J. L. Buttner

Jacques Louis Buttner (born 1876) was a French American physician and vegetarianism activist.

Jacques Louis Buttner
Born1876
EducationYale Medical School
OccupationPhysician, writer

Biography

Buttner obtained his M.D. from Yale Medical School in 1909 and received the Campbell Gold Medal for the highest rank on his examination and the Keese Prize for his thesis.[1][2] In 1916, Buttner was described by the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association as a "recognized representative in the literature of vegetarianism."[3] He argued for vegetarianism from a scientific basis.[4]

Buttner practiced medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. He was a member of the New Haven County Medical Association.[5]

In 1923, The New International Encyclopedia's entry for vegetarianism noted that "Buttner described a vegetarian as one who does not habitually make use of flesh food, in contradistinction to the habitual meat eater."[6]

A Fleshless Diet

Buttner is best known for his vegetarian book A Fleshless Diet, published in 1910. It was widely reviewed in medical journals with a mixed response.[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Buttner argued that comparative anatomy and nutrition demonstrates that man is suited for a fleshless diet and that meat is dangerous and unnecessary.[7][13] His recommended diet consisted of vegetables, eggs and milk.[14] Buttner wrote that "It is not illogical for vegetarians to use milk and eggs, as these animal products are distinctly less toxic than meat and also less likely to be disease-laden. They are obtained with a minimum of suffering on the part of the animals which furnish them to us."[15]

A review in the American Physical Education Review, praised the book for compiling useful dietetic research but commented that it failed to show scientific discretion in the selected material.[7] A review in the Journal of the American Medical Association recommended the book as a reference work whether or not one accepts Buttner's conclusions.[8] A review in the Medical Standard, noted that the book was a "piece of special pleading for the propaganda which it is designed to promote […] We may say this, however, for Dr. Buttner, that he has managed to present a much more rational and scientific case in behalf of a vegetable diet than most of those who have heretofore made the attempt."[9]

A negative review of the book in The Medical Era suggested that "Dr Buttner has correlated the usual arguments in favor of a vegetable diet, but has failed to show any scientific basis for the conclusions which he draws."[16] A review in the Yale Medical Journal concluded that "we do not agree that the total abstinence from flesh foods will produce the beneficial results that he maintains."[11]

It was positively reviewed in the Life and Health magazine as "so carefully written that it is worthy of consideration."[13] The American Journal of Clinical Medicine also positively reviewed the book as a "very reasonable and believable argument against the use of meat."[12]

Selected publications
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See also

References
  1. Yale Alumni Weekly, 1909.
  2. Anonymous. (1912). Directory of the Living Graduates of Yale University Issue of 1912. New Haven. p. 311
  3. Editor. (1916). Correspondence: Early Man and Meat Diet. Journal of the American Medical Association 67 (26): 1957-1958.
  4. Anonymous. (1915). The Metabolism of Vegetarians. Journal of the American Medical Association 64 (17): 1425.
  5. Yale Alumni Weekly, 1911.
  6. The New International Encyclopedia, Volume 23. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company. p. 53
  7. E. B. (1910). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. American Physical Education Review 16: 352.
  8. Anonymous. (1911). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. Journal of the American Medical Association 56 (16): 1220.
  9. Anonymous. (1910). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. The Medical Standard 33 (11): 422.
  10. Anonymous. (1910). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. The American Journal of Surgery 24 (11): 360.
  11. L. M. G. (1910). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. Yale Medical Journal 17: 279-280.
  12. Anonymous. (1911). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. The American Journal of Clinical Medicine 18 (3): 344.
  13. Anonymous. (1911). A Fleshless Diet: Vegetarianism as a Rational Dietary. Life and Health: The National Health Magazine 26 (2): 123.
  14. Buttner, J. L. A Fleshless Diet. A List of Books and References to Periodicals in the Seattle Public Library. p. 18
  15. Buttner, J. L. (1912). Vegetarianism. Journal of the American Medical Association 58 (22): 1705.
  16. Anonymous. (1912). Vegetables vs. Mixed Diets. The Medical Era 21: 52.
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