hives, &c.

Several of these substances are often eaten raw, in which state they are
exceedingly indigestible, at the best; and they are rendered still more
beyond the reach of the powers of the stomach, by the oil or vinegar
which is added to them. Boiled, they are more tolerable; especially
asparagus. In the midst, however, of such an abundance of excellent food
as this country affords, it is most surprising that anybody should ever
take it into their heads to eat such crude substances; and above all,
that they should fill children's stomachs with them. What child, with an
unperverted appetite, would not prefer a good ripe apple, or peach, or
pear, to the most approved raw salads?--and a good baked one, to the
best boiled asparagus?

NUTS, in general, are probably made for other animals rather than man;
though of this we cannot in the present infancy of human knowledge be
quite certain. But if any of them were intended, by the Creator, for
man, it is the chesnut; and this should be boiled. Boiled chesnuts are
used as food, in many parts of southern Europe; and to a very
considerable extent.

SPICES, as they are sometimes called, such as nutmeg, mace, pepper,
pimento; cubebs, cardamoms, juniper berries, ginger, calamus, cloves,
cinnamon, caraway, coriander, fennel, parsley, dill, sage, marjoram,
thyme, pennyroyal, lavender, hyssop, peppermint, &c., are unfit for the
human stomach--above all in infancy--except as medicines.

There are several other vegetables equally objectionable with the last,
though they cannot be classed under the same head. Such are mustard,
horseradish, raw onions, garlic, cucumbers, and pickles. No appetite
which has not been accustomed to these substances in early infancy, will
ever require them. Not that they may not sometimes be useful in enabling
the stomach--at every age--to get rid of certain substances with which
it has been improperly or unreasonably loaded;--this is undoubtedly the
fact; ardent spirits would do the same. And it is with a view to some
such effect, generally, that medical writers have spoken in their favor.
Some of them stimulate the stomach to get rid of a load of _green_
fruit; others, of a load of _fat_ or _salt_ food; others, again,
of too large a _quantity_ of food which is naturally wholesome.

But in all these cases, they should be considered, not as food, but as
medicine; and we ought to call them by their right name. And if we
withhold the cause of the diseas