(Nations and Individuals)

These words are particularly true when applied to the subject matter before us. No matter how perfect, theoretically, an argument may be, it will never appeal to the public mind as do a few concrete facts. The arguments I have presented, drawn from comparative anatomy, from physiology, chemistry, and from hygiene, would weigh but little in many minds against the testimony of human experience. They would contend that, no matter how good the theoretical argument might be, the facts, nevertheless, would seem to prove the contrary; and show that the majority of all the more civilised people of the earth, particularly the ruling and governing nations, do, as a matter of fact, eat meat; and hence, practically, meat is a suitable article of diet. I propose to consider these arguments in the following chapter, and see how far they rest upon facts, and how far upon misconception.

Pythagoras, one of the most celebrated philosophers of antiquity, was one of the first to defend the “vegetable diet.” He not only totally refrained from animal food himself, but also strictly prohibited the use of it by his disciples, so that those who abstain from it at the present time are sometimes known as Pythagorians. Pythagoras flourished about five hundred years before the Christian era. He was a man of immense learning, and extraordinary powers of intellect. He was the first demonstrator of the forty-seventh problem of the first book of Euclid, and entertained correct views of the solar system. Ovid speaks of him with great admiration.

Zeno, the Stoic, Diogenes, the Cynic, Plato, Plutarch, Plautus, Proclus, Empedocles, Socrates, Quintus Sextus, Apollonius of Tyana, Porphyry, and numerous others, among the ancients, abstained from animal food and, more recently, Haller, Ritson (celebrated for his numerous works and varied talents), Dr Cheyne, Dr Lambe, Mr Newton (who wrote a splendid book, “The Return to Nature”), Shelley, Dr Hufeland, Sir Richard Phillips, and many others have both advocated and personally tried for many years a strictly and exclusively vegetable diet.

Hesiod, the Greek poet, Herodotus, Hippocrates, Pliny, Galen, and many other writers of antiquity could be quoted as defending a simple, non-flesh diet. Of late years numerous scientific men and physicians have come forward in support of this claim; and their testimony will be found in various parts of this work.

If the past has produced individual giants, mental and physical, who subsisted upon a vegetarian dietary, the present may also claim its champions; and there are doubtless more at the present day than ever before. Many athletes are now adopting a vegetarian diet, largely on account of the Fletcher-Chittenden experiments before referred to; largely because of individual study and investigation. The fact that strength and endurance are greatly increased by a strict vegetarian or fruitarian dietary cannot be gainsaid. I have adduced some of this evidence in the chapter on hygiene, and shall adduce further evidence in the present and following chapters. The frequently quoted case of the seventy-mile walking match, that took place in Germany some years ago, should at least be referred to. Fourteen meat-eaters, and eight vegetarians started on a seventy-mile walking match. All the vegetarians reached the goal, it is said in “splendid condition”—the first covering the distance in fourteen and a quarter hours. An hour after the last vegetarian came in, the first meat-eater appeared, and he was “completely exhausted.” He was also the last meat-eater to finish the race, as all the rest had dropped off after thirty-five miles. A further and almost exactly similar illustration is furnished by the Dresden to Berlin walk of 1902. For this, eighteen vegetarians and fourteen meat-eaters started, and ten of the vegetarians, but only three of the meat-eaters came in. The winner (Karl Mann) was upwards of seven hours in front of the first meat-eater. It is to be noted that Mann was a strict fruitarian, and practically never touched the ordinary vegetarian foods. The last meat-eater only just got in within the time limit, and was beaten by more than four hours by a man of fifty-nine, who had been a vegetarian for thirty-eight years. In this race the championship of Germany was decided, and the winner made two world’s records. The proceedings were watched, and the organs and circulation of competitors were measured and recorded by a committee of physiologists, for the benefit of the German government and army.

Dr Alexander Haig, in his “Diet and Food,” p. 100, says:

Professor Baelz, of Tokio, Japan, made some experiments on vegetarian natives, and, after measuring and recording some of their feats of endurance, he gave some of them meat, which they took eagerly, and regarded as a great luxury, because it was used by the “upper classes”; but after three days they came and begged to be let off the meat, as they felt tired on it, and could not work as well as before. The Professor then made some similar experiments on himself, and he found that he also was sooner tired, and more disinclined for exertion when he took meat.

Mr Eustace H. Miles, formerly amateur champion of the world and holder of the gold prize at tennis, amateur champion of the world at racquets, and of American squash, tennis, etc., is a strong advocate of vegetarianism, and has written a number of works on this subject, defending the non-flesh diet—which books are too well known to need more than a mere reference. Mr Miles, though he must be approaching middle age, is a remarkably young-looking man, with a brilliant complexion, and thinks that he will be as good ten or fifteen years from now as he is to-day. In a conversation with me, Mr Miles stated that he considered diet the all-important factor, so far as health is concerned; and exercise, and other forms of health-getting “a luxury.” I agree with him absolutely, and defended this very position in my “Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition,” pp. 618-621. I too think that if the food be regulated in quality, and sufficiently reduced in quantity, all other factors might be more or less neglected, and perfect health maintained.

But it would be useless to refer to a large number of individual cases of this character. However many I might cite, the defenders of meat-eating would be enabled to cite an equal number of cases in favour of their argument; and for this reason I do not think that individual cases are of value in establishing any conclusion beyond this one—viz. such cases show us conclusively that men can live, and can maintain a high standard of physical health and mental brilliancy upon a diet derived exclusively from the vegetable world. That is an important point, but would not be conclusive. In order to arrive at a definite conclusion, far larger numbers of vegetarians and meat-eaters must be investigated; and the question, therefore, becomes one of statistics and of the diets of nations, rather than of individuals. I shall accordingly turn to this aspect of the problem—after mentioning one additional point that must not be lost sight of, in this connection.

It must be remembered, throughout, that, for every vegetarian in England or America, there are doubtless 100 or more meat-eaters, so that the percentage of success in the athletic field and elsewhere should be at least 100 to 1—and probably a great deal more, if the balance is to be maintained between the vegetarian and flesh-eating athletes, and others before the public eye. But, as a matter of fact, we find that the percentage is very much lower than this; and that, within the last few years, at any rate, quite as many vegetarian athletes secured successes and achieved records as did the meat-eating athletes; and in some instances, where the two ran in competition, it was found that a larger percentage of vegetarian athletes achieved success than did the meat-eaters. Inasmuch as the number is so disproportioned, in the two cases, it would certainly appear that the vegetarian athletes did, on the whole, achieve a far greater percentage of successes than did the meat-eating athletes.

The diets of the various nations have so frequently been summarised and presented by writers upon this subject that it will not be necessary for me to do more than to mention briefly a few of the most essential points; and to refer the reader to those works in which these facts and arguments are to be found in full. Dr Graham, in his “Science of Human Life”; Dr John Smith, in his “Fruit and Farinacea”; Dr Anna Kingsford, in her “Perfect Way in Diet,” and, more recently and fully, the Hon. Rollo Russell, in his extensive volume, “Strength and Diet: A practical treatise with special regard to the life of nations”—all these writers have discussed this question of national health, as compared with national diet, and found, almost invariably, that in every nation whose diet consisted almost exclusively or even largely of meat, the natives were small in stature, depraved mentally and morally, and afflicted with diverse diseases; whereas those nations which were largely vegetarian did not suffer in the same way from the sicknesses and pestilences that affected their fellow-men; but were, on the contrary, more forceful, superior morally and mentally, and in every way higher in the scale of evolution than those nations which subsisted largely upon meat.

A striking example of this is to be found in the pigmy races of Central Africa. In his work, “The Pigmies,” Professor A. de Quatrefages has shown us that this miniature people, stunted as they are, mentally, physically and morally, subsist almost entirely upon meat. He says:

These people are described as cruel, cowardly and wanting in all the qualities that would raise them in the scale of evolution: yet their diet consists almost entirely of meat—the supposed “strengthening” and courage-breeding food of civilised nations! Emaciation is very common among them, under certain conditions. It cannot be objected to what I have said that this condition is brought about by their cannibalism, for we read (“The Pigmies,” p. 155) that: “Far from seeking human flesh, the Andamanese regard it as a deadly poison.”

The Esquimaux are another race which is very inferior; and in them nothing is developed, scarcely, save the mere animal nature; hence their stomachs have all the nervous power, almost, of their whole constitutions. They have virtually no mental life beyond that necessary for carrying on the affairs of daily life. One never hears of any mental achievement coming from an Esquimau; more than this, their animal nature is itself actually inferior in muscular power to that of those tribes and races of men whose general rÉgime is comparatively free from fats and animal oils.

Throughout history the general run of the people—the natives—subsisted almost entirely upon a vegetarian diet; and any large quantity of meat was not consumed, for the reason that it could not be procured. The upper classes subsisted more or less upon meat—which might have accounted for their eventual degeneracy!—as the whole nation degenerated when meat-eating became general, as in Greece and Rome. But in the early stages of the history of these nations, and of others, meat was a luxury, to be eaten on holidays and fÊte days, rather than a steady article of diet; it could by no means be procured every day or every meal, as is now the case. The principal food of the natives of Egypt, India, Mexico, Chili, Brazil, Cyprus, Arabia, Bolivia, the Canary Islands, Italy, Ceylon, Japan, Sierra Leone, Greece, Malta, Turkey, China, Palestine, Algiers, the African Coast, Poland, Russia, Norway, Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Sweden, Switzerland, Scotland, Ireland, and, until recently, England—is some form of vegetarian food—bread, rice, fruits, cheese, and various grains. The details of these dietaries are to be found in Russell’s “Strength and Diet,” where a very full summary of all these dietaries are to be found. I refer my reader to that work for further information upon these lines. But one or two examples are needed to illustrate this. Thus we read:

The staple food of India is, of course, rice, to which is added a poor grain called rÂgi, pulse, roots, fruits, and one or two other articles of diet. The men from the hilly district are described as tall—being from five feet ten inches, to six feet high. They used to carry the mail from Calcutta to Bombay by foot—but twenty-five days being allowed for this journey, an average of sixty-two miles a day.

Few people surpass the Arabs for longevity, agility, and power of endurance; yet they subsist largely upon dates, milk, and honey. The peasants of Italy are a splendid, hardy set, living almost entirely upon cakes and porridge of chestnut, bread, garlic, and a little wine. The Greek boatmen are exceedingly abstemious, their food consisting of a small quantity of black bread, made of unbolted rye or wheat meal, a bunch of grapes or raisins, figs, etc. They are extremely vigorous and active, as well as blithesome, jovial and full of hilarity. Sir William Fairbairn, in his “Report on Sanitary Conditions,” says:

In Dr Mackenzie Wallace’s “Russia,” we read:

The fare of the Swiss workmen is very frugal.

Mr H. Irving Hancock, in his “Japanese Physical Training,” says of their diet:

It would be possible to add quotations and references such as the above ad lib.; but it is hardly essential for our argument, since this has been done so frequently by able writers on the vegetarian diet, that it hardly needs recapitulation in this place. Anyone may test the value of the diet for himself, and thus verify from that most satisfactory of all sources—personal experience—what has been outlined here, as a theoretical possibility. Before closing, however, I desire to call attention to one or two aspects of this question which have been more or less overlooked, or wrong inferences drawn from the facts—apparently vitiating the argument, and showing that meat-eating has a substantial basis, and that there are valid objections to the vegetarian dietary that have hitherto been lost sight of. Let us consider these briefly.

One great argument will always be raised against this theory of vegetarianism, or non-flesh-eating—at first sight a very rational objection. It will be said that all the nations who are flesh-eating are the most progressive and dominating races or nations; and that those who are largely vegetarian on principle are invariably overruled by the nations who eat meat. The old case of the Hindu and the Englishman may be cited here: it being contended that the meat-eating Englishman dominates and holds in check the vast hordes of India, and this largely or exclusively on account of his meat diet! Many other examples of this character might be referred to, and in fact a strong case apparently made out from these arguments alone. I do not think that the argument is in any way valid, however; for the following reasons, among others:—

In the first place, the Hindu is the man he is—peaceful, docile, kind—more on account of his philosophy than on account of his diet. He is opposed to killing and bloodshed in any form whatever, and will not kill any animal (except, very occasionally, a snake) because of his belief in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls. It can readily be seen, therefore, that, holding such beliefs as these, and being naturally of a philosophic and introspective turn of mind, and being, moreover, a rural, rather than a warlike people, killing their fellow-men would not appeal to them as it does to us. With them, the aim and object of life is, not to acquire material possessions, but true spiritual progress. They look upon material possessions as so much ephemeral matter, which shall count for very little, when compared with the ultimate destiny of the human soul. European nations, on the other hand, who consider the material nature only, cannot understand that attitude of mind; they are so saturated with materialism and the materialistic thoughts of the age that they cannot even conceive the viewpoint of one such as the Hindu, who considers and values only the immaterial. Both consider the other as dreamers, and as victims of illusion—people carried away by vain baubles—in the quest of mere delusions! Holding such views, therefore, it can hardly be wondered at that Hindus should view with more or less indifference the conquests and despotism of foreign nations: to them these are mere incidents in the passing of one life. This argument can, therefore, hardly be pressed against the Hindus and similar nations; it is invalid, for these reasons alone.

Again, it must be admitted that the highest evidence of civilisation—the most advanced evidences of evolution—are hardly those of war and bloodshed, but rather peace and tolerance! As a friend of mine expressed it: “If you mean that those nations are the most advanced and progressive which shoulder a gun and go out and kill their fellow-man, then I must admit that European nations are the most advanced; but if you mean anything else, this cannot be said.”

As Dr Trall, when discussing this question, remarked:

Lastly, I must contend that it is by no means invariably the case that vegetarian nations are subservient to the meat-eating; but they are, on the contrary, almost invariably superior to them physically, as well as mentally and spiritually. The Japanese have only lately given us an excellent example of this fact; and it is illustrated in the histories of all nations. It might almost be said that meat-eating nations have never stood at the head of the military world until recently. The Greeks and Romans were not meat-eating, but were strictly vegetarian, for the most part; when meat-eating and wine-drinking and debauchery generally were introduced, the Government speedily disintegrated and went to pieces. The same is true of every nation of which we have any authentic account. The great mass of the people were always vegetarian, and must have been. Even a hundred or so years ago meat was considered a luxury, and was served only on special occasions; bread and vegetables were eaten the rest of the year. Even in our own day, the majority of the peasantry in all countries are almost entirely vegetarian, and only in the large cities can the very poor buy meat. A brief glance at the “diets” of various nations will confirm this statement.

There is slightly more excuse for natives of frigid or temperate zones eating meat than there is for any inhabitant of the tropics; but, as a matter of fact, when an inhabitant of the temperate zone does visit the tropics, he still clings to his meat diet—his rich, greasy dishes, his wines, and his roast beef! Even upon his own showing these should be largely sacrificed, when visiting the hot countries; and yet, as a matter of fact, they are not given up—showing the illogical stand taken by those who defend the flesh diet, and conclusively proving that it is merely a matter of habit and prejudice rather than bodily requirements. Mr Salt, in his “Logic of Vegetarianism,” has indeed tersely and wittily summed up this argument as follows:—

This whole question of diet, so far as it is decided by experience at all, can in reality be summed up in a very few words. In the first place, all that it is necessary for anyone to do is to experiment upon himself. Let him study the subject sufficiently, first of all—so that he may be sure he is balancing his diet properly, when the meat is discarded; and then give up meat, and continue the new dietary for a year or so—or even a few weeks, for that matter. The result will soon be apparent. In the next place, it is ridiculous to raise the question at all, as a matter of fact—as to its “possibility”—when we consider that seven-tenths of the inhabitants of the whole globe are vegetarians! They are not the scattered few, here and there, as the majority suppose; but the great bulk of the people in every country. The peasantry in every land have always subsisted almost exclusively upon fruits, grains and vegetables; and it is only recently, when the price of meat has been so greatly reduced, and the average wages of the people increased, that they have been enabled to buy meat at all, with any regularity. Meat-eaters have always been in the minority—and have, as a rule, shown signs of degeneracy before many centuries or even generations have passed. To anyone knowing these facts, it is little less than absurd to speak of the “impossibility” of subsisting without flesh-foods! It displays the greatest short-sightedness.

Dr Trall, in writing upon this question some years ago, said:

I cannot refrain here from alluding to the most common objection to vegetarianism we meet with in this country; and I do so for the purpose of explaining it away. The objection is, that vegetarians are themselves poor specimens of health. And the answer is that the great majority of those who are the subjects of notice and comment are invalids who are restricted to a vegetable diet, because they can recover health in no other way; and many of them are living on a strict vegetable regimen because it is the only way they can live at all. At the various hydropathic establishments in this country the most desperate cases are put on a vegetable diet, simply because it affords them the best chance of getting well. The casual observer, who judges by appearances, will always find an argument in favour of flesh-eating in the fact that the best-looking persons, physiologically, are those who eat meat.

There are, however, scattered, in America, in England and elsewhere, many persons who will not suffer by comparison, either physical or mental, with the flesh-eaters of any country that can be found. In bodily vigour and in mental capacity they are equal to any meat-eaters. Let us consider this a little more fully.

It is usually thought that athletes cannot be developed upon a non-meat diet (though the fallacy of this argument has long since been disproved, in reality). It will be well to give a few instances, from among many, of the success of vegetarians over their opponents. It is true that these have not been numerous, but then, there are but few vegetarian athletes; and proportionately their triumphs have been singularly frequent. A useful summary of some of these successes is given in Mr Charles Forward’s book, “The Food of the Future.” He says: