Corpulence seeking advice or a remedy for that which they did not consider an evil, but an evil I can say most truly it is, when in much excess, and, in my opinion, it must arrive at that point, unless obviated by proper means. Some, I believe, would willingly submit to even a violent remedy, so that an immediate benefit could be produced; this is not the object of the treatment, as it cannot but be dangerous (in my humble opinion) to reduce a disease of this nature suddenly; they are probably then too prone to despair of success, and consider it as unalterably connected with their constitution. Many under this feeling doubtless return to their former habits, encouraged so to act by the ill-judged advice of friends who, I am persuaded (from the correspondence I have had on this most interesting subject), become unthinking accomplices in the misery of those whom they regard and esteem. It has also been remarked that such a dietary as mine was too good and expensive for a poor man, and that I had wholly lost sight of that class; but a very poor corpulent man is not so frequently met with, inasmuch as the poor cannot afford to procure the means for creating fat; but when the tendency does exist in that class, I have no doubt it can be remedied by abstinence from the forbidden articles, and a moderate indulgence in such cheap stimulants as may be recommended by a medical adviser, whom they have ample opportunities of consulting gratuitously. I have a very strong feeling that gout (another terrible parasite upon humanity) might be greatly C2 Next |