be accounted for. In some families thore exists an hereditary predisposition to an obese habit of body, the manifestation of which no precautions as to living appeal- capable of averting. But beyond this it is unquestionable that certain habits favour the occurrence of corpulence. A luxurious, inactive, or sedentary life, with over-indulgence in sleep and absenca of mental occupation, are well recognized predisposing causes. The more immediate exciting causes are over-feeding and the large use of fluids of any kind, but especially alcoholic liquors. Fat persons are not always great eaters, though many of them are, while again, leanness and inordinate appetite are not in frequently associated. Still, it may be stated generally that indulgence in food, beyond what is requisite to repair daily waste, goes towards the increase of flesh, particularly of fat. This is more especially the case when the non- nitrogenous (the fatty, saccharine, and starchy) elements of the food are in excess. Although it is still undetermined whether the fat of the body is derived alone from these, or also from the nitrogenous (albuminous) elements of the food, it seems certain that while an excess of the latter constituents accelerates the oxidation and metamorphoses of the fatty tissues, an excess of the non-nitrogenous retards these changes, and thus tends directly to the pro duction of obesity (Parkes). The want of adequate bodily exercise will in a similar manner produce a like effect, and it is probable that many cases of corpulence are to be ascribed to this cause alone, from the well known facts that many persons of sedentary occupation become stout, although, of most abstemious habits, and that obesity frequently comes on in the middle-aged and old, who take relatively less exercise than the young, in whom it is com paratively rare. Women are more prone to become corpu lent than, men, and appear to take on this condition more
readily after the cassation of the function of menstruation.For the prevention of corpulence and the reduction of superfluous fat many expedients have been resorted to, and numerous remedies recommended. It is unnecessary to allude to these in detail, further than to state that they embrace such regimen as bleeding, blistering, purging, starving, the use of different kinds of baths, and of drugs innumerable, most of which means have been found utterly to fail in accomplishing the desired object. The drinking of vinegar was long popularly supposed to be a remedy for obesity. It is related of the marquis of Cortona, a noted general of the duke of Alba, that by drinking vinegar he so reduced his body from a condition of enormous obesity that he could fold his skin about him like a garment. Such a remarkable result was only a proof of the injury dune to his health by the excessive use of vinegar. There is no evidence, whatever, that this liquid has any power to remove fat, while its pernicious effects upon the health, when taken in large quantity, are well known to medical men. Another medicinal agent, which has been proposed on the high authority of Dr T. King Chambers, is the liquor potassce. This medicine, which is recommended on the ground of the chemical affinity of the alkalis for fats, is directe 1 to be taken in teaspuonful doses in milk twice or thricj daily, at the same time that a restricted diet and abundant exercise is enjoined. But even this plan, although occasionally yielding good results, cannot be said to have besn widely successful. The more rational and hopeful system of treatment appears to be that which is directed towards regulating the quality as well as the quantity of nutriment ingested. This method has of late ye irs received much attention, chiefly in consequence of the publication, in 1863, of a pamphlet entitled Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public by William Banting, in which was narrated the remarkable experience of the writer in accomplishing the reduction of his own weight in a short space of time by the adoption of a particular kind of diet. Mr Banting describes the condition of obesity in which he was in August 1862, and which, although certainly less than those examples above mentioned, appears to have been sufficient to prove a source of much discomfort and even of actual suffering. After trying almost every known remedy without effect, he was induced, on the suggestion of Mr Harvey, a London aurist, to place himself upon an entirely new form of diet, which consisted chiefly in the removal, as far as possible, of all saccharine, starchy, and fat food, the reduction of liquids, and the substitution of meat or fish and fruit in moderate quantity at each meal, together with the daily use of an antacid draught. Under this regimen his weight was reduced 46 flb in the course of a few weeks, while his health underwent a marked improve ment. Mr Banting s recorded experience, as might have been expected, induced many to follow his example, and in numerous instances the effects were all that could be desired. But in many cases the diminution in weight was found to be attended with such a serious impairment of health as to render the carrying out of this system impos sible. It is probable that in some at least of these cases the unfavourable effects might have been avoided had the change in diet been more gradually brought about. There seems little reason to doubt that this method, founded as it is on well-recognized principles of physiological chemistry, is that which is most likely to yield the best results in the treatment of corpulence. It evidently cannot, however, be safely adopted in all cases, and ought not to be attempted to be carried out except under medical advice and observa tion; for however desirable it be to get rid of superabundant fat, it would be manifestly no gain were this to be achieved by the sacrifice of the general health. An important ele ment in the treatment of obesity is the due regulation of the amount of bodily exercise, and this, too, ought to be made the subject of the physician s careful attention.
Cursory Remarks on Corpulence, or Obesity considered as a Disease, by William "Wadd, 3d ed., London, 1816 ; Corpulence or Excess of Fat in the. Human Body, by Dr. T. King Chambers, London, 1850 ; Traitl theorique et pra tique del obesite, by DrF. Dancel, 1 aris, 1863; Letter on Corpulence, addressed to the Public by William Banting, 3d ed., London, 1864 ; The Practice of Medicine, byDr Tanner, London, 6th ed., London, 1869.
CORPUS CHRISTI, a festival of the Church of Rome observed on the first Thursday after Trinity Sunday, in honour of the doctrine of the Eucharist. It was instituted by Pope Urban IV., in 1264, and is still celebrated as one of the greatest feasts of the church.
a Portuguese politician and man of science, was born at Serpa, in Alemtejo, in 1750. Having been educated at Rome, he took orders under the protection of the duke of Alafoes, uncle of Mary I. of Portugal. In 1777 he returned to Lisbon, where he resided with his patron, with whose assistance he founded the Portuguese Academy of Sciences. Of this institution he was named perpetual secretary, and he received the privilege of publishing its transactions without reference to any censor whatever. His use of this right brought him into conflict with the Holy Office; and consequently in 1786 he fled to France, and remained there till the death of Pedro III., when he again took up his residence with Alafoes. But having given a lodging in the palace to a French Girondist, he was forced to flee to Eng land, where he found a protector in Sir Joseph Banks, and became a member of the Royal Society. In 1797 he was appointed secretary to the Portuguese legation, but a qvrarrel with the ambassador drove him once more to Paris (1802), and in that city he resided till 1813. when he crossed over to New York. In 1816 he was made Portuguese minister- plenipotentiary at Washington, and in 1820 he was
recalled home, appointed a member of the Financial