BANTINGS PERFECT CURE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XIX, Issue 2164, 7 February 1865, Page 3

BANTINGS PERFECT CURE.

The London correspondent for the Hereford Times, furnishes the following respecting Wanting and his remedy for reducing the humau form divine, to its moral condition. Bnt Banting- Banting— the Banting system; who is Banting? What is his system? Have you not read Banting's Letter on Corpulence, price sixpence? You have. Well, then, you probably know that be has published 50,000 copies of the last edition, and tens of thousands more he will publish. The pamphlet, which may be read in a few minutes, is being translated for publication in France, and will go through the same ptocess in every other continental state, nay, tbroughout tbe civilised world. But, altbough many of your readers kuow as much about " Banting on Corpulence" as I do, I venture to think that there are thousands of them who do not, and for their edification let me brierly state who and what he is, his object, &c, &c, &o. Well then, Banting is a respectable tradesman ; he was upholsterer to the Queen; he is an intelligent, goodnatured man, in stature 5 feel 5 inches high ; in bulk — but more of that anon ; be is 66 years of age ; but when as I understand he was between 30 and 65, be was the victim of obesity —so fat indeed that be was obliged to descend the stairs backwards otherwise be would have come to grief; he mould not lie his own sboes, nor indeed perform many otber personal offices, the easy performance of whion i» needful to

one's personal comfort. But, saddest fact of all the fat Banting was laughed at ; his obesity excited the sneers and remarks of the cruel and injudicious, in public assemblies, in public vehicles, and amidst tbe ordinary street traffic ,* be was constantly annoyed at finding no adequate space in a public assembly, if he should need amusement or refreshment. Such were the sorrows of Banting the fat. But let it not be supposed that Banting quiescently, though per* haps meekly, bore his day and night tribulation. Like a true Aoglo-Saxion, Banting attacked tbe enemy again, and again, and at length he was victorious. And how did he achieve the victory ?— -that is the question. Years ago he sought advice from the faculty, who one and all, admonished him to be active and industrious, and to be frugal and temperate in his habits and diet. All this did Banting daily practice, still Banting continued fat. The more he worked the more hungry ho became ; he confesses that he has lived upou sixpence a day, and earned it lirst— still fatter and fatter he grew. Obesity impaired his vision, impaired his hearing, and he called upon Mr Wm. . Harvey, F.R.C.S., No. 2, Soho-square, to consult him as to his deafness. Happy call! happy Banting for having made that call ; for Banting learned from tbat able surgeonaurist the real cause of his obesity, and obtained from him the panacea for its cure. Banting learnt from Mr Harvey that, inasmuch as cattle and sheep feed exceedingly fat upon food contain* ing abundant starch and saccharine matter, in like manner had Banting fed and become exceedingly fat. Now Bunting, like your humble servant, had partaken all bis life freely but excessively, of bread, of milk, of sugar, of pork, of veal, of salmon, of eels, of herrings, of potatoes, of beer, of port, of champagne, of swedes, ' of parsnips, of beet-toot, and of carrots, never dreaming tbat his adipose condition was a consequence of the starch and saccharine matter in the above eatables and drinkables. Of all these things, I say, had Banting paitaken through bis manhood, moderately though, as I trust,you,l,and thecourteous reader do, knowing them to be delicious in favor and believing them to be nutritious in character, and, moreover, when taken temperately, altogether harmless. Aud verily, with Banting, we were all right up to tho age of 30, at which time the proclivity of the human body, in a man and woman, is to grow fat, and fat it will grow if nurtured by starch and saccharine matter. Thus it came to pass that from the age of 30, downwards or upwards, as the reader may please, Banting grow fat in spile of himself, and therefore he became a man of sorrow. Now, in the human race, like in the bovine, ovine, and porcine kingdom, there are numbers of what are known as " Pharoah's lean kine" ; hut, ou the other band, there are numbers, mostly too, of a jolly temperament — (" laugh and grow fat" is a proverb)— whose bodies are so prone to obesity, that starchy and saccharine matter in but moderate quantities rapidly produces abundant fat. Now, Banting was one of • tbem. Well, as t have before said, this.feeding food may be taken with impunity, nay, with substantial advantage, by tbose fortunate people who are under thirty years of age . but, wheu they turn that critical point of their lives they must gradually diminish tbe amount of feeding mixture; indeed, at thirty-five or forty, abandon < it altogether, otherwise they will do as Banting J did— grow fatter and fatter every day. Let us A now see Bantiug's subsequent experience, tbat _9| is, after he had learnt wisdom from Mr Harvey^S On the 26th of August, 1862, Banting weigbejHß 202lbs— :i pretty portly man, of sft sin statuwH Ou that day he did, in Carlyle phraseoloeMHf abjure, renouuce, reject, aud discunUnuejj^EH eating ofthe said feeding, viands, aqirijßlflßßß when lo! on the 12th of SeptembeffoHH^BH days afterwards, the Banting of 2021bshad >*!»& come Banting of only 1561b5, having in thaß^H period sunk 461hs in weight; while in ApriflH 1864 (as I read tbe work), he had descended ii«H the scales to tbe happy medium, for be theriWß weighed under 11 stone, and had diminished in girth, or his waist was \l\ inches smaller tban it was on the 22nd of August, 1862 1 But i what about the modus operandi? Had Banting attained tbis joyable condition through a j course of demi-starvation?— had he gone into training like a jockey of the turf or a man ofthe ring? By no means : Banting tells us he is now a much jollier fellow than ever ; that he has not been so well for twenty years — suffers no inconvenience, can come downstairs as he ought to do, that is, forward, naturally, wilh perfect ease ;go upstairs, and takeordiuaryexerciHe,and perform personal offices for himself, with comfort ; his sight is restored, for fatness bas impaired it; bis hearing is improved, for fatness has deadened it. In short, if not as " active as a kitten," he is iv every respect as well as needs be, all of which miraculous change be attributes to not eating the sturch and saccharines named. And, now thus Banting lives:— "For breakfast, I take four or five ounces of beef, mutton, kidueys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind, except pork; a large cup of tea, (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit, or one ounce of dry toast. For dinner, five or six ounces of any fish, except salmon ; any meat, except pork; any vegetable except polatoe; one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of claret, sherry, or Madeira — Champagne, port, and beer forbidden. For tea, two or three ounces of fruit, a rusk or to, and a cup of tea (without milk or sugar.) For supper, tbree or four ounces of meal, or fisb, similar to diHner, with a glass or two of claret. For nightcap (if required,) a tumbler of grog— (gin, whiskey, or brandy, without sugar)— or a glass •ar two of claret or sherry. This plan leads to an excellent night's rest, with from six to eight hours' sound sleep. The dry toast or rusk may have a table-spoonful of spirits to soften it, wbich will prove acceptable. Perhaps I did not wholly escape starchy or saccharine matter, but scrupulously avoided such as milk, sugar, beer, butter, &c, which were known to contain them." There you have the wbole secret of Banting's "descending scale." And is he wrong ? Does not the experience of the stock-farmer assure him that Banting is right, for that saccharine food is beyond compare the most fattening of all food ? Well, now, having sportively ventilated the Banting subject, let me now say seriously, that I believe Mr Banting to have deserved well of his country and of his fellowmen. It is beyond doubt that he has been actuated by motives of pure philanthropy in puttiug the whole thing before the public ; and although I must myself plead guilty of the bad manners, or bad taste, though I hope not bad feeling, of smiling at a Banting of sft sin stature, and of such a girth as was Banting before the 26th of August, 1862, no one is more ready to return bim thanks for the benevolent way io whioh he, having experienced great benefit himself, bas perseveringly endeavored to extend similar benefit to his fellow men ; let me then recommend your readers to buy bis pamphlet — -its price is only sixpence— aud I shall besur« prised if the purchaser does not peruse it with amusement and instructiou thanking me fov recommending, and Bauting for writing it. <

One of your unhappy New Zealand Chiefs has recently died amongst us, aged 33, he was called Ananca Te Tauhon, and a native of Ngungwa, Bay of Islands j he was ona oi Haggerty's victims, having been defrauded of hia wealth (some £30 sterling) was left destitute. }*j contracted bronchitis;' and consumption^ _od^ died in hospital a month baok. At bis owiai urgent request, be was buried at Windsor, (9 order that he might rest near the good Queajfli mother, ____\