wholesome than the
wines of the country. 'If you must drink wine,' said he, 'let it be
home-made.'" "It is well known," she continues, "that Dr. Darwin's
influence and example have sobered the county of Derby; that
intemperance in fermented fluid of every species is almost unknown among
its gentlemen,"[139] which, if he limited them to cowslip wine, is
hardly to be wondered at.

Dr. Dowson, quoting Miss Edgeworth, says that Dr. Darwin attributed
almost all the diseases of the upper classes to the too great use of
fermented liquors. "This opinion he supported in his writings with the
force of his eloquence and reason; and still more in conversation by all
those powers of wit, satire, and peculiar humour, which never appeared
fully to the public in his works, but which gained him strong
ascendancy in private society.... When he heard that my father was
bilious, he suspected that this must be the consequence of his having,
since his residence in Ireland, and in compliance with the fashion of
the country, indulged too freely in drinking. His letter, I remember,
concluded with, 'Farewell, my dear friend; God keep you from whisky--if
He can.'"[140]

On the other hand, Dr. Darwin seems to have been a very large eater.
"Acid fruits with sugar, and all sorts of creams and butter were his
luxuries; but he always ate plentifully of animal food. This liberal
alimentary regimen he prescribed to people of every age where unvitiated
appetite rendered them capable of following it; even to infants."

Dr. Dowson writes:--

"I have mentioned already that he had in his carriage a receptacle for
paper and pencils, with which he wrote as he travelled, and in one
corner a pile of books; but he had also a receptacle for a knife, fork,
and spoon, and in the other corner a hamper, containing fruit and
sweetmeats, cream and sugar. He provided also for his horses by having a
large pail lashed to his carriage for watering them, as well as hay and
oats to be eaten on the road. Mrs. Schimmelpenninck says that when he
came on a professional visit to her father's house they had, as was the
custom whenever he came, 'a luncheon-table set out with hothouse fruits
and West India sweetmeats, clotted cream, stilton cheese, &c. While the
conversation went on, the dishes in his vicinity were rapidly emptied,
and what,' she adds, 'was my astonishment when, at the end of the three
hours during which the meal had lasted, he expressed his joy at hearing
the