PHYSICAL PURISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11538, 24 November 1900, Page 1 (Supplement)

PHYSICAL PURISM.

i [BY J. GILES.] : i

No. n. " Santts homo quiet bene valet et suce spontis est nullis legibus obligare se debet." That is the recorded opinion of Cornelius Celsus, gentleman and physician of the first Christian century. He tells us that a man of sound constitution, and master of his own actions, ought not to bind himself by rules of diet. In such a maxim as this, penned nearly nineteen hundred years ago, we seem to trace the character of the cultured and liberal physician who understood that art must be subordinate to nature, and the genial gentleman and man of the world, who had observed human nature, and hated the narrowness of fads. But as all excellent things may be perverted to ill uses, so has this wise saying of the old Roman writer been wrested " to their own destruction" by some who have forgotten that wise saws, like steel ones, are intended for the use of those who understand the nature of their tools and have acquired some control and steadiness of mind and muscle. But if the golden rule of moderation in all things is constantly pre-supposed, our maxim of " nullis legibus" will not only save us from a good deal of trouble and worry, both to ourselves and our neighbours, but will do something to keep us from drifting into that valetudinarianism which is often both an excuse for, and an effect of, a too strict regimen. No doubt a rational care of health is one of the first duties enjoined by wisdom and morality; but the gospel of temperance, once thoroughly embraced, sets us free from the minute ceremonial of artificial rules. In this connection there always occurs to the mind the classical case of Ludovico Cornaro, who combined in the most remarkable degree ever recorded the extreme of moderation in diet with the extreme observance of strict rules, yet, as we shall show, without really failing to illustrate the " nullis legibus" maxim. Cornaro's rules consisted chiefly in the strict limitation of his daily allowance of food to 12oz, " exactly weighed," and of his drink to 14oz, an extreme of abstinence which in no other case that has ever been heard of has been found compatible with a healthy, happy, and active life. But it is little wonder that Cornaro was not in a condition to practise the maxim of Celsus, when we consider how he was handicapped by the effects of his own careless self-in-dulgence, for, says he, " I ate meats pleasing to my taste; and, when I felt inward heats, drank delightful wines, and that in great quantity, telling my physicians nothing thereof, as is the custom of sick people." These habits had brought him very near to death's door by the time he was 40, and from this perilous state he dragged himself away by perhaps the most strenuous and determined exertion of will and self-control that can be found in biographical literature. Such an effort required the support of some rigid rules, which, once fixed, were never to be called in question; but, after all, it is the virtue of temperance rather than of rules which is illustrated by the history of Cornaro. He wrote his narrative at the age of 83, and in it he describes with charming simplicity the happiness of his bodily and mental condition, due entirely to the temperance which he habitually practised. He is ever "cheerful, merry, and well contented,'* so nimble that he mounts his horse easily, and " without the advantage of the ground," and walks up high hills. He enjoys the society of witty and learned men ; he reads learned books, and he has at this age of 83 " made a most pleasant comedy, full of honest wit and merriment," which I am thankful does not fall to my lot to read or criticise. Moreover, he builds in the "learned city of Padua" elegant houses for himself, " according to the rules of architecture, cool in summer and warm in winter." He lays out gardens with fountains and , rills of running water, " which truly is very delightful." He has drained a marsh, and caused people to flock there and build houses "with happy success," and in the midst of the village he has built a church, so that he can truly say ho has " both given God a temple and men to worship Him in it." He travels about, surveys buildings, enjoys scenery, is not troubled by changing his bed ; he superintends cultivations, and in that work abides " in fenny places two whole months in the heat of summer (which in Italy is very great), receiving not any hurt or inconvenience thereby," from which it seems that " the malarial mosquito does not bite those who lead sober and temperate lives." He is also proof against melancholy, even the melancholy engendered by a lawsuit; and a lawsuit in Italy in those days must have been a serious 'matter, if we may judge by what he tells us of its consequences, for when " some great powerful men" picked quarrels against him, his brother and others of his kindred, fearing that he would get the worst of it, became "possessed with a deep melancholy," a thing which, I am sorry to say, he is so unkind to the memory of his kinsfolk as to remind us is " usual to disorderly lives." Anyhow, it is distressing to read of these sympathetic though disorderly relatives that the melancholy " increased so much in them that it brought them to a sudden end ; but I," says our narrator, "whom that matter ought to have affected most, received no inconvenience thereby, because that humour abounded not in me." The readers of so naive a bit of autobiography will perhaps agree that "humour abounded not in" Signor Cornaro, but they will probably also admit that in relation to doctrines of physical purism his narrative is interesting and instructive. It is hardly more remarkable as a proof of the great power of strictly temperate habits in promoting health and happiness than as illustrating the power of the mind over the body, for we can hardly doubt that the virtue of his system of life was largely reinforced by an almost fanatical faith in its efficacy. It is pretty certain that, next to a discreet use of all the physical agents that are concerned in the bodily health, there is no more sovereign prophylactic against disease than a fixed belief that it cannot injure us. It is the predominance of a fixed belief, or leading idea, which plays a great part in the phenomena of hypnotism, and doubtless also in the mind-cmes of Christian and mental scientists. \ These latter phenomena, however, are rather outside our immediate subject, though it may become necessary to say a word or two about them when we come, if we ever do come, to the later developments of physical purism which were mentioned in our, first paper, but which have not yet engaged our attention. In the sense in which I have used the term " physical purism," there perhaps necessarily enters something of the "fad," and therefore narrow and objectionable, and perhaps the printer had an eye to this when he made me " libel," instead of " label" certain estimable classes of persons as physical purists. The confusion of the two terms is excusable, and for my own part I always feel that he who labels me libels me; nevertheless it was far from my intention to prejudge the merits of .any class of phycal purists, but to leave that for the present an open question. Be this as it may, I think our friend Cornaro can hardly be libelled or labelled in this style. He seems to have had no pet theory, but to have elaborated his scheme of living on true inductive principles, simply observing the effects of different agents upon his health, and adapting his plan accordingly, without tying himself by more rules than he found necessary. In fact, he acted quite on the lines laid down by Celsus, "nullus legibus se obligare." He was neither teetotaler nor vegetarian. He gives us some, but not full, information' about his ordinary fare. He avoided "fruit and fish, because they hurt" him, in which respect he seems to have differed widely from the practice of our modern centenarians; and he notes it as a strange thing that new wine should agree with him better than old, and that cinnamon should heat him more than pepper. His daily ration of'l2oz consisted chiefly of "bread and eggs and flesh and broth," together with, presumably, 14oz of wine, though nnetw t we may fairly assume,

considering his wealth, to have been of good and generous quality; and I scarcely think he would have improved matters by substituting water for his wine and making up the deficiency by an extra egg or chop. In fact, I do not see how ordinary folk can do ' better than adopt Cornaro's method of judicious experiments and conscientious conformity to the results. If such observations are made without bias, it will probably be found that the moderate use of alcohol will help one person and injure another, while to a third such use of it may seem to be a matter of indifference. Those who are in the latter case will probably do well to leave the thing alone; but in all cases the true rule seems to be to find out what is the right use of alcohol in each case and to use it or abstain from it accordingly. But, whilst we resist the claims of others to judge us in respect of meat or drink, and whilst declining even to fetter our own moral freedom by a' pledge, we must in fairness admit the debt that society owes to the teetotalers. That debt consists in the increased sense of responsibility which alB conscientious persons must feel in respect of alcoholic drinks. We can no longer use them or give them to others with the irresponsible freedom of half a century ago, and this result has been largely produced by the persistent efforts of temperance societies, which now unfortunately, forgetful of their true glory, are mpking themselves engines of social and political tyranny.