Dear Sir,—Your letter of the 22d July has been hitherto unanswered, through press of business.
I consider an exclusive vegetable diet as of the utmost consequence in most diseases, especially in those chronic affections or morbid states of the system which are not commonly considered as diseases; and I think that, in these cases, such a diet is too often overlooked, even by physicians.
Yours, truly,
F. Knox.
LETTER IX.—FROM A HIGHLY RESPECTABLE PHYSICIAN.
[The following letter, received last autumn, is from a medical gentleman, in a distant part of the country, whose name, for particular reasons, we stand pledged not to give to the world. The facts, however, may be relied on; and they are exceedingly important and interesting.]
Dear Sir,—Your letter was duly received. I proceed to say that, since I settled in this town, my attacks of epilepsy[6] have occurred in the following order:
| 1833. | ||||
| Nov. | 18. | One at | 11 P. M. | Severe. |
| " | 19. | " | " | " |
| " | 24. | Nineteen, from | 4 A. M. to 3 P. M. | Frightful. |
| 1835. | ||||
| Jan. | 13. | One at | 4 A. M. | } |
| " | 15. | " | " | } Milder. |
| " | 16. | Two at 2 and | 4 A. M. | } |
Thus it appears that I have enjoyed a longer immunity since the last, than for some years prior. I have maintained total abstinence from flesh, fish, or fowl, for two and a half years, namely, from March 1835 to the present time. That this happy immunity from a most obstinate disease is to be attributed solely to my abstinence from animal food, I do not feel prepared to assert; but that my general health has been better, my attacks of disease far milder, my vigor of mind and body greater, my mental perceptions clearer and more acute, and my enjoyment of life, on the whole, very essentially increased, I am fully prepared to prove.