wing chapter did not come within the scope of my plan, as it
was originally formed. But in prosecuting the labors of preparing a
volume on vegetable diet, it has more and more seemed to me desirable to
add a short account of some of the communities and associations of men,
both of ancient and modern times, who, amid a surrounding horde of
flesh-eaters, have withstood the power of temptation, and proved, in
some measure, true to their own nature, and the first impulses of mercy,
humanity, and charity. I shall not, of course, attempt to describe all
the sects and societies of the kind to which I refer, but only a few of
those which seem to me most important.

One word may be necessary in explanation of the term communities. I mean
by it, smaller communities, or associations. There have been, and still
are, many whole nations which might be called vegetable-eating
communities; but of such it is not my purpose to speak at present.

THE PYTHAGOREANS.

Pythagoras appears to have flourished about 550 years before Christ. He
was, probably, a native of the island of Samos; but a part of his
education, which was extensive and thorough, was received in Egypt. He
taught a new philosophy; and, according to some, endeavored to enforce
it by laying claim to supernatural powers. But, be this as it may have
been, he was certainly a man of extraordinary qualities and powers, as
well as of great and commanding influence. In an age of great luxury and
licentiousness, he taught, both by example and precept, the most rigid
doctrines of sobriety, temperance, and purity. He abstained from all
animal food, and limited himself entirely to vegetables; of which he
usually preferred bread and honey. Nor did he allow the free use of
every kind of vegetable; for beans, and I believe every species of
pulse, were omitted. Water was his only drink. He lived, it is said, to
the age of eighty; and even then did not perish from disease or old age,
but from starvation in a place where he had sought a retreat from the
fury of his enemies.

His disciples are said to have been exceedingly numerous, in almost all
quarters of the then known world, especially in Greece and Italy. It is
impossible, however, to form any conjecture of their numbers. The
largest school or association of his rigid followers is supposed to have
been at the city of Crotona, in South Italy. Their number was six
hundred. They followed all his dietetic and philosophical rules with the