ICvils of violating the Laws of Health,  and the
                  Remedy.
ADDRESS,
DELIVERED BEFORE THE
AMERICAN  PHYSIOLOGICAL  SOCIETY,
AT THEIR MONTHLY MEETING,
FEBRUARY 7, 1838.
       BY REV. ABEL ti. DUNCAN,
Pastor of the Congregational Church in Hanover, Masa.
        BOSTON:
MARSH, CAPEN  & LYON.
            1838. 
                   ■ptjlie-

                    I S3*
                             Boston, February 14, 183S,
Dear  Sir :—
            At a meeting of the Council of the American Physi-
ological Society,  on Tuesday evening last, it  was voted unani-
mously, that  the thanks of the Society be presented to you, for
your able and interesting address before us on Wednesday evening,
February 7, and that you  be requested to furnish a copy for the
prJfe.
            Very  respectfully,
                  Your obedient servant,
                               J. KILTON, Rec. Scc'y.
To Rev. A. G. Duncan, Boston.
                           ,  Boston, February 15, 1838.
Dear Sir :—
           With great diffidence I comply with your request to
publish the imperfect and hastily written address, which I had the
honor to deliver before your Society on the 7th inst.  A hope that
it may, notwithstanding its defects, be the harbinger of good to
some transgressor of organic law, has been the chief inducement to
a compliance.
                   Yours with respect,
                                       A. G. DUNCAN.
To J.  Kilton, Esq., Boston. 
ADDRESS.
  A spirit  of excitement and activity is  abroad in
the land.  While it is the prolific parent of many evils
in every grade of society, it must be confessed that
it is to  be  preferred to the state of stagnation  and
darkness,  in  which  past  generations  lived.  For
amidst the evils produced by excitement and misdi-
rected  activity,  intellect  is awakened, invention is
aroused, antiquated and venerated notions are exam-
ined,  improvements in every department of life are
devised, and  advances are  made,  not merely  in
depths of  luxury  and  vice, but also, in  the upward
path towards physical,  intellectual  and moral  per-
fectibility.   We need only refer to the astonishing
improvements made in labor-saving machinery, in
modes of  travelling by sea  and  by land, and in the
arts and sciences, to be convinced of the importance
of excitement, although it be  connected with great
evils.   The  mind of  man  is too much under the
dominion of the  sensual part, and consequently  too
indolent and darkened, to  hope much from aught but 
4
excitement.  What is to be expected from the gen-
eral mass of intellect, unless it  can be awakened to
thought,  as well as feeling?  The foundations must
be broken  up, and  the  dead  quickened into life.
The American revolution  did  much for the world;
and the operations of our free institutions are favor-
able to the  brightest hopes of the philanthropist and
Christian.  The lowest ranks of society,  under their
benign influence, are in motion, and begin  to feel
their strength and capacity to rise.  They are strug-
gling under the mighty burdens, which  have pressed
upon them  for ages, and, like  a  giant conscious of
his  power, will  cast  them off and take  the rank
which belongs to  them in the  scale of being.  Are
people alarmed in view of this?  Their fears will
not retard the upward movement of the heaving mass.
Vain are  all their  attempts to keep it down.   Riches
cannot monopolize all  privileges  for a favored few.
Knowledge is no longer confined  to a small number,
supposed to be born  under a particular planet.   But,
like the  sun, knowledge is shedding its enlivening
influences  upon the lowest, as well as the highest.
The established habits of  subserviency to superior
rank, station and wealth ; and of veneration for things
because they are old ; and of receiving opinions and
dogmas upon trust; are passing away.   People will
look for themselves, and  examine  into the merits  of
individuals, and weigh the  truth of opinions, and
decide even upon doctrines, which have passed cur-
rent for ages.
  The great danger  of all this is a tendency to. the
other extreme,  a  fondness for innovation,  and for 
5
things  that are novel, for  novelty's sake ; from  an
impatience of all restraint.   Christianity, even, may
be left to  suffer from the  fact that it is an ancient
system, and, therefore, must be cast away.  Do we
not discover  such a tendency in  the  community?
There is a disposition, where it is seen that ancient
and venerated institutions contain  some wrong prin-
ciples,  and  consequent  corrupt  practices, to bring
every thing belonging to  them, whether good or bad,
under  the  verdict of reprobation:  not  only to slay
the fathers, but to condemn the children also.
   When the elements of society  are in  commotion,
as at  the present day, the  friends of humanity must
throw themselves into the foremost  ranks of reform,
and, if need be, must essay  " to ride the whirlwind
and direct  the  storm  " of  human passion, and con-
duct the perilled community into the sure paths  of
truth  and  morality.   Among the cheering signs  of
the times, which throw a halo of promised good over
the darkness  of the  age, the establishment of your
Society, appears among the brightest.   Physiology,
under your fostering auspices, will stand, if last, yet
not the least, among the  benefactors of  the present,
aye, of future generations.   During the short term
of the existence of your  Society,  immense good has
been  accomplished,  not merely  among your own
circles, but, also,  in distant  parts of the nation.
Among the most eminent philanthropists,  the Moral
Reformer,  who has so often instructed and delighted
you, will stand conspicuous.   Others are not behind
him, in this cause of a long neglected science.   The
reforms, which a knowledge of it induces, are com-
              *1 
6
mencing their  onward  progress.   The  many lec-
tures which you  have so generously contributed to
maintain, and the multitude  of facts,  illustrative and
demonstrative of  the principles of physiological sci-
ence, together with the valuable publications of the
Society, cannot fail of accomplishing much to draw
the  attention of  the  community, at  least of multi-
tudes, to the all  important  subject of physiological
reform.  Indeed, a person can hardly enter a stage-
coach, or steamboat,  or  railroad  car,  or sit down
at the dining table of our hotels, without  hearing
some  sage  remarks  concerning  diet,  the  relative
qualities of different kinds of food, and of different
methods of living.  All seem to be eager  to  express
an opinion about these things, to  show off the pro-
fundity of their wisdom, respecting  that  which has
never, perhaps, occupied more  than  five  minutes of
time, devoted to serious and scientific investigation.
The old lady of fourscore,  down to  the  pert miss,
the old man, down to the sapient school-boy,  seem
to be equally zealous in pronouncing,  with cathedral
authority, upon the claims of Grahamism and Physi-
ology, and in drawing general deductions  of  univer-
sal  application, from their modicum  of experience.
  Now there may be  much  in all this to  excite the
rnirthfulness of some, or the sadness  of others, and
to hinder the progress of  true science ; yet  there is
much also to occasion hope, and to urge to vigorous
effort.  For  it  indicates that  the public mind  is
aroused, that the fallow ground is broken up, and that
the seed time has come, when the sower can go forth
to sow seeds, which shall yield a bountiful harvest. 
7
   But I leave these general remarks, and, in the first
place, will  relate some facts, which  may  serve as
illustrations  of physiological principles, and of that
system of diet, which most of the  members of this
Society, if not all of  them, believe to be fairly de-
ducible from those principles.
   Here it is proper to observe, that I  appear before
you at this time, rather as a learner reciting his les-
son, than as a teacher.   But I  do it with  the greater
confidence, because as yet, all  of us profess to be
scholars, and not  masters  of the science of physi-
ology.  This science  teaches us, that  the human
stomach,  for  instance, is a grand central  point of
influence and sympathy in our  physical system.  It
is the  fountain head  that  feeds  the stream  of life.
When it  is  disturbed  or  destroyed, that stream is
disturbed in all its meandering courses, or ceases to
flow.   It  is  the  central  furnace, at which  fuel is
applied for supplying  the genial heat that  warms and
glows  through the universal  frame.   Disturb the
structure and action of  the furnace, apply unsuitable
fuel, and evil consequences  are immediately expe-
rienced throughout the whole organic domain.  You
will pardon these figures, for I know that comparisons,
which make the stomach a grist-mill, or a chemical
laboratory, are incorrect, notwithstanding some points
of analogy may exist between the stomach and  these
things.  But one thing is certain, that, notwithstanding
the human  stomach can  do  much which would be
labor  for a grist-mill, and  even puzzle a  chemist to
perform ;  notwithstanding it  possesses, in common
with other organs of the body, a power of adaptation 
8
to changes  unfavorable  to  its highest physiological
condition, and  recuperative  powers to repair dam-
ages-, the stomach cannot do every thing.   It cannot
grind what a grist-mill  absolutely cannot, and  it will
sometimes give information, in language of complaint
not to  be misunderstood, that its skill at chemistry
is not equal  to the dissolution of some  articles sub-
mitted  at fashionable  dinners, to its  process.   Its
powers of adaptation are not boundless, and injuries,
perseveringly inflicted  upon it, at the imperious de-
mands  of tyrannous appetite, cannot always  be re-
paired.
  These injuries may impair the  stomach in two re-
spects.   First:  By distention, which  will weaken
the muscular energy of the  muscular  coat.   Sec-
ondly :  By stimulation, which will accelerate the
secretions of the mucous membrane, and exhaust its
power by over action,  and which will  also derange
the nervous  ramifications  leading to  the  stomach,
and terminating in its  coats.  Too large quantities,
even of suitable food, or food and  drinks that pos-
sess highly stimulating  properties,  will  more or less
task the stomach, and consequently  inflict an injury.
It is true, as I before observed, that the stomach can
bear, and do, and repair much, but not every thing.
No person in theory,  will  deny this.   But, in their
own particular case, thousands listen to feeling and
appetite, and so transgress.
  Every tyro in physiology knows that an immediate
connection exists between the stomach and the brain,
the grand organ, according to most physiologists, of
mental  manifestation, and, according to others, the 
9
organ, likewise, on which depends the manifestation
of the moral feelings.  What  affects  the stomach,
affects  the  brain, and,  consequently,  the  mind.
Food and drinks of improper qualities, or quantities,
must, as they injure the former, inflict evil upon the
latter.  Apply  these  observations,  which must  be
familiar to you, to  many of  the  prevailing habits of
diet and regimen in the community,  and you learn at
once the origin of much of the disease, and suffering,
and death among us.
   I givcscme  facts in illustration, and in doing it,
shall make use  of initials  of my own selection, for
obvious reasons.

   1. A. was a student who was in the daily habit of
excessive smoking.   He loved it well, and might be
found sometimes, lounging on his bed in the day time,
with the pipe in his mouth. He was pale, nervous and
irritable ;  and  manifested  in his  writings a wayward
imagination, and in his  conduct, an  ambiguity and
love of  change,  which  begat suspicion  and distrust
and alienation on the part of his  friends.   To what
can we attribute this, if not, in  a great measure, to
the effects of injuring his stomach,  by the stimulus
of tobacco?  The love of this weed, nauseous to all
living  creatures but the  tobacco-worm and man,
amounts to a passion, which brings  the  mind into  a
bondage, almost as strong as death.    Men will for  a
while,Yive UP tl:e <Iuld  f°r the snuff'box'  or  the
pipe ; but  to  break  off  entirely  and  forever, is  a
victory, which but few  have  firmness of resolution
 sufficient to achieve, 
10
  2.  B. was a mechanic, a shoe maker, eagerly bent
on the accumulation of property.   Under the excite-
ment of his love  of acquisition, he plied unremit-
tingly his trade,  worked early and  late, with little or
no exercise, and ate his food, with little or no masti-
cation.  He was strongly addicted to  the excessive
stimulation  of tobacco smoking.   At length,  his
stomach gave way to  the  abuses  inflicted  upon it.
His nervous system became generally  deranged  and
highly susceptible, his strength  and appetite failed,
and he suffered many deaths in expecting one.   He
gave up smoking altogether, and all business, and as
he judged,  daily  grew worse.  I saw him several
times and one day  he said that he must resort to
smoking agaki.   The doctor had given his consent.
But  why  did he wish to resort to his pipe again?
Because, as he  contended, he was constantly filling
up with phlegm or mucus.   The bronchial passages
were clogged, and nothing but a pipe, as he thought,
would relieve him.   By smoking,  he was enabled to
throw off the load  which  daily oppressed  him.   I
have known several instances where relief was  ob-
tained in this way.
  Several important questions may be raised in view
of this  case.  Was the accumulation of mucus in
the  bronchia, occasioned  by  his  former habit of
smoking?   If so, when he left off, did  he not suffer,
and  his disorder generally  increase in violence, in
consequence of  leaving off ?  Could he have adopt-
ed a course of remedies which would  have obviated
the  difficulty so easily as  by  the pipe?  My own
opinion is, that  he might, and I  strongly urged on 
11
him the importance  of  giving up the habit of smok-
ing forever, and  tried  to show him what  his case
indicated on physiological principles.  But in vain.
His ignorance of that science, made it impossible for
him to feel the force of my reasoning, and he suffer-
ed on.
   3.  C. boarded for some months in my family, and,
during that time, was  afflicted, as she had  been for
years, with violent attacks of periodical sick headache.
She  was  in  the  daily use of strong  coffee and tea.
After much persuasion, argument  and suffering, she
was induced to relinquish these  narcotic drinks, and
to adopt for her beverage, cold water.   The happy
result  of obedience  to the voice  of  an  outraged
stomach and  a disordered brain, was entire freedom
from  sick headache  for three months.    She then
thought her cure  complete, and ventured to  partake,
once more, of her favorite stimulus, a dish of coffee.
Whereupon the penalty of transgression was imme-
diately visited upon her with increased severity.
   4.  D. was  also afflicted from childhood with  this
distressing disease, in an aggravated form.   She had
been constrained to give up the use of coffee  and
strong tea, but used, at her meals, hot water  prepared
to her  taste.   Still, the.disease followed her with
short intervals.   Upon  my advice, she  was induced
to make a trial of cold  water,  and did so with suc-
cess.  For two years, she enjoyed complete exemp-
tion  from her complaint.  After so long a time, she
was enticed by a love of hot ginger tea, to transgress
the rule  of abstinence.  But she was  driven  back 
12
a^ain ir:" the n;;th of obedience and safety, by an
immediate infliction of the old penalty.
  5.  E. was habitually indulging in the use of strong
coffee.   I warned him of his danger, but appetite,
and deference to his own feelings, made him turn a
deaf ear to  the voice  of remonstrance.  " Why,"
said  he, " a  good dish  of coffee is equal to my break-
fast, and without it, I could eat  nothing."   He per-
sisted, and became consumptive and unable to attend
to active business.  I  do not affirm, that his coffee
was the sole cause of all the  evil.  But there can
be no doubt in the mind of the physiologist, that, in
connection with a  too much excited brain, his coffee
was  a great cause of sympathetic irritation of the
lungs, in consequence  of its narcotic stimulus on the
stomach directly, and on the brain indirectly.
  6.  F. was a laborious mechanic.  Taking "Tea,"
as supper is fashionably called, one day at his house,
my  tumbler of  cold water  occasioned remark, and
as is usual  in   such cases, conscience, I  suppose,
prompted an apology on his part, for the use of tea.
" I have," said he, " at times a feeling of  faintness,
a dullness when I  sit down, after ceasing to  labor, a
loss  of  appetite, and, frequently, I cannot eat, with-
out  taking  a cup or  two  of tea.   Then,  appetite
will revive and I can eat heartily, and my food seems
to do me good."  " My dear Sir," replied I, u your
reasons for using tea, all unite in an argument for its
entire disuse."  " What! do you really think so? "
said he.   " Most  certainly."   And I told him some
physiological truths, which carried conviction to his
mind, and  induced compliance  with my  advice. 
13
 Some months afterwards, he expressed his thankful-
 ness for my plain dealing, and  said that he was ben-
 efitted in all respects.
   One case more.   G. was past the meridian of life,
 when I first knew her.   She was inclined to indulge
 her appetite for solid  food.   Fat meats  were  her
 favorite food, she  took her  luncheons, and  her hot
 narcotic drinks,  particularly tea.    She  complained
 of a very bad feeling in her head.   She was thought
 to be  religiously inclined, but  indulged no hope for
 herself.   Indeed, she  supposed that she had com-
 mitted the unpardonable sin, and, therefore, that her
 perdition was certain.   The reason, which she gave
 for such  a  preposterous  opinion, was, that she was
 continually  tormented with the  most horrid,  blas-
 phemous  thoughts,  which crowded into  her mind
 uncalled  for, and  with  irresistible power.    This
 induced a despairing state of feeling, although some
 of  her  friends   tried  to persuade  her  that  such
 thoughts were the suggestions of the  devil, and ought
 not to  be regarded as any thing  else.  Now, they
 might have been  so, but  one thing is certain, that if
 they were, the adversary took advantage of the most
 palpable  transgressions  of physiological  laws.  At
 least it is  more philosophical, to  attribute her invol-
 untary and blasphemous thoughts to the latter cause.
 Transgression of these laws was evidently the case.
For circumstances, connected  with a tendency to  a
scirrhus  or cancerous habit,  led her to  renounce
entirely the use of meat, and butter,  and hot drinks,
and to adopt a farinaceous and  vegetable diet.  She
had not followed  the new system many weeks, im-
              2 
14
 perfect and faulty in many respects, as it was, before
 she was blessed with the happy fruits, even of partial
 obedience.   She was  relieved,  in  a great measure,
 both  from her  disorder in the  head, and from the
 horrid thoughts, with which she  had  been afflicted.
 She became cheerful, and the  ponderous load which
 weighed upon her mind, seemed to be growing lighter.
 Other causes, besides  a manifestly erroneous  diet,
 might have been united,  and probably did unite with
 it,  being, doubtless, occasioned  by it, to  produce
 the evils which afflicted her.  But  no  one, I think,
 can avoid the conclusion, that  a knowledge of physi-
 ology  would,  at once, have let  this lady  and her
 friends into the secret of her difficulties.
   Other facts  might be given, but I  waive them.
 The  facts  already  adduced, illustrate the  remarks
 which I made in respect  to  the  stomach, as well as
 other physiological truths, and the importance of a
 system of diet, based  on sound physiology.  But I
 must leave their application and  the inferences de-
 rived from them to  your own reflections.
   Since I have chosen the physiology of the stomach,
 in part, for the  subject to  be chiefly illustrated by
 the facts brought to view,  you' will  permit me to
 make a few observations on  the evils of

       EXCESSIVE  ALIMENTATION.

  What I shall  say, may  be very familiar.   But, as
excessive  alimentation  is the  rock on which  thou-
sands are wrecked every  year, and, I may say every
month ; and as it is the grand temptation of  all  who 
15
 have escaped the thraldom of pernicious habits,  and
 whose gustatory pleasures  are proportionately en-
 hanced ; you will  pardon me for  stirring  up your
 winds by  way  of remembrance.   I am confident,
 that  redemption,   in many cases,  is turned  into a
 curse, in consequence of excessive eating.  Excess
 arises from  several causes.   In the  first place, the
 stomach craving its accustomed stimulating food, the
 demand is  answered  by additional  quantities,  which
 possess little or no  stimulation, but, at the same time,
 have much  more  solid  nutriment.  Then,  again,
 former habits of distending the stomach,  seem to
 create the  necessity of a certain  bulk,  irrespective
 of the quantity of nutrient principles, which it con-
 tains.  The  appetite  exceeds the actual demands of
 the  system.   Too great a  variety,  also,  may  be
 allowed at  one meal.   A person looks  at his frugal
 meal of one  or two dishes, and feels dissatisfied, and
 calls for  more.    Or,  at  least,  the  cook  seems
 instinctively  to  understand  the feeling,  although,  it
 may not be expressed.   Moreover, appetite, which,
 in the highest physiological condition  of mankind, as
 in the very  first ages of creation, might be  a safe
 guide, in civil life is not, even in the  redeemed per-
son,  a proper criterion  of judgment, in respect to
 quantity.   The appetite becomes keen,  uniform,
 and, in a measure,  natural.   But, though natural, it
 does not, and cannot  determine the precise quantity
 of nutriment, proper to be taken into  the stomach at
 any  one meal.   The  quantity depends on  many
conditions, which are constantly changing, according
to the physiological condition and habitude of the 
16
whole man, also, upon  the kind and quality of the
article selected for  ingestion.   Freedom, therefore,
from  captivity,  with  ignorance,  or temerity, or a
domineering  appetite  for a guide, may become a
tremendous evil : not  in itself, but by abuse.   We
see this remark illustrated in the  case  of  many
pseudo-Grahamites, as they  are styled  in  common
parlance.  We ought not, however, to decide that
freedom is  an evil, and  that slavery is a  blessing.
This would be a false  conclusion.  But our endeav-
ors should be directed to the enlightenment of free-
dom in the path of knowledge and  obedience, which
shineth  more and more, unto the-perfect day.
   The  evils are many which result  from excessive
alimentation.  It tasks the  powers of  the stomach
beyond  their capacity  ; weakens and impairs its tone
of  muscular contraction, of gastric secretion and
nervous energy.  It breaks  up  the circle of physio-
logical action, which should be constantly.going on
in the organic domain, by keeping the determining
powers  too  much  to  the stomach.   Thereby  the
harmony which exists between the different functions
of the system  is disturbed.  Alimentation exceeds
a proper assimilation and  elimination.   The  excess
must be disposed of in some way ; and a new labor
is imposed  on the functions of secretion, or else,
upon  the vascular  system.   If upon the latter, the
blood vessels, owing to imperfect  chylification, con-
sequent on defective chymification, become enlarged,
from plethora ; their 'muscular  coats are weakened ;
and the circulation becomes   unequal  and languid.
Aneurisms,  perhaps, take place, which are dilations 
17
 of certain parts, frequently near the heart, which are
 liable, from  many causes, suddenly to burst and to
 disgorge  the blood  into  the neighboring cavities.
 Death  immediately  ensues.    Or  else,  the  blood
 deposits, in its own channels,  earthy matter, especial-
 ly on the valves, which arrest its retrograde motions.
 These deposits are sometimes made upon the valves
 of the great pump of the system—the heart.   They
 become,  at length, entirety ossified, which immedi-
 ately arrests the movements of that organ, so indis-
 pensible  to  our present existence.  The blood, in
 some instances, rushes with  peculiar power to the
 brain, and crowds its voluminous arteries, and presses
 on the nervous mass.   Headache dizziness, dulness,
 epilepsy,  swooning and apoplexy, may, and do often
 result from  this fact.   Inflamations and  fevers may
 often be directly traced to  excessive  eating, as are
 most of the cases of sudden death, which, of late
 years, are of such  frequent occurrence.   Men and
 women  engage  in their daily business,  or  commit
 themselves to the unconscious repose  of sleep, and
 are suddenly and without  warning, hurried into the
 scenes of eternity.
   If the burden falls upon the  functions of secretion,
 in the case  of  excessive alimentation,  they  are
 doomed to suffer  the  penalty of transgression.  In
 all such cases, the first law  of digestion is generally
 neglected, or imperfectly  obeyed.   Mastication is
 not thoroughly  secured,  consequently  the salival
secretions are deficient, and the food is not suitably
prepared for the stomach.   The  duties of the teeth
are transferred to the  stomach.  The gastric secre-
              *2 
18
tion, of course, is not perfectly adapted to the inges-
tion, and is rendered less so by the quantity of food
which is taken.   Irritation, consequently, takes place
in that organ, by  the  too  long continuance  of the
food and  frequently, fermentation, which  produces
what is called heart-burn,  sour stomach,  and  also
eructations, occasioned by the  gas  which  escapes.
If the gas cannot escape,  owing to  the contraction
of the  inferior portion  of the oesophagus or  gullet,
its expansion occasions severe pain in the stomach.
   But the powers of the  stomach may  remain  in a
great measure unimpaired, the chymification all that
is desirable, and the  dissolved mass be  gradually
introduced into the duodenum, where  the process of
chylification  chiefly takes  place.  Here a difficulty
may arise from the fact, that  excessive  alimentation
has disturbed the necessary secretions of the pancre-
atic  juice  and  of the bile.   The chyle,  in  conse-
quence, may be  unfitted, though increased in quan-
tity, to produce blood  of  a suitable character for the
purposes of  organic life.
   The excess, above what is properly assimilated or
eliminated,  may be  disposed of  in various ways
among the different functions of secretions,  and the
task of disposition not  unfrequenlly  falls  to some
weaker class.  In general, some particular class will
be charged with the business, according to  the nature
of what remains beyond the  proper demands of the
system.   Perhaps, the aqueous secretions predom-
inate, which disposes the  system to dropsies.  Per-
haps,  the  oleaginous  secretions  assume the work,
 which gives a  tendency  to excessive corpulency. 
19
Or, the mucous secretions  are called into increased
activity, when colds, catarrhs,  consumption, &c,
may often be the result.  Or the  cutaneous secre-
tions may come in  for a share, when  the  long train
of diseases of the skin, hasten to relieve the oppress-
ed system.   Or the renal secretions maybe  burden-
ed, and gravel  and the stone, or diabetes, be  the
result.  These are  not dreams  of the imagination,
put down  for the occasion.    Would  that they were.
But  they  are  sober  realities,  as  physiology  will
demonstrate.  They are, in truth, only the  beginning
of evils which  follow in  the train of excessive ali-
mentation.  Where an individual of the human fam-
ily dies from the absolute deprivation of  necessary
food, tens of hundreds fall victims to excess.  Alco-
hol slays  its thousands, but  excessive alimentation,
in its various forms, its tens of thousands.
   But if the evils  terminated their  devastations  in
the organic  system, we might rejoice, even amidst
all  the suffering, and  woes, and  death of  mankind,
in view of the fact, that the immortal spirit was free
to rise, in the exercise of its godlike powers, in the
scale of intelligence, morality and piety, to perfection
of conformity to its  glorious  Creator.  But  alas !
the mind, the  immortal spirit being  dependent,  in
the present mode of its existence,  on the body, ex-
cessive alimentation is followed by  many evils which
are inflicted upon the soul.   The soul cannot shake
off her partnership  in the well-being or woes of  the
body.   If the body suffers, the soul,  whether we are
conscious of it or not, suffers with it.   The highest
physiological condition of  the  body,  is  absolutely 
20
necessary  to  the highest interests  of  the  immortal
inhabitant.
   Excessive alimentation  injures the  soul, because
it injures the nervous  system.  The faculties, also,
which hold a physiological relation  to  the  stomach,
are  excited into undue  activity,  and acquire the
mastery of the mind, to bring it into grovelling sub-
serviency to appetite, to be  invaded, also, by unhal-
lowed passions,  which degrade the  soul.   Moral
susceptibility is blunted, intellectual aptitude paral-
ysed, and the man loses the semblance of the rational
intelligences above him, in an increasing likeness to
the sensual brute.  Lasciviousness, in all its hideous
forms, melancholy, imbecility of will, a tendency to
suicide,  fatuity, idiocy and  even  insanity,  may, in
many cases, be traced  to the evils  of excessive ali-
mentation.
   I  do not affirm that any Grahamite is visited with
such a  penalty.   It is reserved,  in its fulness, for
those who  add to  excessive  alimentation, the trans-
gression of other  laws of  digestion.  But  the Gra-
hamite, with all others, in view of the many evils
partially enumerated  and  imperfectly  described in
this  address,  has reason  to  reflect, with increased
attention to the study  of physiological  truth, on the
importance  of  rigid  simplicity  and   moderation.
The appetite,  pure and keen in his case, may entice
to transgression.   If the temptation  succeed,  and
transgression is persisted in,  not  even  a Grahamite
will escape.  Exercise may do much, daily  ablution
may do much,  the  flesh-brush and a vegetable  plain
diet may do much, to obviate present inconvenience, 
21
and to put off the  evil day.  But the transgressor
may not hope to escape  the sure retribution of  vio-
lated  law.  Multitudes,  who  are not  Grahamites,
and many, who are, because they can put it off for
awhile, are willing to run the hazard of future suffer-
ing, for the  sake  of present indulgence.  Appetite
stifles the voice of  reason and conscience.
  What shall be  done for  the rescue of such  per-
sons?   I  answer,  that, for  their  sakes, and for the
sake of a suffering  world, the claims of  physiology
must be placed on moral grounds.  The various laws
of physiology must be recognized as belonging to
the natural and providentialgovernment of God,  who
works all  things  after  the counsel of His own  will.
That  is, in  maintaining and controlling all the laws
of nature, as they have been called, or as  they should
be  styled, the laws  of God's natural government.
All these laws, requiring voluntary action on our part,
must  be  inculcated as involving moral  obligation,
arising from the nature and relation of things.   These
laws,  so far  as they involve  choice, are as  much
moral  as  natural  laws, and  obedience to them, or
disobedience, goes  to form  our moral character, as
much as do those laws which  are generally termed
moral laws.  Indeed, we cannot obey  what are called
moral laws, without obeying many of the natural laws
of God's government.  The  study of physiology,
then,  is'absolutely essential  to the perfection of the
Christian  character.   I  do not  deny that millions,
without this science, have  been comparatively emi-
nent for their exhibition of  Christianity.   But these
persons were practically obedient to many of the 
22
laws of physiology, because  they felt  the force of
obligation to obey many  precepts  of the Bible, that
evidently recognize those natural  laws which  physi-
ology plainly inculcates.   But no one, who has be-
stowed attention to this  subject, can avoid the con-
clusion,  that a  knowledge  of the  natural laws of
God  and obedience to  them, will make  Christians
in future  times surpass  former generations,  in  an
unspeakable degree.  Their health shall spring forth
speedily.   Their  days  shall  be  prolonged in the
land.   There are many passages of Scripture, which
plainly teach that glorious prospects  await  the race
of man on the earth.   What will usher in  the. trans-
cendent glories of the  promised  golden age?  The
Christian answers,  The  Gospel,  rendered  effectual
by the Holy Spirit.   But the  way of the Lord must
be prepared before the face of the people.   It is to
be cast up, and  the stumbling blocks are to be re-
moved.  What  is to accomplish  this?  I  am confi-
dent that nothing, short  of a  general knowledge of
the constitution of things  revealed by  the natural
laws of God.   Here is the foundation of moral obli-
gation, which can be  felt by the feet turned into the
testimonies of God.   It is immoveable, and universal
as the race, and uniform  as  the perfections and the
character of the Most High.   Hence, the importance
of physiology  when pursued  with  a faithful  guide
and  a right spirit.  For physiology, in  its  widest
signification, is a study and development  of  God's
laws, by which  He governs the  universe  of living
things and living creatures.   In  a restricted  sense, 
23
it teaches the laws which govern man, considered as
an organized, sentient, intellectual and  moral being.
   Let, then, the science of Physiology be rightly and
zealously inculcated, and intellect will be  enlighten-
ed, and  conscience aroused.   Moral obligation will
be  perceived, reflected on, and felt.   Appetite and
passion would succumb to the mighty motives which
are addressed to the moral susceptibilities.  Truth
would prevail.  The propensities of the mind, which
hold a physiological relation to  the organic domain,
would act,  also, in  their  spiritual  relations to the
higher sentiments.   Reforms  would be  effected with
comparative ease.   Christianity would not appear to
be that weak, and fitful and eccentric principle, which
is now exhibited by vastly too many of the professed
followers of the  Lamb.    It  will  rise  into a fixed,
beautiful and harmonious  exhibition  of obedience to
truth  and law, as the mandate of heaven.
  I  would  not  be  misapprehended.   I  would not
depreciate,  or value less highly, the  plain inculcation
of Gospel truth.   I believe the Gospel to be in
perfect accordance with the revelations of God in
the volume  of nature, and that every exhibition of it,
which contradicts  those  ascertained revelations, to
be a  false exhibition, and  proportionately injurious,
as implicitly followed.  But I would exalt  the sci-
ence of Physiology more, believing that as its truths
or laws  are fully developed, they will be found to
harmonize with  all the doctrines and  duties of the
Bible ;  believing also, that  all those alleged facts of
Physiology,  which  seem to  conflict  with the  real
 
24
teachings  of the Bible, need revision, and will be
found to.be  prematurely deduced.
  But I have too long trespassed on your patience.
If, in reciting  my lesson,  you have  perceived any
errors, mark them, and by your superior knowledge,
correct  them.   If I have only  brought  to  view
ideas which you recognize  as old friends, you will
not,  of  course, reject them.  If I have succeeded
in advancing one thought, new to any person present,
or if I have made a suggestion, even, which will lead
to a  new idea, I shall be amply rewarded for the lit-
tle time that I have devoted to preparing the present
address.
   Finally.  Let the  members  of this  Society  be
encouraged by their  past  success, and animated to
greater  efforts, by  the well-grounded hopes of  more
glorious achievements in the field of moral and physi-
ological reform.   Burdened, suffering and  dying
millions utter  forth  their  piercing  cry  for  help.
 Struggling  and despised Christianity lifts up her ma-
jestic"voice for aid.  Rush then  to the rescue, and
 great will be your reward.
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