Produced by Carlos Colón, The University of Alberta and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) Transcriber's Notes: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ and bold text by =equal signs=. Small uppercase have been replaced with regular uppercase. Blank pages have been eliminated. Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the original. A few typographical errors have been corrected. OBESITY, OR EXCESSIVE CORPULENCE: THE VARIOUS CAUSES AND THE RATIONAL MEANS OF CURE. From the French of Dancel. TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY M. BARRETT, M.A., M.D. TORONTO: W. C. CHEWETT & CO., KING STREET EAST. 1864. PRINTED BY W. C. CHEWETT & CO., KING STREET EAST, TORONTO. PREFACE. The subject of "Obesity," including its cause and treatment, has received during the past few years a great deal of attention both in England and on the Continent. Thousands of persons have realized the extraordinary benefit to be derived from the simple treatment laid down in the following pages. Some members of the medical profession have, in the course of their practice, availed themselves of the theory first propounded by our Author, but have failed to acknowledge--either through ignorance or inadvertence--the source of their information. Under these circumstances it has been deemed an act of justice, though tardy, to place before the profession and the public a translation of the original work of DANCEL, published at Paris, in 1854. Some slight modifications in matters of theory have, however, been introduced, which the progress of science imperatively demanded. The invariable success which has attended the treatment of several cases of obesity in this city, in accordance with the principles established by DANCEL, warrants the assertion that the system is in every respect worthy of public confidence. AUTHOR'S PREFACE. To the many individuals of both sexes who are afflicted with an excessive development of fat, rendering the ordinary duties of life not only irksome but ofttimes impossible,--an easy method of reducing obesity, in nowise interfering with the ordinary daily avocations of the patient, nor demanding any diminution in the actual amount of food consumed; requiring the use of none but the mildest and most harmless medicinal agents; improving at the same time the general health, and augmenting bodily and mental vigour,--must prove acceptable.