Carnivore Diet

THE BUFFALOE OR BISON

This animal has been so minutely described by travellers that I have considered it of little importance to enter into the details of its shape and size, and shall therefore omit those descriptions with which I suppose the public to be already acquainted, and try to convey some idea of its peculiarities which probably are not so well known. The vast numbers of these animals which once traversed such an extensive region in Nth. America are fast diminishing. The continual increasing demand for robes in the civilised world has already and is still contributing in no small degree to their destruction, whilst on the other hand the continual increase of wolves and other 4 footed enemies far exceeds that of the Buffaloe when these combined efforts for its destruction is taken into consideration, it will not be doubted for a moment that this noble race of animals, so useful in supplying the wants of man, will at no far distant period become extinct in North America. The Buffaloe is already a stranger, altho so numerous 10 years ago, in that part of the country which is drained by the sources of the Colerado, Bear and Snake Rivers and occupied by the Snake and Bonnack Indians. The flesh of the Buffaloe Cow is considered far superior to that of the domestic Beef and it is so much impregnated with salt that it requires but little seasoning when cooked. All the time, trouble and care bestowed by man upon improving the breed and food of meat cattle seems to be entirely thrown away when we compare those animals in their original state which are reared upon the food supplied them by Nature with the same species when domesticated and fed on cultivated grasses and grains and the fact seems to justify the opinion that Nature will not allow herself to be outdone by art for it is fairly proved to this enlightened age that the rude and untaught savage feasts on better beef and Mutton than the most learned and experienced Agriculturists now if every effect is produced by a cause perhaps I may stumble upon the cause which produces the effect in this instance at any rate I shall attempt it - In the first place, the rutting season of the Buffaloe is regular commencing about the 15th of July when the males and females are fat, and ends about the 15 of Aug. Consequently the females bring forth their young in the latter part of April and the first of May when the grass is most luxuriant and thereby enables the cow to afford the most nourishment for her calf and enables the young to quit the natural nourishment of its dam and feed upon the tender herbage sooner than it would at any other season of the year. Another proof is that when the rutting season commences the strongest healthiest and most vigorous Bulls drive the weaker ones from the cows hence the calves are from the best breed which is thereby kept upon a regular basis. In summer season they generally go to water and drink once in 24 hours but in the winter they seldom get water at all. The cows are fattest in Octr and the Bulls in July The cows retain their flesh in a great measure throughout the winter until the Spring opens and they get at water from whence they become poor in a short time So much for the regularity of their habits and the next point is the food on which they subsist The grass on which the Buffaloe generally feeds is short, firm and of the most nutritious kind. The salts with which the mountain regions is much impregnated are imbibed in a great degree by the vegetation and as there is very little rain in Summer Autumn or winter the grass arrives at maturity and dries in the sun without being wet it is made like hay; in this state it remains throughout the winter and while the spring rains are divesting the old growth of its nutricious qualities they are in the meantime pushing forward the new - The Buffaloe are very particular in their choice of grass always preferring the short of the uplands to that of the luxuriant growth of the fertile alluvial bottoms. Thus they are taught by nature to choose such food as is most palatable and she has also provided that such as is most palatable is the best suited to their condition and that condition the best calculated to supply the wants and necessities of her rude untutored children for whom they were prepared. Thus nature looks with a smile of derision upon the magnified efforts of art to excel her works by a continual breach of her laws The most general mode practiced by the Indians for killing Buffaloe is running upon horseback and shooting them with arrows but it requires a degree of experience for both man and horse to kill them in this manner with any degree of safety particularly in places where the ground is rocky and uneven. The horse that is well trained for this purpose not only watches the ground over which he is running and avoids the holes ditchs and rocks by shortening or extending his leaps but also the animal which he is pursuing in order to prevent being `horned' when tis brot suddenly to bay which is done instantaneously and if the Buffaloe wheel to the right the horse passes as quick as thought to the left behind it and thereby avoids its horns but if the horse in close pursuit wheels on the same side with the Buffaloe he comes directly in contact with its horns and with one stroke the horses entrails are often torn out and his rider thrown headlong to the ground After the Buffaloe is brought to bay the trained horse will immediately commence describing a circle about 10 paces from the animal in which he moves continually in a slow gallop or trot which prevents the raging animal from making a direct bound at him by keeping it continually turning round until it is killed by the rider with arrows or bullets. If a hunter discovers a band of Buffaloe in a place too rough and broken for his horse to run with safety and there is smooth ground nearby he secretly rides on the leward side as near as he can without being discovered he then starts up suddenly without apparently noticing the Buffaloe and gallops in the direction he wishes the band to run the Buffaloe on seeing him run to the plain start in the same direction in order to prevent themselves from being headed and kept from the smooth ground The same course would be pursued if he wished to take them to any particular place in the mountains - One of the hunters first instructions to an inexperienced hand is "run towards the place where you wish the Buffaloe to run but do not close on them behind until they get to that place" for instance if the hunter is to the right the leading Buffaloe keep inclining to the right and if he should fall in behind and crowd upon the rear they would separate in different directions and it would be a mere chance if any took the direction he wished them - When he gets to the plain he gives his horse the rein and darts thro the band selects his victim reins his horse up along side and shoots and if he considers the wound mortal he pulls up the rein the horse knowing his business keeps along galloping with the band until the rider has reloaded when he darts forward upon another Buffaloe as at first A Cow seldom stops at bay before she is wounded and therefore is not so dangerous as a Bull who wheels soon after he is pushed from the band and becomes fatigued whether he is wounded or not. When running over ground where there is rocks holes or gullies the horse must be reined up gradually if he is reined at all there is more accidents happens in running Buffaloes by the riders getting frightened and suddenly checking their horses than any other way. If they come upon a Gully over which the horse can leap by an extra exertion the best plan is to give him the rein and the whip or spur at the same time and fear not for any ditch that a Buffaloe can leap can be cleared with safety by a horse and one too wide for a Buffaloe to clear an experienced rider will generally see in time to check his horse gradually before he gets to it - And now as I have finished my description of the Buffaloe and the manner of killing them I will put a simple question for the reader's solution -

If Kings Princes Nobles and Gentlemen can derive so much sport and Pleasure as they boast of in chasing a fox or simple hare all day? which when they have caught is of little or no benefit to them what pleasure can the Rocky Mountain hunter be expected to derive in running with a well trained horse such a noble and stately animal as the Bison? which when killed is of some service to him. There are men of noble birth noble Estate and noble minds who have attained to a tolerable degree of perfection in fox hunting in Europe and Buffaloe hunting in the Rocky Mountains, and I have heard some of them decide that the points would not bear a comparison if the word Fashion could be stricken from the English language It also requires a considerable degree of practice to approach on foot and kill Buffaloe with a Rifle A person must be well acquainted with the shape and make of the animal and the manner which it is standing in order to direct his aim with certainty - And it also requires experience to enable him choose a fat animal the best looking Buffaloe is not always the fattest and a hunter by constant practice may lay down rules for selecting the fattest when on foot which would be no guide to him when running upon horseback for he is then placed in a different position and one which requires different rules for choosing.

...we travelled down this stream about 15 Mls and stopped to kill and dry Buffaloe meat sufficient to load our loose horses. On the 22d We moved down 10 mls. where we found thousands of Buffaloe Bulls and killed a great number of them as the Cows were very poor at this season of the year.

Here we Killed a couple of fine Bulls and took some of the best meat.

These peaks bear the French name of Tetons or Teats - The Snake Indians call them the hoary headed Fathers. This is a beautiful valley consisting of a Smooth plain intersected by small streams and thickly clothed with grass and herbage and abounds with Buffaloe Elk Deer antelope etc.

Here we again fell on to Lewis' fork which runs in a Southern direction thro. a valley about 80 mls long then turning to the west thro. a narrow cut in the mountain to the mouth of Salt River about 30 miles. This Valley is called "Jackson Hole" it is generally from 5 to 15 mls wide: the Southern part where the river enters the mountain is hilly and uneven but the Northern portion is wide smooth and comparatively even the whole being covered with wild sage and Surrounded by high and rugged mountains upon whose summits the snow remains during the hottest months in Summer. The alluvial bottoms along the river and streams inter sect it thro. the valley produce a luxuriant growth of vegetation among which wild flax and a species of onion are abundant. The great altitude of this place however connected with the cold descending from the mountains at night I think would be a serious obstruction to growth of most Kinds of cultivated grains. This valley like all other parts of the country abounds with game.

On the North and West were towering rocks several thousand feet high which seem to overhang this little vale - Thousands of mountain Sheep were scattered up and down feeding on the short grass which grew among the cliffs and crevices: some so high that it required a telescope to see them.

We now seated ourselves for a few minutes to rest our wearied limbs and gaze on surrounding objects near us on either hand the large bands of Mountain Sheep carelessly feeding upon the short grass and herbage which grew among the Crags and Cliffs whilst Crowds of little lambs were nimbly Skipping and playing upon the banks of snow.

The next morning at daybreak I arose and kindled a fire and seeing the mules grazing at a short distance I filled my tobacco pipe and sat down to Smoke, presently I cast my eyes down the mountain and discovered 2 Indians approaching within 200 yards of us I immediately aroused my companion who was still sleeping, we grasped our guns and presented them upon the intruders upon our Solitude, they quickly accosted us in the Snake tongue saying they were Shoshonies and friends to the whites, I invited them to approach and sit down then gave them some meat and tobacco, they seemed astonished to find us here with Mules saying they knew of but one place where they thought mules or horses could ascend the mountain and that was in a NE direction.

But for my part I was well contented for an eye could scarcely be cast in any direction around above or below without seeing the fat sheep gazing at us with anxious curiosity or lazily feeding among the rocks and scrubby pines. The bench where we encamped contained about 500 acres nearly level. 16th We staid at this place as our wounded comrade had suffered severely the day before. Some went down the stream to hunt a passage while others went to hunt Sheep. Being in Camp about 10 ock I heard the faint report of a rifle overhead I looked up and saw a sheep tumbling down the rocks which stopped close to where I stood but the man who shot it had to travel 3 or 4 miles before he could descend with safety to the Camp. The Sheep were all very fat so that this could be called no other than high living both as regarded altitude of position and rich provisions

CHAPTER VII.
ON THE SELECTION OF ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES FAVOURABLE TO THE REDUCTION OF CORPULENCE.

It is to be borne in mind, that in dividing alimentary matter into two kinds—one fitted to develop fat, and the other having an opposite tendency—my object is merely to suit the indispensable requirements of my plan of treatment. Nor is the conclusion to be drawn, that in order to diminish corpulence, an exclusive meat diet is absolutely necessary. Man is omnivorous; that is to say, he partakes of everything entering into the composition of ordinary alimentation; but, for the purposes of my system, azotized substances should constitute, though not exclusively, his principal food.

Large quantities both of animal and vegetable substances compose the ordinary diet of man. According to some philosophers, man should live on flesh only; while others maintain that man is by nature a vegetable feeder. Most naturalists, however, are agreed that the human species is omnivorous; that is to say, can live both upon vegetable and animal matter. A certain proof, in my opinion, that such is the case, is to be found in the fact that man is provided with the two kinds of teeth, the one appertaining especially to carnivorous, and the other to herbivorous animals.

It is remarkable that man, in his present state of civilization, does not instinctively recognize the kind of food which is beneficial or prejudicial to his well-being. Experience alone teaches him what is good or bad. With the lower animals it is otherwise; they have the power to discern that which is suitable for food. The colt and the kid know how to select, among the varied herbage, the particular grasses which are suitable to their organization. Domesticated animals, having but an insufficiency of food, do sometimes partake of noxious plants. It may be that man, in consequence of his civilization, has lost that instinct possessed by the lower animals, and in blind confidence partakes of everything which is served to him in the shape of food; and this view derives support from the fact, that savages, and people but partially civilized, refuse to eat anything they are unacquainted with, no matter how temptingly it may be prepared.

The uneducated peasantry of France, at this day, will not taste food to which they are unaccustomed, or if they do, it is only with great mistrust.

It is matter of daily experience, that man can simultaneously feed upon both vegetable and animal matter, and can also live when restricted to one of these alone; such restriction, however, being better borne under the varied conditions of age, season and climate.

From these considerations it follows that, for the accomplishment of a given purpose, man has the privilege of selecting certain alimentary substances, and of refusing many others; the health of the individual, who may thus submit to the diet of his choice, being in no wise affected thereby.

Bearing in mind the well established principles of physiology and chemistry, together with the precepts set forth in the preceding pages, we may be safely guided in the selection of such alimentary substances as will conduce to the fixity of a certain condition of embonpoint, although having a tendency to redundancy; or which, on the other hand, will insure a diminution of obesity. 

Such results can be obtained by paying attention to the following remarks:

• That kind of meat known as game is very nutritious, occupies but small space, and consequently only moderately distends the alimentary canal. It contains but a small amount of carbon, relatively to the other compounds, and therefore should be used as much as possible: such as venison, hare, the warren rabbit, woodcock, snipe, partridge, quail, plover, wild duck, &c.

• The fluid portion of all ragouts should be avoided by those who dread corpulence, and game should therefore be roasted rather than stewed. The same may be said of butcher's meat, such as surloin of beef, beefsteak, veal cutlet, mutton chop, fresh pork, leg of mutton, &c. Gelatinous dishes, such as calves' feet and tripe, should be avoided. Poultry, when roasted, is not contra-indicated.

• It is a matter of observation, that those races which live chiefly upon fish are gross and dull, pale and lymphatic, and less courageous than such as live upon flesh. A fish diet is consequently favourable to the development of fat, and the usual accompaniment of butter sauce is also productive of a like result.

• The anti-obesic treatment, therefore, requires that fish should be partaken of sparingly; still it has been remarked that patients, while undergoing treatment, who eat principally of meat, with a very small amount of fish, do nevertheless succeed in the accomplishment of the object they have in view. The most nutritious fish are turbot, trout, sole, salmon, perch, pike, tench and carp. On the other hand, shell fish, such as oysters, lobsters, crabs and shrimps, have a tendency to impede the formation of fat.

• Vegetables, such as lettuce, chicory, sorel, artichokes, spinach, green pease, beans, cabbage, celery, and all such as are used by way of salad, are not very nutritive, but contain much watery and mucilaginous matter, favourable to the development of corpulency: the same may be said of carrots, turnips, potatoes, rice, beet-root, maccaroni and vermicelli bread; all kinds of cakes, pastry and biscuits, which are made of wheaten flour, are decidedly contra-indicated, as are also eggs, cream, cheese and butter.

• In reference to chocolate, much difference of opinion has hitherto existed as to its nutritious properties; but we know by experience that it is easy of digestion, and eminently suited to such as are subject to great mental exertion. Some dietists have held that chocolate has a tendency to prevent any augmentation of corpulency. When made with water, it is decidedly preferable to coffee made with milk, the latter being productive of fat. Milk, by virtue of its composition, combines all the elements which are fitted for the development and nutrition of the body; casein containing nitrogen, a fatty matter (butter), and a saccharine substance (sugar of milk).

• Chemistry reveals the remarkable fact, that the composition of casein or the cheesy portion of milk, is identical with that of the fibrin and albumen of the blood. Under this aspect, therefore, milk is very nutritious.

• The sugar and butter which exist in milk, have no analogy with flesh; according to analysis, they are composed of carbon and the elements of water. When, therefore, we partake of milk, we obtain in one and the same substance all the elements which are necessary for the growth and nutrition of the body, and such is the case in infant life. Since, however, both carbon and hydrogen, in very large proportion, enter into the composition of milk, it is advisable, whenever there is a manifest tendency to corpulence, that the use of it as an article of diet should be avoided. Infants are usually fat, owing to the elements of adipose matter forming so large a proportion of their food, whether that consist of milk alone, or in combination with starchy or farinaceous and saccharine substances.

▽Jean-Francois Dancel (a French physician) presented his thoughts on obesity in 1844 to the French Academy of Sciences and then published a book, Obesity, or Excessive Corpulence: The Various Causes and the Rational Means of a Cure.
“All food which is not flesh ―all food rich in carbon and hydrogen [i.e., carbohydrates] ―must have a tendency to produce fat,” wrote Dancel.

Dancel also noted that carnivorous animals are never fat, whereas herbivores, living exclusively on plants, often are.

Dancel claimed that he could cure obesity “without a single exception” if he could induce his patients to live “chiefly upon meat," and partake “only of a small quantity of other food."

Dancel argued that physicians of his era believed obesity to be incurable because the diets they prescribed to cure it were precisely those that happened to cause it. (pp.151-152)

These chemical principles are founded upon facts—upon observation. As I have said, carnivorous animals are never fat, because they feed upon a substance rich in nitrogen—flesh; which flesh makes flesh, and very little fat. They have no belly, because flesh, taken in small quantity, suffices for one day, or twenty-four hours.

It has been objected that the carnivora do not always obtain food when hungry, and that they are often obliged to chase their prey for a long time before catching it. This is true; but on the other hand, carnivorous animals, when domesticated and fed upon meat, are not more fat, and have no belly. The celebrated traveller, Levaillant, in his Travels in Africa, says that he has seen, in the southern part of the continent, flocks of gazelles, which live in the interior, numbering from ten to fifty thousand. These flocks are almost continually on the move; they travel from north to south, and from south to north. Those of the flock which are in advance, and in the enjoyment of a rich pasturage, frequently come upon the borders of the settlements of Cape Colony, and are fat; those composing the centre of the herd are less fat; while those in the rear are extremely poor, and dying with hunger. Being thus stayed in their course by the presence of man, they retrace their steps; but those which composed the rear are now in advance, and regain their fat, while those which were in advance become the rear, and lose fat. Notwithstanding the vast numbers which daily perish, their natural increase suffices to maintain the integrity of the herd. In connexion with my subject I may state that these flocks are always accompanied or followed by lions, leopards, panthers and hyenas, which kill as many of them as they please for food, devour a part, and leave the rest to the jackals and other small carnivorous animals, which follow upon their steps. Now, these lions, panthers, leopards and hyenas, which need make but the slightest exertion to find food when hungry, are never fat.

It has been said, by way of objection to my system, that butchers are generally fat, due to their living upon meat. Now, I have made some enquiries in this matter, and have satisfied myself that butchers, as a general thing, are not fond of meat, but live chiefly upon vegetable food, and usually drink a great deal. It has been said also that their good condition is due to the atmosphere (filled with animal miasm) in which they live, a supposition which has yet to be proven. Again, it has been said that hogs can be fattened upon horse-flesh. My reply is, that they drink at the same time a large amount of water. And here I may remark, that the lard of hogs thus fattened upon flesh is soft and watery, and is considered by dealers to be of little value. It is evidently not due to the flesh upon which these hogs are fed, that their fat is soft and watery, but to the great amount of fluid they imbibe.

On the other hand, those animals which are enormously fat, live exclusively upon vegetables, and drink largely. The hippopotamus, for example, so uncouth in form from its immense amount of fat, feeds wholly upon vegetable matter—rice, millet, sugar-cane, &c. Naturalists long entertained the opinion that this animal, living mostly in the water, fed chiefly upon fish. It is now, however, well ascertained that the hippopotamus never touches fish, and is wholly a vegetable feeder.

The walrus, which, according to Buffon, seems to afford the connecting link between amphibious quadrupeds and the cetacea, is a veritable mass of fat, and lives exclusively upon marine herbage. The walrus of Kamschatka measures from twenty to twenty-three feet in length, sixteen to eighteen feet in circumference, and weighs from six to eight thousand pounds.

The following fact may be cited as a remarkable proof that the quantity of fat in any animal is mainly dependent on the character of its food: Among the whale tribe, those monsters in size, that of Greenland (Balæna mysticetus of Linnæus) possesses the greatest amount of blubber, and it feeds upon zoophytes, of which many resemble as much in character the plant as the animal. The fin-backed whale (Balæna böops of Linnæus), which does not feed upon mucilaginous matter, but upon small fish, has a much thinner layer of blubber than the former. The sperm whale or cachalot (Balæna physalus of Linnæus), which feeds on mackerel, herrings, and northern salmon, although nearly as long as the Greenland whale, is much thinner. The layer of blubber is not so thick as in the fin-backed, and yields only ten or twelve tuns of oil; while the Greenland whale yields fifty, sixty, and even eighty tuns.

Now, chemistry, as we have said, furnishes a rational explanation of these facts. With the exception of flesh, all alimentary substances (the mucilaginous, the gummy, the saccharine, the aqueous, &c.) consist of carbon and hydrogen, and fat is composed of the same elements. Success in the treatment of disease would be more frequent, if medical practitioners would pay greater attention to the chemistry of the vital functions; and the reason why certain articles of diet have a greater tendency than others to the formation of fat, would, by the aid of the exact science of chemistry, be rendered self-evident.

CHAPTER VI.
CASES OF REDUCTION OF CORPULENCE.

In the month of August, 1849, M. Guénaud, a master baker, still residing in the Rue St. Martin, Paris, presented the following appearance:—Age, twenty-eight years; height, four feet eleven inches. His obesity was such that he was scarcely able to walk, and whenever he attempted to do so, suffered from difficulty of breathing. When standing for a short time, he experienced great pain in the region of the kidneys. He was incapable of superintending the workshop and attending the flour market, duties which devolved upon him as manager of an extensive bakery. An unconquerable drowsiness overcame him the moment he sat down, and rendered him unable to attend to his numerous accounts. When in bed he was obliged to be propped up by a number of pillows, in a semi-recumbent position; for if his head happened to be too low, he suffered from vertigo, dizziness, &c. His countenance was suffused, and the veins of the head, especially the temporal, were more than usually distended. The slightest exercise was attended with excessive perspiration. The cerebral circulation was so much impeded, that he could not bear even the pressure of a hat; and asserted that he would not dare to stoop, even were it to insure him a fortune. In this distressing condition he sought the advice of a physician, under whose directions he was repeatedly bled, and freely purged. He was recommended to live upon the smallest quantity of food that nature would permit, and to diet chiefly upon watery vegetables, such as cabbage, turnips, salad, spinach, sorrel, &c., and only occasionally to partake of a very small quantity of meat. He was also directed to use active exercise, to work in the bake-house, and to take long walks. But he found it impossible to follow the latter part of this advice, on account of a feeling of impending suffocation, and severe pains in the region of the kidneys. He was therefore recommended to take exercise on horseback; but this even could not be borne, and in spite of every effort his obesity was constantly on the increase. At last he could not walk a quarter of a mile, and was obliged to confine himself to the house, passing his time in a listless, somnolent condition, entirely deprived of all mental and bodily energy. His mother, who lived in the neighbourhood of Paris, having seen the advertisement of my book upon Obesity, and thinking of the melancholy condition of her son, procured a copy and read it. She thereupon brought her son in a carriage to my office. Guénaud was quite out of breath from having to ascend one pair of stairs; he seated himself upon a sofa in my room, and soon fell asleep. Occasionally he would wake up, and take some part in the conversation. The mother and her son went home, and on the following day Guénaud began to carry out the directions he had received from me; and at the end of thirteen days he was able to walk from the Porte St. Martin to La Chapelle, where his mother resided, delighted at having recovered the use of his legs. What astonished him most was that he had been able to perform the journey on foot, without once taking his hat off. The latter remark may appear trivial; it shows, however, the great inconvenience he had been wont to suffer from the violent perspiration hitherto induced by the slightest exercise. By the end of the month Guénaud had reduced his weight from one hundred and ninety to one hundred and seventy-four pounds, and his circumference round the belly from fifty to forty-three inches. He was recovering his activity, both of mind and body, and his respiration was already considerably improved. The treatment was continued two months longer, and at the end of the three months his circumference was reduced fourteen inches, having lost forty pounds of fat. His muscular powers were now much increased. Guénaud had a very short neck; the two masses of fat, which made his cheeks appear continuous with his chest, have disappeared. The line of the lower jaw is now perfectly distinct, and without the slightest wrinkle. Instead of his former aged appearance, induced by obesity, his figure is now youthful, his countenance intelligent and sparkling. Before commencing my system of treatment, the patient was in continual danger from threatening head symptoms. It was generally said, even by the medical men under whose care he had placed himself, that he suffered from excess of blood; yet he has not lost a single drop during the whole course of treatment, and is now free from somnolency, giddiness and headache. The veins of the head are no longer turgid, nor does he suffer from excessive perspiration of the head.

I am satisfied that this man, at the present time, has more blood in his system than he had when labouring under obesity; but the circulation being now free, all inconvenience has disappeared.

It is unnecessary to add that, owing to the lungs being no longer oppressed on all sides by a superabundance of fat, their movement is unimpeded, air finds easy access, and the difficulty of breathing, with sense of impending suffocation, no longer exist. Guénaud can now sleep in the ordinary recumbent position. Men of great corpulence, when walking, experience severe pain in the kidneys, and this arises from the enormous mass of fat which surrounds these organs, inducing by its weight a dragging sensation. Guénaud, having lost his big belly, is no longer troubled with this uneasiness when walking.

With respect to this patient, and in all the other cases which have come under my care, it may be well to remark that the muscular system has recovered its tone, and that the muscles are harder than they were before treatment; and I can safely say, without fear of contradiction, that every person who has been submitted to my system for the cure of obesity, is convinced that his flesh, his muscle, has increased both in firmness and in size.

I have had men under my care weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. Upon the occasion of their first visit, having felt their limbs, I have said, "I can diminish your weight by fifty pounds; but these enormous muscles will be increased rather than diminished in size. You must not expect a reduction of more than fifty pounds; but fifty pounds less of fat, distributed among organs overloaded with it, will be highly beneficial to health."

Guénaud is far from being thin, but he is strong and muscular, and has the physical and moral energy of a robust young man. His enormous size had rendered him conspicuous in that part of the city where he carried on his business as a baker; but when he had become reduced to the normal size of other men, the change produced considerable sensation, and excited curiosity as to the cause. He has done justice to the treatment which has made him once more a man. I will also do him the justice to say that he has honestly carried out my instructions. A beefsteak or a couple of cutlets, with a very small allowance of vegetables, together with half a cup of coffee, constituted his breakfast. Dinner consisted of meat and a very small quantity of vegetables. From being a great water-drinker, he had come down to an allowance of a bottle or a bottle and a half of liquid in a day. When thirsty he drank but little at a time; and between meals, used to gargle his mouth with fresh cold water.