tion, as the varied pleasures and happiness of man, are superior to the mere sensual enjoyments of the brute. It is true, that if vegetable diet were more general, fewer animals would be bred, and much of the present pastureland would be appropriated to the production of fruit, grain, and roots; but the means for obtaining the greatest amount of human happiness, would be considerably increased. 170. I shall conclude this part of the subject, with the excellent address of an ancient and distinguished priest of India:-" Children of the Sun, listen to the dying advice of your faithful and affectionate instructor; who hastens to the bosom of the great Allah; to give an account, and to enjoy the expected rewards of his services! Your regimen ought to be simple and inartificial. Drink only the pure, simple water. It is the beverage of nature; and not by any means, nor in any way, to be improved by art! Eat only fruits and vegetables! Let the predaceous animals prey on carnage and blood! Stain not the divine gentleness of your natures, by one act of cruelty to the creatures beneath you! Heaven, to protect them, hath placed you at their head! Be not treacherous to the important trust you hold, by murdering those you ought to preserve; nor defile your bodies by filling them with putrefaction. There is enough of vegetables and fruits to supply your appetites, without oppressing them by carion, or drenching them in blood." BEST FOOD OF MAN. CHAPTER I. VEGETABLES CONTAIN ALL THE ELEMENTS AND QUALITIES NECESSARY FOR THE COMPLETE NUTRITION OF MAN. 171. HAVING seen that history and science bear ample testimony to the truth, that vegetables were the original, and are (now as well as in former ages) the natural food of man, the inference that they are also his best food, seems unavoidable; but as evidence of a totally different nature from that already produced, can be brought to prove the latter, independently of the two former propositions, the whole three may be considered established, as clearly and firmly as questions of such a nature admit. First, then, we must inquire, what important purposes food is designed to answer in the human economy; secondly, whether vegetables possess the elements and qualities necessary for answering those purposes; thirdly, we must ascertain whether they are easy of digestion ; and, lastly, whether they are superior to animal food or a mixed diet, for sustaining all the vital processes;-for producing the "mens sana in corpore sano", in the greatest perfection, and for the longest period. 172. The life of all organized beings, is a state of perpetual warfare with unorganized matter. No organized structure is, for a single moment, in a state of absolute repose; nor in two successive moments perfectly identical. The human body is every instant undergoing a change, and losing minute but innumerable particles of its substance. Every motion of our limbs, every manifestation of force, every sensation we experience from without, and every mental affection within, is accompanied by a transformation in the structure of the solids, and by changes in the chemical nature of the secreted fluids. The wornout particles of the body are separated from the system,by means of various organs adapted to that purpose,-in the form of excretions; as by the skin, lungs, liver, kidneys, adipose tissue, and intestinal canal. Thus, during life, an uninterrupted series of transformations is constantly taking place; and, consequently, the body would in a very short time become completely emaciated, the organs would gradually cease to perform their functions, and death would very soon put an end to all vital phenomena, unless fresh matter were supplied, for renewing the parts that have undergone transformation. 173. It is in the ultimate tissue of the body, where the capillary vessels are spread out as a beautiful net-work, that the grand phenomena of life take place: here the whole body is in a state of constant mutation,—of decay and reconstruction ;-depending upon the joint influence |