Letter on corpulence : addressed to the public / by William Banting.

  • Banting, William, 1797-1878.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter on corpulence : addressed to the public / by William Banting. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    7/148 (page 5)
    lldrdhj.—To apply any profite wliicli may arise from its sale to various charitable objects, after the plan I followed with the unexpected gains of the third edition. Fourthli/.—To endeavour to found and endow a Con- valescent Institution, a scheme of which is printed in full detail at the end of this book. I have been strongly and fi-equently advised to publish some of the highly interestmg reports I have received from correspondents, in proof of the great value of a proper dietary system in advanced life, and of the soundness of Mr. William Harvey's advice, wliich proved so beneficial to me; but I have hitherto refrained from doing so, under the belief that if the statement of my own personal experience was not credited, no weight would be attached to any other evidence which I could adduce. At length, however, I have yielded to the suggestion, and can only hope that this accu- mulated and unimpeachable evidence may prove interesting and convincing, even to the most resolute unbeliever. It has been reported to me that many medical men have argued that I could not have consulted any eminent mem- bers of their fraternity on the subject of obesity. I beg leave emphatically to assure the public that, for the 20 years, previous to consulting Mr. Harvey, I had no occasion to consult a medical man, for any other ailments except those wliich are the inevitable consequences of corpulence; and that, although my medical advisers were neither few, nor of second-rate reputation, not one of them pointed out the real cause of my sufferings, nor proposed any effectual remedy, mitil I appealed to my friend, Mr. Harvey, the celebrated aurist, on account onli/ of deafness. I will not affirm that I said to each pray remove my corpulence, for I had been told that it was, and really thought it to be, incurable; but all my disorders resulted from it, and Mr. Harvey was the first to acquaint me with the fact. It is possible, and I think probable, that even Mr. Harvey