Corpulence
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Corpulence. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
portliness, bulkiness of body. Stoutness may be regarded either as a disease or as excessively good health. It is usually accompanied, if not caused, by a good appetite, an excellent digestion, tranquility of mind, and indisposition to physical exertion. It is not, however, indicative of a sluggish mind. Dr. Samuel Johnson may be mentioned as a corpulent man with a vigorous mind. Stoutness is an enlargement of the soft organs of the body, and an overloading with fat. The muscles and bones do not increase in weight. The cure for ordinary corpulence is exercise, or labor to the point of perspiration, and the avoidance of fat-building foods, such as sweets, fats, wines, potatoes, and rice. Lean meat, game, eggs, fish, green vegetables, especially cabbage and asparagus, and brown bread are recommended. Vinegar is an antifat food article. Many mineral waters have the effect of reducing weight. Bismarck was helped greatly by the use of Kissingen spring water. Corpulence is due frequently to inherited tendencies in which case a fleshy person may be, and often is, a light eater. Not infrequently corpulence comes on a strong, healthy person as the result of high living and inactivity. Excessive corpulence is due sometimes to a diseased condition of the body which may or may not yield to medical treatment. An instance of the latter case is that of Daniel Lambert of Leicester, England, who died in 1809 in his fortieth year. Lambert ate moderately, drank water only, and slept less than an ordinary person; yet weighed 739 pounds. His waistcoat, still preserved, is so large that it may be buttoned around seven ordinary men. Lambert is supposed to have been the heaviest man that ever lived. He was only five feet eleven inches in height. Other cases are recorded in English journals. A grocer died in 1750, at the age of 29, whose weight was 616 pounds. Another young man, dying at 22, weighed 643 pounds. A girl of 4 is mentioned in scientific papers in 1813 as weighing 256 pounds. It is stated on good authority that well proportioned men of middle age whose height is 5 feet 6 inches; 5 feet 9 inches; and 6 feet; should weigh about 150, 165, and 180 pounds, respectively. A woman 5 feet 2 inches in height should weigh about 125 pounds.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
or CORPULENCY, grossness or fleshiness of body; excessive fatness; a state of being loaded with flesh. It is impossible to define exactly the limit beyond which the body can be said to be corpulent, depending, as it does, very much on the general habit and the state of health of the individual. It most commonly takes place after the age of 40, but is not confined to any particular period of life, being found also in childhood and youth. The causes of corpulence are both natural and acquired. There are some persons who have a natural tendency to corpulence; in others it may be induced by modes of life, indolent and sedentary habits, and the use of certain kinds of food. The undue accumulation of fat produces a variety of effects, interfering with with the vital energies gies of the body, and incapacitating for exertion. The chances of life are not so great among persons of a corpulent habit as among those of a normal condition. All sudden or violent measures to get rid of corpulence are attended with harm. Attention to diet, and the avoidance of such articles as tend to generate fat, together with active exercise, and the counteracting of indolent habits, are among the best means that can be employed.