rable influence; yet none of these have so immediate an effect as
the food we eat, which if not wholesome and nutricious, tends directly
to contaminate the system. We derive the renewal of our blood and
juices, which are constantly exhausting, from the substances converted
into food. As our food therefore is proper or improper, too much or too
little, so will our blood and juices be good or bad, overcharged or
deficient, and our state of health accordingly good or diseased. It is
not only necessary however, that our aliment should be plain and
wholesome; it is requisite also that it should contain active
principles; such as salts, oils, and spirits, which have the property of
stimulating the solids, quickening the circulation, and make the fluids
thinner; thus rendering them more suited to undergo the necessary
secretions of the body. The art of preserving health, and of prolonging
life, consists therefore in the use of a moderate quantity of such diet
as shall neither encrease the salts and oils so as to produce disease,
nor to diminish them so as to suffer the solids to become relaxed.
Eating too little is hurtful, as well as eating too much. Neither excess
nor hunger, nor any thing else that passes the bounds of nature, can be
good for man. Temperance and moderation in eating and drinking, are
nature's great preservatives. 'The throat has destroyed more than the
sword.' Some people are apt to think, the more plentifully they eat and
drink, the better they thrive, and the stronger they grow. But this is
not the case: a little, well digested, will render the body more
vigorous than when it is glutted with superfluity, most of which is
turned to excrementitious, not alimentary, fluid, and must soon be
evacuated, or sickness will follow. It is said of the highly celebrated
Dr. Boerhaaeve, that having long promised to a friend the secret of
preserving health and long life, his friend became impatient to obtain
the secret, when he perceived that the physician was dying. To his
repeated solicitations, the doctor as frequently replied, 'Do not eat
too much--do not eat too much;' and left this advice as his last legacy
to his valued friend. By loading the stomach, digestion is impeded; for
the natural juice of the stomach, which is the great medium of
digestion, has not then room to exert itself. The stomach therefore
nauseates its contents, and is troubled with eructations; the spirits
are oppressed, obstructions ensue, and di