friend of his who had heard lectures on dyspepsia,
or had read on the subject, suggested a new remedy. It was three Graham
crackers daily, one at each meal, without any drink at the time of
eating. This, it was said, if persevered in long enough, would certainly
effect a radical cure.

But I prefer to let Mr. Robinson tell his own story, which he does in
the following manner:--

"The novelty as well as simplicity of this prescription, greatly
interested my mind, and I laid the case before my friends. But they, as
with one voice, endeavored to dissuade me from a course which they said
would certainly destroy me. They were particularly afraid of the sudden
change from a full flesh diet to one entirely vegetable.[L] But I told
them I might as well die in one way as another, and that I was resolved
on the experiment.

"At first I had no Graham crackers; I therefore used the common soft
Graham bread cut in thin slices and thoroughly dried. Twenty-one ounces
a week was my allowance. Of these I made three meals a day, at the hours
of six, twelve, and six. Small as the allowance was, I spent half an
hour in consuming it. Occasionally at evening, I omitted one-half of
even these scanty rations.

"My drink, for twenty-four hours, was one gill of water, divided into
three equal parts, and one of them to be taken just two hours after each
meal. I also used a cold shower-bath at rising in the morning, and
walked a mile before breakfast, having retired at ten the previous
evening.

"Under this course, my flesh and strength wasted fast. I was weighed
every week, and for the first three or four weeks, I lost half a pound a
day. The daily loss then diminished somewhat, but was not entirely
discontinued till the lapse of two months. At this time I had lost, in
all, twenty pounds weight.

"All this time the cry of starvation was heard from every quarter, and I
must frankly own that, for a week or so, I was not myself wholly without
fears. However, my head felt so much better, and my spirits so much
revived, that I began to take courage. My bowels, moreover, which up to
this time had rarely moved, and never to much purpose, now began to move
more regularly, and in about three weeks they resumed their functions
entirely, both as regarded time and quantity.

"At the end of two months, I ceased to lose flesh, and remained, in this
respect, about stationary for four weeks; but after this I began to
gain. At first, the increase of wei