Dr. Nichols' penny vegetarian cookery : the science and the art of selecting and preparing a pure, healthful, and sufficient diet illustrated by food diagrams and portraits of distinguished vegetarians / by T.L. Nichols.

Thomas Low Nichols

Date:: 1888

Credit: Dr. Nichols' penny vegetarian cookery : the science and the art of selecting and preparing a pure, healthful, and sufficient diet illustrated by food diagrams and portraits of distinguished vegetarians / by T.L. Nichols. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$ft?.' A ■i^4 77 VEGETARIAN AUTHORITIES, \— “ And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon W8 H'OO the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit cf a tree yielding ^ £? 0 seed: to you it shall be for meat.”—Genesis i. 29. v_ “ Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days ; and let them eat, and water to drink. * Then let oui\countenances be looked uj: and the countenance of the children that, eat of the portion of tne and as thou seest, deal with thy servants., ive us pulse to n before thee, Nf S'etd meat At the end of ten dava their counten-. king’s ances appeared fairer and fatter in flesh than all the children 'which did eat the portion of the king’s meat.”—Daniel i. 12. “The ancient Greeks,” says Porphyry, “lived entirely on the fruits of the earth.” “ The ancient Syrians abstained from every species of animal food.” “ By the laws of Triptolemus, the Athenians were strictly commanded to abstain from all living creatures.” “ The Greek historians relate that the first of men regaled on every mild and wholesome herb they could discover, and on such fruits as the trees spontaneously produced; differing according to the respective productions of various countries. The ancient Arcadians lived on acorns, the Argives on pears, the Athenians on figs.” “ The Romans were so fully persuaded of the superior effects of a vegetable diet, that they publicly countenanced this mode of diet in their laws concerning food; among which were the Lex Fansua and the Lex Licinia, which, allowing but very little flesh, permitted, without limitation, all manner of things gathered from the earth, from shrubs, and from trees.” “ It is best to accustom ourselves to eat no flesh at all,” says Plutarch, “ for the earth affords plenty enough of things, not only fit for nourishment, but for enjoy¬ ment and delight, some of which may be eaten without much preparation, and others may be made pleasant by adding divers other things to them.” “You ask me,” continues Plutarch, “for what reason Pythagoras abstained from eating the flesh of brutes ? For my part, I am astonished to think, on the contrary, what appetite first induced man to taste of a dead carcass.” Porphyry of Tyre, who lived about the middle of the third century, and was a favourite disciple of Plotinus, endeavours, in his celebrated book concerning abstinence from animal food, to revive the primeval simplicity cf diet, and ex¬ claims violently against the use of flesh meat. Linnaeus, the great naturalist, speaking of' fruits and succulent vegetables, says,—“ This species of food is that which is most suitable to man, as is evinced by the structure of the mouth, of the stomach, and of the hands.” Baron Cuvier says,—“ The natural food of man, judging from his structure, appears to consist of fruits, roots, and other succulent parts of vegetables.” Mr. Thomas Bell, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, says,— “ Every fact connected with human organisation goes to prove that man was originally formed a frugivorous (fruit-earing) animal. This opinion is derived from the formation of his teeth and digestive organs, as well as from the character of his skin and general structure of his limbs.” Professor Lawrence says,—“The teeth of men have not the slightest resem¬ blance to those of carnivorous animals, except that their enamel is confined to the external surface : and whether we consider the teeth and jaws, or the immediate instruments of digestion, the human structure closely resembles that of the simise or monkeys, all of which, in their natural state, are completely herbivorous, or rather frugivorous. ” See also testimony of eminent men of all ages in Howard Williams’ “ Catena.’ In our own day, Sir Henry Thompson, Dr. Richardson, Dr. Norman Kerr, Prof. Newman, Mr. Buckmaster, and many other distinguished physicians and men of science, hav.a given their testimony to the sufficiency and health¬ fulness OF A VEGETABLE DIET. & ??501428489$

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Dr. Nichols' penny vegetarian cookery : the science and the art of selecting and preparing a pure, healthful, and sufficient diet illustrated by food diagrams and portraits of distinguished vegetarians / by T.L. Nichols.

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