organization. In other words, an
enlightened reason would look both to the structure and organization of
man, and to a large and broad experience, for the solution of a question
so important as what diet is, on the whole, best for man. And the
experience of the world, both in the present and all former ages, leads
me to a conclusion entirely different from that to which Dr. Bell, and
those who entertain the same views with him, seem to have arrived--a
conclusion which is indicated by structure, and confirmed by facts and
universal experience. But this subject will be further discussed and
developed in another place. It is sufficient for my present purpose, to
bring testimony in favor of the safety of vegetable eating, and of the
doctrine that man is naturally a vegetable and fruit-eating animal; and
especially if I produce, to this end, the testimony of flesh-eaters
themselves.

DR. WILLIAM BUCHAN, AUTHOR OF "DOMESTIC MEDICINE."

"Indulgence in animal food, renders men dull and unfit for the pursuits
of science, especially when it is accompanied with the free use of
strong liquors. I am inclined to think that _consumptions_, so common in
England, are, in part, owing to the great use of animal food. But the
disease most common to this country is the scurvy. One finds a dash of
it in almost every family, and in some the taint is very deep. A disease
so general must have a general cause, and there is none so obvious as
the great quantity of animal food which is devoured. As a proof that
scurvy arises from this cause, we are in possession of no remedy for
that disease equal to the free use of fresh vegetables. By the
uninterrupted use of animal food, a putrid diathesis is induced in the
system, which predisposes to a variety of disorders. I am fully
convinced that many of those obstinate complaints for which we are at a
loss to account, and which we find it still more difficult to cure, are
the effects of a scorbutic taint, lurking in the habit.

"The choleric disposition of the English is almost proverbial. Were I to
assign a cause, it would be, their living so much on animal food. There
is no doubt but this induces a ferocity of temper unknown to men whose
food is taken chiefly from the vegetable kingdom.[11]

"Experience proves that not a few of the diseases incident to the
inhabitants of this country, are owing to their mode of living. The
vegetable productions they consume, fall considerably short of the
proport