of the brain, by invigorating the blood. A dash of cold water upon the
chest produces a stimulation of all the bodily forces, which a tired
person will find more valuable than any pick-me-up or tonic or cup
of tea, or nip of whisky or other alleged stimulant could possibly
be. Applied over the heart, this organ is made to beat with greater
steadiness and vigor. Application to the stomach causes increased
production of pepsin and acid or gastric juices. Over the bowels it
stimulates intestinal activity; over the loins it increases the action
of the kidneys. A cold compress, or a douch over the liver will cause
increased liver activity. Every organ in the interior of the body may
be thus aroused to increased activity by a simple application of cold
water upon the skin overlying the organ, for thus a rush of blood
will be caused to that particular portion. It is necessary that the
application should be brief, three or four seconds to as many minutes.
These short cold applications of water to the skin will increase
immediately the activity of any sluggish part, or of any organ whose
function we wish to increase as a means of aiding the body in its
battle against the causes of disease.
The whole nervous system derives benefit from the stimulation of brief
cold baths. This is one of the most valuable functions of water.
Hydrotherapy has come to be a most valuable adjunct to the treatment
of all nervous diseases. A slow stomach may be wakened up and set to
doing effective work by a general cold bath taken daily, or by a local
application of cold water. A cold water bag over the stomach for half
an hour just before meal time is a wonderful appetite awakener, which
may be used by persons whose circumstances preclude them from the
general cold bath and the exercises which cause a natural desire for
food.
The best of all prescriptions for cold feet is to stand in very cold
water a half inch deep and rub one foot with the other in alternation
for five minutes. Hydrotherapy is the principal curative agent employed
in the great Battle Creek Sanitarium, and its branches throughout
the world, and in his book “Rational Hydrotherapy,” Dr. Kellogg has
presented in a shape that makes the knowledge available to everybody
the modes of treatment which may be employed at home. “A good way,”
says Dr. Kellogg, upon whom we draw for information in the preparation
of this chapter, “is to stand in the bath tub with the cold water
faucet open and the plug out.” It will not be long before the feet will
be red and will fairly burn with the afflux of fresh, warm blood which
will rush to the feet.
Hot water can be used in conjunction with cold water, since heat tends
to lessen vital work, and so heat may be employed when it is desired
to diminish organic activity. Pain is one direct evidence of excessive
activity. Heat is nature’s great remedy for internal pain. Heat cuts
off the influence of cold and at the same time diverts the blood to
the surface of the body. Cold, on the contrary, usually increases pain
when the seat of it is some internal organ. Sometimes heat and cold
are applied at the same time, as for a toothache, for instance, when
a hot fomentation is applied to the cheek and an ice bag to the neck
under the jaw. Pain in the pelvis is almost always relieved by a very
hot foot bath or leg bath, which relieves the congestion by diverting
the blood into the legs, and thus removes the condition which was
responsible for the pain.
THE CARE OF THE TEETH
It appears to be a fact that in the United States the profession
of dentistry, both mechanical and medical, has been carried to its
highest point. No doubt Americans will cheerfully assure themselves
that American brains and “bustle” are responsible for this condition.
But the truth can not be quite so comforting; the great development of
dentistry in this country must be due to the demand for it; and the
demand for it evidences a state of affairs that is far from reassuring.
So rapid has been the increase of degeneration of the teeth in modern
times, that many physiologists have seriously asked the question, “Will
the American race become toothless?” To-day, while artificial teeth
are manufactured from such a variety of substances and sold at such a
variety of prices, it would seem that Americans are becoming a race of
“store teeth” men and women.
As with all other branches of hygiene, dentistry is now beginning to
discover the ideal of _prevention_; recognizing that the sanitary care
of the mouth is a more important object that the most cunning imitation
of teeth, or the most ingenious masterpieces in bridge and crown work.
Under the leadership of a man who will be recognized in the future as
a pioneer in the cause of health, Dr. D. D. Smith, of Philadelphia,
a large and rapidly growing body of dentists have formed what is
termed the Prophylactic School, the development of which will result
not merely in the prevention of a great deal of disease of the teeth
and mouth, but of all the body. Physicians in general, and even most
dentists, have only begun to recognize the part which the mouth plays
in the causation of diseases.
At the present time, there are, roughly speaking, about 14,000
dentists in the United States, who annually extract twenty million
teeth, manufacture and insert three million artificial teeth, and
hammer into the cavities of diseased teeth at least three tons of pure
gold, to say nothing about the many tons of mercury, tin, and other
metals employed in fillings. When the principles of the Prophylactic
School spread, it is safe to say that while the importance of the
dentist will become even more generally recognized than it is to-day,
nevertheless he will pull fewer teeth, and use less gold and other
metals. The principle upon which Dr. Smith, and his rapidly growing
band of followers, build their work, is an intelligent recognition of
the fact that there are in the human mouth to-day, as has been the
condition through all the centuries, highly malignant features of
general infection and causes of numerous diseases which until now have
been wholly unperceived and neglected. The ordinary physician tells
his patient to poke out his tongue, when he looks for an index to that
patient’s general condition of health, but he does not look above or
below or around or about the tongue, where, in a great number of cases
he might find not merely the symptoms but the cause of his patient’s
ailment.
“THE VESTIBULE OF LIFE”
To show some of the common mouth conditions that make it almost an
ideal medium for bacterial culture, we quote the following paragraph
from Dr. Smith, adding the fact that his statement is one with which
all up-to-date physicians concur:
“The mouth, with its large extent of dentate surface, becomes quickly
infested and infected with all manner of bacterial formations,
decomposing particles of food, stagnant, septic matter from saliva,
mucous and sputum, not infrequently with pus exudations from irritated
and inflamed gum margins, gaseous emanations from decaying teeth
and putrescent pulp tissue, salivary calculus (tartar), nicotine,
and the chemical toxins, or poisons, of decomposition which result
from a mixing of mouth secretions, excretions and food remains in a
temperature constantly maintained at the high normal of ninety-eight
degrees Fahrenheit. While this may seem a formidable array, it fails to
prevent any of the sources of infection connected with untreated teeth;
and incredible as it may appear, these conditions are found not in the
lower classes alone, but in general mouth conditions in high and low
born, fastidious and boor, king and peasant.”
“Try to estimate the amount of poisonous products that would be
generated if such a surface were smeared over with the various foods
from the dining table, and these allowed to decompose,” says Dr.
Alfred C. Fones,[2] “and a fair idea may be obtained of the amount of
decomposition that is taking place in unsanitary mouths. Nor is this
simile forceful enough, for the food in the mouth is in one of the most
favorable environments known for the activity and virulency of germ
life, so that the products generated would be far more numerous, more
poisonous and irritating in every action, than such products from food
decomposing in the open air.”
[2] In his essay “Clean Methods, The First Law of Hygiene.”
HOW MOUTH INFECTION SPREADS
Mouth infection, due to the teeth, sees its most critical period
during that of childhood and early youth, a period in which the mouth
under present conditions is almost entirely without intelligent care.
Children’s mouths, says Dr. Smith, are frequently veritable crucibles
in which are generated chemical agents and compounds highly detrimental
to the teeth themselves, and not less to the general health of the
child. The poisons arising from decaying food particles and decaying
teeth themselves, vitiated salivary and mucous secretions, germ life
upon the teeth and gums, and breaths loaded with emanations from
stagnant septic material, all with the high temperature of ninety-eight
degrees, insinuate into the general circulation of the blood a
constantly increasing infection, which will later on find expression in
many diseased conditions, and often in chronic and fatal disorders.
It may appear, as it commonly does, in stomach or kidneys, in lungs
or nervous system, in heart, brain, or skin, in any organ or tissue,
indeed, to which mouth toxins are directly or indirectly conveyed.
Experience has shown that it is not only possible, but entirely
practicable to arrest and prevent teeth diseases in the mouths of
children, and at the same time to keep the mouth aseptic or free from
germ life.
Not only does an infected mouth work havoc to the body of which it
is the vestibule, but it spreads disease about it. The original
experiments of Koninger have shown that in a room where there is no
current of air perceptible, a person coughing or sneezing can scatter
germs to a distance of more than twenty-two feet. They are conveyed
through the air by means of little droplets of saliva. These globules
are microscopic balloons, having a bubble of air in the center,
and remain in suspension but a short time. Ordinary breathing will
scatter these droplets to a considerable distance, but, of course,
their germ-carrying capabilities are most marked during coughing
and sneezing. The more microbes the mouth contains the greater the
danger of infection. Washing the mouth has the effect of decreasing
the microbes of such diseases as diphtheria and consumption, and
other bacilli susceptible of being scattered abroad in these salivary
droplets. Placing the hand or a handkerchief over the mouth prevents
the emanation of droplets charged with bacilli. So well is this
fact of droplet germ infection recognized, that in many operating
rooms no one present is allowed to speak during operations. Chronic
headaches, neurasthenia, constipation, coughs and colds, and many other
grave troubles, have all been helped and many times cured by “oral
prophylaxsis” or proper mouth treatment.
The practical application of the discoveries and recommendations of
the new school of dentists can be expressed very simply and briefly,
and if followed out, will undoubtedly prove of tremendous service to
the white cells in the battle of the blood. It must be remembered
that proper mastication of food, which we have seen to be a leading
principle of the new hygiene, cannot be carried out unless you have a
good and healthy mouth. Five brushings a day at home is the ideal and
proper care for every mouth, for those who eat through the ordinary
routine of three meals a day. The first thing in the morning the teeth
should be thoroughly brushed with tepid water to remove the decomposed
mucous and saliva produced in the mouth during sleep. After eating the
teeth should be cleansed with the help of a dentifrice. The thorough
removal of grease is a chemical process, not to be accomplished by mere
brushing, and therefore requires a solvent such as is contained in a
good dentifrice. Such duties soon become habits; and if they are based
upon common-sense, the health which they will bring will more than
compensate for the trouble involved.
XIV
A UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH
There have been frequent references in this book to the Battle Creek
Sanitarium, and to Dr. J. H. Kellogg, its superintendent. We have
written here of the art of staying well, but many people are sick, and
are in need of special advice and assistance; to such we believe that
we can do no greater service than to tell them of this Sanitarium and
its work.
The institution is not a commercial one; its founder is one of
the great humanitarians of the time, as well as one of the great
scientists. None of its thousand odd men and women workers receive
more than a bare living for their services, and the institution is
legally so constituted that all its profits must be turned into the
work. Therefore, we hold it to be a public duty to spread as widely
as possible the facts relating to it. Mr. Horace Fletcher has called
Battle Creek the “Mecca of Health.” More aptly still, the Sanitarium
has been named a “University of Health”; and no image could be more
essentially true.
[Illustration: DR. J. H. KELLOGG,
Of the Battle Creek Sanitarium.]
For, while the people at Battle Creek realize that the record of the
institution for more than forty years in curing sick people is one
to which they may point with pride, yet in their view this good work
is but a trivial thing in comparison with their principal object,
which is the conversion of those who come to them to be cured, into
home teachers and missionaries of the truths of right living. It
is wonderful to observe to what a great extent success has already
rewarded their efforts, to see the signs which indicate the growth of
public interest in their work.
Dr. Kellogg took charge of the institution which is now known as The
Battle Creek Sanitarium thirty-two years ago. The institution at that
time was a small two-story building, known as a water-cure or health
institute, with three or four cottages and twelve patients. With the
changing of the name and management, and the application of scientific
methods, a new era of prosperity began, and the work has steadily
progressed ever since.
The Battle Creek Sanitarium was the first attempt to assemble in one
place all rational means of treating disease in combination with the
regulation of diet and habits of life, and giving special emphasis to
physiologic or natural methods of cure. The institution has for many
years been recognized as the leading establishment of the sort in the
world.
From the beginning, the Sanitarium has been non-sectarian in character.
Although a deeply religious spirit pervades the place, the institution
is not and never has been under the control of any denomination. For
many years it was closely affiliated with the Seventh-day Adventist
denomination, because of the preponderance of persons belonging to this
denomination among its managers and employees. For years, however, this
affiliation has ceased to exist.
The institution is non-dividend paying. That is, it is a strictly
altruistic or philanthropic enterprise. The charter which it received
from the State requires that its earnings shall be devoted to the
development of the enterprise and the maintenance of its charities.
Dr. Kellogg receives no compensation for his labors in connection
with the institution, and the thirty or forty physicians and business
managers who are associated with him in his work likewise accept very
meager compensation for their labors. Dr. Kellogg has for many years
received a liberal income from the sale of his books, foods, and from
his various inventions, but the income from these sources, as well as
from the institution itself, has been devoted to the carrying forward
of the humanitarian work to which he has devoted his life. The Haskell
Home for Orphans, The Bethesda Rescue Home, the Life Boat Mission in
Chicago, The American Medical Missionary College, and other charitable
and philanthropic enterprises are allied enterprises which have grown
out of the work which began at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.
The institution has never been endowed, and therefore, if the work was
to grow, it was necessary to make money. The authors of this book have
seen and read the legal documents by which Dr. Kellogg turned over to
the American Missionary Association nearly everything of which he was
possessed. The value of his work as a surgeon, estimated at prevailing
rates for such work, would be at least fifty to sixty thousand dollars
yearly. He touches not a cent of this money, nor does he touch his
salary as superintendent—which he himself placed at the figure of
twelve hundred dollars. There are many other physicians connected with
the institution who, as specialists in New York or Chicago, would be in
receipt of large incomes, but they are as content as is Dr. Kellogg to
accept a bare pittance, finding their joy in the work they are doing.[3]
[3] The reader must be warned that there are many charlatans and
shrewd business men who have taken advantage of the work of Dr.
Kellogg and of the prestige of the name “Battle Creek.”
The energy displayed by the faculty and staff of the University of
Health in carrying on their work is nothing less than astonishing.
During one week when the writers were at the Sanitarium, there were
more than a thousand patients all told, including the non-paying ones.
There are many days when Dr. Kellogg operates from early in the morning
until late at night, having very many highly difficult and dangerous
operations to perform, for he is well known as a surgeon. After such
a long day in the operating room, without a break for food or rest,
he will give one of his lectures to the patients, or go the rounds of
the wards, winding up the day by attending to a mass of business or
writing or studying in his laboratories. He works continually, day
in and day out, for eighteen hours a day; and this he has done for
the past thirty-five years or so. He wrote one bulky book containing
much technical and scientific matter in ten days, using three or four
stenographers, and working in stretches of twenty hours at a time. He
has never taken a holiday. All of his many journeys abroad or in this
country are on matters connected with his mission in life; and while on
his journeys he is continually writing or studying, and carrying on
the direction of his multitudinous affairs by letter or telegraph. Yet
to-day, at the age of fifty-five, he shows no signs of diminution of
energy; no signs of nervous breakdown, or of the ailments which bring
thousands of business men and women to him for treatment.
He himself thinks that there is nothing very remarkable in all this. He
attributes it to his abstention from meat, from tea and coffee, alcohol
and tobacco. He never eats more than one “hearty” meal a day; his
second meal, when he takes one, consisting of a little fruit. His sole
regret is that during the first fourteen or fifteen years of his life
he ate meat. He believes that any child, if it begin right, can, when
it grows up, do all that he is doing.
“I was,” he said to a friend, “a puny, undersized, ailing child; born
when my father was more than fifty. It was the accepted opinion that I
would not live to be a man which I fully believed. I had an appetite
for knowledge and resolved that since I was to die early I must study
and work very hard in order to accomplish a little something before I
died. So I would study until one to three o’clock in the morning; then
rise at six. From the age of ten I have fully supported myself. All
this deliberate stealing of time from sleep resulted in a permanent
stunting of my growth. And as I went on in life, I kept up the same
habits of night work. And yet, I have only once been troubled by an
illness; which came upon me a few years ago as a result of overwork.
But which I got rid of; and now I am in better bodily condition than I
was twenty-five years ago. But I was not handicapped by a great number
of things that are bars to other workers, over which they stumble.
I have slept when I could in the open air; I have drawn from air,
water, light, heat, and proper exercise, the benefits that inhere
in them; and I have nourished my body on wholesome foods. I mention
these points with insistence—these points that seem so freakish to
many people—simply because to me they are fundamental points in the
physiologic, or natural, way of healing and of living.”
Dr. Kellogg publishes a big magazine of large circulation named _Good
Health_; and in this he teaches that health is not a mere negation of
ailments—a state of being free from rheumatism, or consumption, or
biliousness, or any other of the “thousand natural shocks that flesh
is heir to”—but that it is being wholesome, happy, sane, complete,
a unit—a man or woman eating, drinking, sleeping, working, playing,
functioning in all parts as naturally, as inevitably, as easily and as
unconsciously, as a flower grows.
One of the writers has told of his experience many years ago, when he
went to a physician and requested to be helped in keeping well. He went
to Battle Creek Sanitarium on account of the illness of his wife, and
when one of the physicians proposed to him that he himself undergo the
treatments, he answered (having in mind this earlier experience, and of
the doubts it had bred in him), “There is nothing the matter with me at
present that I know of.” The answer of the Sanitarium physician was,
“The less there is the matter with you the better, from our point of
view.” And so he realized that at last he had found a place where his
own idea of health-preservation was understood.
He accepted joyfully the offer to assist him in getting a scientific
understanding of his own bodily condition. A drop of his blood was
taken and analyzed, microscopically and chemically. He went to the
diet table, and for three days ate precisely measured quantities of
specified foods; during the period all his excretions were weighed
and analyzed and examined under the microscope. A thorough physical
examination was made, and also a series of tests, upon a machine
invented by Dr. Kellogg, to register the strength of each group of
muscles of the body. The results of all these examinations were
presented to him in an elaborate set of reports and charts, together
with a prescription for treatments, diet and exercise. He had stated
that there was nothing the matter with him, so far as he knew. He found
that anaerobes—the dangerous bacterial inhabitants of the intestinal
tract—numbered something over four billion to the gram of intestinal
contents—a gram being about a thirtieth part of an ounce. During the
six weeks of his stay at the Sanitarium the more important of these
tests were repeated weekly; and when he left, the number of anaerobes
had been reduced nearly ninety per cent.
Dr. Kellogg terms the system of treatment employed by the Sanitarium
the Physiologic Method, and he writes of it as follows:
“The Physiologic Method consists in the treatment of the sick by
natural, physical, or physiologic means scientifically applied.
“The haphazard or empirical use of water, electricity, Swedish
movements, and allied measures is not the Physiologic Method. It is no
method at all. It is empiricism, at best; at its worst, it is quackery.
The application of the Physiologic Method requires much more than
simply a knowledge of the technique of baths, electricity, movements,
etc. It requires a thorough knowledge of physiology, and an intelligent
grasp of all the resources of modern medical science. For, while the
Physiologic Method depends for its curative effects upon those natural
agencies which are the means of preserving health, and which may be
relied upon to prevent disease as well as to cure, it recognizes and
employs as supplementary remedies, all rational means which have by
experience been proved to be effective.