A defence of the Graham system of living, or, Remarks on diet and regimen : dedicated to the rising generation.

Date:
1835
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A defence of the Graham system of living, or, Remarks on diet and regimen : dedicated to the rising generation. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    entirely depends on nabit and certain associations. That the natural relations which subsist between the qualities of food and the impressions made by them on the senses, are changed or destroyed by the refinements of artificial life, is a fact supported by too many powerful arguments to refute : how many kinds of aliments, ori- ginally disagreeable, become pleasant by habit; how many substances, naturally agreeable, become disgusting from the creation of certain prejudices. LONGEVITY. The primitive inhabitants of the earth, we are in- formed, lived to a very advanced age. The father of the human race lived 930 years; his son, Seth, 912; Enos, 905 ; Cainan, 910; Jared, 962 ; Methusaleh, 969 ; and Noah, 950. These men possessed strong and vi- gorous constitutions, procured their subsistence from the fruits of the earth, and lived strictly in conformity with the laws of life ; and being the original inhabitants of the globe, whose constitutions were not impaired by debauchery and unnatural habits, there is nothing im- probable in the account. Among the lower order of animals are many species, whose existence appears to be almost as protracted. Fishes are said to live nearly a thousand years, and many varieties of birds, several centuries. Is it then improbable that man, in primaeval times, whose vital energy far exceeded that of all other animals, should have lived such a length of years? Whatever may have been the cause of antediluvian lon- gevity, the term of existence began to diminish sensibly after the flood. Shem lived but 600 years; Salah, 433; Serug, 230; Nahor, 148 : and mankind have gradually degenerated, through successive ages, until they have arrived at the present standard. In modern times, how- ever, we have seen Peter Zoten reach the age of 185 years; John Rovin, his countryman, 172, and his wife, 164; Thomas Parr, of Shropshire, England, 152, and Henry Jenkins, of Yorkshire, 169. Now to what causes are we to attribute this extraordinary longevity of mo- 4