Lectures on digestion and diet.

  • Thackrah, Charles Turner, 1795-1833.
Date:
1824
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on digestion and diet. 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.

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    third, he subsisted on this fluid, with bread and oil of olives ; at another,—with flour and salt; at another,— with flour and honey. Not only were varieties of vegetables, but also of animal food, used at distinct periods. The fat of beef, with bread and water was his sustenance at one time ; oil of marrow, with flour, salt and water, at another; Cheshire cheese, infusion of rosemary and bread, were the last. The other varieties of diet, I need not detail. His journal presents a simple but affecting picture of the ef- fects of these experiments on their devoted subject. He sometimes suffered, from sharp hunger; for the quantity even of his bread was limited. Nay, when investigating the quantity of perspiration, he subjected himself to long fasting. On one occasion, after complete absti- nence the preceding day, he observes, “ From the fifth to the 8th hour after rising, I was very hungry; I then lost my appetite, became faint, weak, peevish, and lastly fell asleep.” He repeatedly tried, also, the least quan- tity of liquid, on which he could subsist. Under such courses of mortification, it is not surprising that his body should be reduced, and his constitution sink. On one occasion, he remarks, “ I was so weak and low that I almost fainted in walking across my room ; sick, and my tongue foul; sore of the mouth in a state of slough, gums black and swollen ; purple spots on the legs. At another period, when he was taking tallow, “ I lost my appetite,” he naturally observes, “ and was seized with severe headaches, and uneasiness in my stomach and bowels.” At succeeding periods, the train of sufferings increased. I quote the