The Physiology of Taste Part 30

OBESE.--But you will take some? There are enough for two, and after us the deluge.

I.--Not I. I look on the potatoe as a great preservative against famine; nothing, however, seems to me so pre-eminently fade.

OBESE.--That is a gastronomical heresy. Nothing is better than the potatoe; I eat them in every way.

AN OBESE LADY.--Be pleased to send me the Soissons haricots I see at the other end of the table.

I.--(Having obeyed the order, hummed in a low tone, the well known air:)

"Les Soissonnais sont heureux, Les haricots font chez eux."

OBESE.--Do not laugh: it is a real treasure for this country.

Paris gains immensely by it. I will thank you to pa.s.s me the English peas. When young they are food fit for the G.o.ds.

I?--Anathema on beans and peas.

OBESE.--Bah, for your anathema; you talk as if you were a whole council. I.--(To another.) I congratulate you on your good health, it seems to me that you have fattened somewhat, since I last saw you.

OBESE.--I probably owe it to a change of diet.

I.--How so?

OBESE.--For some time I eat a rich soup for breakfast, and so thick that the spoon would stand up in it.

I.--(To another.) Madame, if I do not mistake, you will accept a portion of this charlotte? I will attack it.

OBESE.--No, sir. I have two things which I prefer. This gateau of rice and that Savoy biscuit--I am very fond of sweet things.

I.--While they talk politics, madame, at the other end of the table, will you take a piece of this tourte a la frangipane?

OBESE.--Yes; I like nothing better than pastry. We have a pastry- cook in our house as a lodger, and I think my daughter and I eat up all his rent.

I.--(Looking at the daughter.) You both are benefitted by the diet. Your daughter is a fine looking young woman.

OBESE LADY.--Yes; but there are persons who say she is too fat.

I.--Ah! those who do so are envious, etc., etc. By this and similar conversations I elucidate a theory I have formed about the human race, viz: Greasy corpulence always has, as its first cause, a diet with too much farinacious or feculent substance. I am sure the same regime will always have the same effect. Carniverous animals never become fat. One has only to look at the wolf, jackal, lion, eagle, etc.

Herbiverous animals do not either become fat until age has made repose a necessity. They, however, fatten quickly when fed on potatoes, farinacious grain, etc.

Obesity is rarely met with among savage nations, or in that cla.s.s of persons who eat to live, instead of living to eat.

CAUSES OF OBESITY.

From the preceding observation, the causes of which any one may verify, it is easy to ascertain the principle causes of obesity.

The first is the nature of the individual. Almost all men are born with predispositions, the impress of which is borne by their faces. Of every hundred persons who die of diseases of the chest, ninety have dark hair, long faces and sharp noses. Of every hundred obese persons, ninety have short faces, blue eyes, and pug noses.

Then there are beyond doubt persons predestined to obesity, the digestive powers of whom elaborate a great quant.i.ty of grease.

This physical fact, of the truth of which I am fully satisfied, exerts a most important influence on our manner of looking at things.

When we meet in society, a short, fat, rosy, short-nosed individual, with round limbs, short feet, etc., all p.r.o.nounce her charming. Better informed than others, however, I antic.i.p.ate the ravages which ten years will have effected on her, and sigh over evils which as yet do not exist. This antic.i.p.ated compa.s.sion is a painful sentiment, and proves that a prescience of the future would only make man more unhappy.

The second of the causes of obesity, is the fact that farinacious and feculaferous matter is the basis of our daily food. We have already said that all animals that live on farinaceous substances become fat; man obeys the common law.

The fecula is more prompt in its action when it is mingled with sugar. Sugar and grease are alike in containing large quant.i.ties of hydrogen, and are both inflammable. This combination is the more powerful, from the fact that it flatters the taste, and that we never eat sweet things until the appet.i.te is already satisfied, so that we are forced to court the luxury of eating by every refinement of temptation.

The fecula is not less fattening when in solution, as in beer, and other drinks of the same kind. The nations who indulge the most in them, are those who have the most huge stomachs. Some Parisian families who in 1817 drank beer habitually, because of the dearness of wine, were rewarded by a degree of embonpoint, they would be glad to get rid of.

SEQUEL.

Another cause of obesity is found in the prolongation of sleep, and want of exercise. The human body repairs itself much during sleep, and at the same time loses nothing, because muscular action is entirely suspended. The acquired superfluity must then be evaporated by exercise.

Another consequence is, that persons who sleep soundly, always refuse every thing that looks the least like fatigue. The excess of a.s.similation is then borne away by the torrent of circulation.

It takes possession, by a process, the secret of which nature has reserved to herself, of some hundredths of hydrogen, and fat is formed to be deposited in the tubes of the cellular tissue.

SEQUEL.

The last cause of obesity is excess of eating and drinking.

There was justice in the a.s.sertion, that one of the privileges of the human race is to eat without hunger, and drink without thirst.

Animals cannot have it, for it arises from reflection on the pleasures of the table, and a desire to prolong its duration.

This double pa.s.sion has been found wherever man exists. We know savages eat to the very acme of brutality, whenever they have an opportunity.

Cosmopolites, as citizens of two hemispheres, we fancy ourselves at the very apogee of civilization, yet we are sure we eat too much.

This is not the case with the few, who from avarice or want of power, live alone. The first are delighted at the idea that they ama.s.s money, and others distressed that they do not. It is the case, however, with those around us, for all, whether hosts or guests, offer and accept with complaisance.

This cause, almost always present, acts differently, according to the const.i.tution of individuals; and in those who have badly organized stomachs, produces indigestion, but not obesity.

ANECDOTE.

This one instance, which all Paris will remember.

M. Lang had one of the most splendid establishments of the capital; his table especially, was excellent, but his digestion was bad as his gourmandise was great. He did the honors with perfect taste, and ate with a resolution worthy of a better fate.

All used to go on very well, till coffee was introduced, but the stomach soon refused the labor to which it had been subjected, and the unfortunate gastronomer was forced to throw himself on the sofa and remain in agony until the next day, in expiation of the brief pleasure he had enjoyed.

It is very strange that he never corrected this fault: as long as he lived, he was subjected to this alternative, yet the sufferings of the evening never had any influence on the next days' meal.

Persons with active digestion, fare as was described in the preceding article. All is digested, and what is not needed for nutrition is fixed and turned into fat.

Others have a perpetual indigestion, and food is pa.s.sed without having left any nourishment. Those who do not understand the matter, are amazed that so many good things do not produce a better effect.

It may be seen that I do not go very minutely into the matter, for from our habits many secondary causes arise, due to our habits, condition, inclinations, pleasures, etc.

I leave all this to the successor I pointed out in the commencement of this work, and satisfy myself merely with the prelibation, the right of the first comer to every sacrifice.