The medical assistant, or Jamaica practice of physic : designed chiefly for the use of families and plantations / by Thomas Dancer, M.D.

  • Thomas Dancer
Date:
1809
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The medical assistant, or Jamaica practice of physic : designed chiefly for the use of families and plantations / by Thomas Dancer, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    rases originates: It is, also, by a proper regimen and diet only SECT. lit. that we can get the better of many of the most obstinate com- p] lints; Other animals, who, guided by instinct, live ac- cording to nature, are exempt from most of those evils that mankind, notwithstanding the superior faculty ol reason with which they are endued, bring upon themselves by the indul- gence ol their appetites. It is, perhaps, difficult to say, in which circumstance they mostoftend; whether in the quan- tity of food taken, or in the variety made use of; but it com- monly happens that he who commits excess in one way, does it in botli:—Variety forces appetite*; persons making use of simple food, rarely going beyond the bounds o( moderation. To treat at length on the different kinds of aliment, and prescribe all the necessary rules in their preparation and ust^, would lead too far beyond the compass of this work; but a lew such ob- servations as,are particularly useful may be here ottered. It was before noticed, that man is, by his make and consti- tution, destined to live on a mixed food, not like the earni vorous animals wholly on flesh, nor like the granivorous, S'c. tribes, entirely on vegetables, but, partly, on both. In cold climates, men are more addicted to animal food; in warm climates, they are led to prefer the use of succulent, farinace- ous, and saccharine food; and this, it is presumed, in conse- quence of natural appetite, which is, however, often depraved by custom; and, therefore, we see people following nearly •the same modes of living, indiscriminately, in all climates, in the same way as they do the fashions of dress, without any regard either to health or convenience—it is not the office of a physician to be a satirist or censor morum—any allusion to local manners would therefore be improper, but a few such re- marks may be made as may serve to direct those who wish to be under the guidance of reason.—It is very difficult to lay down. any general rules on this subject: Every man, in respect of diet, I) t ought
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