The decrease of the energy of Life arises from the decrease of the action of the organs of the Body--especially those of Digestion,--which in early life is so intense and perfect, that a Child, after its common unexcitant meal of Bread and Milk, is as hilarious and frolicsome as an Adult person is after a certain quant.i.ty of Roast Beef and Port.
The infirm stomachs of Invalids, require a little indulgence[92]--like other bad instruments, they often want oiling, and s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g, and winding up and adjusting with the utmost care, to keep them in tolerable order;--and will receive the most salutary Stimulus, from now and then making a full meal of a favourite dish. This is not a singular notion of my own, though it may not exactly agree with the fastidious fancy of _Dr. Sangrado"s_ disciples,--that Starvation and Phlebotomy, are Sovereign Remedies for all Disorders.
Those philanthropic Physicians, Dr. Diet,--Dr. Quiet,--and Dr.
Merryman,--hold the same doctrine as the _Magnus Coquus_--_i. e._ the Author of "the Cook"s Oracle," to whose culinary skill we have been so repeatedly indebted in the composition of this work.
As excessive Eating and Drinking is certainly the most frequent cause of the disorders of the Rich,--so privation is the common source of complaints among the Poor;--the cause of the one, is the cure of the other--but where one of the latter dies of Want, how many thousands of the former are destroyed by Indigestion!
If strong Spices and savoury Herbs excite appet.i.te--they (in an increased ratio,) accelerate the action of the Bowels--and hurry the food through the alimentary ca.n.a.l, too rapidly to allow the Absorbents to do their work properly.
_Salt_ is the most salubrious and easily obtainable relish which Nature has given us to give sapidity to other substances; and has this advantage over all other Sauces, that if taken to excess--it carries its remedy with it in its Aperient quality.
We suspect that most mischief is done by the immoderate and constant use of the _Common Condiments_.--We have seen some puritanical folks, who are for ever boasting that _They never touch_ MADE DISHES, &c. (one would suppose they had the _Tongue of Pityllus_[93],) so be-devil every morsel they put into their Mouth--with PEPPER, and MUSTARD, &c. that they made their common food ten times more _piquante_--than the burn-gullet _Bonne Bouche_ of an eastern Nabob, or _a Broiled Devil_, enveloped in "veritable Sauce d"Enfer."--See (No. 355 and 538).
We do not condemn the moderate use of Spices, but the constant and excessive abuse of them,--by which the papillary nerves of the tongue become so blunted, that in a little time they lose all relish for useful nourishing food, and the Epicure is punished with all the sufferings of incessant and incurable Indigestion,--perturbed Sleep--and the horrors of the Night-Mare, &c. &c.--However, enough has been written by a thousand cautionists, to convince any rational creature of the advantage resulting to both the Body and the Mind from a simple and frugal fare:--the great secret of Health and Longevity is to keep up the sensibility of the Stomach.
No Regimen[94] can be contrived that will suit every body.
"Try all the bounties of this fertile Globe, There is not such a salutary Food As suits with every Stomach."
Dr. ARMSTRONG"S _Art of Preserving Health_, book ii. line 120.
"I knew a black servant of Mr. Pitt, an Indian Merchant in America, who was fond of SOUP _made of_ RATTLE SNAKES,--in which the Head, without any regard to the Poison, was boiled along with the rest of the animal."--Dr. G. FORDYCE, _on Digestion_, &c. 8vo. 1791, p. 119.
No food is so delicious that it pleases all palates,--nothing can be more correct than the old adage, "one man"s meat is another man"s poison."
It would be as difficult for a Laplander, or an earth-eating Ottomaque, to convince our good citizens that Train Oil, and gutter-mud, is a more elegant relish than their favourite Turtle--as for the former to fancy that Kay or Birch"s Soup can be as agreeable as the Grease and Garbage which custom has taught them to think delicious.
"Man differs more from Man Than Man from Beast."--COLMAN.
_Celsus_[95] very sensibly says, that "a healthy man, under his own government, ought not to tie himself up by strict rules,--nor to abstain from any sort of food; that he ought sometimes to fast, and sometimes to feast." _Sanis, sunt omnia Sana._
When the Stomach sends forth eructant signals of distress, for help against Indigestion, the _Peristaltic Persuaders_ (see the end of this Essay) are as agreeable and effectual a.s.sistance as can be offered; and for delicate Const.i.tutions, and those that are impaired by Age or Intemperance, are a valuable Panacea.
They derive, and deserve this name, from the peculiar mildness of their operation[96]. One or two very gently increase the action of the princ.i.p.al viscera, help them to do their work a little faster,--and enable the Stomach to serve with an ejectment whatever offends it,--and move it into the Bowels.
Thus _Indigestion_ is easily and speedily removed,--_Appet.i.te_ restored,--(the mouths of the absorbing vessels being cleansed) _Nutrition_ is facilitated,--and _Strength_ of Body, and _Energy_ of Mind[97], are the happy results.
If an immediate operation be desired, take some _Tincture of Rhubarb_--as a _Pill_ is the most gentle and gradually operating form for a drug--a _Tincture_ in which it is as it were ready digested, is the most immediate in its action.
TO MAKE TINCTURE OF RHUBARB.--Steep three ounces of the best Rhubarb (pounded) and half an ounce of Carraway Seeds, (pounded) in a bottle of Brandy, for ten days. A table-spoonful in a wine-gla.s.s of hot water will generally be enough.
_Compound Tincture of Senna_, has been recommended, especially to those who have accustomed themselves to the use of spirituous Liquors and high living. Several similar preparations are sold under the name of _Daffy"s Elixir_--or as much EPSOM SALT, in half a pint of _hot_ water, as experience has informed you, will produce one motion,--a Tea-spoonful (_i. e._ from one to two drachms) will generally do this--especially if it be taken in the morning, fasting, _i. e._ at least half an hour before Breakfast.
_The best way of covering the taste of_ SALT, is to put a lump of _Sugar_ and a bit of thin-cut _Lemon Peel_[98] into the hot water, for a few minutes before you stir the Salt into it,--to which you may add a few grains of grated _Ginger_.
EPSOM SALT is _a very speedy laxative_, often operating within an hour,--does the business required of it with great regularity,--and is more uniform in what it does,--and when it does it,--than any Aperient;--ten minutes after you have taken it, encourage its operation by drinking half a pint, or more, of warm water--weak Broth--Tea--thin Gruel (No. 572), with some salt and b.u.t.ter in it--or _Soda Water_ (No.
481.*) See Index.
"_Nil tam ad sanitatem, et longevitatem conducit, quam crebrae et domesticae purgationes._"--LORD BACON.--_i. e._ "Nothing contributes so much to preserve Health, and prolong Life, as frequently cleansing the alimentary ca.n.a.l with gentle laxatives."
We perfectly agree with Lord Bacon, and believe that in nine cases out of ten, for which TONIC MEDICINES are administered, _Peristaltic Persuaders_ will not only much more certainly improve Appet.i.te,--but invigorate the Const.i.tution; by facilitating the absorption of nutriment,--which, in aged and debilitated people, is often prevented by the mouths of the vessels being half closed by the acc.u.mulation of viscid mucus, &c.
APERIENT MEDICINE does enough, if it increases the customary Evacuation,--and does too much,--if it does more,--than excite one additional motion.
Bowels which are forced into double action to-day--must, consequently, be costive to-morrow, and Constipation will be caused by the remedy you have recourse to to remove it,--this has given rise to a _Vulgar Error_,--that the use of even the mildest Laxative is followed by Costiveness.
_Rhubarb_ is particularly under this prejudice,--because it has been more frequently employed as a domestic remedy,--and unadvisedly administered in either too little, or too large a Dose. It has, however, been recommended by a Physician of acknowledged Ability, and extensive Experience.
"If the Bowels are constipated, they should be kept regular by a Pill of Rhubarb of five grains every morning."--PEMBERTON _on the Abdominal Viscera_, p. 113.
People are often needlessly uneasy about the Action of their Bowels.--If their general Health is good, and they have neither Head-ach nor other deranged sensations, and they live temperately, during the second period of Life, whether they have two motions in one day, or one in two days, perhaps is not of much consequence;--however, that the Alvine Exoneration should take place regularly is certainly most desirable;--especially after _Thirty-Five_ years of age[99], when the elasticity of the machinery of Life begins to diminish.
_To acquire a Habit of Regularity_, Mr. LOCKE, who was a Physician as well as a Philosopher, advises that "if any person, as soon as he has breakfasted, would presently solicit nature, so as to obtain a stool, he might in time, by a constant application, bring it to be habitual." He says "I have known none who have been steady in the prosecution of this plan, who did not in a few months obtain the desired success."--_On Education_, p. 23, &c.
"It is well known that the alvine evacuation is periodical, and subjected to the power of habit; if the regular call is not obeyed, the necessity for the evacuation pa.s.ses away; and the call being again and again neglected, habitual costiveness is the consequence."--HAMILTON _on Purgatives_, p. 72.
It will facilitate the acquirement of this salutary evacuation,--to take at night--such a dose of an Aperient medicine, as Experience has pointed out, as just sufficient to a.s.sist nature to produce a Motion in the Morning.
HABITUAL COSTIVENESS is not curable by Drugs alone,--and is most agreeably corrected by _Diet and Regimen_, those most important, and only effectual, although much neglected (because little understood) means of permanently alleviating _Chronic Complaints_, for which
"Coquina est optima Medicina."
Strong Const.i.tutions are generally _Costive_[100],--that perfect and vigorous action of the absorbents, which is the cause of their strength, is also the cause of their Constipation:--
"Oportet sanorum, sedes esse figuratas."
This ought to make them content,--but the Constipated are for ever murmuring about a habit--which, if managed with moderate care,--is the fundamental basis of Health and Long Life. A little attention to Regimen will generally prevent it--a simple Laxative will suffice to remove it--and neither will be often necessary, for those who observe a deobstruent Diet--take proper Exercise in a pure Air--sufficient liquid Food--and eat freely of b.u.t.ter, Salt, and Sugar.
The peculiarity of most Const.i.tutions is so convenient, that almost all Costive persons--by attending to the effects which various things produce upon their Bowels--may find, in their usual Food and Drink, the means of persuading their sluggish Viscera to vibrate with healthful celerity.
A SUPPER or BREAKFAST of thin Gruel, (No. 572,) with plenty of b.u.t.ter and Salt in it,--ripe Fruits, particularly _Grapes_[101],--Oranges,-- Strawberries,--Raspberries,--Mulberries,--Marmalade,--Honey,-- Treacle,--roasted Apples,--stewed Prunes,--Figs,--Raisins,-- Tamarinds,--French Plumbs, &c.;--will almost always produce the desired effect.
Two or three strong _Cinnamon or Ginger Lozenges_, (see page 234,) gradually dissolved in the mouth when the Stomach is empty, will act as an Aperient on many persons.
SALAD OIL is a very pleasant _Peristaltic Persuader_:--by the following means it may be introduced (as a supper) to the most delicate Stomach,--without any offence to the most fastidious Palate.
Put a table-spoonful of Sherry into a wine-gla.s.s--on this a table-spoonful of Olive Oil--on this another table-spoonful of Sherry--or rub together a table-spoonful or two of Oil, with the yolk of an Egg boiled hard, (No. 547,) add a little Vinegar and Salt to it, and eat it at Supper as a Sauce to a Salad (No. 138*) of Mustard and Cresses,--or Lettuce,--Radishes,--b.u.t.ton Onions,--Celery,--Cuc.u.mber, &c.;--or cold boiled Asparagus,--Brocoli,--Cauliflower,--Carrot,--or Turnip,--Kidney or French Beans,--or Pease;--or Pickled Salmon, (No.
161,) Lobster, (No. 176,) Shrimps, Herrings, Sprats, (No. 170**,) or Mackarel, (No. 168,) or as a Sauce to cold Meat, &c.
You may give it an infinite variety of agreeable flavours; the ingredients to produce which are enumerated in (No. 372) of "THE COOK"S ORACLE."
Hypochondriac people are fond of taking Medicine at certain times, the spring and fall,--at the full or the new Moon, &c. whether they want it or not.--For those in Health to attempt to improve it by taking Physic, is absurd indeed. Remember the epitaph on the Italian Count--
"I was well-- Wished to be better-- Took Physic--and died."
Hypochondriasis--Spleen--Vapours--the Blue Devils--the Bile--Nervous Debility, &c. are but so many different names for those Disorders which arise either from CHRONIC WEAKNESS of the Const.i.tution--or an inconsiderate management of it.--A man who has a strong stamina will bear irregularities with impunity--which will soon destroy a more delicate frame.
We do not laugh at the melancholy of the Hypochondriac,--or consider his Complaints as merely the hallucinations of _un Malade Imaginaire_; but trace the cause of them to either some Indigestion interrupting the functions of the Alimentary Ca.n.a.l--which a gentle Aperient would immediately remove--or the ineffective performance of the Restorative Process--insufficiently nutritive Diet--or depression of the vital and animal functions from anxiety or over-exertion of either the Mind or the Body:--which nothing but Rest and nutritive Food can repair.