Chapter XXXVIII: Lambe. 1765-1847

One of the most distinguished of the hygeistic and scientific promoters of the reformed regimen, Dr. Lambe, occupies an eminent position in the medical literature of vegetarianism, and he divides with his predecessor, Dr. Cheyne, the honour of being the founder of scientific _dietetics_ in this country.

His family had been settled some two hundred years in the county of Hereford, in which they possessed an estate that descended to Dr. William Lambe, and is now held by his grandson. He early gave promise of his future mental eminence. Head boy of the Hereford Grammar School, he proceeded, in due course, to St. John’s College, Cambridge. In 1786, being then in the twenty-first year of his age, he graduated as fourth wrangler of his year. As a matter of course, he soon was elected a Fellow of his college, where he continued to reside until his marriage in 1794. During this period of learned leisure he devoted his time to the study of medicine, and the MS. notes in the possession of his biographer, Mr. Hare, “prove the diligence with which he studied his profession, and there we see the origin of his enlarged views of the causes of disease, so much insisted on by these fathers of medicine, and so much neglected by modern physicians in their search for chemical remedies.” After his marriage he went to reside and practise in Warwick, where he was the intimate friend of Parr, the well-known Greek critic, and of Walter Savage Landor, who writes of him as “very communicative and good humoured. I had enough talk with Lambe to assure myself that he is no ordinary man.” It was to the discoveries of Dr. Lambe, and to his publications reporting the curative value of its mineral waters, that Leamington owed its fame and popularity; and Dr. Jefferson, in his address to the British Medical Association a few years ago, thus eulogises him:--

“It was not until the end of the last century that any really
scientific research ever was recorded on this subject [impure
water]. About this period Dr. Lambe was engaged in practice in
Warwick. Somewhat eccentric in some of his practical views, Dr.
Lambe was not the less a scientific man, an intelligent observer
of nature, and an accomplished physician, and was, moreover,
one of the most elegant medical writers of his day. The springs
of the neighbouring village of Leamington did not escape his
observation, and, having carefully studied and analysed the waters,
he published an account of them, in 1797, in the fifth volume of
the _Transactions of the Philosophical Society of Manchester_,
a society embracing the respected names of Priestley, Dalton,
Watt, and others, and not inferior, perhaps, to any contemporary
association in Europe.”

Like many other seceders from orthodox dietetics both before and after him, Dr. Lambe found himself impelled to experiment in the non-flesh diet by ill-health. His bodily disorders, indeed, were so complicated and of such a nature, as to excite astonishment that not only he greatly mitigated their violence, but that also he survived to an advanced age. In an exceedingly minute and conscientious narrative of his own case in his _Additional Reports_ (writing in the third person), he informs us, that having during several years--from his eighteenth year--suffered greatly and with constantly aggravated symptoms:--

“He resolved, therefore, finally to execute what he had been
contemplating for some time--to abandon animal food altogether,
and everything analogous to it, and to confine himself wholly to
vegetable food. This determination he put in execution the second
week of February, 1806, and he has adhered to it with perfect
regularity to the present time. His only subject of repentance with
regard to it has been that it had not been adopted much earlier in
life. He never found the smallest real ill-consequence from this
change. He sank neither in strength, flesh, nor in spirits. He
was at all times of a very thin and slender habit, and so he has
continued to be, but upon the whole he has rather gained than lost
flesh. He has experienced neither indigestion nor flatulence even
from the sort of vegetables which are commonly thought to produce
flatulence, nor has the stomach suffered from any vegetable matter,
though unchanged by culinary art or uncorrected by condiments. The
only unpleasant consequence of the change was a sense of emptiness
of stomach, which continued many months. In about a year, however,
he became fully reconciled to the new habit, and felt as well
satisfied with his vegetable meal as he had been formerly with his
dinner of flesh. He can truly say that since he has acted upon
this resolution no year has passed in which he has not enjoyed
better health than in that which preceded it. But he has found
that the changes introduced into the body by a vegetable regimen
take place with extreme slowness; that it is in vain to expect
any _considerable_ amendment in successive weeks or in successive
months. We are to look rather to the intervals of _half-years or
years_.”

With extreme candour as well as carefulness, this patient and philosophic experimentalist details every particular circumstance of his own _diagnosis_. After a minute report of the various symptoms of his maladies and his gradual subjugation of them, he deduces the only just inference:--

“Granting this representation of facts to be correct, and the
nature of this case to, be truly determined, I must be permitted
to ask, What other method than that which has been adopted would
have produced the same benefit? If such methods exist, I confess
my ignorance of them.... But though these pains [in the head]
still recur in a trifling degree, the relief given to the brain in
general has been decided and most essential. It has appeared in
an increased sensibility of all the organs, particularly of the
senses--the touch, the taste, and the sight, in greater muscular
activity, in greater freedom and strength of respiration, greater
freedom of all the secretions, and in increased intellectual power.
It has been extended to the night as much as to the day. The sleep
is more tranquil, less disturbed by dreams, and more refreshing.
Less sleep, upon the whole, appears to be required; but the loss
of quantity is more than compensated by its being sound and
uninterrupted....

“The hypochondriacal symptoms continued to be occasionally very
oppressive during the second year, particularly during the earlier
part of it, but they afterwards very sensibly declined, and at
present he enjoys more uniform and regular spirits than he had
done for many years upon the mixed diet. From the whole of these
facts it follows that all the organs, and indeed every fibre of
the body, are simultaneously affected by the matters habitually
conveyed into the stomach, and that it is the incongruity of these
matters to the system, which gradually forms that morbid diathesis,
which exists alike both in apparent health and in disease. I might
illustrate this fact still more minutely by observations on the
teeth, on the hair, and on the skin. I might show that by a steady
attention to regimen, the skin of the palm of the hand becomes of a
firmer and stronger texture, that even an excrescence which had for
twenty years and upwards been growing more fixed, firm, and deep,
had, first, its habitudes altered, and, finally, was softened and
disappeared. But, perhaps, enough has been said already to give
a pretty clear idea both of the kind of change introduced into
the habit by diet, and of the extent to which it may be carried.
I proceed, therefore, to relate some new phenomena which took
place during the course of this regimen, which are both curious in
themselves and lead to important conclusions.”

The author then goes on to record further gradual diminution of painful symptoms. From long and careful observation of himself, amongst other important deductions, Dr. Lambe infers that:--

“We may conclude that it is the property of this regimen, and, in
particular, of the vegetable diet, to transfer diseased action from
the _viscera_ to the exterior parts of the body--from the central
parts of the system to the periphery. Vegetable diet has often been
charged with causing cutaneous diseases; in common language, they
are, in these cases, said to proceed from poorness of blood.[218]
In some degree the charge is probably just, and the observation I
have already made may give us some insight into the causes of it.
But this charge, instead of being a just cause of reproach, is
_a proof of the superior salubrity of vegetable diet_. Cutaneous
eruptions appear, because disease is translated from the internal
organs to the skin.”

For all brain disease abandonment of the gross and stimulating flesh-meats is shown to be of the first importance. At the same time, that it involves any loss of actual bodily strength is a fallacy:--

“We see, then, how ill-founded is the notion that inaction and
loss of power are induced by a vegetable diet. In fact, all the
observations that have been made have shewn the very reverse to be
the truth. Symptoms of plenitude and oppression have continued in
considerable force for at least five years; and the consequence of
this peculiar regimen has been an increase of strength and power,
and not a diminution. In the subject of this case the pulse, which
may be deemed, perhaps, the best idea of the condition of all the
other functions, is at present much more strong and full than under
the use of animal food. It is also perfectly calm and regular.”

His personal experience of satisfaction derivable from vegetables and fruits as affording, for the most part, sufficient liquids in themselves, without use of extraneous drinks, is of importance:--

“He had, when living on the common diet, been habitually thirsty,
and, like most persons inclined to studious and sedentary habits,
was much attached to tea-drinking. But for the last two or three
years he has almost wholly relinquished the use of liquids, and by
the substitution of fruit and recent vegetables he has found that
the sensation of thirst has been in a manner abolished. Even tea
has lost its charms, and he very rarely uses it. He is therefore
certain, from his own experience, that the habit of employing
liquids is an artificial habit, and not necessary to any of the
functions of the animal economy.”

Whatever may be thought of the theory of the possibility of entire abstinence from all _extraneous_ liquids, there is not the least doubt that a judicious use of vegetable foods reduces to a _minimum_ the feeling of thirst and craving for artificial drinks, an experience, we imagine, almost universal with abstinents from flesh-dishes.

Dr. Lambe concludes the first part of his valuable _diagnosis_ with the assurance, “that if those for whose service these labours are principally designed, I mean persons suffering under habitual and chronic illness, are able to go along with me in my argument to form a general correct notion of what they are to expect from [a reformed] regimen, and, above all, to arm their minds with firmness, patience, and perseverance, I shall not readily be induced to think that I have written one superfluous line.”[219]

In 1805, at the age of forty, we find him established in practice in London. Five years later he was physician to the General Dispensary, Aldersgate Street. He was also elected Fellow and Censor of the College of Physicians, whose meetings he regularly attended. His peculiar opinions did not tend to secure popularity for him, and the adhesion of such men as Dr. Abernethy, Dr. Pitcairn, Lord Erskine, and of Mr. Brotherton, M.P. (one of the earliest members of the Vegetarian Society), served only to make the indifference of the mass of the community more conspicuous.

Not the least interesting fact in his life is his share in the conversion of Shelley, and his friendship with J. F. Newton and his interesting family, at whose house these earlier pioneers of the New Reformation were accustomed to meet, and celebrate their charming _réunions_ with vegetarian feasts. A cardinal part of the dietetic system of Dr. Lambe was his insistance upon the use of _distilled_ water. In his _Reports on Regimen_ he writes of the Newton family: “I am well acquainted with a family of young children who have scarcely ever touched animal food, and who now for three years have drunk only distilled water. For clearness and beauty of complexion, muscular strength, fulness of habit free from grossness, hardiness, healthiness, and ripeness of intellect these children are unparalleled.”[220]

We have already mentioned Lord Erskine as one of the many eminent friends of Dr. Lambe. That more humane and distinguished lawyer, in a letter to his friend acknowledging the receipt of the _Reports_, writes as follows: “I am of opinion that both this work and the other referred to in it are deserving of the highest consideration. I read them both with more interest and attention from the abuse of the _British Critic_ [one of the periodicals of the day] mentioned in the preface, as no periodical criticism ever published in this country is so uniformly unjust, ignorant, and impudent.” Dr. Abernethy’s testimony to the efficacy of abstinence in cases of cancer will be found in the notice of that eminent practitioner. Amongst the most interesting correspondence of his later years is his interchange of ideas with Sylvester Graham--the first of the American prophets of the reformed regimen. The letter to the celebrated American vegetarian is, as Dr. Lambe’s latest biographer justly observes, “a most valuable relic, because it continues the result of Dr. Lambe’s diet up to September, 1837--twenty-three years after the last notice of his health in the account of his own case, which he published in November, 1814. It is, besides, an admirable proof of his truthful and philosophic mind, which was slow to arrive at conclusions, and willing rather to exaggerate than otherwise the traces of disease which he still felt.” He proves, also, in this letter, how slow and yet sure are the effects of diet, and it supplies an answer to those objectors who complain that they have tried the diet (perhaps for a few weeks only) without any good result. After complimenting his transatlantic fellow-worker in the cause of truth upon his zeal and industry, Dr. Lambe proceeds:--

“My book, entitled _Additional Reports on Regimen_, has now been
before the world three and twenty years. That it has attracted
little notice, and still less popular favour--though it may have
excited in the writer some mortification--has not occasioned
much surprise. The doctrine it seeks to establish is in direct
opposition to popular and deep-rooted prejudice. It is thought
(most erroneously) to attack the best enjoyments and most solid
comforts of life; and, moreover, it has excited the bitter
hostility of a numerous and influential body in society--I mean
that body of medical practitioners who exercise their profession
for the sake of its profits merely, and who appear to think that
disease was made for the profession and not the profession for
disease.

“To drop, however, all idle complaints of public neglect, let
us go to the more useful inquiry whether or not the principles
propounded in these _Reports_ have been confirmed by subsequent and
more extensive experience. To this inquiry I answer directly and
fearlessly, that in the interval between the present time and the
year 1815 (the date of that publication) the practice recommended
has succeeded in cases very numerous and of extreme variety, and
I can promise the practitioner who will try it fairly and judge
with candour that he will experience no disappointment. I say,
_let him try it fairly_. I do not assert that it will succeed
in cases where the powers of life are sunk, in confirmed hectic
fever, in ulcerated cancer, in established chronic disease, or in
the decrepitude of old age. I may have attempted the relief of
such cases in an early stage of my experiments, but experience
speedily demonstrated the hopelessness of such attempts. But let
subjects be taken not far advanced in life, let them be _tabid_
children (for example) with tumid abdomen, swelled joints, and
depraved appetites, or with obstinate cutaneous diseases, erythema,
_scabus_, rickets, epileptic convulsions (not grown habitual by
long continuance). But a practitioner in moderate practice will
find no difficulty in selecting proper subjects, if he is himself
actuated by a regard to humanity united to principles of honour.

“Moreover, let not the patient, particularly if arrived at
mature age, expect to receive a perfect cure. In many cases the
consequences are rather preventive than curative. This I hold to
be no objection. It is enough, surely, if a disease which, from
its nature, might be expected to be continually on the increase,
is obviously checked in its progress, if the symptoms become more
and more mild, and if a human being is preserved in comfortable
existence who would otherwise have been consigned to the grave.”

He devoted his great medical knowledge and experience particularly to the cure or mitigation of cancer. In the letter, from which we have already quoted, he informs his correspondent of this interesting fact:--

“My most ardent wish was to attempt the relief of cases of cancer.
This object I have steadily pursued (from the year 1803) to the
present day. The case--the particulars of which I briefly mentioned
to you in my former communication--has hitherto succeeded so
perfectly that I should myself suspect an error in the _diagnosis_,
if it were not for the strongly-marked constitutional symptoms,
which are such as, in my mind, put it out of doubt. There does not
now remain what I expected, and what I have called a _nucleus_,
for the resolution is _complete_. Now, this is contrary to most
of my former observations, and would furnish, as I have said,
some ground of suspicion. But still it is not wholly unsupported
by corroborative facts. I have observed, particularly in one
case, that the whole extreme edge of a schirrous tumour has
been restored, whilst the portion has remained unchanged; not,
indeed, speedily as in the former case, but after having used the
diet for a very considerable time. Now, if a portion of a true
schirrous tumour can be resolved, there can be no reason why a
resolution of the whole--taken very early and under favourable
circumstances--shall be deemed impossible. The truth is, that at
present we are not advanced enough to form general conclusions, but
ought to content ourselves with _accumulating_ facts for the use of
our successors.”

If the experience of the benefits of a reasonable living in the cases of his patients was thus satisfactory, he himself afforded, in his own person, perhaps the best testimony to its revivifying and invigorating qualities. One of his visitors gives his impressions of the now famous _doctor_ (a title, in the present instance, of real meaning) as follow: “Agreeably to your request, I submit to your perusal a short account of the friendly interview I had with Dr. Lambe in London. I first called on him in February. I found him to be very gentlemanly in manners and venerable in appearance. He is rather taller than the middle height. His hair is perfectly white, for he is now seventy-two years of age. He told me he had been on the vegetable diet thirty-one years, and that his health was better now than at forty, when he commenced his present system of living. He considers himself as likely to live thirty years longer as to have lived to his present age.... Although he is seventy-two years of age he walks into town, a distance of three miles from his residence, every morning, and back at night. Dr. Lambe, I am told, has spent large sums of money in making experiments and publishing their results to the world.” In his earlier life he had been conspicuously thin and attenuated. In later years he seems to have acquired even a certain amount of robustness, and he is described as being active and strong at an advanced age. Some instances of extraordinary energy and endurance have been put on record by his family; and his feats of pedestrianism, when he was verging on his eightieth year, are, we imagine, rarely to be paralleled.

His hope of attaining the age of one hundred years, unhappily, was not to be fulfilled. “Our bodies,” his biographer justly remarks, “are but machines adapted to perform a definite amount of work, and Dr. Lambe’s originally weak constitution had been severely tried by sickness and wrong diet during the first forty years of his life. At the age of eighty his strength began to fail, but his grandson writes, ‘up to a very short time before his death there were no outward signs of ill-health, only the marks of old age.’”[221] Existence had its enjoyment for him up to almost the last days, and his intellectual powers remained to the end. He calmly expired in his eighty-third year.

Of contemporary and posthumous eulogies of his personal, as well as scientific, worth, the following may suffice: “A man of learning, a man of science, a man of genius, a man of distinguished integrity and honour.” Such is the testimony of his friend Dr. Parr, as quoted by Samuel Johnson. In the Anniversary Harveian Oration before the College of Physicians, by Dr. Francis Hawkins, in the year 1848, the representative of the Faculty thus recalls his memory: “Nor can I pass over in silence the loss we have sustained in Dr. William Lambe--an excellent chemist, a learned man, and a skilful physician. His manners were simple, unreserved, and most modest. His life was pure. Farewell, therefore, gentle spirit, than whom no one more pure and innocent has passed away!”