Experimental researches on the food of animals, and the fattening of cattle : with remarks on the food of man, based upon experiments undertaken by order of the British Government / by Robert Dundas Thomson.

  • Thomson, Robert Dundas, 1810-1864.
Date:
1846
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Experimental researches on the food of animals, and the fattening of cattle : with remarks on the food of man, based upon experiments undertaken by order of the British Government / by Robert Dundas Thomson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    17/220
    in his wild, untutored state, being in a condition akin to that of the beasts of the forest, scarcely stands in need of the assistance of art, and devours his prey with less of enjoyment than of necessity. It has been a favorite speculation with some philoso- phers, that as beasts thrive best in the forest, so man is most healthy in the savage slate ; that, when accustomed to brave the severity of the winter's cold and summer's heat, to contend with the snow and the thunder storm without the protection of clothing, or pampering food, he is armed, like the Spartan of old, with a shield against the disease and early death so prevalent among the members of refined societies ; that the catalogue of maladies existing among a primitive people is exceed- ingly limited, and that it augments in volume precisely in proportion to the encroachments of civilization, and to the departure from those simple laws by which na- ture, in her unsophisticated state, is uniformly guided. So far has this view been carried by some advocates, that it was the opinion of Plato, that after certain medi- cines were introduced by Podalirius and Machaon at the siege of Troy, different diseases, which these medi- cines produced, became prevalent. It can scarcely be denied, that while these opinions are founded in truth, they have been greatly exaggerated, and made to tell in the wrong direction. It is quite true that simplicity in diet is better fitted to perpetuate health than stimulating and unnatural food ; but it is not necessary that, in or- der to acquire health, man should return to the actual condition of the savage ; nor is it incumbent that, al- though our domestic animals are seen to thrive well in their primitive forests, they should be cast loose under literally the same circumstances. In other words, it