Edinbro’ Apr. 22/48
My dear Sir,
Your letter followed me here,1 on my way to the Highlands; I am obliged for your kind offer, and will avail myself of it, if needed.
The Truth-Seeker2 can be sent after you to Germany, for a small postage (½d I think, per copy), if you like. The subscription is 3/6 half year, 7s. per year, which you can remit to Leeds.
As to Liebig,3 it is his proved theory of Respiration,4 etc., which (as shewn in the works referred to) complete our proofs, and clears our subject of every difficulty. That theory was all the better for saying nothing of Teetotalism5 directly.
In his 1st Editions6 he showed that Alcohol could not nourish – that it ‘robbed the blood of oxygen’, impaired mechanical force as an antiseptic – (which accounts for its lessening appetite, i.e. reducing life by opposing change) etc.
There is nothing in the Note in the last Edition7 (which I had seen) that alters the case; for I beg to differ from his mere hypothesis or explanation.
It is quite true that Alcohol is partially decomposed in fuel, but thereby it prevents the natural elements of food (as fat, which is both cheaper and better) from being consumed; and ‘experiments’ show that it actually diminishes the heat of the blood, which experience confirms.
Besides, before it is burned up itself, it excites (i.e. poisons) various organs, and venomizes the blood: and therefore is bad fuel.
The fact of a Master (by the aid of tobacco, alcohol, or opium) saving natural food required by his servants, does not prove the physiological fitness of alcohol, but the reverse, for a good appetite, exercise, rapid waste or change of matter, etc. all indicate health and its enjoyments. But as he admits that Fat is a better and cheaper fuel than alcohol, by 22 per cent, and yet as the use of alcohol by servants leads to their desiring less fat – it follows that the diminished desire arises from diminished vitality. His theory might be very well for the Master, but not for the slave!
True, therefore, alcohol preserves fat; but so does a pantry; and I don’t see why we should carry our fat (or pantry) about with us, when we can everywhere get fat when we need it.
The experience of the Arctic whalers, and Ross8 and Parry’s9 people, show that men can better resist cold by fat than by alcohol. Hence, though I too am thin, I prefer to buy any fat I want for my vital lamp, at the butter or bacon shop, to burdening myself with it in my rambles over hill and dale.
Yours very truly, | F.R. Lees.
RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3746-3747
LT Transcript Only
Your letter followed me here: letter missing; see letter 0343.
The Truth-Seeker: Lees edited a transcendentalist publication entitled Truth Seeker from 1844 to 1850 (ODNB).
as to Liebig: Justus von Liebig (1803-1873), a German organic chemist and professor at the University of Giessen. Liebig is most famous for his innovative teaching laboratory at Giessen.
his proved theory of Respiration: Liebig’s theory of respiration was actually somewhat controversial at the time. See W. Brock, Justus von Liebig: The Chemical Gatekeeper (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 183-214.
Teetotalism: complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages (OED). Lees was a prominent advocate of teetotalism.
1st Editions: probably the first edition of J. von Liebig, Die Organische Chemie in Ihrer Anwendung auf Physiologie und Pathologie (Braunschweig: Verlag Friedrich Vieweg u. Sohn, 1842). This was translated into English as J. von Liebig, Animal Chemistry, Or Organic Chemistry in Its Application to Physiology and Pathology, trans. W. Gregory (Cambridge: J. Owen, 1843).
last Edition: the most recent edition of either Die Organische Chemie or its English translation, Animal Chemistry. Specific edition not identified.
Ross: Sir John Ross (1777-1856), a naval Arctic explorer and whaler who participated in the search for the North West Passage in the ship Isabella (ODNB).
Parry’s: Lieutenant William Edward Parry (1790-1855), who captained the ship Alexander with John Ross in the exploration of the Northwest Passage (ODNB).
Please cite as “Tyndall0347,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on 30 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/tyndall/letters/Tyndall0347