The Code of Health and Longevity

ON ATHLETIC EXERCISES. I27 oppofing the depredations of that fcourge of our ifland. To efFeftthis purpofe, it is requifite to be able to deteA the earlieft; advances of that infidious difeafe. To dlf- cover any remedy that will remove tubercles, or cure ulceration of the lungs, if actually prefent, judging froia the analogy of other difeafes, is hardly to be expc&ed. Without quibbling about the term hereditary difeafe, no doubt can remain in the mind of any man of obfer- vation, that children are not only prone to the difeafes of their parents, but are even peculiarly liable to the difeafes of that parent to whom they bear the clofeft per- fonal refemblance* That children particularly refemble their parents in the ftru£lure and formation of their nails, has not been fo generally remarked ; and a child will very generally be found to partake moft of the con- llitution, and confequently to be peculiarly liable to the difeafes of the progenitor, to whom it has the greateft limilarity in this particular part of the body. A certain conformation of the nails affordsalfo a ftroug indication of the difpofition to phthifis. In perfons of the con- fumptive habit, the nails are in general large, long, of a fine texture, and curved over the ends of the fingers, the laft joint of which appears as if enlarged or thickened. When this peculiar ftrudlure of the termination of the fuperior extremities is found combined with fine found teeth, a flaccid Ikin and high flioulders, little doubtcan remain of the exiftence of difpofition to phthifis,whether, the individual be of a fair or of a dark complexion ; and if we find that any hereditary taint is prefent in either pf the parents, it is almoft certain that their offspring will ultimately becomethe victims of this difeafe. Of the effeflts of a regimen of the farinacea, combined with milk and fruits, in fubduing the early attacks of phthifis, many examples are recorded; and the^e would. probably