Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1869-02-18
THE GAZETTE.
THURSDAY EVENING, FEBR'Y. -
How MUcH WILL THE CoMINa MAN WEIaH?

How MUcH WILL THE COMING MAN WEIGH!
In DR., Peaslee's lecture to young men on
errors in diet, as reported in your paper, nnu
the following assertion, or string OF assertions
1.-THE physiological mao, in q perfect stsie,
should weigh one hundred and forty POUNDS,
and requires for sustensnce, IN that state,
sixteen ounces of meat, nineteen Oh Dread,
three of butter or gravy anu three plnts OF
water, In the twenty four hours.
This is q specimen OF the proerustean stand.
ard which dietariaus add would be reformers
are in the habit Of setting up. But surely
there is something wanting here. Either the
doctor must have forgotten, or your reporter
omitted, the stature of The perfect physiolo,
eoalp man. For it would be manifestly sb-
surd to maintain that the weight of two men,
one five feet and half in height aud the other
six feet, should be the same. According to
English standards, the height OF the perfect
Peasleeian man weighing l40 pounds, should
be about FIVE feet eight inches and three quar-
lers But such concentrations are rash and
mischievous; they attempt to reduce man to a
standard which we cannot apply to the interior
animals, whose conditions of life are so much
more within our control. Fancy laying down
positively Il was going to say Dramatically
the weight of a perfect dog. Nothing is more
ridiculed by the best equestrian authorities
than the habit Of some of our farmers and
dealers who advertise the weight of horses
which they have for sale, Us If it were any
criterion of their value
But even If we admit o normal standard OF
weight, 1t seems 10 me certain that the doctor
has put it too low by at least fifteen pounds. -
Being myself light weight Cjust three pounds
short of the doctors standardl, and haVing
probably owed my life, on two occasions, to
this fact, such prejudices as ] have are not
against light weights but tolerably extern
siye observation showed me years ago that
those OF my contemporaries who possessed the
greatest capacity for the proper combination OF
mental and physical work were heavier men
:han myself And l am sure that it the doctor
takes the leading men OF the world, IN all coun-
tries, at the present day, he will find their
average weights to exceed considerably TINS
standard of 140 pounds. Thin, light men may
be handsome, active and brilliant, but they are
usually deficient in vitality aud solid thought.
Oae OF two things generally happens to them
either they wear out prematurely or they be-
come valetudinarians and sedentary hvers.-
Now, this is an important point, because tn ere
IS strong tendency among our young men
whether their means and opportunities permit
them to take much open air exercise or notl to
train too fine. Their ideal seems 10 be that OF
he novelist backwoodsman mot an ounce OF
.uperhuous flesh" Nor is this error confined
20 our sex.
am glad to see the doctor candid enough to
1wn that he nearly smashed himself by practl'
sing vegetarianism. But the vegetarian mania
IS pretty well played out and it requires little
courage to kick dead donkey; whereas the
aquarium hobby is terribly rampant, aad few
aeu desiring popularity have the pluck to OPP
nose it. throw out this hint in anticipation
e the doctor next lecture. Cart Benson, IN
~ !. Times.