CHAPTER XIV.

LONGEVITY.

"Tell me not in mournful numbers,

Life is but an empty dream,

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem."

How long shall a man live? That depends entirely upon the

_Liver!_--_Punch.

If you have read with care the preceding chapters of this work, and

paused between the lines to reflect, you will not now have to be retold

our panacea for a long life. By this we mean the usually allotted

three-score and ten, or also the 120 years given as the limit in

Genesis, 3rd and 6th chapters. These ages, however, are not common in

any country or age. There are many instances of 70 years, but not enough

to be called common, while it is the "survival of the fittest" that

reach 120 years.

In the United States only 5.6% of population are above 60 years and

probably not more than 4-1/2% are over 70 years. Norway has the best

record, with 9% of the population above the age of 60. Japan has

1,182,000 people over 70 years, but only 73 of these are over 100, and 1

alone has reached the age of 111 years. Probably the oldest human being

living in the United States at this writing is the old Indian named

Gabriel, residing at or near Castroville, Cal., 100 miles south of San

Francisco. He has an authentic history of 146 years, and he is believed

to be over 150 years old. But for real characteristic longevity, we must

visit the mountain fastnesses of Thibet, in Asia, where live a number of

specimens of the human family that have a recorded history back to the

latter part of the 16th century.

We have previously told you that by regularity alone man may reach the

age of 100 years. Now we intend to treat more the possibilities of how

long it is possible for mankind to retain all their mental faculties and

enjoy sufficient vital force to battle with the world for a livelihood.

We are led to believe, like Dr. Wm. A. Hammond, a prominent physician of

New York City "that there is no physiological reason at the present day

why man should die." (Further on we give more of the Doctor's theory.)

Just so long, however, as there are no paid teachers to show how not to

get sick, how to keep the physique and mind from tiring, the heart from

growing weary and discontented, just so long will the average of life

remain under 40 years and the grave-yards continue to be populated.

There are hundreds of reasons why this or that clan or sect live longer

than the other sect or clan, but what we wish to convey is that none of

them live out all their days. For instance, in comparison with other

nations not mentioned, the German can drink more beer, the Frenchman

more wine, the Russian more pure spirits, the Englishman more brandy,

and the American more whisky, before harm is perceptible, likewise the

Chinese can smoke more opium and the Russian a stronger cigarette, and

more of them, before harm is apparent to others. No matter what an

individual's creed, color, or nationality, if he be intelligent and

clearly endowed with the five known senses, he does know that any

narcotic, no matter of what nature, even if it is as mild as steeped tea

leaves and as odorless as pure water, is a detriment to some one of the

senses. As each sense is dulled, the others must sympathize with it; so

it will not require an instrument to measure to the .001 part of an

inch, or to a single vibration of the violet ray, to test the degree of

injury that the human structure received for each variation from the

path of perfection.

If perfection of climate is sought, perfect sanitation obtained,

regularity, cleanliness, uprightness, temperance, and self-control

practiced, if the bodily waste is supplied with nature's fruits, grains,

vegetables, and herbs, if drinking is done at nature's fountain for

thirst, life will be prolonged to see the light in more than one

century. Finally, add to that, if self is forgotten, and only the

comfort of others remembered and regarded, life may be indefinitely

prolonged.

M. Chevreul, the eminent French scientist, died April 9, 1889, aged 103

years. "On the 31st day of August, 1886, he attained the age of 100

years, and was still in vigorous health, and with all his faculties

unimpaired. The occasion 'was celebrated by the students of Paris, among

whom he is a great favorite, and by the French people generally, with

enthusiasm.' The Paris _Journal Illustre_ seized upon the opportunity to

interview him in a manner that is described as marking 'an era in this

line of journalistic enterprise. Not only were his words taken down

_verbatim_, but his various attitudes while speaking were photographed

by the instantaneous process, and engraved,' twelve illustrations being

given in the interview. M. Chevreul is an important figure in the

scientific world, and the interview contains many useful lessons in

hygiene and philosophy, not the least of which is described by his

interviewer as an exposition of the 'chemical secret of longevity.' In a

condensed form, it is as follows: He regards longevity as a great

blessing, and declares that the method by which it may be secured is

easy to learn; but I think that with many people it would be difficult

to follow. He laid down the proposition that the larger proportion of

the human race die of disease and not of old age. Now, he finds that

while we should especially guard against drawing general conclusions

from particular cases, yet it is nevertheless true that the study of

particular cases may and should conduct us to general precepts. It is

necessary for each one to study his personal aptitudes, and conform to

them with a constant firmness. Every _r'egim'e_ is personal, and 'I cannot

too much insist upon this essential point, that what is suitable for one

may not be for another. It is, then, important for each one to note well

what is adapted to his own constitution. Thus, I have the same aversion

to fish as to fermented liquors, especially to wine, also a distaste for

a large number of vegetables, and I could never drink milk. Shall I

conclude, then, that fish, that the vegetables which I do not relish,

and milk, are not nutritive?--Certainly not; for I judge by a general

rule and not by my own idiosyncrasies. Coffee and chocolate agree with

me; the latter is especially nutritive, and gives me an appetite for

food. It is for me an aperient. Shall I conclude from this that

chocolate would give everybody an appetite?'

"He maintains a barometric exactness and regularity in all the habits of

his daily life,--eats at fixed hours, takes his time, and leaves the

table with some appetite for more. He says he remembers the words of the

wise man, 'The stomach has slain more men than war,' and that the

Spartans proscribed those citizens who were too fat.

"I use little salt or spices, and but little coffee, and I flee as from

a pest from all those excitants of which I feel no need, and from all

tobacco and alcoholics in whatever form they may present themselves.'

"He divides his day, the morning to exact science, the middle of the day

to philosophy, and the evening to music and poetry. 'But above all, no

discussion at the table. One should only eat with a calm spirit. Let the

dining-room remain the dining-room, and never be turned into a room for

argument. Discussion while eating is a cushion of needles in the

stomach.'"

Dr. Felix L. Oswald has made the following brilliant conclusions in the

"Curiosities of Longevity:"--

"Among the centenarians of all nations and all times, a significant

plurality were either rustics, or city dwellers addicted to outdoor

pursuits. Centenarians are remarkably frequent among the bailiff-ridden

boors of Southern Russia, and the five oldest persons of modern times

were care-worn if not abjectly poor villagers: Peter Czartan, who died

in a hamlet near Belgrade, 1724, in his _hundred and eighty-fifth year_;

the Russian beggar Kamartzik, a native of Polotzk, who reached an age of

one hundred and sixty-three years, and died in consequence of an

accident; the fisherman Jenkins, who, in spite of life-long penury,

lived at least a century and a half (the estimate of his neighbors

varying from one hundred and fifty-eight to one hundred and sixty-nine

years); the negress Truxo, who died in slavery on the plantation of a

Tucuman physician, in her hundred and seventy-fifth year; and the

day-laborer, Thomas Parr, who attained the pretty-well-authenticated age

of one hundred and fifty-two years, and who died a few weeks after his

removal from country air and indigence to comfort and city quarters. If

dietetic restrictions tend to prolong human life, the rule would seem to

be chiefly confirmed by its exceptions. The children of Israel are apt

to ascribe their certainly remarkable longevity to the Mosaic interdict

of hogs' flesh....

"John H. Brown, M. D., the Berwick AEsculapius, enumerates a long list of

patients who had postponed their funeral by following his plan of

systematic hygiene--the plan, namely, of 'toning down' plethora by

bleeding and cathartics, and of 'toning up' debility by means of beef

and brandy. But sixteen hundred years ago the philosopher Lucian called

attention to the exceptional longevity of the Pythagorean ascetics,

whose religious by-laws enjoined total abstinence from wine and all

sorts of animal food. The naturalist Brehm describes the robust physique

of a Soudan chieftain who, at the reputed age of one hundred and six

years, could hurl a stone with force sufficient to kill a jackal at a

distance of fifty yards, and thought nothing of starving for a week or

two if his foragers happened to return empty-handed. But the same

traveler mentions that his swarthy Nestor now and then compensated such

fasts by barbecues lasting from ten to twenty-four hours, and including

a _m'elange_ of marrow-fat and pepper-grass, besides dozens of

hard-boiled crane's eggs, jerboa stew, and deep draughts of clarified

butter. Long fasts certainly enhance the vigor of the digestive organs,

but the net result of repeating such experiments seems rather difficult

to reconcile with the experience of Luigi Cornaro, the Venetian

reformer, who managed to outlive all his cousins and schoolmates, and

ascribed his success to the mathematical regularity of his bill of fare,

which, during the last sixty years of his self-denying existence, had

been limited to twelve ounces of solid food and fourteen ounces of

fluids--wine chiefly, a beverage which the Soudanese emir would have

rejected with a snort of virtuous horror. Dr. Virchow, though by no

means an advocate of total abstinence, admits that the longevity of the

Semitic desert-dwellers can be explained only by their caution in the

use of stimulants--a virtue which in their case would, indeed, appear to

offset an unusual number of circumstantial disadvantages--thirst, fiery

suns, and fiery passions being decidedly unpropitious to length of life.

"And here, at last, we may strike a bit of _terra firma_ in the

quicksands of speculative hygiene. 'Take a hundred different animals,'

says the sanitarian Schrodt, and you will find them to prefer a hundred

different sorts of solid food, but they all drink milk in infancy, and

afterward water; and considering the infinite variety of comestibles a

healthy human stomach contrives to digest, we might very well agree to

deserve that privilege by limiting the variety of our beverages.'

Instinct certainly abhors the first taste of alcoholic liquors, and

statistics prove that in all climes and among all nations the

disease-resisting power of the human organism is diminished by the

habitual use of toxic stimulants. Mohammed, Buddha, and Zoroaster agree

on that point, and the esoteric teachings of Pythagoras may have

qualified his rather fanciful objections to grape-juice by the practical

hope of longevity. A complete list of infallible prescriptions for the

prolongation of human life would fill a voluminous book, and would

include some decidedly curious specifics. 'To what do you ascribe your

hale old age?' the Emperor Augustus asked a centenarian whom he found

wrestling in the _palaestra_ and bandying jokes with the young athletes.

'_Intus mulso, foris oleo_,' said the old fellow--'Oil for the skin and

mead [water and honey] for the inner man.' Cardanus suggests that old

age might be indefinitely postponed by a semi-fluid diet warmed (like

mothers' milk) to the exact temperature of the human system and Voltaire

accuses his rival Maupertuis of having hoped to attain a similar result

by varnishing his hide with a sort of resinous paint (_un poix

r'esineux_) that would prevent the vital strength from evaporating by

exhalation. Robert Burton recommends 'oil of unaphar and dormouse fat;'

Paracelsus, rectified spirits of alcohol; Horace, olives and

marsh-mallows. Dr. Zimmerman, the medical adviser of Frederick the

Great, sums up the 'Art of Longevity' in the following words: 'Temperate

habits, outdoor exercise, and steady industry, sweetened by occasional

festivals.'"

"The increasing longevity of man is attracting considerable attention

from collectors of statistics, and some curious facts are being

elicited. According to the last census, 10 per cent of the people who

died between 1870 and 1880 had outlived the traditional three-score

years and ten, whereas of the deaths between 1840 and 1850, only 7.47

per cent were of persons of that age. In 1850, 16.90 per cent of the

deaths were of children under one year of age; in 1880, the proportion

was 23.24, showing a smaller percentage of deaths among adults. The

average length of life in England 300 years ago was only twenty years.

In France the average length of life, under Louis XVIII., was

twenty-eight years. Actuaries are figuring that within the past

half-century the average length of life has greatly increased."

"A study of this subject is impeded by the tendency of almost everyone

to generalize from individual examples within his own observation. This

is almost sure to be misleading, because no one's acquaintance is so

large that it embraces factors enough to base a theory on. People say

that life is longer than it used to be, because Palmerston rode to

hounds at 82, and Peter Cooper and the Emperor William were

intellectually vigorous at over 91. They forget that Marino Faliero was

over 80 when he concocted his plot, and that the blind Dodge Dandolo was

84 when he took Constantinople. Every age has produced a few long-lived

men, and here and there a centenarian."

"The question of importance is not whether this age is yielding more

centenarians than former ages, but whether, on the average, the age of

man is longer than it was, and if so, how much longer? The grounds for

an increased longevity--better doctors and more of them, better

drainage, more wholesome food, wiser habits, and better facilities for

securing change of air--justify the belief that life is lengthening, to

what degree it is hard to say. M. Flourens, who had made a life study of

the subject, said that every man ought to live to be a hundred, if he

took care of himself."

"In a number of the _Popular Science Monthly_ is an article by Clement

Milton Hammond on the prolongation of human life that is interesting

both in the way of being readable and as based on returns as to an

unusually large number of persons above eighty years of age. The facts

were obtained by sending out 5,000 blanks to be filled. They were sent

through New England only and were intended to cover personal history and

hereditary influence. Over 3,500 of the blanks were filled out and

returned. They show that less than 5 per cent remained unmarried through

life, the unmarried women being three times as numerous as the unmarried

men. The average number of children was five. Five out of six of the old

people had light complexions, blue or gray eyes, and abundant brown

hair. The men were generally tall and ranged in weight from 100 to 160

pounds, with a few of 200 pounds, and the women of medium size, weighing

from 100 to 120 pounds, with some exceptional cases up to 180 pounds.

The men were generally bony and muscular, and the women the opposite. At

the time of record the hair was generally thick, the teeth poor or

entirely gone, the skin only slightly wrinkled. Generally their habits

of eating and sleeping have been conspicuously regular. They have as a

rule adhered to one occupation through life, and of the 1,000 men 461

were farmers. Few have used alcoholic drink stronger than cider. A large

majority of the men used tobacco. The average age of the parents and

grandparents of the persons reported on was about sixty-five. The

average time of sleep was about eight hours."

Dr. Maurice advances some staunch ideas on old age:--

"Do poor people live longer than the affluent? There are so many more

poor in the world than there are rich that we can be sure of finding

more poor old people. Probably excessive wealth is a burden sure to

exhaust its possessor in the care of it. Our millionaires, however, are

men for the most part who began poor and were possessed of tenacious

vitality, that is, with a grip on other things as strong as on the money

bags. Professor Humphrey's 'Report on Age of Persons' gives us 824

persons, of both sexes, of whom about half were poor and the rest at

least in good circumstances, 10 per cent only being possessed of wealth.

The real truth seems to be that poverty, with an iron constitution and

sound nerves, is most likely to produce an instance of extreme age; but

the possession of the comforts and amenities of life produces by far the

best average of ages. The average age of the middle classes has always

surpassed that of others; but at present sanitation forces on the poor

so many provisions against disease that they are saved from their former

high death-rate, and brought quite near the privately better-bred and

furnished class.

"There has certainly been long sustained, in proverbs and otherwise, a

conviction that early rising and early retiring have much to do with

prolonged vitality. Franklin insisted on it vigorously. Lord Mansfield,

also, held it to be an important item in his sustained vigor to near

ninety. I am inclined to believe that the estimate is not erroneous. We

are far more the creatures of habit than we generally allow. At certain

moments we become regularly hungry, regularly sleepy, and so with all

other functions. It is wise beyond doubt to recognize this fact and

never break our habits, that is, our useful habits. But beyond this,

there are certain habits dependent on cosmical causes, such as movements

of the sun. Our natural rest would seem to be properly conformed, in the

main, to the appearance and disappearance of daylight.

"But after we have fairly and fully considered the subject, there

remains the one fact that idleness will end life sooner than any other

cause. The hour that any person retires from any and all occupation he

is sure to drop into decadence. The mind is very sure to begin to lose

its clearness when it is withdrawn from regular exercise. Both brain and

muscular power lapse with lack of activity. The custom of working

excessively till sixty-five or seventy, and then withdrawing from

business, is wrong at both ends. We crowd life at the beginning, and

let its functioning grow torpid at the close. Much is lost to age by our

modern methods of locomotion. Great walkers are scarce; there is almost

a total lack of horse-back exercise. Carriage-riding over smooth roads

in no way compensates."

Perhaps there is nothing that prolongs life more than genial, hearty

_laughter_. William Matthews says "that there is not a remote corner or

little inlet of the minute blood-vessels of the human body that does not

feel some wavelet from the great convulsion caused by hearty laughter

shaking the central man. Not only does the blood move more quickly than

it is wont, but its chemical or electric condition is distinctly

modified, and it conveys a different impression to the organs of the

body, as it visits them on that particular mystic journey when the man

laughs, from what it does at other times. A genial, hearty laugh,

therefore, prolongs life, by conveying a distinct and additional

stimulus to the vital forces. Best of all, it has no remorse in it. It

leaves no sting, except in the sides, and that goes off. Cicero thought

so highly of it that he complained bitterly at one time that his

fellow-citizens had all forgotten to laugh: _Civem mehercule non puto

esse qui his temporibus ridere possit_. Titus, the Roman emperor,

thought he had lost a day if he had passed it without laughing. What a

world would this be without laughter! To what a dreary, dismal

complexion should we all come at last, were all fun and cachination

expurged from our solemn and scientific planet! Care would soon

overwhelm us; the heart would corrode; the river of life would be like

the lake of the Dismal Swamp; we should begin our career with a sigh,

and end it with a groan; while cadaverous faces, and words to the tune

of 'The Dead March in Saul,' would make up the whole interlude of our

existence."

"Hume, the historian, in examining a French manuscript containing

accounts of some private disbursements of King Edward II. of England,

found, among others, one item of a crown paid to somebody for making the

king laugh. Could one conceive of a wiser investment? Perhaps by paying

one crown Edward saved another. 'The most utterly lost of all days,'

says Chamfort, 'is that on which you have not once laughed.' Even that

grimmest and most saturnine of men, who, though he made others roar with

merriment, was never known to smile, and who died 'in a rage, like a

poisoned rat in a hole'--Dean Swift--has called laughter 'the most

innocent of all diuretics.' Yet the philosopher of Concord, R. W.

Emerson, is reported as having said in a lecture: 'Laughter is to be

avoided. Lord Chesterfield said that after he had come to the years of

understanding he never laughed.' Lord Chesterfield would have had far

more influence if, instead of repressing every inclination to laugh, he

had now and then given his ribs a holiday--nay, if he had even roared

outright; for it would have disabused the public of the notion that he

never obeyed a natural impulse, but that everything he said and did was

prestudied--done by square, rule, and compass. As it was, though he was

confessedly the politest, best-bred, most insinuating man at court, yet

he was regularly and invariably out-flanked and out-maneuvered by Sir

Robert Walpole, who had the heartiest laugh in the kingdom, and by the

Duke of Newcastle, who had the worst manners in the world. In commending

laughter, we mean genuine laughter, not a make-believe, not the

artificial or falsetto laugh of fashionable society, nor, again, the

mere smile of acquiescent politeness, or the crackling of thorns under a

pot, or the curl of the lips that indicates in the laughter a belief in

his fancied superiority. Still less do we mean the hollow, mocking laugh

of the cynic. The laughter which we would commend as healthful is not

bitter, but kindly, genial, and sympathetic."

No Physiological Reason for Death.--"Dr. William A. Hammond, a prominent

physician of New York, who has written several medical treatises, and

was some years ago Surgeon-General of the United States Army, has

recently set forth his belief that there is no physiological reason at

the present day why man should die. He maintains that people die through

the ignorance of the laws which govern their existence, and from their

inability, or indisposition, to attend to those laws with which they are

acquainted. Now, as the business of medical men has ostensibly been for

the last four thousand years to prolong human life, and as Dr. Hammond

affirms that there is no good reason why people should die, the wonder

is why men of his school have not drawn up some formula by which they

could live on for three or four thousand years, at least. There has

always been a vague impression that the knowledge of the preservation of

human life had been lost, and that in some favored era of the world's

history that knowledge would be recovered.

"If there is such a thing as a hidden law of life, which, when

discovered and asserted, will arrest physical decay and prevent death,

except by accident, Doctor Hammond, and all who hold to his doctrine,

ought to lose no time in making it known. This medical authority reasons

that, as the human body is constantly dying and constantly renewing its

particles, this law of displacement and renewal ought to be perpetual,

and that when it is discovered just what substances are best fitted to

maintain this equipoise, as it were, there should be no giving out of

the physical powers.

"'The food that man takes into his stomach,' says Doctor Hammond, 'ought

to be of such quantity and quality as would exactly repair the losses

which, through the action of the several organs, his body is to undergo.

If it is excessive in either of these directions, or if it is deficient,

disease of some kind will certainly be the result. If he knew enough to

be able to adjust his daily food to the expected daily requirements of

his system, disease could never ensue through the exhaustion of any one

of his vital organs. A large majority of the morbid affections to which

he is subject are due to a lack of this knowledge.

"'Now, suppose that he is exactly right in his calculations, and that

the food taken is neither too great nor too little, but exactly

compensates the anticipated losses, the death of each cell in the brain,

or the heart, or the muscles, etc., will be followed by the birth of a

new cell, which will take its place and assume its functions. Gout,

rheumatism, liver and kidney diseases, heart affections, softening and

other destructive disorders of the brain, the various morbid conditions

to which the digestive organs are subject, would be impossible except

through the action of some external force, such as the swallowing of

sulphuric acid, or a blow on the head, or a stab with a knife, which

would come clearly within the class of accidents, and of course many of

these would be avoidable.'

"Dr. Hammond's theory supposes that the time will come when the

individual will have learned the uttermost thing about the laws of life,

and when he will conform so strictly to these laws that he will have

nothing more to learn in regard to the best way of living. It may

require ages for this progress, but when it is attained, and the race is

set free from all morbific influences, physical death would be

impossible. The summary of his points is that 'people die from ignorance

of the laws of life; and from willfulness in not obeying the laws they

know.' That may be a part of the truth which is very near the surface.

But the other demonstration is not quite so clear as could be

wished--that there can be any such thing as an eternity of physical

life, even if all the laws touching that life were known and every one

of them obeyed."

PART II

CHAPTER I.

DISEASES AND REMEDIES; HOW TO PREVENT MOST MALADIES AND CURE ILLS

POSSESSED.

Note.--If the reader is in haste to know what will cure this or that

trouble, before perusing the pages of this entire pamphlet, such as

cramp, colic, indigestion, constipation, headache, etc., the index found

in the back part of this work will give immediate reference, and the

prescriptions instant relief. If you are cured thereby of any of the

many maladies that beset the human family, remember that it is only

temporary; for to be cured of any disease permanently requires the

removal of the cause. One of the objects of this book is to convey that

information.

The great disparity between the actions and teachings of many of our

principal writers must be apparent to every reader of books, pamphlets,

and editorials, upon the subject of health and its allies, happiness and

longevity. Many of the leading exponents of temperance have periodical

spells of drunkenness, and some drink all the time. The prominent

articles written upon the subject of sanitary matters and cleanliness,

are generally by the editor whose office is the scene of disorder, the

floor covered with tobacco quids, old rubbish and dust, and the corners

filled with cobwebs. The writer upon the subject of poverty and the

wrongs of the poor, has his headquarters fitted up in the most

magnificent style;--he never knew what it was to want for a meal, nor

did he ever darken the door of real poverty. The missionary advocate

soliciting funds for the heathen and down-trodden poor of foreign lands,

more than likely never crossed the borders of his own State, certainly

has not taken a stroll through the dark lanes and alleys, or climbed the

dingy stairways of the tenement houses of his own city. If he had done

so, a more effective appeal would have gone up for the suffering poor

and spiritually blind of the principal unsanitary municipalities of his

own country. The physician with a bad cough and broken-down constitution

is still prescribing for consumptives and patients with all manner of

aches and pains, of which his own body is a perfect index.

And the minister who has not yet lost all his hatred for "that other

sect," and occasionally assists in persecuting it, is still teaching the

doctrine of the meek and lowly Nazarene. Having experienced a large

number of diseases and their successful remedies, we have for several

years been collecting the most reliable data and testimony on many--in

short most--of mankind's bodily ills. In this second part we present

them for your benefit.

There are about 11,000 remedies mentioned in the 15th edition of the

"United States Dispensatory," by reference to which it will be seen that

each affliction to which flesh is heir must be more than well drugged.

It is the fault of the community at large that the necessity of such a

work exists. There is no demand for any form of disease even with the

improper state of society as it is to-day. Extreme old age and a limited

number of accidents are all that can be necessary to record. The

following is an admirable article from the St. Louis _Globe Democrat_,

which is quite pertinent.

"Sanitation and Sanity.--The general subject of sanitation now covers

our architecture and our home life; our sewerage and disposition of

waste; our personal cleanliness and contact in all social relations; our

food and drink, both as to quality and kind; quarantine and other

preventives against contagion and infection; the purification of

streams, and the cleansing of the air of smoke and foul vapors; in fact,

the whole subject of health or wholeness. * * * A national board of

health was as unthought of as was an Atlantic cable in 1800. But the

fact that great epidemics were liable to invade us, and did invade us,

led to a system of quarantine and to enforced vaccination. But the

regulation by law of our social manners, so far as they bore on public

health, was not undertaken to any extent until within the past decade. *

* * Indeed, public sentiment is as yet so uninformed that thorough laws

in the case could not be enacted or enforced. There is not a stream in

the United States that can be kept entirely free from pollution. The

sanitary value of this is not understood by even the intelligent

populace. The drainage of swamps is neglected in the neighborhood of our

larger cities." "St. Louis has tolerated inside her limits pools that

have made fevers of a malarious sort, with spinal meningitis, as common

as croup. Chicago has acres of rotting vegetable matter inside the

corporation every autumn. The inroads of yellow fever have always been

invited by the unsanitary condition of Southern towns. The reports of

Surgeon-General Hamilton, last summer, showed that the pest found its

first welcome in a town where sewerage was wholly neglected, and tons of

rotting sawdust and refuse filled the heated air with fever conditions.

"The discovery of the germ origin of diphtheria and of the typhoid forms

of fever, has led to great changes in thousands of households. Our

houses are constructed with far more attention to ventilation and proper

heating. We shall finally get rid of drunkenness and intemperance of

other sorts, on sanitary grounds mainly. Alcohol has been considered as

at least valuable in moderation. It has been looked upon as a medicine.

That its value as a stimulant hangs on the previous abuse of health is

now understood, and its value purely as a very temporary bridging of

weakness alone is conceded. That the drink habit is in any sense,

however moderate, of sanitary value, is disproved. Few doctors prescribe

any form of alcohol for habitual use. The saloon is unsanitary in all

its effects. The temperance issue rests at that point. Animals to which

spirits have been given in their food digest nearly one-half less than

other animals of the kind. The nutrition of the human body demands the

abolition of stimulants and narcotics. The saloon will go ultimately as

a nuisance to health. We have not yet reached a condition when public

morals can rest on any other basis than health. It is doubtful if there

can be a higher basis. What is unwholesome is wrong; what is promotive

of health and completeness for the individual and for the community is

right.

"Sanity is dependent on sanitary living. They both are derived

etymologically from _sanitus_, and that from _sanus_, the Latin for

sound or whole. Insanity has come to have the limited meaning of

unsoundness of brain. * * * Insanity is on the increase in the United

States, but not more so than nervous disorders in general. This

indicates a tendency to a break-down of the national type of organism,

and cannot be considered with indifference. The fact exists as a

consequence of the overwork and high pressure of modern life, but in

this country is at its maximum, because, for several generations, we

have been at white heat, subjecting a continent to our domestic

purposes.

"The vast unfolding of means of wealth has also acted as a stimulant,

compared to which alcohol is insignificant. Our lunatic asylums

multiply, but are all full. The percentage of failure is greatest in

California, where speculation has been most intense. It is impossible to

avoid the problem. How shall we reverse this tendency, and begin the

construction of an American type of full, robust, conservative, and

reserved energy? The underlying problem of all problems is to secure a

constitution. A nation that lives and works in such a manner as to grow

weaker in brain endurance and nerve power, and yet so lives that the

demands on brain and nerves are increased, is doomed. The intensity of

modern life is something we cannot reverse. We must adapt ourselves to

it by securing larger and more systematic means of recuperation.

Brain-workers must learn to use the first half of the day for work, and

sacredly give the last half to rest and play. Night must be given back

entirely to sleep. Withal it is clear that we must understand the close

relation between sanity and sanitation. Our people can no longer eat and

drink as grossly as our fathers did. The stomach gets not half the time

it formerly did for digestion. It must, therefore, be delivered of half

its toil. The introduction of stoves and modern conveniences must be

accompanied by more rational ventilation. Active brains require a vast

and regular supply of oxygen. It is not for the lungs alone that we need

pure air, but for the brain. This is specifically an American problem,

the readjustment of society, so that the mind shall be relieved of

strain and consequent enfeeblement."

Individual, municipal, and national cleanliness by enactment of law are

among the first steps that should be taken. The churches and schools

should teach it as a prerequisite before godliness, or education in

general; then with perfect ventilation, sanitation, and regularity of

all the virtues, there will be no vices, and godliness and education

will be contagious, just as though they were real diseases.

The first thing to undertake if you are desirous of freeing yourself of

any disease, ache, or pain, is to stop the cause. Act on the same

principle you would if you had a barrel that had leaked its contents and

you desired to refill it,--first stop the leak. It is absolutely

necessary that you study _cause_ as well as _effect_, if you would know

yourself.

The Secret of Sound Health.--"Half the secret of life," says

_MacMillan's Magazine_, "we are persuaded, is to know when we are grown

old; and it is the half most hardly learned. It is more hardly learned,

moreover, in the matter of exercise than in the matter of diet. There is

no advice so commonly given to the ailing man of middle age as the

advice to take more exercise, and there is perhaps none which leads him

into so many pitfalls. This is particularly the case with the brain

workers. The man who labors his brain must spare his body. He cannot

burn the candle at both ends, and the attempt to do so will almost

inevitably result in his lighting it in the middle to boot. Most men who

use their brains much soon learn for themselves that the sense of

physical exaltation, the glow of exuberant health which comes from a

body strung to its full powers by continuous and severe exercise, is not

favorable to study. The exercise such men need is the exercise that

rests, not that which tires. They need to wash their brains with the

fresh air of heaven, to bring into gentle play the muscles that have

been lying idle while the head worked. Nor is it only to this class of

laboring humanity that the advice to take exercise needs reservations.

The time of violent delights soon passes, and the effort to protract it

beyond its natural span is as dangerous as it is ridiculous. Some men,

through nature or the accident of fortune, will, of course, be able to

keep touch of it longer than others; but when once the touch has been

lost, the struggle to regain it can add but sorrow to the labor. Of this

our doctor makes a cardinal point; but, pertinent as his warning may be

to the old, for whom, indeed, he has primarily compounded his _elixir

vitae_, it is yet more pertinent to men of middle age, and probably it is

more necessary. It is in the latter period that most of the mischief is

done. The old are commonly resigned to their lot; but few men will

consent without a struggle to own that they are no longer young. All

things are not good to all men, and all things are not always good to

the same man. The man who confines his studies within one unchanging

groove will hardly find his intellectual condition so light and nimble,

so free of play, so capable of giving and receiving, as he who varies

them according to his mood, for the mind needs rest and recreation no

less than the body; it is not well to keep either always at high

pressure. One fixed, unswerving system of diet, without regard to needs

and seasons, or even to fancy, is not wise. The great secret of

existence after all is to be the master and not the slave of both mind

and body, and that is best done by giving both free rein within certain

limits, which, as the old sages were universally agreed, each man must

discover for himself. Happy are the words of Addison, and happily

quoted: "A continual anxiety for life vitiates all the relishes of it,

and casts a gloom over the whole face of nature, as it is impossible

that we should take delight in anything that we are every moment afraid

of losing. "One of the best methods of avoiding that pitiful anxiety is

to learn within what limits we may safely indulge our desire for change,

and then freely indulge it within them."

CHAPTER II.

We shall now take up a practical list of subjects, arranged in

alphabetical order. Without any attempt at egotism, we claim that there

are few nontechnical books extant that contain a superior selection of

preventatives and remedies. Read carefully and judge for yourself. There

are very few common or occasional afflictions which are not considered

to some extent. Why always seek a doctor when you seem to be somewhat

off your physical equilibrium? You will generally at each visit spend

more money than this book will cost. Learn to provide against constant

medical attention.

=Accidents.=--In sudden emergencies, either of accident or sickness, the

first great requisite is presence of mind. Be calm. Endeavor, if

possible, to grasp the situation, and do what is to be done promptly and

quietly, until the arrival of the physician. All hurried and distracted

motions, and all exciting noises, confuse the attendants and needlessly

alarm the sufferer. In many cases, the course of immediate action is

suggested by the circumstances; but where you do not know what aid to

render, it is best to do nothing, except to make the patient as

comfortable, for the time being, as possible. For all ordinary

emergencies, ample directions are:--

"1. Always look in the direction in which you are moving.

"2. Never leave a car, or other public vehicle, when it is in motion.

"3. Never put your head or arms out of a vehicle when it is in motion.

"4. If a horse runs away with you, remain in the vehicle rather than

risk the danger of jumping from it.

"5. In thunder-storms keep away from trees, metallic substances, doors,

and windows. The lower part of a house is the safer.

"6. Never play with fire-arms. Always keep them beyond the reach of

children.

"7. Avoid charcoal fumes; they are deadly when confined in a close room.

"8. Illuminating gas; be sure to turn it off. _Never blow it out._

"9. When gas can be smelt in an apartment always air the room well

before striking a match or bringing a light.

"10. When very cold, move quickly. If any part of the body is frozen,

rub it with snow, and keep from the fire.

"11. Change wet clothing as soon as possible.

"12. Carefully avoid exposure to night air, in malarial districts.

"13. If necessary to go into an old vault or well, first introduce a

burning candle. If the light burns low and finally goes out, carbonic

acid gas is present and the place is unsafe to enter. Unslaked lime will

absorb the gas and purify the air.

"14. Avoid walking on railroad tracks and icy sidewalks.

"15. When awake, very young children should never be left alone.

"16. Do not go, with loose hair or flowing garments, near dangerous

machinery.

"17. Never touch gunpowder after dark.

"18. Never fondle a strange dog.

"19. Never light a fire with kerosene.

"20. Fill and trim your lamps in the day-time. Never trim or fill a

lighted lamp.

"21. Keep matches in a closed metallic box.

"22. Have your horses rough-shod as soon as the ground freezes.

"23. When feeling dizzy or seasick, lie down.

"24. Do not close the damper of your stove too early. Better waste coal

than run the risk of suffocation by gas.

"25. When climbing a ladder, look up and not down.

"26. In railroad traveling take the center of the car, and the middle

car of the train, for safety.

"27. Eat only pure food, drink only pure liquids, think only pure

thoughts, and keep your blood pure.

"28. In going through dry woods or over prairies do not smoke or cast

matches about carelessly. There should be laws against this often wanton

destruction of property.

"29. Look out for spontaneous ignition of oily rags, oil-painted canvas

rolled up, wet iron filings.

"30. In entering mines not used, always try for gas before venturing

into them.

"31. Do not be careless in any way whatever in connection with fire. The

losses in the United States, in 1889, by fires as a result of

carelessness amounted to nearly $100,000,000, while in San Francisco for

the same year we find that fully 80% of the losses can be attributed to

the same source."

=Alcohol.=--Felix L. Oswald, M.D., gives some very good ideas in _Good

Health_ on the alcoholic habit. "'Reform,' says an able political

writer, 'is ever unpopular. All wrongs lie in the consent of the

wronged, and what with the fierce support of those who thrive on the

abuse, and the dull, heavy, ignorant conservatism of the masses, * * *

it is a sad delusion to suppose that the cause is won when the argument

is made.' An unquestionable preponderance of power, they argue, favors

the side of the liquor venders, and in this world, at least, always

finds a way to assert itself as right. The last link of that syllogism,

however, is a rule with occasional exceptions. No unqualified evil has

ever succeeded in maintaining its supremacy, and the evils of the

alcohol vice are offset by no benefits. Alcohol has been called

'negative food,' because its physiological influence torpifies the

functional energy of the digestive organs, and thus, for a time, renders

the toper insensible to the cravings of hunger. The same effect,

however, can be produced by a stunning blow, and we might as well claim

that the interests of political economy could be promoted by a fierce

war, because a knock-down stroke with the butt-end of a musket is apt to

lessen the appetite of the afflicted soldier. No real benefit can result

from the lethargizing effect of a poison dose, the retardation of the

digestive functions being in every case a morbid and abnormal process,

avenging its repetition by the fatty degeneration of the tissues and the

impoverished condition of the blood. * * * During the horrible flood

which a few months ago devastated the two richest provinces of the

Chinese Empire, a number of vile marauders eked out an existence by

fishing out wreckage and plundering floating corpses. The idea of

mentioning the profits of these wretches as a compensating offset to the

horrors of a public calamity would justly consign its propounder to the

custody of a lunatic commission. Yet, by an exactly analogous line of

argument, many of our political economists continue to defend the legal

sanction of the liquor traffic. Nay, it might be seriously questioned if

the total loss (by fire or water) of a billion bushels of grain would

not be financially and morally preferable to their conversion into a

life-blighting poison. According to the statistics of the Treasury

Department, the alcohol drinkers of the United States (representing

hardly one-fifth of the alcoholized nations of Christendom) spent during

the last ten years a yearly average of $370,000,000 for whisky,

$58,000,000 for other distilled liquors, $56,000,000 for wine, and

$140,000,000 for ale and beer; together, $624,000,000 a year. That

enormous sum has been far worse than wasted. It has been invested in the

purchase of disease. It has been devoted to the development of idiocy,

crime, and pauperism. It has turned blessings into a concentration of

curses. The general recognition of these facts will seal the doom of the

liquor traffic."

Dr. C. E. Spitka expresses some results of science investigating strong

drinks:--

"Alcoholism among the ancients was therefore mainly or exclusively known

in its acute phases, the drunken frenzy in which Alexander the Great

killed Clitus being a familiar example. With the introduction of tobacco

and playing cards, the saloon, the cellar-dive, and the bar-room usurped

the place formerly held by the inn. The enlargement of cities deprived

their inhabitants of rustic sports, and led to their seeking in other

and more dangerous channels an escape from mental and physical strain,

and a variation of routine monotony. It is generally conceded by those

medical writers who are unshackled by prejudice that a certain amount

of alcohol can be ingested with perfect impunity. That amount has been

accurately determined by Dujardin-Beaumetz in the course of experiments

made in the abattoirs of Paris. Transferring the result of his

experiments to the human species, he concluded that a man weighing 120

pounds could take the equivalent of two ounces of alcohol a day for

years without injury to any organ of the body. But when the amount taken

daily exceeds the toleration-point, prolonged abuse is followed by

results which are as sinister as they are insidious. In the dead-house

of the Philadelphia Hospital, Formad found that, of 250 chronic

alcoholists, nearly 99 per cent had fatty degeneration of the liver, 60

per cent had congestion or a dropsical state of the brain, the same

proportion an inflamed or degenerated stomach, while not quite 1 per

cent had normal kidneys. Of 17 children of drunken fathers observed by

Voisin, 3 were idiots, 2 confirmed epileptics, 1 suffered from a

congenital spinal disease, and the remainder died in early life with

convulsions. Of 11 children similarly descended, cited by Dagonet, 9

died in the same way. Of 117 such births recorded in Alsace-Lorraine, 13

were still-born and 39 died of convulsive disorders shortly after birth.

One drunken father had 7 still-born children in succession; another lost

8 of 12 by convulsions. It is not alone as a direct result of inebriety

that a defective nervous system is thus transmitted. Even in his sober

intervals, he whose nervous system has been shattered by alcohol is

liable to have a degenerate or diseased offspring. Of 18 children

recorded as born under these circumstances, Voisin found 8 epileptic and

10 idiotic. As if to prove beyond the possibility of a doubt that such

degeneracy is due to the alcoholism of the parent, and to that alone,

two French investigators, Mairet and Combemale, performed a series of

experiments on dogs, by which they showed that the same result which the

chronic inebriate is accused of producing in his offspring, through

selfish indulgence, can be produced at will in the offspring of lower

animals by compulsory induction of the same vice in them."

An English investigation, just completed, puts in tangible form the

effect of the use of alcohol, from observations covering 4,234 cases in

all walks of life. This report shows that, with men over twenty-five,

the intemperate use of alcohol cuts off ten years from life, those who

never drink to excess, or use no liquor, living, on the average, ten

years longer than those who do. Indulgence, if carried to excess,

doubles diseases of the liver, quadruples those of the kidneys, and

greatly increases the number of deaths from pneumonia, pleurisy, and

epilepsy.

It is not often appreciated how many people die annually from the

effects of strong drink. Dr. Norman Kerr, an eminent physician of

England, believing the statement of temperance people to be extravagant,

that 60,000 people die annually from the effects of strong drink, began

as early as 1870 a personal inquiry, in connection with several medical

men and experts, expecting to quickly disprove the same. According to

their deductions, the latest estimates of deaths of adults annually

caused through intemperance is, in Great Britain, 120,000; in France,

142,000; in the United States, 80,000--or nearly a half million each

year in three countries aggregating a population of 112,000,000.

_Excessive Beer Drinking._--In the earlier part of our work we

endeavored to impress on our readers the necessity of regularity and the

avoidance of excesses. The last week of 1889 in New York City saw two

prominent brewers buried, and two others of the guild were near death.

None of them were, or are, over forty-seven years old. Kidney and heart

disease were the causes of death in the case of the first two. Similar

ailments have marked the other two gentlemen for the grave. The question

arises, Was it beer or champagne that caused these diseases? In this

connection the statement a physician of Bellevue Hospital once made is

not amiss. These are his words: "The worst cases of alcoholic ailments

coming under our observation are those resulting from excessive beer

drinking."

In appearance the beer drinker may be the picture of health; but in

reality he is most incapable of resisting disease. A slight injury, a

severe cold, or a shock to the body or mind, will commonly provoke

acute disease, ending fatally. Compared with other inebriates who use

different kinds of alcohol, he is more incurable and more generally

diseased. It is our observation that beer drinking in this country

produces the very lowest kind of inebriety, closely allied to criminal

insanity. The most dangerous class of ruffians in our large cities are

beer drinkers. Intellectually, a stupor amounting almost to paralysis

arrests the reason, changing all the higher faculties into a mere

animalism, sensual, selfish, sluggish, varied only with paroxysms of

anger, senseless and brutal.

That men are the sex most addicted to stimulating but injurious habits

is sadly growing less true, and women are finding recourse too often to

poisonous invigorators. If one-half of what the doctors are saying all

over the country is true, there may soon be a greater need of a

temperance reform among the women than there ever has been among the

men. Strong drink, however, is not the monster by which the women may be

enslaved, but a strong and poisonous drug equally baneful in its effect.

This drug is antipyrine. It is a white powder, slightly bitter, and

soluble in water. Until about a year ago it was prescribed for fevers

only, but a French medical college recommended it for headaches and

other pains and disorders, and in this way it has gained its grasp on so

many thoughtless and nervous women.

In Chicago and many other places it is said that the habit is gaining

with alarming rapidity, for the women take it for every ill, and cannot

believe that its soothing effect can have any evil result until the

habit is thoroughly fixed upon them. It produces different results under

different circumstances, and, like many other preparations, varies

according to the size of the dose. In large doses it has been known to

produce complete relaxation, and at the same time a loss of reflex

action, and death. In moderate or tonic doses it often produces

convulsions. Its effect as a stimulant seems to be very much like that

of quinine, and the physicians say that they do not understand why it

should get the hold on women that it does.

The latest female vice is intoxication by naphtha. It is not drank. The

fumes of it are simply inhaled, inducing, so the inebriates say, a

particularly agreeable exhilaration.

_Remedies of Alcoholism._--Without much doubt, the best way to affect a

cure is to regularly reduce one's amount of liquor each day until the

system can do without it. A systematic decrease can always be carried

through if the will power will back it. We add also some ideas that have

been advanced by good judges: "To dispel as quickly as possible the

effects of intoxicants, one of the most effectual remedies is a small

dose of sal volatile, or volatile salts, in a wine-glass of

water--repeating the dose in half an hour. A dish of cold broth may

answer the same purpose. The most speedy way, however, of effecting a

cure, is by taking an emetic, following it with the sal volatile and

water half an hour after."

The Russian physician and publicist Portugaloff declares that strychnine

in subcutaneous injections is an immediate and infallible remedy for

drunkenness. The craving of the inebriate for drink is changed into

positive aversion in a day, and after a treatment of eight or ten days

the patient may be discharged. Even should the appetite return months

afterward, the first attempt to resume drinking will produce such

painful and nauseating sensations that the person will turn away from

the liquor in disgust. The strychnine is administered by dissolving one

grain in two hundred drops of water, and injecting five drops of the

solution every twenty-four hours. Dr. Portugaloff recommends the

establishment of inebriate dispensaries in connection with police

stations.

=Appetite=.--Happy is the man who always possesses a good appetite;

unhappy is he who does not have this precious boon. The lack of it

results largely from failure of exercise and the excessive use of

condiments. In the first place, try to take an invigorating bath with a

wet towel and rub hard. If you cannot endure even that, use a dry towel

on the body until the friction brings the blood to the surface of the

skin. Then give the mouth a careful cleansing by rinsing and

tooth-brush. When you sit at the table, do so with a cheerful mood, eat

slowly, partake sparingly of condiments, using salt mostly, and vinegar

for an acid. Preface your meals with a walk long enough to get up a

circulation, if it is dinner or supper hour, but do not tire yourself,

and be sure to rest the last fifteen minutes before eating.

=Asphyxiation.=--A practical man, conversant with cases in which

asphyxiation resulted from inhaling carbonic acid gas, gives some

valuable hints for their recovery by simple remedies always at hand.

Fresh air to restore consciousness is the first important step. Then he

gave apples, apple juice, or vinegar, to neutralize the gas and remove

it from the stomach by eructations. Eggs broken into vinegar mixed and

swallowed made a very effective drink. After removing the gas from the

stomach, the patient was further relieved by a cup of strong, hot

coffee, which speedily restored him to normal vigor. On two similar

occasions, where a physician was called, he administered injections of

carbonate of ammonia, and the man was ill for eight or ten days from the

effects of the medicine. A little common sense is often better than

physic.

=Bathing.=--We have already treated this subject to some extent, but we

recommend the careful reading of Dr. C. H. Steele's ideas, part of which

we embody here; also some other worthy opinions on this matter, of great

importance to health.

"The use of water in the treatment of diseases dates back to remote

antiquity. Savages resort to the surf and sweat-bath, and Hindoos and

Mohammedans bathe because their religion commands them to do so.

References to the bath may be found scattered throughout the literature

of Greece, and in Rome the magnificent buildings and lavish expenditure

devoted to the public bath show it in the highest stage of perfection it

has ever attained."

"It is only within a few years past that the domestic bath has been

accepted as a necessity. No home in England is complete without a

bath-room, and no Englishman deems himself well unless he bathes daily.

The speaker said that a thermometer, whose use should be understood,

should be permanently attached to every bath-tub.

"_Physiological Action of the Bath._--In considering the physiological

action of the bath, it is first to be accepted that water of a

temperature below that of the body abstracts heat from the skin, which

abstraction continues indefinitely, only for a time checked by the

renewed activity of the heat centers. In a bath the temperature of which

is from 92 degrees to 95 degrees, the body may remain indefinitely

without any loss or gain of temperature, but after the bath a cooling

takes place, owing to increased perspirations. If the water is between

77 degrees and 86 degrees, there is, after the first shock, a positive

rise in the temperature of the body. Sixty-five degrees, and lower, may

be borne for a long time."

"Nature adapts herself to the cold bath by a rapid stimulation of heat

production. All the muscles, nerves, and organs of the body are brought

into heightened activity, and thus it is that to the healthy individual

the cold bath is invigorating. But nature has her limits, and the bath

must be discontinued while this tonic effect is felt, for the heat

centers become fatigued and give rise to a chill which may continue for

days afterward.

"The greatest agency in bathing is the stimulation of perspiration, and

this depends upon the relative dryness of the surrounding air. Thus, in

the dry vapor, or Turkish bath, a person will easily endure 264 degrees,

and lose four pounds per hour by perspiration. It is this rapid

evaporation from the skin that keeps the body cool. A person may stand

for some time in an oven, beside a roasting rib of beef. But in the

steam or Russian bath the perspiration is retarded, and a temperature of

120 degrees is hardly bearable. A temperature of 124 degrees may induce

a rise in the temperature of the mouth to 104 degrees or even 107

degrees, which is seldom reached in a raging fever. Hence, there is an

element of danger in the Russian bath--a danger to sudden death similar

to sunstroke. This danger is much more pronounced in the hot-water bath

when perspiration ceases altogether, and the supply of heat from the

interior to the skin is excessive. The temperature of bathing water

should not exceed 104 degrees, and this hot bath should not be endured

more than fifteen minutes. Even then it is likely to be followed by

depression and weakness." "The circulation being quickened, the cold

bath acts as a good blood purifier, washing away the poisons of the body

through the channels of the veins. In case of persons troubled with an

excess of fat, the bath must be accompanied by massage, banting, and a

liberal indulgence in outdoor exercise. In the hot bath there is this

same waste of tissue, but no tonic effects, and it is invariably

accompanied with loss of energy and vitality. But the action of the bath

upon the skin is no less beneficial than upon the interior of the body.

It favors the excretory action of the skin, thus purifying it. The

millions of dead scales, kept to the skin by the clothing, and the

cementing effect of the oil, are washed away, thus relieving the skin,

which is the great sewerage system of the body. The work of the lungs

and kidneys is thus lessened, and the danger of consumption and Bright's

disease, which may be caused by uncleanness, reduced."

"_Effects of Sea Bathing._--Sea bathing is much more tonic than all

other kinds, and the reason is simple. The salt has a slightly

irritating effect on the skin, which is very beneficial. Besides, sea

bathing is always accompanied by the best of exercise, by relaxation and

freedom from the ordinary cares of life, by a change of climate and

scene. The beating of the waves against the body also has an

exhilarating effect. The bath in the sea should be taken about three

hours after breakfast. There are three stages experienced in the cold

bath--first, that of depression; second, the tonic stage; and third, the

giving out of the heat-producing powers. This is the same as the one

stage of the hot bath, and is always to be avoided as highly injurious.

"Nevertheless, the hot bath has its value. Its power to cool the body is

admitted, and it is used with effect in cases inflammation induced by

cold. The cold foot-bath is recommended as a positive cure for cold

feet."

"The practice among modern women of taking hot baths is endangering the

health of the race. In a hot bath there is at first a feeling of

oppression and violent throbbing of the head, followed by prostration, a

highly feverish condition, and a relaxation of the entire system. In

case of any organic disease of the heart or consumption, this bath must

be carefully shunned. The hot bath belongs alone to the province of the

physician. The cold bath, on the other hand, aside from its tonic

effects, renders the body less sensitive to changes of temperature, and

in this climate is, hence, especially valuable as a protection against

catching cold. This bath is from 68 degrees to 75 degrees, and should be

taken in the morning before breakfast."

"=Bleeding.=--A sudden and profuse flow of blood is cause for alarm.

First, decide whether the blood comes from an artery or a vein. If from

a vein, the blood is dark, and oozes or flows evenly; if from an artery,

it is bright red, and spurts in jets. In the former case, the bleeding

may generally be stopped by binding on a hard pad. In case of a ruptured

artery, the flow of blood may be checked by tying a twisted

handkerchief, a cord, or strap, _between the wound and the heart_. If

the hand is cut, raise the arm above the head and bind it tightly. In

_wounds of the throat_, _arm-pit_, or _groin_, caused by cuts, and in

case of any deep wound, thrust the thumb and finger into the bottom of

the wound and pinch up the part from which the blood comes, directing

the pressure against the flow. _In cuts of the lips_, compress the lips

between the thumb and finger nearer the angle of the mouth than the cut

itself. In _scalp wounds_, make direct pressure against the bones of the

skull with the fingers, or, better, by means of a compress or bandage."

"_Nosebleed._--Full-blooded persons who are afflicted with headache and

dizziness are most subject to nosebleed. In such cases, the bleeding

should be regarded as a relief to an overcharged system, and should not

be too suddenly stopped. To stop the bleeding, keep the patient's arms

elevated, apply cold water or ice to the base of the brain, or inject

vinegar or alum water up the nostrils with a syringe. A thick piece of

wrapping paper, placed between the upper lip and gum, and firmly

pressed, will usually arrest the flow. It acts by compressing the

arteries which supply the Sneiderian membrane. Try plugging with cotton,

or a strip of soft muslin, gently pushed up the nostrils, thus causing

the blood to clot about the plug. If these remedies fail, the case

should have the attention of a physician."

=Brain Worry.=--"After a good spell of hard work, the brain worker is

often tormented by finding it difficult, all at once, to turn off the

steam. His work-day thoughts will intrude themselves in spite of every

effort to keep them out. Thackeray generally succeeded in exorcising the

creatures he had been calling into existence, by the simple expedient of

turning over the leaves of a dictionary. A great lawyer was in the

habit, in similar circumstances, of plunging into a cold bath, and

averred that a person never took out of cold water the same ideas that

he took into it. Perhaps the best mental corrective of this condition is

to employ the mind for a short time in a direction most contrasted to

that in which it has been overworked. During excessive labor of the

brain, there is an increased flow of blood to the working organ. If this

condition of distention is long continued, the vessels are apt to lose

the power of contracting when mental activity is diminished. Hence

arises the impossibility of fulfilling the physical conditions of sleep,

the most important of which is the diminution of the flow of blood to

the brain. It is certain enough that the continued deprivation of any

considerable part of the normal amount of sleep will be seriously

detrimental to health. Dr. Hammond, in his work on sleep, mentions the

case of a literary man in America who for nearly a year restricted his

rest to four hours a day, and frequently less. At the end of that time,

the overtasking of his mental powers was manifested in a curious way. He

told the physician that, though still able to maintain a connected line

of reasoning, he found that as soon as he attempted to record his ideas

on paper, the composition turned out to be simply a tissue of arrant

nonsense. When in the act of writing, his thoughts flowed so rapidly

that he was not conscious of the disconnected nature of what he was

writing, but as soon as he stopped to read it over, he was aware how

completely he had misrepresented his conceptions."

=Breathing.=--In each respiration an adult inhales one pint of air.

A man respires 16 to 20 times a minute, or 20,000 times a day; a child,

25 to 35 times a minute.

While standing, the adult respiration is 22; while lying, 13.

The superficial surface of the lungs, _i. e._,of their alveolar spaces,

is 200 square yards. The amount of air inspired in 24 hours is about

2,500 gallons.

Two-thirds of the oxygen absorbed in 24 hours is absorbed during the

night hours, from 6 P.M. to 6 A.M.

Three-fifths of the total carbonic acid is thrown off in the day-time.

The pulmonary surface gives off about 5 fluidounces of water daily in

the state of vapor.

The heart sends through the lungs 192 gallons of blood hourly, or 4,608

gallons daily. The duration of inspiration is five-twelfths, of

expiration seven-twelfths, of the whole respiratory act; but during

sleep, inspiration occupies ten-twelfths of the respiratory period.

There are two good rules to follow given by William Blaikie:--

"1. To hold the body erect, whether standing, sitting, or walking, and

breathe deeply. This habit gives the lungs and digestive organs free

play. More oxygen is taken into the blood, and the food is more readily

digested and assimilated. 2. To fill the lungs full at frequent

intervals, holding the air in the chest as long as is comfortable. This

practice will soon improve a disturbed circulation."

=Bright's Disease.=--Bright's disease is a disorder of the kidneys which

causes those organs to secrete albumen in the urine, while they fail to

extract from the blood the urea, or effete matter, which they should

take up from that fluid. Urea in the blood operates as a poison, and

when accumulated in large quantities, produces drowsiness, convulsions,

and apoplexy. Intemperance is a fruitful source of Bright's disease,

because excessive drinking tends peculiarly to the degeneration of the

kidneys. The best remedy we know, or have ever seen tested, is Bethesda

water, from Waukesha Springs, Wis. It should be natural, without gas; a

quart per day will not be too much for an adult.

=Bruises.=--If the skin is not broken, the best thing for a bruise, or

black and blue spot, as they are often termed, is a piece of pure

copper. It should be thin enough to shape with the fingers just the

curvature or angle of the portion of the body bruised. In applying it,

be very gentle at first, for if it be a finger nail you desire to

preserve, on first application it will give you quite a severe shock,

but by relieving it every second or two, inside of 5 minutes the pain

will cease, and no black spot will follow. If the skin be broken, and

the blood has ceased to flow, and you desire to use this remedy, first

paste a piece of unprinted newspaper over the broken part, and then

proceed as above; but in no case ever place a piece of copper on a

broken part of the skin without the above precaution.

=Burns=.--A correspondent of the Philadelphia _Record_ vouches for the

wonderful efficacy of the common cat-tail as a remedy for burns. He

says: "Take the down, and with just enough lard to hold it together,

make a plaster and lay upon any burn, and it soothes and heals so soon

that it seems a miracle. Put upon a fresh burn, and in less than half an

hour the smart is gone; if it is an old burn, the healing will commence

in twenty-four hours. 'Cat-tail' is also the Indian remedy for

scrofulous sores or ulcers. Age does not destroy its healing virtues. It

can be laid away and kept for years without losing any of its remedial

properties." Burns should be bathed with alcohol or turpentine and

afterwards with lime-water and sweet-oil, but never with cold water.

Soft soap or apple butter are equally excellent for burns.

=Cancer.=--It is well proved that cancer cannot be successfully removed

by use of the knife. Surgeon John McFarlane, of Glasgow, mentions the

cutting out of _eighty-six_ cancers without effecting a _single cure_.

For those who are troubled we would say that there have been and there

are remedies with permanent effects. The writer knows of a female

physician in this city who has been very successful in achieving lasting

cures in numerous authenticated instances.

=Chewing Gum and Other Substances.=--Regular chewing outside of meal

hours of any substance is injurious. It unnecessarily excites the

salivary glands, the strength of which should be reserved for eating. Do

not chew the ends of your finger nails. Little pieces of the nails may

be swallowed, which at some time--possibly quite remote--may cause you

great pain, and even death. This has occurred. It has also been found by

opticians and doctors that hardly anything will affect the eyes

harmfully quicker than gum-chewing.

=Cholera.=--Dr. Gamaleia, of Odessa, claims to have discovered a

prophylactic against cholera, and hopes to win the prize of $20,000

offered for such a cure. He calls his specific Chemical Vaccine, and has

tried it efficaciously on apes, guinea-pigs, and pigeons. This is

obtained by the successive passages of cholera virus through the blood

of animals. After each of these passages, the virus becomes stronger,

and is finally injected into the patient.

A cure which was very effective when the cholera struck America is

called the "Sun Cholera Medicine." It is also an excellent remedy for

colic, and diarrhea, etc. Take equal parts of tincture of cayenne

pepper, tincture of opium, tincture of rhubarb, essence of peppermint,

and spirits of camphor. Mix well. Dose: 15 to 30 drops in a little cold

water, according to age and violence of symptoms, repeated every fifteen

minutes or twenty, until relief is obtained. Our own _infallible_ remedy

for cholera, cholera morbus, cramps, colic, and diarrhea, is:--

Tincture of opium, 3 drachms.

" " cayenne pepper, 5 drachms.

" " ginger, 5 drachms.

" " camphor, 3 drachms.

Dose: 1 teaspoonful in a gill of cool water for an adult; repeat with

half a teaspoonful in 15 minutes if not relieved. For a child 2 years

old 1/4 the above dose, and in proportion up to an adult.

=Cleanliness.=--The English upper classes are clean, but cleanliness of

any high degree is a modern virtue among them. It is an invention of the

nineteenth century. Men and women born at the close of the eighteenth

century did as French people do to-day; they took a warm bath

occasionally for cleanliness, and they took shower-baths when they were

prescribed by the physician for health, and they bathed in summer seas

for pleasure, but they did not wash themselves all over every morning.

However, the new custom took deep root in England, because it became one

of the signs of class. It was adopted as one of the habits of a

gentleman.

Don't take your pocket-handkerchief to dust off your shoes and the next

moment wipe your face and eyes with it; don't carry your _own sheets_

with you on a trip and then sit in the smoking-car for 200 miles for

enjoyment; anything added to white castile soap as scenting matter is no

improvement and in most cases is detrimental.

We have taken this subject up so carefully in "bathing" and in the first

part that we will say no more here.

=Cold Feet.=--The best prescription for cold or tired feet is to

carefully envelop each toe and foot with blank newspaper before encasing

the same with sock. First have the feet perfectly dry and warm, then

they will remain so all day, if properly protected with easy-fitting,

strong boots or shoes. Barbers do this to prevent their feet scalding

and heating; stage drivers use this method, and hundreds attest its

efficacy.

Many people, especially women and children, suffer the whole winter

through with cold feet. This is mainly due to the fact that they wear

their shoes too tight. Unless the toes have perfect freedom, the blood

cannot circulate properly. People who wear rubbers the whole winter

through, generally suffer with their feet. Rubbers make them very tender

by overheating and causing them to perspire. They should be removed as

soon as one enters the house. They draw the feet, keep them hot and wet

with perspiration--then as soon as one goes again into the air the feet

are chilled.

=Colds.=--Don't have any fear of night air. That is an unfounded

superstition. Keep your windows open. You will sleep better and the next

day you will not catch cold.

Take a good hot lemonade just before retiring; in the morning,

immediately on getting out of bed, take a cold bath and rub hard until

you are in a perfect glow.

Too much coddling is unquestionably one of the most common causes of

catarrh. One who is inured to hardships is able to endure exposure

without injury, while one unaccustomed to like experience quickly

succumbs. Air-tight houses, close and unventilated, overheated rooms,

even the quantity of clothing required, are active causes, preventing

development of hardihood. As a result, colds and catarrh are universal

maladies among civilized people.

Says a writer in _Woman's Work_: "Without dwelling on the nature and

causes of colds, or on what physicians call the pathology of these

disorders, I will say that a low or even starvation diet for a few days,

with the free drinking of warm, mildly stimulating teas, is better for a

cold than any drug or combination of drugs. If with this a warm bath or

a hot foot-bath is taken, little more will be needed. Nine cases in ten

of colds can be broken up in this early stage by a hot foot or rather

leg-bath, keeping the bath as hot as it can be borne, until perspiration

arises. After the bath drink a half pint of hot lemonade and go to bed."

_A Good Cough Remedy._--The following is from a doctor connected with an

institution with many children: "There is nothing more irritable to a

cough than a cough. For some time I had been so fully assured of this

that I determined, for one minute at least, to lessen the number of

coughs heard in a certain ward in a hospital of the institution. By the

promise of rewards and punishments, I succeeded in inducing them to

simply hold their breath when tempted to cough, and in a little while I

was myself surprised to see how some of the children entirely recovered

from their disease. Constant coughing is precisely like scratching a

wound on the outside of the body. So long as it is done the wound will

not heal. Let a person when tempted to cough draw a long breath and hold

it until it warms and soothes every air-cell, and some benefit will soon

be received from this process. The nitrogen which is thus refined acts

as an anodyne to the mucous membrane, allaying the desire to cough and

giving the throat and lungs a chance to heal. At the same time a

suitable medicine will aid nature in her effort to recuperate."

=Constipation.=--Regularity in the hour of going to stool and the

avoidance of highly-seasoned food are preventatives. See "constipation,"

first part, per index, for a cure.

=Consumption.=--"What Changes has the Acceptance of the Germ Theory made

in Measures for the Prevention and Treatment of Consumption?" is the

title of an essay by Dr. Charles V. Chapin, of Providence, to whom was

awarded a premium of $200 by the trustees of the Fisk Fund. In this

essay Dr. Chapin has given an admirable _r'esum'e_ of all that has been

written about consumption from the time of Hippocrates to the present

day. After a careful examination of the literature of the subject, he

thinks that we are justified in the conclusion that the acceptance of

the germ theory has made no direct or important addition either to the

hygiene or medicinal treatment of consumption. He thinks, however, that

it should have great influence. It tells us plainly what we ought to do.

We simply do not obey its behests. The germ theory--now no longer a

theory in the case of tubercular consumption--tells us that we have to

do with a contagious disease. Now there is no theoretical reason why a

purely contagious disease like tuberculosis cannot be exterminated. If

we can prevent the spread of contagion at all, we can prevent it

entirely. The enormous value of preventive measures, isolation,

disinfection, and quarantine, is well illustrated in history of cholera,

typhus fever, and yellow fever in the United States.

By keeping out the virus of these diseases, or destroying it when it had

gained access to our shores, we have for a number of years been

remarkably free from these diseases, and it is certain that if these

precautions had not been taken we should have suffered severely. For

obvious reasons, the suppression of tuberculosis is not so easy a matter

as the suppression of cholera or yellow fever. Neither is the

suppression of scarlet fever or small-pox as easy. Yet whenever the

public has been educated to a correct appreciation of the contagious

nature of scarlet fever, the number of cases has diminished very much.

Even in small-pox, with its virulent contagion, it is possible, by means

of isolation and disinfection, to check its spread even among an

unvaccinated population, as has been illustrated many times of late in

the anti-vaccination city of Leicester, England. We must now put

tuberculosis among these diseases, and, though its theoretical

suppression is simple its actual extermination is a very difficult

problem. It lies largely with the medical profession how long tubercular

disease shall decimate the human race. The physicians are the educators

of the people in these matters. When the doctor shall teach that

tuberculosis is contagious, the people will believe, and will govern

themselves accordingly. In combating contagious diseases the preventive

measures taken often give discouraging results. This will be

particularly so in tubercular disease. Half-way measures secure less

than half-way results, and these alienate the support of those who only

indifferently believe in contagion and the importance of precautionary

measures. Efficient means of suppression are radical, and bear hard on

the individual; they are not complied with, and they produce violent

opposition. Yet, difficult as it may be, the medical profession should

take aggressive action against this disease. We have no right to wait

for the discovery of a specific, or the gradual evolution of a

phthisis-proof race. We must take the world as we find it, full of men

and women predisposed to tubercular phthisis, and with no idea of its

contagious nature. What can we do about it? 1. Teach the people the true

nature of the tuberculosis, that no one ever has tubercular consumption

unless the tubercle bacilli find their way into their lungs. 2. Teach

them, also, that, even if it finds its way there, it will not grow

unless the conditions are right. Teach fathers and mothers how to rear

healthy boys and girls. Tell them what to eat and what to wear, to

exercise, to breathe fresh air. This alone would exterminate phthisis.

3. The contagion must be destroyed. Fortunately, in this disease there

is no need of isolation. Disinfection is enough. The consumptive patient

gives off the poison only in the sputum, or perchance the other

excreta, if the disease extend beyond the lungs. The virus is not given

off from these while moist. We must therefore disinfect all sputum at

once with mercuric bi-chloride. Cloths must be used instead of

handkerchiefs, and then burned, or, if the latter are used, they should

be often changed, and immediately put in a bi-chloride solution and

boiled. Bed-linen should be treated in the same way. Frequent

disinfection of the entire person, and fumigation of the apartment,

would be safe additions to the preventive measures. 4. Persons who have

a marked predisposition to the disease had best not come in close

contact with the phthisical. Children should never have tuberculous

nurses, wet or dry. In the case of consumptives very great attention

should be paid to ventilation, and to the alimentation both of the

patient and the attendants. Such measures, if rigidly carried out, would

be of enormous service in preventing this disease. But with the

increasing prevalence of tuberculosis among domestic animals, something

more is imperatively demanded. Active measures should be taken to free

the country from animal tuberculosis.

There are some ideas which it is well to observe:--

1. Flies may carry the virus if they are allowed to frequent cuspidors

into which consumptives have expectorated. Clean these out often. Do not

permit the patient to spit into a handkerchief and then let it lie

around to dry. The dust arising may inoculate some person prone to

consumption.

2. Be careful about the meat you eat. It can and does convey

tuberculosis. Investigations have been made showing that as high as 50%

of a herd to be slaughtered in New York City had tuberculosis. Milk may

be also infected and often is.

3. Have an abundance of flowers around. They invariably are helpful.

4. Constant and regular singing with proper care and not tiring is

excellent for consumptive lungs, which should be done in well-ventilated

rooms.

5. Be out in the open air as much as possible, and breathe through the

nose entirely. Continually exercise the lungs by drawing in long

breaths.

6. If possible try fumes of hydrofluoric acid. In glass factories if

workmen are rendered consumptive by stooping over the grinding

machinery, they usually find great benefit by being allowed to work in

the room with the glass etchers, where so much hydrofluoric acid is

employed.

7. Buttermilk is well recommended.

8. Consumptive and bronchial troubles in women are often due to

irregularity of dress about the throat and lungs. There is danger from

wearing _d'ecoll'ete_ costumes. So regular have we been in our habits that

the throwing off of a 1-oz. neck-tie for half an hour in the open air

will give us a cold with the thermometer at 70% Fahr.

The ocean cure is well set forth in the following, which represents the

advantages of a long sea voyage:--

1. Perfect rest and quiet, and complete removal from and change of

ordinary occupation and way of life; a very thorough change of scene,

and perfect and enforced rest from both mental and physical labor.

2. The life in the open air and the great amount of sunshine to be

enjoyed; it is quite possible, under favorable circumstances, to pass

fifteen hours daily in the open air; and whenever it is possible the

traveler by sea is certain to endeavor to escape from the close and

sometimes unpleasant atmosphere of a small cabin, into the pure air to

be found on deck.

3. The great purity of the air at sea, and its entire freedom from

organic dust and other impurities. In this respect it has an advantage

over the air of an open country, for the latter is apt to contain the

pollen of grasses and other plants, which, in some persons, excites hay

fever and asthma. The air of the cabins may, of course, be contaminated,

but the air of the open sea is probably the purest to be found anywhere.

4. The presence in the sea air of a large amount of ozone, as well as

particles of saline matter, more particularly in stormy weather, from

the sea spray, and these may exercise a beneficial effect in certain

throat and pulmonary affections on the respiratory mucous membrane.

5. The great equability of the temperature at sea. This refers chiefly

to the daily variations, which rarely exceed four or five degrees Fahr.

It must be noted that in a long sea voyage very considerable variations

of temperature are encountered, and in a swift steamer the transitions

are somewhat sudden.

6. The great humidity of the atmosphere and the high barometric

pressure, which are considered to exercise a useful sedative influence

on certain constitutions. It is said that the temperature of the body

averages one degree Fahr. less on account of this sedative effect. The

exhilarating and tonic effect of rapid motion through the air; for by

the continuous progress of the ship the sea breezes are constantly

blowing over it, and the passengers are borne through the rapidly-moving

air without any exertion of their own. The influence of these currents

of air on the surface of the body is, no doubt, important, acting as a

stimulant and a tonic, increasing evaporation from the skin, and

imparting tone to the superficial blood-vessels.

We now give our own cure, which we claim is of great value, at least it

is worth trying, for it cured the author of consumption of twenty years'

standing in one year. This disease can be cured by "cold packing" the

lungs and throat, and following the rules in general for health stated

in the first part of this work. You must understand a cold compress or

pack, otherwise you are likely to increase the malady and hasten your

death. Some persons cannot warm one ounce of cold water in twenty-four

hours. Such we advise to go very slowly. First adopt the formulae for

cleanliness and regularity already given. Then when a little more blood

is infused through the system and hence more heat exists, commence the

cold pack. Use simply a moistened cambric handkerchief, placed upon the

lungs; envelop with at least two thicknesses of linen and one of

flannel; wrap up warm and go to bed. Do not attempt to cold pack any

part of your body and then expose it to a moving atmosphere. After one

week you can increase the moisture of the pack at least 50%. Then add

to the thickness and moisture 10% each week, as long as you can succeed

in warming it and causing it to sweat that portion of the body packed.

If you should wake up in the night and find the pack dry, remove the

portion previously moistened and retain only the dry covering, viz., the

linen and flannel. In the morning, before arising, thoroughly rub the

lungs with a dry linen towel. This, then, is all that is necessary to

get rid of this incurable (?) disease, if you will only follow the rules

already given for health, happiness, and longevity.

=Convulsions, Fits.=--When a child has a convulsion, or what is commonly

called "a fit," attention should be given to the urinary secretion at

once. If there is suppression of urine, the child should be put into a

warm bath and made to sweat as speedily as possible. In many cases in

which children die from a succession of convulsions, the real cause of

death is suppression of urine (a fact which is probably not so generally

known as it should be), so that the child really dies of poisoning

through the retention of the urinary secretion. When a child is subject

to attacks of this character, care should be taken to dress it warmly in

flannels, so as to keep up a degree of perspiration most of the time,

and hot baths should be administered frequently. Give a glass of

Bethesda water from three to four times a day, and the disease will

disappear.

=Corns and Bunions= are caused by tight, ill-fitting boots and shoes.

The way of preventing them is, therefore, manifest. Thrusting the toe

into a lemon, to be kept on over night, will make the removal of a corn

easy. Two or three applications will suffice for the worst cases. Soft

corns may be relieved by dissolving a piece of ammonia, the size of

three peas, in an ounce of water, and applying the solution as hot as

can be borne. It is beneficial to place blank newspaper between the

toes. That will keep them from scalding, and hence softening, so that

corns will easily form. We have already referred to this paper method

for cold feet. Paper is a non-conductor and thus has the proper effect.

=Croup=.--The following prescription, to be used as a gargle, is not

only excellent for croup, but will _absolutely_ keep anyone from choking

to death from phlegm in the throat, no matter what the cause, so long as

they have any portion of a lung left. It consists of the yolks of two

eggs thoroughly beaten, in half a pint of good cider vinegar, adding two

tablespoonfuls of honey. I have known two different patients, given up

by their physicians, to rally in thirty minutes under the above

treatment, and finally get well.

=Diabetes.=--A prominent French physician advocates a coffee remedy.

After having continued to use the remedy for upward of a third of a

century in many hundreds of cases, he again appeals to the profession to

give it a trial in those cases of liver and kidney troubles which have

resisted all other treatment. His habit is to place twenty-five grammes,

or about three drachms, of the green berries (he prefers a mixture of

three parts of Mocha with one part each of Martinique and Isle de

Bourbon coffee) in a tumbler of cold water, and let them infuse over

night. The infusion, after straining or filtering, is to be taken on an

empty stomach the first thing after getting up in the morning. He cites

many cases of renal and hepatic colics, diabetes, migraine, etc., which,

although rebellious to all other treatments for years, soon yielded to

the green coffee infusion. It is worth a trial at any rate.

Bethesda water from the Wakeshaw Springs, in Wisconsin, will cure three

out of every five cases of diabetes and help the other two. Drink it as

you would any good water.

=Diphtheria.=--Diphtheria is a malignant and very infectious disease. It

may often be communicated by a kiss, a touch of the hand, or by drinking

out of the same cup with the sick person. The mildest case should be

carefully isolated. In the family this may sometimes be done by removing

the patient to an upper room, which can be well ventilated by means of

windows and an open fire. The contagion of diphtheria is not carried far

by the atmosphere; hence, by strict attention to cleanliness and

ventilation, it may be quite possible to isolate a case even under the

family roof. The disease is characterized by soreness of the throat,

pain in swallowing, apoplectic, epileptic, hysterical, or the result of

poisoning. Put a cork between the patient's teeth, that the tongue may

not be bitten. Loosen the clothing, have plenty of fresh air, and do not

restrain the movements of the patient, except to prevent injury or

bruising. Rub the temples with cologne or spirits, and, as soon as the

patient can swallow, give a little cold brandy and water.

Dr. W. A. Scott, of Iowa, where, in the latter part of 1889, diphtheria

raged, found a valuable and effective remedy for this dread disease. The

recipe can be filled at any drug store, and used by any person without

danger:--

Take ten grains of permanganate of potassium and mix with one ounce of

cold water. As soon as dissolved, it must be applied with a rag or

sponge mop or swab to the whitish places in the tonsils, and other parts

that have the diphtheria membrane on them. Do this very gently, but

thoroughly, every three hours until better; then every six hours until

well. It does not give pain, but is rather nauseous to the taste.

If the tongue is coated white, mix one drachm of hyposulphite of soda

and five drops oil of sassafras in four ounces of syrup made of sugar

and hot water, and give a teaspoonful every 1 to 3 hours, as needed,

when awake.

If the tongue is not coated white, I mix 20 drops of tincture of

phytolacca in four ounces of cold water and give a teaspoonful every 1

to 3 hours, as needed, when awake. (The phytolacca is the common

poke-root of the South, and as it loses its strength by drying and age,

the tincture should be from the fresh root, or it is worthless.)

It is well to apply a little sweet-oil or cosmoline to the outside of

the throat to protect from the action of the air, as the patient must be

protected from all danger of getting chilled.

In the beginning of the disease, in mild cases, the above solution of

permanganate of potassium is all I use, and all that is needed, as the

disease is local at first, but rapidly affects the whole system when

seated. In the stinking form of diphtheria this solution soon destroys

all smell, and in every case destroys the diphtheria membrane without

leaving any bad effect.

M. Roulin, of France, has successfully treated 22 cases of diphtheria

with carbolic acid as an antiseptic. Nasal douches, consisting of three

teaspoonfuls of the crude acid in a quart of water, were employed every

hour by means of the ordinary irrigator. Tonics were given internally.

Dr. Deriker, of St. Petersburg, who is the head physician of the

Children's Hospital, and has treated no less than 2,000 cases of

diphtheria, and tried all remedies, both internal and external, has

found the following a certain cure for the disease: As soon as the white

spots appear on the tonsils he gives a laxative, usually senna tea. When

the purgative effect has ceased, he gives cold drinks acidulated with

lemons, limes, or hydrochloric acid, and every two hours a gargle

composed of lime-water and milk. Hot milk was also given as a drink, and

the throat well rubbed with spirits of turpentine. The Academy of

Medicine in France offered a large sum of money for a successful cure

for diphtheria, and this is said to have been it. Equal parts of liquid

tar and turpentine are put in an iron pan and burned in the patient's

room. The dense resinous smoke gives immediate relief. The fibrinous

matter soon becomes detached and is coughed up.

=Clothing.=--There are some very important principles in regard to

dress:--

1. If you desire health, do not wear a belt.

2. Avoid tight lacing. Some of the most beautiful women, including

actresses, are giving up this injurious practice.

3. Do not wear, especially in summer, the constant black, even if in

mourning. If you do someone may be mourning you too.

4. Use woolens almost entirely for clothing--always for under-clothing.

5. Have shoes that fit and give the feet an abundance of room, and not

high heeled, but thick soled.

6. Wear sufficiently heavy woolen under-garments so that you will not

be obliged to resort continually to overcoats.

7. In summer, use light outer garments--white flannels and cheviots are

excellent.

The Most Important Function of Under-garments.--It is a great mistake to

suppose that the material of which a garment is made is the most

important consideration in selecting warm under-clothing. The way in

which the fabric is prepared and manufactured is of more vital

importance as regards heat or coldness of the body than the actual

material. A light garment with large meshes is more effective against

cold than a close, heavy one. Whatever an under-vest may be made of, its

real value as a protector from cold depends upon its ability to inclose

within its meshes a certain quantity of air. This is indeed the most

important function of under-garments, viz., to encircle the whole body

with an envelope of warm air, and a vestment that does not keep a

continual layer of warm air next to the skin is of very little use.

We advise the discarding of cotton shirts altogether and wearing only

those of flannel. The best material for an under-vest, where the shirt

worn is flannel, is silk, but by reason of high cost it is within the

reach of a comparatively few only.

Hence woolen under-vests must be selected. They should be large and

never tight-fitting, for there must be room for the air to circulate

freely beneath them. Good taste suggests that the outside shirt be of

white flannel, and that also must be large. Nearly all those which are

on sale in stores have collars, but for a small sum added to the price

the dealer will make the necessary changes so that a linen collar may be

worn.

With such under-clothing a man is very well protected against sudden

changes of weather, and is much less liable to take cold than he would

be with a cotton shirt on. Now, as to chest protectors. If a man is

subject to colds during the winter he should wear a chest-protector. In

order for him to get the full benefit of it it should fit him quite

snugly at the neck and extend front and back to the belt. Dressed in

flannels, as we have recommended, with his chest well covered by a

protector, he will be as well fortified against cold as under-clothing

of a healthful sort can make him.

=Dropsy.=--It is not generally known that the silk on an ear of green

corn is a powerful and efficient remedy for dropsy, for bladder troubles

and diseases of the kidneys. In the Louisville _Medical News_ we find an

account of the medical properties of corn-silk and the cures that have

been effected by its use. The way to use it is to take two

double-handfuls of fresh corn-silk and boil in two gallons of water

until but a gallon remains. Add sugar to make a syrup. Drink a

tumblerful of this thrice daily, and it will relieve dropsy by

increasing the flow of urine. Other diseases of the bladder and kidneys

are benefited by the remedy, which is prompt, efficient, and grateful to

the stomach. The treatment can be continued for months without danger or

inconvenience. Bethesda water is just as good, but both together are

better.

=Dyspepsia.=--This trouble is often the result of decomposition of the

food before it is digested. Unless this is remedied death will

ultimately follow. A good remedy is this: Thoroughly brown some whole

grain wheat, grind it in an ordinary clean coffee-mill; eat of nothing

else for the two last meals of the day; carefully masticate it and eat

sparingly for a few days, after that _ad libitum_; in ten days you will

be well, if all other suggestions regarding cleanliness are followed.

=Ears=.--Sapolini of Milan has described a method of his which he states

has been successfully employed in 62 cases of deafness of old age. It

consists in mopping the membrana tympani with a weak oleaginous solution

of phosphorus. He claims that the treatment diminishes the opacity of

the membrane, increases the circulation, and improves the hearing.

A writer in a medical journal says: "Beware of too much quinine. It will

produce a congestion of the ear and irritation of the auditory nerve.

The common habit of taking quinine for neuralgia and other ailments

without consulting a doctor is altogether reprehensible, and may lead

to very serious results. Many cases of deafness are produced by

overdoses and long-continued use of this drug."

Aprysexie is the name Dr. Guye, of Amsterdam, chooses for

inattentiveness, and he quite singularly finds that the nose is a cause

of it. A dull boy became quick to learn after certain tumors had been

taken from the nose, and a man who had been troubled with vertigo and

buzzing in the ears for twelve years found mental labor easy after a

like operation. In a third case a medical student was similarly

relieved. Dr. Guye supposes that these nasal troubles affect the brain

by preventing the cerebral lymph from circulating freely.

=Elixir Brown-Sequard.=--The way Brown-Sequard uses this medicine is

entirely successful. Do not think because others have failed that the

principle is wrong. Most experimenters, first, are not careful in

getting perfectly healthy specimens of animals from whose vitals the

elixir is made, while, secondly, they expose the liquid and allow it to

become filled or impregnated with microbes and various foreign elements.

The process of administration is thus described:--

The syringe punctures the cuticle, or scarf-skin, and the cutis, or true

skin, and then enters the subcutaneous or cellular tissue which covers

the muscles, or flesh. Through all the tissues of the body run the

lymphatics, which convey the injected matter to the lymph channels,

these in turn to the veins, and thence throughout the system. A half

ounce of the fluid will be distributed in from one to three hours.

Sometimes the subject might feel the stimulus very quickly, and in some

cases hours might elapse before any effect was felt. The human system is

able to absorb almost an unlimited amount of this liquid, if

administered properly and if pure.

=Epidemics.=--The history of severe plagues is remarkable. The first

great pestilence in a comparatively civilized nation was the one at

Athens about 400 B. C. On account of being shut up by the Spartans in

their crowded city the Athenians had this terrible experience. It

carried off thousands--nearly two-thirds of the population. In the

reign of the Emperor Justinian no less than 100,000,000 inhabitants died

in thirty years from a pestilence that swept from Persia to Gaul. Later,

in the fourteenth century, the plague of beautiful Florence in Italy

killed 80,000 people in six months. In 1665-66 London was a vast

pest-house and during September of 1666 the weekly death rate reached

the number of 8,000. In America the sunny South has witnessed the

blasting effects of yellow fever during the last fifteen years. In 1878,

Florida had 2,649 deaths, and New Orleans 3,977 from yellow fever. Fully

33% of those attacked succumbed. In the same year 4,200 people died of

it at Memphis. The last important run of this epidemic was in 1888, at

Jacksonville and Decatur. There the deaths averaged 10% of those

attacked.

The duration of the infection stages of various diseases is thus given

by Dr. T. F. Pearse, an English physician: Measles, from the 2d day of

the disease for 3 weeks; small-pox, from the 1st day for 4 weeks;

scarlet fever, from the 4th day for 7 weeks; mumps, from the 2d day for

3 weeks; diphtheria, from the 1st day for 3 weeks. The incubation

periods, or intervals occurring between exposure to infection and the

first symptoms, are as follows: Whooping-cough, 14 days; mumps, 18 days;

measles, 10 days; small-pox, 12 days; scarlet fever, 3 days; diphtheria,

14 days.

Scarlet fever is at its minimum from January to May, and at its maximum

in October and November. Diphtheria is more evenly distributed through

the year, and is most dangerous a little later than scarlet fever.

Measles and whooping-cough seem to be somewhat aggravated by cold

weather, but are most fatal in May and June. Hot weather is adverse to

small-pox, and favorable to disorders of the bowels, particularly in

children.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MEASLES AND SMALL-POX.--At the outset of a

popular eruption it is often difficult to decide whether the case is one

of measles or of small-pox. M. Grisol's method of diagnosis is as

follows (_Medical Times_): "If, upon stretching a portion of the skin,

the papule becomes impalpable to the touch, the eruption is caused by

measles; if, on the contrary, the papule is still felt when the skin is

drawn out, the eruption is the result of small-pox."

=Erysipelas.=--It has long been known that an attack of erysipelas

exerts a remarkable influence upon other diseases, and the attempt has

been made to cure more serious maladies by deliberately inoculating the

patient with the virus of erysipelas. In a recent case in Norway, the

growth of a cancer was greatly retarded by this means, and life was

probably prolonged a few weeks or even months, though no cure was

effected.

=Exercise.=--Ben. Hogan, the reformed pugilist, has advanced some

practical ideas:--

"In every city there are thousands of rich men and women who are ready

to commit suicide because of ill-health. 'What is wealth without

health?' they say. 'Nothing,' I should say; but I do say that, while

every man cannot amass wealth, every man can secure good health. I know

a man who owns a fine horse. He employs two men to take care of that

horse and keep him in condition. He is exercised, sponged, and blanketed

daily. Does the owner himself have a man to take care of him?--No. He

possibly bathes once a week. He arises at 8 o'clock in the morning,

throws his breakfast down without masticating it, and madly rushes off

to his business. At noon he rushes into a restaurant and eats his dinner

in five minutes. On he goes, hiring men to look after the health of his

horse, but never stops to think of his own body and its needs.

"A man cannot digest his food unless he eats carefully. A meal should

never be eaten in less than one hour. Gladstone says he bites each piece

of meat he puts into his mouth twenty times before he swallows it, and

that isn't too often. The men of to-day who throw their food into their

stomach are physical wrecks in fifteen years. The American doctor

studies medicine when he should study nature; instead of trying to

prevent disease, they try to cure. There are many people who do not take

a bath in two years and they prematurely die from poisoning. The poison

that accumulates under the first layer of skin breeds disease and sooner

or later must come death.

"There are thousands of people dying of consumption who haven't sense

enough to know that they can throw it off. No man who is lazy can become

healthy, for the best way to bring health is by physical development. I

have seen thousands of young men apparently on the verge of the grave

grow strong by following this daily routine: When you get up in the

morning rub yourself with a rough towel until the blood is in

circulation, and then take a cold bath. Never take a cold bath without

getting the blood in circulation, for it is dangerous. After the bath

rub the flesh for three-quarters of an hour. Then take a cup of tea and

eat some toast, and start out for a half hour's walk. Don't plod slowly

along the streets, but walk as rapidly as your legs will carry you. When

you return you are ready for breakfast. Eat rice, mutton chops, and

toast, and drink tea. If you are a business man you are ready for

business, but if you are training for an athlete you will again start

upon the walk and keep it up all day. A man under training is required

to walk at least forty miles every day. When he returns from his walk he

is put under blankets until he has cooled, and then again put in the

bath-tub. He is taken out and rubbed or manipulated. Then he is ready

for dinner. The athlete or pugilist would be required to eat raw ham or

raw steak without salt or pepper. Pugilists are not allowed to use

pepper, because it heats the blood. For men who are not undergoing

training for pugilists I would advise a dinner on rare beef, rice, and

other vegetables cooked dry."

=Eyes.=--A writer in _Cassell's Magazine_ gives the following rules for

the use and care of the eyes:--

"1. Sit erect in your chair when reading, and as erect when writing as

possible. If you bend downward you not only gorge the eyes with blood,

but the brain as well, and both suffer. The same rule should apply to

the use of the microscope. Get one that will enable you to look at

things horizontally, not always vertically.

"2. Have a reading-lamp for night use. N. B.--In reading the light

should be on the book or paper and the eyes in the shade. If you have no

reading-lamp, turn your back to the light and you may read without

danger to your eyes.

"3. Hold the book at your focus; if that begins to get far away use

spectacles.

"4. Avoid reading by the flickering light of the fire.

"5. Avoid straining the eyes by reading in the gloaming.

"6. Reading in bed is injurious as a rule. It must be admitted, however,

that in cases of sleeplessness, when the mind is inclined to ramble over

a thousand thoughts a minute, reading steadies the thoughts and conduces

to sleep.

"7. Do not read much in a railway carriage. I myself always do, however,

only in a good light, and I invariably carry a good reading-lamp to hang

on behind me. Thousands of people would travel by night rather than by

day if the companies could only see their way to the exclusive use of

the electric light.

"8. Authors should have black-ruled paper instead of blue, and should

never strain the eyes by reading too fine types.

"9. The bedroom blinds should be red or gray, and the head of the bed

should be toward the window.

"10. Those ladies who not only write but sew should not attempt the

black seam by night.

"11. When you come to an age that suggests the wearing of spectacles,

let no false modesty prevent you from getting a pair. If you have only

one eye, an eye-glass will do; otherwise it is folly.

"12. Go to the wisest and best optician you know of and state your wants

and your case plainly, and be assured you will be properly fitted.

"13. Remember that bad spectacles are most injurious to the eyes, and

that good and well-chosen ones are a decided luxury.

"14. Get a pair for reading with, and if necessary a long-distance pair

for use outdoors."

Further rules are:--

Avoid all sudden changes between light and darkness.

Never begin to read, write, or sew for several minutes after coming from

darkness to a bright light.

Never read by twilight or moonlight, or on dark, cloudy days.

When reading, it is best to let the light fall from above obliquely over

the left shoulder.

Do not use the eye-sight by light so scant that it requires an effort to

discriminate.

The moment you are instinctively prompted to rub your eyes that moment

stop using them.

If the eyelids are glued together on waking up do not forcibly open

them, but apply saliva with the finger. It is the speediest diluent in

the world; then wash your eyes and face in warm water.

In the selection of books or pamphlets see that the paper is of a slight

orange tint; this shade is the most pleasant for the eye to look upon.

The following is recommended as an efficient means of removing particles

from the eye: Make a loop by doubling a horse hair; raise the lid of the

eye in which is the foreign particle; slip the loop over it, and placing

the lid in contact with the eyeball, withdraw the loop, and the particle

will be drawn out with it.

An old locomotive engineer gives the following as an infallible method

to eradicate any foreign substance from the eye, viz., close the eyes,

and rub gently from right to left with a circular motion the well eye.

=Food.=--Of all the fruits we are blest with, the peach is the most

digestible. There is nothing more palatable, wholesome, and medicinal

than good, ripe peaches. They should be ripe but not overripe and half

rotten; and of this kind they may make a part of either meal, or be

eaten between meals; but it is better to make them a part of the regular

meals, says _Hall's Journal of Health_, a medical authority. It is a

mistaken idea that no fruit should be eaten at breakfast. It would be

far better if our people would eat less bacon and grease at breakfast

and more fruit. In the morning there is an arid state of the secretions,

and nothing is so well calculated to correct this as cooling, subacid

fruits, such as peaches, apples, etc. The apple is one of the best of

fruits. Baked or stewed apples will generally agree with the most

delicate stomach, and are an excellent medicine in many cases of

sickness. Green or half-ripe apples stewed and sweetened are pleasant to

the taste, cooling, nourishing, and laxative, far superior, in many

cases, to the abominable doses of salts and oil usually given in fever

and other diseases. Raw apples and dried apples stewed are better for

constipation than liver pills. Oranges are very acceptable to most

stomachs, having all the advantages of the acid alluded to; but the

orange juice alone should be taken, rejecting the pulp. The same may be

said of lemonade, pomegranates, and all that class. Lemonade is the best

drink in fevers, and when thickened with sugar is better than syrup of

squills and other nauseants in many cases of cough. Tomatoes act on the

liver and bowels, and are much more pleasant and safe than blue mass and

"liver regulators." The juice should be used alone, rejecting the skins.

The small-seeded fruits, such as blackberries, figs, raspberries,

currants, and strawberries, may be classed among the best foods and

medicines. The sugar in them is nutritious, the acid is cooling and

purifying, and the seeds are laxative. We would be much the gainers if

we would look more to our orchards and gardens for our medicines and

less to our drug stores. To cure fever or act on the kidneys no

febrifuge or diuretic is superior to water-melon, which may, with very

few exceptions, be taken in sickness and health in almost unlimited

quantities, not only without injury but with positive benefit. But in

using them the water or juice should be taken, excluding the pulp, and

the melon should be ripe and fresh, but not overripe and stale. While,

undeniably, a mixed diet is the best for man, there is a mistaken

notion, which prevails to a great extent, that meat should largely enter

into the same. As a consequence, much more is eaten than is needed or

can properly be disposed of in the system. Never eat meat oftener than

once a day, and very sparingly in summer. Men of sedentary habits might

with safety for several days at a time during that season live on

vegetables, fruits, milk, breadstuffs, and foods of like character,

which are easy of digestion. For those who have good reason to believe

that their "kidneys are weak," a diet largely made up of meat is

ill-advised. Those organs are intimately concerned in its disposal in

the system, and hence are overtasked if it is taken in too great a

quantity.

_Reasons Why a Strictly Vegetable Diet Is to Be Preferred to Animal

Food._--The food which is most enjoyed, says a writer in _Longman's

Magazine_, is the food we call bread and fruit. In my long medical

career, I have rarely known an instance in which a child has not

preferred fruit to animal food. I have been many times called upon to

treat children for stomachic disorders induced by pressing upon them

animal to the exclusion of fruit diet, and have seen the best results

occur from the practice of reverting to the use of fruit in the dietary.

I say it without the least prejudice, as a lesson learned from simple

experience, that the most natural diet for the young, after the natural

milk diet, is fruit and whole-meal bread, with milk and water for drink.

The desire for this same mode of sustenance is often continued into

after years, as if the resort to flesh were a forced and artificial

feeding, which required long and persistent habit to establish as a

permanency as a part of the system of every-day life. How strongly this

preference taste for fruit over animal food prevails is shown by the

simple fact of the retention of those foods in the mouth. Fruit is

retained, to be tasted and relished. Animal food, to use a common

phrase, is "bolted." There is a natural desire to retain the delicious

fruit for full mastication; there is no such desire, except in the

trained gormand, for the retention of animal substance. One further fact

which I have observed--and that too often to discard it--as a fact of

great moment, is that when a person of mature years has for a time given

up voluntarily the use of animal food in favor of vegetable, the sense

of repugnance to animal food is soon so markedly developed that a return

to it is overcome with the utmost difficulty. Neither is this a mere

fancy or fad peculiar to sensitive men or oversentimental women. I have

been surprised to see it manifested in men who are the very reverse of

sentimental, and who were, in fact, quite ashamed to admit themselves

guilty of any such weakness. I have heard those who have gone over from

a mixed diet of animal and vegetable food to a poor vegetable diet speak

of feeling low under the new system, and declare that they must needs

give it up in consequence; but I have found even these (without

exception) declare that they infinitely preferred the simpler, purer,

and, as it seemed to them, more natural food plucked from the prime

source of food, untainted by its passage through another animal body.

There are thirty vegetarian restaurants in London, and a vegetarian

hotel is the latest move in the right direction.

The time required to digest different kinds of food:--

Hours.

Roasted pork 5.15

Salt beef (boil'd) 4.15

Veal (boiled) 4.00

Boiled hens 4.00

Roasted mutton 3.15

Boiled beef 3.30

Roasted beef 3.00

Raw oysters 2.45

Roasted turkey 2.30

Boiled milk 2.00

Boiled codfish 2.00

Venison steak 1.35

Trout (broiled) 1.30

Tripe 1.00

Pig's feet 1.00

Eggs (hard boil'd) 3.30 to 5.30

Eggs (soft boil'd) 3.00

The above is taken from Beaumont's "Experiments on Digestion." Dalton

comments on these observations as follows: "These results would not

always be precisely the same for different persons, since there are

variations in this respect according to age and temperament. Thus, in

most instances, mutton would probably be equally digestible with beef,

or perhaps more so; and milk, which in some persons is easily digested,

in others is disposed of with considerable difficulty. But as a general

rule, the comparative digestibility of different substances is no doubt

correctly expressed by the above list."

_To Ascertain Pure Milk._--Take an extra quart of milk any day from your

milkman and put it in a glass jar, an ordinary fruit-jar will do; set it

away and await results. The proportion of cream on top shows the

richness of the milk. Let it alone until it turns to clabber, and if

there is any water in it, it will appear between the cream and the

clabber. After fermentation sets in, the water will sink to the bottom.

If there has been no water put into the milk, none will show. By trying

milk from different milkmen, you can readily see which is the best.

We will add under food that eggs should be kept in oak or porcelain

receptacles, not in pine boxes, as they partake of the odor of the pine.

=Freckles.=--A young lady of St. Louis says: "I accidentally discovered

a sovereign remedy a couple of years ago, which costs next to nothing.

One day the plumber shut our water off, and I could get none in which to

wash my face. I was fearfully soiled, and, looking out of the window

just then, I saw a friend approaching to call on me. Glancing about me,

I noticed half a water-melon from which the meat had been removed some

time before. It was partly filled with juice, and I hastily washed my

face in it. The result was so soothing that I repeatedly washed my face

in that manner. Judge of my astonishment a few days later on seeing that

there was not a freckle left on my face."

=Gargle.=--An excellent gargle for general use is:--

Chloras Potass., 3 ounces.

Tannin, 2 drachms.

Dissolve one teaspoonful in half a pint of water, which will keep for

several days. For bronchial trouble or bleeding at the lungs, gargle the

throat often; but for general cleanliness, gargle a little every

morning; for catarrh, not only gargle but snuff some up the nose.

=Hair.=--To prevent hair from falling out, headache, neuralgia, brain

fever, etc., the hair should be worn comparatively short by both sexes,

washed and dried every day. To preserve the hair this is a good recipe:

Take a teaspoonful of dried sage; boil it in a quart of water for twenty

minutes. Strain it off and add a piece of borax the size of an English

walnut; pulverize the borax. Put the sage tea, when cold, into a quart

bottle; add the borax; shake well together and put in a cool place.

Brush the hair thoroughly and rub and wash well on the head with the

hand; then, after a good hard rubbing, brush the hair well before a

fire, so that it will become perfectly dry. Never use a fine-tooth comb,

as it irritates the skin, and consequently inflames the roots of the

hair.

=Headache.=--The causes are: "Overstudy, overwork in-doors, neglect of

the bath, want of fresh air in bedrooms, nervousness, however induced;

want of abundant skin-exciting exercise, the excitement inseparable from

a fashionable life, neglect of the ordinary rules that conduce to

health, overindulgence in food, especially of a stimulating character,

weakness or debility of body, however produced (this can only be

remedied by proper nutriment), work or study in-doors, carried on in an

unnatural or cramped position of the body. Literary men and women ought

to do most of their work at a standing desk, lying down now and then to

ease the brain and heart, and permit ideas to flow. They should work

out-of-doors in fine weather--with their feet resting on a board, not on

the earth--and under canvas in wet weather. It is surprising the good

this simple advice, if followed, can effect.

=Health Beverages.=--Lemons make the best beverage. They are very

healthy and good, not only for allaying the thirst, but will cure a

multitude of disorders. The juice of the lemon contains citric acid.

Acids, as a rule, decrease the acid secretion of the body and increase

the alkaline. Citric acid, which is the acid of lemons and oranges, for

instance, will diminish the secretions of gastric juice, but increases

very materially the secretion of saliva. The very thought of a lemon is

sufficient to make the mouth water. Thirst in fevers is not always due

to lack of water in the blood. It may be due in part to a lack of the

secretion of the saliva. When the mouth is parched and dry, the acid

will increase the saliva. When acid is given for the relief of dyspepsia

it should be taken before eating. Lemon juice drank before meals will be

found very advantageous as a preventive of heart-burn.

_Drinks for the Voice._--Tea, coffee, and cocoa are three admissible

drinks, but none in excess. For the voice cocoa is the most beneficial.

It should never be made too strong, and those cocoas are the best that

have been deprived of their oil. A cup of thin cocoa, just warm, is more

to be recommended between the exertions of singing than any alcoholic

beverage. Tea must not be taken too strong, nor when it has drawn too

long, for tea then becomes acid, and has a bad influence on the mucous

membrane that lines the throat. There is always a dry sensation after

having taken a cup of tea that has been allowed to draw too long. A

vocalist had better do without sugar in tea and only take milk with it.

=Hernia or Rupture.=--A swelling suddenly appearing in the abdomen, and

especially in the groin, may be recognized as a rupture, particularly if

it puffs out, or grows larger when the patient breathes or coughs

violently. If, for any reason, the services of a physician cannot be

immediately secured, the patient should lie down on his back, draw up

his knees, and, while he breathes gently, rest his fingers upon the

rupture, and press it in all directions. In most cases the hernia will

slip back when thus treated. Then apply a bandage to hold the bowels in

place long enough for the person to have a truss fitted to him. During

this period the bowels should be kept regular.

The author of this book was cured of rupture of the right groin

completely. Though having worn trusses of different patterns for 25

years, the one that effected a permanent remedy was an electric elastic

truss, invented by Dr. A. T. Sherwood, 408 Stockton Street, this city.

This is no advertisement, but wishing to help others who are afflicted,

we are of the opinion that it will cure four out of every five cases

that exist, provided the patient will pursue a careful course otherwise.

My treatment required less than 4 months.

=Hiccoughing.=--Sweet-flag (calamus) is claimed to be an agent that will

relieve and stop persistent hiccough in almost any case. Chew a small

piece of the root.

=Hydrophobia.=--Rabies, the madness produced by the bite of mad animals,

is often apprehended when there is no danger. In case the supposed mad

creature has been killed, an important means of information is lost. If

possible, the animal should be secured and closely watched. If he does

not show signs of rabies, the bitten person need have no fear; but, in

any case, when one has been bitten, the wound should be washed with hot

water, sucked, by some person whose mouth is free from sores, and then

thoroughly cauterized with pure nitric acid or concentrated liquor of

ammonia. The patient's strength should be sustained by stimulants, and

medical attendance should be secured as soon as possible.

Drs. Valentine Mott and A. F. Baldwin, of the Carnegie Laboratory; are

prepared to inoculate hydrophobia patients according to the Pasteur

system. The first patient was the seven-year-old son of Dr. Newell, of

Jersey City. Dr. Mott inoculated himself to prove the harmlessness of

the method for a healthy man.

It has been discovered recently that the juice of the maguey plant is a

certain remedy for hydrophobia.

=Influenza (La Grippe).=--The first symptoms of the disease are sudden

faintness, a chill, and marked prostration, succeeded by headache and a

general feeling of malaria, followed by acute coryza, pharyngitis, and

slight laryngitis, winding up with bronchitis. Examination shows that

the patients are about as sick as persons with a bad cold. The duration

of the attack is from 2 to 10 days and upward. An application of 2 parts

turpentine to 1 of sweet-oil placed on the chest over the lungs, and

then inhale the steam from steeped eucalyptus leaves, is the best remedy

we know.

=Insomnia.=--The next time a sufferer finds himself awake, say 2 or 3

o'clock in the morning, instead of merely trying to banish the painful

thought and repeating numbers, according to habit, let him revert at

once to the dream which was the cause of his awakening, and try to go on

with it. Sleep will come soon. It is stated on good authority that this

experiment, oft repeated, has never been known to fail.

A correspondent of the _Lancet_ gives the following method of

self-asphyxiation as an effectual remedy for insomnia in his own case:

After taking a deep inspiration, he holds his breath till discomfort is

felt, then repeats the process a second and third time. As a rule this

is enough to procure sleep. A slight degree of asphyxia is thus relied

on as a soporific agent.

=Leprosy.=--An interesting report by the Hawaiian Board of Health is in

our hands; incomplete statistics give the number of lepers in the

several islands of the Hawaiian group on January 1, 1888, as 400. A

statement of the leper population at Leper Settlement at Molokai for the

biennial period ending March 31, 1888, is 749.

The report says: "Accurate statistics as to the number of lepers still

at large in the various communities of this country cannot be obtained."

It is estimated from the best data obtainable, that there were 644

lepers at large on the islands on March 31, 1888.

The report says: "The rations furnished each leper at the Leper

Settlement on Molokai are abundant for the support of any adult

Hawaiian."

One of the embarrassing questions the board is called upon to decide is,

how many of the non-leper friends and relatives of the afflicted ones

shall be allowed to go and live with them at the leper settlement as

helpers, or _kokuas_, the number of applicants being in excess of the

demand. The great obstacle to be overcome in carrying out the law of

segregation consists in the fact that the Hawaiians do not appreciate

and refuse to be convinced that leprosy is a communicable disease. It is

with them as if devotion to a fatal sentimentality had bid defiance to

every instinct of self-preservation. Marriages between leprous and

non-leprous individuals are freely contracted, and the intimacies are

not prevented by the fact of potent evidences of the disease. "If this

race is ever to be rescued from the slough into which it is sinking, the

fatal lethargy that stupefies them must be dispelled, the instinct of

self-preservation must be awakened, and it must be written upon their

hearts, as with the point of a diamond, that to voluntarily contaminate

one's self with leprosy is a crime. In spite of a number of claims to

the contrary, we believe it safe to say that no one has been able to

prove, to the satisfaction of the medical profession, who very rightly

demand full proof in such cases, that a single unmistakable case of this

disease has been definitely cured." Says the report: "It is necessary

always to bear in mind that the symptoms of leprosy, like those of some

other diseases, have a way of receding or entirely disappearing for a

time, only to show themselves again when least expected."

Government physicians generally attribute the causes which are checking

the increase of the Hawaiian population to be leprosy; also the indolent

and easy nature of the natives, which causes them to rest content,

provided they can obtain the bare necessities of life. They are content

to sit idle while their places are being filled with Chinese, and their

lands are gradually passing from their possession. This apathy causes

them to degenerate, both mentally and physically, and thus leads to the

smallness of families and the general extinction of the race.

The following description of how this terrible disease develops and

affects the patient is taken from the Hankow (China) Medical Mission

report: "Leprosy is common. It chiefly affects men who work in the

field; we have met with it in brothers; it is occasionally met with in

women. The age varies from ten to fifty years. Often the first symptom

complained of is some localized anaesthesia--which is sometimes quite

accidentally discovered--in the feet, hands, or face, which are the

parts that are most commonly affected. The sensory nerves are first

affected, and sensation as a rule absent partially or completely. The

anaesthesia is followed by want of free use of affected parts; the

circulation is also impaired in those parts; the hair on the eyebrows

falls out. A peculiar punched-out-looking ulcer, with a very fetid

discharge, is often met in the feet; sometimes, but not so often, in the

hands. As the disease advances, which it does very slowly--it often

apparently remains stationary for years--the face broadens, becomes

square, glazed, irregular and nodular; nodules are also found in the

mucous membrane of the lips and in the nerves; perspiration is absent;

the natural expression of the face is completely changed; the patient

looks old and sad. As the disease further advances, the toes and fingers

drop off, and by and by part of the limb. The general health is never

affected. Treatment is not very satisfactory; symptoms seem to be

controlled for a time, but never cured."

=Lockjaw.=--Professor Renzi, of Naples, records several cases of tetanus

successfully treated by absolute rest. The method advocated is as

follows: The patient's ears are closed with wax, after which he is

placed in a perfectly dark room, far from any noise. He is made to

understand that safety lies in perfect rest. The room is carpeted

heavily in order to relieve the noise of stepping about. The nurse

enters every quarter of an hour with a well-shaded lantern, using more

the sense of touch than sight to find the bed. Liquid food (milk, eggs

in beef tea, and water) is carefully given, so that mastication is not

necessary. Constipation is not interfered with. Mild doses of belladonna

or secale are given to relieve pain. This treatment does not shorten the

disease, but under it the paroxysms grow milder, and finally cease.

Numerous physicians attest to the value of this treatment.