573 
Translations and Reviews of Continental 
Veterinary Journals. 
By W. Ernes, M.R.C.V.S., London. 
THE EFFECTS OF ABSTINENCE AND INSUFFICIENT FOOD 
IN ANIMALS. 
The question proposed for examination is one of the most 
simple amongst those which are connected with the history 
of nutrition. Nevertheless it is extremely complicated, as 
the details which are comprised in it touch on the most 
intimate acts of the organism. Its principal divisions com¬ 
prise, at the same time, physiology, hygiene, and thera¬ 
peutics, and are in themselves capable of demonstrating the 
connection which exists between these three sciences. The 
effects of a total deprivation of food, or an insufficient ali¬ 
mentation on the healthy or morbid organism, are of great im¬ 
portance. It impresses numerous modifications on the different 
vital acts; it becomes, according as the case may be, a pow¬ 
erful prophylactic agent, a cause of disease, or a most ener¬ 
getic therapeutic remedy. Nevertheless, it is not studied at 
all, or but very imperfectly, unless in books on physiology. 
Broussais, amongst physicians, understood better than any 
one the importance of dieting in the treatment of disease; 
but if he perfectly understood the salutary effects of it, he 
had not a very clear idea of its pernicious and destructive 
results. Carried away by ideas which were true to a limited 
extent, he was unable to discover the exact measure of their 
application—he abused the use of a weapon which destroyed 
and killed as often as it cured; and it was in the name of 
physiology, how^ever innocent of its exaggerations, that he in¬ 
augurated a most murderous system, the victims of which 
would be reckoned by thousands if the statistics could be 
obtained. 
The illustrious reformer, wdio held dietetics in such high 
esteem, w'as only acquainted with their most salient effects; 
he ignored the most essential, even those which render absti¬ 
nence fatal under a great many circumstances. With him, 
as with all theorists, the fantastic result of imagination 
took too much the place of facts. Before recognising and 
applying his means, he neglected to determine their effects 
in a precise manner. But what he and his school have 
