Food and its Digestion. 



243 



Previously to this last successful course all the efforts 

 which he made to reduce his " too solid flesh " were un- 

 availing, though he rigorously adhered to the rules laid 

 down for him. "But," again quoting Mr. Banting, "the 

 soil of corpulence would still increase, and like the parasite 

 barnacle on the ship, if it did not destroy the structure, it 

 obstructed its fair comfortable progress in the path of 

 life. " 



Mr. Banting says his former dietary table was : bread 

 and milk for breakfast, or a pint of tea with plenty of milk 

 and sugar, and buttered toast. 



Meat, beer, much bread, of which he was always fond, 

 and pastry for dinner. 



The meal of tea similar to that of breakfast and gen- 

 erally a fruit tart or bread and milk for supper, and, he 

 adds, "with this I had little comfort and far less sound 

 sleep. " 



Under his new regimen he was advised to abstain as 

 much as possible from bread, butter, milk, sugar, beer and 

 potatoes, all of which are largely composed of oily, starchy 

 and saccharine compounds, all tending to increase fatty de- 

 posit. The ordinance for this new regimen was as follows : 



For Breakfast, I take four or five ounces of beef, mut- 

 ton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind 

 except pork, a large cup of tea (without milk or sugar), 

 a little biscuit or one ounce of dry toast. 



For Dinner, five or six ounces of any fish excepting 

 salmon, any meat excepting pork, any vegetable except 

 potato, one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding, any 

 kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of good 

 claret, sherry or madeira; champagne, port and beer 

 forbidden. 



For Tea, two or three ounces of fruit, a rusk or two, 

 and a cup of tea without milk or sugar. 



For Snpper, three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar 

 to dinner, with a glass or two of claret. 



For Night-cap, if required, a tumbler of grog, gin, 



