AN INQUIRY INTO THE RELATION OF TASTES 
AND ALIMENTS TO EACH OTHER AND INTO THE 
INFLUENCE OF THIS RELATION UPON HEALTH 
U,-r AND PLEASURE. 
by 
Hen;j .Rush, M.D. 
in 
American Museum, June, 1789 *7*9-3 
Enquiry into the relation of tafl.es and aliments, 
559 
upon health and pleafure. Front 
medical enquiries and objervations. 
— By Benjamin Ritjh, M. D. pro- 
feffor of chemiflry in the univerfty 
oj Pennfylvania.—Printed and 
fold by Prichard and Hall. 
IN entering upon this fubjeft, I 
feel like the clown, who, after fe- 
veral unfuccefsful attempts to play up- 
on a violin, threw it haftily from Him, 
exclaiming at the fame time, that 
“ there was mufic in it,” but that he 
could not bring it out. 
I Ihall endeavour, by a few brief 
remarks, to lay a foundation for more 
fuccefsful enquiries upon this difficult 
fubjeef. 
Attraction and repulfton feem to 
be the aftive principles of the uni- 
verfe. They pervade not only the 
greateft but the minuteft works of na- 
ture. Salts, earths, inflammable bo- 
dies, metals, and vegetables, have all 
thetr refpef.Iive relations to each 
other. The order of thefe relations 
is fo uniform, that it has been aferib- 
ed by fome philofophers to a latent 
principle of intelligence pervading 
each of them. 
Colours, odours, and founds, have 
hkewife their refpeftive relations to 
each other. They become agreeable 
and difagreeable, only in proportion 
to the natural or unnatural combina- 
tion which takes place between each 
of their different fpecies. 
It is remarkable, that the number 
of original colours and notes in mufic 
is exactly the fame. All the variety 
in both proceeds from the difference 
of combination. An arbitrary combi- 
nation of them is by no means produc- 
tive of pleafure. The relation which 
every colour and found bear to each 
other, was as immutably effabliffied 
at the creation, as the order of the 
heavenly bodies, or as the relation of 
the objects of chcmdlry to each other. 
But this relation is not confined to 
colours and founds alone. It proba- 
bly extends to the objects of human 
aliment. For example: bread and 
meat, meat and fait, the alkalefcent 
meats and acefcent vegetables, all har- 
monize with each other upon the 
tongue: while fiffi and fleffi, butter 
and raw onions, fiffi and milk, when 
combined, are all offenfive to a pure 
and healihy fade. 
11 would be agreeable to trace the an- 
An enquiry into the relation of tajles 
and aliments to each other ; and 
into the injluencc of this relation 560 
Enquiry into the relation of tafes and aliments. 
[June, 
alogy of founds and taftes. They have 
both their flats and their fharps. They 
are both improved by the contralf of 
difeords. Thus pepper, and other 
condiments, (which are difagreeable 
when taken by themfelves) enhance 
the relifh of many of our aliments, 
and they are both delightful in pro- 
portion as they are fimple in their 
compofition. To iliuftrate this ana- 
logy by more examples from mufic, 
would lead us from the fubject of the 
prefent enquiry. 
It is obfervable that the tongue and 
the ftomach, like inllintt and reafon, 
are, by nature, in unifon with eacho- 
ther. One of thefe organs muff always 
be difordcred, -when they difagree in a 
fingle article of aliment. When they 
both unite in articles of diet, that were 
originally difagreeable, it is owing to 
a perverfion in each of them, fumlar 
to that which takes place in the hu- 
man mind, when both the moral fa- 
culty and the confcience lofe their 
natural fenfibility to virtue and vice. 
Unfortunately for this part of fei- 
ence, the tafte and the ftomach are 
fo much perverted in infancy and 
childhood by heterogeneous aliments, 
that it is difficult to tell what kinds 
and mixtures of food are natural, 
and what are artificial. It is true, the 
fyflem poflefles a power of accom- 
modating iticlf both to artificial food, 
and to the moft dilcordant mixtures 
of that which is natural ; but may we 
not reafonabiy fuppofe, that the fyf- 
tem would preferve its natural ftrengih 
and order much longer, if no fuch 
violence had been offered to it. 
If the relation of aliments to each 
other follows the analogy of the ob- 
jefis of cherniftry, then their union 
will be influenced by many* external 
circumftances, fuch as heat and cold, 
dibit cm, concentration, reft, motion, 
and the addition of lubftances which 
promote unnatural, ordeftroy natural 
mixtures. This idea enlarges the field 
of enquiry before us, and leads us ft ill 
further from faffs and certainty upon 
th is fubject, but at the fame time it 
does not preclude us from the hope of 
obtaining both ; for every difficulty 
that arifts out ef this view of the fub- 
jetf, may be removed by obfervation 
and experiment. 
I come now to apply thefe rerr.aiks 
to health and pleafure. I ftiali felett 
only a few cafes for this purpofe ; for 
if my principles are true, my readers 
cannot avoid difcovermg many other 
illullrations of them. 
t. W hen an article of diet is grate- 
ful to the t a Re, and afterwards dif- 
agrees with the ftomach, may ltnotbe 
occafioned by fome other kind of 
food, or by fome drink being taken 
inV> the ftomach, which refufes to 
unite with the offending article of diet ? 
g. May r.ot the uneafinefs, which 
many perfons feel after a moderate 
meal, a rife from its having confided 
of articles of aliment which were not 
related to each other ? 
3* May not the delicacy of fiomach 
which fometimes occurs after the for- 
tieth or forty-fifth year of human life, 
be occafioned by nature recovering 
her empire in the fiomach, fo as to 
requ re fimplicity in diet, or fuch ar- 
ticles only of aliment, as are related ? 
May not this be the reafon why mod 
people, who have paffed thofe periods 
of life, are unable to retain or to di- 
gcfl f;!h and flefli at the fame time, 
and why they generally dine only up- 
on one kind of food? 
4. Is not the language of nature in 
favour of fimplicity in diet, difco- 
vered by the avidity with which the 
luxurious and intemperate often feek 
relief from variety and fatiety, by re- 
treating to fpring w ater (or drink, and 
to bread and milk for aliment ? 
5. May not the realon w'hy plenti- 
ful meals of fifh, venifon, oyflers, 
beef, or mutton, when eaten alone, 
he fo ealily in the fiomach, and di- 
gefl fo fpeedily, he occafioned by no 
other fond being taken wirh them? 
A pound, and even more, of the a- 
hove articles, frequently opprefs the 
fyflem much lefs than half the quan- 
tity of heterogeneous aliments. 
6. Does not the facility with which 
a due mixture of vegetable and ani- 
mal food digefls in the ftomach, indi- 
cate the certainty of their relation to 
each other ? 
7. May not the pecul ar good ef- 
fects of a diet wholly vegetable or 
annual, be occafioned by the more fre- 
quent and Ultimate relation of the ar- 
ticles of 1 he fame kingdoms to each 
other ? and may not (his be the rea- 
fon why fo few lnconvcniencies are 
felt from the mixture of a variety of 
vegetables in the ftomach ? l'/S;)-] 
Enquiry into the relation of tafes and aliments. 
561 
8. May not the numerous acute 
and chronic difeafes of the rich and 
luxurious, arife from heterogeneous 
aliments being diflrihuted in a diftuf- 
ed, infleadof a mixed date, through 
every part of the body ? 
9. May not the many cures which 
are afcribed to certain articles of diet, 
be occaftoned more by their being ta- 
ken alone, than to any medicinal qua- 
lity inherent in them ? a diet of oyllers 
in one inftance, of flrawberries in ano- 
thei, and of fugar of rofes in many in- 
dances, has cured violent and danger- 
ous diforders of the bread*. Crapes, 
accord ng to doftor Moore, when 
eaten in large quantities, have pro- 
duced the fune lalutary efled. A 
milk diet, perfifledin for feveral years, 
has cured the gout. I have feen ma- 
ny cafes of dyfpepha cured by a fim- 
ple diet of beef or mutton, and have 
heard of a well attefted cafe of a diet 
of veal alone having removed the 
fame diforder. Squaihes and turnips 
likewife, when taken by themfelves, 
have cured that diflreiTing complaint 
in the flomach. It has been removed 
even by milk, when taken by itfelf in 
a moderate quantity+. The further 
the body, and more efpecially the 
flomach, recede from health, the 
more this hmplicity of diet becomes 
neceflary. The appetite in thefe cafes 
does not fpeak the language of un- 
corrupted nature. It frequently calls 
for various and improper aliment; 
hut this is the cffelif of intemperance 
having produced an early breach be- 
tween tlae fade and the flomach. 
Perhaps the extraordinary cures of 
obflinate difeafes, which are fome- 
times performed by perfons not re- 
gularly educated in phvflc, may he oc- 
calioned by a long and fteady perfe- 
verarice in the ufe of a Angle article 
'of the materia medica. Thofe che- 
mical medicines which decompofe 
each other, are not the only fubflances 
wh ch defeat the intention of the pre- 
fcriber. Galenical medicines, by 
combination, I believe, frequently 
produce eflefis that are of a com- 
pound and contrary nature to their 
original and Ample qualities. Ibis 
t 
NOTES. 
* Vanfwieten, teoo. 3. 
+ Medical obfervauons and en- 
quiries, vol. 0. p. 310, 319. 
remark is capable of extenfive appli- 
cation, but I quit it as a dtgrelhon 
from the fubjcctof this enquiry. 
10. I wifh it to be obierved. that I 
have condemned the mixture of (Li- 
ferent aliments in the ilomach only- 
in a few cafes, and under certain 
circumftances. It rema ns yet to de- 
termine by experiments, what changes 
are produced upon aliments by heat, 
dilution, addition, concentration, mo- 
tion, rell, and the addition of uniting 
fubflances, before we can decide up- 
on the relation of aliments to each 
other, and the influence of that rela- 
tion upon health. The olia podrida 
of Spain, is {'aid to be a pleafant and 
wholeiome diih. It is probably ren- 
dered fo, by a previous tendency of 
all its ingredients to putrefaction, or 
by means of heat producing a new 
arrangement, or addition new re- 
lations ot all its parts. I fufpeft 
heat to be a powerful agent in difpof- 
ipg heterogeneous aliments to unite 
with each other; and hence a mixture 
of aliments is probably tefs unhealthy 
in France and Spam, than in Eng- 
land, where fo much lefs Are is ufed 
in preparing them than in the former 
countries. 
As too great a mixture of glaring 
colours, which are related to each o- 
ther, becomes painful to the eye, fo 
too great a mixture of related ali- 
ments opprefies the Ilomach, and de- 
bilitates the power of the - fyftem. 
S he original colours of the Iky, and 
of the furface of the globe, have ever 
been found the rnoft permanently a- 
greeable to the eye. In like manner, 
I am difpofed to believe (hat there are 
certain Ample aliments which corref- 
pond, in their fenhble qualities, with 
the intermediate colours of blue and 
green, that are moll permanently a- 
greeable to the tongue and flomach, 
and that every deviation from them is 
a departure from the Amplicity of 
healjh and nature. 
11. While nature fcems to have 
limited us to Amplicity m aliment, is 
not this reflriCtion abundantly com- 
pensated by the variety of tafles which 
flie allows usio impart to it in order to 
d'.verflfy and inrreafe the pie;.fire of 
eating ? it is remarkable that fait, fu- 
gaig milliard, horfe-radifli, capers, 
and fp’.ces of all kinds, according to 
mr. Code's experiments, related 562 
Charafter of the quakers, 
One, 
abbe Spallanzani*, all contribute 
not only to render aliments favoury, 
but to promote their digeition. 
12. When we confider, that part 
of (he art of cookery conhfts in ren- 
dering the tafte of aliments agreeable, 
is it not probable that the pleafure of 
eating might be increafed beyond our 
prefent knowledge upon that fubjecf, 
by certain new arrangements or mix- 
tures of the fubllances which are ufed 
to impart a pleafant tafte to our ali- 
ment ? 
ig. Should philofophers ever (loop 
to this fubjeft, may they not diicover 
and afcertain a table of the relation 
of fapid bodies to each other, with 
the fame accuracy that they have af- 
certained the relation of the numerous 
©bje&sof chenuftry to each other ? 
14. When the tongue and ftomach 
agree in the fame kinds of aliment, 
may not the increafe of the pleafure of 
eating be accompanied with an in- 
creafe of health and a prolongation 
of life ? 
15. Upon the pleafure of eating, I 
fhall add the following remarks. In 
order to render it truly exquifite, it is 
neceffary that all the fenfes, except 
that of talle, fhould be as quiefccnt as 
polfible. Thofe perfons miilake the 
nature of the appeute for food, who 
attempt to whet it by accompanying 
a dinner by a band of mufic, or by 
connecting the dining table with an 
fxtenhv-h and delightful profpeft. The 
excitement of one fenfe, always pro- 
duces collapfe in another. Even con- 
verfation Cometimes detracts from the 
pleafure of eating: hence great feed- 
ers love to eat in lilence, or alone ; 
and hence the fpeech of a pallionate 
Frenchman, while dining in a talk- 
ative company, was not fo improper 
as might at firfl be imagined. “ Hold 
your tongues,” laid he, “ I cannot 
tafte my dinner.” I know a phy- 
fician, who, upon the fame principle, 
always (huts his eyes, and requefts fi- 
lence in a lick chamber, when he 
wifhes to determine by the pulfe the 
propriety of blood letting, in cafes 
where its indication is doubtful. His 
perceptions become more diftmB, by 
confining his whole attention to the 
fenfe of feeling. 
NOTE. 
* Defsrtations, vol. 1. page 32G. 
It is impoffible to mention thecir- 
cumftance of the fenfes a&ing only in 
fuccelfion to each other in the enjoy- 
ment of pleafure, without being 
ftruck by the impartial goodnefs of 
heaven, in placing the rich and the 
poor lo much upon a level in the 
pleafures of the table. Could the 
numerous objefts of pleafure, which 
are addrefled to the ears and the eyes, 
have been poffeiTed at the fame tune, 
with the pleafure of eating, the rich 
would have commanded three times 
as much pleafure in that enjoyment as 
the poor ; but this is fo far from be- 
ing the cafe, that a king has no ad- 
vantage over a beggar, in eating the 
fame kind of aliment.