Good Health (British) for 1905

U. C C CI E- Good health An Illustrated Monthly Magazine Devoted to Hygiene and the Principles of Healthful Living. Entered at Stationers' Hall.. Vol. 3. January, 1905. Ito. 8. EDITOKI.Fla After-Holiday Illness Tea and White Bread as a Diet. is -usually to be traced to dinner-table AN incident occurred the other day dissipation. Its cure lies in abstinence which throws light on the insufficient diet rather than in medicine. Give the over- of the poor of our large cities. A certain worked digestive organs a complete rest, family, being in want, sold a table for 8/d., and the system will soon recover its and spent the money thus : Two loaves, balance. 4d., milk, id., sugar, id., tea, / d., 4 lb. margarine, ld., wood, Id., coal, Id. The foods, with the exception of the tea, all More OxygenOxygen Wanted. have nourishing value, but unfortunately SHALLOW breathing is one cause of the of exactly the same kind. White bread, weakness and semi. invalidism so generally sugar, and margarine are energy pro- met with nowadays. When one is not ducers, but not tissue builders. The diet feeling in the best of spirits, one falls is, therefore, extremely one-sided. Had quite naturally into cramped positions, and this family omitted the tea and the sugar, the breathing instead of being full and and bought instead a pennyworth of lentils free, is just sufficient to maintain life. or haricots, the balance would have been a There is no buoyancy, no abounding great deal better, for a soup could then energy, largely because the person is deny- have been made rich in proteid or tissue- ing himself the true elixir vita, oxygen. building material. The tendency amongst the labouring classes to depend more and more on tea and white bread as a staple How to Cultivate Deep Breathing. diet is a most alarming one, and probably has much to do with the physical deteriora- ACTIVE will-effort in the direction of tion which of late is making itself manifest. lung expansion will work wonders for a weakly person. Set apart five minutes -444- twice daily for deep, slow breathing. THE medical officer of health for Buckie Think of the lungs as a sack into which in submitting his annual report recently, you purpose crowding the greatest pot sible pointed out that the greatest cause operat- amount of air. Then empty the sack ing to the prejudice of fishing communities completely, and slowly fill it again. In was the prevalent ignorance concerning walking, take say ten steps while inspiring, rudimentary health laws. " In very many and eight while expiring, keeping up this houses the most minute precautions were rhythmical movement as long as you can taken to prevent the ventilation of bed- comfortably. Such simple things as these rooms. It was not uncommon to see the have in a comparatively short time in- only window of a bedroom carefully nailed creased chest expansion by a, couple of up. The greater part of the population inches, and greatly improved the general still passed the night in boxes ' made health. A well• constructed breathing tube just large enough to contain a bed, a portion may also be helpful, and the swimming only of one side of the ' box ' being open movement and other arm exercises will to the room, and that portion partially aid in broadening the chest. closed by curtains as a rule." We may 228 GOOD HEALTH. smile at such extreme cases of " Aero- shore in the vicinity of sewage and filth of phobia " ; but the fact is that the vast various kinds. They are a poor food, and majority of the residents of London know sometimes carry the germs of disease. nothing of the joys of sleeping in a really Occasionally they contain poisons which well-ventilated bedroom. If you would lead to severe sickness and even fatal re- judge rightly of the air in your own bed- sults. May it not be said that he who room, jump out of bed some morning, dress eats mussels is also " a dirty feeder " ? quickly, and, closing your door tightly behind you, take a brisk walk down the street, expanding your lungs to the utmost ; Another Oyster Scare. then come back and investigate the quality THE death of another victim of typhoid of the air which you have been breathing fever due to eating oysters is reported from during the night. If the result is entirely Portsmouth. Oysters, like mussels, do not satisfactory, then you may pride yourself have a reputation for being over nice on sleeping in a well-ventilated bedroom, about their diet. To them the infectious assuna,ng, of course, that your olfactory excreta of typhoid patients is doubtless a organs are in good condition. dainty morsel. For a number of years we have known positively that oysters can carry the germs of typhoid fever, and so Increase ofof Insanity. become the direct cause of the disease. A CCORDING to recendy published statistics Knowing this to be true, would it not be there are now 516 insane persons per wise to avoid their use as food ? Certainly 100,000 in Ireland. In 1880 the proportion there is an ample supply of more whole- was only 250, showing the enormous in- some and less expensive food material. crease of more than 100 per cent. in twenty- five years. England and Wales too show a marked increase in lunacy. A " Health Conscience." WRITING in the Daily News, Dr. Clouston, The Causes. a well•known authority on mental diseases, says : " In time a new ' Health Conscience ' THERE can he no doubt but that the may be developed in our people which in liquor traffic is largely responsible for the its beneficent consequences may compare increase in lunacy. We are merely reap- with the moral sense and the spiritual in- ing the effects of the long continued use of stincts. The former fatalistic assumption strong drink. Alcohol is essentially de- that disease and deformity are inevitable structive to all forms of life, animal or things is being gradually modified, and is vegetable. Its use weakens the organs of giving place to a feeling in many men and the body, and renders them more suscep- women of personal responsibility for the tible to disease. The delicate tissues of very existence of disease." Such language the brain are no exception. Structural from such an authority is a happy omen of changes soon develop, which are always the awakening which we trust is taking associated with impaired and perverted place among the public. functions. The mind is gradually weakened, and finally gives way to the baneful influ- -4444- ence of the alcohol on the brain cell.. Don't Spit. According to an editorial in one of the THIS sign should be exhibited everywhere leading London newspapers, the drink evil until we 1-arn not to expectorate indiscrimi- is accountable for a very large per cent. of nately. Spitting is not only vulgar but the insane people. also dangerous. By this means consump- 4414- tion is spread far and wide, and many innocent victims are infected. We are A Dirty Feeder." glad to see that the London County Council SPEAKING of mussels recently, a tvell- has taken up the matter, and is endeavour- known authority on health said that " the ing to put a stop to expectorating in trams mussel is by nature a dirty feeder." To and omnibuses. We trust that their action this we agree, for in common with other will be adopted generally throughout the shell-fish, mussels are usually found on the country. GOOD HEALTH. 229 " Me All Face." Causes of Physical Degeneracy. A GOOD story is told of a recent governor ACCORDING to a recent report of the Inter- of Canada. Well wrapped in furs and a Departmental Committee on Physical De- heavy coat he was conferring with an terioration the chief causes of physical Indian chief on the shores of one of the degeneration may be summed up briefly as great lakes in the depth of winter. The follows :— latter, clothed in a single blanket, was Overcrowding with its attendant evils of walking over the frozen ground in apparent uncleanliness, foul air, and bad sanitation. comfort. On being asked how he could Prevalence of drunkenness among men keep warm, he replied: " You do not cover and women. your face." " No," said the governor, Improper feeding of adults and children. " but I am used to that." " Good," Cigarette-smoking by children. answered the Indian, " me all face." Tea-drinking by adults. -4 44- " What Am I To Take ? " A Self-Evident Indictment. IT is difficult for the average layman to realise the inefficacy of drugs to cure dis- No comments are necessary on this re- ease. The idea uppermost in his mind port. All thinking men and women who when he calls in the doctor or attends the have given the question careful considera- hospital is to get a potent draught or pill. tion must recognise the truthfulness of the After telling his complaint, he says: "Now, conclusions. The evils specified are evi- Doctor, what am I to take? " And he is dent on every hand, and, with the excep- sure to be disappointed if no medicine is tion of the overcrowding, among all classes prescribed, and likely to consult another of society. Such being the case, can there physician. be any wonder that the general trend of -44+4-- the nation physically is downward ? The worst feature is that to all appearances Do Drugs Cure ? these evils are on the increase, and the WITH two or three possible exceptions, eflorts made to overcome them are both drugs do not cure disease.

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