Substance of the work entitled fruits and farinacea : the proper food of man / by the late John Smith, of Malton ; edited by emeritus professor Francis William Newman, for the Vegetarian Society.

  • Smith, John
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Substance of the work entitled fruits and farinacea : the proper food of man / by the late John Smith, of Malton ; edited by emeritus professor Francis William Newman, for the Vegetarian Society. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    Baron Cuvier, whose knowledge of Comparative Anatomy was most profound, whose authority therefoi-e is entitled to the Seates^t respect thus writes : Fruits, roots and the succulent parts of vegetables, appear to be the natural food of man. His Ends affoi^ him a facflity in gathering tl^em, and his short and comnaratively weak jaws, his short canine teeth not passing SyoS the cLmon line of the others, and the tuberculous teeth, would not permit him either to feed on herbage or devour flesh, unless those aliments were previously prepared by the culinary P'T^The use of plants, says Eay, the celebrated botanist is all our life long of that universal importance and concern, that we can neither live nor subsist with any decency and convenience or be said to live indeed at all, without them. Whatsoever food is necessary to sustain us, whatsoever contributes to delight and refresh us, is supplied and brought forth out of that plentiful and abundant store. And, ah ! how much more innocent, sweet, and healthful is a table covered with these, than with aU the reekino- flesh of slaughtered and butchered animals. Certainly man by nature was never made to be a carnivorous animal, nor is he armed at all for prey or rapine, with jagged and pointed teeth, and crooked claws sharpened to rend and tear ; but with gentle hands to gather fruit and vegetables, and with teeth to chew and Professor Lawrence observes: The teeth of man have not the slightest resemblance to those of the carnivorous animals, except that their enamel is confined to the e:j:ternal surface. He possesses, indeed, teeth called ' canine ;' but they do not exceed the level of the others, and are obviously unsuited to the purposes which the corresponding teeth execute in car- nivorous animals. After sundry observations on organization, he says : Thus we find that, whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the imimediate instruments of digestion, the human structure closely resembles that of the simiee ; . all of which, in their natural state, are completely herbivorous. f (frugivorous 1) Lord Monboddo says : Though I think that man has, from nature, the capacity of hving either by prey or upon the fruits of the earth, it appears to me that, by nature, and in his original state, he is a frugivorous animal; and that he only becomes an animal of prey by acquired habit. The quadrumana, or monkey tribes, observes Eoget, approach nearest to the human structure in the conformation of their teeth, which aj^pear formed for a mixed land of food, but are especially adapted to the consumption of the more esculent fruits. Mr. Thomas Bell, in his Anatomy, Physiology, and Diseases * Evelyn's Acetaria, p. 170. t Lectures on Physiology, &c., pp. 188, 189, 191.