Page:Fruits and Farinacea the Proper Food of Man.djvu/14

vi and "so limited is the human capacity, that the most exalted genius, and the deepest powers of investigation, have not been able to raise their possessors above the errors and prejudices of their age, on subjects which have not been made the peculiar object of their reflection." I therefore hope that my investigations will not be found so devoid of interest as some may at a first glance suppose; nor my deductions so wide of the truth as a reference to the long-established dietetic habits of my countrymen may seem to indicate: but whatever judgment the public may pass upon the opinions here advocated, at least it will be a satisfaction to feel that I have written with a sincere desire of benefiting society in general; and more especially its members who suffer from dyspepsia and other diseases. He who undertakes to bring a new or neglected subject before the public, finds it exceedingly difficult to adopt the best arrangement of which it will admit; and the probability is, that he will not defend his views with that clearness and force which, when more generally canvassed, might be brought to their support. Hence arguments which may appear forcible and conclusive to a person whose attention has been long and steadily directed to the subject, and who has viewed it in all its bearings, may be totally inadequate to produce conviction in others who have thought little about it.

"Perhaps," as has been well observed, "the best mode of leading another to the apprehension of truth, is to show how we ourselves were convinced: and, in the announcement of a new discovery, it is always well to explain how we were first impressed with the idea, and afterwards proceeded; for nature always tells her own tale best, and in the most impressive way: by so doing, we in some measure place others in a similar position with ourselves, and enable them to judge through the same evidence which has convinced us." In accordance with this remark, I may briefly state, that I read an Essay on "Manifestations of Mind," about ten years ago, to the members of a small Literary Society, and attempted to trace the phenomena of sensation, from the lowest up to the highest forms of animated being. After the reading of the paper, and an interesting discussion on the similarity of structure in the organs of sense, and the resemblance of the nervous and cerebral development, in the superior classes of animals, to those of man, the following question occurred to me:—"Is man justified in slaughtering animals for his food; seeing that, by means of a beautifully-organized structure, they are rendered exquisitely sensible both of pleasure and pain?"

The answer I mentally returned to the inquiry was: "If the flesh of animals be necessary to the health, happiness, and longevity of man, then