Domestic Medicine - Chapters 3-8



CHAPTER III.
OF ALIMENT

UNWHOLESOME food, and irregularities in diet, occasion many diseases. 
There is no doubt but the whole constitution of body may be changed by 
diet alone. The fluids may be thereby attenuated or condensed, rendered 
mild or acrimonious, coagulated or diluted, to almost any degree. Nor are 
its effects upon the solids less considerable. They may be braced or 
relaxed, have their sensibility, motions, &c. greatly increased or 
diminished, by different kinds of aliment. A very small attention to these 
things will be sufficient to shew, how much the preservation of health 
depends upon a proper regimen of the diet.

NOR is an attention to diet necessary for the preservation of health only: 
It is likewise of importance in the cure of diseases. Every intention in 
the cure of many diseases, may be answered by diet alone. Its effects, 
indeed, are not always so quick as those of medicine, but they are 
generally more lasting: Besides, it is neither so disagreeable to the 
patient, nor so dangerous as medicine, and is always more easily obtained.

OUR intention here is not to inquire minutely into the nature and 
properties of the various kinds of aliment in use among mankind; nor to 
shew their effects upon the different constitutions of the human body; but 
to mark some of the most pernicious errors which people are apt to fall 
into, with respect both to the quantity and qualities of their food, and 
to point out their influence upon health.

IT is not indeed an easy matter to ascertain the exact quantity of food 
proper for every age, sex, and constitution: But a scrupulous nicety here 
is by no means necessary. The best rule is to avoid all extremes. Mankind 
were never intended to weigh and measure their food. Nature teaches every 
creature when it has enough; and the calls of thirst and hunger are 
sufficient to inform them when more is necessary.

THOUGH moderation be the chief rule with regard to the quantity, yet the 
quality of food merits a farther consideration. There are many ways by 
which provisions may be rendered unwholesome. Bad seasons may either 
prevent the ripening of grain, or damage it afterwards. These, indeed, are 
acts of Providence, and we must submit to them; but surely no punishment 
can be too severe for those who suffer provisions to spoil by hoarding 
them, on purpose to raise the price, or who promote their own interest by 
adulterating the necessaries of life. The poor, indeed, are generally the 
first who suffer by unsound provisions; but the lives of the labouring 
poor are of great importance to the state: Besides, diseases occasioned by 
unwholesome food often prove infectious, by which means they reach people 
in every station. It is therefore the interest of all to take care that no 
spoilt provisions of any kind be exposed to sale.

ANIMAL, as well as vegetable food, may be rendered unwholesome, by being 
kept too long. All animal substances have a constant tendency to 
putrefaction; and, when that has proceeded too far, they not only become 
offensive to the senses, but hurtful to health. Diseased animals, and such 
as die of themselves, ought never to be eat. It is a common practice, 
however, in some grasing countries, for servants and poor people to eat 
such animals as die of any disease, or are killed by accident. Poverty, 
indeed, may oblige people to do this; but they had better eat a smaller 
quantity of what is sound and wholesome: It would both afford a better 
nourishment, and be attended with less danger.

THE injunctions given to the Jews, not to eat any creature which died of 
itself, seem to have a strict regard to health, and ought to be observed 
by Christians as well as Jews. Animals never die of themselves without 
some previous disease; but how a diseased animal should be wholesome food, 
is inconceivable: Even those which die by accident must be hurtful, as 
their blood is mixed with the flesh, and soon turns putrid.

ANIMALS which feed grossly, as tame ducks, hogs, &c. are neither so easily 
digested, nor afford such wholesome nourishment as others. No animal can 
be wholesome which does not take sufficient exercise. Most of our stalled 
cattle are crammed with gross food, but not allowed exercise nor free air; 
by which means they indeed grow fat, but their humours, not being properly 
prepared or assimilated, remain crude, and occasion indigestions, gross 
humours, and oppression of the spirits, in those who feed upon them.

ANIMALS are often rendered unwholesome by being over-heated. Excessive 
heat causes a fever, exalts the animal salts, and mixes the blood so 
intimately with the flesh, that it cannot be separated. For this reason, 
butchers should be severely punished who overdrive their cattle. No person 
would chuse to eat the flesh of an animal which had died in a high fever; 
yet that is the case with all over-drove cattle; and the fever is often 
raised even to the degree of madness.

BUT this is not the only way by which butchers render meat unwholesome. 
The abominable custom of filling the cellular membrane of animals with 
air, in order to make them appear fat, is every day practised. This not 
only spoils the meat, and renders it unfit for keeping, but is such a 
dirty trick, that the very idea of it is sufficient to disgust a person of 
any delicacy at every thing which comes from the shambles. Who can bear 
the thought of eating meat which has been blown up with air from the lungs 
of a dirty fellow, perhaps labouring under the very worst of diseases?

BUTCHERS have likewise a method of filling the cellular membranes of 
animals with blood. This makes the meat seem fatter, and likewise weigh 
more, but is notwithstanding a very pernicious custom, as it both renders 
the meat unwholesome and unfit for keeping. I seldom see a piece of meat 
from the shambles, where the blood is not diffused through the whole 
cellular texture. I shall not say that this is always the effect of 
design; but I am certain it is not the case with animals that are killed 
for domestic use, and properly blooded. Veal seems to be most frequentIy 
spoilt in this way. Perhaps that may in some measure be owing to the 
practice of carrying calves from a great distance to market, by which 
means their tender flesh is bruised, and many of their vessels burst.

NO people in the world eat such quantities of animal food as the English, 
which is one reason why they are so generally tainted with the scurvy and 
its numerous train of consequences, indigestion, low spirits, 
hypochondriacism, &c. Animal food was surely designed for man, and with a 
proper mixture of vegetables it will be found the most wholesome; but, to 
gorge beef, mutton, pork, fish, and fowl, twice or thrice a day, is 
certainly too much. All who value health ought to be contented with making 
one meal of flesh in the twenty-four hours, and this ought to consist of 
one kind only.

THE most obstinate scurvy has often been cured by a vegetable diet; nay, 
milk alone will frequently do more in that disease than any medicine. 
Hence it is evident, that if vegetables and milk were more used in diet, 
we should have less scurvy, and likewise fewer putrid and inflammatory 
fevers. Fresh vegetables, indeed, come to be daily more used in diet; this 
laudable practice we hope will continue to gain ground.

OUR aliment ought neither to be too moist, nor too dry. Moist aliment 
relaxes the solids, and renders the body feeble. Thus we see females, who 
live much on tea and other watery diet, generally become weak, and unable 
to digest solid food: Hence proceed hysterics, and all their dreadful 
consequences. On the other hand, food that is too dry, renders the solids 
in a manner rigid, and the humours viscid, which disposes the body to 
inflammatory fevers, scurvies, and the like.

MUCH has been said on the ill effects of tea in diet. They are, no doubt, 
numerous; but they proceed rather from the imprudent use of it, than from 
any bad qualities in the tea itself. Tea is now the universal breakfast in 
this part of the world; but the morning is surely the most improper time 
of the day for drinking it. Most delicate persons, who, by the bye, are 
the greatest tea-drinkers, cannot eat any thing in the morning. If such 
persons, after fasting ten or twelve hours, drink four or five cups of 
tea, without eating almost any bread, it must hurt them. Good tea, taken 
in moderate quantity, not too strong, nor too hot, nor drank upon an empty 
stomach, will seldom do harm; but if it be bad, which is often the case, 
or substituted in the room of solid food, it must have many ill effects.

THE arts of cookery render many things unwholesome, which are not so in 
their own nature. By jumbling together a number of different ingredients, 
in order to make a poignant sauce, or rich soup, the composition proves 
almost a poison. All high-seasoning, pickles, &c. are only incentives to 
luxury, and never fail to hurt the stomach. It were well for mankind, if 
cookery, as an art, were entirely prohibited. Plain roasting or boiling is 
all that the stomach requires. These alone are sufficient for people in 
health, and the sick have still less need of a cook.

THE liquid part of our aliment likewise claims our attention. Water is not 
only the basis of most liquors, but also composes a great part of our 
solid food. Good water must therefore be of the greatest importance in 
diet. The best water is that which is most pure, and free from any mixture 
of foreign bodies. Water takes up parts of most bodies with which it comes 
into contact; by this means it is often impregnated with metals or 
minerals of a hurtful or poisonous nature. Hence the inhabitants of some 
hilly countries have peculiar diseases, which in all probability proceed 
from the water. Thus the people who live near the Alps in Switzerland, and 
the inhabitants of the Peak of Derby in England, have large tumours or 
wens on their necks. This disease is generally imputed to the snow water; 
but there is more reason to believe it is owing to the minerals in the 
mountains through which the waters pass.

WHEN water is impregnated with foreign bodies, it generally appears by its 
weight, colour, taste, smell, heat, or some other sensible quality. Our 
business therefore is to chuse such water, for common use, as is lightest, 
and without any particular colour, taste, or smell. In most places of 
Britain the inhabitants have it in their power to make choice of their 
water; and few things would contribute more to health than a due attention 
to this article. But mere indolence often induces people to make use of 
the water that is nearest to them, without considering its qualities,

BEFORE water be brought into great towns, the strictest attention ought to 
be paid to its qualities, as many diseases may be occasioned or aggravated 
by bad water and when once it has been procured at a great expence, people 
are unwilling to give it up.

THE common methods of rendering water clear by filtration, or soft, by 
exposing it to the sun and air, &c. are so generally known, that it is 
unnecessary to spend time in explaining them. We shall only, in general, 
advise all to avoid waters which stagnate long in small lakes, ponds, or 
the like, as such waters often become putrid, by the corruption of animal 
and vegetable bodies with which they abound. Even cattle frequently suffer 
by drinking, in dry seasons, water which has stood long in small 
reservoirs, without being supplied by springs, or freshened with showers. 
All wells ought to be kept clean, and to have a free communication with 
the air.

AS fermented liquors, notwithstanding they have been exclaimed against by 
many writers, still continue to be the common drink of almost every person 
who can afford them; we shall rather endeavour to assist people in the 
choise of these liquors, than pretend to condemn what custom has so firmly 
established. It is not the moderate use of sound fermented liquors which 
hurts mankind: it is excess, and using such as are ill-prepared or 
vitiated.

FERMENTED liquors, which are too strong, hurt digestion; and the body is 
so far from being strengthened by them, that it is weakened and relaxed. 
Many imagine, that hard labour could not be supported without drinking 
strong liquors: This is a very erroneous notion. Men who never taste 
strong liquors are not only able to endure more fatigue, but also live 
much longer, than those who use them daily. But, suppose strong liquors 
did enable a man to do more work, they must nevertheless waste the powers 
of life, and occasion premature old age. They keep up a constant fever, 
which exhausts the spirits, inflames the blood, and disposes the body to 
numberless diseases.

BUT fermented liquors may be too weak as well as too strong: When that is 
the case, they must either be drank new, or they become sour and dead; 
when such liquors are drank new, the fermentation not being over, they 
generate air in the bowels, and occasion flatulencies; and, when kept till 
stale, they sour on the stomach, and hurt digestion. For this reason all 
malt-liquors, cyder, &c. ought to be of such strength as to keep till they 
be ripe, and then they should be used. When such liquors are kept too 
long, though they should not become, sour, yet they generally contract a 
hardness, which renders them unwholesome.

ALL families, who can, ought to prepare their own liquors. Since preparing 
and vending of liquors became one of the most general branches of 
business, every method has been tried to adulterate them. The great object 
both to the makers and venders of liquor is, to render it intoxicating. 
But it is well known that this may be done by other ingredients than those 
which ought to be used for making it strong. It would be imprudent even to 
name those things which are daily made use of to render liquors heady. 
Suffice it to say, that the practice is very common, and that all the 
ingredients used for this purpose are of a narcotic or stupefactive 
nature. But, as all opiates are of a poisonous quality, it is easy to see 
what must be the consequence of their general use. Though they do not kill 
suddenly, yet they hurt the nerves, relax and weaken the stomach, and 
spoil the digestion.

WERE fermented liquors faithfully prepared, kept to a proper age, and used 
in moderation, they would prove real blessings to mankind, But, while they 
are ill prepared, various ways adulterated, and taken to excess, they must 
have many pernicious effects.

WE would recommend it to families, not only to prepare their own liquors, 
but likewise, their bread. Bread is so necessary a part of diet, that too 
much care cannot be bestowed in order to have it sound and wholesome. For 
this purpose, it is not only necessary that it be made of good grain, but 
likewise, properly prepared, and kept free from all unwholesome 
ingredients. This, however, we have reason to believe, is not always the 
case with bread prepared by those who make a trade of vending it. Their 
object is rather to please the eye, than to consult the health. The best 
bread is that which is neither too coarse nor too fine; well fermented and 
made of wheat flour, or rather of wheat and rye mixed together.

TO specify the different kinds of aliment, to explain their nature and 
properties, and to point out their effects in different constitutions, I 
would far exceed the limits of our design. Instead of a detail of this 
kind, which would not be generally understood, and, of course, little 
attended to, we shall only mention the following easy rules with respect 
to the choice of aliment.

PERSONS, whose solids are weak and relaxed, ought to avoid all viscid 
food, or such things as are hard of digestion. Their diet, however, ought 
to be nourishing; and they should take plenty of exercise in the open air.

SUCH as abound with blood should be sparing in the use of every thing that 
is highly nourishing, as fat meat, rich wines, strong ale, and such like. 
Their food should consist mostly of bread and other vegetable substances; 
and their drink ought to be water, whey, or small beer.

FAT people should not eat freely of oily nourishing diet. They ought 
frequently to use raddish, garlic, spices, or such things as are heating 
and promote perspiration and urine. Their drink should be water, coffee, 
tea, or the like; and they ought to take much exercise and little sleep.

THOSE who are too lean must follow an opposite course.

SUCH as are troubled with acidities, or whose food is apt to sour on the 
stomach, should live much on flesh-meats; and those who are afflicted 
wlith hot alkaline eructations, ought to use a diet consisting chiefly of 
acid vegetables.

PEOPLE who are affected with the gout, low spirits, hypochondriac, or 
hysteric disorders, ought to avoid all flatulent food, every thing that is 
viscid, or hard of digestion, all salted or smoke-dried provisions, and 
whatever is austere, acid, or apt to sour on the stomach. Their food 
should be light, spare, cool, and of an opening nature.

THE diet ought not only to be suited to the age and constitution but also 
to the manner of life: A sedentary or studious person should live more 
sparingly than one who labours hard without doors. Many kinds of food will 
nourish a peasant very well which would be almost indigestible to a 
citizen; and the latter will live upon a diet on which the former would 
starve.

DIET ought not to be too uniform. The constant use of one kind of food 
might have some bad effects. Nature teaches us this, by the great variety 
of aliment which she has provided for man, and likewise by giving him an 
appetite for different kinds of food.

THOSE who labour under any particular disease, ought to avoid such 
aliments as have a tendency to increase it: For example, a gouty person 
should not indulge in rich wines, strong soups, or gravies, and should 
avoid all acids. One who is troubled with the gravel ought to shun all 
austere and astringent aliments; and those who are scorbutic should be 
sparing in the use of salted provisions, &c.

IN the first period of life, our food ought to be light, but nourishing, 
and frequently taken. Food that is solid, with a sufficient degree of 
tenacity, is most proper for the state of manhood. The diet suited to the 
last period of life, when nature is upon the decline, approaches nearly to 
that of the first. It should be lighter and more succulent than that of 
vigorous age and likewise more frequently taken.

IT is not only necessary for health that our diet be wholesome, but also 
that it be taken at regular periods. Some imagine long fasting will attone 
for excess; but this instead of mending the matter generally makes it 
worse. When the stomach and intestines are over-distended with food, they 
lose their proper tone, and, by long fasting, they become weak, and 
inflated with wind. Thus, either gluttony or fasting destroys the powers 
of digestion.

THE frequent repetition of aliment is not only necessary for repairing the 
continual waste of our bodies, but likewise to keep the humours sound and 
sweet. Our humours, even in the most healthy state, have a constant 
tendency to putrefaction, which can only be prevented by frequent supplies 
of fresh nourishment: When this is wanting too long, the putrefaction 
often proceeds so far, as to occasion very dangerous fevers. From hence we 
may learn the necessity of regular meals. No person can enjoy a good state 
of health, whose vessels are either frequently overcharged, or the humours 
long deprived of fresh supplies of chyle.

LONG fasting is extremely hurtful to young people; it not only vitiates 
their humours, but prevents their growth. Nor is it less injurious to the 
aged. Most persons, in the decline of life, are afflicted with wind: This 
complain is not only increased, but even rendered dangerous, and often 
fatal, by long fasting. Old people, when their stomachs are empty, are 
frequently seized with giddiness, head-achs, and faintness. These 
complaints may generally be removed by a bit of bread and a glass of wine, 
or taking any other solid food; which plainly points out the method of 
preventing them.

IT is more than probable, that many of the sudden deaths, which happen in 
the advanced periods of life, are occasioned by fasting too long, as it 
exhausts the spirits, and fills the bowels with wind; we would therefore 
advise people, in the decline of life, never to allow their stomachs to be 
too long empty. Many people take nothing but a few cups of tea and a bit 
of bread, from nine o'clock at night till two or three next afternoon. 
Such may be said to fast almost three-fourths of their time. This can 
hardly fail to ruin the appetite, vitiate the humours, and fill the bowels 
with wind; all which might be prevented by a solid breakfast.

IT is a very common practice to eat a light breakfast and a heavy supper. 
This custom ought to be reversed. When people sup late their supper should 
be very light; but the breakfast ought always to be solid. If any one eats 
a light supper, goes soon to bed, and rises betimes in the morning, he 
will be sure sure to find an appetite for his breakfast, and he may freely 
indulge it.

THE strong and healthy do not indeed suffer so much from fasting as the 
weak and delicate; but they run great hazard from its opposite, viz 
repletion. Many diseases, especially fevers, are the effect of a plethora, 
or too great fullness of the vessels. Strong people, In high health, have 
generally a great quantity of blood and other humours. When these are 
suddenly increased by an overcharge of rich and nourishing diet, the 
vessels become too much distended, and obstructions and inflammations 
ensue. Hence so many people are seized with inflammatory and eruptive 
fevers, after a feast or debauch.

ALL great and sudden changes in diet are dangerous. What the stomach has 
been long accustomed to digest, though less wholesome, will agree better 
with it than food of a more salutary nature which it has not been used to.

WHEN therefore a change becomes necessary, it ought always to be made 
gradually; a sudden transition from a poor and low to a rich and luxurious 
diet, or the contrary, might so disturb the functions of the body as to 
endanger health, or even to occasion death itself.

WHEN we recommend regularity in diet, we would not be understood as 
condemning every small deviation from it. It is next to impossible for 
people at all times to avoid some degree of excess, and living too much by 
rule might make even the smallest deviation dangerous. It may therefore be 
prudent to vary a little, sometimes taking more, sometimes less, than the 
usual quantity of meat and drink, provided always that regard be had to 
moderation.



CHAPTER IV.
OF AIR.

UNWHOLESOME air is a very common cause of diseases. Few are aware of the 
danger arising from it. People generally pay some attention to what they 
eat and drink, but seldom regard what goes into the lungs, though the 
latter proves often more suddenly fatal than the former.

AIR, as well as water, takes up parts of most bodies with which it comes 
into contact, and is often so replenished with those of a noxious quality, 
as to occasion immediate death. But such violent effects seldom happen, as 
people are generally on their guard against them. The less perceptible 
influences of bad air prove more generally hurtful to mankind; we shall 
therefore endeavour to point out some of these, and to shew from whence 
the danger chiefly arises.

AIR may become noxious many ways. Whatever greatly alters its degree of 
heat, cold, moisture, &c. renders it unwholesome: For example, that which 
is too hot dissipates the watry parts of the blood, exalts the bile, and 
renders the whole humours adust and thick. Hence proceed bilious and 
inflammatory fevers, cholera morbus, &c. Very cold air obstructs the 
perspiration, constringes the solids, and condenses the fluids. It 
occasions rheumatisms, coughs, and catarrhs, with other diseases of the 
throat and breast. Air that is too moist destroys the elasticity or spring 
of the solids, induces phlegmatic or lax constitutions, and disposes the 
body to agues, or intermitting fevers, dropsies, &c.

WHEREVER great numbers of people are crowded into one place, if the air 
has not a free current, it soon becomes unwholesome. Hence it is that 
delicate persons are so apt to turn sick or faint in crowded churches, 
assemblies, or any place where the air is injured by breathing, fires, 
candles, or the like.

IN great cities so many things tend to pollute the air, that it is no 
wonder it proves so fatal to the inhabitants. The air in cities is not 
only breathed repeatedly over, but is likewise loaded with sulphur, smoke, 
and other exhalations, besides the vapours, continually arising from 
innumerable putrid substances, as dung hills, slaughter-houses, &c. All 
possible care should be taken to keep the streets of large towns open and 
wide, that the air may have a free current through them. They ought 
likewise to be kept very clean. Nothing tends more to pollute and 
contaminate the air of a city than dirty streets.

IT is very common in this country to have church-yards in the middle of 
populous cities. Whether this be the effect of ancient superstition, or 
owing to the increase of such towns, is a matter of no consequence. 
Whatever gave rise to the custom, it is a bad one. lt is habit alone which 
reconciles us to these things; by means of which the most ridiculous, nay, 
pernicious customs, often become sacred. Certain it is, that thousands of 
putrid carcasses, so near the surface of the earth in a place where the 
air is confined, cannot fail to taint it; and that such air, when breathed 
into the lungs, must occasion diseases. In most eastern countries it was 
customary to bury the dead at some distance from any town. As this 
practlice obtained among the Jews, the Greeks, and also the Romans, it is 
strange that the western parts of Europe should not have followed their 
example in a custom to be truly laudable.

BURYING within churches is a practice still more detestable. The air in 
churches is seldom good, and the effluvia from putrid carcasses must 
render it still worse. Churches are commonly old buildings with arched 
roofs. They are seldom open above once a week, are never ventilated by 
fires nor open windows, and rarely kept clean. This occasions that damp, 
musty, unwholesome smell which one feels upon entering a church, and 
renders it a very unsafe place for the weak and valetudinary. These 
inconveniencies might, in a great measure, be obviated, by prohibiting all 
persons from burying within churches, by keeping them clean, and 
permitting a stream of fresh air to pass frequently through them, by 
opening opposite doors and windows.

WHEREVER air stagnates long, it, becomes unwholesome. Hence the unhappy 
persons confined in jails not only contract malignant fevers themselves, 
but often communicate them to others. Nor are many of the holes, for we 
cannot call them houses, possessed by the poor in great towns, much better 
than jails. These low dirty habitations are the very lurking-places of bad 
air and contagious diseases. Such as live in them seldom enjoy good 
health; and commonly die young. In the choice of a house, those who have 
it in their power ought always to pay the greatest attention to open, free 
air.

THE various methods which luxury has invented to make houses close and 
warm, contribute not a little to render them unwholesome. No house can be 
wholesome unless the air has a free passage through it. For which reason 
houses ought daily to be ventilated, by opening opposite windows, and 
admitting a current of fresh air into every room. Beds, instead of being 
made up as soon as people rise out of them, ought to be turned down, and 
exposed to the fresh air from the windows through the day. This would 
expel any noxious vapour, and could not fail to promote the health of the 
inhabitants.

IN hospitals, jails, ships, &c. where that cannot be conveniently done, 
ventilators should be used. The method of expelling foul, and introducing 
fresh air, by means of ventilators, is a most salutary invention, and is 
indeed the most useful of all our modern medical improvements. It is 
capable of universal application, and is fraught with numerous advantages, 
both to those in health and sickness. In all places, where numerous 
numbers of people are crowded together, ventilation becomes absolutely 
necessary.

AIR which stagnates in mines, wells, cellars, &c. is extremely noxious. 
That kind of air is to be avoided as the most deadly poison. It often 
kills almost as quickly as lightning. For this reason, people should be 
very cautious in opening cellars that have been long shut, or going down 
into deep wells, or pits, especially if they have have been kept close 
covered. We have daily accounts of persons who lose thelir lives by going 
down into deep wells and other places where the air stagnates; all these 
accidents might be prevented by only letting down a lighted candle before 
them, and stopping when they perceive it go out; yet this precaution, 
simple as it is, is seldom used.

MANY people who have splended houses chuse to sleep in small apartments. 
This conduct is very imprudent. A bed-chamber ought always to be well-
aired; as it is generally occupied in the night only, when all doors and 
windows are shut. If a fire be kept in it, the danger from a small room 
becomes still greater. Numbers have been stifled when asleep by fire in a 
small apartment, which is always hurtful.

THOSE who are obliged, on account of business, to spend the day in close 
towns, ought, if possible, to sleep in the country. Breathing free air in 
the night will, in some measure, make up for the want of it through the 
day. This practice would have a greater effect in preserving the health of 
citizens than is commonly imagined.

DELICATE persons ought, as much as possible, to avoid the air of great 
towns. It is peculiarly hurtful to the asthmatic and consumptive. Such 
persons should avoid cities as they would do the plague. The hypochondriac 
are likewise much hurt by it. I have often seen persons so much afflicted 
with this malady while in town, that it seemed impossible for them to 
live, who, upon being removed to the country, were immediately relieved. 
The same observation holds with regard to nervous and hysteric women. Many 
people, indeed, have it not in their power to change their situation in 
quest of better air. All we can say to such persons is, that they should 
go as often abroad into the open air as they can, that they should admit 
fresh air frequently into their houses, and take care to keep them very 
clean.

IT was necessary in former times, for safety, to surround cities, 
colleges, and even single houses, with high walls. These, by obstructing 
the free current of air, never fail to render such places damp and 
unwholesome. As such walls are now, in most parts of this country, become 
useless, they ought to be pulled down, and every method taken to admit a 
free passage to the air. Proper attention to AIR and CLEANLINESS would 
tend more to preserve the health of mankind, than all the endeavours of 
the faculty.

SURROUNDING houses too closely with planting, or thick woods, likewise 
tends to render the air unwholesome. Wood not only obstructs the free 
current of the air, but sends forth great quantities of moist exhalations, 
which render it constantly damp. Wood is very agreeable at a proper 
distance from a house, but should never be planted too near it, especially 
in a flat country. Many of the gentlemen's seats in England are rendered 
very unwholesome from the great quantity of wood which surrounds them.

HOUSES situated in low marshy countries, or near large lakes of stagnating 
water, are likewise unwholesome. Waters which stagnate not only render the 
air damp, but load it with putrid exhalations, which produce the most 
dangerous and fatal diseases. Those who are obliged to inhabit marshy 
countries, ought to make choice of the dryest situations they can find, to 
live generously, and to pay the strictest regard to cleanliness.

IF fresh air be necessary for those in health, it is still more so for the 
sick, who often lose their lives for want of it. The notion that sick 
people must be kept very hot, is so common, that one can hardly enter the 
chamber where a patient lies, without being ready to faint, by reason of 
the hot suffocating smell. How this must affect the sick any one may 
judge. No medicine is so beneficial to the sick as fresh air. It is the 
most reviving of all cordials, if it be administered with prudence. We are 
not, however, to throw open doors and windows at random upon the sick. 
Fresh air is to be let into the chamber gradually, and, if possible, by 
opening the windows of some other apartment.

THE air of a sick person's chamber may be greatly freshened, and the 
patient much revived, by sprinkling the floor, bed, &c. frequently with 
vinegar, juice of lemon, or any other strong vegetable acid.

IN places where numbers of sick are crowded into the same house, or, which 
is often the case, into the same apartment, the frequent admission of 
fresh air becomes absolutely necessary. Infirmaries, hospitals, &c. are 
often rendered so noxious, for want of proper ventilation, that the sick 
run more hazard from them than from the disease. This is particularly the 
case when putrid fevers, dysenteries, and other infectious diseases 
prevail.

PHYSICIANS, surgeons and others who attend hospitals, ought, for their own 
safety, to take care that they be properly ventilated. Such persons as are 
obliged to spend most of their time amongst the sick, run great hazard of 
being themselves infected when the air is bad. All hospitals, and places 
of reception for the sick, ought to have an open situation, at some 
distance from any great town, and such patients as labour under any 
infectious disease ought never to be suffered to come near the rest. A 
year seldom passes that we do not hear of some hospital physician or 
surgeon, having lost his life by an hospital fever, caught from his 
patients. For this they have themselves alone to blame, Their patients are 
either in an improper situation, or they are too careless with regard to 
their own conduct.



CHAPTER V.
OF EXERCISE.

MANY people look upon the the necessity man is under of earning his bread 
by labour, as a curse. Be this as it may, it is evident from the structure 
of the body, that exercise is not less necessary than food for the 
preservation of health: Those whom poverty obliges to labour for daily 
bread, are not only the the most healthy, but generally the most happy, 
part of mankind. Industry seldom fails to place such above want, and 
activity serves them instead of physic. This is peculiarly the case with 
those who live by the culture of the ground. The great increase of 
inhabitants in infant colonies, and the common longevity of such as follow 
agriculture every where, evidently prove it to be the most healthful as 
well as the most useful employment.

THE love of activity shews itself very early in man. So strong is this 
principle, that a healthy youth can not be restrained from exercise, even 
by the fear of punishment. Our love of motion is surely a strong proof of 
its utility. Nature implants no disposition in vain. It seems to be a 
catholic law, throughout the whole animal creation that no creature, 
without exercise, should enjoy health, or be able to find subsistence. 
Every creature, except man, takes as much of it as is necessary. He alone, 
and such animals as are under his direction, deviate from this original 
law, and they suffer accordingly.

INACTIVITY never fails to induce an universal relaxation of the solids,
which disposes the body to innumerable diseases. When the solids are 
relaxed, neither digestion, nor any of the secretions, can be duly 
performed. In this case, the worst consequences must ensue. How can 
persons who loll all day in easy chairs and sleep all night on beds of 
down fail to be relaxed? Nor do such greatly mend the matter, who never 
stir abroad but in a coach, sedan, or such like. These elegant pieces of 
luxury are become so common that the inhabitants of great towns seem to be 
in great danger of losing the use of their limbs together. It is now below 
any one to walk, who can afford to be carried. How ridiculous would it 
seem, to a person unacquainted with modern luxury, to behold the young and 
healthy swinging along on the shoulders of their fellow creatures! or to 
see a fat carcase, over-run with diseases occasioned by inactivity, 
dragged through the streets by half a dozen horses! It is not necessity, 
but fashion, which makes the use of carriages so common. There are many 
people who have not exercise enough to keep their humours from stagnation, 
who yet dare not venture to make a visit to their next neighbours, but in 
a coach or sedan, lest they should be looked down upon. Strange, that men 
should be such fools as to be laughed out of the use of their limbs, or to 
throw away their health, in order to gratify a piece of vanity, or to 
comply with a ridiculous fashion!

GLANDULAR obstructions, now so common, generally proceed from inactivity. 
These are the most obstinate of maladies. So long as the liver, kidnies, 
and other glands, duly perform their functions, health is seldom impaired; 
but, when they fail, nothing can restore it. Exercise is almost the only 
cure we know for glandular obstructions; indeed, it does not always 
succeed as a remedy; but there is reason to believe that it would seldom 
fail to prevent these complaints, were it used in due time. One thing is 
certain, that amongst those who take sufficient exercise, glandular 
diseases are very little known; whereas the indolent and inactive are 
seldom free from them.

WEAK nerves are the constant companions of inactivity. Nothing but 
exercise and open air can brace and strengthen the nerves, or prevent the 
endless train of diseases which proceed from a relaxed state of these 
organs. We seldom hear the active or laborious complain of nervous 
diseases; these are reserved for the sons of ease and affluence. Many have 
been completely cured of these disorders by being reduced, from a state of 
opulence, to labour for their daily bread. This plainly points out the 
sources from whence nervous diseases flow, and the means by which they may 
be prevented.

IT is absolutely impossible to enjoy health, where the perspiration is not 
duly carried on; but that can never be the case where exercise is 
neglected. When the matter which ought to be thrown off by perspiration is 
retained in the body, it vitiates the humours, and occasions the gout, 
fevers, rheumatism, &c. Exercise alone would prevent many of those 
diseases which cannot be cured, and would remove others where medicine 
proves ineffectual.

A LATE author, Cheyne, in his excellent treatise on health, says, that the 
weak and valetudinary ought to make exercise a part of their religion. We 
would recommend this, not only to the weak and valetudinary, but to all 
whose business does not oblige them to take sufficient exercise, as 
sedentary artificers , shopkeepers, studious persons, &c. Such ought to 
use exercise as regularly as they take food. This might generally be done 
without any interruption to business or real loss of time.

SEDENTARY occupations ought chiefly to be followed by women. They bear 
confinement much better than men, and are fitter for every kind of 
business which does not require much strength. It is ridiculous enough to 
see a lusty fellow making pins, needles or watch-wheels, while many of the 
laborious parts of husbandry are carried on by the other sex. The fact is, 
we want men for laborious employments, while one half of the other sex are 
rendered useless for want of occupations suited to their strength, &c. 
Were girls bred to mechanical employments, we should not see such numbers 
of them prostitute themselves for bread, nor find such a want of men for 
the important purposes of navigation, agriculture, &c. An eminent silk 
manufacturer told me, that he found women answer better for that business, 
than men, and that he had lately taken a great many girls apprentices as 
silk-weavers. I hope his example will be followed by many others.

NO piece of indolence hurts the health more than the modern custom of 
lying a-bed too long in a morning. This is the general practice in great 
towns. The inhabitants of cities seldom rise before eight or nine o'clock; 
but the morning is undoubtedly the best time for exercise, while the 
stomach is empty, and the body refreshed with sleep. Besides, the morning 
air braces and strengthens the nerves, and, in some measure, answers the 
purpose of a cold bath. Let any one who has been accustomed to lie a-bed 
till eight or nine o'clock, rise by six or seven, spend a couple of hours 
in walking, riding, or any active diversion without doors, and he will 
find his spirits cheerful and serene through the day, his appetite keen, 
and his body braced and strengthened. Custom soon renders early rising 
agreeable, and nothing contributes more to the preservation of health.

THE inactive are continually complaining of pains of the stomach, 
flatulencies, indigestions, &c. These complaints, which pave the way to 
many others, are not to be removed by medicines. They can only be cured by 
a vigorous course of exercise, to which indeed they seldom fail to yield.

EXERCISE, if possible, ought always to be taken in the open air. When that 
cannot be done, various methods may be contrived for exercising the body 
within doors, as the dumb bell, dancing, fencing, &c. it is not necessary 
to adhere strictly to any particular kind of exercise. The best way is to 
take them by turns, and to use that longest which is most suitable to the 
strength and constitution. These kinds of exercise which give action to 
most of the bodily organs, are always to be preferred, as walking, 
running, riding, digging, swimming, and such like

IT is much to be regretted, that active and manly diversions are now so 
little practiced. Diversions make people take more exercise than they 
otherwise would do, and are of the greatest service to such as are not 
under the necessity of labouring for their bread. As active diversions 
lose ground, those of a sedentary kind seem to prevail. Sedentary 
diversions are of no other use but to consume time. Instead of relieving 
the mind, they often require more thought than either study or business. 
Every thing that induces people to sit still, unless it be some necessary 
employment, ought to be avoided.

THE diversions which afford the best exercise are, hunting, shooting, 
playing at cricket, hand-ball, golff, &c. These exercise the limbs, 
promote perspiration, and the other secretions. They likewise strengthen 
the lungs, and give firmness and agility to the whole body.

GOLFF is a diversion very common in North Britain. It is well calculated 
for exercising the body, and may always be taken in such moderation, as 
neither to over-heat nor fatigue. It has greatly the preference to 
cricket, tennis, or any of those games which cannot be played without 
violence.

SUCH as can, ought to spend two or three hours a-day on horseback; those 
who cannot ride, should employ the same time in walking, Exercise should 
never be continued too long. Over-fatigue prevents the benefit of 
exercise, and instead of strengthening the body tends to weaken it.

EVERY man should lay himself under some sort of necessity to take 
exercise. Indolence, like other vices when indulged, gains ground, and at 
length becomes agreeable. Hence many who were fond of exercise in the 
early part of life, become quite averse from it afterwards. This is the 
case of most hypochondriac and gouty people, which renders their diseases 
in great measure incurable.

IN some countries laws have been made, obliging every man, of whatever 
rank, to learn some mechanical employment. Whether such laws were designed 
for the preservation of health, or the encouragement of manufacture, is a 
question of no importance. Certain it is, that if gentlemen were 
frequently to amuse and exercise themselves in this way, it might have 
many good effects. They would at least derive as much honour from a few 
masterly specimens of their own workmanship, as from the character of 
having ruined most of their companions by gaming or drinking. Besides, men 
of leisure, by applying themselves to the mechanical arts, might improve 
them, to the great benefit of society,

INDOLENCE not only occasions diseases, and renders men useless to society, 
but promotes all manner of vice. To say a man is idle, is little better 
than calling him vicious. The mind, if not engaged in some useful pursuit, 
is constantly in quest of ideal pleasures, or impressed with the 
apprehension of some imaginary evil. From these sources proceed most of 
the miseries of mankind. Certainly man was never intended to be idle. 
Inactivity frustrates the very design of his creation; whereas an active 
life is the best guardian of virtue, and the greatest preservative of 
health.



CHAPTER VI.
OF SLEEP AND CLOTHING.

SLEEP, as well as diet, ought to be duly regulated. Too little sleep 
weakens the nerves, exhausts the spirits, and occasions diseases; and too 
much renders the mind dull, the body gross, and disposes to apoplexies, 
lethargies and other complaints of a similar nature. A medium ought 
therefore to be observed; but this is not easy to fix. Children require 
more sleep than grown persons, the laborious than the idle, and such as 
eat and drink freely, than those who live abstemiously. Besides, the real 
quantity of sleep cannot be measured by time; as one person will be more 
refreshed by five or six hours sleep, than another by eight or ten.

CHILDREN may always be allowed to take as much sleep as they please; but, 
for adults, six or seven hours is certainly sufficient, and no one ought 
to exceed eight. Those who lie a-bed more than eight hours may slumber, 
but they can be hardly said to sleep;such generally toss and dream away 
the fore-part of the night, sink the rest towards morning, and dose till 
noon. The best way to make sleep sound and refreshing is to rise betimes. 
The custom of lying a-bed for nine or ten hours, not only makes the sleep 
less refreshing, but relaxes the solids, and greatly weakens the 
constitution.

NATURE points out night as the proper season for sleep. Nothing more 
certainly destroys the constitution than night-watching. It is great pity 
that a practice so destructive to health should be so much in fashion. How 
quickly the want of rest in due season will blast the most blooming 
complexion, or ruin the best constitution, is evident from the ghastly 
countenances of those who, as the phrase is, turn day into night, and 
night into day.

TO make sleep refreshing, the following things are requisite: First, to 
take sufficient exercise in the open air; to avoid strong tea or coffee; 
next, to eat a light supper; and lastly, to lie down with a mind as 
cheerful and serene as possible.

IT is certain that too much exercise will prevent sleep, as well as too 
little. We seldom however hear the active and laborious complain of 
restless nights. It is the indolent and slothful who generally have these 
complaints. Is it any wonder that a bed of down should not be refreshing 
to a person who sits all day in an easy chair? A great part of the 
pleasure of life consists in alternate rest and motion; but they who 
neglect the latter can never relish the former. The labourer enjoys more 
true luxury in plain food and sound sleep, than is to be found in 
sumptuous tables and downy pillows, where exercise is wanting.

THAT light suppers cause sound sleep, is true even to a proverb. Many 
persons, if they exceed the least at that meal, are sure to have uneasy 
nights; and, if they fall asleep, the load and oppression on their stomach 
and spirits occasion frightful dreams, broken and disturbed repose, the 
night-mare, &c. Were the same persons to go to bed with a light supper, or 
sit up till that meal was pretty well digested, they would enjoy sound 
sleep, and rise refreshed and cheerful. There are indeed some people who 
cannot sleep unless they have eat some solid food at night, but this does 
not imply the necessity of a heavy supper; besides, these are generally 
persons who have accustomed themselves to this method, and who do not take 
a sufficient quantity of solid food and exercise.

NOTHING more certainly disturbs our repose than anxiety. When the mind is 
not at ease, one seldom enjoys sound sleep. That greatest of human 
blessings flies the wretched, and visits the happy, the cheerful, and the 
gay. This is a sufficient reason why every man should endeavour to be as 
easy in his mind as possible when he goes to rest. Many, by indulging 
grief and anxious thought, have banished sound sleep so long, that they 
could never afterwards enjoy it.

SLEEP, when taken in the fore-part of the night, is generally reckoned 
most refreshing. Whether this be the effect of habit or not, is hard to 
say; but as most people are accustomed to go early to bed when young, it 
may be presumed that sleep, at this season, will prove most refreshing to 
them ever after. Whether the fore-part of the night be best for sleep or 
not; surely the fore-part of the day is fittest both for business and 
amusement. I hardly ever knew an early riser who did not enjoy a good 
state of health. Men of every occupation, and in every situation of life, 
have lived to a good old age; nay, some have enjoyed this blessing whose 
plan of living was by no means regular: but it consists with observation, 
that all very old men have been early risers. This is the only 
circumstance attending longevity, to which I never knew an exception.


Of Clothing.

THE clothing ought to be suited to the climate. Custom has no doubt a very 
great influence in this article; but no custom can ever change the nature 
of things so far as to render the same clothing fit for an inhabitant of 
Nova Zembla and the island of Jamaica. It is not indeed necessary to 
observe an exact proportion twixt the quantity of clothes we wear, and the 
degree of latitude which we inhabit; but, at the same time, proper 
attention ought to be paid to it, as well as to the openness of the 
country, the frequency and violence of storms, &c.

IN youth, while the blood is hot and the perspiration free, it is less 
necessary to cover the body with a great quantity of clothes; but, in the 
decline of life, when the skin becomes rigid and the humours more cool, 
the clothing should be increased. Many diseases in the latter period of 
life proceed from a defect of perspiration; these may, in some measure, be 
prevented by a suitable addition to the clothing, or by wearing such as 
are better calculated for promoting the discharge from the skin, as 
clothes made of cotton, flannel, &c.

THE clothing ought likewise to be suited to the season of the year. 
Clothing may be warm enough for summer, which is by no means sufficient 
for winter. The greatest caution, however, is necessary in making these 
changes. We ought neither to put off our winter clothes too soon, nor to 
wear our summer ones too long. In this country, the winter often sets in 
very early with great rigour, and we have frequently cold weather even 
after the commencement of the summer months. It would likewise be prudent 
not to make the change all at once, but to do it gradually; and indeed the 
changes of apparel in this climate ought to be very inconsiderable, 
especially among those who have passed the meridian of life. That colds 
kill more than plagues, is an old observation; and, with regard to this 
country, it holds strictly true. Every person of discernment, however, 
will perceive, that most of the colds which prove so destructive to the 
inhabitants of Britain are owing to their imprudence in changing clothes. 
A few warm days in March or April induce them to throw off their winter 
garments without considering that our most penetrating colds generally 
happen in May.

CLOTHES often become hurtful by their being made subservient to the 
purposes of pride or vanity. Mankind in all ages seem to have considered 
clothes in this view; accordingly their fashion and figure have been 
continually varying, with very little regard either to health, the climate 
or conveniency: A farthingale, for example, may be very necessary in hot 
southern climates, but surely nothing can be more ridiculous in the cold 
regions of the north.

EVEN the human shape is often attempted to be mended by dress, and those 
who know no better believe that mankind would be monsters without its 
assistance. All attempts of this nature are highly pernicious. The most 
destructive of them in this country is that of squeezing the stomach and 
bowels into as narrow a compass as possible, to procure, what is falsely 
called, a fine shape. By this practice the action of the stomach and 
bowels, the motion of the heart and lungs, and almost all the vital 
functions, are obstructed. Hence proceed indigestions, syncopes, or 
fainting fits, coughs, consumptions of the lungs, &c.

THE feet likewise often suffer by pressure. How a small foot came to be 
reckoned genteel, I will not pretend to say; but certain it is, that this 
notion has made many persons lame. Almost nine-tenths of mankind are 
troubled with corns: a disease that is seldom or never occasioned but by 
strait shoes. Corns are not only very troublesome, but by rendering people 
unable to walk, they may likewise be considered as the remote cause of 
other diseases. We often see persons who are rendered quite lame by the 
nails of their toes having grown into the flesh, and frequentIy hear of 
mortifications proceeding from this cause. All these, and many other 
inconveniencies attending the feet, must be imputed solely to the use of 
short and strait shoes.

THE size and figure of the shoe ought certainly to be adapted to the foot. 
In children the feet are as well shaped as the hands, and the motion of 
the toes as free and easy as that of the fingers; yet few persons in the 
advanced periods of life are able to make any use of their toes. They are 
generally, by narrow shoes, squeezed all of a heap, and often laid over 
one another such as to be rendered altogether incapable of motion. Nor is 
the high heel less hurtful than the narrow toe. A lady may seem taller for 
walking on her tiptoes, but she will never walk well in this manner. It 
strains her joints, distorts her limbs, makes her stoop, and utterly 
destroys all her ease and gracefullness of motion: It is entirely owing to 
shoes with high heels and narrow toes, that not one female in ten can be 
said to walk well.

IN fixing on the clothes, due care should be taken to avoid all tight 
bandages. Garters, buckles, &c. when drawn too tight, not only prevent the 
free motion and use of the parts about which they are bound, but likewise 
obstruct the circulation of the blood, which prevents the equal 
nourishment and growth of these parts, and occasions various diseases. 
Tight bandages about the neck, as stocks, cravats, necklaces, &c. are 
extremely dangerous. They obstruct the blood in its course from the brain, 
by which means headachs, vertigos, apoplexies, and other fatal diseases 
are often occasioned.

THE perfection of dress is to be easy and clean. Nothing can be more 
ridiculous, than for any one to make himself a slave to fine clothes. Such 
a one, and many such there are, would rather remain as fixt as a statue 
from morning till night, than discompose a single hair or alter the 
position of a pin. Were we to recommend any particular pattern for dress, 
it would be that which is worn by the people called Quakers. They are 
always neat, clean, and often elegant, without any thing superfluous. What 
others lay out upon tawdry laces, ruffles, and ribbands, they bestow upon 
superior cleanliness. Finery is only the affectation of dress, and very 
often covers a great deal of dirt.

WE shall only add, with regard to clothing, that it ought not only to be 
suited to the climate, the season of the year, and the period of life; but 
likewise to the temperature and constitution. Robust persons are able to 
endure either cold or heat better than the delicate; and consequently may 
be less attentive to their clothing. But the precise quantity of clothes 
necessary for any person cannot be determined by reasoning. It is entirely 
a matter of experience, and every man is best judge for himself what 
quantity of clothes is necessary to keep him warm. The celebrated 
Boerhaave used to say, that no body suffered by cold save fools and 
beggars; the latter not being able to procure clothes, and the former not 
having sense to wear them. Be this as it may, I can with the strictest 
truth declare, that in many cases where the powers of medicine had been 
tried in vain, I have cured the patient by recommending thick shoes, a 
flannel waistcoat, a pair of under stockings, or a flannel petticoat to be 
worn during the cold season at least.



CHAPTER VII.
OF INTEMPERANCE.

A MODERN author - Rousseau - observes, that temperance and exercise are 
the two best physicians in the world. He might have added, that if these 
were duly regarded, there would be little occasion for any other. 
Temperance may justly be called the parent of health; yet numbers of 
mankind act as if they thought diseases and death too slow in their 
progress, and by intemperance and debauch, seem, as it were, to solicit 
their approach.

THE danger of intemperance appears from the very construction of the human 
body. Health depends on that state of the solids and fluids which fits 
them for the due performance of the vital functions; and, while these go 
regularly on, we are sound and well; but whatever disturbs them 
necessarily impairs health. Intemperance never fails to disorder the whole 
animal oeconomy; it hurts the digestion, relaxes the nerves, renders the 
different secretions irregular, vitiates the humours, and occasions 
numberless diseases.

THE analogy between the nourishment of plants and animals affords a 
striking proof of the danger of intemperance. Moisture and manure greatly 
promote vegetation; yet an over-quantity of either will entirely destroy 
it. The best things become hurtful, nay destructive, when carried to 
excess. Hence we learn, that the highest degree of human wisdom consists 
in regulating our appetites and passions so as to avoid all extremes. It 
is that chiefly which entitles us to the character of rational beings. The 
slave of appetite will ever be the disgrace of human nature.

THE Author of Nature hath embued us with various passions, for the 
propagation of the species, the preservation of the individual, &c. 
Intemperance is the abuse of these passions; and moderation consists in 
the proper regulation of them. Men, not contented with satisfying the 
simple calls of Nature, create artificial wants, and are perpetually in 
search of something that may gratify them; but imaginary wants never can 
be gratified. Nature is content with little; but luxury knows no bounds. 
Hence the epicure, the drunkard, and the debauchee, seldom stop in their 
career, till their money, or their constitution fails: Then indeed they 
generally see their error when too late.

IT is impossible to lay down fixt rules with regard to diet, on account of 
the different constitutions of mankind. The most ignorant person, however, 
certainly knows what is meant by excess and it is in the power of every 
man, if he chooses, to avoid it.

THE great rule of diet is to study simplicity. Nature delights in the most 
plain and simple food, and every animal, except man, follows her dictates. 
Man alone riots at large, and ransacks the whole creation in quest of 
luxuries, to his own destruction. An elegant writer - Addison - of the 
last age speaks thus of intemperance in diet: "For my part, when I behold 
a fashionable table fit out in all its magnificence,I fancy that I see 
gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with other innumerable 
distempers, laying in ambuscade among the dishes."

NOR is intemperance in other things less destructive than in diet. How 
quickly does the immoderate pursuit of carnal pleasures, or the abuse of 
intoxicating liquors, ruin the best constitution! Indeed these vices 
generally go hand in hand. Hence it is that we so often behold the 
votaries of Bacchus and Venus, even before they have arrived at the prime 
of life, worn out with diseases, and hasting with swift pace to an 
untimely grave. Did men reflect on the painful diseases, and premature 
deaths, which are daily occasioned by intemperance, it would be sufficient 
to make them shrink back with horror from the indulgence even of their 
darling pleasures.

INTEMPERANCE does not hurt its votaries alone; the innocent too often feel 
the direful effects of it. How many wretched orphans are to be seen 
embracing dunghills, whose parents, regardless of the future, spent in 
riot and debauch what might have served to bring up their offspring in a 
decent manner? How often do we behold the miserable mother, with her 
helpless infants, pining in want, while the cruel father is indulging his 
insatiate appetites?

FAMILIES are not only reduced to misery, but even extirpated by 
intemperance. Nothing tends so much to prevent propagation, and to shorten 
the lives of children, as the intemperance of parents. The poor man who 
labours all day, and at night sits down contented with his humble fare, 
can boast a numerous offspring, while his pampered lord, sunk in ease and 
luxury, often languishes without an heir to his ample fortunes. Even 
states and empires feel the influence of intemperance, and rise or fall as 
it prevails.

INSTEAD of mentioning the different kinds of intemperance, and pointing 
out their influence upon health, we shall only, by way of example, make a 
few observations on one particular species of that vice, viz. the abuse of 
intoxicating liquors.

EVERY act of intoxication puts Nature to the expence of a fever, in order 
to discharge the poisonous draught. when this is repeated almost every 
day, it is easy to foresee the consequences. That constitution must be 
strong indeed, which is able long to hold out under a daily fever! But 
fevers occasioned by drinking do not always go off in a day; they 
frequently end in an inflammation of the breast, liver, or brain, and 
produce fatal effects.

THOUGH the drunkard should not fall by an acute disease, he seldom escapes 
those of a chronic kind. Intoxicating liquors, when used to excess, weaken 
the bowels and spoil the digestion; they destroy the power of the nerves, 
and occasion paralytic and convulsive disorders; they likewise heat and 
inflame the blood, destroy its balsamic quality, render it unfit for 
circulation, and the nourishment of the body. Hence obstructions, 
atrophies, dropsies, and consumptions of the lungs. These are the common 
ways in which drunkards make their exit. Diseases of this kind, when 
brought by hard drinking, seldom admit of a cure,

MANY people injure their health by drinking who seldom get drunk. The 
continual habit of soaking, as it is called, though its effects be not so 
violent, is not less pernicious. When the vessels are kept constantly full 
and upon the stretch, the different digestions can neither be duly 
performed, nor the humours properly prepared. Hence most people of this 
character are afflicted with the gout, the gravel, ulcerous sores in the 
legs, &c. If these disorders do not appear, they are seized with low 
spirits, hypochondriacal affections, and other symptoms of indigestion.

CONSUMPTIONS are now so common, that it is thought one-tenth of the 
inhabitants of great towns die of that disease. Hard drinking is no doubt 
one of the causes to which we must impute the increase of consumptions. 
The great quantities of viscid malt-liquor drank by the common people of 
England, cannot fail to render the blood fizy and unfit for circulation; 
from whence proceed obstructions, and inflammations of the lungs. There 
are few great ale- drinkers who are not phthisical: nor is that to be 
wondered at, considering the glutinous and almost indigestible nature of 
strong ale.

THOSE who drink ardent spirits or strong wines run still greater hazard; 
these liquors heat and inflame the blood, and tear the tender vessels of 
the lungs in pieces; yet so great is the consumption of them in this 
country, that one would almost be induced to think the inhabitant's lived 
upon them. We may form some notion of the immense quantity of ardent 
spirits consumed in Great Britain from this circumstance, that in the city 
of Edinburgh and its environs, besides the great quantity of foreign 
spirits duly entered, and the still greater quantity which is supposed to 
be smuggled, it is computed that above two thousand private stills are 
constantly employed in preparing a poisonous liquor called Molasses. The 
common people have got so universally into the habit of drinking this base 
spirit, that when a porter or labourer is seen reeling along the streets, 
they say, he has got molassed.

THE habit of drinking proceeds frequently from misfortunes in life. The 
miserable fly to it for relief. It affords them indeed a temporary ease. 
But, alas! this solace is short-lived; and when it is over, the spirits 
sink as much below their usual tone as they had before been raised above 
it. Hence a repetition of the dose becomes necessary, and every fresh dose 
makes way for another, till the unhappy wretch becomes a slave to the 
bottle, and at length falls a sacrifice to what at first perhaps was taken 
only as a medicine. No man is so dejected as the drunkard when his debauch 
is gone off. Hence it is, that those who have the greatest flow of spirits 
while the glass circulates freely, are of all others the most melancholy 
when sober, and often put an end to their own miserable existence in a fit 
of spleen or ill humour.

DRUNKENNESS not only proves destructive to health, but likewise to the 
faculties of the mind. It is strange that creatures who value themselves 
on account of a superior degree of reason to that of brutes, should take 
pleasure in sinking so far below them. Were such as voluntarily deprive 
themselves of the use of reason, to continue ever after in that condition, 
it would seem but a just punishment. Though this be not the consequence of 
one act of intoxication, it seldom fails to succeed a course of it. By a 
habit of drinking, the greatest genius is often reduced to a mere idiot. 
It is amazing that our improvements in arts, learning, and politeness have 
not put the barbarous custom of drinking to excess out of fashion. It is 
indeed less common in South Britain than it was formerly, but it still 
prevails very much in the North, where this relic of barbarity is mistaken 
for hospitality. There no man is supposed to entertain his guests well, 
who does not make them drunk. Forcing people to drink is certainty the 
greatest piece of rudeness that any man can be guilty of. Manliness, 
complaisance, or mere good-nature, may induce a man to take his glass, if 
urged to it, at a time when he might as well take poison. The custom of 
drinking to excess has long been out of fashion in France; and, as it 
begins to lose ground among the politer part of the English, we hope it 
will soon be banished from every part of this island.

INTOXICATION is peculiarly hurtful to young persons. It heats their blood, 
impairs their strength, and obstructs their growth; besides, the frequent 
use of strong liquors in the early part of life destroys any benefit that 
might arise from them afterwards. Those who make a practice of drinking 
generous liquors when young, cannot expect to reap any benefit from them 
as a cordial in the decline of life.

DRUNKENNESS is not only itself a most abominable vice, but it is an 
inducement to many others. There is hardly any crime so horrid that the 
drunkard will not perpetrate for the love of liquor. We have known mothers 
sell their children's clothes, the food that they should have eat, and 
afterwards, even the infants themselves, in order to purchase the accursed 
draught.



CHAPTER VIII.
OF CLEANLINESS.

THE want or cleanliness is a fault which admits of no excuse. Where water 
can be had for nothing, it is surely in the power of every person to be 
clean. The continual discharge from our bodies by perspiration renders 
frequent change of apparel necessary. Changing apparel greatly promotes 
the secretion from the skin, so necessary for health. When that matter 
which ought to be carried off by perspiration, is either retained in the 
body, or resorbed from dirty clothes, it must occasion diseases.

DISEASES of the skin are chiefly owing to want of cleanliness. Mr. Pot, in 
his surgical observations, mentions a disease which he calls the chimney-
sweepers cancer, as it is almost peculiar to that unhappy set of people. 
This he attributes to neglect of cleanliness, and with great justice. I am 
convinced, if that part of the body which is the seat of this cruel 
disease was kept clean by frequent washing, it would never happen. They 
may indeed be caught by infection, or brought on by poor living, 
unwholesome food, &c. but they will seldom continue long where cleanliness 
prevails. To the same cause must we impute the various kinds of vermin 
which infest the human body, houses, &c. These may always be banished by 
cleanliness alone, and wherever they abound we have reason to believe it 
is neglected.

ONE common cause of putrid and malignant fevers is the want of 
cleanliness. These fevers commonly begin among the inhabitants of close 
dirty houses, who breathe unwholesome air, take little exercise, and wear 
dirty clothes. There the infection is generally hatched, which often 
spreads far and wide, to the destruction of many. Hence cleanliness may be 
considered as an object of public attention. It is not sufficient that I 
be clean myself, while the want of it in my neighbour affects my health as 
well as his. If dirty people cannot be removed as a common nuisance, they 
ought at least to be avoided as infectious. All who regard their health 
should keep at a distance even from their habitations.

IN places where great numbers of people are collected, cleanliness becomes 
of the utmost importance. It is well known, that infectious diseases are 
communicated by tainted air. Every thing, therefore, which tends to 
pollute the air, or spread the infection, ought with the utmost care to be 
guarded against. For this reason, in great towns, no filth, of any kind, 
should be permitted to lie upon the streets. Nothing is more apt to convey 
infection than the excrements of the diseased.

IN many great towns the streets are little better than dunghills, being 
frequently covered with ashes, dung, and nastiness of every kind. Even 
slaughterhouses, or killing shambles, are often to be seen in the very 
centre of great towns. The putrid blood, excrements, &c. with which these 
places are generally covered, cannot fail to taint the air, and render it 
unwholesome. How easily might this be prevented by active magistrates, who 
have it always in their power to make proper laws relative to things of 
this nature, and to enforce the observance of them!

WE are sorry to say, that the importance of general cleanliness does not 
seem to be sufficiently understood by the magistrates of most great towns 
in Britain; though health, pleasure, and delicacy, all conspire to 
recommend an attention to it. Nothing can be more agreeable to the senses, 
more to the honour of the inhabitants, or more conducive to their health, 
than a clean town; nor can any thing impress a stranger with a more 
disrespectful idea of any people than its opposite. Whatever pretensions 
people may make to learning, politeness, or civilization, we will venture 
to affirm, that so long as they neglect cleanliness, they are in a state 
of barbarity. In ancient Rome the greatest men did not think cleanliness 
an object unworthy of their attention. Pliny says, the Cloacoe, or common 
sewers for the conveyance of filth and nastiness from the city, were the 
greatest of all the public works; and bestows higher encomiums upon 
Tarquinius, Agrippa, and others who made and improved them, than on those 
who achieved the greatest conquests. How truly great does the Emperor 
Trajan appear, when giving directions to Pliny his proconsul, concerning 
the making of a common sewer for the health and convenience of a conquered 
city?

THE peasants in most countries seem to hold cleanliness in a sort of 
contempt. Were it not for the open situation of their houses, they would 
often feel the bad effects of this disposition. One seldom sees a farm-
house without a dunghill before the door, and frequently the cattle and 
their masters lodge under the same roof. Peasants are likewise extremely 
careless with respect to change of apparel, keeping their houses, &c. 
clean. This is merely the effect of indolence and a dirty disposition. 
Habit may indeed render it less disagreeable to them, but no habit can 
ever make it salutary to wear dirty clothes, or breathe unwholesome air.

AS many articles of diet come through the hands of peasants, every method 
should be taken to encourage and promote habits of cleanliness among them. 
This, for example, might be done by giving a small premium to the person 
who brings the cleanest and best article of any kind to market, as butter, 
cheese, &c. and by punishing severely those who bring it dirty. The same 
method sfhould be taken with butchers, bakers, brewers, all who are 
employed in preparing the necessaries of life.

IN camps the strictest regard should be paid to cleanliness. By negligence 
in this matter, infectious diseases are often spread amongst a whole army; 
and frequently more die of these than by the sword. The Jews, during their 
encampments in the wilderness, received particular instructions with 
respect to cleanliness. Thou shalt have a place also without the camp, 
whither thou shalt go forth abroad: and thou shalt have a paddle upon thy 
weapon: and it shall be when thou shalt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt 
dig therewith, and shalt turn back, and cover that which cometh from thee, 
&c. Deuter. CHAPTER xxiii. ver. 12, 13. The rules enjoined them ought to 
be observed by all in the like situation. Indeed the whole system of laws 
delivered to that people has a manifest tendency to promote cleanliness. 
Whoever considers the nature of their climate, the diseases to which they 
were liable, and their dirty disposition, will see the propriety of such 
laws.

IT is remarkable, that, in most eastern countries, cleanliness makes a 
great part of their religion. The Mahometan, as well as the Jewish 
religion, enjoins various bathings, washings, and purifications. No doubt 
these might be designed to represent inward purity; but they were at the 
same time calculated for the preservation of health. However whimsical 
these washings may appear to some, few things would tend more to prevent 
diseases than a proper attention to many of them. Were every person, for 
example, after visiting the sick, handling a dead body, or touching any 
thing that might convey infection, to wash before he went into company, or 
sat down to meat, he would run less hazard either of catching the 
infection himself, or of communicating it to others.

FREQUENT washing not only removes the filth and sordes which adhere to the 
skin, but likewise promotes the perspiration, braces the body, and 
enlivens the spirits. How refreshed, how cheerful and agreeable does one 
feel on being shaved, washed, and shifted; especially when these offices 
have been neglected longer than usual!

THE eastern custom of washing the feet, though less necessary in this 
country, is nevertheless a very agreeable piece of cleanliness, and 
contributes greatly to the preservation of health. The sweat and dirt with 
which these parts are frequently covered, cannot fail to obstruct the 
perspiration. This piece of cleanliness would often prevent colds and 
fevers. Were people careful to bathe their feet and legs in lukewarm water 
at night, after being exposed to cold or wet through the day, they would 
seldom experience the ill effects which often proceed from these causes.

A PROPER attention to cleanliness is no where more necessary than on 
shipboard. If epidemical distempers break out there, no one can be safe. 
The best way to prevent them, is to take care that the whole company be 
cleanly in their clothes, bedding, &c. When infectious diseases do break 
out, cleanliness is the most likely means to prevent their spreading: it 
is likewise necessary to prevent their returning afterwards, or being 
conveyed to other places. For this purpose, the clothes, bedding, &c. of 
the sick ought to be carefully washed, and fumigated with brimstone. 
Infection will lodge a long time in dirty clothes, and afterwards break 
out in the most terrible manner.

IN places where great numbers of sick people are collected together, 
cleanliness ought to be most religiously observed. The very smell in such 
places is often sufficient to make one sick. It is easy to imagine what 
effect that is likely to have upon the diseased. In an hospital or 
infirmary, where cleanliness is neglected, a person in perfect health has 
a greater chance to become sick, than a sick person has to get well.

FEW things are more unaccountable than that neglect, or rather dread of 
cleanliness, which appears among those who have the care of the sick; they 
think it almost criminal to suffer any thing that is clean to come near a 
person in a fever, or example, and would rather allow him to wallow in all 
manner of filth than change the least bit of his linen. If cleanliness be 
necessary for persons in health, it is certainly more so for the sick. 
Many diseases may be cured by cleanliness alone; most of them might be 
mitigated by it; and, where it is neglected, the slightest disorders are 
often changed into the most malignant. The same mistaken care which 
prompted people to prevent the least admission of fresh air to the sick, 
seems to have induced them to keep them dirty. Both these destructive 
prejudices will, we hope, be soon entirely eradicated,

CLEANLINESS is certainly agreeable to our nature. We cannot help approving 
it in others, even though we should not practise it ourselves. It sooner 
attracts our regard than even finery itself, and often gains esteem where 
that fails. It is an ornament to the highest as well as the the lowest 
station, and cannot he dispensed with in either. Few virtues are of more 
importance to society than general cleanliness. It ought to be carefully 
cultivated every where; but, in populous cities, it should be almost 
revered. As it is impossible to be thoroughly clean without a sufficient 
quantity of water, we would earnestly recommend it to the magistrates of 
great towns to be particularly attentive to this article. Most great towns 
in Britain are so situated as to be easily supplied with water; and those 
persons who will not make a proper use of it, after it is brought to their 
hand, certain deserve to be severely punished. The streets of great towns, 
where water can be had, ought to be washed every day. This is the only 
effectual method for keeping them thoroughly clean; and, upon trial, we 
are persuaded, it will be found the cheapest.