or me to abstain from
many kinds of vegetable food as from animal, namely, from all kinds of
flatulent vegetables; from all kinds of fruits and berries, except the
very mildest--as, perfectly ripe and well baked sweet apples--and from
all kinds of pies, sauces, and preserves. Of these, however, I am not
able to say, as I do of the animal varieties, that I have practiced
total abstinence; by no means. I have often ventured to indulge, and
generally suffer more or less for my temerity. My severest sufferings
for the last two years have been in the form of colic, of which I have
had frequent slight attacks; but none to confine me over twenty-four
hours.

* * * * *

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS.--BY THE AUTHOR.[7]

From the age of five or six months to that of two years, I was literally
crammed with flesh meat; usually of the most gross kind. Such a course
was believed, by the fond parents and others, as likely to be productive
of the most healthful and happy consequences. The result was an
accumulation of adipose substance, that rendered me one of the most
unsightly, not to say monstrous productions of nature. I ought not to
say _nature_, perhaps; for, if not perverted, she produces no such
monsters. At the age of six months, my weight was twenty-five pounds;
and it rose soon after to thirty or more.

When I was about two years of age, I had the whooping-cough, and, having
been brought up to the height, and more than the height of my condition,
by over-feeding with fat meat, I suffered exceedingly. I? recovered, at
length, but I had lost my relish, as I am informed, for flesh meat; and
from this time till the age of fourteen, I seldom ate any but the
leanest muscle. I was tolerably healthy, but, from the age of two years,
was slender; so much so that, at five or six, I only weighed fifty
pounds; and was constantly either found fault with, or pitied, because I
did not eat meat in quality and quantity like other people. Nor was it
without much effort, even at the age of fourteen, that I could bring
myself to be reconciled to it. I was also trained to the early use of
much cider, and to the moderate use of tea and spirits. I have spoken of
my slender constitution;--I believe this was in part the result of
excessive early labor, and that it was not wholly owing to a premature
use of flesh meat.

I had suffered so much, however, from the belief that I was feeble from
the latter cause, that I had no