No Animal Food | Page 5

in the face of all the available evidence, that
the natural constitution of man closely resembles that of fruit-eating
animals, and widely differs from that of flesh-eating animals, and that

from analogy it is only reasonable to suppose that the fruitarian, or
vegetarian, as it is commonly called, is the diet best suited to man. This
conclusion has been arrived at by many distinguished men of science,
among whom are the above mentioned. But the proof of the pudding is
in the eating, and to prove that the vegetarian is the most hygienic diet,
we must examine the physical conditions of those nations and
individuals who have lived, and do live, upon this diet.
It might be mentioned, parenthetically, that among animals, the
herbivora are as strong physically as any species of carnivora. The most
laborious work of the world is performed by oxen, horses, mules,
camels, elephants, all vegetable-feeding animals. What animal
possesses the enormous strength of the herbivorous rhinoceros, who,
travellers relate, uproots trees and grinds whole trunks to powder?
Again, the frugivorous orang-outang is said to be more than a match for
the African lion. Comparing herbivora and carnivora from this point of
view Dr. Kingsford writes: 'The carnivora, indeed, possess one salient
and terrible quality, ferocity, allied to thirst for blood; but power,
endurance, courage, and intelligent capacity for toil belong to those
animals who alone, since the world has had a history, have been
associated with the fortunes, the conquests, and the achievements of
men.'
Charles Darwin, reverenced by all educated people as a scientist of the
most keen and accurate observation, wrote in his Voyage of the Beagle,
the following with regard to the Chilian miners, who, he tells us, live in
the cold and high regions of the Andes: 'The labouring class work very
hard. They have little time allowed for their meals, and during summer
and winter, they begin when it is light and leave off at dusk. They are
paid £1 sterling a month and their food is given them: this, for breakfast,
consists of sixteen figs and two small loaves of bread; for dinner,
boiled beans; for supper, broken roasted wheat-grain. They scarcely
ever taste meat.' This is as good as saying that the strongest men in the
world, performing the most arduous work, and living in an exhilarating
climate, are practically strict vegetarians.
Dr. Jules Grand, President of the Vegetarian Society of France speaks

of 'the Indian runners of Mexico, who offer instances of wonderful
endurance, and eat nothing but tortillas of maize, which they eat as they
run along; the street porters of Algiers, Smyrna, Constantinople and
Egypt, well known for their uncommon strength, and living on nothing
but maize, rice, dates, melons, beans, and lentils. The Piedmontese
workmen, thanks to whom the tunnelling of the Alps is due, feed on
polenta, (maize-broth). The peasants of the Asturias, like those of the
Auvergne, scarcely eat anything except chick-peas and chestnuts ...
statistics prove ... that the most numerous population of the globe is
vegetarian.'
The following miscellaneous excerpta are from Smith's Fruits and
Farinacea:--
'The peasantry of Norway, Sweden, Russia, Denmark, Poland,
Germany, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, and of almost
every country in Europe subsist principally, and most of them entirely,
on vegetable food.... The Persians, Hindoos, Burmese, Chinese,
Japanese, the inhabitants of the East Indian Archipelago, and of the
mountains of the Himalaya, and, in fact, most of the Asiatics, live upon
vegetable productions.'
'The people of Russia, generally, subsist on coarse black rye-bread and
garlics. I have often hired men to labour for me. They would come on
board in the morning with a piece of black bread weighing about a
pound, and a bunch of garlics as big as one's fist. This was all their
nourishment for the day of sixteen or eighteen hours' labour. They were
astonishingly powerful and active, and endured severe and protracted
labour far beyond any of my men. Some of these Russians were eighty
and even ninety years old, and yet these old men would do more work
than any of the middle-aged men belonging to my ship. Captain C. S.
Howland of New Bedford, Mass.'
'The Chinese feed almost entirely on rice, confections and fruits; those
who are enabled to live well and spend a temperate life, are possessed
of great strength and agility.'
'The Egyptian cultivators of the soil, who live on coarse wheaten bread,

Indian corn, lentils, and other productions of the vegetable kingdom,
are among the finest people I have even seen. Latherwood.'
'The Greek boatmen are exceedingly abstemious. Their food consists of
a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted rye or wheatmeal,
and a bunch of grapes, or raisins, or some figs. They are astonishingly
athletic and powerful; and the most nimble, active, graceful, cheerful,