e and obliged to live
on French cooking; does any one suppose they would remain the same
people they now are? Not a bit of it. Take from John Bull his roast
beef, and mode of eating it, and you change the character of the race
inside of a century. They must have their favorite dish, and about as
often as a friend of ours, Dr. M----, who, by the way, is a good type of
an Englishman, and enjoys the things of this world much more than is
common with Americans. On asking M---- how often he indulged in roast
beef, he replied, that about three hundred and sixty-five times in the
year was his rule! Invalids may be assured it was not a bad one. Of
course, he took a great deal of active exercise, seldom using a horse
while engaged in the practice of his profession.

Consumptives, and those who are generally debilitated and who need a
fresh stock of good blood, cannot do better than confine themselves, so
far as meats are concerned, to beef and mutton. The latter should be
well cooked, while the former ought to be eaten rare done. If it is at
first distasteful in this manner, proceed by degrees, and by-and-by it
will grow in favor; but commence with it rare at the outset, when
possible. Whether roasted or broiled, beef should not be cooked as to
destroy all its natural color. Let the inside show some of the blood,
the more the better, and the quicker it is assimilated to the needs of
the system. General Rawlins, the late secretary of war, died of
consumption, but his life was prolonged many months by the use of rare
and even raw beef. He came to like it better raw than in any other way.
Once a day is, perhaps, as often as may be required; much, however,
depends on the amount of exercise taken. Wild game is likewise good,
especially venison, and where that can be had, beef and mutton may be
dispensed with. Fish and eggs furnish a variety to the invalid's diet,
and such vegetables as are liked may be indulged, of course. Never eat
but of one kind of meat at any one meal, and not over two kinds of
vegetables, with wholesome, fresh bread (Graham preferred), and the
coarser the better. Insist on having coarse bread; let it be made of
unbolted meal. As for drinks, a single cup of very weak tea or coffee,
diluted chiefly with milk, will not harm. A glass of milk is better in
warm weather, if it agrees. Let water alone, except it is that which the
system has become familiarized with; then, half a glass is preferable to
a larger quantity