where the patient 

 could with difficulty bring the gun to his shoulder in the 

 beginning, entirely relieved in a few days. Diseases of the 

 spine and painful affections of the head, if unattended by 

 much fever, are almost invariably assisted by this recrea- 

 tion. Neither need the invalid fear from the exposure, 

 though violent exertion should be avoided in the com- 

 mencement, for the excitement of mind keeps up an arti- 

 ficial warmth within, that seems to neutralize the cold with- 

 out, and the muscles soon become so accustomed to the 

 labour, that they are strengthened, and the nerves imme- 

 diately invigorated. For dyspeptics, this remedy far sur- 

 passes all the humbugs of quacks, or scientific nonsense of 

 the " regular bred," as being far more permanently useful, 

 as well as more agreeable in the dose, than bran bread 

 and black tea, with abundance of apothecary stuff; or hav- 

 ing a loaf of bread made out of your abdomen by the New 

 York system of kneading. 



I would not in the most distant manner insinuate, that a 

 regular system of medical practice is not eminently useful 

 in all these diseases at a particular stage, for by thus doing, 

 my own personal interest might be deeply outraged; but 

 there is a time in all cases, when the doctor becomes a 

 nuisance, and the apothecary a bore; and if physicians 

 would but choose to learn the moment when their kind- 

 nesses really ceased to be required, and show less interest 



