Dr. Tanner's forty days' fast ends to-day, and if he
has suc- ceeded in living through it, and has really done all this time what he has appeared to do, we may fairly hope that he will succeed in living through the return to nourishment. It appears that he regards himself as an apostle of a system of com- parative abstinence, and that by his extreme fasts he means to. convince the world that all of us might not only exist, but have much better health, on one meal a day, than on three. "Let every one make a law unto himself in regard to eating, and stick to it. He will be surprised, if he is faithful, at the mighty power will has over habit and appetite." If Dr. Tanner has discovered that the appetite is elastic, and that to secure health the body does not need anything but a given minimum of food, provided only that the will diverts attention from the craving to increase that minimum, he has made a truly great scientific discovery. But will any doctor in the world confirm Dr. Tanner's theory ?
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