"On life's vast ocean diversely we sail,
Reason the card, but passion is the gale."
There are more diseases contracted, more unhappiness created during
life, and early decay occasioned, by _politeness_ and _pride_ than by
whisky and tobacco combined. Total-abstinence advocates will assert that
drink kills more than all other causes. What would they think if we
should say, if he is a reformed drinker, that it was out of pure
politeness that he quaffed his first glass.
Politeness is the cause of disease in many ways, of which the following
are a few:--
A friend--only in name--will stop you in the first corner of the street
and insist on telling you a good(?) joke about Brown, Smith, or Jones.
He takes you by the lapels of the coat, holds you to windward for twenty
minutes in a breeze blowing twenty-five miles an hour, although this
lays you up with a cold for a week, and thus plants the first seeds of
consumption. You will be too polite to tell him that your health will
not permit you to be so exposed. As a remedy for this class of attacks,
if a man insists on saying anything more than "How do you do" or
"Good-bye," I should invite him into the nearest hall-way or around the
corner to leeward, entirely out of the draft. If this does not seem
feasible, I would bid him "Good-day."
Another case of excessive politeness is when a gentleman or lady
continues chatting ten minutes in the _hall_ after he or she _must =go=
immediately_. Then at the door after they have walked out, you, in
dressing-gown and slippers, stand on the cold marble step in a driving
fog for twenty minutes more, to hear the latest gossip--too polite to
slam the door in their faces, or excuse it as an accident.
But the politeness that kills faster than any other is that of the
consumptive, bronchially-affected, or catarrhal patient. He will sit at
the table, or in company, and, out of pure politeness, swallow the
_mucus_ and other impurities that arise in his throat--too polite to use
a cuspidor or excuse himself by withdrawing to another room or the open
air, and clear his throat. A great many people are accustomed to
_expectorate_ into their _handkerchiefs_. This is a baneful practice.
Just as soon as that gets dry which they have thrown up from their
lungs, innumerable microbes of deadly effect escape and do extensive
harm. Avoid this habit and use the cuspidor or step out-of-doors. It is
not unreasonable to believe that 50 per cent of all the consumptives
would recover if they would, by care and cleanliness, see that no
particle of mucus once away from the lungs should ever go back down the
throat, and observe other points regarding apparel and cleanliness
mentioned in the first part of this work.
We have already devoted some space to what we should and should not do.
All that, however, is but a small part of a life which will continually
experience health, happiness, and longevity. We trust you do not simply
read these statements not intending to test their value. It is not
unlikely that many of you from your course or line of business will find
it eminently difficult to absolutely follow our instructions. Be that as
it may, come as approximately as you can, and there will positively
result an improvement in your physical condition, a progression in your
happiness, and a realization of longevity. The remainder of this chapter
will be occupied by a program, or rather set of _formula_ of what is
necessary to aid you in _keeping well_, living long and happily.
Keep your _bowels_ open and regular in action. This you can do, if
irregular or _constipated_, by taking a few drops of water in your right
hand every morning and rubbing the bowels in a circular motion from
right to left, until a friction is produced and the moisture gone. From
six to ten separate passages of the hand over the bowels is usually
sufficient, and the object will be accomplished. Each day this is
repeated; in a very short time you will be all right in this particular,
and will not require even this effective medicine. You must be aware
that a score of maladies are kept at bay by the regularity of the
bowels. This fact cannot be too strongly impressed on mankind in
general. It is very seldom indeed that you come upon a man who is well
with a bad digestive apparatus; but, again, he who possesses a strong
stomach and is moderate and regular in eating is almost invariably
characterized with a vigorous constitution. Disease finds no place to
locate upon or in him. There is no doubt the American people eat too
fast, and that is why so many die so soon. The system is worn out when
it should be ready to do its best work. If all the men and women in this
country would eat 50% slower they would live 25% longer. Of this we have
no doubt--nor do you, reader.
Sleep eight hours every night, between the same hours, as nearly as
possible, in a room well ventilated from the top of the window. If your
room is small you will require more _ventilation_ than if it is large;
in this case use more clothing on the bed. If possible have a bowl or
basin of water uncovered in the room, but the next morning do not either
drink or wash your face in the water that has stood exposed all night.
To drink it is slow suicide; to wash in it is unhealthy.
In the morning scrape the tongue with a strip of whalebone, as before
mentioned; brush the teeth with a good stiff clean tooth-brush, up and
down, but not across; note this latter proposition, there is reason for
it. By perpendicular brushing the bristles or hairs get in between the
teeth, where much sediment is left, and the gums are not made sore. This
is the best method also to prevent tartar forming. _Gargle_ the throat
with clean water three or four times; then, if you have it at hand,
drink about three swallows of cool filtered water; if not near go
thirsty until it is. Never take a drink of water, whether you be sick or
well, without first gargling the throat with at least one swallow and
spitting it out. Do you think _filtering_ of reservoir or general city
water is necessary? If not, then make a microscopic examination, and any
skepticism will be entirely removed. It is a prominent fact in science
to-day that almost all diseases and troubles are started or promulgated
by microbes and bacilli. There are often enough of these in one swallow
of water to poison a whole family. Then take a moist towel and apply it
to every part of your body; follow this with a vigorous rubbing with a
dry towel. A sponge bath is recommended by many physicians. This is all
right for the first time, but from that on the sponge begins to get
foul, not from necessity, but because not one person in fifty will wash
and thoroughly _dry_ the _sponge_. In any other case it is a disease
breeder. Perforated with so many cells and passages, intricate and
numberless, it is not surprising that it should be the residence of much
that is dangerous.
During the time of your bath you should close the windows of your room
to exclude the cold draughts--in any part of the country where the
atmosphere moves over two miles per hour--but not the sun. After this
lower or raise your window to the height or level of the eyes, and
proceed to enjoy a breathing exercise. This is done by first exhausting
all the air from the lungs through the mouth, then inhale, slowly,
through the nasal organs to the full capacity of the lungs. Do this
_three_ times or more each morning. If your lungs are not too weak, tap
with your fingers on your chest while it is inflated. This will tend to
develop your capacity of breathing wonderfully. The gentle percussion
thus effected is quite exhilarating. Practice yourself also in _holding_
your _breath_ for a prolonged interval, but always draw in air through
your nostrils; they strain out all impurities.
You are now ready for your breakfast; but, perhaps you say, I am a
workingman and have not the time. To such I would reply: I go through
all these duties in _one_ hour's time, and if belated I accomplish it in
_forty minutes_. If I have to take a train at 5 A. M., I see that I am
called at 4 A. M., at least, and enjoy my regular time for _toilet_. I
would advise those of you who think you have not time, to go to bed that
much earlier. Even if you are to travel, by using my method of
preparation you will not experience that tired, disagreeable, restless
feeling that will otherwise come. You all know how intensely that
feeling acts to destroy all your pleasure until the day is half over and
it is worn away. Employ common-sense ways and you will be as fresh at 6
as at 12 o'clock. Your lips will not be blue, your skin cold, your teeth
unclean, your mouth dry, your eyes red, and your whole self out of sorts
as it were.