“ The Greek boatmen,” says the venerable judge Woodrufi',
of Connecticut, who went out as the agent of the New York
Committee for the relief of the Greeks, “ are seen in great num-
bers about the harbours, seeking employment -with their boats.
They are exceedingly abstemious. Their food always consists
of a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted rye or
wheat-meal, generally rye ; a bunch of grapes or raisins, and
some figs. They are, nevertheless, astonishingly athletic and
powerful, and the most nimble, active, graceful, cheerful, and
even merry people in the world. , , , In Smyrna, where
there are no carts or wheel carriages, the carrying business falls
upon the shoulders of the porters, who are seen in great num-
bers about the wharves and docks, and in the streets by the
water-side, where they are employed in loading and unloading
vessels. They are stout and robust men, of great muscular
strength, and carry at one load, upon a pad fitted to their backs,
from 400 to 800 pounds,”*
Sir Francis Head informs us, that the South American miners,
who carry such immense loads, are fed on fruit, grain, and
pulse, “ It is usual,” says he," “ for the copper miners of cen-
tral Chili to carry loads of ore of 200 lbs, weight up eighty per-
pendicular yards twelve times a day. When they reach the
mouth of the pit they are in a state of apparent fearful exhaus-
tion, covered with perspiration, their chests heaving, yet, after
briefly resting, they descend again. Their diet is entirely
vegetable : breakfast consists of sixteen figs and two small
loaves of bread ; dinner, boiled beans ; supper, roasted wheat
gi-ain. They scarcely ever taste meat ; yet on this simple diet
they perform a labour that would almost kill many men,”t
To identify the advantage of simplicity of diet in relation
to health and strength in our own coimtry, we find Smith, in
liis “Wealth of Nations,” says, that the men that did the
hardest work in his time, as chairmen, porters, and coal-
heavers, were most of them from the Irish peasantry ; and that
those who had continued their Vegetable diet were the
strongest men in the British dominions. Referring also to the
* Graham’s “ Lectures on the Science of Human Life," p. 182.
t See “ Fiuits and Farinacca the Proper Food of Man," p. 172.
INTRODUCTION.
85
statistics wliicli have been brought to bear upon the relative
sti'ength of the English, Irish, and Scotch, under a class of
experiments instituted and conducted by Dr. Forbes, of Edin-
burgh, mthin a few years, we find that numbers of students
were submitted to experiments in relation to average height,
weight, and strength, the latter test being that of lifting weights,
which resulted in the following statistics ; the ages of the
individuals compared being about twenty-five.*
Height. Weight. Strength.
English ... 68 inches ... 115 lb. ... 403 lb.
Scotch ... 69 „ ... 152 ,, ... 423 „
Irish ... 70 „ ... 155 432 „
Page 24
Presented as published in 1891. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
“ The Greek boatmen,” says the venerable judge Woodrufi', of Connecticut, who went out as the agent of the New York Committee for the relief of the Greeks, “ are seen in great numbers about the harbours, seeking employment -with their boats. They are exceedingly abstemious. Their food always consists of a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted rye or wheat-meal, generally rye ; a bunch of grapes or raisins, and some figs. They are, nevertheless, astonishingly athletic and powerful, and the most nimble, active, graceful, cheerful, and even merry people in the world. , , , In Smyrna, where
there are no carts or wheel carriages, the carrying business falls upon the shoulders of the porters, who are seen in great numbers about the wharves and docks, and in the streets by the water-side, where they are employed in loading and unloading vessels. They are stout and robust men, of great muscular strength, and carry at one load, upon a pad fitted to their backs, from 400 to 800 pounds,”*
Sir Francis Head informs us, that the South American miners, who carry such immense loads, are fed on fruit, grain, and pulse, “ It is usual,” says he," “ for the copper miners of central Chili to carry loads of ore of 200 lbs, weight up eighty perpendicular yards twelve times a day. When they reach the mouth of the pit they are in a state of apparent fearful exhaustion, covered with perspiration, their chests heaving, yet, after briefly resting, they descend again. Their diet is entirely vegetable : breakfast consists of sixteen figs and two small loaves of bread ; dinner, boiled beans ; supper, roasted wheat grain. They scarcely ever taste meat ; yet on this simple diet they perform a labour that would almost kill many men,”t
To identify the advantage of simplicity of diet in relation to health and strength in our own country, we find Smith, in liis “Wealth of Nations,” says, that the men that did the hardest work in his time, as chairmen, porters, and coalheavers, were most of them from the Irish peasantry ; and that those who had continued their Vegetable diet were the strongest men in the British dominions. Referring also to the
* Graham’s “ Lectures on the Science of Human Life," p. 182.
t See “ Fiuits and Farinacca the Proper Food of Man," p. 172.
statistics wliicli have been brought to bear upon the relative sti'ength of the English, Irish, and Scotch, under a class of experiments instituted and conducted by Dr. Forbes, of Edinburgh, within a few years, we find that numbers of students were submitted to experiments in relation to average height, weight, and strength, the latter test being that of lifting weights, which resulted in the following statistics ; the ages of the individuals compared being about twenty-five.*
Height. Weight. Strength.
English ... 68 inches ... 115 lb. ... 403 lb.
Scotch ... 69 „ ... 152 ,, ... 423 „
Irish ... 70 „ ... 155 432 „