e destruction of adipose, and that
everything which inhibits such destruction tends to fat accumulation.

Since the earliest period of history, there seems to have been an
anxiety to secure some regimen of general application that would reduce
or combat obesity. Thus Hippocrates says:

Fat people, and all those who would become lean, should perform
laborious tasks while fasting, and eat while still breathless from
fatigue, without rest, and after having drunk diluted wine not very
cold. Their meats should be prepared with sesamum, with sweets, and
other similar substances, and these dishes should be free from fat.

In this manner one will be satiated through eating less.

But, besides, one should take only one meal; take no bath; sleep on a
hard bed; and walk as much as may be.

How much has medical science gained in this direction during the
interval of more than two thousand years? Let us see:

First among moderns to seek to establish on a scientific basis a regimen
for the obese, was Dancel, who forbade fats, starchy foods, etc.,
prescribed soups and aqueous aliment, and reduced the quantity of
beverage to the lowest possible limit; at the same time he employed
frequent and profuse purgation.

This regimen, which permits, at most, but seven to twelve ounces of
fluid at each repast, is somewhat difficult to follow, though it may be
obtained, gradually, with ease. Dr. Constantine Paul records a case in
which this regimen, gradually induced, and followed for ten years,
rewarded the patient with "moderate flesh and most excellent health."

In Great Britain, a mode of treatment instituted in one Banting, by Dr.
Harvey, whereby the former was decreased in weight forty pounds, has
obtained somewhat wide celebrity; and what is more remarkable, it is
known as "Bantingism," taking its name from the patient instead of the
physician who originated it. The dietary is as follows:

_Breakfast_.--Five to six ounces of lean meat, broiled fish, or smoked
bacon--veal and pork interdicted; a cup of tea or coffee without milk or
sugar; one ounce of toast or dry biscuit (crackers).

_Dinner_.--Five or six ounces of lean meat or fish--excluding eel,
salmon, and herring; a small quantity of vegetables, but no potatoes,
parsnips, carrots, beets, peas, or beans; one ounce of toast, fruit, or
fowl; two glasses of red wine--beer, champagne, and port forbidden.

_Tea_.--Two or three ounces of fruit; one kind of pastry; one cup of
tea