No, the work of rearing children as they should be reared is not so
difficult, if there be care and watchfulness enough. Therein lies the
need. Wishing lovingly and earnestly to do a thing is one matter;
knowing how to do it is quite another. Constant, unfailing study and
“thinking out” of things by a parent is a necessity. There are no two
children in the world whose needs are just alike.
THE WAY TO PERFECT HEALTH
The Human Body and How it is Made—How to Take Care of Yourself—Rules for
a Long and Happy Life—General Information
If the question were generally asked, “What is the most important factor
in the happiness of mankind?” spiritual matters not to be considered in
the query, it is safe to say that a tremendous majority of all the
intelligent people of the world would reply, “Health.”
Indeed, almost all the other conditions of real importance in life
depend more or less on health, and with health as a possession almost
all misfortunes can be overcome or borne with patience. Wealth, for
instance, is of very little consequence in comparison with health.
Without the latter there can be little real enjoyment of the former.
Without wealth, however, health can assure true happiness, and it is,
indeed, one of the most serviceable factors in enabling one to add
wealth to his possessions.
With these facts clearly recognized as they are, it is not strange that
intelligent men and women more and more give their attention to the
welfare of their bodies. In the most highly civilized countries the
advance of scientific surgery and discoveries in medicine are hailed
with the greatest applause. In such countries the subjects of sanitation
and hygiene are given the closest attention, not only by students and
scientists, but by every thoughtful individual. It is being recognized
that there is no great and impressive mystery about our physical natures
by virtue of which we escape responsibility for guarding our own health
in every reasonable way. The thing to do is to keep well if we possibly
can, and when we fail, give the best attention possible to repairing the
damage.
The one who should neglect the well-known principles of hygiene, because
of faith that a good doctor could cure any resulting sickness, would be
no less than a fool. The one who gets wet on a stormy day, fails to
change his clothes, neglects the cold which follows, contracts pneumonia
and dies, is not “removed by an all-wise Providence,” as so many
resolutions of sympathy declare, but by his own folly. It is unjust to
blame a wise and beneficent Power for such results. The household that
suffers from typhoid, when drinking well-water drained from its own
cesspool, needs sympathy, indeed, not only for the sickness but for the
stupidity that placed the well and the infection side by side.
Thus it is that, in arranging the order of subjects in this book of
practical information for everyone, it was readily decided to discuss
this subject with considerable detail. Household recipes and suggestions
appeal specially to women; stock, farm and orchard come within the
province of men; but health, hygiene and the kindred subjects command
attention with equal force, from man and woman and child.
Anyone who adopts the policy of “getting all the money he can, and
keeping all he can get,” is certain to make himself obnoxious to all
about him, and in the end to become very miserable as an embittered,
soured and friendless man, a failure in life, however wealthy he may
become. But the one who chooses the policy of getting all the health he
can and keeping all he gets, will have a very different tale to tell.
Regular habits, careful living, sunny disposition, a clear head, a
bright eye, a sound mind and a sound body give one a cheerful outlook on
the world, enable one to use all his energies to the best advantage,
guarantee that he will have real friends, assure happiness, and make of
one a genuine success in life, whether with or without the prosperity
that is very likely to accompany such qualities.
And what does it involve, this intelligent effort to acquire and retain
good health in these bodies of ours?
We have here at our disposal a marvelous and complicated machine,
perfect in design, and imperfect only through some inherited fault or
weakness of our ancestors. Most of its processes are automatic, though
some are deliberate, or voluntary. The automatic processes themselves
may fail to operate, however, through some carelessness of our own in
details that we must attend to of our own will. When the voluntary
processes are continued with great regularity, they become so habitual
that they may be considered almost automatic themselves, and in this
state of affairs the whole machine is operating to the best advantage,
and will receive no injury except from some outside cause.
This wonderful machine must breathe—an involuntary or automatic
action—but it must have pure and wholesome air, day and night, which is
to be made sure only by our own care and voluntary action. It must be
well nourished by proper food, obtained, selected and prepared by our
own voluntary effort, but the food then is assimilated into our strength
and support by the automatic and involuntary processes of digestion. So
it is through a long list of details which might be named, that the
machine of our body is kept in running order—in health, as we say—by a
combination of voluntary and involuntary processes, the latter depending
on the former in high degree for their success. All of these details are
simple enough in themselves when studied a little.
In normal and wholesome surroundings, such as, fortunately, most people
in this country enjoy, it is an easy matter to avert disease by proper
care, and to bring the system into such condition that in the event of
sickness the ailment can be thrown off readily by proper attention.
Carelessness of habits not only makes the individual more liable to the
outbreak of disease, but weakens the power to combat the disease after
it has once gained a hold.
This chapter is not primarily a medical work in the general use of that
term. That is to say, it does not go into the scientific and technical
details of physiology, nor yet the description and treatment of every
disease, simple or otherwise. Until all persons are educated in disease
and medicine, the very best advice that can be given in the event of
serious illness is—Call a competent, progressive, educated physician as
promptly as possible, and yield absolute obedience to his instructions
and treatment. But these instructions will include details of nursing
and diet, general care of the health, and other things which are of
great importance in assisting the work of the doctor. He will welcome
the evidence of knowledge of such things which can be gained from this
practical book. Furthermore, for an intelligent understanding of the
human body, how to keep it in health, and how to treat its simple
ailments, and the emergencies of all sorts that demand quick attention,
this department of the present work is confidently offered to the
reader.