THE EMINENT FAT

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 80, 5 April 1938, Page 19

THE EMINENT FAT

In accusing ..fat men of laziness Dr. Leonard Williams runs counter to the. opinion of another eminent medical authority,. Dr. Berthold, who,has declared, that "embonpoint is .one' of the greatest' benefits that Providence can confer, on man, and :with' obesity comes perseverance,/ virtue, and contentment," says the "Manchester Guard-' ian." Berthold cited some notable examples: Napoleon, who developed a "corporation . thirty; Mirabeau, "4s fat as a fat monk"; Balzac and Dumas, prodigies of. energy wno were also mountains of flesh; and Gambetta, who, in spite of his obesity, retained mental and physical vigour until his death. Theophile Gautier, himself an out-size, anticipated the German prpfessor in arguing that fat and genius go together, and in proof pointed also to "that more barrel than man Balzac," Dumas, ."always fat and always jolly," the welMed appearance of Hugo and Sairite-Beuve, and "that hippopotamus in breeches Rossini." On the other hand Byron viewed an increase of weight with alarm, and dieted rigorously to prevent it, but he was apprehensive for loss of appearance rather than of mental energy.