a lecture on the preservation of _health_. by t. garnett, m.d. professor of natural philosophy and chemistry in the royal institution of great britain &c. second edition. [figure] such the reward of rude and sober life; of labour such. by _health_ the peasant's toil is well repaid; if _exercise_ were pain indeed, and _temperance_ pain. _armstrong_. _london_: printed for t. cadell, junior, and w. davies, strand. 1800. (r. noble, printer, old bailey.) _to erasmus darwin, m.d._ _dear sir,_ _the first edition of this pamphlet having been introduced to the world under the sanction of your name, i take the liberty of prefixing it to the second; and am happy in having another public opportunity of expressing my thanks for the high gratification and instruction which i have received from the perusal of your medical and philosophical works._ _i am,_ _dear sir,_ _with much esteem,_ _your very obedient servant,_ _tho. garnett._ _royal institution,_ _april 8th, 1800._ _preface._ _most medical gentlemen will, it is supposed, agree that the greater part of the numerous train of diseases to which their patients are subject, have been brought on by improper conduct and imprudence. that this conduct often proceeds from ignorance of its bad effects, may be presumed; for though it cannot be denied that some persons are perfectly regardless with respect to their health, yet the great mass of mankind are too sensible of the enjoyment and loss of this greatest of blessings, to run headlong into danger with their eyes open._ _it was with the hope of making the laws of life more generally known, and better understood, and from thence deducing such rules for the preservation of health, as would be evident to every capacity, that the author was induced to deliver this lecture. it has been honoured with the attention of numerous audiences, in some of the most populous towns in england, where it has generally been read for the benefit of charitable institutions._ _the author flatters himself, that besides the benefit produced by his humble endeavours to serve these institutions, those endeavours have not totally failed in the grand object of preserving health; and with the hope that the influence of the precepts here given, may be farther extended, he has concurred in the ideas of those who have advised the publication of this lecture._ _it is to be feared, that notwithstanding all which can be done, disease will continue to be a heavy tax, which civilized society must pay for its comforts; and the valetudinarian will often be tempted to envy the savage the strength and soundness of his constitution. much however may be done towards the prevention of a number of diseases. if this lecture should contribute to the attainment of so desirable an end, it will afford the highest gratification to the author._ _the first part of the lecture is the substance of an essay which was read by the author before the royal medical society of edinburgh, intended as a defence of the general principles of the system of dr. brown, whose pupil he then was. it was, according to custom, transcribed into the books of the society, and the public have now an opportunity of judging how far dr. girtanner, in his first essay published in the journal de physique, about two years after, in which he gives the theory as his own, without the least acknowledgment to the much injured and unfortunate author of the_ elementa medicinae, _has borrowed from this essay._ _in public lectures, novelty is not to be expected, the principal object of the lecturer being to place in a proper point of view, what has been before discovered. the author has therefore freely availed himself of the labours of others, particularly of the popular publications of dr. beddoes, which he takes this opportunity of acknowledging._ _this lecture is published almost_ verbatim _as it was delivered. on this account the experiments mentioned are not minutely described, the reader being supposed to see them performed._ * * * * * a lecture, &c. the greatest blessing we enjoy is health, without it, wealth, honors, and every other consideration, would be insipid, and even irksome; the preservation of this state therefore, naturally concerns us all. in this lecture, i shall not attempt to teach you to become your own physicians, for when the barriers of health are once broken down, and disease has established itself, it requires the deepest attention, and an accurate acquaintance with the extensive science of medicine, to combat it; to attain this knowledge demands the labour of years. but, a majority of the diseases to which we are subject, are the effects of our own ignorance or imprudence, and it is often very easy to prevent them; mere precepts however, have seldom much effect, unless the reasoning upon them be rendered evident; on this account, i shall first endeavour, in as plain and easy a manner as possible, to explain to you the laws by which life is governed; and when we see in what health consists, we shall be better enabled to take such methods as may preserve it. health is the easy and pleasant exercise of all the functions of the body and mind; and disease consists in the uneasy and disproportioned exercise of all, or some of the functions. when dead matter acts upon dead matter, the only effects we perceive are mechanical, or chemical; for though there may appear to be other kinds of attraction, or repulsion, such as electric and magnetic, yet these come under the head of mechanical attraction, as producing motion; we may therefore lay it down as a law, that when dead, or inanimate bodies act upon each other, no other than mechanical, or chemical effects are produced; that is, either motion, or the decomposition, and new combination of their parts. if one ball strike another, it communicates to it a certain quantity of motion, this is called mechanical action; and if a quantity of salt, or sugar, be put into water, the particles of the salt or sugar will separate from each other, and join themselves to the particles of the water; the salt and water in these instances, are said to act on each other chemically; and in all cases whatever, in which inanimate, or dead bodies act on each other, the effects produced are, motion, or chemical attraction. but, when dead matter acts on those bodies which we call living, the effects are much different; let us take for example a very simple instance.--snakes, at least some species of them, pass the winter in a torpid state, which has all the appearance of death; now heat, if applied to dead matter, will only produce motion, or chemical combination; but if it be applied to the snake, let us see what will be the consequence; the reptile first begins to move, and opens its eyes and mouth; when the heat has been applied for some time, it crawls about in search of food, and performs all the functions of life. here then, dead matter, when applied to a living body, produces living functions; for if the heat had not been applied, the snake would have continued senseless, and apparently lifeless. in more perfect animals, the effects produced by the action of dead matter on them, are more numerous, and are different in different living systems, but are in general the following--sense and motion in almost all animals, and in many the power of thinking, and other affections of the mind. the powers, or dead matters, which are applied, and which produce these functions, are chiefly, heat, food, and air. the proof that these powers do produce the living functions, is in my opinion a very convincing one, namely, that when their actions are suspended, the living functions cease; take away, for instance, heat, air, and food from animals, and they soon become dead matter, and it is not necessary that an animal should be deprived of all these to put a stop to the living functions; if any one of them be taken away, the body sooner or later becomes dead matter: it is found by experience, that if a man be deprived of air, he dies in about three or four minutes; for instance, if he be immersed under water; if he be deprived of heat, or in other words, exposed to a very severe degree of cold, he likewise soon dies; or if he be deprived of food, his death is equally certain, though more slow. it is sufficiently evident then, that the living functions are owing to the action of these external powers upon the body. what i have here said, is not confined to animals, but the living functions of vegetables are likewise caused by the action of dead matter upon them. the dead matters, which by their action produce these functions, are principally heat, moisture, light, and air. it clearly follows therefore, from what i have said, that living bodies must have some property different from dead matter, which renders them capable of being acted upon by these external powers, so as to produce the living functions; for if they had not, the only effects which these powers could produce, would be mechanical, or chemical. though we know not exactly in what this property consists, or in what manner it is acted on, yet we see, that when bodies are possessed of it, they become capable of being acted upon by external powers, and thus the living functions are produced; we shall therefore call this property _excitability_, and in using this term it is necessary to mention, that i mean only to express a fact, without the least intention of pointing out the nature of that property which distinguishes living from dead matter, and in this we have the example of the great newton, who called the property which causes bodies in certain situations to approach each other, _gravitation_, without in the least hinting at its nature; yet, though he knew not what gravitation was, he investigated the laws by which bodies were acted on by it, in the same manner, though we are ignorant of excitability, or the nature of that property which distinguishes living from dead matter, we can investigate the laws by which dead matter acts on living bodies through this medium. we know not what magnetic attraction is, and yet we can investigate its laws; the same holds good with regard to electricity; if we ever should attain a knowledge of the nature of this property, it would make no alteration in the laws which we had before discovered. i shall now proceed to the investigation of the laws by which the excitability is acted on; but i must first define some terms which it will be necessary to use, to avoid circumlocution, and at the same time to give us more distinct ideas on the subject. when the excitability is in such a state as to be very susceptible of the action of external powers, i shall call it _abundant_, or _accumulated_; but when it is found not very capable of receiving their action, i shall say, it is _deficient_, or _exhausted_. i would not wish however, to have it thought, that by these terms i mean in the least to hint at the _nature_ of excitability, nor that it is _really_ one while increased, and at another diminished in quantity, for the abstract question is in no shape considered; we know not whether the excitability, or the vital principle, depends on a particular arrangement of matter, or from whatever cause it may originate; by the terms here used, i mean only to say, that the excitability is easily acted on when i call it abundant, or accumulated; at other times the living body is with more difficulty excited, and then i say, the vital principle is deficient, or exhausted. the laws by which external powers act on living bodies, will, on a careful examination, be found to be the following-first, when the powerful action of the exciting powers ceases for some time, the excitability accumulates, or becomes more capable of receiving their action, and is more powerfully affected by them. if we examine separately the different exciting powers, which act on the body, we shall find abundant confirmation of this law. let us first consider light; if a person be kept in darkness for some time, and be then brought into a room in which there is only an ordinary degree of light, it will be almost too oppressive for him, and appear excessively bright; and if he have been kept for a considerable time in a very dark place, the sensation will be very painful. in this case, while the retina, or optic nerve, was deprived of light, its excitability accumulated, or became more easily affected by light; for if a person goes out of one room, into another which has an equal degree of light, he will feel no effect. you may convince yourselves of this law by a very simple experiment--shut your eyes, and cover them for a minute or two with your hand, and endeavour not to think of the light, or of what you are doing; then open them, and the day-light will for a short time appear brighter. if you look attentively at a window, for about two minutes, and then cast your eyes upon a sheet of white paper, the shape of the window-frames will be perfectly visible upon the paper; those parts which express the wood-work, appearing brighter than the other parts. the parts of the optic nerve on which the image of the frame falls, are covered by the wood-work from the action of the light; the excitability of these portions of the nerve will therefore accumulate, and the parts of the paper which fall upon them, must of course appear brighter. if a person be brought out of a dark room where he has been confined, into a field covered with snow, when the sun shines, it has been known to affect him so much, as to deprive him of sight altogether. let us next consider what happens with respect to heat; if heat be for some time abstracted, the excitability accumulates; or in other words, if the body be for some time exposed to cold, it is more liable to be affected by heat, afterwards applied; of this also you may be convinced by an easy experiment--put one of your hands into cold water, and then put both into water which is considerably warm; the hand which has been in cold water, will feel much warmer than the other. if you handle some snow with one hand, while you keep the other in your bosom, that it may be of the same heat as the body, and then bring both within the same distance of the fire, the heat will affect the cold hand infinitely more than the warm one. this is a circumstance of the utmost importance, and ought always to be carefully attended to. when a person has been exposed to a severe degree of cold for some time, he ought to be cautious how he comes near a fire, for his excitability will be so much accumulated, that the heat will act violently; often producing a great degree of inflammation, and even sometimes mortification. we may by the way observe, that this is a very common cause of chilblains, and other inflammations. when the hands, or any other parts of the body have been exposed to violent cold, they ought first to be put into cold water, or even rubbed with the snow, and exposed to warmth in the gentlest manner possible. exactly the same takes place with respect to food, if a person have for some time been deprived of food, or have taken it in small quantity, whether it be meat or drink; or if he have taken it of a less stimulating quality, he will find, that when he returns to his ordinary mode of living, it will have more effect upon him than before he lived abstemiously. persons who have been shut up in a coal-work from the falling in of the pit, and have had nothing to eat for two or three days, have been as much intoxicated by a bason of broth, as a person in common circumstances with two or three bottles of wine; and we all know that spirituous, or vinous liquors affect the head more in the morning, than after dinner. this circumstance was particularly evident among the poor sailors who were in the boat with captain bligh after the mutiny. the captain was sent by government to convey some plants of the bread-fruit tree from otaheite, to the west-indies; soon after he left otaheite, the crew mutinied, and put the captain and most of the officers, with some of the men, on board the ship's boat, with a very short allowance of provisions, and particularly of liquors, for they had only six quarts of rum, and six bottles of wine, for nineteen people, who were driven by storms about the south-sea, exposed to wet and cold all the time, for nearly a month; each man was allowed only a tea-spoon full of rum a-day, but this tea-spoon full refreshed the poor men, benumbed as they were with cold, and faint with hunger, more than twenty times the quantity would have done those who were warm, and well fed; and had it not been for the spirit having such power to act upon men, in their condition, they never could have outlived the hardships they experienced. all these facts, and many others which might be brought, establish beyond a doubt the truth of the law i have mentioned, namely, that when the powerful action of the exciting powers ceases for some time, the excitability accumulates, or becomes more capable of receiving their actions. the second law is, that when the exciting powers have acted with violence, or for a considerable time, the excitability becomes exhausted, or less fit to be acted on, and this we shall be able to prove by a similar induction. let us take the effects of light upon the eye; when it has acted violently for some time upon the optic nerve, it diminishes the excitability of that nerve, and renders it incapable of being affected by a quantity of light that would at other times affect it. when you have been walking out in the snow, if you come into your room, you will scarcely be able to see any thing for some minutes. look stedfastly at a candle for a minute or two, and you will with difficulty discern the letters of a book, which you were before reading distinctly; and if you happen to cast your eyes upon the sun, you will not see any thing distinctly for some time afterwards. let us next consider the matter of heat: suppose water to be heated lukewarm, if you put one hand into it, it will feel warm; if you now put the other hand into water, heated for instance to 120 degrees or 130 degrees, and keep it there some time, we will say, two minutes; if then you take it out, and put it into the lukewarm water, that water will feel cold, though still it will seem warm to the other hand; for, the hand which had been in the heated water, has had its excitability exhausted by the application of heat. before you go into a warm bath, the temperature of the air may seem warm and agreeable to you, but after you have remained for some time in a bath that is rather hot, when you come out, you feel the air uncommonly cool and chilling. let us now examine the effects of substances taken into the stomach; and as the effects of spirituous, and vinous liquors, are a little more remarkable than food, we shall make our observations upon them. a person who is unaccustomed to drink these liquors, will be intoxicated by a quantity that will produce no effect upon one who has been for some time accustomed to take them; and when a person has used himself to these stimulants for some time, the ordinary powers which in common support life, will not have their proper effects upon him, because his excitability has been in some measure exhausted by the stimulants. the same holds good with respect to tobacco and opium; a person accustomed to take opium will not be affected by a quantity that would completely intoxicate one not used to it; because the excitability has been so far exhausted by the use of that drug, that it cannot be acted on by a small quantity. these facts, with innumerable others, which will easily suggest themselves to you, prove the truth of our second proposition, namely, that when the exciting powers have acted violently, or for a considerable time, the excitability is exhausted, or less fit to be acted on. this exhaustion of the excitability, may, however, be either finite, or temporary; we see animals, while the exciting powers continue to act, at first appear in their greatest vigour, then gradually decay, and at last come into that state, in which, from the long continued action of the exciting powers, the excitability is entirely exhausted, and death takes place. we likewise see plants in the spring, while the exciting powers have acted on them, moderately, and for a short time, arrayed in their verdant robes, and adorned with flowers of "many mingling hues;" but, as the exciting powers which support the life of the plant, continue to be applied, and some of them, for instance heat, as the summer advances become increased, they first lose their verdure, then grow brown, and at the end of summer cease to live; because their excitability is exhausted by the long continued action of the exciting powers; and this does not happen merely in consequence of the heat of summer decreasing, for they grow brown and die, even in a greater degree of heat than that which in spring made them grow luxuriantly. these are examples of the finite, or irreparable exhaustion of the excitability, but we find also, that it may be exhausted for a time, and accumulated again. though the eye has been so dazzled by the splendour of light, that it cannot see an object moderately illuminated, yet, if it be shut for some time, the excitability of the optic nerve accumulates again, and we are again capable of seeing with an ordinary light. we find, that we are not always equally capable of performing the functions of life. when we have been engaged in any exertion, either mental or corporeal, for some hours only, we find ourselves fatigued, and unfit to pursue our labours much longer; if in this state, several of the exciting powers, particularly light and noise, be withdrawn; and if we are laid in a posture which does not require much muscular exertion, we soon fall into that state which nature intended for the accumulation of the excitability, and which we call sleep. in this state, many of the exciting powers cannot act upon us, unless applied with some violence, for we are insensible to their moderate action. a moderate light, or a moderate noise, does not affect us, and the power of thinking, which exhausts the excitability very much, is in a great measure suspended. when the action of these powers has been suspended for six or eight hours, the excitability is again capable of being acted on, and we rise fresh, and vigorous, and fit to engage in our occupations. sleep then, is the method which nature has provided to repair the exhausted constitution, and restore the vital energy; without its refreshing aid, our worn-out habits would scarcely be able to drag on a few days, or at most a few weeks, before the vital spring was quite run down; how properly therefore has the great poet of nature called sleep the chief nourisher in life's feast.- 'sleep, that knits up the ravell'd sleeve of care, 'the death of each day's life, sore labour's bath, 'balm of hurt minds, great nature's second course, 'chief nourisher in life's feast.' from the internal sensations often excited, it is natural to conclude that the nerves of sense are not torpid during sleep; but that they are only precluded from the perception of external objects, by the external organs being rendered unfit to transmit to them the impulses of bodies, during the suspension of the power of volition; thus, the eye-lids are closed in sleep, to prevent the impulse of the light from acting on the optic nerve; and it is very probable that the drum of the ear is not stretched; it is likewise probable that something similar happens to the external apparatus of all our organs of sense, which may make them unfit for their office of perception during sleep. the more violently the exciting powers have acted, the sooner is sleep brought on; because the excitability is sooner exhausted, and therefore, sooner requires the means of renewing it; and on the contrary, the more weakly the exciting powers have acted, the less is a person inclined to sleep. instances of the first are, excess of exercise, strong liquors, or study, and of the latter, an under proportion of these. a person who has been daily accustomed to much exercise, whether mental or corporeal, if he omit it, will find little or no inclination to sleep; he may however be made to sleep by taking a little diffusible stimulus; for instance, a little warm punch, or opium: these act entirely by exhausting the excitability to that degree which is compatible with sleep; and when their stimulant effect is over, the person soon falls into that state. but though the excitability may have been sufficiently exhausted, and the action of the external powers considerably moderated, yet there are some things within ourselves, which stimulate violently, and prevent sleep; such as pain, thirst, and strong passions and emotions of the mind. these all tend to drive away sleep, but it may be induced, by withdrawing the mind from these impressions; particularly from uneasy emotions, and employing it on something which makes a less impression; sleep, in such cases, is frequently brought on by listening to the humming of bees, [1] or the murmuring of a rivulet; by employing the mind on subjects which do not require much exertion, nor produce too much commotion; such as counting to a thousand, or counting drops of water which fall slowly. it sometimes happens, as has been well observed by dr. franklin, that an uneasy heat of the skin, from a want of perspiration, occasioned by the heat of the bed-cloaths, will prevent sleep; in this case, he recommends a method, which i believe will often succeed--namely, to get up and walk about the room till you are considerably cooled; when you get into bed again, the heat of the skin will be diminished, and perspiration become more free, and you will probably sleep in a very few minutes. [2] by induction we have discovered two of the principal laws by which living bodies are governed; the first is, that when the ordinary powers which support life have been suspended, or their action lessened for a time, the excitability, or vital principle accumulates, or becomes more fit to receive their actions; and secondly, when these powers have been acted upon violently, or for a considerable time, the excitability is exhausted, or becomes less fit to receive their actions. there are therefore three states in which living bodies exist.-first, a state of accumulated excitability. second, a state of exhausted excitability. third, when it is in such a state as to produce the strongest and most healthy actions, when acted upon by the external powers. from what i have said, it must appear, that life is a forced state, depending on the action of external powers upon the excitability; and that, by their continued action, if they are properly regulated, the excitability will be gradually and insensibly exhausted; and life will be resigned into the hands of him who gave it, without a struggle, and without a groan. we see then, that nature operates in supporting the living part of the creation, by laws as simple and beautiful as those by which the inanimate world is governed. in the latter we see the order and harmony which is observed by the planets, and their satellites, in their revolution round the great source of heat and light. '-----all combin'd 'and ruled unerring, by that single power 'which draws the stone projected, to the ground.' in the animated part of the creation, we observe those beautiful phenomena which are exhibited by an almost infinite variety of individuals, all depending upon one simple law, the action of the exciting powers on the excitability. i cannot express my admiration of the wisdom of the creator better than in the words of thomson. 'o unprofuse magnificence divine! 'o wisdom truly perfect! thus to call 'from a few causes, such a scheme of things; 'effects so various, beautiful, and great.' life then, or those functions which we call living, are the effects of certain exciting powers, acting on the excitability, or property distinguishing living from dead matter. when those effects, namely, the functions, flow easily, pleasantly, and completely, from the action of the exciting powers, they indicate that state which we call health. i have detained you a long time on this subject, but it is of importance to make you acquainted with these laws; for it is from a knowledge of them, that the rules for preserving health must be deduced; and having rendered them, as i hope, intelligible to you, i shall proceed to point out such necessary cautions for your conduct, as are easily deduced from them; and which experience confirms; and i shall follow an arrangement in the consideration of the subject, which naturally presents itself to us. the chief exciting powers which act upon us are, air and food; these i shall respectively consider, and afterwards make a few remarks on exercise. the air is the main-spring in the animal machine; the source of heat and activity, without which our blood would soon become a black and stagnant mass, and life would soon stop. it is now known, that only a part of atmospheric air, is necessary for respiration: the atmosphere near the surface of the earth, consists of two kinds of air; one, which is highly proper for respiration, and combustion, and in which, an animal immersed, will live much longer than in the same quantity of common air; and one, which is perfectly improper for supporting respiration, or combustion, for an instant. the first of these airs, has been called vital air, from its property of supporting life, and constitutes about one fourth of the atmosphere. [3] the other, from its property of destroying life, is called azote, and forms of course the remaining three fourths of the atmosphere. these two airs may be separated from each other by various methods. if a candle be inclosed in a given quantity of atmospheric air, it will burn only for a certain time, and then be extinguished; and from the rising of the water in the vessel in which it is inclosed, it is evident that a quantity of air has been absorbed. what has been absorbed is the vital air, and what remains, the azote, which is incapable of supporting flame. if an animal be immersed in a given quantity of common air, it will live only a certain time; at the end of this time, the air will be found diminished, about one fourth being extracted from it, and the remainder will neither support flame nor animal life; this experiment might easily be made, but it seems a piece of unnecessary cruelty. by similar experiments to those i have mentioned, we get the azote pure; here is some, in which a candle has burnt out, and in which nothing but azote, or the impure part of the atmosphere is left. [4] i shall plunge a lighted match into it, and you see it is instantly extinguished. some metals, and particularly manganese, when exposed to the atmosphere, attract the vital air from it, without touching the azote; and it may be procured from these metals by the application of heat, in very great purity. here is a bottle of that kind of air, which i have expelled by heat from manganese; i shall plunge a taper into it, and you will perceive that it burns with great brilliancy. an animal shut up in it, would live about four times as long as if shut up in an equal quantity of atmospheric air. if i take three parts of azote, and one of vital air, i shall form a compound which is similar to the atmosphere, and which is the mixture best suited to support the health of the body; for if there were a much greater proportion of vital air, it would act too powerfully upon the system, and bring on inflammatory diseases; it would likewise by its stimulus exhaust the excitability, and bring us sooner to death; and in the same manner that a candle burns brighter in vital air, and would therefore be sooner exhausted, so would the flame of life be sooner burnt out. on the contrary, if the atmosphere contained a much less proportion of vital air, it would not stimulate the body sufficiently; the excitability would morbidly accumulate, and diseases of debility would occur. combustion, putrefaction, and the breathing of animals, are processes which are continually diminishing the quantity of vital air contained in the atmosphere; and if the all-wise author of nature had not provided for its continual re-production, the atmosphere would in all probability have long since become too impure to support life; but this is guarded against in a most beautiful manner. water is not a simple element, as has been supposed, but is composed of vital air, and a particular kind of air which is called _inflammable_; the same that is used to fill balloons. it has been found by experiment, that one hundred pounds of water, are composed of eighty-five pounds of vital air, and fifteen of inflammable air. [5] water may be decompounded by a variety of means, and its component parts separated from each other. vegetables effect this decomposition; they absorb water, and decompose it in their glands; and taking the inflammable air for their nourishment, breathe out the vital air in a state of very great purity; this may be ascertained by a very easy experiment. this vital air is received by animals into their lungs, gives them their heat, and communicates a red colour to their blood; when animals die for want of vital air, their blood is always found black. from what i have said, it is evident, that in large and populous towns, where combustion and respiration are continually performed on a large scale, the air must be much less pure than in the country, where there are few of these causes to contaminate the atmosphere, and where vegetables are continually tending to render it more pure; and if it was not for the winds which agitate this element, and constantly occasion its change of place, the air of large towns would probably soon become unfit for respiration. winds bring us the pure air of the country, and take away that from which the vital air has been in a great measure extracted; but still, from the immense quantity of fuel which is daily burnt, and the number of people breathing in large towns, the air very soon becomes impure. from the greater purity of the air in the country, proceeds the rosy bloom found in the rural cottage, which we in vain look for in the stately palace, or the splendid drawing room. here then are reasons for preferring the country, which no one will dispute, and whenever it can be done, such a situation ought always to be chosen in preference to a large town: this cannot be better enforced than in the words of dr. armstrong.- 'ye, who amid the feverish world would wear 'a body free of pain, of cares a mind; 'fly the rank city, shun its turbid air; 'breathe not the chaos of eternal smoke, 'and volatile corruption, from the dead, 'the dying, sick'ning, and the living world 'exhaled, to sully heaven's transparent dome 'with dim mortality. 'while yet you breathe, away; the rural wilds 'invite; the mountains call you, and the vales; 'the woods, the streams, and each ambrosial breeze 'that fans the ever undulating sky.' but there are many whose occupations oblige them to reside in large towns; they, therefore, should make frequent excursions into the country, or to such situations as will enable them to enjoy, and to breathe air of a little more purity. i say _enjoy_, for who that has been for some time shut up in the town, without breathing the pure air of the country, does not feel his spirits revived the moment he emerges from the azote of the town. let not therefore, if possible, a single day pass, without enjoying, if but for an hour, the pure air of the country. doing this, only for a short time _every_ day, would be much more effectual than spending whole days, or even weeks in the country, and then returning into the corrupt atmosphere of the town; for when you have for a long time breathed an impure air, the excitability becomes so morbidly accumulated, from the want of the stimulus of pure air, that the air of the country will have too great an effect upon you; it will frequently, in the course of a day or two, bring on an inflammatory fever, attended with stuffing of the nose, hoarseness, a great degree of heat, and dryness of the skin, with other symptoms of a violent cold. large towns are the graves of the human species; they would perish in a few generations, if not constantly recruited from the country. the confined, putrid air, which most of their inhabitants breathe, their want of natural exercise, but above all their dissipation, shorten their lives, and ruin their constitutions. children particularly, require a pure air; every circumstance points out the country as the proper place for their education; the purity of the air, the variety of rustic sports, the plainness of diet, the simplicity and innocence of manners, all concur to recommend it. it is a melancholy fact, that above half the children born in london, die before they are two years old. to shew how indispensable fresh air is to children, i shall mention one example which sets the fact in the clearest light. in the lying-in hospital at dublin, 2944 infants, out of 7650, died in the year 1782, within the first fortnight after their birth, which is nearly every third child; they almost all died in convulsions; many of them foamed at the mouth, their thumbs were drawn into the palms of their hands, their jaws were locked, the face was swelled and looked blue, as though they were choaked. this last circumstance led the physicians to conclude that the rooms in the hospital were too close, and hence, that the infants had not a sufficient quantity of good air to breathe; they therefore set about ventilating them better, which was done very completely. the consequence has been, that not one child dies now where three used to die. fewer children indeed die convulsed now, than formerly; this is because the rich learn, either from books, or conversation with physicians, how necessary fresh air is to life and health; hence they keep their houses well aired; but the poor, and servants, are not made to comprehend this matter properly; and therefore from neglecting to open their windows, and breathing a foul, tainted air, the greatest part of their time, many disorders are brought on, and others rendered worse than they naturally would be. [6] having considered the purity of the air, let us next take a view of the changes in temperature which it undergoes, and the effects which these have upon the constitution. we find the air sometimes considerably below the freezing point; nay, even so much as 20 or 30 degrees; it is then intensely cold; and on the other hand, the thermometer sometimes indicates a great degree of heat. we then find ourselves much relaxed, and our constitutions exhausted. to understand how this happens, let us consider for a moment the nature of heat, and cold.--heat is one of those stimuli which act upon the excitability, and support life: for if it was totally withdrawn, we should not be able to exist even a few minutes; and cold is only a diminution of heat. when heat is present, in a proper degree, or the atmosphere is about that degree of heat which we call temperate, it just gives such a stimulus, and keeps the excitability exhausted to such a degree, as to preserve the body in health; but if it continue for a considerable time to be much warmer than this temperature, the consequence must be, from the laws already laid down, an exhaustion of the excitability, and a consequent relaxation and debility; for, when the excitability has been exhausted by the violent application of heat, long continued, the common stimulant powers which support life, cannot produce a sufficient effect upon it, to give to the body that tone which is compatible with health. on the contrary, when the heat of the air falls below what we call temperate, or when cold is applied to the body, from the accustomed stimulus of heat being diminished, the excitability must accumulate, or become more liable to be affected by the action of the external powers. this, however, very seldom produces bad effects, unless the exciting powers be improperly or quickly applied; for we can bear a considerable diminution of heat without any bad consequences; and in all cases i hope i shall be able to make it appear, that much more mischief arises from the too great action of heat, than from the diminution of it. nature never made any country too cold for its inhabitants. in cold climates, she has made exercise, and even fatigue habitual to them, not only from the necessity of their situation, but from choice; their natural diversions being all of the athletic or violent kind. but the softness and effeminacy of modern manners, has both deprived us of our natural defence against the diseases most incident to our climate, and subjected us to all the inconveniencies of a warm one. people are afraid of going out into the cold air; but if they conduct themselves properly afterwards, they will never be in the least danger from it. indeed the action of cold, unless it be excessive, never produces any bad effects. many of you will, no doubt, think me here in an error; but i hope you will not long entertain that opinion. you will say that you have had frequent experience to the contrary; that you have often gone out into the cold air, and have caught dreadful colds. that this is owing to the action of cold, i will deny; nay, i will assert, that if a person go out into air which is very cold, _and remain in it_ for a very long time, he will never perceive any symptoms of what is called a cold so long as he remains there. a common cold is attended with a running of the nose, hoarseness, and cough, with a considerable degree of feverish heat, an dryness of the skin.--now it is universally agreed, that this disorder is an inflammation, or is of an inflammatory nature; it is an inflammation of the smooth, moist skin which lines the nostrils, and goes down the wind-pipe into the lungs; but as cold is only a diminution of heat, or a diminution of a stimulus acting upon the body, it is impossible that such a diminution can cause a greater action or excitement; we might as well expect to fill a vessel by taking water out of it. but let us see how a cold, as it is commonly called, is usually produced. when a person in cold weather goes out into the air, every time he draws in his breath, the cold air passes through his nostrils and windpipe into the lungs, and in thus diminishing the heat of the parts, allows their excitability to accumulate, and renders them more liable to be affected by the succeeding heat. so long as that person continues in the cold air, he feels no bad effects; but if he come into a warm room, he first perceives a glow within his nostrils and breast, as well as all over the surface of the body. soon afterwards, a disagreeable dryness and huskiness will be felt in the nostrils and breast. by and by a short, dry, tickling cough comes on. he feels a shivering, which makes him draw nearer to the fire, but all to no purpose; the more he tries to heat himself, the more chill he becomes. all the mischief is here caused by the violent action of the heat on the accumulated excitability. for want of a knowledge of this law, these disagreeable, and often dangerous complaints are brought on; when they might be avoided with the greatest ease. when you take a ride into the country on a cold day, you find yourselves very cold; as soon as you go into a house, you are invited to come to the fire, and warm yourselves; and what is still worse, to drink something warm and comfortable, to keep out the cold, as the saying is. the inevitable consequence of this, is, to bring on the complaints which i have just described, which might with more propriety be called, heats than colds. but how easily might these complaints have been avoided! when you come out of a very cold atmosphere, you should not at first go into a room that has a fire in it, or if you cannot avoid that, you should keep for a considerable time at as great a distance from the fire as possible, that the accumulated excitability may be gradually exhausted, by the moderate and gentle action of heat; and then you may bear the heat of the fire without any danger: but, above all, refrain from taking warm or strong liquors while you are cold. if a person have his hands or feet exposed to a very severe cold, the excitability of those parts will be so much accumulated, that if they should be brought suddenly near the fire, a violent inflammation, and even a mortification will take place, which has often happened; or, at any rate, that inflammation called chilblains will be produced, from the violent action of the heat upon the accumulated excitability of those parts; but, if a person so circumstanced, was to put his hands or feet into cold water, very little warmer than the atmosphere to which he had been exposed, or rub them with snow, which is not often colder than 32 or 30 degrees, the morbid excitability will be gradually exhausted, and no bad consequences will ensue. when a part of the body only has been exposed to the action of cold, and the rest kept heated; if, for instance, a person in a warm room sits so that a current of air coming through a broken pane, should fall upon any part of the body, that part will be soon affected with an inflammation, which is usually called a rheumatic inflammation. from what has been said, it will be easy to account for this circumstance. the excitability of the part is accumulated by the diminution of its heat; but at the same time, the rest of the body and blood is warm; and this warm blood acting upon a part where the excitability is accumulated, will cause an inflammation; to which, the more you apply heat, the worse you make it.--from these considerations, we may lay it down as a fact, and experience supports us in so doing, that you may in general go out of warm into cold air without much danger; but, that you can never return suddenly from the cold into the warm air with perfect impunity. hence, we may lay down the following rule, which, if strictly observed, would prevent the frequent colds we meet with in winter. _when the whole body, or any part of it, is chilled, bring it to its natural feeling and warmth by degrees._ but if, for want of observing this necessary caution, a cold, as it is called, should have seized a person, let us consider what is proper to be done. it will, from the preceding reasoning, appear very improper to make the room where you sit warmer than usual, to increase the quantity of bed-clothes, to wrap yourself up in flannel, or particularly to drink a large quantity of barley-water, gruel, or tea, almost boiling hot, by way of diluting, as it is called, and forcing a perspiration; this will infallibly make the disorder worse, in the same manner as confining inoculated persons in warm rooms would make their small-pox more violent. perhaps there would be scarcely such a thing as a bad cold, if people, when they found it coming on, were to keep cool, and avoid wine and strong liquors, and confine themselves for a short time to a simple diet of vegetable food, drinking only toast and water. instances are by no means uncommon, where a heat of the nostrils, difficulty of breathing, a short, tickling cough, and other symptoms, threatening a violent cold, have gone off entirely in consequence of this plan being pursued. colds would be much less frequent, were we to take more pains to accommodate our dress to the season: if we were warmly clothed in cold weather, our excitability would not be accumulated by the action of the cold. if a greater proportion of females fall victims to this disease, is it not because, losing sight, more than men, of its primary purpose, they regulate their dress solely by fantastic ideas of elegance? if happily, as is observed by dr. beddoes, our regret should recall the age of chivalry, to break the spell of fashion would be an atchievement worthy the most gallant of our future knights. common sense has always failed in the adventure; and our ladies, alas! are still compelled, whenever the enchantress waves her wand, to expose themselves half undressed, to the fogs and frosts of our climate. besides the effects of the air, we ought by no means to be indifferent with regard to what we take into the stomach as food and drink; since these have even a greater influence on our health, than the circumstances i have already mentioned. among the causes which excite the body, and support life, i have formerly mentioned food, or the matters taken into the stomach. it is from these matters that all the animal solids and fluids are formed; these are stimuli, which if totally withdrawn, we could not exist many days. these stimuli are subject to the same laws with all the others which act upon the body. when they act properly in concert with the other powers, they produce the healthy state; but if they act in an undue degree, whether that action be too great or too little, disease will be the consequence. when they act too feebly, the excitability will accumulate; and diseases of debility, attended with a very great degree of irritability, will take place: this has been instanced in those who have been without food for some time. persons who have been shut up in a coal-work by the falling-in of the pit, and have consequently been without food for some days, have had their excitability so much accumulated, as to be intoxicated with a bason of broth. to this source we may attribute many of the diseases with which the poor are afflicted; but they are by no means so common as diseases of an opposite nature, which arise from a too free use of food. i shall confine myself here to the consideration of what is more strictly called food, and afterwards consider the effects of strong liquors. when we take food in too great quantity, or of too nourishing a quality, it will either produce inflammatory diseases, such as pleurisy; or by exhausting the excitability, it will bring on stomach complaints, gout, and all the symptoms of premature old age. this follows so evidently from the laws we have investigated, that it is scarcely necessary to say more on the subject; and i am sure there are few who have not seen examples of it. be therefore temperate in eating, and eat only of such foods as are the plainest; and let a proper quantity of vegetable food be mixed with animal. if you value the preservation of health, never satiate yourselves with eating; but let it be a rule from which you ought never to depart, always to rise from table with some remains of appetite: for, when the stomach is loaded with more food than it can easily digest, a crude and unassimilated chyle is taken into the blood, pregnant with diseases. nor is the quantity the only object of attention; the quality of the food is to be carefully studied; made dishes, enriched with hot sauces, stimulate infinitely more than plain food, and therefore exhaust the excitability, bringing on diseases of indirect debility; such as the worst kind of gout, apoplexy, and paralytic complaints. "for my part," says an elegant writer, "when i behold a fashionable table set out in all its magnificence, i fancy that i see gouts and dropsies, fevers and lethargies, with other innumerable distempers, lying in ambuscade among the dishes." let it be therefore laid down as a rule by those who wish to preserve their health, and i have nothing to say to those who are indifferent on that head, to make their chief repast on one plain dish, and trifle with the rest. it is by no means uncommon for a medical man to have patients, chiefly among people of fashion and fortune, who complain of being hot and restless all night, and having a foul taste in the mouth every morning: on examination it is found, that in nineteen cases out of twenty, it has arisen from their having overloaded their stomachs, and at the same time neglected to take proper exercise; for it must always be observed, that more may be eaten with safety, nay, more is even necessary, when a person takes a good deal of exercise. when people take little exercise, and overload their stomachs, there lies within them a fermenting mass of undigested aliment; and it is not surprizing that this should irritate and heat the body during the night. this is likewise the foundation of stomach complaints, flatulencies, and all other symptoms of indigestion; which more frequently proceed from intemperance in eating and drinking than any other cause. the benefits arising from temperance are set in a striking light in the following allegory, which may be found in the adventurer. esculapius, after his deification or admittance among the gods, having revisited his native country, and being one day (as curiosity led him a rambling,) in danger of being benighted, made the best of his way to a house he saw at some distance, where he was hospitably received by the master of it. cremes, for that was the master's name, though but a young man, was infirm and sickly. of several dishes served up to supper, cremes observed that his guest ate but of one, and that the most simple; nor could all his intreaties prevail upon him to do otherwise. he was, notwithstanding, highly delighted with esculapius's conversation, in which he observed a cheerfulness and knowledge superior to any thing he had hitherto met with. the next morning, esculapius took his leave, but not till he had engaged his good-natured host to pay him a visit at a small villa, a few miles from thence. cremes came accordingly, and was most kindly received; but how great was his amazement when supper was served up, to see nothing but milk, honey, and a few roots, dressed in the plainest, but neatest manner, to which hunger, cheerfulness, and good sense, were the only sauces. esculapius seemed to eat with pleasure, while cremes scarcely tasted of them. on which a repast was ordered more suitable to the taste of our guest. immediately there succeeded a banquet composed of the most artful dishes that luxury could invent, with great plenty and variety of the richest and most intoxicating wines. these too were accompanied by damsels of the most bewitching beauty. cremes now gave a loose to his appetites, and every thing he tasted raised ecstasies beyond what he had ever known. during the repast, the damsels sung and danced to entertain them; their charms enchanted the enraptured guest, already flushed with what he had drank; his senses were lost in ecstatic confusion. every thing around him seemed elysium, and he was on the point of indulging the most boundless freedoms, when on a sudden their beauty, which was but a vizard, fell off, and discovered forms the most hideous and forbidding imaginable. lust, revenge, folly, murder, meagre poverty, and despair, now appeared in the most odious shapes, and the place instantly became a most dire scene of misery and confusion. how often did cremes wish himself far distant from such a diabolical company, and now dreaded the fatal consequence which threatened him. his blood ran chill at his heart, and joy and rapture were perverted to amazement and horror!--when esculapius perceived it had made a sufficient impression on his guest, he thus addressed him: "know, cremes, it is esculapius who has thus entertained you, and what you have beheld is a true image of the deceitfulness and misery inseparable from luxury and intemperance. would you be happy, be temperate: temperance is the parent of health, virtue, wisdom, plenty, and every thing that can make you happy in this or the world to come. it is indeed the true luxury of life, for without it life cannot be enjoyed." this said, he disappeared, and left cremes (instead of an elegant apartment) in an open plain, full of ideas quite different from those he had brought with him. on his return home, from the most luxurious, he became one of the most temperate men, by which wise method he soon regained health. frugality produced riches, and from an infirm and crazy constitution, and almost ruined estate, by virtue of this infallible elixir, he became one of the happiest men breathing, and lived to a healthy old age, revered as an oracle for his wisdom throughout all greece. if temperance be necessary with regard to food, it is still more so with respect to strong liquors; these diffusible stimuli, by quickly exhausting the excitability, soon blast the vigour, and sap the foundation of the strongest constitution. their immediate effects you know are stimulant; they raise the animal spirits, produce a cheerful state of mind, and if taken in greater quantity, cause intoxication, or that temporary derangement of the thinking powers which arises from too great a degree of excitement: but let us see what happens the next day; the animal spirits are exhausted, and the person thus situated, finds himself languid and enervated to a great degree; for it seems a law of the human body, that the spirits are never artificially raised, without being afterwards proportionably depressed; and to shew clearly that in this state the excitability is exhausted, the ordinary powers which in general support life, will not have their due effect; and a person thus situated finds most relief the next day, from taking some of the same stimulus which occasioned the exhaustion; because the common exciting powers can scarcely act upon his exhausted excitability. but though the excitability be in this way exhausted, it will in the course of a day or two be again accumulated, and it may, perhaps, be suspected that this exhaustion can do no harm to the constitution; but this is a premature conclusion, and quite contrary to fact and experience, as well as to reason; for, just in the same manner that a pendulum, made to vibrate in the arc of a circle, will never return exactly to the same height, but fall a little short of it every time; so, though the excitability may be again accumulated, it never can be brought back to what it was before; and every fresh debauch will shorten life, probably two or three weeks at least, besides debilitating the body, and bringing on a variety of diseases, with premature old age. those who drink only a moderate quantity of wine, so as to make them cheerful, as they call it, but not absolutely to intoxicate, may imagine that it will do them no harm. the strong and robust may enjoy the pleasures of the bottle and table with seeming impunity, and sometimes for many years may not find any bad effects from them; but depend upon it, if a full diet of animal food be every day indulged in, with only a moderate portion of wine, its baneful influence will blast the vigour of the strongest constitution. while we are eating, water is the best beverage. the custom of drinking fermented liquors, and particularly wine, during dinner, is a very pernicious one. the idea that it assists digestion, is false; those who are acquainted with chemistry know, that food is hardened, and rendered less digestible by these means, and the stimulus which wine gives to the stomach is not necessary, excepting to those who have exhausted the excitability of that organ by the excessive use of strong liquors. in these. the stomach can scarcely be excited to any action without the assistance of such a stimulus. if food wants diluting, water is the best diluent, and will prevent the rising, as it is called, of strong food, much better than wine or spirits. before i finish this subject, i shall say a few words on the pernicious custom of suffering children to drink wine, or other fermented liquors. nothing is more common than to see, even very young children come to the table after dinner, to drink a glass of wine. the least quantity produces violent effects on their accumulated excitability, and by quickly exhausting it, ruins their constitutions through life, and often renders them habitual drinkers. i can scarcely help attributing in some degree the many stomach complaints we meet with, among young people in the present age, and which were unknown to our forefathers, to the abominable practice of suffering children to drink fermented, or spirituous liquors. you must all have observed how soon children are intoxicated and inflamed by spirituous liquors; you may judge then, that if these liquors be only a slow poison to us, they are a very quick one to them. a glass of wine, on account of the accumulated excitability of children, will have more effect upon them, than a bottle will have upon an adult accustomed to drink wine. if therefore, the health of a child, and its happiness through life be an object, never suffer it to taste fermented, or spirituous liquors, till it be fifteen or sixteen years of age, unless a little wine be necessary as a medicine. it now only remains for me to take some notice of exercise. of all the various methods of preserving health, and of preventing diseases, which nature has suggested, there is none more efficacious than exercise; it puts the fluids all in motion, strengthens the solids, promotes perspiration, and occasions the decomposition of a larger quantity of atmospheric air in the lungs. hence, in order to preserve the health of the body, the author of nature has made exercise absolutely necessary to the greater part of mankind for obtaining the means of existence.--had not exercise been absolutely necessary for our well-being, says the elegant addison, nature would not have made the body so proper for it, by giving such an activity to the limbs, and such a pliancy to every part, as necessarily produce those compressions, extensions, contortions, dilatations, and all other kinds of motions, that are necessary for the preservation of such a system of tubes and glands.--and that we might not want inducement to engage us in such exercise of the body as is proper for its welfare, it is so ordered, that nothing valuable can be procured without it. not to mention riches and honors, even food and raiment are not to be come at without the toil of the hands and sweat of the brow. providence furnishes materials, but expects that we should work them up ourselves. the earth must be laboured before it gives its increase, and when it is forced into its several products, how many hands must they pass through before they are fit for use? manufactures, trade, and agriculture, naturally employ more than nineteen parts of the species out of twenty; and as for those who are not obliged to labour by the condition in which they are born, they are more miserable than the rest of mankind, unless they indulge themselves in that voluntary labour which goes by the name of exercise. of all the different kinds of exercise, there is none that conduces so much to health as riding; it is not attended with the fatigue of walking, and the free air is more enjoyed in this way than by any other mode of exercise. where it cannot be used, walking, or exercise in a carriage, ought to be substituted. the best time for taking exercise is before dinner, for the body is then more vigorous and alert, and the mind more cheerful, and better disposed to enjoy the pleasure of a ride or walk. exercise after a full meal disturbs digestion, and causes painful sensations in the stomach and bowels, with heart-burn, and acid eructations. but whatever mode of exercise you use, it ought not at first to be too violent. dr. armstrong has given us an excellent rule-'begin with gentle toils, and as your nerves 'grow firm, to hardier, by just steps aspire. 'the prudent, even in every moderate walk, 'at first but saunter, and by slow degrees 'increase their pace.' the end. r. noble. printer, old bailey. notes. [1] hinc tibi, quae semper vicino ab limine sepes hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti, saepe levi _somnum_ suadebit inire susurro. virg. [2] may not the heat, and want of perspiration, depend on an exhausted irritability of the subcutaneous vessels, which will be accumulated by the method here recommended? [3] oxygen gas, according to the new nomenclature. [4] the fixed air, or carbonic acid gas, formed during the combustion, having been separated by agitation in contact with lime water. [5] strictly speaking, water is composed of the bases of these airs, the greatest part of the caloric being given out on their union. [6] where manufactures are carried on to a great extent, the air is rendered still worse, and every precaution ought to be used to preserve the health of the inhabitants. places where manufactures are carried on, ought, therefore, to be constructed in such a manner as to be very lofty, and capable of being easily ventilated. night-working is undoubtedly a perversion of the laws of nature, renders the constitution feeble, and lays a foundation for bad health and disease: for it not only gives no time for ventilation, and in consequence the quantity of oxygen becomes more and more exhausted; but the number of candles used, contributes very much to contaminate the air. it has been found by experiment that a candle contaminates more air than a man. by persons who are interested in the welfare of the succeeding generations, night-work will never be urged, and it will be right to ventilate the manufactories every night, as well as during breakfast and dinner. * * * * * _lately published,_ elegantly printed in two volumes quarto, and illustrated by a map and fifty-two plates, from drawings taken on the spot by w. h. watts, who accompanied the author in the tour, price 2l. 12s. 6d. in boards, observations on a tour through the highlands and part of the western isles of scotland, particularly staffa and icolmkill: to which are added, a description of the falls of the clyde, of the country round moffat, and an analysis of its mineral waters. by t. garnett, m.d. member of the royal medical, physical, and natural history societies of edinburgh; the literary and philosophical society of manchester; the medical society of london; the royal irish academy; and professor of natural philosophy and chemistry in the royal institution of great britain. printed for t. cadell, jun. and w. davies, strand. * * * * transcriber's notes. the frontispiece contains the following text, and a portrait of the author: engraved by j. hopwood, from a picture by j. r. smith. thomas garnett, m.d. published march 25th 1800, by cadell & davies, strand. in line 241 of this text, the word transcribed as too appears as o in the original text, with blank space indicating the omission of the first two letters of the word. in lecture ix of dr. garnett's _zoonomia_, where the same example of the reaction of the eye to light is given, the word appears as too. discourses on a sober and temperate life. by lewis cornaro, a noble venetian. wherein is demonstrated, by his own example, the method of preserving health to extreme old age. translated from the italian original. a new edition, corrected. london: printed for benjamin white, at horace's head, in fleet-street. m.dcc.lxxix. preface the author of the following discourses, lewis cornaro, was descended from one of the most illustrious families in venice, but by the ill conduct of some of his relations, had the misfortune to be deprived of the dignity of a nobleman, and excluded from all honours and public employments in the state. chagrined at this unmerited disgrace, he retired to padua, and married a lady of the family of spiltemberg, whose name was veronica. being in possession of a good estate, he was very desirous of having children; and after a long expectation of this happiness, his wife was delivered of a daughter, to whom he gave the name of clara. this was his only child, who afterwards was married to john, the son of fantini cornaro, of a rich family in cyprus, while that island belonged to the republic of venice. though he was far advanced in life when his daughter clara came into the world, yet he lived to see her very old, and the mother of eight sons and three daughters. he was a man of sound understanding, determined courage and resolution. in his younger days, he had contracted infirmities by intemperance, and by indulging his too great propensity to anger; but when he perceived the ill consequence of his irregularities, he had command enough of himself to subdue his passion and inordinate appetites. by means of great sobriety, and a strict regimen in his diet, he recovered his health and vigour, which he preserved to an extreme old age. at a very advanced stage of life he wrote the following discourses, wherein he acquaints us with the irregularity of his youth, his reformation of manners, and the hopes he entertained of living a long time. nor was he mistaken in his expectation, for he resigned his last breath without any agony, sitting in an elbow chair, being above an hundred years old. this happened at padua, the 26th of april, 1566. his lady, almost as old as himself, survived him but a short time, and died an early death. they were both interred in st. anthony's church, without pomp, pursuant to their testamentary directions. these discourses, though written in cornaro's old age, were penned at different times, and published separately: the first, which he wrote at the age of eighty-three, is intitled, a treatise on a sober life, in which he declares war against every kind of intemperance; and his vigorous old age speaks in favour of his precepts. the second treatise he composed at the age of eighty-six: it contains farther encomiums on sobriety, and points out the means of mending a bad constitution. he says, that he came into the world with a choleric disposition, but that his temperate way of life had enabled him to subdue it. the third, which he wrote at the age of ninety-one, is intitled, an earnest exhortation to a sober life; here he uses the strongest arguments to persuade mankind to embrace a temperate life, as the means of attaining a healthy and vigorous old age. the fourth and last, is a letter to barbaro, patriarch of aquileia, written at the age of ninety-five; it contains a lively description of the healthy, vigour, and perfect use of all his faculties, which he had the happiness of enjoying at that advanced period of life. this useful work was translated some years ago into english, under the title of _sure and certain methods of attaining a long and healthy life_. the translator seems rather to have made use of a french version than of the italian original; he has likewise omitted several passages of the italian, and the whole is rather a paraphrase than a translation. this has induced us to give the public an exact and faithful version of that excellent performance, from the venice edition in 8vo, in the year 1620 [1]: and as a proof of the merit and authenticity of the work, we beg leave to quote mr. addison's recommendation of it, spectator, vol. iii, no 195. "the most remarkable instance of the efficacy of temperance, towards the procuring long life, is what we meet with in a little book published by _lewis cornaro,_ the _venetian;_ which i rather mention, because it is of undoubted credit, as the late _venetian_ ambassador, who was of the same family, attested more than once in conversation, when he resided in _england_. _cornaro,_ who was the author of the little treatise i am mentioning, was of an infirm constitution, till about forty, when, by obstinately persisting in an exact course of temperance, he recovered a perfect state of health; insomuch that at fourscore he published his book, which has been translated into _english_ under the title of, _sure and certain methods of attaining a long and healthy life_. he lived to give a third or fourth edition of it, and after having passed his hundredth year, died without pain or agony, and like one who falls asleep. the treatise i mention has been taken notice of by several eminent authors, and is written with such spirit of chearfulness, religion, and good sense, as are the natural concomitants of temperance and sobriety. the mixture of the old man in it, is rather a recommendation than a discredit to it." [1] the first edition was published by the author at padua, in 4to, a.d. 1558. a treatise on a sober life it is a thing past all doubt, that custom, by time, becomes a second nature, forcing men to use that, whether good or bad, to which they have been habituated: nay, we see habit, in many things, get the better of reason. this is so undeniably true, that virtuous men, by conversing with the wicked, very often fall into the same vicious course of life. the contrary, likewise, we see sometimes happen; viz. that, as good morals easily change to bad, so bad morals change again to good. for instance: let a wicked man, who was once virtuous, keep company with a virtuous man, and he will again become virtuous; and this alteration can be attributed to nothing but the force of habit, which is, indeed, very great. seeing many examples of this; and besides, considering that, in consequence of this great force of habit, three bad customs have got footing in italy within a few years, even within my own memory; the first flattery and ceremoniousness: the second lutheranism [2], which some have most preposterously embraced; the third intemperance; and that these three vices, like so many cruel monsters, leagued, as indeed they are, against mankind, have gradually prevailed so far, as to rob civil life of its sincerity, the soul of its piety, and the body of its health; i have resolved to treat of the last of these vices, and prove that it is an abuse, in order to extirpate it, if possible. as to the second, lutheranism, and the first, flattery, i am certain, that some great genius or another will soon undertake the task of exposing their deformity, and effectually suppressing them. therefore, i firmly hope, that, before i die, i shall see these three abuses conquered and driven out of italy; and this country of course restored to its former laudable and virtuous customs. [2] the author writes with the prejudice of a zealous roman catholic against the doctrine of the reformation, which he here distinguishes by the name of lutheranism. this was owing to the artifices of the romish clergy in those days, by whom the reformed religion was misinterpreted, as introductive of licentiousness and debauchery. to come then to that abuse, of which i am proposed to speak, namely, intemperance; i say, that it is a great pity it should have prevailed so much, as entirely to banish sobriety. though all are agreed, that intemperance is the offspring of gluttony, and sober living of abstemiousness; the former, nevertheless, is considered a virtue and a mark of distinction, and the latter, as dishonourable and the badge of avarice. such mistaken notions are entirely owing to the power of custom, established by our senses and irregular appetites; these have blinded and besotted men to such a degree, that, leaving the paths of virtue, they have followed those of vice, which lead them before their time to an old age, burthened with strange and mortal infirmities, so as to render them quite decrepid before forty, contrary to the effects of sobriety, which, before it was banished by this destructive intemperance, used to keep men sound and hearty to the age of eighty and upwards. o wretched and unhappy italy! do you not see, that intemperance murders every year more of your subjects, than you could lose by the most cruel plague, or by fire and sword in many battles? those truly shameful feasts, no so much in fashion, and so intolerably profuse, that no tables are large enough to hold the dishes, which renders it necessary to heap them one upon another; those feasts, i say, are so many battles; and how is it possible to support nature by such a variety of contrary and unwholesome foods? put a stop to this abuse, for god's sake, for there is not, i am certain of it, a vice more abominable than this in the eyes of the divine majesty. drive away this new kind of death, and you have banished the plague, which, though it formerly used to make such havock, now does little or no mischief, owing to the laudable practice of attending more to the goodness of the provisions brought to our markets. there are means still left to banish intemperance, and such means too, that every man may have recourse to them without any assistance. nothing more is requisite for this purpose, than to live up to the simplicity dictated by nature, which teaches us to be content with little, to pursue the medium of holy abstemiousness and divine reason, and to accustom ourselves to eat no more than is absolutely necessary to support life; considering, that what exceeds this, is disease and death, and merely gives the palate satisfaction, which, though but momentary, brings on the body a long and lasting train of disagreeable sensations and diseases, and at length destroys it along with the soul. how many friends of mine, men of the finest understanding and most amiable disposition, have i seen carried off by this plague in the flower of their youth? who, where they now living, would be an ornament to the public, whose company i should enjoy with as much pleasure, as i now feel concern at their loss. in order, therefore, to put a stop to so great an evil, i have resolved by this short discourse to demonstrate, that intemperance is an abuse which may be easily removed, and that the good old sober living may be substituted in its stead; and this i undertake more readily, as many young men of the best understanding, knowing that it is a vice, have requested it of me, moved thereto by seeing their fathers drop off in the flower of their youth, and me so sound and hearty at the age of eighty-one. they expressed a desire to reach the same term, nature not forbidding us to wish for longevity; and old-age being, in fact, that time of life in which prudence can be best exercised, and the fruits of all the other virtues enjoyed with less opposition, the passions being then so subdued, that man gives himself up entirely to reason. they beseeched me to let them know the method pursued by me to attain it; and then finding them intent on so laudable a pursuit, i have resolved to treat of that method, in order to be of service not only to them, but to all those who may be willing to peruse this discourse. i shall, therefore, give my reasons for renouncing intemperance, and betaking myself to a sober course of life; declare freely the method pursued by me for that purpose; and then set forth the effects of so good an habit upon me; whence it may be clearly gathered, how easy it is to remove the abuse of intemperance. i shall conclude, by shewing how many conveniencies and blessings are the consequences of a sober life. i say then, that the heavy train of infirmities, which had not only invaded, but even made great inroads in my constitution, were my motives for renouncing intemperance, to which i had been greatly addicted; so that, in consequence of it, and the badness of my constitution, my stomach being exceedingly cold and moist, i was fallen into different kinds of disorders, such as pains in my stomach, and often stitches, and spices of the gout; attended by, what was still worse, an almost continual slow fever, a stomach generally out of order, and a perpetual thirst. from these natural and acquired disorders the best delivery i had to hope for, was death, to put an end to the pains and miseries of life; a period very remote in the regular course of nature, though i had hastened it by my irregular manner of living. finding myself, therefore, in such unhappy circumstances between my thirty-fifth and fortieth year, every thing that could be thought of having been tried to no purpose to relieve me, the physicians gave me to understand, that there was but one method left to get the better of my complaints, provided i would resolve to use it, and patiently persevere in it. this was a sober and regular life, which the assured me would be still of the greatest service to me, and would be as powerful in its effects, as the intemperance and irregular one had been, in reducing me to the present low condition: and that i might be fully satisfied of its salutary effects, for though by my irregularities i was become infirm, i was not reduced so low, but that a temperate life, the opposite in every respect to an intemperate one, might still entirely recover me. and besides, it in fact appears, such a regular life, whilst observed, preserves men of a bad constitution, and far gone in years, just as a contrary course has the power to destroy those of the best constitution, and in their prime; for this plain reason, that different modes of life are attended by different effects; art following, even herein, the steps of nature, with equal power to correct natural vices and imperfections. this is obvious in husbandry and the like. they added, that if i did not immediately have recourse to such a regimen, i could receive no benefit from it in a few months, and that in a few more i must resign myself to death. these solid and convincing arguments made such an impression on me, that, mortified as i was besides, by the thoughts of dying in the prime of life, and at the same time perpetually tormented by various diseases, i immediately concluded, that the foregoing contrary effects could not be produced but by contrary modes of living; and, therefore, full of hopes, resolved, in order to avoid at once both death and disease, to betake myself to a regular course of life. having, upon this, enquired of them what rules i should follow, they told me, that i must not use any food, solid or liquid, but such as, being generally prescribed to sick persons, is, for that reason, called diet, and both very sparingly. these directions, to say the truth, they had before given me; but it was at a time of life when, impatient of such restraint, and finding myself satiated, as it were, with such food, i could not put up with it, and therefore eat freely of every thing i liked best; and likewise, feeling myself in a manner parched up by the heat of my disease, made no scruple of drinking, and in large quantities, the wines that best pleased my palate. this indeed, like all other patients, i kept a secret from my physicians. but, when i had once resolved to live sparingly, and according to the dictates of reason, seeing that is was no difficult matter, nay, that it was my duty as a man so to do, i entered with so much resolution upon this new course of life, that nothing has been since able to divert me from it. the consequence was, that in a few days i began to perceive, that such a course agreed with me very well; and by pursuing it, in less than a year, i found myself (some persons, perhaps, will not believe it) entirely freed from all my complaints. having thus recovered my health, i began seriously to consider the power of temperance, and say to myself, that if this virtue had efficacy enough to subdue such grievous disorders as mine, it must have still greater to preserve me in health, to help my bad constitution, and comfort my very weak stomach. i therefore applied myself diligently to discover what kinds of food suited me best. but, first, i resolved to try, whether those, which pleased my palate, agreed or disagreed with my stomach, in order to judge for myself of the truth of that proverb, which i once held true, and is universally held as such in the highest degree, insomuch that epicures, who give a loose to their appetites, lay it down as a fundamental maxim. this proverb is, that whatever pleases the palate, must agree with the stomach, and nourish the body; or whatever is palatable must be equally wholesome and nourishing. the issue was, that i found it to be false: for, though rough and very cold wines, as likewise melons and other fruits, sallad, fish and pork, tarts, garden-stuff, pastry, and the like, were very pleasing to my palate, the disagreed with me notwithstanding. having convinced myself, that the proverb in question was false, i look'd upon it as such; and, taught by experience, i gave over the use of such meats and wines, and likewise of ice; chose wine suited to my stomach, drinking of it but the quantity i knew i could digest. i did the same by my meat, as well in regard to quantity as to quality, accustoming myself never to cloy my stomach with eating or drinking; but constantly rise from table with a disposition to eat and drink still more. in this i conformed to the proverb, which says, that a man, to consult his health, must check his appetite. having in this manner, and for these reasons, conquered intemperance and irregularity, i betook myself intirely to a temperate and regular life: which effected in me the alteration already mentioned, that is, in less than a year it rid me of all those disorders, which had taken so deep a root in me; nay, as i have already observed, had made such a progress, as to be in a manner incurable. it had likewise this other good effect, that i no longer experienced those annual fits of sickness, with which i used to be afflicted, while i followed a different, that is a sensual, course of life; for then i used to be attacked every year with a strange kind of fever, which sometimes brought me to death's door. from this disease, then, i also freed myself, and became exceeding healthy, as i have continued from that time forward to this very day; and for no other reason than that i never trespassed against regularity, which by its infinite efficacy has been the cause, that the meat i constantly eat, and the wine i constantly drink, being such as agreed with my constitution, and taken in proper quantities, imparted all their virtue to my body, and then left it without difficulty, and without engendering in it any bad humours. in consequence therfore of my taking such methods, i have always enjoyed, and (god be praised) actually enjoy, the best of healths. it is true, indeed, that, besides the two forgoing most important rules relative to eating and drinking, which i have ever been very scrupulous to observe; that is, not to take of any thing, but as much as my stomach can easily digest, and to use those things only, which agree with me; i have carefully avoided heat, cold, and extraordinary fatigue, interruption of my usual hours of rest, excessive venery, making any stay in bad air, and exposing myself to the wind and sun; for these, too, are great disorders. but then, fortunately, there is no great difficulty in avoiding them, the love of life and health having more sway over men of understanding, than any satisfaction they could find in doing what must be extremely hurtful to their constitution. i have likewise done all that lay in my power to avoid those evils, which we do not find so easy to remove; these are melancholy, hatred, and other violent passions, which appear to have the greatest influence over our bodies. however, i have not been able to guard so well against either one or the other kind of these disorders, as not to suffer myself now and then to be hurried away by many, not to say, all of them; but i have reaped the benefit of knowing by experience that these passions have, in the main, no great influence over bodies governed by the two foregoing rules of eating and drinking, and therefore can do them but very little harm; so that it may with great truth be affirmed, that whoever observes these two capital rules, is liable to very little inconveniency from any other excesses. this, galen, who was an eminent physician, observed before me. he affirms, that so long as he followed these rules relative to eating and drinking, he suffered but little from other disorders, so little, that they never gave him above a day's uneasiness. that what he says is true, i am a living witness, and so are many others, who know me, and have seen, how often i have been exposed to heats and colds, and such other disagreeable changes of weather; and have, likewise, seen me (owing to various misfortunes, which have more than once befallen me) greatly disturbed my mind. for they can not only say of me, that such disturbance of mind has done me very little harm, but they can aver of many others, who did not lead a sober and regular life, that it proved very prejudicial to them, amongst whom was a brother of my own, and others of my family, who trusting to the goodness of their constitution, did not follow my way of living. the consequence hereof was a great misfortune to them, the perturbations of the mind having thereby acquired an extraordinary influence over their bodies. such, in a word, was their grief and dejection at seeing me involved in expensive law-suits, commenced against my by great and powerful men, that, fearing i should be cast, they were seized with that melancholy humour, with which intemperate bodies always abound; and these humours had such an influence over them, and increased to such a degree, as to carry them off before their time; whereas i suffered nothing on the occasion, as i had in me no superfluous humours of that kind. nay, in order to keep up my spirits, i brought myself to think, that god had raised up these suits against me, in order to make me more sensible of my strength of body and mind; and that i should get the better of them with honour and advantage, as it, in fact, came to pass: for, at last, i obtained a decree exceeding favourable to my fortune and my character, which, though it gave me the highest pleasure, had not the power to do me any harm in other respects. thus it is plain, that neither melancholy nor any other affection of the mind can hurt bodies governed with temperance and regularity. but i must go a step further, and say, that even misfortunes themselves can do but very little mischief, or cause but very little pain, to such bodies; and that this is true, i have myself experienced at the age of seventy. i happened, as is often the case, to be in a coach, which going at a pretty smart rate, was overset, and in that condition drawn a considerable way by the horses, before means could be found to stop them; whence i received so many shocks and bruises, that i was taken out with my head and all the rest of my body terribly battered, and a dislocated leg and arm. when i was brought home, the family immediately sent for the physicians, who, on their arrival, seeing me in so bad a plight, concluded, that within three days i should die; nevertheless, they would try what good two things would do me; one was to bleed me, the other to purge me; and thereby prevent my humours altering, as they every moment expected, to such a degree, as to ferment greatly, and bring on a high fever. but i, on the contrary, who knew, that the sober life i had led for many years past, had so well united, harmonized, and disposed my humours, as not to leave it in their power to ferment to such a degree, refused to be either bled, or purged. i just caused my leg and arm to be set, an suffered myself to be rubbed with some oils, which they said were proper on the occasion. thus, without using any other kind of remedy, i recovered, as i thought i should, without feeling the least alteration in myself, or any other bad effects from the accident; a thing, which appeared miraculous even in the eyes of the physicians. hence we are to infer, that whoever leads a sober and regular life, and commits no excess in his diet, can suffer but very little from disorders of any other kind, or external accidents. on the contrary, i conclude, especially from the late trial i have had, that excesses in eating and drinking are fatal. of this i convinced myself four years ago, when by the advice of my physicians, the instigation of my friends, and the importunity of my own family, i consented to such an excess, which, as it will appear hereafter, was attended with far worse consequences, than could naturally be expected. this excess consisted in increasing the quantity of food i generally made use of; which increase alone brought me to a most cruel fit of sickness. and as it is a case so much in point to the subject in hand, and the knowledge of it may be useful to some of my readers, i shall take the trouble to relate it. i say, then, that my dearest friends and relations, actuated by the warm and laudable affection and regard they have for me, seeing how little i eat, represented to me, in conjunction with my physicians, that the sustenance i took could not be sufficient to support one so far advanced in years, when it was become necessary not only to preserve nature, but to increase its vigour. that, as this could not be done without food, it was absolutely incumbent upon me to eat a little more plentifully. i, on the other hand, produced my reasons for not complying with their desires. these were, that nature is content with little, and that with this little i had preserved myself so many years; and that, to me, the habit of it was become a second nature; and that it was more agreeable to reason, that, as i advanced in years and lost my strength, i should rather lessen than increase the quantity of my food: farther, that it was but natural to think, that the powers of the stomach grew weaker from day to day; on which account i could see no reason to make such an addition. to corroborate my arguments, i alleged that those two natural and very true proverbs; one, that he, who has a mind to eat a great deal, must eat but little; which is said for no other reason than this, that eating little makes a man live very long, and living very long he must eat a great deal. the other proverb was, that what we leave after making a hearty meal, does us more good than what we have eat. but neither these proverbs, nor any other arguments i could think of, were able to prevent their teazing me more than ever. wherefore, not to appear obstinate, or affect to know more than the physicians themselves; but, above all, to please my family, who very earnestly desired it, from a persuasion that such an addition to my usual allowance would preserve my strength, i consented to increase the quantity of food, but with two ounces only. so that, as before, what with bread, meat, the yolk of an egg, and soup, i eat as much, as weighed in all twelve ounces, neither more nor less, i now increased it to fourteen; and as before i drank but fourteen ounces of wine, i now increased it to sixteen. this increase and irregularity, had, in eight days time, such an effect upon me, that, from being chearful and brisk, i began to be peevish and melancholy, so that nothing could please me; and was constantly so strangely disposed, that i neither knew what to say to others, nor what to do with myself. on the twelfth day, i was attacked with a most violent pain in my side, which held me twenty-two hours, and was succeeded by a terrible fever, which continued thirty-five days and as many nights, without giving me a moment's respite; though, to say the truth, it began to abate gradually on the fifteenth. but notwithstanding such abatement, i could not, during the whole time, sleep half a quarter of an hour together, insomuch that every one looked upon me as a dead man. but, god be praised, i recovered merely by my former regular course of life, though then in my seventy-eighth year, and in the coldest season of a very cold year, and reduced to a mere skeleton; and i am positive that it was the great regularity i had observed for so many years, and that only, which rescued me from the jaws of death. in all that time i never knew what sickness was, unless i may call by that same name some slight indispositions of a day or two's continuance; the regular life i had led, as i have already taken notice, for so many years, not having permitted any superfluous or bad humours to breed in me; or if they did, to acquire such strength and malignity, a they generally acquire in the superannuated bodies of those, who live without rule. and as there was not any old malignity in my humours (which is the thing that kills people) but only that, which my new irregularity had occasioned, this fit of sickness, though exceeding violent, had not the strength to destroy me. this it was, and nothing else, that saved my life; whence may be gathered, how great is the power and efficacy of regularity; and how great, likewise, is that of irregularity, which in a few days could bring on me so terrible a fit of sickness, just as regularity had preserved me in health for so many years. and it appears to me a no weak argument, that, since the world, consisting of the four elements, is upheld by order; and our life, as to the body, is no other than a harmonious combination of the same four elements, so it should be preserved and maintained by the very same order; and, on the other hand, it must be worn out by sickness, or destroyed by death, which are produced by the contrary effects. by order the arts are more easily learned; by order armies are rendered victorious; by order, in a word, families, cities, and even states are maintained. hence i concluded, that orderly living is no other than a most certain cause and foundation of health and long life; nay i cannot help saying, that it is the only and true medicine; and whoever weighs the matter well, must also conclude, that this is really the case. hence it is, that when a physician comes to visit a patient, the first thing he prescribes, is to live regularly. in like manner, when a physician takes leave of a patient, on his being recovered, he advises him, as he tenders his health, to lead a regular life. and it is not to be doubted, that, were a patient so recovered to live in that manner, he could never be sick again, as it removes every cause of illness; and so, for the future, would never want either physician or physic. nay, by attending duly to what i have said, he would become his own physician, and, indeed, the best he could have; since, in fact, no many can be a perfect physician to any one but himself. the reason of which is, that any man may, by repeated trials, acquire a perfect knowledge of his own constitution, and the most hidden qualities of his body; and what wine and food agree with his stomach. now, it is so far from being an easy matter to know these things perfectly of another, that we cannot without much trouble discover them in ourselves, since a great deal of time and repeated trials are requisite for the purpose. these trials are, indeed, (if i may say it) more than necessary, as there is a greater variety in the natures and constitutions of different men, than in their persons. who could believe, that old wine, wine that had passed its first year, should disagree with my stomach, and new wine agree with it? and that pepper, which is looked upon as a warm spice, should not have a warm effect upon me, insomuch that i find myself more warmed and comforted by cinnamon? where is the physician, that could have informed me of these two latent qualities, since i myself, even by a long course of observation, could scarce discover them? from all these reasons it follows, that it is impossible to be a perfect physician to another. since, therefore, a man cannot have a better physician than himself, nor any physic better than a regular life, a regular life he ought to embrace. i do not, however, mean, that, for the knowledge and cure of such disorders, as often befall those who do not live regularly, there is no occasion for a physician, and that his assistance ought to be slighted. for, if we are apt to receive such great comfort from friends, who come to visit us in our illness, though they do no more than testify their concern for us, and bid us be of good cheer; how much more regard ought we to have for the physician, who is a friend that comes to see us in order to relieve us, and promises us a cure? but for the bare purpose of keeping ourselves in good health, i am of the opinion, that we should consider as a physician this regular life, which, as we have seen, is our natural and proper physic, since it preserves men, even those of a bad constitution, in health; makes them live sound and hearty to the age of one hundred and upwards; and prevents their dying of sickness, or through a corruption of their humours, but merely by a dissolution of their radical moisture, when quite exhausted; all which effects several wise men have attributed to potable gold, and the elixir, sought for by many, but discovered by few. however to confess the truth, men, for the most part, are very sensual and intemperate, and love to satisfy their appetites, and to commit every excess; therefore, seeing that they cannot avoid being greatly injured by such excess, as often as they are guilty of it, they, by way of apologizing for their conduct, say, that it is better to live ten years less, and enjoy themselves; not considering, of what importance are ten years more of life, especially a healthy life, and at a maturer age; when men become sensible of their progress in knowledge and virtue, which cannot attain to any degree of perfection before this period of life. not to speak, at present, of many other advantages, i shall barely mention that in regard to letters and the sciences; far the greatest number of the best and most celebrated books extant, were written during that period of life, and those ten years, which some make it their business to undervalue, in order to give a loose to their appetites. be that as it will, i would not act like them. i rather coveted to live these ten years, and, had i not done so, i should never have finished those tracts, which i have composed in consequence of my having been sound and hearty these ten years past; and which i have the pleasure to think will be of service to others. these sensualists add, that a regular life is such as no man can lead. to this i answer, galen, who was so great a physician, led such a life, and chose it as the best physic. the same did plato, cicero, isocrates, and many other great men of former times; whom, not to tire the reader, i shall forbear naming: and, in our own days, pope paul farnese led it, and cardinal bembo; and it was for that reason they lived so long; likewise our two doges, lando and donato; besides many others of meaner condition, and those who live not only in cities, but also in different parts of the country, who all found great benefit by conforming to this regularity. therefore, since many have led this life, and many actually lead it, it is not such a life but that every one may conform to it; and the more so, as no great difficulty attends it; nothing, indeed, being requisite but to begin in good earnest, as the above-mentioned cicero affirms, and all those who now live in this manner. plato, you will say, though he himself lived very regularly, affirms, notwithstanding, that, in republics, men cannot do so, being often obligated to expose themselves to heat, cold, and several other kinds of hardship, and other things, which are all so many disorders, and incompatable with a regular life. i answer, as i have already observed, that these are not disorders attended with any bad consequence, or which affect either health or life, when the man, who undergoes them, observes the rules of sobriety, and commits no excess in the two points concerning diet, which a republican may very well avoid, nay it is requisite he should avoid; because, by so doing, he may be sure either to escape those disorders, which, otherwise, it would be no easy matter for him to escape while exposed to these hardships; or, in case he could not escape them, he may more easily and speedily prevent their bad effects. here it may be objected, and some actually object, that he, who leads a regular life, having constantly, when well, made use of food fit for the sick, and in small quantities, has no resource left in case of illness. to this i might, in the first place, answer, that nature, desirous to preserve man in good health as long as possible, informs him, herself, how he is to act in time of illness; for she immediately deprives him, when sick, of his appetite, in order that he may eat but little; because nature (as i have said already) is satisfied with little; wherefore, it is requisite, that a man, when sick, whether he has been a regular or irregular liver, should use no meats, but such as are suited to his disorder; and of these even in a much smaller quantity than he was wont to do, when in health. for were he to eat as much as he used to do, he would die by it; because it would be only adding to the burden, with which nature was already oppressed, by giving her a greater quantity of food, than she can in such circumstances support; and this, i imagine, would be a sufficient caution to any sick person. but, independent of all this, i might answer some others, and still better, that whoever leads a regular life, cannot be sick; or, at least, but seldom, and for a short time; because, by living regularly, he extirpates every seed of sickness; and thus, by removing the cause, prevents the effect; so that he, who pursues a regular course of life, need not be apprehensive of illness, as he need not be afraid of the effect, who has guarded against the cause. since it therefore appears that a regular life is so profitable and virtuous, so lovely and so holy, it ought to be universally followed and embraced; and more so, as it does not clash with the means or duties of any station, but is easy to all; because, to lead it, a man need not tie himself down to eat so little as i do, or not to eat fruit, fish, and other things of that kind, from which i abstain, who eat little, because it is sufficient for my puny and weak stomach; and fruit, fish, and other things of that kind, disagree with me, which is my reason for not touching them. those, however, with whom such things agree, may, and ought to eat of them; since they are not by any means forbid the use use of such sustinance. but, then, both they, and all others, are forbid to eat a greater quantity of any kind of food, even of that which agrees with them, than what their stomachs can easily digest; the same is to be understood of drink. hence it is that those, with whom nothing disagrees, are not bound to observe any rule but that relating to the quantity, and not to the quality, of their food; a rule which they may, without the least difficulty in the world, comply with. let nobody tell me, that there are numbers, who, though they live most irregularly, live in health and spirits, to those remote periods of life, attained by the most sober; for, this argument being grounded on a case full of uncertainty and hazard, and which, besides, so seldom occurs, as to look more like a miracle than the work of nature, men should not suffer themselves to be thereby persuaded to live irregularly, nature having been too liberal to those, who did so without suffering by it; a favour, which very few have any right to expect. whoever, trusting to his youth, or the strength of his constitution, or the goodness of his stomach, slights these observations, must expect to suffer greatly by so doing, and live in constant danger of disease and death. i therefore affirm, that an old man, even of a bad constitution, who leads a regular and sober life, is surer of a long one, than a young man of the best constitution, who leads a disorderly life. it is not to be doubted, however, that a man blessed with a good constitution may, by living temperately, expect to live longer than one, whose constitution is not so good; and that god and nature can dispose matters so, that a man shall bring into the world with him so sound a constitution, as to live long and healthy, without observing such strick rules; and then die in a very advanced age through a mere dissolution of his elementary parts; as was the case, in venice, of the procurator thomas contarini; and in padua, of the cavalier antonio capo di vacca. but it is not one man in a hundred thousand, that so much can be said of. if others have a mind to live long and healthy, and die without sickness of body or mind, but by mere dissolution, they must submit to live regularly, since the cannot otherwise expect to enjoy the fruits of such a life, which are almost infinite in number, and each of them, in particular, of infinite value. for, as such regularity keeps the humours of the body cleansed and purified; it suffers no vapors to ascend from the stomach to the head; hence the brain of him, who lives in that manner, enjoys such a constant serenity, that he is always perfectly master of himself. he, therefore, easily soars above the low and groveling concerns of this life, to the exalted and beautiful contemplation of heavenly things, to his exceeding great comfort and satisfaction; because he, by this means, comes to consider, know, and understand that, which otherwise he would never have considered, known, or understood; that is, how great is the power, wisdom, and goodness of the deity. he then descends into nature, and acknowledges her for the daughter of god; and sees, and even feels with his hands, that, which in any other age, or with a perception less clear, he could never have seen or felt. he then truly discerns the brutality of that vice into which they fall, who know not how to subdue their passions, and those three importunate lusts, which, one would imagine, came all together into the world with us, in order to keep us in perpetual anxiety and disturbance. these are, the lust of the flesh, the lust of honours, and the lust of riches; which are apt to increase with years in such old persons as do not lead a regular life; because, in their passage through the stage of manhood, they did not, as they ought, renounce sensuality and their passions; and take up with sobriety and reason; virtues which men of a regular life, did not neglect when they passed through the above-mentioned stage. for, knowing such passions are such lusts to be inconsistent with reason, by which they are entirely governed; they, at once, broke loose from all temptations to vice; and, instead of being slaves to their inordinate appetites, they applied themselves to virtue and good works; and by these means, they altered their conduct, and became men of good and sober lives. when, therefore, in process of time, they see themselves brought by a long series of years to their dissolution, conscious that, through the singular mercy of god, they had so sincerely relinquished the paths of vice, as never afterwards to enter them; and moreover hoping, through the merits of our saviour jesus christ, to die in his favour, they do not suffer themselves to be cast down at the thoughts of death, knowing that they must die. this is particularly the case, when, loaded with honour, and sated with life, they see themselves arrived at that age, which not one in many thousands of those, who live otherwise, ever attains. they have still the greater reason not to be dejected at the thoughts of death, as it does not attack them violently and by surprize, with a bitter and painful turn of their humours, with feverish sensations, and sharp pains, but steals upon them insensibly and with the greatest ease and gentleness; such an end, proceeding intirely from an exhaustion of the radical moisture, which decays by degrees like the oil of a lamp; so that they pass gently, without any sickness, from this terrestrial and mortal to a celestial and eternal life. o holy and truly happy regularity! how holy and happy should men, in fact, deem thee, since the opposite habit is the cause of such guilt and misery, as evidently appears to those who consider the opposite effects of both! so that men should know thee by thy voice alone, and thy lovely name; for what a glorious name, what a noble thing, is an orderly and sober life! as, on the contrary, the bare mention of disorder and intemperance is offensive to our ears. nay, there is the same difference between the mentioning these two things, as between the uttering of the words angel and devil. thus i have assigned my reasons for abandoning intemperance, and betaking myself intirely to a sober life; with the method i pursued in doing so, and what was the consequence of it; and, finally, the advantages an blessings, which a sober life confers upon those who embrace it. some sensual, inconsiderate persons affirm, that a long life is no blessing; and that the state of a man, who has passed his seventy-fifth year, cannot really be called life, but death: but this is a great mistake, as i shall fully prove; and it is my sincere wish, that all men would endeavour to attain my old age, in order that they too may enjoy that period of life, which of all others is the most desirable. i will therefore give an account of my recreations, and the relish which i find at this stage of life, in order to convince the public (which may likewise be done by all those who know me) that the state i have now attained to is by no means death, but real life; such a life, as by many is deemed happy, since it abounds with all the felicity that can be enjoyed in this world. and this testimony they will give, in the first place, because they see, and not without the greatest amazement, the good state of health and spirits i enjoy; how i mount my horse without any assistance, or advantage of situation; and how i not only ascend a single flight of stairs, but climb up an hill from bottom to top, afoot, and with the greatest of ease and unconcern; then how gay, pleasant, and good-humoured i am; how free from every perturbation of mind, and every disagreeable thought; in lieu of which, joy and peace have so firmly fixed their residence in my bosom, as never to depart from it. moreover, they know in what manner i pass my time, so as not to find life a burden; seeing i can contrive to spend every hour of it with the greatest delight and pleasure, having frequent opportunities of conversing with many honourable gentlemen, men valuable for their good sense and manners, their acquaintance with letters, and every other good quality. then, when i cannot enjoy their conversation, i betake myself to the reading of some good book. when i have read as much as i like, i write; endeavouring, in this as in everything else, to be of service to others, to the utmost of my power. and all these things i do with the greatest ease to myself, at their proper seasons, and in my own house; which, besides being situated in the most beautiful quarter of this noble and learned city of padua, is, in itself, really convenient and handsome, such, in a word, as it is no longer the fashion to build; for, in one part of it, i can shelter myself from extreme heat; and, in the other, from extreme cold, having contrived the apartments according to the rules of architecture, which teach us what is to be observed in practice. besides this house, i have my several gardens, supplied with running waters; and in which i always find something to do, that amuses me. i have another way of diverting myself, which is going every april and may; and, likewise, every september and october, for some days, to enjoy an eminence belonging to me in the euganean mountains, and in the most beautiful part of them, adorned with fountains and gardens; and, above all, a convenient and handsome lodge; in which place i likewise now and then make one in some hunting party suitable to my taste and age. then i enjoy for as many days my villa in the plain, which is laid out in regular streets, all terminating in a large square, in the middle of which stands a church, suited to the condition of the place. this villa is divided by a wide and rapid branch of the river brenta, on both sides of which there is a considerable extent of country, consisting intirely of fertile and well-cultivated fields. besides, this district is now, god be praised, exceedingly well inhabited, which it was not at first, but rather the reverse; for it was marshy; and the air so unwholesome, as to make it a residence fitter for snakes than men. but, on my draining off the waters, the air mended, and people resorted to it so fast, and increased to such a degree, that it soon acquired the perfection in which it now appears: hence, i may say with truth, that i have offered this place, an alter and a temple to god, with souls to adore him: these are things which afford me infinite pleasure, comfort, and satisfaction, as often as i go to see and enjoy them. at the same seasons every year, i revisit some of the neighbouring cities, and enjoy such of my friends as live there, taking the greatest pleasure in their company and conversation; and by their means i also enjoy the conversation of other men of parts, who live in the same places; such as architects, painters, sculptors, musicians, and husbandmen, with whom this age certainly abounds. i visit their new works; i revisit their former ones; and i always learn something, which gives me satisfaction. i see palaces, gardens, antiquities; and with these, the squares and other public places, the churches, the fortifications, leaving nothing unobserved, from whence i may reap either entertainment or instruction. but what delights me most, is, in my journies backwards and forwards, to contemplate the situation and other beauties of the places i pass through; some in the plain, others on hills, adjoining to rivers or fountains; with a great many fine houses and gardens. nor are my recreations rendered less agreeable and entertaining by my not feeling well, or not hearing readily every thing that is said to me; or by any other of my faculties not being perfect; for they are all, thank god, in the highest perfection; particularly my palate, which now relishes better the simple fare i eat, wherever i happen to be, than it formerly did with the most delicate dishes, when i led an irregular life. nor does the change of beds give me any uneasiness, so that i sleep every where soundly and quietly, without experiencing the least disturbance; and all my dreams are pleasant and delightful. it is likewise with the greatest pleasure and satisfaction i behold the success of an undertaking so important to this state, i mean that of draining and improving so many uncultivated pieces of ground, an undertaking begun within my memory; and which i never thought i should live to see compleated; knowing how slow republics are apt to proceed in enterprises of great importance. nevertheless, i have lived to see it; and was even in person, in the marshy places, along with those appointed to superintend the draining of them, for two months together, during the greatest heats of summer, without ever finding myself the worse for the fatigues of inconveniences i suffered; of so much efficacy is that orderly life, which i every where constantly lead. what is more, i am in the greatest hopes, or rather sure, to see the beginning and completion of another undertaking of no less importance, which is that of preserving our estuary or port, that last and wonderful bulwark of my dear country, the preservation of which (it is not to flatter my vanity to say it, but merely to do justice to the truth) has been more than once recommended by me to this republic, by word of mouth, and in writings which cost me many nights study. and to this dear country of mine, as i am bound by the laws of nature to do every thing, from which it may reap any benefit, so i most ardently wish perpetual duration, and a long succession of every kind of prosperity. such are my genuine and no trifling satisfactions; such are the recreations and diversions of my old age, which is so much the more to be valued than the old age, or even youth, of other men, because being freed, by god's grace, from the perturbations of the mind, and the infirmities of the body, it no longer experiences any of those contrary emotions, which torment a number of young men, and many old ones destitute of strength and health, and every other blessing. and if it be lawful to compare little matters, and such as are esteemed trifling, to affairs of importance, i will further venture to say, that such are the effects of this sober life, that at my present age of eighty-three, i have been able to write a very entertaining comedy, abounding with innocent mirth and pleasant jests. this species of composition is generally the child and offspring of youth, as tragedy is that of old age; the former being by its facetious and sprightly turn suited to the bloom of life, and the latter by its gravity adapted to riper years. now, if that good old man [sophocles], a grecian by birth, and a poet, was so much extolled for having written a tragedy at the age of seventy-three, and, on that account alone, reputed of sound memory and understanding, though tragedy be a grave and melancholy poem; why should i be deemed less happy, and to have a smaller share of memory and understanding, who have, at an age, ten years more advanced than his, written a comedy, which, as every one knows, is a merry and pleasant kind of composition? and, indeed, if i may be allowed to be an impartial judge in my own cause, i cannot help thinking, that i am now of sounder memory and understanding, and heartier, than hew was when ten years younger. and, that no comfort might be wanting to the fulness of my years, whereby my great age may be rendered less irksome, or rather the number of my enjoyments increased, i have the additional comfort of seeing a kind of immortality in a succession of descendants. for, as often as i return home, i find there, before me, not one or two, but eleven grandchildren, the oldest of them eighteen, and the youngest two; all the offspring of one father and one mother; all blessed with the best health; and, by what as yet appears, fond of learning, and of good parts and morals. some of the youngest i always play with; and, indeed, children from three to five are only fit for play. those above that age i make companions of; and, as nature has bestowed very fine voices upon them, i amuse myself, besides, with seeing and hearing them sing, and play on various instruments. nay, i sing myself, as i have a better voice now, and a clearer and louder pipe, than at any other period of life. such are the recreations of my old age. whence it appears, that the life i lead is chearful, and not gloomy, as some persons pretend, who know no better; to whom, in order that it may appear what value i set on every other kind of life, i must declare, that i would not exchange my manner of living or my grey hairs with any of those young men, even of the best constitution, who give way to their appetites; knowing, as i do, that such are daily, nay hourly, subject, as i have observed, to a thousand kind of ailments and deaths. this is, in fact, so obvious, as to require no proof. nay, i remember perfectly well, how i used to behave at that time of life. i know how inconsiderately that age is apt to act, and how foolhardy young men, hurried on by the heat of their blood, are wont to be; how apt they are to presume too much on their own strength in all their actions; and how sanguine they are in their expectations; as well on account of the little experience they have had for the the time past, as by reason of the power they enjoy in their own imaginations over the time to come. hence they expose themselves rashly to every kind of danger; and, banishing reason, and bowing their necks to the yoke of concupiscence, endeavour to gratify all their appetites, not minding, fools as they are, that they thereby hasten, as i have several times observed, the approach of what they would most willingly avoid, i mean sickness, and death. of these two evils, one is troublesome and painful, the other, above all things, dreadful and insupportable; insupportable to every man, who has given himself up to his sensual appetites, and to young men in particular, to whom it appears a hardship to die an early death; dreadful to those, who reflect on the errors, to which this mortal life is subject, and on the vengeance, which the justice of god is wont to take on sinners, by condemning them to everlasting punishment. on the other hand, i, in my old age (praise to the almighty) am exempt from both these apprehensions; from the one, because i am sure and certain, that i cannot fall sick, having removed all the causes of illness by my divine medicine; from the other, that of death, because from so many years experience i have learned to obey reason; whence i not only think it a great piece of folly to fear that, which cannot be avoided, but likewise firmly expect some consolation, from the grace of jesus christ, when i shall arrive at that period. besides, though i am sensible that i must, like others, reach that term, it is yet at so great a distance, that i cannot discern it, because i know i shall not die except by mere dissolution, having already, by my regular course of life, shut up all the other avenues of death, and thereby prevented the humours of my body from making any other war upon me, than that which i must expect from the elements employed in the composition of this mortal frame. i am not so simple as not to know, that, as i was born, so i must die. but that is a desirable death, which nature brings on us by way of dissolution. for nature, having herself formed the union between our body and soul, knows best in what manner it may be most easily dissolved, and grants us a longer day to do it, than we could expect from sickness, which is violent. this is the death, which, without speaking like a poet, i may call, not death, but life. nor can it be otherwise. such a death does not overtake one till after a very long course of years, and in consequence of an extreme weakness; it being only by slow degrees, that men grow too feeble to walk, and unable to reason, becoming blind, and deaf, decrepid, and full of every other kind of infirmity. now i (by god's blessing) may be quite sure that i am at a very great distance from such a period. nay, i have reason to think, that my soul, having so agreeable a dwelling in my body, as not to meet with any thing in it but peace, love, and harmony, not only between its humours, but between my reason and my senses, is exceedingly content and well pleased with her present situation: and of course, that a great length of time and many years must be requisite to dislodge her. whence it must be concluded for certain, that i have still a series of years to live in health and spirits, and enjoy this beautiful world, which is, indeed, beautiful to those, who know how to make it so, as i have done, and likewise expect to be able to do, with god's assistance, in the next; and all by the means of virtue, and that divine regularity of life, which i have adopted, concluding an alliance with my reason, and declaring war against my sensual appetites; a thing which every man may do, who desired to live as he ought. now, if this sober life be so happy; if its name be so desirable and delightful; if the possession of the blessings which attend it, be so stable and permanent, all i have still left to do, is to beseech (since i cannot compass my desires by the powers of oratory) every man of a liberal disposition, and sound understanding, to embrace with open arms this most valuable treasure of a long and healthy life; a treasure, which as it exceeds all the other riches and blessings of this world, so it deserves above all things to be cherished, sought after, and carefully preserved. this is that divine sobriety, agreeable to the deity, the friend of nature, the daughter of reason, the sister of all the virtues, the companion of temperate living, modest, courteous, content with little, regular, and perfect mistress of all her operations. from her, as from their proper root, spring life, health, chearfulness, industry, learning, and all those actions and employments worth of noble and generous minds. the laws of god and man are all in her favour. repletion, excess, intemperance, superfluous humours, diseases, fevers, pains, and the dangers of death, vanish, in her presence, like clouds before the sun. her comeliness ravishes every well-disposed mind. her influence is so sure, as to promise to all a very long and agreeable existence; the facility of acquiring her is such, as ought to induce every one to look for her, and share in her victories. and, lastly, she promises to be a mild and agreeable guardian of life; as well of the rich as of the poor; of the male as of the female sex; the old as of the young; being that, which teaches the rich modesty; the poor frugality; men, continence; women, chastity; the old, how to ward off the attacks of death; and bestows on youth firmer and securer hopes of life. sobriety renders the senses clear, the body light, the understanding lively, the soul brisk, the memory tenacious, our motions free, and all our actions regular and easy. by means of sobriety, the soul delivered, as it were, of her earthly burthen, experiences a great deal of her natural liberty: the spirits circulate gently through the arteries; the blood runs freely through the veins; the heat of the body, kept mild and temperate, has mild and temperate effects: and, lastly, our faculties, being under a perfect regulation, preserves a pleasing and agreeable harmony. o most innocent and holy sobriety, the sole refreshment of nature, the nursing mother of human life, the true physic of soul as well as of body. how ought men to praise thee, and thank thee for thy princely gifts! since thou bestowest on them the means of preserving this blessing, i mean life and health, than which it has not pleased god we should enjoy a greater on this side of the grave, life and existence being a thing so naturally coveted, and willingly preserved, by every living creature. but, as i do not intend to write a panegyric on this rare and excellent virtue, i shall put an end to this discourse, lest i should be guilty of excess, in dwelling so long on so pleasing a subject. yet as numberless things may still be said of it, i leave off, with an intention of setting forth the rest of its praises at a more convenient opportunity. a compendium of a sober life my treatise on a sober life has begun to answer my desire, in being of service to many persons born with a weak constitution, who every time they committed the least excess, found themselves greatly indisposed, a thing which it must be allowed does not happen to robust people: several of these persons of weak constitutions, on seeing the foregoing treatise, have betaken themselves to a regular course of life, convinced by experience of its utility. in like manner, i should be glad to be of service to those, who are born with a good constitution, and presuming upon it, lead a disorderly life; whence it comes to pass, that, on their attaining the age of sixty or thereabouts, they are attacked with various pains and diseases; some with the gout, some with pains in the side, and others with pains in the stomach, and the like, to which they would not be subject, were they to embrace a sober life; and as most of them die before they attain their eightieth year, they would live to a hundred, the time allowed to man by god and nature. and, it is but reasonable to believe, that the intention of this our mother is, that we should all attain that term, in order that we might all taste the sweets of every state of life. but, as our birth is subject to the revolution of the heavens, these have great influence over it, especially in rendering our constitutions robust or infirm; a thing, which nature cannot ward against; for, if she could, we should all bring a good constitution with us into the world. but then she hopes, that man, being endowed with reason and understanding, may of himself compensate, by dint of art, the want of that, which the heavens have denied him; and, by means of a sober life, contrive to mend his infirm constitution, live to a great age, and always enjoy good health. for man, it is not to be doubted, may by art exempt himself in part from the influence of the heavens; it being common opinion, that the heavens give an inclination, but do not impel us; for which reason the learned say, that a wise man rules the stars. i was born with a very choleric disposition, insomuch that there was no living with me; but i took notice of it, and considered, that a person swayed by his passion, must at certain times be no better than a madman; i mean at those times, when he suffers his passions to predominate, because he then renounces his reason and understanding. i, therefore, resolved to make my choleric disposition give way to reason; so that now, though born choleric, i never suffer anger intirely to overcome me. the man, who is naturally of a bad constitution, may, in like manner, by dint of reason, and a sober life, live to a great age and in good health, as i have done, who had naturally the worst, so that it was impossible i should live above forty years, whereas i now find myself sound and hearty at the age of eighty-six; and were it not for the long and violent fits of illness which i experienced in my youth to such a degree, that the physicians gave me over, and which robbed me of my radical moisture, a loss absolutely irreparable, i might expect to attain the abovementioned term of one hundred. but i know for good reasons that it is impossible; and, therefore, do not think of it. it is enough for me, that i have lived forty-six years beyond the term i had a right to expect; and that, during this so long a respite, all my senses have continued perfect; and even my teeth, my voice, my memory, and my strength. but what is still more, my brain is more itself now than it ever was; nor do any of these powers abate as i advance in years; and this because, as i grow older, i lessen the quantity of my solid food. this retrenchment is necessary, nor can it be avoided, since it is impossible for a man to live for ever; and, as he draws near his end, he is reduced so low as to be no longer able to take any nourishment, unless it be to swallow, and that too with difficulty, the yolk of an egg in the four and twenty hours, and thus end by mere dissolution, without any pain or sickness, as i expect will be my case. this is a blessing of great importance; yet may be expected by all those, who shall lead a sober life, of whatever degree or condition, whether high, or middling, or low; for we are all of the same species, and composed of the same four elements. and, since a long and healthy life ought to be greatly coveted by every man, as i shall presently shew, i conclude, that every man is bound in duty to exert himself to obtain longevity, and that he cannot promise himself such a blessing without temperance and sobriety. some allege, that many, without leading such a life, have lived to an hundred, and that in constant health, though they eat a great deal, and used indiscriminately every kinds of viands and wine; and, therefore, flatter themselves, that they shall be equally fortunate. but in this they are guilty of two mistakes; the first is, that it is not one in an hundred thousand that ever attains that happiness; the other mistake is, that such, in the end, most assuredly contract some illness, which carries them off: nor can they ever be sure of ending their days otherwise: so that the safest way to obtain a long and healthy life is, at least after forty, to embrace sobriety. this is no such difficult affair, since history informs us of so many who in former times lived with the greatest temperance; and i know that the present age furnishes us with many such instances, reckoning myself one of the number: we are all human beings, and endowed with reason, consequently we are masters of our actions. this sobriety is reduced to two things, quality and quantity. the first, namely quality, consists in nothing, but not eating food, or drinking wines, prejudicial to the stomach. the second, which is quantity, consists in not eating or drinking more than the stomach can easily digest; which quantity and quality every man should be a perfect judge of by the time he is forty, or fifty, or sixty; and, whoever observes these two rules, may be said to live a regular and sober life. this is of so much virtue and efficacy, that the humours of such a man's body become most homogeneous, harmonious, and perfect; and, when thus improved, are no longer liable to be corrupted or disturbed by any other disorders whatsoever, such as suffering excessive heat or cold, too much fatigue, want of natural rest, and the like, unless in the last degree of excess. wherefore, since the humours of persons, who observe these two rules relative to eating and drinking, cannot possibly be corrupted, and engender acute diseases, the sources of an untimely death, every man is bound to comply with them: for whoever acts otherwise, living a disorderly instead of a regular life, is constantly exposed to disease and mortality, as well in consequence of such disorders, as of others without number, each of which is capable of producing the same destructive effect. it is, indeed, true, that even those, who observe the two rules relating to diet, the observance of which constitutes a sober life, may, by committing any one of the other irregularities, find himself the worse for it, for a day or two; but not so as to breed a fever. he may, likewise, be affected by the revolutions of the heavens; but neither the heavens, nor those irregularities, are capable of corrupting the humours of a temperate person; and it is but reasonable and natural it should be so, as the two irregularities of diet are interior, and the others exterior. but as there are some persons, stricken in years, who are, notwithstanding, very gluttonous, and alledge that neither the quantity or quality of their diet makes any impression upon them, and therefore eat a great deal, and of every thing without distinction, and indulge themselves equally in point of drinking, because they do not know in what part of their bodies their stomachs are situated; such, no doubt, are beyond all measure sensual, and slaves to gluttony. to these i answer, that what they say is impossible in the nature of things, because it is impossible that every man, who comes into the world, should not bring with him a hot, a cold, or a temperate constitution; and that hot foods should agree with hot constitutions, cold with cold ones, and things that are not of a temperate nature, with temperate ones, is likewise impossible in nature. after all, these epicures must allow, that they are now and then out of order; and that they cure themselves by taking evacuating medicines and observing a strict diet. whence it appears, that their being out of order is owing to their eating too much, and of things disagreeing with their stomachs. there are other old gluttons, who say, that it is necessary they should eat and drink a great deal, to keep up their natural heat, which is constantly diminishing, as they advance in years; and that it is, therefore, necessary to eat heartily, and of such things as please their palate, be they hot, cold, or temperate; and that, were they to lead a sober life, it would be a short one. to these i answer, that our kind mother, nature, in order that old men may live still to a greater age, has contrived matters so, that they should be able to subsist on little, as i do; for, large quantities of food cannot be digested by old and feeble stomachs. nor should such persons be afraid of shortening their days by eating too little, since when they happen to be indisposed, they recover by lessening the quantity of their food; for it is a trifle they eat, when confined to a regimen, by observing which they get rid of their disorder. now, if by reducing themselves to a very small quantity of food, they recover from the jaws of death, how can they doubt but that with an increase of diet, still consistent however with sobriety, they will be able to support nature when in perfect health? others say, that it is better for a man to suffer every year three or four returns of his usual disorders, such as the gout, pain in the side, and the like, than be tormented the whole year by not indulging his appetite, and eating every thing his palate likes best; since, by a good regimen alone, he is sure to get the better of such attacks. to this i answer, that our natural heat growing less and less, as we advance in years, no regimen can retain virtue sufficient to conquer the malignity, with which disorders of repletion are ever attended; so that he must die, at last, of these periodical disorders, because they abridge life, as health prolongs it. others pretend, that it is much better to live ten years less, than not indulge one's appetite. to this i answer, that longevity ought to be highly valued by men of parts; as to others, it is no great matter if it is not duly prized by them, since they are a disgrace to mankind, so that their death is rather of service to the public. but it is a great misfortune, that men of bright parts should be cut off in that manner, since he, who is already a cardinal, might, perhaps, by living to eighty, attain the papal crown; and in the state, many, by living some years extraordinary, may acquire the ducal dignity; and so in regard to letters, by which a man may rise so as to be considered as a god upon earth; and the like in every other profession. there are others, who, though their stomachs become weaker and weaker with respect to digestion, as they advance in years, cannot, however, be brought to retrench the quantity of their food, nay they rather increase it. and, because they find themselves unable to digest the great quantity of food, with which they must load their stomachs, by eating twice in the four and twenty hours, they make a resolution to eat but once, that the long interval between one meal and the other may enable them to eat at one sitting as much as they used to do in two: thus they eat till their stomachs, overburthened with much food, pall, and sicken, and change the superfluous food into bad humours, which kill a man before his time. i never knew any person, who led that kind of life, live to be very old. all these old men i have been speaking of would live long, if, as they advanced in years, they lessened the quantity of their food, and eat oftener, but little at a time; for old stomachs cannot digest large quantities of food; old men changing, in that respect, to children, who eat several times in the four and twenty hours. others say, that temperance may, indeed, keep a man in health, but that it cannot prolong his life. to this i answer, that experience proves the contrary; and that i myself am a living instance of it. it cannot be said, that sobriety is apt to shorten one's days, as sickness does; and that the latter abbreviates life, is most certain. moreover, a constant succession of good health is preferable to frequent sickness, as the radical moisture is thereby preserved. hence it may be fairly concluded, that holy sobriety is the true parent of health and longevity. o thrice holy sobriety, so useful to man, by the services thou renderest him! thou prolongest his days, by which means he greatly improves his understanding, and by such improvement he avoids the bitter fruits of sensuality, which are an enemy to reason, man's peculiar privilege: those bitter fruits are the passions and perturbations of the mind. thou, moreover, freest him from the dreadful thoughts of death. how greatly is thy faithful disciple indebted to thee, since by thy assistance he enjoys this beautiful expanse of the visible world, which is really beautiful to such as know how to view it with the philosophic eye, as thou has enabled me to do. nor could i, at any other time of life, even when i was young, but altogether debauched by an irregular life, perceive its beauties, though i spared no pains or expence to enjoy every season of life. but i found that all the pleasures of that age had their alloy; so that i never knew, till i grew old, that the world was beautiful. o truly happy life, which, over and above all these favours conferred on thine old man, hast so improved and perfected his stomach, that he has now a better relish for his dry bread, than he had formerly and in his youth, for the most exquisite dainties: and all this he has compassed by acting rationally, knowing, that bread is, above all things, man's proper food, when seasoned by a good appetite; and, whilst a man leads a sober life, he may be sure of never wanting that natural sauce; because, by always eating little, the stomach, not being much burthened, need not wait long to have an appetite. it is for this reason, that dry bread relishes so well with me; and i know it from experience, and can with truth affirm, i find such sweetness in it, that i should be afraid of sinning against temperance, were it not for my being convinced of the absolute necessity of eating it, and that we cannot make use of a more natural food. and thou, kind parent nature, who actest so lovingly by thy aged offspring, in order to prolong his days, hast contrived matters so in his favour, that he can live upon very little; and, in order to add to the favour, and do him still greater service, hast made him sensible, that, as in his youth he used to eat twice a day, when he arrived at old age, he ought to divide that food, of which he was accustomed before to make but two meals, into four; because, thus divided, it will be more easily digested; and, as in his youth he made but two meals in the day, he should, in his old age, make four, provided however he lessens the quantity, as his years increase. and this is what i do, agreeably to my own experience; and, therefore, my spirits, not oppressed by much food, but barely kept up, are always brisk; especially after eating, so that i am accustomed then to sing a song, and afterwards to write. nor do i ever find myself the worse for writing immediately after meals; nor is my understanding ever clearer; nor am i apt to be drowsy; the food i take being too small a quantity to send up any fumes to the brain. o, how advantageous it is to an old man to eat but little! accordingly, i, who know it, eat but just enough to keep body and soul together; and the things i eat are as follow. first, bread, panado, some broth with an egg in it, or such other good kinds of soup or spoon-meat. of flesh meat, i eat veal, kid, and mutton. i eat poultry of every kind. i eat partridges, and other birds, such as thrushes. i likewise eat fish; for instance, the goldney and the like, amongst sea fish; and the pike, and such like, amongst the fresh-water fish. all these things are fit for an old man; and, therefore, he ought to be content with them, and, considering their number and variety, not hanker after others. such old men, as are too poor to allow themselves provisions of this kind, may do very well with bread, panado, and eggs; things, which no poor man can want, unless it be common beggars, and, as we call them, vagabonds, about whom we are not bound to make ourselves uneasy, since they have brought themselves to that pass by their indolence; and had better be dead than alive; for they are a disgrace to human nature. but, though a poor man should eat nothing but bread, panado, and eggs, there is no necessity for his eating more than his stomach can digest. and, whoever does not trespass in point of either quantity or quality, cannot die but by mere dissolution. o, what a difference there is between a regular and an irregular life! one gives longevity and health, the other produces diseases and untimely deaths. o unhappy, wretched life, my sworn enemy, who art good for nothing but to murder those, who follow thee! how many of my dearest relations and friends hast thou robbed me of, in consequence of their not giving credit to me; relations and friends, whom i should now enjoy. but thou hast not been able to destroy me, according to thy wicked intent and purpose. i am still alive in spite of thee, and have attained to such an age, as to see around me eleven grandchildren, all of fine understanding, and amiable disposition; all given to learning and virtue; all beautiful in their persons and lovely in their manners; whom, had i obeyed thy dictates, i should never have beheld. nor should i enjoy those beautiful and convenient apartments which i have built from the ground, with such a variety of gardens, as required no small time to attain their present degree of perfection. no! thy nature is to destroy those who follow thee, before they can see their houses or gardens so much as finished; whereas, i, to thy no small confusion, have already enjoyed mine for a great number of years. but, since thou art so pestilential a vice, as to poison and destroy the whole world; and i am determined to use my utmost endeavours to extirpate thee, at least in part; i have resolved to counteract thee so, that my eleven grandchildren shall take pattern after me; and thereby expose thee, for what thou really art, a most wicked, desperate, and mortal enemy of the children of men. i, really, cannot help admiring, that men of fine parts, and such there are, who have attained a superior rank in letters or any other profession, should not betake themselves to a regular life, when they are arrived at the age of fifty or sixty; or as soon as they find themselves attacked by any of the foregoing disorders, of which they might easily recover; whereas, by being permitted to get a head, they become incurable. as to young men, i am no way surprised by them, since, the passions being strong at that age, they are of course the more easily overpowered by their baleful influence. but after fifty, our lives should, in every thing, be governed by reason, which teaches us, that the consequences of gratifying our palate and our appetite are disease and death. were this pleasure of the palate lasting, it would be some excuse; but it is so momentary, that there is scarce any distinguishing between the beginning and the end of it; whereas the diseases it produces are very durable. but it must be a great contentment to a man of sober life, to be able to reflect that, in the manner he lives, he is sure, that what he eats, will keep him in good health, and be productive of no disease or infirmity. now i was willing to make this short addition to my treatise, founded on new reasons; few persons caring to peruse long-winded discourses; whereas short tracts have a chance of being read by many; and i wish that many may see this addition, to the end that its utility may be more extensive. an earnest exhortation; wherein the author uses the strongest arguments to persuade all men to embrace a regular and sober life, in order to attain old age, in which they may enjoy all the favours and blessings, that god, in his goodness, vouchsafes to bestow upon mortals. not to be wanting to my duty, that duty incumbent upon every man; and not to lose at the same time the satisfaction i feel in being useful to others, i have resolved to take up my pen, and inform those, who, for want of conversing with me, are strangers to what those know and see, with whom i have the pleasure of being acquainted. but, as certain things may appear, to some persons, scarce credible, nay impossible, though actually fact, i shall not fail to relate them for the benefit of the public. wherefore, i say, being (god be praised) arrived at my ninety-fifth year, and still finding myself sound and hearty, content and chearful, i never cease thanking the divine majesty for so great a blessing; considering the usual fate of other old men. these scarce attain the age of seventy, without losing their health and spirits; growing melancholy and peevish; and continually haunted by the thoughts of death; apprehending their last hour from one day to another, so that it is impossible to drive such thoughts out of their mind; whereas such things give me not the least uneasiness; for, indeed, i cannot, at all, make them the object of my attention, as i shall hereafter more plainly relate. i shall, besides, demonstrate the certainty i have of living to an hundred. but, to render this dissertation more methodical, i shall begin by considering man at his birth; and from thence accompany him through every stage of life to his grave. i, therefore, say, that some come into the world with the stamina of life so weak, that they live but a few days, or months, or years; and it cannot be clearly known, to what such shortness of life is owing; whether to some defect in the father or the mother, in begetting them; or to the revolutions of the heavens; or to the defect of nature, subject, as she is, to the celestial influence. for, i could never bring myself to believe, that nature, common parent of all, should be partial to any of her children. therefore, as we cannot assign causes, we must be content with reasoning from the effects, such as they daily appear to our view. others are born sound, indeed, and full of spirits; but, notwithstanding, with a poor weakly constitution; and of these some live to the age of ten; others to twenty; others to thirty or forty; yet they do not live to extreme old age. others, again, bring into the world a perfect constitution, and live to old age; but it is generally, as i have already said, an old age full of sickness and sorrow; for which they are to thank themselves; because they most unreasonably presume on the goodness of their constitution; and cannot by any means be brought to depart, when brought to depart, when grown old, from the mode of life they pursued in their younger days; as if they still retained all their primitive vigour. nay, they intend to live as irregularly when past the meridian of life, as they did all the time of their youth; thinking they shall never grow old, nor their constitution ever be impaired. neither do they consider, that their stomach has lost its natural heat; and that they should, on that account, pay a greater regard to the quality of what they eat, and what wines they drink; and likewise to the quantity of each, which they ought to lessen; whereas, on the contrary, they are for increasing it; saying, that, as we lose our health and vigour by growing old, we should endeavour to repair the loss by increasing the quantity of our food, since it is by sustenance that man is preserved. in this, nevertheless, they are greatly mistaken, since, as the natural heat lessens as a man grows in years, he should diminish the quantity of his meat and drink; nature, especially at that period, being content with little. nay, though they have all the reason to believe this to be the case, they are so obstinate as to think otherwise, and still follow their usual disorderly life. but were they to relinquish it in due time, and betake themselves to a regular and sober course, they would not grow infirm in their old age, but would continue, as i am, strong and hearty, considering how good and perfect a constitution it has pleased the almighty to bestow upon them; and would live to the age of one hundred and twenty. this has been the case of others, who, as we read in many authors, have lived a sober life, and, of course, were born with this perfect constitution; and had it been my lot to enjoy such a constitution, i should make no doubt of attaining the same age. but, as i was born with feeble stamina, i am afraid i shall not outlive an hundred. were others, too, who are also born with an infirm constitution, to betake themselves to a regular life, as i have done, they would attain the age of one hundred and upwards, as will be my case. and this certainty of being able to live a great age is, in my opinion, a great advantage, and highly to be valued; none being sure to live even a single hour, except such as adhere to the rules of temperance. this security of life is built on good and true natural reasons, which can never fail; it being impossible in the nature of things, that he, who leads a sober and regular life, should breed any sickness, or die of an unnatural death, before the time, at which it is absolutely impossible he should live. but sooner he cannot die, as a sober life has the virtue to remove all the usual causes of sickness, and sickness cannot happen without a cause; which cause being removed, sickness is, likewise, removed; and sickness being removed, an untimely and violent death must be prevented. and there is no doubt, that temperance has the virtue and efficacy to remove such causes; for since health and sickness, life and death, depend on the good or bad quality of the humours, temperance corrects their vicious tendencies, and renders them perfect, being possessed of the natural power of making them unite and hold together, so as to render them inseperable, and incapable of alteration and fermenting; circumstances, which engender cruel fevers, and end in death. it is true, indeed, and it would be a folly to deny it, that, let our humours be originally ever so good, time, which consumes every thing, cannot fail to consume and exhaust them; and that man, as soon as that happens, must die of a natural death; but yet without sickness, as will be my case, who shall die at my appointed time, when these humours shall be consumed, which they are not at present. nay, they are still perfect; nor is it possible they should be otherwise in my present condition, when i find myself hearty and content, eating with a good appetite, and sleeping soundly. moreover, all my faculties are as good as ever, and in the highest perfection; my understanding clearer and brighter than ever; my judgment sound; my memory tenacious; my spirits good; and my voice, the first thing which is apt to fail in others, grown so strong and sonorous, that i cannot help chanting out loud my prayers morning and night, instead of whispering and muttering them to myself, as was formerly my custom. and these are all so many true and sure signs and tokens, that my humours are good, and cannot waste but with time, as all those, who converse with me, conclude. o, how glorious this life of mine is like to be, replete with all the felicities which man can enjoy on this side of the grave; and even exempt from that sensual brutality which age has enabled my better reason to banish; because where reason resides, there is no room for sensuality, nor for its bitter fruits, the passions, and perturbations of the mind, with a train of disagreeable apprehensions. nor yet can the thoughts of death find room in my mind, as i have no sensuality to nourish such thoughts. neither can the death of grandchildren and other relations and friends make any impression on me, but for a moment or two; and then it is over. sill less am i liable to be cast down by losses in point of fortune (as many have seen to their no small surprise.) and this is a happiness not to be expected by any but such as attain old age by sobriety, and not in consequence of a strong constitution; and such may moreover expect to spend their days happily, as i do mine, in a perpetual round of amusement and pleasure. and how is it possible a man should not enjoy himself, who meets with no crosses or disappointments in his old age, such as youth is constantly plagued with, and from which, i shall presently shew, i have the happiness of being exempt? the first of these is to do service to my country. o! what a glorious amusement, in which i find infinite delight, as i thereby shew her the means of improving her important estuary or harbour beyond the possibility of its filling for thousands of years to come; so as to secure to venice her surprising and miraculous title of a maiden city, as she really is; and the only one in the whole world: she will, moreover, thereby, add to the lustre of her great and excellent surname of queen of the sea: such is my amusement; and nothing is wanting to make it complete. another amusement of mine, is that of shewing this maid and queen, in what manner she may abound with provisions, by improving large tracts of land, as well marshes, as barren sands, to great profit. a third amusement, and an amusement too, without any alloy, is the shewing how venice, though already so strong as to be in a manner impregnable, may be rendered still stronger; and, though extremely beautiful, may still increase in beauty; though rich, may acquire more wealth, and may be made to enjoy better air, though her air is excellent. these three amusements, all arising from the idea of public utility, i enjoy in the highest degree. and who can say, that they admit of any alloy, as in fact they do not? another comfort i enjoy, is, that having lost a considerable part of my income, of which my grandchildren had been unfortunately robbed, i by mere dint of thought, which never sleeps, and without any fatigue of body, and very little of mind, have found a true and infallable method of repairing such loss more than double, by the means of that most commendable of arts, agriculture. another comfort i still enjoy is to think, that my treatise on temperance, which i wrote in order to be useful to others, is really so, as many assure me by word of mouth, mentioning that it has proved extremely useful to them, as it in fact appears to have been, whilst others inform me by letter, that, under god, they are indebted to me for life. still another comfort i enjoy, is that of being able to write with my own hand; for, i write enough to be of service to others, both on architecture, and agriculture. i, likewise, enjoy another satisfaction, which is that of conversing with men of bright parts and superior understanding, from whom, even at this advanced period of life, i learn something. what a comfort is this, that, old as i am, i should be able, without the least fatigue, to study the most important, sublime, and difficult subjects! i must farther add, though it may appear impossible to some, and may be so in some measure, that at this age i enjoy, at once, two lives; one terrestrial, which i possess in fact; the other celestial, which i possess in thought; and this thought is equal to actual enjoyment, when founded upon things we are sure to attain, as i ams sure to attain that celestial life, through the infinite goodness and mercy of god. thus, i enjoy this terrestrial life, in consequence of my sobriety and temperance, virtues so agreeable to the deity; and i enjoy, by the grace of the same divine majesty, the celestial, which he makes me anticipate in thought; a thought so lovely, as to fix me entirely on this object, the enjoyment of which i hold and affirm to be of the utmost certainty. and i hold that dying, in the manner i expect, is not really death, but a passage of the soul from this earthly life to a celestial, immortal, and infinitely perfect existence. neither can it be otherwise: and this thought is so superlatively sublime, that it can no longer stoop to low and worldly objects, such as the death of this body, being intirely taken up with the happiness of living a celestial and divine life; whence it is, that i enjoy two lives. nor can the terminating of so high a gratification, which i enjoy in this life, give me any concern; it rather affords me infinite pleasure, as it will be only to make room for another, glorious and immortal life. now, it is possible, that any one should grow tired of so great a comfort and blessing, as this which i really enjoy; and which every on else might enjoy by leading the life i have led? an example which every one has it in his power to follow; for i am but a mere man, and no saint; a servant of god, to whom so regular a life is extremely agreeable. and, whereas many embrace a spiritual and contemplative life, which is holy and commendable, the chief employment of those who lead it being to celebrate the praises of god; o, that the would likewise, betake themselves intirely to a regular and sober life! how much more agreeable would they render themselves in the sight of god! what a much greater honour and ornament would the be to the world! they would then be considered as saints, indeed, upon earth, as those primitive christians were led, who joined sobriety to so recluse a life. by living, like them, to the age of one hundred and twenty, they might, like them, expect, by the power of god, to work numberless miracles; and they would, besides, enjoy constant health and spirits, and be always happy within themselves; whereas they are now, for the most part, infirm, melancholy, and dissatisfied. now, as some of these people think, that these are trials sent them by god almighty, with a view of promoting their salvation, that they may do penance, in this life, for their past errors, i cannot help saying, that, in my opinion, they are greatly mistaken. for i can by no means believe, that it is agreeable to the deity, that man, his favourite creature, should live infirm, melancholy, and dissatisfied, but rather enjoy good health and spirits, and be always content within himself. in this manner did the holy fathers live, and by such conduct did they daily render themselves more acceptable to the divine majesty, so as to work the great and surprising miracles we read in history. how beautiful, how glorious a scene should we then behold! far more beautiful than in those antient times, because we now abound with so many religious orders and monasteries, which did not then exist; and were the members of these communities to lead a temperate life, we should then behold such a number of venerable old men, as would create surprise. nor would they trespass against their rules; they would rather improve upon them; since every religious community allows its subjects bread, wine, and sometimes eggs (some of them allow meat) besides soups made with vegetables, sallets, fruit, and cakes, things which often disagree with them, and even shorten their lives. but, as they are allowed such things by their rules, they freely make use of them; thinking, perhaps, that it would be wrong to abstain from them, whereas it would not. it would rather be commendable, if, after the age of thirty, they abstained from such food, confined themselves to bread, wine, broths and eggs: for this is the true method of preserving men of a bad constitution; and it is a life of more indulgence than that led by the holy fathers of the desart, who subsisted intirely on wild fruits and roots, and drank nothing but pure water; and, nevertheless, lived, as i have already mentioned, in good health and spirits, and always happy within themselves. were those of our days to do the same, they would, like them, find the road to heaven much easier; for it is always open to every faithful christian, as our saviour jesus christ left it, when he came down upon earth to shed his precious blood, in order to deliver us from the tyrannical servitude of the devil; and all through his immense goodness. so that, to make an end of this discourse, i say, that since length of days abounds with so many favours and blessings, and i happen to be one of those who are arrived at that state, i cannot (as i would not willingly want charity) but give testimony in favour of it, and solemnly assure all mankind, that i really enjoy a great deal more than what i now mention; and that i have no other reason for writing, but that of demonstrating the great advantages which arise from longevity, to the end that their own conviction may induce them to observe those excellent rules of temperance and sobriety. and therefore i never cease to raise my voice, crying out to you, my friends: may your days be long, that you may be the better servants to the almighty! letter from signor lewis cornaro, to the right reverend barbaro, patriarch elect of aquileia. the human understanding must certainly have something of the divine in its constitution and frame. how divine the invention of conversing with an absent friend by the help of writing! how divinely it is contrived by nature, that men, though at a great distance, should see one another with the intellectual eye, as i now see your lordship! by means of this contrivance, i shall endeavour to entertain you with with matters of the greatest moment. it is true, that i shall speak of nothing but what i have already mentioned; but it was not at the age of ninety-one, to which i have now attained; a thing i cannot help taking notice of, because as i advance in years, the sounder and heartier i grow, to the amazement of all the world. i, who can account for it, am bound to shew, that a many may enjoy a terrestrial paradise after eighty; which i enjoy; but it is not to be obtained except by temperance and sobriety, virtues so acceptable to the almighty, because they are enemies to sensuality, and friends to reason. now, my lord, to begin, i must tell you, that, within these few days past, i have been visited by many of the learned doctors of this university, as well physicians and philosophers, who were well acquainted with my age, my life, and manners; knowing how stout, hearty, and gay i was; and in what perfection all my faculties still continued; likewise my memory, spirits, and understanding; and even my voice and teeth. they knew, besides, that i constantly employed eight hours every day in writing treatises, with my own hand, on subjects useful to mankind, and spent many hours in walking and singing. o, my lord, how melodious my voice is grown! were you to hear me chant my prayers; and that to my lyre, after the example of david, i am certain it would give you great pleasure, my voice is so musical. now, when they told me that they had been already acquainted with all these particulars, they added, that it was, indeed, next to a miracle, how i could write so much, and upon subjects that required both judgement and spirit. and, indeed, my lord, it is incredible, what satisfaction and pleasure i have in these compositions. but, as i write to be useful, your lordship may easily conceive what pleasure i enjoy. they concluded by telling me, that i ought not to be looked upon as a person advanced in years, since all my occupations were those of a young man; and, by no means, like those of other aged persons, who, when they have reached eighty, are reckoned decrepid. such, moreover, are subject, some to the gout, some to the sciatica, and some to other complaints, to be relieved from which they must undergo such a number of painful operations, as cannot but render life extremely disagreeable. and, if, by chance, one of them happens to escape a long illness, his faculties are impaired, and he cannot see or hear so well; or else fails in some or other of the corporeal faculties, he cannot walk, or his hands shake; and, supposing him exempt from these bodily infirmities, his memory, his spirits, or his understanding fail him; he is not chearful, pleasant, and happy within himself, as i am. besides all these blessings, i mentioned another, which i enjoyed; and so great a blessing, that they were all amazed at it, since it is altogether beside the usual course of nature. this blessing is, that i had already lived fifty years, in spite of a most powerful and mortal enemy, which i can by no means conquer, because it is natural, or an occult quality implanted in my body by nature; and this is, that every year, from the beginning of july till the end of august, i cannot drink any wine of whatever kind or country; for, besides being during these two months quite disgustful to my palate, it disagrees with my stomach. thus losing my milk, for wine is, indeed, the milk of old age; and having nothing to drink, for no change or preparation of waters can have the virtue of wine, nor of course do me any good; having nothing, i say, to drink, and my stomach being therefore disordered, i can eat but very little; and this spare diet, with the want of wine, reduces me, by the middle of august, extremely low; nor is the strongest capon broth, or any other remedy, of service to me; so that i am ready, through mere weakness, to sink into the grave. hence they inferred, that were not the new wine, for i always take care to have some ready by the beginning of september, to come in so soon, i should be a dead man. but what surprized them still more was, that this new wine should have power sufficient to restore me, in two or three days, to that degree of health and strength, of which the old wine had robbed me; a fact, they themselves have been eye-witnesses of, within these few days; and which a man must see to believe it; insomuch that they could not help crying out; "many of us, who are physicians, have visited him annually for several years past; and ten years ago, judged it impossible for him to live a year or two longer, considering what a mortal enemy he carried about him, and his advanced age; yet we do not find him so weak at present as he used to be." this singularity, and the many other blessings they see me enjoy, obliged them to confess, that the joining of such a number of favours was, with regard to me, a special grace conferred on me, at my birth, by nature, or by the stars; and to prove this to be a good conclusion, which it really is not (because not grounded on strong and sufficient reasons, but merely on their own opinions) they found themselves under a necessity to display their eloquence, and to say a great many fine things. certain it is, my lord, that eloquence, in men of bright parts, has great power; so great, as to induce people to believe things which have neither actual nor possible existence. i had, however, great pleasure and satisfaction in hearing them; for, it must, no doubt, be a high entertainment to hear such men talk in that manner. another satisfaction, without the least mixture of alloy, i at the same time enjoyed, was to think, that age and experience are sufficient to make a man learned, who without them would know nothing; nor is it surprizing they should, since length of days is the foundation of true knowledge. accordingly, it was by means of it alone i discovered their conclusion to be false. thus, you see, my lord, how apt men are to deceive themselves in their judgement of things, when such judgement is not built upon a solid foundation. and, therefore, to undeceive them, and set them right, i made answer, that their conclusion was false, as i should actually convince them by proving, that the happiness i enjoyed was not confined to me, but common to all mankind, and that every man might equally enjoy it; since i was but a mere mortal, composed, like all others, of the four elements; and endued, besides existence and life, with rational and intellectual faculties, which are common to all men. for it has pleased the almighty to bestow on his favourite creature man these extraordinary blessings and favours above other animals, which enjoy only the sensible perceptions; in order such blessings and favours my be the means of keeping him long in good health; so that length of days is a universal favour granted by the deity, and not by nature and the stars. but man being in his youthful days more of the sensual, than of the rational animal, is apt to yield to sensual impressions; and, when he afterwards arrives at the age of forty or fifty, he ought to consider, that he has attained the noon of life, by the vigour of his youth, and a good tone of stomach; natural blessings, which favoured him in ascending the hill; but that he must now think of going down, and approaching the grave, with a heavy weight of years on his back; and that old age is the reverse of youth, as much as order is the reverse of disorder. hence it is requisite he should alter his mode of life in regard to the articles of eating and drinking, on which health and longevity depend. and as the first part of his life was sensual and irregular, the second should be the reverse; since nothing can subsist without order, especially the life of man, irregularity being without all doubt prejudicial, and regularity advantageous to the human species. besides, it is impossible in the nature of things, that the man, who is bent on indulging his palate and his appetite, should not be guilty of irregularity. hence it was that to avoid this vice, as soon as i found myself arrived at maturer years, i embraced a regular and sober life. it is, no doubt, true, that i found some difficulty in compassing it; but, in order to conquer this difficulty, i beseeched the almighty to grant me the virtue of sobriety; well knowing, that he would graciously hear my prayer. then, considering, that when a man is about to undertake any thing of importance, which he knows he can compass, though not without difficulty, he may make it much easier to himself by being steady in his purpose; i pursued the same course. i endeavoured gradually to relinquish a disorderly life, and to accustom myself insensibly to the rules of temperance: and thus it came to pass that a sober and regular life no longer proved uneasy or disagreeable; though, on account of the weakness of my constitution, i tied myself down to such strict rules in regard to the quantity and quality of what i eat and drink. but others, who happen to be blessed with a stronger temperament, may eat many other kinds of food, and in greater quantities; and so of wines; whereas, though their lives may still be sober, they will not be so confined as mine, but much more free. now, on hearing these arguments, and examining the reasons on which they were founded, they all agreed that i had advanced nothing but what was true. indeed the youngest of them said, that though he could not but allow the favour of advantages, i had been speaking of, to be common to all mankind, yet i enjoyed the special grace of being able to relinquish with ease one kind of life, and embrace another; a think which he knew by experience to be feasible; but as difficult to him as it had proved easy to me. to this i replied, that, being a mortal like himself, i likewise found it a difficult task; but it did not become a person to shrink from a glorious but practicable undertaking, on account of the difficulties attending it, because in proportion to these difficulties, is the honour he acquires by it in the eye of man, and the merit in the sight of god. our beneficent creator is desirous, that, as he originally favoured human nature with longevity, we should all enjoy full advantage of his intentions; knowing, that, when a man has passed eighty, he is intirely exempt from the bitter fruits of sensual enjoyments, and is intirely governed by the dictates of reason. vice and immorality must then leave him; hence god is willing he should live to a full maturity of years; and has ordained that whoever reaches his natural term, should end his days without sickness by mere dissolution, the natural way of quitting this mortal life to enter upon immortality, as will be my case. for i am sure to die chanting my prayers; nor do the dreadful thoughts of death give me the least uneasiness, though, considering my great age, it cannot be far distant, knowing, as i do, that i was born to die, and reflecting that such numbers have departed my life without reaching my age. nor does that other thought, inseperable from the former, namely the fear of those torments, to which wicked men are hereafter liable, give me any uneasiness; because i am a good christian, and bound to believe, that i shall be saved by the virtue of the most sacred blood of christ, which he has vouchsafed to shed, in order to free us from those torments. how beautiful is the life i lead! how happy my end! to this, the young gentleman, my antagonist, had nothing to reply, but that he was resolved to embrace a sober life, in order to follow my example; and that he had taken another, more important, resolution, which was, that, as he had been always very desirous to live to be old, so he was now equally impatient to reach that period, the sooner to enjoy the felicity of old age. the great desire i had, my lord, to converse with you at this distance, has forced me to be prolix, and still obliges me to proceed; though not much farther. there are many sensualists, my lord, who say, that i have thrown away my time and trouble in writing a treatise on temperance, and other discourses on the same subject, to induce men to lead a regular life; alledging, that it is impossible to conform to it, so that my treatise must answer as little purpose as that of plato on government, who took a great deal of pains to recommend a thing impracticable; whence they inferred, that as his treatise was of no use, mine will share the same fate. now this surprises me the more, as they may see by my treatise, that i had led a sober life for many years before i had composed it; and that i should never have composed it, had i not previously been convinced, that it was such a life as a man might lead; and being a virtuous life, would be of great service to him; so that i thought myself under an obligation to represent it in a true light. i have the satisfaction now to hear, that numbers, on seeing my treatise, have embraced such a life; and i have read, that many, in times past, have actually led it; so that the objection, to which plato's treatise on government is liable, can be of no force against mine. but such sensualists, enemies to reason, and slaves to their passions, ought to think themselves well off, if, whilst they study to indulge their palate and their appetite, they do not contract long and painful diseases, and are not, many of them, overtaken by an untimely death. finis he is not far from every one of us. for in him we live and move not less than in him we have our being. "out of darkness comes the hand reaching through nature,--moulding man." _health:_ five lay sermons to working-people. by john brown, m.d. boston: james r. osgood and company, _late ticknor and fields, and fields, osgood, & co._ 1877. _affectionately inscribed to the memory of the_ rev. james trench, _the heart and soul of the canongate mission, who, while he preached a pure and a fervent gospel to its heathens, taught them also and therefore to respect and save their health, and was the originator and keeper of their library and penny bank, as well as their minister._ preface. three of these sermons were written for, and (shall i say?) preached some years ago, in one of the earliest missionary stations in edinburgh, established by broughton place congregation, and presided over at that time by the reverend james trench; one of the best human beings it was ever my privilege to know. he is dead; dying in and of his work,--from typhus fever caught at the bedside of one of his poor members--but he lives in the hearts of many a widow and fatherless child; and lives also, i doubt not, in the immediate vision of him to do whose will was his meat and his drink. given ten thousand such men, how would the crooked places be made straight, and the rough places plain, the wildernesses of city wickedness, the solitary places of sin and despair, of pain and shame, be made glad! this is what is to regenerate mankind; this is the leaven that some day is to leaven the lump. the other two sermons were never preached, except in print; but they were composed in the same key. i say this not in defence, but in explanation. i have tried to speak to working men and women from my lay pulpit, in the same words, with the same voice, with the same thoughts i was in the habit of using when doctoring them. this is the reason of their plain speaking. there is no other way of reaching these sturdy and weather and work-beaten understandings; there is nothing fine about them outside, though they are often as white in the skin under their clothes as a duchess, and their hearts as soft and tender as jonathan's, or as rachel's, or our own grizel baillie's; but you must speak out to them, and must not be mealy-mouthed if you wish to reach their minds and affections and wills. i wish the gentlefolks could hear and could use a little more of this outspokenness; and, as old porson said, condescend to call a spade a spade, and not a horticultural implement; five letters instead of twenty-two, and more to the purpose. you see, my dear working friends, i am great upon sparing your strength and taking things cannily. "all very well," say you; "it is easy speaking, and saying, take it easy; but if the pat's on the fire it maun bile." it must, but you needn't poke up the fire forever, and you may now and then set the kettle on the hob, and let it sing, instead of leaving it to burn its bottom out. i had a friend who injured himself by overwork. one day i asked the servant if any person had called, and was told that some one had. "who was it?" "o, it's the little gentleman that _aye rins when he walks_!" so i wish this age would walk more and "rin" less. a man can walk farther and longer than he can run, and it is poor saving to get out of breath. a man who lives to be seventy, and has ten children and (say) five-and-twenty grandchildren, is of more worth to the state than three men who die at thirty, it is to be hoped unmarried. however slow a coach seventy may have been, and however energetic and go-ahead the three thirties, i back the tortoise against the hares in the long run. i am constantly seeing men who suffer, and indeed die, from living too fast; from true though not consciously immoral dissipation or scattering of their lives. many a man is bankrupt in constitution at forty-five, and either takes out a _cessio_ of himself to the grave, or goes on paying ten per cent for his stock-in-trade; he spends his capital instead of merely spending what he makes, or better still, laying up a purse for the days of darkness and old age. a queer man, forty years ago,--mr. slate, or, as he was called, _sclate_, who was too clever and not clever enough, and had not wisdom to use his wit, always scheming, full of "go," but never getting on,--was stopped by his friend, sir walter scott,--that wonderful friend of us all, to whom we owe jeanie deans and rob roy, meg merrilies and dandie dinmont, jinglin' geordie, cuddie headrigg, and the immortal baillie,--one day in princess street. "how are ye getting on, sclate?" "oo, just the auld thing, sir walter; _ma pennies a' gang on tippenny eerands_." and so it is with our nervous power, with our vital capital, with the pence of life; many of them go on "tippenny eerands." we are forever getting our bills renewed, till down comes the poor and damaged concern with dropsy or consumption, blazing fever, madness, or palsy. there is a western banking system in living, in using our bodily organs, as well as in paper-money. but i am running off into another sermon. health of mind and body, next to a good conscience, is the best blessing our maker can give us, and to no one is it more immediately valuable than to the laboring man and his wife and children; and indeed a good conscience is just moral health, the wholeness of the sense and the organ of duty; for let us never forget that there is a religion of the body, as well as, and greatly helpful of, the religion of the soul. we are to glorify god in our souls and in our bodies, for the best of all reasons, _because they are his_, and to remember that at last we must give account, not only of our thoughts and spiritual desires and acts, but _all the deeds done in our body_. a husband who, in the morning before going to his work, would cut his right hand off sooner than injure the wife of his bosom, strangles her that same night when mad with drink; that is a deed done in his body, and truly by his body, for his judgment is gone; and for that he must give an account when his name is called; his judgment was gone; but then, as the child of a drunken murderer said to me, "a' but, sir, wha goned it?" i am not a teetotaler. i am against teetotalism as a doctrine of universal application; i think we are meant to use these things as not abusing them,--this is one of the disciplines of life; but i not the less am sure that drunkenness ruins men's bodies,--it is not for me to speak of souls,--is a greater cause of disease and misery, poverty, crime, and death among the laboring men and women of our towns, than consumption, fever, cholera, and all their tribe, with thieving and profligacy and improvidence thrown into the bargain: these slay their thousands; this its tens of thousands. do you ever think of the full meaning of "he's the waur o' drink?" how much the waur?--and then "dead drunk,"--"mortal." can there be anything more awfully significant than these expressions you hear from children in the streets? * * * * * you will see in the woodcut a good illustration of the circulation of the blood: both that through our lungs, by which we breathe and burn, and that through the whole body, by which we live and build. that hand grasps the heart, the central depot, with its valves opening out and in, and, by its contraction and relaxation, makes the living fluid circulate everywhere, carrying in strength, life, and supply to all, and carrying off waste and harm. none of you will be the worse of thinking of that hand as his who makes, supports, moves, and governs all things,--that hand which, while it wheels the rolling worlds, gathers the lambs with his arm, carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young, and which was once nailed for "our advantage on the bitter cross." j. b. 23 rutland street, december 16, 1861. contents. preface sermon i. the doctor: our duties to him " ii. the doctor: his duties to you " iii. children, and how to guide them " iv. health " v. medical odds and ends health. sermon i. the doctor: our duties to him. everybody knows the doctor; a very important person he is to us all. what could we do without him? he brings us into this world, and tries to keep us as long in it as he can, and as long as our bodies can hold together; and he is with us at that strange and last hour which will come to us all, when we must leave this world and go into the next. when we are well, we perhaps think little about the doctor, or we have our small joke at him and his drugs; but let anything go wrong with our body, that wonderful tabernacle in which our soul dwells, let any of its wheels go wrong, then off we fly to him. if the mother thinks her husband or her child dying, how she runs to him, and urges him with her tears! how she watches his face, and follows his searching eye, as he examines the dear sufferer; how she wonders what he thinks,--what would she give to know what he knows! how she wearies for his visit! how a cheerful word from him makes her heart leap with joy, and gives her spirit and strength to watch over the bed of distress! her whole soul goes out to him in unspeakable gratitude when he brings back to her from the power of the grave her husband or darling child. the doctor knows many of our secrets, of our sorrows, which no one else knows,--some of our sins, perhaps, which the great god alone else knows; how many cares and secrets, how many lives, he carries in his heart and in his hands! so you see he is a very important person the doctor, and we should do our best to make the most of him, and to do our duty to him and to ourselves. a thinking man feels often painfully what a serious thing it is to be a doctor, to have the charge of the lives of his fellow-mortals, to stand, as it were, between them and death and eternity and the judgment-seat, and to fight hand to hand with death. one of the best men and greatest physicians that ever lived, dr. sydenham, says, in reference to this, and it would be well if all doctors, young and old, would consider his words:-"it becomes every man who purposes to give himself to the care of others, seriously to consider the four following things: _first_, that he must one day give an account to the supreme judge of all the lives intrusted to his care. _secondly_, that all his skill and knowledge and energy, as they have been given him by god, so they should be exercised for his glory and the good of mankind, and not for mere gain or ambition. _thirdly_, and not more beautifully than truly, let him reflect that he has undertaken the care of no mean creature, for, in order that we may estimate the value, the greatness of the human race, the only begotten son of god became himself a man, and thus ennobled it with his divine dignity, and, far more than this, died to redeem it; and _fourthly_, that the doctor, being himself a mortal man, should be diligent and tender in relieving his suffering patients, inasmuch as he himself must one day be a like sufferer." i shall never forget a proof i myself got twenty years ago, how serious a thing it is to be a doctor, and how terribly in earnest people are when they want him. it was when cholera first came here in 1832. i was in england at chatham, which you all know is a great place for ships and sailors. this fell disease comes on generally in the night; as the bible says, "it walks in darkness," and many a morning was i roused at two o'clock to go and see its sudden victims, for then is its hour and power. one morning a sailor came to say i must go three miles down the river to a village where it had broken out with great fury. off i set. we rowed in silence down the dark river, passing the huge hulks, and hearing the restless convicts turning in their beds in their chains. the men rowed with all their might: they had too many dying or dead at home to have the heart to speak to me. we got near the place; it was very dark, but i saw a crowd of men and women on the shore, at the landing-place. they were all shouting for the doctor; the shrill cries of the women, and the deep voices of the men coming across the water to me. we were near the shore, when i saw a big old man, his hat off, his hair gray, his head bald; he said nothing, but turning them all off with his arm, he plunged into the sea, and before i knew where i was, he had me in his arms. i was helpless as an infant. he waded out with me, carrying me high up in his left arm, and with his right levelling every man or woman who stood in his way. it was big joe carrying me to see his grandson, little joe; and he bore me off to the poor convulsed boy, and dared me to leave him till he was better. he did get better, but big joe was dead that night. he had the disease on him when he carried me away from the boat, but his heart was set upon his boy. i never can forget that night, and how important a thing it was to be able to relieve suffering, and how much old joe was in earnest about having the doctor. now, i want you to consider how important the doctor is to you. nobody needs him so much as the poor and laboring man. he is often ill. he is exposed to hunger and wet and cold, and to fever, and to all the diseases of hard labor and poverty. his work is heavy, and his heart is often heavy, too, with misery of all kinds,--his heart weary with its burden,--his hands and limbs often meeting with accidents,--and you know if the poor man, if one of you falls ill and takes fever, or breaks his leg, it is a far more serious thing than with a richer man. your health and strength are all you have to depend on; they are your stock-in-trade, your capital. therefore i shall ask you to remember _four things_ about your duty to the doctor, so as to get the most good out of him, and do the most good to him too. _1st_, it is your duty to trust the doctor; _2dly_, it is your duty to obey the doctor; _3dly_, it is your duty to speak the truth to the doctor, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth; and, _4thly_, it is your duty to reward the doctor. and so now for the _first_. it is your duty to _trust_ the doctor, that is, to believe in him. if you were in a ship, in a wild storm, and among dangerous rocks, and if you took a pilot on board, who knew all the coast and all the breakers, and had a clear eye, and a firm heart, and a practised hand, would you not let him have his own way? would you think of giving him your poor advice, or keep his hand from its work at the helm? you would not be such a fool, or so uncivil, or so mad. and yet many people do this very same sort of thing, just because they don't really trust their doctor; and a doctor is a pilot for your bodies when they are in a storm and in distress. he takes the helm, and does his best to guide you through a fever; but he must have fair play; he must be trusted even in the dark. it is wonderful what cures the very sight of a doctor will work, if the patient believes in him; it is half the battle. his very face is as good as a medicine, and sometimes better,--and much pleasanter too. one day a laboring man came to me with indigestion. he had a sour and sore stomach, and heartburn, and the water-brash, and wind, and colic, and wonderful misery of body and mind. i found he was eating bad food, and too much of it; and then, when its digestion gave him pain, he took a glass of raw whiskey. i made him promise to give up his bad food and his worse whiskey, and live on pease-brose and sweet milk, and i wrote him a prescription, as we call it, for some medicine, and said, "take _that_, and come back in a fortnight and you will be well." he did come back, hearty and hale;--no colic, no sinking at the heart, a clean tongue, and a cool hand, and a firm step, and a clear eye, and a happy face. i was very proud of the wonders my prescription had done; and having forgotten what it was, i said, "let me see what i gave you." "o," says he, "i took it." "yes," said i, "but the prescription." "_i took it_, as you bade me. i swallowed it." he had actually eaten the bit of paper, and been all that the better of it; but it would have done him little, at least less good had he not trusted me when i said he would be better, and attended to my rules. so, take my word for it, and trust your doctor; it is his due, and it is for your own advantage. now, our next duty is to _obey_ the doctor. this you will think is simple enough. what use is there in calling him in, if we don't do what he bids us? and yet nothing is more common--partly from laziness and sheer stupidity, partly from conceit and suspiciousness, and partly, in the case of children, from false kindness and indulgence--than to disobey the doctor's orders. many a child have i seen die from nothing but the mother's not liking to make her swallow a powder, or put on a blister; and let me say, by the by, teach your children at once to obey you, and take the medicine. many a life is lost from this, and remember you may make even willie winkie take his castor-oil in spite of his cries and teeth, _by holding his nose_, so that he must swallow. _thirdly, you should tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth_, to your doctor. he may be never so clever, and never so anxious, but he can no more know how to treat a case of illness without knowing all about it, than a miller can make meal without corn; and many a life have i seen lost from the patient or his friends concealing something that was true, or telling something that was false. the silliness of this is only equal to its sinfulness and its peril. i remember, in connection with that place where big joe lived and died, a singular proof of the perversity of people in not telling the doctor the truth,--as you know people are apt to send for him in cholera when it is too late, when it is a death rather than a disease. but there is an early stage, called premonitory,--or warning,--when medicines can avail. i summoned all the people of that fishing-village who were well, and told them this, and asked them if they had any of the symptoms. they all denied having any (this is a peculiar feature in that terrible disease, they are afraid to _let on_ to themselves, or even the doctor, that they are "in for it"), though from their looks and from their going away while i was speaking, i knew they were not telling the truth. well, i said, "you must, at any rate, every one of you take some of this," producing a bottle of medicine. i will not tell you what it was, as you should never take drugs at your own hands, but it is simple and cheap. i made every one take it; only one woman going away without taking any; she was the only one of all those _who died_. _lastly, it is your duty to reward_ your doctor. there are four ways of rewarding your doctor. the first is by giving him your money; the second is by giving him your gratitude; the third is by your doing his bidding; and the fourth is by speaking well of him, giving him a good name, recommending him to others. now, i know few if any of you can pay your doctor, and it is a great public blessing that in this country you will always get a good doctor willing to attend you for nothing, and this _is_ a great blessing; but let me tell you,--i don't think i need tell you,--try and pay him, be it ever so little. it does you good as well as him; it keeps up your self-respect; it raises you in your own eye, in your neighbor's, and, what is best, in your god's eye, because it is doing what is right. the "man of independent mind," be he never so poor, is "king of men for a' that"; ay, and "for twice and mair than a' that"; and to pay his way is one of the proudest things a poor man can say, and he may say it oftener than he thinks he can. and then let me tell you, as a bit of cool, worldly wisdom, that your doctor will do you all the more good, and make a better job of your cure, if he gets something, some money for his pains; it is human nature and common sense, this. it is wonderful how much real kindness and watching and attendance and cleanliness you may get _for so many shillings a week_. nursing is a much better article at that,--much,--than at _nothing_ a week. but i pass on to the other ways of paying or rewarding your doctor, and, above all, _to gratitude_. honey is not sweeter in your mouths, and light is not more pleasant to your eyes, and music to your ears, and a warm, cosey bed is not more welcome to your wearied legs and head, than is the honest, deep gratitude of the poor to the young doctor. it is his glory, his reward; he fills himself with it, and wraps himself all round with it as with a cloak, and goes on in his work, happy and hearty; and the gratitude of the poor is worth the having, and worth the keeping, and worth the remembering. twenty years ago i attended old sandie campbell's wife in a fever, in big hamilton's close in the grassmarket,--two worthy, kindly souls they were and are. (sandie is dead now.) by god's blessing, the means i used saved "oor kirsty's" life, and i made friends of these two forever; sandie would have fought for me if need be, and kirsty would do as good. i can count on them as my friends, and when i pass the close-mouth in the west port, where they now live, and are thriving, keeping their pigs, and their hoary old cuddie and cart, i get a courtesy from kirsty, and see her look after me, and turn to the women beside her, and i know exactly what she is saying to them about "dr. broon." and when i meet old sandie, with his ancient and long-lugged friend, driving the draff from the distillery for his swine, i see his gray eye brighten and glisten, and he looks up and gives his manly and cordial nod, and goes on his way, and i know that he is saying to himself, "god bless him! he saved my kirsty's life," and he runs back in his mind all those twenty past years, and lays out his heart on all he remembers, and that does him good and me too, and nobody any ill. therefore, give your gratitude to your doctor, and remember him, like honest sandie; it will not lose its reward and it costs you nothing; it is one of those things you can give and never be a bit the poorer, but all the richer. one person i would earnestly warn you against, and that is the _quack doctor_. if the real doctor is a sort of god of healing, or rather our god's cobbler for the body, the quack is the devil for the body, or rather the devil's servant against the body. and like his father, he is a great liar and cheat. he offers you what he cannot give. whenever you see a medicine that cures everything, be sure it cures nothing; and remember, it may kill. the devil promised our saviour all the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him; now this was a lie, he could not give him any such thing. neither can the quack give you his kingdoms of health, even though you worship him as he best likes, by paying him for his trash; he is dangerous and dear, and often deadly,--have nothing to do with him. we have our duties to one another, yours to me, and mine to you: but we have all our duty to one else,--to almighty god, who is beside us at this very moment--who followed us all this day, and knew all we did and didn't do, what we thought and didn't think,--who will watch over us all this night,--who is continually doing us good,--who is waiting to be gracious to us,--who is the great physician, whose saving health will heal all our diseases, and redeem our life from destruction, and crown us with loving-kindness and tender mercies,--who can make death the opening into a better life, the very gate of heaven; that same death which is to all of us the most awful and most certain of all things, and at whose door sits its dreadful king, with that javelin, that sting of his, which is sin, our own sin. death would be nothing without sin, no more than falling asleep in the dark to awake to the happy light of the morning. now, i would have you think of your duty to this great god, our father in heaven; and i would have you to remember that it is your duty to trust him, to believe in him. if you do not, your soul will be shipwrecked, you will go down in terror and in darkness. it is your duty to _obey_ him. whom else in all this world should you obey, if not him? and who else so easily pleased, if we only do obey? it is your duty to speak the truth to him, not that he needs any man to tell him anything. he knows everything about everybody; nobody can keep a secret from him. but he hates lies; he abhors a falsehood. he is the god of truth, and must be dealt honestly with, in sincerity and godly fear; and, lastly, you must in a certain sense _reward_ him. you cannot give him money, for the silver and gold, the cattle upon a thousand hills, are all his already, but you can give him your grateful lives; you can give him your hearts; and as old mr. henry says, "thanksgiving is good, but thanks-living is better." one word more; you should call your doctor early. it saves time; it saves suffering; it saves trouble; it saves life. if you saw a fire beginning in your house, you would put it out as fast as you could. you might perhaps be able to blow out with your breath what in an hour the fire-engine could make nothing of. so it is with disease and the doctor. a disease in the morning when beginning is like the fire beginning; a dose of medicine, some simple thing, may put it out, when if left alone, before night it may be raging hopelessly, like the fire if left alone, and leaving your body dead and in the ruins in a few hours. so, call in the doctor soon; it saves him much trouble, and may save you your life. and let me end by asking you to call in the great physician; to call him instantly, to call him in time; there is not a moment to lose. he is waiting to be called; he is standing at the door. but he must be _called_,--he may be called too late. sermon ii. the doctor: his duties to you. you remember our last sermon was mostly about your duties to the doctor. i am now going to speak about his duties to you; for you know it is a law of our life, that there are no one-sided duties,--they are all double. it is like shaking hands, there must be two at it; and both of you ought to give a hearty grip and a hearty shake. you owe much to many, and many owe much to you. the apostle says, "owe no man anything but to love one another"; but if you owe that, you must be forever paying it; it is always due, always running on; and the meanest and most helpless, the most forlorn, can always pay and be paid in that coin, and in paying can buy more than he thought of. just as a farthing candle, twinkling out of a cotter's window, and, it may be, guiding the gudeman home to his wife and children, sends its rays out into the infinite expanse of heaven, and thus returns, as it were, the light of the stars, which are many of them suns. you cannot pass any one on the street to whom you are not bound by this law. if he falls down, you help to raise him. you do your best to relieve him, and get him home; and let me tell you, to your great gain and honor, the poor are far more ready and better at this sort of work than the gentlemen and ladies. you do far more for each other than they do. you will share your last loaf; you will sit up night after night with a neighbor you know nothing about, just because he is your neighbor, and you know what it is to be neighbor-like. you are more natural and less selfish than the fine folks. i don't say you are better, neither do i say you are worse; that would be a foolish and often mischievous way of speaking. we have all virtues and vices and advantages peculiar to our condition. you know the queer old couplet,- "them what is rich, them rides in chaises; them what is poor, them walks like blazes." if you were well, and not in a hurry, and it were cold, would you not much rather "walk like blazes" than ride listless in your chaise? but this i know, for i have seen it, that according to their means, the poor bear one another's burdens far more than the rich. there are many reasons for this, outside of yourselves, and there is no need of your being proud of it or indeed of anything else; but it is something to be thankful for, in the midst of all your hardships, that you in this have more of the power and of the luxury of doing immediate, visible good. you pay this debt in ready-money, as you do your meal and your milk; at least you have very short credit, and the shorter the better. now, the doctor has his duties to you, and it is well that he should know them, and that you should know them too; for it will be long before you and he can do without each other. you keep each other alive. disease, accidents, pain, and death reign everywhere, and we call one another _mortals_, as if our chief peculiarity was that we must die, and you all know how death came into this world. "by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned"; and disease, disorder, and distress are the fruits of sin, as truly as that apple grew on that forbidden tree. you have nowadays all sorts of schemes for making bad men good, and good men better. the world is full of such schemes, some of them wise and some foolish; but to be wise they must all go on the principle of lessening misery by lessening _sin_; so that the old weaver at kilmarnock, who at a meeting for abolishing slavery, the corn laws, and a few more things, said, "mr. preses, i move that we abolish original sin," was at least beginning at the right end. only fancy what a world it would be, what a family any of ours would be, when everybody did everything that was right, and nothing that was wrong, say for a week! the world would not know itself. it would be inclined to say with the "wee bit wifiekie," though reversing the cause, "this is no me." i am not going to say more on this point. it is not my parish. but you need none of you be long ignorant of who it is who has abolished death, and therefore vanquished sin. well, then, it is the duty of the doctor in the first place, to _cure us_; in the second, _to be kind to us_; in the third, to be _true to us_; in the fourth, to keep _our secrets_; in the fifth, to _warn us_, and, best of all, to _forewarn us_; in the sixth, to _be grateful to us_; and, in the last, to _keep his time and his temper_. and, _first_, it is the duty of the doctor to _cure_ you,--if he can. that is what we call him in for; and a doctor, be he never so clever and delightful, who doesn't cure, is like a mole-catcher who can't catch moles, or a watchmaker who can do everything but make your watch go. old dr. pringle of perth, when preaching in the country, found his shoes needed mending, and he asked the brother whom he was assisting to tell him of good cobbler, or as he called him, a _snab_. his friend mentioned a "tammas rattray, a godly man, and an elder." "but," said dr. pringle, in his snell way, "can he mend my shoon? that's what i want; i want a shoemaker; i'm not wanting an elder." it turned out that tammas was a better elder than a shoemaker. a doctor was once attending a poor woman in labor; it was a desperate case, requiring a cool head and a firm will; the good man--for he _was_ good--had neither of these, and, losing his presence of mind, gave up the poor woman as lost, and retired into the next room to pray for her. another doctor, who, perhaps, wanted what the first one had, and certainly had what he wanted, brains and courage, meanwhile arrived, and called out, "where is doctor ----?" "o, he has gone into the next room to pray!" "pray! tell him to come here this moment, and help me; he can work and pray too"; and with his assistance the snell doctor saved that woman's life. this, then, is the doctor's first duty to you,--to cure you,--and for this he must, in the first place, be up to his business; he must know what to do, and, secondly, he must be able to do it; he must not merely do as a pointer dog does, stand and say, "there it is," and no more, he must point and shoot too. and let me tell you, moreover, that unless a man likes what he is at, and is in earnest, and sticks to it, he will no more make a good doctor than a good anything else. doctoring is not only a way for a man to do good by curing disease, and to get money to himself for doing this, but it is also a study which interests for itself alone, like geology, or any other science; and moreover it is a way to fame and the glory of the world; all these four things act upon the mind of the doctor, but unless the first one is uppermost, his patient will come off second-best with him; he is not the man for your lives or for your money. they tell a story, which may not be word for word true, but it has truth and a great principle in it, as all good stories have. it is told of one of our clever friends, the french, who are so knowing in everything. a great french doctor was taking an english one round the wards of his hospital; all sort of miseries going on before them, some dying, others longing for death, all ill; the frenchman was wonderfully eloquent about all their diseases, you would have thought he saw through them, and knew all their secret wheels like looking into a watch or into a glass beehive. he told his english friend what would be seen in such a case, _when the body was opened_! he spent some time in this sort of work, and was coming out, full of glee, when the other doctor said: "but, doctor ----, you haven't _prescribed_ for these cases." "o, neither i have!" said he, with a grumph and a shrug; "i quite forgot _that_"; that being the one thing why these poor people were there, and why he was there too. another story of a frenchman, though i dare say we could tell it of ourselves. he was a great professor, and gave a powerful poison as a medicine for an ugly disease of the skin. he carried it very far, so as to weaken the poor fellow, who died, just as the last vestige of the skin disease died too. on looking at the dead body, quite smooth and white, and also quite dead, he said, "ah, never mind; he was _dead cured_." so let me advise you, as, indeed, your good sense will advise yourselves, to test a doctor by this: is he in earnest? does he speak little and do much? does he make your case his first care? he may, after that, speak of the weather, or the money-market; he may gossip, and even _haver_; or he may drop, quietly and shortly, some "good words,"--the fewer the better; something that causes you to think and feel; and may teach you to be more of the publican than of the pharisee, in that story you know of, when they two went up to the temple to pray; but, generally speaking, the doctor should, like the rest of us, stick to his trade and mind his business. _secondly_, it is the doctor's duty to be _kind_ to you. i mean by this, not only to speak kindly, but to _be_ kind, which includes this and a great deal more, though a kind word, as well as a merry heart, does good like a medicine. cheerfulness, or rather cheeriness, is a great thing in a doctor; his very foot should have "music in't, when he comes up the stair." the doctor should never lose his power of pitying pain, and letting his patient see this and feel it. some men, and they are often the best at their proper work, can let their hearts come out only through their eyes; but it is not the less sincere, and to the point; you can make your mouth say what is not true; you can't do quite so much with your eyes. a doctor's eye should command, as well as comfort and cheer his patient; he should never let him think disobedience or despair possible. perhaps you think doctors get hardened by seeing so much suffering; this is not true. pity as a motive, as well as a feeling ending in itself, is stronger in an old doctor than in a young, so he be made of the right stuff. he comes to know himself what pain and sorrow mean, what their weight is, and how grateful he was or is for relief and sympathy. _thirdly_, it is his duty to be _true_ to you. true in word and in deed. he ought to speak nothing but the truth, as to the nature, and extent, and issues of the disease he is treating; but he is not bound, as i said you were, to tell _the whole truth_,--that is for his own wisdom and discretion to judge of; only, never let him tell an untruth, and let him be honest enough, when he can't say anything definite, to say nothing. it requires some courage to confess our ignorance, but it is worth it. as to the question, often spoken of,--telling a man he is dying,--the doctor must, in the first place, be sure the patient is dying; and, secondly, that it is for his good, bodily and mental, to tell him so: he should almost always warn the friends, but, even here, cautiously. _fourthly_, it is his duty to _keep your secrets_. there are things a doctor comes to know and is told which no one but he and the judge of all should know; and he is a base man, and unworthy to be in such a noble profession as that of healing, who can betray what he knows must injure, and in some cases may ruin. _fifthly_, it is his duty to _warn_ you against what is injuring your health. if he finds his patient has brought disease upon himself by sin, by drink, by overwork, by over-eating, by over-anything, it is his duty to say so plainly and firmly, and the same with regard to the treatment of children by their parents; the family doctor should forewarn them; he should explain, as far as he is able and they can comprehend them, the laws of health, and so tell them how to _prevent disease_, as well as do his best to _cure_ it. what a great and rich field there is here for our profession, if they and the public could only work well together! in this, those queer, half-daft, half-wise beings, the chinese, take a wiser way; they pay their doctor for keeping them well, and they stop his pay as long as they are ill! _sixthly_, it is his duty to be _grateful_ to you; 1st, for employing him, whether you pay him in money or not, for a doctor, worth being one, makes capital, makes knowledge, and therefore power, out of every case he has; 2dly, for obeying him and getting better. i am always very much obliged to my patients for being so kind as to be better, and for saying so; for many are ready enough to say they are worse, not so many to say they are better, even when they are; and you know our scotch way of saying, "i'm no that ill," when "i" is in high health, or, "i'm no ony waur," when "i" is much better. don't be niggards in this; it cheers the doctor's heart, and it will lighten yours. _seventhly_, and lastly, it is the doctor's duty _to keep his time and his temper_ with you. any man or woman who knows how longed for a doctor's visit is, and counts on it to a minute, knows how wrong, how painful, how angering it is for the doctor not to keep his time. many things may occur, for his urgent cases are often sudden, to put him out of his reckoning; but it is wonderful what method, and real consideration, and a strong will can do in this way. i never found dr. abercrombie a minute after or _before_ his time (both are bad, though one is the worser), and yet if i wanted him in a hurry, and stopped his carriage in the street, he could always go with me at once; he had the knack and the principle of being true in his times, for it is often a matter of _truth_. and the doctor must keep his _temper_: this is often worse to manage than even his time, there is so much unreason, and ingratitude, and peevishness, and impertinence, and impatience, that it is very hard to keep one's tongue and eye from being angry: and sometimes the doctor does not only well, but the best, when he is downrightly angry, and astonishes some fool, or some insolent, or some untruth doing or saying patient; but the doctor should be patient with his patients, he should bear with them, knowing how much they are at the moment suffering. let us remember him who is full of compassion, whose compassion never fails; whose tender mercies are new to us every morning, as his faithfulness is every night; who healed all manner of diseases, and was kind to the unthankful and the evil; what would become of us, if he were as impatient with us as we often are with each other? if you want to be impressed with the almighty's infinite loving-kindness and tender mercy, his forbearance, his long-suffering patience, his slowness to anger, his divine ingeniousness in trying to find it possible to spare and save, think of the israelites in the desert, and read the chapter where abraham intercedes with god for sodom, and these wonderful "peradventures." but i am getting tedious, and keeping you and myself too long, so good night. let the doctor and you be honest and grateful, and kind and cordial, in one word, dutiful to each other, and you will each be the better of the other. i may by and by say a word or two to you on your _health_, which is your wealth, that by which you are and do well, and on your _children_, and how to guide it and them. sermon iii. children, and how to guide them. our text at this time is children and their treatment, or as it sounds better to our ears, bairns, and how to guide them. you all know the wonder and astonishment there is in a house among its small people when a baby is born; how they stare at the new arrival with its red face. where does it come from? some tell them it comes from the garden, from a certain kind of cabbage; some from "rob rorison's bonnet," of which wha hasna heard? some from that famous wig of charlie's, in which the cat kittled, when there was three o' them leevin', and three o' them dead; and you know the doctor is often said to bring the new baby in his pocket; and many a time have my pockets been slyly examined by the curious youngsters,--especially the girls!--in hopes of finding another baby. but i'll tell you where all the babies come from; _they all come from_ _god_; his hand made and fashioned them; he breathed into their nostrils the breath of life,--of his life. he said, "let this little child be," and it was. a child is a true creation; its soul, certainly, and in a true sense, its body too. and as our children came from him, so they are going back to him, and he lends them to us as keepsakes; we are to keep and care for them for his sake. what a strange and sacred thought this is! children are god's gifts to us, and it depends on our guiding of them, not only whether they are happy here, but whether they are happy hereafter in that great unchangeable eternity, into which you and i and all of us are fast going. i once asked a little girl, "who made you?" and she said, holding up her apron as a measure, "god make me that length, and i growed the rest myself." now this, as you know, was not quite true, for she could not grow one half-inch by herself. god makes us grow as well as makes us at first. but what i want you to fix in your minds is, that children come from god, and are returning to him, and that you and i, who are parents, have to answer to him for the way we behave to our dear children,--the kind of care we take of them. now, a child consists, like ourselves, of a body and a soul. i am not going to say much about the guiding of the souls of children,--that is a little out of my line,--but i may tell you that the soul, especially in children, depends much, for its good and for its evil, for its happiness or its misery, upon the kind of body it lives in: for the body is just the house that the soul dwells in; and you know that, if a house be uncomfortable, the tenant of it will be uncomfortable and out of sorts; if its windows let the rain and wind in, if the chimney smoke, if the house be damp, and if there be a want of good air, then the people who live in it will be miserable enough; and if they have no coals, and no water, and no meat, and no beds, then you may be sure it will soon be left by its inhabitants. and so, if you don't do all you can to make your children's bodies healthy and happy, their souls will get miserable and cankered and useless, their tempers peevish; and if you don't feed and clothe them right, then their poor little souls will leave their ill-used bodies,--will be starved out of them; and many a man and woman have had their tempers, and their minds and hearts, made miseries to themselves, and all about them, just from a want of care of their bodies when children. there is something very sad, and, in a true sense, very unnatural, in an unhappy child. you and i, grown-up people, who have cares, and have had sorrows and difficulties and sins, may well be dull and sad sometimes; it would be still sadder, if we were not often so; but children should be always either laughing and playing, or eating and sleeping. play is their business. you cannot think how much useful knowledge, and how much valuable bodily exercise, a child teaches itself in its play; and look how merry the young of other animals are: the kitten making fun of everything, even of its sedate mother's tail and whiskers; the lambs, running races in their mirth; even the young asses,--the baby-cuddie,--how pawky and droll and happy he looks with his fuzzy head, and his laughing eyes, and his long legs, stot, stotting after that venerable and _sair nauden-doun lady_, with the long ears, his mother. one thing i like to see, is a child clean in the morning. i like to see its plump little body well washed, and sweet and _caller_ from top to bottom. but there is another thing i like to see, and that is a child dirty at night. i like a _steerin' bairn_,--goo-gooin', crowing and kicking, keeping everybody alive. do you remember william miller's song of "wee willie winkie?" here it is. i think you will allow, especially you who are mothers, that it is capital. "wee willie winkie rins through the toun, up stairs an' doon stairs in his nicht-goun, tirlin' at the window, crying at the lock, 'are the weans in their bed, for it's noo ten o'clock?' "'hey willie winkie, are ye comin' ben! the cat's singin' gray thrums to the sleepin' hen, the dog's speldert on the floor, and disna gi'e a cheep, but here's a waakrife laddie! that winna fa' asleep.' "'onything but sleep, you rogue! glow'rin' like the moon! rattlin' in an airn jug wi' an airn spoon, rumblin', tumblin' roun' about, crawin' like a cock, skirlin' like a kenna-what, wauk'nin' sleepin' folk. "'hey, willie winkie, the wean's in a creel! wamblin' aff a bodie's knee like a verra eel, ruggin' at the cat's lug, and ravelin' a' her thrums,- hey, willie winkie,- see, there he comes!' "wearied is the mither that has a stoorie wean, a wee stumpie stousie, wha canna rin his lane, that has a battle aye wi' sleep afore he'll close an e'e,- but ae kiss frae aff his rosy lips gi'es strength anew to me." is not this good? first-rate! the cat singin' gray thrums, and the wee stumpie stousie, ruggin' at her lug, and ravlin' a' her thrums; and then what a din he is making!--rattlit' in an airn jug wi' an airn spoon, skirlin' like a kenna-what, and ha'in' a battle aye wi' sleep. what a picture of a healthy and happy child! now, i know how hard it is for many of you to get meat for your children, and clothes for them, and bed and bedding for them at night, and i know how you have to struggle for yourselves and them, and how difficult it often is for you to take all the care you would like to do of them, and you will believe me when i say, that it is a far greater thing, because a far harder thing, for a poor, struggling, and it may be weakly woman in your station, to bring up her children comfortably, than for those who are richer; but still you may do a great deal of good at little cost either of money or time or trouble. and it is well-wared pains; it will bring you in two hundred percent in real comfort, and profit, and credit; and so you will, i am sure, listen good-naturedly to me, when i go over some plain and simple things about the health of your children. to begin with their _heads_. you know the head contains the brain, which is the king of the body, and commands all under him; and it depends on his being good or bad whether his subjects,--the legs, and arms, and body, and stomach, and our old friends the bowels, are in good order and happy, or not. now, first of all, keep the head cool. nature has given it a nightcap of her own in the hair, and it is the best. and keep the head clean. give it a good scouring every saturday night at the least; and if it get sore and scabbit, the best thing i know for it is to wash it with soft soap (black soap), and put a big cabbage-blade on it every night. then for the _lungs_, or _lichts_,--the bellows that keep the fire of life burning,--they are very busy in children, because a child is not like grown-up folk, merely keeping itself up. it is doing this, and growing too; and so it eats more, and sleeps more, and breathes more in proportion than big folk. and to carry on all this business it must have fresh air, and lots of it. so, whenever it can be managed, a child should have a good while every day in the open air, and should have well-aired places to sleep in. then for their _nicht-gowns_, the best are long flannel gowns; and children should be always more warmly clad than grown-up people,--cold kills them more easily. then there is the _stomach_, and as this is the kitchen and great manufactory, it is almost always the first thing that goes wrong in children, and generally as much from too much being put in, as from its food being of an injurious kind. a baby, for nine months after it is born, should have almost nothing but its mother's milk. this is god's food, and it is the best and the cheapest, too. if the baby be healthy it should be weaned or spained at nine or ten months; and this should be done gradually, giving the baby a little gruel, or new milk, and water and sugar, or thin bread-berry once a day for some time, so as gradually to wean it. this makes it easier for mother as well as baby. no child should get meat or hard things till it gets teeth to chew them, and no baby should ever get a drop of whiskey, or any strong drink, unless by the doctor's orders. whiskey, to the soft, tender stomach of an infant, is like vitriol to ours; it is a burning poison to its dear little body, as it may be a burning poison and a curse to its never-dying soul. as you value your children's health of body, and the salvation of their souls, never give them a drop of whiskey; and let mothers, above all others, beware of drinking when nursing. the whiskey passes from their stomachs into their milk, and poisons their own child. this is a positive fact. and think of a drunk woman carrying and managing a child! i was once, many years ago, walking in lothian street, when i saw a woman staggering along very drunk. she was carrying a child; it was lying over her shoulder. i saw it slip, slippin' farther and farther back. i ran, and cried out; but before i could get up, the poor little thing, smiling over its miserable mother's shoulder, fell down, like a stone, on its head on the pavement; it gave a gasp, and turned up its blue eyes, and had a convulsion, and its soul was away to god, and its little soft, waefu' body lying dead, and its idiotic mother grinning and staggering over it, half seeing the dreadful truth, then forgetting it, and cursing and swearing. that was a sight! so much misery, and wickedness, and ruin. it was the young woman's only child. when she came to herself, she became mad, and is to this day a drivelling idiot, and goes about forever seeking for her child, and cursing the woman who killed it. this is a true tale, too true. there is another practice which i must notice, and that is giving children laudanum to make them sleep, and keep them quiet, and for coughs and windy pains. now, this is a most dangerous thing. i have often been called in to see children who were dying, and who did die, from laudanum given in this way. i have known four drops to kill a child a month old; and ten drops one a year old. the best rule, and one you should stick to, as under god's eye as well as the law's, is, never to give laudanum without a doctor's line or order. and when on this subject, i would also say a word about the use of opium and laudanum among yourselves. i know this is far commoner among the poor in edinburgh than is thought. but i assure you, from much experience, that the drunkenness and stupefaction from the use of laudanum is even worse than that from whiskey. the one poisons and makes mad the body; the other, the laudanum, poisons the mind, and makes it like an idiot's. so, in both matters beware; death is in the cup, murder is in the cup, and poverty and the workhouse, and the gallows, and an awful future of pain and misery,--all are in the cup. these are the wages the devil pays his servants with for doing his work. but to go back to the bairns. at first a word on our old friends, the bowels. let them alone as much as you can. they will put themselves and keep themselves right, if you take care to prevent wrong things going into the stomach. no sour apples, or raw turnips or carrots; no sweeties or tarts, and all that kind of abomination; no tea, to draw the sides of their tender little stomachs together; no whiskey, to kill their digestion; no _gundy_, or _taffy_, or _lick_, or _black man_, or _jib_; the less sugar and sweet things the better; the more milk and butter and fat the better; but plenty of plain, halesome food, parritch and milk, bread and butter, potatoes and milk, good broth,--kail as we call it. you often hear of the wonders of cod-liver oil, and they are wonders; poor little wretches who have faces like old puggies, and are all belly and no legs, and are screaming all day and all night too,--these poor little wretches under the cod-liver oil, get sonsy, and rosy, and fat, and happy, and strong. now, this is greatly because the cod-liver oil is capital _food_. if you can't afford to get cod-liver oil for delicate children, or if they reject it, give them plain olive oil, a tablespoonful twice a day, and take one to yourself, and you will be astonished how you will both of you thrive. some folk will tell you that children's feet should be always kept warm. i say no. no healthy child's feet are warm; but the great thing is to keep the body warm. that is like keeping the fire good, and the room will be warm. the chest, the breast, is the place where the fire of the body,--the heating apparatus,--is, and if you keep it warm, and give _it_ plenty of fuel, which is fresh air and good food, you need not mind about the feetikins, they will mind themselves; indeed, for my own part, i am so ungenteel as to think bare feet and bare legs in summer the most comfortable wear, costing much less than leather and worsted, the only kind of soles that are always fresh. as to the moral training of children, i need scarcely speak to you. what people want about these things is, not knowledge, but the will to do what is right,--what they know to be right, and the moral power to do it. whatever you wish your child to be, be it yourself. if you wish it to be happy, healthy, sober, truthful, affectionate, honest, and godly, be yourself all these. if you wish it to be lazy and sulky, and a liar, and a thief, and a drunkard, and a swearer, be yourself all these. as the old cock crows, the young cock learns. you will remember who said, "train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." and you may, as a general rule, as soon expect to gather grapes from thorns, and figs from thistles, as get good, healthy, happy children from diseased and lazy and wicked parents. let me put you in mind, seriously, of one thing that you ought to get done to all your children, and that is, to have them vaccinated, or inoculated with the cow-pock. the best time for this is two months after birth, but better late than never, and in these times you need never have any excuse for its not being done. you have only to take your children to the old or the new town dispensaries. it is a real crime, i think, in parents to neglect this. it is cruel to their child, and it is a crime to the public. if every child in the world were vaccinated, which might be managed in few years, that loathsome and deadly disease, the small-pox, would disappear from the face of the earth; but many people are so stupid, and so lazy, and so prejudiced, as to neglect this plain duty, till they find to their cost that it is too late. so promise me, all seriously in your hearts, to see to this if it is not done already, and see to it immediately. be always frank and open with your children. make them trust you and tell you all their secrets. make them feel at ease with you, and make _free_ with them. there is no such good plaything for grown-up children like you and me as _weans_, wee ones. it is wonderful what you can get them to do with a little coaxing and fun. you all know this as well as i do, and you all practise it every day in your own families. here is a pleasant little story out of an old book. "a gentleman having led a company of children beyond their usual journey, they began to get weary, and all cried to him to carry them on his back, but because of their multitude he could not do this. 'but,' says he, 'i'll get horses for us all'; then cutting little wands out of the hedge as ponies for them, and a great stake as a charger for himself, this put mettle in their little legs, and they rode cheerily home." so much for a bit of ingenious fun. one thing, however poor you are, you can give your children, and that is your prayers, and they are, if real and humble, worth more than silver or gold,--more than food and clothing, and have often brought from our father who is in heaven, and hears our prayers, both money and meat and clothes, and all worldly good things. and there is one thing you can always teach your child; you may not yourself know how to read or write, and therefore you may not be able to teach your children how to do these things; you may not know the names of the stars or their geography, and may therefore not be able to tell them how far you are from the sun, or how big the moon is; nor be able to tell them the way to jerusalem or australia, but you may always be able to tell them who made the stars and numbered them, and you may tell them the road to heaven. you may always teach them to pray. some weeks ago, i was taken out to see the mother of a little child. she was very dangerously ill, and the nurse had left the child to come and help me. i went up to the nursery to get some hot water, and in the child's bed i saw something raised up. this was the little fellow under the bedclothes kneeling. i said, "what are you doing?" "i am praying god to make mamma better," said he. god likes these little prayers and these little people,--for of such is the kingdom of heaven. these are his little ones, his lambs, and he hears their cry; and it is enough if they only lisp their prayers. "abba, father," is all he needs; and our prayers are never so truly prayers as when they are most like children's in simplicity, in directness, in perfect fulness of reliance. "they pray right up," as black uncle tom says in that wonderful book, which i hope you have all read and wept over. i forgot to speak about punishing children. i am old-fashioned enough to uphold the ancient practice of warming the young bottoms with some sharpness, if need be; it is a wholesome and capital application, and does good to the bodies, and the souls too, of the little rebels, and it is far less cruel than being sulky, as some parents are, and keeping up a grudge at their children. warm the bott, say i, and you will warm the heart too; and all goes right. and now i must end. i have many things i could say to you, but you have had enough of me and my bairns, i am sure. go home, and when you see the little curly pows on their pillows, sound asleep, pour out a blessing on them, and ask our saviour to make them his; and never forget what we began with, that they came from god, and are going back to him, and let the light of eternity fall upon them as they lie asleep, and may you resolve to dedicate them and yourselves to him who died for them and for us all, and who was once himself a little child, and sucked the breasts of a woman, and who said that awful saying, "whosoever shall offend one of these little ones, it had been better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the midst of the sea." sermon iv. health. my dear friends,--i am going to give you a sort of sermon about your health,--and you know a sermon has always a text; so, though i am only a doctor, i mean to take a text for ours, and i will choose it, as our good friends the ministers do, from that best of all books, the bible. job ii. 4: "all that a man hath will he give for his life." this, you know, was said many thousands of years ago by the devil, when, like a base and impudent fellow, as he always was and is, he came into the presence of the great god, along with the good angels. here, for once in his life, the devil spoke the truth and shamed himself. what he meant, and what i wish you now seriously to consider, is, that a man--you or i--will lose anything sooner than life; we would give everything for it, and part with all the money, everything we had, to keep away death and to lengthen our days. if you had â£500 in a box at home, and knew that you would certainly be dead by to-morrow unless you gave the â£500, would you ever make a doubt about what you would do? not you! and if you were told that if you got drunk, or worked too hard, or took no sort of care of your bodily health, you would turn ill to-morrow and die next week, would you not keep sober, and work more moderately, and be more careful of yourself? now, i want to make you believe that you are too apt to do this very same sort of thing in your daily life, only that instead of to-morrow or next week, your illness and your death comes next year, or at any rate, some years sooner than otherwise. _but your death is actually preparing already, and that by your own hands_, by your own ignorance, and often by your own foolish and sinful neglect and indulgence. a decay or rottenness spreads through the beams of a house, unseen and unfeared, and then, by and by down it comes, and is utterly destroyed. so it is with our bodies. you plant, by sin and neglect and folly, the seeds of disease by your own hands; and as surely as the harvest comes after the seed-time, so will you reap the harvest of pain, and misery, and death. and remember there is nobody to whom health is so valuable, is worth so much, as the poor laboring man; it is his stock-in-trade, his wealth, his capital; his bodily strength and skill are the main things he can make his living by, and therefore he should take better care of his body and its health than a rich man; for a rich man may be laid up in his bed for weeks and months, and yet his business may go on, for he has means to pay his men for working under him, or he may be what is called "living on his money." but if a poor man takes fever, or breaks his leg, or falls into a consumption, his wife and children soon want food and clothes: and many a time do i see on the streets poor, careworn men, dying by inches of consumption, going to and from their work, when, poor fellows, they should be in their beds; and all this just because they cannot afford to be ill and to lie out of work,--they cannot spare the time and the wages. now, don't you think, my dear friends, that it is worth your while to attend to your health? if you were a carter or a coach-driver, and had a horse, would you not take care to give him plenty of corn, and to keep his stable clean and well aired, and to curry his skin well, and you would not kill him with overwork, for, besides the cruelty, this would be a dead loss to you,--it would be so much out of your pocket? and don't you see that god has given you your bodies to work with, and to please him with their diligence; and it is ungrateful to him, as well as unkind and wicked to your family and yourself, to waste your bodily strength, and bring disease and death upon yourselves? but you will say, "how can we make a better of it? we live from hand to mouth; we can't have fine houses and warm clothes, and rich food and plenty of it." no, i know that; but if you have not a fine house, you may always have a clean one, and fresh air costs nothing,--god gives it to all his children without stint,--and good plain clothes and meal may now be had cheaper than ever. health is a word that you all have some notion of, but you will perhaps have a clearer idea of it when i tell you what the word comes from. health was long ago _wholth_, and comes from the word _whole_ or _hale_. the bible says, "they that are whole need not a physician"; that is, healthy people have no need of a doctor. now, a man is whole when, like a bowl or any vessel, he is entire, and has nothing broken about him; he is like a watch that goes well, neither too fast nor too slow. but you will perhaps say, "you doctors should be able to put us all to rights, just as a watchmaker can clean and sort a watch; if you can't, what are you worth?" but the difference between a man and a watch is, that you must try to mend the man when he is going. you can't stop him and then set him agoing; and, you know, it would be no joke to a watchmaker, or to the watch, to try and clean it while it was going. but god, who does everything like himself, with his own perfectness, has put inside each of our bodies a doctor of his own making,--one wiser than we with all our wisdom. every one of us has in himself a power of keeping and setting his health right. if a man is overworked, god has ordained that he desires rest, and that rest cures him. if he lives in a damp, close place, free and dry air cures him. if he eats too much, fasting cures him. if his skin is dirty, a good scrubbing and a bit of yellow soap will put him all to rights. what we call disease or sickness is the opposite of health, and it comes on us,--1st. by descent from our parents. it is one of the surest of all legacies; if a man's father and mother are diseased, naturally or artificially, he will have much chance to be as bad, or worse. 2dly. hard work brings on disease, and some kinds of work more than others. masons who hew often fall into consumption; laborers get rheumatism, or what you call "the pains"; painters get what is called their colic, from the lead in the paint, and so on. in a world like ours, this set of causes of disease and ill health cannot be altogether got the better of; and it was god's command, after adam's sin, that men should toil and sweat for their daily bread; but more than the half of the bad effects of hard work and dangerous employments might be prevented by a little plain knowledge, attention, and common sense. 3dly. sin, wickedness, foolish and excessive pleasures, are a great cause of disease. thousands die from drinking, and from following other evil courses. there is no life so hard, none in which the poor body comes so badly off, and is made so miserable, as the life of a drunkard or a dissolute man. i need hardly tell you, that this cause of death and disease you can all avoid. i don't say it is easy for any man in your circumstances to keep from sin; he is a foolish or ignorant man who says so, and that there are no temptations to drinking. you are much less to blame for doing this than people who are better off; but you can keep from drinking, and you know as well as i do, how much better and happier, and healthier and richer and more respectable you will be if you do so. 4thly and lastly. disease and death are often brought on from ignorance, from not knowing what are called the _laws of health_,--those easy, plain, common things which, if you do, you will live long, and which, if you do not do, you will die soon. now, i would like to make a few simple statements about this to you; and i will take the body bit by bit, and tell you some things that you should know and do in order to keep this wonderful house that your soul lives in, and by the deeds done in which you will one day be judged,--and which is god's gift and god's handiwork,--clean and comfortable, hale, strong, and hearty; for you know that, besides doing good to ourselves and our family and our neighbors with our bodily labor, we are told that we should glorify god in our bodies as well as in our souls, for they are his, more his than ours,--he has bought them by the blood of his son jesus christ. we are not our own, we are bought with a price; therefore ought we to glorify god with our souls and with our bodies, which are his. now, first, for _the skin_. you should take great care of it, for on its health a great deal depends; keep it clean, keep it warm, keep it dry, give it air; have a regular scrubbing of all your body every saturday night; and, if you can manage it, you should every morning wash not only your face, but your throat and breast, with cold water, and rub yourself quite dry with a hard towel till you glow all over. you should keep your hair short if you are men; it saves you a great deal of trouble and dirt. then, the inside of your _head_,--you know what is inside your head,--your brain; you know how useful it is to you. the cleverest pair of hands among you would be of little use without brains: they would be like a body without a soul, a watch with the mainspring broken. now, you should consider what is best for keeping the brain in good trim. one thing of great consequence is _regular sleep, and plenty of it_. every man should have at the least eight hours in his bed every four-and-twenty hours, and let him sleep all the time if he can; but even if he lies awake it is a rest to his wearied brain, as well as to his wearied legs and arms. _sleep is the food of the brain._ men may go mad and get silly, if they go long without sleep. too much sleep is bad; but i need hardly warn you against that, or against too much meat. you are in no great danger from these. then, again, whiskey and all kinds of intoxicating liquors in excess are just so much poison to the brain. i need not say much about this, you all know it; and we all know what dreadful things happen when a man poisons his brain and makes it mad, and like a wild beast with drink; he may murder his wife, or his child, and when he comes to himself he knows nothing of how he did it, only the terrible thing is certain, that he _did_ do it, and that he may be hanged for doing something when he was mad, and which he never dreamt of doing when in his senses: but then he knows that he made himself mad, and he must take all the wretched and tremendous consequences. from the brains we go to the _lungs_,--you know where they are,--they are what the butchers call the _lichts_; here they are, they are the bellows that keep the fire of life going; for you must know that a clever german philosopher has made out that we are all really burning,--that our bodies are warmed by a sort of burning or combustion, as it is called,--and fed by breath and food, as a fire is fed with coals and air. now the great thing for the lungs is plenty of fresh air, and plenty of room to play in. about seventy thousand people die every year in britain from that disease of the lungs called consumption,--that is, nearly half the number of people in the city of edinburgh; and it is certain that more than the half of these deaths could be prevented if the lungs had fair play. so you should always try to get your houses well ventilated, that means to let the air be often changed, and free from impure mixtures; and you should avoid crowding many into one room, and be careful to keep everything clean, and put away all filth; for filth is not only disgusting to the eye and the nose, but is dangerous to the health. i have seen a great deal of cholera, and been surrounded by dying people, who were beyond any help from doctors, and i have always found that where the air was bad, the rooms ill ventilated, cleanliness neglected, and drunkenness prevailed, there this terrible scourge, which god sends upon us, was most terrible, most rapidly and widely destructive. believe this, and go home and consider well what i now say, for you may be sure it is true. now we come to the _heart_. you all know where it is. it is the most wonderful little pump in the world. there is no steam-engine half so clever at its work, or so strong. there it is in every one of us, beat, beating,--all day and all night, year after year, never stopping, like a watch ticking; only it never needs to be wound up,--god winds it up once for all. it depends for its health on the state of the rest of the body, especially the brains and lungs. but all violent passions, all irregularities of living, damage it. exposure to cold when drunk, falling asleep, as many poor wretches do, in stairs all night,--this often brings on disease of the heart; and you know it is not only dangerous to have anything the matter with the heart, it is the commonest of all causes of sudden death. it gives no warning; you drop down dead in a moment. so we may say of the bodily as well as of the moral organ, "keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." we now come to the _stomach_. you all know, i dare say, where it lies! it speaks for itself. our friends in england are very respectful to their stomachs. they make a great deal of them, and we make too little. if an englishman is ill, all the trouble is in his stomach; if an irishman is ill, it is in his heart, and he's "kilt entirely"; and if a scotsman, it is in his "heed." now, i wish i saw scots men and women as nice and particular about their stomachs, or rather about what they put into them, as their friends in england. indeed, so much does your genuine john bull depend on his stomach, and its satisfaction, that we may put in his mouth the stout old lines of prior:- "the plainest man alive may tell ye the seat of empire is the belly: from hence are sent out those supplies, which make us either stout or wise; the strength of every other member is founded on your belly-timber; the qualms or raptures of your blood rise in proportion to your food, your stomach makes your fabric roll, just as the bias rules the bowl: that great achilles might employ the strength designed to ruin troy, he dined on lions' marrow, spread on toasts of ammunition bread; but by his mother sent away, amongst the thracian girls to play, effeminate he sat and quiet; strange product of a cheese-cake diet. observe the various operations, of food and drink in several nations. was ever tartar fierce or cruel, upon the strength of water-gruel? but who shall stand his rage and force, if first he rides, then eats his horse! salads and eggs, and lighter fare, turn the italian spark's guitar; and if i take dan congreve right, pudding and beef make britons fight." good cooking is the beauty of a dinner. it really does a man as much good again if he eats his food with a relish, and with a little attention, it is as easy to cook well as ill. and let me tell the wives, that your husbands would like you all the better, and be less likely to go off to the public-house, if their bit of meat or their drop of broth were well cooked. laboring men should eat well. they should, if possible, have meat--_butcher-meat_--ever day. good broth is a capital dish. but, above all, keep whiskey out of your stomachs; it really plays the very devil when it gets in. it makes the brain mad, it burns the coats of the stomach; it turns the liver into a lump of rottenness; it softens and kills the heart; it makes a man an idiot and a brute. if you really need anything stronger than good meat, take a pot of wholesome porter or ale; but i believe you are better without even that. you will be all the better able to afford good meat, and plenty of it. with regard to your _bowels_,--a very important part of your interior,--i am not going to say much, except that neglect of them brings on many diseases; and laboring men are very apt to neglect them. many years ago, an odd old man, at green-cock, left at his death a number of sealed packets to his friends, and on opening them they found a bible, â£50, and a box of pills, and the words, "fear god, and keep your bowels open." it was good advice, though it might have been rather more decorously worded. if you were a doctor, you would be astonished how many violent diseases of the mind, as well as of the body, are produced by irregularity of the bowels. many years ago, an old minister, near linlithgow, was wakened out of his sleep to go to see a great lady in the neighborhood who was thought dying, and whose mind was in dreadful despair, and who wished to see him immediately. the old man, rubbing his eyes, and pushing up his kilmarnock nightcap, said, "and when were her leddyship's booels opened?" and finding, after some inquiry, that they were greatly in arrears, "i thocht sae. rax me ower that pill-box on the chimney-piece, and gie my compliments to leddy margret, and tell her to tak thae twa pills, and i'll be ower by and by mysel'." they did as he bade them. they did their duty, and the pills did theirs, and her leddyship was relieved, and she was able at breakfast-time to profit by the christian advice of the good old man, which she could not have done when her nerves were all wrong. the old greeks, who were always seeking after wisdom, and didn't always find it, showed their knowledge and sense in calling depression of mind melancholy, which means black bile. leddy margret's liver, i have no doubt, had been distilling this perilous stuff. my dear friends, there is one thing i have forgot to mention, and that is about keeping common-stairs clean; you know they are often abominably filthy, and they aggravate fever, and many of your worst and most deadly diseases; for you may keep your own houses never so clean and tidy, but if the common-stair is not kept clean too, all its foul air comes into your rooms, and into your lungs, and poisons you. so let all in the stair resolve to keep it clean, and well aired. but i must stop now. i fear i have wearied you. you see i had nothing new to tell you. the great thing in regulating and benefiting human life, is not to find out new things, but to make the best of the old things,--to live according to nature, and the will of nature's god,--that great being who bids us call him our father, and who is at this very moment regarding each one of us with far more than any earthly father's compassion and kindness, and who would make us all happy if we would but do his bidding, and take his road. he has given us minds by which we may observe the laws he has ordained in our bodies, and which are as regular and as certain in their effects, and as discoverable by us as the motions of the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens; and we shall not only benefit ourselves and live longer and work better and be happier, by knowing and obeying these laws, from love to ourselves, but we shall please him, we shall glorify him, and make him our _friend_,--only think of that! and get his blessing, by taking care of our health, from love to him, and a regard to his will, in giving us these bodies of ours to serve him with, and which he has, with his own almighty hands, so fearfully and wonderfully made. i hope you will pardon my plainness in speaking to you. i am quite in earnest, and i have a deep regard, i may say a real affection, for you; for i know you well. i spent many of my early years as a doctor in going about among you. i have attended you long ago when ill; i have delivered your wives, and been in your houses when death was busy with you and yours, and i have seen your fortitude, energy, and honest, hearty, generous kindness to each other; your readiness to help your neighbors with anything you have, and to share your last sixpence and your last loaf with them. i wish i saw half as much real neighborliness and sympathy among what are called your betters. if a poor man falls down in a fit on the street, who is it that takes him up and carries him home, and gives him what he needs? it is not the man with a fine coat and gloves on,--it is the poor, dirty-coated, hard-handed, warm-hearted laboring man. keep a good hold of all these homely and sturdy virtues, and add to them temperance and diligence, cleanliness and thrift, good knowledge, and, above all, the love and the fear of god, and you will not only be happy yourselves, but you will make this great and wonderful country of ours which rests upon you still more wonderful and great. sermon v. medical odds and ends. my dear friends,--we are going to ring in now, and end our course. i will be sorry and glad, and you will be the same. we are this about everything. it is the proportion that settles it. i am, upon the whole, as we say, sorry, and i dare say on the whole you are not glad. i dislike parting with anything or anybody i like, for it is ten to one if we meet again. my text is, "_that his way may he known upon earth; his saving health to all nations._" you will find it in that perfect little psalm, the 67th. but before taking it up, i will, as my dear father used to say,--you all remember him, his keen eye and voice; his white hair, and his grave, earnest, penetrating look; and you should remember and possess his canongate sermon to you,--"the bible, what it is, what it does, and what it deserves,"--well, he used to say, let us _recapitulate_ a little. it is a long and rather kittle word, but it is the only one that we have. he made it longer, but not less alive, by turning it into "a few recapitulatory remarks." what ground then have we travelled over? _first_, our duties to and about the doctor; to call him in time, to trust him, to obey him, to be grateful to, and to pay him with our money and our hearts and our good word, if we have all these; if we have not the first, with twice as much of the others. _second_, the doctor's duties to us. he should be able and willing to cure us. that is what he is there for. he should be sincere, attentive, and tender to us, keeping his time and our secrets. we must tell him all we know about our ailments and their causes, and he must tell us all that is good for us to know, and no more. _third_, your duties to your children; to the wee willie winkies and the little wifies that come toddlin' hame. it is your duty to _mind_ them. it is a capital scotch use of this word: they are to be in your mind; you are to exercise your understanding about them; to give them simple food; to keep goodies and trash, and raw pears and whiskey, away from their tender mouths and stomachs; to give them that never-ending meal of good air, night and day, which is truly food and fire to them and you; to _be_ good before as well as to them, to speak and require the truth in love,--that is a wonderful expression, isn't it?--the truth in love; that, if acted on by us all, would bring the millennium next week; to be plain and homely with them, never _spaining_ their minds from you. you are all sorry, you mothers, when you have to spain their mouths; it is a dreadful business that to both parties; but there is a spaining of the affections still more dreadful, and that need never be, no, never, neither in this world nor in that which is to come. dr. waugh, of london, used to say to bereaved mothers, rachels weeping for their children, and refusing to be comforted, for that simplest of all reasons, because they were not, after giving them god's words of comfort, clapping them on the shoulders, and fixing his mild deep eyes on them (those who remember those eyes well know what they could mean), "my woman, your bairn is where it will have two fathers, but never but one mother." you should also, when the time comes, explain to your children what about their own health and the ways of the world they ought to know, and for the want of the timely knowledge of which many a life and character has been lost. show them, moreover, the value you put upon health, by caring for your own. do your best to get your sons well married, and soon. by "well married," i mean that they should pair off old-fashionedly, for love, and marry what deserves to be loved, as well as what is lovely. i confess i think falling in love is the best way to begin; but then the moment you fall, you should get up and look about you, and see how the land lies, and whether it is as goodly as it looks. i don't like walking into love, or being carried into love; or, above all, being sold or selling yourself into it, which, after all, is not it. and by "soon," i mean as soon as they are keeping themselves; for a wife, such a wife as alone i mean, is cheaper to a young man than no wife, and is his best companion. then for your duties to yourselves. see that you make yourself do what is _immediately_ just to your body, feed it when it is really hungry; let it sleep when it, not its master, desires sleep; make it happy, poor hard-working fellow! and give it a gambol when it wants it and deserves it, and as long as it can execute it. dancing is just the music of the feet, and the gladness of the young legs, and is well called the poetry of motion. it is like all other natural pleasures, given to be used, and to be not abused, either by yourself or by those who don't like it, and don't enjoy your doing it,--shabby dogs these, beware of them! and if this be done, it is a good and a grace, as well as pleasure, and satisfies some good end of our being, and in its own way glorifies our maker. did you ever see anything in this world more beautiful than the lambs running races and dancing round the big stone of the field; and does not your heart get young when you hear,- "here we go by jingo ring, jingo ring, jingo ring; here we go by jingo ring, about the merry ma tanzie." this is just a dance in honor of poor old pagan jingo; measured movements arising from and giving happiness. we have no right to keep ourselves or others from natural pleasures; and we are all too apt to interfere with and judge harshly the pleasures of others; hence we who are stiff and given to other pleasures, and who, now that we are old, know the many wickednesses of the world, are too apt to put the vices of the jaded, empty old heart, like a dark and ghastly fire burnt out, into the feet and the eyes, and the heart and the head of the young. i remember a story of a good old antiburgher minister. it was in the days when dancing was held to be a great sin, and to be dealt with by the session. jessie, a comely, and good, and blithe young woman, a great favorite of the minister's, had been guilty of dancing at a friend's wedding. she was summoned before the session to be "dealt with,"--the grim old fellows sternly concentrating their eyes upon her, as she stood trembling in her striped short-gown, and her pretty bare feet. the doctor, who was one of divinity, and a deep thinker, greatly pitying her and himself, said, "jessie, my woman, were ye dancin'?" "yes," sobbed jessie. "ye maun e'en promise never to dance again, jessie." "i wull, sir; i wull promise," with a courtesy. "now, what were ye thinking o', jessie, when ye were dancin'? tell us truly," said an old elder, who had been a poacher in youth. "nae ill, sir," sobbed out the dear little woman. "then, jessie, my woman, aye dance," cried the delighted doctor. and so say i, to the extent, that so long as our young girls think "nae ill," they may dance their own and their feet's fills; and so on with all the round of the sunshine and flowers god has thrown on and along the path of his children. _lastly_, your duty to your own bodies: to preserve them; to make, or rather let--for they are made so to go--their wheels go sweetly; to keep the _girs_ firm round the old barrel; neither to over nor under work our bodies, and to listen to their teaching and their requests, their cries of pain and sorrow; and to keep them as well as your souls unspotted from the world. if you want to know a good book on physiology, or the laws of health and of life, get dr. combe's _physiology_; and let all you mothers get his delightful _management of infancy_. you will love him for his motherly words. you will almost think he might have worn petticoats,--for tenderness he might; but in mind and will and eye he was every inch a man. it is now long since he wrote, but i have seen nothing so good since; he is so intelligent, so reverent, so full of the solemnity, the sacredness, the beauty, and joy of life, and its work; so full of sympathy for suffering, himself not ignorant of such evil,--for the latter half of his life was a daily, hourly struggle with death, fighting the destroyer from within with the weapons of life, his brain and his conscience. it is very little physiology that you require, so that it is physiology, and is suitable for your need. i can't say i like our common people, or indeed, what we call our ladies and gentlemen, poking curiously into all the ins and outs of our bodies as a general accomplishment, and something to talk of. no, i don't like it. i would rather they chose some other _ology_. but let them get enough to give them awe and love, light and help, guidance and foresight. these, with good sense and good senses, humility, and a thought of a hereafter in this world as well as in the next, will make us as able to doctor ourselves--especially to act in the _preventive service_, which is your main region of power for good--as in this mortal world we have any reason to expect. and let us keep our hearts young, and they will keep our legs and our arms the same. for we know now that hearts are kept going by having strong, pure, lively blood; if bad blood goes into the heart, it gets angry, and shows this by beating at our breasts, and frightening us; and sometimes it dies of sheer anger and disgust, if its blood is poor or poisoned, thin and white. "he may dee, but he'll never grow auld," said a canty old wife of her old minister, whose cheek was ruddy like an apple. _run for the doctor_; don't saunter to him, or go in, by the by, as an old elder of my father's did, when his house was on fire. he was a perfect nathanael, and lived more in the next world than in this, as you will soon see. one winter night he slipped gently into his neighbor's cottage, and found james somerville reading aloud by the blaze of the licht coal; he leant over the chair, and waited till james closed the book, when he said, "by the by, i am thinkin' ma hoose is on fire!" and out he and they all ran, in time to see the auld biggin' fall in with a glorious blaze. so it is too often when that earthly house of ours--our cottage, our tabernacle--is getting on fire. one moment your finger would put out what in an hour all the waters of clyde would be too late for. if the doctor is needed, the sooner the better. if he is not, he can tell you so, and you can rejoice that he had a needless journey, and pay him all the more thankfully. so run early and at once. how many deaths--how many lives of suffering and incapacity--may be spared by being in time! by being a day or two sooner. with children this is especially the case, and with workingmen in the full prime of life. a mustard plaster, a leech, a pill, fifteen drops of ipecacuanha wine, a bran poultice, a hint, or a stitch in time, may do all and at once, when a red-hot iron, a basinful of blood, all the wisdom of our art, and all the energy of the doctor, all your tenderness and care, are in vain. many a child's life is saved by an emetic at night, who would be lost in twelve hours. so send in time; it is just to your child or the patient, and to yourself; it is just to your doctor; for i assure you we doctors are often sorry, and angry enough, when we find we are too late. it affronts us, and our powers, besides affronting life and all its meanings, and him who gives it. and we really _enjoy_ curing; it is like running and winning a race,--like hunting and finding and killing our game. and then remember to go to the doctor early in the day, as well as in the disease. i always like my patients to send and say that they would like the doctor "to call before he goes out!" this is like an irish message, you will say; but there is "sinse" in it. fancy a doctor being sent for, just as he is in bed, to see some one, and on going he finds they had been thinking of sending in the morning, and that he has to run neck and neck with death, with the odds all against him. i now wind up with some other odds and ends. i give you them as an old wife would empty her pockets,--such wallets they used to be!--in no regular order; here a bit of string, now a bit of gingerbread, now an "aiple," now a bunch of keys, now an old almanac, now three _bawbees_ and a bad shilling, a "wheen" buttons all marrowless, a thimble, a bit of black sugar, and maybe at the very bottom a "goold guinea." _shoes._--it is amazing the misery the people of civilization endure in and from their shoes. nobody is ever, as they should be, comfortable at once in them; they hope in the long-run and after much agony, and when they are nearly done, to make them fit, especially if they can get them once well wet, so that the mighty knob of the big toe may adjust himself and be at ease. for my part, if i were rich, i would advertise for a clean, wholesome man, whose foot was exactly my size, and i would make him wear my shoes till i could put them on, and not know i was in them.[1] why is all this? why do you see every man's and woman's feet so out of shape? why are there corns, with their miseries and maledictions? why the virulence and unreachableness of those that are "soft"? why do our nails grow in, and sometimes have to be torn violently off? [1] frederick the great kept an aid-de-camp for this purpose, and, poor fellow! he sometimes wore them too long, and got a kicking for his pains. all because the makers and users of shoes have not common sense, and common reverence for god and his works enough to study the shape and motions of that wonderful pivot on which we turn and progress. because fashion,--that demon that i wish i saw dressed in her own crinoline, in bad shoes, a man's old hat, and trailing petticoats, and with her (for she must be a _her_) waist well nipped by a circlet of nails with the points inmost, and any other of the small torments, mischiefs, and absurdities she destroys and makes fools of us with,--whom, i say, i wish i saw drummed and hissed, blazing and shrieking, out of the world,--because this contemptible slave, which domineers over her makers, says the shoe must be elegant, must be so and so, and the beautiful living foot must be crushed into it, and human nature must limp along princess street and through life natty and wretched. it makes me angry when i think of all this. now, do you want to know how to put your feet into new shoes, and yourself into a new world? go and buy from edmonston and douglas sixpence worth of sense, in _why the shoe pinches_; you will, if you get your shoemaker to do as it bids him, go on your ways rejoicing; no more knobby, half-dislocated big toes; no more secret parings, and slashings desperate, in order to get on that pair of exquisite boots or shoes. then there is the _infirmary_.--nothing i like better than to see subscriptions to this admirable house of help and comfort to the poor, advertised as from the quarry men of craigleith; from mr. milne the brassfounder's men; from peeblesshire; from the utmost orkneys; and from those big, human mastiffs, the navvies. and yet we doctors are often met by the most absurd and obstinate objections by domestic servants in town, and by country people, to going there. this prejudice is lessening, but it is still great. "o, i canna gang into the infirmary; i would rather dee!" would you, indeed? not you, or, if so, the sooner the better. they have a notion that they are experimented on, and slain by the surgeons; neglected and poisoned by the nurses, etc., etc. such utter nonsense! i know well about the inner life and work of at least our infirmary, and of that noble old minto house, now gone; and i would rather infinitely, were i a servant, 'prentice boy, or shopman, a porter, or student, and anywhere but in a house of my own, and even then, go straight to the infirmary, than lie in a box-bed off the kitchen, or on the top of the coal-bunker, or in a dark hole in the lobby, or in a double-bedded room. the food, the bedding, the physicians, the surgeons, the clerks, the dressers, the medicines, the wine and porter,--and they don't scrimp these when necessary,--the books, the bibles, the baths, are all good,--are all better far than one man in ten thousand can command in his own house. so off with a grateful heart and a fearless to the infirmary, and your mistress can come in and sit beside you; and her doctor and yours will look in and single you out with his smile and word, and cheer you and the ward by a kindly joke, and you will come out well cured, and having seen much to do you good for life. i never knew any one who was once in, afraid of going back; they know better. there are few things in human nature finer than the devotion and courage of medical men to their hospital and charitable duties; it is to them a great moral discipline. not that they don't get good--selfish good--to themselves. why shouldn't they? nobody does good without getting it; it is a law of the government of god. but, as a rule, our medical men are not kind and skilful and attentive to their hospital patients, because this is to make them famous, or even because through this they are to get knowledge and fame; they get all this, and it is their only and their great reward. but they are in the main disinterested men. honesty is the best policy; but, as dr. whately, in his keen way, says, "that man is not honest who is so for this reason," and so with the doctors and their patients. and i am glad to say for my profession, few of them take this second-hand line of duty. _beards._--i am for beards out and out, because i think the maker of the beard was and is. this is reason enough; but there are many others. the misery of shaving, its expense, its consumption of time,--a very corporation existing for no other purpose but to shave mankind. campbell the poet, who had always a bad razor, i suppose, and was late of rising, said he believed the man of civilization who lived to be sixty had suffered more pain in littles every day in shaving than a woman with a large family had from her lyings-in. this would be hard to prove; but it is a process that never gets pleasanter by practice; and then the waste of time and temper,--the ugliness of being ill or unshaven. now, we can easily see advantages in it; the masculine gender is intended to be more out of doors, and more in all weathers than the smooth-chinned ones, and this protects him and his adam's apple from harm. it acts as the best of all respirators to the mason and the east-wind. besides, it is a glory; and it must be delightful to have and to stroke a natural beard, not one like bean-stalks or a bottle-brush, but such a beard as abraham's or abd-el-kader's. it is the beginning ever to cut, that makes all the difference. i hazard a theory, that no hair of the head or beard should ever be cut, or needs it, any more than the eyebrows or eyelashes. the finest head of hair i know is one which was never cut. it is not too long; it is soft and thick. the secret where to stop growing is in the end of the native untouched hair. if you cut it off, the poor hair does not know when to stop; and if our eyebrows were so cut, they might be made to hang over our eyes, and be wrought into a veil. besides, think of the waste of substance of the body in hewing away so much hair every morning, and encouraging an endless rotation of crops! well, then, i go in for the beards of the next generation, the unshorn beings whose beards will be wagging when we are away; but of course they must be clean. but how are we to sup our porridge and kail? try it when young, when there is just a shadowy down on the upper lip, and no fears but they will do all this "elegantly" even. nature is slow and gentle in her teaching even the accomplishment of the spoon. and as for women's hair, don't plaster it with scented and sour grease, or with any grease; it has an oil of its own. and don't tie up your hair tight, and make it like a cap of iron over your skull. and why are your ears covered? you hear all the worse, and they are not the cleaner. besides, the ear is beautiful in itself, and plays its own part in the concert of the features. go back to the curls, some of you, and try in everything to dress as it becomes you, and as you become; not as that fine lady, or even your own tibbie or grizzy chooses to dress, it may be becomingly to her. why shouldn't we even in dress be more ourselves than somebody or everybody else? i had a word about _teeth_. don't get young children's teeth drawn. at least, let this be the rule. bad teeth come of bad health and bad and hot food, and much sugar. i can't say i am a great advocate for the common people going in for tooth-brushes. no, they are not necessary in full health. the healthy man's teeth clean themselves, and so does his skin. a good dose of gregory often puts away the toothache. it is a great thing, however, to get them early stuffed, if they need it; that really keeps them and your temper whole. for appearance' sake merely, i hate false teeth, as i hate a wig. but this is not a matter to dogmatize about. i never was, i think, deceived by either false hair, or false teeth, or false eyes, or false cheeks, for there are in the high--i don't call it the great--world, plumpers for making the cheeks round, as well as a certain dust for making them bloom. but you and i don't enjoy such advantages. _rheumatism_ is peculiarly a disease of the workingman. one old physician said its only cure was patience and flannel. another said six weeks. but i think good flannel and no drunkenness (observe, i don't say no drinking, though very nearly so) are its best preventives. it is a curious thing, the way in which cold gives rheumatism. suppose a man is heated and gets cooled, and being very well at any rate, and is sitting or sleeping in a draught; the exposed part is chilled; the pores of its skin, which are always exuding and exhaling waste from the body, contract and shut in this bad stuff; it--this is my theory--not getting out is taken up by a blunder of the deluded absorbents, who are always prowling about for something, and it is returned back to the centre, and finds its way into the blood, and poisons it, affecting the heart, and carrying bad money, bad change, bad fat, bad capital all over the body, making nerves, lungs, everything unhappy and angry. this vitiated blood arrives by and by at the origin of its mischief, the chilled shoulder, and here it wreaks its vengeance, and in doing so, does some general good at local expense. it gives pain; it produces a certain inflammation of its own, and if it is not got rid of by the skin and other ways, it may possibly kill by the rage the body gets in, and the heat; or it may inflame the ill-used heart itself, and then either kill, or give the patient a life of suffering and peril. the medicines we give act not only by detecting this poison of blood, which, like yeast, leavens all in its neighborhood, but by sending it out of the body like a culprit. _vaccination._--one word for this. never neglect it; get it done within two months after birth, and see that it is well done; and get all your neighbors to do it. _infectious diseases._--keep out of their way; kill them by fresh air and cleanliness; defy them by cheerfulness, good food (_better_ food than usual, in such epidemics as cholera), good sleep, and a good conscience. when in the midst of and waiting on those who are under the scourge of an epidemic, be as little very close to the patient as you can, and don't inhale his or her breath or exhalations when you can help it; be rather in the current to, than from him. be very cleanly in putting away all excretions at once, and quite away; go frequently into the fresh air; and don't sleep in your day clothes. do what the doctor bids you; don't crowd round your dying friend; you are stealing his life in taking his air, and you are quietly killing yourself. this is one of the worst and most unmanageable of our scottish habits, and many a time have i cleared the room of all but one, and dared them to enter it. then you should, in such things as small-pox, as indeed in everything, carry out the divine injunction, "_whatsoever_ ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them." don't send for the minister to pray with and over the body of a patient in fever or delirium, or a child dying of small-pox or malignant scarlet fever; tell him, by all means, and let him pray with you, and for your child. prayers, you know, are like gravitation, or the light of heaven; they will go from whatever place they are uttered; and if they are real prayers, they go straight and home to the centre, the focus of all things; and you know that poor fellow with the crust of typhus on his lips, and its nonsense on his tongue,--that child tossing in misery, not knowing even its own mother,--what can they know, what heed can they give to the prayer of the minister? he may do all the good he can,--the most good maybe when, like moses on the hillside, in the battle with amalek, he uplifts his hands apart. no! a word spoken by your minister to himself and his god, a single sigh for mercy to him who is mercy, a cry of hope, of despair of self, opening into trust in him, may save that child's life, when an angel might pour forth in vain his burning, imploring words into the dull or wild ears of the sufferer, in the vain hope of getting _him_ to pray. i never would allow my father to go to typhus cases; and i don't think they lost anything by it. i have seen him rising in the dark of his room from his knees, and i knew whose case he had been laying at the footstool. and now, my dear friends, i find i have exhausted our time, and never yet got to the sermon, and its text--"_that the way of god_"--what is it? it is his design in setting you here; it is the road he wishes you to walk in; it is his providence in your minutest as in the world's mightiest things; it is his will expressed in his works and word, and in your own soul it is his salvation. that it "_may be known_," that the understandings of his intelligent, responsible, mortal and immortal creatures should be directed to it, to study and (as far as we ever can or need) to understand that which, in its fulness, passes all understanding; that it may be known "_on the earth_," here, in this very room, this very minute; not, as too many preachers and performers do, to be known only in the next world,--men who, looking at the stars, stumble at their own door, and it may be _smoor_ their own child, besides despising, upsetting, and extinguishing their own lantern. no! the next world is only to be reached through this; and our road through this our wilderness is not safe unless on the far beyond there is shining the lighthouse on the other side of the dark river that has no bridge. then "_his saving health_"; his health--whose?--god's--his soundness, the wholeness, the perfectness, that is alone in and from him,--health of body, of heart, and brain, health to the finger-ends, health for eternity as well as time. "_saving_"; we need to be saved, and we are salvable, this is much; and god's health can save us, that is more. when a man or woman is fainting from loss of blood, we sometimes try to save them, when all but gone, by transfusing the warm rich blood of another into their veins. now this is what god, through his son, desires to do; to transfuse his blood, himself, through his son, who is himself, into us, diseased and weak. "_and_" refers to his health being "_known_," recognized, accepted, used, "_among all nations_"; not among the u.p.s, or the frees, or the residuaries, or the baptists, or the new jerusalem people,--nor among us in the canongate, or in biggar, or even in old scotland, but "among all nations"; then, and only then, will the people praise thee, o god; will all the people praise thee. then, and then only, will the earth yield her increase, and god, even our own god, will bless us. god will bless us, and all the ends of the earth shall fear him. and now, my dear and patient friends, we must say good night. you have been very attentive, and it has been a great pleasure to me as we went on to preach to you. we came to understand one another. you saw through my jokes, and that they were not always nothing but jokes. you bore with my solemnities, because i am not altogether solemn; and so good night, and god bless you, and may you, as don quixote, on his death-bed, says to sancho, may you have your eyes closed by the soft fingers of your great-grandchildren. but no, i must shake hands with you, and kiss the bairns,--why shouldn't i? if their mouths are clean and their breath sweet? as for you, _ailie_, you are wearying for the child; and he is tumbling and fretting in his cradle, and wearying for you; good by, and away you go on your milky way. i wish i could (unseen) see you two enjoying each other. and good night, my bonnie _wee wifie_; you are sleepy, and you must be up to make your father's porridge; and _master william winkie_, will you be still for one moment while i address you? well, master william, _wamble_ not off your mother's lap, neither rattle in your excruciating way in an airn jug wi' an airn spoon; no more crowing like a cock, or skirlin' like a kenna-what. i had much more to say to you, sir, but you will not bide still; off with you, and a blessing with you. good night, _hugh cleland_, the best smith of any smiddy; with your bowly back, your huge arms, your big heavy brows and eyebrows, your clear eye, and warm unforgetting heart. and you, _john noble_, let me grip your horny hand, and count the queer knobs made by the perpetual mell. i used, when i was a willie winkie, and wee, to think that you were born with them. never mind, you were born for them, and of old you handled the trowel well, and built to the plumb. _thomas bertram_, your loom is at a discount, but many's the happy day i have watched you and your shuttle, and the interweaving treadles, and all the mysteries of setting the "wab." you are looking well, and though not the least of an ass, you might play bottom must substantially yet. _andrew wilson_, across the waste of forty years and more i snuff the fragrance of your shop; have you forgiven me yet for stealing your paint-pot (awful joy!) for ten minutes to adorn my rabbit-house, and for blunting your pet _furmer_? wise you were always, and in the saw-pit you spoke little, and wore your crape. yourself wears well, but take heed of swallowing your shavings unawares, as is the trick of you "wrights"; they confound the interior and perplex the doctor. _rob rough_, you smell of rosin, and your look is stern, nevertheless, or all the rather, give me your hand. what a grip! you have been the most sceptical of all my hearers; you like to try everything, and you hold fast only what you consider good; and then on your _crepida_ or stool, you have your own think about everything human and divine, as you smite down errors on the lapstane, and "yerk" your arguments with a well-rosined lingle; throw your window open for yourself as well as for your blackbird; and make your shoes not to pinch. i present you, sir, with a copy of the book of the wise switzer. and nimble _pillans_, the clothier of the race, and quick as your needle, strong as your corduroys, i bid you good night. may you and the cooper be like him of fogo, each a better man than his father; and you, _mungo_ the mole-catcher, and _tod laurie_, and _sir robert_ the cadger, and all the other odd people, i shake your fists twice, for i like your line. i often wish i had been a mole-catcher, with a brown velveteen, or (fine touch of tailoric fancy!) a moleskin coat; not that i dislike moles,--i once ate the fore-quarter of one, having stewed it in a florence flask, some forty years ago, and liked it,--but i like the killing of them, and the country by-ways, and the regularly irregular life, and the importance of my trade. and good night to you all, you women-folks. _marion graham_ the milkwoman; _tibbie meek_ the single servant; _jenny muir_ the sempstress; _mother johnston_ the howdie, thou consequential mrs. gamp, presiding at the gates of life; and you in the corner there, _nancy cairns_, gray-haired, meek and old, with your crimped mutch as white as snow; the shepherd's widow, the now childless mother, you are stepping home to your _bein_ and lonely room, where your cat is now ravelling a' her thrums, wondering where "she" is. good night to you all, big and little, young and old; and go home to your bedside, there is some one waiting there for you, and his son is here ready to take you to him. yes, he is waiting for every one of you, and you have only to say, "father, i have sinned,--take me"--and he sees you a great way off. but to reverse the parable; it is the first-born, your elder brother, who is at your side, and leads you to your father, and says, "i have paid his debt"; that son who is ever with him, whose is all that he hath. i need not say more. you know what i mean. you know who is waiting, and you know who it is who stands beside you, having the likeness of the son of man. good night! the night cometh in which neither you nor i can work,--may we work while it is day; whatsoever thy _hand_ findeth to do, do it with thy might, for there is no work or device in the grave, whither we are all of us hastening; and when the night is spent, may we all enter on a healthful, a happy, an everlasting to-morrow! cambridge: printed by welch, bigelow, & co. vest-pocket series of standard and popular authors. the great popularity of the "little classics" has proved anew the truth of dr. johnson's remark: "books that you may carry to the fire, and hold readily in your hand, are the most useful after all." the attractive character of their contents has been very strongly commended to public favor by the convenient size of the volumes. these were not too large to be carried to the fire or held readily in the hand, and consequently they have been in great request wherever they have become known. _the vest-pocket series_ consists of volumes yet smaller than the "little classics." their lilliputian size, legible type, and flexible cloth binding make them peculiarly convenient for carrying on short journeys; and the excellence of their contents makes them desirable always and everywhere. the series includes stories, essays, sketches, and poems selected from the writings of _emerson_, _longfellow_, _whittier_, _hawthorne_, _carlyle_, _aldrich_, _hood_, _gray_, _aytoun_, _tennyson_, _lowell_, _holmes_, _browning_, _macaulay_, _milton_, _campbell_, _owen meredith_, _pope_, _thomson_, and others of equal fame. the volumes are beautifully printed, many of them illustrated, and bound in flexible cloth covers, at a uniform price of =fifty cents each.= james r. osgood & co., publishers, boston. works of dr. john brown. "_of all the john browns, commend us to dr. john brown, the physician, the man of genius, the humorist, the student of men, women, and dogs. by means of two beautiful volumes he has given the public a share of his by-hours; and more pleasant hours it would be difficult to find in any life._"--london times. spare hours. first series, i vol. 16mo. cloth, $2.00; half calf, $3.75. _contents._--rab and his friends.--"with brains, sir."--the mystery of black and tan.--her last half-crown.--our dogs.--queen mary's child-garden.--presence of mind and happy guessing.--my father's memoir.--mystifications.--"oh, i'm wat, wat!"--arthur h. hallam.--education through the senses.--vaughan's poems.--dr. chalmers.--dr. george wilson.--st. paul's thorn in the flesh.--the black dwarf's bones.--notes on art. "dr. john brown is a medical practitioner in edinburgh, whose leisure mements have been devoted to the cultivation of letters, and who, without the slightest degree of formality or reserve, pours out his feelings on paper, showing himself equally at home in the sphere of genial criticism, pathetic sentiment, and gay and sportive humor. his confessions have the frankness of montaigne, and almost the playful _naã¯vetã©_ of charles lamb, combined with a vein of tender earnestness that stamps the individuality of the writer. the tone of his remarks is uniformly healthful, showing a genuine love of nature, and a cordial sympathy with all conditions of humanity."--_new york tribune._ =spare hours.= second series, i vol. 16mo. with steel portrait and illustrations. cloth, $2.00; half calf, $3.75. _contents._--john leech.--marjorie fleming.--jeems the door-keeper.--minchmoor.--the enterkin.--health: five lay sermons to working-people.--the duke of athole.--struan.--thackeray's death.--thackeray's literary career.--more of "our dogs."--plea for a dog home.--"bibliomania."--"in clear dream and solemn vision."--a jacobite family. "an excellent portrait of the author, showing a broad brow, and a face replete with sense, shrewdness, humor, and resolute force, adds to the attractiveness of one of the most attractive volumes of essays published for a long period."--_boston transcript._ =rab and his friends.= paper, 25 cents. "dr. brown's masterpiece is the story of a dog called 'rab.' the tale moves from the most tragic pathos to the most reckless humor, and could not have been written but by a man of genius. whether it moves to laughter or to tears, it is perfect in its way, and immortalizes its author."--_london times._ "a veritable gem. it is true, simple, pathetic, and touched with an antique grace."--_fraser's magazine._ =marjorie fleming ("pet marjorie").= paper, 25 cents. "a story of one of the most exquisite children, miraculously brilliant, thoughtful, and fascinating."--_detroit post._ "a quaint, winning, sympathetic, beautiful sketch of child-life."--_springfield republican._ james r. osgood & co., publishers, boston. [illustration: very truly yours w d wattles] the science of being well by wallace d. wattles author of "the science of getting rich," etc. price, $1.00 published by elizabeth towne holyoke, mass. 1910 copyright, september, 1910 by wallace d. wattles contents page preface 5 i. the principle of health 9 ii. the foundation of faith 17 iii. life and its organisms 27 iv. what to think 35 v. faith 46 vi. use of the will 56 vii. health from god 65 viii. summary of the mental actions 74 ix. when to eat 80 x. what to eat 89 xi. how to eat 99 xii. hunger and appetites 108 xiii. in a nutshell 116 xiv. breathing 125 xv. sleep 133 xvi. supplementary instructions 139 xvii. a summary of the science of being well 151 preface. this volume is the second of a series, the first of which is "the science of getting rich." as that book is intended solely for those who want money, so this is for those who want health, and who want a practical guide and handbook, not a philosophical treatise. it is an instructor in the use of the universal principle of life, and my effort has been to explain the way in so plain and simple a fashion that the reader, though he may have given no previous study to new thought or metaphysics, may readily follow it to perfect health. while retaining all essentials, i have carefully eliminated all non-essentials; i have used no technical, abstruse, or difficult language, and have kept the one point in view at all times. as its title asserts, the book deals with science, not speculation. the monistic theory of the universe--the theory that matter, mind, consciousness, and life are all manifestations of one substance--is now accepted by most thinkers; and if you accept this theory, you cannot deny the logical conclusions you will find herein. best of all, the methods of thought and action prescribed have been tested by the author in his own case, and in the case of hundreds of others during twelve years of practice, with continuous and unfailing success. i can say of the science of being well that it works; and that wherever its laws are complied with, it can no more fail to work than the science of geometry can fail to work. if the tissues of your body have not been so destroyed that continued life is impossible, you can get well; and if you will think and act in a certain way, you will get well. if the reader wishes to fully understand the monistic theory of the cosmos, he is recommended to read hegel and emerson; to read also "the eternal news," a pamphlet by j. j. brown, 300 cathcart road, govanhill, glasgow, scotland. some enlightenment may also be found in a series of articles by the author, which were published in _the nautilus_, holyoke, mass., during the year 1909, under the title, "what is truth?" those who wish more detailed information as to the performance of the voluntary functions--eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping--may read "new science of living and healing," "letters to a woman's husband," and "the constructive use of foods," booklets by w. d. wattles, which may be obtained from the publishers of this book. i would also recommend the writings of horace fletcher, and of edward hooker dewey. read all these, if you like, as a sort of buttress to your faith; but let me warn you against making the mistake of studying many conflicting theories, and practicing, at the same time, parts of several different "systems"; for if you get well, it must be by giving your whole mind to the _right_ way of thinking and living. remember that the science of being well claims to be a complete and sufficient guide in every particular. concentrate upon the way of thinking and acting it prescribes, and follow it in every detail, and you will get well; or if you are already well, you will remain so. trusting that you will go on until the priceless blessing of perfect health is yours, i remain, very truly yours, wallace d. wattles. chapter i. the principle of health. in the personal application of the science of being well, as in that of the science of getting rich, certain fundamental truths must be known in the beginning, and accepted without question. some of these truths we state here:-the perfectly natural performance of function constitutes health; and the perfectly natural performance of function results from the natural action of the principle of life. there is a principle of life in the universe; it is the one living substance from which all things are made. this living substance permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe; it is in and through all things, like a very refined and diffusible ether. all life comes from it; its life is all the life there is. man is a form of this living substance, and has within him a principle of health. (the word principle is used as meaning source.) the principle of health in man, when in full constructive activity, causes all the voluntary functions of his life to be perfectly performed. it is the principle of health in man which really works all healing, no matter what "system" or "remedy" is employed; and this principle of health is brought into constructive activity by thinking in a certain way. i proceed now to prove this last statement. we all know that cures are wrought by all the different, and often opposite, methods employed in the various branches of the healing art. the allopath, who gives a strong dose of a counter-poison, cures his patient; and the homeopath, who gives a diminutive dose of the poison most similar to that of the disease, also cures it. if allopathy ever cured any given disease, it is certain that homeopathy never cured that disease; and if homeopathy ever cured an ailment, allopathy could not possibly cure that ailment. the two systems are radically opposite in theory and practice; and yet both "cure" most diseases. and even the remedies used by physicians in any one school are not the same. go with a case of indigestion to half a dozen doctors, and compare their prescriptions; it is more than likely that none of the ingredients of any one of them will be in the others. must we not conclude that their patients are healed by a principle of health within themselves, and not by something in the varying "remedies"? not only this, but we find the same ailments cured by the osteopath with manipulations of the spine; by the faith healer with prayer, by the food scientist with bills of fare, by the christian scientist with a formulated creed statement, by the mental scientist with affirmation, and by the hygienists with differing plans of living. what conclusion can we come to in the face of all these facts but that there is a principle of health which is the same in all people, and which really accomplishes all the cures; and that there is something in all the "systems" which, under favorable conditions, arouses the principle of health to action? that is, medicines, manipulations, prayers, bills of fare, affirmations, and hygienic practices cure whenever they cause the principle of health to become active; and fail whenever they do not cause it to become active. does not all this indicate that the results depend upon the way the patient thinks about the remedy, rather than upon the ingredients in the prescription? there is an old story which furnishes so good an illustration on this point that i will give it here. it is said that in the middle ages, the bones of a saint, kept in one of the monasteries, were working miracles of healing; on certain days a great crowd of the afflicted gathered to touch the relics, and all who did so were healed. on the eve of one of these occasions, some sacrilegious rascal gained access to the case in which the wonder-working relics were kept and stole the bones; and in the morning, with the usual crowd of sufferers waiting at the gates, the fathers found themselves shorn of the source of the miracle-working power. they resolved to keep the matter quiet, hoping that by doing so they might find the thief and recover their treasures; and hastening to the cellar of the convent they dug up the bones of a murderer, who had been buried there many years before. these they placed in the case, intending to make some plausible excuse for the failure of the saint to perform his usual miracles on that day; and then they let in the waiting assemblage of the sick and infirm. to the intense astonishment of those in the secret, the bones of the malefactor proved as efficacious as those of the saint; and the healing went on as before. one of the fathers is said to have left a history of the occurrence, in which he confessed that, in his judgment, the healing power had been in the people themselves all the time, and never in the bones at all. whether the story is true or not, the conclusion applies to all the cures wrought by all the systems. the power that heals is in the patient himself; and whether it shall become active or not does not depend upon the physical or mental means used, but upon the way the patient thinks about these means. there is a universal principle of life, as jesus taught; a great spiritual healing power; and there is a principle of health in man which is related to this healing power. this is dormant or active, according to the way a man thinks. he can always quicken it into activity by thinking in a certain way. your getting well does not depend upon the adoption of some system, or the finding of some remedy; people with your identical ailments have been healed by all systems and all remedies. it does not depend upon climate; some people are well and others are sick in all climates. it does not depend upon avocation, unless in case of those who work under poisonous conditions; people are well in all trades and professions. your getting well depends upon your beginning to think--and act--in a certain way. the way a man thinks about things is determined by what he believes about them. his thoughts are determined by his faith, and the results depend upon his making a personal application of his faith. if a man has faith in the efficacy of a medicine, and is able to apply that faith to himself, that medicine will certainly cause him to be cured; but though his faith be great, he will not be cured unless he applies it to himself. many sick people have faith for others but none for themselves. so, if he has faith in a system of diet, and can personally apply that faith, it will cure him; and if he has faith in prayers and affirmations and personally applies his faith, prayers and affirmations will cure him. faith, personally applied, cures; and no matter how great the faith or how persistent the thought, it will not cure without personal application. the science of being well, then, includes the two fields of thought and action. to be well it is not enough that man should merely think in a certain way; he must apply his thought to himself, and he must express and externalize it in his outward life by acting in the same way that he thinks. chapter ii. the foundations of faith. before man can think in the certain way which will cause his diseases to be healed, he must believe in certain truths which are here stated:-all things are made from one living substance, which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. while all visible things are made from it, yet this substance, in its first formless condition is in and through all the visible forms that it has made. its life is in all, and its intelligence is in all. this substance creates by thought, and its method is by taking the form of that which it thinks about. the thought of a form held by this substance causes it to assume that form; the thought of a motion causes it to institute that motion. forms are created by this substance in moving itself into certain attitudes or positions. when original substance wishes to create a given form, it thinks of the motions which will produce that form. when it wishes to create a world, it thinks of the motions, perhaps extending through ages, which will result in its coming into the attitude and form of the world; and these motions are made. when it wishes to create an oak tree, it thinks of the sequences of movement, perhaps extending through ages, which will result in the form of an oak tree; and these motions are made. the particular sequences of motion by which differing forms should be produced were established in the beginning; they are changeless. certain motions instituted in the formless substance will forever produce certain forms. man's body is formed from the original substance, and is the result of certain motions, which first existed as thoughts of original substance. the motions which produce, renew, and repair the body of man are called functions, and these functions are of two classes: voluntary and involuntary. the involuntary functions are under the control of the principle of health in man, and are performed in a perfectly healthy manner so long as man thinks in a certain way. the voluntary functions of life are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. these, entirely or in part, are under the direction of man's conscious mind; and he can perform them in a perfectly healthy way if he will. if he does not perform them in a healthy way, he cannot long be well. so we see that if man thinks in a certain way, and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps in a corresponding way, he will be well. the involuntary functions of man's life are under the direct control of the principle of health, and so long as man thinks in a perfectly healthy way, these functions are perfectly performed; for the action of the principle of health is largely directed by man's conscious thought, affecting his sub-conscious mind. man is a thinking center, capable of originating thought; and as he does not know everything, he makes mistakes and thinks error. not knowing everything, he believes things to be true which are not true. man holds in his thought the idea of diseased and abnormal functioning and conditions, and so perverts the action of the principle of health, causing diseased and abnormal functioning and conditions within his own body. in the original substance there are held only the thoughts of perfect motion; perfect and healthy function; complete life. god never thinks disease or imperfection. but for countless ages men have held thoughts of disease, abnormality, old age, and death; and the perverted functioning resulting from these thoughts has become a part of the inheritance of the race. our ancestors have, for many generations, held imperfect ideas concerning human form and functioning; and we begin life with racial sub-conscious impressions of imperfection and disease. this is not natural, or a part of the plan of nature. the purpose of nature can be nothing else than the perfection of life. this we see from the very nature of life itself. it is the nature of life to continually advance toward more perfect living; advancement is the inevitable result of the very act of living. increase is always the result of active living; whatever lives must live more and more. the seed, lying in the granary, has life, but it is not living. put it into the soil and it becomes active, and at once begins to gather to itself from the surrounding substance, and to build a plant form. it will so cause increase that a seed head will be produced containing thirty, sixty, or a hundred seeds, each having as much life as the first. life, by living, increases. life cannot live without increasing, and the fundamental impulse of life is to live. it is in response to this fundamental impulse that original substance works, and creates. god must live; and he cannot live except as he creates and increases. in multiplying forms, he is moving on to live more. the universe is a great advancing life, and the purpose of nature is the advancement of life toward perfection; toward perfect functioning. the purpose of nature is perfect health. the purpose of nature, so far as man is concerned, is that he should be continuously advancing into more life, and progressing toward perfect life; and that he should live the most complete life possible in his present sphere of action. this must be so, because that which lives in man is seeking more life. give a little child a pencil and paper, and he begins to draw crude figures; that which lives in him is trying to express itself in art. give him a set of blocks, and he will try to build something; that which lives in him is seeking expression in architecture. seat him at a piano, and he will try to draw harmony from the keys; that which lives in him is trying to express itself in music. that which lives in man is always seeking to live more; and since man lives most when he is well, the principle of nature in him can seek only health. the natural state of man is a state of perfect health; and everything in him, and in nature, tends toward health. sickness can have no place in the thought of original substance, for it is by its own nature continually impelled toward the fullest and most perfect life; therefore, toward health. man, as he exists in the thought of the formless substance, has perfect health. disease, which is abnormal or perverted function--motion imperfectly made, or made in the direction of imperfect life--has no place in the thought of the thinking stuff. the supreme mind never thinks of disease. disease was not created or ordained by god, or sent forth from him. it is wholly a product of separate consciousness; of the individual thought of man. god, the formless substance, does not see disease, think disease, know disease, or recognize disease. disease is recognized only by the thought of man; god thinks nothing but health. from all the foregoing, we see that health is _a fact_ or truth in the original substance from which we are all formed; and that disease is imperfect functioning, resulting from the imperfect thoughts of men, past and present. if man's thoughts of himself had always been those of perfect health, man could not possibly now be otherwise than perfectly healthy. man in perfect health is the thought of original substance, and man in imperfect health is the result of his own failure to think perfect health, and to perform the voluntary functions of life in a healthy way. we will here arrange in a syllabus the basic truths of the science of being well:- _there is a thinking substance from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. it is the life of all._ _the thought of a form in this substance causes the form; the thought of a motion produces the motion. in relation to man, the thoughts of this substance are always of perfect functioning and perfect health._ _man is a thinking center, capable of original thought; and his thought has power over his own functioning. by thinking imperfect thoughts he has caused imperfect and perverted functioning; and by performing the voluntary functions of life in a perverted manner, he has assisted in causing disease._ _if man will think only thoughts of perfect health, he can cause within himself the functioning of perfect health; all the power of life will be exerted to assist him. but this healthy functioning will not continue unless man performs the external, or voluntary, functions of living in a healthy manner._ _man's first step must be to learn how to think perfect health; and his second step to learn how to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in a perfectly healthy way. if man takes these two steps, he will certainly become well, and remain so._ chapter iii. life and its organisms. the human body is the abiding place of an energy which renews it when worn; which eliminates waste or poisonous matter, and which repairs the body when broken or injured. this energy we call life. life is not generated or produced within the body; _it produces the body_. the seed which has been kept in the storehouse for years will grow when planted in the soil; it will produce a plant. but the life in the plant is not generated by its growing; it is the life which makes the plant grow. the performance of function does not cause life; it is life which causes function to be performed. life is first; function afterward. it is life which distinguishes organic from inorganic matter, but it is not produced after the organization of matter. life is the principle or force which causes organization; it builds organisms. it is a principle or force inherent in original substance; all life is one. this life principle of the all is the principle of health in man, and becomes constructively active whenever man thinks in a certain way. whoever, therefore, thinks in this certain way will surely have perfect health if his external functioning is in conformity with his thought. but the external functioning must conform to the thought; man cannot hope to be well by thinking health, if he eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps like a sick man. the universal life principle, then, is the principle of health in man. it is one with original substance. there is one original substance from which all things are made; this substance is alive, and its life is the principle of life of the universe. this substance has created from itself all the forms of organic life by thinking them, or by thinking the motions and functions which produce them. original substance thinks only health, because it knows all truth; there is no truth which is not known in the formless, which is all, and in all. it not only knows all truth, but it has all power; its vital power is the source of all the energy there is. a conscious life which knows all truth and which has all power cannot go wrong or perform function imperfectly; knowing all, it knows, too much to go wrong, and so the formless cannot be diseased or think disease. man is a form of this original substance, and has a separate consciousness of his own; but his consciousness is limited, and therefore imperfect. by reason of his limited knowledge man can and does think wrongly, and so he causes perverted and imperfect functioning in his own body. man has not known too much to go wrong. the diseased or imperfect functioning may not instantly result from an imperfect thought, but it is bound to come if the thought becomes habitual. any thought continuously held by man tends to the establishment of the corresponding condition in his body. also, man has failed to learn how to perform the voluntary functions of his life in a healthy way. he does not know when, what, and how to eat; he knows little about breathing, and less about sleep. he does all these things in a wrong way, and under wrong conditions; and this because he has neglected to follow the only sure guide to the knowledge of life. he has tried to live by logic rather than by instinct; he has made living a matter of art, and not of nature. and he has gone wrong. his only remedy is to begin to go right; and this he can surely do. it is the work of this book to teach the whole truth, so that the man who reads it shall know too much to go wrong. the thoughts of disease produce the forms of disease. man must learn to think health; and being original substance which takes the form of its thoughts, he will become the form of health and manifest perfect health in all his functioning. the people who were healed by touching the bones of the saint were really healed by thinking in a certain way, and not by any power emanating from the relics. there is no healing power in the bones of dead men, whether they be those of saint or sinner. the people who were healed by the doses of either the allopath or the homeopath were also really healed by thinking in a certain way; there is no drug which has within itself the power to heal disease. the people who have been healed by prayers and affirmations were also healed by thinking in a certain way; there is no curative power in strings of words. all the sick who have been healed, by whatsoever "system," have thought in a certain way; and a little examination will show us what this way is. _the two essentials of the way are faith, and a personal application of the faith._ the people who touched the saint's bones had faith; and so great was their faith that in the instant they touched the relics they severed all mental relations with disease, and mentally unified themselves with health. this change of mind was accompanied by an intense devotional feeling which penetrated to the deepest recesses of their souls, and so aroused the principle of health to powerful action. by faith they claimed that they were healed, or appropriated health to themselves; and in full faith they ceased to think of themselves in connection with disease and thought of themselves only in connection with health. these are the two essentials to thinking in the certain way which will make you well: first, claim or appropriate health by faith; and, second, sever all mental relations with disease, and enter into mental relations with health. that which we make ourselves, mentally, we become physically; and that with which we unite ourselves mentally we become unified with physically. if your thought always relates you to disease, then your thought becomes a fixed power to cause disease within you; and if your thought always relates you to health, then your thought becomes a fixed power exerted to keep you well. in the case of the people who are healed by medicines, the result is obtained in the same way. they have, consciously or unconsciously, sufficient faith in the means used to cause them to sever mental relations with disease and enter into mental relations with health. faith may be unconscious. it is possible for us to have a sub-conscious or inbred faith in things like medicine, in which we do not believe to any extent objectively; and this sub-conscious faith may be quite sufficient to quicken the principle of health into constructive activity. many who have little conscious faith are healed in this way; while many others who have great faith in the means are not healed because they do not make the personal application to themselves; their faith is general, but not specific for their own cases. in the science of being well we have two main points to consider: first, how to think with faith; and, second, how to so apply the thought to ourselves as to quicken the principle of health into constructive activity. we begin by learning what to think. chapter iv. what to think. in order to sever all mental relations with disease, you must enter into mental relations with health, making the process positive not negative; one of assumption, not of rejection. you are to receive or appropriate health rather than to reject and deny disease. denying disease accomplishes next to nothing; it does little good to cast out the devil and leave the house vacant, for he will presently return with others worse than himself. when you enter into full and constant mental relations with health, you must of necessity cease all relationship with disease. the first step in the science of being well is, then, to enter into complete thought connection with health. the best way to do this is to form a mental image or picture of yourself as being well, imagining a perfectly strong and healthy body; and to spend sufficient time in contemplating this image to make it your habitual thought of yourself. this is not so easy as it sounds; it necessitates the taking of considerable time for meditation, and not all persons have the imaging faculty well enough developed to form a distinct mental picture of themselves in a perfect or idealized body. it is much easier, as in "the science of getting rich," to form a mental image of the things one wants to have; for we have seen these things, or their counterparts, and know how they look; we can picture them very easily from memory. but we have never seen ourselves in a perfect body, and a _clear_ mental image is hard to form. it is not necessary or essential, however, to have a clear mental image of yourself as you wish to be; it is only essential to form a conception of perfect health, and to relate yourself to it. this conception of health is not a mental picture of a particular thing; it is an understanding of health, and carries with it the idea of perfect functioning in every part and organ. you may try to picture yourself as perfect in physique; that helps; and you must _think of yourself as doing everything in the manner of a perfectly strong and healthy person_. you can picture yourself as walking down the street with an erect body and a vigorous stride; you can picture yourself as doing your day's work easily and with surplus vigor, never tired or weak; you can picture in your mind how all things would be done by a person full of health and power, and you can make yourself the central figure in the picture, doing things in just that way. never think of the ways in which weak or sickly people do things; always think of the way strong people do things. spend your leisure time in thinking about the strong way, until you have a good conception of it; and always think of yourself in connection with the strong way of doing things. that is what i mean by having a conception of health. in order to establish perfect functioning in every part, man does not have to study anatomy or physiology, so that he can form a mental image of each separate organ and address himself to it. he does not have to "treat" his liver, his kidneys, his stomach, or his heart. there is one principle of health in man, which has control over all the involuntary functions of his life; and the thought of perfect health, impressed upon this principle, will reach each part and organ. man's liver is not controlled by a liver-principle, his stomach by a digestive principle, and so on; the principle of health is one. the less you go into the detailed study of physiology, the better for you. our knowledge of this science is very imperfect, and leads to imperfect thought. imperfect thought causes imperfect functioning, which is disease. let me illustrate: until quite recently, physiology fixed ten days as the extreme limit of man's endurance without food; it was considered that only in exceptional cases could he survive a longer fast. so the impression became universally disseminated that one who was deprived of food must die in from five to ten days; and numbers of people, when cut off from food by shipwreck, accident, or famine, did die within this period. but the performances of dr. tanner, the forty-day faster, and the writings of dr. dewey and others on the fasting cure, together with the experiments of numberless people who have fasted from forty to sixty days, have shown that man's ability to live without food is vastly greater than had been supposed. any person, properly educated, can fast from twenty to forty days with little loss in weight, and often with no apparent loss of strength at all. the people who starved to death in ten days or less did so because they believed that death was inevitable; an erroneous physiology had given them a wrong thought about themselves. when a man is deprived of food he will die in from ten to fifty days, according to the way he has been taught; or, in other words, according to the way he thinks about it. so you see that an erroneous physiology can work very mischievous results. no science of being well can be founded on current physiology; it is not sufficiently exact in its knowledge. with all its pretensions, comparatively little is really known as to the interior workings and processes of the body. it is not known just how food is digested; it is not known just what part food plays, if any, in the generation of force. it is not known exactly what the liver, spleen, and pancreas are for, or what part their secretions play in the chemistry of assimilation. on all these and most other points we theorize, but we do not really know. when man begins to study physiology, he enters the domain of theory and disputation; he comes among conflicting opinions, and he is bound to form mistaken ideas concerning himself. these mistaken ideas lead to the thinking of wrong thoughts, and this leads to perverted functioning and disease. all that the most perfect knowledge of physiology could do for man would be to enable him to think only thoughts of perfect health, and to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in a perfectly healthy way; and this, as we shall show, he can do without studying physiology at all. this, for the most part, is true of all hygiene. there are certain fundamental propositions which we should know; and these will be explained in later chapters, but aside from these propositions, ignore physiology and hygiene. they tend to fill your mind with thoughts of imperfect conditions, and these thoughts will produce the imperfect conditions in your own body. you cannot study any "science" which recognizes disease, if you are to think nothing but health. _drop all investigation as to your present condition, its causes, or possible results, and set yourself to the work of forming a conception of health._ think about health and the possibilities of health; of the work that may be done and the pleasures that may be enjoyed in a condition of perfect health. then make this conception your guide in thinking of yourself; refuse to entertain for an instant any thought of yourself which is not in harmony with it. when any idea of disease or imperfect functioning enters your mind, cast it out instantly by calling up a thought which is in harmony with the conception of health. think of yourself at all times as realizing conception; as being a strong and perfectly healthy personage; and do not harbor a contrary thought. know that as you think of yourself in unity with this conception, the original substance which permeates and fills the tissues of your body is taking form according to the thought; and know that this intelligent substance or mind stuff will cause function to be performed in such a way that your body will be rebuilt with perfectly healthy cells. the intelligent substance, from which all things are made, permeates and penetrates all things; and so it is in and through your body. it moves according to its thoughts; and so if you hold only the thoughts of perfectly healthy function, it will cause the movements of perfectly healthy function within you. hold with persistence to the thought of perfect health in relation to yourself; do not permit yourself to think in any other way. hold this thought with perfect faith that it is the fact, the truth. it is the truth so far as your mental body is concerned. you have a mind-body and a physical body; the mind-body takes form just as you think of yourself, and any thought which you hold continuously is made visible by the transformation of the physical body into its image. implanting the thought of perfect functioning in the mind-body will, in due time, cause perfect functioning in the physical body. the transformation of the physical body into the image of the ideal held by the mind-body is not accomplished instantaneously; we cannot transfigure our physical bodies at will as jesus did. in the creation and recreation of forms, substance moves along the fixed lines of growth it has established; and the impression upon it of the health thought causes the healthy body to be built cell by cell. holding only thoughts of perfect health will ultimately cause perfect functioning; and perfect functioning will in due time produce a perfectly healthy body. it may be as well to condense this chapter into a syllabus:- _your physical body is permeated and fitted with an intelligent substance, which forms a body of mind-stuff. this mind-stuff controls the functioning of your physical body. a thought of disease or of imperfect function, impressed upon the mind-stuff, causes disease or imperfect functioning in the physical body. if you are diseased, it is because wrong thoughts have made impressions on this mind-stuff; these may have been either your own thoughts or those of your parents; we begin life with many sub-conscious impressions, both right and wrong. but the natural tendency of all mind is toward health, and if no thoughts are held in the conscious mind save those of health, all internal functioning will come to be performed in a perfectly healthy manner._ _the power of nature within you is sufficient to overcome all hereditary impressions, and if you will learn to control your thoughts, so that you shall think only those of health, and if you will perform the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy way, you can certainly be well._ chapter v. faith. the principle of health is moved by faith; nothing else can call it into action, and only faith can enable you to relate yourself to health, and sever your relation with disease, in your thoughts. you will continue to think of disease unless you have faith in health. if you do not have faith you will doubt; if you doubt, you will fear; and if you fear, you will relate yourself in mind to that which you fear. if you fear disease, you will think of yourself in connection with disease; and that will produce within yourself the form and motions of disease. just as original substance creates from itself the forms of its thoughts, so your mind-body, which is original substance, takes the form and motion of whatever you think about. if you fear disease, dread disease, have doubts about your safety from disease, or if you even contemplate disease, you will connect yourself with it and create its forms and motions within you. let me enlarge somewhat upon this point. the potency, or creative power, of a thought is given to it _by the faith that is in it_. thoughts which contain no faith create no forms. the formless substance, which knows all truth and therefore thinks only truth, has perfect faith in every thought, because it thinks only truth; and so all its thoughts create. but if you will imagine a thought in formless substance in which there was no faith, you will see that such a thought could not cause the substance to move or take form. keep in mind the fact that only those thoughts which are conceived in faith have creative energy. only those thoughts which have faith with them are able to change function, or to quicken the principle of health into activity. if you do not have faith in health, you will certainly have faith in disease. if you do not have faith in health, it will do you no good to think about health, for your thoughts will have no potency, and will cause no change for the better in your conditions. if you do not have faith in health, i repeat, you will have faith in disease; and if, under such conditions, you think about health for ten hours a day, and think about disease for only a few minutes, the disease thought will control your condition because it will have the potency of faith, while the health thought will not. your mind-body will take on the form and motions of disease and retain them, because your health thought will not have sufficient dynamic force to change form or motion. in order to practice the science of being well, you must have complete faith in health. faith begins in belief; and we now come to the question: _what must you believe in order to have faith in health?_ you must believe that there is more health-power than disease-power in both yourself and your environment; and you cannot help believing this if you consider the facts. these are the facts:- _there is a thinking substance from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe._ _the thought of a form, in this substance, produces the form; the thought of a motion institutes the motion. in relation to man, the thoughts of original substance are always of perfect health and perfect functioning. this substance, within and without man, always exerts its power toward health._ _man is a thinking center, capable of original thought. he has a mind-body of original substance permeating a physical body; and the functioning of his physical body is determined by the faith of his mind-body. if man thinks with faith of the functioning of health, he will cause his internal functions to be performed in a healthy manner, provided that he performs the external functions in a corresponding manner. but if man thinks, with faith, of disease, or of the power of disease, he will cause his internal functioning to be the functioning of disease._ _the original intelligent substance is in man, moving toward health; and it is pressing upon him from every side. man lives, moves, and has his being in a limitless ocean of health-power; and he uses this power according to his faith. if he appropriates it and applies it to himself it is all his; and if he unifies himself with it by unquestioning faith, he cannot fail to attain health, for the power of this substance is all the power there is._ a belief in the above statements is a foundation for faith in health. if you believe them, you believe that health is the natural state of man, and that man lives in the midst of universal health; that all the power of nature makes for health, and that health is possible to all, and can surely be attained by all. you will believe that the power of health in the universe is ten thousand times greater than that of disease; in fact, that disease has no power whatever, being only the result of perverted thought and faith. and if you believe that health is possible to you, and that it may surely be attained by you, and that you know exactly what to do in order to attain it, you will have faith in health. you will have this faith and knowledge if you read this book through with care and determine to believe in and practice its teachings. it is not merely the possession of faith, but the personal application of faith which works healing. you must claim health in the beginning, and form a conception of health, and, as far as may be, of yourself as a perfectly healthy person; and then, by faith, you must claim that you are realizing this conception. do not assert with faith that you are going to get well; assert with faith that you are well. having faith in health, and applying it to yourself, means having faith that you are healthy; _and the first step in this is to claim that it is the truth_. mentally take the attitude of being well, and do not say anything or do anything which contradicts this attitude. never speak a word or assume a physical attitude which does not harmonize with the claim: "i am perfectly well." when you walk, go with a brisk step, and with your chest thrown out and your head held up; watch that at all times your physical actions and attitudes are those of a healthy person. when you find that you have relapsed into the attitude of weakness or disease, change instantly; straighten up; think of health and power. refuse to consider yourself as other than a perfectly healthy person. one great aid--perhaps the greatest aid--in applying your faith you will find in the exercise of gratitude. whenever you think of yourself, or of your advancing condition, give thanks to the great intelligent substance for the perfect health you are enjoying. remember that, as swedenborg taught, there is a continual inflow of life from the supreme, which is received by all created things according to their forms; and by man according to his faith. health from god is continually being urged upon you; and when you think of this, lift up your mind reverently to him, and give thanks that you have been led to the truth and into perfect health of mind and body. be, all the time, in a grateful frame of mind, and let gratitude be evident in your speech. gratitude will help you to own and control your own field of thought. whenever the thought of disease is presented to you, instantly claim health, and thank god for the perfect health you have. do this so that there shall be no room in your mind for a thought of ill. every thought connected in any way with ill health is unwelcome, and you can close the door of your mind in its face by asserting that you are well, and by reverently thanking god that it is so. soon the old thoughts will return no more. gratitude has a twofold effect; it strengthens your own faith, and it brings you into close and harmonious relations with the supreme. you believe that there is one intelligent substance from which all life and all power come; you believe that you receive your own life from this substance; and you relate yourself closely to it by feeling continuous gratitude. it is easy to see that the more closely you relate yourself to the source of life the more readily you may receive life from it; and it is easy also to see that your relation to it is a matter of mental attitude. we cannot come into physical relationship with god, for god is mind-stuff and we also are mind-stuff; our relation with him must therefore be a mind relation. it is plain, then, that the man who feels deep and hearty gratitude will live in closer touch with god than the man who never looks up to him in thankfulness. the ungrateful or unthankful mind really denies that it receives at all, and so cuts its connection with the supreme. the grateful mind is always looking toward the supreme, and is always open to receive from it; and it will receive continually. _the principle of health in man receives its vital power from the principle of life in the universe; and man relates himself to the principle of life by faith in health, and by gratitude for the health he receives._ _man may cultivate both faith and gratitude by the proper use of his will._ chapter vi. use of the will. in the practice of the science of being well the will is not used to compel yourself to go when you are not really able to go, or to do things when you are not physically strong enough to do them. you do not direct your will upon your physical body or try to compel the proper performance of internal function by will power. _you direct the will upon the mind, and use it in determining what you shall believe, what you shall think, and to what you shall give your attention._ the will should never be used upon any person or thing external to you, and it should never be used upon your own body. the sole legitimate use of the will is in determining to what you shall give your attention, and what you shall think about the things to which your attention is given. all belief begins in the will to believe. you cannot always and instantly believe what you will to believe; but you can always will to believe what you want to believe. you want to believe truth about health, and you can will to do so. the statements you have been reading in this book are the truth about health, and you can will to believe them; this must be your first step toward getting well. these are the statements you must will to believe:- _that there is a thinking substance from which all things are made, and that man receives the principle of health, which is his life, from this substance._ _that man himself is thinking substance; a mind-body, permeating a physical body, and that as man's thoughts are, so will the functioning of his physical body be._ _that if man will think only thoughts of perfect health, he must and will cause the internal and involuntary functioning of his body to be the functioning of health, provided that his external and voluntary functioning and attitude are in accordance with his thoughts._ when you will to believe these statements, you must also begin to act upon them. you cannot long retain a belief unless you act upon it; you cannot increase a belief until it becomes faith unless you act upon it; and you certainly cannot expect to reap benefits in any way from a belief so long as you act as if the opposite were true. you cannot long have faith in health if you continue to act like a sick person. if you continue to act like a sick person, you cannot help continuing to think of yourself as a sick person; and if you continue to think of yourself as a sick person, you will continue to be a sick person. the first step toward acting externally like a well person is to begin to act internally like a well person. form your conception of perfect health, and get into the way of thinking about perfect health until it begins to have a definite meaning to you. picture yourself as doing the things a strong and healthy person would do, and have faith that you can and will do those things in that way; continue this until you have a vivid conception of health, and what it means to you. when i speak in this book of a conception of health, i mean a conception that carries with it the idea of the way a healthy person looks and does things. think of yourself in connection with health until you form a conception of how you would live, appear, act, and do things as a perfectly healthy person. think about yourself in connection with health until you conceive of yourself, in imagination, as always doing everything in the manner of a well person; until the thought of health conveys the idea of what health means to you. as i have said in a former chapter, you may not be able to form a clear mental image of yourself in perfect health, but you can form a conception of yourself as acting like a healthy person. form this conception, and then think only thoughts of perfect health in relation to yourself, and, so far as may be possible, in relation to others. when a thought of sickness or disease is presented to you, reject it; do not let it get into your mind; do not entertain or consider it at all. meet it by thinking health; by thinking that you are well, and by being sincerely grateful for the health you are receiving. whenever suggestions of disease are coming thick and fast upon you, and you are in a "tight place," fall back upon the exercise of gratitude. connect yourself with the supreme; give thanks to god for the perfect health he gives you, and you will soon find yourself able to control your thoughts, and to think what you want to think. in times of doubt, trial, and temptation, the exercise of gratitude is always a sheet anchor which will prevent you from being swept away. remember that the great essential thing is to sever all mental relations with disease, and to enter into full mental relationship with health. this is the key to all mental healing; it is the whole thing. here we see the secret of the great success of christian science; more than any other formulated system of practice, it insists that its converts shall sever relations with disease, and relate themselves fully with health. the healing power of christian science is not in its theological formulã¦, nor in its denial of matter; but in the fact that it induces the sick to ignore disease as an unreal thing and accept health by faith as a reality. its failures are made because its practitioners, while thinking in the certain way, do not eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in the same way. while there is no healing power in the repetition of strings of words, yet it is a very convenient thing to have the central thoughts so formulated that you can repeat them readily, so that you can use them as affirmations whenever you are surrounded by an environment which gives you adverse suggestions. when those around you begin to talk of sickness and death, close your ears and mentally assert something like the following:- _there is one substance, and i am that substance._ _that substance is eternal, and it is life; i am that substance, and i am eternal life._ _that substance knows no disease; i am that substance, and i am health._ exercise your will power in choosing only those thoughts which are thoughts of health, and arrange your environment so that it shall suggest thoughts of health. do not have about you books, pictures, or other things which suggest death, disease, deformity, weakness, or age; have only those which convey the ideas of health, power, joy, vitality, and youth. when you are confronted with a book, or anything else which suggests disease, do not give it your attention. think of your conception of health, and your gratitude, and affirm as above; use your will power to fix your attention upon thoughts of health. in a future chapter i shall touch upon this point again; what i wish to make plain here is that you must think only health, recognize only health, and give your attention only to health; and that you must control thought, recognition, and attention by the use of your will. do not try to use your will to compel the healthy performance of function within you. the principle of health will attend to that, if you give your attention only to thoughts of health. do not try to exert your will upon the formless to compel it to give you more vitality or power; it is already placing all the power there is at your service. you do not have to use your will to conquer adverse conditions, or to subdue unfriendly forces; there are no unfriendly forces; there is only one force, and that force is friendly to you; it is a force which makes for health. everything in the universe wants you to be well; you have absolutely nothing to overcome but your own habit of thinking in a certain way about disease, and you can do this only by forming a habit of thinking in another certain way about health. man can cause all the internal functions of his body to be performed in a perfectly healthy manner by continuously thinking in a certain way, and by performing the external functions in a certain way. he can think in this certain way by controlling his attention, and he can control his attention by the use of his will. he can decide what things he will think about. chapter vii. health from god. i will give a chapter here to explaining how man may receive health from the supreme. by the supreme i mean the thinking substance from which all things are made, and which is in all and through all, seeking more complete expression and fuller life. this intelligent substance, in a perfectly fluid state, permeates and penetrates all things, and is in touch with all minds. it is the source of all energy and power, and constitutes the "inflow" of life which swedenborg saw, vitalizing all things. it is working to one definite end, and for the fulfillment of one purpose; and that purpose is the advancement of life toward the complete expression of mind. when man harmonizes himself with this intelligence, it can and will give him health and wisdom. when man holds steadily to the purpose to live more abundantly, he comes into harmony with this supreme intelligence. the purpose of the supreme intelligence is the most abundant life for all; the purpose of this supreme intelligence for you is that you should live more abundantly. if, then, your own purpose is to live more abundantly, you are unified with the supreme; you are working with it, and it must work with you. but as the supreme intelligence is in all, _if you harmonize with it you must harmonize with all; and you must desire more abundant life for all as well as for yourself_. two great benefits come to you from being in harmony with the supreme intelligence. first, you will receive wisdom. by wisdom i do not mean knowledge of facts so much as ability to perceive and understand facts, and to judge soundly and act rightly in all matters relating to life. wisdom is the power to perceive truth, and the ability to make the best use of the knowledge of truth. it is the power to perceive at once the best end to aim at, and the means best adapted to attain that end. with wisdom comes poise, and the power to think rightly; to control and guide your thoughts, and to avoid the difficulties which come from wrong thinking. with wisdom you will be able to select the right courses for your particular needs, and to so govern yourself in all ways as to secure the best results. you will know how to do what you want to do. you can readily see that wisdom must be an essential attribute of the supreme intelligence, since that which knows all truth must be wise; and you can also see that just in proportion as you harmonize and unify your mind with that intelligence you will have wisdom. but i repeat that since this intelligence is all, and in all, you can enter into its wisdom only by harmonizing with all. if there is anything in your desires or your purpose which will bring oppression to any, or work injustice to, or cause lack of life for any, you cannot receive wisdom from the supreme. furthermore, your purpose for your own self must be the best. man can live in three general ways: for the gratification of his body, for that of his intellect, or for that of his soul. the first is accomplished by satisfying the desires for food, drink, and those other things which give enjoyable physical sensations. the second is accomplished by doing those things which cause pleasant mental sensations, such as gratifying the desire for knowledge or those for fine clothing, fame, power, and so on. the third is accomplished by giving way to the instincts of unselfish love and altruism. man lives most wisely and completely when he functions most perfectly along all of these lines, without excess in any of them. the man who lives swinishly, for the body alone, is unwise and out of harmony with god; that man who lives solely for the cold enjoyments of the intellect, though he be absolutely moral, is unwise and out of harmony with god; and the man who lives wholly for the practice of altruism, and who throws himself away for others, is as unwise and as far from harmony with god as those who go to excess in other ways. to come into full harmony with the supreme, you must purpose to live; to live to the utmost of your capabilities in body, mind, and soul. this must mean the full exercise of function in all the different ways, but without excess; for excess in one causes deficiency in the others. behind your desire for health is your own desire for more abundant life; and behind that is the desire of the formless intelligence to live more fully in you. so, as you advance toward perfect health, hold steadily to the purpose to attain complete life, physical, mental, and spiritual; to advance in all ways, and in every way to live more; if you hold this purpose you will be given wisdom. "he that willeth to do the will of the father shall know," said jesus. wisdom is the most desirable gift that can come to man, for it makes him rightly self-governing. but wisdom is not all you may receive from the supreme intelligence; you may receive physical energy, vitality, life force. the energy of the formless substance is unlimited, and permeates everything; you are already receiving or appropriating to yourself this energy in an automatic and instinctive way, but you can do so to a far greater degree if you set about it intelligently. the measure of a man's strength is not what god is willing to give him, but what he, himself, has the will and the intelligence to appropriate to himself. god gives you all there is; your only question is how much to take of the unlimited supply. professor james has pointed out that there is apparently no limit to the powers of men; and this is simply because man's power comes from the inexhaustible reservoir of the supreme. the runner who has reached the stage of exhaustion, when his physical power seems entirely gone, by running on in a certain way may receive his "second wind"; his strength is renewed in a seemingly miraculous fashion, and he can go on indefinitely. and by continuing in the certain way, he may receive a third, fourth, and fifth "wind"; we do not know where the limit is, or how far it may be possible to extend it. the conditions are that the runner must have absolute faith that the strength will come; that he must think steadily of strength, and have perfect confidence that he has it, and that he must continue to run on. if he admits a doubt into his mind, he falls exhausted, and if he stops running to wait for the accession of strength, it will never come. his faith in strength, his faith that he _can_ keep on running, his unwavering purpose _to_ keep on running, and his action _in_ keeping on seem to connect him to the source of energy in such a way as to bring him a new supply. in a very similar manner, the sick person who has unquestioning faith in health, whose purpose brings him into harmony with the source, and who performs the voluntary functions of life in a certain way, will receive vital energy sufficient for all his needs, and for the healing of all his diseases. god, who seeks to live and express himself fully in man, delights to give man all that is needed for the most abundant life. action and reaction are equal, and when you desire to live more, if you are in mental harmony with the supreme, the forces which make for life begin to concentrate about you and upon you. the one life begins to move toward you, and your environment becomes surcharged with it. then, if you appropriate it by faith, it is yours. "ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." your father giveth not his spirit by measure; he delights to give good gifts to you. chapter viii. summary of the mental actions. let me now summarize the mental actions and attitudes necessary to the practice of the science of being well: first, you believe that there is a thinking substance, from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. this substance is the life of all, and is seeking to express more life in all. it is the principle of life of the universe, and the principle of health in man. man is a form of this substance, and draws his vitality from it; he is a mind-body of original substance, permeating a physical body, and the thoughts of his mind-body control the functioning of his physical body. if man thinks no thoughts save those of perfect health, the functions of his physical body will be performed in a manner of perfect health. if you would consciously relate yourself to the all-health, your purpose must be to live fully on every plane of your being. you must want all that there is in life for body, mind, and soul; and this will bring you into harmony with all the life there is. the person who is in conscious and intelligent harmony with all will receive a continuous inflow of vital power from the supreme life; and this inflow is prevented by angry, selfish or antagonistic mental attitudes. if you are against any part, you have severed relations with all; you will receive life, but only instinctively and automatically; not intelligently and purposefully. you can see that if you are mentally antagonistic to any part, you cannot be in complete harmony with the whole; therefore, as jesus directed, be reconciled to everybody and everything before you offer worship. _want for everybody all that you want for yourself._ the reader is recommended to read what we have said in a former work[a] concerning the competitive mind and the creative mind. it is very doubtful whether one who has lost health can completely regain it so long as he remains in the competitive mind. [a] the science of getting rich. being on the creative or good-will plane in mind, the next step is to form a conception of yourself as in perfect health, and to hold no thoughts which are not in full harmony with this conception. have faith that if you think only thoughts of health you will establish in your physical body the functioning of health; and use your will to determine that you will think only thoughts of health. never think of yourself as sick, or as likely to be sick; never think of sickness in connection with yourself at all. and, as far as may be, shut out of your mind all thoughts of sickness in connection with others. surround yourself as much as possible with the things which suggest the ideas of strength and health. have faith in health, and accept health as an actual present fact in your life. claim health as a blessing bestowed upon you by the supreme life, and be deeply grateful at all times. claim the blessing by faith; know that it is yours, and never admit a contrary thought to your mind. use your will-power to withhold your attention from every appearance of disease in yourself and others; do not study disease, think about it, nor speak of it. at all times, when the thought of disease is thrust upon you, move forward into the mental position of prayerful gratitude for your perfect health. the mental actions necessary to being well may now be summed up in a single sentence: form a conception of yourself in perfect health, and think only those thoughts which are in harmony with that conception. that, with faith and gratitude, and the purpose to really live, covers all the requirements. it is not necessary to take mental exercises of any kind, except as described in chapter vi, or to do wearying "stunts" in the way of affirmations, and so on. it is not necessary to concentrate the mind on the affected parts; it is far better not to think of any part as affected. it is not necessary to "treat" yourself by auto-suggestion, or to have others treat you in any way whatever. the power that heals is the principle of health within you; and to call this principle into constructive action it is only necessary, having harmonized yourself with the all-mind, to claim by faith the all-health; and to hold that claim until it is physically manifested in all the functions of your body. in order to hold this mental attitude of faith, gratitude, and health, however, your external acts must be only those of health. you cannot long hold the internal attitude of a well person if you continue to perform the external acts of a sick person. it is essential not only that your every thought should be a thought of health, but that your every act should be an act of health, performed in a healthy manner. if you will make every thought a thought of health, and every conscious act an act of health, it must infallibly follow that every internal and unconscious function shall come to be healthy; for all the power of life is being continually exerted toward health. we shall next consider how you may make every act an act of health. chapter ix. when to eat. you cannot build and maintain a perfectly healthy body by mental action alone, or by the performance of the unconscious or involuntary functions alone. there are certain actions, more or less voluntary, which have a direct and immediate relation with the continuance of life itself; these are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. no matter what man's thought or mental attitude may be, he cannot live unless he eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps; and, moreover, he cannot be well if he eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps in an unnatural or wrong manner. it is therefore vitally important that you should learn the right way to perform these voluntary functions, and i shall proceed to show you this way, beginning with the matter of eating, which is most important. there has been a vast amount of controversy as to when to eat, what to eat, how to eat, and how much to eat; and all this controversy is unnecessary, for the right way is very easy to find. you have only to consider the law which governs all attainment, whether of health, wealth, power, or happiness; and that law is _that you must do what you can do now, where you are now; do every separate act in the most perfect manner possible, and put the power of faith into every action_. the processes of digestion and assimilation are under the supervision and control of an inner division of man's mentality, which is generally called the sub-conscious mind; and i shall use that term here in order to be understood. the sub-conscious mind is in charge of all the functions and processes of life; and when more food is needed by the body, it makes the fact known by causing a sensation called hunger. whenever food is needed, and can be used, there is hunger; and whenever there is hunger it is time to eat. when there is no hunger it is unnatural and wrong to eat, no matter how great may appear to be the need for food. even if you are in a condition of apparent starvation, with great emaciation, if there is no hunger you may know that food cannot be used, and it will be unnatural and wrong for you to eat. though you have not eaten for days, weeks, or months, if you have no hunger you may be perfectly sure that food cannot be used, and will probably not be used if taken. whenever food is needed, if there is power to digest and assimilate it, so that it can be normally used, the sub-conscious mind will announce the fact by a decided hunger. food, taken when there is no hunger, will sometimes be digested and assimilated, because nature makes a special effort to perform the task which is thrust upon her against her will; but if food be habitually taken when there is no hunger, the digestive power is at last destroyed, and numberless evils caused. if the foregoing be true--and it is indisputably so--it is a self-evident proposition that the natural time, and the healthy time, to eat is when one is hungry; and that it is never a natural or a healthy action to eat when one is not hungry. you see, then, that it is an easy matter to scientifically settle the question when to eat. always eat when you are hungry; and never eat when you are not hungry. this is obedience to nature, which is obedience to god. we must not fail, however, to make clear the distinction between hunger and appetite. hunger is the call of the sub-conscious mind for more material to be used in repairing and renewing the body, and in keeping up the internal heat; and hunger is never felt unless there is need for more material, and unless there is power to digest it when taken into the stomach. appetite is a desire for the gratification of sensation. the drunkard has an appetite for liquor, but he cannot have a hunger for it. a normally fed person cannot have a hunger for candy or sweets; the desire for these things is an appetite. you cannot hunger for tea, coffee, spiced foods, or for the various taste-tempting devices of the skilled cook; if you desire these things, it is with appetite, not with hunger. hunger is nature's call for material to be used in building new cells, and nature never calls for anything which may not be legitimately used for this purpose. appetite is often largely a matter of habit; if one eats or drinks at a certain hour, and especially if one takes sweetened or spiced and stimulating foods, the desire comes regularly at the same hour; but this habitual desire for food should never be mistaken for hunger. hunger does not appear at specified times. it only comes when work or exercise has destroyed sufficient tissue to make the taking in of new raw material a necessity. for instance, if a person has been sufficiently fed on the preceding day, it is impossible that he should feel a genuine hunger on arising from refreshing sleep. in sleep the body is recharged with vital power, and the assimilation of the food which has been taken during the day is completed; the system has no need for food immediately after sleep, unless the person went to his rest in a state of starvation. with a system of feeding, which is even a reasonable approach to a natural one, no one can have a real hunger for an early morning breakfast. there is no such thing possible as a normal or genuine hunger immediately after arising from sound sleep. the early morning breakfast is always taken to gratify appetite, never to satisfy hunger. no matter who you are, or what your condition is; no matter how hard you work, or how much you are exposed, unless you go to your bed starved, you cannot arise from your bed hungry. hunger is not caused by sleep, but by work. and it does not matter who you are, or what your condition, or how hard or easy your work, the so-called no-breakfast plan is the right plan for you. it is the right plan for everybody, because it is based on the universal law that hunger never comes until it is earned. i am aware that a protest against this will come from the large number of people who "enjoy" their breakfasts; whose breakfast is their "best meal"; who believe that their work is so hard that they cannot "get through the forenoon on an empty stomach," and so on. but all their arguments fall down before the facts. they enjoy their breakfast as the toper enjoys his morning dram, because it gratifies a habitual appetite and not because it supplies a natural want. it is their best meal for the same reason that his morning dram is the toper's best drink. and they can get along without it, because millions of people, of every trade and profession, do get along without it, and are vastly better for doing so. if you are to live according to the science of being well, you must never eat until you have an earned hunger. but if i do not eat on arising in the morning, when shall i take my first meal? in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred twelve o'clock, noon, is early enough; and it is generally the most convenient time. if you are doing heavy work, you will get by noon a hunger sufficient to justify a good-sized meal; and if your work is light, you will probably still have hunger enough for a moderate meal. the best general rule or law that can be laid down is that you should eat your first meal of the day at noon, if you are hungry; and if you are not hungry, wait until you become so. and when shall i eat my second meal? not at all, unless you are hungry for it; and that with a genuine earned hunger. if you do get hungry for a second meal, eat at the most convenient time; but do not eat until you have a really earned hunger. the reader who wishes to fully inform himself as to the reasons for this way of arranging the mealtimes will find the best books thereon cited in the preface to this work. from the foregoing, however, you can easily see that the science of being well readily answers the question: when, and how often shall i eat? the answer is: eat when you have an earned hunger; and never eat at any other time. chapter x. what to eat. the current sciences of medicine and hygiene have made no progress toward answering the question, what shall i eat? the contests between the vegetarians and the meat eaters, the cooked food advocates, raw food advocates, and various other "schools" of theorists, seem to be interminable; and from the mountains of evidence and argument piled up for and against each special theory, it is plain that if we depend on these scientists we shall never know what is the natural food of man. turning away from the whole controversy, then, we will ask the question of nature herself, and we shall find that she has not left us without an answer. most of the errors of dietary scientists grow out of a false premise as to the natural state of man. it is assumed that civilization and mental development are unnatural things; that the man who lives in a modern house, in city or country, and who works in modern trade or industry for his living is leading an unnatural life, and is in an unnatural environment; that the only "natural" man is a naked savage, and that the farther we get from the savage the farther we are from nature. this is wrong. the man who has all that art and science can give him is leading the most natural life, because he is living most completely in all his faculties. the dweller in a well-appointed city flat, with modern conveniences and good ventilation, is living a far more naturally human life than the australian savage who lives in a hollow tree or a hole in the ground. that great intelligence, which is in all and through all, has in reality practically settled the question as to what we shall eat. in ordering the affairs of nature, it has decided that man's food shall be according to the zone in which he lives. in the frigid regions of the far north, fuel foods are required. the development of brain is not large, nor is the life severe in its labor-tax on muscle; and so the esquimaux live largely on the blubber and fat of aquatic animals. no other diet is possible to them; they could not get fruits, nuts, or vegetables even if they were disposed to eat them; and they could not live on them in that climate if they could get them. so, notwithstanding the arguments of the vegetarians, the esquimaux will continue to live on animal fats. on the other hand, as we come toward the tropics, we find fuel foods less required; and we find the people naturally inclining toward a vegetarian diet. millions live on rice and fruits; and the food regimen of an esquimaux village, if followed upon the equator, would result in speedy death. a "natural" diet for the equatorial regions would be very far from being a natural diet near the north pole; and the people of either zone, if not interfered with by medical or dietary "scientists," will be guided by the all intelligence, which seeks the fullest life in all, to feed themselves in the best way for the promotion of perfect health. in general, you can see that god, working in nature and in the evolution of human society and customs, has answered your question as to what you shall eat; and i advise you to take his answer in preference to that of any man. in the temperate zone the largest demands are made on man in spirit, mind, and body; and here we find the greatest variety of foods provided by nature. and it is really quite useless and superfluous to theorize on the question what the masses shall eat, for they have no choice; they must eat the foods which are staple products of the zone in which they live. it is impossible to supply all the people with a nut-and-fruit or raw food diet; and the fact that it is impossible is proof positive that these are not the foods intended by nature, for nature, being formed for the advancement of life, has not made the obtaining of the means of life an impossibility. so, i say, the question, what shall i eat? has been answered for you. eat wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, buckwheat; eat vegetables; eat meats, eat fruits, eat the things that are eaten by the masses of the people around the world, for in this matter the voice of the people is the voice of god. they have been led, generally, to the selection of certain foods; and they have been led, generally, to prepare these foods in generally similar ways; and you may depend upon it that in general they have the right foods and are preparing them in the right way. in these matters the race has been under the guidance of god. the list of foods in common use is a long one, and you must select therefrom according to your individual taste; if you do, you will find that you have an infallible guide, as shown in the next two chapters. if you do not eat until you have an earned hunger, you will not find your taste demanding unnatural or unhealthy foods. the woodchopper, who has swung his axe continuously from seven in the morning until noon does not come in clamoring for cream puffs and confectionery; he wants pork and beans, or beefsteak and potatoes, or corn bread and cabbage; he asks for the plain solids. offer to crack him a few walnuts and give him a plate of lettuce, and you will be met with huge disdain; those things are not natural foods for a workingman. and if they are not natural foods for a workingman, they are not for any other man; for work hunger is the only real hunger, and requires the same materials to satisfy it, whether it be in woodchopper or banker, in man, woman or child. it is a mistake to suppose that food must be selected with anxious care to fit the vocation of the person who eats. it is not true that the woodchopper requires "heavy" or "solid" foods and the bookkeeper "light" foods. if you are a bookkeeper, or other brain worker, and do not eat until you have an earned hunger, you will want exactly the same foods that the woodchopper wants. your body is made of exactly the same elements as that of the woodchopper, and requires the same materials for cell-building; why, then, feed him on ham and eggs and corn bread and you on crackers and toast? true, most of his waste is of muscle, while most of yours is of brain and nerve tissue; but it is also true that the woodchopper's diet contains all the requisites for brain and nerve building in far better proportions than they are found in most "light" foods. the world's best brain work has been done on the fare of the working people. the world's greatest thinkers have invariably lived on the plain solid foods common among the masses. let the bookkeeper wait until he has an earned hunger before he eats; and then, if he wants ham, eggs, and corn bread, by all means let him eat them; but let him remember that he does not need one-twentieth of the amount necessary for the woodchopper. it is not eating "hearty" foods which gives the brain worker indigestion; it is eating as much as would be needed by a muscle worker. indigestion is never caused by eating to satisfy hunger; it is always caused by eating to gratify appetite. if you eat in the manner prescribed in the next chapter, your taste will soon become so natural that you will never want anything that you cannot eat with impunity; and you can drop the whole anxious question of what to eat from your mind forever, and simply eat what you want. indeed, that is the only way to do if you are to think no thoughts but those of health; for you cannot think health so long as you are in continual doubt and uncertainty as to whether you are getting the right bills of fare. "take no thought what ye shall eat," said jesus, and he spoke wisely. the foods found on the table of any ordinary middle-class or working class family will nourish your body perfectly if you eat at the right times and in the right way. if you want meat, eat it; and if you do not want it, do not eat it, and do not suppose that you must find some special substitute for it. you can live perfectly well on what is left on any table after the meat has been removed. it is not necessary to worry about a "varied" diet, so as to get in all the necessary elements. the chinese and hindus build very good bodies and excellent brains on a diet of few variations, rice making almost the whole of it. the scotch are physically and mentally strong on oatmeal cakes; and the irishman is husky of body and brilliant of mind on potatoes and pork. the wheat berry contains practically all that is necessary for the building of brain and body; and a man can live very well on a monodiet of navy beans. form a conception of perfect health for yourself, and do not hold any thought which is not a thought of health. never eat until you have an earned hunger. remember that it will not hurt you in the least to go hungry for a short time; but it will surely hurt you to eat when you are not hungry. do not give the least thought to what you should or should not eat; simply eat what is set before you, selecting that which pleases your taste most. in other words, eat what you want. this you can do with perfect results if you eat in the right way; and how to do this will be explained in the next chapter. chapter xi. how to eat. it is a settled fact that man naturally chews his food. the few faddists who maintain that we should bolt our nourishment, after the manner of the dog and others of the lower animals, can no longer get a hearing; we know that we should chew our food. and if it is natural that we should chew our food, the more thoroughly we chew it the more completely natural the process must be. if you will chew every mouthful to a liquid, you need not be in the least concerned as to what you shall eat, for you can get sufficient nourishment out of any ordinary food. whether or not this chewing shall be an irksome and laborious task or a most enjoyable process, depends upon the mental attitude in which you come to the table. if your mind and attitude are on other things, or if you are anxious or worried about business or domestic affairs, you will find it almost impossible to eat without bolting more or less of your food. you must learn to live so scientifically that you will have no business or domestic cares to worry about; this you can do, and you can also learn to give your undivided attention to the act of eating while at the table. when you eat, do so with an eye single to the purpose of getting all the enjoyment you can from that meal; dismiss everything else from your mind, and do not let anything take your attention from the food and its taste until your meal is finished. be cheerfully confident, for if you follow these instructions you may know that the food you eat is exactly the right food, and that it will "agree" with you to perfection. sit down to the table with confident cheerfulness, and take a moderate portion of the food; take whatever thing looks most desirable to you. do not select some food because you think it will be good for you; select that which will taste good to you. if you are to get well and stay well, you must drop the idea of doing things because they are good for your health, and do things because you want to do them. select the food you want most; gratefully give thanks to god that you have learned how to eat it in such a way that digestion shall be perfect; and take a moderate mouthful of it. do not fix your attention on the act of chewing; fix it on the taste of the food; and taste and enjoy it until it is reduced to a liquid state and passes down your throat by involuntary swallowing. no matter how long it takes, do not think of the time. think of the taste. do not allow your eyes to wander over the table, speculating as to what you shall eat next; do not worry for fear there is not enough, and that you will not get your share of everything. do not anticipate the taste of the next thing; keep your mind centered on the taste of what you have in your mouth. and that is all of it. scientific and healthful eating is a delightful process after you have learned how to do it, and after you have overcome the bad old habit of gobbling down your food unchewed. it is best not to have too much conversation going on while eating; be cheerful, but not talkative; do the talking afterward. in most cases, some use of the will is required to form the habit of correct eating. the bolting habit is an unnatural one, and is without doubt mostly the result of fear. fear that we will be robbed of our food; fear that we will not get our share of the good things; fear that we will lose precious time--these are the causes of haste. then there is anticipation of the dainties that are to come for dessert, and the consequent desire to get at them as quickly as possible; and there is mental abstraction, or thinking of other matters while eating. all these must be overcome. when you find that your mind is wandering, call a halt; think for a moment of the food, and of how good it tastes; of the perfect digestion and assimilation that are going to follow the meal, and begin again. begin again and again, though you must do so twenty times in the course of a single meal; and again and again, though you must do so every meal for weeks and months. it is perfectly certain that you can form the "fletcher habit" if you persevere; and when you have formed it, you will experience a healthful pleasure you have never known. this is a vital point, and i must not leave it until i have thoroughly impressed it upon your mind. given the right materials, perfectly prepared, the principle of health will positively build you a perfectly healthy body; and you cannot prepare the materials _perfectly_ in any other way that the one i am describing. if you are to have perfect health, you must eat in just this way; you can, and the doing of it is only a matter of a little perseverance. what use for you to talk of mental control unless you will govern yourself in so simple a matter as ceasing to bolt your food? what use to talk of concentration unless you can keep your mind on the act of eating for so short a space as fifteen or twenty minutes, especially with all the pleasures of taste to help you? go on, and conquer. in a few weeks, or months, as the case may be, you will find the habit of scientific eating becoming fixed; and soon you will be in so splendid a condition, mentally and physically, that nothing would induce you to return to the bad old way. we have seen that if man will think only thoughts of perfect health, his internal functions will be performed in a healthy manner; and we have seen that in order to think thoughts of health, man must perform the voluntary functions in a healthy manner. the most important of the voluntary functions is that of eating; and we see, so far, no especial difficulty in eating in a perfectly healthy way. i will here summarize the instructions as to when to eat, what to eat, and how to eat, with the reasons therefor:-never eat until you have an earned hunger, no matter how long you go without food. this is based on the fact that whenever food is needed in the system, if there is power to digest it, the sub-conscious mind announces the need by the sensation of hunger. learn to distinguish between genuine hunger and the gnawing and craving sensations caused by unnatural appetite. hunger is never a disagreeable feeling, accompanied by weakness, faintness, or gnawing feelings at the stomach; it is a pleasant, anticipatory desire for food, and is felt mostly in the mouth and throat. it does not come at certain hours or at stated intervals; it only comes when the sub-conscious mind is ready to receive, digest, and assimilate food. eat whatever foods you want, making your selection from the staples in general use in the zone in which you live. the supreme intelligence has guided man to the selection of these foods, and they are the right ones for all. i am referring, of course, to the foods which are taken to satisfy hunger, not to those which have been contrived merely to gratify appetite or perverted taste. the instinct which has guided the masses of men to make use of the great staples of food to satisfy their hunger is a divine one. god has made no mistake; if you eat these foods you will not go wrong. eat your food with cheerful confidence, and get all the pleasure that is to be had from the taste of every mouthful. chew each morsel to a liquid, keeping your attention fixed on the enjoyment of the process. this is the only way to eat in a perfectly complete and successful manner; and when anything is done in a completely successful manner, the general result cannot be a failure. in the attainment of health, the law is the same as in the attainment of riches; if you make each act a success in itself, the sum of all your acts must be a success. when you eat in the mental attitude i have described, and in the manner i have described, nothing can be added to the process; it is done in a perfect manner, and it is successfully done. and if eating is successfully done, digestion, assimilation, and the building of a healthy body are successfully begun. we next take up the question of the quantity of food required. chapter xii. hunger and appetites. it is very easy to find the correct answer to the question, how much shall i eat? you are never to eat until you have an earned hunger, and you are to stop eating the instant you begin to feel that your hunger is abating. never gorge yourself; never eat to repletion. when you _begin_ to feel that your hunger is satisfied, know that you have enough; for until you have enough, you will continue to feel the sensation of hunger. if you eat as directed in the last chapter, it is probable that you will begin to feel satisfied before you have taken half your usual amount; but stop there, all the same. no matter how delightfully attractive the dessert, or how tempting the pie or pudding, do not eat a mouthful of it if you find that your hunger has been in the least degree assuaged by the other foods you have taken. whatever you eat after your hunger begins to abate is taken to gratify taste and appetite, not hunger and is not called for by nature at all. it is therefore excess; mere debauchery, and it cannot fail to work mischief. this is a point you will need to watch with nice discrimination, for the habit of eating purely for sensual gratification is very deeply rooted with most of us. the usual "dessert" of sweet and tempting foods is prepared solely with a view to inducing people to eat after hunger has been satisfied; and all the effects are evil. it is not that pie and cake are unwholesome foods; they are usually perfectly wholesome if eaten to satisfy hunger, and not to gratify appetite. if you want pie, cake, pastry or puddings, it is better to begin your meal with them, finishing with the plainer and less tasty foods. you will find, however, that if you eat as directed in the preceding chapters, the plainest food will soon come to taste like kingly fare to you; for your sense of taste, like all your other senses, will become so acute with the general improvement in your condition that you will find new delights in common things. no glutton ever enjoyed a meal like the man who eats for hunger only, who gets the most out of every mouthful, and who stops on the instant that he feels the edge taken from his hunger. the first intimation that hunger is abating is the signal from the sub-conscious mind that it is time to quit. the average person who takes up this plan of living will be greatly surprised to learn how little food is really required to keep the body in perfect condition. the amount depends upon the work; upon how much muscular exercise is taken, and upon the extent to which the person is exposed to cold. the woodchopper who goes into the forest in the winter time and swings his axe all day can eat two full meals; but the brain worker who sits all day on a chair, in a warm room, does not need one third and often not one tenth as much. most woodchoppers eat two or three times as much, and most brain workers from three to ten times as much as nature calls for; and the elimination of this vast amount of surplus rubbish from their systems is a tax on vital power which in time depletes their energy and leaves them an easy prey to so-called disease. get all possible enjoyment out of the taste of your food, but never eat anything merely because it tastes good; and on the instant that you feel that your hunger is less keen, stop eating. if you will consider for a moment, you will see that there is positively no other way for you to settle these various food questions than by adopting the plan here laid down for you. as to the proper time to eat, there is no other way to decide than to say that you should eat whenever you have an earned hunger. it is a self-evident proposition that that is the right time to eat, and that any other is a wrong time to eat. as to what to eat, the eternal wisdom has decided that the masses of men shall eat the staple products of the zones in which they live. the staple foods of your particular zone are the right foods for you; and the eternal wisdom, working in and through the minds of the masses of men, has taught them how best to prepare these foods by cooking and otherwise. and as to how to eat, you know that you must chew your food; and if it must be chewed, then reason tells us that the more thorough and perfect the operation the better. i repeat that success in anything is attained by making each separate act a success in itself. if you make each action, however small and unimportant, a thoroughly successful action, your day's work as a whole cannot result in failure. if you make the actions of each day successful, the sum total of your life cannot be failure. a great success is the result of doing a large number of little things, and doing each one in a perfectly successful way. if every thought is a healthy thought, and if every action of your life is performed in a healthy way, you must soon attain to perfect health. it is impossible to devise a way in which you can perform the act of eating more successfully, and in a manner more in accord with the laws of life, than by chewing every mouthful to a liquid, enjoying the taste fully, and keeping a cheerful confidence the while. nothing can be added to make the process more successful; while if anything be subtracted, the process will not be a completely healthy one. in the matter of how much to eat, you will also see that there could be no other guide so natural, so safe, and so reliable as the one i have prescribed--to stop eating on the instant you feel that your hunger begins to abate. the sub-conscious mind may be trusted with implicit reliance to inform us when food is needed; and it may be trusted as implicitly to inform us when the need has been supplied. if all food is eaten for hunger, and no food is taken merely to gratify taste, you will never eat too much; and if you eat whenever you have an earned hunger, you will always eat enough. by reading carefully the summing up in the following chapter, you will see that the requirements for eating in a perfectly healthy way are really very few and simple. the matter of drinking in a natural way may be dismissed here with a very few words. if you wish to be exactly and rigidly scientific, drink nothing but water; drink only when you are thirsty; drink whenever you are thirsty, and stop as soon as you feel that your thirst begins to abate. but if you are living rightly in regard to eating, it will not be necessary to practice asceticism or great self-denial in the matter of drinking. you can take an occasional cup of weak coffee without harm; you can, to a reasonable extent, follow the customs of those around you. do not get the soda fountain habit; do not drink merely to tickle your palate with sweet liquids; be sure that you take a drink of water whenever you feel thirst. never be too lazy, too indifferent, or too busy to get a drink of water when you feel the least thirst; if you obey this rule, you will have little inclination to take strange and unnatural drinks. drink only to satisfy thirst; drink whenever you feel thirst; and stop drinking as soon as you feel thirst abating. that is the perfectly healthy way to supply the body with the necessary fluid material for its internal processes. chapter xiii. in a nutshell. there is a cosmic life which permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe, being in and through all things. this life is not merely a vibration, or form of energy; it is a living substance. all things are made from it; it is all, and in all. this substance thinks, and it assumes the form of that which it thinks about. the thought of a form, in this substance, creates the form; the thought of a motion institutes the motion. the visible universe, with all its forms and motions, exists because it is in the thought of original substance. man is a form of original substance, and can think original thoughts; and within himself, man's thoughts have controlling or formative power. the thought of a condition produces that condition; the thought of a motion institutes that motion. so long as man thinks of the conditions and motions of disease, so long will the conditions and motions of disease exist within him. if man will think only of perfect health, the principle of health within him will maintain normal conditions. to be well, man must form a conception of perfect health, and hold thoughts harmonious with that conception as regards himself and all things. he must think only of healthy conditions and functioning; he must not permit a thought of unhealthy or abnormal conditions or functioning to find lodgment in his mind at any time. in order to think only of healthy conditions and functioning, man must perform the voluntary acts of life in a perfectly healthy way. he cannot think perfect health so long as he knows that he is living in a wrong or unhealthy way; or even so long as he has doubts as to whether or not he is living in a healthy way. man cannot think thoughts of perfect health while his voluntary functions are performed in the manner of one who is sick. the voluntary functions of life are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. when man thinks only of healthy conditions and functioning, and performs these externals in a perfectly healthy manner, he must have perfect health. in eating, man must learn to be guided by his hunger. he must distinguish between hunger and appetite, and between hunger and the cravings of habit; he must never eat unless he feels an earned hunger. he must learn that genuine hunger is never present after natural sleep, and that the demand for an early morning meal is purely a matter of habit and appetite; and he must not begin his day by eating in violation of natural law. he must wait until he has an earned hunger, which, in most cases, will make his first meal come at about the noon hour. no matter what his condition, vocation, or circumstances, he must make it his rule not to eat until he has an earned hunger; and he may remember that it is far better to fast for several hours after he has become hungry than to eat before he begins to feel hunger. it will not hurt you to go hungry for a few hours, even though you are working hard; but it will hurt you to fill your stomach when you are not hungry, whether you are working or not. if you never eat until you have an earned hunger, you may be certain that in so far as the time of eating is concerned, you are proceeding in a perfectly healthy way. this is a self-evident proposition. as to what he shall eat, man must be guided by that intelligence which has arranged that the people of any given portion of the earth's surface must live on the staple products of the zone which they inhabit. have faith in god, and ignore "food science" of every kind. do not pay the slightest attention to the controversies as to the relative merits of cooked and raw foods; of vegetables and meats; or as to your need for carbohydrates and proteins. eat only when you have an earned hunger, and then take the common foods of the masses of the people in the zone in which you live, and have perfect confidence that the results will be good. they will be. do not seek for luxuries, or for things imported or fixed up to tempt the taste; stick to the plain solids; and when these do not "taste good," fast until they do. do not seek for "light" foods; for easily digestible, or "healthy" foods; eat what the farmers and workingmen eat. then you will be functioning in a perfectly healthy manner, so far as what to eat is concerned. i repeat, if you have no hunger or taste for the plain foods, do not eat at all; wait until hunger comes. go without eating until the plainest food tastes good to you; and then begin your meal with what you like best. in deciding how to eat, man must be guided by reason. we can see that the abnormal states of hurry and worry produced by wrong thinking about business and similar things have led us to form the habit of eating too fast, and chewing too little. reason tells us that food should be chewed, and that the more thoroughly it is chewed the better it is prepared for the chemistry of digestion. furthermore, we can see that the man who eats slowly and chews his food to a liquid, keeping his mind on the process and giving it his undivided attention, will enjoy more of the pleasure of taste than he who bolts his food with his mind on something else. to eat in a perfectly healthy manner, man must concentrate his attention on the act, with cheerful enjoyment and confidence; he must taste his food, and he must reduce each mouthful to a liquid before swallowing it. the foregoing instructions, if followed, make the function of eating completely perfect; nothing can be added as to what, when, and how. in the matter of how much to eat, man must be guided by the same inward intelligence, or principle of health, which tells him when food is wanted. he must stop eating in the moment that he feels hunger abating; he must not eat beyond this point to gratify taste. if he ceases to eat in the instant that the inward demand for food ceases, he will never overeat; and the function of supplying the body with food will be performed in a perfectly healthy manner. the matter of eating naturally is a very simple one; there is nothing in all the foregoing that cannot be easily practiced by any one. this method, put in practice, will infallibly result in perfect digestion and assimilation; and all anxiety and careful thought concerning the matter can at once be dropped from the mind. whenever you have an earned hunger, eat with thankfulness what is set before you, chewing each mouthful to a liquid, and stopping when you feel the edge taken from your hunger. the importance of the mental attitude is sufficient to justify an additional word. while you are eating, as at all other times, think only of healthy conditions and normal functioning. enjoy what you eat; if you carry on a conversation at the table, talk of the goodness of the food, and of the pleasure it is giving you. never mention that you dislike this or that; speak only of those things which you like. never discuss the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of foods; never mention or think of unwholesomeness at all. if there is anything on the table for which you do not care, pass it by in silence, or with a word of commendation; never criticise or object to anything. eat your food with gladness and with singleness of heart, praising god and giving thanks. let your watchword be perseverance; whenever you fall into the old way of hasty eating, or of wrong thought and speech, bring yourself up short and begin again. it is of the most vital importance to you that you should be a self-controlling and self-directing person; and you can never hope to become so unless you can master yourself in so simple and fundamental a matter as the manner and method of your eating. if you cannot control yourself in this, you cannot control yourself in anything that will be worth while. on the other hand, if you carry out the foregoing instructions, you may rest in the assurance that in so far as right thinking and right eating are concerned you are living in a perfectly scientific way; and you may also be assured that if you practice what is prescribed in the following chapters you will quickly build your body into a condition of perfect health. chapter xiv. breathing. the function of breathing is a vital one, and it immediately concerns the continuance of life. we can live many hours without sleeping, and many days without eating or drinking, but only a few minutes without breathing. the act of breathing is involuntary, but the manner of it, and the provision of the proper conditions for its healthy performance, falls within the scope of volition. man will continue to breathe involuntarily, but he can voluntarily determine what he shall breathe, and how deeply and thoroughly he shall breathe; and he can, of his own volition, keep the physical mechanism in condition for the perfect performance of the function. it is essential, if you wish to breathe in a perfectly healthy way, that the physical machinery used in the act should be kept in good condition. you must keep your spine moderately straight, and the muscles of your chest must be flexible and free in action. you cannot breathe in the right way if your shoulders are greatly stooped forward and your chest hollow and rigid. sitting or standing at work in a slightly stooping position tends to produce hollow chest; so does lifting heavy weights--or light weights. the tendency of work, of almost all kinds, is to pull the shoulders forward, curve the spine, and flatten the chest; and if the chest is greatly flattened, full and deep breathing becomes impossible, and perfect health is out of the question. various gymnastic exercises have been devised to counteract the effect of stooping while at work; such as hanging by the hands from a swing or trapeze bar, or sitting on a chair with the feet under some heavy article of furniture and bending backward until the head touches the floor, and so on. all these are good enough in their way, but very few people will follow them long enough and regularly enough to accomplish any real gain in physique. the taking of "health exercises" of any kind is burdensome and unnecessary; there is a more natural, simpler, and much better way. this better way is to keep yourself straight, and to breathe deeply. let your mental conception of yourself be that you are a perfectly straight person, and whenever the matter comes to your mind, be sure that you instantly expand your chest, throw back your shoulders, and "straighten up." whenever you do this, slowly draw in your breath until you fill your lungs to their utmost capacity; "crowd in" all the air you possibly can; and while holding it for an instant in the lungs, throw your shoulders still further back, and stretch your chest; at the same time try to pull your spine forward between the shoulders. then let the air go easily. this is the one great exercise for keeping the chest full, flexible, and in good condition. straighten up; fill your lungs full; stretch your chest and straighten your spine, and exhale easily. and this exercise you must repeat, in season and out of season, at all times and in all places, until you form a habit of doing it; you can easily do so. whenever you step out of doors into the fresh, pure air, breathe. when you are at work, and think of yourself and your position, breathe. when you are in company, and are reminded of the matter, breathe. when you are awake in the night, breathe. no matter where you are or what you are doing, whenever the idea comes to your mind, straighten up and breathe. if you walk to and from your work, take the exercise all the way; it will soon become a delight to you; you will keep it up, not for the sake of health, but as a matter of pleasure. do not consider this a "health exercise"; _never take health exercises, or do gymnastics to make you well. to do so is to recognize sickness as a present fact or as a possibility, which is precisely what you must not do_. the people who are always taking exercises for their health are always thinking about being sick. it ought to be a matter of pride with you to keep your spine straight and strong; as much so as it is to keep your face clean. keep your spine straight, and your chest full and flexible for the same reason that you keep your hands clean and your nails manicured; because it is slovenly to do otherwise. do it without a thought of sickness, present or possible. you must either be crooked and unsightly, or you must be straight; and if you are straight your breathing will take care of itself. you will find the matter of health exercises referred to again in a future chapter. it is essential, however, that you should breathe air. it appears to be the intention of nature that the lungs should receive air containing its regular percentage of oxygen, and not greatly contaminated by other gases, or by filth of any kind. do not allow yourself to think that you are compelled to live or work where the air is not fit to breathe. if your house cannot be properly ventilated, move; and if you are employed where the air is bad, get another job; you can, by practicing the methods given in the preceding volume of this series--"the science of getting rich." if no one would consent to work in bad air, employers would speedily see to it that all work rooms were properly ventilated. the worst air is that from which the oxygen has been exhausted by breathing; as that of churches and theaters where crowds of people congregate, and the outlet and supply of air are poor. next to this is air containing other gases than oxygen and hydrogen--sewer gas, and the effluvium from decaying things. air that is heavily charged with dust or particles of organic matter may be endured better than any of these. small particles of organic matter other than food are generally thrown off from the lungs; but gases go into the blood. i speak advisedly when i say "other than food." air is largely a food. it is the most thoroughly alive thing we take into the body. every breath carries in millions of microbes, many of which are assimilated. the odors from earth, grass, tree, flower, plant, and from cooking foods are foods in themselves; they are minute particles of the substances from which they come, and are often so attenuated that they pass directly from the lungs into the blood, and are assimilated without digestion. and the atmosphere is permeated with the one original substance, which is life itself. consciously recognize this whenever you think of your breathing, and think that you are breathing in life; you really are, and conscious recognition helps the process. see to it that you do not breathe air containing poisonous gases, and that you do not rebreathe the air which has been used by yourself or others. that is all there is to the matter of breathing correctly. keep your spine straight and your chest flexible, and breathe pure air, recognizing with thankfulness the fact that you breathe in the eternal life. that is not difficult; and beyond these things give little thought to your breathing except to thank god that you have learned how to do it perfectly. chapter xv. sleep. vital power is renewed in sleep. every living thing sleeps; men, animals, reptiles, fish, and insects sleep, and even plants have regular periods of slumber. and this is because it is in sleep that we come into such contact with the principle of life in nature that our own lives may be renewed. it is in sleep that the brain of man is recharged with vital energy, and the principle of health within him is given new strength. it is of the first importance, then, that we should sleep in a natural, normal, and perfectly healthy manner. studying sleep, we note that the breathing is much deeper, and more forcible and rhythmic than in the waking state. much more air is inspired when asleep than when awake, and this tells us that the principle of health requires large quantities of some element in the atmosphere for the process of renewal. if you would surround sleep with natural conditions, then, the first step is to see that you have an unlimited supply of fresh and pure air to breathe. physicians have found that sleeping in the pure air of out-of-doors is very efficacious in the treatment of pulmonary troubles; and, taken in connection with the way of living and thinking prescribed in this book, you will find that it is just as efficacious in curing every other sort of trouble. do not take any half-way measures in this matter of securing pure air while you sleep. ventilate your bedroom thoroughly; so thoroughly that it will be practically the same as sleeping out of doors. have a door or window open wide; have one open on each side of the room, if possible. if you cannot have a good draught of air across the room, pull the head of your bed close to the open window, so that the air from without may come fully into your face. no matter how cold or unpleasant the weather, have a window open, and open wide; and try to get a circulation of pure air through the room. pile on the bedclothes, if necessary, to keep you warm; but have an unlimited supply of fresh air from out of doors. this is the first great requisite for healthy sleep. the brain and nerve centers cannot be thoroughly vitalized if you sleep in "dead" or stagnant air; you must have the living atmosphere, vital with nature's principle of life. i repeat, do not make any compromise in this matter; ventilate your sleeping room completely, and see that there is a circulation of outdoor air through it while you sleep. you are not sleeping in a perfectly healthy way if you shut the doors and windows of your sleeping room, whether in winter or summer. have fresh air. if you are where there is no fresh air, move. if your bedroom cannot be ventilated, get into another house. next in importance is the mental attitude in which you go to sleep. it is well to sleep intelligently, purposefully, knowing what you do it for. lie down thinking that sleep is an infallible vitalizer, and go to sleep with a confident faith that your strength is to be renewed; that you will awake full of vitality and health. put purpose into your sleep as you do into your eating; give the matter your attention for a few minutes, as you go to rest. do not seek your couch with a discouraged or depressed feeling; go there joyously, to be made whole. do not forget the exercise of gratitude in going to sleep; before you close your eyes, give thanks to god for having shown you the way to perfect health, and go to sleep with this grateful thought uppermost in your mind. a bedtime prayer of thanksgiving is a mighty good thing; it puts the principle of health within you into communication with its source, from which it is to receive new power while you are in the silence of unconsciousness. you may see that the requirements for perfectly healthy sleep are not difficult. first, to see that you breathe pure air from out of doors while you sleep; and, second, to put the within into touch with the living substance by a few minutes of grateful meditation as you go to bed. observe these requirements, go to sleep in a thankful and confident frame of mind, and all will be well. if you have insomnia, do not let it worry you. while you lie awake, form your conception of health; meditate with thankfulness on the abundant life which is yours, breathe, and feel perfectly confident that you will sleep in due time; and you will. insomnia, like every other ailment, must give way before the principle of health aroused to full constructive activity by the course of thought and action herein described. the reader will now comprehend that it is not at all burdensome or disagreeable to perform the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy way. the perfectly healthy way is the easiest, simplest, most natural, and most pleasant way. the cultivation of health is not a work of art, difficulty, or strenuous labor. you have only to lay aside artificial observances of every kind, and eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in the most natural and delightful way; and if you do this, thinking health and only health, you will certainly be well. chapter xvi. supplementary instructions. in forming a conception of health, it is necessary to think of the manner in which you would live and work if you were perfectly well and very strong; to imagine yourself doing things in the way of a perfectly well and very strong person, until you have a fairly good conception of what you would be if you were well. then take a mental and physical attitude in harmony with this conception; and do not depart from this attitude. you must unify yourself in thought with the thing you desire; and whatever state or condition you unify with yourself in thought will soon become unified with you in body. the scientific way is to sever relations with everything you do not want, and to enter into relations with everything you do want. form a conception of perfect health, and relate yourself to this conception in word, act, and attitude. guard your speech; make every word harmonize with the conception of perfect health. never complain; never say things like these: "i did not sleep well last night;" "i have a pain in my side;" "i do not feel at all well to-day," and so on. say "i am looking forward to a good night's sleep to-night;" "i can see that i progress rapidly," and things of similar meaning. in so far as everything which is connected with disease is concerned, your way is to forget it; and in so far as everything which is connected with health is concerned, your way is to unify yourself with it in thought and speech. this is the whole thing in a nutshell: _make yourself one with health in thought, word, and action; and do not connect yourself with sickness either by thought, word, or action_. do not read "doctor books" or medical literature, or the literature of those whose theories conflict with those herein set forth; to do so will certainly undermine your faith in the way of living upon which you have entered, and cause you to again come into mental relations with disease. this book really gives you all that is required; nothing essential has been omitted, and practically all the superfluous has been eliminated. the science of being well is an exact science, like arithmetic; nothing can be added to the fundamental principles, and if anything be taken from them, a failure will result. if you follow strictly the way of living prescribed in this book, you will be well; and you certainly can follow this way, both in thought and action. relate not only yourself, but so far as possible all others, in your thoughts, to perfect health. do not sympathize with people when they complain, or even when they are sick and suffering. turn their thoughts into a constructive channel if you can; do all you can for their relief, but do it with the health thought in your mind. do not let people tell their woes and catalogue their symptoms to you; turn the conversation to some other subject, or excuse yourself and go. better be considered an unfeeling person than to have the disease thought forced upon you. when you are in company of people whose conversational stock-in-trade is sickness and kindred matters, ignore what they say and fall to offering a mental prayer of gratitude for your perfect health; and if that does not enable you to shut out their thoughts, say good-by and leave them. no matter what they think or say; politeness does not require you to permit yourself to be poisoned by diseased or perverted thought. when we have a few more hundreds of thousands of enlightened thinkers who will not stay where people complain and talk sickness, the world will advance rapidly toward health. when you let people talk to you of sickness, you assist them to increase and multiply sickness. what shall i do when i am in pain? can one be in actual physical suffering and still think only thoughts of _health_? yes. do not resist pain; recognize that it is a good thing. pain is caused by an effort of the principle of health to overcome some unnatural condition; this you must know and feel. when you have a pain, think that a process of healing is going on in the affected part, and mentally assist and co-operate with it. put yourself in full mental harmony with the power which is causing the pain; assist it; help it along. do not hesitate, when necessary, to use hot fomentations and similar means to further the good work which is going on. if the pain is severe, lie down and give your mind to the work of quietly and easily co-operating with the force which is at work for your good. this is the time to exercise gratitude and faith; be thankful for the power of health which is causing the pain, and be certain that the pain will cease as soon as the good work is done. fix your thoughts, with confidence, on the principle of health which is making such conditions within you that pain will soon be unnecessary. you will be surprised to find how easily you can conquer pain; and after you have lived for a time in this scientific way, pains and aches will be things unknown to you. what shall i do when i am too weak for my work? shall i drive myself beyond my strength, trusting in god to support me? shall i go on, like the runner, expecting a "second wind"? no; better not. when you begin to live in this way, you will probably not be of normal strength; and you will gradually pass from a low physical condition to a higher one. if you relate yourself mentally with health and strength, and perform the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy manner, your strength will increase from day to day; but for a time you may have days when your strength is insufficient for the work you would like to do. at such times rest, and exercise gratitude. recognize the fact that your strength is growing rapidly, and feel a deep thankfulness to the living one from whom it comes. spend an hour of weakness in thanksgiving and rest, with full faith that great strength is at hand; and then get up and go on again. while you rest do not think of your present weakness; _think of the strength that is coming_. never, at any time, allow yourself to think that you are giving way to weakness; when you rest, as when you go to sleep, fix your mind on the principle of health which is building you into complete strength. what shall i do about that great bugaboo which scares millions of people to death every year--constipation? do nothing. read horace fletcher on "the a b z or our own nutrition," and get the full force of his explanation of the fact that when you live on this scientific plan you need not, and indeed cannot, have an evacuation of the bowels every day; and that an operation in from once in three days to once in two weeks is quite sufficient for perfect health. the gross feeders who eat from three to ten times as much as can be utilized in their systems have a great amount of waste to eliminate; but if you live in the manner we have described it will be otherwise with you. if you eat only when you have an earned hunger, and chew every mouthful to a liquid, and if you stop eating the instant you begin to be conscious of an abatement of your hunger, you will so perfectly prepare your food for digestion and assimilation that practically all of it will be taken up by the absorbents; and there will be little--almost nothing--remaining in the bowels to be excreted. if you are able to entirely banish from your memory all that you have read in "doctor books" and patent medicine advertisements concerning constipation, you need give the matter no further thought at all. the principle of health will take care of it. but if your mind has been filled with fear-thought in regard to constipation, it may be well in the beginning for you to occasionally flush the colon with warm water. there is not the least need of doing it, except to make the process of your mental emancipation from fear a little easier; it may be worth while for that. and as soon as you see that you are making good progress, and that you have cut down your quantity of food, and are really eating in the scientific way, dismiss constipation from your mind forever; you have nothing more to do with it. put your trust in that principle within you which has the power to give you perfect health; relate it by your reverent gratitude to the principle of life which is all power, and go on your way rejoicing. what about exercise? every one is the better for a little all-round use of the muscles every day; and the best way to get this is to do it by engaging in some form of play or amusement. get your exercise in the natural way; as recreation, not as a forced stunt for health's sake alone. ride a horse or a bicycle; play tennis or tenpins, or toss a ball. have some avocation like gardening in which you can spend an hour every day with pleasure and profit; there are a thousand ways in which you can get exercise enough to keep your body supple and your circulation good, and yet not fall into the rut of "exercising for your health." exercise for fun or profit; exercise because you are too healthy to sit still, and not because you wish to become healthy, or to remain so. are long continued fasts necessary? seldom, if ever. the principle of health does not often require twenty, thirty, or forty days to get ready for action; under normal conditions, hunger will come in much less time. in most long fasts, the reason hunger does not come sooner is because it has been inhibited by the patient himself. he begins the fast with the fear if not actually with the hope that it will be many days before hunger comes; the literature he has read on the subject has prepared him to expect a long fast, and he is grimly determined to go to a finish, let the time be as long as it will. and the sub-conscious mind, under the influence of powerful and positive suggestion, suspends hunger. when, for any reason, nature takes away your hunger, go cheerfully on with your usual work, and do not eat until she gives it back. no matter if it is two, three, ten days, or longer; you may be perfectly sure that when it is time for you to eat you will be hungry; and if you are cheerfully confident and keep your faith in health, you will suffer from no weakness or discomfort caused by abstinence. when you are not hungry, you will feel stronger, happier, and more comfortable if you do not eat than you will if you do eat; no matter how long the fast. and if you live in the scientific way described in this book, you will never have to take long fasts; you will seldom miss a meal, and you will enjoy your meals more than ever before in your life. get an earned hunger before you eat; and whenever you get an earned hunger, eat. chapter xvii. a summary of the science of being well. health is perfectly natural functioning, normal living. there is a principle of life in the universe; it is the living substance, from which all things are made. this living substance permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. in its invisible state it is in and through all forms; and yet all forms are made of it. to illustrate: suppose that a very fine and highly diffusible aqueous vapor should permeate and penetrate a block of ice. the ice is formed from living water, and is living water in form; while the vapor is also living water, unformed, permeating a form made from itself. this illustration will explain how living substance permeates all forms made from it; all life comes from it; it is all the life there is. this universal substance is a thinking substance, and takes the form of its thought. the thought of a form, held by it, creates the form; and the thought of a motion causes the motion. it cannot help thinking, and so is forever creating; and it must move on toward fuller and more complete expression of itself. this means toward more complete life and more perfect functioning; and that means toward perfect health. the power of the living substance must always be exerted toward perfect health; it is a force in all things making for perfect functioning. _all things are permeated by a power which makes for health._ _man can relate himself to this power, and ally himself with it_; he can also separate himself from it in his thoughts. _man is a form of this living substance, and has within him a principle of health._ this principle of health, when in full constructive activity, causes all the involuntary functions of man's body to be perfectly performed. _man is a thinking substance, permeating a visible body, and the processes of his body are controlled by his thought._ when man thinks only thoughts of perfect health, the internal processes of his body will be those of perfect health. man's first step toward perfect health must be to form a conception of himself as perfectly healthy, and as doing all things in the way and manner of a perfectly healthy person. having formed this conception, he must relate himself to it in all his thoughts, and sever all thought relations with disease and weakness. if he does this, and thinks his thoughts of health with positive faith, man will cause the principle of health within him to become constructively active, and to heal all his diseases. he can receive additional power from the universal principle of life by faith, and he can acquire faith by looking to this principle of life with reverent gratitude for the health it gives him. if man will consciously accept the health which is being continually given to him by the living substance, and if he will be duly grateful therefor, he will develop faith. man cannot think only thoughts of perfect health unless he performs the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy manner. these voluntary functions are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. if man thinks only thoughts of health, has faith in health, and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps in a perfectly healthy way, he must have perfect health. health is the result of thinking and acting in a certain way; and if a sick man begins to think and act in this way, the principle of health within him will come into constructive activity and heal all his diseases. this principle of heath is the same in all, and is related to the life principle of the universe; it is able to heal every disease, and will come into activity whenever man thinks and acts in accordance with the science of being well. therefore, every man can attain to perfect health. * * * * * the science of being well and getting rich right is further elucidated in the nautilus magazine, published monthly for the express purpose of making the man and woman who can do what they will to do. it abounds in practical ideas and in the bright inspiration that impels you to _use_ the ideas. use it as first aid! the nautilus teaches and inspires health, wealth, and happiness in all departments of life. wallace d. wattles who wrote this book teaches constructive science in every number of the magazine. how to think so as to promote yourself in health and success is what you want to know. he teaches it! elizabeth towne and william e. towne teach it, too. they are the editors and owners of the nautilus, and their success is worth knowing about and learning from. there are many splendid contributors to the nautilus--ella wheeler wilcox, edwin markham, thomas drier, adelaide keen, grace macgowan cooke, and florence morse kingsley among them. get in touch with health and success, and with happy and successful people through the nautilus. there is a family counsel department where elizabeth towne answers personal problems for those who ask. in the success department everybody is invited to say his say, and prizes are given for best letters. don't miss wallace d. wattles' great new serial story "as a grain of mustard seed" which begins in an early number of the magazine. send $1.00 for a year's subscription to the nautilus, with a copy of "making the man who can" and "marital unrest: a new remedy," both by wallace d. wattles. or, send 10 cents for a 3 months' trial, and a copy of "marital unrest." * * * * * do you want more books on health and success? read wallace d. wattles' "science of getting rich," and bruce mcclelland's "prosperity through thought force," to which ella wheeler wilcox gave nearly a page of space in the new york journal; and read "health and wealth from within," by william e. towne and "practical methods for self-development" by elizabeth towne. price of these books, $1.00 each, all 4 for $3.50. and don't you want to read wallace d. wattles' "new science of living and healing," price 50 cents? address, elizabeth towne, dept. th, holyoke, mass. a guide to health by mahatma gandhi _translated from the hindi_ by a. rama iyer, m.a. [illustration] 1921 s. ganesan., publisher, triplicane ... madras, s.e. contents page translator's note vii introduction 1 part i: general chap. i. the meaning of health 9 chap. ii. the human body 11 chap. iii. air 14 chap. iv. water 25 chap. v. food 29 chap. vi. how much and how many times should we eat? 55 chap. vii. exercise 59 chap. viii. dress 64 chap. ix. sexual relations 69 part ii: some simple treatments chap. i. air treatment 83 chap. ii. water cure 86 chap. iii. the use of earth 95 chap. iv. fever and its cures 98 chap. v. constipation, dysentery, etc. 101 chap. vi. contagious diseases small-pox 104 chap. vii. other contagious diseases 112 chap. viii. maternity and child-birth 117 chap. ix. care of child 121 chap. x. accidents--drowning 127 chap. xi. do --burns and scalds 130 chap. xii. do --snake bite 132 chap. xiii. do --scorpion-sting, etc. 140 chap. xiv. conclusion 142 translator's note in these days when the name of mahatma gandhi is identified with the momentous question of non-co-operation, it may come with a shock of surprise to most readers to be told that he is something of an authority on matters of health and disease as well. very few of us perhaps are aware that he is the author of quite an original little health-book in gujarati. those who think of him as a dreamy idealist or an unpractical visionary, with his head always in the clouds, will certainly be undeceived when they read this book replete from cover to cover with _practical_ observations on the most _practical_ question of health. his views are of course radically different from the ordinary views that find expression in the pages of such books; in many cases, indeed, his doctrines must be pronounced revolutionary, and will doubtless be regarded by a certain class of readers as wholly impracticable. even the most revolutionary of his doctrines, however, are based, not on the shifting quicksands of mere theory, but on the solid foundation of deep study, backed up by personal experience of nearly thirty years. he himself recognises that many of his views will hardly be accepted by the ordinary reader, but he has felt himself impelled by a stern sense of duty to give publicity to his convictions formed after so much of study and experience. some at least however, of those who read his book cannot help being profoundly influenced by it. such, at any rate, has been the case with me; and i have ventured to translate the book into english in the hope that others may also be benefitted likewise. i should perhaps explain that i am not a student of gujarati, the language of the original. i have used instead one of the two hindi versions of the book. i should also point out that i have not attempted a literal or close translation, but only _a very free rendering_ into english. in some cases, whole passages have been omitted; and occasionally only the general sense of a passage has been given. it is hoped, however, that, in no single instance has there been a _misinterpretation_ of the original words. i am aware that many errors might have crept in, as the translation had to be done in a hurry, and there was hardly anytime for revision. i hope to make a thorough revision of the book, in case a second edition is called for. national college, } trichinopoly, } a. rama iyer. july 1921. } introduction for more than twenty years past i have been paying special attention to the question of health. while in england, i had to make my own arrangements for food and drink, and i can say, therefore, that my experience is quite reliable. i have arrived at certain definite conclusions from that experience, and i now set them down for the benefit of my readers. as the familiar saying goes, 'prevention is better than cure.' it is far easier and safer to prevent illness by the observance of the laws of health than to set about curing the illness which has been brought on by our own ignorance and carelessness. hence it is the duty of all thoughtful men to understand aright the laws of health, and the object of the following pages is to give an account of these laws. we shall also consider the best methods of cure for some of the most common diseases. as milton says, the mind can make a hell of heaven or a heaven of hell. so heaven is not somewhere above the clouds, and hell somewhere underneath the earth! we have this same idea expressed in the sanskrit saying, _mana êva manushayanâm kâranam bandha mokshayoh_--man's captivity or freedom is dependant on the state of his mind. from this it follows that whether a man is healthy or unhealthy depends on himself. illness is the result not only of our actions but also of our thoughts. as has been said by a famous doctor, more people die for fear of diseases like small-pox, cholera and plague than out of those diseases themselves. ignorance is one of the root-causes of disease. very often we get bewildered at the most ordinary diseases out of sheer ignorance, and in our anxiety to get better, we simply make matters worse. our ignorance of the most elementary laws of health leads us to adopt wrong remedies or drives us into the hands of the veriest quacks. how strange (and yet how true) it is that we know much less about things near at hand than things at a distance. we know hardly anything of our own village, but we can give by rote the names of the rivers and mountains of england! we take so much trouble to learn the names of the stars in the sky, while we hardly think it worth while to know the things that are in our own homes! we never care a jot for the splendid pageantry of nature before our very eyes, while we are so anxious to witness the puerile mummeries of the theatre! and in the same way, we are not ashamed to be ignorant of the structure of our body, of the way in which the bones and muscles, grow, how the blood circulates and is rendered impure, how we are affected by evil thoughts and passions, how our mind travels over illimitable spaces and times while the body is at rest, and so on. there is nothing so closely connected with us as our body, but there is also nothing perhaps of which our ignorance is so profound, or our indifference so complete. it is the duty of every one of us to get over this indifference. everyone should regard it as his bounden duty to know something of the fundamental facts concerning his body. this kind of instruction should indeed be made compulsory in our schools. at present, we know not how to deal with the most ordinary scalds and wounds; we are helpless if a thorn runs into our foot; we are beside ourselves with fright and dismay if we are bitten by an ordinary snake! indeed, if we consider the depth of our ignorance in such matters, we shall have to hang down our heads in shame. to assert that the average man cannot be expected to know these things is simply absurd. the following pages are intended for such as are willing to learn. i do not pretend that the facts mentioned by me have not been said before. but my readers will find here in a nutshell the substance of several books on the subject. i have arrived at my conclusions after studying these books, and after a series of careful experiments. moreover, those who are new to this subject will also be saved the risk of being confounded by the conflicting views held by writers of such books. one writer says for instance, that hot water is to be used under certain circumstances, while another writer says that, exactly under the same circumstances, cold water is to be used. conflicting views of this kind have been carefully considered by me, so that my readers may rest assured of the reliability of my own views. we have got into the habit of calling in a doctor for the most trivial diseases. where there is no regular doctor available, we take the advice of mere quacks. we labour under the fatal delusion that no disease can be cured without medicine. this has been responsible for more mischief to mankind than any other evil. it is of course, necessary that our diseases should be cured, but they cannot be cured _by medicines_. not only are medicines merely useless, but at times even positively harmful. for a diseased man to take drugs and medicines would be as foolish as to try to cover up the filth that has accumulated in the inside of the house. the more we cover up the filth, the more rapidly does putrefaction go on. the same is the case with the human body. illness or disease is only nature's warning that filth has accumulated in some portion or other of the body; and it would surely be the part of wisdom to allow nature to remove the filth, instead of covering it up by the help of medicines. those who take medicines are really rendering the task of nature doubly difficult. it is, on the other hand, quite easy for us to help nature in her task by remembering certain elementary principles,--by fasting, for instance, so that the filth may not accumulate all the more, and by vigorous exercise in the open air, so that some of the filth may escape in the form of perspiration. and the one thing that is supremely necessary is to keep our minds strictly under control. we find from experience that, when once a bottle of medicine gets itself introduced into a home, it never thinks of going out, but only goes on drawing other bottles in its train. we come across numberless human beings who are afflicted by some disease or other all through their lives in spite of their pathetic devotion to medicines. they are to-day under the treatment of this doctor, to-morrow of that. they spend all their life in a futile search after a doctor who will cure them for good. as the late justice stephen (who was for some time in india) said, it is really astonishing that drugs of which so little is known should be applied by doctors to bodies of which they know still less! some of the greatest doctors of the west themselves have now come to hold this view. sir astley cooper, for instance, admits that the 'science' of medicine is mostly mere guess-work; dr. baker and dr. frank hold that more people die of medicines than of diseases; and dr. masongood even goes to the extent of saying that more men have fallen victims to medicine than to war, famine and pestilence combined! it is also a matter of experience that diseases increase in proportion to the increase in the number of doctors in a place. the demand for drugs has become so widespread that even the meanest papers are sure of getting advertisements of quack medicines, if of nothing else. in a recent book on the patent medicines we are told that the fruit-salts and syrups, for which we pay from rs. 2 to rs. 5, cost to their manufacturers only from a quarter of an anna to one anna! no wonder, then, that their compositions should be so scrupulously kept a secret. we will, therefore, assure our readers that there is absolutely no necessity for them to seek the aid of doctors. to those, however, who may not be willing to boycott doctors and medicines altogether, we will say, "as far as possible, possess your souls in patience, and do not trouble the doctors. in case you are forced at length to call in the aid of a doctor, be sure to get a good man; then, follow his directions strictly, and do not call in another doctor, unless by his own advice. but remember, above all, that the curing of your disease does not rest ultimately in the hands of any doctor." m. k. gandhi. a guide to health chapter i the meaning of health ordinarily that man is considered healthy who eats well and moves about, and does not resort to a doctor. but a little thought will convince us that this idea is wrong. there are many cases of men being diseased, in spite of their eating well and freely moving about. they are under the delusion that they are healthy, simply because they are too indifferent to _think_ about the matter. in fact, perfectly healthy men hardly exist anywhere over this wide world. as has been well said, only that man can be said to be really healthy, who has a sound mind in a sound body. the relation between the body and the mind is so intimate that, if either of them got out of order, the whole system would suffer. let us take the analogy of the rose-flower. its colour stands to its fragrance in the same way as the body to the mind or the soul. no one regards an artificial paper-flower as a sufficient substitute for the natural flower, for the obvious reason that the fragrance, which forms the essence of the flower, cannot be reproduced. so too, we instinctively honour the man of a pure mind and a noble character in preference to the man who is merely physically strong. of course, the body and the soul are both essential, but the latter is far more important than the former. no man whose character is not pure can be said to be really healthy. the body which contains a diseased mind can never be anything but diseased. hence it follows that a pure character is the foundation of health in the real sense of the term; and we may say that all evil thoughts and evil passions are but different forms of disease. thus considered, we may conclude that that man alone is perfectly healthy whose body is well formed, whose teeth as well as eyes and ears are in good condition, whose nose is free from dirty matter, whose skin exudes perspiration freely and without any bad smell, whose mouth is also free from bad smells, whose hands and legs perform their duty properly, who is neither too fat nor too thin, and whose mind and senses are constantly under his control. as has already been said, it is very hard to gain such health, but it is harder still to retain it, when once it has been acquired. the chief reason why we are not truly healthy is that our parents were not. an eminent writer has said that, if the parents are _in perfectly good condition_ their children would certainly be superior to them in all respects. a _perfectly healthy_ man has no reason to fear death; our terrible fear of death shows that we are far from being so healthy. it is, however, the clear duty of all of us to strive for perfect health. we will, therefore, proceed to consider in the following pages how such health can be attained, and how, when once attained, it can also be retained for ever. chapter ii the human body the world is compounded of the five elements,--earth, water, air, fire, and ether. so too is our body. it is a sort of miniature world. hence the body stands in need of all the elements in due proportion,--pure earth, pure water, pure fire or sunlight, pure air, and open space. when any one of these falls short of its due proportion, illness is caused in the body. the body is made up of skin and bone, as well as flesh and blood. the bones constitute the frame-work of the body; but for them we could not stand erect and move about. they protect the softer parts of the body. thus the skull gives protection to the brain, while the ribs protect the heart and the lungs. doctors have counted 238 bones in the human body. the outside of the bones is hard, but the inside is soft and hollow. where there is a joint between two bones, there is a coating of marrow, which may be regarded as a soft bone. the teeth, too, are to be counted among the bones. when we feel the flesh at some points, we find it to be tough and elastic. this part of the flesh is known as the muscle. it is the muscles that enable us to fold and unfold our arms, to move our jaws, and to close our eyes. it is by means of the muscles, again, that our organs of perception do their work. it is beyond the province of this book to give a detailed account of the structure of the body; nor has the present writer enough knowledge to give such an account. we will, therefore, content ourselves with just as much information as is essential for our present purpose. the most important portion of the body is the stomach. if the stomach ceases to work even for a single moment, the whole body would collapse. the work of the stomach is to digest the food, and so to provide nourishment to the body. its relation to the body is the same as that of the steam engine to the railway train. the gastric juice which is produced in the stomach helps the assimilation of nutritious elements in the food, the refuse being sent out by way of the intestines in the form of urine and fæces. on the left side of the abdominal cavity is the spleen, while to the right of the stomach is the liver, whose function is the purification of the blood and the secretion of the bile, which is so useful for digestion. in the hollow space enclosed by the ribs are situated the heart and the lungs. the heart is between the two lungs, but more to the left than the right. there are on the whole 24 bones in the chest; the action of the heart can be felt between the fifth and the sixth rib. the lungs are connected with the windpipe. the air which we inhale is taken into the lungs through the windpipe, and the blood is purified by it. it is of the utmost importance to breathe through the nose, instead of through the mouth. on the circulation of the blood depend all activities of the body. it is the blood that provides nourishment to the body. it extracts the nutritious elements out of the food, and ejects the refuse through the intestines, and so keeps the body warm. the blood is incessantly circulating all over the body, along the veins and the arteries. the beatings of the pulse are due to the circulation of the blood. the pulse of a normal adult man beats some 75 times a minute. the pulses of children beat faster, while those of old men are slower. the chief agency for keeping the blood pure is the air. when the blood returns to the lungs after one complete round over the body, it is impure and contains poisonous elements. the oxygen of the air which we inhale purifies this blood and is assimilated into it, while the nitrogen absorbs the poisonous matter and is breathed out. this process goes on incessantly. as the air has a very important function to perform in the body, we shall devote a separate chapter to a detailed consideration of the same. chapter iii air of the three things that are indispensable for the subsistence of man,--namely, air, water, and food--the first is the most important. hence it is that god has created it in such large quantities as to make it available to all of us for nothing. modern civilisation, however, has rendered even fresh air somewhat costly, for, in order to breathe fresh air, we have to go out of towns, and this means expense. the residents of bombay, for instance, distinctly improve in health in the air of matheran or, still better, of the malabar hills; but they cannot go to these places without money. hence, in these days, it would be hardly true to say that we get fresh air _gratis_, as we used to in the old days. but, whether fresh air is available _gratis_ or not, it is undeniable that we cannot get on without it. we have already seen that the blood circulates over the body, returns to the lungs, and after being purified, starts on its round again. we breathe out the impure air, and take in oxygen from the outside, which purifies the blood. this process of inspiration and expiration goes on for ever, and on it depends man's life. when drowned in water we die, because, then we are unable to let out the impure air in the body and take in pure air from outside. the divers go down into the water in what is known as a diving bell, and they take in fresh air through a tube which leads to the top. hence it is that they are able to remain under water for a long time. it has been ascertained by experiments that no man can live without air for as long as five minutes. we often hear of the death of little children, when they are held so close to the bosom by ignorant mothers as to make it impossible for them to breathe. we should all be as much against the breathing of impure air as we are against the drinking of dirty water and the eating of dirty food; but the air we breathe is, as a rule, far more impure than the water we drink or the food we eat. we are all worshippers of concrete objects; those things that can be seen and felt are regarded by us as of far greater importance than those which are invisible and intangible. since air belongs to this latter class of objects, we fail to realise the evil wrought by the impure air that we breathe. we would think twice before eating the leavings of another man's food, or drinking out of a cup polluted by another man's lips. even those who have not the least sense of shame or repugnance would never eat another man's vomit, or drink the water which has been spat out by him; even those who are dying of hunger and thirst would refuse to do it. but, alas, how few of us realise that the air we inhale is so often the impure and poisonous air which has been exhaled by others, and which is surely no less objectionable than a man's vomit! how strange that men should sit and sleep together for hours in closed rooms, and go on inhaling the deadly air exhaled by themselves and their companions! how fortunate for man that air should be so light and diffusive, and capable of penetrating the smallest holes! even when the doors and windows are closed, there is generally some little space between the walls and the roof, through which some air from outside manages to get in, so that the inmates of the room have not to breathe exclusively poisoned air. the air that we exhale mixes with the air outside, and is rendered pure again by an automatic process that is always going on in nature. now we are able to understand why so many men and women should be weak and diseased. _there can be absolutely no doubt that impure air is the root-cause of disease in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred._ it follows that the best way of avoiding disease is to live and work in the open air. no doctor can compete with fresh air in this matter. consumption is caused by the decay of the lungs, due to the inhaling of impure air, just as a steam engine which is filled with bad coal gets out of order. hence doctors say that the easiest and the most effective treatment for a consumptive patient is to keep him in fresh air for all the 24 hours of the day. it is, of course, essential to know how we can keep the air pure. in fact, every child should be taught the value of fresh air, as soon as it is able to understand anything. if my readers would take the trouble to learn the simple facts about the air and would put their knowledge into practice, while teaching their children also to do the same. i shall feel immensely gratified. our latrines are perhaps most responsible for rendering the air impure. very few people realise the serious harm done by dirty latrines. even dogs and cats make with their claws something like a pit wherein to deposit their fæces, and then cover it up with some earth. where there are no lavatories of the modern approved types, we should also do likewise. there should be kept ashes or dry earth in a tin can or an earthen vessel inside the latrine, and whoever goes into the latrine should, on coming out, cover the fæces well with the ash or the earth, as the case may be. if this is done there would be no bad smell, and the flies too will not settle on it and transmit the filth. anybody whose sense of smell has not been wholly blunted, or who has not grown thoroughly accustomed to foul smells will know how noxious is the smell that emanates from all filthy matter which is allowed to lie open to the weather. our gorge rises at the very thought of fæces being mixed with our food, but we go on inhaling the air which has been polluted by such foul smell, forgetting the fact that the one is just as bad as the other, except that, while the former is visible, the latter is not. we should see that our latrines are kept thoroughly neat and clean. we abhor the idea of our cleaning the latrines ourselves, but what we should really abhor is the idea of making use of dirty latrines. what is the harm in ourselves removing the filth which has been expelled from inside our own body, and which we are not ashamed to have removed by others? there is absolutely no reason why we should not ourselves learn the work of scavenging and teach it to our children as well. the filthy matter should be removed, and thrown into a pit two feet deep, and then covered up with a thick layer of earth. if we go to some open place, we should dig a small pit with our hands or feet, and then cover it up, after the bowels have been evacuated. we also make the air impure by making water at all places indiscriminately. this dirty habit should be given up altogether. if there is no place specially set apart for the purpose, we should go to some dry ground away from the house, and should also cover up the urine with earth. the filth should not be cast into very deep pits, for, in that case, it would be beyond the reach of sun's heat, and would also pollute the water flowing underneath the earth. the habit of spitting indiscriminately on the verandahs, court yards, and such like places is also very bad. the spittle, especially of consumptives, is very dangerous. the poisonous germs in it rise into the air, and, being inhaled by others, lead to a spread of the disease. we should keep a spittoon inside the house, and if we have to spit when out on the road we should spit where there is dry dust, so that the spittle may be absorbed into the dust and cause no harm. doctors hold that the consumptive should spit into a spittoon with some disinfectant in it: for, even if he spits on dry ground, the germs in his spittle manage to rise and spread into the air along with the dust. but, in any case, there can be no doubt that the habit of spitting wherever we please is dirty as well as dangerous. some people throw where they like cooked food and other articles, which decay and render the air impure. if all such rubbish be put underground, the air would not be made impure, and good manure, too could be obtained. in fact, no kind of decaying matter should be allowed to lie exposed to the air. it is so easy for us to take this necessary precaution, if only we are in earnest about it. now we have seen how our own bad habits render the air impure, and what we can do to keep it pure. next we shall consider how to inhale the air. as already mentioned in the last chapter, the air is to be inhaled through the nose, and not through the mouth. there are, however, very few persons who know how to breathe correctly. many people are in the pernicious habit of inhaling through the mouth. if very cold air is inhaled through the mouth, we catch cold and sore throat. further, if we inhale through the mouth, the particles of dust in the air go into the lungs and cause great mischief. in london, for instance, in november, the smoke which issues from the chimneys of great factories mixes with the dense fog, producing a kind of yellow mixture. this contains tiny particles of soot, which can be detected in the spittle of a man who inhales through the mouth. to escape this, many women (who have not learnt to breathe through the nose alone) put on a special kind of veil over their faces, which act as sieves. if these veils are closely examined, particles of dust can be detected in them. but god has given to all of us a sieve of this kind inside the nose. the air which is inhaled through the nostrils is sifted before it reaches the lungs, and is also warmed in the process. so all men should learn to breathe through the nose alone. and this is not at all difficult, if we remember to keep our mouth firmly shut at all times, except when we are talking. those who have got into the habit of keeping their mouth open should sleep with a bandage round the mouth, which would force them to breathe through the nose. they should also take some twenty long respirations in the open air, both in the morning and in the evening. in fact, all men can practise this simple exercise and see for themselves how rapidly their chest deepens. if the chest be measured at the beginning of the practice, and again after an interval of two months, it will be seen how much it has expanded in this short period. after learning how to inhale the air, we should cultivate the habit of breathing fresh air, day in and day out. we are generally in the most pernicious habit of keeping confined to the house or the office throughout the day, and sleeping in narrow rooms at night, with all doors and windows shut. as far as possible, we should remain in the open air at all times. we should at least _sleep_ on the verandah or in the open air. those who cannot do this should at least keep the doors and windows of the room fully open at all times. the air is our food for all the twenty-four hours of the day. why, then, should we be afraid of it? it is a most foolish idea that we catch cold by inhaling the cool breeze of the morning. of course, those people who have spoiled their lungs by the evil habit of sleeping within closed doors are likely to catch cold, if they change their habit all on a sudden. but even they should not be afraid of cold, for this cold can be speedily got rid of. now-a-days, in europe, the houses for consumptives are being built in such a way that they may get fresh air at all times. we know what terrible havoc is wrought in india by epidemics. we should remember that these epidemics are due to our habit of defiling the air, and of inhaling this poisonous air. we should understand that even the most delicate people will be benefitted by systematically inhaling fresh air. if we cultivate the habit of keeping the air pure and of breathing only fresh air, we can save ourselves from many a terrible disease. sleeping with the face uncovered is as essential as sleeping in fresh air. many of our people are in the habit of sleeping with the face covered, which means that they have to inhale the poisonous air which has been exhaled by themselves. fortunately however, some of the air from outside does find its way through the interstices of the cloth, else they should die of suffocation. but the small quantity of air that gains entrance in this way is altogether inadequate. if we are suffering from cold, we may cover the head with a piece of cloth, or put on a night-cap, but the nose should be kept exposed _under all circumstances_. air and light are so intimately connected with each other that it is as well to speak a few words here on the value of light. light is as indispensable to life as air itself. hence it is that hell is represented as completely dark. where light cannot penetrate, the air can never be pure. if we enter a dark cellar, we can distinctly perceive the smell of the foul air. the fact that we cannot see in the dark shows that god has intended us to live and move in the light. and nature has given us just as much darkness as we require in the night. yet, many people are in the habit of sitting or sleeping in underground cellars, devoid of air and light, even in the hottest summer! those who thus deprive themselves of air and light are always weak and haggard. now-a-days, there are many doctors in europe who cure their patients by means of air-bath and sun-bath alone. thousands of diseased persons have been cured by mere exposure to the air and to the sunlight. we should keep all doors and windows in our houses always open, in order to allow the free entrance of air and light. some readers may ask why, if air and light are so indispensable, those who live and work in cellars are not visibly affected. those who have thought well over the matter would never put this question. our aim should be to attain the maximum of health by all legitimate means; _we should not be content merely to live anyhow_. it has been indubitably established that insufficient air and light give rise to disease. dwellers in towns are, as a rule, more delicate than those in the country, for they get less air and light than the latter. air and light, then, are absolutely indispensable to health, and every one should remember all that we have said on the matter, and act up to it to the best of his ability. chapter iv water as has been already pointed out, air is the most indispensable to our subsistence, while water comes next in order. man cannot live for more than a few minutes without air, but he can live for a few days without water. and in the absence of other food, he can subsist on water alone for many days. there is more than 70% of water in the composition of our food-stuffs, as in that of the human body. even though water is so indispensable, we take hardly any pains to keep it pure. epidemics are as much the outcome of our indifference to the quality of the water we drink, as of the air we breathe. the drinking of dirty water very often produces also the disease of the stone. water may be impure in either of two ways,--by issuing from dirty places, or by being defiled by us. where the water issues from dirty places, we should not drink it at all; nor do we generally drink it. but we do not shrink from drinking the water which has been defiled by ourselves. river-water, for instance, is regarded as quite good for drinking, although we throw into it all sorts of rubbish, and also use it for washing purposes. we should make it a rule never to drink the water in which people bathe. the upper portion of a river should be set apart for drinking water, the lower being reserved for bathing and washing purposes. where there is no such arrangement, it is a good practice to dig in the sand, and take drinking water therefrom. this water is very pure, since it has been filtered by passage through the sand. it is generally risky to drink well-water, for unless it is well protected, the dirty water at the top would trickle down into the well, and render the water impure. further, birds and insects often fall into the water and die; sometimes birds build their nests inside the wells; and the dirt from the feet of those who draw water from the well is also washed down into the water. for all these reasons, we should be particularly careful in drinking well-water. water kept in tubs is also very often impure. if it should be pure, the tubs should be washed clean at frequent intervals, and should be kept covered; we should also see that the tank or well from which the water is taken is kept in good condition. very few people, however, take such precautions to keep the water pure. hence the best way of removing the impurities of the water is to boil it well, and, after cooling it, filter it carefully into another vessel through a thick and clean piece of cloth. our duty, however, does not end with this. we should realise that we owe a duty to our fellowmen in this matter. we should see to it that we do absolutely nothing to defile the water which is used for drinking by the public. we should scrupulously refrain from bathing or washing in the water which is reserved for drinking; we should never answer the calls of nature near the banks of a river, nor cremate the dead bodies there and throw the ashes after cremation into the water. in spite of all the care that we may take, we find it so difficult to keep water perfectly pure. it may have, for instance, salt dissolved in it, or bits of grass and other decaying matter. rain water is, of course, the purest, but, before it reaches us, it generally becomes impure by the absorption of the floating matter in the atmosphere. perfectly pure water has a most beneficial effect on the system; hence doctors administer distilled water to their patients. those who are suffering from constipation are appreciably benefitted by the use of distilled water. many people do not know that water is of two kinds, _soft_ and _hard_. hard water is water in which some kind of salt has been dissolved. hence, soap does not readily lather in it, and food cannot be easily boiled in it. its taste is brackish, while soft water tastes sweet. it is much safer to drink soft water, although some people hold that hard water is better by virtue of the presence of nutritious matter dissolved therein. rain water is the best kind of soft water, and is therefore, the best for drinking purposes. hard water, if boiled and kept over the fire for some half an hour, is rendered soft. then it may be filtered and drunk. the question is often asked, "when should one drink water, and how much?" the only safe answer to this is this: one should drink water only when one feels thirsty, and even then only just enough to quench the thirst. there is no harm in drinking water during the meals or immediately afterwards. of course, we should not wash the food down with water. if the food refuses to go down of itself, it means that either it has not been well prepared or the stomach is not in need of it. ordinarily, there is no need to drink water; and indeed, there _should_ be none. as already mentioned, there is a large percentage of water in our ordinary articles of food, and we also add water in cooking them. why then should we feel thirsty? those people whose diet is free from such articles as chillies and onions which create an artificial thirst, have rarely any need to drink water. those who feel unaccountably thirsty must be suffering from some disease or other. we may be tempted to drink any kind of water that we come across, simply because we see some people doing it with impunity. the reply to this has already been given in connection with air. our blood has in itself the power of destroying many of the poisonous elements that enter into it, but it has to be renewed and purified, just as the sharp edge of a sword has to be mended when it has been once employed in action. hence, if we go on drinking impure water, we should not be surprised to find our blood thoroughly poisoned in the end. chapter v food it is impossible to lay down hard and fast rules in the matter of food. what sort of food should we eat, how much of it should be eaten, and at what times,--these are questions on which doctors differ a great deal. the ways of men are so diverse, that the very same food shows different effects on different individuals. although, however, it is impossible to say conclusively what sort of food we should eat, it is the clear duty of every individual to bestow serious thought on the matter. needless to say, the body cannot subsist without food. we undergo all sorts of sufferings and privations for the sake of food. but, at the same time, it is indisputable that 99.9% of men and women in the world eat merely to please the palate. they never pause to think of the after-effects at the time of eating. many people take purgatives and digestive pills or powders in order to be able to eat thoroughly well. then there are some people who, after eating to the utmost of their capacity, vomit out all that they have eaten, and proceed to eat the same stuffs once more! some people, indeed, eat so sumptuously that, for two or three days together, they do not feel hungry at all. in some cases, men have even been known to have died of over-eating. i say all this from my own experience. when i think of my old days, i am tempted to laugh at many things, and cannot help being ashamed of some things. in those days i used to have tea in the morning, breakfast two or three hours afterwards, dinner at one o'clock, tea again at 3 p.m., and supper between 6 and 7! my condition at that time was most pitiable. there was a great deal of superfluous fat on my body, and bottles of medicine were always at hand. in order to be able to eat well, i used to take purgatives very often, as well as some tonic or other. in those days, i had not a _third_ of my present capacity for work, in spite of the fact that i was then in the prime of youth. such a life is surely pitiable, and if we consider the matter seriously, we must also admit it to be mean, sinful and thoroughly contemptible. man is not born to eat, nor should he live to eat. his true function is to know and serve his maker; but, since the body is essential to this service, we have perforce to eat. even atheists will admit that we should eat merely to preserve our health, and not more than is needed for this purpose. turn to the birds and beasts, and what do you find? they never eat merely to please the palate, they never go on eating till their inside is full to overflowing. on the other hand, they eat only to appease their hunger, and even then only just as much as will appease their hunger. they take the food provided by nature, and do not cook their food. can it be that man alone is created to worship the palate? can it be that he alone is destined to be eternally suffering from disease? those animals that live a natural life of freedom never once die of hunger. among them there are no distinctions of rich and poor,--of those who eat many times a day, and those who do not get even one meal in the day. these abnormalities are found only among us human beings,--and yet we regard ourselves as superior to the animal creation! surely those who spend their days in the worship of their stomach are worse than the birds and beasts. a calm reflection will show that all sins like lying, cheating and stealing are ultimately due to our subjection to the palate. he who is able to control the palate, will easily be able to control the other senses. if we tell lies, or commit theft or adultery, we are looked down upon by society, but, strangely enough, no odium attaches to those who slavishly pander to the palate! it would seem as though this were not a question of morality at all! the fact is that even the best of us are slaves to the palate. no one has yet adequately emphasised the numberless evils that arise from our habit of pandering to the palate. all civilised people would boycott the company of liars, thieves, and adulterers; but they go on eating beyond all limits, and never regard it as a sin at all. pandering to the palate is not regarded by us as a sin, since all of us are guilty of it, just as dacoity is not regarded as a crime in a village of dacoits; but what is worse, we pride ourselves on it! on occasions of marriage and other festivities, we regard it as a sacred duty to worship the palate; even in times of funeral, we are not ashamed of doing it. has a guest come? we must gorge him with sweetmeats. if, from time to time, we do not give feasts to our friends and relations, or do not partake of the feasts given by them, we must become objects of contempt. if, having invited our friends to eat with us, we fail to cram them with rich stuffs, we must be regarded as miserly. on holidays, of course, we must have specially rich food prepared! indeed, what is really a great sin has come to be looked upon as a sign of wisdom! we have sedulously cultivated such false notions in the matter of eating that we never realise our slavishness and our beastliness. how can we save ourselves from this terrible state? let us view the question from another standpoint. we find it invariably the case in the world that nature herself has provided for all creatures, whether man or beast, or bird or insect, just enough food for their sustenance. this is an eternal law of nature. in the kingdom of nature, none goes to sleep, none forgets to do his duty, and none shows a tendency to laziness. all the work is done to perfection, and punctually to the minute. if we remember to order our lives strictly in accordance with the immutable and eternal laws of nature, we shall find that there are no more deaths by starvation anywhere over the wide world. since nature always provides just enough food to feed all created beings, it follows that he who takes to himself more than his normal share of food, is depriving another of his legitimate share. is it not a fact, that, in the kitchens of emperors and kings, of all rich men, in general, much more food is prepared than is required to feed them and all their dependents? that is to say, they snatch so much food from the share of the poor. is it, then, any wonder that the poor should die of starvation? if this is true (and this fact has been admitted by the most thoughtful men) it must necessarily follow that all the food that we eat beyond our immediate need is food filched from the stomachs of the poor. and to the extent to which we eat merely with a view to pleasing the palate must our health necessarily suffer. after this preliminary discussion, we can proceed to consider what kind of food is best for us. before, however, we decide the question of the ideal food for us, we have to consider what kinds of food are injurious to health, and to be avoided. under the term "food", we include all the things that are taken into the body through the mouth,--including _wine_, _bhang_ and _opium_, _tobacco_, _tea_, _coffee and cocoa_, _spices_ and _condiments_. i am convinced that all these articles have to be completely eschewed, having been led to this conviction partly from my own experience, and partly from the experiences of others. wine, bhang and opium have been condemned by all the religions of the world, although the number of total abstainers is so limited. drink has brought about the ruin of whole families. the drunkard forfeits his sanity; he has even been known to forget the distinction between mother, wife and daughter. his life becomes a mere burden to him. even men of sound sense become helpless automatons when they take to drink; even when not actually under its influence, their minds are too impotent to do any work. some people say that wine is harmless when used as medicine, but even european doctors have begun to give up this view in many cases. some partisans of drink argue that, if wine can be used as medicine with impunity, it can also be used as drink. but many poisons are employed as medicines; do we ever dream of employing them as food? it is quite possible that, in some diseases, wine may do some good, but even then, no sensible, or thoughtful man should consent to use it _even as medicine_, under any circumstances. as for opium, it is no less injurious than wine, and is to be equally eschewed. have we not seen a mighty nation like the chinese falling under the deadly spell of opium, and rendering itself incapable of maintaining its independence? have we not seen the _jagirdars_ of our own land forfeiting their _jagirs_ under the same fatal influence? so powerful is the spell that has been woven over the minds of men by tobacco that it will take an age to break it. young and old have equally come under this fatal spell. even the best men do not shrink from the use of tobacco. its use, indeed, has become a matter of course with us, and is spreading wider and wider every day. very few people are aware of the many tricks employed by the cigarette-manufacturers to bring us more and more under its influence. they sprinkle opium or some perfumed acid on the tobacco, so that we may find it all the more difficult to extricate ourselves from its clutches. they spend thousands of pounds in advertisements. many european firms dealing in cigars keep their own presses, have their own cinemas, institute lotteries, and give away prizes, and, in short, spend money like water to achieve their end. even women have now begun to smoke. and poems have been composed on tobacco, extolling it as the great friend of the poor! the evils of smoking are too numerous to mention. the habitual smoker becomes such a bond slave to it that he knows no sense of shame or compunction; he proceeds to emit the foul fumes even in the houses of strangers! it is also a matter of common experience that smokers are often tempted to commit all sorts of crimes. children steal money from their parents' purses; and even the prisoners in gaols manage to steal cigarettes and keep them carefully concealed. the smoker will get on without food, but he cannot dispense with his smoke! soldiers on the field of battle have been known to lose all capacity for fighting for failure of the indispensable cigarette at the critical moment. the late count leo tolstoi of russia tells us the following story. a certain man once took it into his head, for some reason, to murder his wife. he actually drew the knife and was about to do the deed, when he felt some compunction, and gave it up. then he sat down to smoke and his wits being turned under the influence of tobacco, he rose once more and actually committed the murder. tolstoi held the view that the poison of tobacco is more subtle and irresistible, and hence far more dangerous, than that of wine. then the money that is spent on cigars and cigarettes by individuals is frightfully large. i have myself come across instances of cigars consuming as much as rs. 75 a month for one man! smoking also leads to an appreciable reduction of digestive powers. the smoker feels no appetite for food, and in order to give it some flavour, spices and condiments have to be freely used. his breath stinks, and, in some cases, blisters are formed on his face, and the gums and teeth turn black in colour. many also fall a prey to terrible diseases. the fumes of tobacco befoul the air around, and public health suffers in consequence. i cannot understand how those who condemn drink can have the temerity to defend smoking. the man who does not eschew tobacco in all its forms can never be perfectly healthy, nor can he be a man of pure and blameless character. i must say that tea, coffee and cocoa are equally injurious to health, although i know that very few are likely to agree with me. there is a kind of poison in all of them; and, in the case of tea and coffee, if milk and sugar were not added, there would be absolutely no nutritious element in them. by means of repeated and varied experiments it has been established that there is nothing at all in these articles which is capable of improving the blood. until a few years ago, we used to drink tea and coffee only on special occasions, but to-day they have become universally indispensable. things have come to such a pass that even sickly persons often use them as substitutes for nourishing food! fortunately for us, the costliness of cocoa has prevented its spread to the same extent as tea and coffee, although, in the homes of the rich, it is quite liberally used. that all these three articles are poisonous can be seen from the fact that those who once take to them can never afterwards get on without them. in the old days, i myself used to feel a distinct sense of weariness or langour if i did not get my tea punctually at the usual hour. once some 400 women and children had gathered together at a certain celebration. the executive committee had resolved against providing tea to the visitors. the women, however, that had assembled there, were in the habit of taking tea at 4 o'clock every evening. the authorities were informed that, if these women were not given their usual tea, they would be too ill to move about, and, needless to say, they had to cancel their original resolution! but some slight delay in the preparation of the tea led to a regular uproar, and the commotion subsided only after the women had had their cup of tea! i can vouch for the authenticity of this incident. in another instance, a certain woman had lost all her digestive powers under the influence of tea, and had become a prey to chronic headaches; but from the moment that she gave up tea her health began steadily to improve. a doctor of the battersea municipality in england has declared, after careful investigation, that the brain-tissues of thousands of women in his district have been diseased from excessive use of tea. i have myself come across many instances of health being ruined by tea. coffee does some good against _kapha_ (phlegm) and _vatha_ ('wind'), but at the same time it weakens the body by destroying the vital fluid, and by making the blood as thin as water. to those people who advocate coffee on the ground that it is beneficial against "phlegm" and "wind", we would recommend the juice of ginger as even better for the purpose. and, on the other hand, let us remember that the evil effects of coffee are too serious to be counter-balanced by its good. when the blood and the vital fluid are poisoned by a stuff, can there be any hesitation in giving it up altogether? cocoa is fully as harmful as coffee, and it contains a poison which deadens the perceptions of the skin. those people who recognise the validity of moral considerations in these matters should remember that tea, coffee and cocoa are prepared mostly by labourers under indenture, which is only a fine name for slavery. if we saw with our own eyes the oppressive treatment that is meted out to the labourers in cocoa plantations, we should never again make use of the stuff. indeed, if we enquire minutely into the methods of preparation of all our articles of food, we shall have to give up 90% of them! a harmless and healthy substitute for coffee (tea or cocoa) can be prepared as follows. even habitual coffee-drinkers will be unable to perceive any difference in taste between coffee and this substitute. good and well-sifted wheat is put into a frying-pan over the fire and well fried, until it has turned completely red, and begun to grow dark in colour. then it is powdered just like coffee. a spoon of the powder is then put into a cup, and boiling water poured on to it. preferably keep the thing over the fire for a minute, and add milk and sugar, if necessary, and you get a delicious drink, which is much cheaper and healthier than coffee. those who want to save themselves the trouble of preparing this powder may get their supply from the _satyagraha ashram, ahmedabad_. from the point of view of diet, the whole mankind may be divided into _three_ broad divisions. (1) the first class, which is the largest, consists of those who, whether by preference or out of necessity, live on an exclusive vegetable diet. under this division come the best part of india, a large portion of europe, and china and japan. the staple diet of the italians is macaroni, of the irish potato, of the scotch oatmeal, and of the chinese and japanese rice. (2) the second class consists of those who live on a mixed diet. under this class come most of the people of england, the richer classes of china and japan, the richer mussalmans of india, as well as those rich hindus who have no religious scruples about taking meat. (3) to the third class belong the uncivilised peoples of the frigid zones, who live on an exclusive meat diet. these are not very numerous, and they also introduce a vegetable element into their diet, wherever they come in contact with the civilised races of europe. man, then, can live on three kinds of diet; but it is our duty to consider which of these is the healthiest for us. an examination of the structure of the human body leads to the conclusion that man is intended by nature to live on a vegetable diet. there is the closest affinity between the organs of the human body and those of the fruit-eating animals. the monkey, for instance, is so similar to man in shape and structure, and it is a fruit-eating animal. its teeth and stomach are just like the teeth and stomach of man. from this we may infer that man is intended to live on roots and fruits, and not on meat. scientists have found out by experiments that fruits have in them all the elements that are required for man's sustenance. the plantain, the orange, the date, the grape, the apple, the almond, the walnut, the groundnut, the cocoanut,--all these fruits contain a large percentage of nutritious elements. these scientists even hold that there is no need for man to cook his food. they argue that he should be able to subsist very well on food cooked by the sun's warmth, even as all the lower animals are able to do; and they say that the most nutritious elements in the food are destroyed in the process of cooking, and that those things that cannot be eaten uncooked could not have been intended for our food by nature. if this view be correct, it follows that we are at present wasting a lot of our precious time in the cooking of our food. if we could live on uncooked food alone, we should be saving so much time and energy, as well as money, all of which may be utilised for more useful purposes. some people will doubtless say that it is idle and foolish to speculate on the possibility of men taking to uncooked food, since there is absolutely no hope of their ever doing it. but we are not considering at present what people will or will not do, but only what they _ought_ to do. it is only when we know what the ideal kind of diet is that we shall be able more and more to approximate our actual to the ideal. when we say that a fruit-diet is the best, we do not, of course, expect all men to take to it straightway. we only mean that, _if_ they should take to this diet, it would be the best thing for them. there are many men in england who have tried a pure fruit-diet, and who have recorded the results of their experience. they were people who took to this diet, not out of religious scruples, but simply out of considerations of health. a german doctor has written a bulky volume on the subject, and established the value of a fruit-diet by many arguments and evidences. he has cured many diseases by a fruit-diet combined with open-air life. he goes so far as to say that the people of any country can find all the elements of nutrition in the fruits of their own land. it may not be out of place to record my own experience in this connection. for the last six months i have been living exclusively on fruits--rejecting even milk and curd. my present dietary consists of plantain, groundnut and olive oil, with some sour fruit like the lime. i cannot say that my experiment has been altogether a success, but a period of six months is all too short to arrive at any definite conclusions on such a vital matter as a complete change of diet. this, however, i can say, that, during this period, i have been able to keep well where others have been attacked by disease, and my physical as well as mental powers are now greater than before. i may not be able to lift heavy loads, but i can now do hard labour for a much longer time without fatigue. i can also do more mental work, and with better persistence and resoluteness. i have tried a fruit-diet on many sickly people, invariably with great advantage. i shall describe these experiences in the section on diseases. here i will only say that my own experience, as well as my study of the subject, has confirmed me in the conviction that a fruit-diet is the best for us. as i have already confessed, i do not think for a moment that people will take to a fruit-diet as soon as they read this. it may even be that all that i have written has no effect at all on a single reader, but i believe it to be my bounden duty to set down what i hold to be the right thing to the best of my light. if however, anybody does wish to try a fruit-diet, he should proceed rather cautiously in order to obtain the best results. he should carefully go through all the chapters of this book, and fully grasp the fundamental principles, before he proceeds to do anything in practice. my request to my readers is that they should reserve their final judgments until they have read through all that i have got to say. a vegetable diet is the best after a fruit-diet. under this term we include all kinds of pot-herbs and cereals, as well as milk. vegetables are not as nutritious as fruits, since they lose part of their efficacy in the process of cooking. we cannot, however, eat uncooked vegetables. we will now proceed to consider which vegetables are the best for us. wheat is the best of all the cereals. man can live on wheat alone, for in it we have in due proportion all the elements of nutrition. many kinds of edibles can be made of wheat, and they can all be easily digested. the ready-made foods for children that are sold by chemists are also made partly of wheat. millet and maize belong to the same genus, and cakes and loaves can also be made out of them, but they are inferior to wheat in their food-value. we will now consider the best form in which wheat may be taken. the white "mill flour" that is sold in our bazars is quite useless; it contains no nutriment at all. an english doctor tells us that a dog which was fed solely on this flour died, while other dogs which were fed on better flour remained quite healthy. there is a great demand for loaves made of this flour, since men eat merely to satisfy their palate, and are rarely moved by considerations of health. these loaves are devoid of taste and nutriment, as well as of softness. they become so hard that they cannot be broken by the hand. _the best form of flour is that which is made of well-sifted wheat in the grind-mill at home._ this flour should be used without further sifting. loaves made of it are quite sweet to the taste, as well as quite soft. it also lasts for a longer time than the "mill flour", since it is far more nutritious, and may be used in smaller quantities. the loaf sold in the bazars is thoroughly useless. it may be quite white and attractive in appearance, but it is invariably adulterated. the worst of it is that it is made by fermentation. many persons have testified from experience that fermented dough is harmful to health. further, these loaves being made by besmearing the oven with fat, they are objectionable to hindu as well as mussalman sentiment. to fill the stomach with these bazar loaves instead of preparing good loaves at home is at best a sign of indolence. another and an easier way of taking wheat is this. wheat is ground into coarse grain, which is then well cooked and mixed with milk and sugar. this gives a very delicious and healthy kind of food. rice is quite useless as a food. indeed, it is doubtful if men can subsist upon mere rice, to the exclusion of such nutritious articles as _dhall_, _ghee_ and milk. this is not the case with wheat, for man can retain his strength by living on mere wheat boiled in water. we eat the pot-herbs mainly for their taste. as they have laxative powers, they help to purify the blood up to a limit. yet they are but varieties of grass, and very hard to digest. those who partake too much of them have flabby bodies; they suffer very often from indigestion, and go about in search of digestive pills and powders. hence, if we take them at all, we should do so in moderation. all the many varieties of pulse are very heavy, and hard of digestion. their merit is that those who eat them do not suffer from hunger for a long time; but they also lead to indigestion in most cases. those who do hard labour may be able to digest them, and derive some good out of them. but we who lead a sedentary life should be very chary of eating them. dr. haig, a celebrated writer in england, tells us, on the basis of repeated experiments, that the pulses are injurious to health, since they generate a kind of acid in the system, which leads to several diseases, and a premature old age. his arguments need not be given here, but my own experience goes to confirm his view. those, however, who are unable or unwilling to eschew the pulses altogether, should use them with great caution. almost everywhere in india, the spices and condiments are freely used, as nowhere else in the whole world. even the african negroes dislike the taste of our _masala_, and refuse to eat food mixed with it. and if the whites eat _masala_, their stomach gets out of order, and pimples also appear on their faces, as i have found from my own experience. the fact is that _masala_ is by no means savoury in itself, but we have so long been accustomed to its use that its flavour appeals to us. but, as has been already explained, it is wrong to eat anything for its mere taste. how comes it, then, that _masala_ is so freely eaten by us? admittedly, in order to help the digestion, and to be able to eat more. pepper, mustard, coriander and other condiments have the power of artificially helping the digestion, and generating a sort of artificial hunger. but it would be wrong to to infer from this that all the food has been thoroughly digested, and assimilated into the system. those who take too much of _masala_ are often found to suffer from anaemia, and even from diarrhea. i know a man who even died in the prime of youth out of too much eating of pepper. hence it is quite necessary to eschew all condiments altogether. what has been said of _masala_ applies also to salt. most people would be scandalised at this suggestion, but it is a fact established by experience. there is a school in england who even hold the view that salt is more harmful than most condiments. as there is enough of salt in the composition of the vegetables we use, we need not put any extra salt into them. nature herself has provided just as much salt as is required for the upkeep of our health. all the extra salt that we use is quite superfluous; all of it goes out of the body again in the form of perspiration, or in other ways, and no portion of it seems to have any useful function to perform in the body. one writer even holds that salt poisons the blood. he says that those who use no salt at all have their blood so pure that they are not affected even by snake-bite. we do not know if this is a fact or not, but this much we know from experience, that, in several diseases like piles and asthama, the disuse of salt at once produces appreciably beneficial results. and, on the other hand, i have not come across a single instance of a man being any the worse for not using salt. i myself left off the use of salt two years ago, and i have not only not suffered by it, but have even been benefitted in some respects. i have not now to drink as much water as before, and am more brisk and energetic. the reason for my disuse of salt was a very strange one: for it was occasioned by the illness of somebody else! the person whose illness led to it did not get worse after that, but remained in the same condition; and it is my faith that, if only the diseased person himself had given up the use of salt, he would have recovered completely. those who give up salt will also have to give up vegetables and _dhall_. this is a very hard thing to do, as i have found from many tests. i am convinced that vegetables and _dhall_ cannot be properly digested without salt. this does not, of course, mean that salt improves the digestion, but it only _appears_ to do so, just as pepper does, although ultimately it leads to evil consequences. of course, the man who entirely gives up the use of salt may feel out of sorts for a few days; but, if he keeps up his spirits, he is bound to be immensely benefitted in the long run. i make bold to regard even milk as one of the articles to be eschewed! this i do on the strength of my own experience which, however, need not be described here in detail. the popular idea of the value of milk is a pure superstition, but it is so deep-rooted that it is futile to think of removing it. as i have said more than once, i do not cherish the hope that my readers will accept all my views; i do not even believe that all those who accept them in theory will adopt them in practice. nevertheless, i think it my duty to speak out what i believe to be the truth, leaving my readers to form their own judgments. many doctors hold the view that milk gives rise to a kind of fever, and many books have been written in support of this view. the disease bearing germs that live in the air rapidly gain an entrance into the milk, and render it poisonous, so that it is very difficult to keep milk in a state of perfect purity. in africa elaborate rules have been laid down for the conduct of the dairies, saying how the milk should be boiled and preserved, how the vessels should be kept clean, and so on. when so much pains have to be taken in this matter, it is certainly to be considered how far it is worth while to employ milk as an article of food. moreover, the purity or otherwise of the milk depends upon the cow's food, and the state of its health. doctors have testified to the fact that those who drink the milk of consumptive cows fall a prey to consumption themselves. it is very rare to come across a cow that is perfectly healthy. that is to say, perfectly pure milk is very hard to obtain, since it is tainted at its very source. everybody knows that a child that sucks the breast of its mother contracts any disease that she might be suffering from. and often when a little child is ill, medicine is administered to its mother, so that its effect might reach the child through the milk of her breast. just in the same way, the health of the man who drinks the milk of a cow will be the same as that of the cow itself. when the use of milk is fraught with so much danger, would it not be the part of wisdom to eschew it altogether, especially when there are excellent substitutes? olive oil, for instance serves this purpose to some extent; and sweet almond is a most efficient substitute. the almond is first soaked in hot water, and its husk removed. then it is well crushed, and mixed thoroughly well with water. this gives a drink which contains all the good properties of milk, and is at the same time free from its evil effects. now let us consider this question from the point of view of natural law. the calf drinks its mother's milk only until its teeth have grown; and it begins to eat as soon as it has its teeth. clearly, this is also what man is intended to do. nature does not intend us to go on drinking milk after we have ceased to be infants. we should learn to live on fruits like the apple and the almond, or on wheat _roti_, after we have our teeth. although this is not the place to consider the saving in money that might be effected by giving up milk, it is certainly a point to be kept in mind. nor is there any need for any of the articles produced from milk. the sourness of lime is quite a good substitute for that of buttermilk; and as for _ghee_, thousands of indians manage with oil even now. a careful examination of the structure of the human body shows that meat is not the natural food of man. dr. haig and dr. kingsford have very clearly demonstrated the evil effects of meat on the body of man. they have shown that meat generates just the same kind of acid in the body as the pulses. it leads to the decay of the teeth, as well as to rheumatism; it also gives rise to evil passions like anger, which, as we have already seen, are but forms of disease. to sum up, then, we find that those who live on fruits alone are very rare, but it is quite easy to live on a combination of fruits, wheat and olive oil, and it is also eminently conducive to sound health. the plantain comes easy first among the fruits; but the date, the grape, the plum and the orange, to name only a few, are all quite nourishing, and may be taken along with the _roti_. the _roti_ does not suffer in taste by being besmeared with olive oil. this diet dispenses with salt, pepper, milk and sugar, and is quite simple and cheap. it is, of course, foolish to eat sugar for its own sake. too much sweetmeat weakens the teeth, and injures the health. excellent edibles can be made of wheat and the fruits, and a combination of health and taste secured. the next question to consider is how much food should be taken, and how many times a day. but, as this is a subject of vital importance, we will devote a separate chapter to it. chapter vi how much and how many times should we eat? there is a great divergence of opinion among doctors as to the quantity of food that we should take. one doctor holds that we should eat to the utmost of our capacity, and he has calculated the quantities of different kinds of food that we can take. another holds the view that the food of labourers should differ in quantity as well as in quality from that of persons engaged in mental work, while a third doctor contends that the prince and the peasant should eat exactly the same quantity of food. this much, however, will be generally admitted, that the weak cannot eat just as much as the strong. in the same way, a woman eats less than a man, and children and old men eat less than young men. one writer goes so far as to say that, if only we would masticate our food thoroughly well, so that every particle of it is mixed with the saliva, then we should not have to eat more than five or ten tolas of food. this he says on the basis of numberless experiments, and his book has been sold in thousands. all this shows that it is futile to think of prescribing the quantity of food for men. most doctors admit that 99% of human beings eat more than is needed. indeed, this is a fact of everyday experience, and does not require to be proclaimed by any doctor. there is no fear at all of men ruining their health by eating _too little_; and the great need is for a reduction in the quantity of food that we generally take. as said above, it is of the utmost importance to masticate the food thoroughly well. by so doing, we shall be able to extract the maximum of nutriment from the minimum of food. experienced persons point out that the fæces of a man whose food is wholesome, and who does not eat too much, will be small in quantity, quite solid and smooth, dark in colour, and free from all foul smell. the man who does not have such fæces should understand that he has eaten too much of unwholesome food, and has failed to masticate it well. also, if a man does not get sleep at night, or if his sleep be troubled by dreams, and if his tongue be dirty in the morning, he should know that he has been guilty of excessive eating. and if he has to get up several times at night to make water, it means that he has taken too much liquid food at night. by these and other tests, every man can arrive at the exact quantity of food that is needed for him. many men suffer from foul breath, which shows that their food has not been well digested. in many cases, again, too much eating gives rise to pimples on the face, and in the nose; and many people suffer from wind in the stomach. the root of all these troubles is, to put it plainly, that we have converted our stomach into a latrine, and we carry this latrine about with us. when we consider the matter in a sober light, we cannot help feeling an unmixed contempt for ourselves. if we want to avoid the sin of over-eating, we should take a vow never to have anything to do with feasts of all kinds. of course, we should feed those who come to us as guests, but only so as not to violate the laws of health. do we ever think of inviting our friends to clean their teeth with us, or to take a glass of water? is not eating as strictly a matter of health as these things? why, then, should we make so much fuss about it? we have become such gluttons by habit that our tongues are ever craving for abnormal sensations. hence we think it a sacred duty to cram our guests with rich food, and we cherish the hope that they will do likewise for us, when their turn comes! if, an hour after eating, we ask a clean-bodied friend to smell our mouth, and if he should tell us his exact feelings, we should have to hide our heads in utter shame! but some people are so shameless that they take purgatives soon after eating, that they might be able to eat still more or they even vomit out what they have eaten in order to sit down again to the feast at once! since even the best of us are more or less guilty of over-eating, our wise forefathers have prescribed frequent fasts as a religious duty. indeed, merely from the point of view of health, it will be highly beneficial to fast at least once a fortnight. many pious hindus take only one meal a day during the rainy season. this is a practice based upon the soundest hygienic principles. for, when the air is damp and the sky cloudy, the digestive organs are weaker than usual, and hence there should be a reduction in the quantity of food. and now we will consider how may meals we may take in the day. numberless people in india are content with only two meals. those who do hard labour take three meals, but a system of four meals has arisen after the invention of english medicines! of late, several societies have been formed in england and in america in order to exhort the people to take only two meals a day. they say that we should not take a breakfast early in the morning, since our sleep itself serves the purpose of the breakfast. as soon as we get up in the morning we should prepare to work rather than to eat. we should take our meal only after working for three hours. those who hold these views take only two meals a day, and do not even take tea in the interval. an experienced doctor by name deway has written an excellent book on fasting, in which he has shown the benefits of dispensing with the breakfast. i can also say from my experience that there is absolutely no need to eat more than twice, for a man who has passed the period of youth, and whose body has attained its fullest growth. chapter vii exercise exercise is as much of a vital necessity for man as air, water and food, in the sense that no man who does not take exercise regularly, can be perfectly healthy. by "exercise" we do not mean merely walking, or games like hockey, football, and cricket; we include under the term all physical and mental activity. exercise, even as food, is as essential to the mind as to the body. the mind is much weakened by want of exercise as the body, and a feeble mind is, indeed, a form of disease. an athlete, for instance, who is an expert in wrestling, cannot be regarded as a really _healthy_ man, unless his mind is equally efficient. as already explained, "a sound mind in a sound body" alone constitutes true health. which, then, are those exercises which keep the body and the mind equally efficient? indeed, nature has so arranged it that we can be engaged in physical as well as mental work at the same time. the vast majority of men on earth live by field-labour. the farmer has to do strenuous bodily exercise at any cost, for he has to work for 8 or 10 hours, or sometimes even more, in order to earn his bread and clothing. and efficient labour is impossible unless the mind is also in good condition. he has to attend to all the many details of cultivation; he must have a good knowledge of soils and seasons, and perhaps also of the movements of the sun, the moon, and the stars. even the ablest men will be beaten by the farmer in these matters. he knows the state of his immediate surroundings thoroughly well, he can find the directions by looking at the stars in the night, and tell a great many things from the ways of birds and beasts. he knows, for instance, that rain is about to fall when a particular class of birds gather together, and begin to make noise. he knows as much of the earth and the sky as is necessary for his work. as he has to bring up his children, he must know something of _dharma sastra_. since he lives under the broad open sky, he easily realises the greatness of god. of course, all men cannot be farmers, nor is this book written for them. we have however, described the life of the farmer, as we are convinced that it is the _natural life_ for man. to the extent to which we deviate from these natural conditions must we suffer in health. from the farmer's life we learn that we should work for at least 8 hours a day, and it should involve mental work as well. merchants and others leading a sedentary life have indeed, to do some mental work, but their work is too one-sided and too inadequate to be called _exercise_. for such people the wise men of the west have devised games like cricket and football, and such minor games as are played at parties and festive gatherings. as for mental work the reading of such books as involve no mental strain is prescribed. no doubt these games do give exercise to the body, but it is a question if they are equally beneficial to the mind. how many of the best players of football and cricket are men of superior mental powers? what have we seen of the mental equipment of those indian princes who have earned a distinction as players? on the other hand, how many of the ablest men care to play these games? we can affirm from our experience that there are very few players among those who are gifted with great mental powers. the people of england are extremely fond of games, but their own poet, kipling, speaks very disparagingly of the mental capacity of the players. here in india, however, we have chosen quite a different path! our men do arduous mental work, but give little or no exercise to the body. their bodies are enfeebled by excessive mental strain, and they fall a prey to serious diseases; and just when the world expects to benefit by their work, they bid it eternal farewell! our work should be neither exclusively physical nor exclusively mental, nor such as ministers merely to the pleasure of the moment. the ideal kind of exercise is that which gives vigour to the body as well as to the mind; only such exercise can keep a man truly healthy, and such a man is the farmer. but what shall he do who is no farmer? the exercise which games like the cricket give is too inadequate, and something else has to be devised. the best thing for ordinary men would be to keep a small garden near the house, and work in it for a few hours every day. some may ask, "what can we do if the house we live in be not our own?" this is a foolish question to ask, for, whoever may be the owner of the house, he cannot object to his ground being improved by digging and cultivation. and we shall have the satisfaction of feeling that we have helped to keep somebody else's ground neat and clean. those who do not find time for such exercise or who may not like it, may resort to walking, which is the next best exercise. truly has this been described as the queen of all exercises. the main reason why our _sadhus_ and _fakirs_ are strong as a class is that they go about from one end of the country to the other only on foot. thoreau, the great american writer, has said many remarkable things on walking as an exercise. he says that the writings of those who keep indoors and never go out into the open air, will be as weak as their bodies. referring to his own experience, he says that all his best works were written when he was walking the most. he was such an inveterate walker that four or five hours a day was quite an ordinary thing with him! our passion for exercise should become so strong that we cannot bring ourselves to dispense with it on any account. we hardly realise how weak and futile is our mental work when unaccompanied by hard physical exercise. walking gives movement to every portion of the body, and ensures vigorous circulation of the blood; for, when we walk fast, fresh air is inhaled into the lungs. then there is the inestimable joy that natural objects give us, the joy that comes from a contemplation of the beauties of nature. it is, of course, useless to walk along lanes and streets, or to take the same path every day. we should go out into the fields and forests where we can have a taste of nature. walking a mile or two is no walking at all; at least ten or twelve miles are necessary for exercise. those who cannot walk so much every day can at least do so on sundays. once a man who was suffering from indigestion went to the doctor to take medicine. he was advised to walk a little every day, but he pleaded that he was too weak to walk at all. then the doctor took him into his carriage for a drive. on the way he deliberately dropped his whip, and the sick man, out of courtesy, got down to take it. the doctor, however, drove on without waiting for him, and the poor man had to trudge behind the carriage. when the doctor was satisfied that he had walked long enough, he took him into the carriage again, and explained that it was a device adopted to make him walk. as the man had begun to feel hungry by this time, he realised the value of the doctor's advice, and forgot the affair of the whip. he then went home and had a hearty meal. let those who are suffering from indigestion and kindred diseases try for themselves, and they will at once realise the value of walking as an exercise. chapter viii dress dress is also a matter of health to a certain extent. european ladies, for instance, have such queer notions of beauty that their dress is contrived with a view to straitening the waist and the feet, which, in its turn, leads to several diseases. the feet of chinese women are deliberately straitened to such an extent that they are smaller even than the feet of our little children, and, as a result, their health is injured. these two instances show how the health may be affected by the nature of the dress. but the choice of our dress does not rest always in our hands, for we have perforce to adopt the manners of our elders. the chief object of dress has been forgotten, and it has come to be regarded as indicative of a man's religion, country, race and profession. in this state of things, it is very difficult to discuss the question of dress strictly from the point of view of health, but such a discussion must necessarily do us good. under the term dress, we include all such things as boots and shoes, as well as jewellery and the like. what is the chief object of dress? man in his primitive state had no dress at all; he went about naked, and exposing almost the whole body. his skin was firm and strong, he was able to stand sun and shower, and never once suffered from cold and kindred ailments. as has already been explained, we inhale the air not only through the nostrils, but also through the numberless pores of the skin. so when we cover the body with clothing, we are preventing this natural function of the skin. but when the people of the colder countries grew more and more indolent, they began to feel the need to cover their bodies. they were no longer able to stand the cold, and the use of dress came into being, until at length it came to be looked upon not merely as a necessity, but as an ornament. subsequently it has also come to be regarded as an indication of country, race etc. in fact, nature herself has provided an excellent covering for us in our skin. the idea that the body looks unseemly in undress is absurd, for the very best pictures are those that display the naked body. when we cover up the most ordinary parts of our body, it is as though we felt ashamed of them in their natural condition, and as though we found fault with nature's own arrangement. we think it a duty to go on multiplying the trappings and ornaments for our body, as we grow richer and richer. we 'adorn' our body in all sorts of hideous ways, and pride ourselves on our handsomeness! if our eyes were not blinded by foolish habit, we should see that the body looks most handsome only in its nakedness, as it enjoys its best health only in that condition. dress, indeed, detracts from the natural beauty of the body. but, not content with dress alone, man began to wear jewels also. this is mere madness, for it is hard to understand how these jewels can add an iota to the body's natural beauty. but women have gone beyond all bounds of sense or decency in this matter. they are not ashamed to wear anklets which are so heavy that they can hardly lift their feet, or to pierce their nose and ears hideously for putting on rings, or to stud their wrists and fingers with rings and bracelets of several kinds. these ornaments only serve to help the accumulation of dirt in the body; there is indeed no limit to the dirt on the nose and ears. we mistake this filthiness for beauty, and throw money away to secure it; and we do not even shrink from putting our lives at the mercy of thieves. there is no limit to the pains we take to satisfy the silly notions of vanity that we have so sedulously cultivated. women, indeed, have become so infatuated that they are not prepared to remove the ear-ring even if the ears are diseased; even if the hand is swollen and suffering from frightful pain, they would not remove the bracelets; and they are unwilling to remove the ring from a swollen finger, since they imagine that their beauty would suffer by so doing! a thorough reform in dress is by no means an easy matter, but it is surely possible for all of us to renounce our jewels and all superfluous clothing. we may keep some few things for the sake of convention, and throw off all the rest. those who are free from the superstition that dress is an ornament can surely effect many changes in their dress, and keep themselves in good health. now-a-days the notion has gained ground that european dress is necessary for maintaining our decency and prestige! this is not the place to discuss this question in detail. here it will be enough to point out that, although the dress of europeans might be good enough for the cold countries of europe, it is hopelessly unsuited to india. indian dress, alone, can be good for indians, whether they be hindu or musalman. our dress being loose and open, air is not shut out; and being white for the most part, it does not absorb the heat. black dress feels hot, since all the sun's rays are absorbed into it, and, in its turn, into the body. the practice of covering the head with the turban has become quite common with us. nevertheless we should try to keep the head bare as far as possible. to grow the hair, and to dress it by combing and brushing, parting in the middle and so on, is nothing short of barbarous. dust and dirt, as well as nits and lice, accumulate in the hair, and if a boil were to arise on the head, it cannot be properly treated. especially for those who use a turban, it would be stupid to grow the hair. the feet also are common agents of disease. the feet of those who wear boots and shoes grow dirty, and begin to exude a lot of stinking perspiration. so great is the stink that those who are sensitive to smells will hardly be able to stand by the side of one who is removing his shoes and socks. our common names for the shoe speak of it as the "protector of the feet" and the "enemy of the thorn" showing that shoes should be worn only when we have to walk along a thorny path, or over very cold or hot ground, and that only the soles should be covered, and not the entire feet. and this purpose is served excellently well by the _sandal_. some people who are accustomed to the use of shoes often suffer from headaches, of pain in the feet, or weakness of the body. let them try the experiment of walking with bare feet, and then they will at once find out the benefit of keeping the feet bare, and free from sweat by exposure to the air. chapter ix sexual relations i would specially request those who have carefully read through the book so far to read through this chapter with even greater care, and ponder well over its subject-matter. there are still several more chapters to be written, and they will, of course, be found useful in their own way. but not one of them is nearly as important as this. as i have already said, there is not a single matter mentioned in this book which is not based on my personal experience, or which i do not believe to be strictly true. many are the keys to health, and they are all quite essential; but the one thing needful, above all others, is _brahmacharya_. of course, pure air, pure water, and wholesome food do contribute to health. but how can we be healthy if we expend all the health that we acquire? how can we help being paupers if we spend all the money that we earn? there can be no doubt that men and women can never be virile or strong unless they observe true _brahmacharya_. what do we mean by _brahmacharya_? we mean by it that men and women should refrain from enjoying each other. that is to say, they should not touch each other with a carnal thought, they should not think of it even in their dreams. their mutual glances should be free from all suggestion of carnality. the hidden strength that god has given us should be conserved by rigid self-discipline, and transmitted into energy and power,--not merely of body, but also of mind and soul. but what is the spectacle that we actually see around us? men and women, old and young, without exception, are seen entangled in the coils of sensuality. blinded by lust, they lose all sense of right and wrong. i have myself seen even boys and girls behaving like mad men under its fatal influence. i too have behaved likewise under similar influences, and it could not well be otherwise. for the sake of a momentary pleasure, we sacrifice in an instant all the stock of vitality that we have accumulated. the infatuation over, we find ourselves in a miserable condition. the next morning, we feel hopelessly weak and tired, and the mind refuses to do its work. then, we try to remedy the mischief by taking all sorts of 'nervine tonics' and put ourselves under the doctor's mercy for repairing the waste, and for recovering the capacity for enjoyment. so the days pass and the years, until at length old age comes upon us, and finds us utterly emasculated in body and in mind. but the law of nature is just the reverse of this. the older we grow, the keener should grow our intellect also; the longer we live, the greater should be our capacity to transmit the fruits of our accumulated experience to our fellowmen. and such is indeed the case with those who have been true _brahmacharies_. they know no fear of death, and they do not forget good even in the hour of death; nor do they indulge in vain complaints. they die with a smile on their lips, and boldly face the day of judgment. they are the true men and women; and of them alone can it be said that they have conserved their health. we hardly realise the fact that incontinence is the root-cause of all the vanity, anger, fear and jealousy in the world. if our mind is not under our control, if we behave once or more every day more foolishly than even little children, what sins may we not commit consciously or unconsciously? how can we pause to think of the consequences of our actions, however vile or sinful they may be? but you may ask, "who has ever seen a true _brahmachary_ in this sense? if all men should turn _brahmacharies_, would not humanity be extinct, and the whole world go to rack and ruin?" we will leave aside the religious aspect of this question, and discuss it simply from the secular point of view. to my mind, these questions only bespeak our weakness and our cowardliness. we have not the strength of will to observe _brahmacharya_, and, therefore, set about finding pretexts for evading our duty. the race of true _brahmacharies_ is by no means extinct; but, if they were to be had merely for the asking, of what value would _brahmacharya_ be? thousands of hardy labourers have to go and dig deep into the bowels of the earth in search of diamonds, and at length they get perhaps merely a handful of them out of heaps and heaps of rock. how much greater, then, should be the labour involved in the discovery of the infinitely more precious diamond of a _brahmachary_? if the observance of _brahmacharya_ should mean the ruin of the world, why should we regret it? are we god that we should be so anxious about its future? he who created it will surely see to its preservation. it is none of our business to enquire if other people practise _brahmacharya_ or not. when we turn merchant or lawyer or doctor, do we ever pause to consider what the fate of the world would be if all men were to do likewise? the true _brahmachary_ will, in the long run, discover for himself answers to such questions. but how can men engrossed by the cares of the material world put these ideas into practice? what shall the married people do? what shall they do who have children? and what shall be done by those people who cannot control their lust? the best solution for all such difficulties has already been given. we should keep this ideal constantly before us, and try to approximate to it more and more to the utmost of our capacity. when little children are taught to write the letters of the alphabet, we show them the perfect shapes of the letters, and they try to reproduce them as best they can. just in the same way, if we steadily work up to the ideal of _brahmacharya_, we may ultimately succeed in realising it. what if we have married already? the law of nature is that _brahmacharya_ may be broken only when the husband and wife feel a strong desire for a child. those who, remembering this law, violate _brahmacharya_ once in four or five years cannot be said to be slaves to lust, nor can they appreciably lose their stock of vitality. but, alas, how rare are those men and women who yield to the sexual craving merely for the sake of an offspring! the vast majority, who may be numbered in thousands, turn to sexual enjoyment merely to satisfy their carnal passion, with the result that children are born to them quite against their will. in the madness of sexual passion, we give no thought to the consequences of our acts. in this respect, men are even more to blame than women. the man is blinded so much by his lust that he never cares to remember that his wife is weak and incapable of rearing a child. in the west indeed, people have trespassed even against the claims of common decency. they indulge in sexual pleasures, and devise measures in order to evade the responsibilities of parenthood. many books have been written on this subject, and a regular trade is being carried on in providing the means of preventing conception. we are as yet free from this sin, but we do not shrink from imposing the heavy burden of maternity on our women, and we are not concerned even to find that our children are weak, impotent and imbecile. every time we get children, we bless providence, and so seek to hide from ourselves the wickedness of our acts. should we not rather deem it a sign of god's anger to have children who are weak, sensual, crippled and impotent? is it a matter for joy that mere boys and girls should have children? is it not rather a curse of god? we all know that the premature fruit of a too young plant weakens the parent, and so we try all means of delaying the appearance of fruit. but we sing hymns of praise and thanks-giving to god when a child is born of a boy-father and a girl-mother! could anything be more dreadful? do we think that the world is going to be saved by the countless swarms of such impotent children endlessly multiplying in india or elsewhere in the world? verily we are, in this respect, far worse than even the lower animals; for, the bull and the cow are brought together solely with the object of having a calf. man and woman should regard it as sacred duty to keep apart from the moment of conception up to the time when the child has ceased to suck its mother's breast. but we go on in our merry fashion blissfully forgetful of this sacred obligation. this incurable disease enfeebles our mind and leads us to an early grave, after making us drag a miserable existence for a short while. married people should understand the true function of marriage, and should not violate the law of _brahmacharya_ except with a view to having a child for the continuation of the race. but this is so difficult under our present conditions of life. our diet, our ways of life, our common talk, and our environments are all equally calculated to rouse and keep alive our sensual appetite; and sensuality is like a poison, eating into our vitals. some people may doubt the possibility of our being able to free ourselves from this bondage. this book is written not for those who go about with such doubtings of heart, but only for those who are really in earnest, and who have the courage to take active steps for their improvement. those who are quite content with their present abject condition may even be offended to read all this; but i hope this will be of some service to those who are heartily disgusted with their own miserable existence. from all that has been said, it follows that those who are still unmarried should try to remain so; but, if they cannot help marrying, they should do so as late as possible. young men, for instance, should take a vow to remain unmarried till the age of 25 or 30. we shall not explain here all the benefits other than physical that result from this; but those who want to enjoy them can do so for themselves. my request to those parents who may read these pages is that they should not tie a mill-stone round the necks of their sons by marrying them in their teens. they should look also to the welfare of their sons, and not only to their own interests. they should throw aside all silly notions of caste-pride or 'respectability', and cease to indulge in such heartless practices. let them, rather, if they are true well-wishers of their children, look to their physical, mental and moral improvements. what greater disservice can they do to their sons than compelling them to enter upon a married life, with all its tremendous responsibilities and cares, even while they are mere boys? then again, the true laws of health demand that the man that loses his wife, as well as the woman that loses her husband, should remain single ever after. there is a difference of opinion among doctors as to whether young men and women need ever let their vital fluid escape, some answering the question in the affirmative, others in the negative. but this cannot justify our taking advantage of it for sensual enjoyment. i can affirm, without the slightest hesitation, from my own experience as well as that of others, that sexual enjoyment is not only not necessary for the preservation of health, but is positively detrimental to it. all the strength of body and mind that has taken long to acquire, is lost altogether by the escape of the vital fluid, and it takes a long time to regain this lost strength, and even then there is no saying that it can be thoroughly recovered. a broken vessel may be made to do its work after mending, but it can never be anything but a broken vessel. as has already been pointed out, the preservation of our vitality is impossible without pure air, pure water, pure and wholesome food, as well as pure thoughts. so vital indeed is the relation between our health and the life that we lead that we can never be perfectly healthy unless we lead a clean life. the earnest man who, forgetting the errors of the past, begins to live a life of purity will be able to reap the fruit of it straightway. those who have practised true _brahmacharya_ even for a short period will have seen how their body and mind improve steadily in strength and power, and they will not, at any cost, be willing to part with this treasure. i have myself been guilty of lapses even after having fully understood the value of _brahmacharya_, and have, of course, paid dearly for it. i am filled with shame and remorse when i think of the terrible contrast between my condition before and after these lapses. but from the errors of the past i have now learnt to preserve this treasure in tact, and i fully hope, with god's grace, to continue to preserve it in the future; for i have in my own person, witnessed the inestimable benefits of _brahmacharya_. i was married early in life, and had become the father of children as a mere youth. when, at length, i awoke to the reality of my situation, i found myself sunk in the lowest depths of degradation. i shall consider myself amply rewarded for writing these pages if at least a single reader is able to take warning from my failings and experiences, and to profit thereby. many people have told me (and i also believe it) that i am full of energy and enthusiasm, and that my mind is by so means weak; some even accuse me of rashness. there is disease in my body as well as in my mind; nevertheless, when compared with my friends, i may call myself perfectly healthy and strong. if even after twenty years of sensual enjoyment, i have been able to reach this state, how much better should i have been if only i had kept myself pure during those twenty years as well? it is my full conviction that, if only i had lived a life of _brahmacharya_ all through, my energy and enthusiasm would have been a thousandfold greater and i should have been able to devote them all to the furtherance of my country's cause as of my own. if this can be affirmed of an ordinary man like myself, how much more wonderful must be the gain in power,--physical, mental, as well as moral--that unbroken _brahmacharya_ can bring to us! when so strict is the law of _brahmacharya_, what shall we say of those guilty of the unpardonable sin of illegitimate sexual enjoyment? the evil that arises from adultery and prostitution is a vital question of religion and morality and cannot be fully dealt with in a treatise on health. here we are only concerned to point out how thousands who are guilty of these sins are afflicted by syphilis and other unmentionable diseases. the inflexible decree of providence happily condemns these wretches to a life of unmitigated suffering. their short span of life is spent in abject bondage to quacks in a futile quest after a remedy that will rid them of their suffering. if there were no adultery at all, there would be no work for at least 50% of doctors. so inextricably indeed has venereal disease caught mankind in its clutches that even the best doctors have been forced to admit that, so long as adultery and prostitution continue, there is no hope for the human race. the medicines for these diseases are so poisonous that, although they may appear to have done some good for the time being, they give rise to other and still more terrible diseases which are handed down from generation to generation. in concluding this chapter, we will briefly point out how married people can preserve their _brahmacharya_ intact. it is not enough to observe the laws of health as regards air, water and food. the man should altogether cease to sleep in privacy with his wife. little reflection is needed to show that the only possible motive for privacy between man and wife is the desire for sexual enjoyment. they should sleep apart at night, and be incessantly engaged in good works during the day. they should read such books as fill them with noble thoughts and meditate over the lives of great men, and live in the constant realisation of the fact that sensual enjoyment is the root of all disease. whenever they feel a prompting for enjoyment, they should bathe in cold water, so that the heat of passion may be cooled down, and be refined into the energy of virtuous activity. this is a hard thing to do, but we have been born into this world that we might wrestle with difficulties and temptations, and conquer them; and he who has not the will to do it can never enjoy the supreme blessing of true health. part ii some simple treatments chapter i air-treatment we have now done with the discussion of the foundations of health, as well as the means of its preservation. if all men and women were to obey all the laws of health, and practice strict brahmacharya, there would be no need at all for the chapters which follow, for such men and women would then be free from all ailments, whether of the body or of the mind. but where can such men and women be found? where are they who have not been afflicted by disease? the more strictly, however, we observe the laws which have been explained in this book, the more shall we be free from disease. but when diseases do attack us, it is our duty to deal with them properly, and the following chapters are intended to show how to do it. pure air, which is so essential to the preservation of health, is also essential to the cure of diseases. if, for instance, a man who is suffering from gout is treated with air heated by steam, he perspires profusely, and his joints are eased. this kind of vapour-treatment is known as "turkish bath." if a man who is suffering from high fever is stripped naked, and made to sleep in the open air, there is an immediate fall in the temperature, and he feels a distinct relief. and if, when he feels cold, he is wrapped in a blanket, he perspires at once, and the fever ceases. but what we generally do is just the reverse of this. even if the patient is willing to remain in the open air, we close all the doors and windows of the room in which he lies, and cover his whole body (including the head and ears) with blankets, with the result that he is frightened, and is rendered still weaker. if the fever is the outcome of too much heat, the sort of air-treatment described above is perfectly harmless, and its effect can be instantly felt. of course, care should be taken that the patient does not begin to shiver in the open air. if he cannot remain naked, he may well be covered with blankets. change of air is an effective remedy for latent fever and other diseases. the common practice of taking a change of air is only an application of the principle of air-treatment. we often change our residence in the belief that a house constantly infested by disease is the resort of evil spirits. this is a mere delusion, for the real "evil spirits" in such cases are the foul air inside the house. a change of residence ensures a change of air, and with it the cure of the diseases brought on by it. indeed, so vital is the relation between health and air that the good or evil effects of even a slight change are instantaneously felt. for a change of air the rich can afford to go to distant places, but even the poor can go from one village to another, or at least from one house to another. even a change of room in the same house often brings great relief to a sick man. but, of course, care should be taken to see that the change of air is really for the better. thus, for instance, a disease that has been brought on by damp air cannot be cured by a change to a damper locality. it is because sufficient attention is not paid to simple precautions like this that a change of air is often so ineffectual. this chapter has been devoted to some simple instances of the application of air to the treatment of disease, while the chapter on air in part i of this book contains a general consideration of the value of pure air to health. hence i would request my readers to read these two chapters side by side. chapter ii water-cure since air is invisible, we cannot perceive the wonderful way in which it does its work. but the work of water and its curative effects can be easily seen and understood. all people know something of the use of steam as a curative agent. we often employ it in cases of fever, and very often severe headaches can be cured only by its application. in cases of rheumatic pain in the joints, rapid relief is obtained by the use of steam followed by a cold bath. boils and ulcers not cured by simple dressing with ointments can be completely healed by the application of steam. in case of extreme fatigue, a steam-bath or a hot-water bath immediately followed by a cold bath will be found very effective. so too, in cases of sleeplessness, instant relief is often obtained by sleeping in the open air after a steam-bath followed by a cold bath. hot water can always be used as a substitute for steam. when there is severe pain in the stomach, instant relief is obtained by warming with a bottle filled with boiling water placed over a thick cloth wrapped round the waist. whenever there is a desire to vomit, it can be done by drinking plenty of hot water. those who are suffering from constipation often derive great benefit by drinking a glass of hot water either at bedtime or soon after rising and cleaning the teeth in the morning. sir gordon spring attributed his excellent health to the practice of drinking a glass of hot water every day before going to bed and after getting up in the morning. the bowels of many people move only after taking tea in the morning, and they foolishly suppose that it is the tea which has produced this effect. but, as a matter of fact, tea only does harm, and it is really the hot water in the tea that moves the bowels. a special kind of cot is often used for steam-baths, but it is not quite essential. a spirit or kerosine oil stove, or a wood or coal fire, should be kept burning under an ordinary cane chair. over the fire should be placed a vessel of water with the mouth covered; and over the chair a sheet or blanket is so spread that it may hang down in the front and protect the patient from the heat of the fire. then the patient should be seated in the chair and wrapped round with sheets or blankets. then the vessel should be uncovered, so that the patient may be exposed to the steam issuing from it. our common practice of covering the head also of the patient is a needless precaution. the heat of the steam presses through the body right up to the head, and gives rise to profuse perspiration on the face. if the patient is too weak to sit up, he may be made to lie down on a cot with interstices, taking care to see that none of the steam escapes. of course, care should also be taken to see that the patient's clothes or the blankets used do not catch fire; and due consideration should be paid to the state of the patient's health, as an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with danger. the patient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness does not last long. too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the constitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with due deliberation. steam may also be applied to any single part of the body; in cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the whole body to the steam. the head should be held just over a narrow-mouthed jar of boiling water, and wrapped round with a cloth. then the steam should be inhaled through the nose so that it may ascend into the head. if the nasal passage is blocked, it will also be opened by this process. likewise, if there be inflamation in any part of the body, it alone need be exposed to the steam. very few realise the curative value of cold water, in spite of the fact that it is even more valuable in this respect than hot water, and can be made use of by even the weakest persons. in fever, small-pox, and skin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped in cold water is very beneficial, and often produces startling results; and anybody may try it without the least risk. dizziness or delirium can be instantly relieved by tying round the head a cloth dipped in melted ice. people suffering from constipation often derive great benefit by tying round the stomach for some time a piece of cloth dipped in melted ice. involuntary seminal discharges can also be often prevented by the same means. bleeding in any part of the body may be stopped by the application of a bandage dipped in ice-cold water. bleeding from the nose is stopped by pouring cold water over the head. nasal diseases, cold and headache, may be cured by drawing pure cold water up the nose. the water may be drawn through one nostril and discharged through the other, or drawn through both nostrils and discharged through the mouth. there is no harm in the water going even into the stomach provided the nostrils are clean. and indeed, this is the best way to keep the nostrils clean. those who are unable to draw the water up the nostrils may use a syringe, but after a few attempts, it can be done quite easily. all should learn to do this, since it is very simple, and at the same time a most effective remedy against headaches, bad smells in the nose, as well as dirty accumulations in the nasal passage. many people are afraid of taking an enema, and some even think that the body is weakened by it; but such fears are baseless. there is no more effective means of producing an instant evacuation of the bowels. it has proved effective in many diseases where all other remedies have been futile; it thoroughly cleans the bowels, and prevents the accumulation of poisonous matter. if those who suffer from rheumatic complaints or indigestion or pains caused by an unhealthy condition of the bowels take an enema of 2 lbs. of water, they would see how instantaneous is its effect. one writer on this subject says that once he was suffering from chronic indigestion and, all remedies proving futile; he had grown emaciated, but the application of the enema at once restored him his appetite, and altogether cured him of his complaint in a few days. even ailments like jaundice can be cured by the application of the enema. if the enema has to be frequently employed, cold water should be used, for the repeated use of hot water is likely to enfeeble the constitution. dr. louis kuhne of germany has, after repeated experiments, arrived at the conclusion that water-cure is the best for all diseases. his books on this subject are so popular that they are now available in almost all the languages of the world, including those of india. he contends that the abdomen is the seat of all diseases. when there is too much heat in the abdomen, it manifests itself in the form of fever, rheumatism, eruptions on the body, and the like. the efficacy of water-cure had, indeed, been recognised by several people long before kuhne, but it was he who, for the first time, pointed out the common origin of all diseases. his views need not be accepted by us in their entirety, but it is an undoubted fact that his principles and methods have proved effective in many diseases. to give only one instance out of many that have come within my experience, in a bad case of rheumatism, a thorough cure was effected by kuhne's system, after all other remedies had been tried, and had proved utterly ineffectual. dr. kuhne holds that the heat in the abdomen abates by the application of cold water, and has, therefore, prescribed the bathing of the abdomen and the surrounding parts with thoroughly cold water. and for the greater convenience of bathing, he has devised a special kind of tin bath. this, however, is not quite indispensable; the tin tubs of an oval shape and of different sizes to suit people of different heights, available in our bazaars, will do equally well. the tub should be filled three-fourths with cold water, and the patient should seat himself in it in such a fashion that his feet and the upper part of the body remain outside the water, and the rest of the body up to the hips inside it. the feet may preferably be placed on a low foot-stool. the patient should sit in the water quite naked, but, if he feels cold, the feet and the upper part of the body should be covered with a blanket. if a shirt is worn, it should be kept entirely outside the water. the bath should be taken in a room where there is plenty of fresh air and light. the patient should then slowly rub (or cause to be rubbed) the abdomen with a small rough towel from 5 to 30 minutes or more. the effect is instantly felt in most cases. in cases of rheumatism, the wind in the stomach escapes in the form of eructations and the like, and in cases of fever, the thermometre falls by one or two degrees. the bowels are readily cleaned by this process; fatigue disappears; sleeplessness is removed, and extreme drowsiness gives place to vigour. this contrariness of result is more apparent than real; for want of sleep, and the excess of it, are both brought on by the same cause. so too, dysentery and constipation, which are both the outcome of indigestion, are cured by this method. piles of long standing can also be got rid of by this bath, with proper regulation of diet. those who are troubled by the necessity for constant spitting should at once resort to this treatment for a cure. by its means the weak can become strong; and even chronic rheumatism has been cured by it. it is also an effective remedy for haemorrhages, headaches, and blood-poisoning. kuhne prescribes it as an invaluable remedy even for diseases like the cancer. a pregnant woman who takes to it regularly will have an easy child-birth. in short, all persons, without distinction of age or sex, can take to it with advantage. there is another kind of bath, known as the "wet-sheet-pack", which is an unfailing remedy for various diseases. this bath is taken in the following manner. a table or chair is placed in the open air, big enough to allow of the patient lying on it at full length. on it are spread (hanging on either side) some four blankets, less or more according to the state of the weather. over them are spread two white thick sheets well dipped in cold water, and a pillow is placed under the blankets at one end. then the patient is stripped naked (with the exception of a small waist-cloth, if he so wishes), and made to lie down on the sheets, with his hands placed in the arm-pits. then the sheets and blankets are, one after another, wrapped round his body, taking care that the parts hanging under the feet are well tucked in so as to cover them. if the patient is exposed to the sun, a wet cloth is put over his head and face, keeping the nose always open. at first the patient will experience some shivering, but this will soon give place to an agreeably warm sensation. he can lie in this position from 5 minutes to an hour or more. after a time he begins to perspire, or at times falls asleep. soon after coming out of the sheets he should bathe in cold-water. this is an excellent remedy for small-pox and fever, and skin-diseases like the itch, the ringworm, and pimples and blotches. even the worst forms of chicken-pox and small-pox are completely cured by this process. people can easily learn to take the "wet-sheet-pack" themselves, and to apply it to others, and can thus see for themselves its wonderful effect. as the whole dirt of the body sticks to the sheets in the process of taking this bath, they ought not to be used again without being well washed in boiling water. needless to say, the full benefit of these baths cannot be derived unless the rules already mentioned as to diet, exercise and the like are strictly observed. if a rheumatic patient, for instance, were to take to kuhne's bath or to the "wet-sheet-pack," while eating unwholesome food, living in impure air, and neglecting his exercise, how can he possibly derive any good out of it? it is only when accompanied by strict observance of all the laws of health that water-cure can be of any effect; and when so employed, its effects are sure and immediate. chapter iii the use of earth we will now proceed to describe the curative properties of earth, which are, in some cases, even more remarkable than those of water. that earth should have such properties need not cause us any surprise, for our own body is compounded of the earthly element. indeed, we do make use of earth as a purifying agent. we wash the ground with earth to remove bad smells, we put it over decaying matter to prevent the pollution of the air, we wash our hands with it, and even employ it to clean the private parts. yogis besmear their bodies with it; some people use it as a cure for boils and ulcers; and dead bodies are buried in the earth so that they may not vitiate the atmosphere. all this shows that earth has many valuable properties as a purifying and curative agent. just as dr. kuhne has devoted special attention to the subject of water-cure, another german doctor has made a special study of earth and its properties. he goes so far as to say that it can be used with success in the treatment of even the most complicated diseases. he says that once in a case of snake-bite, where everybody else had given up the man for dead, he restored him to life by causing him to be covered up with earth for some time. there is no reason to doubt the veracity of this report. it is well known that great heat is generated in the body by burying it in the earth; and although we cannot explain how exactly the effect is produced, it is undeniable that earth does possess the property of absorbing the poison. indeed, every case of snake-bite may not be cured in this way; but it should certainly be tried in every case. and i can say from my own experience that, in cases of scorpion-sting and the like, the use of mud is particularly beneficial. i have myself tried with success the following forms of earth-cure. constipation, dysentery, and chronic stomach-ache have been cured by the use of a mud-poultice over the abdomen for two or three days. instant relief has been obtained in cases of headache by applying a mud-bandage round the head. sore eye has also been cured by the same method; hurts of all kinds, whether accompanied by inflammation or not, have been healed likewise. in the old days i could not keep well without a regular use of eno's fruit-salt and the like. but, since 1904, when i learnt the value of earth-cure, i have had not a single occasion to use them. a mud-poultice over the abdomen and the head, gives distinct relief in a state of high fever. skin-diseases like the itch, the ringworm, and boils, have been cured with the use of mud, though no doubt ulcers from which pus issues are not so easily cured. burns and scalds are likewise healed by mud, which also prevents inflammation. piles, too, are cured by the same treatment. when the hands and feet become red and swollen owing to frost, mud is an unfailing remedy, and pain in the joints is also relieved by it. from these and other experiments in mud-cure, i have come to the conclusion that earth is an invaluable element in the domestic treatment of diseases. all kinds of earth are not, of course, equally beneficial. dry earth dug out from a clean spot has been found the most effective. it should not be too sticky. mud which is midway between sand and clay is the best. it should, of course, be free from cow-dung and other rubbish. it should be well sifted in a fine sieve, and then soaked in cold water to the consistency of well-kneaded dough before use. then it should be tied up in a piece of clean, unstarched cloth, and used in the form of a thick poultice. the poultice should be removed before the mud begins to dry up; ordinarily it will last from two to three hours. mud once used should never be used again, but a cloth once used can be used again, after being well washed, provided it is free from blood and other dirty matter. if the poultice has to be applied to the abdomen, it should first be covered over with a warm cloth. everybody should keep a tinful of earth ready for use, so as not to have to hunt for it whenever an occasion arises for its use. otherwise, much precious time may be wasted in cases (as of scorpion-sting) where delay would be dangerous. chapter iv fever and its cure we now pass on to consider some particular diseases and the means of curing them. and first, fever. we generally apply the term "fever" to a condition of heat in the body, but english doctors have distinguished many varieties of this disease, each with its own system of treatment. but, following the common practice and the principles elaborated in these chapters, we may say that all fevers can be cured in one and the same manner. i have tried this single treatment for all varieties from simple fever up to bubonic plague, with invariably satisfactory results. in 1904, there was a severe outbreak of plague among the indians in south africa. it was so severe that, out of 23 persons that were affected, as many as 21 died within the space of 24 hours; and of the remaining two, who were removed to the hospital, only one survived, and that one was the man to whom was applied the mud-poultice. we cannot, of course, conclude from this that it was the mud-poultice that saved him, but, in any case, it is undeniable that it did him no harm. they were both suffering from high fever brought on by inflammation of the lungs, and had been rendered unconscious. the man on whom was tried the mud-poultice was so bad that he was spitting blood, and i afterwards learnt from the doctor that he had been insufficiently fed on milk alone. as most fevers are caused by disorders of the bowels, the very first thing to do is to starve the patient. it is a mere superstition that a weak man will get weaker by starving. as we have already seen, only that portion of our food is really useful which is assimilated into the blood, and the remainder only clogs the bowels. in fever the digestive organs are very weak, the tongue gets coated, and the lips are hard and dry. if any food is given to the patient in this condition, it will remain undigested and aid the fever. starving the patient gives his digestive organs time to perform their work; hence the need to starve him for a day or two. at the same time, he should take at least two baths every day according to the kuhne's system. if he is too weak or ill to bathe, a mud-poultice should be applied to his abdomen. if the head aches or feels too hot, a poultice should also be applied to the head. the patient should, as far as possible, be placed in the open air, and should be well covered. at meal-time, he should be given the juice of lime, well filtered and mixed with cold or boiling water, and if possible, without any sugar. this has a very beneficial effect, and should alone be given if the patient's teeth can bear its sourness. afterwards, he may be given a half or the whole of a plantain, well mixed with a spoon of olive oil, mixed with a spoon of lime juice. if he feels thirsty, he should be given water boiled and cooled, or the juice of lime,--never unboiled water. his clothes should be as few as possible, and should be frequently changed. even persons suffering from typhoid and the like diseases have been completely cured by this simple treatment, and are enjoying perfect health at present. a seeming cure may also be effected by quinine, but it really brings other diseases in its train. even in malarial fever, in which quinine is supposed to be most effective, i have rarely seen it bring permanent relief; on the other hand, i have actually seen several cases of malarial patients being permanently cured by the treatment described above. many people subsist on milk alone during fever, but my experience is that it really does harm in the initial stages, as it is hard to digest. if milk has to be given, it is best given in the form of "wheat-coffee",[1] or with a small quantity of rice-flour well boiled in water; but in extreme forms of fever, it ought not to be given at all. in such a condition, the juice of lime may always be given with great success. as soon as the tongue gets clean, plantain may be included in the diet, and given in the form described above. if there be constipation, a hot-water enema with borax should be applied in preference to purgatives, after which a diet of olive oil will serve to keep the bowels free. [1] part ii, chap. iv chapter v constipation, dysentery, gripes and piles it may at first sight appear strange to have four different ailments put together in this chapter, but, as a matter of fact, they are all so closely connected, and may be cured more or less in the same way. when the stomach gets clogged by undigested matter, it leads to one or other of these diseases, according to the varying constitutions of individuals. in some it produces constipation. the bowels do not move, or move only partly, and there is great straining at stools, until it results in bleeding, or at times in the discharge of mucus, or piles. in others, it leads to diarrhea, which often ends in dysentery. in others again, it may give rise to gripes, accompanied by pain in the stomach and the discharge of mucus. in all these cases, the patient loses his appetite, his body gets pale and weak, his tongue gets coated, and his breath foul. many also suffer from headache and other complaints. constipation, indeed, is so common that hundreds of pills and powders have been invented to cure it. the chief function of such patent medicines as mother siegel's syrup and eno's fruit-salt is to relieve constipation, and hence thousands of people go in for them in the vain hope of being cured for good. any _vaid_ or _hakim_ will tell you that constipation and the like are the result of indigestion, and that the best way to cure them is to remove the causes of indigestion; but the more candid among them will confess that they are forced to manufacture pills and powders, since the patients are not really prepared to renounce their bad habits, but at the same time want to get cured. indeed the present-day advertisments of such medicines go to the extent of promising to those that would buy them that they need observe no directions as to diet and the like, but may eat and drink whatever they like. but my readers need not be told that this is a mere string of lies. all purgatives are invariably injurious to health. even the mildest of them, even if they relieve the constipation, give rise to other forms of disease. if they should do any good at all, the patient should thoroughly change his ways of life, so as not to have to turn to purgatives again; otherwise, there can be no doubt that they must give rise to new diseases, even supposing that they serve to get rid of the old. the very first thing to do in cases of constipation and the like is to reduce the quantity of food, especially such heavy things as ghee, sugar and cream of milk. of course, he should eschew altogether wine, tobacco, bhang, tea, coffee, cocoa, and loaves made of "mill flour." the diet should consist for the most part of fresh fruits with olive oil. the patient should be made to starve for 36 hours before treatment begins. during this time and after, mud-poultices should be applied to the abdomen during sleep; and, as has been already said, one or two "kuhne baths" should also be taken. the patient should be made to walk for at least two hours every day. i have myself seen severe cases of constipation, dysentery, piles and gripes effectively cured by this simple treatment. piles may not, of course, completely disappear, but they will certainly cease to give trouble. the sufferer from gripes should take special care not to take any food except lime-juice in hot water, so long as there is discharge of blood or mucus. if there is excessive griping pain in the stomach, it can be cured by warming with a bottle of hot water or a piece of well-heated brick. needless to say, the patient should live constantly in the open air. fruits like the french plum, the raisin, the orange and the grape, are particularly useful in constipation. this does not, of course, mean that these fruits may be eaten even where there is no hunger. they ought not to be eaten at all in cases of gripes accompanied by a bad taste in the mouth. chapter vi contagious diseases: small-pox now we will proceed to deal with the treatment of contagious diseases. they have a common origin, but, since small-pox is by far the most important of them, we will give a separate chapter to it, dealing with the rest in another chapter. we are all terribly afraid of the small-pox, and have very crude notions about it. we in india even worship it as a deity. in fact it is caused, just like other diseases, by the blood getting impure owing to some disorder of the bowels; and the poison that accumulates in the system is expelled in the form of small-pox. if this view is correct, then there is absolutely no need to be afraid of small-pox. if it were really a contagious disease, everyone should catch it by merely touching the patient; but this is not always the case. hence there is really no harm in touching the patient, provided we take some essential precautions in doing so. we cannot, of course, assert that small-pox is never transmitted by touch, for those that are physically in a condition favourable to its transmission will catch it. this is why, in a locality where small-pox has appeared, many people are found attacked by it at the same time. this has given rise to the superstition that it is a contagious disease, and hence to the attempt to mislead the people into the belief that vaccination is an effective means of preventing it. the process of vaccination consists in injecting into the skin the liquid that is obtained by applying the discharge from the body of a small-pox patient to the udder of a cow. the original theory was that a single vaccination would suffice to keep a man immune from this disease for life; but, when it was found that even vaccinated persons were attacked by the disease, a new theory came into being that the vaccination should be renewed after a certain period, and to-day it has become the rule for all persons--whether already vaccinated or not--to get themselves vaccinated whenever small-pox rages as an epidemic in any locality, so that it is no uncommon thing to come across people who have been vaccinated five or six times, or even more. vaccination is a barbarous practice, and it is one of the most fatal of all the delusions current in our time, not to be found even among the so-called savage races of the world. its supporters are not content with its adoption by those who have no objection to it, but seek to impose it with the aid of penal laws and rigorous punishments on all people alike. the practice of vaccination is not very old, dating as it does only from 1798 a.d. but, during this comparatively short period that has elapsed, millions have fallen a prey to the delusion that those who get themselves vaccinated are safe from the attack of small-pox. no one can say that small-pox will necessarily attack those who have not been vaccinated; for many cases have been observed of unvaccinated people being free from its attack. from the fact that some people who are not vaccinated do get the disease, we cannot, of course, conclude that they would have been immune if only they had got themselves vaccinated. moreover, vaccination is a very dirty process, for the serum which is introduced into the human body includes not only that of the cow, but also of the actual small-pox patient. an average man would even vomit at the mere sight of this stuff. if the hand happens to touch it, it is always washed with soap. the mere suggestion of tasting it fills us with indignation and disgust. but how few of those who get themselves vaccinated realise that they are in effect eating this filthy stuff! most people know that, in several diseases, medicines and liquid food are injected into the blood, and that they are assimilated into the system more rapidly than if they were taken through the mouth. the only difference, in fact, between injection and the ordinary process of eating through the mouth is that the assimilation in the former case is instantaneous, while that in the latter is slow. and yet we do not shrink from getting ourselves vaccinated! as has been well said, cowards die a living death, and our craze for vaccination is solely due to the fear of death or disfigurement by small-pox. i cannot also help feeling that vaccination is a violation of the dictates of religion and morality. the drinking of the blood of even dead animals is looked upon with horror even by habitual meat-eaters. yet, what is vaccination but the taking in of the poisoned blood of an innocent living animal? better far were it for god-fearing men that they should a thousand times become the victims of small-pox and even die a terrible death than that they should be guilty of such an act of sacrilege. several of the most thoughtful men in england have laboriously investigated the manifold evils of vaccination, and an anti-vaccination society has also been formed there. the members of this society have declared open war against vaccination, and many have even gone to gaol for this cause. their objections to vaccination are briefly as follows: (1) the preparation of the vaccine from the udder of cows or calves entails untold suffering on thousands of innocent creatures, and this cannot possibly be justified by any gains resulting from vaccination. (2) vaccination, instead of doing good, works considerable mischief by giving rise to many new diseases. even its advocates cannot deny that, after its introduction, many new diseases have come into being. (3) the vaccine that is prepared from the blood of a small-pox patient is likely to contain and transmit the germs of all the several diseases that he may be suffering from. (4) there is no guarantee that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated. dr. jenner, the inventor of vaccination, originally supposed that perfect immunity could be secured by a single injection on a single arm; but when it was found to fail, it was asserted that vaccination on both the arms would serve the purpose; and when even this proved ineffectual, it came to be held that both the arms should be vaccinated at more than one place, and that it should also be renewed once in seven years. finally, the period of immunity has further been reduced to three years! all this clearly shows that doctors themselves have no definite views on the matter. the truth is, as we have already said, that there is no saying that small-pox will not attack the vaccinated, or that all cases of immunity must needs be due to vaccination. (5) the vaccine is a filthy substance, and it is foolish to expect that one kind of filth can be removed by another. by these and similar arguments, this society has already produced a large volume of public opinion against vaccination. in a certain town, for instance, a large proportion of the people refuse to be vaccinated, and yet statistics prove that they are singularly free from disease. the fact of the matter is that it is only the self-interest of doctors that stands in the way of the abolition of this inhuman practice, for the fear of losing the large incomes that they at present derive from this source blinds them to the countless evils which it brings. there are, however, a few doctors who recognise these evils, and who are determined opponents of vaccination. those who are conscientious objectors to vaccination should, of course, have the courage to face all penalties or persecutions to which they may be subjected by law, and stand alone, if need be, against the whole world, in defence of their conviction. those who object to it merely on the grounds of health should acquire a complete mastery of the subject, and should be able to convince others of the correctness of their views, and convert them into adopting those views in practice. but those who have neither definite views on the subject nor courage enough to stand up for their convictions should no doubt obey the laws of the state, and shape their conduct in deference to the opinions and practices of the world around them. those who object to vaccination should observe all the more strictly the laws of health already explained; for the strict observance of these laws ensures in the system those vital forces which counteract all disease germs, and is, therefore, the best protection against small-pox as well as other diseases. if, while objecting to the introduction of the poisonous vaccine into the system, they surrendered themselves to the still more fatal poison of sensuality, they would undoubtedly forfeit their right to ask the world to accept their views on the matter. when small-pox has actually appeared, the best treatment is the "wet-sheet-pack", which should be applied three times a day. it relieves the fever, and the sores heal rapidly. there is no need at all to apply oils or ointments on the sores. if possible, a mud-poultice should be applied in one or two places. the diet should consist of rice, and light fresh fruits, all rich fruits like date and almond being avoided. normally the sores should begin to heal under the "wet-sheet-pack" in less than a week; if they do not, it means that the poison in the system has not been completely expelled. instead of looking upon small-pox as a terrible disease, we should regard it as one of nature's best expedients for getting rid of the accumulated poison in the body, and the restoration of normal health. after an attack of small-pox, the patient remains weak for sometime, and in some cases even suffers from other ailments. but this is due not to the small-pox itself; but to the wrong remedies employed to cure it. thus, the use of quinine in fever often results in deafness, and even leads to the extreme form of it known as "quininism". so too, the employment of mercury in venereal diseases leads to many new forms of disease. then again, too frequent use of purgatives in constipation brings on ailments like the piles. the only sound system of treatment is that which attempts to remove the root-causes of disease by a strict observance of the fundamental laws of health. even the costly _bhasmas_ which are supposed to be unfailing remedies for such diseases are in effect highly injurious; for, although they may seem to do some good, they excite the evil passions, and ultimately ruin the health. after the vesicles on the body have given place to scabs, olive oil should be constantly applied, and the patient bathed every day. then the scabs rapidly fall off, and even the pocks soon disappear, the skin recovering its normal colour and freshness. chapter vii other contagious diseases we do not dread chicken-pox so much as its elder sister, since it is not so fatal, and does not cause disfigurement and the like. it is, however, exactly the same as small-pox in other respects, and should therefore be dealt with in the same way. bubonic plague is a terrible disease, and has accounted for the death of millions of our people since the year 1896, when it first made its real entry into our land. the doctors, in spite of all their investigations, have not yet been able to invent a sure remedy for it. now-a-days the practice of inoculation has come into vogue, and the belief has gained ground that an attack of plague may be obviated by it. but inoculation for plague is as bad and as sinful as vaccination for small-pox. although no sure remedy has been devised for this disease, we will venture to suggest the following treatment to those who have full faith in providence, and who are not afraid of death. (1) the "wet-sheet-pack" should be applied as soon as the first symptoms of fever appear. (2) a thick mud-poultice should be applied to the bubo. (3) the patient should be completely starved. (4) if he feels thirsty, he should be given lime-juice in cold water. (5) he should be made to lie in the open air. (6) there should not be more than one attendant by the side of the patient. we can confidently assert that, if plague can be cured by any treatment at all, it can be cured by this. though the exact origin and causes of plague are yet unknown, it is undoubted that rats have something to do with its communication. we should, therefore, take all precautions, in a plague-infected area, to prevent the approach of rats in our dwellings; if we cannot get rid of them, we should vacate the house. the best remedy to prevent an attack of plague is, of course, to follow strictly the laws of health,--to live in the open air, to eat plain wholesome food and in moderation, to take good exercise, to keep the house neat and clean, to avoid all evil habits, and, in short, lead a life of utter simplicity and purity. even in normal times our lives should be such, but, in times of plague and other epidemics, we should be doubly careful. pneumonic plague is an even more dangerous form of this disease. its attack is sudden and almost invariably fatal. the patient has very high fever, feels extreme difficulty in breathing, and in most cases, is rendered unconscious. this form of plague broke out in johannesburg in 1904, and as has been already said,[2] only one man escaped alive out of the 23 who were attacked. the treatment for this disease is just the same as that for bubonic plague, with this difference that the poultice should be applied in this case to both sides of the chest. if there be no time to try the "wet-sheet-pack", a thin poultice of mud should be applied to the head. needless to say, here as in other cases, prevention is better than cure. [2] part i, chap. v we are terribly afraid of cholera, as of plague, but in fact, it is much less fatal. here the "wet-sheet-pack", however, is of no effect, but the mud-poultice should be applied to the stomach, and where there is a tingling sensation, the affected part should be warmed with a bottle filled with warm water. the feet should be rubbed with mustard-oil, and the patient should be starved. care should be taken to see that he does not get alarmed. if the motions are too frequent, the patient should not be repeatedly taken out of bed, but a flat shallow vessel should be placed underneath to receive the stools. if these precautions are taken in due time, there is little fear of danger. this disease generally breaks out in the hot season, when we generally eat all sorts of unripe and over-ripe fruits in immoderate quantities and in addition to our ordinary food. the water also that we drink during this season is often dirty, as the quantity of it in wells and tanks is small, and we take no trouble to boil or filter it. then again, the stools of the patients being allowed to lie exposed, the germs of the disease are communicated through the air. indeed, when we consider how little heed we pay to these most elementary facts and principles, we can only wonder that we are not more often attacked by these terrible diseases. during the prevalence of cholera, we should eat light food in moderation. we should breathe plenty of fresh air; and the water that we drink should always be thoroughly boiled, and filtered with a thick clean piece of cloth. the stools of the patient should be covered up with a thick layer of earth. indeed, even in normal times, we should invariably cover up the stools with ashes or loose earth. if we do so, there would be much less danger of the spread of disease. even the lower animals like the cat take this precaution, but we are worse than they in this respect. it should also be thoroughly impressed on the minds of persons suffering from contagious diseases, as well as those around them, that they should, under no circumstances, give way to panic, for fear always paralyses the nerves and increases the danger of fatality. chapter viii maternity and child-birth our object in the foregoing chapters has been to point out the unity of origin and treatment of some of the more common diseases. we are, indeed, fully aware that those who are the constant victims of disease, and who are constantly oppressed by the fear of death, will still continue to put themselves at the mercy of doctors, in spite of all that we might say against it. we venture to think, however, that there would be at least a few who are willing to cure themselves of their diseases by purely natural processes, so as to save themselves from all further attacks; and such persons would surely find it worth while to follow the simple directions we have given. before concluding this book, we will also give a few hints on maternity and the care of the child, as well as some common accidents. in the lower orders of the animal creation, the pangs of child-birth are altogether unknown. the same should really be the case with perfectly healthy women. in fact, most women in the country regard child-birth as quite an ordinary matter; they continue to do their normal work till almost the last moment, and experience hardly any pain at the time of delivery. women employed in labour have also been known to be able very often to return to work almost immediately after child-birth. how comes it, then, that women in towns and cities have to endure so much pain and suffering at the time of child-birth? and why is it that they have to receive special treatment before and after the delivery? the answer is simple and obvious. the women in towns have to lead an unnatural life. their food, their costume, their mode of life, in general, offend against the natural laws of healthy living. further, besides becoming pregnant at a premature age, they are the sad victims of men's lust even after pregnancy, as well as immediately after child-birth, so that conception again takes place at too short an interval. this is the state of utter misery and wretchedness in which lakhs of our young girls and women find themselves in our country to-day. to my mind, life under such conditions is little removed from the tortures of hell. so long as men continue to behave so monstrously, there can be no hope of happiness for our women. many men put the blame on the women's shoulders; but it is none of our business here to weigh the relative guilt of man and woman in this matter. we are only concerned to recognise the existence of the evil, and to point out its cure. let all married people realise, once for all, that, so long as sexual enjoyment at a premature age, as well as during pregnancy and soon after child-birth, does not cease to exist in our land, an easy and painless child-birth must remain a wild dream. women silently endure the pangs of child-birth, as well as the subsequent period of confinement, under the wrong notion that they are inevitable, but they fail to see how their own ignorance and weakness of will make their children grow weaker and droop from day to day. it is the clear duty of every man and woman to try to avert this calamity at any cost. if even a single man and woman should do their duty in this matter, to that extent it would mean the elevation of the world. and this is clearly a matter in which no man need or should wait for another's example. it follows, then, that the very first duty of the husband is wholly to abstain from all sexual intercourse with the wife from the moment of conception. and great is the responsibility that rests on the wife during the nine months that follow. she should be made to realise that the character of the child to be born will depend entirely on her life and conduct during this sacred period. if she fills her mind with love for all things that are good and noble, the child will also manifest the same disposition; if, on the other hand, she gives way to anger and other evil passions, her child will necessarily inherit the same. hence in these nine months, she should engage herself constantly in good works, free her mind from all fear and worry, give no room for any evil thoughts or feelings, keep out all untruth from her life, and waste not a moment in idle talk or deed. the child that is born of such a mother,--how can it help being noble and strong? the pregnant woman should, of course, keep her body as pure as her mind. she should breathe plenty of fresh air, and eat only so much of plain and wholesome food as she can easily digest. if she attends to all the directions already given in the matter of diet etc., she would have no need at all to seek the aid of doctors. if she suffers from constipation, the proportion of olive oil in the diet should be increased; and in cases of nausea or vomitting, she should take juice of lime in water without sugar. all spices and condiments should be scrupulously avoided. the yearning for various new things that attends a woman in pregnancy may be restrained by the use of "kuhne baths". this is also useful in increasing her strength and vitality, and in easing the pangs of child-birth. it is also necessary to steel her mind against such yearnings by nipping in the bud each desire as it comes. the parents should be constantly mindful of the welfare of the child in the womb. it is also the husband's duty during this period to refrain from all wranglings with his wife, and to conduct himself in such a way as to make her cheerful and happy. she should be relieved of the heavier duties of household management, and made to walk for some time every day in fresh air. and on no account should she be given any drugs or medicines during the period. chapter ix care of the child we do not propose in this chapter to describe the duties of a midwife or wet nurse, but only to point out how the child should be cared for after birth. those who have read the foregoing chapters need not be told how injurious it is to keep the mother during the period of confinement in a dark and ill-ventilated closet and to make her lie on a dirty bed with a fire underneath. these practices, however time-honoured they may be, are nevertheless fraught with dangerous consequences. no doubt, during the cold season, the mother should be kept warm, but this is best done by using good blankets. if the apartment is too cold and a fire has to be kept, it must be lighted outside and only brought in when all the smoke has disappeared, and even then it should not be kept under the cot on which she lies. warmth may also be given by keeping bottles of hot water on the bed. all the clothes and sheets should be thoroughly cleansed after child-birth, and before being used again. as the health of the child will depend entirely on that of the mother, special attention must be paid to her diet and mode of living. if she is fed on wheat, with plenty of good fruits like the plantain, and olive oil she would feel warm and strong, and have plenty of milk. olive oil gives aperient properties to the mother's milk, and thus serves to keep the child free from constipation. if the child is unwell, attention must be turned to the state of the mother's health. administering drugs to the child is as good as murdering it, for the child with its delicate constitution, easily succumbs to their poisonous effects. hence the medicine should be administered to the mother, so that its beneficial properties may be transmitted to the child through her milk. if the child suffers, as it often does, from cough or loose bowels, there is no cause for alarm; we should wait for a day or so, and try to get at the root of the trouble, and then remove it. making fuss over it and falling into a panic only makes matters worse. the child should invariably be bathed in tepid water. its clothing should be as little as possible; for a few months it is best to have none at all. the child should be laid on a thin soft white sheet and covered with a warm cloth. this will obviate the need for the use of shirts, prevent the clothes from getting dirty, and make the child hardy and strong. a fine piece of cloth folded into four should be placed over the navel-string, and kept in position by a band over it. the practice of tying a thread to the navel-string and hanging it round the neck is highly injurious. the navel-band should be kept loose. if the part round the navel be moist, fine well-sifted flour may be gently applied over it. as long as the supply of the mother's milk is sufficient, the child should be fed exclusively on it; but, when it gets insufficient, fried wheat well powdered, and mixed with hot water and a little of jaggery, may be used as a substitute with quite good results. half a plantain well mashed and mixed with half a spoonful of olive oil is also particularly beneficial. if cow's milk has to be given, it should at first be mixed with water in the proportion of three to one, and then heated until it just begins to boil, when a little of pure jaggery should also be added. the use of sugar instead of jaggery is harmful. the child should gradually be accustomed to a fruit-diet, so that its blood may be kept pure from the very beginning, and it may grow manly and bright. those mothers who begin to feed their children on things like rice, vegetables and _dhall_, as soon as or even before its teeth have appeared, are doing them infinite harm. needless to say, coffee and tea should be strictly eschewed. when the child has grown big enough to walk, it may be clothed with _kurta_ and the like, but its feet should still be kept bare, so that it may be free to roam about at will. the use of shoes prevents the free circulation of blood and the development of hardy feet and legs. dressing the child in silk or lace cloths, with cap and coat, and ornaments, is a barbarous practice. our attempt to enhance by such ridiculous means the beauty that nature has given, only bespeaks our vanity and ignorance. we should always remember that the education of the child really begins from its very birth, and is best given by the parents themselves. the use of threats and punishments, and the practice of gorging the children with food, are an outrage on the principles of true education. as the old saying has it, "like parent, like child"; hence the example and practice of the parents necessarily shape the conduct and character of the children. if they are weaklings, their children also grow up weak and delicate; if they talk clearly and distinctly, so too will the children; but if they talk with a lisp, the children will also learn to do so. if they use foul language, or are addicted to bad habits, the children necessarily imitate them, and develop into bad characters. in fact, there is no field of human activity in which the child does not imitate the example of its parents. we see, then, how heavy is the responsibility that rests on the shoulders of parents. the very first duty of a man is to give such education to his children as will make them honest and truthful, and an ornament to the society in which they live. in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, the offspring invariably takes after the parent. man alone has violated this law of nature. it is only among men that we see such incongruities as vicious children being born to virtuous parents, or sickly ones to the healthy. this is due to the fact that we thoughtlessly become parents when we are not mature enough to assume the responsibilities of that position. it is the solemn duty of all virtuous parents to train their children in noble ways. this requires that both the father and the mother should themselves have received a sound education. where the parents lack such education and are aware of their imperfections, it is their duty to entrust their children to the care of proper guardians. it is foolish to expect that a high character can be developed in the children by merely sending them to school. where the training given at school is inconsistent with that given at home, there can be no hope of improvement for the child. as already pointed out, the true education of the child begins from the very moment of its birth. the rudiments of knowledge are imbibed almost in the course of play. this, indeed, was the ancient tradition; the practice of sending children to school is a growth of yesterday. if only the parents would do their duty by their children, there would be no limit to the possibilities of their advancement. but, in fact, we make playthings of our children. we deck their persons with fine clothes and jewels, we gorge them with sweetmeats, and spoil them from their very infancy by fondlings and caresses. we let them go unchecked on their way in our false affection for them. being ourselves miserly, sensuous, dishonest, slothful and uncleanly, is it to be wondered at that our children should follow in our foot steps, and turn out weak and vicious, selfish and slothful, sensuous and immoral? let all thoughtful parents ponder well over these matters; for on them depends the future of our land. chapter x some accidents: drowning we will now turn our attention to some of the more common accidents, and the methods of dealing with them. a knowledge of these things is essential to everybody, so that timely help may be rendered, and the loss of many precious lives averted. even children should be taught to deal with these cases, as in that way they are the more likely to grow up kind and thoughtful citizens. and first we will deal with drowning. as man cannot live without air for more than 5 minutes at the most, little life generally remains in a drowning man taken out of water. immediate steps should, therefore, be taken to bring him back to life. two things have specially to be done for these,--artificial respiration, and the application of warmth. we should not forget that very often such 'first aid' has to be rendered by the side of tanks and rivers, where all the needed materials are not easily available, and such aid can be most effectual only when there are at least two or three men on the spot. the first-aider should also possess the qualities of resourcefulness, patience, and briskness; if he himself loses his presence of mind, he can do nothing. so too, if the attendants begin to discuss methods, or quarrel over details, there is no hope for the man. the best one in the party should lead, and the others should implicitly follow his directions. as soon as the man is taken out of water, his wet clothes should be removed, and his body wiped dry. then he should be made to lie on his face, with his hands under the head. then, with our hand on his chest, we should remove from his mouth the water and dirt that might have got in. at this time his tongue would come out of his mouth, when it should be caught hold of with a kerchief, and held till consciousness returns. then he should at once be turned over, with the head and the chest a little raised above the feet. then one of the attendants should kneel by his head, and slowly spread out and straighten his arms on either side. by this means his ribs will be raised, and the air outside can enter into his body; then his hands should be quickly brought back and folded on his chest, so that the chest may contract and the air be expelled. in addition to this, hot and cold water should be taken in the hands and poured on his chest. if a fire can be lighted or procured, the man should be warmed with it. then all the available clothes should be wrapped round his body, which should be thoroughly rubbed for warmth. all this should be tried for a long time without losing hope. in some cases, such methods have to be applied for several hours on end before breathing is restored. as soon as signs of consciousness appear, some hot drink should be administered. the juice of lime in hot water, or decoction of cloves, pepper, and the bark of the bay-tree, will be found specially effective. the smell of tobacco may also prove useful. people should not be allowed to crowd round the patient, and obstruct the free passage of air. the signs of death in such cases are the following. the complete cessation of breathing and the beating of heart and lungs, as indicated by a piece of peacock-feather held near the nose remaining quite steady, or a mirror held near the mouth being undimmed by the moisture in the breath; the eyes remaining fixed and half-open, with heavy eye-lids; the jaws getting fixed; the fingers getting crooked; the tongue protruding between the teeth; the mouth getting frothy; nose getting red; the whole body turning pale. if all these signs simultaneously appear, we may conclude that the man is dead. in some rare cases, life may still remain even when all these signs are present. the only conclusive test of death is the setting in of decomposition. hence the patient should never be given up for lost, until after a long and patient application of remedial measures. chapter xi some accidents--(_contd._) burns and scalds very often when a man's clothes catch fire, we get into a panic, and, instead of helping the injured, make matters worse by our ignorance. it is our duty, therefore, to know exactly what to do in such cases. the person whose clothes have caught fire should not lose his presence of mind. if the fire is only at one edge of the cloth, it should at once be squeezed out with the hands; but if it has spread over the whole cloth or a large portion of it, the man should at once lie down and roll on the floor. if a thick cloth like a carpet be available, it should at once be wrapped round his body; and if water is at hand, it should also be poured over it. as soon as the fire has been put out, we should find out if there are burns in any part of the body. the cloth would generally stick to the body where there are burns, in which case it should not be forcibly torn off, but gently snipped off with a pair of scissors, leaving the affected parts undisturbed, and taking care to see that the skin does not come off. immediately after this, poultices of pure mud should be applied to all these places, and kept in position by bandages. this will instantly relieve the burning, and ease the patient's suffering. the poultices may as well be applied over the portions of the cloth which stick on to the body. they should be renewed as soon as they begin to get dry; there is no reason to fear the touch of cold water. where this sort of first aid has not been rendered, the following directions will be found very useful. fresh plantain leaves well smeared with olive or sweet oil should be applied over the burns. if plantain leaves are not available, pieces of cloth may be used. a mixture of linseed oil and lime-water in equal proportions may also be applied with great advantage. the portions of cloth which adhere to the burns may be easily removed by moistening them with a mixture of tepid milk and water. the first bandage of oil should be removed after two days, and afterwards fresh bandages applied every day. if blisters have formed on the burnt surface, they should be pricked, but the skin need not necessarily be removed. if the skin has simply got red by the burn, there is no more effective remedy than the application of a mud poultice. if the fingers have been burnt, care should be taken, when the poultice is applied, that they do not touch against one another. this same treatment may be applied in cases of acid-burns, and scalds of every description. chapter xii some accidents--(_contd._) snake-bite there is no limit to the superstitions current among us in regard to snakes. from time immemorial we have cultivated a terrible fear of the snake; we even dread the very mention of its name. the hindus worship the serpent, and have set apart a day in the year (_nagapanchami_) for that purpose. they suppose that the earth is supported by the great serpent sesha. god vishnu is called _seshasayee_, as he is supposed to sleep on the serpent-god; and god siva is supposed to have a garland of serpents round his neck! we say that such and such a thing cannot be described even by the thousand-tongued adisesha, implying our belief in the snake's knowledge and discretion. the serpent karkotaka is said to have bitten king nala and deformed him, so that he might not suffer any harm in the course of his wanderings. such conceptions are also to be met with among the christian nations of the west. in english a man is very often described to be as wise and cunning as a serpent. and in the bible, satan is said to have assumed the shape of a serpent in order to tempt eve. the real reason for the popular dread of snakes is obvious. if the snake's poison should spread over the whole body, death must necessarily ensue; and since the idea of death is so dreadful to us, we dread the very name of a snake. hence, our worship of the snake is really based on our fear. if the snake were a little creature, it would hardly be worshipped by us; but since it is a big creature, and a strangely fascinating one, it has come to be deified and worshipped. the western scientists of to-day hold that the snake is merely a creature of instinct, and it should be destroyed forthwith wherever found. from the official statistics, we gather that not less than 20,000 persons die every year in india of snake-bite alone. the destruction of every venomous snake is rewarded by the state, but it is really a question if the country has benefitted by it in any way. we find from experience that a snake never bites wantonly, but only as a retaliatory measure when it is molested in any way. does this not bespeak its discretion, or at the least its innocence? the attempt to rid hindustan, or any portion thereof, of snakes is as ridiculous and futile as trying to wrestle with the air. it may be possible to prevent snakes coming to a particular place by a systematic process of extermination, but this can never be done on a large scale. in a vast country like india, it would be an altogether foolish enterprise to try to avoid snake-bites by wholesale destruction of the snakes. let us never forget that the serpents have been created by the same god who created us and all other creatures. god's ways are inscrutable, but we may rest assured that he did not create animals like the lion and the tiger, the serpent and the scorpion, in order to bring about the destruction of the human race. if the serpents were to meet in council and conclude that man has been created by god for their destruction, seeing that he generally destroys a snake wherever found, should we approve of their conclusion? surely not. in the same way, we are wrong in regarding the serpent as a natural enemy of man. the great st. francis of asissi, who used to roam about the forests, was not hurt by the serpents or the wild beasts, but they even lived on terms of intimacy with him. so too, thousands of _yogis_ and _fakirs_ live in the forests of hindustan, amidst lions and tigers and serpents, but we never hear of their meeting death at the hands of these animals. it might, however, be contended that they must certainly be meeting their death in the forests, but that we do not hear of it, as we live so far away. granted; but we cannot deny that the number of _yogis_ that live in the forests is nothing in comparison with that of the serpents and wild beasts, so that, if these animals were really the natural enemies of man, the whole race of _yogis_ and other dwellers in the forests should become very rapidly extinct, especially since they have no weapons with which to defend themselves against their attacks. but they have by no means become extinct, and we may conclude, therefore, that they have been allowed to live unmolested in the forests by the serpents and wild beasts. in fact, i have implicit faith in the doctrine that, so long as man is not inimical to the other creatures, they will not be inimical to him. love is the greatest of the attributes of man. without it the worship of god would be an empty nothing. it is, in short, the root of all religion whatsoever. besides, why should we not regard the cruelty of the serpents and the wild beasts as merely the product and reflection of man's own nature? are we any the less murderous than they? are not our tongues as venomous as the serpent's fangs? do we not prey upon our innocent brethren much in the same way as lions and leopards? all scriptures proclaim that, when man becomes absolutely harmless, all the other animals will begin to live on terms of intimacy with him. when feuds and conflicts as fierce as that between the lion and the lamb are going on within our own breasts, is it any wonder that such things should go on in the external world? for, we are but the reflection of the world around us; all the features of the external world are found reflected in the inner world of our mind. when we change our nature, the world around should also inevitably change. do we not find that the world assumes a totally different aspect to those individual men and women who change their own nature by strenuous self-discipline? this is the great mystery of god's creation as well as the great secret of true happiness. our happiness or otherwise rests entirely upon what we are; we have no need to depend on other people at all in this matter. our excuse for writing at such length on snake-bite is this. rather than merely prescribe cure for snake-bite, we thought it as well to go a little more deeply into the matter, and point out the best way of getting rid of our foolish fears. if even a single reader were to adopt in practice the principles we have been discussing, we shall consider our effort amply rewarded. moreover, our object in writing these pages is not merely to give the generally accepted hygienic principles, but to go to the root of the matter, and deal with the most fundamental principles of health. modern investigations have also shown that the man who is perfectly healthy, whose blood has not been tainted by excess of heat, and whose food is wholesome and _satvic_, is not immediately affected by the poison of the snake, but that, on the other hand, its effect is instantaneous as well as fatal on the man whose blood has been tainted by drink or unwholesome food. one doctor goes so far as to say that the blood of the man who eschews salt and the like, and lives exclusively on a fruit-diet, remains so pure that no kind of poison can have any effect on him. i have not had enough experience myself to say how far this is true. the man whose diet has been free from salt and the like for only one or two years cannot be said to have attained this stage of perfect immunity, for the blood which has been tainted and poisoned by bad practices continued for years cannot be brought back to its normal state of purity in the short period of a year or two. it has further been scientifically demonstrated that a man under the influence of fear or anger is much more and much sooner, affected by poison than when in the normal condition. everybody knows how fear and anger make the pulse and the heart beat faster than the normal rate, and the quicker the flow of blood in the veins, the greater the heat generated. but the heat generated by evil passions is not healthy, but extremely harmful. anger is, indeed, nothing but a variety of fever. hence the best antidote against snake-bite is to use pure and _satvic_ food in moderation, to rid our minds of all evil passions like anger and fear, to refrain from giving way to panic, to retain perfect confidence in the saving power of a pure and godly life, and to remain self-possessed in the full faith that we are ever in god's hands, and that the span of life which he has allotted to us can on no account be curtailed or exceeded. dr. fitz-seaman, the director of the port elizabeth museum, who has devoted a large portion of his life to the study of snakes, their varieties and their habits, and who is a great authority on snake-bite and its cure, has told us, as a result of his numerous experiments, that the majority of the so-called deaths by snake-bite are really caused by fear and the wrong remedies applied by quacks. we should remember that all snakes are not venomous, and that even the bite of all venomous snakes is not immediately fatal either. moreover, the snakes do not always get an opportunity of injecting their venom into the body of their victim. we should not, therefore, give way to panic even when we are bitten by a venomous serpent, especially since very simple remedies are available, which can be applied by ourselves without any aid from others. the part of the body immediately above the point at which the snake has bitten should be tied round with tight bandage, which should be further strengthened by means of strong pencils or pieces of wood, so that the poison may not ascend through the veins. then the wound should be cut half an inch deep with the fine point of a knife, so that the poisoned blood may freely flow, and the hollow should be filled with the dark-red powder sold in the bazaars and known as potassium permanganate. if this is not available, the blood issuing from the wound should be well sucked and spat out, by the patient himself or by somebody else, until all the poison has been removed. of course, no man who has a wound on the lips or the tongue should be allowed to suck this poisoned blood. this treatment should be applied within 7 minutes of the accident,--that is to say, before the poison has had time to ascend and diffuse through the body. as already mentioned, the german doctor who has specialised in mud-cure, claims to have cured snake-bite by burying the patient under fresh earth. although i have not tried the use of mud in snake-bites, i have unbounded faith in its efficacy from my experience in other cases. after the application of potassium permanganate (or the sucking out of the blood, in the alternative,) a poultice of mud half an inch in thickness, and big enough to cover the whole region around and above the affected part, should be applied. there should be kept in every home a quantity of well-sifted and powdered mud in a tin ready for use. it should be so kept as to be exposed to light and air, and free from dampness. suitable bandages of cloth should also be kept so as to be within reach when needed. these will be found useful not only in snake-bite, but in numberless other cases as well. if the patient has lost consciousness, or if respiration seems to have ceased, the process of artificial respiration already described in connection with drowning should be resorted to. hot water, or preferably a decoction of cloves and the bark of the bay-tree, is very useful for recovering consciousness. the patient should be kept in the open air, but if his body seems to have taken cold, bottles of hot water should be employed, or a piece of flannel dipped in hot water and wrung out should be rubbed over the body, to produce warmth. chapter xiii some accidents--(_contd._) scorpion-sting our familiar expression, "may god never give any man the pain of scorpion-sting", shows how keen that pain is. in fact, this pain is even sharper than that of snake-bite, but we do not dread it so much, since it is much less fatal. indeed, as dr. moor has said, the man whose blood is perfectly pure has little to fear from the sting of a scorpion. the treatment for scorpion-sting is very simple. the affected part should be cut into with a sharp-pointed knife, and the blood that issues from it slightly sucked out. a small bandage tied tightly above this portion would prevent the spread of the poison, while a poultice of mud would give immediate relief to the pain. some writers advise us to tie a thick bandage of cloth over the affected part, wetted with a mixture of vinegar and water in equal proportions, or to keep the region around it immersed in salt water. but the poultice of mud is certainly the most effective remedy of all, as may be personally tested by those who may have the misfortune to be stung by scorpions. the poultice should be as thick as possible; even two seers of mud would not be too much for the purpose. if the finger be stung, for instance, the poultice should extend up to the elbow. if the hand be kept immersed for sometime in wet mud in a pretty large vessel, it would give instant relief to the pain. the stings of the centipede and other animals should be dealt with exactly as that of the scorpion. chapter xiv conclusion i have now said all that i had intended to say on the subject of health. and now, before finally taking leave of my readers, i will say a word or two on my object in writing these pages. one question which i have asked myself again and again, in the course of writing this book, is why i of all persons should write it. is there any justification at all for one like me, who am no doctor, and whose knowledge of the matters dealt with in these pages must be necessarily imperfect, attempting to write a book of this kind? my defence is this. the "science" of medicine is itself based upon imperfect knowledge, most of it being mere quackery. but this book, at any rate, has been prompted by the purest of motives. the attempt is here made not so much to show how to cure diseases as to point out the means of preventing them. and a little reflection will show that the prevention of disease is a comparatively simple matter, not requiring much specialist knowledge, although it is by no means an easy thing to put these principles into practice. our object has been to show the unity of origin and treatment of all diseases, so that all people may learn to treat their diseases themselves when they do arise, as they often do, in spite of great care in the observance of the laws of health. but, after all, why is good health so essential, so anxiously to be sought for? our ordinary conduct would seem to indicate that we attach little value to health. if health is to be sought for in order that we might indulge in luxury and pleasure, or pride ourselves over our body and regard it as an end in itself, then indeed it would be far better that we should have bodies tainted with bad blood, by fat, and the like. all religions agree in regarding the human body as an abode of god. our body has been given to us on the understanding that we should render devoted service to god with its aid. it is our duty to keep it pure and unstained from within as well as from without, so as to render it back to the giver, when the time comes for it, in the state of purity in which we got it. if we fulfil the terms of the contract to god's satisfaction, he will surely reward us, and make us heirs to immortality. the bodies of all created beings have been gifted with the same senses, and the same capacity for seeing, hearing, smelling and the like; but the human body is supreme among them all, and hence we call it a "_chintamani_," or a giver of all good. man alone can worship god with knowledge and understanding. where devotion to god is void of understanding, there can be no true salvation, and without salvation there can be no true happiness. the body can be of real service only when we realise it to be a temple of god and make use of it for god's worship; otherwise it is no better than a filthy vessel of bones, flesh and blood, and the air and water issuing from it are worse than poison. the things that come out of the body through the pores and other passages are so filthy that we cannot touch them or even think of them without disgust; and it requires very great effort to keep them tolerably clean. is it not most disgraceful that, for the sake of this body, we should stoop to falsehood and deceit, licentious practices and even worse? is it not equally shameful that, for the sake of these vices, we should be so anxious to preserve this fragile frame of ours at any cost? this is the truth of the matter in regard to our body; for the very things which are the best or the most useful have inherent in them capabilities of a corresponding mischief. otherwise, we should hardly be able to appreciate them at their true worth. the light of the sun, which is the source of our life, and without which we cannot live for an hour, is also capable of burning all things to ashes. so too, a king may do infinite good to his subjects, or be the source of untold mischief. indeed, the body may be a good servant, but, when it becomes a master, its powers of evil are unlimited. there is an incessant struggle going on within us between our soul and satan for the control of our body. if the soul gains the ascendancy, the body becomes a most potent instrument of good; but, if the devil is victorious in the struggle, it becomes a hot-bed of vice. hell itself would be preferable to the body which is the slave of vice, which is constantly filled with decaying matter and which emits filthy odours, whose hands and feet are employed in unworthy deeds, whose tongue is employed in eating things that ought not to be eaten or in uttering language that ought not to be uttered, whose eyes are employed in seeing things that ought not to be seen, whose ears are employed in the hearing of things that ought not to be heard, and whose nose is employed in the smelling of things that ought not to be smelt. but, while hell is never mistaken for heaven by anybody, our body which is rendered worse than hell by ourselves is, strangely enough, regarded by us as almost heavenly! so monstrous is our vanity, and so pitiful our pride, in this matter! those who make use of a palace as a latrine, or vice versa, must certainly reap the fruit of their folly. so too, if, while our body is really in the devil's hands, we should fancy that we are enjoying true health, we shall have only ourselves to thank for the terrible consequences that are sure to follow. to conclude, then our attempt in these pages has been to teach the great truth that perfect health can be attained only by living in obedience to the laws of god, and defying the power of satan. true happiness is impossible without true health, and true health is impossible without a rigid control of the palate. all the other senses will automatically come under our control when the palate has been brought under control. and he who has conquered his senses has really conquered the whole world, and he becomes a part of god. we cannot realise rama by reading the ramayana, or krishna by reading the gita, or god by reading the koran, or christ by reading the bible; the only means of realising them is by developing a pure and noble character. character is based on virtuous action, and virtuous action is grounded on truth. truth, then, is the source and foundation of all things that are good and great. hence, a fearless and unflinching pursuit of the ideal of truth and righteousness is the key-note of true health as of all else. and if we have succeeded (in however feeble a measure) in bringing this grand fact home to our reader, our object in writing these pages would have been amply fulfilled. --finis-_errata_ _page_ _line_ _for_ _read_ 2 2 _êvam_ _êva_ 11 8 beings being 40 3 _kapah_ _kapha_ 41 6 had begun begun 51 16 detial detail 66 21 admire pride 67 26 surley surely 87 14 would should 97 4 fus pus 100 2 according according to 102 16 sriget siegel 104 11 wick brick 108 15 vaccinations vaccination 110 22 difference deference 111 25 patients patient 120 1 passion passions 128 28 and end 130 22 piece pair 132 4 superstitious superstitions 134 3, 9 god god 137 25 vareity a variety 138 3 godly godly 144 10 is are 33 18 brid bird 79 3 that omit 88 2 some none the huxley press, g. t. madras. ======================================================================== ganesan's new publications the failure of european civilisation by s. e. stokes with foreword by c. f. andrews. re. 1-0. in this book mr. stokes shows how european civilisation by its prejudices of colour and race has miserably failed to satisfy the laws of true progress and needs of the modern world, and warns india of destroying her unique culture by falling a prey to white imperialism. national self-realisation by s. e. stokes re. 1-8. students of current indian politics and workers for swaraj will find in this publication a very useful discussion of india's ultimate goal and the methods of attaining it. the author though an american is well known as a sincere friend of the oppressed and to use the words of mahatma gandhi "mr. stokes is a convinced non-co-operator and a congressman. i think i am right in saying that he has come to it by slow degrees. no indian is giving such battle to the government as mr. stokes. he has veritably become the guide, philosopher and friend of the hillmen". essays: political and national by s. e. stokes rs. 2. this collection of essays is intended to stimulate thought on some of the important problems that india has to solve in the field of education, religion and other aspects of national life. the truth about india by h. m. hyndman as. 12. this small book gives the main facts about india's plight under alien domination in a boldly frank and appealing manner. the pages breathe throughout the true englishman's inextinguishable fire of freedom and righteous indignation at oppression and exploitation of weak nations. the author exposes the methods by which british domination was established in india and discusses the political and economic effects of such rule, uttering grave words of warning against the final nemesis. the book deserves to be widely read and translated in the various vernaculars as a very necessary corrective to the distorted version of british indian history taught in our schools. post box no. 427, triplicane, madras s.e. ======================================================================== transcriber's notes: obvious errors in spelling and punctuation have been silently corrected. similarly errors listed in the errata at the end have also been corrected. [illustration: plate i the circulation] first book in physiology and hygiene by j.h. kellogg, m.d. member of the american medical association, the american public health association, société d'hygiène of france, british and american associations for the advancement of science, michigan state board of health, etc. _illustrated_ new and revised edition new york cincinnati chicago american book company copyright, 1887, by harper & brothers. copyright, 1888, by harper & brothers _all rights reserved._ w.p. 7 to the teacher. this book is intended for children. the special objects which the author has aimed to accomplish in the preparation of the work have been: 1. to present as fully as possible and proper in a work of this character a statement of the laws of healthful living, giving such special prominence to the subject of stimulants and narcotics as its recognized importance and the recent laws relating to the study of this branch of hygiene demand. 2. to present in a simple manner such anatomical and physiological facts as shall give the child a good fundamental knowledge of the structure and functions of the human body. 3. to present each topic in such clear and simple language as to enable the pupil to comprehend the subject-matter with little aid from the teacher; and to observe in the manner of presentation the principle that the things to be studied should be placed before the mind of the child before they are named. a natural and logical order has been observed in the sequence of topics. technical terms have been used very sparingly, and only in their natural order, and are then fully explained and their pronunciation indicated, so that it is not thought necessary to append a glossary. 4. to present the subjects of physiology and hygiene in the light of the most recent authentic researches in these branches of science, and to avoid the numerous errors which have for many years been current in the school literature of these subjects. there is no subject in the presentation of which object-teaching may be employed with greater facility and profit than in teaching physiology, and none which may be more advantageously impressed upon the student's mind by means of simple experimentation than the subject of hygiene. every teacher who uses this book is urgently requested to supplement each lesson by the use of object-teaching or experiments. a great number of simple experiments illustrative of both physiology and hygiene may be readily arranged. many little experiments are suggested in the text, which should invariably be made before the class, each member of which should also be encouraged to repeat them at home. it is also most desirable that the teacher should have the aid of suitable charts and models. in conclusion, the author would acknowledge his indebtedness for a large number of useful suggestions and criticisms to several medical friends and experienced teachers, and especially to prof. henry sewall, of the university of michigan, for criticisms of the portions of the work relating to physiology. contents. chapter page to the teacher iii i. the house we live in 1 ii. a general view of the body 5 iii. the inside of the body 7 iv. our foods 11 v. unhealthful foods 14 vi. our drinks 19 vii. how we digest 27 viii. digestion of a mouthful of bread 35 ix. bad habits in eating 39 x. a drop of blood 46 xi. why the heart beats 48 xii. how to keep the heart and the blood healthy 56 xiii. why and how we breathe 63 xiv. how to keep the lungs healthy 75 xv. the skin and what it does 81 xvi. how to take care of the skin 88 xvii. the kidneys and their work 91 xviii. our bones and their uses 93 xix. how to keep the bones healthy 100 xx. the muscles, and how we use them 105 xxi. how to keep the muscles healthy 109 xxii. how we feel and think 115 xxiii. how to keep the brain and nerves healthy 126 xxiv. bad effects of alcohol upon the brain and nerves 130 xxv. how we hear, see, smell, taste; and feel 138 xxvi. alcohol 154 questions for review 170 first book of physiology and hygiene. chapter i. the house we live in. ~1. object of this book.~--the object of this book is to tell the little boys and girls who read it about a wonderful house. you have all seen some very beautiful houses. perhaps they were made of brick or stone, with fine porches, having around them tall shade trees, smooth lawns, pretty flower-beds, walks, and sparkling fountains. ~2.~ perhaps some of you live in such a house, or have visited some friend who does. if so, you know that the inside of the house is even more beautiful than the outside. there are elegant chairs and sofas in the rooms, rich carpets and rugs on the floors, fine mirrors and beautiful pictures upon the walls--everything one could wish to have in a house. do you not think such a house a nice one to live in? ~3. the body is like a house.~--each of us has a house of his own which is far more wonderful and more curious than the grandest palace ever built. it is not a very large house. it has just room enough in it for one person. this house, which belongs to each one of us, is called the body. ~4. what is a machine?~--do you know what a machine is? men make machines to help them work and to do many useful things. a wheelbarrow or a wagon is a machine to carry loads. a sewing-machine helps to make garments for us to wear. clocks and watches are machines for keeping time. ~5. a machine has different parts.~--a wheelbarrow has a box in which to carry things, two handles to hold by, and a wheel for rolling it along. some machines, like wheelbarrows and wagons, have but few parts, and it is very easy for us to learn how they work. but there are other machines, like watches and sewing-machines, which have many different parts, and it is more difficult to learn all about them and what they do. ~6. the body is like a machine.~--in some ways the body is more like a machine than like a house. it has many different parts which are made to do a great many different kinds of work. we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, walk with our legs and feet, and do a great many things with our hands. if you have ever seen the inside of a watch or a clock you know how many curious little wheels it has. and yet a watch or a clock can do but one thing, and that is to tell us the time of day. the body has a great many more parts than a watch has, and for this reason the body can do many more things than a watch can do. it is more difficult, too, to learn about the body than about a watch. ~7.~ if we want to know all about a machine and how it works, we must study all its different parts and learn how they are put together, and what each part does. then, if we want the machine to work well and to last a long time, we must know how to use it and how to take proper care of it. do you think your watch would keep the time well if you should neglect to wind it, or if you should break any of its wheels? ~8.~ it is just the same with the human machine which we call the body. we must learn its parts, and what they are for, how they are made, how they are put together, and how they work. then we must learn how to take proper care of the body, so that its parts will be able to work well and last a long time. ~9.~ each part of the body which is made to do some special kind of work is called an _organ_. the eye, the ear, the nose, a hand, an arm, any part of the body that does something, is an organ. ~10.~ the study of the various parts of the body and how they are put together is _anatomy_ (a-nat´-o-my). the study of what each part of the body does is _physiology_ (phys-i-ol´-o-gy). the study of how to take care of the body is _hygiene_ (hy´-jeen). summary. 1. the body is something like a house. it has an outside and an inside; it has hollow places inside of it, and there are many wonderful things in them. 2. the body is also like a wonderful machine. 3. it is necessary to take good care of the body in order to keep it well and useful, just as we would take good care of a machine to keep it from wearing out too soon. 4. the body has many different parts, called organs, each of which has some particular work to do. 5. in learning about the body, we have to study anatomy, physiology, and hygiene. 6. the study of the various parts of the body, how they are formed and joined together, is anatomy. physiology tells us what the body does, hygiene tells us how to take care of it. chapter ii a general view of the body. ~1. parts of the body.~--what do we call the main part of a tree? the trunk, you say. the main part of the body is also called its _trunk_. there are two arms and two legs growing out of the human trunk. the branches of a tree we call limbs, and so we speak of the arms and legs as _limbs_. we sometimes call the arms the _upper extremities_, and the legs the _lower extremities_. at the top of the trunk is the head. ~2. names of the parts.~--now let us look more closely at these different parts. as we speak the name of each part, let each one touch that part of himself which is named. we will begin with the head. the chief parts of the head are the _skull_ and the _face_. the _forehead_, the _temples_, the _cheeks_, the _eyes_, the _ears_, the _nose_, the _mouth_, and the _chin_ are parts of the face. ~3.~ the chief parts of the trunk are the _chest_, the _abdomen_ (ab-do´-men), and the _backbone_. the head is joined to the trunk by the _neck_. ~4.~ each arm has a _shoulder_, _upper-arm_, _fore-arm_, _wrist_, and _hand_. the _fingers_ are a part of the hand. ~5.~ each leg has a _hip_, _thigh_, _lower leg_, _ankle_, and _foot_. the _toes_ are a part of the foot. ~6.~ our hands and face and the whole body are covered with something as soft and smooth as the finest silk. it is the _skin_. what is it that grows from the skin on the head? and what at the ends of the fingers and the toes? we shall learn more about the skin, the hair, and the nails in another lesson. ~7.~ the body has two sides, the right side and the left side, which are alike. we have two eyes, two ears, two arms, etc. we have but one nose, one mouth, and one chin, but each of these organs has two halves, which are just alike. summary. 1. the body has a head and trunk, two arms, and two legs. 2. the parts of the head are the skull and face. the forehead, temples, cheeks, eyes, ears, nose, mouth and chin are parts of the face. 3. the parts of the trunk are, the chest, abdomen, and backbone. the neck joins the head and trunk. 4. each arm has a shoulder, upper-arm, fore-arm, wrist, and hand. the fingers belong to the hand. 5. each leg has a hip, thigh, lower leg, ankle, and foot. the toes belong to the foot. 6. the whole body is covered by the skin. 7. the two sides of the body are alike. chapter iii. the inside of the body. ~1.~ thus far we have taken only a brief look at the outside of the body, just as if we had looked at the case of a watch, and of course we have found out very little about its many wonderful parts. very likely you want to ask a great many questions, such as, how does the inside of the body look? what is in the skull? what is in the chest? what is in the abdomen? why do we eat and drink? why do we become hungry and thirsty? what makes us tired and sleepy? how do we keep warm? why do we breathe? how do we grow? how do we move about? how do we talk, laugh, and sing? how do we see, hear, feel, taste, and smell? how do we remember, think, and reason? all these, and a great many more interesting questions, you will find answered in the following lessons, if you study each one well. ~2.~ when we study the inside of the body, we begin to understand how wonderfully we are made. we cannot all see the inside of the body, and it is not necessary that we should do so. many learned men have spent their whole lives in seeking to find out all about our bodies and the bodies of various animals. ~3. the bones.~--if you take hold of your arm, it seems soft on the outside; and if you press upon it, you will feel something hard inside. the soft part is called _flesh_. the hard part is called _bone_. if you wish, you can easily get one of the bones of an animal at the butcher's shop, or you may find one in the fields. ~4. the skeleton.~--all the bones of an animal, when placed properly together, have nearly the shape of the body, and are called the _skeleton_ (skel´-e-ton). the skeleton forms the framework of the body, just as the heavy timbers of a house form its framework. it supports all the parts. ~5. the skull.~--the bony part of the head is called the _skull_. in the skull is a hollow place or chamber. you know that a rich man often has a strong room or box in his fine house, in which to keep his gold and other valuable things. the chamber in the skull is the strong-room of the body. it has strong, tough walls of bone, and contains the _brain_. the brain is the most important, and also the most tender and delicate organ in the whole body. this is why it is so carefully guarded from injury. ~6. the backbone.~--the framework of the back is called the _backbone_. this is not a single bone, but a row of bones arranged one above another. each bone has a hole through it, about as large as one of your fingers. a large branch from the brain, called the _spinal cord_, runs down through the middle of the backbone, so that the separate bones look as if they were strung on the spinal cord, like beads on a string. ~7. the trunk.~--the trunk of the body, like the skull, is hollow. its walls are formed partly by the backbone and the ribs and partly by flesh. a fleshy wall divides the hollow of the trunk into two parts, an upper chamber called the _chest_, and a lower called the _abdomen_. ~8. the lungs and heart.~--the chest contains a pair of organs called the _lungs_, with which we breathe. it also contains something which we can feel beating at the left side. this is the _heart_. the heart lies between the two lungs, and a little to the left side. ~9. the stomach and liver.~--in the abdomen are some very wonderful organs that do different kinds of work for the body. among them are the _stomach_, the _bowels_, and the _liver_. there are, also, other organs whose names we shall learn when we come to study them. ~10. care of the body.~--we have only begun to study the beautiful house in which we live, and yet have we not learned enough to show us how great and wise is the creator who made us and all the wonderful machinery within our bodies? if some one should give you a beautiful present, would you treat it carelessly and spoil it, or would you take good care of it and keep it nice as long as possible? ought we not to take such care of our bodies as to keep them in that perfect and beautiful condition in which our kind and good creator gave them to us? summary. 1. the body has a framework, called the skeleton. 2. the skeleton is made up of many different parts, each of which is called a bone. 3. the bones are covered by the flesh. 4. the bones of the head form the skull, which is hollow and contains the brain. 5. a row of bones arranged in the back, one above another, forms the backbone. the backbone has a canal running through it lengthwise, in which lies the spinal cord. 6. the trunk is hollow, and has two chambers, one called the cavity of the chest, and the other the cavity of the abdomen. 7. the chest contains the two lungs and the heart. 8. the abdomen contains the stomach, liver, and many other very important organs. 9. is it not our duty to take good care of our bodies as we would of some nice present from a friend? chapter iv. our foods. ~1.~ we all know very well that if we do not eat we shall rapidly lose in weight, and become very weak and feeble. did you ever think how much one eats in the course of a lifetime? let us see if we can figure it up. how much do you suppose a boy eats in a day? let us say two pounds. how much does he eat in a year? there are three hundred and sixty-five days in a year; 365 multiplied by 2 equals 730. so a boy eats a good many times his own weight in a year. how much would a person eat in fifty years? ~2.~ our bodies are composed of what we eat. if we eat bad food, our bodies will be made out of poor material, and will not be able to do their work well. so you see how important it is to learn something about our foods. we ought to know what things are good for us to eat, and what will do us harm. ~3. foods and poisons.~--foods are those substances which nourish the body and keep it in good working order. ~4.~ our foods are obtained from both animals and plants. all food really comes from plants, however, since those animals which we sometimes use as food themselves live upon the vegetables which they eat. for example, the ox and the cow eat grass and furnish us beef and milk. chickens eat corn and other grains, and supply us with eggs. ~5.~ the principal animal foods are milk, cheese, eggs, and the different kinds of flesh--beef, mutton, pork, fish, fowl, and wild game. we obtain a great many more kinds of food from plants than from animals. most plant foods are included in three classes--_fruits_, _grains_, and _vegetables_. ~6.~ _fruits_ are the fleshy parts of plants which contain the seeds. our most common fruits are apples, pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and various kinds of nuts. perhaps you know of some other kinds of fruits besides those mentioned. your teacher will tell you that tomatoes, watermelons, and pumpkins are really fruits, though they are not generally so called. ~7.~ the seeds of grass-like plants are known as _grains_, of which we have wheat, rye, barley, corn, and rice. there are a few seeds that grow in pods, such as pease and beans, which somewhat resemble grains. ~8.~ we eat the leaves, stems, or roots of some plants, as cabbages, celery, turnips, and potatoes. foods of this kind are called _vegetables_. ~9.~ there are other things, which, if we eat or drink them, will make us sick or otherwise do us harm. these are called _poisons_. only such food as is pure and free from poisons is good or safe for us to use. ~10. narcotics and stimulants.~--there are a number of substances known as narcotics and stimulants, which, from their effects upon the body, may be classed as poisons. tobacco, opium, alcohol, and chloral are included in this class. death has often been caused by taking small quantities of any of these poisonous drugs. we shall learn more of the effects of tobacco and alcohol in future lessons. summary. 1. our bodies are made of what we eat. 2. things which will help us to grow strong and well, if we eat them, are foods. 3. we get foods from plants and animals. 4. there are several kinds of animal foods, and three classes of plant foods--fruits, grains, and vegetables. 5. things which make us sick when we eat them, are poisons. chapter v. unhealthful foods. ~1.~ most persons eat many things which are not good for them. some people do not stop to think whether what they eat is good for them or likely to do them harm. sometimes, without knowing it, we eat things which are harmful to us. do you not think that we should try to learn what is good to eat and what is not good, and then be very careful not to eat anything which is likely to do us harm? ~2. diseased foods.~--when a person is sick, he is said to be diseased. animals are sometimes sick or diseased. vegetables are also sometimes diseased. animals and vegetables that are diseased are not good for food. dishonest men, however, sometimes sell them to those who do not know that they are unfit to be eaten. ~3.~ pork, the flesh of the hog, is more likely to be diseased than any other kind of animal food. ~4.~ beef and mutton may be diseased also. sheep and cattle are sometimes sick of diseases very much like those which human beings have. meat which is pale, yellowish, or of a dark red color, is unhealthful, and should not be eaten. meat should never be eaten raw. it should always be well cooked. ~5. unripe foods.~--most vegetable foods are unfit to be eaten when green or unripe, especially if uncooked. sometimes persons are made very sick indeed by eating such articles as green apples or unripe peaches. ~6. stale or decayed foods.~--food which has been allowed to stand until it is spoiled, or has become _stale_, _musty_, or _mouldy_, such as mouldy bread or fruit, or tainted meat, is unfit to be eaten, and is often a cause of very severe sickness. canned fish or other meats spoil very quickly after the cans are opened, and should be eaten the same day. ~7. adulterated foods.~--many of our foods are sometimes spoiled or injured by persons who put into them cheap substances which are harmful to health. they do this so as to make more money in selling them. this is called _adulteration_. the foods which are most likely to be injured by adulteration are milk, sugar, and butter. ~8.~ milk is most often adulterated by adding water, though sometimes other things are added. sometimes the water is not pure, and people are made sick and die. the adulteration of milk or any other food is a very wicked practice. ~9.~ butter is sometimes made almost wholly from lard or tallow. this is called _oleomargarine_ or _butterine_. if the lard or tallow is from diseased animals, the false butter made from it may cause disease. ~10.~ a great deal of the sugar and syrups which we buy is made from corn by a curious process, which changes the starch of the corn into sugar. sugar which has been made in this way is not so sweet as cane sugar, and is not healthful. ~11. condiments or seasonings.~--these are substances which are added to our food for the purpose of giving to it special flavors. condiments are not foods, because they do not nourish the body in any way, and are not necessary to preserve it in health. ~12.~ the most common condiments are, mustard, pepper, pepper-sauce, ginger, cayenne-pepper, and spices. all these substances are irritating. if we put mustard upon the skin, it will make the skin red, and in a little time will raise a blister. if we happen to get a little pepper in the eye, it makes it smart and become very red and inflamed. when we take these things into the stomach, they cause the stomach to smart, and its lining membrane becomes red just as the skin or the eye does. ~13.~ nature has put into our foods very nice flavors to make us enjoy eating them. condiments are likely to do us great harm, and hence it is far better not to use them. ~14. tobacco.~--most of you know that tobacco is obtained from a plant which has long, broad leaves. these leaves are dried and then rolled up into cigars, ground into snuff, or prepared for chewing. [illustration: tobacco-plant.] ~15.~ tobacco has a smarting, sickening taste. do you think it would be good to eat? why not? ~16.~ you know that tobacco makes people sick when they first begin to use it. this is because it contains a very deadly poison, called _nicotine_. ~17.~ if you give tobacco to a cat or a dog, it will become very sick. a boy once gave a piece of tobacco to a monkey, which swallowed it not knowing what a bad thing it was. the monkey soon became sick and died. ~18.~ many learned doctors have noticed the effects which come from using tobacco, and they all say it does great harm to boys, that it makes them puny and weak, and prevents their growing up into strong and useful men. if tobacco is not good for boys, do you think it can be good for men? certainly you will say, no. summary. 1. both animals and plants are sometimes diseased. flesh obtained from sick or diseased animals is unfit for food. 2. unripe, stale, and mouldy foods are unfit to be eaten and likely to cause severe illness. 3. foods are sometimes spoiled by having things mixed with them which are not food, or which are poisonous. 4. the foods most liable to be adulterated in this way are milk, sugar, and butter. 5. tobacco, while not actually eaten, is thought by some persons to be a food, but it is not. it is a poison, and injures all who use it. 6. boys who use tobacco do not grow strong in body and mind. chapter vi. our drinks. ~1.~ water is really the only drink. it is the only substance which will satisfy thirst. all other fluids which we drink consist mostly of water. thus, lemonade is lemon-juice and water. milk is chiefly water. wine, beer, cider, and such liquids contain alcohol and many other things, mixed with water. ~2. why we need water.~--if we should wet a sponge and lay it away, it would become dry in a few hours, as the water would pass off into the air. our bodies are losing water all the time, and we need to drink to keep ourselves from drying up. ~3.~ water is also very necessary for other purposes. it softens our food so that we can chew and swallow it, and helps to carry it around in the body after it has been digested, in a way about which we shall learn in future lessons. ~4.~ still another use for water is to dissolve and wash out of our bodies, through the sweat of the skin, and in other ways, the waste and worn-out particles which are no longer of any use. ~5. impure water.~--most waters have more or less substances dissolved in them. water which has much lime in it is called hard water. such water is not so good to drink, or for use in cooking, as soft water. that water is best which holds no substances in solution. well-water sometimes contains substances which soak into wells from vaults or cesspools. slops which are poured upon the ground soak down out of sight; but the foul substances which they contain are not destroyed. they remain in the soil, and when the rains come, they are washed down into the well if it is near by. you can see some of the things found in bad water in the illustration given on opposite page. ~6.~ it is best not to drink iced water when the body is heated, or during meals. if it is necessary to drink very cold water, the bad effects may be avoided by sipping it very slowly. ~7. tea and coffee.~--many people drink tea or coffee at their meals, and some persons think that these drinks are useful foods; but they really have little or no value as foods. both tea and coffee contain a poison which, when separated in a pure form, is so deadly that a very small quantity is enough to kill a cat or a dog. this poison often does much harm to those who drink tea or coffee very strong for any great length of time. [illustration: a drop of impure water magnified.] ~8. alcohol~ (al´-co-hol).--all of you know something about alcohol. perhaps you have seen it burn in a lamp. it will burn without a lamp, if we light it. it is so clear and colorless that it looks like water. the indians call it "fire-water." alcohol differs very much from foods. it is not produced from plants, as fruits and grains are; neither is it supplied by nature ready for our use, as are air and water. ~9. fermentation.~--when a baker makes bread he puts some yeast in the dough to make it "rise," so the bread will be light. the yeast destroys some of the sugar and starch in the flour and changes it into alcohol and a gas. the gas bubbles up through the dough, and this is what makes the bread light. this is called _fermentation_ (fer-men-ta´-tion). the little alcohol which is formed in the bread does no harm, because it is all driven off by the heat when the bread is baked. [illustration: fermentation.] ~10.~ any moist substance or liquid which contains sugar will ferment if yeast is added to it, or if it is kept in a warm place. you know that canned fruit sometimes spoils. this is because it ferments. fermentation is a sort of decay. when the juice of grapes, apples, or other fruit is allowed to stand in a warm place it "works," or ferments, and thus produces alcohol. wine is fermented grape-juice; hard cider is fermented apple-juice. ~11.~ beer, ale, and similar drinks are made from grains. the grain is first moistened and allowed to sprout. in sprouting, the starch of the grain is changed to sugar. the grain is next dried and ground, and is then boiled with water. the water dissolves the sugar. the sweet liquid thus obtained is separated from the grain, and yeast is added to it. this causes it to ferment, which changes the sugar to alcohol. thus we see that the grain does not contain alcohol in the first place, but that it is produced by fermentation. ~12.~ all fermented liquids contain more or less alcohol, mixed with water and a good many other things. rum, brandy, gin, whiskey, and pure alcohol are made by separating the alcohol from the other substances. this is done by means of a still, and is called _distillation_. [illustration: distillation.] ~13.~ you can learn how a still separates the alcohol by a little experiment. when a tea-pot is boiling on the stove and the steam is coming out at the nozzle, hold up to the nozzle a common drinking-glass filled with iced water, first taking care to wipe the outside of the glass perfectly dry. little drops of water will soon gather upon the side of the glass. if you touch these to the tongue you will observe that they taste of the tea. it is because a little of the tea has escaped with the steam and condensed upon the glass. this is distillation. ~14.~ if the tea-pot had contained wine, or beer, or hard cider, the distilled water would have contained alcohol instead of tea. by distilling the liquid several times the alcohol may be obtained almost pure. ~15. alcohol kills animals and plants.~--strong alcohol has a deadly effect upon all living things. once a man gave a dog a few tablespoonfuls of alcohol, and in a little while the dog was dead. if you should pour alcohol upon a plant it would die very soon. ~16.~ a man once made a cruel experiment. he put some minnows into a jar of water and then poured in a few teaspoonfuls of alcohol. the minnows tried very hard to get out, but they could not, and in a little while they were all dead, poisoned by the alcohol. a frenchman once gave alcohol to some pigs with their food. they soon became sick and died. ~17. alcohol not a food.~--there are some people who imagine that alcohol is good for food because it is made from fruits and grains which are good for food. this is a serious mistake. a person can live on the fruits or grains from which alcohol is made, but no one would attempt to live upon alcohol. if he did, he would soon starve to death. in fact, men have often died in consequence of trying to use whiskey in place of food. ~18.~ we should remember, also, that people do not take alcohol as a food, but for certain effects which it produces, which are not those of a food, but of a poison. ~19.~ many people who would not drink strong or distilled liquors, think that they will suffer no harm if they use only wine, beer, or cider. this is a great mistake. these liquids contain alcohol, as do all fermented drinks. a person will become drunk or intoxicated by drinking wine, beer, or cider--only a larger quantity is required to produce the same effect as rum or whiskey. ~20.~ another very serious thing to be thought of is that if a person forms the habit of drinking wine, cider, or other fermented drinks, he becomes so fond of the _effect they produce_ that he soon wants some stronger drink, and thus he is led to use whiskey or other strong liquors. on this account it is not safe to use any kind of alcoholic drinks, either fermented or distilled. the only safe plan is to avoid the use of every sort of stimulating or intoxicating drinks. ~21.~ it has been found by observation that those persons who use intoxicating drinks are not so healthy as those who do not use them, and, as a rule, they do not live so long. ~22.~ this is found to be true not only of those who use whiskey and other strong liquors, but also of those who use fermented drinks, as wine and beer. beer drinkers are much more likely to suffer from disease than those who are strictly temperate. it is often noticed by physicians that when a beer-drinker becomes sick or meets with an accident, he does not recover so readily as one who uses no kind of alcoholic drinks. ~23.~ alcoholic drinks not only make people unhealthy and shorten their lives, but they are also the cause of much poverty and crime and an untold amount of misery. summary. 1. water is the only thing that will satisfy thirst. 2. in going through our bodies, water washes out many impurities. we also need water to soften our food. 3. the purest water is the best. impure water causes sickness. 4. good water has no color, taste, or odor. 5. tea and coffee are not good drinks. they are very injurious to children, and often do older persons much harm. 6. alcohol is made by fermentation. 7. pure alcohol and strong liquors are made by distillation. 8. alcohol is not a food, it is a poison. it kills plants and animals, and is very injurious to human beings. 9. even the moderate use of alcoholic drinks produces disease and shortens life. chapter vii. how we digest. ~1.~ did you ever see a venus's fly-trap? this curious plant grows in north carolina. it is called a fly-trap because it has on each of its leaves something like a steel-trap, by means of which it catches flies. you can see one of these traps in the picture. when a fly touches the leaf, the trap shuts up at once, and the poor fly is caught and cannot get away. the harder it tries to escape, the more tightly the trap closes upon it, until after a time it is crushed to death. [illustration: venus's fly-trap.] ~2.~ but we have yet to learn the most curious thing about this strange plant, which seems to act so much like an animal. if we open the leaf after a few days, it will be found that the fly has almost entirely disappeared. the fly has not escaped, but it has been dissolved by a fluid formed inside of the trap, and the plant has absorbed a portion of the fly. in fact, it has really eaten it. the process by which food is dissolved and changed so that it can be absorbed and may nourish the body, is called _digestion_ (di-ges´-tion). ~3.~ the venus's fly-trap has a very simple way of digesting its food. its remarkable little trap serves it as a mouth to catch and hold its food, and as a stomach to digest it. the arrangement by which our food is digested is much less simple than this. let us study the different parts by which this wonderful work is done. [illustration: the digestive tube.] ~4. the digestive tube.~--the most important part of the work of digesting our food is done in a long tube within the body, called the _digestive tube_ or _canal_. ~5.~ this tube is twenty-five or thirty feet long in a full-grown man; but it is so coiled up and folded away that it occupies but little space. it begins at the mouth, and ends at the lower part of the trunk. the greater part of it is coiled up in the abdomen. ~6. the mouth.~--the space between the upper and the lower jaw is called the _mouth_. the lips form the front part and the cheeks the sides. at the back part are three openings. one, the upper, leads into the nose. there are two lower openings. one of these leads into the stomach, and the other leads to the lungs. the back part of the mouth joins the two tubes which lead from the mouth to the lungs and the stomach, and is called the _throat_. the mouth contains the _tongue_ and the _teeth_. [illustration: the teeth.] ~7. the teeth.~--the first teeth, those which come when we are small children, are called _temporary_ or _milk teeth_. we lose these teeth as the jaws get larger and the second or _permanent_ teeth take their place. there are twenty teeth in the first set, and thirty-two in the second. very old persons sometimes have a third set of teeth. [illustration: salivary glands.] ~8. the salivary~ (sal´-i-vary)~ glands.~--there are three pairs of _salivary glands_. they form a fluid called the _saliva_ (sa-li´-va). it is this fluid which moistens the mouth at all times. when we eat or taste something which we like, the salivary glands make so much saliva that we sometimes say the mouth waters. one pair of the salivary glands is at the back part of the lower jaw, in front of the ears. the other two pairs of glands are placed at the under side of the mouth. the saliva produced by the salivary glands is sent into the mouth through little tubes called _ducts_. ~9. the gullet.~--at the back part of the throat begins a narrow tube, which passes down to the stomach. this tube is about nine inches long. it is called the _gullet_, _food-pipe_, or _oesophagus_ (e-soph´-a-gus). ~10. the stomach.~--at the lower end of the oesophagus the digestive tube becomes enlarged, and has a shape somewhat like a pear. this is the _stomach_. in a full-grown person the stomach is sufficiently large to hold about three pints. at each end of the stomach is a narrow opening so arranged that it can be opened or tightly closed, as may be necessary. the upper opening allows the food to pass into the stomach, the lower one allows it to pass out into the intestines. this opening is called the _pylorus_ (py-lo´-rus), or gate-keeper, because it closes so as to keep the food in the stomach until it is ready to pass out. ~11.~ in the membrane which lines the stomach there are many little pocket-like glands, in which a fluid called the _gastric juice_ is formed. this fluid is one of the most important of all the fluids formed in the digestive canal. [illustration: gastric gland.] ~12. the intestine~(in-tes´-tine).--at the lower end of the stomach the digestive canal becomes narrow again. this narrow portion, called the _intestine_, is about twenty-five feet long in a grown person. the last few feet of the intestine is larger than the rest, and is called the _colon_. this long tube is coiled up and snugly packed away in the cavity of the abdomen. in the membrane lining the intestines are to be found little glands, which make a fluid called _intestinal juice_. ~13. the liver.~--close up under the ribs, on the right side of the body, is a large chocolate-colored organ, called the _liver_. the liver is about half as large as the head, and is shaped so as to fit snugly into its corner of the abdomen. the chief business of the liver is to make a fluid called _bile_, which is very necessary for the digestion of our food. ~14.~ the bile is a bitter fluid of a golden-brown color. it is carried to the intestine by means of a little tube or duct, which enters the small intestine a few inches below the stomach. when the bile is made faster than it is needed for immediate use, it is stored up in a little pear-shaped sac called the _gall-bladder_, which hangs from the under side of the liver. ~15.~ the liver is a very wonderful organ, and does many useful things besides making bile. it aids in various ways in digesting the food, and helps to keep the blood pure by removing from it harmful substances which are formed within the body. ~16. the pancreas~(pan´-cre-as).--the _pancreas_ is another large and very important gland which is found close to the stomach, lying just behind it in the abdominal cavity. the pancreas forms a fluid called the _pancreatic juice_, which enters the small intestine at nearly the same place as the bile. ~17. the spleen.~--close to the pancreas, at the left side of the body, is a dark, roundish organ about the size of the fist, called the _spleen_. it is not known that the spleen has much to do in the work of digestion, but it is so closely connected with the digestive organs that we need to know about it. ~18.~ please note that there are five important organs of digestion. the mouth, the stomach, the intestines, the pancreas, and the liver. ~19.~ also observe that there are five digestive fluids, saliva, gastric juice, bile, pancreatic juice, and intestinal juice. summary. 1. the process of dissolving and changing the food so that it may be absorbed and may nourish the body is digestion. 2. the work of digestion is chiefly done in the digestive tube or canal, which is about thirty feet in length. 3. the mouth contains the teeth, and has three pairs of salivary glands connected with it, which make saliva. 4. the gullet leads from the mouth to the stomach. 5. the stomach is pear-shaped, and holds about three pints. 6. it has an upper and a lower opening, each of which is guarded by a muscle, which keeps its contents from escaping. 7. the lower opening of the stomach is called the pylorus. 8. the stomach forms the gastric juice. 9. the intestines are about twenty-five feet long. they form the intestinal juice. 10. the liver lies under the ribs of the right side. it is about half as large as the head. it makes bile. 11. when not needed for immediate use, the bile is stored up in a sac called the gall-bladder. 12. the pancreas is a gland which lies just back of the stomach. it makes pancreatic juice. 13. the spleen is found near the pancreas. 14. there are five important digestive organs--the mouth, the stomach, the intestines, the liver, and the pancreas. 15. there are five digestive fluids--saliva, gastric juice, intestinal juice, bile, and pancreatic juice. chapter viii. digestion of a mouthful of bread. ~1.~ let us suppose that we have eaten a mouthful of bread, and can watch it as it goes through all the different processes of digestion. ~2. mastication.~--first, we chew or masticate the food with the teeth. we use the tongue to move the food from one side of the mouth to the other, and to keep the food between the teeth. ~3. mouth digestion.~--while the bread is being chewed, the saliva is mixed with it and acts upon it. the saliva moistens and softens the food so that it can be easily swallowed and readily acted upon by the other digestive juices. you have noticed that if you chew a bit of hard bread a few minutes it becomes sweet. this is because the saliva changes some of the starch of the food into sugar. ~4.~ after we have chewed the food, we swallow it, and it passes down through the oesophagus into the stomach. ~5. stomach digestion.~--as soon as the morsel of food enters the stomach, the gastric juice begins to flow out of the little glands in which it is formed. this mingles with the food and digests another portion which the saliva has not acted upon. while this is being done, the stomach keeps working the food much as a baker kneads dough. this is done to mix the gastric juice with the food. ~6.~ after an hour or two the stomach squeezes the food so hard that a little of it, which has been digested by the gastric juice and the saliva, escapes through the lower opening, the pylorus, of which we have already learned. as the action of the stomach continues, more of the digested food escapes, until all that has been properly acted upon has passed out. ~7. intestinal digestion.~--we sometimes eat butter with bread, or take some other form of fat in our food. this is not acted upon by the saliva or the gastric juice. when food passes out of the stomach into the small intestine, a large quantity of bile is at once poured upon it. this bile has been made beforehand by the liver and stored up in the gall-bladder. the bile helps to digest fats, which the saliva and the gastric juice cannot digest. ~8.~ the pancreatic juice does the same kind of work that is done by the saliva, the gastric juice, and the bile. it also finishes up the work done by these fluids. it is one of the most important of all the digestive juices. ~9.~ the intestinal juice digests nearly all the different elements of the food, so that it is well fitted to complete the wonderful process by which the food is made ready to enter the blood and to nourish the body. ~10.~ while the food is being acted upon by the bile, the pancreatic juice, and intestinal juice, it is gradually moved along the intestines. after all those portions of food which can be digested have been softened and dissolved, they are ready to be taken into the blood and distributed through the body. ~11. absorption.~--if you put a dry sponge into water, it very soon becomes wet by soaking up the water. indeed, if you only touch a corner of the sponge to the water, the whole sponge will soon become wet. we say that the sponge absorbs the water. it is in a somewhat similar way that the food is taken up or absorbed by the walls of the stomach and intestines. when the food is absorbed, the greater part of it is taken into the blood-vessels, of which we shall learn in a future lesson. ~12. liver digestion.~--after the food has been absorbed, the most of it is carried to the liver, where the process of digestion is completed. the liver also acts like an inspector to examine the digested food and remove hurtful substances which may be taken with it, such as alcohol, mustard, pepper, and other irritating things. ~13. the thoracic duct.~--a portion of the food, especially the digested fats, is absorbed by a portion of the lymphatic vessels called _lacteals_, which empty into a small vessel called the _thoracic duct_. this duct passes upward in front of the spine and empties into a vein near the heart. summary. how a mouthful of food is digested: 1. it is first masticated--that is, it is chewed and moistened with saliva. 2. then it is swallowed, passing through the oesophagus to the stomach. 3. there it is acted upon, and a part of it digested by the gastric juice. 4. it is then passed into the small intestine, where it is acted upon by the bile, the pancreatic fluid, and the intestinal juice. 5. the digested food is then absorbed by the walls of the stomach and intestines. 6. the greater portion of the food is next passed through the liver, where hurtful substances are removed. 7. a smaller portion is carried through the thoracic duct and emptied into a vein near the heart. chapter ix. bad habits in eating. ~1. eating too fast.~--a most common fault is eating too fast. when the food is chewed too rapidly, and swallowed too quickly, it is not properly divided and softened. such food cannot be easily acted upon by the various digestive juices. ~2. eating too much.~--a person who eats food too rapidly is also very likely to injure himself by eating too much. the digestive organs are able to do well only a certain amount of work. when too much food is eaten, none of it is digested as well as it should be. food which is not well digested will not nourish the body. ~3. eating too often~--many children make themselves sick by eating too often. it is very harmful to take lunches or to eat at other than the proper meal-times. the stomach needs time to rest, just as our legs and arms and the other parts of the body do. for the same reason, it is well for us to avoid eating late at night. the stomach needs to sleep with the rest of the body. if one goes to bed with the stomach full of food, the stomach cannot rest, and the work of digestion will go on so slowly that the sleep will likely be disturbed. such sleep is not refreshing. ~4.~ if we wish to keep our digestive organs in good order, we must take care to eat at regular hours. we ought not to eat when we are very tired. the stomach cannot digest well when we are very much fatigued. ~5. sweet foods.~--we ought not to eat too much sugar or sweet foods, as they are likely to sour or ferment in the stomach, and so make us sick. candies often contain a great many things which are not good for us, and which may make us sick. the colors used in candies are sometimes poisonous. the flavors used in them are also sometimes very harmful. ~6. fatty foods hurtful.~--too much butter, fat meats, and other greasy foods are hurtful. cream is the most digestible form of fat, because it readily dissolves in the fluids of the stomach, and mixes with the other foods without preventing their digestion. melted fats are especially harmful. cheese, fried foods, and rich pastry are very poor foods, and likely to cause sickness. ~7. eating too many kinds of foods.~--children should avoid eating freely of flesh meats. they ought also to avoid eating all highly-seasoned dishes, and taking too many kinds of food at a meal. a simple diet is much the more healthful. milk and grain foods, as oatmeal, cracked wheat, graham bread, with such delicious fruits as apples, pears, and grapes, are much the best food for children. ~8. avoid use of cold foods.~--we ought not to take very cold foods or liquids with our meals. cold foods, ice-water, and other iced drinks make the stomach so cold that it cannot digest the food. for this reason it is very harmful to drink iced water or iced tea, or to eat ice-cream at meals. these things are injurious to us at any time, but they do the greatest amount of harm when taken with the food. ~9. things sometimes eaten which are not foods.~--things which are not foods are often used as foods, such as mustard, pepper, and the various kinds of seasonings. soda, saleratus, and baking-powders also belong to this class. all of these substances are more or less harmful, particularly mustard, pepper, and hot sauces. ~10. common salt.~--the only apparent exception to the general rule that all condiments and other substances which are not foods are harmful is in the case of common salt. this is very commonly used among civilized nations, although there are many barbarous tribes that never taste it. it is quite certain that much more salt is used than is needed. when much salt is added to the food, the action of the digestive fluids is greatly hindered. salt meats, and other foods which have much salt added to them, are hard to digest because the salt hardens the fibres of the meat, so that they are not easily dissolved by the digestive fluids. ~11. care of the teeth.~--the teeth are the first organs employed in the work of digestion. it is of great importance that they should be kept in health. many persons neglect their teeth, and treat them so badly that they begin to decay at a very early age. ~12.~ the mouth and teeth should be carefully cleansed immediately on rising in the morning, and after each meal. all particles of food should be removed from between the teeth by carefully rubbing both the inner and the outer surfaces of the teeth with a soft brush, and rinsing very thoroughly with water. a little soap may be used in cleansing the teeth, but clear water is sufficient, if used frequently and thoroughly. the teeth should not be used in breaking nuts or other hard substances. the teeth are brittle, and are often broken in this way. the use of candy and too much sweet food is also likely to injure the teeth. ~13.~ some people think that it is not necessary to take care of the first set of teeth. this is a great mistake. if the first set are lost or are unhealthy, the second set will not be as perfect as they should be. it is plain that we should not neglect our teeth at any time of life. ~14. tobacco.~--when a person first uses tobacco, it is apt to make him very sick at the stomach. after he has used tobacco a few times it does not make him sick, but it continues to do his stomach and other organs harm, and after a time may injure him very seriously. smokers sometimes suffer from a horrible disease of the mouth or throat known as cancer. ~15. effects of alcohol upon the stomach.~--if you should put a little alcohol into your eye, the eye would become very red. when men take strong liquors into their stomachs, the delicate membrane lining the stomach becomes red in the same way. perhaps you will ask how do we know that alcohol has such an effect upon the stomach. more than sixty years ago there lived in michigan a man named alexis st. martin. one day he was, by accident, shot in such a way that a large opening was made right through the skin and flesh and into the stomach. the good doctor who attended him took such excellent care of him that he got well. but when he recovered, the hole in his stomach remained, so that the doctor could look in and see just what was going on. st. martin sometimes drank whiskey, and when he did, the doctor often looked into his stomach to see what the effect was, and he noticed that the inside of the stomach looked very red and inflamed. ~16.~ if st. martin continued to drink whiskey for several days, the lining of the stomach looked very red and raw like a sore eye. a sore stomach cannot digest food well, and so the whole body becomes sick and weak. what would you think of a man who should keep his eyes always sore and inflamed and finally destroy his eyesight by putting pepper or alcohol or some other irritating substance into them every day? is it not equally foolish and wicked to injure the stomach and destroy one's digestion by the use of alcoholic drinks? alcohol, even when it is not very strong, not only hurts the lining of the stomach, but injures the gastric juice, so that it cannot digest the food well. ~17. effects of alcohol upon the liver.~--the liver, as well as the stomach, is greatly damaged by the use of alcohol. you will recollect that nearly all the food digested and absorbed is filtered through the liver before it goes to the heart to be distributed to the rest of the body. in trying to save the rest of the body from the bad effects of alcohol, the liver is badly burned by the fiery liquid, and sometimes becomes so shrivelled up that it can no longer produce bile and perform its other duties. even beer, ale, and wine, which do not contain so much alcohol as do rum, gin, and whiskey, have enough of the poison in them to do the liver a great deal of harm, and to injure many other organs of the body as well. summary. {eating too fast. {eating too much. {eating too frequently. {eating irregularly. 1. causes of indigestion. {eating when tired. {eating too much of sweet foods. {eating too many kinds of food at a meal. {using iced foods or drinks. 2. irritating substances and things which are not foods should not be eaten. 3. the teeth must be carefully used and kept clean. 4. tobacco-using does the stomach harm, and sometimes causes cancer of the mouth. 5. alcohol injures the gastric juice, and causes disease of the stomach and the liver. chapter x. a drop of blood. ~1. the blood.~--did you ever cut or prick your finger so as to make it bleed? probably you have more than once met with an accident of this sort. all parts of the body contain blood. if the skin is broken in any place the blood flows out. ~2.~ how many of you know what a microscope is? it is an instrument which magnifies objects, or makes them look a great deal larger than they really are. some microscopes are so powerful that they will make a little speck of dust look as large as a great rock. ~3. the blood corpuscles.~--if you should look at a tiny drop of blood through such a microscope, you would find it to be full of very small, round objects called _blood corpuscles_. ~4.~ you would notice also that these corpuscles are of two kinds. most of them are slightly reddish, and give to the blood its red color. a very few are white. ~5. use of the corpuscles.~--do you wonder what these peculiar little corpuscles do in the body? they are very necessary. we could not live a moment without them. we need to take into our bodies oxygen from the air. it is the business of the red corpuscles to take up the oxygen in the lungs and carry it round through the body in a wonderful way, of which we shall learn more in a future lesson. ~6.~ the white corpuscles have something to do with keeping the body in good repair. they are carried by the blood into all parts of the body and stop where they are needed to do any kind of work. they may be compared to the men who go around to mend old umbrellas, and to do other kinds of tinkering. it is thought that the white corpuscles turn into red ones when they become old. ~7.~ the corpuscles float in a clear, almost colorless fluid which contains the digested food and other elements by which the body is nourished. summary. 1. the blood contains very small objects called blood corpuscles. 2. there are two kinds of corpuscles, red and white. 3. the red corpuscles carry oxygen. 4. the white corpuscles repair parts that are worn. 5. the corpuscles float in a clear, almost colorless fluid, which nourishes the body. chapter xi. why the heart beats. ~1.~ if you place your hand on the left side of your chest, you will feel something beating. if you cannot feel the beats easily, you may run up and down stairs two or three times, and then you can feel them very distinctly. how many of you know the name of this curious machine inside the chest, that beats so steadily? you say at once that it is the heart. [illustration: the heart.] ~2.~ the heart.--the heart may be called a live pump, which keeps pumping away during our whole lives. if it should stop, even for a minute or two, we would die. if you will place your hand over your heart and count the beats for exactly one minute, you will find that it beats about seventy-five or eighty times. when you are older, your heart will beat a little more slowly. if you count the beats while you are lying down, you will find that the heart beats more slowly than when you are sitting or standing. when we run or jump, the heart beats much harder and faster. ~3. why the heart beats.~--we have learned in preceding lessons that the digested food is taken into the blood. we have also learned that both water and oxygen are taken into the blood. thus the blood contains all the materials that are needed by the various parts of the body to make good the wastes that are constantly taking place. but if the blood were all in one place it could do little good, as the new materials are needed in every part of the body. there has been provided a wonderful system of tubes running through every part of the body. by means of these tubes the blood is carried into every part where it is required. these tubes are connected with the heart. when the heart beats, it forces the blood through the tubes just as water is forced through a pipe by a pump or by a fire-engine. ~4. the heart chambers.~--the heart has four chambers, two upper and two lower chambers. the blood is received into the upper chambers, and is then passed down into the lower chambers. from the lower chambers it is sent out to various parts of the body. [illustration: the inside of the heart.] ~5. the blood-vessels.~--the tubes through which the blood is carried are called _blood-vessels_. there are three kinds of blood-vessels. one set carry the blood away from the heart, and are called _arteries_ (ar´-te-ries). another set return the blood to the heart, and are called _veins_. the arteries and veins are connected at the ends farthest from the heart by many very small vessels. these minute, hairlike vessels are called _capillaries_ (cap´-il-la-ries). ~6. the arteries.~--an artery leads out from the lower chamber of each side of the heart. the one from the right side of the heart carries the blood only to the lungs. the one from the left side of the heart carries blood to every part of the body. it is the largest artery in the body, and is called the _aorta_. soon after it leaves the heart the aorta begins to send out branches to various organs. these divide in the tissues again and again until they become so small that only one corpuscle can pass through at a time, as shown in the colored plate. (frontispiece.) ~7. the veins.~--these very small vessels now begin to unite and form larger ones, the veins. the small veins join to form larger ones, until finally all are gathered into two large veins which empty into the upper chamber of the right side of the heart. the veins which carry blood from the lungs to the heart empty into the upper chamber of the left side of the heart. ~8. what is done in the blood-vessels.~--while the blood is passing through the small blood-vessels in the various parts of the body, each part takes out just what it needs to build up its own tissues. at the same time, the tissues give in exchange their worn-out or waste matters. the red blood corpuscles in the capillaries give up their oxygen, and the blood receives in its stead a poisonous substance called carbonic-acid gas. ~9. red and blue blood.~--while in the arteries the blood is of a bright red color; but while it is passing through the capillaries the color changes to a bluish red or purple color. the red blood is called _arterial blood_, because it is found in the arteries. the purple blood is called _venous blood_, because it is found in the veins. the loss of oxygen in the corpuscles causes the change of color. ~10. change of blood in the lungs.~--exactly the opposite change occurs in the blood when it passes through the lungs. the blood which has been gathered up from the various parts of the body is dark, impure blood. in the lungs this dark blood is spread out in very minute capillaries and exposed to the air. while passing through the capillaries of the lungs, the blood gives up some of its impurities in exchange for oxygen from the air. the red corpuscles absorb the oxygen and the color of the blood changes from dark purple to bright red again. the purified blood is then carried back to the upper chamber of the left side of the heart through four large veins. the blood is now ready to begin another journey around the body. ~11. the pulse.~--if you place your finger on your wrist at just the right spot, you can feel a slight beating. this beating is called the _pulse_. it is caused by the movement of the blood in the artery of the wrist at each beat of the heart. the pulse can be felt at the neck and in other parts of the body where an artery comes near to the surface. ~12. how much work the heart does.~--the heart is a small organ, only about as large as your fist, and yet it does an amount of work which is almost beyond belief. each time it beats, it does as much work as your arm would do in lifting a large apple from the ground to your mouth. it beats when we are asleep as well as when we are awake. when we run we know by the way in which it beats that it is working very fast. do you know how much a ton is? well, in twenty-four hours the heart does as much work as a man would do in lifting stones enough to weigh more than one hundred and twenty tons. ~13. the lymphatics.~--while the blood is passing through the capillaries, some of the white corpuscles escape from the blood-vessels. what do you suppose becomes of these runaway corpuscles? nature has provided a way by which they can get back to the heart. in the little spaces among the tissues outside of the blood-vessels very minute channels called _lymph channels_ or _lymphatics_ (lym--phat´-ics) begin. the whole body is filled with these small channels, which run together much like the meshes of a net. in the centre of the body the small lymphatics run into large ones, which empty into the veins near the heart. this is the way the stray white blood corpuscles get back into the blood. ~14. the lymph.~--in the lymph channels the white corpuscles float in a colorless fluid called _lymph_. the lymph is composed of the fluid portion of the blood which has soaked through the walls of the small vessels. the chief purpose of the lymphatics is to carry the lymph from the tissues back to the heart. ~15. lymphatic glands.~--here and there, scattered through the body, are oval structures into each of which many lymphatic vessels are found to run, as shown in the illustration. these are called _lymphatic glands_. [illustration: lymph gland and vessels.] ~16.~ the heart and blood-vessels are among the most wonderful structures in the body. it is no wonder, then, that alcohol, tobacco, and other narcotics and stimulants produce their most deadly effects upon these delicate organs. what these effects are we shall learn more fully in the next chapter. summary. 1. the heart beats to circulate the blood. 2. the heart has four chambers, two upper and two lower. 3. there are tubes called blood-vessels which carry the blood to all parts of the body. 4. these tubes are connected with the heart. 5. the vessels which carry blood away from the heart are called arteries, and those which carry blood back to the heart are called veins. 6. the arteries and veins are connected by small tubes called capillaries. 7. the blood found in the arteries is red; that in the veins is dark blue or purple. 8. the color of the blood changes from red to blue in going through the capillaries. the change is due to the loss of oxygen. 9. in the circulation of the lungs, the blood in the arteries is blue, that in the veins, red. 10. the change from blue to red takes place while the blood is passing through the capillaries of the lungs. the change is due to the oxygen which the corpuscles of the blood take up in the lungs. 11. the pulse is caused by the beating of the heart. 12. the heart does a great deal of work every day in forcing the blood into different parts of the body. 13. some of the white blood corpuscles escape from the blood-vessels through the thin walls of the capillaries. 14. these corpuscles return to the heart through small vessels called lymph channels or lymphatics. 15. the lymphatics in many parts of the body run into small roundish bodies called lymphatic glands. 16. the object of the lymphatics is to remove from the tissues and return to the general circulation the lymph and white blood corpuscles which escape through the walls of the capillaries. chapter xii. how to keep the heart and the blood healthy. ~1.~ the heart is one of the most important of all the organs of the body. if we take good care of it, it will do good service for us during a long life. let us notice some ways in which the heart is likely to be injured. ~2. violent exercise.~--did you ever run so hard that you were out of breath? do you know why you had to breathe so fast? it was because the violent exercise made your heart beat so rapidly that the blood could not get out of the lungs as fast as the heart forced it in. the lungs became so filled with blood that they could not do their work well. sometimes, when a person runs very fast or takes any kind of violent exercise, the lungs become so filled with blood that a blood-vessel is broken. the person may then bleed to death. it is very unwise to overtax the heart in any way, for it may be strained or otherwise injured, so that it can never again do its work properly. ~3. effects of bad air.~--bad air is very harmful to the heart and to the blood also. we should always remember that the blood of the body while passing through the lungs is exposed to the air which we breathe. if the air is impure, the blood will be poisoned. in churches and in other places where the air becomes foul, people often faint from the effects of the impure air upon the heart. it is important that the air of the rooms in which we live and sleep should be kept very pure by good ventilation. ~4. effects of bad food.~--the blood is made from what we eat, and if we eat impure and unwholesome food, the blood becomes impure. we ought to avoid the use of rich or highly-seasoned foods, candies, and all foods which are not nutritious. they not only injure the blood by making it impure, but they cause poor digestion. ~5. plenty of sleep necessary.~--if we should take a drop of blood from the finger of a person who had not had as much sleep as he needed, and examine it with a microscope, we should find that there were too few of the little red-blood corpuscles. this is one reason why a person who has not had sufficient sleep looks pale. ~6. proper clothing.~--we should be properly clothed, according to the weather. in cold weather we need very warm clothing. in warm weather we should wear lighter clothing. our clothing should be so arranged that it will keep all parts of the body equally warm, and thus allow the blood to circulate properly. the feet are apt to be cold, being so far away from the heart, and we should take extra pains to keep them warm and dry. ~7. effects of excessive heat.~--in very hot weather, many persons are injured by exposing themselves to the sun too long at a time. persons who drink intoxicating liquors are very often injured in this way, and sometimes die of sunstroke. ~8. effects of anger.~--when a person gets very angry, the heart sometimes almost stops beating. indeed, persons have died instantly in a fit of passion. so you see it is dangerous for a person to allow himself to become very angry. ~9. effects of alcohol upon the blood.~--if you should take a drop of blood upon your finger, and put it under the microscope, and then add a little alcohol to it, you would see that the corpuscles would be quickly destroyed. in a few seconds they would be so shrivelled up that no one could tell that they had ever been the beautiful little corpuscles which are so necessary to health. when alcohol is taken as a drink, it does not destroy the corpuscles so quickly, but it injures them so that they are not able to do their work of absorbing and carrying oxygen well. this is one reason why the faces of men who use alcoholic drinks often look so blue. ~10. alcohol overworks the heart.~--dr. parkes, a very learned english physician, took the pains to observe carefully the effects of alcohol upon the heart of a soldier who was addicted to the use of liquor. he counted the beats of the soldier's pulse when he was sober; and then counted them again when he was using alcohol, and found that when the soldier took a pint of gin a day his heart was obliged to do one fourth more work than it ought to do. ~11. effects of alcohol upon the blood-vessels.~--if you put your hands into warm water, they soon become red. this is because the blood-vessels of the skin become enlarged by the heat, so that they hold more blood. alcohol causes the blood to come to the surface in the same way. it is this that causes the flushed cheeks and the red eyes of the drunkard. sometimes, after a man has been using alcohol a long time, the blood-vessels of his face remain enlarged all the time. this makes his nose grow too fast, and so in time it gets too large, and then he has a rum-blossom. ~12. effects of tobacco on the heart and the blood.~--when a boy first tries to use tobacco, it makes him feel very sick. if you should feel his pulse just then, you would find it very weak. this means that the heart is almost paralyzed by the powerful poison of the tobacco. tobacco also injures the blood corpuscles. ~13.~ _tea_ and _coffee_ also do their share of mischief to the heart. those who use them very strong often complain of palpitation, or heavy and irregular beating of the heart. ~14. taking cold.~--people usually "catch cold" by allowing the circulation to become disturbed in some way, as by getting the feet wet, being chilled from not wearing sufficient clothing, sitting in a draught, and in other similar ways. it is very important for you to know that a cold is a serious thing, and should be carefully avoided. ~15. hemorrhage~ (hem´-or-rhage) ~or loss of blood.~--a severe loss of blood is likely to occur as the result of accidents or injuries of various sorts, and it is important to know what to do at once, as there may not be time to send for a doctor before it will be too late to save the injured person's life. here are a few things to be remembered in all such cases: ~16.~ if the blood from a cut or other wound flows in spurts, and is of a bright red color, it is from an artery. if it is dark-colored, and flows in a steady stream, it is from a vein. ~17. how to stop the bleeding of wounds.~--if the bleeding vessel is an artery, apply pressure on the side of the wound next to the heart. if the bleeding is from a vein, apply it on the opposite side. it is generally best to apply pressure directly over the wound or on both sides. the pressure can be made with the thumbs or with the whole hand. grasp the part firmly and press very hard, or tie a handkerchief or towel around the wounded part and twist it very tight. if an arm or limb is the part injured, the person should be made to lie down, and the injured part should be held up. this is of itself an excellent means of stopping hemorrhage. ~18. nose-bleed.~--for nose-bleed a very good remedy is holding one or both hands above the head. the head should be held up instead of being bent forward, and the corner of a dry handkerchief should be pressed into the bleeding nostril. it is well to bathe the face with very hot water, and to snuff hot water into the nostril if the bleeding is very severe. if the bleeding is very bad or is not readily stopped, a physician should be called. summary. 1. violent exercise is likely to injure the heart. 2. bad air makes the blood impure and disturbs the action of the heart. 3. unwholesome food produces bad blood. 4. too little sleep makes the blood poor. 5. proper clothing is necessary to make the blood circulate equally in different parts of the body. 6. violent anger may cause death by stopping the beating of the heart. 7. alcohol injures the blood. 8. alcohol overworks the heart. 9. alcohol enlarges the blood-vessels. 10. tobacco injures the blood. 11. tobacco weakens the heart and makes the pulse irregular. 12. the use of strong tea and coffee causes palpitation of the heart. 13. a cold is caused by a disturbance of the circulation. a cold should never be neglected. 14. when an artery is wounded, the blood is bright red and flows in spurts. 15. when a vein is wounded, the blood is purple and flows in a steady stream. 16. to stop bleeding from an artery, press on the side of the wound towards the heart, or on both sides of the wound. 17. when a vein is wounded, press on the side away from the heart. chapter xiii. why and how we breathe. ~1. an experiment.~--let us perform a little experiment. we must have a small bit of candle, a fruit jar, or a bottle with a large mouth, and a piece of wire about a foot long. let us notice carefully what we are about to do and what happens. ~2.~ we will fasten the candle to the end of the wire. now we will light it, and next we will let it down to the bottom of the jar. now place the cover on the top of the jar and wait the results. soon the candle burns dimly and in a little time the light goes out altogether. ~3.~ what do you think is the reason that the candle will not burn when shut up in a bottle? a candle uses air when it burns. if shut up in a small, tight place, it soon uses up so much air that it can burn no longer. try the experiment again, and when the candle begins to burn dimly, take it out quickly. we see that at once the light burns bright again. ~4.~ suppose we shut the stove draught tight, what is the result? the fire will burn low, and after a time it will probably go out. why is this? evidently the stove needs air to make the wood or coal burn, just as the candle needs air to make it burn. ~5. animals die without air.~--if you should shut up a mouse or any other small animal in a fruit-jar, its life would go out just as the light of the candle went out. the little animal would die in a short time. a child shut up in a close place would die from the same cause in a very little time. in fact, many children are dying every day for want of a sufficient supply of pure air. ~6. oxygen.~--the reason why animals need air, and why the fire will not burn without it, is that the air contains _oxygen_, and it is the oxygen of the air which burns the wood or coal and produces heat. so it is the oxygen that burns in our bodies and keeps us warm. ~7.~ when wood and coal are burned, heat is produced; but some parts of the fuel are not made into heat. while the fire burns, smoke escapes through the pipe or chimney; but a part of the fuel remains in the stove in the form of ashes. smoke and ashes are the waste parts of the fuel. ~8. poison in the breath.~--the burning which takes place in our bodies produces something similar to the smoke and ashes produced by the fire in a stove. the smoke is called _carbonic-acid gas_,[a] an invisible vapor, and escapes through the lungs. the ashes are various waste and poisonous matters which are formed in all parts of the body. these waste matters are carried out of the body through the skin, the kidneys, the liver, and other organs. ~9. another experiment.~--we cannot see the gas escape from our lungs, but we can make an experiment which will show us that it really does pass out. get two drinking-glasses and a tube. a glass tube is best, but a straw will do very well. put a little pure water into one glass and the same quantity of lime-water into the other glass. now put one end of the tube into the mouth and place the other end in the pure water. breathe through the tube a few times. look at the water in the glass and see that no change has taken place. now breathe through the lime-water in the same way. after breathing two or three times, you will notice that the lime-water begins to look milky. in a short time it becomes almost as white as milk. this is because the lime-water catches the carbonic-acid gas which escapes from our lungs with each breath, while the pure water does not. ~10. why we breathe.~--by this experiment we learn another reason why we breathe. we must breathe to get rid of the carbonic-acid gas, which is brought to the lungs by the blood to be exchanged for oxygen. there are two reasons then why we breathe: (_a_) to obtain oxygen; (_b_) to get rid of carbonic-acid gas. ~11. how a frog breathes.~--did you ever see a frog breathe? if not, improve the first opportunity to do so. you will see that the frog has a very curious way of breathing. he comes to the top of the water, puts his nose out a little, and then drinks the air. you can watch his throat and see him swallowing the air, a mouthful at a time, just as you would drink water. ~12.~ if you had a chance to see the inside of a frog you would find there a queer-shaped bag. this is his air-bag. this bag has a tube running up to the throat. when the frog comes to the surface of the water he fills this bag with air. then he can dive down into the mud out of sight until he has used up the supply of air. when the air has been changed to carbonic-acid gas, he must come to the surface to empty his air-bag and drink it full again. ~13. the lungs.~--we do not drink air as the frog does, but like the frog we have an air-bag in our bodies. our air-bag has to be emptied and filled so often that we cannot live under water long at a time, as a frog does. we call this air-bag the lungs. we have learned before that the lungs are in the chest. we need so much air and have to change the air in our lungs so often that we would not have time to swallow it as a frog does. so nature has made for us a breathing apparatus of such a kind that we can work it like a pair of bellows. let us now study our breathing-bellows and learn how they do their work. ~14. the windpipe and air-tubes.~--a large tube called the _windpipe_ extends from the root of the tongue down the middle of the chest. the windpipe divides into two main branches, which subdivide again and again, until the finest branches are not larger than a sewing-needle. the branches are called _bronchial tubes_. at the end of each tube is a cluster of small cavities called _air-cells_. the air-tubes and air-cells are well shown on the following page. ~15. the voice-box.~--if you will place the ends of your fingers upon your throat just above the breast-bone, you will feel the windpipe, and may notice the ridges upon it. these are rings of cartilage, a hard substance commonly called gristle. the purpose of these rings is to keep the windpipe open. close under the chin you can find something which feels like a lump, and which moves up and down when you swallow. [illustration: air-tubes and air-cells.] this is a little box made of cartilage, called the voice-box, because by means of this curious little apparatus we are able to talk and sing. two little white bands are stretched across the inside of the voice-box. when we speak, these bands vibrate just as do the strings of the piano. these bands are called the _vocal cords_. ~16. the epiglottis.~--at the top of the voice-box is placed a curious trap-door which can be shut down so as to close the entrance to the air-passages of the lungs. this little door has a name rather hard to remember. it is called the _epiglottis_ (ep-i-glot´-tis). the cover of the voice-box closes whenever we swallow anything. this keeps food or liquids from entering the air passages. if we eat or drink too fast the voice-box will not have time to close its little door and prevent our being choked. persons have been choked to death by trying to swallow their food too fast. do you not think this is a very wonderful door that can open and shut just when it should do so without our thinking anything about it? ~17. the nostrils and the soft palate.~--the air finds its way to the lungs through the mouth or through the two openings in the nose called the _nostrils_. from each nostril, three small passages lead backward through the nose. at the back part of the nasal cavity the passages of the two sides of the nose come together in an open space, just behind the soft curtain which hangs down at the back part of the mouth. this curtain is called the _soft palate_. through the opening behind this curtain the air passes down into the voice-box and then into the lungs. ~18. the pleura.~--in the chest the air tubes and lung of each side are enclosed in a very thin covering, called the _pleura_. the cavity of the chest in which the lungs are suspended is also lined by the pleura. a limpid fluid exudes from the pleura which keeps it moist, so that when the two surfaces rub together, as the lungs move, they do not become chafed and irritated. ~19. walls of the chest.~--the ribs form a part of the framework of the chest. the ribs are elastic. the spaces between them are filled up with muscles, some of which draw the ribs together, while others draw them apart. can you tell any reason why the walls of the chest are elastic? the lower wall or floor of the chest cavity is formed by a muscle called the _diaphragm_, which divides the trunk into two cavities, the chest and the abdomen. ~20. how we use the lungs.~--now let us notice how we use the lungs and what takes place in them. when we use a pair of bellows, we take hold of the handles and draw them apart. the sides of the bellows are drawn apart so that there is more room between the sides. the air then rushes in to fill the space. when the bellows are full, we press the handles together and the air is forced out. ~21.~ it is in just this way that we breathe. when we are about to take a long breath, the muscles pull upon the sides of the chest in such a way as to draw them apart. at the same time the diaphragm draws itself downward. by these means, the cavity of the chest is made larger and air rushes in through the nose or mouth to fill the space. when the muscles stop pulling, the walls of the chest fall back again to their usual position and the diaphragm rises. the cavity of the chest then becomes smaller and the air is forced out through the nose or mouth. this process is repeated every time we breathe. ~22.~ we breathe once for each four heart-beats. small children breathe more rapidly than grown persons. we usually breathe about eighteen or twenty times in a minute. ~23. how much the lungs hold.~--every time we breathe, we take into our lungs about two thirds of a pint of air and breathe out the same quantity. our lungs hold, however, very much more than this amount. a man, after he has taken a full breath, can breathe out a gallon of air, or more than ten times the usual amount. after he has breathed out all he can, there is still almost half a gallon of air in his lungs which he cannot breathe out. so you see the lungs hold almost a gallon and a half of air. ~24.~ do you think you can tell why nature has given us so much more room in the lungs than we ordinarily use in breathing? if you will run up and down stairs three or four times you will see why we need this extra lung-room. it is because when we exercise vigorously the heart works very much faster and beats harder, and we must breathe much faster and fuller to enable the lungs to purify the blood as fast as the heart pumps it into them. ~25. the two breaths.~--we have learned that the air which we breathe out contains something which is not found in the air which we breathe in. this is carbonic-acid gas. how many of you remember how we found this out? we can also tell this in another way. if we put a candle down in a wide jar it will burn for some time. if we breathe into the jar first, however, the candle will go out as soon as we put it into the jar. this shows that the air which we breathe out contains something which will put a candle out. this is carbonic-acid gas, which is a poison and will destroy life. ~26. other poisons.~--the air which we breathe out also contains other invisible poisons which are very much worse than the carbonic-acid gas. these poisons make the air of a crowded or unventilated room smell very unpleasant to one who has just come in from the fresh air. such air is unfit to breathe. ~27. the lungs purify the blood.~--we have learned that the blood becomes dark in its journey through the body. this is because it loses its oxygen and receives carbonic-acid gas. while passing through the capillaries of the lungs, the blood gives out the carbonic-acid gas which it has gathered up in the tissues, and takes up a new supply of oxygen, which restores its scarlet hue. ~28. how the air is purified.~--perhaps it occurs to you that with so many people and animals breathing all the while, the air would after a time become so filled with carbonic-acid gas that it would be unfit to breathe. this is prevented by a wonderful arrangement of nature. the carbonic-acid gas which is so poisonous to us is one of the most necessary foods for plants. plants take in carbonic-acid gas through their leaves, and send the oxygen back into the air ready for us to use again. ~29.~ we have already learned that the oxygen taken in by the lungs is carried to the various parts of the body by the little blood corpuscles. the effect of strong liquors is to injure these corpuscles so that they cannot carry so much oxygen as they ought to do. for this reason, the blood of a drunkard is darker in color than that of a temperate person, and contains more carbonic-acid gas. the drunkard's lungs may supply all the air he needs, but his blood has been so damaged that he cannot use it. excessive smoking has a similar effect. summary. 1. our bodies need air, just as a candle or a fire does. 2. a small animal shut up in a close jar soon dies for want of air. we need the oxygen which the air contains. 3. oxygen causes a sort of burning in our bodies. 4. the burning in our bodies keeps us warm, and destroys some of the waste matters. 5. the breathing organs are the windpipe and bronchial tubes, the voice-box, the epiglottis, the nostrils, the soft palate, the lungs, the air-cells, the pleura, the diaphragm, and the chest walls. 6. when we breathe we use our lungs like a pair of bellows. 7. a man's lungs hold nearly one and a half gallons of air. 8. in ordinary breathing we use less than a pint of air, but when necessary we can use much more. 9. the air we breathe out contains carbonic-acid gas and another invisible poison. 10. a candle will not burn in air which has been breathed, and animals die when confined in such air. 11. the lungs purify the blood. while passing through the lungs, the color of the blood changes from purple to bright red. 12. plants purify the air by removing the carbonic-acid gas. 13. alcohol and tobacco injure the blood corpuscles so that they cannot take up the oxygen from the air which the lungs receive. chapter xiv. how to keep the lungs healthy. ~1. pure air necessary.~--a person may go without eating for a month, or without drinking for several days, and still live; but a strong man will die in a few moments if deprived of air. it is very important that we breathe plenty of pure air. there are many ways in which the air becomes impure. ~2. bad odors.~--anything which rots or decays will in so doing produce an unpleasant odor. bad odors produced in this way are very harmful and likely to make us sick. many people have rotting potatoes and other vegetables in their cellars, and swill barrels, and heaps of refuse in their back yards. these are all dangerous to health, and often give rise to very serious disease. we should always remember that bad odors caused by decaying substances are signs of danger to health and life, and that these substances should be removed from us, or we should get away from them, as soon as possible. ~3. germs.~--the chief reason why bad odors are dangerous is that they almost always have with them little living things called _germs_. germs are so small that they cannot be seen by the naked eye: it takes a strong microscope to enable us to see them, but they are so powerful to do harm that if we receive them into our bodies they are likely to make us very sick, and they often cause death. ~4. contagious diseases.~--you have heard about diphtheria and scarlet fever and measles, and other "catching diseases." when a person is sick with one of these diseases, the air about him is poisoned with germs or something similar, which may give the same disease to other persons who inhale it. so when a person is sick from one of these diseases, it is very important that he should be put in a room by himself and shut away from every one but the doctor and the nurse. it is also necessary that all the clothing and bedding used by the sick person, and everything in the room, as well as the room itself, should be carefully cleansed and disinfected when the person has recovered, so as to wipe out every trace of the disease. the writer has known many cases in which persons who have been sick with some of these diseases were careless and gave the disease to others who died of it, although they themselves recovered. do you not think it very wrong for a person to give to another through carelessness a disease which may cause his death? ~5.~ unhealthful vapors and odors of various sorts arise from cisterns and damp, close places under a house. rooms which are shaded and shut up so closely that fresh air and sunshine seldom get into them should be avoided as dangerous to health. ~6. breath-poisoned air.~--the most dangerous of all the poisons to which we are exposed through the air are those of the breath, of which we learned in a preceding lesson. we need plenty of fresh air to take the place of the air which we poison by our breath. every time we breathe, we spoil at least _half a barrelful of air_. we breathe twenty times a minute, and hence spoil ten barrels of air in one minute. how many barrels would this make in one hour? we need an equal quantity of pure air to take the place of the spoiled air, or not less than ten barrels every minute, or _six hundred barrels every hour_. ~7. ventilation.~--the only way to obtain the amount of fresh air needed, when we are shut up in-doors, is to have some means provided by which the fresh air shall be brought in and the old and impure air carried out. changing the air by such means is called _ventilation_. every house, and especially every sleeping-room, should be well ventilated. school-houses, churches, and other places where many people gather, need perfect ventilation. ask your teacher to show you how the school-room is ventilated; and when you go home, talk to your parents about the ventilation of the house in which you live. ~8.~ many people ventilate their houses by opening the doors and windows. this is a very good way of ventilating a house in warm weather, but is a very poor way in cold weather, as it causes cold draughts, and makes the floor cold, so that it is difficult to keep the feet warm. it is much better to have the air warmed by a furnace or some similar means, before it enters the rooms. there ought also to be in each room a register to take the foul air out, so that it will not be necessary to open the windows. this register should be placed at the floor, because when the pure air enters the room warm, it first rises to the upper part of the room, and then as it cools and at the same time becomes impure, it settles to the floor, where it should be taken out by the register. ~9. how to breathe.~--we should always take pains to expand the lungs well in breathing, and to use the entire chest, both the upper and the lower part. clothing should be worn in such a way that every portion of the chest can be expanded. for this reason it is very wrong to wear the clothing tight about the waist. clothing so worn is likely to cause the lungs to become diseased. ~10. bad habits.~--students are very apt to make themselves flat-chested and round-shouldered by leaning over their desks while writing or studying. this is very harmful. we should always use great care to sit erect and to draw the shoulders well back. then, if we take pains to fill the lungs well a great many times every day, we shall form the habit of expanding the lungs, and shall breathe deeper, even when we are not thinking about doing so. ~11. breathing through the nose.~--in breathing, we should always take care to draw the air in through the nose, and not through the mouth. the nose acts as a strainer, to remove particles of dust which might do harm if allowed to enter the lungs. it also warms and moistens the air in cold weather. the habit of breathing through the mouth often gives rise to serious disease of the throat and lungs. ~12. effects of alcohol and tobacco upon the lungs.~--both alcohol and tobacco produce disease of the breathing organs. smoking injures the throat and sometimes causes loss of smell. serious and even fatal diseases of the lungs are often caused by alcohol. ~13.~ many people suppose that the use of alcohol will save a man from consumption. this is not true. a man may become a drunkard by the use of alcohol, and yet he is more likely to have consumption than he would have been if he had been a total abstainer. "drunkard's consumption" is one of the most dreadful forms of this disease. summary. 1. pure air is as necessary as food and drink. 2. anything which is rotting or undergoing decay causes a bad odor, and thus makes the air impure. 3. foul air contains germs which cause disease and often death. 4. persons sick with "catching" diseases should be carefully avoided. such persons should be shut away from those who are well, and their rooms and clothing should be carefully cleansed and disinfected. 5. the breath poisons the air about us. each breath spoils half a barrelful of air. 6. we should change the air in our houses, or ventilate them, so that we may always have pure air. 7. we should always keep the body erect, and expand the lungs well in breathing. 8. the clothing about the chest and waist should be loose, so that the lungs may have room to expand. 9. always breathe through the nose. 10. tobacco causes disease of the throat and nose. 11. alcohol causes consumption and other diseases of the lungs. chapter xv. the skin and what it does. ~1. the skin.~--the skin is the covering of the body. it fits so exactly that it has the precise shape of the body, like a closely fitting garment. if you will take up a little fold of the skin you will see that it can be stretched like a piece of india-rubber. like rubber, when it is released it quickly contracts and appears as before. ~2. the bark of trees.~--did you ever peel the bark off of a young tree? if so, you have noticed that there were really two barks, an outer bark, as thin as paper, through which you could almost see, and an inner and much thicker bark, which lay next to the wood of the tree. you can peel the outer bark off without doing the tree much harm. indeed, if you will notice some of the fruit or shade trees in the yard, at home, you will see that the outer bark of the tree peels itself off, a little at a time, and that new bark grows in its place. if you tear off the inner bark, however, it will injure the tree. it will make it bleed, or cause the sap to run. the sap is the blood of the tree. the bark is the skin of the tree. when the bare place heals over, an ugly scar will be left. ~3. the cuticle.~--our bodies, like trees, have two skins, or really one skin with an outer and an inner layer. when a person burns himself so as to make a blister, the outer skin, called the _cuticle_, is separated from the inner by a quantity of water or serum poured out from the blood. this causes the blister to rise above the surrounding skin. if you puncture the blister the water runs out. now we may easily remove the cuticle and examine it. the cuticle, we shall find, looks very much like the skin which lines the inside of an egg-shell, and it is almost as thin. ~4.~ the cuticle is very thin in most parts of the body, but in some places, as the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, it is quite thick. this is because these parts of the skin come in contact with objects in such a way as to be liable to injury if not thus protected. the cuticle has no blood-vessels and very few nerves. with a fine needle and thread you can easily take a stitch in it without making it bleed or causing any pain. ~5. the pigment.~--the under side of the cuticle is colored by little particles of pigment or coloring matter. the color of this pigment differs in different races. in the negro, the color of the pigment is black. in some races the pigment is brown. in white persons there is very little pigment, and in some persons, called albinos, there is none at all. ~6. the inner or true skin.~--the inner skin, like the inner bark of a tree, is much thicker than the outer skin. it is much more important, and for this reason is sometimes called the _true skin_. it contains nerves and blood-vessels. [illustration: skin of palm of hand magnified.] ~7. the sweat glands.~--if you look at the palm of the hand you will see many coarse lines, and by looking much closer you will see that the palm is completely covered with very fine ridges and furrows. now, if you examine these ridges with a magnifying-glass, you will find arranged along each ridge a number of little dark spots. each of these points is the mouth of a very small tube. this is called a _sweat duct_. these ducts run down through both the outer and inner layers of the skin. at the under side of the true skin the end of the tube is rolled up in a coil, as you can see by looking at the illustration on the following page. the coiled parts of the tubes are called _sweat glands_, because they separate from the blood the fluid which we call sweat or perspiration. ~8. the oil glands.~--there are other little glands in the skin which make fat or oil. the oil is poured out upon the skin to keep it soft and smooth. [illustration: the structure of the skin.] ~9. the hair.~--there are some curious little pockets in the skin. out of each of these pockets grows a hair. on some parts of the body the hairs are coarse and long; on other parts they are fine and short. ~10.~ many of the ducts leading from the oil glands open into the pockets or pouches from which the hairs grow. the oil makes the hair soft and glossy. nature has thus provided an excellent means for oiling the hair. ~11.~ the hair is chiefly useful as a protection. it is also an ornament. ~12. the nails.~--the nails of the fingers and the toes grow out of little pockets in the skin just as the hairs do. both the hair and the nails are really parts of the outer skin, which is curiously changed and hardened. the nails lie upon the surface of the true skin and grow from the under side as well as from the little fold of skin at the root of the nail. they are made to give firmness and protection to the ends of the fingers and toes. the nails of the fingers are also useful in picking up small objects and in many other ways. ~13. uses of the skin.~--the skin is useful in several ways: (1) _it removes waste._--the sweat glands and ducts are constantly at work removing from the blood particles which have been worn out and can be of no further use. if we get very warm, or if we run or work very hard, the skin becomes wet with sweat. in a little while, if we stop to rest, the sweat is all gone. what becomes of it? you say it dries up, which means that it has passed off into the air. sweating is going on all the time, but we do not sweat so much when we are quiet and are not too warm, and so the sweat dries up as fast as it is produced, and we do not see it. nearly a quart of sweat escapes from the skin daily. (2) _breathing through the skin._--we breathe to a slight extent through the skin. there are some lower animals which breathe with their skins altogether. a frog can breathe with its skin so well that it can live for some time after its lungs have been removed. breathing is an important part of the work of the skin, and we should be careful, by keeping it clean and healthy, to give it a good chance to breathe all that it can. (3) _the skin absorbs._--the skin absorbs many substances which come in contact with it, and hence should be kept clean. if the foul substances which are removed in the sweat are allowed to remain upon the skin, they may be taken back into the system and thus do much harm. (4) _the skin has feeling._--when anything touches the skin we know it by the feeling. we can tell a great many things about objects by feeling of them. if we happen to stick a pin into the skin we feel pain. we are also able to tell the difference between things which are hot and those which are cold. thus the sense of feeling which the skin has is very useful to us. (5) _the skin protects the body._--the skin is a natural clothing which protects us much better than any other kind of clothing could. it is so soft and pliable that it cannot hurt the most delicate part which it covers, yet it is very strong and tough. summary. 1. the skin is the covering of the body. it has two layers, the outer, called the cuticle, and the inner, called the true skin. 2. a substance called pigment is found between the two skins. this gives the skin its color. 3. the true skin has blood-vessels and nerves, but the cuticle has no blood-vessels and very few nerves. 4. in the true skin are glands which produce sweat, and others which make fat, or oil. 5. the nails are really a part of the skin. they are firm and hard, and protect the ends of the fingers and the toes. 6. the hair grows from the true skin. the hair is made soft and glossy by oil from the oil glands of the skin. 7. the skin is a very useful organ. it removes waste matters, it breathes, it absorbs, it has feeling, and it protects the body. chapter xvi. how to take care of the skin. ~1. uses of the pores of the skin.~--many years ago, at a great celebration, a little boy was covered all over with varnish and gold leaf, so as to make him represent an angel. the little gilded boy looked very pretty for a short time, but soon he became very sick, and in a few hours he was dead. can you guess what made him die? he died because the pores of his skin were stopped up, and the sweat glands could not carry off the poisonous matter from his body. ~2. cleanliness.~--did you ever know of a boy who had his skin varnished? not exactly, perhaps; but there are many boys who do not have their skins washed as often as they ought to be, and the sweat and oil and dead scales form a sort of varnish which stops up the little ducts and prevents the air from getting to the skin, almost as much as a coat of varnish would do. ~3. the sweat glands.~--the sweat glands and ducts are like little sewers, made to carry away some of the impurities of the body. there are so many of them that, if they were all put together, they would make a tube two or three miles long. these little sewers drain off almost a quart of impurities in the form of sweat every day. so you see that it is very important for the skin to be kept clean and healthy. ~4. bathing.~--a bird takes a bath every day. dogs and many other animals like to go into the water to bathe. some of you have seen a great elephant take a bath by showering the water over himself with his trunk. to keep the skin healthy we should bathe frequently. ~5.~ when we take a bath for cleanliness it is necessary to use a little soap, so as to remove the oil which is mixed up with the dry sweat, dead scales, and dirt which may have become attached to the skin. ~6.~ it is not well to take hot baths very often, as they have a tendency to make the skin too sensitive. bathing in cool water hardens the skin, and renders one less likely to take cold. ~7. the clothing.~--the skin should be protected by proper clothing, but it is not well to wear more than is necessary, as it makes the skin so sensitive that one is liable to take cold. ~8. the proper temperature of rooms.~--it is also very unwise for a person to keep the rooms in which he lives too warm, and to stay too much in-doors, as it makes him very liable to take cold when he goes out-of-doors. one who is out of doors in all kinds of weather seldom takes cold. ~9. care of the hair and the nails.~--the scalp should be kept clean by thorough and frequent washing and daily brushing. hair oils are seldom needed. if the skin of the head is kept in a healthy condition, the hair requires no oil. ~10.~ the habit of biting and picking the fingernails is a very unpleasant one, and keeps the nails in a broken and unhealthy condition. the nails should be carefully trimmed with a sharp knife or a pair of scissors. ~11. effects of narcotics and stimulants upon the skin.~--alcohol, tobacco, opium, and all other narcotics and stimulants have a bad effect upon the skin. alcohol often causes the skin to become red and blotched, and tobacco gives it a dingy and unhealthy appearance. summary. 1. if the pores of the skin are closed, a person will die. 2. we should bathe often enough to keep the skin clean. 3. we should not keep our rooms too warm, and should avoid wearing too much clothing. 4. alcohol, tobacco, and other stimulants and narcotics injure the skin. chapter xvii. the kidneys and their work. ~1. the kidneys.~--the kidneys are among the most important organs of the body. they are in the cavity of the abdomen, near the back-bone, up under the lower border of the ribs. perhaps you have seen the kidneys of a sheep or a hog. if you have, you know very nearly how the kidneys of our own bodies appear. [illustration: kidney.] ~2. the work of the kidneys.~--the work of the kidneys is to separate from the blood certain very poisonous substances, which would soon cause our death if they were not removed. it is very important to keep these useful organs in good health, because a person is certain to die very soon when the kidneys are in any way seriously injured. ~3. how to keep the kidneys healthy.~--one way of keeping the kidneys in good health is to drink plenty of pure water, and to avoid eating too much meat and rich food. pepper, mustard, and other hot sauces are very harmful to the kidneys. ~4. importance of keeping the skin clean.~--the work of the kidneys is very similar to that of the skin; and when the skin does not do its full duty, the kidneys have to do more than they should, and hence are likely to become diseased. for this reason, persons who allow their skins to become inactive by neglecting to bathe frequently are apt to have disease of the kidneys. ~5. effects of alcohol and tobacco upon the kidneys.~--a piece of beef placed in alcohol soon becomes dry and hard, and shrivels up as though it had been burned. the effect upon the kidneys of drinking strong liquor is almost the same. beer and hard cider also do the kidneys harm, sometimes producing incurable disease of these important organs. summary. 1. the kidneys somewhat resemble the skin in their structure and in their work. 2. the kidneys remove from the blood some poisonous substances. 3. to keep the kidneys healthy we should drink plenty of water, avoid irritating foods and drinks, and keep the skin in health by proper bathing. 4. the drinking of strong liquors often causes incurable disease of the kidneys. chapter xviii. our bones and their uses. ~1. the bones.~--in an earlier chapter we learned something about the bones. this we must try to recall. you will remember that we called the bones the framework of the body, just as the timbers which are first put up in building a house are called its frame. ~2. the skeleton.~--all the bones together make up the _skeleton_. (see page 95.) there are about two hundred bones in all. they are of many different shapes. they vary in size from the little bones of the ear, which are the smallest, to the upper bone of the leg, which is the largest in the body. ~3.~ the skeleton is divided into four parts: the _skull_, the _trunk_, the _arms_, and the _legs_. we must learn something more about the bones of each part. ~4. the skull.~--the _skull_ is somewhat like a shell. it is made of a number of bones joined together in such a way as to leave a hollow place inside to hold the brain. the front part of the skull forms the framework of the face and the jaws. in each ear there are three curious little bones, which aid us in hearing. ~5. the trunk.~--the bones of the trunk are, the _ribs_, the _breast-bone_, the _pelvis_, and the _back-bone_. the bones of the trunk form a framework to support and protect the various organs within its cavities. ~6. the ribs.~--there are twelve _ribs_ on each side. the ribs join the back-bone at the back. they are connected by cartilage to the breast-bone in front. they look somewhat like the hoops of a barrel. with the breast-bone and the back-bone they form a bony cage to contain and protect the heart and the lungs. ~7. the pelvis.~--the pelvis is at the lower part of the trunk. it is formed by three bones, closely joined together. the large bones at either side are called the hip-bones. each hip-bone contains a deep round cavity in which the upper end of the thigh-bone rests. ~8. the back-bone.~--the _back-bone_, or spinal column, is made up of twenty-four small bones, joined together in such a way that the whole can be bent in various directions. the skull rests upon the upper end of the spinal column. the lower end of the back-bone forms a part of the pelvis. [illustration: skeleton of a man.] ~9. the spinal canal.~--each of the separate bones that make up the back-bone has an opening through it, and the bones are so arranged, one above another, that the openings make a sort of canal in the back-bone. by the connection of the spinal column to the head, this canal opens into the cavity of the skull. through this canal there passes a peculiar substance called the _spinal cord_, of which we shall learn more at another time. ~10. the arms.~--each of the arms has five bones, besides the small bones of the hand. they are the _collar-bone_, which connects the shoulder to the breast-bone, the _shoulder-blade_, at the back of the shoulders, the _upper arm-bone_, between the shoulder and the elbow, and the two _lower arm-bones_, between the elbow and the wrist. there are eight little bones in the wrist, five in that part of the hand next to the wrist, and fourteen in the fingers and thumb. ~11. the legs.~--the bones of the leg are the _thigh_ or _upper leg-bone_, the _knee-pan_ or _knee-cap_, which covers the front of the knee, the two bones of the _lower leg_, the _heel-bone_ and six other bones in the _ankle_, five bones in that part of the foot next to the ankle, and fourteen bones in the _toes_. ~12. use of the bones.~--the skeleton is not only necessary as a framework for the body, but it is useful in other ways. some of the bones, as the skull, protect delicate parts. the brain is so soft and delicate that it would be very unsafe without its solid bony covering. the spinal cord also needs the protection which it finds in the strong but flexible back-bone. the bones help to move our hands and arms, and assist us in walking. ~13. the joints.~--the places where two or more bones are fastened together are called _joints_. some joints we can move very freely, as those of the shoulder and the hip. others have no motion at all, as those of the bones of the skull. ~14. cartilage.~--the ends of bones which come together to form a joint are covered with a smooth, tough substance, which protects the bone from wear. this is called _gristle_ or _cartilage_. you have, no doubt, seen the gristle on the end of a "soup-bone" or on one of the bones of a "joint of beef." ~15.~ the joint contains a fluid to oil it, so that the ends of the bones move upon each other very easily. if the joints were dry, every movement of the body would be very difficult and painful. ~16.~ the bones are held together at the joints by means of strong bands called _ligaments_. ~17. how the bones are made.~--the bones are not so solid as they seem to be. the outside of most bones is much harder and firmer than the inside. long bones, like those of the arms and the legs, are hollow. the hollow space is filled with _marrow_, in which are the blood-vessels which nourish the bone. ~18. an experiment.~--if you will weigh a piece of bone, then burn it in the fire for several hours, and then weigh it again, you will find that it has lost about one third of its weight. you will also notice that it has become brittle, and that it seems like chalk. ~19. why the bones are brittle.~--the hard, brittle portion of a bone which is left after it has been burned contains a good deal of chalk and other earthy substances, sometimes called bone-earth. it is this which makes the bones so hard and firm that they do not bend by the weight of the body. when we are young, the bones have less of this bone-earth, and so they bend easily, and readily get out of shape. when we get old, they contain so much bone-earth that they become more brittle, and often break very easily. ~20.~ a person's height depends upon the length of his bones. the use of alcohol and tobacco by a growing boy has a tendency to stunt the growth of his bones, so that they do not develop as they should. summary. 1. there are about two hundred bones in the body. 2. all together they are called the skeleton. 3. the skeleton is divided as follows: _a._ the skull. { ribs. _b._ the trunk. { breast-bone. { pelvis. { back-bone. { collar-bone. { shoulder-blade. { upper arm-bones. _c._ the arms. { lower arm-bones. { wrist. { hand and fingers. { thigh. { knee-pan. _d._ the legs. { lower-leg bones. { ankle, including heel-bone. { foot and toes. 4. the bones are useful for support, protection, and motion. 5. the place where two bones join is called a joint. 6. the tough substance which covers the ends of many bones is called cartilage or gristle. 7. the joints are enabled to work easily by the aid of a fluid secreted for that purpose. 8. the ends of the bones are held together in a joint by means of ligaments. 9. bones are about two thirds earthy matter and one third animal matter. 10. the use of alcohol and tobacco may prevent proper development of the bones. chapter xix. how to keep the bones healthy. ~1. composition of the bones.~--our bones, like the rest of our bodies, are made of what we eat. if our food does not contain enough of the substances which are needed to make healthy bone, the bones will become unhealthy. they may be too soft and become bent or otherwise misshapen. this is one of the reasons why bread made from the whole grain is so much more healthful than that made from very fine white flour. in making fine white flour the miller takes out the very best part of the grain, just what is needed to make strong and healthy bones. oatmeal is a very good food for making healthy bones. ~2. bones of children.~--sometimes little children try to walk before the bones have become hard enough to support the weight of the body. this causes the legs to become crooked. in some countries young children work in factories and at various trades. this is wrong, because it dwarfs their growth, and makes them puny and sickly. ~3. improper positions.~--the bones are so soft and flexible when we are young that they are very easily bent out of shape if we allow ourselves to take improper positions in sitting, lying, or standing. this is the way in which flat and hollow chests, uneven shoulders, curved spines, and many other deformities are caused. [illustration: improper position.] ~4.~ in sitting, standing, and walking, we should always take care to keep the shoulders well back and the chest well expanded, so that we may not grow misshapen and deformed. many boys and girls have ugly curves in their backbones which have been caused by sitting at high desks with one elbow on the desk, thus raising the shoulder of that side so high that the spine becomes crooked. the illustrations on this and the following page show good and bad positions and also the effects of bad positions. [illustration: proper position.] ~5. seats and desks.~--the seats and desks of school-children should be of proper height. the seats should be low enough to allow the feet to rest easily upon the floor, but not too low. the desk should be of such a height that, in writing, one shoulder will not be raised above the other. if a young person bends the body forward, he will, after a time, become round-shouldered and his chest will become so flattened that the lungs cannot be well expanded. [illustration: desk too high.] ~6.~ standing on one foot, sitting bent forward when reading or at work, sleeping with the head raised high upon a thick pillow or bolster, are ways in which young persons often grow out of shape. [illustration: seat too high.] ~7. the clothing.~--wearing the clothing tight about the waist often produces serious deformities of the bones of the trunk, and makes the chest so small that the lungs have not room to act properly. tight or high-heeled shoes also often deform and injure the feet and make the gait stiff and awkward. ~8. broken bones.~--by rough play or by accident the bones may be broken in two just as you might break a stick. if the broken parts are placed right, nature will cement them together and make the bone strong again; but sometimes the bones do not unite, and sometimes they grow together out of proper shape, so that permanent injury is done. ~9. sprains.~--in a similar manner the ligaments which hold the bones together, in a joint, are sometimes torn or over-stretched. such an accident is called a sprain. a sprain is a very painful accident, and a joint injured in this way needs to rest quite a long time so that the torn ligaments may grow together. ~10. bones out of joint.~--sometimes the ligaments are torn so badly that the ends of the bones are displaced, and then we say they are put out of joint. this is a very bad accident indeed, but it often happens to boys while wrestling or playing at other rough games. ~11.~ children sometimes have a trick of pulling the fingers to cause the knuckles to "crack." this is a very foolish and harmful practice. it weakens the joints and causes them to grow large and unsightly. ~12.~ when a man uses alcohol and tobacco, their effects upon the bones are not so apparent as are the effects upon the blood, the nerves, and other organs; but when the poisonous drugs are used by a growing boy, their damaging influence is very plainly seen. a boy who smokes cigars or cigarettes, or who uses strong alcoholic liquors, is likely to be so stunted that even his bones will not grow of a proper length and he will become dwarfed or deformed. summary. 1. to keep the bones healthy they must have plenty of healthful food. 2. the whole-grain preparations furnish the best food for the bones. 3. walking at too early an age often makes the legs crooked. 4. hard work at too early an age stunts the growth. 5. bad positions and tight or poorly-fitting clothing are common causes of flat chests, round shoulders, and other deformities. 6. tight or high-heeled shoes deform the feet and make the gait awkward. 7. the bones may be easily broken or put out of joint, or the ligaments may be torn by rough play. 8. alcohol prevents healthy growth. chapter xx. the muscles and how we use them. ~1. the muscles.~--where do people obtain the beefsteak and the mutton-chops which they eat for breakfast? from the butcher, you will say; and the butcher gets them from the sheep and cattle which he kills. if you will clasp your arm you will notice that the bones are covered by a soft substance, the flesh. when the skin of an animal has been taken off, we can see that some of the flesh is white or yellow and some of it is red. the white or yellow flesh is fat. the red flesh is lean meat, and it is composed of muscles. ~2. the number of muscles.~--we have about five hundred different muscles in the body. they are arranged in such a way as to cover the bones and make the body round and beautiful. they are of different forms and sizes. ~3.~ with a very few exceptions the muscles are arranged in pairs; that is, we have two alike of each form and size, one for each side of the body. ~4. how a muscle is formed.~--if you will examine a piece of corned or salted beef which has been well boiled, you will notice that it seems to be made up of bundles of small fibres or threads of flesh. with a little care you can pick one of the small fibres into fine threads. now, if you look at one of these under a microscope you find that it is made of still finer fibres, which are much smaller than the threads of a spider's web. one of these smallest threads is called a _muscular fibre_. many thousands of muscular fibres are required to make a muscle. [illustration: muscular fibres.] ~5.~ most of the muscles are made fast to the bones. generally, one end is attached to one bone, and the other to another bone. sometimes one end is made fast to a bone and the other to the skin or to other muscles. ~6. the tendons.~--many of the muscles are not joined to the bones directly, but are made fast to them by means of firm cords called _tendons_. if you will place the thumb of your left hand upon the wrist of the right hand, and then work the fingers of the right hand, you may feel these cords moving underneath the skin. ~7. what the muscles do.~--with the left hand grasp the right arm just in front of the elbow. now shut the right hand tightly. now open it. repeat several times. the left hand feels something moving in the flesh. the motion is caused by the working of the muscles, which shorten and harden when they act. ~8.~ all the movements of the body are made by means of muscles. when we move our hands, even when we close the mouth or the eyes, or make a wry face, we use the muscles. we could not speak, laugh, sing, or breathe without muscles. ~9. self-acting muscles.~--did you ever have a fit of sneezing or hiccoughing? if you ever did, very likely you tried hard to stop but could not. do you know why one cannot always stop sneezing or hiccoughing when he desires to do so? it is because there are certain muscles in the body which do not act simply when we wish them to act, but when it is necessary that they should. the muscles which act when we sneeze or hiccough are of this kind. the arm and the hand do not act unless we wish them to do so. suppose it were the same with the heart. we should have to stay awake all the while to keep it going, because it would not act when we were asleep. the same is true of our breathing. we breathe when we are asleep as well as when we are awake, because the breathing muscles work even when we do not think about them. ~10.~ the stomach, the intestines, the blood-vessels, and many other organs within the body have this kind of muscles. the work of these self-acting muscles is very wonderful indeed. without it we could not live a moment. this knowledge should lead us to consider how dependent we are, each moment of our lives, upon the delicate machinery by which the most important work of our bodies is performed, and how particular we should be to keep it in good order by taking proper care of ourselves. summary. 1. the flesh, or lean meat, is composed of muscles. 2. there are five hundred muscles in the body. 3. muscles are composed of many small threads called muscular fibres. 4. many of the muscles are joined to the bones by strong white cords called tendons. 5. muscular fibres can contract so as to lessen their length. it is in this way that the muscles perform their work. 6. all bodily motions are due to the action of the muscles. 7. most of the muscles act only when we wish them to do so. some muscles, however, act when it is necessary for them to do so, whether we will that they should act or not, and when we are asleep as well as when we are awake. chapter xxi. how to keep the muscles healthy. ~1. how to make the muscles strong.~--with which hand can you lift the more? with the right hand or with the left? why do you think you can lift more with the right hand than with the left? a blacksmith swings a heavy hammer with his right arm, and that arm becomes very large and strong. if we wish our muscles to grow large and strong, so that our bodies will be healthy and vigorous, we must take plenty of exercise. ~2. effects of idleness.~--if a boy should carry one hand in his pocket all the time, and use only the other hand and arm, the idle arm would become small and weak, while the other would grow large and strong. any part of the body which is not used will after a time become weak. little boys and girls who do not take plenty of exercise are likely to be pale and puny. it is important that we should take the proper amount of exercise every day, just as we take our food and drink every day. ~3. healthful exercise.~--some kinds of play, and almost all kinds of work which children have to do, are good ways of taking exercise. a very good kind of exercise for little boys and girls is that found in running errands or doing chores about the house. ~4. food and strength.~--a great part of our food goes to nourish the muscles. some foods make us strong, while others do not. plain foods, such as bread, meat, potatoes, and milk, are good for the muscles; but cakes and pies, and things which are not food, such as mustard, pepper, and spices, do not give us strength, and are likely to do us harm. ~5. over-exertion.~--we ought not to exert ourselves too much in lifting heavy weights, or trying to do things which are too hard for us. sometimes the muscles are permanently injured in this way. ~6. the clothing.~--we ought not to wear our clothing so tight as to press hard upon any part of the body. if we do, it will cause the muscles of that part to become weak. if the clothing is worn tight about the waist, great mischief is often done. the lungs cannot expand properly, the stomach and liver are pressed out of shape, and the internal organs are crowded out of their proper places. ~7. tight shoes.~--people are often made very lame from wearing tight shoes. their muscles cannot act properly, and their feet grow out of shape. ~8.~ in china, it is fashionable for rich ladies to have small feet, and they tie them up in cloths so that they cannot grow. the foot is squeezed out of shape. here is a picture of a foot which has been treated in this way. it does not look much like a human foot, does it? a woman who has such feet finds it so difficult to walk that she has to be carried about much of the time. do you not think it is very wrong and foolish to treat the feet so badly? you will say, "yes;" but the chinese woman thinks it is a great deal worse to lace the clothing tight about the body so as to make the waist small. [illustration: foot of chinese woman.] ~9. effects of alcohol upon the muscles.~--when an intemperate man takes a glass of strong drink, it makes him feel strong; but when he tries to lift, or to do any kind of hard work, he cannot lift so much nor work so hard as he could have done without the liquor. this is because alcohol poisons the muscles and makes them weak. ~10. effects of drunkenness.~--when a man has become addicted to strong drink, his muscles become partly paralyzed, so that he cannot walk as steadily or speak as readily or as clearly as before. his fingers are clumsy, and his movements uncertain. if he is an artist or a jeweller, he cannot do as fine work as when he is sober. when a man gets very drunk, he is for a time completely paralyzed, so that he cannot walk or move, and seems almost like a dead man. ~11.~ if you had a good horse that had carried you a long way in a carriage, and you wanted to travel farther, what would you do if the horse were so tired that he kept stopping in the road? would you let him rest and give him some water to drink and some nice hay and oats to eat, or would you strike him hard with a whip to make him go faster? if you should whip him he would act as though he were not tired at all, but do you think the whip would make him strong, as rest and hay and oats would? ~12.~ when a tired man takes alcohol, it acts like a whip; it makes every part of the body work faster and harder than it ought to work, and thus wastes the man's strength and makes him weaker, although for a little while his nerves are made stupid, so that he does not know that he is tired and ought to rest. ~13.~ when you grow up to be men and women you will want to have strong muscles. so you must be careful not to give alcohol a chance to injure them. if you never taste it in any form you will be sure to suffer no harm from it. ~14. effects of tobacco on the muscles.~--boys who smoke cigars or cigarettes, or who chew tobacco, are not likely to grow up to be strong and healthy men. they do not have plump and rosy cheeks and strong muscles like other boys. ~15.~ the evil effect of tobacco upon boys is now so well known that in many countries and in some states of this country laws have been made which do not allow alcohol or tobacco to be sold or given to boys. in switzerland, if a boy is found smoking upon the streets, he is arrested just as though he had been caught stealing. and is not this really what a boy does when he smokes? he robs his constitution of its vigor, and allows tobacco to steal away from him the strength he will need when he becomes a man. ~16. tea and coffee.~--strong tea and coffee, while by no means so bad as alcohol and tobacco, may make us weak and sick. a person who drinks strong tea or coffee feels less tired while at work than if he had not taken it, but he is more tired afterwards. so you see that tea and coffee are also whips, small whips we might call them, and yet they really act in the same way as do other narcotics and stimulants. they make a person feel stronger than he really is, and thus he is led to use more strength than he can afford to do. summary. 1. we must use the muscles to make them grow large and strong. 2. exercise should be taken regularly. 3. exercise makes the muscles strong, the body beautiful, the lungs active, the heart vigorous, and the whole body healthy. 4. things we ought not to do: to run or play hard just before or after eating; to strain our muscles by lifting too heavy weights; to exercise so violently as to get out of breath; to lie, sit, stand, or walk in a cramped position, or awkward manner; to wear the clothing so tight as to press hard upon the muscles. 5. good food is necessary to make the muscles strong and healthy. 6. alcohol makes the muscles weak, although at first it makes us feel stronger. 7. a boy who uses tobacco will not grow as strong and well as one who does not. 8. the use of strong tea and coffee may injure the muscles. chapter xxii. how we feel and think. ~1. how we think.~--with what part of the body do we think? you will at once say that we think with the head; but we do not think with the whole head. some parts of the head we use for other purposes, as the mouth to eat and speak with, and the nose to smell and breathe with. the part we think with is inside of the skull, safely placed in a little room at the top and back part of the head. do you remember the name of this organ which fills the hollow place inside of the skull? we learned some time ago that it is called the _brain_. it is with the brain that we study and remember and reason. so the brain is one of the most important organs in our body, and we must try to learn all we can about it. ~2. the brain.~--you cannot see and examine your own brain because it is shut up in the skull; but perhaps you can find the brain of a sheep or a calf at the meat market. the brain of one of these animals looks very nearly like your own. ~3. the large brain and the small brain.~--in examining a brain we should notice first of all that there are really two brains, a _large brain_ and a _small brain_. the large brain is in the top and front of the skull, and the small one lies beneath the back part of the larger one, if we look again we shall see that each brain is divided in the middle into a right and a left half. each half is, in fact, a complete brain, so that we really have two pairs of brains. [illustration: the brain.] ~4. brain cells.~--the brain is a curious organ of a grayish color outside and white inside. it is soft, almost like jelly, and this is why it is placed so carefully in a strong, bony box. if we should put a little piece of the brain under a microscope, we should find that it is made up of a great number of very small objects called _nerve_ or _brain cells_. in the illustration you can see some of these brain cells. [illustration: brain cells.] ~5. the nerves.~--each cell has one or more branches. some of the branches are joined to the branches of other cells so as to unite the cells together, just as children take hold of one another's hands. other branches are drawn out very long. ~6.~ the long branches are such slender threads that a great number of them together would not be as large as a fine silk thread. a great many of these fine nerve threads are bound up in little bundles which look like white cords. these are called _nerves_. ~7.~ the nerves branch out from the brain through openings in the skull, and go to every part of the body. every little muscle fibre, the heart, the stomach, the lungs, the liver, even the bones--all have nerves coming to them from the brain. so you see that the brain is not wholly shut up in the skull, because its cells have slender branches running into all parts of the body; and thus the brain itself is really in every part of the body, though we usually speak of it as being entirely in the skull. ~8. the spinal cord.~--there are a number of small holes in the skull through which the nerves pass out, but most of the nerves are bound up in one large bundle and pass out through an opening at the back part of the skull and runs downward through a long canal in the backbone. this bundle of nerves forms the _spinal cord_. the spinal cord contains cells also, like those of the brain. it is really a continuation of the brain down through the backbone. [illustration: brain and spinal cord.] ~9. nerves from the spinal cord.~--the spinal cord gives off branches of nerves which go to the arms, the chest, the legs, and other parts. one of the branches which goes to the hand runs along the back side of the arm, passing over the elbow. if we happen to strike the elbow against some sharp object, we sometimes hit this nerve. when we do so, the under side of the arm and the little finger feel very numb and strange. this is why you call this part of the elbow the "funny" or "crazy bone." the cells of the spinal cord also send out branches to the body and to other cells in the brain. ~10. how we feel.~--if we cut or burn ourselves we suffer pain. can you tell why it hurts us to prick the flesh with a pin, or to pinch or burn or bruise it? it is because the flesh contains a great many nerve-branches from the brain. when we hurt the skin or the flesh, in any way, these nerves are injured. there are so many of these little nerves in the flesh and skin that we cannot put the finest needle into the flesh without hurting some of them. ~11. the use of pain.~--it is not pleasant for us to have pain, but if the nerves gave us no pain when we are hurt we might get our limbs burned or frozen and know nothing about it until too late to save them. ~12. nerves of feeling.~--we have different kinds of nerves of feeling. those we have learned about feel pain. others feel objects. if you take a marble or a pencil in the hand you know what it is by the feeling of the object. this kind of feeling is called the sense of touch. ~13.~ there are other nerves of feeling by means of which we are able to hear, see, taste, and smell, of which we shall learn in another lesson. besides these we have nerves which tell us whether objects are cold or hot, and heavy or light. nerves of feeling also tell us when we are hungry, or thirsty, or tired, and when we need more air to breathe. ~14. nerves of work.~--there are other nerves which are made just like the nerves of feeling, but which do not feel. these nerves have a very different use. they come from cells in the brain which have charge of the different kinds of work done in the body, and they send their branches to the parts which do the work; hence we call them _nerves of work_. ~15.~ one set of cells sends nerves to the heart, and these make it go fast or slow as is necessary. another sends nerves to the liver, stomach, and other digestive organs, and causes them to do their part in the digestion of the food. other cells send branches to the muscles and make them act when we wish them to do so. thus you see how very useful the brain and nerves are. they keep all the different parts of the body working together in harmony, just like a well-trained army, or a great number of workmen building a block of houses. without the brain and nerves the body would be just like an army without a commander, or a lot of workmen without an overseer. ~16. how we use the nerves.~--if you happen to touch your hand to a hot stove, what takes place? you will say that your arm pulls the hand away. do you know why? let us see. the nerves of feeling in the hand tell the nerve cells in the brain from which they come that the hand is being burned. the cells which feel cannot do anything for the hand, but some of their branches run over to another part of the brain, which sends nerves down to the muscles of the arm. these cells, through their nerve branches, cause the muscles to contract. the cells of feeling ask the cells which have charge of the muscles to make the muscles of the arm pull the hand away, which they do very quickly. ~17.~ so you see the nerves are very much like telegraph or telephone wires. by means of them the brain finds out all about what is happening in the body, and sends out its orders to the various organs, which may be called its servants. ~18. an experiment.~--a man once tried an experiment which seemed very cruel. he took a dove and cut open its skull and took out its large brain. what do you think the effect was? the dove did not die at once, as you would expect. it lived for some time, but it did not know anything. it did not know when it was hungry, and would not eat or drink unless the food or water was placed in its mouth. if a man gets a blow on his head, so hard as to break his skull, the large brain is often hurt so badly that its cells cannot work, and so the man is in the same condition as the poor dove. he does not know anything. he cannot think or talk, and lies as though he were asleep. ~19.~ by these and many other facts we know that the large brain is the part with which we remember, think, and reason. it is the seat of the mind. we go to sleep because the large brain is tired and cannot work any longer. we stop thinking when we are sound asleep, but sometimes we do not sleep soundly, and then the large brain works a little and we dream. ~20. what the little brain does.~--the little brain[b] thinks too, but it does not do the same kind of thinking as the large brain. we may use our arms and legs and many other parts when we wish to do so; and if we do not care to use them we may allow them to remain quiet. this is not the case with some other organs. it is necessary, for example, that the heart, the lungs, and many other organs of the body should keep at work all the time. if the large brain had to attend to all of these different kinds of work besides thinking about what we see, hear, and read, and other things which we do, it would have too much work to do, and would not be able to do it all well. besides, the large brain sometimes falls asleep. so the large brain lets the little brain do the kinds of work which have to be attended to all the time, and the little brain keeps steadily at work when we are asleep as well as when we are awake. ~21. what the spinal cord does.~--if you tickle a person's foot when he is asleep, he will pull it up just as he would if he were awake, only not quite so quickly. what do you suppose makes the muscles of the leg contract when the brain is asleep and does not know that the foot is being tickled? and here is another curious fact. when you were coming to school this morning you did not have to think about every step you took. perhaps you were talking or looking over your lessons; but your legs walked right along all the time, and without your thinking about them. can you tell how? ~22.~ it would be too much trouble for the large brain to stop to think every time we step, and the little brain has work enough to do in taking care of the heart and lungs and other organs, without keeping watch of the feet when we are asleep, so as to pull them up if some mischievous person tickles them. so nature puts a few nerve cells in the spinal cord which can do a certain easy kind of thinking. when we do things over and over a great many times, these cells, after a time, learn to do them without the help of the large brain. this is the way a piano-player becomes so expert. he does not have to think all the time where each finger is to go. after the tunes have been played a great many times, the spinal cord knows them so well that it makes the hands play them almost without any effort of the large brain. summary. 1. the part of the body with which we think is the brain. 2. the brain is found filling the hollow place in the skull. 3. there are two brains, the large brain and the small brain. 4. each brain is divided into two equal and complete halves, thus making two pairs of brains. 5. the brain is largely made up of very small objects called nerve or brain cells. 6. the nerve cells send out very fine branches which form the nerves. 7. the nerve branches or fibres run to every part of the body. they pass out from the brain to the rest of the body through a number of openings in the skull. 8. most of the nerve branches pass out through a large opening at the back of the skull, in one large bundle called the spinal cord. 9. the spinal cord runs down through a canal in the backbone, and all along gives off branches to the various parts of the body. 10. it gives us pain to prick or hurt the flesh in any way, because when we do so we injure some of the little nerve branches of the brain cells. 11. when we suffer, we really feel a pain in the brain. we know this because if a nerve is cut in two, we may hurt the part to which it goes without giving any pain. 12. we have different kinds of nerves of feeling. 13. there are other nerves besides those of feeling. these are nerves of work. 14. the nerves of work have charge of the heart, the lungs, the muscles, the liver, the stomach, and every part of the body which can work or act. 15. the brain and nerves control the body and make all the different parts work together in harmony, just as a general controls an army. 16. the brain uses the nerves very much as a man uses the telephone or telegraph wires. 17. with the large brain we remember, think, and reason. 18. the little brain does the simple kind of thinking, by means of which the heart, lungs, and other vital organs are kept at work even when we are asleep. 19. the spinal cord does a still more simple kind of work. it enables us to walk and to do other familiar acts without using the large brain to think every moment just what we are doing. chapter xxiii. how to keep the brain and nerves healthy. ~1. uses of the brain.~--what do you think a boy or girl would be good for without any brain or nerves? such a boy or girl could not see, hear, feel, talk, run about, or play, and would not know any more than a cabbage or a potato knows. if the brain or nerves are sick, they cannot work well, and so are not worth as much as when they are healthy. ~2. the brain sympathizes with other organs.~--did you ever have a headache? did you feel happy and good-natured when your head ached hard, and could you study and play as well as when you are well? it is very important that we should keep our brain and nerves healthy, and to do this we must take good care of the stomach and all other organs, because the brain sympathizes with them when they are sick. ~3. we must have pure air.~--how do you feel when the school-room is too warm and close? do you not feel dull and sleepy and so stupid that you can hardly study? this is because the brain needs good, pure blood to enable it to work well. so we must always be careful to have plenty of pure air to breathe. ~4. we should exercise the brain.~--what do we do when we want to strengthen our muscles? we make them work hard every day, do we not? the exercise makes them grow large and strong. it is just the same with our brains. if we study hard and learn our lessons well, then our brains grow strong, and study becomes easy. but if we only half study, and do not learn our lessons perfectly, then the study does not do our brains very much good. ~5. we should take muscular exercise.~--when you get tired of study, an hour's play, or exercise of some sort, rests you and makes you feel brighter, so that you can learn more easily. this is because exercise is necessary to make the blood circulate well. it will then carry out the worn-out particles and supply the brain and nerves with fresh, pure blood. so the same exercise which makes our muscles strong makes our brains healthier also. ~6. we should be careful of our diet.~--we ought to eat plenty of good, simple food, such as milk, fruits, grains, and vegetables. it is not well for children to eat freely of meat, as it is very stimulating and likely to excite the brain and make the nerves irritable. mustard, pepper, and all hot sauces and spices have a tendency to injure the brain and nerves. ~7. we should allow the brain to rest at the proper time.~--when we are tired and sleepy we cannot think well, and cannot remember what we learn if we try to study. if we have plenty of sleep, free from bad or exciting dreams, we awake in the morning rested and refreshed, because while we have been asleep nature has put the brain and nerves in good repair for us. we ought not to stay up late at night. we should not eat late or hearty suppers, as this will prevent our sleeping well. ~8. we ought not to allow ourselves to become angry.~--when a person flies into a passion he does his brain and nerves great harm. it is really dangerous to get angry. persons have dropped dead instantly in a fit of anger. ~9. we should shun bad habits.~--bad habits are very hard to give up, and hence we should be careful to avoid them. when a child learns to swear, or to use slang phrases, the brain after a while will make him swear or use bad words before he thinks. in a similar manner other bad habits are acquired. summary. 1. a person without a brain or nerves would be of no more account than a vegetable. 2. when the brain or nerves are sick they cannot perform their duties properly. 3. to keep the brain and nerves in good health, we must take good care of the stomach and all other important organs of the body. 4. there are many things which we may do to keep the brain and nerves strong and well. 5. the brain needs pure blood, and so we must be careful to breathe pure air. 6. the brain gets strength by exercise, just as the muscles do. hence, study is healthful, and makes the brain strong. 7. a good memory is very necessary, but we should not try to remember everything. 8. it is very important that we learn how to observe things closely. 9. exercise in the open air rests and clears the brain by helping the blood to circulate. 10. plenty of wholesome and simple food is necessary to keep the brain and nerves in good health. spices, condiments, and rich foods in general are stimulating and harmful. 11. plenty of sleep is needed to rest the brain and nerves. 12. it is dangerous as well as wicked to become very angry. 13. we should be careful to avoid forming bad habits of any sort, as they are hard to break, and often adhere to one through life. chapter xxiv. bad effects of alcohol upon the brain and nerves. ~1. drunkenness.~--did you ever see a man who was drunk? if you live in a city it is very likely that you have. how did the drunken man behave? perhaps he was noisy and silly. perhaps he was angry and tried to pick a quarrel with some one. ~2.~ what made the man drunk? you say whiskey, but it may have been wine, or beer, or hard cider that he drank. anything that contains alcohol will make a man drunk, for it is the alcohol which does all the mischief. ~3. the whiskey flush.~--you can almost always tell when a man has been drinking, even when he has not taken enough to make him drunk. you know by his flushed face and red eyes. when a man's face blushes from the use of alcohol, his whole body blushes at the same time. his muscles, his lungs, and his liver blush; his brain and spinal cord blush also. ~4.~ when a man has taken just enough alcohol to make his face blush a little, the extra amount of blood in the brain makes him think and talk more lively, and he is very jolly and gay. this makes many people think that alcohol does them good. but if we notice what a man says when he is excited by alcohol, we shall find that his remarks are often silly and reckless. he says very unwise and foolish things, for which he feels sorry when he becomes sober. ~5. alcohol paralyzes.~--how does a drunken man walk? let us see why he staggers. when a man takes a certain amount of alcohol his small brain and spinal cord become partly paralyzed, so that they cannot do their duty well; and so, when he tries to walk he reels and stumbles along, often falling down, and sometimes hurting himself very much. the fact is that the alcohol has put his spinal cord and small brain to sleep so that he cannot make his legs do what he wants them to do. now, if still more alcohol is taken the whole brain becomes paralyzed, and then the man is so nearly dead that we say he is "dead drunk." it is exceedingly dangerous to become dead drunk, as the brain may be so completely paralyzed that it will not recover. ~6.~ a small amount of alcohol does not make a man dead drunk, but it poisons and paralyzes his brain and nerves just according to the quantity he takes. ~7.~ if a person holds a little alcohol in his mouth for a few moments, the tongue and cheeks feel numb. this is because the alcohol paralyzes them so that they cannot feel or taste. when taken into the stomach it has much the same kind of effect upon the nerves of the whole body. ~8. alcohol a deceiver.~--a hungry man takes a drink of whiskey and benumbs the nerves of his stomach so that he does not feel hungry. alcohol puts to sleep the sentinels which nature has set in the body to warn us of danger. a man who is cold takes alcohol and feels warm, though he is really colder. he lies down in his false comfort and freezes to death. a tired man takes his glass of grog and feels rested and strong, though he is really weaker than before. a poor man gets drunk and feels so rich that he spends what little money he has. the alcohol paralyzes his judgment and steals away his good sense. thus alcohol is always a deceiver. ~9. delirium tremens.~ (de-lir´-i-um tre´-mens.)--when a man takes strong liquors regularly he very soon injures his brain and nerves so that they do not get quiet, as they should, at night, and he does not sleep well. he has frightful dreams. he sees all sorts of wild animals and horrid shapes in his dreams. perhaps you have sometimes had such dreams from eating late suppers or indigestible food. ~10.~ did you ever have a dream when you were awake? if a man drinks a great deal he is likely to have a terrible disease known as _delirium tremens_, in which he sees the same frightful things when he is wide awake that he dreams about when he is asleep. this is one of the terrible effects of alcohol upon the brain and nerves. ~11. alcohol paralysis.~--you have seen how a drunken man staggers when he walks. did you ever see a man who walked just as though he were drunk when he was really sober? this is because a part of the brain or spinal cord has been permanently injured or paralyzed. alcohol is not the only cause of this disease, and so you must not think every person who staggers is or has been a drunkard; but alcohol is a very frequent cause of paralysis. ~12. effects of alcohol upon the mind and character.~--when a man is under the influence of alcohol is his character good or bad? is a man likely to be good, or to be bad, when he is drunk or excited by drink? most men behave badly when they are drunk, and after they have been drunk a great many times they often behave badly all the time. a great many of the men who are shut up in prisons would not have been sent there if they had never learned to drink. ~13. a legacy.~--do you know what a legacy is? if your father should die and leave to you a fine house or farm, or money in the bank, or books, or horses, or any other kind of property to have for your own, it would be a legacy. when a person gets anything in this way from a parent we say that he inherits it. ~14.~ we inherit a great many things besides houses and lands and other kinds of property. for instance, perhaps you remember hearing some one say that you have eyes and hair the same color as your mother's, and that your nose and chin are like your father's. so you have inherited the color of your hair and eyes from your mother and the shape of your chin and nose from your father. ~15. the alcohol legacy.~--the inside of a boy's head is just as much like his parents' as the outside of it. in other words, we inherit our brains just as we do our faces. so, if a man spoils his brain with alcohol and gets an alcohol appetite, his children will be likely to have unhealthy brains and an appetite for alcohol also, and may become drunkards. is not that a dreadful kind of legacy to inherit? ~16.~ a child that has no mind is called an idiot. such a child cannot talk, or read, or sing, and does not know enough to take proper care of itself. this is one of the bad legacies which drunken parents sometimes leave to their children. ~17. effects of tobacco on the brain and nerves.~--the effects of tobacco upon the brain and nerves are much the same as those of alcohol. tobacco, like alcohol, is a narcotic. it benumbs and paralyzes the nerves, and it is by this means that it obtains such an influence over those who use it. ~18.~ the hand of a man or boy who uses tobacco often becomes so unsteady that he can scarcely write. do you know what makes it so unsteady? it is because the cells which send nerves to the muscles of the hand are diseased. when a person has a trembling hand you say he is nervous. if you feel his pulse you will find that it does not beat steadily and regularly as it ought to do. the heart is nervous and trembles just the same as the muscles do. this shows that the tobacco has poisoned the cells in the brain which regulate the heart. ~19.~ wise physicians will tell you that one reason why tobacco is bad for boys is that it hurts their brains so that they cannot learn well, and do not become as useful and successful men as they might be. ~20.~ students in the naval and military schools of this country are not allowed to use tobacco on account of its bad effects upon the mind. in france the use of tobacco is forbidden to all students in the public schools. ~21. tobacco leads to vice.~--boys who use tobacco are more liable to get into company with boys who have other bad habits, and so are apt to become bad in many other ways. the use of tobacco often makes men want strong drink, and thus leads to drunkenness. if you wish to grow up with a steady hand, a strong heart, and a good character you will never touch tobacco. ~22. effects of tea and coffee on the nerves.~--people who use strong tea and coffee are often inclined to be nervous. this shows that strong tea and coffee, like alcohol and tobacco, are very injurious to the nerves. ~23. opium, chloral, etc.~--there are several drugs which are given by physicians to relieve pain or to produce sleep. they are sometimes helpful, but their use is very dangerous. opium and chloral belong to this class of medicines. the danger is that, after a person has used the medicine a little while, he will continue to use it. if a person takes a poisonous drug every time he has a little pain, he will soon form the habit of using it, and may never break it off. there are many thousands of people who use opium all the time, and they are very much injured by it in mind and body. the mind becomes dull and stupid and the body weak and feeble. no medicine of this sort should ever be taken unless prescribed by a physician. summary. 1. in order to be well and useful we must keep the brain and nerves healthy. 2. to keep the brain healthy we need plenty of pure air to breathe; proper exercise of the brain by study; sufficient exercise of the muscles in play and work; plenty of good food to make pure blood; a proper amount of rest and sleep. 3. there are several things we ought not to do. we should not read or study too much. we should not allow ourselves to become excited or angry. we should avoid learning bad habits. 4. alcohol paralyzes the brain and nerves. 5. alcohol deceives a person who takes it by making him feel strong when he is weak; warm when he is cold; rich when he is poor; well when he is sick. 6. alcohol makes men wicked. most men who commit crimes are men who use liquor. 7. the effects of tobacco upon the brain and nerves are much the same as those of alcohol. tobacco is very injurious to the mind. 8. tobacco-using often leads boys to drunkenness and other vices. 9. the use of opium and chloral produces even worse effects than the use of alcohol or tobacco. chapter xxv. how we hear, see, smell, taste, and feel. ~1. the senses.~--we have five senses--_hearing_, _seeing_, _smelling_, _tasting_, and _feeling_. these are called special senses because they are very different from each other. they also differ from the general sense of feeling by means of which we feel pain when any part is hurt. ~2. organs of the special senses.~--each of the special senses has a special set of nerves and also special cells in the brain which have charge of them. we say that we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, feel with our fingers, etc.; but, really, we see, hear, taste, and smell in the brain just as we feel in the brain. the eyes, ears, nose, and other organs of the special senses are the instruments by means of which the brain sees, hears, smells, etc. ~3. sound and the vibrations which it causes.~--all sounds are made by jars or vibrations of objects. sounds cause objects to vibrate or tremble. a loud sound sometimes jars a whole house, while other sounds are so gentle and soft that we cannot feel them in the same way that we feel loud sounds. but nature has made for us an ingenious organ by means of which we can feel these very fine vibrations as well as loud ones. we call this organ the _ear_. ~4. the ear.~--the part of the ear which we can see is shaped somewhat like a trumpet. the small opening near the middle of the ear leads into a _canal_ or tube which extends into the head about an inch. at the inner end there is a curious little chamber. this is called the _drum_ of the ear, because between it and the canal of the ear there is stretched a thin membrane like the head of a drum. the ear-drum is also called the _middle ear_. [illustration: the ear.] ~5. bones of the ear.~--within the drum of the ear there are three curious little bones which are joined together so as to make a complete chain, reaching from the drum-head to the other side of the drum. the last bone fits into a little hole which leads into another curious chamber. this chamber, which is called the _inner ear_, is filled with fluid, and in this fluid the nerve of hearing is spread out. a part of the inner ear looks very much like a snail shell. [illustration: the inside of the ear.] ~6. how we hear.~--scratch with a pin upon one end of a long wooden pole. have some one listen with the ear placed close against the other end of the pole. he will tell you that he hears the scratching of the pin very plainly. this is because the scratching jars the ear and especially the drum-head, which vibrates just as the head of a drum does when it is beaten with a drum-stick. when the drum-head vibrates it moves the bones of the ear, and these carry the vibration to the nerves of hearing in the inner chamber. we hear all sounds in the same way, only most sounds come to the ear through the air. the snail-shell of the inner part of the ear hears musical sounds. the rest of the inner ear hears ordinary sounds or noises. ~7. how to keep the ears healthy.~--the ears are very delicate organs and must be carefully treated. the following things about the care of the ears should never be forgotten: (1.) never use a pin, toothpick, or any other sharp instrument to clean out the ear. there is great danger that the drum-head will be torn, and thus the hearing will be injured. neither is it ever necessary to use an ear-spoon to remove the wax. working at the ear causes more wax to form. (2.) do not allow cold water to enter the ear or a cold wind to blow directly into it. (3.) if anything accidentally gets into the ear, do not work at it, but hold the head over to one side while water is made to run in from a syringe. if an insect has gone into the ear, pour in a little oil. this will kill the insect or make it come out. (4.) never shout into another person's ear. the ear may be greatly injured in this way. (5.) boxing or pulling the ears is likely to produce deafness, and ought never to be done. ~8. the eye.~--the eye is one of the most wonderful organs in the whole body. it enables us to know what is going on at some distance from us, and to enjoy many beautiful things which our sense of hearing and other senses can tell us nothing about. it also enables us to read. let us learn how this wonderful organ is made. ~9. the eyeball.~--looking at the eye, we see first a round part which rolls in different directions. this is the _eyeball_. we see only the front side of the eyeball as it fits into a hollow in the skull. being thus in a safe place, it is not likely to get hurt. [illustration: the eye.] the eyeball is mostly filled with a clear substance very much like jelly. it is so clear that the light can shine through it just as easily as it can shine through water. ~10. the pupil.~--if you look sharply at the eyeball you will see a small black hole just in the centre. this is a little window which lets the light into the inside of the eyeball. we call this the _pupil_. just around the pupil is a colored ring which gives the eye its color. we say a person has blue or brown or gray eyes according as this ring is blue or brown or gray. this colored ring is a kind of curtain for the window of the eye. ~11.~ if you observe the pupil closely, you will see that it is sometimes larger and sometimes smaller. if you look at the light the pupil is small; if you turn away from the light the pupil grows larger at once. this is because the curtain closes when in a bright light and opens in the darkness. it does this of itself without our thinking about it. in this way the eye is protected from too strong a light, which would do it great harm. ~12.~ if you look a little sidewise at the eyeball, you will see that the curtain has something in front of it which is clear as glass. it is about the shape of a watch crystal, only very much smaller. this is to the eye what the glass is to the windows of a house. it closes the opening in the front of the eyeball and yet lets the light shine in. ~13. the white of the eye.~--the white of the eye is a tough, firm membrane which encloses the eyeball and keeps it in a round shape. ~14. the lens.~--do you know what a lens is? perhaps you do not know it by this name, but you are familiar with the spectacles which people sometimes wear to help their eyes. the glasses in the spectacle frames are called lenses. well, there is something in the eye almost exactly like one of these lenses, only smaller. it is also called a _lens_. if some one will get the eye of an ox for you, you can cut it open and find this part. the lens is placed in the eyeball just behind the pupil. (see picture.) [illustration: the inside of the eye.] ~15. the nerves of sight.~--but a person might have an eyeball with all the parts we have learned about and yet not be able to see. can you tell what more is needed? there must be a nerve. this nerve comes from some little nerve cells in the brain and enters the eyeball at the back of the eye; there it is spread out on the inside of the black lining of the white of the eye. ~16. the eyelids.~--now we know all that it is necessary for us to learn about the eyeball, so let us notice some other parts about the eye. first there are the eyelids. they are little folds of skin fringed with hairs, which we can shut up so as to cover the eyeball and keep out the light when we want to sleep or when we are in danger of getting dust or smoke into the eye. the hairs placed along the edge of the lids help to keep the dust out when the eyes are open. ~17. the eyebrows.~--the row of hairs placed above the eye is called the eyebrow. like the eyelids, the eyebrows catch some substances which might fall into the eye, and they also serve to turn off the perspiration and keep it out of the eyes. ~18. the tear gland.~--do you know where the tears come from? there is a little gland snugly placed away in the socket of the eye just above the eyeball, which makes tears in the same way that the salivary glands make saliva. it is called the _tear gland_. the gland usually makes just enough tears to keep the eye moist. there are times when it makes more than enough, as when something gets into the eye, or when we suffer pain or feel unhappy. then the tears are carried off by means of a little tube which runs down into the nose from the inner corner of the eye. when the tears are formed so fast that they cannot all get away through this tube, they pass over the edge of the lower eyelid and flow down the cheek. ~19. muscles of the eyes.~--by means of little muscles which are fastened to the eyeball, we are able to turn the eye in almost every direction. ~20. how we see.~--now we want to know how we see with the eye. this is not very easy to understand, but we can learn something about it. let us make a little experiment. here is a glass lens. if we hold it before a window and place a piece of smooth white paper behind it, we can see a picture of the houses and trees and fences, and other things out-of-doors. the picture made by the lens looks exactly like the view out-of-doors, except that it is upside down. this is one of the curious things that a lens does. the lens of the eye acts just like a glass lens. it makes a picture of everything we see, upon the ends of the nerves of sight which are spread out at the back of the eyeball. the nerves of sight tell their nerves in the brain about the picture, just as the nerves of feeling tell their cells when they are touched with a pin; and this is how we see. ~21.~ did you ever look through a spyglass or an opera-glass? if so, you know you must make the tube longer or shorter according as you look at things near by or far away. the eye also has to be changed a little when we look from near to distant objects. look out of the window at a tree a long way off. now place a lead pencil between the eyes and the tree. you can scarcely see the pencil while you look sharply at the tree, and if you look at the pencil you cannot see the tree distinctly. ~22.~ there is a little muscle in the eye which makes the change needed to enable us to see objects close by as well as those which are farther away. when people grow old the little muscles cannot do this so well, and hence old people have to put on glasses to see objects near by, as in reading. children should not try to wear old persons' glasses, as this is likely to injure their eyes. ~23. how to keep the eyes healthy.~--(1.) never continue the use of the eyes at fine work, such as reading or fancy-work, after they have become very tired. (2.) do not try to read or to use the eyes with a poor light--in the twilight, for instance, before the gas or lamps are lighted. (3.) in reading or studying, do not sit with the light from either a lamp or a window shining directly upon the face. have the light come from behind and shine over the left shoulder if possible. (4.) never expose the eyes to a sudden, bright light by looking at the sun or at a lamp on first awaking in the morning, or by passing quickly from a dark room into a lighted one. (5.) do not read when lying down, or when riding on a street car or railway train. (6.) if any object gets into the eye have it removed as soon as possible. (7.) a great many persons hurt their eyes by using various kinds of eye-washes. never use anything of this kind unless told to do so by a good physician. ~24. how we smell.~--if we wish to smell anything very strongly, we sniff or suddenly draw the air up through the nose. we do this to bring more air to the nerves of smell, which are placed at the upper part of the inside of the nose. [illustration: inside of the nose.] ~25.~ smelling is a sort of feeling. the nerves of smell are so sensitive that they can discover things in the air which we cannot taste or see. an indian uses his sense of smell to tell him whether things are good to eat or not. he knows that things which have a pleasant smell are likely to be good for him and not likely to make him sick. we do not make so much use of the sense of smell as do the savages and many lower animals, and hence we are not able to smell so acutely. many persons lose the sense of smell altogether, from neglecting colds in the head. ~26. how we taste.~--the tongue and the palate have very delicate nerves by means of which we taste. we cannot taste with the whole of the tongue. the very tip of the tongue has only nerves of touch or feeling. ~27.~ the use of the sense of taste is to give us pleasure and to tell us whether different substances are healthful or injurious. things which are poisonous and likely to make us sick almost always have an unpleasant taste as well as an unpleasant odor. things which have a pleasant taste are usually harmless. ~28. bad tastes.~--people sometimes learn to like things which have a very unpleasant taste. pepper, mustard, pepper-sauce, and other hot sauces, alcohol, and tobacco are harmful substances of this sort. when used freely they injure the sense of taste so that it cannot detect and enjoy fine and delicate flavors. these substances, as we have elsewhere learned, also do the stomach harm and injure the nerves and other parts of the body. ~29. the sense of touch.~--if you put your hand upon an object you can tell whether it is hard or soft, smooth or rough, and can learn whether it is round or square, or of some other shape. you are able to do this by means of the nerves of touch, which are found in the skin in all parts of the body. if you wished to know how an object feels, would you touch it with the elbow, or the knee, or the cheek? you will say, no. you would feel of it with the hand, and would touch it with the ends of the fingers. you can feel objects better with the ends of the fingers because there are more nerves of touch in the part of the skin covering the ends of the fingers than in most other parts of the body. ~30.~ the sense of touch is more delicate in the tip of the tongue than in any other part. this is because it is necessary to use the sense of touch in the tongue to assist the sense of taste in finding out whether things are good to eat or not. the sense of touch is also very useful to us in many other ways. we hardly know how useful it really is until we are deprived of some of our other senses, as sight or hearing. in a blind man the sense of touch often becomes surprisingly acute. ~31. effects of alcohol and tobacco on the special senses.~--all the special senses--hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, feeling--depend upon the brain and nerves. whatever does harm to the brain and nerves must injure the special senses also. we have learned how alcohol and tobacco, and all other narcotics and stimulants, injure and sometimes destroy the brain cells and their nerve branches, and so we can understand that a person who uses these poisonous substances will, by so doing, injure the delicate organs with which he hears, sees, smells, etc. ~32.~ persons who use tobacco and strong drink sometimes become blind, because these poisons injure the nerves of sight. the ears are frequently injured by the use of tobacco. smoking cigarettes and snuff-taking destroy the sense of smell. the poison of the tobacco paralyzes the nerves of taste so that they cannot detect flavors. tea-tasters and other persons who need to have a delicate sense of taste do not use either alcohol or tobacco. summary. 1. we have five special senses--hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and feeling. 2. the ear is the organ of hearing, and has three parts, called the external ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. the inner ear contains the nerve of hearing. 3. the middle ear is separated from the external ear by the drum-head. the drum-head is connected with the inner ear by a chain of bones. 4. sounds cause the drum-head to vibrate. the ear-bones convey the vibration from the drum-head to the nerve of hearing. 5. to keep the ear healthy we must avoid meddling with it or putting things into it. 6. the eye is the organ of sight. the chief parts of the eye are the eyeball, the socket, and the eyelids. 7. in the eyeball are the pupil, the lens, and the nerve of sight. 8. the eyeball is moved in various directions by six small muscles. 9. the eye is moistened by tears from the tear-gland. 10. when we look at an object the lens of the eye makes a picture on the nerve of sight, at the back part of the eyeball. 11. to keep the eyes healthy we should be careful not to tax them long at a time with fine work, or to use them in a poor light. 12. the nerves of smell are placed in the upper part of the inside of the nose. 13. "colds" often destroy the sense of smell. 14. the nerves of taste are placed in the tongue and palate. 15. many things which we think we taste we really do not taste, but smell or feel. 16. objects which have a pleasant taste are usually healthful, while those which have a bad taste are usually harmful. 17. pepper, mustard, etc., as well as alcohol and tobacco, have an unpleasant taste, and are not healthful. if we use them we shall injure the nerves of taste as well as other parts of the body. 18. we feel objects by means of the sense of touch. 19. the sense of touch is most acute at the tip of the tongue and the ends of the fingers. chapter xxvi. alcohol. ~1.~ as we learned in the early part of our study of this subject, alcohol is produced by _fermentation_. it is afterwards separated from water and other substances by _distillation_. we will now learn a few more things about alcohol. ~2. alcohol burns.~--if alcohol is placed in a lamp, it will burn much like kerosene oil. indeed, it does not need a lamp to help it burn as does oil. if a few drops of alcohol are placed upon a plate, it may be lighted with a match, and will burn with a pale blue flame. thus you see that alcohol is a sort of burning fluid. ~3.~ the vapor of alcohol will burn also, and under some circumstances it will explode. on this account it is better not to try any experiments with it unless some older person is close by to direct you, so that no harm may be done. alcohol is really a dangerous substance even though we do not take it as a drink. ~4. an interesting experiment.~--we have told you that all fermented drinks contain alcohol. you will remember that wine, beer, ale, and cider are fermented drinks. we know that these drinks contain alcohol because the chemist can separate the alcohol from the water and other substances, and thus learn just how much alcohol each contains. ~5.~ if we should remove all the alcohol from wine, no one would care to drink it. the same is true of beer and cider. it is very easy to remove the alcohol by the simple process of heating. this is the way the chemist separates it. the heat drives the alcohol off with the steam. if the heating is continued long enough, all the alcohol will be driven off. the chinaman boils his wine before drinking it. perhaps this is one reason why chinamen are so seldom found drunken. ~6.~ by a simple experiment which your parents or your teacher can perform for you, it can be readily proven that different fermented drinks contain alcohol, and also that the alcohol may be driven off by heat. place a basin half full of water upon the stove where it will soon boil. put into a glass bottle enough beer or cider so that when the bottle stands up in the basin the liquid in the bottle will be at about the same height as the water in the basin. now place in the neck of the bottle a closely fitting cork in which there has been inserted a piece of the stem of a clay pipe or a small glass tube. place the bottle in the basin. watch carefully until the liquid in the bottle begins to boil. now apply a lighted match to the end of the pipe-stem or glass tube. perhaps you will observe nothing at first, but continue placing the match to the pipe-stem, and pretty soon you will notice a little blue flame burning at the end of the stem. it will go out often, but you can light it again. this is proof that alcohol is escaping from the liquid in the bottle. after the liquid has been boiling for some time, the flame goes out, and cannot be re-lighted, because the alcohol has been all driven off. [illustration: alcohol experiment.] ~7. the alcohol breath.~--you have doubtless heard that a person who is under the influence of liquor may be known by his breath. his breath smells of alcohol. this is because his lungs are trying to remove the alcohol from his blood as fast as possible, so as to prevent injury to the blood corpuscles and the tissues of the body. it is the vapor of alcohol mixed with his breath that causes the odor. ~8.~ you may have heard that sometimes men take such quantities of liquor that the breath becomes strong with the vapor of alcohol and takes fire when a light is brought near the mouth. these stories are probably not true, although it sometimes happens that persons become diseased in such a way that the breath will take fire if it comes in contact with a light. alcohol may be a cause of this kind of disease. ~9. making alcohol.~--it may be that some of our young readers would like to find out for themselves that alcohol is really made by fermentation. this may be done by an easy experiment. you know that yeast will cause bread to "rise" or ferment. as we have elsewhere learned, a little alcohol is formed in the fermentation of bread, but is driven off by the heat of the oven in baking, so that we do not take any of it into our stomachs when we eat the bread. if we place a little baker's yeast in sweetened water, it will cause it to ferment and produce alcohol. to make alcohol, all we have to do is to place a little yeast and some sweetened water in a bottle and put it away in a warm place for a few hours until it has had time to ferment. you will know when fermentation has taken place by the great number of small bubbles which appear. when the liquid has fermented, you may prove that alcohol is present by means of the same experiment by which you found the alcohol in cider or wine. (see page 160.) ~10.~ alcohol is made from the sweet juices of fruits by simply allowing them to ferment. wine, as you know, is fermented grape juice. cider is fermented apple juice. the strong alcoholic liquor obtained by distilling wine, cider, or any kind of fermented fruit juice, is known as brandy. ~11. how beer is made.~--beer is made from grain of some sort. the grain is first moistened and kept in a warm place for a few days until it begins to sprout. the young plant needs sugar for its food; and so while the grain is sprouting, the starch in the grain is changed into sugar by a curious kind of digestion. this, as you will remember, is the way in which the saliva acts upon starch. so far no very great harm has been done, only sprouted grain, though very sweet, is not so good to eat as grain which has not sprouted. nature intends the sugar to be used as food for the little sproutlet; but the brewer wants it for another purpose, and he stops the growth of the plant by drying the grain in a hot room. ~12.~ the next thing the brewer does is to grind the sprouted grain and soak it in water. the water dissolves out the sugar. next he adds yeast to the sweet liquor and allows it to ferment, thus converting the sugar into alcohol. potatoes are sometimes treated in a similar way. ~13.~ by distilling beer, a strong liquor known as whiskey is obtained. sometimes juniper berries are distilled with the beer. the liquor obtained is then called gin. in the west indies, on the great sugar plantations, large quantities of liquor are made from the skimmings and cleanings of the vessels in which the sweet juice of the sugar-cane is boiled down. these refuse matters are mixed with water and fermented, then distilled. this liquor is called rum. ~14.~ now you have learned enough about alcohol to know that it is not produced by plants in the same way that food is, but that it is the result of a sort of decay. in making alcohol, good food is destroyed and made into a substance which is not fit for food, and which produces a great amount of sickness and destroys many lives. do you not think it a pity that such great quantities of good corn and other grains should be wasted in this way when they might be employed for a useful purpose? ~15. the alcohol family.~--scientists tell us that there are several different kinds of alcohol. naphtha is a strong-smelling liquid sometimes used by painters to thin their paint and make it dry quickly. it does not have the same odor as alcohol, but it looks and acts very much like it. it will burn as alcohol does. it kills animals and plants. it will make a person drunk if he takes a sufficient quantity of it. indeed, it is so like alcohol that it really is a kind of alcohol. ~16.~ there are also other kinds of alcohol. fusel-oil, a deadly poison, is an alcohol. a very small amount of this alcohol will make a person very drunk. fusel-oil is found in bad whiskey. (all whiskey is bad, but some kinds are worse than others.) this is why such whiskey makes men so furiously drunk. it also causes speedy death in those who use it frequently. there are still other kinds of alcohol, some of which are even worse than fusel-oil. so you see this is a very bad family. ~17.~ like most other bad families, this alcohol family has many bad relations. you have heard of carbolic acid, a powerful poison. this is one of the relatives of the alcohol family. creosote is another poisonous substance closely related to alcohol. ether and chloroform, by which people are made insensible during surgical operations, are also relatives of alcohol. they are, in fact, made from alcohol. these substances, although really useful, are very poisonous and dangerous. do you not think it will be very wise and prudent for you to have nothing to do with alcohol in any form, even wine, beer, or cider, since it belongs to such a bad family and has so many bad relations? ~18.~ some persons think that they will suffer no harm if they take only wine or beer, or perhaps hard cider. this is a great mistake. a person may get drunk on any of these drinks if a sufficient amount be taken. besides, boys who use wine, beer, or cider, rarely fail to become fond of stronger liquors. a great many men who have died drunkards began with cider. cider begins to ferment within a day or two after it is made, and becomes stronger in alcohol all the time for many months. ~19. "bitters."~--there are other liquids not called "drinks" which contain alcohol. "bitters" usually contain more alcohol than is found in ale or wine, and sometimes more than in the strongest whiskey. "jamaica ginger" is almost pure alcohol. hence, it is often as harmful for a person to use these medicines freely as to use alcoholic liquors in any other form. ~20.~ alcoholic liquors of all kinds are often adulterated. that is, they contain other poisons besides alcohol. in consequence of this, they may become even more harmful than when pure; but this does not make it safe to use even pure liquor. alcohol is itself more harmful than the other drugs usually added in adulteration. it is important that you should know this, for many people think they will not suffer much harm from the use of alcohol if they are careful to obtain pure liquors. ~21. some experiments.~--how many of you remember what you have learned in previous lessons about the poisonous effects of alcohol? do people ever die at once from its effects? only a short time ago a man made a bet that he could take five drinks of whiskey in five seconds. he dropped dead when he had swallowed the fourth glass. no one ever suffered such an effect from taking water or milk or any other good food or drink. ~22.~ a man once made an experiment by mistake. he was carrying some alcohol across a lawn. he accidentally spilled some upon the grass. the next day he found the grass as dead and brown as though it had been scorched by fire. ~23.~ mr. darwin, the great naturalist, once made a curious experiment. he took a little plant with three healthy green leaves, and shut it up under a glass jar where there was a tea-spoonful of alcohol. the alcohol was in a dish by itself, so it did not touch the plant; but the vapor of the alcohol mixed with the air in the jar so that the plant had to breathe it. in less than half an hour he took the plant out. its leaves were faded and somewhat shrivelled. the next morning it appeared to be dead. do you suppose the odor of milk or meat, or of any good food, would affect a plant like that? animals shut up with alcohol die in just the same way. ~24. a drunken plant.~--how many of you remember about a curious plant that catches flies? do you remember its name? what does the venus's fly-trap do with the flies after it catches them? do you say that it eats them? really this is what it does, for it dissolves and absorbs them. in other words, it digests them. this is just what our stomachs do to the food we eat. ~25.~ a few years ago mr. darwin thought that he would see what effect alcohol would have upon the digestion of a plant. so he put a fly-catching plant in a jar with some alcohol for just five minutes. the alcohol did not touch the plant, because the jar was only wet with the alcohol on the inside. when he took the plant out, he found that it could not catch flies, and that its digestion was spoiled so that it could not even digest very tender bits of meat which were placed on its leaves. the plant was drunk. ~26.~ mr. darwin tried a great many experiments with various poisons, and found that the plants were affected in much the same way by ether and chloroform, and also by nicotine, the poisonous oil of tobacco. sugar, milk, and other foods had no such effect. this does not look much as though alcohol would help digestion; does it? ~27. effects of alcohol on digestion.~--dr. roberts, a very eminent english scientist, made many experiments, a few years ago, to ascertain positively about the effect of alcohol upon digestion. he concluded that alcohol, even in small doses, delays digestion. this is quite contrary to the belief of very many people, who suppose that wine, cider, or stronger liquors aid digestion. the use of alcohol in the form of beer or other alcoholic drinks is often a cause of serious disease of the stomach and other digestive organs. ~28. effects of alcohol on animal heat.~--a large part of the food we eat is used in keeping our bodies warm. most of the starch, sugar, and fat in our food serves the body as a sort of fuel. it is by this means that the body is kept always at about the same temperature, which is just a little less than one hundred degrees. this is why we need more food in very cold weather than in very warm weather. ~29.~ when a person takes alcohol, it is found that instead of being made warmer by it, he is not so warm as before. he feels warmer, but if his temperature be ascertained by means of a thermometer placed in his mouth, it is found that he is really colder. the more alcohol a person takes the colder he becomes. if alcohol were good food would we expect this to be the case? it is probably true that the alcohol does make a little heat, but at the same time it causes us to lose much more heat than it makes. the outside of the body is not so warm as the inside. this is because the warm blood in the blood-vessels of the skin is cooled more rapidly than the blood in the interior of the body. the effect of alcohol is to cause the blood-vessels of the outside of the body to become much enlarged. this is why the face becomes flushed. a larger amount of warm blood is brought from the inside of the body to the outside, where it is cooled very rapidly; and thus the body loses heat, instead of gaining it, under the influence of alcohol. this is not true of any proper food substance. ~30. alcohol in the polar regions.~--experience teaches the same thing as science respecting the effect of alcohol. captain ross, dr. kane, captain parry, captain hall, lieutenant greely, and many other famous explorers who have spent long months amid the ice and snow and intense cold of the countries near the north pole, all say that alcohol does not warm a man when he is cold, and does not keep him from getting cold. indeed, alcohol is considered so dangerous in these cold regions that no arctic explorer at the present time could be induced to use it. the hudson bay company do not allow the men who work for them to use any kind of alcoholic liquors. alcohol is a great deceiver, is it not? it makes a man think he is warmer, when he is really colder. many men are frozen to death while drunk. ~31. alcohol in hot regions.~--bruce, livingstone, and stanley, and all great african travellers, condemn the use of alcohol in that hot country as well as elsewhere. the yuma indians, who live in arizona and new mexico, where the weather is sometimes much hotter than we ever know it here, have made a law of their own against the use of liquor. if one of the tribe becomes drunk, he is severely punished. this law they have made because of the evil effects of liquor which they noticed among the members of their tribe who used to become intoxicated. do you not think that a very wise thing for indians to do? ~32. sunstroke.~--do you know what sunstroke is? if you do not, your parents or teacher will tell yow that persons exposed to the heat of the sun on a hot summer day are sometimes overcome by it. they become weak, giddy, or insensible, and not infrequently die. scores of people are sometimes stricken down in a single day in some of our large cities. it may occur to you that if alcohol cools the body, it would be a good thing for a person to take to prevent or relieve an attack of sunstroke. on the contrary, it is found that those who use alcoholic drinks are much more liable to sunstroke than others. this is on account of the poisonous effects of the alcohol upon the nerves. no doctor would think of giving alcohol in any form to a man suffering with sunstroke. ~33. effects of alcohol upon the tissues.~--here are two interesting experiments which your teacher or parents can make for you. _experiment 1._ place a piece of tender beefsteak in a saucer and cover it with alcohol. put it away over night. in the morning the beefsteak will be found to be shrunken, dried, and almost as tough as a piece of leather. this shows the effect of alcohol upon the tissues, which are essentially like those of lower animals. _experiment 2._ break an egg into a half glassful of alcohol. stir the egg and alcohol together for a few minutes. soon you will see that the egg begins to harden and look just as though it had been boiled. ~34.~ this is the effect of strong alcohol. the alcohol of alcoholic drinks has water and other things mixed with it, so that it does not act so quickly nor so severely as pure alcohol; but the effect is essentially the same in character. it is partly in this way that the brain, nerves, muscles, and other tissues of drinking men and women become diseased. eminent physicians tell us that a large share of the unfortunate persons who are shut up in insane asylums are brought there by alcohol. is it not a dreadful thing that one's mind should be thus ruined by a useless and harmful practice? summary. 1. alcohol is produced by fermentation, and obtained by distillation. it will burn like kerosene oil and other burning fluids. 2. the vapor of alcohol will burn and will sometimes explode. 3. alcohol may be separated from beer and other fermented liquids by boiling. 4. brandy is distilled from fermented fruit juice, whiskey and gin from beer or fermented grains, rum from fermented molasses. 5. alcohol is the result of a sort of decay, and much good food is destroyed in producing it. 6. besides ordinary alcohol, there are several other kinds. naphtha and fusel-oil are alcohols. 7. all the members of the alcohol family are poisons; all will burn, and all will intoxicate. the alcohol family have several bad relations, among which are carbolic acid, ether, and chloroform. 8. cider, beer, and wine are harmful and dangerous as well as strong liquors. "bitters" often contain as much alcohol as the strongest liquors, and sometimes more. 9. alcoholic liquors are sometimes adulterated, but they usually contain no poison worse than alcohol. pure alcohol is scarcely less dangerous than that which is adulterated. 10. death sometimes occurs almost instantly from taking strong liquors. 11. alcohol will kill grass and other plants, if poured upon them or about their roots. 12. mr. darwin proved that the vapor of alcohol will kill plants; also that plants become intoxicated by breathing the vapor of alcohol. 13. alcohol, even in small quantities, hinders digestion. 14. alcohol causes the body to lose heat so rapidly that it becomes cooler instead of warmer. 15. the danger of freezing to death when exposed to extreme cold is greatly increased by taking alcohol. 16. stanley, and other african explorers, say that it is dangerous to use alcoholic drinks in hot climates. 17. in very hot weather, persons who use alcoholic drinks are more subject to sunstroke than those who do not. 18. beefsteak soaked in alcohol becomes tough like leather. an egg placed in alcohol is hardened as though it had been boiled. 19. the effect of alcohol upon the brain, nerves, and other tissues of the body is much the same as upon the beefsteak and the egg. questions for review. chapter i. the house we live in.--what is the body like? does the body resemble anything else besides a house? how is it like a machine? name the different parts of the body. what is anatomy? physiology? hygiene? chapter ii. a general view of the body.--what are the main parts of the body? name the different parts of the head; of the trunk; of each arm; of each leg. what covers the body? chapter iii. the inside of the body.--what is the name of the framework of the body? what is the skull? how is the back-bone formed? name the two cavities of the trunk. what does the chest contain? the abdomen? chapter iv. our foods.--of what are our bodies made? what are foods? where do we get our foods? name some animal foods; some vegetable foods. what are poisons? chapter v. unhealthful foods.--is the flesh of diseased animals good for food? what can you say about unripe, stale, or mouldy foods? what is adulteration of foods? what foods are most likely to be adulterated? are pepper, mustard, and other condiments proper foods? what about tobacco? what is the effect of tobacco upon boys? chapter vi. our drinks.--what is the only thing that will satisfy thirst? why do we need water? how does water sometimes become impure? what is the effect of using impure water? what are the properties of good water? are tea and coffee good drinks? how is alcohol made? give familiar examples of fermentation. how are pure alcohol and strong liquors made? is alcohol a food? why do you think it is a poison? do you think moderate drinking is healthful? chapter vii. how we digest.--what is digestion? what is the digestive tube? name the different digestive organs. how many sets of teeth has a person in his lifetime? how many teeth in each set? how many pairs of salivary glands? what do they form? what is the gullet? describe the stomach. what is the gastric juice? how long is the intestinal canal? what fluid is formed in the intestines? where is the liver found, and how large is it? what does the liver produce? what is the gall-bladder, and what is its use? what does the liver do besides producing bile? what and where is the pancreas? what does the pancreas do? where is the spleen? how many important organs of digestion are there? how many digestive fluids? chapter viii. digestion of a mouthful of bread.--name the different processes of digestion [mastication, action of saliva, swallowing, action of stomach and gastric juice, action of bile, action of pancreatic juice, action of intestines and intestinal juice, absorption, liver digestion]. describe the digestion of a mouthful of bread. where is the food taken after it has been absorbed? what are the lacteals? what is the thoracic duct? chapter ix. bad habits in eating.--what is indigestion? mention some of the causes of indigestion. how does eating too fast cause indigestion? eating too much? too frequently? irregularly? when tired? how do tea and coffee impair digestion? why is it harmful to use iced foods and drinks? why should we not eat pepper and other hot and irritating things? how should the teeth be cared for? how does tobacco-using affect the stomach? what dreadful disease is sometimes caused by tobacco? how does alcohol affect the gastric juice? the stomach? the liver? chapter x. a drop of blood.--what does the blood contain? how many kinds of blood corpuscles are there? what work is done for the body by each kind of corpuscles? chapter xi. why the heart beats.--where is the heart? why does the heart beat? how many chambers has the heart? what are the blood-vessels? how many kinds of blood-vessels are there? name them. what is the difference between venous blood and arterial blood? what change occurs in the blood in the lungs? what is the pulse? how much work does the heart do every twenty-four hours? what are the lymphatics? what do they contain, and what is their purpose? what are lymphatic glands? chapter xii. how to keep the heart and blood healthy.--name some things likely to injure the heart or the blood. what is the effect of violent exercise? of bad air? of bad food? of loss of sleep? of violent anger? what can you say about clothing? what is the effect of alcohol upon the blood? the heart? the bodily heat? what is the effect of tobacco upon the heart? the pulse? the blood? what is the effect of tea and coffee upon the heart? what is a cold? in a case of bleeding from a wound, how can you tell whether a vein or an artery is cut? how would you stop the bleeding from an artery? from a vein? how would you stop nose-bleed? chapter xiii. why and how we breathe.--what happens to a lighted candle if shut up in a small, close place? to a mouse? why is air so necessary for a burning candle and for animals? how is the heat of our bodies produced? name the principal organs of breathing. describe each. how do we use the lungs in breathing? how much air will a man's lungs hold? how much air do we use with each breath? what poisonous substance does the air which we breathe out contain? will a candle burn in air which has been breathed? what happens to animals placed in such air? what change takes place in the blood as it passes through the lungs? how do plants purify the air? chapter xiv. how to keep the lungs healthy.--what is the thing most necessary to preserve life? name some of the ways in which the blood becomes impure. why is bad-smelling air dangerous to health? what are germs? why are some diseases "catching"? name some such diseases. what should be done with a person who has a "catching" disease? what is the effect of the breath upon the air? how much air is poisoned and made unfit to breathe by each breath? how much air do we spoil every minute? every hour? how much pure air does each person need every minute? every hour? how do we get fresh air into our houses? why are windows and doors not good means of ventilating in cold weather? how should a room be ventilated? how should we use the lungs in breathing? what about the clothing in reference to the lungs? why is it injurious to breathe habitually through the mouth? what is the effect of alcohol upon the lungs? what is the effect of tobacco-using upon the throat and nose? chapter xv. the skin and what it does.--how many layers in the skin? what is each called? to what is the color of the skin due? what glands are found in the true skin? what are the nails and what is their purpose? how does the hair grow? name the different uses of the skin? chapter xvi. how to take care of the skin.--what happened to the little boy who was covered with gold leaf? why did he die? what is the effect of neglecting to keep the skin clean? what is the effect of wearing too much clothing and living in rooms which are too warm? how should the hair be cared for? the nails? what is the effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other narcotics upon the skin? chapter xvii. the kidneys and their work.--what is the work of the kidneys? how may we keep these organs healthy? what is the effect of alcohol upon the kidneys? chapter xviii. our bones and their uses.--how many bones in the body? what are the bones called when taken all together? name the principal parts of the skeleton. name the bones of the trunk, of the arms, of the legs. what are the uses of the bones? what is a joint? what is cartilage? by what are the bones held together? of what are the bones largely composed? chapter xix. how to keep the bones healthy.--what sort of bread is best for the bones? why? if a child tries to walk too early why are its legs likely to become crooked? what are the effects of sitting or lying in bad positions? of wearing tight or poorly-fitting clothing? of tight or high-heeled shoes? what injuries are likely to happen to the bones and joints by accident or rough play? chapter xx. the muscles and how we use them.--how many muscles in the body? of what are the muscles composed? how are many of the muscles connected to the bones? to what are all bodily movements due? how do the muscles act? what causes the muscles to act? do all muscles act only when we will to have them act? chapter xxi. how to keep the muscles healthy.--what makes the right arm of the blacksmith stronger than the left one? how should exercise be taken? mention some things in relation to the use of the muscles which we ought not to do, and state the reasons why. what is the effect of alcohol upon the muscles? of tobacco? of tea and coffee? chapter xxii. how we feel and think.--with what part of the body do we think? how many brains does a man have? how is each brain divided? of what is the brain largely composed? where do the nerves begin? what is the spinal cord? why does it cause pain to prick the finger? how many kinds of nerves are there? (_ans._ two; nerves of feeling and nerves of work.) name some of the different kinds of nerves of feeling? name some of the different kinds of work controlled by the nerves of work. of what use to the body are the brain and nerves? how does the brain use the nerves? of what use is the large brain? what does the little brain do? of what use is the spinal cord? chapter xxiii. how to keep the brain and nerves healthy.--mention some things which we need to do to keep the brain and nerves healthy. mention some things which we ought not to do. chapter xxiv. bad effects of alcohol upon the brain and nerves.--what is the effect of alcohol upon the brain and nerves? does alcohol produce real strength? does it produce real warmth? does alcohol make people better or worse? what is the effect of tobacco upon the brain and nerves? does the use of tobacco lead to other evil habits? what about the effect of opium and other narcotics? chapter xxv. how we hear, see, smell, taste, and feel.--how many senses have we? what is the ear? name the three parts of the ear. how do we hear? how should we treat the ear? name the principal parts of the eye? what are found in the eyeball? how is the eyeball moved in the socket? how is the eye moistened? of what use is the lens of the eye? of what use is the pupil of the eye? how may we preserve the eyesight? where are the nerves of smell located? of what use is the sense of smell? where are the nerves of taste found? how is the sense of taste sometimes injured or lost? what do we detect with the sense of taste? of what use to us is the sense of taste? with what sense do we feel objects? in what parts of the body is this sense most delicate? upon what do all the special senses depend? does anything that injures the brain and nerves also injure the special senses? what is the effect of alcohol and tobacco upon the sense of sight? how is the hearing affected by tobacco-using? the sense of smell? the sense of taste? chapter xxvi. alcohol.--how is alcohol produced? in what respect is alcohol like kerosene oil? is alcohol a dangerous thing even if we do not drink it? how can you prove that there is alcohol in wine, beer, cider, and other fermented drinks? can you tell by the odor of his breath when a person has been drinking? why? does the breath ever take fire? may alcohol be a cause? from what is brandy made? how are whiskey, gin, and rum made? is alcohol a result of growth, like fruits and grains, or of decay? is there more than one kind of alcohol? mention some of the members of the alcohol family. in what ways are the members of this family alike? name some of the bad relations. are cider and beer, as well as whiskey, dangerous? why? mention some other things, besides drinks, which contain alcohol. are alcoholic drinks adulterated? is pure alcohol safe? is instant death ever produced by alcohol? will alcohol kill plants? describe mr. darwin's experiment which proved this. can plants be made drunk by alcohol? describe the experiment which proves this. what has dr. roberts proven concerning the influence of alcohol upon digestion? how are our bodies kept warm? explain how alcohol makes the body cooler? do arctic explorers use alcohol? why not? does the use of alcohol prevent sunstroke? what do stanley and livingstone say about the use of alcohol in africa? what is the effect of using alcohol upon meat and eggs? what is the effect of alcohol upon the brain and other tissues of the body? does alcohol cause insanity and other diseases of the brain and nerves? footnotes: [a] more properly _carbonic dioxid_. [b] for the sake of brevity and clearness the author has included under the term "little brain" the _medulla oblongata_ as well as the _cerebellum_. the end. aids to field and laboratory work in botany _apgars' plant analysis._ by e.a. and a.c. apgar. cloth, small 4to, 124 pages 55 cents a book of blank schedules, adapted to gray's botanies, for pupils' use in writing and preserving brief systematic descriptions of the plants analyzed by them in field or class work. space is allowed for descriptions of about one hundred and twenty-four plants with an alphabetical index. an analytical arrangement of botanical terms is provided, in which the words defined are illustrated by small wood cuts, which show at a glance the characteristics named in the definition. by using the plant analysis, pupils will become familiar with the meaning of botanical terms, and will learn how to apply these terms in botanical descriptions. _apgar's trees of the northern united states_ their study, description, and determination. for the use of schools and private students. by austin c. apgar. cloth, 12mo, 224 pages. copiously illustrated $1.00 this work has been prepared as an accessory to the study of botany, and to assist and encourage teachers in introducing into their classes instruction in nature study. the trees of our forests, lawns, yards, orchards, streets, borders and parks afford a most favorable and fruitful field for the purposes of such study. they are real objects of nature, easily accessible, and of such a character as to admit of being studied at all seasons and in all localities. besides, the subject is one of general and increasing interest, and one that can be taught successfully by those who have had no regular scientific training. _copies of either of the above books will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * storer and lindsay's ~elementary manual of chemistry~ by f.h. storer, s.b., a.m., and w.b. lindsay, a.b., b.s. cloth, 12mo, 453 pages. illustrated. price, $1.20 this work is the lineal descendant of the "manual of inorganic chemistry" of eliot and storer, and the "elementary manual of chemistry" of eliot, storer and nichols. it is in fact the last named book thoroughly revised, rewritten and enlarged to represent the present condition of chemical knowledge and to meet the demands of american teachers for a class book on chemistry, at once scientific in statement and clear in method. the purpose of the book is to facilitate the study and teaching of chemistry by the experimental and inductive method. it presents the leading facts and theories of the science in such simple and concise manner that they can be readily understood and applied by the student. the book is equally valuable in the class-room and the laboratory. the instructor will find in it the essentials of chemical science developed in easy and appropriate sequence, its facts and generalizations expressed accurately and scientifically as well as clearly, forcibly and elegantly. "it is safe to say that no text-book has exerted so wide an influence on the study of chemistry in this country as this work, originally written by eliot and storer. its distinguished authors were leaders in teaching chemistry as a means of mental training in general education, and in organizing and perfecting a system of instructing students in large classes by the experimental method. as revised and improved by professor nichols, it continued to give the highest satisfaction in our best schools and colleges. after the death of professor nichols, when it became necessary to revise the work again, professor lindsay, of dickinson college, was selected to assist dr. storer in the work. the present edition has been entirely rewritten by them, following throughout the same plan and arrangement of the previous editions, which have been so highly approved by a generation of scholars and teachers. "if a book, like an individual, has a history, certainly the record of this one, covering a period of nearly thirty years, is of the highest and most honorable character."--_from the american journal of science._ _copies of this book will be sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * ~chemistry~ text-books and laboratory methods storer and lindsay's elementary manual of chemistry by f.h. storer, a.m., s.b., and w.b. lindsay, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 453 pages $1.20 a standard manual for secondary schools and colleges. clarke's elements of chemistry by f.w. clarke. cloth, 12mo, 379 pages $1.20 a scientific book for high schools and colleges. cooley's new elementary chemistry for beginners by leroy c. cooley, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 300 pages 72 cents a book of experimental chemistry for beginners. steele's popular chemistry by j. dorman steele, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 343 pages $1.00 a popular treatise for schools and private students. youmans's class-book of chemistry by e.l. youmans, m.d. revised by w.j. youmans, m.d. cloth, 12mo, 404 pages $1.22 for schools, colleges, and general reading. brewster's first book of chemistry by mary shaw-brewster. boards, 12mo, 144 pages 66 cents an elementary class-book for beginners in the study. armstrong and norton's laboratory manual of chemistry by james e. armstrong and james h. norton. cloth, 12mo, 144 pages 50 cents a brief course of experiments in chemistry, covering about forty weeks' work in the laboratory. cooley's laboratory studies in chemistry by leroy c. cooley, ph.d. cloth, 8vo, 144 pages 50 cents a carefully selected series of 151 experiments, designed to teach the fundamental facts and principles of chemistry for secondary schools. keiser's laboratory work in chemistry by edward h. keiser, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 119 pages 50 cents a series of experiments in general inorganic chemistry, intended to illustrate and supplement the work of the class-room. qualitative chemical analysis of inorganic substances as practiced in georgetown college, d.c. cloth, 4to, 61 pages $1.50 designed to serve as both text-book and laboratory manual in qualitative analysis. _copies of any of the above books will be sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * ~physics~ cooley's student's manual of physics for the study room and laboratory. by l.c. cooley, ph.d., professor of mathematics in vassar college. cloth, 12mo, 448 pages. illustrated $1.00 a new text-book in physics for high schools, academies, and colleges. it embodies a full and thorough treatment of the laws of physics, the best methods in science teaching, the latest discoveries and applications in physics, and a full course in laboratory practice. special care has been taken to select experiments which will not overtax the capacities of beginners nor require expensive apparatus, but which at the same time will call for systematic and original work and lead to accurate results. harrington's physics for grammar schools by c.l. harrington, m.a. cloth, 12mo, 123 pages. 50 cents a practical text-book based on the natural or experimental method, elementary enough for pupils in grammar schools, and affording a thorough preparation for advanced study. appletons' school physics cloth, 12mo, 552 pages $1.20 a thoroughly modern text-book on natural philosophy, which reflects the most advanced pedagogical methods and the latest laboratory practice. steele's popular physics by j. dorman steele, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 392 pages $1.00 a popular text-book, in which the principles of the science are presented in such an attractive manner as to awaken and fix the attention of every pupil. trowbridge's new physics by john trowbridge, s.d. cloth, 12mo, 387 pages $1.20 a thoroughly modern work, intended as a class manual of physics for colleges and advanced preparatory schools. hammel's observation blanks in physics by william c.a. hammel. flexible, quarto, 42 pages. illustrated 30 cents a pupil's laboratory manual and notebook for the first term's work. blanks are left in which the pupil writes his observations and the principles illustrated. _copies of any of these books will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * laboratory physics hammel's observation blanks in physics by william c.a. hammel, professor of physics in maryland state school, boards, quarto, 42 pages. illustrated 30 cents these observation blanks are designed for use as a pupil's laboratory manual and note book for the first term's work in the study of physics. they combine in convenient form descriptions and illustrations of the apparatus required for making experiments in physics, with special reference to the elements of air, liquids, and heat; directions for making the required apparatus from simple inexpensive materials, and for performing the experiments, etc. the book is supplied with blanks for making drawings of the apparatus and for the pupil to record what he has observed and inferred concerning the experiment and the principle illustrated. the experiments are carefully selected in the light of experience and arranged in logical order. the treatment throughout is in accordance with the best laboratory practice of the day. hon. w.t. harris, u.s. commissioner of education, says of these blanks: "i have seen several attempts to assist the work of pupils engaged in the study of physics, but i have never seen anything which promises to be of such practical assistance as hammel's observation blanks." _specimen copies of the above book will be sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * burnet's zoölogy for high schools and academies by margaretta burnet teacher of zoölogy, woodward high school, cincinnati, o. cloth, 12mo, 216 pages. illustrated. price, 75 cents this new text-book on zoölogy is intended for classes in high schools, academies, and other secondary schools. while sufficiently elementary for beginners in the study it is full and comprehensive enough for students pursuing a regular course in the natural sciences. it has been prepared by a practical teacher, and is the direct result of school-room experience, field observation and laboratory practice. the design of the book is to give a good general knowledge of the subject of zoölogy, to cultivate an interest in nature study, and to encourage the pupil to observe and to compare for himself and then to arrange and classify his knowledge. only typical or principal forms are described, and in their description only such technical terms are used as are necessary, and these are carefully defined. each subject is fully illustrated, the illustrations being selected and arranged to aid the pupil in understanding the structure of each form. _copies of burnet's school zoölogy will be sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * zoölogy and natural history burnet's school zoölogy by margaretta burnet. cloth, 12mo, 216 pages 75 cents a new text-book for high schools and academies, by a practical teacher; sufficiently elementary for beginners and full enough for the usual course in natural history. needham's elementary lessons in zoölogy by james g. needham, m.s. cloth, 12mo, 302 pages 90 cents an elementary text-book for high schools, academies, normal schools and preparatory college classes. special attention is given to the study by scientific methods, laboratory practice, microscopic study and practical zoötomy. cooper's animal life by sarah cooper. cloth, 12mo, 427 pages $1.25 an attractive book for young people. admirably adapted for supplementary readings in natural history. holders' elementary zoölogy by c.f. holder, and j.b. holder, m.d. cloth, 12mo, 401 pages $1.20 a text-book for high school classes and other schools of secondary grade. hooker's natural history by worthington hooker, m.d. cloth, 12mo, 394 pages 90 cents designed either for the use of schools or for the general reader. morse's first book in zoölogy by edward s. morse, ph.d. boards, 12mo, 204 pages 87 cents for the first study of animal life. the examples presented are such as are common and familiar. nicholson's text-book of zoölogy by h.a. nicholson, m.d. cloth, 12mo, 421 pages $1.38 revised edition. adapted for advanced grades of high schools or academies and for first work in college classes. steele's popular zoölogy by j. dorman steele, ph.d., and j.w.p. jenks. cloth, 12mo, 369 pages $1.20 for academies, preparatory schools and general reading. this popular work is marked by the same clearness of method and simplicity of statement that characterize all prof. steele's text-books in the natural sciences. tenneys' natural history of animals by sanborn tenney and abbey a. tenney. revised edition. cloth, 12mo, 281 pages $1.20 this new edition has been entirely reset and thoroughly revised, the recent changes in classification introduced, and the book in all respects brought up to date. treat's home studies in nature by mrs. mary treat. cloth, 12mo, 244 pages 90 cents an interesting and instructive addition to the works on natural history. _copies of any of the above books will be sent prepaid to any address, on receipt of the price, by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * text-books in geology dana's geological story briefly told by james d. dana. cloth, 12mo, 302 pages $1.15 a new edition of this popular work for beginners in the study and for the general reader. the book has been entirely rewritten, and improved by the addition of many new illustrations and interesting descriptions of the latest phases and discoveries of the science. in contents and dress it is an attractive volume either for the reader or student. dana's revised text-book of geology edited by william north rice, ph.d., ll.d., professor of geology, wesleyan university. cloth, 12mo, 482 pages. $1.40 this is the standard text-book for high school and elementary college work. the book has been thoroughly revised, enlarged, and improved, while the general and distinctive features of the former work have been preserved. as now published, it combines the results of the life experience and observation of its distinguished author with the latest discoveries and researches in the science. dana's manual of geology by james d. dana. cloth, 8vo, 1087 pages. 1575 illustrations $5.00 this great work was thoroughly revised and entirely rewritten under the direct supervision of its author, just before his death. it is recognized as a standard authority, and is used as a manual of instruction in all higher institutions of learning. le conte's compend of geology by joseph le conte, ll.d. cloth, 12mo, 399 pages $1.20 designed for high schools, academies, and all secondary schools. steele's fourteen weeks in geology by j. dorman steele, ph.d. cloth, 12mo, 280 pages $1.00 a popular book for elementary classes and the general reader. andrews's elementary geology by e.b. andrews, ll.d. cloth, 12mo, 283 pages $1.00 adapted for elementary classes. contains a special treatment of the geology of the mississippi valley. _copies of any of the above books will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * a new astronomy by david p. todd, m.a., ph.d. professor of astronomy and director of the observatory, amherst college. cloth, 12mo, 480 pages. illustrated price, $1.30 this book is designed for classes pursuing the study in high schools, academies, and colleges. the author's long experience as a director in astronomical observatories and in teaching the subject has given him unusual qualifications and advantages for preparing an ideal text-book. the noteworthy feature which distinguishes this from other text-books on astronomy is the practical way in which the subjects treated are enforced by laboratory experiments and methods. in this the author follows the principle that astronomy is preëminently a science of observation and should be so taught. by placing more importance on the physical than on the mathematical facts of astronomy the author has made every page of the book deeply interesting to the student and the general reader. the treatment of the planets and other heavenly bodies and of the law of universal gravitation is unusually full, clear, and illuminative. the marvelous discoveries of astronomy in recent years, and the latest advances in methods of teaching the science, are all represented. the illustrations are an important feature of the book. many of them are so ingeniously devised that they explain at a glance what pages of mere description could not make clear. _copies of todd's new astronomy will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * a laboratory manual in practical botany for use in secondary schools and for elementary work in colleges by charles h. clark, a.m., d.sc., principal of windsor hall school, waban, mass. cloth, 12mo, 272 pages. illustrated 96 cents the course of botanical study outlined in this book is intended to give the student a general view of the subject, and at the same time to lay a foundation upon which more advanced studies may be built. the book is primarily a laboratory manual and follows the method recommended by the committee of ten and employed by the best teachers. so pursued, the study of botany provides the means of developing habits of close and accurate observation and of cultivating the reasoning powers that can scarcely be claimed for any other subject taught in the schools. it provides a systematic outline of classification to serve as a guide in laboratory work and in the practical study of the life histories of plants, their modes of reproduction, manner of life, etc. the treatment is suggestive and general to adapt it to the courses of study in different schools, and to allow the teacher to follow his own ideas in selecting the work of his class. clark's laboratory manual in practical botany _will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * important new books crockett's plane and spherical trigonometry by c.w. crockett, c.e., professor of mathematics and astronomy in rensselaer polytechnic institute, troy, new york. with tables. cloth, 8vo. 310 pages $1.25 the same. without tables 1.00 logarithmic and trigonometric tables (separate) 1.00 a clear analytic treatment of the elements of plane and spherical trigonometry and their practical applications to surveying, geodesy, and astronomy, with convenient and accurate "five place" tables for the use of the student, engineer, and surveyor. designed for high schools, colleges, and technical institutions. raymond's plane surveying by w.g. raymond, c.e., member american society of civil engineers, professor of geodesy, road engineering, and topographical drawing in rensselaer polytechnic institute. cloth, 8vo. 485 pages. with tables and illustrations $3.00 a modern text-book for the study and practice of land, topographical, hydrographical, and mine surveying. special attention is given to such practical subjects as system in office work, to labor-saving devices, to coördinate methods, and to the explanation of difficulties encountered by young surveyors. the appendix contains a large number of original problems, and a full set of tables for class and field work. todd's new astronomy by david p. todd, m.a., ph.d., professor of astronomy and director of the observatory, amherst college. cloth, 12mo. 500 pages. illustrated $1.30 a new astronomy designed for classes pursuing the study in high schools, academies, and other preparatory schools. the treatment throughout is simple, clear, scientific, and deeply interesting. the illustrations include sketches from the author's laboratory and expeditions, and numerous reproductions from astronomical photographs. _copies of the above books will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago * * * * * birds of the united states a manual for the identification of species east of the rocky mountains by austin c. apgar author of "trees of the northern united states," etc. cloth, 12mo, 415 pages, with numerous illustrations. price, $2.00 the object of this book is to encourage the study of birds by making it a pleasant and easy task. the treatment, while thoroughly scientific and accurate, is interesting and popular in form and attractive to the reader or student. it covers the following divisions and subjects: part i. a general description of birds and an explanation of the technical terms used by ornithologists. part ii. classification and description of each species with key. part iii. the study of birds in the field, with key for their identification. part iv. preparation of bird specimens. the descriptions of the several species have been prepared with great care and present several advantages over those in other books. they are short and so expressed that they may be recalled readily while looking at the bird. they are thus especially adapted for field use. the illustrations were drawn especially for this work. their number, scientific accuracy, and careful execution add much to the value and interest of the book. the general key to land and water birds and a very full index make the book convenient and serviceable both for the study and for field work. _apgar's birds of the united states will be sent, prepaid, to any address on receipt of the price by the publishers:_ american book company new york · cincinnati · chicago note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see 16370-h.htm or 16370-h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/6/3/7/16370/16370-h/16370-h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/1/6/3/7/16370/16370-h.zip) transcriber's note: the original text was inconsistent in the use of accents and hyphenation. these variants and a small number of typographical errors were maintained in this transcription. a complete list of the variant spellings is found at the end of the book along with the list of typographical errors. the table of contents lists the authorities cited section as preceding the index, but it was printed following the index. this order has been retained in this transcription. veterinary practitioners' series no. 1 lameness of the horse by j. v. lacroix, d.v.s. professor of surgery, the kansas city veterinary college author of "animal castration" illustrated chicago american journal of veterinary medicine 1916 preface all that can be known on the subject of lameness, is founded on a knowledge of anatomy and of the physiology of locomotion. without such knowledge, no one can master the principles of the diagnosis of lameness. however, it must be assumed that the readers are informed on these subjects, as it is impossible to include this fundamental instruction in a work so brief as this one. the technic of certain operative or corrective procedures, has been described at length only where such methods are not generally employed. where there is no departure from the usual methods, treatment that is essentially within the domain of surgery or practice is not given in specific detail. realizing the need for a treatise in the english language dealing with diagnosis and treatment of lameness, the author undertook the preparation of this manuscript. that the difficulties of depicting by means of word-pictures, the symptoms evinced in baffling cases of lameness, presented themselves in due course of writing, it is needless to say. it is hoped that this volume will serve its readers to the end that the handling of cases of lameness will become a more satisfactory and successful part of their work; that both the practitioner and his clients may profit thereby; and last but by no means least, that the horse, which has given such incalculable service to mankind and is deserving of a more concrete reward, will be benefited by the application of the principles herein outlined. in addition to the consultation of standard works bearing on various phases of the subject of lameness, the author wishes to thankfully acknowledge helpful advice and assistance received from the publisher, dr. d.m. campbell; to appreciatively credit drs. l.a. merillat, a. trickett and f.f. brown for valuable suggestions given from time to time. particular acknowledgment is made to dr. septimus sisson, author, and w.b. saunders & co., publishers of the anatomy of domestic animals, for permission to use a number of illustrations from that work. j.v.l. chicago, illinois, october, 1916. _justice shows a triumphant face at the works of humane practitioners, who give serious thought and expend honest effort, for the alleviation of animal suffering._ table of contents page illustrations 7 introduction 11 section i etiology and occurrence 15 affections of bones 15 rarefying osteitis, or degenerative changes 16 fractures 16 affections of ligaments 20 luxations--dislocations 21 arthritis 22 affections of bursae and thecae 27 affections of muscles and tendons 28 affections of nerves 30 affections of blood vessels 31 affections of lymph vessels and glands 32 affections of the feet 34 section ii diagnostic principles 37 anamnesis 38 visual examination 39 attitude of the subject 41 examination by palpation 43 passive movements 47 observing the character of the gait 48 special methods of examination 53 section iii lameness in the fore leg anatomo-physiological review of parts of the fore leg 55 shoulder lameness 61 fracture of the scapula 62 scapulohumeral arthritis 65 infectious arthritis 66 injuries 66 wounds 67 luxation of the scapulohumeral joint 67 inflammation of the bicipital bursa 68 contusions of the triceps brachii 71 shoulder atrophy (sweeny) 73 paralysis of the suprascapular nerve 75 radial paralysis 77 thrombosis of the brachial artery 81 fracture of the humerus 82 inflammation of the elbow 84 fracture of the ulna 86 fracture of the radius 87 wounds of the anterior brachial region 90 inflammation and contraction of the carpal flexors 93 fracture and luxation of the carpal bones 96 carpitis 98 open carpal joint 100 thecitis and bursitis 104 fracture of the metacarpus 106 splints 107 open fetlock joint 110 phalangeal exostosis (ringbone) 118 open sheath of the flexors of the phalanges 124 luxation of the fetlock joint 125 sesamoiditis 127 fracture of the proximal sesamoids 128 inflammation of the posterior ligaments of the pastern proximal interphalangeal joint 129 fracture of the first and second phalanges 131 tendinitis (inflammation of the flexor tendons) 135 chronic tendinitis and contraction of the flexor tendons 137 contracted tendons of foals 143 rupture of the flexor tendons and suspensory ligament 146 thecitis and bursitis in the fetlock region 150 arthritis of the fetlock joint 152 ossification of the cartilages of the third phalanx 155 navicular disease 157 laminitis 160 calk wounds (paronychia) 170 corns 172 quittor 174 nail punctures 178 section iv lameness in the hind leg anatomo-physiological consideration of the pelvic limbs 185 hip lameness 195 fractures of the pelvic bones 196 fractures of the femur 199 luxation of the femur 201 gluteal tendo-synovitis 203 paralysis of the hind leg 204 paralysis of the femoral (crural) nerve 204 paralysis of the obturator nerve 206 paralysis of the sciatic nerve 208 iliac thrombosis 209 fracture of the patella 212 luxation of the patella 213 chronic gonitis 217 open stifle joint 220 fracture of the tibia 222 rupture and wounds of the tendo achillis 224 spring-halt (string-halt) 225 open tarsal joint 229 fracture of the fibular tarsal bone (calcaneum) 230 tarsal sprains 232 curb 233 spavin (bone spavin) 235 distension of the tarsal joint capsule (bog spavin) 242 distension of the tarsal sheath of the deep digital flexor (thoroughpin) 246 capped hock 251 rupture and division of the long digital extensor (extensor pedis) 253 wounds from interfering 255 lymphangitis 257 authorities cited 265 index 267 illustrations page fig. 1--hoof testers 53 fig. 2--muscles of left thoracic limb, lateral view 56 fig. 3--muscles of left thoracic limb, medial view 57 fig. 4--sagital section of digit and distal part of metacarpus 59 fig. 5--ordinary type of heavy sling 62 fig. 6--a sling made in two parts 63 fig. 7--paralysis of the suprascapular nerve of left shoulder 76 fig. 8--radial paralysis 78 fig. 9--merillat's method of fixing carpus in radial paralysis 79 fig. 10--contraction of carpal flexors, "knee sprung" 95 fig. 11--pericarpal inflammation and enlargement due to injury 99 fig. 12--hygromatous condition of the right carpus 100 fig. 13--carpal exostosis in aged horse 101 fig. 14--exostosis of carpus resultant from carpitis 102 fig. 15--distal end of radius, illustrating effects of carpitis 102 fig. 16--posterior view of radius, illustrating effects of splint 108 fig. 17--phalangeal exosteses 120 fig. 18--rarefying osteitis in chronic ringbone 121 fig. 19--phalangeal exostoses in chronic ringbone 122 fig. 20--contraction of superficial digital flexor tendon due to tendinitis 138 fig. 21--contraction of deep flexor tendon due to tendinitis 139 fig. 22--chronic case of contraction of both flexor tendons of the phalanges 140 fig. 23--contraction of superficial and deep flexor tendons 141 fig. 24--contraction of superficial digital flexor and slight contraction of deep flexor tendon 142 fig. 25--"fish knees" 145 fig. 26--extreme dorsal flexion 146 fig. 27--a good style of shoe for bracing the fetlock 148 fig. 28--the roberts brace in operation 149 fig. 29--distension of theca of extensor of the digit 151 fig. 30--rarefying osteitis wherein articular cartilage was destroyed 153 fig. 31--ringbone and sidebone 156 fig. 32--position assumed by horse having unilateral navicular disease 159 fig. 33--the hoof in chronic laminitis 165 fig. 34--effects of laminitis 166 fig. 35--cochran shoe, inferior surface 168 fig. 36--cochran shoe, superior surface 169 fig. 37--hyperplasia of eight forefoot due to chronic quittor 176 fig. 38--chronic quittor, left hind foot 177 fig. 39--skiagraph of foot 179 fig. 40--sagital section of eight hock 186 fig. 41--muscles of right leg; front view 187 fig. 42--muscles of lower part of thigh, leg and foot 189 fig. 43--right stifle joint; lateral view 190 fig. 44--left stifle joint; medial view 191 fig. 45--left stifle joint; front view 193 fig. 46--oblique fracture of the femur 200 fig. 47--fracture of femur after six months' treatment 201 fig. 48--aorta and its branches showing location of thrombi 210 fig. 49--thrombosis of the aorta, iliacs and branches 211 fig. 50--chronic gonitis 218 fig. 51--position assumed in gonitis 219 fig. 52--spring-halt 226 fig. 53--lateral view of tarsus showing effects of tarsitis 228 fig. 54--right hock joint 231 fig. 55--spavin 235 fig. 56--bog spavin 243 fig. 57--thoroughpin 247 fig. 58--fibrosity of tarsus in chronic thoroughpin 248 fig. 59--another view of case shown in fig. 58 249 fig. 60--"capped hock" 252 fig. 61--chronic lymphangitis 258 fig. 62--elephantiasis 259 introduction lameness is a symptom of an ailment or affection and is not to be considered in itself as an anomalous condition. it is the manifestation of a structural or functional disorder of some part of the locomotory apparatus, characterized by a limping or halting gait. therefore, any affection causing a sensation and sign of pain which is increased by the bearing of weight upon the affected member, or by the moving of such a distressed part, results in an irregularity in locomotion, which is known as lameness or claudication. a halting gait may also be produced by the abnormal development of a member, or by the shortening of the leg occasioned by the loss of a shoe. for descriptive purposes lameness may be classified as _true_ and _false_. _true lameness_ is such as is occasioned by structural or functional defects of some part of the apparatus of locomotion, such as would be caused by spavin, ring-bone, or tendinitis. _false lameness_ is an impediment in the gait not caused by structural or functional disturbances, but is brought on by conditions such as may result from the too rapid driving of an unbridle-wise colt over an irregular road surface, or by urging a horse to trot at a pace exceeding the normal gait of the animal's capacity, causing it to "crow-hop" or to lose balance in the stride. the latter manifestation might, to the inexperienced eye, simulate _true lameness_ of the hind legs, but in reality, is merely the result of the animal having been forced to assume an abnormal pace and a lack of balance in locomotion is the consequence. the degree of lameness, though variable in different instances, is in most cases proportionate to the causative factor, and this fact serves as a helpful indicator in the matter of establishing a diagnosis and giving the prognosis, especially in cases of somewhat unusual character. an animal may be slightly lame and the exhibition of lameness be such as to render the cause bafflingly obscure. cases of this nature are sometimes quite difficult to classify and in occasional instances a positive diagnosis is impossible. subjects of this kind may not be sufficiently inconvenienced to warrant their being taken out of service, yet a lame horse, no matter how slightly affected, should not be continued in service unless it can be positively established that the degree of discomfort occasioned by the claudication is small and the work to be done by the animal, of the sort that will not aggravate the condition. subjects that are very lame--so lame that little weight is borne by the affected member--are, of course, unfit for service and as a rule are not difficult of diagnosis. for instance, a fracture of the second phalanx would cause much more lameness than an injury to the lateral ligament of the coronary joint wherein there had occurred only a slight sprain, and though crepitation is not recognized, the diagnostician is not justified in excluding the possibility of fracture, if the lameness seems disproportionate to the apparent first cause. the course taken by cases of lameness is as variable as the degree of its manifestation, and no one can definitely predict the duration of any given cause of claudication. because of the fact that horses are not often good self-nurses at best, and that it is difficult to enforce proper care for the parts affected, one can not wisely state that resolution will promptly follow in an acute involvement, nor can he predict that the case will or will not become chronic. experience has proved that complete or partial recovery may result, or again, that no change may occur in any given case, and that in some instances even where rational treatment is early administered, a decided aggravation of the condition may follow unaccountably. however, because of the economic element to be reckoned with, it is of some value to be able to give a fairly accurate prognosis in the handling of cases of lameness, as in the majority of instances the treatment and manner of after-care are determined largely by the expense that any prescribed line of attention will occasion. a case of acute bone spavin in a horse of little value is not generally treated in a manner that will incur an expense equivalent to one-half the value of the subject. the fact is always to be considered in such cases, that even where ideal conditions favor proper treatment, the outcome is uncertain. where less than six weeks of rest can be allowed the animal, one affected with bone spavin would therefore not be treated with the expectation of obtaining good results, as six weeks' time, at least, is necessary for a successful outcome. if the cost attending the enforced idleness of an animal of this kind is considered prohibitive for the employment of proper measures to affect a cure, and if lameness is slight, the animal should be given suitable work, but in cases of articular spavin in aged subjects, they should be humanely destroyed and not subjected to prolonged misery. a thorough knowledge of the structure and functions of the affected parts is necessary to proceed in cases of lameness; likewise, the age, conformation and temperament of the subject need to be taken into consideration; the presence or absence of complications demand the attention; the kind of care the subject will probably receive directly influences the outcome; and the character of service expected of the subject, too, needs to be carefully considered before the ultimate outcome may reasonably be foretold. the practitioner is often confronted with the problem of how best to handle certain cases. will they do better under conditions where absolute quiet is enforced, or is it preferable to allow exercise at will? the temperament of the animal must be considered in such cases, and if a lame horse is too active and playful when given his freedom, exercise must be restricted or prevented, as the case may require. in cases of strains of tendons, during the acute stage, immobilization of the affected parts is in order. in certain sub-acute inflammatory processes or in instances of paralytic disturbance where convalescence is in progress, moderate exercise is highly beneficial. consequently, each case in itself presents an individual problem to be judged and handled in the manner experience has taught to be most effective, appropriate and practical, and the veterinarian should give due consideration to the comfort and welfare of the crippled animal as well as to the interests of the owner. section i. etiology and occurrence. in discussions of pathological conditions contributing to lameness in the horse, cause is generally classified under two heads--_predisposing_ and _exciting_. it becomes necessary, however, to adopt a more general and comprehensive method of classification, herein, which will enable the reader to obtain a better conception of the subject and to more clearly associate the parts so grouped descriptively. though _predisposing_ factors, such as faulty conformation, are often to be reckoned with, _exciting_ causes predominate more frequently in any given number of cases. the noble tendency of the horse to serve its master under the stress of pain, even to the point of complete exhaustion and sudden death, should win for these willing servants a deeper consideration of their welfare. too frequently are their manifestations of discomfort allowed to pass unheeded by careless, incompetent drivers lacking in a sense of compassion. symptoms of malaise should never be ignored in any case; the humane and economic features should be realized by any owner of animals. in the consideration of group causes, lameness may be said to originate from affections of bones, ligaments, thecae and bursae, muscles and tendons, nerves, lymph vessels and glands, and blood vessels, and may also result from an involvement of one or several of the aforementioned tissues, caused by rheumatism. further, affections of the feet merit separate consideration, and, finally, a miscellaneous grouping of various dissimilar ailments, which for the most part, do not directly involve the locomotory apparatus but do, by their nature, impede normal movement. affections of bones. the bony column serving as the framework and support of the legs, probably constitutes the most vital element having to do with weight bearing and locomotion, and therefore during the acute and painful stage of bone affections, the pain becomes more intense in the process and pressure of standing than when the member is swung or advanced. certain bones are so well protected by muscular structures that they are not frequently injured except as a result of violence which may produce fracture. however, there are certain bones which receive the constant shock of concussion when the animal is subjected to daily, rapid work on hard road surfaces. splints, ringbones and spavins are the most general examples produced by these conditions. varying pathological developments often result from concussion, contusion or other violent shocks to the bony structures. in such cases there either follows a simple periostitis which may resolve spontaneously with no obvious outward symptom, or osteitis, which may occur with tissue changes, as in exostosis; or the case may produce any degree of reaction between these two possible extremes. rarefying osteitis, or degenerative changes. certain bone affections, such as osteomalacia or osteoporosis, are in the main, responsible for distortions and morphological changes of bone, causing lameness, permanent blemish and even resulting in death of the affected animal. the climatic conditions in some localities favor these occurrences but they may also be ascribed to improper food constituents and to possible infective agencies. rarefying degenerative changes manifested by exostosis involving the phalanges of the young, causing ringbone, are fairly common in occurrence throughout this country. this is due, supposedly, to a lack of mineral substance in the bony structure of the affected animals, and is known as rachitis--commonly called rickets. since the affected subjects suffer involvement of several of the extremities at the same time, the theory of rachitic origin seems well supported. fractures. fractures of bones constitute serious conditions and are always manifested by lameness. a sub-classification is essential here for the student of veterinary medicine who would comprehend the technic of reduction and subsequent treatment in such cases. fractures are classified by many authorities as being _simple_, _compound_, and _comminuted_. this method is practical because it separates dissimilar conditions. there are also grouped fractures, the pathologic anatomy of which is similar. classification on an etiological basis would attempt to associate conditions, the morbid anatomy and gravity of which would justly preclude their being combined. simple fracture is a condition where the continuity of the bone has been broken without serious destruction of the soft structures adjacent, and where no opening has been made to the surface of the flesh. such fractures do not reduce the bone to fragments. long bones are frequently subjected to simple fracture, while short thick bones, such as the second phalanx, may suffer multiple or comminuted fractures. compound fracture designates a break of bone with the destruction of the soft tissues covering it, making an open wound to the surface of the skin. this form of fracture is serious because of the attendant danger of infection, and in treatment, necessitates special precaution being taken in the application of splints that the wound may be cared for without infection of the tissues. these fractures generally occur as a result of some forceful impact through the flesh to the bone, or where the bones are driven outward by the blow. common examples are in fractures of the metacarpus and metatarsus of the first phalanx. this kind of injury in mature horses usually produces an irreparable condition, and viewed economically, is generally considered fatal. comminuted fractures, as the term implies, are those cases wherein the bone is reduced to a number of small pieces. this kind of break may be classified as simple-comminuted fracture when the skin is unbroken, and when the bone is exposed as a result of the injury, it is known as a compound-comminuted fracture. such fractures are caused by violent contusion or where the member is caught between two objects and crushed. multiple fractures. fractures are called _multiple_ when the bone is reduced to a number of pieces of large size. this condition differs from a comminuted fracture in that the multiple fracture may break the bone into several pieces without the pieces being ground or crushed, and the affected bone may still retain its normal shape. further classification is of value in describing fractures of bone with respect to the manner in which the bone is broken--the direction of the fissure or fissures in relation to its long axis. a fracture is _transverse_ when the bone is broken at a right angle from its long axis. such breaks when simple, are the least trouble to care for because there is little likelihood that the broken ends of bone will become so displaced that they will not remain in apposition. _simple transverse_ fracture of the metacarpus, for instance, constitutes a favorable case for treatment if other conditions are favorable. _oblique fractures_, as may be surmised, are solutions of continuity of bone in such manner that the fissure crosses the long axis of a bone at an acute or obtuse angle. these fractures are prone to injure the soft structures adjacent, and are frequently compound, as well. moreover, because of the fact that the apposing pieces of bone are beveled, the broken ends of bone are likely to pass one another in such a way as to shorten the distance between the extremities of the injured member. contraction of muscles also tends to exert traction upon a bone so fractured, resulting in a lateral approximation of the diaphysis and thus preventing union because the broken surfaces are not in proper contact. fractures are _longitudinal_ when the fissure is parallel with the long axis of the bone. this variety of break is not infrequent in the first phalanx; and a vertical fracture of the second phalanx is also said to be longitudinal, however, there is little difference (if any, in some subjects) between the vertical and transverse diameters of this particular bone. _green stick fractures_ are essentially those resulting from falls to young animals. they are usually sub-periosteal and when the periosteum is left intact or nearly so, no crepitation is discernible. if this fracture is _simple_, prompt recovery may be expected. bones of young animals, because they do not contain proportionately as much mineral substance as do bones of adults, are more resilient and less apt to become completely fractured. they are, however, subject to what is known as green stick fracture. _impacted fractures_ are usually occasioned by falls. when the weight of the body is suddenly caught by a member in such manner as to forcefully drive the epiphyseal portions of bone into and against the diaphysis, _multiple longitudinal_ fractures occur at the point of least resistance. parts so affected undergo a fibrillary separation, increasing the transverse diameter of the bone; or if the impact has been sufficiently violent, the portion becomes an amorphous mass. in a treatise on the subject of lameness, the bones chiefly concerned and most often affected must be especially considered. the shape and size of a bone when injured, determines in a measure, the course and probable outcome in most cases, but of first and greater importance is the function of the bone. a fracture of the fibula in the horse need not incapacitate the subject, but a tibial fracture is serious and generally proves cause for fatal termination. the body of the scapula may be completely fractured and recovery will probably result in most cases without much attention being given to the subject, yet a fracture of the neck of this same bone constitutes an injury of serious consequence. the difference in the function of different parts of this same bone, as well as its shape and mode of attachment, determine the gravity of the case; so it is in fractures of other bones with respect to the course and prognosis of the case--function is the important factor to be considered. next in importance is the age of the animal suffering fracture of the bone. capacity for regeneration is naturally greater in a vigorous, young animal than in aged or even middle-aged subjects. a healthy condition of the bone and the body favor the process of repair in case of fracture, and prognosis may be favorable or unfavorable, depending upon these factors mentioned for consideration. individuals of the same species, differing in temperament, may comport themselves in a manner that is conductive to prompt recovery, or to early destruction. this feature cannot be overestimated in importance, as it is sometimes a decisive element, regardless of other conditions. a horse suffering from an otherwise remediable pelvic fracture may be so worried and tortured by being confined in a sling that the case calls for special attention and care because of the animal's temperament. sometimes, the constant presence of a kind attendant will so reassure the subject that it will become resigned to unnatural confinement, in a day or two. this precaution may, in itself, determine the outcome, and the wise veterinarian will not overlook this feature or fail to deviate from the usual rote in the handling of average cases. recovery may be brought about in irritable subjects by this concession to the individual idiosyncrasies of such animals. affections of ligaments. ligaments which have to do with the locomotory apparatus are, for the most part, inelastic structures which are composed of white fibrous tissue and serve to join together the articular ends of bones; to bind down tendons; and to act as sheathes or grooves through which tendons pass, and as capsular membranes for retention of synovia in contact with articular surfaces of bones. ligaments are injured less frequently than are bones. because of their flexibility they escape fracture in the manner that bones suffer. they are, however, completely severed by being cut or ruptured, though fibrillary fracture the result of constant or intermittent tensile strain is of more frequent occurrence. simple inflammation of ligaments is of occasional occurrence but, unless considerable injury is done this tissue, no perceptible manifestation of injury results. no doubt many cases wherein fibrillary fracture of ligaments (sprain) takes place some lameness is caused, but because of the dense, comparatively nonvascular nature of these structures, little if any manifestation, except lameness, is evident. and such cases, if recognized are usually diagnosed by excluding the existence of other possible causes and conditions which might also cause lameness. certain ligaments are subjected to strain more than are others and therefore, when so involved, frequently cause lameness. examples of this kind are affections of the collateral (lateral) ligaments of the phalanges. because of the leverage afforded by the transverse diameter of the foot, when an animal is made to travel over uneven road surfaces, considerable strain is brought to bear on the collateral ligaments of the phalanges. a sequel to this form of injury is a circumscribed periostitis at the site of attachment of the ligaments and frequently the formation of an exostosis--ringbone--results. where sudden and violent strain is placed upon a ligament and rupture occurs, the division is usually effected by the ligament being torn from its attachment to the bone. in such cases, a portion of periosteum and bone is usually detached and the condition may then properly be called one of fracture. in some cases of this kind recovery is tardy, because of the difficulty in maintaining perfect apposition of the divided structures, and reactionary inflammation is not of sufficient extent to enhance prompt repair. in fact, some cases of this kind seem to progress more favorably, when no attempt at immobilization of the affected member is attempted. if some freedom of movement is allowed, acute inflammation resulting in nature's provisional swelling soon develops and repair is hastened because of increased vascularity. but where luxation of phalanges accompanies sprain, reposition and immobilization are necessary--that is if cases are thought likely to benefit by any treatment. luxations--dislocations. luxation or dislocation is a condition where the normal relation between articular ends of bones has been deranged to the extent that partial or complete loss of function results. when a bone is luxated (out of joint), there has occurred a partial or complete rupture of certain ligaments or tendons; or a bone may be luxated when an abnormal or unusual elasticity of inhibitory ligaments or tendons obtains. luxations may be practically classified as _temporary_ and _fixed_. in temporary luxations, disarticulation is but momentary and spontaneous reposition always results; while a fixed luxation does not reduce spontaneously but remains luxated until reposition is effected by proper manipulation and treatment. fixed luxation may be of such character as to be practically irreducible because of extensive damage done to ligaments or cartilage. where a complete luxation of the metacarpophalangeal joint exists, it is probable that in most cases sufficient injury to collateral and capsular ligaments has been done to render complete recovery improbable, if not impossible. temporary luxation of the patella is a common affection of the horse and fixed luxation of this bone also occurs. as a matter of fact, in the horse, patellar luxation is the one frequent affection of this kind. as a rule, complete disarticulation immobilizes the affected joint and in most instances there is noticeable an abnormal prominence in the immediate vicinity--in patellar luxation, the whole bone. in other instances the articular portion only, of the affected bone is malpositioned. usually, luxation and fracture may be differentiated in that there is no crepitation in luxation and more or less crepitation exists in fracture. it is evident, when one considers the symptomatology and nature of the affection, that fixed luxation is usually caused by undue strain or violent and abnormal movement of a part. joints having the greater freedom of movement are apt to suffer luxation more frequently. arthritis. the study of arthritis in the horse is limited to a consideration of joint inflammations which, for the most part, are of traumatic origin. unlike the human, the horse is not subject to many forms of specific arthritis--tubercular, gonorrheal, syphilitic, etc. a practical manner of classification of arthritis is _traumatic_ and _metastatic_. _traumatic arthritis_ may result from all sorts of accidents wherein joints are contused. such cases may be considered as being caused by direct injuries. instances of this kind, depending on the degree of insult, manifest evidence of injury which ranges from a simple synovitis to the most active inflammatory involvement of the entire structure and adjacent tissues. the reactionary inflammation which attends a case of tarsitis caused by a horse being kicked is a good example of the result of direct injury. such cases, if the contusion is of sufficient violence, result in arthritis and periarthritis. in inactive farm horses, during cold weather, this condition becomes chronic, swelling remains for weeks after all lameness and pain have subsided and occasionally hyperthrophy is permanent. arthritis occasioned by indirect injury, such as characterizes joint inflammation from continuous concussion, is seen in horses that are worked at a rapid pace on city streets or other hard road surfaces. such affections may be acute, as in some cases of spavin, but are usually inflammatory conditions that do not occasion serious disturbance when these affections become chronic. if the involvement persists with sufficient active inflammation, there may follow erosion of cartilage and incurable lameness. if extensive necrosis of cartilage takes place, the attendant pain will be sufficient to cause the animal to favor the diseased part and such immobilization enhances early ankylosis--nature's substitute for resolution in this disease. wounds invading the tissues adjacent to joints, when these wounds are of considerable extent, cause inflammation of such articulations by contiguous extension of inflammation. as long as an injury remains practically aseptic, or if infected and the septic process does not involve the joint proper by direct extension, no more serious disturbance than a simple synovitis will result. if, instead, a periarthritic inflammation is serious or destructive in character, the type of arthritis will be grave--even though due to an indirect cause. where a vulnerant body penetrates all structures and invades the interior of the joint capsule the result is that a more or less active disturbance is incited. the introduction of a sterile instrument into a joint cavity, under strict asepsis, where a perfect technic is executed, does not cause perceptible manifestation of the injury, if the opening so made is small--such as a suitable exploratory trocar makes. but a puncture made in a similar manner and with the same instrument without due regard to asepsis is likely to cause an infectious synovitis and arthritis usually follows. a larger opening than is produced by means of an exploratory trochar may be made into a joint cavity, causing escape of synovia as it is secreted for days and even for weeks and no serious or permanent trouble is experienced in some cases. if the synovitis or arthritis remains non-infected and the wound, traumatic or surgical, is not too large, healing by granulation occurs, and the discharge of synovia ceases. however, if synovial discharge persists too long because of tardy closure of an open joint, there is great danger of infection gaining entrance into the synovial cavity, or in some instances, desiccation of endothelial cells of the articulation occurs, in areas, and the reactionary inflammation eventually results in ankylosis. a small puncture which introduces into the synovial cavity infectious material of active virulence will cause an arthritis that is more serious, much more painful and more difficult to handle than is occasioned by a wound of moderate size, that affords ready escape of synovia even through the virulence of the infection be the same. synovia is a good culture medium and the environment is ideal for multiplication of bacteria; consequently, the grave disturbances which may attend the introduction of pathogenic organisms into a synovial cavity as the result of a puncture wound are not to be forgotten. the veterinarian is in no position to estimate the virulency of organisms so introduced; neither can he determine the exact degree of resistance possessed by the subject in any given case. therefore, he is uncertain as to the best method of handling such cases where an injury has been recently inflicted and positive evidence of the existence of an infectious synovitis is not present. if one could determine in advance the degree of infection and injury that is to follow small penetrant wounds of joint capsules, it would then be possible to select certain cases and immediately drain away all synovia and fill the cavity by injection with suitable antiseptic solutions. this offers a broad field for experimentation which will in time be productive of a radical change in the manner of treating such cases. _metastatic arthritis_ is seen more frequently in colts or young animals than in mature horses and we here take the liberty of classifying with the arthritis of omphalophlebitis and strangles the so-called rheumatic variety. a specific polyarthritis or synovitis which attends navel infection of foals is perhaps the most frequent form of arthritis that is to be considered metastatic. this condition is truly a disease of young animals and, while it is a specific arthritis, the cause is yet to be attributed to any definite pathogenic organism with certainty. this condition is well defined by bollinger as quoted by hoare,[1] when he calls it a purulent omphalophlebitis due to local infection of the umbilicus and umbilical vessels, by pyogenic organisms, causing a metastatic pyemia. this affection is grave; its course is comparatively brief; the prognosis is usually unfavorable; and omphalophlebitis occasions a form of lameness which at once impresses the practitioner that serious constitutional disturbance exists. its consideration properly belongs to discussions on practice or obstetrics and diseases of the new born, and it has received careful attention and is discussed at length in these works. a second form of metastatic arthritis is met with in strangles. strangles occurs in the young principally and is not a frequent cause of synovitis or arthritis in the adult animal. strangles or distemper is, according to most pathologists, due to the streptococcus equi. hoare[2] states that in this type of specific arthritis the contagium is probably carried by the blood. he gives it as his opinion that even laminitis has occurred as a result of the streptococcus-equi. this, indeed, would point toward probable extension by the blood as well as by way of lymph vessels. septic synovitis and infectious arthritis are always serious affections even in young animals and much depends upon individual resistance and early rational treatment in such cases, if recovery is to follow. the same general plan of treatment is indicated in this kind of septic synovitis as is employed in all cases of infective synovitis and septic infection in open joints. there is to be considered, however, the fact that the young animal is more agile, a better self-nurse, and in a general way more apt to recover than is the adult, under similar conditions. _rheumatic arthritis_, if one is justified in classifying rheumatic inflammation of joints as a metastatic form of arthritis, is not a common condition, though seen in mature and aged animals. cases that may be diagnosed with certainty are usually advanced affections wherein dependable history is obtainable and the symptoms are well marked. rheumatism may be thought of, with respect to arthritic inflammation caused thereby, as a sort of pyemia. undoubtedly, exposure to wet and cold weather is an active factor, but probably a predisposing one only. likewise a member that suffers from chronic inflammation due to recurrent injury or to constant or repeated strain is less able to resist the vicissitudes of climate and work. consequently, rheumatic arthritis is to be seen affecting horses that are in service, more often at heavy draft work where they are exposed to severe straining of joints; where stabling is insanitary; and where they are obliged to lie down (if they do not remain standing) upon cold and wet ground or upon hard unbedded floors or paving. where such inhumane and cruel treatment is given animals those responsible ought to be impressed with the unfairness to the animal as well as the economic loss occasioned by inflicting such unnecessary and merciless treatment upon their helpless and uncomplaining subjects. the very nature of the veterinarian's work affords him constant and frequent opportunity to convince those who are responsible for keeping animals in this manner, that it is inhumane and unprofitable. cases of this kind are not uncommon about some grading and lumbering camps and in contract work where, often, shelter for animals is given little thought; the result is a cruel waste of horseflesh. chronic articular rheumatism is occasionally observed in young animals that have never been in service. in these cases it seems that there exists an individual susceptibility and in some instances the condition is recurrent. each attack is of longer duration, and eventually death results from continued suffering, emaciation and intoxication. affections of bursae and thecae. acute bursitis and thecitis is of frequent occurrence in horses because of direct injury from contusion, punctures and other forms of traumatism. these synovial membranes, with few exceptions, when inflamed occasion a synovitis that may be very acute, yet there is less manifestation of pain than in arthritis. it is only in structures such as the bursa intertubercularis or in the sheath of the deep digital flexor that an inflammation causes much pain and is apt to result in permanent lameness. this is due to the peculiar character of the function of such structures. an acute inflammation of a small bursa may even result in the destruction of such synovial apparatus without serious inconvenience to the subject, either at the time of destruction or thereafter. obliteration of the superficial bursa over the summit of the os calcis is not likely to cause serious inconvenience or distress to the subject unless it be due to an infected wound. even then, with reasonably good care given the animal, recovery is almost certain. complete return of function of the member and cessation of lameness takes place within a few weeks in the average case. where an infectious synovitis involves a structure such as the sheath of the tendon of the deep digital flexor (perforans) the condition is grave and because of the location of this theca the prognosis is not much more favorable than in an articular synovitis. inflammation of bursae and thecae may be classified on a chronological basis with propriety because the duration of such affections, in many cases, materially modifies the result. a chronic inflammatory involvement of a theca through which an important tendon plays may cause adhesions to form. or there may occur erosions of the parts with eventual hypertrophy and loss of function, partial or complete. however, in general practice a classification on an etiological basis is probably more practical and we shall consider inflammation of bursae and thecae as _infectious_ and _noninfectious_. _infectious_ bursitis and thecitis is usually the result of direct introduction of septic material into the synovial structure by means of injuries. infection by contiguous extension occurs and also metastatic involvement is met with occasionally. the noninfectious inflammation of bursae and thecae usually result from contusions or strains and generally run their course without becoming infective in character, where vitality and resistance of the subject are normal. in a general way, inflammation and other affections of bursae and thecae are considered very similar to like affections of joints. affections of muscles and tendons. muscles and tendons having to do with locomotion are more frequently injured than are any of the other structures whose function is to propel the body or sustain weight. this is due in part to the exposed position of muscles and tendons. they serve as a protection to the underlying structures and in this manner receive many blows the force and violence of which are spent before injury extends beyond these tissues. muscles of the breast, shoulder and rump are most frequently the recipient of injuries of various kinds. the abductors of the thigh are subjected to bruising when horses are thrown astride of wagon poles or similar objects. thus in one way or another muscle injuries are occasioned and cause lameness. traumatic affection of muscles of locomotion may be surface or subsurface--subsurface with little injury done the skin and fascia, but with subsurface extravasation of blood and masceration of tissue. puncture wounds wherein the vulnerant body is of small diameter, are observed, and they occasion deep seated infectious inflammation of the parts affected, with surface wounds that are often unnoticeable. such injuries--puncture wounds--are always serious, and because of the fact that, there exists little evidence of injury at the time of their infliction, treatment is usually deferred several days and often infection has become quite extensive when the practitioner is consulted. where infective wounds of muscles of locomotion occur, the course and gravity of the affection are directly influenced by the proximity of the injury to lymph plexuses. for instance, injuries causing an infectious inflammatory involvement of the adductors of the thigh may result in a generalization of the infection by way of the inguinal lymph glands. large open wounds that extend deep into muscles, render inactive such structures, and even where division is not complete, the pain occasioned causes the subject to favor the part in every way possible. contraction of muscular fibers of such parts increases pain and because of this fact groups of muscles are at times disabled because of injury done to one muscle. instances of this kind are frequently seen where shoulder injuries, which affect but one muscle, exist; yet because of such injury a marked swinging-leg lameness is present. tendons, because of their inelasticity, are subjected to injuries peculiar to themselves. in addition to being affected as are muscles, wounds of many kinds are found to affect tendons--contusions, interference wounds, penetrant wounds, incised wounds and lacerations. however, the commoner form of injury done tendons, is strain or sprain. because of the sudden tensile strain brought to bear upon tendons in the shocks of concussion, as well as in propulsion of the body, there frequently occurs a rupture of fibers and this we know as sprain. sprains may be considered as fibrillary fractures of soft structures and since this form of injury is subsurface, and limited to fractional portions of tendons, the inflammation occasioned usually remains an aseptic one. reaction to this form of injury is characterized by inflammation, the course of which is erratic and variable. in chronic inflammation of tendons, where animals are continued in service, the usual sequel is contraction, or shortening of these structures. the degree of contraction as well as its import varies in different subjects and in the various tendons which may be affected. contraction is a slow-going process that is progressive, gradually causing a decrease in the length of the affected structure and eventually rendering the animal useless. the practice of applying shoes with extended toe-calks for the purpose of "stretching" contracted deep digital flexor tendons (flexor pedis perforans) cannot be too strongly condemned. while the addition of an extension such as is ordinarily employed to the toe of a shoe of this kind, prevents for a time, frequent stumbling in such cases, the increased tensile strain which is thus occasioned hastens further contraction and subjects animals so shod to much unnecessary pain. affections of nerves. because of their being protected by other structures, nerve trunks, which supply muscles of locomotion, are not subjected to frequent injuries such as contusions. however, they do become injured at times and the result is lameness, more or less severe. lameness originating from nerve affection, may involve central structures as, for example, the spinal cord, medulla oblongata or parts of the brain. in making an examination of some lame animals it is necessary to distinguish between cases of lameness that are of central origin and marked by incoã¶rdination of movement, and disturbances caused by other affections. tetanus in its incipiency should not be confused with laminitis involving all four feet, or with certain forms of pleuritis, when careful examination is made, yet, in a way, to one not trained, the clinical symptoms are similar. disturbances of nerve function are caused in a variety of ways. it is not within the scope of this work to discuss central nervous disturbances caused by ingestion of mouldy provender, or disturbances of the brain or cord occasioned by infectious diseases, but mention of the existence of such conditions is appropriate. by direct injury the result of blows, certain nerves are injured and muscles supplied by such nerves are rendered inactive. depending upon the nature and extent of an injury thus inflicted, so the manner in which the affection is manifested varies. the suprascapular nerve is rather frequently injured causing partial or complete loss of function of the structures supplied by this nerve, and abduction of the scapulohumeral joint naturally results. in some cases of dystocia the obturator nerve, (or nerves, if the involvement is bilateral), becomes injured by being caught between the maternal pelvis and some dense part of the fetus. this results in paralysis of the adductors of the thigh if sufficient injury is done. it is said that nerves become over-stretched and held tense, in certain positions in which animals are obliged to remain while cast in confinement such as in some instances where unusual methods of restraint are employed. when the fore feet are drawn backward in such manner that great strain is put upon the radial nerve, it suffers more or less injury, and this is followed by partial or complete paralysis which may be temporary or permanent. degenerative changes affecting nerves, as in other tissues, occur and more or less locomotory impediment will follow--this depending upon the nerve or nerves affected and the nature of such involvement. tumors may surround nerves and eventually the nerve so exposed becomes implicated in the destructive process. before degenerative changes take place in the nerve substance, in such cases, pressure may completely paralyze a nerve when it is so situated. melanotic tumors in the paraproctal tissue in some cases, because of the large size of the new-growths, cause paralysis of the sciatic nerve. the author has seen one case of brachial paralysis occasioned by an enormous development of fibrous tissue involving the structures about the ulna. affections of blood vessels. lameness caused by disturbances of circulation may be due to structural affection of vessels, or functional disorders of the heart, and in some instances, a combination of these causes may be active. direct involvement of vessels is the commoner form of circulatory disturbance which occasions lameness, and the most frequent cause is of parasitic origin. sclerostomiasis with attendant arteritis, thrombus formation and subsequent lodgement of emboli in the iliac, femoral, or other arteries, causes sufficient obstruction to prevent free circulation of blood, and the characteristic lameness of thrombosis results. indirect injury to vessels may occur because of contused wounds and subsequent inflammation of tissues supplied by such vessels. if the injury be of sufficient extent, considerable extravasation of blood will take place and the painfully swollen parts necessarily impair locomotion. in such instances lymph vessels participate in the disturbance, and the condition then becomes one wherein lymphangitis is the predominant disturbing element. angiomatous tumors are occasionally found affecting horses' legs--usually the result of some injury; and because of their size or position, they mechanically interfere with function. furthermore, when such tumors are located on the inner or flexor side of joints, enough pain is occasioned that affected animals show evidence of distress, usually by intermittent lameness. horses do not suffer from distension of veins as does man, that is, there is rarely to be seen a case wherein much disturbance from this source exists. affections of lymph vessels and glands. inflamed lymph vessels and glands, the result of various causes, is a rather common source of lameness of horses. when one considers the proportion of tissue that is composed of lymph vessels and glands, it is then obvious that inflammation of these structures should cause a painful affection of members, when so affected, and that marked lameness and, in some instances, general constitutional disturbance such as anorexia, hyperthermia and general circulatory disorder are to follow. lymphangitis is most frequently occasioned by the introduction of septic material into the tissues; consequently, infectious lymphangitis is more frequently observed than the non-infectious type. specific infectious forms of lymphangitis are seen in glanders and in strangles; infectious types of this disturbance are found in many instances where, initially, a localized or circumscribed infection has occurred--the contagium having been introduced by way of an injury. an example of this kind is to be seen in a wound perforating the tibial fascia, where the injury is inflicted by means of a horse being kicked by another animal shod with sharp shoe-calks. cases of this kind invariably result in a septic lymphangitis, and frequently lymphadenitis also occurs, for the inguinal lymph glands are so situated that their becoming contaminated is almost certain. the trite phrase that "the tissues are bathed in lymph" should make clear the reason for the frequent occurrence of infectious lymphangitis and lymphadenitis. foreign substances, bacteria and their products, inorganic material and in fact, anything that is introduced into the tissues, if soluble or miscible, will be taken up and conveyed by the afferent lymph vessels and disseminated throughout the system--hence the constitutional disturbances so frequently thus caused. a non-infectious type of lymphangitis is frequently seen in the heavy draft breeds of horses and in such cases one or both hind legs are involved--it is very seldom that the thoracic limbs become so affected. law[3] refers to this ailment as "acute lymphangitis of plethora in horse." when one takes into consideration that these cases so frequently occur in heavy draft animals that are not worked regularly, that the pelvic limbs are the ones involved, and that the disorder often runs a short course (recovery often taking place within two or three days, with no treatment given other than a purge, circulatory stimulants and walking exercise) it is plausible to ascribe the condition to idiopathic factors. admitting the frequency of non-infectious lymphangitis, the practitioner must not confuse this type with similar lymphatic inflammation occasioned by nail punctures of the foot. it is very embarrassing indeed to make a diagnosis of lymphangitis--expecting that the disturbance will terminate favorably and uneventually--and later to discover a sub-solar abscess caused by a nail prick in the region of the heel. recurrent attacks of this disturbance cause hypertrophy of the lymph vessels and in some cases lymphangiectasis. in old subjects used for dissection or surgical purposes, it is very evident that in the ones which have suffered from chronic lymphangitis there exists an excessive amount of sub-facial connective tissue, making subcutaneous neurectomies quite difficult in some instances. a sequel of chronic lymphangitis is a condition known as elephantiasis. in such cases there occurs a hyperplasia of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, resulting in some instances, in the affected member attaining an enormous size. sporadic cases of this kind are to be seen occasionally, and are apparently caused by repeated attacks of lymphangitis. the affection is not benefited by treatment, and while a horse's leg may become so heavy and cumbersome as to mechanically impede its gait, as well as to fatigue the subject when made to do service even at a slow pace, elephantiasis causes no constitutional derangement. the hind legs, in elephantiasis, are affected and a unilateral involvement is more often seen than a bilateral one. the legs may be enlarged from the extremity to the body, but ordinarily the affection does not extend higher than the hock or the mid-tibial region. a chronic, progressive, hyperplastic-degeneration exists in some cases and the subjects are in time rendered unserviceable because of the burden of getting about encumbered by the affected extremity. in other animals hyperplasia progresses for a time--until the parts become greatly enlarged and conditions apparently attain an immutable state. nevertheless animals so affected may continue in service for years without being distressed. affections of the feet. lameness is very often due to affections of the feet, and in all foot diseases probably the most constant cause is injury inflicted in some manner. resultant from injury, there frequently develops complications and the one most often seen is infection. because of the fact that the feet are constantly exposed to germ-laden soil and filth, if not actually bathed in such infectious materials, it naturally follows that septic infection of some part of the feet must be of frequent occurrence. subsequent to being obliged to stand in mud and other damp or wet media, exposure to desiccating influences such as stabling upon dry floors, or at service on hot and dry road surfaces causes the insensitive parts of the feet to become dry, hard and brittle. this favors "checking" of the protecting structures and it frequently results in the formation of large fissures which expose the underlying sensitive parts of the feet and lameness is the inevitable outcome. the function of the feet--bearing the weight of the animal at all times when the subject is not recumbent, and in addition to this, the increased strain put upon them at heavy draft work, together with the concussion and buffeting occasioned by locomotion, make the feet susceptible to frequent affections of various kinds. being almost completely encased by a somewhat inexpansible and insensitive wall and sole, renders the foot subject to pathologic changes peculiar to itself. the very nature of the structure of the foot together with the function of the sensitive lamina is sufficient cause for an affection unlike that seen involving other tissues--laminitis. an exhaustive consideration of foot affections is a study in itself and one that comes within the realm of pathologic shoeing; nevertheless, a practical knowledge of diseases of the foot is indispensable in the diagnosis of lameness wherein the foot may be at fault. the peculiar nature of foot affections renders them difficult of classification on any sort of basis that is helpful in the consideration of this subject. injuries are the most constant cause of foot lameness, yet one must admit that there results complications because of infection in most instances; and that in some cases the injury is slight--just enough to permit the introduction of vulnerant organisms into the tissues. therefore, one might well classify affections of the feet as infectious and non-infectious. there can be grouped in the class of infectious affections such conditions as nail pricks, calk wounds and canker. in the class of non-infectious affections one may consider conditions such as laminitis, strain and fractures. footnotes: [footnote 1: a system of veterinary medicine by e. wallis hoare, f.r.c.v.s., vol. i, page 519.] [footnote 2: ibid, page 807.] [footnote 3: vol. i, page 534, veterinary medicine, by james law, f.r.c.v.s.] section ii. diagnostic principles. _to observe attentively is to remember distinctly._--_poe_. before treatment is administered in constitutional disturbances resulting in disease, _cause_ is logically sought; so, in order to handle effectively any case of lameness, it is necessary first to discover the source of the trouble and contributing conditions affecting the structures. hence, diagnostic ability is the prime requisite; and a thorough knowledge of pathologic anatomy or of surgical technic is of little value if this knowledge is not applied with the insight of the trained diagnostician. the cruel and unnecessary methods employed by those untrained for diagnostics, cannot be too vigorously condemned. for instance, the application of an active and depilating vesicant upon a large area on the gluteal or crural region, in a case where the practitioner "guesses" the condition to be one of "hip lameness," constitutes an exposition of gross ignorance, and at once stamps the perpetrator as a crude bungler without scientific insight whose works are no credit to his profession. how much better it would be, if the practitioner does not see fit to call in a competent consultant, to prescribe a suitable agent to be given internally, and to recommend complete rest for the subject. in establishing a diagnosis in such cases, the student or practitioner seldom has recourse to laboratory assistance, and his work is done by means of physical examination; therefore, a thorough knowledge and a clear conception of the physiology of locomotion are essential. memorizing nosological facts without an understanding of underlying principles is of no more practical benefit for qualification as a diagnostician in cases of lameness, than is the employment of similar methods in the study of theory and practice. a knowledge of the dosage of drugs does not in itself qualify one as being competent to administer such therapeutic agents to a proper effect. how much is a practitioner benefited by the knowledge that a high temperature is usually present in septic intoxication, if he is not possessed of a scientific understanding of anatomy, physiology, bacteriology and pathology, as well as the principles of clinical diagnosis? in order to determine the reasons for certain symptoms manifested by the subject, an analysis of these symptoms is the proper method of procedure, insofar as this is possible. if one may reason that an animal assumes a certain position while at rest to allow relaxation of an inflamed tendon or ligament, such a fact enables the diagnostician to recall that this is indicative of some specific ailment. in acute tendinitis, the subject while at rest, maintains the affected member in volar flexion because this position permits relaxation of the inhibitory apparatus, including the inflamed tendon. likewise, the various abnormal positions assumed,--adduction, abduction, undue flexion or pointing--have their own significance and are taken into account by the trained diagnostician in the course of an examination. in the examination of lame subjects, where the cause is not obvious, a systematic method of diagnosis is pursued even by the most expert practitioners. in all obscure cases of lameness a methodical and thoroughly practical examination of the animal according to an established procedure is necessary to determine the nature and source of the affliction. anamnesis. the first thing to be given consideration in diagnosis is the fact that related history of the case is not always dependable, because of lack of accurate observation or wilful deceit on the part of the owner or attendant. the successful veterinarian soon acquires the faculty of obtaining information in a manner best adapted to his client,--either by direct interrogation or by subtle means of suggestion, and in this way he draws out evaded facts essential to his diagnosis. in time he learns to make allowance for misstatements made to shield the owner or driver and to hide the facts of apparent neglect or abuse that the subject may have experienced. a suppurating cartilaginous quittor, complicated by the presence of a large amount of hyperplastic tissue, cannot be successfully represented to be an acute and recently developed affection, where a trained practitioner is left to judge the validity of the statement. in complicated conditions, where there is evident a chronic disturbance which could not be conceived as sufficient cause for a marked manifestation of lameness, accurate history of the case may be of great aid in arriving at a diagnosis. an aged animal, having recently become very lame, showing a small exostosis on the first phalanx, and with the history given that the osseous deposit was of long standing, should at once lead the veterinarian to seek the source of trouble elsewhere. visual examination. as in all diagnostic work, a careful visual examination of the subject should be made before it is approached. the novice is given to hasty examination by palpation, not realizing how much may be revealed by a careful scrutiny of the subject. in this way he is led to erroneous conclusions which the skilled diagnostician has learned from experience to avoid. _too much emphasis cannot be placed on the importance of making a thoughtful visual examination in every instance before the subject is approached._ in this examination, type, conformation and temperament are taken into account at once, for each of these qualities is in itself, a determining factor in predisposing a subject to certain ailments or inherent attributes, which may exert a favorable or unfavorable influence upon existing conditions and thus make recovery probable or otherwise. draft animals are less likely to be permanently incapacitated as a result of tendinitis, than are thoroughbreds. likewise, one would not expect to find this affection present in heavy harness horses as frequently as in light harness animals. mal-formation of a part, or an asymmetrical development of the body as a whole, may render an animal susceptible to certain affections which cause lameness. a "tied in" hock predisposes the subject to curb, and an animal having powerful and well-developed hips and imperfectly formed hocks, will, if subjected to heavy work, be a favorable subject for bone spavin. the matter of temperament cannot be disregarded in diagnosis, for in some instances, it is the chief determining factor which materially influences the outcome of the case. a nervous, excitable animal, that is kept at hard work, may, under some conditions, be expected to experience disturbances which more lethargic subjects escape. nervous subjects, it is known, are more prone to azoturia than are those of lymphatic temperament. furthermore, the lymphatic subject often recovers from certain bone fractures which are successfully treated only when the animal is sufficiently resigned by nature to remain confined in a sling for weeks without resistance. the physiognomy of a subject is often indicative of the gravity of its condition. the facial expression of an animal suffering the throes of tetanus, azoturia, or acute synovitis, is readily recognized by the experienced eye, and upon physiognomy alone, in many instances, may the opinions regarding prognosis be based. particularly is this true where death is a matter of minutes, or at most is only a few hours distant. due allowance should be made for restiveness manifested by some more nervous animals when the surroundings are strange and unusual. in such instances, even pathognomic symptoms may be masked to the extent that little, if any, sign of pain or malaise is evinced. in these cases the subject should be given sufficient time to adjust itself to the new environment, or it should be removed to a more suitable place for examination. animals quickly detect the note of friendly reassurance in the human voice and can very often be calmed by being spoken to. by visual examination one may detect the presence of various swellings or enlargements, such as characterize bruises and strains of tendons where inflammation is acute. inflammation of the plantar (calcaneocuboid) ligament in curb is readily detected when the affected member is viewed in profile. spavin, ringbone, splints, quittor and many other anomalous conditions may all be observed from certain proper angles. the fact that the skins of most animals are pigmented and covered with hair, precludes the easy detection of erythema by visual examination, consequently this indicator of possible inflammation is not often made use of in the examination of equine subjects. attitude of the subject. the position assumed while the subject is in repose, is often characteristic of certain affections and this, of course, is noted at once. the manner in which the weight is borne by the animal at rest, should attract the attention of the diagnostician and if the attitude of the subject is abnormal or peculiar, the examiner tries to determine the reason for it. if weight-bearing causes symptoms of pain, the affected member will invariably be favored and held in some one of a number of positions. the foot may contact the ground squarely and yet the leg may remain relaxed and free from pressure; volar flexion, in such cases, is indicative of inflammation of a part of the flexor apparatus. if the condition be very painful, position of the afflicted member is frequently shifted, but in all cases where the pain is not so keenly felt, the inflamed member is held in a state of relaxation. there is need then, for a knowledge of anatomy and certain principles in physics to enable the observer to determine just which structures are purposely eased in this manner. where palpation of parts is possible, one does not need to depend on visual examination alone, and it is always wise to take into consideration every factor that may influence conditions. manipulation or palpation of the structures thought to be involved, should not be resorted to until a careful and thorough observation of the subject has revealed all that it can reveal to the diagnostician. in all conditions where extreme pain is manifested by the constant desire of the animal to keep its foot in motion off the ground, examination should be made for local cause. this is seen in certain septic inflammations of the feet such as those caused by nail punctures invading the navicular joint, or in newly made wounds where nerves have been divided and the proximal end of such a nerve is exposed to pressure or irritation. "pointing" affords a comfortable position in some cases of navicular disease, and in a unilateral affection, one may observe the subject bearing weight with one sound member, while the affected foot is planted well ahead of the sound one. in a bilateral involvement of this kind, weight may be frequently shifted from one foot to the other, or in chronic cases, where no marked pain is experienced, the subject stands squarely upon both front feet and no peculiar shifting of weight or pointing is evident. in some cases of hip or shoulder involvement, complete relaxation of all parts of the affected member may be noticed. in brachial paralysis, the pectoral member is held limply; if the patient is made to move, it is evident there is lack of innervation to the afflicted part. in some cases where contusion has caused acute inflammation of the member, the subject instinctively tries to keep it inactive to relieve the pain which movement occasions. where there is an active and painful inflammation of the prescapular lymph glands and contiguous structures, in some cases of "levator-humeri abscess," the scapulohumeral joint is extended. this is brought about by flexion of the elbow and carpal joints. there are some cases of bi-lateral affections which occasion such pain during weight-bearing that the subject shifts its weight from one affected leg to the other; an example of this condition may be observed in any acute case of gonitis which affects both patellar regions, making it equally painful to bear the weight on either member. a peculiar characteristic position is assumed in acute laminitis of the fore feet. in such instances, the hind feet are brought forward under the body sufficiently to relieve the front feet of the weight, insofar as is possible by the abnormal position taken in cases of acute laminitis. so in each position that is abnormal to any degree, assumed by a suffering animal, there may be deduced, the fact that the subject is attempting to relieve the affected structures, and in each clinical picture of this kind, the trained diagnostician sees some index to the nature and source of the trouble. further examination is rendered more effective because of this preliminary visual examination which has precluded the unnecessary annoyance of the animal by manipulating unaffected structures. it has been presupposed in the foregoing, that the one making visual examination of a lame animal for diagnostic purposes, will remember that with the normal animal the weight is borne equally well with both fore legs; and that this is done without shifting from one to the other; and that the pelvic limbs do not support the body in this manner. normal subjects shift their weight from one hind leg to the other and the one relaxed, rests in a state of flexion with the toe on the ground and the heel raised. examination by palpation. in nearly every case where lameness exists an examination of the affected parts, by palpation or by digital manipulation, is necessary before an accurate conclusion may be drawn; but in making this kind of an examination one needs to exercise good judgment lest he fail to acquire a correct impression of the actual existent conditions. there is need for the diagnostician, here, as well as in other conditions where physical examination is made, to approach the subject in a manner that will not excite or disturb to the extent that the animal will, in one way or another, resist or object to the approach of the diagnostician, thereby masking the symptoms sought. the practitioner would best acquire skill as a horseman--if he is not possessed of such--and handle each individual subject in the manner calculated to best suit the temperament of the animal examined. the unbroken subject is not handled as satisfactorily as is the intelligent family horse; in the former, in some cases, little dependence is placed upon digital examination. by palpation one is enabled to recognize hyperthermia and this, _in lieu_ of dependable history, is at times sufficient evidence upon which to determine the duration of any given inflammatory affection. by comparison of different parts of the same member or with an analogous portion of another member any marked increase in the apparently normal temperature of a part at once signalizes inflammation. in this manner, in examining a case where laminitis or other inflammation of the feet is suspected, one may arrive at a fairly accurate conclusion without the employment of other means. throbbing vessels are not always easily recognized if the subject is a victim of chronic lymphangitis. in some instances, where a moderate degree of lameness exists and cause is apparently obscure, the recognition of hyperthermia may be the deciding factor in establishing a diagnosis. in cases of sprained ligaments in the phalangeal region, because of the dense character of the structures involved, little if any evidence of the cause of lameness, other than local heat, may be found twenty-four hours after the injury has been inflicted. in order to determine the amount or extent of hyperthermia with a fair degree of accuracy in any given case, one must make due allowance for external conditions affecting temperature; also the effect of a considerable amount of hair covering an area, as well as any possible dirt contacting the surface of the skin must be taken into account. all dirt should be removed if practicable, so that the diagnostician's palms may come as nearly in contact with the inflamed structures as possible. then, too, the sense of touch if the operator's hands are chilled, is not dependable. in such instances the novice will need to be deliberate as to his findings--whether or not hyperthermia really exists. such an examination is of little value where the subject's feet are wet and an examination is hurriedly made, as in cases of suspected laminitis. often, before being able to distinguish the presence of a hyperthermic condition, one is impressed with the fact that an animal manifests evidence of being supersensitive. in fact, some animals in the anticipation of pain at the touch of an injured part, will instinctively withdraw--in self-protection--such an ailing member or resist the approach of the practitioner. this sensitiveness is more apparent in animals that have been subjected to previous manipulation or treatment which has occasioned pain, and consequently, allowance must be made for this exhibition of fear. no better example of this condition can be imagined than is present in cases of "shoe boil," where there exists an extensive area of acute inflammation of the elbow. there is always more or less surface disturbance wherever vesication has been produced, and in cases where irritants of any kind have been employed for several days or a week previous to an examination, more or less supersensitiveness is to be expected. one must not lose sight of the fact that unscrupulous dealers,--"traders"--make use of their knowledge of this principle in various way usually for the purpose of attracting attention to a part, which, presumably might have been blistered in order to intentionally produce inflammation of tissues, in this way, causing lameness which is not manifested until an animal has been kept by its new owner for twenty-four hours or more. this, to be sure, usually makes a dissatisfied purchaser who is willing to dispose of his newly acquired animal at a sacrifice, thus enabling the original owner or his agent to regain possession of the victimized animal at less than its real value. some nervous animals, because of the manner of approach of the practitioner, are wont to flinch, and there is manifested a pseudo-supersensitiveness. young animals not accustomed to being handled are likely to be timorous, and one must not hastily conclude that a part is painful to the touch because the subject resents even gentle digital manipulation of such parts. in instances of this kind, one needs to compare sensibility by manipulation of different parts of the subject's body in a careful and gentle manner; and by exercising patience and good judgment in such work, it is possible to actually distinguish between normal sensibility and abnormal sensitiveness, in most cases. here, again, the diagnostician needs to possess skill as a horseman and good judgment as to individual temperament of different animals, under any condition which may exist at the time he makes his examination. by palpation alone, one can recognize the presence of fluctuating enlargements; one may not only recognize such conditions, but distinguish between a fluctuating mass such as exists in non-strangulated hernia and a large fibrous tumor. by palpation, for the recognition of density and for determining the presence or absence of hyperthermia, one may decide that there exists an abscess and not a tumor. edematous swellings are recognized by palpation,--the characteristic indentations which may be made in dropsical swellings are pathognomonic indicators. in this manner it is easy to differentiate post-operative or post-traumatic edemas which may or may not cause lameness. at any rate, it is essential to take into account all determinate conditions that may assist in the prognosis of any given case, for the purpose of being able to outline rational remedial measures. to be able to distinguish between the generalization of a septic infection in its incipiency, and a more or less benign edema, is largely possible by digital manipulation alone. an extremity may be greatly swollen because of the existence of chronic lymphangitis, influenza, or an acute septic infection occasioned by the introduction of pathogenic and aerogenic organisms. since the effect produced by these dissimilar ailments are productive of conditions that may terminate favorably or unfavorably, it becomes necessary for the diagnostician to develop a trained, discriminating, tactile-digital sense, in order to correctly interpret existing conditions, and handle cases in a rational and skillful manner. in order to ascertain the extent and exact location of a tumor, an exostosis, or other enlargements, the diagnostician, here also, needs to be in possession of a trained tactile sense and in addition if he be fortified with an accurate knowledge of normal anatomy and pathology, he is able to arrive at proper conclusions, when digital manipulations have been employed. fibrous tumors are sometimes located in the inferior part of the medial side of the tarsus--exactly over the seat of bone-spavin. such tumors, when the affected member is supporting weight, are not to be distinguished from exostoses; but as soon as the affected leg ceases to bear weight, it may be passively flexed and the nature of the enlargement recognized because it may be slightly displaced by digital manipulation. displacement, of course, is not possible with an exostosis. a necessary qualification, which the diagnostician must possess, is that of being able to judge carefully the nearness of any given exostosis to articular structures. also, the extent or area of the base of an exostosis as well as its exact position, needs be determined before one may estimate the probable outcome in any case,--whether treatment should be encouraged or discouraged by the practitioner. periarticular ringbone may, because of the size and location of the exostosis, constitute a condition which cannot be relieved in any way in one case, and in another, because of the manner of distribution of such osseous deposits, the condition may be such that prompt recovery will follow proper treatment. in the examination of an exostosis of the tarsus, it is particularly important to determine the exact location of the exostosis--whether or not the spavin involves the tibial tarsal (astragulus) bone very near its tibial articular portions. obviously, if articular surfaces of joints are involved, complete recovery cannot result despite the most skillful attention given the subject. passive movements. wherever it is possible to gain the confidence of a tractable animal to the extent that it will relax the structures sufficiently to make possible passive movement of affected parts, much is to be learned as a result of such manipulation. by this method one may differentiate true crepitation, false crepitation, luxation and inflammation of ligaments that have been injured, as in sprains of such structures in the phalangeal region. _true crepitation_ is recognizable by the characteristic vibration which is interpreted by tactile sense. it is possible to recognize fracture by the use of other methods--auscultation, tuning fork tests, etc., but in ordinary veterinary practice one must rely upon the sense of touch for recognition of crepitation. where pain is not so great that relaxation of parts does not occur, one can, by gently moving an extremity in various directions--as in flexion, extension and lateral motion as well as by rotation--cause to be manifested this peculiar grating,--the friction of newly broken bone. this is known as _true crepitation_. where the subject, suffering phalangeal fracture, manifests evidence of pain due to tensing the structures about a fractured part, one may anesthetize the parts by using about two cubic centimeters of a two per cent. solution of cocain upon the plantar nerves, proximal to the fracture. it is perhaps best to deposit the cocain solution by means of two hypodermic punctures at different points along the course of each nerve, though closely situated to one another, thereby making more sure of the solution actually contacting the nerve. in some multiple fractures of the first or second phalanx this is quite necessary; otherwise, pain produced by passive manipulation causes the subject to keep the tendons so tense that crepitation may not be detected. the unnecessary infliction of pain is always to be avoided. we know as _false crepitation_ a vibrating impulse occasioned by normal contact of articular portions of bones such as in the metacarpophalangeal joint when this structure is passively moved, where the subject permits the parts to remain in a state of complete relaxation. attempts to recognize supersensitiveness or inflammation by means of passive movement of the shoulder or hip, whether gently or forcefully, is not productive of good, in any case, in large animals. because of the bulk and weight of parts so manipulated, as well as the resistance the subject offers even in normal cases, no accurate conclusion is to be arrived at in this manner in the average instance. animals nearly always resist the placing of members in any position that is so unusual and uncomfortable as that which is required to materially displace the component tissues of the shoulder or hip; therefore, such practice is useless because one can not distinguish between normal resistance and flinching caused by painful sensations in injured parts. such manipulations are practical in small animals. observing the character of the gait. in order to determine the degree of lameness as well as its character, it is necessary to cause the subject which is being examined, to move in some manner. the degree of inconvenience or distress experienced by a lame animal that is being so examined is manifested by the character of the claudication; and where much pain is occasioned in locomotion there is disturbance of respiration; perspiration may be noticeable and in some instances manifestation of nervous shock are very evident--this in timid, nervous animals that anticipate being punished when approached and, consequently, make every effort possible to move when urged to do so. an animal, then, should be moved only sufficiently to cause it to exhibit the degree of lameness present in any given case, and if a marked impediment is manifested it is not necessary to cause the subject to be exerted to the extent of inflicting, in such manner, unnecessary punishment. further or conclusive examination is made by palpation. to cause the subject to move, an assistant may simply lead the animal with a halter and compel it to walk a few steps. in this way, lameness, whether manifested during the weight-bearing period of an affected member, or when such a member is being advanced, or whether a combination of the two conditions exists, is made apparent. in the words of dollar, one is thus enabled to recognize the existence of "supporting-leg-lameness," "swinging-leg-lameness" or "mixed lameness." when the cause of lameness is not strikingly apparent it becomes necessary to have the subject moved farther than a few steps and at different paces. depending then, upon the character of lameness manifested, as well as upon its degree of intensity, one needs to exercise the subject in various ways, but this should not be overdone. the first thing apparent in the lame subject in action, is the lame leg. if this is not readily determinable, as in some complicated cases, the leg or legs which are at fault are to be discovered by further examination, and to do this,--word-pictures convey little that is helpful in difficult cases,--long practice is the one route by which one may become efficient; that is, by experience gained after fundamental principles in the diagnosis of lameness have been mastered. for a careful study of supporting-leg-lameness involving a fore limb, the subject is driven or led _toward_ the one making such examination. if a hind leg is to be observed, the animal is made to travel _away from_ the examiner. where there exists swinging-leg-lameness, the subject should be caused to move past the diagnostician, so that he may get a side view of the subject while it is in motion. in every case such examinations are made to the best advantage if the practitioner can view his patient from a little distance. here, again, a visual examination is made but this cannot be successfully executed, in difficult cases, if the practitioner is stationed at too close range. the average subject is best observed by being led, rather than being ridden, and in so doing the animal should be given moderately free rein. a close grasp on the lead may interfere somewhat with head movements. nodding of the head with the catching up of weight by a sound member in supporting-leg-lameness of a fore leg, constitutes the chief symptom considered in detecting the lame leg. where supporting-leg-lameness affects a hind limb the head is raised at the time weight is caught by the sound member--here the long axis of the subject's body may be likened unto a lever of the first class. the posterior part of the body, at the time weight is taken upon the sound leg, is as the long arm: the fore limbs the fulcrum, and the subject's head the weight, which is lifted. the head movements of a horse at a trot, in supporting-leg-lameness of a front leg, synchronize with the discharge of weight from a lame leg to the opposite one if sound; but in pelvic limb affections, the head is thrown or jerked upward as weight is caught by the sound member,--this peculiar nodding movement is _opposite_ in the two instances. in pacing horses, since front and hind legs of the same side are advanced at the same time, there occurs in supporting-leg-lameness, a nodding of the head with discharge of weight from the lame leg, and a dropping of the hip as weight is caught by the sound pelvic member. in observing animals that are limping, (as in supporting-leg-lameness) one notices particularly the sacro-iliac region in hind leg affections and the occipital region in lameness of the front legs. where there exists a bilateral affection, (such as characterizes some cases of navicular disease or other affections causing supporting-leg-lameness) there occurs no nodding of the head; weight is supported for an equal length of time upon each one of the two legs, but the stride[4] is shortened. the gait, in such cases, is peculiar, animals appearing stiff and they are said, by horsemen, to have a "choppy" gait. it is desirable, in some cases, to cause an animal to move from side to side; in other instances the subject is best made to walk or trot in a circle, and if the circle be very small the animal then particularly employs the inner fore leg as a pivotal supporting member. to augment the manifestation of certain affections, it is necessary to cause the patient to walk backward, and each one of these tests of locomotion serves to point out in a more or less characteristic manner, the site of the affection which is causing lameness in different cases. sprains or injuries of lateral ligaments of the extremities, ringbone and certain foot affections, are made manifest by a side to side movement or a pivotal movement. in fact, wherever it is possible to cause undue or unusual tension to be exerted upon an inflamed structure, manifestation of pain is the response. in an inflamed condition of the lateral side of the phalanges, unequal weight-bearing such as a rough road surface will, by virtue of the leverage which the solar surface of the foot affords, cause undue strain upon such inflamed parts, and increased lameness is evident. when an animal is made to travel in a circle, when a member affected with supporting-leg-lameness is on the inner side of the circle, lameness is accentuated because weight is borne by the lame leg for a greater length of time, the result of such circuitous manner of locomotion. in swinging-leg-lameness, on the other hand, because pain is increased at the time an affected member is being advanced, lameness is increased when the subject is made to travel in a circle, with the lame leg on the outside of a circle thus described. in supporting-leg-lameness, the transientness of the weight-bearing period upon the affected member is the determining factor in the production of lameness. this unequal period of weight-bearing upon the front legs, for instance, causes an acceleration in the advancement of the sound member, in order to relieve the diseased one which is bearing weight. in other words, when an animal that is affected with supporting-leg-lameness travels in a straight line, since weight is borne by the diseased leg for an abnormally short period of time, the sound member needs be in the act of advancement a correspondingly short period. the result is then, an unequal division of stride; a nodding of the head with the catching up of weight by the sound leg,--in front leg affections--and this is termed _limping_. with continuous exertion as in travel for a considerable distance, in some cases, lameness becomes less evident--as in spavin. this "warming out" process is due in a measure to the parts becoming less sensitive upon exertion, and is to be seen, to a limited extent, in all inflammatory affections that are not too severe; consequently, in some cases, examination of a lame animal should begin in the stall, for in instances where the impediment is not marked, there may be no evidence of lameness after the subject has walked a few steps. in other cases, lameness increases as the subject continues to travel, and often to the extent that the impediment becomes too severe to allow the animal being serviceable. therefore, one can not, in every case of lameness observed, positively determine the gravity of the situation, without having seen the affected animal in action for a sufficient length of time to understand the nature of the condition existing. this necessitates driving the animal for several miles in certain cases. sometimes it is impossible to arrive at any definite conclusion, as the result of a single examination, and it then becomes necessary to see the subject again at a later date, or under more favorable circumstances. this is to be expected in some conditions where there exists rheumatic affections, and also in some foot diseases. in the examination of young animals, unused to harness and to other strange incumbrances, one is obliged to make allowance for impediments of gait, which are not occasioned by diseased conditions. such affections have been termed "false lameness." young mules that are not well broken to harness, are difficult subjects for examination and in some cases it is necessary to have them led or driven for a considerable distance before one can definitely interpret the nature of the impediment in the gait when lameness is not pronounced. it is especially difficult to satisfactorily examine such subjects, for the reason that their normal rebellious temperaments cause resistance whenever a strange person approaches them, as it is necessary to do for an examination by palpation. in such cases--if an examination does not reveal the cause of trouble, rest must be recommended and further examination made at a later date, whereupon any new developments may be noted, if such changes exist. special methods of examination. after having completed a general examination of a lame animal--obtaining the history of the case, noting its temperament, type, size, conformation, position assumed while at repose, swellings or enlargements if present, causing the subject to move to note the degree and character of lameness manifested; palpating and manipulating the parts affected to acquire a fairly definite notion of the nature of an inflammation or to recognize crepitation it becomes necessary in some cases to employ peculiar means of examination in singular instances. this may be done by making use of cocain in solution for the production of local anesthesia as in lameness of the phalanges. such means are not, in themselves, dependable but are valuable when used in conjunction with all other available and practical methods. trial use of various shoes in order to shift the weight from one part of the foot to another or to cause an animal to "break over" in a different manner so that the gait may be changed, constitutes a special test procedure. the use of hoof testers or of a hammer to note the degree or presence of supersensitiveness is another means that is of practical service. no examination, in any case of lameness, is complete without having removed the shoe and scrutinized the solar surface of the foot. [illustration: fig. 1--hoof testers with special jaws of sufficient size to grasp the largest foot.] diagnosis by exclusion, finally, is resorted to, and, as in any other case where the recognition of cause is difficult, exclusion of the existence of conditions,--one at a time, by an analysis of symptoms--generally enables the practictioner to eliminate all but the disturbing element. footnotes: [footnote 4: by stride is meant the distance between two successive imprints of the same foot. the term is not used in this work as being synonymous with step.] section iii. lameness in the fore leg. anatomo-physiological review of parts of the fore leg. for supporting weight, whether the subject is at rest or in motion, the bony column of the leg, together with attached ligaments, tendons and muscles, is wonderfully well adapted by nature for the function which they perform. the several bones which go to make up the supportive portion of the leg, are so joined at their points of articulation, that a minimum degree of strain is put upon each attachment. the upper third of the scapula, with its cartilage of prolongation, is sufficiently broad and flattened that it fits snugly against the thorax without necessity for a complicated method of attachment--the clavicle being absent, attachment is muscular. smith[5] has very aptly stated that: "it seems quite legitimate to regard the muscular union between the thorax and forelimb as a joint. there are no bones resting on each other, no synovia; but where the scapula has its largest range of movement there is a remarkable amount of areolar tissue, which renders movement easy. the whole central area beneath the scapula and humerus not occupied by muscular attachment, is filled with this easy-moving, apparently gaseously distended, crepitant, areolar tissue over which the fore legs glide on the chest wall as freely as if the parts were a large, well lubricated joint." the scapulohumeral articulation (shoulder joint) is an enarthrodial (ball and socket) joint but because of its being held more or less firmly against the thoracic wall by muscular and tendinous attachment, and because a part of this attachment affords a means of support for the body itself, there is no need for binding ligaments and movement is possible in all directions even though restricted as to extent. [illustration: fig. 2--muscles of left thoracic limb from elbow downward; lateral (external) view. a, extensor carpi radialis; g, brachialis; g', anterior superficial pectoral; c, common digital extensor; e, ulnaris lateralis. (after ellenberger-baum, anat. fã¼r kã¼nstler.) (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals").] [illustration: fig. 3--muscles of left thoracic limb from elbow downward; medial (internal) view. the fascia and the ulnar head of the flexor carpi ulnaris have been removed. 1, distal end of humerus; 2, median vessels and nerve. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals").] undue extension, (by extension is meant such movement as will cause the long axis of two articulating bones to assume a position which approaches or forms a straight line--opposite to flexion), of the scapulohumeral joint is impossible while weight is borne, because of the normally flexed position of the humerus on the scapula; whereas flexion, beyond desirable limits, is inhibited by the biceps brachii (flexor brachii or coracoradialis) muscle. the distal end of the humerus, however, articulating with the radius and ulna in a fashion that no support is lent by any sort of contact with the body, is a ginglymus (hinge) joint and lateral motion, because of the long transverse diameter of its articular portions, is easily prevented by the medial and lateral ligaments (internal and external ligaments). flexion of this, the humeroradioulnar joint (elbow), is restrained by the triceps brachii and extension is checked by the biceps brachii (flexor brachii). the carpal joint (erroneously called the knee joint), is composed of the several carpal bones which interarticulate and, when taken as a group, serve as a means of attachment and articulation for the radius and metacarpal bones. the transverse diameter of this joint is long, thus giving it contacting surfaces that are sufficiently extensive to minimize the strain upon the mesial and lateral ligaments (internal and external lateral common ligaments). motion is that of flexion and extension; slight rotation is possible when the position is that of flexion. while supporting weight the carpus is fixed in position by a slight dorsal flexion, but undue dorsal flexion is prevented by the flexor muscles and tendons and volar-carpal or annular ligament, together with the superior check ligament. the metacarpophalangeal articulation (fetlock joint), is a hinge joint and its articular surfaces contact one another, with respect to their having a long bearing surface from side to side, as do all ginglymus (hinge) joints. two common lateral ligaments bind the bones together. while bearing weight, there is assumed a position of slight dorsal flexion, undue flexion being checked by the inhibitory apparatus of the joint--check ligaments, and their tendons and the suspensory ligament. the inhibitory apparatus of the fetlock joint is materially reinforced by the proximal sesamoid bones. situated as they are, between the bifurcating portions of the suspensory ligament and the posterior part of the distal end of the metacarpus--with which they articulate--the sesamoid bones serve to change the course of the branches of the suspensory ligament in a manner that they give firm support to this joint. volar flexion is limited by the extensors of the phalanges. [illustration: fig. 4--sagital section of digit and distal part of metacarpus. a, metacarpal bone; b, first phalanx; c, second phalanx, d, third phalanx; e, distal sesamoid bone; 1, volar pouch of capsule of fetlock joint; 2, inter-sesamoidean ligament; 3, 4, proximal end of digital synovial sheath; 5, ring formed by superficial flexor tendon; 6, fibrous tissue underlying ergot; 7, ergot; 8, 9, 9', branches of digital vessels; 10, distal ligament of distal sesamoid bone; 11, suspensory ligament of distal sesamoid bone; 12, 12', proximal and distal ends of bursa podotrochlearis. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals").] the first phalanx (os suffraginis) normally sets at an angle of about 50 to 55 degrees from a horizontal plane while weight is being supported. its distal end articulates with the second or median phalanx (os corona) and forms the proximal interphalangeal (pastern or suffraginocoronary) joint. this also, is a ginglymus joint, having but slight lateral motion, and that only when it is in a state of flexion. a rather broad articular surface--from side to side--exists here, lessening the strain on the collateral ligaments somewhat. dorsal flexion is checked by the flexor tendons and dorsal ligaments. volar flexion is restrained by the extensor tendons. the distal end of the second phalanx (os corona) has but slight lateral motion and this is manifested principally when it is in a state of volar flexion. undue dorsal flexion is prevented by the deep flexor tendon (perforans) and volar flexion is inhibited by the extensor of the digit (extensor pedis). thus it is seen, that when the leg is a weight-bearing member, weight is supported by the bony framework whose constituent parts are joined together by ligaments and tendons and each one of the several bones articulates in such manner that the joint is locked. the articular parts of bones rest upon or against an inhibitory apparatus, and are slightly flexed, as in the carpus, or considerably flexed such as in the fetlock joint when weight is being supported. in the first instance, for example, the flexors of the carpus and the superior check ligament assisted by the flexors of the phalanges constitute the inhibitory apparatus. it will be noted that provision for weight bearing is so arranged that muscular energy is not required except in the matter of suspension of the body between the scapulae and here tonic impulses only are necessary to maintain an equilibrium[6], yet in every instance where weight is not supported by bones, inelastic ligaments or tendinous structures relieve the musculature of this constant strain. this explains the fact that some horses do not lie in the stall, yet in spite of their constant standing position, they are able to rest and sleep. the student of lameness is interested in the function of the legs in the rã´le of supporting weight and as propelling parts, and not particularly in the capacity of these members for inflicting offense or as weapons of defense. yet, in the exercise of their functions other than that of locomotive appliances, injury often results, but usually it is the recipient of a blow that suffers the injury, such as an animal may receive upon being kicked. therefore, we do not often concern ourselves with strains or other injuries that the subject experiences as the result of efforts put forth in kicking or striking. where such injuries occur, however, a diagnosis is established by making use of the principles heretofore discussed. as propelling members the front legs bear weight and are advanced alternately when the horse is walking or trotting--in cantering this is not so. when the normal subject travels in a straight line, at a walk or a trot, the length of the stride is the same with the right and left members. the stride of the right foot then, for example, is equally divided by the imprint of the left foot, in the normal horse, when traveling at a walk and in a straight line. shoulder lameness. this enigmatical term is frequently employed by the diagnostician when he is baffled in the matter of definitely locating the cause of lameness; when he has by exclusion and otherwise arrived at a decision that lameness is "high up." shoulder lameness may be caused by any one or several of a number of conditions, e.g., fractures of the scapula or humerus; arthritis of the shoulder or elbow joint; luxation of the shoulder or elbow joint (rarely); injuries of muscles and tendons of the region due to strains, contusions or penetrant wounds; paralysis of the brachial plexus or of the prescapular nerve; involvement of lymph glands; arterial thrombosis; metastatic infections; rheumatic disturbances; and as the result of inflammation, infectious or non-infectious occasioned by collar bruises. in some instances such inflammation is due to the manner of treatment of collar injuries. therefore, when one considers the numerous and dissimilar possible causes of shoulder lameness, it behooves the practitioner to become proficient in diagnostic principles. a principle which is elemental in the diagnosis of locomotory impediment, is that lameness of the shoulder or hip is usually manifested by more or less difficulty in swinging the affected member. swinging-leg-lameness, then, is usually present in shoulder affections. in some instances lameness is mixed as in joint ailments, involvement of the bicipital bursa (bursa intertubercularis), etc. in affections of the extremity there exists supporting leg lameness. consequently, we employ this elemental principle, and, by a visual examination of the subject, which is being made to travel suitably, one may decide that lameness is either "high up"--shoulder lameness or, "low down"--of the extremity. [illustration: fig. 5--ordinary type of heavy sling.] to make practical use of this principle, the examiner must be thoroughly familiar with the anatomy of the various structures concerned in advancing the leg--those which support weight as well as those concerned both in weight bearing and swinging the member. fracture of the scapula. etiology and occurrence.--fractures of the body of the scapula are of infrequent occurrence in horses for the reason that protection is afforded this bone because of its position. its function, too, is such that very unusual conditions are necessary to subject it to fracture. the spine is occasionally broken due to blows such as kicks, etc., and here frequently a compound fracture exists. [illustration: fig. 6--a sling made in two parts so that horses may be supported without use of central part or bodice. this sling is more comfortable than is the ordinary style and is particularly useful in cases that require a long period of this manner of confinement.] where fractures of the body of the scapula occur, heavy contusions have been the cause as a rule, and serious injury is done the subject; consequently, treatment of fracture of the body of the scapula is seldom successfully practised. fractures of the body of this bone resulting from accidents not involving internal injury or other disturbances and which would not seriously interfere with the vitality of the subject, are not necessarily serious unless compound. fractures of the neck of the scapula are serious because of the fact that there occurs displacement of the broken parts and perfect apposition of the fractured ends is difficult, if not impossible. fractures that extend to the articular surface are very serious, and complete recovery in such instances is practically impossible. the cartilage of prolongation of the scapula is sometimes seriously involved in certain cases of fistulous withers, and in some instances it has been separated from its attachment to the rhomboidea muscles, and lameness has resulted. in such instances, the upper portion of the scapula is disjoined from all attachment, and with every movement the animal makes, the scapula is moved back and forth. complete recovery in such cases does not occur. symptomatology.--fractures of the scapular spine are ordinarily readily recognized because there is usually visible displacement of the broken part. crepitation is also detected without difficulty. in fractures of the body of the scapula where an examination may be made before much swelling has taken place, and in subjects that are not heavily muscled, one should have no difficulty in recognizing the crepitation. fractures of the neck of the scapula are recognized by crepitation, by passively moving the leg, but it is necessary to exclude fractures of the humerus when one depends upon the finding of crepitation by this means. however, unless undue swelling exists, the exact location of the crepitation is recognized without serious difficulty. treatment.--the treatment of compound fractures of the scapular spine consists in the removal of the broken piece of bone by way of a cutaneous incision so situated that good drainage of the wound will follow. simple fractures of the body of the scapula are best treated by placing the subject in a sling, if the animal is halter broken, and enforcing absolute quiet for a period of from three to six weeks. splints or similar appliances are not of practical value in scapular fractures. compound fractures of the scapula usually result from violence, which at the same time does serious injury to adjacent structures, and it then becomes necessary to administer an expectant treatment, observing general surgical principles and providing in so far as possible for the comfort of the patient. scapulohumeral arthritis. anatomy.--the scapulohumeral joint is an enarthrodial (ball and socket) joint wherein the ball or humeral articulating head greatly exceeds in size the socket or glenoid cavity of the scapula. the capsular ligament surrounding this joint is very large and admits of free and extensive movement of the articulation. there exist no lateral or common ligaments jointing the scapula and humerus as in other joints, but instead the tendinous portions of muscles perform this function. the principal ones which are attached to the scapula and humerus that act as ligaments are the supraspinatus (antea-spinatus), infraspinatus (postea-spinatus) biceps-brachii (flexor brachii) and subscapularis muscles. etiology and occurrence.--inflammation of the scapulohumeral articulation results from injuries of various kinds, including punctures which perforate the joint capsule, bruises from collars, metastatic infections and involvement as a result of direct extension of infectious conditions situated near the joint. classification.--acute arthritis may be septic or aseptic, and there seems to be a remarkable tendency for recovery in cases of septic arthritis involving this joint in the horse. chronic arthritis with destruction of articular surfaces and ankylosis, is seldom observed. it is only in cases of severe injury, where the articular portions of the bones are damaged at the time of infliction of the injury, and where the articulation remains exposed for weeks at a time, together with immobility of the parts because of attending pain, that permanent ankylosis results. scapulohumeral arthritis may result then from _infections_, local or metastatic; from _injuries_, such as contusions of various kinds; from _wounds_, which break the surface structure or perforate the joint capsule; or from _luxations_. infectious arthritis. infectious arthritis of the scapulohumeral joint the result of local causes other than produced by septic wounds, seldom causes serious inconvenience to the subject. where such occurs, however, there is manifested mixed lameness and complete extension of the extremity is impossible. local swelling is present and manifestations of pain are evident upon palpation of the affected area. treatment.--during the first stage of the infection, local applications, hot or cold, are indicated. a hot poultice of bran or other suitable material contained within a muslin sack, may be supported by means of cords or tapes which are passed over the withers and tied around the opposite fore leg. such an appliance may be held in position more securely by attaching it to the affected member. following the acute stage of such an infection, any local counter-irritating application or even a vesicant is in order. where abatement of the infectious process does not take place, and suppuration of the structures in the vicinity of the joint occurs, it is necessary to provide drainage for pus. in some cases of strangles, for instance, large pus cavities are formed and drainage is imperative. however, metastatic inflammation of this joint is seldom observed except in cases of strangles. the animal should be kept perfectly quiet until recovery has taken place. injuries. injuries to the scapulohumeral joint may be the result of kicks, runaway accidents or bruises from the collar, and there may result, because of such injuries, reactionary inflammation which will vary in intensity from the mildest synovitis to the most severe arthritis, causing more or less lameness. treatment.--the general plan of treatment in this form of arthritis is the same as has been outlined under the head of infectious arthritis, with the exception that there is seldom occasion to provide for drainage of pus. wounds. wounds which cause a break of the skin and fascia overlying the scapulohumeral joint are usually of little consequence, unless the blow is of sufficient force to directly injure the articulation, and in such cases, the treatment of the injury along general surgical principles, such as cleansing the area, providing drainage for wound secretion, and the administration of suitable dressing materials such as antiseptic dusting powder, is all that is required for the wound. the symptoms manifested by the subject in such cases are the same as have been discussed heretofore and merit no special consideration. prognosis.--unless very serious injury be done the articular portions of the scapula or the humerus, resulting in the destruction of the capsular ligament, prognosis is entirely favorable. open joint.--where the capsular ligament is perforated and the condition becomes one of open joint, then a special wound treatment becomes necessary. the surface of the skin is first freed from all hair and filth in the vicinity of the wound. the wound proper is cleared of all foreign material either by clipping with the scissors, curetting or mopping with cotton or gauze pledgets. the whole exposed wound surface as well as the interior of the joint cavity, if much exposed, is moistened with tincture of iodin. subsequent treatment consists in a local application of a desiccant dusting powder, which should be applied five or six times daily. the composition of the powder should be such as to permit of its liberal use, thereby affording mechanical protection to the wound as well as exerting a desiccative effect. equal parts of boric acid and exsiccated alum serve very well in such cases. animals suffering from open joints of this kind should be confined in a standing position, preferably in slings, and kept so confined for three or four weeks. since they usually bear weight upon the affected member, there is no danger of laminitis resulting. luxation of the scapulohumeral joint. because of the large humeral head articulating as it does with a glenoid cavity, scapulohumeral luxations are very rare in the horse. according to moller[7], luxation is generally due to excessive flexion of the scapulohumeral joint. in such cases the head of the humerus is displaced anterior to the articular portion of the scapula and remains so fixed. symptoms.--complete luxation of the scapula is recognized because of immobility of the scapulohumeral joint and of the abnormal position of the head of the humerus, which can be recognized by palpation, unless the swelling be excessive. immobility of the scapulohumeral joint is noticeable when one attempts to passively move the parts. treatment.--reduction of the luxation is effected by making use of the same general principles that are employed in the reduction of all luxations, and they are--the control of the animal so that the manipulations of the operator are not antagonized by muscular contraction, which is best accomplished by anesthesia; placing the luxated bones in the position which they have taken to become unjointed; and then making use of force which is directed in a manner opposite to that which has effected the luxation. in a forward luxation of this kind, the operator should further flex the humerus, and while it is in this flexed position, force is exerted upon the articular head of this bone, and it is pushed downward and backward into its normal position. after-care consists in restriction of exercise and, if necessary, confining the subject in a sling and the application of a vesicant over the scapulohumeral region. inflammation of the bicipital bursa. (bursitis intertubercularis.) anatomy.--there is interposed between the tendon of the biceps brachii (flexor brachii) and the intertubercular or bicipital groove a heavy cartilaginous pad, which is a part of the bursa of the biceps brachii. this synovial bursa forms a smooth groove through which the biceps brachii glides in the anterior scapulohumeral region. great strain is put upon these parts because the biceps brachii is the chief inhibiting structure of the scapulohumeral articulation--the one which prevents further flexion of the humerus during weight bearing. passing, as it does, over two articulations, the biceps brachii has a somewhat complicated function, being a flexor of the radius and an extensor of the humerus. thus it is seen, the biceps brachii is a weight bearing structure, as well as one that has to do with swinging the leg. etiology and occurrence.--because of the exposed position of the bicipital bursa (bursa-intertubercularis) it is occasionally injured. blows and injuries received in runaway accidents do serious injury to the bursa and because of the peculiar and important part it plays during locomotion, serious injuries are not likely to resolve, and too often chronic lameness results. it is to be noted that the tendon of the biceps brachii (flexor brachii) is always involved in cases of inflammation of the bicipital bursa, and according to the late dr. bell[8] strain of the biceps brachii is a frequent cause of lameness in city horses, more frequent than is generally supposed. pathological anatomy.--more or less destruction of the cartilaginous portion of the bursa, sometimes involving the tendinous portion of the biceps, takes place and, according to moller, in some instances there occurs ossification of the tendon. autopsies in some old horses reveal the presence of erosions of cartilage and hyperthrophy of the inflamed parts. symptoms.--in acute inflammations, there is always marked lameness. this is manifested to a greater degree when the subject advances the affected leg. there is incomplete advancement of the member; the toe is dragged when the horse is made to walk and the foot kept in a position posterior to the opposite or weight bearing foot while the subject is at rest. lameness is disproportionate to the amount of local manifestation in the way of heat, swelling and pain that is to be recognized on palpation. in fact, in some cases so much pain attends the condition that no weight is borne by the affected member, and when compelled to walk, the subject hops on the sound leg. chronic inflammation of the bicipital bursa is occasionally met with wherein both members are affected. because of the nature of the structures involved, when inflamed, chronic inflammation is a more frequent termination than is complete recovery. bilateral affections are seen in horses that are driven for years, regularly at a fast pace on paved streets. in such cases, the gait is stilted, that is, there is incomplete advancement of both members and, of course, the period of weight bearing is correspondingly shortened; hence the short strides. in chronic cases, little if any evidence of inflammation is to be detected by digital manipulation of the parts. if flinching occurs, one is often unable to interpret the manifestation as to whether it is due to inflammation or not. there is no marked "warming out" in this condition, and animals are nearly as lame after having been driven a considerable distance as when started, although the lameness is not as a rule very great. treatment.--in very painful cases acute inflammation is treated by employing cold applications during the initial stage. cracked ice when contained in a suitable sack may be held in contact with the affected part and the pack is supported by means of cords or tapes as suggested in the discussion on treatment of scapulohumeral arthritis on page 66. later, hot applications may be employed to good advantage. in the course of ten days or two weeks, if the acute painful condition has entirely subsided, vesication is indicated. the ordinary mercury and cantharides combination does very well. depending upon the course taken in any given case, one is guided in the treatment employed. if prompt resolution comes to pass, the subject may be given free run at pasture after three or four weeks confinement in a box stall. if, however, the case does not progress in a prompt and satisfactory manner, absolute quiet must be enforced for six weeks or more. repeated blistering is beneficial, although it is doubtful if firing is of sufficient benefit in the average chronic case of intertubercular bursitis to justify the punishment which this form of treatment inflicts, unless infliction of pain is the thing sought, to enforce repose in restless subjects. patients are best given a long rest at pasture and returned to work for two or three months after an acute attack of inflammation of the bursa, lest the condition become chronic. when due consideration is given the pathology of such cases, the frequent unsatisfactory termination under the most careful treatment, is readily understood. contusions of the triceps brachii. (triceps extensor brachii: caput muscles.) anatomy.--the triceps brachii is the principal structure which fills the space between the posterior border of the scapula and the humerus. the several heads originate for the most part on the border of the scapula, the deltoid tuberosity of the humerus and the shaft of the humerus. insertion of this large muscular mass is effected by means of several tendons to the olecranon. a synovial bursa is situated underneath the tendinous attachment of the posterior portion of the triceps brachii--the long head or caput magnum. the function of the triceps as a whole is to flex the shoulder joint and extend the forearm. the triceps brachii is the chief antagonist of the biceps brachii. etiology and occurrence.--owing to the exposed position of this structure, it is not infrequently contused, the result of falls, kicks and other injuries. the function of the triceps is such that it becomes strained upon rare occasions when a horse resists confinement of restraint in such manner that the parts are unduly tensed in contraction. this sort of resistance may stretch the radial nerve or its branches in a way that paralysis results. a condition known as "dropped elbow" is described by henry taylor, f.r.c.v.s., in the veterinary record[9], wherein a two-year-old colt while resisting confinement was so injured. the triceps group because of its convenient location, constitutes the site for hypodermic injection of drugs and biologic agents, with some practitioners; and as a result, more or less inflammation may occur. the author has observed and treated some twenty cases where an intensely painful infectious inflammation of the triceps brachii was caused by the intramuscular injection of a caustic solution by a cruel and unscrupulous empiric, whose object was to increase his practice. symptomatology.--as the triceps brachii is not particularly taxed during weight bearing in the subject at rest, there may be no unnatural position assumed during inflammation of the triceps. more or less swelling and supersensitiveness is always present, however, and great care and discrimination must be exercised in digital manipulation of the triceps region because many animals are normally sensitive to palpation of these parts. it is sometimes difficult to correctly interpret the true state of conditions because of this peculiarity. there is always swinging-leg-lameness, which is accentuated when the subject is urged to trot. where symptoms are pronounced, it is unnecessary to cause the subject to move at a faster pace than at a walk to recognize the condition. the forward stride is shortened and in extremley painful conditions, no attempt is made to extend the leg. it is simply carried _en une piã©ce_--flexion of the shoulder and elbow joints is carefully avoided. treatment.--during the early stage of inflammation, hot or cold applications are beneficial. long continued use of moist heat--fomentations--allays pain and stimulates resolution. keeping in contact with the painfully swollen parts a suitable bag filled with bran, which can be moistened at intervals with warm water, constitutes a practical and easy means of treatment. by employing this method, one is more likely to succeed in having his patient properly cared for, in that less work is entailed than if hot fomentations are prescribed. after the acute and painful stage has subsided, a stimulating liniment is of benefit. the subject should be kept within a comfortable and roomy box stall for a sufficient length of time to favor prompt resolution. wild and nervous subjects, if not so confined, will probably overexert the affected parts if allowed the freedom of a paddock or pasture. where the inflammation becomes infective, surgical interference is necessary. the prompt evacuation of pus, with adequate provision for wound discharge, should be attended to before extensive destruction of tissue takes place. resolution is prompt as a rule in such cases because of the vascularity of the structures and the ease with which proper drainage may be effected. no special after-care is necessary if drainage is perfect, except that one should avoid injecting the wound cavity with aqueous solutions unless it be absolutely necessary to cleanse such cavity, and then it is best to swab the wound rather than to irrigate it freely. shoulder atrophy. (sweeny or swinney) no satisfactory consideration of the pathogeny of this condition is recorded, but practitioners have long distinguished between muscular atrophies which are apparently caused without doing serious injury to nerves and muscular atrophy which seems to be due to nerve affection. in the first instance, recovery when proper attention is given, is prompt; whereas, in the latter, regeneration of the wasted tissues requires months in spite of the best sort of treatment. the parts more frequently affected are the supraand infrascapularis (anteaand posteaspinatus) muscles. but in some cases the triceps group is involved; however, this occurs in unusual and chronic affections. no doubt, these chronic cases are due to suspended innervation and are not to be classed with the ordinary case of atrophy of the abductor muscles of the humerus (supraand infraspinatus) as in the usual case of "sweeny." occurrence.--shoulder atrophy such as the general practitioner commonly meets with, is an affection, more often seen in young animals and it seems to be due to injuries of various kinds which contuse the muscles of the shoulder. ill-fitting collars and pulling in a manner that there occurs side draft with unusual strain on the muscles of one side of the neck and shoulder, seem to be the more frequent causes of this trouble. blows such as are occasioned by kicks and falls frequently result in atrophy of shoulder muscles. course.--in some cases a rapidly progressive atrophy characterizes the case and lameness and atrophy appear at about the same time. the affection in such instances does not recover spontaneously but constitutes a condition which requires prompt and rational treatment so that function may be fully restored to the parts involved. occasionally one may observe cases where there is but slight atrophy; where the disease progresses slowly and atrophy is not extensive or marked. in vigorous young animals that are left to run at pasture when so mildly affected, spontaneous recovery occurs. symptomatology.--lameness is the first manifestation of shoulder atrophy, and in many cases where lameness is slight, the veterinarian may fail to discover the exact nature of the trouble if he is not very proficient as a diagnostician of lameness or if he is careless in taking into consideration obtainable history, age of the subject, etc. because of the fact that the average layman believes that practically every case of fore-leg lameness wherein it is not obvious that the cause is elsewhere, is due to a shoulder affection of some kind, we may be too hasty in giving the client assurance that no "sweeny" exists. in some of these cases where a diagnosis of "shoulder lameness" has been made and the client has been assured that no sweeny exists, the patient is returned in about a week and there is then marked atrophy of one or both of the spinatus muscles. a mixed type of lameness characterizes this affection, and in the average case there exists little evidence of local pain. the salient points in recognizing the condition are a consideration of history if obtainable; age of the subject; finding slight local soreness, by carefully manipulating the muscles which are usually involved; noting the character of the lameness if any is present; and where atrophy is evident, of course, the true condition is obvious. treatment.--subcutaneous injections of equal parts of refined oil of turpentine and alcohol, with a suitable hypodermic syringe, is a practical and ordinarily effective treatment. from five to fifteen cubic centimeters (the quantity varies with the size of the animal), of this mixture is injected into the atrophied parts at different points, taking care to introduce only about one to two cubic centimeters at each point of injection. the syringe should be sterile and, needless to say, the site of injections must be surgically clean. other agents, such as tincture of iodin, solutions of silver nitrate, saline solutions and various more or less irritating preparations have been employed; but in the use of these preparations one may either fail to stimulate sufficient inflammation to cause regeneration to take place, or infection is apt to occur. where suppuration results, surgical evacuation of pus must be promptly effected else large suppurating cavities form. the employment of setons constitutes a dependable method of treatment of shoulder atrophy, but because of the attendant suppurative process which inevitably results, this method is not popular with modern surgeons and is a last resort procedure. after-care.--regular exercise such as the horse usually takes when at pasture, is very helpful in treating atrophy, and in some cases it has been found that no reasonable amount of irritation would stimulate muscular regeneration; but by later allowing patients to exercise at will, recovery took place in a satisfactory manner. no special attention is ordinarily necessary. paralysis of the suprascapular nerve. anatomy.--the suprascapular (anterior scapular) nerve, a small branch of the brachial plexus, is given off from the anterior portion of this plexus. the nerve rounds the anterior border of the neck of the scapula, passing upward and backward under the supraspinatus (antea-spinatus) muscle and terminating in the infraspinatus (postea-spinatus) muscle. etiology and occurrence.--as the result of direct injury to this nerve by contusion such as may be received in runaway accidents, collar bruises, especially collar bruises in young horses that are not accustomed to pulling and that walk in a manner to cause side draft, injury to the nerve occurs, and partial or complete paralysis supervenes. some writers state that it may be produced by confining an animal in recumbency, with the casting harness. the common cause of paralysis or paresis of this nerve in cases such as one observes in country practice, is bruises from the collar in colts that are put to heavy farm work or where ill fitting collars are used. symptomatology.--with partial or complete suspension of function of the suprascapular nerve there results enervation of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles. since these muscles act as external lateral ligaments of the scapulohumeral joint, when they are incapacitated, there naturally follows more or less abduction of the shoulder when weight is borne. in extreme cases, as soon as the ailing animal is caused to support weight with the affected member, the joint is suddenly thrown outward in a manner that the average layman at once concludes that there must be scapulohumeral luxation, and the veterinarian receives a call to see a case wherein the "shoulder is out of place." there exists, however, no luxation in such cases. if serious injury is done the nerve so that it undergoes degenerative changes, there will result atrophy of the muscles that derive their nerve supply from the suprascapular nerve. [illustration: fig. 7--paralysis of the suprascapular nerve of the left shoulder] treatment.--during the first few days following injuries which result in this form of paralysis, it is well to keep the subject inactive, and if much inflammation of the injured structures contiguous to the nerve exists, the application of cold packs is beneficial. later, as soon as acute inflammation has subsided, vesication of a liberal area around the anteroexternal part of the scapulohumeral joint and over the course of the suprascapular nerve, will stimulate recovery in favorable cases. as a rule, in mild cases, the subject is in a condition to return to work in two or three weeks. radial paralysis. described under the titles of "radial paralysis" and "brachial paralysis," there is to be found in veterinary literature a discussion of conditions which vary in character from the almost insignificant form of paresis to the incurably affected conditions wherein the whole shoulder is completely paralyzed. when one considers the anatomy of the brachial nerve plexus and the distribution of its various branches, the location of this plexus and its proximity to the first rib, and the inevitable injury it must suffer in fracture of this bone, together with the inaccessibility of the plexus, it is not strange that a correct diagnosis of the various affections of the brachial plexus and the radial nerve is often impossible until several days or weeks have passed. and, in some instances, diagnosis is not established until an autopsy has been performed. here, too, we fail to find cause for paralysis in some rare instances. anatomy.--the radial nerve is a large branch of the brachial plexus and is chiefly derived from the first thoracic root of the plexus and is here situated posterior to the deep brachial artery. it is directed downward and backward under the subscapularis and teres major muscles, rounding the posterior part of the humerus, and passing to the anterior and distal end of the humerus, it finally terminates in the anterior carpal region. the radial nerve supplies branches to the three heads of the triceps brachii, to the common and lateral extensors of the digit and also to the skin covering the forearm. etiology and occurrence.--nothing definite is known about the cause of some forms of radial paralysis. however, radial paralysis is encountered following injury to the nerve occasioned by its being stretched, as in cases where the triceps brachii is unduly extended in restraining subjects by means of a casting harness. berns[10] states that in confining horses on an old operating table where it was necessary to draw the affected foot forward twenty-four to thirty-six inches in advance of its fellow, which was secured in a natural vertical position, radial paralysis of a mild form was of frequent occurrence. country practitioners, in restraining colts by casting with harness or ropes, occasionally observe a form of paresis wherein the radial nerve suffers sufficient injury that there is caused a temporary loss of function of the triceps brachii. such cases recover within three or four days and are not a true paralysis, but nevertheless constitute conditions wherein normal nerve function is temporarily suspended. [illustration: fig. 8--radial paralysis.] symptoms.--immediately subsequent to injuries which involve the radial nerve, there is manifested more or less impairment of function. remembering the structures supplied by the radial nerve and its branches, one can readily understand that there should occur as cadiot[11] has stated: in complete paralysis, the joints of the affected limb with the exception of the shoulder are usually flexed when the horse is resting. in consequence of loss of power in the triceps and anterior brachial muscles, the arm is extended and straightened on the shoulder, the scapulohumeral angle is open, and the elbow depressed. the forearm is flexed on the arm by the contraction of the coracoradialis (biceps brachii), while the metacarpus and phalanges are bent by the action of the posterior antibrachial muscles. the knee is carried in advance, level with, or in front of, a vertical line dropped from the point of the shoulder. the hoof is usually rested on the toe, but when advanced beyond the above mentioned vertical line, it may be placed flat on the ground, the joints then being less markedly bent. when the limb as a whole is flexed, it may be brought into normal position by thrusting back the knee with sufficient force to counteract the action of the flexor muscles. [illustration: fig. 9--merillat's method of fixing carpus in radial paralysis. courtesy, alex. eger.] when made to walk, the animal being unable to exert muscular action with the paralyzed structures, limply carries the member as a whole, and there is shortening of the anterior portion of the stride. there being loss of function of the triceps brachii, it is impossible for the subject to straighten the leg in the normal position for supporting weight; therefore, any attempt to bear weight results in further flexion of the affected member and the animal will fall if the body is not suddenly caught up with the sound leg. differential diagnosis.--in making examination of these cases, one can exclude fracture by absence of crepitation and usually, also, swelling is absent in radial paralysis. in a typical case of radial paralysis, the affected leg can sustain its normal share of weight if placed in position, that is, if the carpal joint is extended in such manner that the leg is positioned as in its normal weight-bearing attitude. in brachial paralysis, whether due to fracture of the first rib or to other serious injury, it is impossible for the subject to support weight with the affected member even when it is passively placed in position. no difficulty is ordinarily experienced in differentiating radial paralysis from muscular injuries to the triceps; yet, in some cases of "dropped elbow," it is necessary to observe the progress of the case for ten days or two weeks before one can positively establish a diagnosis. quoting merillat[12]: "when, after four weeks, there is no amelioration of the paralysis, the muscles have atrophied, and the patient has become emaciated from pain and discomfort, the diagnosis of brachial paralysis with fracture of the first rib may then be announced." prognosis.--when no complete paralysis of the brachial plexus or no fracture of the first rib exists, the majority of cases recover completely in from ten days to six weeks. some writers claim that recoveries occur in ninety per cent of cases when conditions are favorable. treatment.--when incomplete radial paralysis exists, little needs be done except to allow the subject moderate exercise and to provide for its comfort. local applications, stimulative in character, are beneficial, and the internal administration of strychnin is indicated. in the cases where weight is not supported without the affected leg being passively placed in position, it is necessary to provide for the subject's comfort in several ways. mechanical appliances such as braces of some kind in order to keep the affected leg in a position of carpal extension, constitute the essential part of treatment. the leg is supported in such a manner that flexion of the carpus is impossible. due regard is given to prevent chafing or pressure necrosis by contact of the skin with the braces--this may be done by bandaging with cotton. the supportive appliance is kept in position for ten days or two weeks. at the end of this time the brace may be removed and the subject given a chance to walk, and improvement, if any exists, will be evident. when there is manifested an amelioration of the condition, moderate daily exercise and massage of the affected parts are helpful. should the subject be seriously inconvenienced by the application of a brace or other supportive appliances, it is necessary to employ slings. further, if weight is supported entirely by the unaffected member, laminitis may supervene if a sling is not used. thrombosis of the brachial artery. thrombosis of the brachial artery or of its principal branches is of very rare occurrence in horses. etiology.--partial or complete obstruction of arteries (brachial or others) occurs as the result of direct injury to the vessel wall from compression and tension of muscles and resultant arteritis; lodging of emboli; and parasitic invasion of vessel walls causing internal arteritis. symptomatology.--if sufficient collateral circulation exists to supply the parts with blood, no inconvenience is manifested while the subject is at rest. where the lumen of the affected vessel is not completely occluded, there may be no manifestation of lameness when the ailing animal is moderately exercised. consequently, the degree of lameness depends upon the extent of the obstruction to circulation; and, likewise, the course and prognosis depend upon the character and extent of such obstruction. in severe cases, lameness is markedly increased by causing the animal to travel at a fast pace for only a short distance. there are evinced symptoms of pain, muscular tremors and sudation, but the affected member remains dry and there is a marked difference of temperature between the normal areas and the cool anemic parts. when the subject is allowed to rest, circulation is not taxed, and there is a return to the original and apparently normal condition, only to recur again with exertion. this condition characterizes thrombosis. treatment.--in these cases, little if any good directly results from any sort of treatment in the way of medication. absolute rest is thought to be helpful. potassium iodid, alkaline agents such as ammonium carbonate and potassium carbonate, have been administered. circulatory stimulants also have been given, but it is doubtful if any good has come from medication. fracture of humerus. the shaft of the humerus, protected as it is by heavy muscles, is not frequently fractured; and fractures of its less protected parts, as for example, the head, are complicated in such manner that resultant arthritis soon constitutes the more serious condition. as a result of falls on frozen ground, kicks or any other form of heavy contusion, the humerus is occasionally broken. it is rarely fractured otherwise. because of the force of contusions usually required to effect humeral fracture, the manner in which the bone is broken, with respect to direction, is variable. often oblique fractures exist and occasionally there occurs multiple fracture. in addition to the ordinarily serious nature of the fracture itself, there is always much injury done the adjoining structures. symptomatology.--mixed lameness and manifestation of severe pain characterize this affection. considerable swelling which increases, in some cases for a week or more, is to be observed. crepitation is readily detected, if pain and swelling is not too great to prevent passive movement of the member. where intense pain is not manifested, because of manipulation, one may abduct the extremity and thereby occasion distinct crepitation; but when it is possible to recognize crepitation by holding the hand in contact with the olecranon while the animal is made to walk, this method is to be preferred, if the subject can move without serious difficulty. the pathognomonic symptom here is recognition of crepitation, but this may be very difficult to recognize in fracture of condyles, and in such instances, a careful examination is necessary. gentle manipulation in a manner that pain is not aggravated will tend to inspire confidence on the part of the subject and relaxation of muscles will enable the operator to detect crepitation. course and prognosis.--because of the direction of the long axis of the humerus, with relation to the bony column of the extremity, it is obvious that any lateral movement of the leg tends to rotate the shaft of this bone. in fractures of the shaft of the humerus, then, it is apparent that immobilization is very difficult if at all possible. the proximity to the axillary lymph glands makes for easy dissemination of infection when the contused musculature becomes infected. the adjacent brachial nerve plexus is so very apt to become involved, if not actually injured at the time fracture occurs, that paralysis is a probable complication. consequently, it is logical to reason that because of the many possible serious complications, such as shock, occasioned by the injury and the distress and pain which this accident produces, recovery must be the exception in fracture of the humerus. however, recoveries do take place and in addition to the reported recoveries by liautard, moller, stockfleth, lafosse, frohner and others, we have instances cited by american practitioners where cases resulted in recovery. thompson[13] reports a good recovery in a 1600-pound mare where there existed an oblique fracture of the humerus. this mare was kept in slings for eight weeks. walters[14] reports complete recovery in humeral fracture in a foal three days old. the only treatment given was the application of a pitch plaster from the top of the scapula to the radius. the colt was kept in a comfortable box stall and in about four weeks regained use of the leg. complete recovery eventually resulted. in the experience of the author, recovery has not occurred in humeral fractures. treatment.--when animals are not aged and of sufficient value to justify treatment, they are best supported in a sling, if halter broken. if subjects are nervous, wild and unbroken, it is possible to employ the sling, if care is given to train the animal to this manner of restraint. the presence of an attendant for a day or two will reassure such subjects so that even in these cases it may be practicable to employ the sling. braces and other mechanical appliances intended to immobilize the parts are not of practical benefit in the horse. unlike the dog, the horse as yet has not been successfully subjected to tolerating rigid braces for the shoulder and hip. everything possible must be done that will make for the patient's comfort. if the subject turns out to be a good self nurse, and the nature of the fracture is such that practical apposition of the broken ends of bone may be maintained, recovery will occur in some cases. inflammation of the elbow. (arthritis.) affections of this articulation other than those which are produced by traumatism are rare. this joint has wide articular surfaces, and securely joined as they are by the heavy medial and lateral ligaments (internal and external lateral ligaments), luxation is practically impossible. when luxation does occur, irreparable injury is usually done. castagnã© as quoted by liautard[15], reports a case of true luxation of the elbow joint in a horse where reduction was effected and complete recovery took place at the end of twenty-five days. this is an unusual case. the average practitioner does not meet with such instances. anatomy.--the condyles of the humerus articulate with the glenoid cavities of the radius and a portion of the ulna. two strong collateral ligaments pass from the distal end of the humerus to the head of the radius. the capsular ligament is a large, loose membrane which encloses the articular portion of the humerus with the radius and ulna and also the radioulnar articulation. it is attached anteriorly to the tendon of the biceps brachii (flexor brachii). the capsule extends downward beneath the origin of these digital flexors. this fact should be remembered in dealing with puncture wounds in the region, lest an error be made in estimating their extent and an open joint be overlooked at the initial examination. etiology and occurrence.--exclusive of specific or metastatic arthritis, which is seldom observed except in young animals, inflammation of the elbow joint is usually caused by injury. this articulation is not subject to pathologic changes due to concussion or sprains as occasioned by ordinary service, but is frequently injured by contusion from falls, blows from the wagon-pole and kicks. wounds which affect the elbow joint, then, may be thought of in most cases, as resultant from external violence. they may be contused wounds or penetrant wounds. sharp shoe-calks afford a means of infliction of penetrant wounds which may occasion open joint and infectious arthritis. classification.--a practical manner of classifying inflammation of the elbow is on an etiological basis. eliminating the forms of elbow inflammation, such as are caused by metastatic infection and other conditions which properly belong to the domain of theory of practice, we may consider this affection under the classification of _contusive wounds_ and _penetrative wounds_. symptomatology.--any injury which is of sufficient violence to occasion inflammation of the elbow causes marked lameness and manifestation of pain. the degree of lameness and distress manifested by the subject, depends upon the nature and extent of the involvement. a contusion suffered as the result of a fall, which occasions a circumscribed inflammation of the structures covering this joint and where little inflammation of the articulating parts exists, marked evidence of pain and lameness might be absent. on the other hand, if a true arthritis is incited, there will be evident distress manifested, such as hurried respiration, accelerated pulse, inappetence, mixed lameness, local evidence of inflammation and particularly marked supersensitiveness of the affected parts. considering these two extremes of manifested distress and injury, one may readily conclude that in the frequently seen case, wherein contusion has occasioned a moderate degree of injury, prognosis is favorable and recovery ordinarily follows in the course of a few weeks' treatment. in cases of arthritis due to penetrative wounds (because of the important function of this joint and its large capsule, which when inflamed discharges synovia in a manner that closure of such an open joint is seldom possible) a very grave condition results. treatment.--inflammation of the elbow, such as is frequently seen in general practice where horses are turned out together and exposed to kicks and other injuries, yields to treatment readily, if an open joint does not exist. hot packs supported in contact with the elbow and kept around the inflamed articulation for a few days, materially decrease pain and tend to reduce inflammation. the subject must be kept quiet in a comfortable stall and, if necessary, a sling used. where it is impossible for the animal to support much weight with the injured member the sling should be employed. as inflammation abates, which it does in the course of from one to three weeks in uncomplicated cases, the subject may be allowed the freedom of a comfortable box stall. vesication of the parts is in order, and this may be repeated in the course of two weeks, if it is deemed necessary. penetrative wounds resulting in open joint are not treated with success as a rule, and because of the handicap under which veterinarians labor, methods of handling such cases, where large, important articulations are affected, are not being rapidly improved. prognosis is usually unfavorable, and for humane and economic reasons, animals so affected should be destroyed. ordinary wounds of the region of the elbow are treated along general lines usually employed. they merit no special consideration, except that it may be mentioned that with such injuries concomitant contusion of the parts occasions injury that does not recover quickly. fracture of the ulna. etiology and occurrence.--fractures of the ulna in the horse are not common in spite of the exposed position of the olecranon. this bone when broken, is usually fractured by heavy blows and any form of ulnar fracture is serious because of its function and position in relation to the joint capsule. transverse fractures do not readily unite because of the tension of the triceps muscles, which prevent close approximation of the broken ends of the bone. thompson[16], however, reports a case of transverse simple fracture of the ulna in a mare, the result of a kick, in which complete recovery took place. he kept the subject in a sling for six weeks and then allowed six months rest. symptomatology.--the position assumed by a horse suffering from a transverse fracture of the ulna, is similar to that in radial paralysis. crepitation may be detected by manipulating the parts, and in some instances of fracture of the olecranon, there occurs marked displacement of the broken portions of the bone. lameness is intense and the parts are swollen and supersensitive. the capsular ligament of the elbow joint is usually involved in the injury because fracture of the ulna may directly extend within the capsular ligament. in such cases, there is synovitis, and later arthritis causes a fatal termination. treatment.--the impossibility of applying a bandage in any way to practically immobilize these parts in fracture of the ulna, prevents our employing bandages and splints. therefore, one can do little else than to put the patient in a sling and try to keep it quiet and as nearly comfortable as circumstances allow. fracture of the radius. etiology and occurrence.--from heavy blows received such as kicks, collision with trees or in falls in runaway accidents, the radius is occasionally fractured. in very young foals, fracture of the radius, as well as of the tibia and other bones, results from their being trampled upon by the mother. symptomatology.--excepting in some cases of radial fracture of foals where considerable swelling has taken place, there is no difficulty in readily recognizing this condition. the heavy brachial fascia materially contributes to the support of the radius, and in cases where swelling is marked, crepitation may not be readily detected. in fact, a sub-periosteal fracture may exist for several days or a week or more and then, with subsequent fracture of the periosteum, crepitation and abnormal mobility of the member are to be recognized. in such cases, the subject will bear some weight upon the affected member, but this causes much distress. in one instance the author observed a transverse fracture of the lower third of the radius which was not positively diagnosed until about ten days after injury was inflicted. in this case, without doubt, the subject originally suffered a sub-periosteal fracture of the bone and because the animal was a good self nurse, the brachial fascia supported the radius until the periosteum gave way and the leg dangled. in this instance infection took place and suppuration resulted. it was deemed advisable to destroy this animal. prognosis.--in adult animals, radial fracture constitutes a grave condition; generally speaking, prognosis, in such cases, is unfavorable. because of the leverage afforded by the extremity, immobilization of the radius is difficult. any sort of mechanical appliance, which will immobilize these parts, is likely to produce pressure-necrosis of the soft structures so contacted. there is occasioned thereby much pain and the subject becomes restive, unmanageable and sometimes the splints are completely deranged because of the animal's struggles, and much additional injury to the leg is done. occasionally, an otherwise favorable case is thus rendered hopelessly impossible to handle, and the subject must be destroyed several days after treatment has been instituted. consequently, unless all conditions are good, and the affected animal a favorable subject, young, of good disposition, and the fracture a simple transverse one, complete recovery is not likely to result from any practical means of handling. treatment.--mature subjects ought to be put in slings and kept so restrained throughout the entire time of treatment. immobilization of the broken parts of the bone is the object sought. this is attempted by practitioners who employ various methods, and each method has its advocates. casts are used by some and serve very well in many cases; but because of their bulk and unyielding and rigid nature, they are not well adapted to use on fractures of bones proximal to the carpus and tarsus. this is in reference to plaster-of-paris casts or those of any similar material. appliances which depend on glue or other adhesive substances combined with leather, wood or fiber for their support, are efficacious but not comfortable. the use of heavy leather when the member has been suitably padded with cotton and bandages, constitutes a very good manner of reducing fracture of the radius or of the tibia. leather when cut to fit both the medial and lateral sides of a leg, and firmly held with bandages, will form a firm support that yields slightly to changes of position, thus making for comfort of the subject. such a splint or support should extend from the fetlock region to the elbow, but the cotton and bandages are to reach to the foot. when one considers that, with the supportive appliance placed on each side of the affected member, rigidity is accomplished as much from tensile strain put upon the leather as from its own stiffness, it is seen that the leather need not be of the heaviest--sole leather is unnecessary. because of the more comfortable immobilizing appliance, the subject is less restive, and chances for a successful outcome are materially increased thereby. in the mature subject, six or eight weeks' time is required for union of the parts to occur sufficiently so that splints may be dispensed with. rearrangement of the supportive apparatus, however, is possible and usually necessary during the first few weeks of treatment. by employing care in handling the parts, the subject will be unlikely to do itself injury at the time readjustment of splints is being effected. in foals, it is best to give them the run of a box stall with the mother. being agile, they get up and lie at will without doing injury to the fractured member. the splints (leather is preferable in these cases also) are looked after and readjusted as necessity demands. three or four weeks time is all that is required for the average young colt to be kept in splints when suffering from simple transverse fracture of the radius. compound fractures are necessarily more difficult to treat than are the simple variety, but even in such cases recovery results sometimes, and the practitioner is justified in attempting treatment after having explained the situation to his client. oblique fractures, even when simple, do not completely recover. muscular and tendinous contraction, together with the natural tendency for the beveled contacting parts of the broken bone to pass one another in oblique fracture, results in shortening of the leg and, if union results, a large callus usually forms. where shortening of bones occur, necessarily, permanent lameness follows. wounds of the anterior brachial region. etiology and occurrence.--contusions and lacerations of the forearm are of frequent occurrence in horses and are troublesome cases to handle; particularly is this noticeable where extensive laceration of the parts occurs. these injuries are caused by animals being kicked; by striking the forearm against bars in jumping; and in sections of the country where barbed wire is used to enclose pastures, extensive lacerated wounds are met with when horses jump into such fences. symptomatology.--any wound which causes inflammation of the structures of the anterior half of the forearm, is characterized by swinging-leg-lameness. depending upon the nature and extent of the injury, manifestation varies. in cases where laceration has practically divided all of the substance of the extensor tendons, it is, of course, impossible for the subject to advance the leg; but where lacerated wounds involve only a part of the extensor apparatus of the foreleg, not so much inconvenience is evident, unless the wound is seriously infected and inflammation involves contiguous structures. therefore, in many instances, lameness is more pronounced in contusions of the anterior brachial region than where tissues have been divided more or less keenly. in every instance diagnosis is easily established. the injury is quite evident, and the manner of locomotion is not in itself an essential feature to be considered in a discussion of symptoms. where a contusion of the anterior brachial structures occurs, there is, in addition to lameness, swelling which is painful because of the pressure occasioned by the heavy non-yielding brachial fascia. and where suppuration occurs, there is then an intensely painful condition which is not relieved until pus has been evacuated. rather frequently, drainage for wound secretions is a difficult problem, and approximation of the divided ends of muscles is always difficult to maintain. treatment.--contused wounds of the anterior brachial region are treated along usual lines; that is, attempt is made to stimulate prompt resolution. hot or cold applications are employed throughout the acute stage of the affection. complete rest is provided for until all pain has subsided. later, stimulating liniments are beneficial. where no injury is done the periosteum or bone, complete resorption of all products of inflammation usually occurs, though in many instances, this is tardy--six weeks or more are sometimes required for recovery to take place. if suppuration occurs, it is necessary to provide for drainage as soon as it is possible to distinguish the presence of pus. due regard is given the manner of establishing drainage because of the usual existence of sub-fascial fistulae. in these cases, one avoids injecting solutions of aqueous antiseptics. by gently compressing the parts, pus is caused to drain out and in enforcing a moderate amount of exercise at a walk, when lameness is not intense, drainage is maintained. cotton packs, moistened with hot antiseptic solutions, and kept around the forearm for several hours daily, are helpful because drainage is facilitated, and resolution is stimulated by the increase of blood thus attracted to the parts, and pain materially diminishes. in lacerated wounds of the anterior brachial region, after having controlled hemorrhage, an area around the wound margin is freed of hair by clipping or shaving. the wound is carefully examined, and the best site for drainage is selected and a suitable opening for wound discharge is provided for. where the extensor carpiradialis (metacarpi magnus) with other structures, is divided and the distal portion is torn downward, as frequently is the case in barbed wire cuts, it is necessary to make careful provision for drainage. the wound is thoroughly cleansed by means of ablutions if necessary; but preferably by swabbing with pledgets of cotton or gauze which are moistened in antiseptic solutions. all shreds of macerated tissue are clipped with scissors and finally the whole wound surface is painted with tincture of iodin. if drainage is made by cutting through the tissues in the median portion of the structures that have been displaced, the opening should be packed with gauze so that it may remain patent after swelling has occurred. such packing is left _in situ_ for twenty-four hours. the pendant muscular portions of tissues are sutured up by means of tapes and, while perfect apposition is not ordinarily possible, it is very essential to train the pendant tissues in their normal position even if they require resuturing within a week. this minimizes granulation of tissue, and there results less scar if the detached portions are kept near, even if not in contact with the proximal wound margins. the skin together with subcutaneous fascia is sutured on either side unless drainage is to be provided for on one side, and the lowermost part of that side is left unsutured. after-care.--where extensive suturing of tissues has been necessary, subjects must be kept quiet. they are best confined in box stalls and not taken out for several weeks. particularly is this true where transverse division of extensors has taken place. sutures are removed at the end of from ten days to three weeks as cases permit. drainage of wound secretions, which usually become infected, is necessary, because with obstructed drainage in an infected wound of this kind, there will result an early destruction of tissue at some point sutured. daily irrigation done in a manner that practical asepsis is carried out, is necessary for about a week. all irrigation is done by way of the drainage opening, and this with warm aqueous solutions of suitable antiseptics. after a week or ten days' time, the wound should not be dressed more frequently than twice weekly. if it is necessary to leave a portion of the wound uncovered, as in cases where skin is destroyed, the frequent (three or four daily) application of a suitable antiseptic powder is necessary to check exuberant granulation. this may be directly effected by the use of an astringent or desiccant preparation, and such dressing serves as a mechanical protection as well. when such wounds are kept clean, where drainage is properly maintained, and the subject kept quiet, no particular attention other than the local application of an astringent lotion (such as the zinc and lead lotion) is necessary after the first three or four weeks. usually, if the animal gnaws at the parts or otherwise manifests evidence of discomfort, it is an indication that new areas of infection are being established because of obstructed drainage or retained eschars. a thorough cleansing of the wound with a two per cent solution of liquor cresolis compositus and this followed by moistening every part of the wound with tincture of iodin, will check all such disturbance if done promptly. where practically all of the anterior surface of the radius has been denuded, recovery is tardy and there is in some cases imperfect extension of the leg for months after the wound has healed. but in such instances, animals gradually regain complete use of the affected member and in the course of a year function is fully restored. inflammation and contraction of the carpal flexors. anatomy.--the structures which are usually considered as true flexors of the carpus are a group of three muscles, which have separate heads of origin and different points of tendinous insertion. the _flexor carpiradialis_ (flexor metacarpi internus) originates from the medial epicondyle of the humerus. it is inserted to the proximal end of the medial metacarpal (inner metacarpal or splint) bone. this muscle is the smaller of the three and is not usually divided in doing carpal tenotomy. the _flexor carpiulnaris_ (flexor metacarpi medius) has two heads of origin; one, the larger, originates from the epicondyle of the humerus and the other from the posterior surface of the olecranon. the two heads unite at the upper third of the radius and the muscle, becoming tendinous, as is the case with the other carpal flexors, is attached by one point of insertion to the accessory carpal bone (trapezum). the other blends with the posterior annular ligament of the carpus. the _ulnaris lateralis_ (flexor metacarpi externus) has its origin from the lateral epicondyle of the humerus and inserts to the proximal extremity of the fourth metacarpal (outer splint) bone and by another attachment to the accessory carpal bone (trapezium) with the tendon of the flexor carpiulnaris (flexor metacarpi medius). acting together, these muscles flex the carpus or extend the elbow and this action is antagonized by the biceps brachii (flexor brachii) and extensors of the carpus and phalanges. etiology and occurrence.--inflammation of the muscular or tendinous parts of the carpal flexors, does not occur as frequently as does inflammation of the flexors of the extremity. they are subject to injury such as is occasioned by hard work and concussion and contract as a result; but, more frequently a congenital malformation of the leg is responsible for undue strain upon these parts. horses that are "knee sprung" or that have a congenital condition where in the anterior line, as formed by the radius, carpal and metacarpal bones, is bent forward at the carpus, are subject to inflammation and contraction of the carpal flexors. when these flexors are contracted, the condition is commonly known among horsemen as "buck knee." in itself, inflammation of the carpal flexors is not a condition which is likely to prove troublesome, but because of carpal involvement (which is often present) the cause of the trouble remains, and inflammation of the carpal flexors recurs or becomes chronic and contraction of tendons results. symptomatology.--inflammation of the carpal flexors, when acute and uncomplicated, is characterized by a painfully swollen condition of the affected tendons. no weight is borne upon the affected leg and the carpal joint is flexed. mixed lameness is present. there is no difficulty encountered in arriving at a diagnosis because of the very noticeably inflamed parts. many fully developed cases of contraction of the tendons of the carpal flexors are observed where the condition has become established gradually and no lameness has resulted from tendinitis or carpitis. in some of these cases, subjects are stumblers and when they are carelessly handled or kept at fast work over irregular or hard roads, chronic carpitis with hyperplasia of the structures of the anterior carpal region results, owing to frequent bruising from falls. [illustration: fig. 10--contraction of carpal flexors, "knee sprung."] where inflammation is caused by a puncture wound and subfascial infection occurs, there is evident manifestation of pain. no weight is supported by the affected member and because of the pressure, occasioned by the swollen muscles confined within the non-yielding brachial fascia, there exists marked supersensitiveness of the affected parts. flexion of the elbow is avoided because contraction of the biceps brachii (flexor brachii) or the extensors, which are antagonists of the flexors of the carpus, tenses the carpal flexors and pain is thereby increased. however, in most instances, the practitioner's attention is not directed to typical and uncomplicated cases, but to subacute or chronic inflammations which are often attended with contraction of the tendinous parts of the carpal flexors, and in such cases carpitis is present. animals so affected have lost the rigidity which characterizes the normal carpal joint when the leg is a weight bearing member, and because of its sprung condition, the leg trembles when supporting weight. treatment.--acute inflammation is treated by means of local application of cold or hot packs until the pain and acute stage of inflammation has subsided and later stimulating liniments are indicated. absolute quiet must be enforced. especially where the carpus is involved must the subject be kept quiet until all evidence of inflammation has subsided. the application of vesicants or line-firing is beneficial in subacute inflammation of the tendons of the carpal flexors. where contraction of tendons exists and no osseous or ligamentous change prevents correction of the condition, tenotomy is necessary. the reader is referred to merillat's "veterinary surgery"[17] for a good description of the technic of this operation. in all serious cases of inflammation of the carpal flexors, whether tenotomy has been performed or not, the subject needs a long period of rest subsequent to treatment. in fact, three or four months at pasture is necessary to permit of recovery and this where no congenital deformity has predisposed the subject to such affection of the flexors. return to work must be gradual and the character of the work such as to enable the animal to become inured to service without a recurrence of the trouble if possible. it follows then, that tenotomy, here as in other cases, is not practical from an economic viewpoint, unless the animal be of sufficient value to justify the long period of rest for recovery. tenotomy is not of practical benefit unless ample time is allowed for regeneration of divided tendinous tissue. fracture and luxation of the carpal bones. etiology and occurrence.--fracture of the carpal bones is of infrequent occurrence in horses and, when it does occur, it is usually due to injuries, and because of their nature (resulting as they generally do from heavy falls or in being run over by street cars or wagons), a comminuted fracture of one or more bones exists. the accessory carpal bone (trapezium) is said to be fractured at times without being subjected to blows or like injuries, but this is exceptional. luxations of the carpal joint are of rare occurrence, and very few cases of this kind are on record. walters[18] reports a case of carpometacarpal luxation in a pony wherein reduction was spontaneous and an uneventful recovery followed. his reason for reporting the case, as he states, is its rarity. symptomatology.--fractures of the carpal bones as they usually take place are diagnosed without difficulty. because of their usually being comminuted, abnormal movement of the joint is possible. such movement is not restricted and flexion of the leg at the carpus in any direction is possible. crepitation is readily detected and frequently these fractures are of the compound-comminuted variety. in fracture of the accessory carpal bone (trapezium) or in fracture of any other single bone when such exists, there is no increase in the movement of the joint. the accessory carpal bone may be readily manipulated and when fractured, its parts are more or less displaced. recognition of fracture of any other single carpal bone must be done by detecting crepitation unless it be a compound fracture, whereupon probing is of aid in establishing a diagnosis. carpal luxation when present is to be recognized by finding the apposing carpal bones joined in an abnormal manner--that is, out of position. there is restricted or suspended function of the joint, and in the cases recorded, no difficulty has been experienced in making a diagnosis. the carpometacarpal portion of the articulation is the part which is usually affected. prognosis and treatment.--there is no chance for complete recovery in the usual case of carpal fracture because of the fact that there results sufficient arthritis to destroy articular cartilage beyond repair. in the average instance, because of arthritis which persists for a considerable length of time, more or less ankylosis results. at best, one can only hope for partial recovery, that is to say, the member may regain its usefulness as a weight-supporting part, but because of restricted or abolished joint function, locomotion is more or less difficult. exostoses, articular and periarticular, occur and the carpus usually becomes a large immobile articulation. there is danger of infection resulting in simple carpal fractures and, needless to say, in a compound-comminuted fracture of the carpus, infection usually occurs and a fatal outcome is probable. when treatment is instituted, antiseptic precautions are taken in handling the compound fractures, and in any case immobilization of the parts is sought. here, as has been previously pointed out, it is best to employ leather splints, so that a maximum degree of rigidity with a minimum of distress and inconvenience to the patient will result. the leg must be bandaged from the hoof upward, making use of a sufficient amount of cotton to ensure against pressure-necrosis. the leather splints are placed mesially and laterally and, of course, need to extend as high as the proximal end of the radius. subjects must be kept in slings until union of bones has become established, and as a rule there will then exist marked ankylosis. there is no particular difference in the handling of carpal luxation and dislocation of other bones. where ligaments have not been destroyed to the extent that reduction is of no practical use, the parts are kept immobilized, if thought necessary. later, vesication of the whole pericarpal region is done and the subject allowed exercise at will. carpitis. etiology and occurrence.--inflammation of the carpus is caused by contusions, such as are occasioned in falling, by kicks by striking the carpus against objects in jumping and sometimes by striking it against the manger in pawing. the condition is of rather frequent occurrence. symptomatology.--evident symptoms of inflammation in carpitis are always present--hyperthermia, supersensitiveness and swelling. also, there exists lameness which is characterized by an apparent inability to flex the leg, and there is circumduction of the leg as it is advanced because in this way little if any flexion of the carpus (which increases pain) is necessary. depending upon the nature of the cause, there occurs a marked difference in the character and amount of swelling. [illustration: fig. 11--pericarpal inflammation and enlargement due to injury.] naturally, when much extravasation of serum and blood takes place, there is occasioned a fluctuating swelling which is usually less painful to the subject upon manipulation than is a dense inflammatory change without marked extravasation. in acute carpitis, there is present, then, a very painful condition which involves the articulation, causing marked lameness, disturbance of appetite and some elevation of temperature. chronic cases do not occasion serious pain or constitutional disturbances, but do interfere with locomotion in direct proportion to the existing articular inflammation and periarticular hypertrophy of ligamentous and tendinous structures. treatment.--if possible, keep the subject absolutely quiet, employing the sling if necessary. during the first stages of inflammation, the application of ice packs to the affected parts, is of marked benefit. at the end of forty-eight hours, hot applications may be used and this treatment continued throughout several days. anodyne liniments are of service and should be employed throughout the acute stage of inflammation during intervals between the hydrotherapeutic treatments. as inflammation subsides, a counterirritating application such as a suitable liniment and later blistering or line-firing is helpful in stimulating resolution. [illustration: fig. 12--hygromatous condition of the right carpus, also distension of sheaths of extensor tendons of both fore legs.] open carpal joint. anatomy.--the carpal bones as they articulate with one another and with the radius and metacarpal bones, as classed by anatomists, form three distinct articular parts of the joint as a whole and are known as radiocarpal, intercarpal and carpometacarpal. these three pairs of articulating surfaces are all enclosed within one capsular ligament. on the anterior face of the bones, the capsular ligament is attached to the carpal bones in such manner that an imperfect partitioning of the three joint compartments is formed. posteriorly, the capsule is very heavy and forms a sort of padding over the irregular surfaces of the bones, and also its reflexions constitute the sheaths of the flexor tendons. the anterior portion of the capsular ligament forms sheaths for the extensor tendons, and both portions of the joint have an attachment around the distal end of the radius and another at the proximal end of the metacarpal bones. [illustration: fig. 13--carpal exostosis in aged horse.] etiology and occurrence.--puncture wounds of any kind may serve to perforate the joint capsule and such traumatisms are occasioned by falls, kicks and in various ways in runaway accidents, and open carpal joint may follow. symptomatology.--the pathognomonic symptoms of the existence of an open joint is the exposure to view of articular surfaces of bones or noting the escape of synovia from the joint capsule. as has been previously referred to, there always exists a peculiar suspension of carpal flexion in all cases of carpitis. non-infective wounds which may cause open joint are not necessarily productive of an active carpitis--a synovitis may be the extent of the disturbance. unlike synovitis, which may characterize a non-infectious penetrative wound of the capsular ligament, septic arthritis which may supervene is a very painful inflammatory disturbance. it is characterized by all of the symptoms which attend the case of open joint and synovitis plus the obvious manifestation of great pain. there is an elevation of temperature of from two to five degrees above normal; circulation is accelerated; the pulse is bounding; respiration is hurried; there is an expression of pain as indicated by the physiognomy; and because of rapid erosive changes of cartilages which take place, there is soon so much of the articulation destroyed that death is inevitable. death is usually due to generalization of the arthritic infection. [illustration: fig. 14--exostosis of carpus resultant from carpitis.] [illustration: fig. 15--distal end of radius. illustrating the effects of chronic carpitis.] in the meanwhile, if the character of the infectious material is not so virulent, the disease will take on a slower course and the subject may experience laminitis from supporting weight upon the sound member, or because of continued recumbency, decubital gangrene and emaciation sometimes cause death. if the subject does not soon succumb, it is compelled to undergo days or even weeks of unnecessary suffering, and too often in such cases, it is later deemed advisable to destroy the animal because of the cost of continuing treatment until the horse is serviceable. therefore, it is evident that when such joints as the carpus or tarsus are open and infection exists, if they are not promptly treated and the infectious process checked, it is neither humane nor practical to prolong treatment. distinction must be made between the different joints when infected as the condition is much more serious in some cases than in others. all things considered, perhaps open joints rank, with respect to being serious cases as follows: elbow, navicular, stifle, tarsus, carpus, fetlock and pastern. this, of course, is restricted to articulations of the locomotory apparatus. treatment.--preliminary care in the treatment of an open carpal joint, is the same as has been described in this condition as it affects the scapulohumeral articulation described on page 65. likewise the further treatment of such cases is along the same lines except that where it is possible, the parts are kept covered with cotton and bandages. however, in some cases, animals have been successfully treated without bandaging and by keeping the patient in a standing position and on pillar reins until recovery resulted. such cases were of the non-infectious type and recovery was possible within three or four weeks. further, the condition is not sufficiently painful in such instances as to prevent the subjects bearing weight with the affected member; hence, no danger of resulting laminitis is incurred. and finally, where bandages are not employed, the frequent use of antiseptic dusting powders is substituted for cotton as a protector. when bandaged, such wounds need dressing more or less frequently, as individual instances demand. the purulent infective inflammation of a carpal joint will require daily dressing; whereas, in other cases (non-infective), semi-weekly change of bandages is sufficient. equal parts of boric acid and exsiccated alum constitute a suitable combination for the treatment of these cases, and this powder should be liberally employed. tincture of iodin may be injected into the joint capsule where there is provision for its ready evacuation, as conditions seem to require. daily injections for three, four or five days, are not harmful and will control infection in many instances. thecitis and bursitis. etiology and occurrence.--the thecae and bursae of the leg are several in number. in the carpal region, the flexors of the phalanges are contained together in the carpal sheath, and this is the principal theca in the carpal region. each of the tendons is provided with synovial sheaths which are subject to inflammation and occasionally synovitis and distension of these synovial sheaths occur. because of faulty conformation, some animals are subject to inflammation of these sheaths, and all forms of strenuous work which taxes the tendons greatly is apt to result in synovitis. direct injury such as blows may be the cause of synovial distension of thecae and the affection is to be seen in all horses that have done much fast work on hard road surfaces or pavements. the usual case as it occurs in practice is a non-infective synovitis, but where puncture wounds cause the trouble, an infectious inflammation obtains. symptomatology.--no trouble is experienced in diagnosing distension of tendon sheaths, for the affection is very palpable. during acute inflammatory stages of this affection, some lameness is present--in infectious inflammation lameness is intense. local heat and pain upon manipulation are readily discernible in all acute cases. and finally, where there is reason for doubt, an aseptic exploratory puncture of the wall of the fluctuating enlargement may be made with a suitable trocar, and the discharging synovia will be proof of the existence of synovial distension. after the affection becomes subacute or chronic, no lameness or inconvenience is manifested, and the condition is undesirable only because of its being a blemish. treatment.--acute non-infectious synovial distension of tendon sheaths is treated by aspirating as much synovia as possible from the affected theca (this is, of course, done under strict asepsis) and by means of bandages, a uniform degree of pressure is kept over the parts for ten days or two weeks. the patient is kept quiet and in the course of two weeks an active blistering agent is employed over the region affected. usually, at the end of a month's time, complete recovery has taken place and the subject may be gradually returned to work. when synovial distensions are of long standing, it is necessary to take special precautions to check excessive secretion of synovial fluid, and, also because of the atonic condition of the tissues affected, resolution is tardy. in addition to aspirating synovia, the introduction of equal parts of alcohol and tincture of iodin into the theca is necessary. the quantity of this combination injected, depends upon the size of the sheath affected and the amount of synovia retained at the time injection is made. experience is necessary to judge as to this part of the work, but one may consider that a quantity between three and ten cubic centimeters of equal parts of tincture of iodin and alcohol constitutes the proper amount to employ. where much synovia is contained within the sheath at the time of injection, there occurs great dilution of the agent injected and consequently less irritation results. the object of such injections is to check synovial secretion, and this is sought by the local effect of iodin in contact with the secreting cells together with the reactionary swelling which occasions pressure. an increase in the local blood supply also follows. in all cases where it is possible to employ suitable bandages, this should be done. the ordinary derby bandages serve well and if their use is continued for a sufficient length of time, good results follow. there are other methods of treating these affections, and each has its advantages and disadvantages. line-firing, instead of the vesicant is made use of by some, but the object desired is the same and results obtained are similar. sheaths may be opened surgically by means of a knife, and the removal of a portion of the wall of distended and atonic tendon sheaths is possible. these operations belong to the realm of surgery and are not properly a part of this treatise. however, in passing, it may be said that if a perfect technic is possible in doing the last named operation, a permanent recovery is the outcome. fracture of the metacarpus. etiology and occurrence.--as the result of all sorts of violence, such as falls and injuries in accidents of various kinds wherein the metacarpals are subjected to contusions, fractures may result. in the horse it is unusual for fracture of one of the small metacarpal bones to take place without there being at the same time a fracture of the third (large) metacarpal bone. classification.--fractures of the metacarpal bones as they occur, are as likely to be compound as simple, and the multiple and comminuted varieties are occasionally observed. the manner in which the third (large) metacarpus is fractured, largely determines the outcome in any given case. symptomatology.--abnormal mobility of the broken parts of bone and crepitation mark fracture of the metacarpus, and the condition is easily diagnosed. in many instances, when compound fracture exists, broken ends of bone are protruding through the skin. no weight is borne upon the fractured member ordinarily, although during the excitement occasioned by runaways, horses are sometimes seen to support weight with a broken leg even when the protruding bone is sunk into the ground in so doing. prognosis.--generally speaking, fractures other than the simple-transverse in young animals, are considered unfavorable cases. with the metacarpus, however, there are instances where compound fracture occurs in colts that justify treatment. but in all cases of compound fracture, the element of infection in addition to the increased difficulty in maintaining immobility of the broken bone, creates almost insuperable difficulties in the average instance. and unless the practitioner distinctly explains to his client the various reasons which make treatment an economic impracticability, dissatisfaction is likely to follow if treatment is instituted without such an understanding. treatment.--perfect apposition of the broken ends of bone is easily effected and less difficulty is encountered in maintaining such relations in metacarpal fractures than in fractures of the radius. however, reduction and immobilization of this as in all fractures, must be done without delay. in simple fracture, the metacarpus is covered with enough cotton to pad the parts, and this is retained in position by bandages. splints of heavy leather or of thin pieces of tough flexible wood are placed on each side of the leg and firmly held in position with bandages. bandages may be put on in layers and a coating of glue applied over each layer if this is thought necessary. the advantage gained in using glue or other adhesive materials is that the cast thus formed is more rigid than where such material is not employed. on the other hand, all elasticity is lost as soon as the cast adapts itself to the contour of the extremity, and because of this rigidity, it is doubtful if anything is gained by the incorporation of glue, except in the way of added strength of the cast. since the animal does not walk upon the broken leg, it is possible to employ splints of suitable materials which are retained in position without glue and frequent readjustment of a part of the immobilizing apparatus is possible. this is impossible with casts. in compound fractures, provision ought to be made for dressing the wound of the soft structures. this entails adjusting the splints in such manner that one splint may be retained and others removed for dressing the wound and readjusted as often as wound dressing is necessary. splints. by this term is meant a condition where there exists an exostosis which involves usually the second (inner small) and third (large) metacarpal bones. while an exostosis involving any one of the splint bones, even when directly caused by an injury, is called a "splint," the term is employed here, in reference to exostoses not due to direct injury such as in contusions. etiology and occurrence.--this condition is one wherein there is osseous formation following a periostitis and the region of the upper portion of the second (inner small) metacarpal bone is the usual site of the exostosis. there is incited an inflammation of the periosteum at the site of the interosseous ligament which attaches the small to the large metacarpal bone. this ligament is involved in the inflammatory process, and according to havemann, whose view is supported by moller, this inflammation is the origin of the trouble. various theories attempting an explanation of the frequent affection of this one certain part so regularly involved have been offered, but no proof of the correctness of any exists. it follows, however, that splints occur in young animals; that the affection seldom starts in subjects that are ten years of age or older, and that when the exostosis has formed, lameness usually subsides. anything which will cause undue strain or irritation of the metacarpal bones in young animals, is quite apt to result in a splint being formed. concussion such as is caused by fast work on hard roads, or work on rough or irregular road surfaces which cause unequal distribution of weight, will cause splint lameness and exostosis follows. [illustration: fig. 16--posterior view of radius (right) illustrative of effects of splint. note the extent of exostosis.] course.--because of the peculiar manner in which the second and third metacarpal bones articulate in young animals, until the bones become ossified and permanently joined, the inflammation which attends the acute stage of this affection, causes lameness. later, unless an unusually large exostosis is formed, which may cause a constant irritation due to its size and juxtaposition to the carpus, lameness is discontinued. symptomatology.--lameness is usually the first manifestation of this disorder, and the thing which characterizes splint lameness is its peculiar intermittence. there is a mixed form of lameness which may not be in evidence when an affected animal is started on a drive, but which is marked after the subject has gone some distance. the animal may, however, go lame throughout the whole of a drive and continue to be lame for several days or weeks in some cases. it is noticeable that lameness is augmented or produced when the subject travels on rough road surfaces and that little or no difficulty is encountered when roads are smooth. the heavy brachial fascia is inserted in part to the head of the second metacarpal (inner small) bone together with the oblique digital extensor (extensor metacarpi obliquus) and this explains the reason for pain being manifested during extension of the member. before there is a visible exostosis, supersensitiveness is readily recognized upon palpation of the parts, if careful comparison is made between the sound and unsound members. however, frequently splints occur on both forelegs at the same time and in some instances exostoses are several in number upon each member affected. in some instances, the affection involves the outer splint bone and no evident involvement of the inner one exists. treatment.--at the onset complete rest should be provided and the local application of some good cataplasm is in order. a stimulating liniment is beneficial when employed several times daily and massage is also quite helpful. later, the application of a blistering ointment is good treatment. the use of the actual cautery stimulates prompt resolution, but there is seldom any resorption of products of inflammation following firing. whereas, in cases where other treatment is begun early, there usually follows considerable diminution in the size of the exostosis. a rest of four or five weeks is necessary and very young animals should not be put to work too soon, if the character of the work is such as to induce a recurrence of the trouble. many cases are treated successfully in draft types of animals (where the subjects are not kept at work that occasions serious irritation to the affected parts) by blistering the exostosis repeatedly and allowing the animals to continue in service. in such cases, it is unreasonable to expect to check the size of the exostosis and, of course, such methods are not employed where lameness causes distress to the subject. firing usually causes prompt recovery from lameness and is a dependable manner of treating such cases but there remains more blemish following cauterization than where vesication is done. open fetlock joint. this condition, because of the frequency with which it occurs may be taken as typal, from the standpoint of treatment and results obtained therefrom. while it serves to constitute a basis from which other joints, when open, are to be considered, due allowance must be made for the fact that, as has been previously mentioned, some articulations when open constitute cause for grave consequences; while with others an open capsule, even when infected, does not cause disturbance enough to be classed as difficult to handle. moreover, the fetlock joint is admirably suited, anatomically, to bandaging; and when wounded, is easily kept protected by means of surgical dressings. this fact is of great importance in influencing the course and termination in any given case of open fetlock joint and should not be forgotten. there is no logical reason for comparing the pedal joint with the pastern on the basis that it may also be completely and securely bandaged. open navicular joint does not occur, as a rule, except by way of the solar surface of the foot, and the introduction of active and virulent contagium is certain to happen; consequently, an acute synovitis quickly resulting in an intensely septic and progressively destructive arthritis soon follows in perforation of the capsule of the distal interphalangeal articulation. etiology and occurrence.--wounds of the fetlock region resulting in perforation or destruction of a part of the capsular ligament are caused by all sorts of accidents, such as wire cuts, incised wounds occasioned by plowshares, disc harrows, stalk cutters and other farming implements. in runaways the joint capsule is sometimes punctured by sharp pieces of wood or other objects. in horses driven on unpaved country roads the fetlock is occasionally wounded by being struck against the sharp end of some object, the other end of which is firmly embedded in the ground. in one instance the author treated a case wherein the fetlock joint was perforated by the sickle-guard of a self-binder. in this case there occurred complete perforation causing two openings through the _cul-de-sac_ of the joint. such wounds are produced by implements which are, to say the least, non-sterile, and this perforation of the uncleansed skin conveys infectious material into the joint capsule. yet in many instances, especially in country practice, no infectious arthritis results where cases are promptly cared for. symptomatology.--a difference in the character of symptoms is evidenced when dissimilar causes exist. small penetrant wounds which infect the synovial membranes cause infectious arthritis in some cases, whereas a wound of sufficient size to produce evacuation of all synovia will, in many instances, cause no serious distress to the subject, even when not treated for several days. if it is not evident that an open joint exists and the articular cavity is not exposed to view a positive diagnosis may be early established by carefully probing the wound. in some cases where a small wound has perforated the joint capsule, swelling and slight change of relation of the overlying tissues may preclude all successful exploratory probing. in such instances it is necessary to await development of symptoms. twenty-four hours after injury has been inflicted, there is noticeable discharge of synovia which coagulates about the margin of the orifice, where synovial discharge is possible. particularly evident is this accumulation of coagulated synovia where wounds have been bandaged--there is no mistaking the characteristic straw-colored coagulum which, in such cases, is somewhat tenacious. no difference exists between other symptoms in infectious arthritis caused by punctures, and non-infectious arthritis, excepting the intensity of the pain occasioned, the rise in temperature, circulatory disturbances, etc.; all of which have been previously mentioned. treatment.--just as has been stated in discussions on the subject of open joint, probing or other instrumentation is to be avoided until the exterior of the wound and a liberal area surrounding has been thoroughly cleansed--too much importance can not be placed on this preliminary measure. in cases of open joint where ragged wound margins exist and the interior of the joint capsule is contaminated, much time is required to thoroughly cleanse all soiled parts. in some instances an hour's time is required for this cleansing process after the subject has been restrained and prepared. in order to thoroughly cleanse these delicate structures without doing them serious injury, one ought to be skillful and careful in all manipulations of the exposed parts of the joint capsule. the general plan of treatment, after preliminary cleansing has been accomplished, has been outlined on page 66 in the consideration of scapulohumeral joint affections. the injection of undiluted tincture of iodin in ounce quantities, it must be remembered, is not to be done unless there is provision for its free exit. where good drainage from the joint cavity exists all infected wounds should be thus treated, and this treatment may be repeated as conditions seem to require--until infection is checked. if daily injections are necessary, dilution of the tincture of iodin with an equal amount of alcohol is advisable in order to avoid doing irreparable damage to the articular cartilages and synovial membranes. an antiseptic powder composed of equal parts of boric acid and exsiccated alum is employed to protect the wound surfaces and the margins, and the parts are then bandaged. in bandaging wounds of this kind a liberal amount of cotton should be employed, and after a large surface surrounding the wound has been thoroughly cleansed, it must be so kept thereafter. this is impossible, if one uses a small amount of cotton, particularly if such meager quantity of dressing material is carelessly wrapped in position with an insufficient amount of bandage material. mention, without description of the elemental problem of applying cotton and bandages to a wound, would be sufficient, were it not that this is a very important part of the handling of such cases, and many practitioners are not only thoughtless in this part of their work, but also apparently careless. what does it profit to prepare a part and cleanse a wound with painstaking care and then neglect to take every possible precaution to prevent its subsequent contamination? in the handling of open joint capsules where the perforation of the capsular ligament is small and discharge of synovia does not immediately follow, there is presented a problem which is difficult to decide upon and that is the manner in which such wounds are to be handled. one hesitates to enlarge such openings to drain or irrigate the capsule when there is no proof that serious trouble will follow because of infectious material which has probably been introduced at the time the wound was inflicted. it is especially difficult to decide upon the manner of handling such cases where the tarsal joint is wounded, although one hesitates to invade any joint to the extent of incising its capsule, unless there is urgent need of so doing. frost[19] offers the following suggestion in such instances: the treatment recommended by us for open joints, in which we wish to prevent ankylosis, is, first, to shave all hair from the area surrounding the wound, following with a thorough cleansing of the skin and disinfection of the wound, and then to inject a twenty per cent lugol's solution in glycerin into the wound. this should be repeated two or three times a day, each time enough of the solution being injected to fill the joint capsule, thereby securing the flushing effect. as this solution does not cause irritation to the tissue and yet is a strong antiseptic, it serves to shorten the period of congestion and inflammation and to overcome the infection without causing a destruction of the secreting membrane until the external wound has had time to heal. the injection of this solution seems to retard the excessive secretion of synovia. the larger the joint capsule and the smaller the external wound, the longer our antiseptic will remain in contact with the inflamed tissues as the glycerin, being thick, does not flow through a small opening. after-care.--following the initial cleansing and treatment of open joint, subsequent dressing is necessary as frequently as conditions demand. if the parts are badly infected and profuse discharge of pus exists a daily change of dressings is necessary. in the average instance, however, semi-weekly treatments are sufficient. and in many instances where one is obliged to travel a considerable distance to handle the affected animal one weekly dressing of the wound will suffice after the second treatment. the same general plan of treatment concerning the subject's comfort that has been previously mentioned in arthritis, is carried out here. a further and detailed consideration of the subject of handling of open joints follows.[20] * * * such wounds may be classified in two general groups as follows: first, wounds in which the trauma has exposed the articulation to view, and second, those the result of punctures, in which the external wound is small and free drainage is lacking. wounds in which the articulation is exposed to view have drainage either all ready provided for, or it is established without hesitancy surgically. with free drainage thus established there is little or no chance for the adjacent tissues to become infiltrated with infected wound discharge. this prevents an extension of the injury and the establishment of a good field for the growth of anaerobic bacteria. open joints caused by punctures, unless the puncture is aseptic, produce a swelling which is more painful than is the open wound which exposes the joint to view. especially is this true if the puncture is of small diameter, allowing the tissues to partially close the opening immediately after the wound has been made. where drainage is lacking there follows an exudation which congests the tissues surrounding the injury and all factors favoring germ growth are present. it is perhaps advisable to establish good drainage in such cases as soon as a diagnosis is made. it is not always an easy matter to recognize an open-joint, when first made, but twelve to twenty-four hours later there is no cause for doubt. the condition is then a very painful one; lameness is excessive; there is rise in temperature; acceleration of the pulse and manipulation or palpation of the region affected, occasions great pain. the treatment of open joints must be varied to suit the disposition of the animal, the nature and location of the injury, the length of time intervening between the infliction of the wound and the first attention given, and the surroundings in which the patient is kept. in each and every case in which there exists an open wound the surface surrounding the wound is cleansed thoroughly, the hair is shaved if possible, and the margin of the wound is curretted and cleansed thoroughly with antiseptic solutions. if there is evidence that the articulation contains infective material, it is washed out with copious quantities of peroxide of hydrogen--usually as much as six or eight ounces. this is followed by injection of an ounce or two of tincture of iodin. even though the joint appears to be clean some tincture of iodin is used, as it checks the secretion of synovia and is, in every way, beneficial. care is taken to apply the iodin also to the surface immediately surrounding the wound. the entire wound is then covered with a dusting powder composed of zinc oxide, boric acid, exsiccated alum, phenol and camphor. this powder is used in abundance and the wound is then covered with a heavy layer of absorbent cotton and well bandaged. this bandage is not disturbed for at least three days and may be left in place for a week. in cases in which it is necessary to keep the dressing on for a week, or in cases where the patient is, through necessity, kept in quarters that are wet or unclean, the first bandage is covered with a layer of oakum which has been saturated in oil of tar and this in turn is held in place by means of several layers of bandages. the bandages are also saturated with oil of tar. in from one to two months wounds so treated, unless they are foot-wounds, will be ready to dress without being bandaged. it is ordinarily unnecessary to dress foot-wounds oftener than every second week after the discharge of synovia has ceased. when the wound has filled with granulation, a protective dressing is applied which is rendered water proof by the use of bandages covered with oil of tar. the patient can now be turned out for a month or six weeks without disturbing the dressing. after the removal of the bandages, the only treatment necessary is an occasional application of some mildly antiseptic ointment. except in nail pricks of the foot, occasioned by punctures, a five per cent tincture of iodin is injected into open joints, if the wound remains sufficiently open, and this treatment is continued so long as there is a discharge of synovia. surgical drainage is established if it is considered practicable and the remainder of the treatment is about the same as for wounds which are open. open joints occur in horses at pasture and are sometimes not discovered until several days or a week after the injury, and in some instances the wounds are filled with maggots. the only difference in the treatment of these cases is that more time and care is taken in cleansing the wound, more curetting is necessary, and after cleansing the wound with peroxide of hydrogen, the joint is thoroughly washed out with equal parts of tincture of iodin and chloroform. this is followed by the injection of a quantity of seventy-five percent alcohol and the wound is dressed and bandaged as already described. at each subsequent dressing of infected wounds so treated less suppuration is noticed and the synovial discharge usually ceases in from one to two months. about _ninety percent of all cases of open joint make complete recoveries_, about four per cent partially recover and six per cent are fatal. among the fatal cases are the open joints with complications as severed tendons, those occasioned by calk wounds in horses that are stabled, and nail punctures of the feet. the following report of twelve favorable cases is taken from a record of sixty-two cases. the favorable ones are reported, chiefly because there are now enough reports on record of such cases which have terminated fatally. case 1.--a gray gelding used as a saddle pony received a horizontal wire cut laying completely bare the scapulohumeral articulation. the margins of the wound were cleansed as heretofore described, a drainage was provided surgically, tincture of iodin was injected and the wound was covered with equal parts of boric acid and exsiccated alum. the horse was kept tied and a diluted tincture of iodin was injected into the wound once daily and the powder applied often enough to keep the wound covered. the case made a complete recovery and the pony was again in service within sixty days. case 2.--a twelve-hundred-pound bay mare with an open carpal joint. the wound was an open one about two and one-half inches in length, and made transversely and when the member was flexed the articular surface of the carpal bones were presented to view. an ounce of tincture of iodin was injected into this joint after having cleansed the margin of the wound and the mare was cross-tied in a single stall to keep her from lying down. the owner was instructed to keep the outside of the wound powdered with air slaked lime and a very unfavorable prognosis was given. i heard nothing further from this case until fifty-nine days from the date of the injury, when i met the owner driving this mare to a buggy. the wound had healed by first intention and at that time so little cicatrix remained that it was difficult to find it. case 3.--a brown mare with an open fetlock joint due to a spike-nail puncture. lameness was excessive, and joint greatly swollen. tincture of iodin was injected into the wound and towels dipped in hot antiseptic solutions were applied for several hours daily until the acute stage had passed. later the mare was turned out to pasture and a vesicant was applied once or twice a month until recovery was complete which was in about six months. case 4.--a four-year-old bay mare having a wire-cut which opened the tarsus joint was treated as heretofore described. the wound was kept bandaged for about two weeks and later it was dressed without being bandaged. in ninety days she had completely recovered. case 5.--a twelve-year-old mare with an open fetlock joint due to a puncture wound. the margins of the wound were cleansed and the external wound enlarged to facilitate drainage. tincture of iodin was injected; the wound was bandaged and dressed for a month in the manner heretofore described, when all discharge had stopped. a vesicant was applied; the mare was put to pasture and within sixty days from the date of the injury she was being driven on short trips. case 6.--a two-year-old brown gelding with a wire-cut on the left front foot. the wound extended down through the sole and opened the navicular joint. this colt was very wild and it was necessary to tie it down each time the wound was dressed. the wound was dressed weekly for a month and less frequently thereafter. it was handled eight times; the last dressing was left in place until worn out. six months later the colt was practically well, a very little lameness being shown when walking on frozen ground. case 7.--a seven-year-old saddle-horse weighing eleven hundred and fifty pounds received a wound of the tarsus, laying bare the articular surfaces of a part of the joint. it was impossible to keep this wound bandaged because of the restless disposition of the subject. injections of a dilute tincture of iodin were employed every second or third day for a month and the wound was kept covered with the antiseptic dusting powder referred to heretofore. in five months complete recovery had taken place, with the exception of a stubborn skin disturbance which was successfully treated six months after the wound was inflicted. the horse is still in use and is absolutely free from lameness. case 8.--a two-year-old brown gelding with a wire-wound opening the scapulohumeral joint. this wound was large enough to expose to view the articular portion of the humerus. the same treatment as that given case no. one was instituted and in ninety days the colt was practically well. case 9.--a three-year-old bay filly was found at pasture with one fore foot badly injured. the owner intended to destroy her, but a neighbor prevailed upon him to have her treated. apparently the wound was of about a week's standing and in a very bad condition, filled with maggots and dirt. both the navicular and coronary articulations were open. this wound was cleansed in the usual manner and the owner cared for the case the balance of the time because the distance from my office was too great to give her personal attention. she made an almost complete recovery in five months. case 10.--at two-year-old mule with an open navicular joint due to a barbed wire wound. usual care was given this case and in five months recovery was complete and little scar is to be seen. this case received seven treatments. case 11.--an eighteen-months-old colt at pasture was found down and unable to rise without help. in addition to several wounds of lesser importance there was a large wound on the inner side of the elbow, the joint was open and the entire leg was greatly swollen and in a state of acute infectious inflammation. the colt could not walk, its temperature was 105â°, pulse was rapid and respiration was a little hurried. after advising the owner to put the poor animal out of its misery i left the place. four days later the owner came to my office and asked if he could borrow some old shears to "trim off some loose hide from that colt." he left the colt in the pasture and all the care it received was the regular application of a proprietary dusting powder. it made a complete recovery. case 12.--a family mare, heavy in foal, received a vertical wound of the fetlock joint inflicted by a disc-harrow. the _cul-de-sac_ of the ligament of this joint was opened freely. the wound was dressed in the usual manner and again three days later when no suppuration had taken place. four days later the patient gave birth to a colt and suckled it right along through her convalescence. this wound healed by first intention and seventy-nine days from the date of the injury the mare was driven to town, two and one-half miles distant, and showed but little lameness. phalangeal exostosis (ringbone) this term is applied to exostoses involving the first and second phalanges (suffraginis and corona), regardless of their size, extent or location. it is a misnomer, in a sense, and the veterinarian is frequently obliged to spend considerable time with his clients in order to convince them that a spherodial exostosis of the proximal phalanx, in certain cases, is in reality "ringbone," even though there exists no exostosis which completely encircles the affected bone. etiology and occurrence.--exostosis of the first and second phalanges is usually due to some form of injury, whether it be a contusion, a lacerated wound which damages the periosteum, or periostititis and osteitis incited by concussions of locomotion, or ligamentous strain. practically the only exception is in the rachitic form of ringbone which affects young animals. there are predisposing causes that merit consideration, chief among which is the normal conformation of the coronet joint. this proclivity is constant; the normal interphalangeal articulation is an incomplete ginglymoid joint and while its dorso-volar diameter is great, this in no wise compensates for its disproportionately narrow transverse diameter. the pivotal strain which is sometimes thrown upon this articulation when an animal turns on one foot, as well as the tension which is put on the collateral ligaments when the inner or the outer quarter of the foot rests in a depression of the road surface, tends to detach the insertion of these ligaments or to cause fibrillary fractures of their substance. short, upright, pasterns receive greater concussion during fast travel on hard roads than do the longer more sloping and well formed extremities. those who are advocates of the theory that this type of osteitis with its complications has its origin in the articular portion of the joint, claim that the upright pastern constitutes an important tendency toward ringbone. howbeit, ringbone is an active, serious and frequent cause of lameness and it affects animals of all ages and occurs under various conditions. horses having good conformation and kept at work wherein no great amount of strain is put upon these parts, are occasionally victims of this affection. classification.--the arrangement employed by moller[21] is intensely practical and logical. he considers ringbone as _articular_, _periarticular_, _rachitic_ and _traumatic_. a mode of classification that is common and in a practical way, good, is, high and low ringbone. when prognosis is considered, for instance, it is very convenient to state that the chances for recovery are much better in high ringbone than in low ringbone. the classification of mã¶ller will be followed here. [illustration: fig. 17--phalangeal exostoses.] symptomatology.--in all forms of incipient ringbone except rachitic, the first manifestation of its existence, or of injury to the ligaments in the region of the pastern joint which causes periostitis, or affections of the articular portions of the proximal inter-phalangeal joint, is lameness. lameness which typifies ringbone is of the supporting-leg variety and by compelling the subject to step from side to side, marked flinching is observed, especially in periarticular ringbone; causing the affected animal to turn abruptly on the diseased member, using it as a pivot, likewise accentuates the manifestation. in fact, many subjects that exhibit no evidence of locomotory impediment while walking or trotting in a straight line on a smooth road surface, will manifest the characteristic form of lameness from ringbone when the aforementioned side to side movement is performed. when the manner in which pain is occasioned is considered, it will be understood why lameness is intermittent in the early stages of this affection and may even be unnoticed by the driver. an animal may travel on a smooth road without giving evidence of any inconvenience, but as soon as a rough and irregular pavement or road surface is reached, will limp. as the subject is driven farther on level streets the lameness may disappear. this intermittent type of lameness may continue until there is developed a large exostosis, or until articular involvement causes so much distress during locomotion that lameness is constant. on the other hand, resolution may occur during the stage of periosteal inflammation, or, an exostosis forms which causes no interference with function. [illustration: fig. 18--rarefying osteitis in chronic ringbone and ossification of lateral cartilages.] before there is evidence of an exostosis, diagnosis of ringbone is not easy, for it is then a problem of detecting the presence of a ligamentous sprain, periostitis, or osteitis. the diagnostician should take note of local manifestations of hypersensitiveness, or heat if such exist, and, in addition, other conditions must be excluded before definite conclusions are possible. in _articular_ ringbone as soon as there is developed an exostosis, it occupies a position on the dorsal (anterior) part of the articulation and extends around the sides of the joint. _periarticular_ ringbone is characterized by exostoses which are situated on the sides of the phalanges and not extending around to the anterior part of the joint. this type of ringbone as well as the articular may occur "high" or "low." [illustration: fig. 19--phalangeal exostoses in chronic ringbone. museum specimen of the kansas city veterinary college.] with the _traumatic_ form of ringbone, all consequences, as to the size and form the exostosis is to assume, depend upon the nature and extent of the injury. _rachitic_ ringbone is frequently observed in some sections of the country and does not ordinarily cause much if any lameness. it is a disease of colts and may affect one or all of the phalanges at the same time. as the subject advances in age there is more or less diminution in the size of the enlargements. treatment.--rest is essential in the treatment of ringbone. if diagnosed during its incipiency, remedial measures such as are usually employed to treat sprains, are indicated and later the parts should be blistered. when an exostosis has developed puncture firing is the remedy _par excellence_. not that this method of treatment is infallible, for to any thinking one who takes into consideration the pathological anatomy of this condition, it is evident that no manner of treatment is beneficial in some cases. if the exostosis is so situated that it does not mechanically interfere with function, and is not so large that it may inhibit flexion and extension, and where the articular portions of the joint are not eroded, good results attend the use of the actual cautery. in firing, after having anesthetized the extremity, and prepared the surgical area, the cautery is deeply inserted in numerous places, taking care, however, not to open the joint. the parts are immediately covered with aseptic absorbent cotton and this dressing is left in position for forty-eight hours and if perchance there is evidence of synovial discharge, the parts are again aseptically dressed in order to prevent infection of the articulation. if, as is the case usually, no perforation of the joint capsule exists, the openings made by the cautery have been closed by the coagulation of serum and there is then little chance of infection causing trouble, even though the member is left unbandaged. in several instances, the author has treated ringbone by this method where the periarticular type existed and lameness was marked, and in three weeks the subjects were in service and not lame--this, in one instance in a valuable polo pony where the subject continued in service for more than a year without any evidence of recurrence of the lameness. the production of a deep-seated and acute inflammation with the actual cautery is preferable to any sort of counter-irritation which may be produced by vesicants. there is no occasion for any difference in the treatment of either of the first three classes of ringbone, but in the rachitic type where treatment is given, the application of a vesicant is all that is required. in most instances treatment is not necessary. the affected animals require a month to three months' time for recovery to take place in the average favorable cases of ringbone. median neurectomy is of service in many instances where lameness is not completely relieved by the use of the actual cautery and no bad results attend the performance of this operation even though no benefit is derived thereby. plantar neurectomy is contraindicated in all cases where there exists much lameness. if lameness is due to acute inflammation bad results such as sloughing and loss of the hoof may follow; and if large exostoses mechanically interfere with function of the joint, or where articular erosions exist, no possible good can come from neurectomy. careful discrimination should be employed in selecting cases for neurectomy for this operation; otherwise, it is very likely to prove disappointing. open sheath of the flexors of the phalanges. this condition does not differ from a like affection involving other tendons except that the function of these tendons is such that large synovial sheaths are necessary, and when synovitis exists, the condition then becomes more serious. infectious synovitis involving these tendons in the fetlock region is of more frequent occurrence than a like affection of carpal or tarsal sheaths. with the exception of the extent of the involvement and distress occasioned thereby, synovitis the result of open tendon sheaths, is similar wherever it occurs. etiology.--the same conditions which are responsible for open fetlock joint and other wounds of the pastern region, cause open tendon sheaths of the flexor tendons. symptomatology.--because of the size and extent of this sheath and the different manner in which it is opened, there is manifested dissimilar symptoms in different cases. a nail puncture which perforates the sheath in the pastern region and at the same time produces an infectious synovitis, will cause a markedly different manifestation than will a wound which freely opens the sheath above the fetlock. in the first instance, the condition is much more painful; swelling is intense in some cases; and if the subject does not possess sufficient resistance so that spontaneous resolution promptly occurs, surgical evacuation of pus is usually necessary. when these tendon sheaths are opened, there follows a reaction which is quite analogous to that which exists in arthritic synovitis, but instead of ankylosis, adhesions with thecal obliteration occur. rarely there result cartilaginous and osseous formations. the constitutional disturbances which characterize this condition vary with the degree of distress occasioned. as the infection is virulent and causes serious destruction of the affected parts, so does evidence of malaise and finally distress appear. detailed discussions of symptomatology in similar conditions have heretofore been given, and further repetition is unnecessary. treatment.--the same general plan of treatment which is employed for handling open joint is put in practice in these cases. following the preoperative cleansing of the external wound and adjacent surfaces, where liberal drainage exists, tincture of iodin is injected into the sheath, the parts covered with a suitable dressing powder, and the entire member is carefully dressed with cotton and bandages. subsequent treatment is the same as has been outlined in the discussion of open fetlock joint on page 112. the same general plan of after-care is necessary. recovery, however, does not require so much time ordinarily, yet punctures of the sheath occasioned by nails or other small implements make for long drawn out cases of infective synovitis. luxation of the fetlock joint. etiology and occurrence.--the manner of construction of the fetlock joint is such that disarticulation without irreparable injury resulting, is practically impossible. logically, this joint in the fore legs (not so in the pelvic limbs) should disarticulate in such manner that either all of the inhibitory apparatus (flexor tendons and suspensory ligament) must rupture or a lateral luxation is necessary. lateral disarticulation must necessarily sever the attachment of one of the common collateral ligaments. because of the width (transverse diameter) of the articulating surfaces of this joint, lateral luxation requires a great strain; and a force that is sufficient to occasion this trauma usually causes serious additional injury. therefore, the condition is considered one wherein prognosis is always unfavorable in so far as practical methods of treatment are concerned. mr. a. barbier[22] reports a case of bilateral luxation of the fetlock joints of the hind legs in a horse. this was done in jumping, and the extensor tendon of each leg was ruptured and the anterior portion of the metatarsus was protruding through the skin. profuse hemorrhage had taken place due to tearing of the blood vessels. symptomatology.--entire luxation of this joint when present is so evident that one cannot fail to recognize the condition. complete disarrangement of normal relation occurs and there is either a breaking down of the inhibitory apparatus, or if a lateral disarticulation exists, the normally straight line formed by the bones of the front leg, as viewed from the front or rear, is broken at the fetlock. often fracture of bones are concomitant and then, of course, mobility is increased and not decreased as is the case in uncomplicated luxation. such violence occurs at times, when this joint is disarticulated, that the joint capsule is also completely ruptured and the articular portion of the bones is exposed to view. treatment.--the condition being practically a hopeless one, destruction of the subject is the thing which should be promptly done. in valuable breeding animals, owners may prefer that treatment be attempted when a lateral luxation and detachment of but one common ligament have permitted luxation without complete disarticulation and rupture of the joint capsule. in such cases, by immobilizing the affected parts as in fracture, and confining the subject in a sling for about sixty days, partial recovery may occur in some instances. experience has shown that where luxation with detachment of a collateral ligament occurs, recovery is slow and incomplete--there always results considerable exostosis at the site of injury. sesamoiditis. etiology and occurrence.--inflammation of the proximal sesamoid bones is caused by any kind of irritation which may involve this part of the inhibitory apparatus. positioned as they are, between the bifurcations of the suspensory ligament and the pastern joint, they serve as fulcra and effectively assist in minimizing concussion which is received by the suspensory ligament. the flexor tendons also, in contracting, exert strain upon the inter-sesamoidean ligament, which has a similar effect upon the sesamoid bones as that which is produced by the suspensory ligament. the condition occurs quite frequently, and because of the important function performed by these bones, active inflammation of the sesamoids constitutes a serious affection. because of the fact that these bones have proportionately large articular surfaces, when they are inflamed to the extent that degenerative changes affect the articular cartilage, complete recovery seldom results. the same pathological changes occur here that are to be seen in any case of arthritis. no special pathological condition characterizes sesamoiditis but this condition causes incurable lameness when the sesamoid bones are much inflamed. symptomatology.--in acute inflammation, there exist all the symptoms which portray any arthritic inflammation of like character. the parts are readily palpable and are found to be hot, supersensitive, and more or less infiltration of the tissues contiguous to the joint causes swelling. there is volar flexion of the phalanges when the subject is at rest. lameness is intense; in some acute inflammatory disturbances the subject is unable to bear weight on the affected member. in chronic sesamoiditis, constant lameness is the one salient feature which marks the condition. while it is possible for one sesamoid bone to become involved without its fellow being affected, this is not usual. considerable organization of tissue surrounding the joint is present and no particular evidence of supersensitiveness exists. however, supporting weight brings sufficient pressure to bear upon the inflamed and more or less eroded bones so that pain is occasioned and lameness results. treatment.--during acute inflammation, absolute quiet is, of course, of first consideration. cold packs are to be kept in contact with the parts until acute inflammatory symptoms subside. the fetlock region is then enveloped with a poultice or an iodin and glycerin combination (iodin one part to seven parts of glycerin) is applied and a dressing of cotton is kept in contact with the inflamed region. following this, a vesicant is employed and the subject is allowed a month's rest. in sub-acute cases, the entire region surrounding the pastern is blistered or the actual cautery is used. line-firing is preferable. the subject is given a month or six weeks rest and one may be guided by the presence or absence of lameness as to whether improvement or recovery is taking place. old chronic cases, and particularly those where there are considerable induration and fibrous organization of tissue surrounding the joint, are not to be benefited by treatment. the chief consideration in handling sesamoiditis is checking inflammation as early as possible and preventing, if this can be done, the erosion of articular surfaces. if destruction of any part of the articular surfaces can be prevented and the patient allowed ample time for complete resolution of the affected parts to occur, permanent relief is possible. fracture of the proximal sesamoids. etiology and occurrence.--fracture of the proximal sesamoid bones is caused by violent strain when there exists _fragilitas osseum_, or by contusions. the author treated a case where fracture of one sesamoid was occasioned by a horse receiving a puncture wound wherein the sharp end of a steel bar was protruding from the ground where it was firmly embedded. the subject in this case was injured while being driven along a country road. frost[23] reports simultaneous fracture of all of the proximal sesamoids occurring in a sixteen-year-old pony. the condition is of rather common occurrence in some countries because of the fragile condition of horses' bones. symptomatology.--if the parts can be examined before extravasation of blood and swelling mask the condition, crepitation may be detected. in other instances, it is possible to note a displacement of parts of the sesamoid bones--this in horizontal fracture. there occurs more or less descent of the fetlock which must not be attributed to rupture of the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus). by outlining the course of this tendon with the fingers, when it is passively tensed sufficiently to follow its course, one may exclude rupture of the superficial flexor. finding the suspensory ligament intact from its origin to the sesamoid attachments, one may also eliminate rupture of this structure as a cause of the trouble. needless to say, marked lameness and swelling of the fetlock soon take place. the condition is painful, and ordinarily, recovery is impossible. treatment.--where treatment is attempted, immobilization as in luxation is in order. the patient's comfort is sought, and if the fractured parts can be kept in close proximity, their union may occur in time. however, chances for partial recovery (which is the best to be hoped for) are so remote that early destruction of the subject is the humane and economical thing to do. where treatment is instituted, it is found that there is required a long time for union of the fractured bones to occur (where union does take place) and the cost of treatment together with the uncertainty of even partial recovery, makes for an unfavorable outcome. when the best possible results succeed treatment, a large callosity is formed and movement of the pastern joint is restricted. lameness, though not intense, in the case referred to, where one bone was broken, was permanent and the subject was out of service for nearly a year. inflammation of the posterior ligaments of the pastern (proximal interphalangeal) joint. anatomy.--the ligaments here involved are the four volar ligaments described by sisson[24] as follows: "the _volar ligaments_ (ligg volaria) consist of a central pair and a lateral and medial bands which are attached below to the posterior margin of the proximal end of the second phalanx and its complementary fibro-cartilage. the lateral and medial ligaments are attached above to the middle of the borders of the first phalanx, the central pair lower down and on the margin of the triangular rough area." this portion of the inhibitory apparatus is described by strangeways' anatomy as two posterior ligaments which run each from three points on the sides of the os suffraginis to a piece of fibro cartilage, described as the glenoid cartilage, and attached to the postero-superior edge of the os coronae; between them is the insertion of the inferior sesamoidean ligament. etiology and occurrence.--everything tending to increase strain upon these ligaments is contributory to possible fibrillary fracture of these structures. excessive leverage as furnished by long toes, long toe-calks and low heels increases the normal tension on the posterior ligaments of the pastern joint. faulty conformation, which throws an abnormal strain on these ligaments, is a predisposing cause of inflammation of these structures. hard pulling upon slippery and rough or frozen roads is a common exciting cause of this injury. the condition is of comparatively frequent occurrence and is seen affecting draft horses frequently, in the hind legs. symptomatology.--lameness is the first manifestation of this affection and weight bearing is painful in direct proportion to the extent of injury present. volar flexion of the phalanges relieves tension on the parts; therefore, this position is assumed while the subject is at rest. when considerable tissue has been ruptured, and the condition is very painful, the foot is held off the ground as in all painful affections of the extremity. by palpation evidence of pain is discernible, though very little swelling occurs. pain is increased by manual tension of the parts which is done by grasping the toe of the foot and exerting traction on the flexor apparatus. care must be taken in executing such manipulations, and it is only by comparison of the affected member with the sound one and noting the difference in the manifestations of discomfort that we may arrive at the proper conclusion. some hyperthermia is to be recognized in acute inflammation, by comparing the extremities. in the fore legs, navicular disease is differentiated by noting absence of contraction at the heel. by use of the hoof testers one may recognize evidence of inflammation of the navicular apparatus. in inflammation of the posterior ligaments of the pastern joint, there is also absence of the characteristic stumbling which is seen in navicular disease. treatment.--rest is the first requisite, and in addition every mechanical means possible to change the center of gravity in the phalangeal region, is to be employed. this is best accomplished by shortening the toe and paring the sole at the toe as much as conditions will permit. the heel is raised by means of a shoe with moderately high heel calks. the iodin-glycerin combination heretofore mentioned may be applied and the parts covered with cotton and bandage. subjects require from three weeks to several months' rest and must be returned to work carefully, lest the incompletely regenerated tissues suffer injury. regeneration of tissue in such cases, as has been pointed out, is slow and sufficient time for complete recovery must be allowed or relapses will occur. fracture of the first and second phalanges. etiology and occurrence.--fractures of the first phalanx (suffraginis) occur with respect to frequency, second to pelvic fractures. often, almost insignificant injuries cause phalangeal fractures. on city streets, horses shod with shoes having long calks get caught in frogs of street railways or by slipping on rails, and phalangeal bones are often broken. the author observed a case of comminuted fracture of both the first and second phalanges (suffraginis and corona) in a polo pony caused by making a sudden turn while in action in a contest on the turf. symptomatology.--fracture of the phalanges is nearly always signalized by lameness, and this is marked during the period of weight bearing. lameness is usually intense and where the pathognomonic symptom (crepitation) is not recognized, the intensity of the claudication, when other causes are absent, is indicative of fracture. the subject does not bear weight upon the affected member and where pain is intense, the foot is held in an elevated position and swung back and forth. in hind legs the member is often flexed in abduction and held in this position for several minutes, being rested on the ground only during short intervals. when compelled to walk, if pain is excruciating, the animal hops with the sound leg, no weight being supported by the fractured member. when an examination of the subject is possible before the extremity is swollen, crepitation is usually found without great difficulty, except in a subperiosteal break or in some cases of vertical or oblique fracture. great care is necessary in handling the injured extremity in these cases, and particularly in nervous subjects or in excited animals that have been recently injured in runaways, is it necessary to be gentle in manipulating the extremity, if definite deductions are to be made. as has been mentioned in the chapter on diagnostic principles, if the condition is so painful that the subject does not relax the parts and crepitation is masked, local anesthesia is necessary. an anesthetic solution of cocain or novocain may be applied to the metacarpal or metatarsal nerves and an entirely satisfactory examination is then possible. passive movement of the phalanges in all directions is practised in order to produce crepitation. when rotation of the parts does not occasion crepitation, gentle flexion and extension may do so. and in many instances, considerable manipulation of the phalanges is necessary before the pathognomonic symptom is to be recognized. in cases where crepitation is not found and lameness is pronounced, out of proportion with other possible existing causes, one may by exclusion of other causes establish a diagnosis of fracture in the course of forty-eight hours. in the meanwhile, support is given the affected member by applying an effective leather splint, so that pain may be diminished. to combat inflammation, a suitable cataplasm may be applied directly to the skin, the extremity bandaged, and the temporary immobilizing appliance may be secured over all. in this manner one may make repeated examinations of the subject, and if slings are used and every other necessary precaution taken to promote comfort for the subject, no harm will result in delaying for several days the application of permanent immobilization--bandages and splints or casts. in fact, where much swelling exists at the time one is called to treat such cases, it is advisable to delay the application of a permanent dressing or cast until inflammation has somewhat subsided. course and prognosis.--where conditions are favorable, the nature of the fracture one that will yield to treatment, the subject not aged, and facilities for giving good attention to the affected animal are ample, fractures of the first and second phalanges recover completely in from six weeks to four months. only simple fractures are considered curable from a practical and economical point of view, excepting in foals, where compound, and even comminuted, fractures may be so handled that animals may eventually become serviceable though blemished. age retards the process of osseous regeneration, but in one instance at the kansas city veterinary college, a very aged mare suffering from a multiple fracture of the first phalanx was treated and at the end of sixty days was able to walk into an ambulance. large exostoses had developed and the subject remained lame, but union of the broken bone took place in a surprisingly prompt and effective manner, when age of the subject and nature of the fracture are considered. as a rule, one is loath to recommend treatment, even in a simple transverse fracture of the first phalanx, in animals ten years of age or older. the conditions which exist in any given locality that regulate the expense of caring for an animal during the period of treatment, especially influence the course to be pursued in treating fractures. treatment.--for permanent immobilization of the phalanges in fracture, materials which might adapt themselves to the irregular contour of the member and at the same time contribute sufficient rigidity to the parts without doing injury to the soft structures, would constitute ideal means of treatment; but no such materials have yet been devised, and opinions are various as to the most efficient and practical method to employ. after the fetlock has been shorn of hair and the ergot trimmed, the skin is thoroughly cleansed and allowed to dry. several thin layers of long fiber cotton are then wrapped around the extremity--enough to pad well the member--and this is retained in position with a wide bandage. gauze bandages are preferable to heavier bandages of cotton fabric because they are somewhat more elastic and yield to the irregular contour of the parts to a better advantage. layers of three inch gauze bandages, which are soaked with a cold starch paste are wound about the extremity. strips of leather that are flexible and not more than an inch in width are placed in a vertical position around the leg and these are also covered with the starch and securely held in position with the bandages. in this way, one is able to provide a sufficient degree of rigidity and at the same time, where the cast is carefully applied, little if any injury is done the skin. such a cast is not difficult to remove and is so inexpensive that it may be removed and reapplied at any time it should be thought preferable to do so. of course, this does not constitute an effective means of support if the parts are to be frequently and thoroughly soaked with water, but animals undergoing this sort of treatment are usually kept sheltered. the same after-care is necessary in such cases as is given in fractures of other bones. two months after the injury has been done, the application of a blistering ointment to the entire region is of benefit. results.--much depends on the nature of fractures as to the success one may attain in approximating the parts of a broken bone, and in some cases of oblique fracture for instance, complete recovery is impossible, despite the most skillful and painstaking attention given. on the other hand, cases of simple transverse fractures make perfect recoveries in some instances. all fractures are serious, and in every instance the practitioner would best be careful to impress his client with the many difficulties which usually attend the treatment of fracture in horses. tendinitis. inflammation of the flexor tendons. one of the most common causes of lameness in light harness and saddle horses is tendinitis, and because of the character of the structure of tendons and because of their function, an active inflammation of these parts is always serious. being almost inelastic and not well supplied with blood, tendinous tissue is slowly regenerated, and so much time is required for complete recovery to take place in tendinitis, that affected animals seldom fully recover before they are in service or vigorously exercising at will. as a result, complete recovery is delayed or prevented. the extensor tendons, because of the nature of their function, are very seldom strained; they are often bruised and occasionally divided, but unlike this condition in the flexors, tendinitis of the extensors is of rare occurrence. for a concise discussion of this subject the most practical classification is one made on a chronological basis and we may then consider tendinitis as _acute_ and _chronic_. acute tendinitis. etiology and occurrence.--causes of tendinitis, as in almost all diseases, may be considered under the heads of predisposing and exciting. among the predisposing causes of tendinitis may be mentioned, faulty conformation. everything which has to do with increasing the strain upon tendons adds to the probability of their being over-taxed. long, sloping, pastern bones; disproportionate development of parts, such as a heavy body and small, weak tendons and long hoofs, are the principal factors which usually predispose to tendinous sprains. degenerative changes which take place in tendons following constitutional diseases such as influenza may also be classed as a predisposing cause. excessive strain when put upon tendons in any possible manner, such as is occasioned in running and jumping; making missteps and catching up the weight of the body with one foot, when the force thus thrown upon the supporting structure is great because of momentum gained at a rapid pace, are exciting causes of tendinitis. symptomatology.--in all cases of acute tendinitis there is presented a characteristic attitude by the subject. volar flexion in a sufficient degree to relax the inflamed structures is always evident. the foot may be rested on the toe or placed slightly in advance of the one supporting weight, but the fetlock is always thrown forward. more or less swelling of the inflamed tendons is present. where the deep flexor (perforans) is involved swelling is marked and with swelling there is present the other symptoms of inflammation--heat and supersensitiveness. in manipulating tendons for the purpose of detecting supersensitiveness, care must be taken so that no false conclusion be drawn, because of the aversion many horses have to submitting to palpation of the tendons even when they are in a normal condition. supporting-leg-lameness is present and varies in degree with the intensity of the pain caused by weight bearing. in many instances, as soon as the subject has traveled a considerable distance, lameness diminishes or discontinues. as soon as the affected animal is permitted to stand long enough to "cool out" there is a return of the lameness, which is then marked. no difficulty is encountered in making a practical diagnosis in tendinitis; that is, one may fail to readily recognize the extent of the involvement as it affects the superficial flexor tendon, for instance, but this has no practical bearing on the prognosis and treatment, when existing inflammation of the deep flexor is recognized. the course of each tendon is readily outlined by palpation; all parts are easily manipulated; and with experience one may readily recognize the extent and degree of the inflammation. treatment.--in some cases of acute tendinitis, pain is intense and the application of cold packs during this stage is very beneficial in that pain is controlled and inflammation subsides. the extremity may be bandaged with a liberal quantity of absorbent cotton or with woolen material. ice water is then poured around the bandaged member every fifteen minutes and this should be continued for about forty-eight hours. in some cases this treatment is not necessary for more than twelve hours; at the end of this length of time, pain has subsided and the acute stage of inflammation has passed or its intensity has been diminished. following the application of cold packs, the use of a poultice such as some of the sterile, medicated muds, is of marked benefit. the author has made use of tincture of iodin and glycerin in the proportion of one part of iodin to seven parts glycerin, with very satisfactory results. this combination is hygroscopic, anodyne and antiseptic and is easily applied. a liberal quantity is directly applied all around the affected tendons and the leg covered with a heavy layer of cotton, and this is snugly held in position with bandages. the application may be used once or twice daily, or if it is thought necessary, an attendant may pour a quantity of the iodized-glycerin around the leg and under the bandage once daily without removing the cotton and bandage. needless to say, absolute rest is imperative. when all evidence of acute inflammation has subsided vesication is indicated. at this stage walking exercise is beneficial and the subject may be allowed the freedom of a paddock. some practitioners are partial to the use of the actual cautery in these cases, but it is doubtful if it is necessary to produce such a great degree of counter-irritation in cases where the subject is suffering the first attack of tendinitis. as has been indicated, ample time should be allowed for recovery and depending upon conditions, it takes from three weeks to six months for complete recovery to become established. chronic tendinitis and contraction of the flexor tendons. etiology and occurrence.--acute inflammation of the flexor tendons may result in chronic tendinitis. recurrent attacks in cases where insufficient time is allowed for complete recovery to result, is followed by chronic inflammation and hypertrophy of the tendons. again, in subjects where conformation is faulty, no amount of care will be sufficient to prevent a recurrence of the inflammation and the condition must become chronic. symptomatology.--on visual examination of the subject at rest, one may note the hypertrophied condition of the affected tendons. their transverse diameter is usually perceptibly increased and in many cases, there is an increase in the antero-posterior diameter. the latter condition causes a bulging of the tendon that is so noticeable, because of the convexity thus formed, it is commonly known as "bowed tendon." [illustration: fig. 20--contraction of the superficial digital flexor tendon (perforatus) of the right hind leg, due to tendinitis.] in chronic tendinitis there occurs repeated attacks of inflammation wherein lameness is pronounced and there exists in reality, at such times, acute inflammation of a hypertrophic structure, where at no time does inflammation completely subside. therefore, in chronic tendinitis there is to be found at times the same conditions which characterize acute inflammation, except that there is usually a variance of symptoms because of the difference in the degree of inflammation and pain. the diagnosis of contraction of tendons is an easy matter because of the fact that relations between the phalanges are constantly changed with tendinous contraction. if one bears in mind the attachments and function of the digital flexors, no difficulty is encountered in recognizing contraction of either tendon. contraction of the superficial digital flexor (perforatus), when uncomplicated, is characterized by volar flexion of the pastern joint. the foot is flat on the ground and the heel is not raised because the superficial flexor tendon does not have its insertion to the distal phalanx (os pedis) and therefore can not affect the position of the foot. by causing the subject to stand on the affected member, one may outline the course of the flexor tendons by palpation, and in this way recognize any lack of tenseness or contraction of tendons or of the suspensory ligament. [illustration: fig. 21--contraction of the deep flexor tendon (perforans) of the right hind leg, due to tendinitis.] contraction of the suspensory ligament would cause the pastern joint to assume the same position as is occasioned by contraction of the superficial digital flexor (perforatus) tendon, but when the subject is bearing weight on the affected member, it is easy to determine that no contraction of the suspensory ligament exists, by noting an absence of abnormal tenseness of this structure. and finally, contraction of the suspensory ligament is of rare occurrence. contraction of the deep flexor tendon (perforans) causes an elevation of the heel. the foot can not set flat because the insertion of the deep flexor tendon to the solar surface of the distal phalanx (os pedis) causes when the tendon is contracted--a rotation of the distal phalanx on its transverse axis--hence the raised heel. no other tendon has this same effect on the distal phalanx and the condition is correctly diagnosed without difficulty. [illustration: fig. 22--a chronic case of contraction of both flexor tendons of the phalanges. in this case (presented at a clinic of the kansas city veterinary college) because of long continued contraction of the flexors, which prevented weight being supported with any degree of comfort, there resulted a partial paralysis of the extensors, and consequently the extremity was dragged on the ground.] course and complications.--this condition may exist for years without causing the subject any serious inconvenience, if the affected animal is kept at suitable work. in other instances recurrent attacks of lameness are of such frequent occurrence that the subject is not fit for service. many affected animals that are kept in service in spite of lameness (and in some instances where no lameness is present), soon become unserviceable because of contraction of the inflamed tendon. this, in fact, is the condition which eventually becomes established in most instances. treatment.--where conformation is not too faulty so that recovery may be expected, good results are obtained by line-firing the tendons and allowing the subject a few months' rest. in some cases median neurectomy is advisable. this is recommended by breton[25] as being productive of good results even where contraction of tendons exists and tenotomy is done. [illustration: fig. 23--contraction of the superficial and deep flexor tendons (perforatus and perforans) of the left fore leg.] by shoeing with high heel-calks considerable strain is taken from the inflamed tendons because of the changed position of the foot which alters the distribution of weight on different parts of the leg. rubber pads materially diminish concussion and should be made use of when the subject is returned to work, if the character of the work is such as to occasion much concussion. it is to be remembered, however, that in sprains there occurs fibrillary fracture of soft structures and time is required for regeneration of tissue which has been injured or destroyed. absolute rest is necessary where inflammation is acute and in sub-acute or chronic tendinitis avoidance of all work which causes irritation to the affected tendons is imperative. [illustration: fig. 24--contraction of superficial digital flexor and slight contraction of deep flexor tendon.] where contraction of tendons exists surgical treatment is necessary. no good comes from appliances which are calculated to stretch the affected tendons; in fact, they aggravate the inflamed condition and hasten complete loss of function of the affected member. where there exists no articular or ligamentous diseases which would defeat the purpose, tenotomy is the only remedy for contracted tendons. contracted tendons of foals. etiology and occurrence.--this condition is occasionally observed and no positive explanation of the reason for its existence can be given. that mal-position _en utero_ causes the metacarpal bones to develop in length so rapidly that the tendons are too short, is an explanation that is offered. be that as it may, in breeding sections of the country the general practitioner is obliged to handle these cases and successful methods of treatment are essential even though cause is not removable. symptomatology.--the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus) alone, is the one usually contracted, and while both flexors are at times involved, this rarely occurs. the condition is usually bilateral. the degree of contraction varies greatly in different cases. in some, contraction exists to such extent that it is impossible for the colt to stand, and because of continual decubitus where no relief is given, the subject is lost because of gangrenous infection occasioned by bed sores. otherwise the same symptoms are to be observed in this condition, that exist in contraction of tendons of the mature animal. treatment.--wherever contraction is not too marked and weight is borne with the affected members, and where the feet can be kept on the ground in a nearly normal position, it is possible to correct the condition without doing tenotomy. that is, in cases where the subject is simply "cock-ankled", where volar flexion of the pastern joint exists but the foot is kept flat on the ground, correction is possible without tenotomy. in such instances the foal must be treated early--before the skin on the anterior pastern region has been badly damaged by knuckling over. it is possible in many cases to stretch the flexor tendons by grasping the colt's foot with one hand, and with the other hand one may push the pastern in the direction of dorsal flexion. this may be tried and when a reasonable amount of force is employed, no harm is done, even though no material benefit results. some veterinarians claim good results from this treatment alone and direct their clients to repeat the stretching process several times daily. whether the tendons are manually stretched or not, splints should be adjusted to the affected members. the legs are padded with cotton and bandages and a suitable splint is applied on either side of the members and securely fixed in position by bandaging. the splints are kept in position for four or five days and then removed for inspection of the affected parts. if necessary, they are reapplied and left in position for a week; however, this is unnecessary in the average case that is treated in this manner. where contraction exists to the extent that the subject can not stand and where no weight is borne by the feet, it is necessary to divide the affected tendons surgically. the same technic is put into practice that is employed in the mature subject but there is much greater chance for a favorable outcome in the foal. further, if necessary, one may divide with impunity, both tendons on each leg, at the same time. in all cases this operation is done by observing strict aseptic precautions and the legs are, of course, bandaged. if both tendons are divided, splints should be employed and kept in position for ten days or two weeks. primary union of the small surgical wound of the skin and fascia occurs in forty-eight hours. the reader is referred to william's "veterinary surgical and obstetrical operations," for a complete description of this operation. in veterinary literature there is occasionally described a condition which affects young foals wherein symptoms similar to those of contraction of the flexors are manifested, but upon examination it is found that rupture of the extensor of the digit (extensor pedis) exists. this affection is briefly described by cadiot but no complete treatise on this condition has been published. in parts of canada foals of from one to three days of age are found affected in such manner that more or less interference with the gait is to be seen in those moderately affected. there is, in some subjects, only a slight impediment in locomotion which is occasioned by inability to properly extend the digit. in other subjects, while able to stand and walk, great difficulty is experienced because of volar flexion of the phalanges. the more seriously affected animals are unable to stand and, in most instances, perish because of the effects of prolonged decubitus. a local enlargement occurs at the anterior carpal region and the mass is somewhat fluctuating, extravasated fluids becoming infected in many instances, and necrosis of the skin and fascia provide means for spontaneous discharge of the contents of the enlargement if it is not opened. the infection when it becomes generalized causes a fatal termination in most cases that are not treated. [illustration: fig. 25--"fish knees."--photo by thos. millar, m.r.c.v.s.] native stock owners of some parts of canada know this condition as "fish knees" because of the presence of the ruptured end of the extensor tendon which is found coiled in the cavity of the enlargements caused by the ruptured tendon. local practitioners have treated the condition by incising the swollen mass and removing the part of tendon contained within such cavities. treatment has not proved entirely satisfactory in the majority of instances, perhaps because of tardy interference. in a colt's leg sent the author by mr. thomas millar, m.r.c.v.s., of asquith, saskatchewan, a careful dissection of the carpal region revealed the fact that in this case the ruptured extensor tendon was due to injury. the colt may have been trampled upon by its dam in such manner that the tendon was divided. no noticeable evidence of injury to the skin was to be seen on its outer surface, but on the fascial side a cyanotic congested area, which was situated immediately over the site of the ruptured tendon, was very evident. with the execution of a good surgical technic, the ruptured tendon might be sutured; the wound of the tendon sheath as well as that of the skin carefully united by means of gut sutures, the leg bandaged and immobilized with leather splints and recovery follow in a reasonable percentage of cases so treated. these cases afford an opportunity for the perfection of practical means of treatment by those who frequently meet with this affection. rupture of the flexor tendons and suspensory ligament. etiology and occurrence.--rupture of the flexor tendons or of the suspensory ligament is of rare occurrence. frequently, these structures are divided as the result of wounds; but rupture, due to strain, is not frequent. [illustration: fig. 26--extreme dorsal flexion said to have resulted from an attack of distemper. from amer. j'n'l. vet. med., vol. xi, no. 4.] in some cases in running horses, or in animals that are put to strenuous performances, such as are jumpers, rupture of tendons or of the suspensory ligament takes place. however, more frequently this follows certain debilitating diseases such as influenza or local infectious inflammation of the parts which results in degenerative changes and rupture follows. the non-elastic suspensory ligament receives some heavy strains during certain attitudes which are taken by horses in hurdle jumping as is explained in detail by montanã© and bourdelle[26] under the description of this ligament. but in spite of the frequent and unusually heavy strains, which these structures receive, complete rupture is not frequently seen. symptomatology.--when the anatomy and function of the flexor tendons and suspensory ligament is thoroughly understood, recognition of rupture of either of these structures is easily recognized. when one considers that in rupture, a position directly opposite to that which is seen in contraction in either one of these structures, is assumed, a detailed description of each separate condition is needless repetition. however, it is pertinent to suggest that rupture of the deep flexor tendon (perforans) allows a turning up of the toe. whether it be torn loose from its point of attachment or ruptured at some point proximal thereto, the position is the same--heel flat on the ground, toe slightly raised and this raising of the toe varies in degree as the subject moves about. when the superficial flexor (perforatus) is ruptured there is no change in the position of the foot but the fetlock joint is slightly lowered. the pathognomonic symptom is the lax tendon during weight bearing, which may be felt by palpation of the tendon along its course in the metacarpal region. with complete rupture of the suspensory ligament there occurs a marked dropping of the fetlock joint and an abnormal amount of weight is then thrown upon the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus), causing it to be markedly tensed. this is readily recognized by palpation. by palpating the suspensory ligament from its proximal portion down to and beyond its bifurcation, while the affected member is supporting weight, it is possible to diagnose rupture of one of its branches. prognosis and treatment.--in rupture of the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus) because of its comparatively less important function, prognosis is favorable and recovery takes place when proper treatment is put into practice. with rupture of the deep flexor tendon (perforans), especially when it occurs at or near its point of insertion and sometimes following disease, prognosis is unfavorable. rupture of the suspensory ligament constitutes a condition which is, as a rule, hopeless, because of the impracticability of treating such cases. the salient feature which characterizes any practical attempt at treatment of ruptured tendons or other portions of the inhibitory apparatus of the fetlock region, is to retain the phalanges in their normal position for a sufficient length of time that the approximated ends of ruptured tendons or ligaments may unite. the length of time required for this to occur, together with the difficulties encountered in confining the affected extremities in suitable braces or supportive appliances, precludes all possibility of this condition's being practically amenable to treatment when the deep flexor tendon (perforans) and suspensory ligament are simultaneously ruptured. it does not follow, even so, that recovery does not succeed treatment in some of these unfavorable cases. [illustration: fig. 27--a good style of shoe for bracing the fetlock where tenotomy has been performed, or in case of traumatic division of the flexor tendons. an invention of dr. g.h. roberts.] affected subjects are kept in slings as long as it seems necessary--until they learn to get up without deranging the braces worn. several styles of braces are in use and each has its objections; nevertheless some sort of support to the affected member is necessary and steel braces which are connected with shoes are usually employed. the principal difficulty which attends the use of braces is pressure-necrosis of the skin which is caused by the constant and firm contact of the metal support. the practitioner's ingenuity is taxed in every case to contrive practical means of padding the exposed parts in order to prevent or minimize necrosis from pressure. this is attempted--with more or less success--by frequent changing of bandages and the local application of such agents as alcohol or witch hazel. needless to say, the skin must be kept perfectly clean and the dressings free from all irritating substances. [illustration: fig. 28--showing the roberts brace in operation.] the fact that tendons or ligaments which are ruptured, do not regenerate as readily as in cases where traumatic or surgical division occurs, must not be lost sight of, and prognosis is given in accordance. thecitis and bursitis in the fetlock region. etiology and occurrence.--synovial distension of tendon sheaths and bursae in the region of the fetlock are caused by the same active agencies which produce this condition in other parts. the fetlock region is exposed to more frequent injury than is the carpus and as a consequence is more often affected. the same proportionate amount of irritation affects this part of the leg, owing to strains, as affect the carpus from a similar cause; and synovitis from this cause, is as frequent in one case as in the other. therefore, it is a natural sequence that the tendon sheaths of the metacarpophalangeal region are frequently distended because of chronic synovitis and thecitis. these inflammations are usually non-infective in character. the _cul-de-sac_ of the capsular ligament of the fetlock joint which extends upward between the bifurcation of the suspensory ligament is the most frequently affected structure in this region. when distended, two spheroidal masses bulge laterally and anterior to the flexor tendons in a characteristic manner. this condition is known among horsemen as "wind-gall" or "fetlock-gall." the sheath of the flexor tendons, which begins about the middle portion of the lower third of the metacarpus, and continues downward below the pastern joint is often distended. excepting in cases of acute inflammation attending synovitis of these parts, no lameness marks its existence and in chronic cases of synovial distension the service of affected animals is not interfered with. these distensions constitute unsightly blemishes and they are treated chiefly for this reason. no difficulty is encountered in recognizing these conditions even where considerable organization of tissue overlying distended thecae occurs. in such cases there may be only slight fluctuation of the enlargement, but if necessary, an aseptic exploratory puncture may be made with a suitable needle or trocar. treatment.--complete rest and the local application of cold packs are in order in acute synovitis when there is distension of tendon sheaths. in the fetlock region, because of the ease with which pressure may be employed, the parts should be kept snugly wrapped with cotton, and derby bandages are used to exert the desired amount of pressure over the affected region. the pressure-bandages should be employed as soon as all acute and painful inflammation has subsided; and then they should be continued, day and night, for ten days or two weeks. the bandages should be removed morning and night. after the skin of the leg has thoroughly dried off, an infriction of alcohol or distilled extract of hamamelis is given the parts and the cotton and bandages are readjusted. a good, even and firm pressure in such cases is productive of satisfactory results. [illustration: fig. 29--distension of theca of the extensor of the digit (extensor pedis).] in chronic distensions of tendon sheaths synovia may be aspirated and about five cubic centimeters of equal parts of tincture of iodin and alcohol is injected into the cavity. this is not done, however, without usual aseptic precautions. if no marked swelling results within forty-eight hours the entire fetlock region is thoroughly vesicated and, as soon as the skin has recovered from the effects of the vesicant, pressure bandages may be employed. in these cases, subjects may be put into service after all swelling which the injection or the vesicant has produced has subsided. the pressure bandages are used at night or during the time that the horse is in its stall and they are not worn by the subject while at work. where no marked swelling occurs within ten days, as the result of the injection of iodin, the injection may be repeated and, if thought necessary, the quantity may be materially increased. if swelling does not occur it is indicative that no particular irritation has been caused. some swelling is desirable and much swelling sometimes results and persists for weeks. this is not in any way likely to cause permanent trouble; and if the technic of injection is skilfully executed no infection will follow. by persistent and careful use of suitable elastic bandages, the support thus given the parts, together with the absorption of products of inflammation which constant pressure occasions, some chronic cases of synovial distension of tendon sheaths recover in two or three months and this without other treatment. such good results are not to be expected in aged subjects, nor in horses having at the same time, chronic lymphangitis. where bandages of pure rubber are employed great care is necessary, if one is not experienced in their use, lest necrosis result. where bandages are uncomfortably tight the subject will manifest discomfort, and an attendant should observe the animal at intervals for a few hours (where there may be some doubt as to the degree of pressure which is exerted by elastic bandages) and readjustment made before any harm is done. arthritis of the fetlock joint. anatomy.--the anatomy of the metacarpophalangeal articulation is briefly reviewed on page 58 under the heading of "anatomo-physiological review of parts of the foreleg." etiology and occurrence.--the chief causes of non-infective arthritis of the fetlock joint are irritations from concussion and contusions due to interfering. the condition occurs in young animals that are over-driven in livery service or other similar exhausting work, where they become so weary that serious injury is done these parts by striking the pasterns with the feet--interfering. in these "leg-weary" animals, that are always kept shod with fairly heavy shoes, much direct injury is done at times by concussion due to self-inflicted blows. in older animals, where there exists similar conditions, with respect to their being worn from fatigue and, in addition, periarticular inflammatory organizations, arthritis is not of uncommon occurrence. [illustration: fig. 30--rarefying osteitis wherein articular cartilage was destroyed in a case of arthritis of fetlock joint.] symptomatology.--in true arthritis there exists a very painful affection which is characterized by manifestations of distress. the subject may keep the extremity moving about--where pain is great--suspended and swinging. there is swelling which is more or less hot to the touch and compression of the parts with the fingers increases pain. lameness is always pronounced and no weight is supported with the affected member in very acute and generalized arthritic inflammations. there occurs the usual facial manifestations of pain--the tense condition of the facial muscles and the fixed eye and nostril are in evidence. in cases where there exists a synovitis or where a very limited portion of the articulation is involved, a somewhat different clinical picture is presented. then, the disturbance causes less distress; local swelling and evidence of supersensitiveness are not so pronounced and lameness is not intense, though weight-bearing is painful. prognosis.--there is a constant difference in the degree of pain manifested, as well as the other symptoms of inflammation, between true arthritis, which involves much of the joint, and synovitis; or synovitis plus a small circumscribed area of joint involvement. this difference is present in all joint affections of the extremities and, in passing, it is well to say that infection usually increases every manifestation of pain. infection occasions more pronounced local symptoms of inflammation and, because of the rapid progress of necrotic destruction of cartilage, the course of the affection is usually rapid; ankylosis is a frequent result and loss of the subject is often inevitable. however, in non-infective arthritis of the fetlock joint, prognosis is favorable. treatment.--the same general principles which are employed in arthritis of other joints are used here. rest and comfort for the patient is sought in every available manner. if the subject remains standing too long, the sling should be used and a well-bedded box-stall will contribute much to the comfort of the patient. pain and acute inflammation is diminished or controlled, if possible, by using ice-cold packs. in nervous, well-bred animals analgesic agents may be employed; or small doses of morphin sulphate--one to two grains--given at intervals of three hours during the first stages of the affection is very beneficial. this is especially indicated in infectious arthritis. as inflammation subsides, hot applications are used and finally counter irritants are employed. their selection is a matter of choice with the practitioner. the object sought is the same with every practitioner and while methods employed vary, results are not markedly different except in so far as the degree of counter irritation which is produced varies in given cases. where a great degree of counter irritation is thought necessary, line-firing with the actual cautery is the remedy _par excellence_. after-care.--in the course of three or four weeks subjects may be allowed the run of a paddock and, after a complete rest of six weeks at pasture, they may be returned to work with care, if the work is not of a nature to occasion concussion or other manner of irritation to the articulation. neurectomy is not indicated even though there is a recurrence of lameness, unless the lameness is not pronounced and inflammation is periarticular and no osseous enlargements mechanically interfere with function of the joint. there are few cases then, where neurectomy is materially helpful. ossification of the cartilages of the third phalanx. (ossification of the lateral cartilages.) anatomy and function of the cartilages.--surmounting each wing of the distal phalanx (os pedis) is the irregularly-quadrangular cartilage. the superior border of this cartilage is thin, generally convex, and perforated for vessels to pass to the frog; the inferior border is attached to the wing of the third phalanx and posteriorly, it is reflected inward and is continuous with the inferior surface of the sensitive frog. the anterior border which is directed obliquely downward and backward becomes blended with the anterior lateral ligament of the coffin joint. the fibrous expansion of the anterior digital extensor (extensor pedis) is united to the anterior borders of the lateral cartilages. according to smith[27]: these structures form an elastic wall to the sensitive foot, and attachment to the vascular laminae; they also admit of increase in width occurring at the posterior part of the foot without destroying the union of the two set of leaves. further, by their connection with the vascular system of the foot, their elastic movements materially assist the circulation. the primary use of the lateral cartilages is to render the internal foot elastic, and admit of its change in shape which occurs under the influence of the weight of the body. the alteration in the shape of the foot is brought about by pressure on the pad, which widens and in consequence presses on the bars. the pressure received by the pad is also transmitted to the plantar cushion, which likewise flattens and spreads under pressure. both of these factors force the cartilages slightly outwards. when the posterior wall recoils the cartilages are carried back to their original position. should the elastic cartilage under pathological conditions become converted into bone, its functions are destroyed, and lameness may occur. etiology and occurrence.--the causes of ossification of these cartilages are several. no doubt there exists a predisposition to this condition for it is of such frequent occurrence in heavy draft types of horses. concussion plays an important rã´le and, according to mã¶ller's[28] theory, which is sound, high heel calks prevent the frog from contacting the ground, and as weight is placed upon the foot "the lateral cartilages are subjected to a continuous inward and downward dragging strain." [illustration: fig. 31--ringbone and sidebone.] the condition affects the cartilages of the fore feet more frequently than those of the hind and the outer cartilage is more often ossified than is the inner. this fact may be accounted for by its more exposed position; it is also frequently injured by being trampled upon and otherwise contused or cut, as in lacerated wounds of the quarter. symptomatology.--ossification of the cartilages is known by grasping the free borders with the fingers and attempting their flexion; the rigid inflexible ossified cartilage is thus easily recognized. lameness during weight-bearing occurs in the majority of cases at some time. much depends on the conformation of the foot and whether the involvement affects one or both cartilages as to the degree and duration of lameness which marks this affection. in narrow and contracted heels it is reasonable to expect more lameness than in well formed feet. where only one cartilage is ossified, the other being flexible, there is less inconvenience experienced by the subject during weight-bearing, because of the expansion of the heel which the one normal cartilage allows. treatment.--there is little if anything to be done in case the cartilage has become ossified except to shoe without high calks but preferably with rubber pads. the hoof should be kept moist; the wall at the quarter may be rasped thin and kept anointed. firing is of no practical benefit in these cases, and it is doubtful if vesication is helpful excepting where only a part of the cartilage is ossified. subjects which continue somewhat lame, because of complete ossification of both cartilages, are best put to slow work on soft ground and not driven on pavements. navicular disease. this more or less ambiguous term has been applied to various diseases affecting the structures which make up the coffin joint. we consider this name to be applicable to inflammatory involvement of the third sesamoid (navicular bone), the deep flexor tendon (perforans) and the bursa podotrochlearis or navicular bursa. etiology and occurrence.--in 1864 thomas greaves[29] wrote on the subject of navicular disease as follows: "the opinion i entertain upon the subject of navicular disease is, that in by far the greater majority (if not all) of these cases there exists in the animal affected a congenital tendency or predisposition, that, generally speaking, it is the high stepper, the good goer, that becomes the victim to this disease; and it is a fact well attested, that it as frequently develops itself in the feet with wide frogs, bulbous heels, shallow heels, spread flattish feet, as in the narrow upright feet.... i have known foals, born from defective parents, in which this condition was so strongly developed, that all men would at once pronounce them affected with navicular disease, and such lameness was permanent." often both fore feet are affected and this would point toward its being a disease wherein either conformation or congenital tendencies exists. it is rare that hind feet are involved. there are many theories regarding the possible exciting causes of navicular disease and, when one has carefully considered the explanations as offered by peters, mã¶ller, branell, schrader and others, he may conclude that navicular disease is a non-infectuous inflammatory affection of the third sesamoid (navicular) bone, deep flexor tendon (perforans) and adjoining structures. whether it originates in the flexor tendon or whether the bone is the original part affected, the disease is frequently met, and of all possible causes, jars and irritation incident to concussion of travel, are probably the principal causative agents. symptomatology.--lameness is the primary indicator and a constant symptom which attends navicular disease wherever much structural change affects the infirm parts. as the degree of intensity or extent varies, so is there a dissimilarity in the character of the impediment. incipient cases of bilateral involvement are more difficult to diagnose than are unilateral affections, particularly when lameness is not marked. there is manifested a supporting-leg-lameness which varies as to degree in the same subject at different times. this may be noticed during the same trip in an animal that is being driven. there is a tendency for the subject to stumble and, of course, where the affection is bilateral, there is a stilted gait owing to shortened strides. at rest the lame animal usually points with the affected member. because of the fact that the distance is lessened between the origin and insertion of the deep flexor tendon (perforans) by this attitude, one may readily understand the reason for the position assumed by the subject. pressure on the navicular bone is diminished and tension on the flexor tendon is relieved by even slight volar flexion. in acute inflammatory affections abnormal heat may be detected in the region of the heel. by exerting tension on the flexor tendon, by means of passive dorsal flexion of the member, evidence of hyperesthesia may be detected. with the hoof testers one may determine supersensitivenss in most instances. there occurs more or less contraction of the hoof in navicular disease, but this is not to be taken as a cause of the affection, but rather a sequence. [illustration: fig. 32--"pointing"--the position assumed by horse having unilateral navicular disease.] in some cases of unilateral navicular disease there is a marked contrast in size between the sound and unsound foot. however, one must not be misguided in this particular, for in some pairs of sound feet there exists considerable difference in size. finally, by a change from the normal position of the foot to one in which the heel is somewhat elevated (as may be obtained by shoeing with high heel calks), relief is evident, and in the opposite position, the condition is aggravated. this experiment may be used for diagnostic purposes. treatment.--when the anatomy of the diseased parts is taken into consideration, and an analysis of the lesions which occur in cases where considerable structural change is occasioned by this affection, it is obvious that recovery is impossible. only in cases where the inflammation is promptly checked before damage has been done the navicular bone or the flexor tendon, is permanent recovery possible. the disease is not frequently treated during this stage, however, and in the majority of instances the condition becomes chronic. as soon as a diagnosis is made the shoes must be removed, the toe shortened with the hoof pincers and rasp and the subject is put in a well bedded box-stall. if the animal is very lame and the inflammation is acute, ice-cold packs should be applied to the feet. as soon as acute inflammation has subsided the foot may be so pared that all excess of sole and frog is removed without lowering the heels, and the animal may be blistered about the coronet region. the subject may be shod later, with heel calks that raise the heel moderately and a protracted period of rest should be enforced. in cases where no acute inflammatory condition exists, neurectomy is beneficial. one must discriminate, however, between favorable and unfavorable subjects. this is not a last resort expedient to be employed in cases where extensive lesions of the navicular structures exists. with proper shoeing, and by putting the subject at suitable work, where concussion of fast travel on hard roads is not necessary, the best results are obtainable. laminitis. this disease is primarily a non-infective inflammation of the sensitive laminae which very frequently affects the front feet. often all four feet are affected, less frequently one foot (when its fellow is unable to sustain weight) and rarely the hind feet alone. occurrence.--probably a greater number of cases of laminitis occur in localities where horses that are worked on heavy transfer wagons are, when in a state of perspiration, allowed to stand exposed to sudden lowering of temperature and to stand in a cool or cold shower of rain such as occurs near the coast of the great lakes or the ocean in some parts of this country. this disease occurs in connection with digestive disorders of various kinds and, because of the frequent association of the two conditions, the common term "founder" has long been employed to designate laminitis. in cases of "over-loading," particularly when a large quantity of wheat has been eaten by animals that are unaccustomed to this diet, laminitis almost constantly results. large draughts of cold water, when drunk by animals that are overheated is often followed by laminitis. concussion, such as attends hard driving, especially in unshod horses or on rough and hard roads, is often succeeded by this affection. likewise, as has been stated, injury such as is occasioned by long continued standing on the same foot is followed by laminitis. some horses that are frequently shod, suffer from this affection a few hours after shoes have been reset. dr. chas. r. treadway of kansas city reports the rather frequent occurrence of such conditions in horses that are in the fire department service in his city. age in no way influences the occurrence of laminitis and the general condition of an animal with regard to its vigor or state of flesh has no apparent influence toward predisposing horses to this ailment. etiology and classification.--as it is with some other diseases, one may unprofitably theorize on cause and readily enumerate many conditions which are apparently contributory toward producing the affection. causes may well be grouped, however, and a more definite understanding of laminitis is possible as a result. such collocation would include conditions which directly or indirectly affect the digestion, such as puerperal laminitis, drinking of large quantities of cold water and exposure to cold and rain when the body is warm. all of these various conditions might be said to affect the vaso-constrictor nerves in such manner that the natural tendency (because of the peculiar structure of the sensitive laminae and their mode of attachment to the non-sensitive wall) which solipeds have for this affection is indirectly due to this one cause--vaso-constriction. according to dr. d.m. campbell, the effect of toxic materials, which may be absorbed from the digestive tract or the uterus in parturient females, upon the vaso-constrictor nerves, is such that a passive congestion of the sensitive laminae occurs and laminitis is the result. he believes that even the chilling of the surface of the body when very warm, by a cold rain, constitutes a condition wherein the effect upon the vaso-constrictors is the same. this grouping does not include the effect of direct injuries of any and all kinds to which the feet are subjected such as: concussion in fast road work, injuries occasioned by tight or ill fitting shoes, contusions of any kind resulting in non-infectious inflammation of the sensitive laminae, as well as the causes which produce laminitis where weight is borne by one foot when its fellow is out of function. a classification which is practical is that of _acute_ and _chronic_ laminitis. to the practicing veterinarian it is this manner of consideration that is essential in the handling of these cases. symptomatology.--in the acute attack the condition is so well described by dr. r.c. moore[30] that we quote him in part as follows: the acute form is generally ushered in very suddenly. often a horse that is perfectly free from symptoms of the disease is found a few hours later so stiff and sore that he will scarcely move. they stand like they were riveted to the ground. if forced to move the evidence of pain subsides to some extent after they have gone a short distance, to return more severe than ever after they have been allowed to stand for a short time. if the disease is confined to the two front feet, the hind feet are placed well under the center of the body to support the weight and the front ones are advanced in front of a perpendicular line so as to lessen the weight they must bear. if they are made to move, the same position of the feet is maintained. if made to turn in a small circle, they do so by using the hind feet as a pivot, bringing the front parts around by placing as little weight on them as possible. placing the hind feet so far under the body, arches the back and often leads to errors in diagnosis, the condition sometimes being taken for diseases of the loins or kidneys. if all four feet are involved, the animal stands in the usual position assumed in health, but if urged to move, the least effort to do so usually brings on chronic spasms of the entire body. in very severe cases, a slight touch of the hand will develop the spasms. at times they are so severe, and have such short intermissions, that the disease has been mistaken for tetanus. however, the clonic nature of the spasm should prevent such an error. if they are lying down, it is difficult to get them to arise, and if they do so, they show marked symptoms of pain for some time after rising. if the disease is confined to the hind feet, they are placed well forward to relieve the strain on the toe caused by the downward pull of the perforans (deep flexor) tendon, but in place of the front feet being kept in front of a perpendicular line, as they are when the disease is confined to the front ones, they are placed far back under the body, so they will carry the maximum share of the body weight of which they are capable. the position of the feet is of great importance and offers symptoms that should not be overlooked. when the subject is caused to walk, symptoms of excruciating pain are manifested in all acute cases of laminitis. in some cases where all four feet are affected, no reasonable amount of persuasion will cause the suffering animal to move from its tracks. there is acceleration of the rate of heart action; the pulse is full and in some cases, bounding. as the affection progresses the pulse becomes rather weak and irregular. the character of the pulse in the region of the extremity is a reliable indicator; but one has to learn to make necessary discrimination because of the condition of the parts, as in some cases of lymphangitis or where the skin is abnormally thick. the characteristic throbbing pulse is, however, easily recognized in most cases. temperature is variable, though usually elevated from one to four degrees above normal. this symptom varies with the type and stage of the affection. in a subject that has been down, unable to rise for several days, where there is a suppurative and sloughing condition of the laminae, the temperature is high. whereas, in some other and less destructive cases there may be little thermic disturbance after the first few hours have lapsed. a constant symptom in bilateral affections of acute laminitis is the difficulty with which the subject supports weight with one foot. it is this which causes the victim to stand as if "rooted to the ground" when all four feet are involved. if one attempts to take up one foot, thus causing the subject to stand on the other, there is much resistance and in many cases the animal refuses to give the foot. when we consider that the sensitive parts of the foot are encased by a horny, unyielding box and that, when the laminae are congested, a great pressure is brought to bear upon the sensitive structures, it is easy to understand why the condition is so painful. _chronic laminitis_ is a sequel of acute inflammation of the sensitive laminae. it varies as to intensity and the exact manner of its manifestation depends upon preã«xisting disturbances. in some mild cases of laminitis there are recurrent attacks wherein no particular structural change exists, and diagnosis is established chiefly by noting the character of the pulse at the bifurcation of the large metacarpal (or metatarsal) artery just above the fetlock. the same manifestation of pain is present when weight is supported by one foot, though in a lesser degree. there is less local heat to be detected by palpation than in the acute cases. chronic laminitis as it occurs following acute attacks which have resulted in structural changes of the foot, present the same symptoms just described and, in addition, the peculiar alterations in structure exist. when, owing to acute inflammation of the sensitive laminae, there has resulted necrosis of this sensitive tissue together with infiltration between the anterior surface of the distal phalanx (os pedis) and the contacting hoof, the lower portion of the distal phalanx is turned downward and backward (rotated upon its transverse axis). because of the traction which is exerted by the deep flexor tendon (perforans), as it attaches to the solar surface of the distal phalanx, this rotation is facilitated. with hyperplasia of lamina, at the anterior portion of the distal phalanx, there results a thick "white line." rotation of the distal phalanx necessitates a descent of its apical portion and there occurs a "dropped sole." in time, partly because of excessive wear of hoof at the heel, owing to an altered condition in the normal antagonistic relation between the flexor and extensor tendons, the toe makes an excessive growth, and the concavity of the anterior line is accentuated owing to this abnormal length of hoof. the hoof, because of recurrent inflammatory attacks, is corrugated--elevations of horn in parallel rings are usually present. [illustration: fig. 33--the hoof in chronic laminitis. note the concavity. this animal was serviceable for any work that could be performed at a walk.] animals that are so affected in traveling strike the heel first and the toe is later contacted with the ground surface. rotation of the distal phalanx upon its transverse axis produces a condition, with respect to this peculiar impediment, that is equivalent to added and excessive length of the deep flexor tendon. where there occurs suppuration, by careful inspection of the coronary region, one may early recognize detachment of hoof. in such cases animals remain recumbent and, while the condition is not so painful at this stage, the practitioner must not overlook the real state of affairs. history, if obtainable, will be a helpful guide in such cases. separation of hoof occurs as a rule in from four to ten days after the initial attack of acute laminitis. needless to say these cases are hopeless, when the economic phase of handling subjects is considered. [illustration: fig. 34--showing the effects of laminitis. by permission, from merillat's "veterinary surgical operations."] treatment.--much depends upon the concomitant disturbances (or causes if one is justified in referring to them as such) as to the manner in which laminitis is to be treated. in all cases where digestive disturbances exist, the prompt unloading of the contents of the alimentary canal is certainly indicated. d.m. campbell[31] in a discussion of laminitis has the following to say regarding the treatment of such cases: because superpurgation may be followed by laminitis, the advisability of using the active hypodermic cathartics is questioned. neither arecolin nor eserin can cause superpurgation. the action of the former does not continue longer than an hour after administration and of the latter not more than eight hours. the action of either is mild after the first few minutes. i do not think that anyone has recommended either arecolin or eserin where there is severe purgation. where the intestinal canal is fairly well emptied and its contents fluid, i should be inclined to rely upon intestinal antiseptics to hold in check harmful bacterial growth. the use of alum in the treatment of laminitis is held to be without reason other than the empirical one that it is beneficial. if laminitis is due chiefly to an autointoxication, good and sufficient reason for the administration of alum can be shown based upon its known physiological action. it is the most powerful intestinal astringent that i know of and has the fewest disadvantages. i have not noted constipation following its use nor diarrhea, nor a stopping of peristalsis, nor indigestion, and in any case its action lasts at most only a few hours, and if it did all these, it could not much matter. quitman says, that it constricts the capillaries. if this is true, a thing of which i am not certain, is it not reasonable to suppose that as with other vaso-constrictors, e.g., digitalis, there is a selective action on the part of the capillaries (not of the drug) and those that need it most, i.e., those of the affected feet in laminitis, are constricted most? all body cells exert this selective action in the assimilation of food, the tissue needing most any particular kind of food circulating in the blood, gets it. our first consideration in laminitis should be to remove the cause--to stop the absorption of the toxin in the intestinal tract that is producing the condition. this we accomplish by partially unloading it by the use of the active hypodermic cathartics and stopping absorption by the surest and most harmless of intestinal astringents. whether the astonishingly prompt and certain action of alum in this case is due wholly to its astringent action or whether alum combines with the harmful bacterial products chemically and forms an innocuous combination, i can only surmise, and it is unimportant. at any rate, when alum is administered, the onslaught of the disease is promptly stopped. irreparable damage may already have been done if the case is a neglected one, but whether administered early or late in acute attacks, the progress of the disease is stopped immediately. the same authority may be profitably quoted in the matter of handling all cases wherein the revulsive effect of agents which diminish vascular tension are chiefly indicated or necessary as adjuvants. in this connection, campbell says: the early and vigorous administration of aconitin in laminitis to its full physiological effect, is more logical. assuming that laminitis is due to absorption of harmful products from the intestinal tract permitted through the deranged functioning of the organs of digestion, or assuming that it is due to an extension of the inflammation from the mucosa to the sensitive lamina, or that it is a reflex from a sudden chilling of the skin, we have in any of these conditions a disturbed circulation, and aconitin is the first and foremost of circulation "equalizers." furthermore, in laminitis there is an elevation of the temperature, an almost invariable indication for aconitin. a speedy return of the temperature to normal, a very marked diminution of the pain and improved conditions generally, appear coincident with the symptoms of full physiological effect of aconitin when given in cases of laminitis, which constitutes assuredly an important part of its treatment. [illustration: fig. 35--inferior (convex) surface of cochran shoe.] where lameness is not great as in cases wherein no marked structural change of the foot has occurred, proper shoeing is very beneficial. by keeping the heels as low as possible and shoeing without heel calks a more comfortable position is made possible. thin rubber pads which do not elevate the heel are of service in diminishing concussion. dr. david w. cochran of new york city has attained unusual success in cases of chronic laminitis with dropped sole by the use of a specially designed shoe. [illustration: fig. 36--superior surface, showing concavity or bowl, as formed by the toe and branches of the shoe, as designed by dr. david w. cochran.] cochran claims that, not only are horses with dropped soles that would otherwise have to be put off the streets enabled to do a fair amount of work by means of this shoe, but that continually wearing it, meanwhile keeping the convexity of the front of the hoof rasped thin, in time brings about a marked improvement, and that after some months or years of use the animals are able to work with ordinary rubber-pad shoes, provided they are arranged to facilitate breaking over. from having been successfully used on some race horses of high value, the cochran shoe has attained considerable notoriety and is being used by a number of practitioners. a disadvantage, however, arises from the fact that few horseshoers other than doctor cochran seem able to make the shoe, the peculiar shape of which offers considerable difficulty in forging. concerning the application of the shoe cochran[32] says: "the most important primary procedure is the preparation of the foot to receive the shoe. all excess of growth must be removed from the anterior face of the hoof. the outer face must be reduced at the toe (not shortened), but rasped down thin for the lighter the top of the foot is, the more chance the sole and coffin bone will have of resuming their former normal position. the pressure of the wall at the toe upon the exudate between wall and coffin bone, tends to force the coffin bone and sole out of their normal position. leave the sole alone. you can lower the excess of growth at the heels. "there are many designs of shoes to relieve this condition. a great deal depends on the judgment of the shoer to meet the conditions presented, depending on the degree of the convexity and strength of the sole. in some cases we use a shoe that admits of a large amount of sole room. again, we shoe with a shoe of wide cover. in other cases a shoe with even pressure over the whole sole. in some cases a high, narrow shoe, resting only on the wall, or the ordinary plain shoe with side calks welded close to the outside edge and the shoe dished well from these as a foundation. then we have the air cushion pad designed after the model of the bowl shoe." in cases when slight and persistent lameness interferes sufficiently to prevent using an animal at any sort of work on hard roads, median neurectomy will relieve all lameness in most instances. this is a safe operation, moreover, in that no bad after effects are to be feared, even though lameness were to continue. calk wounds. (paronychia.) etiology and occurrence.--injuries of various kinds are inflicted upon the coronary region but usually they are due to the foot being trampled upon. when the foot that inflicts the injury happens to be unshod, a contusion of the injured member is occasioned, but in the majority of instances, wounds that demand attention are the result of shoe calks which have penetrated the tissues in the region of the coronary band. often calk wounds are self-inflicted. when animals are excited and in turning crowd one another, they often perform dancing movements which frequently result in deep calk wounds of the coronet. some horses have a habit of resting the heel of one hind foot upon the anterior coronary region of the other. while sleeping in this position, if they are suddenly awakened, the weight is abruptly shifted to the uppermost foot and the one underneath is (because of the pain attending its being wounded) quickly drawn out from under its fellow. in this way deep cuts may divide the coronary band and inflict extensive injury to the sensitive lamina as well. an infectious type of coronary inflammation occurs in some localities during the winter months, wherein the condition is enzootic. symptomatology.--depending upon the manner in which the injury has been produced, the appearance of the wound varies and likewise lameness is more or less pronounced. if the tissues are not divided and the wound is chiefly of the subsurface structures, there will not immediately occur pronounced local evidence of the existence of injury; but as soon as the lame animal is made to move, the peculiar character of the impediment (supporting-leg lameness with the affected foot kept well in advance of its normal position) directs attention to the extremity and all of the symptoms of acute inflammation are discovered. where a wound is inflicted which divides, in some manner, the surface structures (skin, coronary band, or the hoof wall) one's attention is at once called to the existence of the wound. because of the fact that there is every facility for the production of a sub-coronary and podophylous infection, these wounds should receive prompt attention. in some instances, the pastern joint is opened by calk wounds and then, of course, an infectious arthritis succeeds the injury. treatment.--in all contused wounds of the coronary region the parts need thorough cleansing; the hair, if long is clipped and a cataplasm is applied. or preferably, an iodin-glycerin combination of one part of iodin to four parts of glycerin is poured on a layer of cotton, and this is confined in contact with the inflamed parts by means of a bandage. where normal resistance to infection obtains, the subject usually suffers no suppurative disturbance when the surface structures are not broken; and daily applications of the antiseptic lotion above referred to stimulates complete resolution. this may be expected in from four to ten days depending upon the extent of the injury. if a calk wound has been inflicted, the adjoining surface structures are freed of hair and the parts cleansed in the usual manner, (which in wounds recently inflicted, should be done without employing quantities of water) and after painting the wound surface with tincture of iodin and saturating its depths with the same agent, the wound is cleansed, if it contains filth, by means of a small curette. by using a small and sharp curette, one is enabled to cleanse the average wound quickly and almost painlessly. in such cases, equal parts of tincture of iodin and glycerin are employed. the wound is filled with this preparation and a quantity of it is poured upon a suitable piece of aseptic gauze or cotton and this is contacted with the wound. the extremity is carefully bandaged and this dressing is left in position for forty-eight hours unless there occurs, in the meanwhile, evidence of profuse suppuration--which is unusual. one is to be guided as to the progress made by the degree of lameness present. if little or no lameness develops, it is reasonable to expect that infection has been checked; that the wound is dry and redressing every second day is sufficiently frequent. where cases progress favorably, recovery (unless infectious arthritis results) should occur in from ten days to three weeks. where extensive sub-coronary fistulae result, either from lack of prompt or proper attention, the condition is then one requiring a radical operation to establish drainage and to disinfect if possible, the suppurating tissues. corns. etiology and occurrence.--in horses, because of a tendency toward contraction of the heel in some subjects, together with work on hard roads and pavements, where the feet become dry and brittle, and because of neglect of the matter of shoeing, this affection is of frequent occurrence. unshod horses are rarely affected. if conformation is faulty and too much weight is borne on the inner or the outer quarter, and the hoof wall at the quarter tends to turn inward, corns are usually present. they occur more frequently on the inner quarters of the front feet, though the outer quarters are occasionally also affected and in rare instances corns are found at the toes. they do not often affect the hind feet. as soon as injury by pressure, such as is supposed to cause the formation of corns, is brought to bear on the sensitive sole, an extravasation of blood occurs. in time when the cause remains active, this discoloration is evident in the substance of the insensitive sole and consists in a red or yellowish spot which varies in size--this is ordinarily termed dry corn. in some cases where infection of this extravasation of blood and serum occurs, instead of desiccation and discoloration of the insensitive parts, there is, in time, manifested a circumscribed area of destruction of the insensitive sole and the abscess may, where no provision for drainage exists, burrow between sensitive and insensitive laminae and perforate the tissues at the coronet. if the suppurative material discharges readily by way of the sole, no disturbance of the heel or quarters occurs above the hoof. symptomatology.--a supporting-leg-lameness characterizes this condition; and this lameness in most instances varies in degree with the amount of distress which is occasioned by pressure upon the inflamed parts. by an examination of the sole after having removed all dirt, and exposed the horny sole to view, no difficulty is encountered in locating the cause of the trouble. treatment.--before suppuration has taken place and in the cases where suppuration does not occur, the horse-shoer's method of paring out the diseased tissue affords a means of temporary relief; but unless frequently done, in many cases, lameness results within about three weeks after such treatment has been given. in other instances temporary relief is not to be gotten in this manner for any great length of time or until a more rational mode of treatment becomes necessary so that the subject may experience a cessation of the inconvenience or distress. the general plan which meets with the approval of most practitioners consists in careful leveling of the foot and removing enough of the wall and sole at the quarters to make possible frog pressure by means of a bar shoe. with frog pressure, expansion of the heel follows in time, and permanent relief is obtainable in this manner. thinning the wall of the quarter is advocated by many practitioners and is undoubtedly beneficial in chronic cases where marked contraction has taken place. the wall must be thinned with a rasp until it is readily flexible by compressing with the thumbs. there are instances, however, where corns and contraction of the heel have existed so long that they do not yield to treatment. such cases are found in old light-harness or saddle-horses that have been more or less lame for years and where there exists marked contraction of the heels, rough hoof walls, and hard and atrophied frogs. suppurating corns require surgical attention in the way of removal of the purulent necrotic mass and making provision for drainage. dry dressings, such as equal parts of zinc sulphate and boric acid, may be employed to pack the cavity. after the infectious condition has been controlled, and the wound is dry, the same plan of treatment is indicated that is employed in the non-suppurating corn. ample time is allowed, however, for the surgically invaded tissues to granulate and, if the subject is to be put in service, a leather pad, under which there has been packed oakum and tar, affords good protection. quittor. this name is employed to designate an infectious inflammation of the lateral cartilage and adjoining structures. the disease is characterized by a slowly progressive necrosis and by a destruction of more or less of the cartilage and by the presence of fistulous tracts. etiology and occurrence.--the disease is due to the introduction of pus producing organisms into the subcoronary region of the foot under conditions which favor the retention of such contagium and extension of infection into contiguous tissues. morbific material is introduced into the region of the lateral cartilage by means of calk wounds and other penetrant injuries of the foot. a sub-coronary abscess which, because of lack of proper care or because of virulency of the contagium or low vitality of the subject, is quite apt to result in cartilaginous affection and its perforation by necrosis follows. symptomatology.--quittor is readily diagnosed on sight in many instances. where there is dependable history or other evidence of the chronicity of an infectious inflammation of the kind, quittor is easily identified. if no positive evidence of the disease exists, by means of careful exploration of sinuses with the probe, one may distinguish between true cartilaginous quittor and superficial abscess formation that is often accompanied by hyperplasia. lameness depends upon the extent of the involvement as it affects the structures contiguous to the cartilage. a variable degree of lameness is manifested in different cases. treatment.--two general plans of handling this disease are in vogue. one, the more popular method, consists in the injection of caustic solutions of various kinds into the fistulous openings with the object of causing sloughing of necrotic tissue and the stimulation of healthy granulation of such wounds. the other mode consists in either complete surgical removal of the cartilage or its remaining portions, or removal of the diseased parts of curettage. when quittor has not extensively damaged the foot and the lateral cartilage is not partly ossified as it is in some old chronic cases, the complete removal of the lateral cartilage by means of the bayer operation or a modification thereof is indicated. a complete description of the bayer operation as well as merillat's operation for this disease (the latter consisting in part, in the removal of diseased cartilage with the curette) are given in volume three of merillat's "veterinary surgical operations." treatment by injection of caustic solutions has many advocates and because of the fact that, in many instances the condition is such that they are not desirable surgical cases and also because some animals may be put in service before treatment is completed, the injection method is popular. the mode of treatment advocated by joseph hughes, m.r.c.v.s., constitutes a very successful manner of handling quittor and we can do no better than quote dr. j.t. seeley[33] on his manner of using this particular treatment. [illustration: fig. 37--hyperplasia of right fore foot, due to chronic quittor.] preparation.--first remove the shoe, have the foot pared very thin and balanced as nicely as possible. moreover, all loose fragments of horn must be detached and all crevices cleaned thoroughly. next, have the leg brushed and hair clipped from the knee or hock to the foot and scrubbed with ethereal soap and warm water, after which the foot must be scrubbed in like manner. the foot is then placed in a bichlorid bath several hours daily, for from two to five days, depending upon whether or not soreness is shown. the bichlorid solution is 1 to 1,000 strength. on removing the horse from the bath a liberal layer of gauze is soaked in 1 to 1,000 bichlorid solution and placed so as to cover the entire foot. on discontinuing the bath, cover the foot with gauze saturated with a 1 to 1,000 bichlorid solution. this is to be covered with absorbent cotton and a gauze bandage, and over all is placed an oil cloth or silk covering. this pack is kept moist with bichloride solution for forty-eight hours. the foot is then ready for injection. [illustration: fig. 38--chronic quittor, left hind foot. showing position assumed because of painfulness of the affection.] preparation of the injection fluids.--have on hand a pint of a one per cent aqueous solution of formaldehyd made under cleanly conditions, even to a clean bottle and cork, and a clean container when ready to use the liquid. prepare also a bichlorid of mercury solution as follows: hydrarg. chlor. corros. 3iv; acid hydrochlor. 3iss.; aqua bulliens, oij. this should be thoroughly triturated, and then filtered into a clean bottle, when it is ready for use. injection.--the patient should be laid on a table, if one is available, or cast, and the foot securely fixed. then, with an ordinary one-ounce hard rubber syringe, with a good plunger (tried first to note whether or not any fluid works around between the barrel and the plunger), introduce one syringe full of the formaldehyd solution, then thoroughly probe the quittor to determine the number of sinuses. this done, inject each sinus. if two sinuses open on the surface, close one with cotton while filling the other so that if there is a connection the solution will come in contact with all tissues involved. irrigate with the full pint of formaldehyd solution first, then follow with six or eight ounces of the bichlorid solution. never probe the foot nor allow it to be tampered with except in the manner prescribed. after-treatment.--put on a pack saturated with a solution of bichlorid of mercury 1 to 1,000 and let it remain two days. remove pack, and once daily afterwards wipe off with cotton the secretion which accumulates on the outside, and apply a dry dressing or healing oil composed of phenol, camphor gum and olive oil. when dangerous to inject.--never inject a quittor in the acute stage. never inject a quittor if considerable lameness is present. on injecting a solution of formalin, hold cotton tightly around the nozzle of the syringe, when the plunger is down, then withdraw the syringe gently and note particularly if the fluid returns through the opening; if none returns cease operations at once, as it is dangerous to proceed farther, it indicates that the sinus is not well defined and the fluid retained will cause much trouble and often the death of the patient. experience has taught that, if extensive destructive changes of the foot exist, the bayer operation is not indicated. in the country, where quittors are not so frequently met as in urban practice, the merillat operation is preferable in all cases. however, the cost of the protracted period of idleness, which convalescent surgical patients require, renders the hughes method more satisfactory in the hands of the general practitioner, especially in the city. nail punctures. nail punctures, as herein considered, embrace all penetrant wounds of the solar surface of the horse's foot due to trampling upon street nails. this does not include accidental nail pricks occasioned in shoeing. in city practice, in some stables, these cases are of frequent occurrence; and, generally speaking, nail punctures are observed more frequently in urban horses than in animals that are kept in the country. occurrence and method of examination.--this condition, then, is a rather common cause of lameness and in no case, where cause of the claudication is not obvious, is the practitioner warranted in concluding his examination without careful search for the possible existence of nail puncture of the solar surface of the foot. [illustration: fig. 39--skiagraph of foot. the x-ray offers very limited possibilities in the diagnosis of lameness. the location of a "gravel" or a nail that had worked its way some distance from the surface, or of an abscess of some proportion, deep in the tissues, might be facilitated under some circumstances by the aid of the x-ray. its use in the detention of fractures is very limited, owing to the difficulty encountered in getting a view from the right position--many trials being necessary in most cases. the case shown above was diagnosed clinically as incipient ringbone. the x-ray revealed no lesions. (photo by l. griessmann.)] in occasional instances there co-exists an obvious cause for supporting-leg-lameness and an occult cause--a nail puncture. where such complications are met, the practitioner is not necessarily guilty of neglect or carelessness when the nail puncture is not discovered at once, nevertheless, an examination is not complete until practically every possible cause of lameness has been located or excluded in any given case. in a search for nail puncture it is necessary to expose to view every portion of the sole and frog in such manner that the existence of the smallest possible wound will be revealed. this necessitates removal of the shoe, if, after a preliminary examination, a puncture is not found, when there is good reason to suspect its presence. however, where it is readily possible to locate and care for a wound without removal of the shoe, allowing the shoe to remain materially facilitates retaining dressings in position and relieves the solar surface of contact with the ground. if extensive injury or infection exists, it is of course necessary to remove the shoe and leave it off. by removing a superficial portion of all of the sole and frog, thus carefully and completely exposing to view all parts of the solar surface of the foot, and with the aid of hoof-testers one is enabled to positively determine the existence of nail punctures. because of the tendency of puncture wounds of the foot to close, and since the superficial portion of the solar structures are usually soiled, it is absolutely necessary to conduct examinations of this kind in a thorough manner. symtomatology.--not all cases of nail puncture cause lameness during the course of the disturbance and in many instances no lameness is manifested for some time after the injury has been inflicted--not until infection has been the means of causing considerable inflammation of sensitive structures. nevertheless, this lack of manifestation occurs only in cases where serious injury has not taken place and the degree of lameness is a constant and reliable indicator of the character and extent of nail punctures within twenty-four hours after injury has been inflicted. the position assumed by the affected animal inconstantly varies with the location and nature of the injury and is not of particular importance in establishing a diagnosis. the subject may support some weight with the affected member and stand "base-wide" or "base-narrow," or no weight may be borne with the foot or the animal may point or keep the extremity in a state of volar flexion. in cases where extensive injury has been inflicted, and great pain exists, the foot is kept off the ground much of the time and it may be swung back and forth as in all painful affections of the extremity. nail punctures cause typical supporting-leg-lameness and in some cases certain peculiarities of locomotory impediment are worthy of notice. punctures of the region of the heel, which directly affect or involve the deep tendon sheath, cause a type of lameness wherein pain is augmented, when dorsal flexion of the extremity occurs as well as when weight is borne. wounds in the region of the toe of the hind feet sometimes cause the subject to carry the extremity considerably in advance of the point where it is planted and, just before placing the foot on the ground, it is carried backward a little way--ten or twelve inches. however, diagnosis of nail puncture is based on the finding of the characteristic wound or resultant local changes. course and prognosis.--the nature of the progress and the manner of termination of these cases are variable. if the coffin joint has been invaded, and a septic arthritis exists, the condition is at once grave. an open and infected tendon sheath, while not so serious, constitutes a condition which is distressing, and recovery is slow even under the most favorable conditions. where a heavy, rigid and sharp nail enters the foot, in such manner that fracture of the third phalanx (os pedis) occurs, this complication makes for a protraction of the condition. experience teaches that the natural course and termination in these cases are modified by the location and depth of the injury, virulency of the contagium and resistance of the subject to such infection. prevention.--in all horses which are kept at such work that exposure to nail punctures is frequent, a practical means of prevention of such injuries consists in the employment of heavy sole leather or suitable sheet metal to cover the sole of the foot and, at the same time, confine oakum and tar in contact with the solar surface to prevent the introduction of foreign material between the foot and such protecting appliances. further, if drivers and owners could be impressed with the serious complications which so frequently attend wounds of this kind, undoubtedly many cases which are now lost, because of ignorance or neglect on the part of the teamsters or proprietors of horses, would be saved by prompt and rational treatment. treatment.--the treatment of this condition falls so largely within the dominion of surgery that we can give little more than an outline here. in cases where there exists no evidence of open joint or open tendon sheath as judged by the site of the puncture and degree of lameness present (after having thoroughly cleansed the solar surface of the foot and enlarged the opening in the nonsensitive sole) a little phenol is introduced into the wound. in such cases, where it is possible for the antiseptic to contact every part of wound surface to the extreme depths of the puncture, infection is prevented when such treatment is promptly administered. this may be considered as first aid, or emergency care, and is indicated in all wounds of the foot whether the injury be serious or almost insignificant. subsequently one of two general courses may be pursued in the treatment of cases of nail puncture. one, by the employment of means to keep the wound patent and injection of suitable antiseptics, or agents that are more or less caustic in conjunction with strict observance of asepsis and wound protection. the other method consists in prompt establishment of drainage by surgical means and includes exploration and curettage. the first method is better adapted to the use of the average general practitioner and he would do well to keep the opening in the nonsensitive structures patent. by introducing equal parts of tincture of iodin and glycerin daily, good results will follow in most instances. the wound is protected in unshod horses, either by completely bandaging the foot and retaining, in contact with the wound, cotton that is saturated with iodin and glycerin, or, if a minor injury exists, the moderately enlarged opening in the nonsensitive sole or frog, which has been moistened with the antiseptic, is packed with a very small quantity of cotton. a little practice in this mode of closing benign puncture wounds will enable the practitioner to successfully protect the sensitive parts in the treatment of such cases in unshod country horses. when the condition progresses favorably the wound may be dressed every second day or twice weekly, and in the course of from two to six weeks recovery should be complete. if the practitioner is somewhat proficient as a surgeon, and has at his command facilities for doing surgery, the second method is preferable in many cases. by using a local anesthetic on the plantar nerves and confining the subject on an operating table, restraint should be perfect. the solar surface of the foot is first thoroughly cleansed, the puncture wound is enlarged in the nonsensitive structures and the parts are then moistened with phenol or other suitable antiseptics. by means of a small probe the puncture is explored and, depending on the character of the wound and the structures involved, surgical intervention is varied to suit the case. if necessary, all of the insensitive frog is removed, and in wounds affecting the region of the heel the tissues may be incised from the puncture outward dividing all of the tissues outward and backward to the surface. a suitable surgical dressing is then applied. if, on the other hand, the puncture extends into the navicular bursa, the radical operation is perhaps indicated, though not until one is sure that infection of the bursa and serious consequences are to follow if this operation is not performed. detailed description of the technic of this operation belongs to the realm of surgery and a good discussion of it is to be found in william's work on veterinary surgical and obstetrical operations. one may summarize the discussion of treatment of nail puncture by saying that emergency care as herein described is of first consideration. in every case an immunizing dose of anti-tetanic serum should be given. subsequently, the method employed must suit the character of the wound, existing facilities for handling the subject and the skill and aptitude of the practitioner. footnotes: [footnote 5: manual of veterinary physiology, by major-general f. smith, page 590.] [footnote 6: manual of veterinary physiology by major-general f. smith, page 589.] [footnote 7: regional veterinary surgery and operative technique, jno. a.w. dollar, m.r.c.v.s., f.r.s.e., m.r.i., page 765.] [footnote 8: dr. roscoe r. bell in the proceedings, n.y. state veterinary medical society, 1899.] [footnote 9: american veterinary review, vol. 35, p. 456.] [footnote 10: "radial paralysis and its treatment by mechanical fixation of knee and ankle," geo. h. berns, d.v.s. proceedings of the american veterinary medical association, 1912, p. 219.] [footnote 11: as quoted by berns, in radial paralysis, etc., proceedings of the a.v.m.a., 1912.] [footnote 12: veterinary surgical operations, by l.a. merillat, v.s., p. 507.] [footnote 13: a paper presented before the illinois veterinary medical assn. by dr. h. thompson of paxton, ill., american veterinary review, vol. 15, p. 134.] [footnote 14: "fractures in foals," by dr. wilfred walters, m.r.c.v.s., american journal of veterinary medicine, vol. 8, p. 669.] [footnote 15: american veterinary review, vol. 26, p. 1068.] [footnote 16: fractures, by h. thompson, paxton, ill., american veterinary review, vol. 15, p. 134.] [footnote 17: veterinary surgical operations, by l.a. merillat, vol. 3, p. 198.] [footnote 18: wilfred walters, american journal of veterinary medicine, vol. 8, p. 606.] [footnote 19: j.n. frost, assistant professor of surgery, veterinary dept., cornell university, in "wound treatment," page 159.] [footnote 20: open joints and their treatment in my practice, by j.v. lacroix, american journal of veterinary medicine, vol. 5, page 203.] [footnote 21: regional veterinary surgery mã¶ller--dollar, page 605.] [footnote 22: extract from receuil de mã©decine vã©tã©rinaire in ameircan veterinary review, vol. 23, p. 893.] [footnote 23: fracture of all the sesamoid bones, by r.f. frost, m.r.c.v.s., a.v.d., rangoon, burmah, in american veterinary review, vol. 5, p. 362.] [footnote 24: the anatomy of the domestic animal, by septimus sisson, s.b., v.s.] [footnote 25: traitã© de thã©rapeutique chirurgicale des animaux domestique, par p.j. cadiot et j. almy, tome second, page 547.] [footnote 26: anatomie regionale des animaux domestique, page 695.] [footnote 27: manual of veterinary physiology, by major-general f. smith, c.b., c.m.g., page 678.] [footnote 28: mã¶ller's regional veterinary surgery, by dollar, page 630.] [footnote 29: edinburgh veterinary review, vol. vi, page 616.] [footnote 30: equine laminitis or pododermatitis, by r.c. moore, d.v.s., american journal of veterinary medicine, vol. xi, page 284.] [footnote 31: american journal of veterinary medicine, vol. xi, page 318.] [footnote 32: the shoeing of a dropped sole foot by dr. david w. cochran, new york city, the horse shoers journal, march, 1915.] [footnote 33: quittor and its treatment by the hughes method, j.t. seeley, m.d.c., seattle, washington, chicago veterinary college quarterly bulletin, vol. 9, page 27.] section iv. lameness in the hind leg. anatomo-physiological consideration of the pelvic limbs. the pelvic bones as a whole constitute the analogue of the scapulae with respect to their function as a part of the mechanism of locomotive and supportive apparatus of the horse. the manner of attachment or connection between the ilia and the trunk is materially different from that of the scapulae, however, and the angles as formed by the long axes of the ilia in relation to the spinal column are maintained by two functionally antagonistic structures--the sacrosciatic ligaments, and the abdominal muscles by means of the prepubian tendon. the sacro-iliac articulations are such that a very limited amount of movement is possible; free movement, however, is unnecessary because of the enarthrodial (ball and socket) femeropelvic joint. the various muscles which exert their effect upon the pelvis in changing their relationship between the long axes of the ilia and spinal column, are concerned but little more in propulsion and weight bearing than are the pectoral muscles. a general treatise on the subject of lameness does not properly include such structures any more than it does the various affections of the dorsal, lumbar and sacral vertebrae or inflammation of the abdominal parietes. involvement of such parts cause manifestations of lameness but the matter of establishing a diagnosis is difficult in many instances and in some cases impossible. the femeropelvic articulation is formed by the hemispherical head of the femur and the acetabulum; the latter constituting a cotyloid cavity which is deepened by the cotyloid ligament. the round ligament (ligamentum teres) is the principal binding structure of the hip joint and it arises in a notch in the head of the femur and is attached in the subpubic groove close to the acetabular notch. another ligament, peculiar to equidae--the accessory (pubiofemoral)--is attached to the head of the femur near the round ligament and passes through the cotyloid notch and along the under side of the pubis. it is inserted or blends with the prepubic tendon. this ligament prevents extreme abduction of the leg. the joint capsule encompasses the articulation and is attached to the brim of the acetabulum and the edge of the head of the femur. [illustration: fig. 40--sagital section of right hock. the section passes through the middle of the groove of the trochlea of the tibial tarsal bone. 1 and 2. proximal ends of cavity of hock joint. 3. thick part of joint capsule over which deep flexor tendon plays. 4. fibular tarsal bone (sustentaculum). a large vein crosses the upper part of the joint capsule (in front of 1). (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] [illustration: fig. 41--muscles of right leg; front view. the greater part of the long extensor has been removed. 1, 2, 3. stumps of patellar ligaments. 4. tuberosity of tibia. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] the stifle joint is analagous to the knee joint of man and is to be considered an atypical ginglymus (hinge) articulation formed by the femur, tibia and patella. the ligaments are femerotibial, femeropatellar and capsular. in addition to the usual provision for articulation of bones there are situated cartilaginous _menisci_ between the condyles of the femur and the head of the tibia. these discs surround the tibial spine and are otherwise shaped to fit perfectly between the articular portions of the femur and tibia. collateral ligaments (internal and external lateral) pass from the distal end of the femur to the proximal portion of the tibia. the mesial (internal) arises from the internal condyle of the femur and is attached to a rough area below the margin of the medial (internal) condyle of the tibia. the lateral (external), shorter and thicker, arises from the depression on the lateral epicondyle and inserts to the head of the fibula. the crucial or interosseus, anterior and posterior, are situated between the femur and tibia, and according to smith,[34] the crucial ligaments are necessary to properly join the two bones, because of the character of the structure of the articular ends of the femur and tibia. the femeropatella ligaments are two thin bands which reinforce the capsular ligament. they arise from the lateral aspects of the femur, just above the condyles and are inserted to the corresponding surfaces of the patella. the patellar ligaments are three strong bands which arise from the antero-inferior surface of the patella, and are inserted to the anterior aspect of the tuberosity of the tibia. taken as a whole, the tarsal bones, interarticulating and articulating with the tibia and metatarsal bones form the hock joint and this articulation is analagous to the carpus. as with the carpus, there is less movement in the inferior portion of the joint than in the superior part of the articulation. the chief articulating parts are the tibia with the tibial tarsal bone (astragulus). [illustration: fig. 42--muscles of lower part of thigh, leg and foot; lateral view, o', fascia lata; q, q', q", biceps femoris; r, semitendinosus; 21', lateral condyle of tibia. the extensor brevis is visible in the angle between the long and lateral extensor tendons. (after ellenberger-baum, anat. fã¼r kã¼nstler.) (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] the capsular ligament is attached around the margin of the articular surfaces of the tibia, to the tarsal bones, the collateral ligaments (internal and external lateral) and to the metatarsus. [illustration: fig. 43--right stifle joint; lateral view. the femoro-patellar capsule was filled with plaster-of-paris and then removed after the cast was set. the femoro-tibial capsule and most of the lateral patellar ligament are removed. m. lateral meniscus. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] the common ligaments of the tarsal joint are the collateral, the plantar (calcaneo-metatarsal and c. cuboid) and dorsal ligaments (oblique). the medial (internal lateral) ligament serves to join the medial (internal) tibial malleolus with tibial tarsal (astragalus) and other tarsal bones. the lateral (external lateral) ligament is inserted to the lateral (external) tibial malleolus and its distal portions are attached to the tibial tarsal (astragalus), fibular tarsal (calcaneum) bone, fourth tarsal (cuboid) and metatarsus bones. [illustration: fig. 44--left stifle joint; medial view. the capsules are removed. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] the plantar ligament (calcaneo-cuboid) is a strong flat band which is attached to the plantar surface of the fibular and fourth tarsal bones (calcaneum and cuboid) and the head of the lateral metatarsal (external small) bone. the dorsal (oblique) ligament is attached above to the distal tuberosity on the inner side of the tibia. it is inserted below to the central (cuneiform magnum) and third (c. medium) tarsal bones, to the proximal ends of the large and outer small metatarsal bones. the tarsus is a true hinge joint and because of the great strain which it sustains, is subject to frequent injury. about seventy-five percent of cases of lameness affecting the hind leg may be said to arise from disease of the hock. as members of locomotion the legs receive strains of two kinds: those of concussion and weight-bearing and strains of propulsion; the latter are the greater. in the horse as a work animal, the hind legs are probably subjected to greater strains than are the front but the manner of construction of the various parts of the pelvic limbs with the possible exception (according to some authorities) of the tibial tarsal joint, offsets this condition. the femur may be considered analagous to the humerus in that it bears a similar relationship to the ilium, that exist between the humerus and scapula. further flexion during repose is prevented chiefly by the glutens medius (maximus) muscle and its tendons. the larger tendon inserts to the summit of the trochanter major of the femur and corresponds to the biceps brachii in the action of the latter on the scapulohumeral joint, except that the gluteus medius, in attaching to the femoral trochanter, exerts its effect as a lever of the first class. because of the relationship between the long axes of the femur and iliac shaft it is evident that the angle formed by these two bones is maintained chiefly by the gluteus muscles during weight bearing. contraction of muscular fibers of the gluteus medius causes extension of the femur and muscular strain is prevented to a great degree by the inelastic portion of this muscle. the chief physiological antagonistics of the glutei are the quadriceps femoris and tensor fascia lata. while the leg is supporting weight the stifle joint is fixed in position mainly by the quadriceps femoris group of muscles which are attached to the patella. tendinous fibres intersect this muscular mass and relieve muscular strain during weight bearing. because of the manner in which the patella functionates with the trochlea of the femur, comparatively little energy is required to prevent further flexion of the stifle joint. the patella, according to strangeways, may be considered a sesamoid bone. [illustration: fig. 45--left stifle joint; front view. the capsules are removed. 1. middle patellar ligament. 2. stump of fascia lata. 3. stump of common tendon of extensor longus and peroneus tertius. (from sisson's "anatomy of domestic animals.")] the quadriceps group of muscles is assisted by the anterior digital extensor (extensor pedis) peroneus tertius and tibialis anticus (flexor metatarsi) muscles. the latter pair (flexor metatarsi, muscular and tendinous portions, because of their attachment to the external condyle of the femur and to the metatarsal bone) are enabled to automatically flex the tarsal joint when the stifle is flexed. the hock is kept fixed in position by the gastrocnemius and the superficial digital flexor (perforatus). the latter structure, which is chiefly tendinous, originates in the supracondyloid fossa of the femur and has an insertion to the summit of the fibular tarsal (calcis) bone. it relieves the gastrocnemius of muscular strain during weight bearing. smith[35] styles the function of the stifle and hock joints a reciprocating action, and we quote from this authority the following: from what has been said, it is evident that flexion and extension of stifle and hock are identical in their action. when the stifle is extended, the hock is automatically extended, nor can it under any circumstances flex without the previous flexion of the stifle. there is no parallel to this in the body. the two joints, though far apart, act as one, and they are locked by the drawing up of the patella, and in no other way. the so-called dislocation of the stifle in the horse is a misnomer. that the patella is capable of being dislocated is beyond doubt, but the ordinary condition described under that term, when the stifle and hock are rigid while the foot is turned back with its wall on the ground, is nothing more than spasm of the muscles which keeps the patella drawn up. the moment they relax the previously immovable limb and useless foot have their function restored as if by magic, but are immediately thrown out of gear in the course of a few minutes as a recurrence of the tetanus of the petallar muscle takes place. the fascia of the thigh, like that of the arm, is a most potent factor in giving assistance to the constant strain imposed on the muscles of the limbs during standing. below the hock the hind limb is arranged like that of the fore, the deep flexor (perforans) receiving its additional support from the "check ligament," as in the fore leg. the natural attitude of standing adopted by the horse is to rest on three legs--one hind and two fore. if he is alert, he stands on all four limbs; but if standing in the ordinary manner, he always rests on one hind leg. he does not remain long in this position without changing to the other. hour by hour he stands, shifting his weight at intervals from one to the other hind leg, and resting its fellow by flexing the hock and standing on the toe. he never spares his fore-limbs in this manner in a state of health, but always stands squarely on them. hip lameness. fortunately, because of the heavy musculature which goes to form a part of the locomotive apparatus of the rear extremity, hip lameness is comparatively rare. while the term is in itself ambiguous and signifies nothing more definite than does "shoulder lameness," yet diagnosis of almost any condition that may be classed under the head of "hip lameness" is not easy except in cases where the cause is obvious, as in wounds of the musculature and certain fractures. to the complexity which the gait of the quadruped contributes, because of its being four-legged, there is added the complicated manner of articulation of the bones of the hind leg. this involves the hip in the manner of diagnostic problems and because of the inaccessibility of certain parts, owing to the bulk of the musculature of these parts, diagnosis of some hip ailments becomes an intricate problem. consequently, in some instances, before one may arrive at definite and enlightening conclusions, repeated examinations are necessary as well as a knowledge of reliable history and recorded observations of the subject over a considerable period. rheumatic affections, when present, usually cause recurrent attacks of lameness; myalgia, due to subsurface injury occasioned by contusion, generally produces an ephemeral disturbance; and while these are examples of cases where occult causes are active, they are by no means unprecedented. in cases where the cause of lameness is not definitely located, and when by the process of exclusion one is enabled to decide that the seat of trouble is in the hip, a tentative diagnosis of hip lameness is always appropriate. in one instance a shetland pony evinced a peculiar form of intermittent lameness which affected the left hip, and repeated examinations did not disclose the cause of the trouble. after about a year there was established spontaneously an opening through the integument overlying the region of the attachment of the psoas major (magnus), through which pus discharged. with the occurrence of this fistula, lameness almost entirely disappeared, but the emission of a small amount of pus persisted for more than a year. the subject was not observed thereafter and the outcome in this case is not a matter of record. whether there existed a psoic phlegmon due to metastatic infection or necrosis of a part of a lumber or dorsal vertebra is a matter for speculation. thus the presence of some anomalous conditions which affect the pelvic region and cause lameness may be discovered, yet both in hip and shoulder regions causes may not be definitely located by means of practical methods of examination. injuries of all kinds are the more frequent causes of hip lameness. in such cases, lameness may result directly and resolution be prompt, or the claudication become aggravated in time, due to muscular atrophy or degenerative changes affecting the hip joint or nerves. rheumatism or metastatic infection may be the cause of hip lameness as well as affections of the pelvic bones, lumbar and sacral vertebrae. hip lameness may also be provoked by melanotic or other tumors. in the diagnosis of hip lameness, one is guided in a general way by the character of the impediment manifested. swinging-leg lameness is often present and the impediment is more accentuated when the animal is caused to step backward. in many cases lameness is mixed, being about equally noticeable during weight bearing and while the member is being swung. by exclusion of causes which might affect other parts; one may definitely locate the cause of the trouble or determine that a certain region is affected. the sudden manifestation of lameness is indicative of injury; thermic disturbances may signalize metastatic infection; history, if dependable, is always helpful. repeated observations, taking into account the course which the affection assumes during a period of a few days, often serve to afford a means of establishing a diagnosis in baffling cases. fractures of the pelvic bones. the os innominatum may be so fractured that the pelvic girdle is broken, as in fracture of the iliac shaft, or in a manner that the girdling continuity of the innominate bones is not interrupted. it naturally follows that greater injury is done when the pelvic girdle is broken than when it is not, except in cases where the acetabulum is involved and its brim not completely divided. etiology and occurrence.--pelvic fractures are usually caused by falls or other manner of contusion. cases are reported where it would seem that fracture of the iliac angle resulted from muscular contraction, but it is certain that most fractures of this kind are due to collisions with door jambs or similar injuries. in old horses especially, fracture of pelvic bones occurs frequently. this form of injury is of more frequent occurrence in animals of all ages that work on paved streets. the country horse is not subjected to the uncertain footing of the slippery pavement, nor to injuries which compare with those caused by contusions sustained in falling upon asphalt or cobble-stones. symptomatology.--while in many cases of pelvic fracture lameness or abnormal decumbency are the salient manifestations, yet the pathognomic symptoms are crepitation or palpable evidence which may be obtained by rectal or vaginal examination. in fractures of the angle of the ilium and the ischial tuberosity, perceptible evidence always exists. in cases where fracture of some portion of the pelvic girdle is suspected and the subject is able to walk, crepitation is sought by placing one hand on an external angle of the ilium and the other on the ischial tuberosity and the animal is then made to walk. or, by placing the hands as just directed, an assistant may grasp the horse's tail and by alternately exerting traction on the tail and pushing against the hip in such manner that weight is shifted from one leg to the other, crepitation may be detected. fracture of the pubis near its symphysis constitutes a grave injury, as there is danger of the bladder becoming caught in the fissure and perforation of its wall may result. such a case is reported by bauman[36] wherein a three-year-old gelding bore the history of having been lame for ten days. upon rectal examination the bladder was found to be hard and tumor-like and about the size of a baseball. the body of the ischium in this case was fractured and a rent in the bladder was caused by a sharp projecting piece of bone. autopsy revealed, in addition to the fracture and rent of the bladder wall, a large quantity of urine in the peritoneal cavity. in other instances hemorrhage caused death and not infrequently infection was responsible for a fatal issue. moller,[37] quoting nocard, describes a case where fracture occurred through the region of the foramen ovale and paralysis of the obturator nerve followed. fractures which include the acetabular bones cause great pain. this is manifested by marked lameness, both during weight bearing and when the member is swung. such cases terminate unfavorably--complete recovery is impossible. where small portions of the angle of the ilium are broken, and the skin is left intact, there exists the least troublesome class of pelvic fracture. if large portions of the ilium are fractured, considerable disturbance results. there eventually occurs more or less displacement in such cases, if such displacement does not take place at the time of injury. the same may be said of fracture of the tuber ischii, but when these bones are fractured a more serious condition results. treatment.--when a case is found to be uncomplicated, that is, if the fracture is such that recovery seems possible and after having determined that treatment may be practicable, the first consideration is that of confining the subject in suitable slings. in many cases of pelvic fracture, the affected animal will need to be kept in slings from six weeks to three months, and it becomes a difficult problem to minimize the distress during this long period of confinement in the peculiar manner required for favorable outcome. the pattern of sling employed should be the best that is obtainable and the matter of its adjustment is quite important lest unnecessary chafing or even necrosis of skin result. frequent readjustment may be necessary, and time is well spent in this manner since this contributes materially toward a favorable termination by encouraging the subject to remain quiet so that coaptation of the broken bones may be maintained. aside from slings, mechanical appliances that are helpful in the treatment of these cases are not yet in use. a regimen that is nutritive and at the same time laxative is essential and in some cases cathartics and enemata are necessary. also, during the first few days, if there is retention of urine, catheterization is imperative. in a word, the handling of such cases consists largely in keeping the subject inactive, as comfortable as possible, and giving attention to suitable diet. simple fracture of the external iliac angle needs no particular attention, except that the subject is kept quiet until lameness subsides. in all cases where much of the bone is broken, the animal is blemished, but interference with function does not follow. if infection results because of a compound fracture, loose pieces of bone must be removed surgically and drainage provided for. in fracture of the ischial tuberosity, infection is more apt to result than in like injury of the ilium, and greater displacement of bone occurs. this displacement, due to contraction of the attached muscles, is in some instances a contributing cause to the infection which often follows in these cases. in females where the body of the ischium is fractured, lacerations of the vagina may be present, and this constitutes a serious complication which usually terminates fatally. after-care in fracture of the pelvic girdle consists principally in allowing a protracted period of rest before subjects are put to work. fractures of the femur. etiology and occurrence.--this is a comparatively rare injury in the horse because of the protection afforded the femur by the heavy musculature. fragilitas of the bone probably exists in many cases when fracture of its diaphysis occurs. it is generally conceded that the neck of the femur is rarely broken because of a lack of constriction in this part, but fracture of the trochanters has been recorded rather frequently. however, lienaux and zwanenpoete[38] state that fracture of the neck of the femur is of frequent occurrence in belgian colts. tapley[39] reports in the veterinary journal (english) fracture of the head and internal trochanter of the femur and patellar luxation occurring simultaneously affecting a mule. in this case the mule was found decumbent on a concrete floor. after three weeks, the subject was destroyed and autopsy revealed rupture of the left pubiofemoral ligament, tearing with it a portion of the articular surface of the femur. the internal trochanter was also fractured in four small pieces. in this case it is fair to suppose that the mule in trying to regain footing on a slippery floor violently abducted the legs and fracture resulted. it is possible also that a temporary luxation of the patella took place first and caused the animal to struggle in such manner that fracture followed. [illustration: fig. 46--oblique fracture of the femur of a 1,500 six-year-old draft horse. showing shortening of bone, owing to a lateral approximation of the diaphysis because of muscular contraction. photo by dr. edward merillat.] symptomatology.--according to cadiot and almy,[40] "regardless of the location of femoral fractures, the subject is usually intensely lame, the animal frequently walking on three legs--fractures of the diaphysis are characterized by an abnormal mobility." as a rule, crepitation is to be recognized in fractures of the shaft of the bone, by passively moving the leg to and from the medial plane (adduction and abduction). fracture of the trochanter major is signalized by local swelling and evidence of pain; the forward stride is shortened because this movement tenses the tendon of the gluteus major (maximus) which is attached principally to the trochanter. [illustration: fig. 47--same bone as in fig. 46 after about six months' treatment. in this case dr. merillat employed a weight to counteract muscular contraction. it is noticeable that very little provisional callus has formed in this case, and in spite of unusual ingenuity and good facilities for caring for the subject, union of bone did not occur.] treatment.--reduction of femoral fracture in the horse is practically impossible, and retaining the broken bones in coaptation is not possible by means of mechanical appliances. consequently, prognosis is unfavorable in fracture of the body of the femur. when union of bone occurs, there results shortening of the leg and animals are rendered permanently lame. if the immediate region of the head of the bone is involved as well as in case of fracture of the condyles, an incurable arthritis ensues. where the trochanters are broken, chronic lameness and muscular atrophy is the result. therefore, it is evident that, because of the manner of function of the femur, the leverage afforded by its great trochanter and its heavy muscular attachments, fractures of this bone in the horse do not terminate favorably. luxation of the femur. etiology and occurrence.--uncomplicated femoral luxation is of less frequent occurrence in the horse than in the other domestic animals. the deep cotyloid cavity renders disarticulation difficult and luxation does not often take place. complications that usually occur are rupture of the round (coxofemoral) ligament or fracture of the neck of the femur. falls or violent strains are necessary to produce this luxation. goubaux is quoted by cadiot and almy[41] as having observed the head of the femur in an instance wherein luxation had long existed. in this case autopsy revealed the fact that the inner portion (two-thirds) of the head of the femur had completely disappeared. luxation of the femur is observed in old emaciated animals that are worked on slippery pavements. occasionally, evidence of chronic luxation of the femur is observed in the anatomical laboratory. the chronicity of the condition is obvious when one notes the well formed articulation which nature provides for the head of the femur, where fracture or other serious complications are not present. symptomatology.--in every case there must exist either restriction of movement or an evident abnormal position of the leg, or both conditions may exist at once. also, the leg may be markedly shortened. manifestation of this affection varies, depending upon the character of the luxation (position of the head of the humerus with relation to the acetabulum). lusk[42] cites a case of a mule which had suffered femoral luxation. the animal was destroyed and on autopsy the head of the femur found to be contained within a false articular cavity situated about four inches above the acetabulum. in dr. lusk's case as he states it, the following symptoms were presented: "limb shortened and fixed in a position of adduction. while standing the affected limb hung directly across and in front of the opposite one; upper trochanter very prominent; skin over hip joint very tense. the mobility of the limb was very limited, especially in the forward direction." being very prominent when there is an upward luxation and less perceptible in downward displacement, the location of the trochanter major is an indicator of the character of the luxation with respect to the position of the head of the femur. this variation of position causes abnormal tenseness or looseness of the skin over the region of the trochanter major. rectal examination is of aid in locating the head of the humerus. treatment.--when it is evident that a subject should be given treatment and not destroyed, the animal must be cast and completely anesthetized. with complete relaxation thus secured by rotation of the limb, using the hip joint region as a pivot, reduction may be effected. traction is exerted in the same direction from the acetabulum that the head of the femur is situated and by pressing over the joint, the displaced bone may be returned in position. if luxation is downward, traction on the extremity will tend to dislodge the head of the femur from the inferior acetabular margin making reduction possible. the same general plan which is ordinarily employed in correcting luxation is indicated here, but because of the heavy musculature of the hip, complete anesthesia is imperative in all such manipulations. gluteal tendo-synovitis. the glutens medius (g. maximus) muscle is inserted chiefly by means of two tendons; one to the summit of the trochanter major of the femur and the other passing over the anterior part of the convexity of the trochanter, and being attached to the crest below it. the trochanter is covered with cartilage, and a bursa (the trochanteric) is interposed between the tendon and the cartilage. etiology and occurrence.--this affection is probably caused in most instances by direct injury to the parts, such as may be occasioned by being kicked, falling on pavement, or being struck by the body of a heavy wagon. strains in pulling or in slipping are undoubtedly causative factors and in draft horses such strains may result in involvement of this synovial apparatus. symptomatology.--if pain be severe and inflammation acute, weight may not be borne with the affected member. there is some local manifestation of the condition in acute cases. swelling of the tissues contiguous to the bursa is present and pain is evinced upon manipulation of the parts. a characteristic gait marks inflammation of the trochanteric bursa, and as gunther has put it, the subject generally moves or trots as does the dog--the sound member being carried in advance of the affected one and the forward stride of the diseased leg is shortened. in some chronic cases crepitation is discernible by holding the hand on the trochanter while the subject walks. treatment.--in the first stages of an acute affection absolute quiet must be enforced; local antiphlogistic applications are beneficial. later, vesication of a liberal area surrounding the trochanter major is indicated. where the condition has become chronic in horses that are to be kept at heavy draft work there is little chance for complete recovery. and, naturally, one is not to expect resolution in cases where there exist erosion and ossification of cartilage--where crepitation is discernible. paralysis of the hind leg. aside from paraplegic conditions due to disease of the cord or the lumbosacral plexus, and monoplegic affections resultant from disturbances of this plexus, paralysis of certain nerves are occasionally encountered. anatomy.--the lumbosacral plexus results substantially from the union of the ventral branches of the last three lumbar and the first two sacral nerves, but it derives a small root from the third lumbar nerve also. the anterior part of the plexus lies in front of the internal iliac artery, between the lumbar transverse processes and the psoas minor. it supplies branches to the iliopsoas[43] (designated by girard, the iliacomuscular nerves). the posterior part lies partly upon and partly in the texture of the sacrosciatic ligament. from the plexus are derived the nerves of the pelvic limb (sisson). paralysis of the femoral (crural) nerve. anatomy.--the femoral nerve (crural) is derived chiefly from the fourth and fifth lumbar nerves. it runs ventrally and backward, at first between the psoas major and minor, then crosses the deep face of the tendon of the latter and descends under cover of the sartorious over the terminal part of the iliopsoas. it innervates the psoas major (magnus), psoas minor (parvus), sartorious, rectus femoris, vastus lateralis (interims). branches supply the stifle and the adductor and pectineus muscles. etiology and occurrence.--while paralysis of the femoral nerve, also known as "dropped stifle" occurs as a result of local injuries and melanotic tumors in gray horses, most cases are due to azoturia. so-called crural paralysis or "hip swinney" is occasionally observed but this is not a condition wherein the nerve is affected in the manner that characterizes the marked atrophy of quadriceps femoris (crural) muscles in some cases of hemaglobinuria. this form of paralysis according to hutyra and marek is due primarily to diffuse degeneration of the muscles. symptomatology.--when muscular atrophy is not extensive no particular evidence of this condition may be manifested while the subject is at rest, but where muscular waste has occurred, the nature of the ailment is at once recognized. since the femoral nerve supplies the quadriceps femoris muscles, it follows that when the psoic portion of this nerve becomes diseased, the stifle loses its support, and in a unilateral involvement when the subject attempts to walk on the affected member, the stifle sinks down for want of support and the leg collapses unless weight is caught up with the other leg. often, following azoturia, a bilateral affection is to be observed. treatment.--horses may be restrained in the standing position, and in the average instance, a twitch and hood are all the restraining appliances necessary. in cases where the disease is unilateral and atrophy is not of too long standing, recovery is possible in vigorous subjects. all affections, however, wherein degenerative changes involve the nerve trunk, whether due to diffuse myositis or pressure from malignant tumors, will not yield to treatment. the same general plan of treatment is indicated that is described on page 74 in the consideration of atrophy of the scapular muscles. it is especially important to provide for the subject to be exercised when there is atrophy of the quadriceps muscles following azoturia. in addition to the foregoing, good results have attended the use of intramuscular injections of oxygen. the technic of the operation consists in preparing the area of skin which covers the atrophied muscles as for any operation. the hair is clipped over five or six or more circular areas of about an inch in diameter; the skin is cleansed and then painted with tincture of iodin. a long heavy sterile needle, which is connected with an oxygen tank by means of six feet of rubber tubing, is thrust into the depths of the affected muscles and the gas is gently introduced into the tissues. one needs exercise extreme care that the gas enter slowly because great pain is produced by the sudden injection of the oxygen. likewise too much of the gas must not be introduced at one place. when the oxygen is slowly introduced it may be allowed to enter the tissues until the subject gives evidence of experiencing considerable pain, or if the parts are not particularly sensitive, a reasonable amount (enough to cause a mild degree of diffuse inflammation) is introduced at each one of five or six points. in large animals more points of injection may be used. no infection or other bad results will follow the execution of a good technic and the treatment may be repeated every three or four weeks until either marked regeneration of tissue is evident or the case is obviously proved hopeless. paralysis of the obturator nerve. anatomy.--the obturator nerve, situated at first under the peritoneum, accompanies the obturator artery through the obturator foramen and gaining the muscles on the internal face of the thigh, terminates in the obturator externus, adductors, pectineus and gracilis, also giving twigs to the obturator internus (strangeways). etiology and occurrence.--this condition occurs upon rare occasions as the result of injury such as falls which cause extreme abduction of the legs, or in pelvic fracture where the nerve is directly injured, or when melanotic tumors or other new growths compress the nerve in such manner that its function is suspended. paralysis of the obturator nerve or nerves is met with rather frequently, notwithstanding, in mares, following dystocia. the nerves (one or both) may become bruised at the brim of the obturator foramen by being caught between the pelvis and the body of the fetus in some cases of protracted labor. symptomatology.--in a unilateral affection there may be little evidence of the trouble while the subject is standing; or there is to be seen some abduction; or the affected member may present abduction of the stifle and stand "toe outward." if the animal is walked there will be manifested more or less abduction and the character of the impediment varies according to the nature of the involvement. following protracted cases of labor in some instances where only a unilateral paralysis exists, walking is performed with difficulty; the subject may be unable to support weight with the affected member and is obliged to hop on the one sound hind leg. in bilateral affections, they are unable to rise. if the condition is severe the sling is required to keep the subject standing, and with this care, recovery will follow. treatment.--if new growths or callosities or similar conditions affect the nerve, little, if any, hope for recovery exists. in young and vigorous subjects where cause is not definitely known, a course of strychnin may be given. good nursing, providing for the subject's comfort and allowing moderate exercise, constitute rational treatment. stimulating embrocations on the abductor muscles resorted to in cases during the incipient stage may prove helpful. when paralysis of the obturator nerve occurs as a post-partum complication, and other conditions are favorable, the subject should be raised to its feet without unnecessary delay. if the mare is unable to assist in regaining her feet, a sling is required. usually little else is necessary and after a few days in the sling the subject can get about unassisted. in the meanwhile the well-being of the affected animal is to be considered just as in any other case where the patient is so confined. the foal in such instances constitutes a source of some trouble, but the average mare offers no serious resistance to the confinement occasioned by the sling. good hygienic care, a suitable diet and full physiological doses of strychnin are indicated. cadiot and almy recommend vaginal douches of cold water and counterirritation of the region of the inner thigh in these cases. paralysis of the sciatic nerve. anatomy.--the great sciatic nerve leaves the pelvis in company with the gluteal nerves, through the great sciatic foramen (notch), passing downward along the posterior face of the femur. near the stifle it passes between the two heads of the gastrocnemius muscle and continues as the tibial. branches supply the following muscles--obturator, semimembranosus (adductor magnus), biceps femoris (triceps abductor femoris), semitendinosus (biceps rotator tibialis), lateral extensor (peroneus) and the tibial nerve, its continuation, innervates the digital flexors. etiology and occurrence.--paralysis of the great sciatic nerve may be caused by central disorders, injury in falling, fractures and new growths. because of its protected position, this nerve does not often suffer injury, and paralysis of the sciatic nerve is recorded in a few instances owing to its rarity. symptomatology.--when consideration is given the number of muscles that are supplied by the sciatic nerve and the function of these muscular structures, it is obvious that the leg cannot be used in sciatic paralysis. however, the limb is capable of sustaining weight when it is fixed in position, but this is done without exertion of muscular fibers which are supplied by the great sciatic nerve. trotting is impossible and flexion of the affected member is also likewise precluded. the foot is dragged when the subject is caused to advance. under the heading "sciatica," scott[44] has described a case of acute sciatic affection wherein a pacing horse manifested evidence of great pain of a nervous character. there were muscular twitchings and the leg was held off the floor and moved about convulsively. breathing was very much accelerated, pulse 85 per minute, the temperature was 103â° and manipulation of the hips augmented the pain. this was not a paralytic condition and recovery resulted, yet undoubtedly this was a case which, if not properly cared for, might have terminated unfavorably. treatment.--prognosis is decidedly unfavorable in paralysis of the great sciatic nerve. if treatment is attempted, it is to be conducted along the same general lines as in femoral paralysis. particular attention should be given to conditions which will make for the patient's comfort, and as soon as it is evident that the affection is not progressing favorably, the subject should be humanely destroyed. iliac thrombosis. this condition is undoubtedly of more frequent occurrence than we are wont to grant when one considers the comparatively small number of cases that are actually recognized in practice. it does not follow, however, that iliac thrombosis rarely exists. probably in the majority of instances there is insufficient obstruction of the lumina of vessels to provoke noticeable inconvenience. or, if circulation is hampered to the extent that function is impaired and manifestations are observed by the driver, the subject may be permitted to rest a few days and partial resolution occurs, so that further trouble is not noticeable. as judged by lesions of the aorta and iliac arteries in dissecting subjects, the conclusion that arteritis and resultant disorders are of rather frequent occurrence, is logical. etiology.--inflammation of the vessel walls and resultant prolifieration of tissue together with the accumulation of clotted blood becoming organized, serve to obstruct the lumen of the affected artery. the cause of arteritis is unknown in many instances, but parasitic invasion and contiguous involvement of vessels in some inflammatory injuries are etiological factors. symptomatology.--a characteristic type of lameness signalizes iliac thrombosis and the following brief abstract from a contribution on this subject by drs. merillat[45], clearly portrays the chief symptoms: [illustration: fig. 48--exposure of aorta and its branches, showing location of thrombi in numerous places. in this case (same as fig. 49) dr. l.a. and dr. edward merillat found the cause of the condition to be due to sclerastomiasis.] the seizures are accompanied with profuse sudation, tremors, dilated nostrils, accelerated respirations and other symptoms of pain and distress, all of which, together with the lameness, disappear as rapidly as they had developed, leaving the animal in an apparently perfect state of health, ready to fall with another attack of precisely the same kind, as soon as enough exercise is forced upon it. the rectal explorations may reveal a pulseless state of one or more of the iliac arteries and a hardness and enlargement of the aortic quadrifurcation, but sometimes this palpation fails to disclose any _perceptible_ diminution of the blood current of these vessels. the obturation being incomplete, it may be impossible by palpation to decide that thrombosis really exists. in this event and, in fact, in all eases, the clinical symptoms are sufficiently characteristic to make a diagnosis without reservation. it cannot be mistaken for any other disease, once properly investigated. any given seizure may easily be mistaken for azoturia, at first, but a better examination soon excludes that disease. [illustration: fig. 49--illustrative of thrombosis of the aorta, iliacs and branches. photo by dr. l.a. merillat.] prognosis and treatment.--in the majority of instances, when there is occasioned serious inconvenience, the outcome is not likely to be favorable, according to mã¶ller. detachment of a portion of the thrombus, according to hoare, may result in the lodgment of an embolus in the brain or kidneys. the latter authority also states that muscular atrophy may occur owing to lack of blood supply in some of these cases. mã¶ller states that moderate exercise or work stimulates the establishment of collateral circulation. massage per rectum is condemned as dangerous by cadiot. fracture of the patella. etiology and occurrence.--patellar fractures are rarely met with in the horse but may be caused by falls and heavy contusions. violent muscular contraction, it is said, may also bring about the same condition. symptomatology.--fracture may be transverse or vertical, and depending on the manner in which the bone is broken, prognosis is either at once rendered favorable or unfavorable. the patella performs a function which is in a way similar to that of the sesamoids and when fractured, complete recovery is improbable in the average instance. when complete, transverse fractures permit of separation of the parts of bone. tension on the straight ligaments below and contraction of the quadriceps above usually cause insuperable difficulty in the handling of this type of fracture in the horse. compound fractures as well as multiple or comminuted fractures occasionally occur and these constitute injuries which are generally considered fatal, although andrien, according to cadiot and almy, succeeded in obtaining complete recovery in a case of compound fracture of the patella and the horse was in service and almost free from lameness two months after treatment was begun. no difficulty is encountered in recognizing the fracture of the patella because of the exposed position of the bone. crepitation, and in some cases fissures, may be easily detected. treatment.--in simple fracture, when treatment is thought advisable, the subject is put in a sling and kept as nearly comfortable as possible. if little inflammation exists, the application of a vesicant two or three weeks after the injury has been inflicted will be helpful and serve to hasten repair. bandages or mechanical appliances are of no practical use in the handling of these cases. luxation of the patella. etiology and occurrence.--this, the most common luxation met with in the equine subject, has been described by writers as existing in many forms. patellar disarticulation may be more practically considered as _momentary_ and _fixed_, regardless of the position taken by the patella. described under the title of false luxation are recorded cases wherein the quadriceps (crural) muscles become contracted in such manner that a condition simulating true disarticulation of the patella obtains. also, some practictioners report cases of patellar luxation and refer to pseudo-luxations, without clearly defining the conditions which constitute pseudo-luxation. this has contributed to the extant cause of misconception as to actual differences between luxation and conditions simulating dislocation. luxation of the patella is a condition wherein the articular portions of the femur and patella assume abnormal relations whether such displacement of the patella be momentary and capable of spontaneous reduction, or fixed and requiring corrective manipulation. spasmodic contraction of the crural muscles which sometimes retains the patella in such position that the leg is rigidly extended, does not in itself constitute luxation of the patella; and unless this bone becomes lodged on the upper portion of a femoral condyle or laterally displaced out of its femoral groove, luxation cannot be said to exist in the horse. these are sub-luxations. occasionally one may observe in suckling colts outward luxation of the patella wherein there is history of navel infection and no marked evidence of rachitis is present. some of these cases recover. in a unilateral involvement of this kind in a three-month-old mule colt, the author observed a case wherein an unfavorable prognosis was given and destruction of the subject advised, because of the extreme dislocation of the patella. this colt, however, was not destroyed and in three weeks had apparently recovered. no treatment was given in this instance; the colt was allowed the run of a small pasture with its dam and in time it matured, becoming a sound and serviceable animal. classification.--two forms of true patellar luxation in the horse may be considered; one which is due to the patella becoming fixed upon the internal trochlear rim of the femur and the other when the patella slips over the outer rim of the trochlea. the first form is known as _upward_ luxation and is made possible by rupture of the mesial (internal) femeropatellar ligament. according to cadiot and almy, it is only by the rupture of this ligament--the femeropatellar--that upward luxation may occur. this type of luxation is rarely observed and is usually due to violent strain and abnormal extension of the stifle joint. the second class, _outward_ luxation, occurs in colts and is, in many instances, congenital. this form of luxation is also the one usually seen following debilitating diseases such as influenza and pneumonia. _upward luxation of the patella_ is characterized by the stiff-extended position of the leg. when the patella is situated upon the inner trochlear rim, the tibia must be extended because of the traction exerted by the straight ligaments. since the stifle and hock joints extend and flex in unison, there is presented also an extension of the tarsus. extension of the stifle joint would increase the distance between the femoral origin of the gastrocnemius and its insertion to the summit of fibular tarsal bone (calcis) were it not for the gastrocnemius and superficial flexor (perforatus). extension of the hock in upward luxation of the patella, permits of flexion of the phalanges. in upward luxation, then, the leg is extended as if too long, but the phalanges may be in a state of moderate flexion. if the foot rests on the ground when the extremity is not flexed, it is almost impossible for the subject to step backward. because of immobilization of the stifle and hock joints in upward luxation, the subject can walk only by hopping on the sound leg and then the extremity is flexed, allowing the anterior portion of the fetlock to drag on the ground. in some cases practitioners are called to attend young animals that are reported to be "stifled" (often in young mules that have made a rapid growth) and upon arrival the only noticeable symptom of preã«xisting luxation is the soiled condition of the anterior fetlock region--evidence of its having been dragged. such cases may be styled momentary luxation, whether they are due to a weakened condition of the patellar ligaments or spasmodic contraction of the crural muscles. in upward luxation, reduction is effected by attempting further extension of the stifle joint and at the same time the patella is pulled outward, off the internal rim of the trochlea. this is attempted by securing the subject in a standing position; the sound side is kept against a wall if possible and a rope is tied to the extremity of the affected leg. traction is exerted upon the rope and at the same time force is directed against the stifle joint to produce further extension if possible, so that the straight patellar ligaments may relax sufficiently to allow the patella to be dislodged from its position upon the inner trochlear lip. failing in this manner of procedure, the affected animal is to be cast and anesthetized with chloroform. the relaxation which attends surgical anesthesia will permit of reduction of the dislocated bone and manipulations such as have just been outlined may be employed. following reduction in the average case it is essential that the subject be given vigorous exercise for a few minutes. reduction having been affected, the application of a vesicant over the whole patellar region is customary. in cases of habitual luxation, unless the ligaments are so lax that the patella may be displaced laterally over the inner as well as the outer trochler rims, division of the inner straight patellar ligament will correct the condition. this desmotomy has been advocated by bassi, and good results in appropriate cases have been reported by cadiot, merillat and schumacher. this operation has been found a corrective in cases of outward luxation as well as those of upward dislocation of the patella when resorted to before the trochleae are worn from frequent luxation. _outward luxation of the patella_ is occasioned by a lax condition of the internal femeropatellar ligament or a rupture of the same so that the patella slips over the outer femoral trochlear rim and permits of an abnormal flexion of the stifle joint. the outer trochlear rim being the smaller of the two, inward luxation does not occur in the horse. with the patella disarticulated in this manner, the action of the quapriceps femoral group of muscles has no effect on the stifle joint and, therefore, flexion of this articulation occurs as soon as the subject attempts to sustain weight and the leg collapses unless weight is at once taken up by the other member if sound. as a rule, the reduction of this form of luxation is not difficult. the patella may be pushed inward and into position without manipulation of the leg. retention of the patella in position is a difficult problem. bandaging is considered impractical and is not ordinarily done in this country. benard, according to cadiot and almy, recommends bandaging with a heavy piece of cloth in which an opening is made through which the patella is allowed to protrude, and by turning such a bandage snugly about the stifle several times, the patella is held in position. this bandage should be kept in place for about ten days. in young and rachitic animals outdoor exercise and a good nutritive ration for the subject are indicated. hypophosphites in assimilable form may be beneficial, and vesication of the patellar region contributes to recovery. where extreme luxation is present in both stifles, the prognosis is unfavorable. in such cases, degenerative changes may exist and in some instances the ligaments are so diseased and elongated that regeneration is impossible. williams[46] reports a case where bilateral "floating" (outward) luxation was present and extensive degeneration changes affected the articulation. in subjects suffering frequent dislocation of the patella (habitual luxation) it is possible in some cases, to prevent its occurrence or at least to minimize the distress occasioned by momentary luxation, by keeping the animals in wide stalls so that "backing" is unnecessary. in some nervous subjects that seem to be suffering from cramp of the crural muscles, the difficulty and pain of their being backed out of narrow stalls, accentuates the nervousness. sudation and restlessness are manifested and the subject presents a clinical picture of distress and fear of a painful ordeal. in some cases of this kind, complete recovery takes place by the time animals are five or six years of age. one should avoid keeping such subjects in narrow stalls. preferably patellar desmotomy should be performed that relief may be obtained at once. luxations attending some cases of influenza recover promptly when subjects are kept comfortably confined in roomy box-stalls. the administration of stimulative medicaments such as nux vomica and the application of an active blistering agent to the patella serve to hasten recovery. dislocations in such cases are often bilateral and they are usually momentary. reduction occurs spontaneously, as a rule, and the subjects are not occasioned much distress if they are kept quiet for a few days. chronic gonitis. etiology and occurrence.--chronic inflammation of the stifle joint is met with following acute synovitis due to strains and concussion. it is an ailment which affects heavy horses and particularly animals that are kept at work on paved streets, but this does not explain its existence in animals that are not subjected to work likely to cause concussion. berns[47] considers rheumatism a probable cause of gonitis and, as he states, the dropsical form of affection of this joint is not ordinarily attended with manifestations of inconvenience to the subject. gonitis is often bilateral and its onset is insidious in many instances. symptomatology.--in unilateral gonitis weight is not borne by the affected member. there is noticeable distension of the joint capsule--a characteristic pendant pouching protrusion. when both stifles are affected the subject frequently shifts the weight from one limb to the other. lameness comes on gradually and during the incipient stages may be intermittent but it progressively increases so that in time affected animals become useless. in bilateral affections animals drag the toes because of the pain incident to flexing the stifles. this is particularly evident when the subject is made to trot. as the disease progresses, atrophy of the quadriceps femoris muscles becomes pronounced and as destructive changes involving the articular cartilages take place. the subject becomes more lame and eventually is rendered incapable of service. upon manipulation of the patellar region, one is impressed with the fact that hyperesthesia does not exist in proportion to the pain manifested during locomotion. in some cases a gelatinous swelling is present and may be detected by palpating between the straight ligaments of the patella. williams, hughes, merillat, hadley and others have directed attention to the existence of floating masses (_corpora oryzoidea_) in the synovial capsule of this joint in gonitis, and as with all cases of arthritis, irreparable damage is often done the articular cartilages during the course of the ailment. [illustration: fig. 50--chronic gonitis. the knuckling which results from long continued inactivity of the crural muscles in chronic cases is marked in this instance. photo by dr. l.a. merillat.] treatment.--no effective method is as yet known which will control this condition during its incipiency. the disease progresses, and more or less damage is done the affected parts in the course of months or even years in some cases before subjects are rendered hopelessly crippled. when recognized early (before chronic gonitis exists) aspiration of the synovia and the injection of diluted tincture of iodin might prove beneficial in cases of synovial distension. chronic gonitis is considered an incurable affection and as soon as subjects manifest evidence of distress from this condition they should by all means be taken from work. firing and vesication have not been productive of beneficial results. [illustration: fig. 51--gonitis. showing position assumed in such cases because of pain occasioned. photo by dr. c.a. mckillip.] open stifle joint. anatomy of the joint capsule.--this joint capsule is thin and very capacious. on the patella it is attached around the margin of the articular surface, but on the femur the line of attachment is at a varying distance from the articular surface. on the medial side it is an inch or more from the articular cartilage; on the lateral side and above, about half an inch. it pouches upward under the quadriceps femoris for a distance of two or three inches, a pad of fat separating the capsule from the muscle. below the patella it is separated from the patellar ligaments by a thick pad of fat, but inferiorly it is in contact with the femerotibial capsules. the joint cavity is the most extensive in the body. it usually communicates with the medial sac of the femerotibial joint cavity by a slit-like opening situated at the lowest part of the medial ridge of the trochlea. a similar, usually smaller, communication with the lateral sac of the femerotibial capsule is often found at the lowest part of the lateral ridge. (sisson's anatomy.) thus it is seen that because of its frequent communication with the other parts of this large synovial membrane, a wound which opens the external portion of the femerotibial capsule may be the cause of contamination and resultant infectious arthritis of the whole stifle joint. because of the distance between the most dependent part of the femerotibial articulation and the summit of the patella, one may misjudge the exact location of the lowermost part of this portion of the capsular ligament of the stifle joint and thereby fail at once to appreciate the seriousness of calk wounds in this region. etiology and occurrence.--wounds to the patellar region are of rather frequent occurrence, and because of the comparatively unprotected position of these structures, the capsular ligaments of the stifle joint may be perforated as a result of violence in some form. calk wounds which penetrate the tissues in the immediate region of the lower portion of the external part of the femerotibial capsule sometimes result in open joint because of tissue necrosis resulting from the introduction of infection. contused wounds sometimes destroy the skin and fascia over large areas on the lateral patellar region and because of subsequent sloughing of tissue due to infection as well as to the manner in which such wounds are inflicted, septic arthritis subsequently occurs. penetrant wounds, such as may be caused by a fork tine may not result in infection; if infectious material is introduced an infectious arthritis does not necessarily follow, though such cases should be considered as serious from the outset. symptomatology.--the pathognomonic symptom of open stifle joint is the profuse escape of synovia, indicating perforation of the synovial capsule; by means of a probe the wound may be explored in a way that will clearly reveal the nature of the injury. after a few days have elapsed in cases where considerable infection has taken place, there is manifestation of pain as in all cases of infective arthritis. hughes[48] gives an excellent description of the clinical aspect of arthritis which applies here: acute arthritis begins like an ordinary attack of synovitis. in joints other than the pedal and pastern, there is sudden and extensive swelling, which at first is intra-articular, succeeded by extra-articular tumefaction, and accompanied by violent lameness. the pain soon becomes intense and agonizing. there is severe constitutional disturbance, the temperature ranging from 104 to 106 degrees and the pulse from 60 to 72. painful convulsions of the limb occur, shown by involuntary spasmodic elevations due to reflex irritation of the muscles. there is loss of appetite, rapid emaciation, the flank is tucked up and the back arched. in from three to six days, the tumefaction around the joint tends to soften at a particular place, and bursts, and a discharge that is sometimes of a sanious character, mixed with synovia, escapes. great exhaustion at times supervenes, and if the joint is an important one, the horse lies or falls and is unable to rise. treatment.--in small puncture wounds the immediate application of a vesicating ointment has given good results, but when infection has taken place to such extent that the animal manifests evidence of intense pain, and lameness is marked and local swelling and hyperesthesia are great, vesication is contraindicated. in such instances the exterior of the wound and its margins should be prepared as in similar affections of other joints. a quantity of synovia is then aspirated by means of a small trocar and care should be taken to observe all due aseptic precautions. subsequently the injection of from four to six ounces of a mixture of tincture of iodin, one part to ten parts of glycerin, and gentle massage of the joint immediately after the injection has been made, serves to check the infective process in some cases. the subject should be cared for as has been previously suggested in arthritis proper provisions for comfort being made. good nursing is always essential to a successful issue. however, the author cannot view cases of open stifle joint with the same optimism concerning their course and outcome that is expressed by a number of writers on this subject. it is a grave condition wherein the prognosis should be given advisedly. fracture of the tibia. etiology and occurrence.--because of its exposed position to kicks, and its lack of protection by heavy musculature (especially on its inner surface), there is afforded ample opportunity for frequent injury to the tibia. fractures are complete and varying as to nature, or incomplete. the heavy tibial fascia affords sufficient protection so that fissures without entire solution of continuity of the bone may occur from violence to which this part is often subjected. mã¶ller classes tibial fracture as ranking second in frequency--pelvic fracture being more often met with in horses. this does not apply in our country as phalangeal and metacarpal and even metatarsal fractures are observed in more instances than are such injuries to the tibia. the tibia is occasionally broken at its middle and lower thirds, but malleolar fractures are not common. symptomatology.--when fracture is complete and all support is removed, the leg dangles, and the nature of the injury is so obvious that there is no mistaking its identity. however, in case of incomplete fracture one needs to base all conclusions upon the history of the case, evidence of injury, or other knowledge of the character of violence to which this bone has been exposed. for without the presence of crepitation (even by excluding other possible causes for the pronounced lameness which characterizes some of these cases) we can only resort to the knowledge which experience has taught that fracture may be deemed probable in many injuries to the tibial region. consequently, we are to look upon all injuries that affect the tibia as being fractures of some sort when there is either local evidence of the infliction of violence or whenever marked lameness attends such injuries, unless there is positive indication that no fractures exist. a careful examination of parts of the tibia, i.e., noting the amount and painfulness of swellings, exploration with the probe, and observations of the course taken in any given case, will determine the exact nature of injuries. such examination needs to extend over a period of a week or in some instances two or three weeks may pass before the true state of affairs is apparent. in the meanwhile, cases are to be handled as though tibial fracture certainly existed. prognosis.--prediction of the outcome in tibial fracture is somewhat presumptuous, but in the majority of cases in mature subjects fatality results. cadiot[49], however, views this condition with more optimism than have american practitioners. while he considers the condition grave, in citing case reports of successful treatment by d'arboval, duchemin, leblanc, and others, his conclusion is that many practitioners erroneously consider fractures of the tibia as incurable. the method of handling these cases by leblanc is as follows: the subject is placed in a sling; a pit is excavated below the affected member so that a heavy weight may be attached to the extremity; splints are applied to each side of the leg, which is padded with oakum, and this is kept in position by means of bandages covered with pitch. the outer splint extends from the hoof to the stifle and the inner one from the hoof to the upper third of the leg. this method in the hands of leblanc has been successful in several instances, according to cadiot. in a foal the author has in one instance succeeded in obtaining complete recovery in a simple fracture of the lower third of the tibia where the only support given the broken bone was a four-inch plaster-of-paris bandage which was adjusted above the hock. below the tarsus a cotton and gauze bandage was applied to prevent swelling of the extremity. in this instance (an emergency case in which materials that are not to be recommended were necessarily employed) recovery took place within thirty days. as has been mentioned in the consideration of radial fractures, heavy leather is better suited for immobilization of these parts than a cast or other rigid splint materials. mature animals may be expected to resist the immobilization of the hind legs because of the normal manner of flexion of the tarsal and stifle joints in unison. therefore, the application of rigid splints to the leg and including the hock is productive of disastrous results in some cases. the application of cotton and bandages to pad the member and the adjusting of heavy leather splints on either side of the leg, and retaining them in position with four-inch gauze bandages will prove more nearly satisfactory than some other methods employed. prognosis is unfavorable, however, in most cases of compound fracture and recovery is improbable when the upper portion of the tibia is broken. rupture and wounds of the tendo achillis. etiology and occurrence.--cases are recorded by uhlrich in which rupture has followed degenerative changes affecting the tendo achillis. not infrequently, the result of a trauma, division of the tendo achillis occurs. mã¶ller states that rupture of this tendon may be due to jumping, in riding horses and in draught horses, in their efforts to avoid slipping. in runaways, it sometimes occurs where sharp-edged implements are bounced against the legs in such fashion that division of the tendon results. symptomatology.--with division of the tendo achillis or of the musculature of the gastroenemii and the superficial flexor (perforatus), there remains nothing to inhibit tarsal flexion except the deep flexor tendon (perforans) and this does not support the leg. when attempt is made to sustain weight with the affected member, abnormal flexion of the tarsus takes place and the hock sinks almost to the ground. the symptoms are so characteristic that recognition is always easy even in case no wound of the skin exists. prognosis.--spontaneous recoveries occur and such cases are reported by bouley who is quoted by cadiot as having observed division of the tendo achillis due to a sword wound wherein at the end of four months recovery was complete. division of this tendon in brood mares has been practiced by the early settlers of parts of the united states for the purpose of preventing their straying too far from home. in such instances one leg only was so mutilated and in most instances, it is reported that spontaneous recovery took place. in unilateral involvement without complications, the prognosis is not unfavorable if provisions for giving necessary attention are available. treatment.--the subject is to be confined in a sling and the member bandaged and supported by means of leather splints. immobilization as for fracture is not necessary but, nevertheless, movement is to be restricted as much as possible. in case of open wounds, the exposed tissues are cared for along general surgical lines. where the divided parts of the tendon are maintained in fairly close and constant relation, granulation of tissue, sufficient to sustain weight takes place in from six weeks to three months. spring-halt. (string-halt.) occurrence.--this condition is a myoclonic affection of the hind leg which is discussed in works on theory and practice under the head of neuroses, but the cause or causes have not been established. theories that heredity is responsible have their supporters and advocates of hypotheses attributing it to disease of the sciatic nerve, patellar subluxation, fascial contraction of various muscles, "dry spavin" (tarsal arthritis), iliac exostoses, disease of the foot and contraction of the hoof, are on record in veterinary literature. this ailment affects old horses more frequently than it does young and is seen in all breeds of animals including mules. [illustration: fig. 52--spring-halt.] symptomatology.--this disease develops slowly, and progressively increases in severity as a rule, but does not ordinarily constitute cause for rendering an animal unserviceable. while the affection is sometimes bilateral (occasionally affections of the forelegs are reported) and the extreme flexion of the legs in the spasmodic manner which characterizes spring-halt, cause great waste of energy during locomotion, yet such cases are rare. usually the ailment is markedly evinced when subjects are first taken from the stable, but as they are exercised the manifestation diminishes, and in many instances it completely subsides. the condition is generally more noticeable when the subject is made to step backward. in some animals there is marked abduction at the time flexion occurs and in singular instances the spasmodic contraction is so violent that the subject falls to the ground as a result of the peculiar flexion of the leg. in severe cases of "scratches" or chemical irritation of the extremity, the legs are abnormally flexed in a manner which simulates spring-halt, but because of the evident injury of the parts this is not likely to confuse. since all facts concerning etiological agencies are surrounded with so much obscurity, classification does not lend any particular assistance in the consideration of this ailment. prognosis.--one cannot intelligently give a prognosis in these cases if forecast is expected to state the exact course following treatment. however, in a general way, cases of recent affection are thought more favorable than are those of long standing or in old animals where myositis and other muscular and fascial affections exist owing to years of hard service. treatment.--no known line of medicinal treatment is of service, nor is any particular surgical operation to be considered dependable for obtaining relief. operations of almost every conceivable nature have been tried with the hope of securing recovery in spring-halt but under no condition can the practitioner as yet be reasonably certain of effecting permanent relief in any case. treatment is, therefore, entirely empirical. neurectomies have been performed and recoveries following were attributed thereto; fascial divisions in the crural region have been done with good results and this manner of treatment has its favorers. advocates of tenotomies, likewise, are to be found. consequently, one may summarize thus: spring-halt is a disease of unknown origin--the exact cause has not been determined; therefore, all treatment is, in a way, experimental. the recommendation of any given procedure in handling cases must then be a matter of opinion based either upon practical experience or knowledge of the experiences of others. divisions of the lateral digital extensor (peroneus) below the tarsus near its point of insertion to the extensor of the digit is recommended here because it is followed by a percentage of recoveries that is as large as in any other method of treatment and the operation is not difficult to perform nor is its performance fraught with any dangerous complications. in selected subjects about fifty per cent of cases recover in from two to six weeks following this operation. [illustration: fig. 53--lateral (external) view of tarsus showing effects of generalized tarsitis.] open tarsal joint. like the tibia the hock is exposed to frequent injuries and in some cases wounds perforate the joint capsule. when due to calk wounds where horses are kicked, the injury is often on the side of the tarsus (medial or lateral) and such wounds not infrequently result in infectious arthritis. horses sometimes jump over wire fences and wounds are inflicted which constitute extensive laceration of the joint capsule. in firing for bone spavin, where a deep puncture is made very near the tibial tarsal (tibioastragular) joint if infection gains entrance, serious and generalized infection of the open joint cavity supervenes in some cases. symptomatology.--there is no marked difference in the constitutional disturbances which are occasioned in this condition and those encountered in other cases of septic arthritis (previously considered herein) except that there is a difference in the degree of resultant derangement and local tissue changes. chiefly, because of the difficulty encountered in keeping the hock joint in an aseptic condition or securely bandaged, open tarsal joint constitutes a more serious condition than a similar affection of the fetlock. otherwise, a very similar condition obtains and the same diagnostic principles serve here that have been described on page 110 in considering open fetlock joint. treatment.--the same plan that is described in detail for treatment of similar conditions affecting the fetlock joint is indicated in this affection. exceeding care must be exercised in bandaging the hock, however, lest the animal be so irritated that in the extreme flexion of the tarsus which is often caused by bandaging, the wound dressings may be completely deranged. a wide gauze bandage material is most satisfactory; cotton of long fiber is separated in thin layers and wound about the hock, extending from the site of injury to a point about six inches proximal to the summit of the os calcis. by using an abundance of cotton in this way, it will not be found necessary to apply the bandages very snugly; with a four-inch gauze bandage material, which is supported above the cap of the hock and brought across the anterior face of the tarsus in a diagonal manner, a comfortable and very serviceable protective dressing is provided for. animals so treated will not ordinarily resist because of pressure from the bandages. pressure is unavoidable in the use of adhesive dressings or where careful attention is not given the manner of applying cotton to the parts. such methods are sure to result disastrously. but if subjects are kept quiet after the parts have been properly bandaged, no difficulty is encountered in maintaining asepsis in an uninfected wound. recovery takes place in favorable cases in from three weeks to three months, depending on the nature and extent of injuries inflicted. fracture of the fibular tarsal bone (calcaneum.) etiology and occurrence.--this condition though rarely met with in the horse, is the result of violent strain upon the os calcis by the gastrocnemius and superficial flexor tendons in efforts put forth by animals in attempts to regain a footing when the hind feet slip forward under the body, or in jumping and in falls or direct contusion by heavy bodies. hoare[50] reports a case of a mare that had produced fracture in jumping. fracture of the other tarsal bones are very seldom observed but may be occasioned by contusions wherein multiple or comminuted fractures are produced, such as are to be seen in small animals. fracture of the tibial tarsal bone (astragalus) is to be observed as a complication in luxations of the tarsal joint and, according to cadiot, the other tarsal bones may likewise suffer fracture in luxations of the hock. symptomatology.--great pain attends this accident according to the observations given in recorded cases. in the case cited by hoare the animal evinced great pain and uneasiness; the hock was unduly flexed; the calcaneum was displaced forward; and marked crepitation was present. a portion of the body of the calcaneum was protruding through the perforated skin. the animal was destroyed and the bone was found broken in three pieces. [illustration: fig. 54--right hock joint. viewed from the front and slightly laterally after removal of joint capsule and long collateral ligaments. t.t., tibial tarsal bone (distal tuberosity). t.c., central tarsal bone. t.3. ridge of third tarsal bone. t.f. fibular tarsal bone (distal end). t.4. fourth tarsal bone. mt. iii, mt. iv. metatarsal bones. arrow points to vascular canal. (from sisson's "anatomy of the domestic animals.")] since the support for the tendo achillis is removed in such fracture and no leverage on the metatarsus obtains, it naturally follows that any attempt to sustain weight must result in extreme flexion of the hock and descent of this part in a manner similar to cases of rupture or division of the achilles' tendon. the two conditions should not be confused, however, as the parts may be definitely outlined by palpation and the slack condition of the tendon and displaced summit of the calcaneum, which characterize fracture of the fibular tarsal bone, are easily recognized. treatment.--prognosis is unfavorable in the majority of cases, but should attempts at treatment be undertaken in young and quiet mares which might prove valuable for breeding purposes in case of imperfect recovery, they should be put in slings and the member is to be immobilized as in tibial fracture. authorities are agreed that prognosis is entirely unfavorable in mature animals, when the case is viewed from an economic standpoint. tarsal sprains. etiology and occurrence.--the hock joint is often subjected to great strain because of the structural nature of this part and its relation to the hip as well as the manner in which the tarsus functionates during locomotion. that ligamentous injuries owing to sprain frequently occur and attendant periarticular inflammations with subsequent hypertrophic changes follow, is a logical inference. fibrillary fracture of the collateral ligaments may take place in falls or when animals make violent efforts to maintain their footing on slippery streets. in expressing opinions concerning the frequency with which the hock is found to be the seat of trouble in lameness of the pelvic members, different writers place the percentage of hock lameness at from seventy-five to ninety per cent. and when one considers the possibility that a goodly proportion of cases of tarsal exostis are the outcome of sprains, the occurrence of tarsal sprains may be more generally admitted. symptomatology.--a mixed type of lameness is present and the nature of the impediment varies, depending upon the location of the injury. sprains of the mesial tarsal ligaments cause lameness somewhat similar to that of spavin. however, in establishing a diagnosis, local evidence in these cases is of greater significance than the manner of locomotion. during the acute stage of inflammation there is to be detected local hyperthermia, some hyperesthesia and a little swelling. later, when resolution is not prompt, considerable swelling (or perhaps correctly speaking, an indurated enlargement) variable in size is developed. in some cases the entire tarsal region becomes greatly enlarged and this swelling is very slowly absorbed in part or completely. such sub-acute cases are observed during the winter season and particularly where subjects are kept in tie stalls without exercise for weeks at a time. treatment.--attention should be directed toward relief for the animal in all acute inflammations. local applications of heat are helpful and, of course, rest is essential. towels that are wrung out of hot water and held in position by means of a few turns of a loose bandage and this covered with an impervious rubber sheet, will serve as a practical means of application of hydrotherapy. following this when conditions improve, as in the handling of all similar cases, counterirritation is indicated. when proper care is given at the onset and where injury does not involve too much ligamentous tissue, recovery takes place in a few weeks but in some cases which occur during the winter season in farm horses, complete recovery does not result until several months have passed. curb. the hock is said to be curbed when the normal appearance, viewed from the side, is that of bulging posteriorly at any point between the summit of the calcaneum and the upper third of the metatarsus. among some horsemen a hock is said to be "curby" whenever there exists an enlargement of any kind on the posterior face of the tarsus whether it be due to sprain, exostosis or proliferation of tissue as a result of contusion. french veterinarians consider under the title of "courbe," an exostosis situated on the mesial side of the distal end of the tibia. cadiot and almy state that this condition (courbe) is of rare occurrence. percivall defines curb as "a prominence upon the back of the hind leg, a little below the hock, of a curvilinear shape, running in a direct line downwards and consisting of infusion into, or thickening of, the sheath of the flexor tendons." mã¶ller's version of true curb is a thickening of the plantar ligament (calcaneocuboid or calcaneometatarsal). hughes and merillat consider curb as a synovitis having for its seat the synovial bursa which is situated between the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus) and the plantar ligament. occurrence.--certain predisposing factors seem to favor the occurrence of curb. a malformation of the inferior part of the tarsus so that its antero-posterior diameter is considerably less than normal is a contributing cause. such hocks are known as "tied-in." another fault in conformation is the existence of a weak hock that is set low down on a crooked leg, especially when such a member is heavily muscled at the hip. given such conformation in an excitable horse, and curb is usually produced before the subject is old enough for service. it is certain that in cases where conformation is bad, greater strain is put upon the plantar ligament. this structure serves to bind the tibial tarsal (calcis) bone to the metatarsus; traction exerted upon its summit by the tendo achillis is great when animals run, jump or rear and also at heavy pulling. in animals having curby hocks, sprain is likely to result and curb supervenes. symptomatology.--the characteristic swelling which marks curb may develop quickly and lameness occur suddenly or the enlargement comes on gradually and slowly, causing little lameness. lameness is not proportionate to the size of the swelling and in all cases whether subacute or chronic, the condition improves with rest, but lameness is again manifested upon exertion. a horse which "throws a curb" will go lame until the acute inflammatory condition subsides and depending upon treatment received and conformation of the hock, this requires from three days to two or three weeks. the character of the swelling varies; in some cases it is not large but rather dense and lacking in evidence of heat and hyperesthesia; in other cases there is considerable swelling, which is hot and doughy, somewhat painful to the touch but not necessarily productive of much lameness. in any event, whether the swelling or enlargement is big or little, its location makes it conspicuous when viewed in profile. in most cases after the acute inflammatory period has passed, lameness is slight, if at all present, and in time no interference with the subject's usefulness is occasioned because of the curb, but the animals often remain blemished--complete resorption of inflammatory products being unusual when much disturbance has existed. treatment.--the handling of curb during the acute inflammatory stage is along the same lines as in sprain--local applications of cold and heat. subjects must be kept quiet until all inflammation has subsided, for there are no cases wherein a little brisk exercise is more likely to cause a recurrence of lameness before recovery is complete than in curb. vesication is in order in a week or ten days after the affection has set in; in old stubborn cases that have resisted ordinary treatment for a few months, the use of the actual cautery (line firing) is to be recommended. [illustration: fig. 55--spavin.] spavin. (bone spavin.) this term is applied to an affection of the tarsus which is usually characterized by the existence of an exostosis on the mesial and inferior portion of the hock. there is also included under this name, articular inflammation wherein no external evidence is shown. spavin lameness has long been recognized and much has been written upon this subject. since authorities are agreed that most cases of lameness in the hind leg are due to hock affection, and because the majority of cases of lameness which have the tarsal region as the seat of trouble are instances of spavin lameness, this disease merits all the attention it has received. etiology and occurrence.--causes may well be classified as predisposing and exciting, for there are many etiologic factors to be reckoned with in spavin, some of which are widely different in nature. considered as predisposing causes, hereditary influences play an important rã´le and may, owing to faulty conformation, subject an animal to affections of this kind because of disproportionate development of parts (weak and small joints and heavy muscular hips); or as a consequence of inherited traits, a subject may manifest susceptibility to degenerative bone changes which are signalized by the formation of exostoses of different parts on one or more of the legs. hereditary predispositions make for the presence of spavin in a large percentage of the progeny of sires so affected. this fact has been repeatedly demonstrated in this country as well as elsewhere according to quitman, dalrymple and merillat.[51] a number of states have passed stallion inspection laws stipulating that animals having such exostoses as spavin and ringbone cannot be registered except as "unsound." asymmetrical conformation, particularly where the hock is obviously small and weak as compared with other parts of the leg, constitutes a noteworthy predisposing cause. peters' theory is plausible that the screw-like joint between the tibia and the tibial tarsal (astragulus) bones causes these structures to functionate in a manner not in harmony with the provisions allowed by the collateral ligaments of the tarsus, permitting movement only in a direction parallel with the long axis of the body. because of the quality of their temperaments, nervous animals possessing no particular congenital structural defects of the hock and having no history of spavined progenitors, are subject to spavin when kept at work likely to produce tarsal sprain. spavin usually develops early in such subjects and examples of this kind may be frequently observed in agricultural sections of the country. where spavin develops in unshod colts at three and four years of age, shoeing is not an influencing agency when animals are not worked on pavements. exciting causes of spavin are sprain and concussion. various hypotheses are recorded as to how sprains are influenced and among others may be mentioned that of mcdonough[52], which is that the foot is robbed of its normal manner of support by the ordinary three-calked shoe. with such a shoe, little support is given the sides of the foot; hence, undue strain is put upon the collateral ligaments of the tarsus. moreover, the shoe with its calks increases the length of the leg and adds to the leverage on the hock, by virtue of such added length. this makes for greater strain upon the mesial or lateral tarsal ligaments whenever the foot bears upon a sloping ground surface, so that one side (inner or outer) is higher or lower than the other. but according to mcdonough's theory (a good one concerning horses that work on pavements), the chief error in shoeing lies in that the foot is deprived of its normal base or support on the sides--the three-calked shoe being an unstable support--and that this manner of shoeing city horses working on pavements is an "inhumane" practice, a "diabolical method." whether spavin has its point of origin within the articulation as a rarefying ostitis of the cancellated structure of the lower tarsal bones as suggested by eberlein; or, as diekerhoff asserts, that the cunean bursa may be the initial point of affection, is unsettled; but it is reasonable to consider occult spavin as having its origin within the articulation, and that cases readily yielding to cunean tenotomy are primarily due to affection of the cunean bursa. symptomatology.--where a visible exostosis exists, the presence of spavin is easily detected, yet exostoses that extend over large areas may constitute cause for serious trouble and still be difficult of detection. by observing the internal surface of the hock from various suitable angles, such as from between the forelegs or directly behind the subject, one may note the presence of any ordinary exostosis. the position assumed by the spavined horse is often characteristic. more or less knuckling is usually present (liautard, mcdonald). there is abduction of the stifle in some cases, or the toe may be worn in unshod horses so that it presents a straight line at the surface. this is manifested to a great degree in some animals and in others the foot is not dragged and there is no wearing of the hoof at the toe. spavin lameness is so distinctive that one trained and experienced in the examination of horses that are spavined, should correctly diagnose the condition in practically every instance without recourse to other means than noting the peculiar character of the gait of the subject. lameness develops gradually in the majority of instances, and an important feature in spavin lameness is that it disappears after the subject has gone a little way, to return again as soon as the animal has rested for a variable length of time--from a half hour to several hours. this "warming out" is marked during the incipient stage, but less pronounced in most chronic cases. a complete disappearance of lameness is observed in some instances, while in others only partial subsidence is evident. because of the fact that pain is occasioned both during weight bearing and while the leg is being flexed and advanced, there is manifested the characteristic mixed lameness and exaggerated hip action which typifies spavin. by throwing the hips upward with the sound member it is possible to advance the affected leg with less flexion, hence less pain is experienced in this manner of locomotion. when made to step aside in the stall, a spavined horse will flex the affected member abruptly and when weight is taken on the diseased leg, symptoms are evinced of pain, and weight is immediately shifted to the sound limb. this is marked during the incipient stages of spavin. lameness usually precedes the formation of exostosis, though cases are observed wherein an exostosis is present and no lameness is manifested and no history of the previous existence of lameness is available. the "spavin test" is of value as a diagnostic measure when it is employed with other means of examination, though reaction to this test is seen in some cases in old "crampy" horses that have experienced hard service. the test consists in flexing the affected leg (elevating the foot from the ground twelve to twenty-four inches) and holding the member in this position for a minute, whereupon the animal is made to step away immediately at a trot. during the first few steps taken directly thereafter, the subject shows pronounced lameness and this constitutes a reaction to the spavin test. where no exostosis is present it becomes necessary to exclude other causes for lameness but the characteristic spavin lameness is to be relied upon to a greater extent in such cases than are other means of examination. such cases are known as occult spavin and may be present for months before any external changes in structure are observable. in some instances no extoses form even during the course of years. the spavin test is of aid in establishing a diagnosis here but the marked "warming out" peculiar to spavin is not so pronounced in such cases. prognosis.--an animal having hereditary predisposition to spavin is not likely to recover completely whether this predisposition be due to faulty conformation or susceptibility to bone changes. in predicting the outcome, the temperament of the subject is to be taken into account, as well as the character of service the animal is expected to perform. and finally, a very important feature to be noted, is the location of the exostosis. if situated rather high and extending anterior to the hock, there is less likelihood of recovery resulting than where an exostosis is confined to the lower row of tarsal bones. when situated anterior to the tarsus a large exostosis may by mechanical interference to function, cause lameness when all other causes are absent. in making examinations one must not be deceived by the inconspicuous and seemingly insignificant exostosis which has a broad base. in some cases of this kind, dealers style the condition as "rough in the hock" when as a matter of fact, in some instances, incurable spavin lameness develops. treatment.--many incipient cases of spavin yield to vesication and a protracted period of rest. results depend primarily upon the nature of the affection. however, in every instance if there is involvement of the tibial tarsal (astragalus) bone, complete recovery is highly improbable. when the disease is confined to the lower tarsal bones, lameness subsides as soon as the degenerative changes are checked and ankylosis occurs. the use of the actual cautery when properly employed constitutes an excellent method of treatment. the "auto-cautery" when equipped with a point of about one-eighth of an inch in diameter and about three-fourths of an inch in length is well suited for this particular operation. before deciding to cauterize, it is necessary to ascertain the extent of area affected. the nearness of the exostosis to the tibiotarsal articulation can be definitely determined by palpation. the hair over the entire surgical field is clipped and the cautery at white heat is pushed through the overlying soft tissues and into the central part of the exostosis. care is taken to keep the cautery-point away from the articular margin of the tibial tarsal bone about three-fourths of an inch. no danger will result from cauterizing to a depth of three-fourths of an inch in the average case. two or three (and not more) centrally located points for penetration with the cautery are sufficient. experience has shown that several (five or six or more) punctures are not productive of good results. when considerable cicatricial tissue is present, due to the action of depilating vesicants or other chemicals, sloughing of tissue is very apt to follow deep cauterization, if one is not careful to keep the punctures at least one-half inch apart when three are made. it is best, in such cases, to make but two deep penetrations with the cautery but additional superficial punctures may be made if kept about three-fourths of an inch distant and not nearer than this to one another. sloughing of tissue is not necessarily productive of bad results but there is occasioned an open wound which usually becomes infected and necrosis of tissue may extend into the articulation. no benefit results from sloughing and it should be avoided. in small horses, one deep point of cauterization is sufficient if the osseous tissues are penetrated to a proper depth so that an active inflammation is induced. the cautery may, if necessary, be reintroduced several times. when the field of operation has been properly prepared and it is thought advisable (as where subjects are kept in the hospital for a time), the hock may be covered with cotton and bandaged and no chance for infection will occur. after cauterization the subject should be kept quiet in a comfortable stall for three weeks; thereafter, if the animal is not too playful, the run of a paddock may be allowed for about ten days and a protracted rest of a month or more at pasture is best. it is unwise in the average case to put an animal in service earlier than two months after having been "fired." where cases progress favorably, lameness subsides in about three weeks after cauterization and little if any recurrence of the impediment is manifested thereafter. however, because of violent exercise taken in some instances when subjects are put out after being confined in the stall, a return of lameness occurs and it may remain for several days or in some cases become permanent. no good comes from the use of blistering ointments immediately after cauterization. the actual cautery is a means of producing all necessary inflammation and it should be so employed that sufficient reactionary inflammation succeeds such firing. the use of a vesicating ointment subsequent to cauterization invites infection because of the dust that is retained in contact with the wound. the employment of irritating chemicals in a liquid form following firing is needless and cruel. in many instances lameness is not relieved and subjects show no improvement at the end of six weeks time and it then becomes a question of whether or not recovery is to be expected even with continued rest and treatment. as a rule, such cases are unfavorable. in one instance the author employed the actual cautery three times during the course of six months and lameness gradually diminished for a year. in this case the spavin was of nearly one year's standing when treatment was instituted. the subject was a nervous and restless but well-formed seven-year-old gelding. recovery was not complete; recurrent intervals of lameness marked this case, but the horse limped so slightly that the average observer could not detect its existence after the animal had been driven a little way. cunean tenotomy has been advocated and practiced by abildgaard, lafosse, peters, herring, zuill and others and good results have followed in many cases so treated. considering results, the employment of chemicals of various kinds for the purpose of relieving spavin lameness does not compare favorably with firing. moreover, so many animals have been tortured and needlessly blemished in the attempted cure of spavin that agents which are not of known value, the use of which are likely to result in extensive injury to the tissues, are only to be condemned. when spavin is bilateral and lameness is likewise affecting both members, prognosis is at once unfavorable. such cases are often benefited by cauterization but only one leg at a time should be treated. bossi's double tarsal neurectomy (division of the anterior and posterior tibial nerves) has undoubtedly been of decided benefit in many cases, but is not at present a popular method of treatment in this country. this operation has its indications, however, and may be recommended in chronic lameness where no extensive exostosis exists which may mechanically interfere with function. distension of the tarsal joint capsule. (bog spavin.) distension of the capsular ligament of the tibial tarsal (tibioastragular) joint with synovia is commonly known as bog spavin. this condition is separate and distinct from that of distension of the sheath of the deep flexor tendon (perforans) though not infrequently the two affections coexist. etiology and occurrence.--following strains from work in the harness or under the saddle, horses develop an acute synovitis of the hock joint, which often results in chronic synovial distension. debilitating diseases favor the production of this affection in some animals. it is also frequently observed in young horses and in draught colts of twelve to eighteen months of age. this condition occurs while the subjects are at pasture and often spontaneous recovery results by the time the animals are two years of age. [illustration: fig. 56--bog spavin. showing point of view which may be most advantageously taken by the diagnostician in examining for distension of the capsular ligament of the tarsal joint.] symptomatology.--bog spavin is recognized by the distended condition of the joint capsule which is prominent just below the internal tibial malleolus and this affection is characterized by a fluctuating swelling which varies considerably in size in different subjects. except in cases of acute synovitis, lameness is not present and in chronic distension of the capsule of the tarsal joint, no interference with the subject's usefulness occurs. in the majority of instances, the disfigurement which attends bog spavin is the principal objectionable feature. the condition is bilateral in many instances, and in such cases the subjects have a predisposition to this condition or it follows attacks of strangles or other debilitating ailments. because of a rapid and unusual growth, bilateral affections are of frequent occurrence in some animals. treatment.--the most practical method of handling bog spavin consists in aspiration of synovia and injection of tincture of iodin. discretion should be employed in selecting subjects for treatment, regardless of the manner in which such cases are to be handled. where there exists chronic distension of the joint capsule of several years' standing in old or weak subjects, needless to say, recovery is not likely to result. when animals are vigorous and two or three months' time is available, treatment may be begun with reasonable hope for success. the average subject is handled standing and can be restrained with a twitch, sideline and hood. aspirating needles and all necessary equipment must be in readiness (sterile and wrapped in aseptic cotton or gauze) so that no delay will occur from this cause when the operation has been started. the central or most prominent part of the distended portion of the capsule is chosen for perforation and an area of an inch and a half in diameter is shaved. the skin is cleansed and then painted with tincture of iodin. the sterile aspirating needle is pushed through the tissues and into the capsule with a sudden thrust. with a large and sharp needle (fourteen gauge), synovia can be drawn from the cavity in most instances and the subject usually offers no resistance. by compressing the distended capsule and surrounding structures with the fingers, considerable synovia may be evacuated. in singular instances, no synovia is to be aspirated with the needle, and in such cases the amount of iodin injected needs be increased, possibly twenty-five per cent., as experience will indicate. from two to five cubic centimeters of u.s.p. tincture of iodin is injected through the aspirating needle into the synovial cavity of the joint, and the exterior of the parts are vigorously massaged immediately after injection to stimulate distribution of the iodin throughout the synovial cavity. where a bilateral affection exists, two or three weeks' time should intervene between the treatments of each leg. a sterile metal syringe equipped with a slip joint for the needle is well adapted to this operation. lubrication of the plunger with heavy sterile vaseline or glycerin will prevent the syringe from being ruined by the iodin. following the injection, the subject is kept in a stall or in a suitable paddock, so that conditions may be observed for four or five days. the object sought by the introduction of iodin is not only for a local effect upon the synovial membranes in checking secretions, but the production of an active inflammation and great swelling, which will remain from four weeks to three months subsequent to the injection. this periarticular swelling should produce and maintain a constant pressure over the entire affected parts for a sufficient length of time until normal tone is re-established. in some cases, swelling does not develop as the result of a single injection of iodin. when marked swelling has not taken place within five days, none will occur and a repetition of the injection may be made within ten days after the first treatment has been given. one may safely increase the amount of iodin at the second injection in such cases by one-fourth to one-third. in europe this method of treating bog spavin has been employed by leblanc, abadie, dupont and others according to cadiot; but bouley, rey, lafosse and varrier used it with bad results. where a perfect technic is executed (and no other is excusable in this operation), no infection will occur if a reasonable amount of iodin is injected. the dilution of iodin with an equal amount of alcohol has been practised by the author in many cases, but later this was found unnecessary. other methods of treatment have been used with success. perhaps the most heroic consists in opening the joint capsule with a bistoury or with the actual cautery. such practice is too hazardous for general use and is not to be recommended, although good results should follow the employment of such methods if infectious arthritis does not occur. line firing over the distended capsule is a practical method of treatment. this is attended with good results in young animals in many cases, but considerable blemish is caused when sufficient irritation is produced to stimulate resolution. vesication also is successfully employed in some instances. however, only cases of recent origin in young animals--colts of two years or younger--yield to blistering, and in some affected colts no doubt recovery would have been spontaneous had no treatment been instituted. ligation of the saphenous vein at two points, one above and the other below the distended ligamentous capsule, is an old operation, which has undoubtedly given good results in some cases, although it does not seem to be a rational procedure. after-care.--after swelling has fully developed--which occurs within a week--the subject is turned to pasture and no attention is necessary thereafter. a gradual subsidence of the swelling occurs and in the average instance, this completely resolves within six or eight weeks. complete recovery succeeds the aspiration-and-injection-treatment in about seventy-five per cent of cases as the result of one operation, and subjects may be gradually and carefully returned to work in about sixty days after treatment has been given. distension of the tarsal sheath of the deep digital flexor. (thoroughpin.) the terms "thoroughpin" or "throughpin" are translations from the french _vessignon chevillã©_ and have the same significance. they are so named because of the diametrically opposed distensions of the sheath of the deep flexor tendon in such manner that the distensions appear to be due to a supporting peg. anatomy.--the theca through which the deep digital flexor (perforans) plays in the tarsal region, begins about three inches above the inner tibial malleolus and extends about one-fourth of the way down the metatarsus. the posterior part of the capsular ligament of the hock joint is very thick in its most dependent portions and is in part cartilaginous, forming a suitable groove for the passage of the deep flexor tendon. [illustration: fig. 57--thoroughpin. showing distension of the sheath of the deep flexor tendon as it protrudes antero-externally to the fibular tarsal bone (calcaneum).] etiology and occurrence.--strains and sequellae to debilitating diseases constitute the usual causes of this affection. as a result of acute synovitis a chronic synovial distension of the tarsal sheath occurs. bog spavin is often present in case of thoroughpin but the two conditions are separate and distinct excepting in that both may occur simultaneously and as the result of the same cause. some animals are undoubtedly predisposed to disease of synovial structures. the average horse that has been subjected to hard service on pavements or hard roads at fast work suffers synovial distension of bursae, thecae or of joint capsules. some of the well bred types such as the thoroughbred horses may be subjected to years of hard service and still remain "clean limbed" and free from all blemishes. thus it seems that subjects of rather faulty conformation, animals having lymphatic temperaments and the coarse-bred types, are prone to synovial disturbances such as thoroughpin, bog spavin, etc., sometimes having both legs affected. [illustration: fig. 58--fibrosity of tarsus as a complication in chronic thoroughpin.] symptomatology.--thoroughpin is characterized by a distended condition of the tarsal sheath which is manifested by protrusions anterior to the tendo achillis. however, where but moderate distension of the sheath exists, there is little, if any, bulging on the mesial side of the hock and but a small hemispherical enlargement is presented on the outer side of the tarsus, anterior to the summit of the os calcis. in some instances the protruding parts assume large proportions, but always, because of the relationship between the fibular tarsal bone (calcaneum) and the tendon sheath, the larger protrusion is situated mesially. during the acute inflammatory stage there is marked lameness present but this soon subsides when local antiphlogistic agents are applied to the parts. in fact, spontaneous relief from lameness usually results in the course of ten days' time following the appearance of thoroughpin. no lameness marks the advent of this affection when it develops as the result of continuous strain and concussion occasioned by hard service, and local changes tend to remain in _status quo_. [illustration: fig. 59--another view of same case as illustrated in fig. 58.] treatment.--rest and the local application of heat or cold will suffice to promote resolution of acute inflammation and lameness when present will subside within two weeks. in chronic affections, however, the matter and manner of effecting a correction of the condition--distended tarsal sheath--merit careful consideration. while drainage of distended thecae and bursae by means of openings made with hot irons was practiced by the arabs, centuries ago, and good results have attended such heroic corrective measures, nevertheless the occasional serious complications which result from infection likely to be introduced in following such procedures, cause the prudent and skilful practitioner to employ safer methods of treatment. the application of blistering agents is of no value in stimulating resorption of an excessive amount of synovia in chronic cases and the actual cautery when employed without perforation of the synovial structure, is of little benefit. trusses or mechanical appliances for the purpose of maintaining pressure upon the distended parts are of no practical value because of the great difficulty of keeping such contrivances in position. they usually cause so much discomfort to the subject that they are not tolerated. a very practical and fairly successful method of treatment consists in the aspiration of a quantity of synovia and injecting tincture of iodin. cadiot recommends the drainage of synovia with a suitable trocar and cannula and injecting a mixture consisting of tincture of iodin, one part, to two parts of sterile water, to which is added a small quantity of potassium iodid. the latter agent is added to prevent precipitation of the iodin. this authority (cadiot) further advocates the removal of practically all of the synovia that will run out through the cannula and the immediate introduction of as much as one hundred cubic centimeters of the above mentioned iodin solution. this solution is allowed to remain in the synovial cavity a few minutes and by compressing the tissues surrounding the tendon sheath, the evacuation of as much of the contents of the synovial cavity as is practicable, is effected. subsequently the subject is allowed absolute rest and more or less inflammatory reaction follows. in some cases there occur marked lameness and some febrile disturbance, but where a good technic is carried out, no bad results follow. at the end of four weeks' time, horses so treated may be returned to service, but the full beneficial effect of such treatment is not experienced until several months' time have elapsed. where good facilities for executing a careful technic in every detail are at hand, incision of the tarsal sheath, evacuation of its contents and uniting its walls again by means of sutures and providing for drainage with a suitable drainage tube, may be practiced. this manner of treatment has been satisfactory in the hands of a number of surgeons. capped hock. enlargements which occur upon the summit of the os calcis, whether hypertrophy of the skin and subcuticular fascia, the result of injury or repeated vesication, distension of the subcutaneous bursa or injury to the superficial flexor tendon (perforatus) or its sheath, are generally known as capped hock. however, the term should be restricted to use in reference to distensions of synovial structures of that region. etiology and occurrence.--usually there occurs a hygromatous involvement of the subcutaneous bursa due to contusion. as in bog spavin, following certain infectious diseases (influenza, purpura hemorrhagica, etc.) there remains a distended condition of the subcutaneous bursa, after swelling of the member has subsided. in feeding pens where numbers of young mules are kept in crowded quarters many cases may be observed. in some instances where violent contusions result from kicking cross-bars of wagon shafts (by nymphomaniacs or in habitual kickers where there is opportunity for doing such injury) the superficial flexor tendon and its synovial apparatus are injured and a more serious condition may result. symptomatology.--in acute and extensive inflammation of the parts, lameness is present, but in the average case no inconvenience to the subject results. the prominent site of the affection is cause for an unsightly blemish. this is undesirable, particularly in light-harness or saddle horses. these affections are characterized by a fluctuating mass which has a thin wall and in all cases of long standing the condition is painless. by careful palpation one may readily distinguish between a hygromatous condition of the superficial bursa and involvement of the underlying structures. affection of the expanded portion of the flexor tendon and contiguous structures makes for an organized mass of tissue which is somewhat dense and in some instances painful to the subject when manipulated. this is particularly noticeable in cases where the parts are regularly and repeatedly injured as in habitual kickers. [illustration: fig. 60--"capped hock." distension of the bursa over the summit of the os calcis.] treatment.--in acute inflammation, antiphlogistic applications are indicated and the subject must be kept quiet. the matter of bandaging the hock is a difficult problem in some cases and needs be done with care. as has been previously stated in this volume, the tarsus needs to be well padded with cotton before the bandages are applied and only a moderate degree of tension is employed in applying the bandages lest anemic-necrosis result from pressure. in distension of the superficial bursa, after clipping the hair over a liberal area and preparing the skin by thoroughly cleansing and painting with tincture of iodin, the capsule is incised with a bistoury. an incision about an inch in length, situated low enough to provide drainage, is made through the tissues and the contents are evacuated. tincture of iodin is injected into the cavity and the parts are covered with cotton and bandaged. no after-care is necessary except to retain the dressing in position, which is not difficult in the average case if the subject is kept tied. if much resistance is exhibited, such as extreme flexion of the bandaged hock, the animal may be put in a sling and little if any objection to the bandage will be offered thereafter. the wound may be dressed at the end of forty-eight hours and no redressing will be necessary in the average instance if infection is not present. but slight local disturbance and little distress to the subject result in cases so treated even when infection occurs, but a good technic is possible of execution in most instances and no infection should take place. the surgical wound heals in two or three weeks and inflammation gradually subsides. bandages are retained one or two weeks, as the case may require, and subsequently a good wound lotion may be employed several times daily. a good lotion for such cases as well as in many others has long been employed with success by dr. a. trickett of kansas city. it consists of approximately equal parts of glycerin, alcohol and distilled extract of witch hazel, to which is added liquor cresolis compositus, two percent, and coloring matter q.s. complete resolution does not occur in the average case. there remains some hyperplastic tissue and even where the enlargement is slight, the prominent situation of the affection precludes its being unnoticed. in disease of the flexor tendon and its bursa where contiguous inflammation of tissue is present, the parts are blistered or fired. line firing is beneficial in such instances but in all cases the cause is to be removed if possible. rupture and division of the long digital extensor (extensor pedis). etiology and occurrence.--because of the fact that the long digital extensor is the only extensor of the phalanges of the pelvic limb, its rupture or division constitutes a troublesome condition, which in some cases does not readily respond to treatment. rupture of this tendon may occur during work on rough and uneven roads, particularly in range horses that are ridden over ground that is burrowed by gophers or prairie dogs; in such cases, horses are apt to suddenly and violently turn the foot in position of volar flexion, thereby causing undue strain to the digital extensor and its rupture sometimes follows. in foals of one or two days of age, this tendon is sometimes found parted or ruptured and the condition may be bilateral. as the result of accidents, the digital extensor may be divided and when the wound becomes contaminated, as it does because of the marked volar flexion (knuckling) which occurs during the course of this affection, regeneration of tissue is checked and recovery is tardy. symptomatology.--there is no interference with ability to sustain weight in such cases, when the foot is placed in normal position; but immediately upon attempting to walk, the toe is dragged, and if weight is borne with the affected member, it comes upon the anterior face of the fetlock. the flexors are not antagonized and if there be an open wound the parts soon become contaminated; or, in rupture, if animals travel about very much, there soon occurs necrosis of the tissues of the anterior fetlock region and the condition is rendered incurable. cases are reported of animals that have suffered rupture of the long digital extensor and the subjects learned to throw the member forward during extension, substituting for the extensor tendon the pendulum-like momentum which the foot affords when so employed; and a walking and even a trotting pace was possible without doing injury to the fetlock region. where a subcutaneous division exists as in rupture, the divided ends of the tendon may be definitely recognized by palpation. treatment.--subjects are best put in slings and kept so confined until regeneration of tendinous structures has been completed. this requires from six weeks to two months' time. in addition, the extremity is kept in a state of extension by means of suitable splints and shoes,--a shoe equipped with an extension at the toe and perforated so that a steel brace may be hooked into the perforation and the brace fashioned to be buckled to the upper metatarsal region. when braces are placed in front of the foot, great care is necessary in properly padding the member with cotton lest sloughing from pressure occurs at the coronet; but this does not apply in rupture of extensors so much as where flexors are ruptured. open wounds are treated along general surgical lines, dressed as frequently as occasion demands, and recovery will be complete in a few months' time unless much of the tendon has been destroyed. in one instance, the author had occasion to observe such a condition, which, because of the extensive destruction of tendon and lack of facilities for giving proper attention to the subject, results were so unfavorable that it was deemed necessary to destroy the animal. wounds from interfering. when, during locomotion, injury is inflicted upon the mesial side of an extremity by the swinging foot of the other member, the condition is termed interfering. etiology and occurrence.--faulty conformation, bad shoeing and over-work are the principal causes of interfering. horses that are "base narrow" or that have crooked legs are quite apt to interfere. shoes that are put on a foot that is not level or applied in a twisted position, or shoes wide at the heel will often cause interfering and injury. animals that are driven at fast work until they become nearly exhausted may be expected to interfere. such cases are frequently observed in young horses that are driven over rough roads, particularly when so nearly exhausted or weakened from disease or inanition that the feet are dragged forward rather than picked up and advanced in the normal manner. symptomatology.--wounds inflicted by striking the extremities in this manner present various appearances and occasion dissimilar manifestations. the hind legs are almost as frequently affected as the front and the fetlock region is most often injured, though wounds may be inflicted to the coronet. in front, the carpus is sometimes the site of injury. when only an abrasion is caused, little if any lameness occurs, but where interfering is continued and nerves are involved or subfascial infection and extensive inflammation succeed such abrasions, marked lameness and evidence of great pain are manifested. frequently, in chronic cases affecting the hind leg, the fetlock assumes large proportions, and at times during the course of every drive the subject strikes the inflamed part, immediately flexing and abducting the injured member, and the victim hops on the other leg until pain has somewhat subsided. interfering is much more serious in animals that are used at fast work than in draft horses. in light-harness or saddle horses, it may render the subject practically valueless or unserviceable if the condition cannot be corrected. treatment.--wherever possible, cause is to be removed and if animals are properly used, ordinary interfering wounds will yield to treatment. if the shoeing is faulty, this should be corrected, the foot properly prepared and leveled before being shod and suitable shoes applied. in young animals that become "leg-weary" from constant overwork, rest and recuperation are necessary to enhance recovery. in such cases it will be found that very light shoes, frequently reset, will tend to prevent injury to the fetlock region such as characterizes these injuries of hind legs. palliative measures of various kinds are employed where cause is not to be removed and a degree of success attends such effort. in draft horses or animals that are used at a slow pace, shields of various kinds are strapped to the extremity and protection is thus afforded. or, large encircling pads of leather, variously constructed, serve to cause the subject to walk with the extremities apart. interfering shoes of different types are of material benefit in many instances. often the principle upon which corrective shoeing is based is that the mesial (inner) side of the foot is too low; the foot is consequently leveled and the inner branch of the shoe is made thicker than the outer, altering the position of the foot in this way. this is productive of desirable results. however, much depends upon the manner in which the foot in motion strikes the weight-bearing member as to the corrective measures that are indicated. this belongs to the domain of pathological shoeing and the reader is referred to works on this subject for further study of this phase of lameness. lymphangitis. excluding glanders, in the majority of instances, lymphangitis in the horse, such as frequently affects the hind legs, is due to the local introduction of infectious material into the tissues as a result of wounds. however, one may observe in some instances an acute lymphangitis which affects the pelvic limbs of horses and no evidence of infection exists. consequently, lymphangitis may be considered as _infectious_ and _non-infectious_. infectious lymphangitis. etiology and occurrence.--traumatisms of the legs frequently result in infection and when such injuries are near lymph glands, even though the degree of infection be slight, more or less disturbance of function of the muscles in the vicinity of such glands occurs and lameness follows. the prescapular, axillary and cubital lymph glands when in a state of inflammation, cause lameness of the front leg, and the superficial inguinal and deep inguinal lymph glands not infrequently become involved also. because of the location of these lymph glands, they are subject to comparatively frequent injury and inflammation, causing lameness more often than other lymph-gland-affections. small puncture wounds in the region of the elbow are often met with. these may be inflicted when horses lie down upon sharp stumps of vegetation or shoe-calk injuries may be the means of introducing contagium, and an infectious inflammation results. abscess formation, the result of strangles or other infection in the prescapular glands, may be observed at times. following castration, the inguinal lymph glands may become involved in an infectious inflammation and locomotion is impeded to a marked degree. horses running at pasture sometimes become injured by trampling upon pieces of wood, causing one end of these or of various implements to become embedded in the soft earth and the other end to enter at the inguinal region and even penetrate the tissues to and through the skin and fascia just below the perineal region. nail punctures resulting in infection frequently cause an infectious lymphangitis and a marked and painful swelling of the legs supervenes. [illustration: fig. 61--chronic lymphangitis. showing hypertrophy of the left hind leg, due to repeated inflammation.] symptomatology.--lameness, mixed or swinging-leg, signalizes the presence of acute lymphangitis. there is always more or less swelling present and manipulation of the affected parts gives pain to the subject. depending upon the character of the infection and its extent, there is presented a varying degree of constitutional disturbance. there may be a rise in temperature of from two to five degrees, and in such instances there is an accelerated pulse. where much intoxication is present, anorexia and dipsosis are to be noticed. swelling may increase gradually and in time discharge of pus may take place spontaneously without drainage being provided for, if the character of the infection does not cause early death. in these cases lameness is pronounced and the cause of the disturbance is to be sought, particularly if the condition be due to a nail puncture. [illustration: fig. 62--elephantiasis.] treatment.--location of the site of injury is advisable in all cases and in some instances provision for drainage, as in puncture wounds, is helpful. locally, curettage and the application of suitable antiseptics are indicated. hot fomentations are beneficial and should be continued for several days if necessary, to stimulate resolution. a brisk purge should be admintered at the onset and strychnin, because of its indirect stimulative effect upon the circulation together with its tonic effect upon the musculature, is beneficial. in all such cases rational treatment, good hygiene and careful nursing are the principal factors which stimulate recovery. individual resistance or lowered vitality has a marked influence on the course of this affection. non-infectious lymphangitis. this type of lymphangitis is associated with, or the result of, a derangement of digestion. it affects heavy draft horses, rarely other types of animals, and involves one or both hind legs. occurrence.--in healthy and well nourished horses irregularly used, this affection may suddenly manifest itself. it occurs in singular instances in mares that are in advanced pregnancy even when such animals are at pasture. usually, however, this malady is found in heavy draft horses that have been kept stabled from one to three days. symptomatology.--at the outset in severe cases, there is elevation of temperature, labored breathing, accelerated pulse, anorexia and more or less swelling of the affected members. swelling is very painful and when the affected legs are palpated, pain is manifested by flinching. the inguinal lymph glands are often swollen but in some cases they are not affected in any perceptible degree. in the average case suppuration does not occur and when conditions are favorable, resolution is complete within ten days. the extent of the involvement and the intensity of the affection vary materially in different cases and a chronic lymphangitis may succeed the acute attacks and finally in some instances, elephantiasis results. treatment.--an active purgative should be given at once and in the ordinary case, stimulants are indicated. if marked distress is present, morphin is given and where there is much rise of temperature, cold drinking water is offered in abundance and catharsis is enhanced by enemata. locally, hot applications are of benefit. hot towels or cotton held in position by bandages and kept soaked with warm water will relieve pain and stimulate resolution. diuretics may be of benefit and anodyne applications are to be employed with profit in some cases. walking exercise, if not indulged in to excess, is helpful as soon as acute inflammation has subsided. by giving careful attention to the regimen and providing regular exercise for susceptible subjects, this type of lymphangitis is often forestalled. footnotes: [footnote 34: manual of veterinary physiology. page 610.] [footnote 35: manual of veterinary physiology, page 601.] [footnote 36: case report at meeting of the iowa state veterinary medical association, jan., 1904, by dr. s.h. bauman, birmingham, ia.] [footnote 37: regional veterinary surgery and operative technique, by john a.w. dollar, m.r.c.v.s., f.r.s.e., m.r.i., page 733.] [footnote 38: as quoted by a. liautard, m.d., v.m., american veterinary review, vol. 37, page 667.] [footnote 39: quoted by prof. liautard, american veterinary review, vol. 33, page 190.] [footnote 40: traite de thã©rapeutique chirurgical des animaux domestique par p.j. cadiot et j. almy, tome second, page 460.] [footnote 41: traite de thã©rapeutique chirurgical, tome second, page 465.] [footnote 42: luxation of the femur, by wm. v. lusk, veterinary surgeon, u.s. cavalry, american veterinary review, vol. 21, page 254.] [footnote 43: because of the intimacy of the psoas major (p. magnus) and the iliacus they are sometimes called iliopsoas.] [footnote 44: dr. john scott, peoria, ill., in the american veterinary review, vol. 16, page 16.] [footnote 45: annotation on surgical items, by drs. l.a. and edward merillat, american veterinary review, vol. 31, page 358.] [footnote 46: w.l. williams in american veterinary review, vol. 21, page 452.] [footnote 47: geo. h. berns, d.v.s., report, american veterinary medical association, 1912, page 238.] [footnote 48: joseph hughes, m.r.c.v.s., in the chicago veterinary college quarterly bulletin, vol. 10, page 15.] [footnote 49: traite de therap. chir. cadiot et almy, tome second, page 480.] [footnote 50: e. wallis hoare, f.r.c.v.s., american veterinary review, vol. 27, page 1189.] [footnote 51: discussions on paper entitled "the spavin group of lamenesses," by w.l. williams, carl w. fisher and d.h. udall, proceedings of american veterinary medical association, 1905.] [footnote 52: "hock-joint lameness," by dr. james mcdonough, proceedings of the a.v.m.a., 1913, page 545.] index a acetabulum, 185 acute arthritis, 65 acute laminitis, 162 acute tendinitis, 135 affections of blood vessels, 31 affections of bursae and thecae, 27 affections of the feet, 34 affections of ligaments, 20 affections of lymph vessels and glands, 32 affections of muscles and tendons, 28 affections of nerves, 30 anamnesis, 38 anatomo-physiological review of parts of fore leg, 55 anatomo-physiological consideration of the pelvic limbs, 185 anatomy of the joint capsule, 220 annular ligament, 58 antea-spinatus muscle, 65 anterior brachial region, wounds of, 90 anterior digital extensor muscle, 193 arteritis, 209 artery (brachial), thrombosis of the, 81 arthritis, 22, 84 arthritis, acute, 65 arthritis, chronic, 65 arthritis, infectious, 66 arthritis, metastatic, 25 arthritis of the fetlock joint, 152 arthritis, rheumatic, 26 arthritis, scapulohumeral, 65 arthritis, tarsal, 225 arthritis, traumatic, 22 articular ringbone, 121 articulation, femeropelvic, 185 articulation, metacarpophalangeal, 58 articulation, scapulohumeral, 55 aspiration-and-injection treatment of bog spavin, 244 aspiration-and-injection treatment of capped hock, 252 aspiration-and-injection treatment of thoroughpin, 250 astragalus, 190 astragalus, fracture of the, 230 attitude of the subject, 41 atrophy of the quadriceps muscles, 205 atrophy, shoulder, 73 b biceps brachii, 58, 65, 68, 69 bicipital bursa, inflammation of, 68 blood vessels, affections of, 31 bog spavin, 242 bog spavin, aspiration-and-injection treatment of, 244 bog spavin, line firing for, 246 bog spavin, vesication for, 246 bone spavin, 235 bones, degenerative changes in, 16 bones, tarsal, 190 bossi's double tarsal neurectomy, 242 brachial artery, thrombosis of the, 81 brachial paralysis, 77 bursa intertubercularis, 62, 69 bursa podotrochlearis, inflammation of the, 157 bursae, affections of, 27 bursitis, 27, 104 bursitis, infectious, 28 bursitis in the fetlock region, 150 bursitis intertubercularis, 68 bursitis, noninfectious, 28 c calcaneo-cuboid ligaments, 190 calcaneo-metatarsal ligaments, 190 calcaneum, fracture of the, 230 calk wounds, 170 capped hock, 251 capped hock, aspiration-and-injection treatment of, 252 capsular ligament, 190 caput muscles, 71 carpal bones, fracture of the, 96 carpal bones, luxation of the, 96 carpal flexors, contraction of the, 93 carpal flexors, inflammation of the, 93 carpal joint, 58 carpal joint, open, 100 carpitis, 98 carpus, inflammation of the, 98 cartilage, lateral, inflammation of, 174 cartilages of the third phalanx, ossification of the, 155 chronic arthritis, 65 chronic gonitis, 217 chronic laminitis, 164 chronic tendinitis, 137 cochran shoe for dropped soles, 169 collateral ligaments, 190 comminuted fractures, 17 compound fractures, 17 contracted tendons of foals, 143 contraction of the carpal flexors, 93 contraction of the flexor tendons, 137 contusions of the triceps brachii, 71 contusive wounds, 85 coracoradialis, 58 corns, 172 coronary region, wounds of the, 170 corpora oryzoidea, 218 cotyloid ligament, 185 courbe, 233 crepitation, false, 48 crepitation, true, 47 crucial ligaments, 188 crural nerve, paralysis of the, 204 cunean bursa, 237 cunean tenotomy, 242 cuneiform magnum, 191 cuneiform medium, 191 curb, 233 d deep digital flexor, distension of the tarsal sheath of, 246 deep flexor tendon (perforans), 60 degenerative changes in bones, 16 diagnosis by exclusion, 53 diagnosis by use of the x-ray, 179 diagnostic principles, 37 disease, navicular, 157 dislocations, 21 distension of the tarsal joint capsule, 242 distension of the tarsal sheath of the deep digital flexor, 246 division of long digital extensor, 253 dorsal ligaments, 190 dropped elbow, 71, 80 dropped soles, shoe for, 169 dropped stifle, 205 dry spavin, 225 e elbow, dropped, 71, 80 elbow, inflammation of the, 84 elbow joint, 58 elephantiasis, 34 etiology, general discussion of, 15 examination by palpation, 43 examination, special methods of, 53 examination, visual, 39 exclusion, diagnosis by, 53 exostosis of splint bones, 107 exostosis, phalangeal, 118 extensor (long digital) rupture and division of, 253 extensor of the digit, rupture of, 145 extensor pedis, 60 extensor pedis, rupture of, 145 extensor pedis, rupture and division of, 253 f false crepitation, 48 feet, affection of the, 34 femoral nerve, paralysis of the, 204 femeropatella ligaments, 188 femeropelvic articulation, 185 femur, 185, 192 femur, fracture of the, 199 femur, luxation of the, 201 fetlock joint, 58 fetlock joint, arthritis of the, 152 fetlock joint, luxation of the, 125 fetlock joint, open, 110 fetlock region, thecitis and bursitis in, 148 fetlock, shoe for bracing the, 181 fibular tarsal bone, fracture of the, 230 firing, treatment of ringbone by, 123 first phalanx, 59 "fish knees", 145 fixed luxations, 21 fixed patellar disarticulation, 213 flexor brachii, 58, 68, 69 flexor carpiradialis, 93 flexor carpiulnaris, 93 flexor metacarpi externus, 94 flexor metacarpi internus, 93 flexor metacarpi medius, 93 flexor metatarsi, 193 flexor, superficial digital, 194 flexor tendons, contraction of the, 137 flexor tendons, inflammation of the, 135 flexor tendons, rupture of, 146 flexors of phalanges, open sheath of, 124 foals, contracted tendons of, 143 forearm, wounds of, 90 fore leg, lameness in the, 55 fracture of the carpal bones, 96 fracture of the femur, 199 fracture of the fibular tarsal bone, 230 fracture of first and second phalanges, 131 fracture of humerus, 82 fracture of the ilium, 198 fracture of the ischial tuberosity, 199 fracture of the metacarpus, 106 fracture of the patella, 212 fractures of the pelvic bones, 196 fracture of the proximal sesamoids, 128 fracture of the pubis, 197 fracture of the radius, 87 fracture of the scapula, 62 fracture of the tibia, 222 fracture of the tibial tarsal bone, 230 fracture of the ulna, 86 fractures, 16 fractures, comminuted, 17 fractures, compound, 17 fractures, green stick, 18 fractures, impacted, 19 fractures, longitudinal, 18 fractures, multiple, 18 fractures, multiple longitudinal, 19 fractures, oblique, 18 fractures, simple, 17 fractures, simple transverse, 18 fractures, transverse, 18 fragilitas, 199 fragilitas osseum, 128 g gait, observing character of, 48 gastrocnemius, 194 gluteal tendo-synovitis, 203 gluteus medius muscle, 192, 203 gonitis, chronic, 217 green stick fractures, 18 h hind leg, lameness in the, 185 hind leg, paralysis of the, 204 hip lameness, 195 hip swinney, 205 hock, capped, 251 hock joint, 188 hoof testers, 53 humeroradioulnar joint, 58 humerus, fracture of, 82 i iliac thrombosis, 209 iliopsoas, 204 ilium, fracture of the, 198 impacted fractures, 19 infectious arthritis, 66 infectious bursitis, 28 infectious inflammation of the lateral cartilage, 173 infectious lymphangitis, 257 infectious synovitis, 124 inflammation of the bicipital bursa, 68 inflammation of the bursa podotrochlearis, 157 inflammation of the carpal flexors, 93 inflammation of the carpus, 98 inflammation of the elbow, 84 inflammation of the flexor tendons, 135 inflammation of posterior ligaments of pastern, 129 inflammation of proximal sesamoid bones, 127 inflammation of third sesamoid and deep flexor tendon, 157 inflammation of the trochanteric bursa, 204 infraspinatus muscle, 65 injection of fluids for quittor, 177 injuries to scapulohumeral joint, 66 interfering, shoeing for, 256 interfering, wounds from, 255 ischial tuberosity, fracture of the, 199 j joint capsule, anatomy of the, 220 joint, carpal, 58 joint, elbow, 58 joint, fetlock, 58 joint capsule, tarsal, distension of the, 242 joint, fetlock, arthritis of the, 152 joint, fetlock, luxation of, 125 joint, hock, 188 joint, humeroradioulnar, 58 joint, open, 67 joint, open carpal, 100 joint, open fetlock, 110 joint, pastern proximal interphalangeal, 129 joint, shoulder, 55 joint, stifle, open, 220 joint, tarsal, open, 229 l lameness, hip, 195 lameness, mixed, 49 lameness in the fore leg, 55 lameness in the hind leg, 185 lameness, shoulder, 61 lameness, supporting-leg, 49 lameness, swinging-leg, 49 laminitis, 160 laminitis, acute, 162 laminitis, chronic, 164 lateral cartilage, infectious inflammation of the, 174 lateral cartilages, ossification of, 155 ligaments, affections of, 20 ligament, capsular, 190 ligaments, collateral, 190 ligament, cotyloid, 185 ligaments, crucial, 188 ligaments, dorsal, 190 ligaments, femeropatella, 188 ligament, medial, 190 ligaments, mesial tarsal, sprains of the, 232 ligaments of pastern proximal interphalangeal joint, inflammation of, 129 ligaments, patellar, 188 ligaments, plantar, 190 ligament, pubiofemoral, 185 ligament, superior check, 58 ligament, suspensory, rupture of, 146 ligaments, volar, 129 ligament, volar-carpal or annular, 58 ligation of the saphenous vein, 246 line firing for bog spavin, 246 longitudinal fractures, 18 lumbosacral plexus, 204 luxation of the carpal bones, 96 luxation of the femur, 201 luxation of fetlock joint, 125 luxation of the patella, 213 luxation of the patella, outward, 215 luxation of the patella, upward, 214 luxation of scapulohumeral joint, 67 luxations, 21 luxations, fixed, 21 luxations, temporary, 21 lymph vessels and glands, affections of, 32 lymphangitis, 32 lymphangitis, infectious, 257 lymphangitis, non-infectious, 260 m medial ligament, 190 median neurectomy, 124 mesial tarsal ligaments, sprains of the, 232 metacarpophalangeal articulation, 58 metacarpus, fracture of the, 106 metastatic arthritis, 25 mixed lameness, 49 momentary patellar disarticulation, 213 movements, passive, 47 multiple fractures, 18 multiple longitudinal fractures, 19 muscles, affections of, 28 muscle, antea-spinatus, 65 muscle, anterior digital extensor, 193 muscle, biceps brachii, 58 muscle, caput, 71 muscle, gluteus medium, 192, 203 muscle, infraspinatus, 65 muscle, peroneus tertius, 193 muscle, postea-spinatus, 65 muscles, quadriceps, 193 muscles, quadriceps, atrophy of the, 205 muscle, subscapularis, 65 muscle, supraspinatus, 65 muscle, tibialis anticus, 193 muscle, triceps brachii, 58 myalgia, 195 n nail punctures, 178 navicular disease, 157 nerves, affections of, 30 nerve, femoral, paralysis of the, 204 nerve, obturator, paralysis of the, 206 nerve, sciatic, paralysis of the, 208 nerve, (suprascapular) paralysis of the, 75 non-infectious lymphangitis, 260 non-infectious bursitis, 28 neurectomy, bossi's double tarsal, 242 neurectomy, median, 124 neurectomy, plantar, 124 o oblique fractures, 18 observing character of gait, 48 obturator nerve, paralysis of the, 206 occurrence, general discussion of, 15 omphalophlebitis, 25 open carpal joint, 100 open fetlock joint, 110 open joint, 67 open sheath of flexors of phalanges, 124 open stifle joint, 220 open tarsal joint, 229 os corona, 60 ossification of cartilages of the third phalanx, 155 ossification of the lateral cartilages, 155 os innominatum, 196 os suffraginis, 59 osteitis, rarefying, 16 outward luxation of the patella, 215 p palpation, examination by, 43 paralysis, brachial, 77 paralysis of the femoral nerve, 204 paralysis of the hind leg, 204 paralysis of the obturator nerve, 206 paralysis of the sciatic nerve, 208 paralysis of the suprascapular nerve, 75 paralysis, radial, 77 paronychia, 170 passive movements, 47 pastern proximal interphalangeal joint, inflammation of ligaments of, 129 patella, 188 patella, fracture of the, 212 patella, luxation of the, 213 patella, outward luxation of the, 215 patella, upward luxation of the, 214 patellar disarticulation, fixed, 213 patellar disarticulation, momentary, 213 patellar ligaments, 188 pelvic bones, fractures of the, 196 pelvic limbs, anatomo-physiological consideration of the, 185 penetrative wounds, 85 periarticular ringbone, 122 peroneus tertius muscle, 193 phalangeal exostosis, 118 phalanges, fracture of first and second, 131 phalanges, open sheath of flexors of, 124 phalanx, first, 59 phalanx, second, 60 phalanx, third, ossification of cartilages of, 155 plantar ligaments, 190 plantar neurectomy, 124 polyarthritis, 25 postea-spinatus muscle, 65 principles, diagnostic, 37 proximal sesamoid bones, inflammation of, 127 proximal sesamoids, fracture of, 128 pubiofemoral ligament, 185 pubis, fracture of the, 197 punctures, nail, 178 q quadriceps muscles, 193 quadriceps muscles, atrophy of the, 205 quittor, 174 quittor, injection of fluids for, 177 r rachitic ringbone, 122 radial paralysis, 77 radius, fracture of the, 87 rarefying osteitis, 16 rheumatic arthritis, 26 rheumatism, 196 ringbone, 118 ringbone, articular, 121 ringbone, periarticular, 122 ringbone, rachitic, 122 ringbone, traumatic, 122 ringbone treated by firing, 123 roberts shoe for bracing the fetlock, 181 rupture of the extensor pedis, 145 rupture of flexor tendons and suspensory ligament, 146 rupture of long digital extensor, 253 rupture of the tendo archillis, 224 s saphenous vein, ligation of the, 246 scapula, fracture of the, 62 scapulohumeral articulation, 55 scapulohumeral joint, injuries to, 66 scapulohumeral joint, luxation of, 67 scapulohumeral joint, wounds of, 67 scapulohumeral arthritis, 65 sciatica, 208 sciatic nerve, paralysis of the, 208 second phalanx, 60 sesamoid bones, 59 sesamoid, third, inflammation of the, 157 sesamoids, proximal, fracture of, 128 sesamoiditis, 127 setons, 75 sheath of flexors of phalanges, open, 124 sheath (tarsal) of the deep digital flexor, distension of the, 246 shoe for dropped soles, 169 shoeing for interfering, 256 shoulder atrophy, 73 shoulder joint, 55 shoulder lameness, 61 simple fractures, 17 simple transverse fractures, 18 soles, dropped, shoe for, 169 spavin, bog, 242 spavin, bone, 235 spavin, dry, 225 spavin test, 239 special methods of examination, 53 sprains of the mesial tarsal ligaments, 232 sprains, tarsal, 232 splints, 107 spring-halt, 225 stifle, dropped, 205 stifle joint, open, 220 strangles, 25 streptococcus equi, 25 string-halt, 225 subject, attitude of the, 41 subscapularis muscle, 65 supporting-leg-lameness, 49 suprascapular nerve, paralysis of the, 75 supraspinatus muscle, 65 superficial digital flexor, 194 superior check ligament, 58 suspensory ligament, rupture of, 146 sweeny, 73 swinging-leg-lameness, 49 swinney, 73 swinney, hip, 205 synovial distension of tendon sheaths, 104 synovitis, 25 synovitis, infectious, 124 t tarsal arthritis, 225 tarsal bones, 190 tarsal joint capsule, distension of the, 242 tarsal joint, open, 229 tarsal sheath of the deep digital flexor, distension of the, 246 tarsal sprains, 232 tarsus, 192 temporary luxations, 21 tendinitis, 135 tendinitis, acute, 135 tendinitis, chronic, 137 tendo achillis, rupture and wounds of the, 224 tendon, deep flexor, inflammation of the, 157 tendon, deep flexor (perforans), 60 tendon, extensor, rupture of, 145 tendon, flexor, rupture of, 146 tendons of foals, contracted, 143 tendon sheaths, synovial distension of, 104 tendons, affections of, 28 tendons, flexor, contraction of the, 137 tendons, flexor, inflammation of the, 135 tendo-synovitis, gluteal, 203 tenotomy, cunean, 242 tensor fascia lata, 192 test, spavin, 239 testers, hoof, 53 thecae, affections of, 27 thecitis, 27, 104 thecitis in the fetlock region, 150 thoroughpin, 246 thoroughpin, aspiration-and-injection treatment of, 250 thrombosis, iliac, 209 thrombosis of the brachial artery, 81 tibia, 188 tibia, fracture of the, 222 tibial tarsal bone, fracture of the, 230 tibialis anticus muscle, 193 tibioastragular joint, distension of the, 242 transverse fractures, 18 traumatic arthritis, 22 traumatic ringbone, 122 treatment of bog spavin by aspiration and injection, 244 treatment of capped hock by aspiration and injection, 252 treatment of ringbone by firing, 123 treatment of thoroughpin by aspiration and injection, 250 triceps brachii, 58 triceps brachii, contusions of, 71 triceps extensor brachii, 71 trochanteric bursa, inflammation of the, 204 true crepitation, 47 u ulna, fracture of the, 86 ulnaris lateralis, 94 upward luxation of the patella, 214 v vein, saphenous, ligation of the, 246 vesication for bog spavin, 246 vessignon chevillã©, 246 visual examination, 39 volar-carpal ligament, 58 volar ligaments, 129 w wounds, calk, 170 wounds, contusive, 85 wounds from interfering, 255 wounds of anterior brachial region, 90 wounds of coronary region, 170 wounds of scapulohumeral joint, 67 wounds of tendo achillis, 224 wounds, penetrative, 85 x x-ray diagnosis, 179 authorities cited almy, j., 141, 200, 202, 208, 212, 216, 214, 233 bassi, 215 bauman, s.h., 197 bell, roscoe r., 69 benard, 216 berns, geo. h., 77, 218 bouley, 225 bourdelle, 147 cadiot, p.j., 78, 141, 200, 202, 208, 212, 214, 216, 223, 225, 233, 245, 250 campbell, d.m., 162, 166, 167 castagnã©, 84 cochran, david w., 169, 170 diekerhoff, 237 dollar, jno. a.w., 68, 198 eberlein, 237 fisher, carl w., 236 frost, j.n., 113 frost, r.f., 128 greaves, thomas, 157 hoare, e. wallis, 25, 211, 230 hughes, joseph, 176, 221 hutyra and marek, 205 law, james, 33 leblanc, 223 liautard, a., 84, 199, 238 lusk, wm. v., 203 mcdonough, james, 237 merillat, edward, 210 merillat, l.a., 80, 96, 175, 210 millar, thomas, 145 mã¶ller, h., 119, 156, 211, 222 montane, 147 moore, r.c., 162 roberts, g.h., 181 schumacher, 215 scott, john, 208 seeley, j.t., 176 sisson, septimus, 129, 204, 220 smith, f., major general, 56, 60, 155, 188, 194 strangeways, 193 taylor, henry, 71 thompson, h., 83, 87 trickett, a., 253 udall, d.h., 236 uhlrich, 224 walters, wilfred, 83, 97 williams, w.l., 217, 236 transcriber's notes: accented words: the following spelling differences have been maintained: moller / mã¶ller montane / montanã© traite / traitã©. hyphenation: the following hyphenation differences have been maintained: bilateral / bi-lateral calcaneocuboid / calcaneo-cuboid calcaneometatarsal / calcaneo-metatarsal counterirritation / counter-irritation counterirritating / counter-irritating foreleg / fore-leg interphalangeal / inter-phalangeal noninfectious / non-infectious nonsensitive / non-sensitive overwork / over-work posteaspinatus / postea-spinatus ringbone / ring-bone subacute / sub-acute subcoronary / sub-coronary subfascial / sub-fascial subperiosteal / sub-periosteal typographical errors: sub-facial for sub-fascial "at two-year-old" for "a two-year-old" ameircan for american symtomatology for symptomatology extoses for exostoses admintered for administered -------------------------------------------------------------------- transcriber's note: in preparing this ebook i have corrected a small number of obvious typographical errors, including the two which are mentioned in the september issue. i have not interrupted the text by marking each, but they are marked in the html version of this text. -------------------------------------------------------------------- _the_ healthy life the independent health magazine volume v july-december 1913 london graham house, tudor st., e.c. index volume v.--july-december 1913 ballade of skyfaring, a, s. gertrude ford, 490 book reviews, 532 breathe, on learning to, dr j. stenson hooker, 630 camping out, c.r. freeman, 438, 480 care of cupboards, florence daniel, 530 castles in the air, e.m. cobham, 582 cloud-capped towers, e.m. cobham, 626 correspondence, 504, 533, 580, 658 cottage cheese, 658 curtained doorways, the, edgar j. saxon, 561 doctor on doctors, a, 637 doctor's reason for opposing vaccination, a, dr j.w. hodge, 597 doctors and health, 633 fasting, a significant case, a. rabagliati, m.d., 458, 492 fear and imagination, e.m. cobham, 510 food and the source of bodily energy, 507 fruit-oils and nuts, 659 futurist gardening, g.g. desmond, 451 health queries, dr h. valentine knaggs:- about sugar, 540; bad case of self-poisoning, 502; boils, their cause and cure, 498; canary _versus_ jamaica bananas, 579; can malaria be prevented? 466; cereal food in the treatment of neuritis, 619; correct blending of foods, 655; concerning cottage cheese, 617; deafness, 615, 616; diet for obstinate cough, 618; diet for ulcerated throat, 575; dilated heart, 653; difficulties in changing to non-flesh diet, 655; dry throat, 653; eczema as a sign of returning health, 613; excessive perspiration, 574; farming and sciatica, 575; faulty food combinations, 536; giddiness and head trouble, 468; going to extremes in the unfired diet, 543; long standing gastric trouble, 470; malt extract, 539; neuritis, 538; onion juice as hair restorer, 651; phosphorus and the nerves, 577; refined paraffin as a constipation remedy, 652; saccharine, 653; stammering, 654; severe digestive catarrh, 471; sciatica, 651; temporary "bright's disease" and how to deal with it, 576; ulceration of the stomach, 541; unfired diet for a child, 467; water grapes, 619; why the red corpuscles are deficient in anaemia, 654 health and joy in hand-weaving, minnie brown, 591 health through reading, isabella fyvie mayo, 517 healthy brains, e.m. cobham, 448, 474, 510, 546, 582 healthy homemaking, florence daniel, 495, 528 healthy life abroad, d.m. richardson, 559 healthy life recipes, 462, 571, 610, 641 hired help, florence daniel, 495, 528 holiday aphorisms, peter piper, 508, 527 how much should we eat? 442, 477, 513, 563, 593 human magnetism, 505 imagination in insurance, e.m. cobham, 546 imagination in play, e.m. cobham, 474 imagination in use, e.m. cobham, 448 indication, an, editors, 437, 473, 509, 545, 581, 621 learning to breathe, on, dr j. stenson hooker, 630 letters of a layman, i., 633 lime juice, pure, 534 longevity, a remedy for, edgar j. saxon, 491 mental healing, a scientific basis for, j. stenson hooker, m.d., 456 midsummer madness, edgar j. saxon, 454 modern germ mania: a case in point, dr h.v. knaggs, 638 more about two meals a day, wilfred wellock, 487 new race, the, s. gertrude ford, 601 ode to the west wind, shelley, 555 pickled peppercorns, peter piper, 464, 570, 609, 660 plain words and coloured pictures, edgar j. saxon, 622 play spirit, the, d.m. richardson, 602 play spirit, the: a criticism, l.e. hawks, 628 quest for beauty, the, edgar j. saxon, 523 recipes, 462, 571, 610, 641 remedy for longevity, a, edgar j. saxon, 491 remedy for sleeplessness, 533 salads and salad dressings, 462 salt cooked vegetables, 506 swan song of september, the, s. gertrude ford, 523 sea-sickness, some remedies, hereward carrington, 484 semper fidelis, "a.r.," 526 sleeplessness, a remedy, 533 scientific basis for mental healing, a, j. stenson hooker, m.d., 456 scientific basis of vegetalism, the, prof. h. labbe, 549, 584 significant case, a, a. rabagliati, m.d., 458, 492 symposium on unfired food, a, d. godman, 486, 648 taste or theory? arnold eiloart, b.sc., 643 travels in two colours, edgar j. saxon, 605 to-morrow's flowers, g.g. desmond, 451 two meals a day, more about, wilfred wellock, 487 vaccination, a doctor's reason for opposing, dr j.w. hodge, 597 vegetalism, the scientific basis of, prof. h. labbe, 549, 584 west wind, ode to, shelley, 555 what makes a holiday? c., 557 world's wanderers, the, shelley, 625 the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v july no. 24. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. some laymen are very fond of deprecating the work of specialists, holding that specialisation tends to narrowness, to inability to see more than one side of a question. it is, of course, true that the specialist tends to "go off at a tangent" on his particular subject, and even to treat with contempt or opposition the views of other specialists who differ from him. but all work that is worth doing is attended by its own peculiar dangers. it is here that the work of the non-specialist comes in. it is for him to compare the opposing views of the specialists, to reveal one in the light thrown by the other, to help into existence the new truth waiting to be born of the meeting of opposites. specialisation spells division of labour, and apart from division of labour certain great work can never be done. to do away with such division, supposing an impossibility to be possible, would simply mean reversion to the state of the primitive savage. but we have no call to attempt the abolition of even the minutest division of labour. what is necessary is to understand and guard against its dangers. specialisation _may_ lead to madness, as electricity _may_ lead to death. but no specialist need go far astray who, once in a while, will make an honest attempt to come to an understanding with the man whose views are diametrically opposed to his own. for thus he will retain elasticity of brain, and gain renewed energy for, and perhaps fresh light on, his own problems.--[eds.] camping out. iv. the five-foot sausage. the question of blankets and mattresses may be taken as settled. we can now sleep quite comfortably, take our fresh air sleeping and waking, and find shelter when it rains. but that same fresh air brings appetite and we must see how that appetite is to be appeased. take a frying-pan. it should be of aluminium for lightness; though a good stout iron one will help you make good girdle-cakes, if you get it hot and drop the flour paste on it. you must find some other way of making girdle-cakes, and if you take an iron frying pan with you, don't say that i told you to. though it is obviously necessary that a frying-pan should have a handle, i was bound to tell gertrude that i do not find it convenient to take handled saucepans when i go camping. i take for all boiling purposes, including the making of tea, what is called a camp-kettle. most ironmongers of any standing seem to keep it, and those who have it not in stock can show you an illustration of it in their wholesale list. it is just like the pot in which painters carry their paint, except that it has an ordinary saucepan lid. you should have a "nest" of these--that is, three in diminishing sizes going one inside the other. the big lid then fits on the outer one and the two other lids have to be carried separately. [illustration: _the five-foot sausage_] you hang these camp-kettles over the fire by their bucket handles, from the tripod or other means of getting over the fire. sometimes the bough of a tree high out of the reach of the flames will do. sometimes a stick or oar thrust into the bank or in a crevice of the wall behind the fire is more convenient than a tripod. again, you can do without any hanging at all, making a little fireplace of bricks or stones and standing the saucepans "on the hob." it is a simple thing to tie the tops of three sticks together and make a tripod. then from the place where they join you dangle a piece of string, pass it through the handle of the kettle and tie it to itself, in a knot that can be adjusted up or down to raise or lower the kettle from the fire. this knot is our old friend the two half-hitches. pass the loose end round the down cord, letting it come back under the up cord, then round again with the same finish, and lo! the up cord makes two half-hitches round the down cord. you can slip, them up and put them where you like and they will hold, but you have to undo them to take the kettle clean away from the fire. so we add to our equipment a few pot-hooks or pieces of steel wire shaped like an s. their use will be obvious. if we have three of them it is quite easy to keep three kettles going over one fire. they swing cheek by jowl when they all want the same amount of fire, but each can be raised or lowered an inch or several inches to let them respectively boil, simmer or just keep warm. these are the cooking utensils. a biscuit tin would make an oven and gertrude says she must have an oven. for my part i would not attempt baking when camping out and i will say no more about ovens, except that all the biscuit tins in the world won't beat a hole in the ground first filled with blazing sticks and then with the things to be baked and covered with turves till they are done. i had great difficulty in persuading gertrude to feed out of tin dishes like those which we use sometimes for making shallow round cakes or setting the toffee in. they are ever so much better than plates, being deep enough for soup-plates and not easy to upset when you use them on your lap. any number of the same size will go into one another and a dozen scarcely take up more room than one. it was worse still when it came to a still more useful substitute, the camp equivalent of the teacup. in the first place we abolish the saucer, for the simple reason that we have no earthly use for it in camp. we take tin mugs with sloping sides and wire bucket handles. they fit into one another in the same accommodating way as the eating dishes. gertrude was nearly put off this device altogether by basil's remark that he had only seen them in use in poulterers' shops, where they are put under hares' noses.... "basil, you, you monster," cried gertrude, and i had to push those tin mugs as though i had been a traveller interested in the sale of them. the drinking of hot tea out of these mugs is quite a beautiful art. you hold the wire handle between finger and thumb and put the little finger at the edge of the bottom rim. it is thus able to tilt the mug to the exact angle which is most convenient for drinking. when gertrude had learnt the trick, she became perfectly enamoured of the mugs. she sometimes brings one out at ordinary afternoon tea and insists that the tea is ever so much better drunk thus than out of spode. smaller mugs of the same shape do for egg-cups, and the egg-spoons i take to camp are the bone ones, seldom asked for but easy to get in most oil-and-colour shops. dessert spoons and forks and table knives are of the usual pattern, but the former can be had in aluminium and therefore much lighter than britannia metal. the camping-out valise is by all means the rucksack. never the knapsack. i am almost ashamed to say this, because as far as my knowledge goes the knapsack is now obsolete. it may be, however, that it lingers here and there. if you see one, buy it for a museum if you like but not for use. the bundle should be allowed to fit itself to the back, as it does in a canvas bag. suppose now that you fix the v point of a pair of braces somewhere near the top of the sack and bringing the webs over your shoulders, fix them, nicely adjusted, to the lower corners of the sack, it will ride quite comfortably upon your back--that is, you have made it from a plain sack into a rucksack or back-sack. get or make as many good large strong ones as you have shoulders in the party to carry them. have them made of a waterproof canvas, green or brown, to reeve up tight with strong cord passed through a series of eyelet-holes and, if you would be quite certain of keeping out the rain, with a little hood to cover the reeved bag end. the great bulk of your luggage you will generally find it best to carry by wheeling it on a bicycle. spread your ground-sheet on the floor. on that lay your blankets, doubled so as to make a smaller square, tent, mattress cover and bed suits on that, then your camping utensils and all other paraphernalia and roll the whole up into a sausage about five feet long, when the loose ends of the ground-sheet have been tucked over as in a brown-paper parcel. tie it well with whipcord and fasten it to the top bar of your bicycle frame, leaving freedom of course for the handles and the front wheel to move and steer. push the tent-poles through the lashings and start for your camp at a comfortable four or five miles an hour. you will find it easy to move camp at the rate of twenty miles a day and will see a great deal of country in the course of a fortnight. the sausage on the bicycle shown in the illustration may be taken to contain all the gear and a little food. the rucksacks will take the rest and each man's most precious personal belongings. there is a small parcel tied to the handle-bar, scarcely to be seen because it is smaller than the end of the sausage. it is a complete tent tied up in its ground-sheet. c.r. freeman. how much should we eat: a warning. _this article, by one of the pioneers of modern dietetics, is in the nature of a challenge, and is certain to arouse discussion among all who have studied the food question closely._--[eds.] when men lived on their natural food, quantities settled themselves. when a healthy natural appetite had been sated the correct quantity of natural food had been taken. to-day all this is upside down, there is no natural food and only too often no natural healthy appetite either. thus the question of quantity is often asked and many go wrong over it. the all-sufficient answer to this question is: "go back to the foods natural to the human animal and this, as well as a countless number of other problems, will settle themselves." but supposing that this cannot be done, suppose, as is often the case, that the animal fed for years on unnatural food has become so pathological that it can no longer take or digest its natural food? those who take foods which are stimulants are very likely to overeat, and when they leave off their stimulants they are equally likely to underfeed themselves. flesh foods are such stimulants, for it is possible to intoxicate those quite unaccustomed to them with a large ration of meat just as well as with a large ration of alcohol. the one leads to the other, meat leads to alcohol, alcohol to meat. taking any stimulant eventually leads to a call for other stimulants. how are we to tell when a given person is getting enough food, either natural or partly natural? medically speaking, there is no difficulty; there are plenty of guides to the required knowledge, some of them of great delicacy and extreme accuracy. the trouble generally is that these guides are not made use of, as the cause of the disaster is not suspected. a physiologist is not consulted till too late, perhaps till the disorder in the machinery of life is beyond repair. diminishing energy and power, decreasing endurance, slowing circulation, lessening blood colour, falling temperature, altered blood pressure, enlarging heart and liver, are some of the most obvious signs with which the physician is brought into contact in such cases. but every one of these may, and very often does, pass unnoticed for quite a long time by those who have had no scientific training. the public are extremely ignorant on such matters because the natural sciences have been more neglected in this country in the last fifty years than anywhere else in europe, and that is saying a good deal. hence diet quacks and all those who trade on the ignorance and prejudices of the public are having a good time and often employ it in writing the most appalling rubbish in reference to the important subject of nutrition. being themselves ignorant and without having studied physiology, even in its rudiments, they do not appear to consider that they should at least abstain from teaching others till they have got something certain for themselves. if the public were less ignorant they would soon see through their pretensions; but, as it is, things go from bad to worse, and it is not too much to say that hundreds of lives have been lost down this sordid by-path of human avarice. on one single day a few weeks ago the writer heard of three men, two of whom had been so seriously ill that their lives were in danger, and one of whom had died. the certified cause of death in this case might not have led the uninitiated to suspect chronic starvation, but those who were behind the scenes knew that this was its real cause. a further extraordinary fact was that two out of these three men were members of the medical profession, whose training in physiology ought, one would have thought, to have saved them from such errors. the conclusion seems to be that they did not use their knowledge because at first they had no suspicion of the real cause of their illness. in other words, chronic starvation is insidious and, if no accurate scientific measurements are made, its results, being attributed to other causes, are often allowed to become serious before they are properly treated. these three men went wrong by following a layman quite destitute of physiological training, who appeared to have produced some wonderful results in himself and others on extraordinarily small quantities of food. if the above tests had been made at once by a trained hand the error involved in such results could not have escaped detection, and none of these men would have endangered their lives. i myself examined the layman in question and finding him not up to standard refused to follow him. the writer has no difficulty in recalling at least a dozen cases similar to those above mentioned which have been under his care in the last twelve months, and the three above mentioned were none of them under his care at the time of their danger. what, then, must be our conclusions in reference to these and similar facts of which it is only possible to give a mere outline here? i suggest that they are:-1. food quantities are of extreme importance. 2. these quantities were settled by physiologists many years ago, and no good reasons have since been adduced for altering them. 3. the required quantity is approximately nine or ten grains of proteid per day for each pound of bone and muscle in the body weight. 4. any considerable departure from this quantity continued over months and years leads to disaster. 5. the nature of this disaster may appear to be very various and its real cause is thus frequently overlooked. i will say a few words about each of these except the first, which is already obvious. the layman above mentioned asserted that he could live on but little more than half this quantity, but the food quantity really required is that which will keep up normal strength, normal circulation, normal colour, normal temperature and normal mental power. as we have got perfectly definite standards of all these normal conditions, serious danger can only be run into by neglecting to measure them. it is also possible to tell fairly accurately the quantity of food a man is taking in a day, and then, by collecting and estimating his excreta, the quantity also out of this food which he is utilising completely and burning up in his body. you would say that no danger should be possible with all these safeguards, and yet the above case history shows that of two trained physiologists, members of the medical profession, one died at least twenty years before his time, and the other was in great danger and only recovered slowly and with difficulty. another similar case came to the writer suffering from increasing debility and what appeared to be some form of dyspepsia. he was quite unable to pass any of the above-named tests as to physiological standards, and an investigation of his excreta showed that his food was at least one-fifth or one-sixth below its proper quantity and had probably been so for many months past. some of his doctors had been giving his "disease" a more or less long list of names and yet had not noted the one essential fact of chronic defective nutrition and its cause--underfeeding. naturally their treatment was of no avail, but when he had been sent to a nursing home and had put back the 20 lbs. of weight he had lost he came slowly back to more normal standards and is now out of danger. in this case there was marked loss of weight, and few people, one would think, would overlook such a sign of under nutrition. but loss of weight is not always present in these cases, at least not at first. some people tend to grow stout on deficient proteid, and then the fact that some of the essential tissues of the body (the muscles, the heart and the blood) are being dangerously impoverished is very likely to be overlooked. in the case last mentioned the loss of weight was put down to the dyspepsia, whereas the real fact was that the "dyspepsia" and loss of weight were both results of a chronic deficiency in food. it is evident that some care about food quantities must be taken by all those who do not live on natural foods. for physiologists there is no difficulty in settling the question of quantity in accordance with the signs of the physiology of a normal body. that all, even physiologists, may run into danger if, while living on unnatural or partly unnatural foods, or while making any change of food, they do not consider the question of quantity with sufficient care. that the question of nutrition should be considered in relation to _every illness_ even though it may appear on the surface to have no direct connection with foods or quantities. as a matter of fact, the nature of the food and its quantity controls all the phenomena of life. some twenty years ago most people lived fairly close to the old physiological quantities, now they have been cut adrift from these and completely unsettled and are floundering out of their depth. a most unsatisfactory, even dangerous, condition of affairs. for the public it will now probably suffice if they insist on raising the question of quantity whenever they suffer in any way. if they are unable to answer the question themselves let them go to a trained physiologist who can do so, and not to a diet quack. but muscular strength, endurance, mental and bodily energy, skin circulation, temperature and blood colour are all things which the public can see for themselves and from which they should in all cases be able to get sufficient warning to save them from the worst forms of disaster. some people imagine that they eat very little, when as a matter of fact they have good healthy appetites. others again think they are eating a great deal, when as a matter of fact they take very little. in both cases a physiological test of the excreta will give accurate information. i once had a medical patient who imagined that he produced great amounts of force and performed feats of endurance on wonderfully small quantities of food. his excreta showed, however, that he was merely under-estimating the food he took. a fat man may seem to be living on very little, but fat does not require to be fed, and his real bone and muscle weight is not large. a thin man may seem to require a large quantity of food, but he is really very heavy in bone and muscle, the tissues that have to be nourished. in all these ways appearances are apt to be deceptive for those who are ignorant of science and who do not go down to the root of the matter. it is not necessary to follow the given quantity of grains per pound slavishly and without regard to consequences. it is necessary to see that the required physiological results are obtained. if a patient says he can live on less than i ordered for him and if he can pass the physiological tests satisfactorily i know that his bone and muscle weight has been over-estimated. on the other hand, if a patient falls below the physiological tests, though taking and digesting the quantities ordered for him, i conclude that his bone and muscle weight has been under-estimated. in all cases it is possible to obtain the best physiological results and to say when quantities are just right, neither too much nor too little. the evil effects of too much are not serious; they entail perhaps a little "gout" or some temporary loss of freedom from waste products. the evil effects of too little, if persevered in and continued, especially if some of these effects are attributed to causes which have no real existence, are deadly and dangerous, for they bring on an insidious deterioration both of function and structure which leads by several avenues, often miscalled "diseases," to death itself. m.d. healthy brains. _comparatively few health enthusiasts or food reformers realise the necessity for mental, as distinct from bodily, hygiene, yet all real health has its roots in the mind. moreover, it is only by studying the hygiene of mind that we are enabled to do work in greater quantity and of better quality than we should otherwise be capable of, and to do this without risk of strain on the nerves or injury to health. the articles under this heading put forward some of the elementary laws of mental hygiene._--[eds.] imagination in use. to some people any talk about the importance of training the imagination of children through their toys, games and studies seems fantastic and trivial. they compare it to feeding them on sweetmeats; they think it means substituting story books for real life and encouraging the easy exercise of fancy for the careful study of fact. but imagination is not a mere ornament to a life-work; it is rather one of its most valuable and necessary tools. if it did no more than sweeten and adorn the world, it would be well worth having, well worth making considerable sacrifices to attain. but it does more than this. it bears much fruit as well as flowers; fruit that, if it ripens in suitable weather, endures and can be used for the service of man. there is a wonderful palm-tree, called the tal or palmyra palm, which in india and ceylon supports six or seven millions of people, and "works" also in west africa, where it is probably native. it gives its young shoots and unripe seeds as food; its trunk makes a whole boat, or a drum or a walking-stick, according to size; hats, mats, thread and baskets--in fact, almost all kinds of clothing and utensils--are made from the split and plaited leaves; gum comes from it, and certain medicines, jaggery sugar too and an intoxicating drink for those who desire it. in one of the museums at kew--a wet day brings always _something_ besides disappointment--there is a book made up of the very leaves of the palm, containing a tamil poem enumerating more than eight hundred human uses to which this marvellous single plant can be put. now the imagination is like a palmyra palm. we stand a long way off and, looking up, say "what a graceful tree! but what a pity it produces that intoxicating 'toddy' and nothing else!" yet all the while food and clothing and shelter and travel and learning are all wrapped up in it, if only we were not too ignorant to guess, or too idle to seek. we talk as if the poet and painter had need of imagination, but not the student, the doctor, the philanthropist, the business man, whereas none of these can do work at a really human standard without imagination that is living, penetrating, active and yet trained and disciplined. a recent illuminating address to a body of students pointed out that germany's immense industrial strides have been made possible by an education which draws men's minds out of narrow old grooves, and helps them to see and grasp wider possibilities. but the same speaker went on to point out that the english worker has far more real initiative and imagination than the german, and that in our own country we have not even to make elaborate plans for developing these qualities, but rather to release them in our administrators so far as to prevent actually checking them in the children now growing up. imagination in business, for instance, means new possibilities, fresh sources of supply and fresh markets to demand, economy of working and better adjustment of work to worker, so as to have less waste of our greatest capital, human time and power. america has taught us something in these respects; what we must do is to take what new light she has developed, while keeping our long-grown, well-earned skill which she has not had the chance to make. in research work, again, we need perpetually the synthetic and constructive imagination if individual work is not to become narrowly specialised and shut off from other divergent or parallel lines which would illuminate it. the other day i was told of a great surgeon who not only has six or seven assistants to help him in his immediate tasks, but also, since he is too busy in the service of humanity to have time for reading, has eight trained assistants whose business it is to read in many languages what is being done all over the civilised world in his own line, and keep him informed as to the development of experience. a wonderful advance on the crystallisation of individual method, this, and yet it needed but the imaginative projection upon scientific work of what every business firm and every political unit has long done. to transfer to our own concerns a method developed elsewhere is one of the most valuable services imagination can render. almost all educational reform comes about thus, most mechanical inventions, a great part of economy and comfort in individual homes. also, besides these particular advantages, the incessant coming and going between the different fields of activity, the circulation of attention which this use of the imagination involves, tends to vitalise and enrich not only the individuals who carry it out, but the whole social organism of which they form part. upon the moral side not much need be said. "put yourself in his place" is a very old and respectable recipe for growing justice in one's conduct, consideration in one's speech, sympathy in one's heart. as employer or magistrate, as teacher or nurse, as customer or shopman, as parent or husband or child we must all deal somehow with our fellow-men: honestly and truthfully, we mean, kindly and helpfully, we hope. but is it not the more or the less of our imagination that makes such dealings possible? without it, we are cruel because of something we do not feel, unjust because there is something we do not know, unwittingly deceitful because there is something we do not understand. with it, our justice will support, our kindness uplift, our attempt at help will not be barren, but will awake response and raise the whole level of our human intercourse into a region of higher possibilities. e.m. cobham. futurist gardening. to-morrow's flowers. these three months of july, august and september are the second seed-time. i think they must be the most proper sowing-time, for is it not clear that nature sows seed, not in spring, but in autumn? at any rate, now we can do more towards making a perpetually beautiful flower garden than in any other season. the biennials, those that blossom in their second year of life and those jolly perennials that come up year after year and always stronger than before, without any trouble on our part, are best started in life not too long before the winter. spring-sown seed sometimes forgets that it is biennial and blossoms rather futilely the same summer, and at other times it grows so lush and large by winter that it cannot stand the frost. now we see the flowers in blossom in the vineyards of our friend naboth and we know which we should most like in our own garden. there is an exquisite joy in begging or stealing a few seeds and bringing them home to blossom for us as they did for naboth. i carry at this time a few small envelopes bought for a few pence a hundred at straker's, and whenever i see something nice in seed i bag it. in another week it would drop beneath the plant it grew on and, not being cared for by a gardener, would be smothered or hoed up. in a nice little seed-bed all to itself it can unfold all manner of pleasure for its abductor. plant your flower seeds on a nice ripe, rich bed--that is, one compounded of old and even half-used manure. keep the seedlings watered as they grow and by judicious pricking-out give them the room they need. about october you can plant the best of them in the place where you want a good bush next year, and, if it is a perennial, you have for many years to come a beautiful plant with a personal history. even if you have bought your penn'orth of seed there may be a pleasant anecdote connected with it. my garden is at present amazingly blue with dropmore alkanet (anchusa). three years ago i bought three seeds for a penny. two of them came up. i slashed up the plants and now i have half-a-dozen clumps as well as a similar number left in the old garden whence i have removed. if you asked me what kinds of seed in particular you ought to plant for perennial flowers just now, i might want many more pages to tell you in. let me give you a very short list of those that most appeal to me on the spur of the moment. it will be enough to go on with:- trollius (globe flower). helianthemum (rock rose). epilobium (willow herb). hollyhock. echinops (globe thistle). anchusa italica, dropmore variety. lupine. tritoma (red-hot poker). heuchera (coral-root). yarrow. lychnis (garden campion). inula (elecampane). funkia (plaintain lily). eremurus. this list is representative because it includes some species, such as eremurus, trollius and tritoma, that are not usually grown from seed by the amateur. to raise these rather expensive monsters from pennyworths of seed is a floral adventure which brings its own abundant reward. i should be very proud of a garden that consisted entirely of plants that i had raised from seed. it might be one that had never had anything else in or the seedlings might gradually oust the bulbs and corms and grown plants with which the garden began. there would be many things there intrinsically as well as extrinsically valuable. carnation seed, for example, is constantly producing new varieties, and to grow rose seedlings is even to court fortune. it is a long time before you see your rose. the seed takes sometimes two years to germinate, and then you have to wait a year or two before you get a typical blossom. the growers hurry matters by cutting a very tiny bud from the first sprout and splicing that on to an older stock. one of the advantages of having your roses grown from seed and on their own stocks would be that they could not produce wild suckers. i have just seen a wonderful grove of aquilegias, the glorified columbine which has the centre of one colour and the outside petals of another--sulphur with mauve or yellow with pink, and many other varieties. the nucleus was grown from shop seed and the rest from the seed of the first-comers. the only thing to choose between them is that the new ones have produced a least one variety not represented in the first batch. you may be sure that i am going to get some seed from here and raise some aquilegias for myself. good reader, go thou and do likewise. g.g. desmond. midsummer madness. we had come, "3.7" and i, to the boundary, a white, unpaved road which winds across the full width of wimbledon common, from the old roman camp to the windmill. simultaneously we cried a halt, i because i never cross that road without some hesitation, he because he wanted to get out of the folding go-cart in which he had been riding and turn it, with the aid of a small piece of string and a big piece of imagination, into a 40-horse-power motor car. on the map the road is not called the boundary. if you want to know why i call it so i can only say that once you have crossed it things are different; i do not mean a difference merely of country or scenery, but a difference of atmosphere; better, and more literally, a change of spirit. to put it bluntly, i never knew the reality of fairyland until i blundered across that road one grey gusty evening ten years ago, and heard the tall grasses whistling in the wind. since then the road has always been a frontier, not to be crossed without preparation. as "3.7" tumbled out of his go-cart i looked at my watch and saw it lacked but a few minutes to noon. it was just such a cloudless june day as must have inspired shelley's _hymn of apollo_. no smallest cloud to break the dazzling blue; and, high above our heads, apollo, standing "at noon upon the peak of heaven." if it had been midsummer day i should have thought twice about crossing the boundary. as it was, we were quite near enough to the 24th of june to make it risky. so, as "3.7" bent a tangled head over the bonnet of his daimler, i flung myself down on the level turf beside him and stared across the road. behind us and on either side were clumps of gorse bushes, and beyond them the immense level expanse of the open heath. immediately in front was the road, sunk a foot beneath the turf, which comes right up to it, both on this side and that. "another piece of string, please," said "3.7," rummaging in my pockets without waiting for an answer, "and a pencil, and----" and then i saw it. on the farther side of the road there is a stretch of short turf, some hundred yards wide; and beyond that an irregular line of silver birches; and beyond that the blue of distant hills, for the common slopes down where the trees begin. between the silvery wood and the road, through the midst of the wide belt of turf, and parallel with the boundary, ran a river. there was nothing to be much surprised at, for it was just the kind of river you would expect to see running through the fields of fairyland. it was a river of grass. it was the slender-stalked, tufted, not very tall, grey-headed grass that grows quite generally in open country and wild places. but the wind and the sun now turned it into a river which ran fast between its banks of green, its waves silvery grey, quick-flowing waves, gleaming and dappled, an endless succession. it flowed from somewhere out of sight in the west, and disappeared to the east over the edge of the great slope that brings you down to the woods, vanishing, to all intents and purposes, over the edge of the world. without taking my eyes off this astonishing spectacle i stretched out a hand and, catching "3.7" by the edge of his white smock, told him to run across the road to the grass and--paddle in it. i said it was better than motor cars. he made no comment on this but, after glancing warily up and down the road (for he has been brought up in wholesome awe of the entire tribe of automobiles), he crossed the boundary, ran across the turf and plunged up to his knees in the river. i cannot be certain, but it is my considered opinion that apollo stopped his golden chariot for the space of a whole minute to look down at the golden-haired boy wading in that noiseless, fast-flowing river. in another minute "3.7" was back at my side, both hands full of the tufted grass he had pulled. i regret to say he tickled my ear with it. * * * * * honest, solemn reader, ardent food reformer, keen educationist, clear-headed moralist, practical-minded housewife, i tell you frankly there is no moral to this little episode. it throws no light on what to eat, or on the purchasing power of an english shilling, or on the ethical training of young children, or on the nature of neurasthenia. fairyland, of course, is a childish fiction, apollo a solar myth, a road is a road, grass is grass and heaven is a state of mind. i quite agree with you. but let me whisper something in your ear. if you should ever blunder across your boundary, don't be surprised if things look queer on the other side; above all, whatever you do, don't let any strange river you may find flowing there carry you away, or it may bring you, spite of all your protests, through one of the gates of pearl into the city of god. edgar j. saxon. a scientific basis for mental healing. there is a vast amount of loose talk, and innumerable assertions from irresponsible individuals concerning the wonders that have been achieved by mental healing, but naturally the scientist and physician, when dealing with such a question as this, has to put aside, not all enthusiasm, but certainly all emotionalism, and then, most carefully sift the evidence laid before him. the scientist here wants hard, dry, irrefutable facts; the responsible physician requires to know--by his own careful diagnosis or by an array of tabulated facts--the condition of the patient before and after treatment--that is, of the one who claims to have been cured by mental means. innumerable claims are thus being made by patients and others, so that it is imperative for the unbiased physician at all events to consider the above question; this in order to give a reason for the faith that is in him, when he is known to be one of those who favour the metaphysical means of healing. even the sciolist in the matter knows that in the case, say, of blushing, or blanching of the face, the action of mind over matter--of the body--is palpable; all admit that the quality of joy, for instance, will prove a splendid tonic; that despair, on the other hand, will pull down the bodily condition. but all this, we shall be told, is unconscious action; true, but fortunately we are now aware that by a forceful action of the will we can _consciously_ direct or derivate, as the case may be, currents of nerve-force to any part of the body. occultists have known this for many centuries. joy, hope, faith: these are very potent factors in improving the health conditions--simply because they act upon the sympathetic nervous system, and this latter acts upon the circulation. happiness dilates the blood-vessels. fear contracts them. thus, unbounded faith; renewed hope; sudden joy; enforced will-power; all have a marked effect upon bringing about an equilibriated condition of the circulation--just the same as a hot bath does, though not so rapidly or so perceptibly. further, we must remember that all disease more or less is a stasis, a congestion, somewhere; we have only to dissipate this; to separate the cells; to expand the part, as it were, and "resolution," as we call it in congestion of the lungs, takes place. so that it seems to me that we can fairly claim a strictly scientific basis for mental healing. i have always, however, maintained that the attitude of the patient's own mind has much to do with the result: in his consciousness there must be faith and hope in order to get the best effect. judging, then, of the very remarkable and palpable changes which anyone can see occur on such superficial parts as the face and extremities, i can see no reason that, by an enforced mental action, the deeper parts--including any hidden diseased part--should not be altered for good. i am very confident that it is upon these lines, coupled, as they can always be, with advice as to clean feeding and right living generally, the physician of the future will largely depend for his cures. thus we are fully justified in not only trying the system on "functional," but also for "organic," cases. j. stenson hooker, m.d. a significant case. account of a fast, undertaken for the cure of a profound blood disease. the following account of a fast is worthy of attention. it is rigidly accurate _in principle_, as far as i could make it so, and i am responsible for its truthfulness. but the subject of it, feeling that he is engaged in a duty and "labour of love," as he expresses it, is yet naturally anxious to prevent his identity from being discovered; and so, while the facts of the narrative are true in principle they have been varied in a few details for the purpose of preventing the recognition of the subject of them. they occurred in the history of a man of about 40 years of age, who fell ill of an infectious disease some 20 years ago, while living abroad. the exact time of the infection is not known. the patient was treated by qualified doctors living in the same country as himself, and there is no reason to believe that he was not properly and skilfully treated. he had, however, for years buoyed himself up with the hope that he should be able to come to england for the best treatment, and recently he found himself in this country for that purpose. it goes without saying that the eminent men consulted treated him after the most modern and approved methods, which were also, so far as knowledge goes, the most likely to benefit him. not only as to treatment must it be assumed that the best was done, but the diagnosis also is supported by the authority of the doctors seen, and was confirmed by physiological and pathological investigation. this would be recognised if it were possible to publish names, places and dates which are withheld from the courteous reader for the reason already given. i can only say that i entirely concur in the diagnosis and in the suitability of the treatment. the man came under my care on a sunday, the fast, which is the subject matter of this communication, having been commenced on the friday six weeks before that day, the last food having been taken on the thursday at 5 p.m. i saw him, therefore, on the forty-fifth day of the fast. his pulse was 59, soft, steady, regular. temp. 96.8 degrees, about 11 a.m. he was able to be up, and walked actively, all his bodily movements being active and his mind quite clear and rational. his weight on the day after i first saw him was, in the same clothes as when weighed at the beginning of the fast, 129+1/2 lbs. he said he weighed 171 lbs. on the machine at the commencement, and therefore the loss of bodily weight up to that time was 41.5 lbs. the average loss of weight during the 46 days of the fast was about nine-tenths of a pound daily if the 41.5 lbs. loss is divided by the 46 days of the continuance of the fast up to that time--41.5/46=.9 lbs. almost exactly. when he came to my consulting room on the forty-sixth day, about 2.15 p.m., the pulse was 64, temp. 95.6 degrees (thermometer 3 minutes under tongue). he was much troubled with a nasty expectoration of mucus. his breath was very offensive. no enlarged glands could be felt in either groin--perhaps a trifling enlargement in the right. in middle of front border of right tibia a little irregularity is felt, and a small hollow, which he thinks is filling up; but it might be that the exudation on the bone immediately above and below the hollow is somewhat reduced, as this would equally give the suggestion that the hollow is filling up. there is a similar but rather smaller irregularity on the left tibia also. he felt rather weak that day, which he attributed to not having had his usual walk the day before. the nasal cavity consists of a large grey septumless cavern showing dry crusts. the issuing breath is most offensive. patient had drunk freely of water, he said, to the extent of 4 or 5 quarts a day during the fast but when i said--do you mean that you have been taking over a gallon of water daily?--he rather hesitated, and did not think it was so much as that. he had not measured it and had taken it cold usually, though occasionally hot, and had taken it without stint as he wanted it. on the forty-eighth day of the fast he complained of being weak but worst of all, he said, his breath was very offensive to himself. it was so to me also--faint, fetid, putrid. his sense of smell was greatly impaired, so much so that he could not smell the offensiveness of the bowel-excreta which came away every day on using the gravitation-enema, and which were horrible to by-standers. it would seem from this as if his distress at the bad smell of his breath was probably due to a perversion of the sense of smell, which can be easily understood if we reflect that the disease-process was going on in the region where the smell-apparatus is specially located. the temperature was 96.2 degrees that morning the patient said. at 2 p.m. when i saw him the pulse was 68, regular, even, steady. he says he was feverish last night. i suppose he felt hot. he sleeps well, but says he hears the clogs of the mill-hands as they go to their work in the mornings. has lost 2 lbs. weight in last 2 days. temp. 93.6 degrees to my observation 2.30 p.m. says he feels "done at the stomach." his voice is poor. expectorates somewhat freely. a small blob of green thickish mucus in ordinary white mucus came away in my presence. urine acid 1010. no glucose. faint trace of albumin to heat and picric acid: also to nitric acid. the right lachrymal punctum is blocked; the tears run down the cheek; and i failed to get even a hair-thick wire into it. evening, pulse 65, temp. 97.2 degrees in bed with hot-water bottle. faeces most offensive, no bowel-excreta coming away except to enema. forty-ninth day. in bed, temp. 97.2 degrees, pulse 65, soft, steady, regular. no great emaciation of limbs. showed me some green expectoration. he says it is from salvarsan as it is exactly like what he was injected with! the motion to the enema as offensive as before, but the breath is less offensive to me: not so fetid. on this day patient completed 7 weeks of fasting. feels sick and as if he would vomit. about midday he did vomit about a teaspoonful of dark green stuff, very bitter and acid (bile, i should call it, though he calls it "pure citric acid") and immediately after that he got rid of a motion without the use of the enema, brown, dark and very offensive still. i think the breath, however, is rather less offensive; and so i thought also two days ago. temp. 97, pulse 67, soft, steady, regular; about 1.30 p.m. in bed since fiftieth day of fast. not feeling very ill and not specially emaciated, though the buttocks are thinning; but legs and thighs and arms and forearms not specially thin. he came to me to be weighed on the forty-ninth day and weighed 127+1/2 lbs. fifty-second day of fast. still in bed. condition much the same as to pulse, temperature, etc., and as to emaciation so far as observation goes. remained in bed, not because unable to be up, but because he thought it would be better for him to be resting. on the fifty-fourth day, as he still felt sick, i gave him, at his request, an emetic in the form of 10 grains of copper-sulphate. this was followed by sickness after about an hour, when he got rid of a very little of the same green stuff as before. bile? but the difficulty is to understand how, after all this time of fasting, he should still feel sick and with inclination to vomit. on the fifty-fifth and fifty-sixth days of the fast he remained in bed, the condition being much the same. on thursday, the fifty-sixth day, he broke the fast at 5 p.m., just 8 weeks after beginning it. he had meant to go on for 60 days, and i did not think that there would have been any danger in his doing so; but i did not press him to continue any longer. he took 3 oranges on that day; and on the friday he took 5 more. i advised him not to increase the quantity of food too quickly. the breath has been quite sweet during the last two days. he has been too weak to take enemata, so we cannot say if motions would still have been offensive. and as there is no weighing machine in his room, we don't know the exact loss of weight sustained during the fast, though there is no reason to think that it has averaged more than .9 lb. a day. up to the time of stopping the enemata, pieces of mucous membrane and mucus itself came away from the bowel, and the motions were very offensive. he seems to have a mucous enteritis without fever. on the fourth day after breaking the fast, patient took 6 oranges, 4 apples and a banana; and he ordered much more food, which, however, i advised him not to take. on this day his bowels were opened naturally, with a very offensive motion. but the breath was much sweeter, in fact not offensive at all. on the sixth day he came to my consulting-room and weighed 128 lbs. pulse 80, soft, steady, regular. he had not slept all night and had had to be up no fewer than 6 times to have his bowels opened. no diarrhoea, he said, but full motions, the first 3 very offensive. breath not offensive. has dry pharyngitis and is complaining of sore throat. next day. weight 133 lbs. bowels acted again, 1 a.m., 3 a.m., 6 a.m., 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. large motions. i told him i thought he was taking too much food. pulse 104. not sleeping well. complained of sore throat. eighth day. weight 138 lbs., a gain of 5 lbs. a day for 2 days. pulse 80 at 7 a.m. (his own statement), at 2.30 p.m. pulse 100, temp. 99.4 degrees. bowels acted at 12 midnight, 3.30 a.m. and about 11 a.m. went that day to have his photograph taken. the throat was better. tongue dry and leathery. it was plain to me that he was taking too much food. he was having a mixed diet and taking much and often. he said his "mouth was coming to pieces," and in fact the mucous membrane was glazed and peeling; also the lips. on the ninth day he returned home. the loss of weight can be seen from the following statement. on commencing the fast the weight was 171 lbs. first day weight was 171 lbs. sixth day " " 165+1/2 " seventh day " " 163+1/2 " twelfth day " " 158 " fifteenth day " " 155+1/2 " eighteenth day " " 150+1/2 " twenty-fifth day " " 142+1/2 " forty-seventh day " " 129+1/2 " forty-ninth day " " 127+1/2 " fast ended on fifty-sixth day. on the sixth day after breaking the fast the weight was 128 lbs. on the next day it had risen to 133 lbs. and on the following day to 138 lbs. in the first 47 days of the fast the loss of weight was 43.5 lbs., or an average loss of .888 lbs. daily (43.5/49=.888 lbs.) the loss of weight for the last 8 days before the fast was broken is not known as patient was in bed, though it probably was at much the same rate as during the other times of the fast when the weight was taken on the scales. the following comparative measurements are interesting. of course he had been eating for a week after the termination of his fast, so that the measurements taken on that day would be higher probably than if they had been taken seven days before, when he broke the fast. bodily measurements. _at commencement_ _at termination_ _of fast._ _of fast._ forearm 11 inches 9+5/8 inches arm 11+1/2 " 8+3/4 " hips 38 " 32+1/2 " thigh 21+1/4 " 16 " pelvis 37+1/2 " 30+1/2 " calf[1] 15+1/4 " 13+1/2 " neck 14+1/2 " 12+1/2 " chest 38 " 31+1/4 to 34+1/2 " [1] there was a bundle of varicose veins behind right calf. patient kept a diary during his fast, but it does not seem necessary to reproduce its statements here. it shows that he walked about during the time, notes the state of the weather as foggy or very foggy or freezing, mentions that water was taken, sometimes hot apparently, as on 15th march, "after glass of hot water, pulse 70, temperature 98+1/2 degrees." no doubt drinking the hot water had elevated temporarily the mouth-temperature, as it does. the diary also notes that he felt weak, had a bath, or did not have a bath, notes the pulse-rate, etc., as also the effects of the daily enemata. on the twenty-ninth day of the fast he took a bottle of apenta water. such are samples of statements from the diary. a. rabagliati, m.a., m.d. _the remainder of this article deals with conclusions of great interest and value, and will appear in our next issue._--[eds.] healthy life recipes. salads and salad dressings. for salads it is not necessary to depend entirely upon the usual salad vegetables such as lettuce, watercress, mustard and cress. the very finely shredded hearts of raw brussel sprouts are excellent, and even the heart of a savoy cabbage. then the finely chopped inside sticks of a tender head of celery are very good; also young spinach leaves, dandelion leaves, endive, sorrel and young nasturtium leaves. then there are the onion family (for those who can take them), the tender kinds, such as spring onion, chive and shallot being very good when chopped finely and used as a minor ingredient in any salad. the root vegetables should also be added in their season, raw carrot, turnip, beet, artichoke and leek, all finely grated. a taste for all the above-mentioned vegetables, eaten raw, is not acquired all at once. it is best to begin by making the salad of the ingredients usually preferred and mixing in a small quantity of one or two of the new ingredients. for those who find salads very difficult to digest, it is best to begin with french or cabbage lettuce and skinned tomatoes only, or, as an alternative, a saucerful of watercress chopped very finely, as one chops parsley. any salad, however made up, should be served in as dainty and pleasing a fashion as possible. it is, perhaps, usually best to serve it ready chopped and shredded, and to allow each person at the table to take his or her own helping of "dressing." english people seldom serve salad in the french fashion--that is, quite dry, save that the dressing is well mixed in an hour before the meal. readers who have been to france may have seen french peasant women whirling a wire salad-basket round their heads in order to dry the materials after the cleansing has been done. when dry, the green-stuff is torn with the hands, the dressing (and the french know all about salad dressings) is added and the whole allowed to stand some little time, so that by the time the meal is served there is a complete blending of all flavours. not everyone likes this method; but it is certainly better than the customary method here, which too often leaves a little puddle of water at the bottom of the bowl. there are many ways of preparing good salad dressing without resort to vinegar, salt and pepper. the two prime necessities are (1) really good oil and (2) some kind of fresh fruit juice. most people prefer lemon juice or the juice of fresh west indian limes, well mixed into either olive oil, nut oil or a blended oil such as the "protoid fruit oil" or mapleton's salad oil. the ordinary "salad oils" obtainable at grocers are seldom to be recommended; they almost invariably contain chemical preservatives and other adulterants. it is better to have the best oil and use it sparingly if need be, than take any faked product just because it is cheap. with most people the addition of pure oil assists the digestion of the salad, as well as serving other purposes in the body. many excellent salad recipes and suggestions for novel yet simple "dressings" will be found in _unfired food in practice_, by stanley gibbon.[2] [2] 1s. net; 1s. 1+1/2d. post paid, from the office of _the healthy life_, 3 amen corner, london, e.c. pickled peppercorns. _this, which is a regular feature of the healthy life, is not intended as a household guide or home-notes column, but rather as an inconsequent commentary on current thought._--[eds.] an interesting booklet by raymond blathwayt with samples of bath mustard will be sent free on application to j. & j. colman, ltd. (dept. 49) norwich.--advt. in _punch_. rumours are also afloat that g.k. chesterton has written a brilliant booklet on eiffel tower lemonade, and that the attorney general has been commissioned to write a highly interesting brochure on american macaroni. * * * * * "i enclose you a photo of my baby, willie, aged fifteen months. he was given up by two doctors, and then i consulted another, who advised me to try ----'s food, which i did, and he is still having it. you can see what a fine healthy boy he is now, and his flesh is as hard as iron."--from an advt. in _lady's companion_. evidently a case of advanced arterio-sclerosis. * * * * * health biscuits. nice and tasty, handled by our 55 salesmen daily.--advt. in _montreal daily star_. one reason, perhaps, why both the public and the sales have declined. * * * * * what would you give for a perfect skin? is 3d. too much? many perfect skins to-day are traced to a single sample. --advt. in _lady's companion_. the price is reasonable; but i think i would rather see a sample first, wouldn't you? * * * * * our special filling fast--headline in _daily news_. the correct antidote for the well-known "starvation of over-repletion." * * * * * cold anniversary raised pie and new potato salad.--from the _seventh anniversary menu of the eustace miles restaurant_. i am told that one old gentleman, misled by the chef's quite innocent use of adjectives, protested to a waitress that the day was really very warm; also that a youthful wag obliterated the initial c from his menu with a pen-knife and then inquired which was the better vintage, '06 or '09. * * * * * but to contend that there is no difference between a good yellow man and a good white man is like saying that a vegetarian chop of minced peas is like a chop of the chump variety.--_new witness_. chop-chop--as the good yellow man might be tempted to say if he came upon this specimen of white wisdom. * * * * * canvassers can make a very good profit by selling a patent ladies' folding handbag, also wristlet watches.--advt. in _daily mail_. nevertheless, the only place for a patent lady is a registry office. * * * * * cakeoma pudding? you cannot know how delicious they are until you have tasted them.--advt. in _lady's companion_. one of the things that would never have occurred to you if you hadn't seen it expressed so clearly. * * * * * saxon.--how cruel of you. although i have not the honour of cap and gown, i do possess a classical dictionary. if i can help further, write again. regarding the recipe, it depends upon its nature. perhaps vera is the lady to whom you should address your question--_lady's companion_. my colleague, mr edgar j. saxon, denies all knowledge of this affair. but i do wish he would be a little more careful in future. peter piper. health queries. _under this heading dr knaggs deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on one side only of the paper, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] can malaria be prevented? a. de l. (lisbon) writes:--for five months i have been a strict "fruitarian," and as i am obliged now to go to mozambique (portuguese east africa) to remain there five rears, i should be much obliged to you if you kindly let me know what i must do to prevent the african fever and biliousness which seem to afflict all europeans in that part of the world. any hints you could give me as to maintaining health in such a climate would be most gratefully acknowledged. i do not think that it is possible for any european, whether he adopts fruitarian or ordinary diet, to entirely escape malaria, since it is caused by a minute parasite which is forced into the blood by a certain form of biting mosquito. the parasite will, however, surely gain less hold on one whose blood is clean and pure and whose vital force is strong, than on one who dissipates his strength by partaking of meat, alcohol, tea, coffee and other stimulants, or who otherwise gets his blood into a bad state by faulty diet generally. therefore, the thing this correspondent should do is to live as much as possible upon the simple frugal fare of the natives. he can take raw coker-nut freely and eat the fresh fruits which grow in this part of africa. if he can obtain pineapple or papaw he will find these excellent to help him to retain his health and strength in this country. unfired diet for a child: is it suitable? mrs l.b.f. writes:--my husband and i are much interested in _the healthy life_, deriving much benefit and good advice from its pages. it is the only magazine, we find, which answers questions that we have long been puzzling over. reading a work of the "montessori method" of training children last night i was disturbed to find i had, according to that book, been feeding my little boy, aged three years, all wrong. it says: "raw vegetables should not be given to a child and not many cooked ones. nuts, dates, figs and all dried fruits should be withheld. soups made with bread, oil, bread and butter, milk, eggs, etc., are the principal foods dr montessori recommends. she also advocates the use of sugar." our boy has nuts, ground and whole, all the fresh fruits and dried ones, salads, brown bread and nut butter, sometimes dairy butter, no milk, his food mostly uncooked, as we ourselves believe in. if dr valentine knaggs would give us his opinion on this i should be very grateful. the boy is healthy, but i notice a slight puffiness below the eyes of late in the morning. also his temper does not improve as he gets older. will he be having too much proteid (nuts) for one of his years, or is the temper natural as a result of bad discipline. his father is away all day, and mothers are, as a rule, soft marks, are they not? it is difficult to answer fully a question of this sort, as so much depends on the child's temperament and environment. a frail, delicate child with the promise of high mental development requires a finer and softer grade of nutriment than one of a coarse animal nature with strong, well-developed digestive organs. all healthy children, especially boys (as mr saxon will attest!), are full of mischief and restlessness, which it is the duty of a mother or a nurse to divert into right channels.[3] the display of temper is probably an indication of this not being done, though it _may_ be due in part to the raw diet not suiting the child. [3] this correspondent, and all mothers of difficult children, should study the works of mary everest boole, published by c.w. daniel, ltd.; also _the children all day long_, by e.m. cobham.--[eds.] the advice i would give would be to alter the diet and make it lighter. from my point of view, dr montessori has not given sufficient attention to the other side of the diet question, preferring to remain more on the side of orthodoxy. moreover, her own work has been done in italy, where a climate prevails which does not call for so free a use of vegetables and salads as is the case in our own cooler and bleaker clime. i suggest, as a beginning, the following diet might be tried, but it is necessarily impossible to guarantee good results unless the cause of the puffy eyes and temper have been definitely located by personal examination:-_on rising._--a raw ripe apple, finely grated, or simply scraped out with a silver spoon. _breakfast at 8._--a scrambled egg on a granose biscuit with a little finely chopped salad or finely grated; raw roots appetisingly served with a dressing of oil, lemon juice and a little honey. this to be followed by an "ixion" or "p.r." biscuit, with fresh butter. _dinner at 2._--home-made cottage cheese, or cream cheese, or a nut meat (served cold out of the tin, or, better still, home-made). two casserole-cooked vegetables, done with a little fruit juice and lemon to retain colour. this to be followed by a baked apple with cream and a little home-made, unfired pudding made of dried fruits. _supper at 5._--a slice of "maltweat" bread, and butter, and a cupful of clear vegetable soup, or some hot water with some lemon juice added, and slightly sweetened with a little honey. giddiness and head trouble. mrs l.b.f. also writes:--i sometimes think i must make dietetic mistakes. my husband thinks i am perfectly healthy, so i do not say anything of the giddiness in the morning and after eating, a drowsiness and slight pain at the back of the head and underneath one of my ears. also under my eyes is on some mornings quite swollen and puffed up. it is not so marked, but i am quite conscious of it. our diet consists mostly of a salad, with bread or baked potato and cheese or ground nuts or cooked brussels sprouts and a nut meat pie, apple pie and cream, with brown bread and butter, or a raw fruit meal, nuts, apples, grapes, figs, dates and no bread. two meals a day, first in the morning at eight o'clock, second at two or three in the afternoon. a glass of hot water with lemon at nine p.m., and the same in the morning. i do some exercises night and morning and am out in the fresh air often through the day. we live in the country and i have every chance of keeping myself healthy. perhaps i should say i do not eat many nuts, finding them rather difficult to digest. should i use an enema when i feel like this, or wait for natural results? the symptoms of which l.b.f. complains are in all probability due to flatulence and to general disturbances of the digestive process. perhaps it would be a good plan to make the diet lighter. the nuts could be omitted and cheese or eggs substituted. an evening meal would be helpful. as to the bowels, some senna and camomile tea at bedtime would help to clear them. unless there is distinct evidence of faecal retention in the colon it is better not to use the enema as a regular thing. _on rising._--a tumblerful of sanum tonic tea made with hot, preferably distilled, water. _breakfast._--an all-fruit meal consisting of nothing but apples, bananas, grapes, or orange, or any fresh ripe fruit that is in season. _dinner at 12.30._--a cooked meal consisting of two casserole-cooked vegetables, with grated cheese as a sauce dressing, with some twice-baked or well toasted bakers' bread, followed by a baked apple and cream. (omit nut meat pie and apple pie.) _tea meal at 5._--2 oz. of cottage cheese or cream cheese, wholemeal bread and butter, small plateful of finely grated raw roots with an appetising dressing containing some "protoid fruit-oil." _bedtime._--tumblerful of hot water (preferably distilled) to which senna leaves and german camomile flowers (very little) have been steeped to infuse; or a cupful of dandelion coffee could be taken if the bowels are regularly acting. long-standing gastric trouble. w.t. writes:--having tried a diet, recommended in _the healthy life_, for a month i find the nuts and cheese are far too heavy for the apparent weak condition of my stomach, also that the salads and casserole-baked vegetables are too irritating to the membrane of the stomach. i have no desire to return to flesh food and ordinary feeding, which i feel would not be good for me. from eggs i cannot obtain any good results. the continuance of loss of weight is worrying me, being down to eight stone from eleven stone in twelve months. i feel satisfied it is only a question of diet, if i could only strike the correct one. i am naturally most anxious to regain some of my lost strength and weight. i am at present taking bread and butter, cooked fruit, and occasionally an egg, boiled rice, vegetables and a little dried fruit. no matter how light i make my diet i still suffer after every meal with dilated stomach and irregular working of the heart. blood circulation is still bad and constipation is gradually getting worse. as before stated, i am anxious to succeed with the reformed diet, but i am really at a loss to know which way to proceed to make any progress. as i was in south africa twenty years, and only returned to england just before this catarrh set in, is the climate here against my progress, do you think? i am so sorry to take up so much of your time, but shall be grateful for any help you can give me which will be greatly appreciated. it is difficult to advise how best to proceed in this case as our correspondent really ought to seek medical advice. only in this way can he obtain really satisfactory guidance. for without knowing the state of his blood and the organs generally it is impossible to advise correctly. speaking generally, until salads and casserole-cooked vegetables can be taken freely there can be no possible permanent cure. in many such cases the best way to train the digestive organs into a healthy state is to keep to a diet consisting chiefly of dextrinised cereals, which must be eaten dry, with some vegetables and as little fresh fruit as possible. this to be continued until little by little the raw salad vegetables are found to agree; then the rest is easy. a diet on the following lines would probably be a good temporary measure:-_breakfast._--one egg lightly boiled, poached or baked, with two granose biscuits and fresh butter, eaten dry. _dinner._--brusson jeune bread (one or two rolls) with butter, and small helping of vegetables, cooked at _first_ in the orthodox way. _supper._--plateful of boiled rice (cooked dry in the indian fashion[4]) with a tablespoonful of good malt extract. no sugar, honey, stewed fruit, or dried fruit should be taken until improvement has set in. as little fluid as possible should be taken until the stomach has regained more tone and become more normal in size. [4] see _the healthy life cook book_. 1s. net (post free, 1s. 1+1/2d.). severe digestive catarrh. miss s.l.p. writes:--i should like a little help as to diet. i have just had an attack of epidemic influenza with throat trouble, so that i feel very much run down and unfit for a diet too depleting in character. for over four years i have adopted a non-flesh diet on account of a tendency to chronic catarrh of the whole alimentary tract, due to rheumatic tendencies which affect me internally rather than externally. the continuous damp weather has produced much gastric irritation, and frequent acidity. i cannot discover a diet that is convenient and at the same time sufficiently nourishing. i lose flesh on what i take, and i have none to spare, though at one time i was inclined to be stout. my age is forty-eight. i take three meals a day. a light breakfast either of "maltweat" bread or "p.r." cracker biscuits and butter, with tomato or fresh fruit or occasionally an egg. for midday meal an egg or milled cheese, or nuts or cream cheese, with a baked potato and a conservatively cooked vegetable. occasionally i have a little salad and grated carrot, but unless i am better than usual i cannot digest these. the evening meal consists of "maltweat" bread or "p.r." cracker biscuits or granose flakes, with cream cheese. as a child i suffered constantly from colds in the head, but now my troubles are oftener internal. the action of the bowels is irregular. i depend chiefly upon an enema of warm water when constipation is present. i never drink tea, only hot water, or emprote and water, or occasionally vegetable juices or fruit juices. i find i am better without much fluid. so far as it is possible to judge from this letter, this correspondent is suffering not only from stomach and bowel catarrh, but her condition as a whole is unsatisfactory. the vital force is depleted and the nervous system is not doing efficient work. she needs suitable treatment to remove the acid and toxins with which the system is evidently clogged. this is not an easy task, for as soon as elimination begins trouble arises in the form of influenza or other similar derangements. these are probably little else but attempts on the part of nature to rouse the vital force of the body into action with a view to clearing out the clogging poisons. waste clearing should be done gradually. the skin should be made to act better by means of home turkish baths, or by wet-sheet packs. then mustard poultices can be applied _along the course of the spine_ and massage with suitable manipulations can be applied to the muscles and bones which make up the spine. the daily practising of the excellent and simple breathing and bending exercises described in muller's _my system for ladies_[5] will be very helpful. by means such as these the body will be gradually cleared of its poisons, and so the nervous system will be made to do better work. the diet specified can be continued. h. valentine knaggs. [5] 2s. 8d. post free from the office of _the healthy life_, 3 amen corner, london, e.c. * * * * * _may we ask the co-operation of all our readers during the holiday season in the following way. on holidays you are bound to meet fresh people, and make new acquaintances, and even friends. we suggest you purchase a few extra copies of _the healthy life_ before you start and hand them on to any likely to be interested. people tell us the magazine is its own recommendation. this does not mean that you need not add your own. the circulation grows steadily, but it is far short of what it might easily be if every reader were to gain one fresh reader every month._--[eds.] more appreciations. i want to say how very interesting and helpful i find _the healthy life_, and it is always a pleasure to buy an extra copy to give to friends, for i always feel it will do them good to read it, and perhaps make regular subscribers of them. h. bartholomew, knebworth. the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v august no. 25. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. the pursuit of health, considered from the negative standpoint, is the flight from pain. and pain is the great mystery of life. james hinton, himself a well-known physician of his time, attempted to solve the mystery of pain by showing that it is the accompaniment of imperfection. that what is now experienced as pain might be exquisite pleasure given a higher stage of human development. but this, after all, only shifts the mystery one step farther. instead of the mystery of pain we have the mystery of imperfection. yet to image perfection is always to image something incapable of growth or further development. take, for example, a perfect circle. so long as it remains unbroken, flawless, the line (or infinite number of lines) composing it cannot be continued or extended. but given a break in the line and it may be continued round and round, up and up (or down and down) into an infinitely ascending spiral. this possibility of extension depends on a break, on an imperfection. it does not follow, of course, that every flaw in human nature is always the starting-point of new growth, every failure a stepping-stone to greater knowledge, but the possibility is there. it is for men to see that they do not neglect their opportunities.--[eds.] imagination in play. _regular readers will recognise in this wonderfully simple and suggestive article a continuation of the series previously entitled "healthy brains." the author of "the children all day long" is an intimate disciple of one of the greatest living psychologists, and she has a message of the first importance to all who realise that true health depends as much on poise of mind as on physical fitness._--[eds.] the fruit of imagination ripens into deeds actually done in the service of man: its flower brightens the whole of life and makes it fragrant, from the budding-time of children's play and laughter to the developed blossoms of the creative imagination which we call painting or poetry or music. play and art have this in common, that they are activities pursued for the sake of the activity itself, not as a means to any other object, not aiming at any material usefulness. actually, of course, there is nothing more useful, on every scale of usefulness, than the development of the individual in art or play, but these would never be really themselves while an ulterior purpose formed a background to them in consciousness. physical exercises devised for the sake of health are a more or less pleasant form of work; they do not take the place of play. our ordinary work is usually more or less one-sided and unbalanced in the demands it makes upon us; we therefore try to find what other set of movements will undo this unbalancement and give us back unbiased bodies. when that is done, and not till then, we get freedom, and it is at that moment that real "play" begins--the use of the freed muscles according to our own will and pleasure. the same thing is perhaps true in connection with our minds. we all see the fallacy of the old-fashioned hustlers' cry, "make your work your hobby; think of nothing else; let every moment be subordinated to the dominating idea of your career; put aside all sentimentalism, all laziness and self-will, all enthusiasm about things not in your own line of work." we have come to see that this kind of effort leads often to nervous breakdown and early death; always to a certain narrowing of sympathy and hardening of method even in the career itself. so we conscientiously "take up" a hobby or a sport and set aside some hour or day for indulgence in it. we make it a duty to lay aside for the time being all idea of duties; part of our work is to learn to rest. so far so good. but does all this go far enough? work imposed by any set of outer needs puts the whole being under a certain strain. the aim of remedial exercises, prescribed rest-times and legal holidays is to undo this strain, to unwind us from our coil by twisting us the other way. when this has been satisfactorily done, too often the person responsible thinks that this is enough. but it is really and truly at this moment that one is beginning one's real life. when the body is freed from strain and weariness is the time to leap and dance and sing and wrestle. when the mind is free from prejudice and weariness is the time for its original activity to begin; new thoughts spring up unbidden and the creative imagination lives and grows. (in the sphere of will, many great sages have said that an analogous sequence holds good. when the whole emotional and moral nature has thrown itself in a particular direction, and then an unwinding has taken place, the moment of completed renunciation has been said to be the dawn of some great new spiritual light.) who does not know the peaceful activity of a sunday evening, the fruitful quiet of a long railway journey or sea-voyage _at the end_ of a holiday? two friends walk slowly home together after an exciting expedition or debate; two girls give each other their confidence while brushing their hair after a dance. why is this so? nowadays people are very ready to answer the question by refusing the fact. it is waste of time not to be _doing_ something strenuously. rest is almost as strenuous as everything else; it is to be thorough while it is the duty on hand and is to fit exactly on to the work time, without overlapping but without interspace. in this way too often the imagination, the really individual part of the mind, is starved and atrophied. especially in childhood there ought to be a space left between useful work and ordered play for the individually invented games, the pursuits that are not for any definite end, for dreams and lived-out tales, when the child may make what he likes, do what he likes, and in imagination be what he likes. if we scrupulously respected this growing-time we should soon have a race of sturdier mettle altogether. just now this particular want is probably most nearly supplied among elementary school children than among those who have more "educational advantages"; they "go out to play" in the streets for hours every day, and one cannot help thinking that it is the vitality thus evolved that keeps most of them healthy and happy in spite of many hardships. in later life, if we really want to make something of our lives, we shall do well to insist an keeping such a margin of free time to ourselves. it need not be long. five minutes, if one really sails away in the ship of imagination, will take us to fairyland and back again. but the five minutes (or the day in the country, or the week of quiet, or whatever we take or can get) must really and truly be free; we must have the courage to seek for what we really want, and we shall have the inestimable reward of finding what we really are. e.m. cobham. how much should we eat?[6] [6] see july number. for some years i lived according to the advice given by "m.d." with regard to the quantity of proteid that should be taken. but experience led me to believe that it was wrong. in recent years my diet has consisted of the following quantities per annum:- three to four bushels of wheat. seventy pounds of oats. one bushel of nuts (measured in the shells). and with these foods rich in proteid, i have taken plenty of raw vegetables and fruit, and three to four gallons of olive oil. i do not mention this as an ideal, in order to suggest another and better standard than that of "m.d." i do not think any such thing as a standard really exists or can exist. but i mention it to show how far i have travelled away from where i was. i take it that all food reformers will agree that the main reason for food reform is to make the body a more harmonious instrument for the true life of man, and that carries with it the belief that there is some correspondence, if we cannot yet see absolute unity, between the physical and the spiritual. now the law of life, according to christ, is one of continual progress towards perfection and i do not see how this will harmonise with the teaching of a fixed law for the body. all my experience and observation point to a progressive law for the body, and i do not know of a single fact contrary to it. my first point, then, is that there is no such thing as a standard of proteid needed by the body. all that can be said is this, that if you take a man who has been fed on a certain quantity for such and such a time and then feed him on a certain other quantity, alterations in the physical condition will appear. but who can say whether these changes are attributable merely to a deficiency or to a previous excess? if "m.d." and his patients take excessive food they naturally get trouble from stored poisons when they reduce the quantity. but why put all the trouble down to present deficiency instead of to previous excess? to this i can find no satisfactory answer. if we have got our bodies into so hopeless a condition that we cannot use our god-given instincts, tastes and feelings in the first place, the wisdom of troubling much about the continuance of bodily life would be doubtful; and, in the second place, one would need most overwhelming signs of knowledge to substitute for them. but where are they? there is no agreement between those who have been taught physiology. on the one hand, "m.d." gives a proteid standard, now impossible to myself, and i believe to many others, for it would involve eating a nauseating quantity; and, on the other hand, another doctor, presumably acquainted with the same physiology, tells me i cannot eat too little, so long as i do not persistently violate true hunger and taste. then another doctor gives quite a different standard, and a much lower one. if we discard our natural guides, which of the claimants to knowledge is to be followed, and is there any knowledge at all such as is claimed? imagine what a mockery it would have been to give such a standard as that of "m.d." to the agricultural labourer about the middle of last century, a typical one with a large family, and one who worked as men do not work to-day, and had to rear his family on a few shillings a week. how could such a one have provided more than a fraction of what "m.d." says is necessary, either for himself or his children? the broad fact is, that all the hardest work of the world has always been done by those who get the least food. as one who has had some experience of labour, i doubt if the workers could have done so much if it had not been for a spare diet. certain it is, that since they have more to eat, they are much less inclined to work. my contention, then, is that there is no fixed standard of proteid needed by the body, but that the quantity depends on the development that is in progress and is only discoverable by the natural guides of appetite and taste, ruled by reason and love of others. moreover, i contend that even if there were such a standard as "m.d." says physiology has found, it obviously is not known. i cannot help recognising in "m.d." one whom i gratefully love and respect. he helped me on the road, and now that i differ from him i do not forget it, and i ask his forgiveness if i seem to be arrogant. he thinks i cannot see what he sees because i am underfed, and i think he cannot see what i see because he is overfed. in a sense we are both right, and we form a beautiful illustration of the different states of mind that belong to different physical conditions. i urge the laymen like myself not to be afraid of that musty old ill-shaped monster called science[7] when he is up against the eternal truths that belong to every simple untutored man. shun the monster as you would a priest, to whom he has a great likeness, and unite with me in a long strong pull to get "m.d." out of the rut in which the monster holds him, so that we may have him with us on the road, for he carries much treasure and we cannot do without him. a.a. voysey. [7] i do not wish to be misunderstood. no sane man despises real science, but when the mixture of science and ignorance, which usually stalks about in the name of science, wants to usurp our heaven-born instincts we cannot but notice his ugly and monstrous shape. it is the function of science, or a true knowledge of details, to fill in the mosaic of the temple of wisdom, but the mosaic can never be the structure itself and is only useful and good when it is subservient to that structure and harmonious with it. camping out. food questions. "we have to consider," i said, "the question of what food to take and how to cook it." "camping out," said sylvia, "ought to be a complete holiday from the food bother. why not live on unfired food, such as tinned tongue, sardines and bottled shrimps?" thereupon felix laughed a great laugh, and said: "just try and do a thousand miles on sardines." felix is sylvia's brother, who has spent some twenty years in america, travelling for weeks through country that contained no people, and spending nearly two years in a single journey to dawson city and home again. he plainly knows far more about bed-rock camping than anyone else in the family and we allowed him to take the floor for a time. "the first thing is bread." said felix, "because you can't do without bread. you must take some yeast or else some baking-powder with you to make it rise, or you must bake it very quickly so that the steam aerates it. you might take a dutch oven with you, but it's nothing like the dutch oven that you know in this country. it is an iron pot on three legs, with an iron lid. you stand it in the fire and cover the lid with hot brands and you can cook anything inside it--ducks and chunks of venison, and bread of course." "but mr freeman has barred the oven," said sylvia, "and if we are not going a thousand miles from home perhaps we can do without it." "as you like," answered felix. "i only mention it so that you can get hold of the general principle. you can make very good bread in a frying-pan. you must mix the dough up stiff so that when the pan is nearly upright it won't tumble out. you fix the pan up with a prop behind it so that the dough faces the fire, quite close, and you draw some more fire behind it so that the back is warmed as well. when it burns a good crust on both sides it is done." "what are flap-jacks," i asked. "just pan-cakes made without eggs or milk," said felix. "you mix a quart of flour with a tablespoonful of baking-powder and put in water till it is just so thin that when you take up a spoonful and let it drop back you can see the shape of it for a few seconds before it melts into the rest. you fry the batter in bacon fat or butter just like pan-cakes, and the cakes are very good." [illustration: _a summer idyll_] "that's a good tip for us," i said, "and another good thing to take is cuddy biscuits, a kind of captain's biscuit. soak them a few minutes in water or milk and fry them. they're nice with tomatoes or anything, or by themselves." "mebbe," said felix, and his tone said, "mebbe not." "i'm only discussing general principles, and you've got to work your own way out in the light of them. i've known an outfit come away without a frying-pan. how do you make bread then?" we had to give it up, and felix went on: "open your flour sack, turn down the edge like it is in a baker's shop, make a little hole in the flour and pour in water to make a pond. mix in what flour you want to use and get your dough into the shape of a snake, wind it round a stick and cook it like that. you've got your bread then like a french roll, and very good it is." we all liked the idea of making bread every day and eating it hot. here was something to be had in camp that you could not get at home. and we liked the idea of learning our cooking by means of first principles. whether we liked it or not, felix liked talking about it, and he began to grow anecdotal. "once," he said, "i met a whole lot of men, ten of them i should think, camped on a cold frosty night with nothing to eat. they were trying to do a journey of thirty miles on rough prairie and their horses were tired and they could not get on. they had brought their lunch and eaten it long ago, and they told me they were starving. they had nothing to eat, nothing to do any cooking with and no wood to make a fire with. i never saw such hungry people. they were new settlers just out from england and it was up to me to do something for them. "'what have you got in that great waggon?' i asked. they told me they had some sacks of flour and two frozen quarters of beef, but there was nothing to cook it in and no wood to make a fire. "there was any amount of cow-dung on the prairie, and it was dry as chips. i set them collecting that and soon enough had a fire. i filled a bucket with water and put it on to boil. i chopped off some meat and put it in. then i made some dumplings and put them in. you just put them into boiling water, you know, and then they cook at once on the outside and don't come to pieces. if they boil too much they get pappy, and if not done through they're not good. most dumplings you eat in england are not done, but mine were just right and those ten hungry men had just as good a supper as anyone could wish for." "tell us about the coffee you used to make," said sylvia. "what horrible stuff it must have been." "the very best coffee ever i drank," said felix. "we used to make it in a pot that was nearly a yard high. we never turned out the grounds, but let them settle and put in a little more every time we made coffee, till the pot was so full that it wouldn't hold any more water." "i don't see anything against it," i said, when sylvia and gertrude were both expressing their horror. "there is no tannin or other bad principle in coffee and you never get anything worse out of it than you do at the first soaking." "the fellows that work the logs on the river have their own kind of coffee that they call drip coffee," said felix. "they have a tall pot like ours was and they tie the coffee in a sack above the water, so that the water never touches it, but the steam goes up and fetches it out in drops. they don't change the sack every time, but keep adding coffee till it won't hold any more." "the moral of which is?" said basil, who had for some time been growing impatient. "that there are plenty of ways of cooking an egg besides frying it," said felix, "and that a bit of common-sense is about the best article you can take with you out camping. take your food as raw as you can get it and know how to cook it. also know a good herb when you see it, and never overlook a chance of getting a meal from the country that will save your stores." c.r. freeman. _food reformers will have their own opinion about a diet of shrimps, sardines, tinned tongue and stale coffee when camping out: the most important part of the outfit is doubtless an adequate supply of common-sense._--[eds.] seasickness: some remedies. _in the april and may numbers of the present year we published an article by mr hereward carrington entitled "seasickness: how caused, how cured." the following supplementary suggestions by the same well-known writer will be useful to many readers._--[eds.] a very good plan, when you think of undertaking a voyage, is to begin to prepare for it several days in advance. for three or four days, before embarking, eat only very simple and somewhat laxative foods--such as fruits--so as to open the bowels well and tone up the system. this simple diet should be followed for the first two or three days aboard--of course not so rigidly, but taking care not to indulge in many heavy, greasy dishes. unfortunately, the food on board is usually very rich and plentiful, and tempts one to eat. if one suffers from seasickness, there is not this same temptation, to be sure; but the malady may certainly be warded off, in the majority of cases, if only reasonable care be taken of the diet before and during the voyage, and if instructions herein laid down be followed. as before stated, drugs are as a rule useless for the cure of seasickness; but on occasion a "seasick cure" of some kind may prove effective. the harm which results from the drug may perhaps be more than counterbalanced by the benefits which the system derives from the cessation of seasickness. a preparation of this kind which is very highly recommended by many travellers is known as "antimermal," and though none of these remedies are to be recommended with assurance, this one--and perhaps one or two others--might at least be tried, in cases of dire necessity, when seasickness has already supervened. it is hardly necessary to say that the patient should remain in the open air continuously, until all symptoms of seasickness have paused. _live_ in your deck chair until you feel quite well and able to get up and walk round. do not attempt to go downstairs into the dining-saloon to meals, if you feel in the slightest "squirmish." rather have some hot soup or broth of some kind sent up to you, and drink it sitting in your chair. do not be afraid to drink water at all times, even if you feel ill--as the water is easily returned, and it is less strain on the stomach to be able to bring up something than to find nothing in the stomach when an effort is made to eject what is not there. water will serve to allay this strain, and thus serve a useful purpose. in very severe cases of seasickness, the stomach of the patient should be emptied and washed out at once. this is usually an easy matter. have the patient drink one or two glasses of water, warm or cold, with a little salt or bi-carbonate of soda added--say a teaspoonful to a pint of water. this will have the desired result! in extreme cases of seasickness, dry cold, such as ice-bags, placed behind and about the ears, will sooth the patient, and help to allay his suffering. cold cloths to the forehead will also prove helpful. full baths had best be omitted, until the attack has worn off, as they are injudicious on account of the reactions they induce. in prolonged cases of seasickness, there is often a craving for acids and fruit juices. the continued absence or diminution of the acid contents of the stomach, and the privation from normal food, accounts in part for this, and it is highly proper to satisfy such a craving--providing due care is taken not to add to the stomach's distress by taking too much juice, or the juice of unripe fruit, or by swallowing the fibre of the fruit, which is allowable only when recovery is complete. hereward carrington. important. if readers who possess copies of the first number of _the healthy life_ (august 1911) will send them to the editors, they will receive, in exchange, booklets to the value of threepence for each copy. a symposium on unfired food. _in the november number we published a letter from a reader containing the excellent suggestion that readers who had experimented to any fair extent with unfired diet should be invited to contribute to a conference on the subject in _the healthy life_, and that the symposium should be gathered round the following points_:-(1) the effect of the diet in curing chronic disease. (2) its effect on children so brought up--_e.g._ do they get the so-called "inevitable" diseases of chicken-pox, measles, etc., and _especially_ have they good (_i.e._ perfect) teeth? (3) the effect of the diet in childbirth. (4) the cost of maintaining a household in this way, as compared with the cost under ordinary conditions. (5) is the diet satisfying, or is there a longing for conventional dietary (often found amongst food reformers)? (6) is the diet quite satisfactory in winter? _two letters were published in the january number. two more in february. others will appear in future issues. we are anxious to receive a large number of personal experiences, but they must be brief, and classified under the above heads as far as possible._--[eds.] st albans. in response to your invitation i am sending you my experience with vegetarian dietary. although, as you will see, this has not been altogether "unfired," i think it should be of interest to many. (1) i became a vegetarian at the time of my marriage, nearly three years ago, my husband being already a vegetarian of eleven years. i considered this a good opportunity to commence. previous to this i had for some time suffered from indigestion, which continued for a few months after marriage. i attribute the cure to the change of diet, and drinking hot water after meals. (2) we have one child eighteen months old, totally breast fed for twelve months, and another four months: on breast and ixion food and some fruit juice. she has never had any disease whatever, and so far her teeth are perfect and she has cut them quite easily. she is a bonny, sturdy little girl, and very intelligent. (3) with regard to childbirth, i previously followed the advice of dr alice stockholme in "tokology," avoiding flesh meats and bone-making food and adopting a diet of fruit (chiefly lemons) and rice, brown bread and nut butter, wearing no corsets and taking frequent baths. the effect during pregnancy was highly satisfactory. i enjoyed perfect health the whole time, free from the usual discomforts, and at childbirth i received similar results: a speedy and safe delivery. indeed, since marriage, my husband, baby and myself, have been singularly free from even minor complaints. (4) as we do not have the specially prepared, expensive vegetarian foods (supposed to substitute meat), but mainly the simple foods, i consider the diet less costly than the meat diet. (5) we are honestly quite free from the craving for meat or meat foods. (6) in the summer-time we live principally on salads, cheese, rissoles, etc., made from beans, peas, lentils, etc., fresh fruits, brown bread and nut butter. in the very cold weather we seem to need rather warmer stuffs, such as porridge (carefully cooked) and cooked vegetables, etc. d. godman. * * * * * brighton. i have read with the greatest interest the correspondence in _the healthy life_ on the unfired diet. as the majority of your correspondents have not been living _exclusively_ on unfired food, or have only done so for short periods, may i suggest that some of your correspondents or contributors live on an _entirely_ unfired diet, _excluding dairy produce_, for a period of six or twelve months and then relate their experiences. in this way some valuable evidence would be obtained. at any rate i am prepared to do this myself. with reference to living on the unfired diet on 4d. a day, i have often had two unfired meals for less than 4d., and two meals a day are sufficient for anyone. of course to do this one has to buy the food which is in season and therefore cheap. dried fruit and nuts, followed by a cress salad with oil and lemon dressing, does not cost more than 2d. an unfired rissole made from grated carrot and flaked peanuts cost at most a penny, and if followed by dates or figs would be a sufficient meal, and 2d. would cover the cost. in conclusion, i have no difficulty in producing a "two course" unfired meal for 2d.--but perhaps i should have left the subject of cost for dr bell to deal with. yours faithfully, alfred le huray. more about two meals a day. with reference to my article, "two meals a day," which appeared in the may issue of _the healthy life_, several correspondents have asked me to give more particulars about my life and diet. i do so gladly; but i must be brief, as the demand upon space in this magazine is now very great. resolved into a single sentence, what all my correspondents wish to know is this: is a two-meal dietary best for all? to this question, however, a definite answer cannot be given, for the simple reason that scientific experimentation with respect to food quantities and times of meals, etc., has gone such a little way, so that it would be presumptuous to set a limit in regard to meals and food reduction. to my mind, apart from the question of the quantity of food to be taken, there is a great and important field of inquiry open with respect to the effect of rest upon the stomach and the intestines, upon the digestive and assimilative powers of the body. now the whole purpose of my article was to show that a reduction of one's dietary was a matter of training, of gradual adaptation, but also--and this is the important fact-of gradual strengthening. my theory is that the two-meal plan is possible owing to the immense economy in digestive energy that is effected through giving the stomach adequate rest, and also through keeping the blood stream pure and unclogged, almost absolutely free from surfeit matter. a rested stomach will get more nutriment out of a small amount of food-stuff than an overworked stomach will get out of a much larger quantity. but experimentation which is sudden and covers a few weeks only, is worse than useless, as it tends to disprove the very principles that a saner method of experimentation would probably establish. and if i can impress this fact upon the reader i shall have performed a good service. carefully undertaken, and properly graduated, i believe there are few people in these days who would not greatly benefit by a reduction in the number of meals and in the quantity of food they take. by means of a healthy and cheerful habit of introspection--not morbid and feverish--i am firmly convinced that by cutting down their meals most people would not only greatly improve their health, but their mental and spiritual condition as well, and also greatly increase their capacity for work ... and if in this way we can effect such an improvement in our life and condition it does not really matter whether we get to the two or even one meal basis or not. as to myself, my work is chiefly literary and my life moderately sedentary. but the fact is that i now have two moderate meals a day whereas i used to have four pretty good ones. but i have many friends whose work is mechanical, and demands much muscular energy, who are two-mealists. one lady i know, who is one of the healthiest, strongest and best physically developed persons i have ever met, is a two-mealist, and not only does she work at a mechanical occupation for ten hours a day, but on several evenings each week conducts a ladies gymnastics class as well. but in her case, as in mine, the two meal was an ideal that was gradually and slowly attained, and not a sudden reform. indeed, the main thing to remember is that it is all a matter of training, it being quite impossible to say where the limit is. for of one thing i am quite sure--viz. that most people, were they to adopt a slow process of food and meals reduction, on the lines i suggested in my article, would be astonished at the result. the number of people one meets, chiefly among those whose life is more or less sedentary, who say they can't work as they should, are subject to pains and heaviness in the head, constipation and indigestion, is simply appalling; and on questioning such people i come to the conclusion that in the majority of cases it is because they eat too much or too often. my meals are very simple, and the simpler they are the better i like them. i like a cold lunch about noon, and a hot meal about six. i have tried a wholly uncooked diet, but as yet my body does not seem ready for it: perhaps it will be after a little while. the first meal usually consists of wholemeal bread and fruit, green or vegetable salads, just according to my needs at the time. in winter i take a more liberal supply of dried fruits and nuts. pulses i eschew altogether. my second meal consists of a substantial entree with one or two conservatively cooked vegetables--occasionally i have a soup and a sweet in addition. but of course it is for everyone to find out his or her own ideal diet; and let me say that it is worth while to do so, even though it involves much confusion and perplexity during the period of experimentation. wilfred wellock. a ballade of skyfaring. ye whom bonds of the city chain, yet whose heart must with nature's be; ye who, bound to a bed of pain, dream there of torrent and tower and tree, here behold them--the magic key, turned by a thought in yon gates of blue, even now has revealed to me alps and mediterranean too. why of the bondage of earth complain? wide as heaven is our liberty! where are the streets and their smoke and stain when to the land of the lark we flee? where is the sight that we may not see, cloudland's citadel passing through? switzerland beckons with sicily, alps and mediterranean too. here, 'twixt walls with the marble's vein, oared on a river of gold are we; there we watch, on a sapphire main, white fleets voyage to victory. day unto day flashes grief or glee; night to night utters speech anew, figuring forest and lane and lea- alps and mediterranean too. envoy prince whose course through the world is free, fare you better than dreamers do? here are the mountains and here the sea- alps and mediterranean too. s. gertrude ford. from _lyric leaves_, by s. gertrude ford. cloth, 2s. 6d. net; 2s. 8d. post free from _the healthy life_, 3 amen corner, e.c. this charmingly bound book makes an excellent holiday companion, for it contains many beautiful lyrics, all characterised by serious thought, generous human sympathies and a delicate imaginative quality. a remedy for longevity. once upon a time there was a little boy whose parents took things very seriously. they answered all his questions with painstaking precision. at a comparatively early age he could prove that fairies were non-existent. at the same time his toys were marvels of mechanical perfection. at the age of seven he was sent to a very efficient school, where, being naturally a bright boy, he gained high marks every term and passed all the examinations, for he had a wonderful and well-trained faculty for remembering exactly what his teachers had told him. when he left school he entered a london merchant's office, where his knowledge of arithmetic was of the greatest assistance in bringing him to the front. moreover, he could argue very tellingly with all the clerks and warehousemen, and always knew what the morning papers were saving about health, neck-ties or religion. in course of time he grew a moustache, joined the territorials, was made a partner in the firm, married a well-educated young lady and became a strong supporter of the local liberal club, where his opinions were so well known that it was unnecessary for anyone seriously to combat them. he was never known to vote for the conservative candidate or to lose his head. his concluding speech in the historic debate on the national health insurance act will always be remembered, by those who heard it, for its earnest defence of the medical profession. in fact, the mayor, who was in the chair, and was a doctor himself, warmly congratulated the speaker, who was evidently very pleased. ten years later he became a town councillor, opened several institutes for the care of the poor, and sent his second son to join the eldest at the same kind of school at which he (the father) had been so well trained. about the same date he bought a new edition of the encyclopaedia britannica and carefully compiled a list of facts and figures showing that idealists and all new-fangled ideas were the greatest danger to the increasing trade and expansion of the empire. at the age of fifty he took a house at surbiton and was continually congratulated on his hale and hearty appearance. his opinions were known and respected by all who met him. his sons were models of what the children of such a father should be, and they supported him in every argument. at the age of fifty-two he retired from business. a month later he had an idea; and it so interfered with all his opinions, and so affected his general health, that he died. edgar j. saxon. a significant case--ii. he stopped smoking tobacco on the second day, and does not mean to resume its use. of course he had no alcohol in any form during the fast, but he never has taken much alcohol, although he was not a pledged abstainer. the temperature was taken many times and seems to have been almost always subnormal, about 97 degrees fahr., but this is not so unusual a condition as to call for comment. the chief cause of a subnormal temperature, in my opinion, is blocking of the body with too much food. no doubt in prolonged fasting the temperature may fall also; but sometimes a fast will be the cause of raising a subnormal bodily temperature, as happened in a case of mine in which on the twenty-eighth day of the fast there was a large elimination of urates by the kidneys and a rise of temperature from 96 degrees to 98.4 degrees. subnormal bodily temperature has not received the attention which it deserves. it is usually one of the forerunners, or prodromata as they are called, of the onset of incurable diseases like cancer, bright's disease or apoplexy. the commonly accepted view that the heat of the body depends upon the food, and that people eat blubber in the arctic and antarctic regions to keep the bodily heat up, is one of the chief causes for neglect of the study of subnormal temperature. and it is quite surprising that physiologists have not thought it necessary to explain why nature has provided sugar and palm oil and cocoa-nut oil and ground-nut oil in the tropical regions, as well as abundance of olive oil in the warm temperate regions of the earth if these foods keep the bodily heat up. they ought to have been more abundantly supplied in the arctic and antarctic regions if the accepted view is correct. besides, if we must eat blubber to keep bodily heat up in the arctic regions when the outside temperature is 50 or 100 or more degrees lower than that of the body, what ought we to eat in the tropics to keep bodily heat down when the outside temperature is 50 or even 80 degrees above that of the body? physiologists have not explained this, although assuredly an explanation is wanted. but the true explanation, the correct explanation, would have demolished the doctrine that bodily heat is due to the food, and so it has not been given. it is too simple to imagine that the bodily heat is, like the body itself and all its functions, the effect of the life-force that inhabits the body and builds up the body so that the body shall be a fit dwelling-place for itself--this explanation is too simple and too idealistic for modern science, which is less and less disposed, we are told, to invoke the aid of a force of life to account for vital phenomena, although it assumes an attracting force to account for gravitating phenomena, and an electric and chemic force to account for electric and chemic phenomena. modern science (and ancient science, too, apparently) which sees well enough that an idealistic or a materialistic explanation would equally account for the nexus of the phenomena of the universe, deliberately and almost invariably prefers the materialistic explanation. she is anxious that we should be kept free of superstition. but the superstition that forces are the effects of things does not seem to distress her at all. and so we are told that gravitation is a property of matter, and are forbidden to think that perhaps gravitation, a force, procreates matter, a thing, in order that the effects of the fore may be perceived by dull sense. we are told that the function of the liver and the brain depends on the structure of the liver and the brain respectively and we are not allowed to think that perhaps the force of animal life, feeling the need of an instrument to secrete bile, on the one hand, and to secrete cerebral lymph to act as a vehicle for the conveyance of thought and emotion and higher things, on the other, introduces the liver with its elaborate structure and the brain with its still more complicated structure, in order that both the one function and the other may be well performed. and so, although all forms of kinetic energy (and among them zoo-dynamic, or the force of animal life) manifest warmth and luminosity as qualities, science attributes animal heat to chemic force and refuses to consider that perhaps zoo-dynamic uses chemico-dynamic for its own purposes, even if these purposes are unconscious, because the higher force always dominates the lower. properly speaking, science is out of her sphere, though she does not seem to know it, in making these suggestions. when she keeps herself to the investigation of facts, their exposition, their sequence and their laws, in her painstaking and accurate manner, we accept her revelations thankfully, and beg her to allow us to make our own philosophic and other explanations in attempting to account for the existence, sequences and relations of the facts of life. after his return home, patient continued to gain weight, as might have been expected. on the seventeenth day after ending the fast he weighed 140 lbs. and on the nineteenth day 144 lbs. on that day he received from a hospital a report that the reaction of the physiologico-pathological test was negative. this has naturally had a great effect on the patient; and it is worthy of very careful consideration. of course one negative result may not be conclusive although it was positive before the fast. but if the result should be repeated, and especially if it should prove to be permanent, the importance of the fact can hardly be exaggerated, since the suggestion arises in our minds that perhaps we may be able to cure profound blood-poisoning by fasting, neither the usual treatment nor the use of salvarsan enabling the investigator to say that the result of the pathological reaction was negative; but this has followed after a heroic fast of 56 days. the result if confirmed would not be unique. quite recently i saw a specific ulcer close to the ankle-joint for which operation had been recommended. it seemed to me that operation would be likely to open the joint, and that therefore it was a risky proceeding. but under a restriction of the diet, putting the young man on barley-water for a few days and then advising him to eat once a day only, the ulcer became very much smaller, and no operation has had to be performed. blood-poisoning of this nature, of course, is not caused by improper nutrition, but it may readily be believed to be aggravated by the ordinary conventional over-feeding to which, so far as i can see, we are all subjecting ourselves, especially as persons who put themselves in the way of contracting blood-poisoning do not generally belong to the class of those who are attracted by the suggestion that it is noble to keep the body under, and that if we do not strive to keep the body under, it will be very likely to keep us under. although we shall be liable to be infected, however we live, still we may believe that we shall be more likely to be badly infected (if we put ourselves in the way of contracting disease) if we have been previously subjected to the bad effects of over-feeding. this consideration renders a possible cure by fasting, a not impossible suggestion. and if, therefore, we have in fasting the suggestion of a remedy which offers us the hope of eradicating such a fearful disease from the human system, it certainly behoves us to make use of it. as a rule it seems to me that bad forms of blood-poisoning of this nature are incurable. in three or four generations they destroy the strain affected by it, do what we will. meantime it shows all the signs and symptoms of a hereditary disease, for the children are born suffering, showing a coppery rash, and old before they are young. and when they get a little older they have no bridges to their noses, their teeth are ill-formed, their vision is imperfect, their intellects dull. it seems as if nature could not forgive crimes of this nature. she seems to treat them as the unpardonable sin. if we find cancer appearing in a family at 55 years of age in 3 or 4 successive generations, there is no proof of heredity in that. inquire and see if like causes acting on like organisms in 3 or 4 successive generations have not produced the disease each time. the children are not born cancerous, and our efforts to prevent the disease may succeed. but children often _are_ born with specific disease, and there is no doubt at all about its being a hereditary disease. even now i should not like to sanction marriage in the case of this man who has heroically fasted for 56 days, although he seems for the present to have got rid of his disease. but the outlook is hopeful, more hopeful than i thought, and in the hope that the suggestion may convey a message of hope to those who are willing to do penance for crimes against the body, i send out these remarks. the opinion expressed by the patient that he was getting rid of the salvarsan which had been injected into his blood to cure his disease is, of course, his own only. i offer no opinion upon it. but i think the whole case very instructive, and it will be deeply interesting to follow it up with special regard to the inquiry whether the pathological test remains negative. the reflective reader of these remarks will need no hint from me to suggest how a study of questions of this sort raises in our minds all sorts of other questions, physical, metaphysical, philosophical, social, religious; what are laws of nature, how they come to be what they are, whether they can be disregarded without paying the penalty, and whether we men are bond or free. each of us will settle these questions for ourselves, for each of us is responsible for his own conclusion. but as to the inevitableness with which such questions do rise in our minds, i take it there can be no difference of opinion. a. rabagliati. healthy homemaking. _for the benefit of new readers it seems well to explain that this series of articles is not intended for the instruction of experienced housewives. it was started at the special request of a reader who asked for "a little book on housekeeping, for those of us who know nothing at all about it; and put in all the little details that are presumably regarded as too trivial or too obvious to be mentioned in the ordinary books on domestic economy."_ xxi. hired help. it does not seem proper to conclude the present series of articles without touching upon the "servant problem," but i do not pretend to be able to solve it. it is a problem usually very difficult of solution by the homemaker of small means. if she has but few persons to cater for, and is not the mother of a young family, she is often very much better off without hired help, except for a periodical charwoman. but it is not always indispensable to the woman who has other duties besides housekeeping. i am not here concerned with the housewife who can afford to keep more than one efficient servant. indeed, i am hardly concerned with one who can employ a really good "general" at from l20 to l25 per annum. the person i am concerned with is the homemaker who can afford at most to employ an inexperienced young girl at from l10 to l14 per annum. i will draw the worst side of the picture first, for although it _is_ the worst side it is true enough, as so many harassed housewives know. the young "general" often comes straight from a council school where domestic economy had no place in the curriculum, and from a home in name only. such an one is usually slatternly and careless in all her ways, has no idea of personal cleanliness, and regards her "mistress" as, more or less, her natural enemy! she is "in service" only under compulsion, and envies those of her schoolmates whose more fortunate circumstances have enabled them to become "young lady" shop assistants, typists and even elementary school teachers. if she had her choice she would prefer labour in a factory to domestic work; but either a factory is not available, or the girl's parents consider "service" more "respectable" in spite of its hardships. its hardships? yes, it _is_ its hardships that account for its peculiar unpopularity. for there are hardships connected with domestic service in small households that do not apply to other forms of much harder labour. everyone who is familiar with the small lower middle-class household knows how often the life of the little "general" resembles that of an animal rather than a human being. all day long she drudges in a muddling, inefficient way, continually scolded for her inefficiency yet never really taught how to do anything properly. her work is never done, for she is always at the beck and call of her employers; yet she lives apart in social isolation, is referred to contemptuously as the "slavey," and even her food is dispensed to her grudgingly and minus the special dainties bought for sundays and holidays. this is domestic service at its worst, of course, but the prevalence of such "places" in actual fact is undoubtedly at the root of the young girl's objection to it. how can she help gleaning the impression that such work is "menial," when her employers more or less openly despise her? being human, how can she but envy those of her old friends who have their evenings to themselves? what contentment can she find in a life of drudgery unenlightened by intelligent interest in learning how to do something well? what wonder that all her hopes and ambitions become centred in the possession of a "young man," and that reason--stunted from its birth for lack of room to grow--being entirely absent from her choice, she marries badly and too young, and becomes the mother of a numerous progeny as helpless, hopeless, stunted and inefficient as herself? some conscientious women try to remedy this state of things by treating the girls they take into their homes as "one of the family." this _may_ answer well sometimes, but it has its drawbacks, both for the girl and the "family." husband and wife, brother and sister, inevitably find the constant presence of a stranger with whom they have little in common very irksome. while the girl herself is equally conscious of restraint when forced to spend her leisure time with her employers. she would usually infinitely prefer the solitude of the kitchen, if combined with a good fire, a comfortable chair and a story book. among the girls i have spoken to on the subject i have not found "socialist" households popular. one girl i met refused to stay in such a place for longer than three days, because she "never had the kitchen to herself." another told me that she found it intensely boring to take meals with the family, because she was not interested in the things they talked about. i think that the ultimate solution of the "servant problem" will not be that every woman will do all her own housework, but that domestic work will become, on the one hand, very much simplified and, on the other, will be put on the same footing as teaching, nursing or secretarial work. that we are beginning to move in this direction is evidenced by the coming into existence of schools of domestic economy, to which "ladies" do not disdain to resort for training. this will undoubtedly result in domestic labour becoming a much higher-priced commodity than it is now, the housewife will have to pay at least as much for three hours help per day as she now does for nine hours, but the fact that the help will be skilled, combined with the greater simplicity of housework, will surely more than compensate for this. but what is the homemaker of limited means, who must have some help, to do under present conditions? this we must consider next month. florence daniel. health queries. _under this heading dr knaggs deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on one side only of the paper, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] boils: their cause and cure. miss l.c. writes:--i should be deeply indebted to you if you would advise me in the following matter. i have been suffering from a recurrence of boils on different parts of my body during the last six months. i have consulted a local doctor, but he can find no reason for their appearance, but suggested i should try a mixed diet, to include some animal food, rather than adhere to vegetarianism as i have done for some two years past. my diet is about as follows:- _on rising._--tumblerful of hot water. _breakfast_ (eight o'clock).--one egg, toasted bread (wholemeal) and butter, with either a little lettuce or marmalade and either weak tea or cocoa. _lunch_ (one o'clock).--steamed green or root vegetable, with cheese sauce or macaroni cheese or similar savoury, or nuts. boiled or baked pudding or stewed fruit with custard or blanc mange. _tea_ (four o'clock).--tea or cocoa, with or without a little bread and butter and cake. _supper_ (7 o'clock).--vegetable soup, milk pudding and a little cheese, butter and salad and wholemeal bread. i am forty-nine years of age, lead a fairly active life, frequently taking walking exercise. i am very tall and weigh twelve stone. have had no serious illness, but been more or less anaemic all my life. if you can tell me whether there is anything wrong in connection with my diet and suggest the cause of, and treatment for, the boils i shall be exceedingly obliged. in order to help this correspondent to permanently get rid of these boils, we must first ascertain what those troublesome manifestations are and look to the causes which produce them. a boil is a small, tense, painful, inflammatory swelling appearing in or upon the skin, and is due to the local death or gangrene of a small portion of the skin's surface. this eventually comes away in the form of a core, and, until this has cleared away, the boil will not heal or cease to be painful. boils occur chiefly on the neck, arms or buttocks. if very large they are known as carbuncles, and if they occur on the fingers or toes they are described as whitlows. it is often the friction of a frayed-out collar or cuff, of tight waist clothing, or, in the case of whitlows, the introduction of some irritant or poison between the nail and the skin that determines the precise site at which they will come. boils, although rarely dangerous to life, are usually accompanied by pain severe out of all proportion to the extent of surface involved. this gives rise to much broken rest and loss of vitality, which at once ceases when the boil has finished its course. boils usually occur in series or crops. now large numbers of people wear collars and cuffs with frayed edges, or handle irritants with their fingers, but they do not necessarily contract boils or whitlows. therefore, we see that there must be other factors to be taken into consideration to account for their presence. the orthodox germ-loving practitioner may tell you that a boil is a purely local disorder and that a certain form of microbe, known as the _staphylococcus pyogenes_, is the cause of it. this germ, he asserts, lives normally on the surface of the skin and, when this surface becomes broken, it enters the part and infects it, thereby starting the boil. if this is true every person who wears old collars or dabbles his hands in dirt should without exception contract boils. this is obviously untrue. the factor to be considered, then, is this. what is it that induces boils in one person and not in another under identical circumstances? the answer is obvious. the boil is not a local disease at all, but is a manifestation of some constitutional defect, or of some impurity of the blood stream, which enables this microbe to find a congenial breeding ground. the people who suffer most from boils are young or middle-aged adults, and we usually find the two extremes among sufferers. there is the full-blooded, often overfed, individual and there is the pale, debilitated and emaciated person whose constitution is broken down by worry, overwork, sexual troubles, unhealthy surroundings or badly selected foods. if we inquire into the constitutional history of these cases we shall almost invariably discover that the digestive or assimilative processes of the body are not working smoothly. this may be due to the worry or overwork, or to unhealthy surroundings which dis-harmonise the digestive and nutritive functions, or to nervous exhaustion from one cause or another, or it may be due to the wrong diet, which is filling the colon (or large bowel) with fermenting poisons. when the body is clogged in this manner nature often proceeds to get rid of the accumulating waste through the skin. by a vigorous effort on the part of the life-force the impurity is thrown outwards to the surface. looked at in this light a boil is really a most salutary cleansing agent, and the nature-cure practitioner, who calls it a "crisis," often does everything in his power to produce boils when treating chronic diseases. the alternative is often some more deeply seated form of elimination, resulting in serious organic disease of the organs or tissues. one of the first signs of improvement in disorders like diabetes, consumption, arthritis, bright's disease, or even cancer, is the appearance of boils, showing that the vitality has improved to an extent sufficient to enable the foreign matter to be expelled by means of relatively harmless boils. the hydropathic expert also tries to induce this condition by means of his mustard and water packs. if our correspondent wants to rid herself of her boils she must adopt all means to improve her vitality and to cleanse her body of its impurities. she can do this along many lines. she can take a holiday and rest from her work; or by positive thinking she can set to work to get rid of her worries. she can learn to laugh as often as possible, and to breathe deeply, slowly and fully. if her house is unsanitary she should make it sanitary, or move elsewhere. then she must restrict her diet and take only those forms of food which create a minimum amount of poison in the system. _she must cleanse the colon daily_ with warm water enemas, and encourage the action of the kidneys in doing their rightful part in the elimination of poisons by the drinking of distilled water or a good herbal tea on rising, and of clear vegetable broth at night. clay packs, applied cold, are the best form of treatment for application to the boils themselves. they should never be cut or squeezed, as this only intensifies the trouble. hot applications, as poultices, are bad, because they induce the boil to mature prematurely, and also are conducive to reinfection of the skin in other parts. drugs or medicines are of very little use in the treatment of boils, because they do not go to the root of the trouble. the only remedy that i have found of any avail is yeast. in former times this was taken in the form of fresh or dried brewers' yeast, and it was, if unpleasant, a very effectual remedy. yeast yields a free supply of what is called nuclein and nucleinic acid. these, chemically, are identical with the same substances found in the human cells. nuclein is a powerful antiseptic. it has been found that the toxins or emanations from diphtheria and other deadly germs are precipitated and destroyed by nucleinic acid. it is for this reason that yeast extracts, such as marmite, often have a beneficial effect in disorders accompanied by the formation of pus matter. our correspondent's diet should be amended as follows:-_on rising._--a cupful of unseasoned marmite. _breakfast._--one scrambled or lightly poached egg with stale, yeast-made, wholemeal bread and nut butter, with lettuce or other salad food. no marmalade; no tea or coffee. _lunch._--1 to 2 oz. of grated cheese or flaked pine kernels, finely shredded raw cabbage, or grated radishes, or grated raw roots with oil and lemon dressing. no cooked savouries, no puddings, nor stewed fruit with custard or blanc mange should be taken. _tea meal._--cupful of marmite, only. _supper._--clear, unseasoned, vegetable broth, with veda or wholemeal bread, or granose biscuits, with nut butter and some fresh fruit. _at bedtime._--a cupful of marmite. note.--the unseasoned marmite should be used, as the ordinary kind is rather heavily salted. a bad case of self-poisoning. mrs h.w. writes:--i should be very glad if you would give me enlightenment on one or two points about my diet. i am suffering from a somewhat dilated stomach, also a catarrhal condition of nose, throat and alimentary canal, with constipation and much flatulence in the bowels. my teeth are decaying quickly, my nails have got softer, and i have become anaemic and generally debilitated, being unable to properly assimilate my food. all my joints crack when moved, and the knee joints creak as well. is this a uric acid condition, or do you think it merely due to a lack of nourishment, causing a lack of synovial fluid? the joints are not swollen and not painful, they merely crack. my whole system seems to be over-acid, and my mouth gets sore and ulcerated. i have got very thin, having lost a stone in twelve months. i notice that you always advise for dilated stomach greatly restricting the liquid part of the diet. will you tell me just how much one _may_ drink in a day, because when i go without drinking my constipation and other troubles are worse and the urine gets thick and muddy. you also deprecate milk. this puzzled me until you explained to a correspondent last month in _the healthy life_. will you tell me if the same applies to dried milk--will it tend to increase intestinal trouble? i am anxious to know this because i have been relying somewhat on emprote and hygiama lately, for i had got so that i could scarcely digest anything. do you consider it better to use the enema than to take a mild aperient? i do not want to start with the enema again if i can possibly manage to do without, because i found that my bowels depended upon it. and that is why i want to ask if it is absolutely necessary when on an antiseptic diet to entirely avoid fruit. i find it so necessary to keep the bowels working naturally. i _do_ want you to answer me these questions, because i have got so worried and fearful (people's theories are so varied) that i scarcely dare eat any food at all. i am at present taking only two meals daily (i like the two-meal plan best): at eleven a.m. and 6 p.m. i take a cup of weak coffee on rising, without milk or sugar--this warm drink seems to start the peristaltic action and i then get bowel action. i think of changing the coffee for sanum tonic tea or dandelion coffee. at eleven o'clock i have an egg with winter's "maltweat" bread and almond butter, and some conservatively cooked vegetable (celery or carrot or spinach). at six p.m. i have one or two baked apples, a teaspoonful or two of malted nuts, or emprote, and more "maltweat" bread and butter. at four p.m. i take a cup of barley water or carrot water, and at bedtime another cup of barley water. do you think that if i went on to a milk diet for a time it would do good? this correspondent seems to be suffering from auto-toxaemia, or self-poisoning in a severe form, and a condition of what is termed arterio-sclerosis or premature old age. associated with it are evidently symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, which is affecting her joints and teeth. it is not one of ordinary gout or uric acid poisoning. the trouble no doubt has been caused by past errors of diet, so that the present efforts at reform have come too late to be of service to her. something more than diet is now needed to clear the acids and toxins from the system. it is not a simple case of digestive catarrh, for the whole body is affected. the present diet will answer very well as it stands. the first thing to do is to obtain a well-fitting dilatation belt. this must have leg straps and firmly support the lower half of the abdomen. the next thing is to promote skin action so as to encourage the clearing out of poisons along this line of elimination. vapour baths, wet-sheet packs or alkaline hot baths can effect this purpose. an alkaline hot bath should be of a temperature of 105 degrees fahr. or more, and to the bath should be added 1/4 lb. of bicarbonate of soda and 1/4 lb. packet of "robin" starch. she should remain as long as possible in this so as to well clear the acids from the skin and induce as much skin action or perspiration as possible. the _first_ baths must be of very short duration, and she should be careful to avoid chill after the bath; it is best to lie prone and completely relaxed for half-an-hour at least after the bath. finally massage and swedish movements directed to the entire back will help to disencumber the central nervous system, which is evidently very badly depleted of its vital force. it is, of course, a pity the correspondent cannot get away to a properly organised nature-cure home and have the continuous attention and treatment which her condition really necessitates. h. valentine knaggs. correspondence. amanzimtoti, natal. _to the editors._ sirs, you will see that your little magazine finds its way even to this out-of-the-way corner of the globe, and you may be sure that it is appreciated. i am specially interested in dr v. knaggs' contributions and should like to ask him a few questions. may i say that i have some knowledge of chemistry and that i try and take an interest in the scientific aspects of food reform. (1) p. 237. what grounds has dr knaggs for speaking so definitely about human magnetism and that of vegetables? how would he recognise or test for either, and where can i get further information (scientific) on the question of food magnetism. (2) same page. dr knaggs says salt added to cooking vegetables converts organic salts into inorganic. i cannot follow that. _what_ organic salts are so converted? one or two examples would suffice. (3) i have been reading dr rabagliati's _conversations with women concerning their health and that of their children_.[8] in it he says that food is not the source (cause) of body energy, but is used merely to replace waste material. elsewhere i read that "professor atwater's investigations into nutrition have shown in a most convincing manner that the body derives _all_ its energy from the food consumed. this may be regarded as established." which of these definite and contradictory assertions does dr knaggs support, and why? where can i get information _re_ professor atwater's experiments and other recent works on similar subjects? to me the questions involved are intensely interesting, hence my queries. i hope they do not read as if i were hypercritical or sceptical. with all good wishes for the success of your healthy little magazine. i am, yours, etc., w. blewett. [8] 5s. net. c.w. daniel, ltd., 3 amen corner, london. we handed the above interesting letter to our contributor, dr h. valentine knaggs, and append his reply:-human magnetism. there is very little information available from ordinary scientific sources anent the question of the life-force or of the animal magnetism which animates our bodies and is the motive force common to all organic structures whether animal or vegetable. we do know that fresh fruits and vegetables are strongly magnetic because the magnetism which they emit can be gauged by means of delicate galvanometers. it has been found that leaves, flowers and seeds are positively, and roots negatively, charged. we also know that the same conditions are found in the human subject, since dr baraduc, who is a celebrated french psycho-therapeutist, in his book, "the vibrations of human vitality," tells us that he has invented a machine called a biometer to test these very vibrations. i have had one of these machines myself and have experimented with it a great deal. by its aid we can make the machine work differently with different persons, and by careful tabulation of records dr baraduc has been able to elicit some very remarkable information about the magnetic currents which are constantly flowing into and out of the human body. if our correspondent really wants to know more about the wonders of human magnetism he should read some of the voluminous literature upon the subject published by the theosophical society. just recently also a dr kilner has invented a form of coloured screen by which he and others who have some psychic sight can actually see the magnetic emanations which flow through a person placed in a darkened room. salt-cooked vegetables. the one object of the vegetable kingdom is to build up, for the use of the animal or organic realm, the constituents found in the mineral or inorganic kingdom. these mineral constituents are dissolved, sorted out and built up in the right proportions for the use of animals when taken as foods. whenever these foods are not so eaten they are sent back again to the earth by the aid of microbes during the process of decay, to be again available for plant use. cooking is a process invented by man which is analogous to that of decay, for it dissolves and disintegrates the structures which nature has built up. when man eats food that is partially disintegrated he does not obtain from it the right sort of nutriment which nature intended him to have. to intensify the wrong-doings of the cook, man further hastens the disintegrating process by adding to the things that he cooks a due proportion of a common and very stable mineral, called salt. it is powerful, because it is not easily disintegrated. the salt greatly expedites the process of decay, whether in the natural form of fermentation, or whether by the application of heat, as in cooking. salt is used in nature to promote the flow of those electric and magnetic currents which are a manifestation of the universal life-force which pervades all things seen and unseen. it is an essential constituent of the sea because the ocean is the life-blood of the earth. it is an essential constituent of our own blood, because it is needed to make the blood stream a good conductor of magnetic currents. when you put this salt into water and then proceed to boil vegetables in it, it quickly sucks out all the life-force from them, and if persisted in reduces them to the state of minerals from which they were originally constructed. food and the source of bodily energy. dr rabagliati and professor atwater are, i believe, both right, but the former does not always explain himself clearly to the lay mind. the life-force or animal magnetism is the real source of bodily energy, and it manifests itself only when it has something that resists or regulates its flow. it does this just as certain forms of wire, or other materials, which possess indifferent conducting power, resist the flow of electricity through them. electricity cannot manifest as light in the usual electric lights used in our houses, as heat in the electric culinary appliances or stoves, or even as power in the motors which run our trams and trains, unless it be given the requisite apparatus to bring about the manifestation required. in exactly the same way life cannot manifest itself as consciousness, with its flow of thoughts, emotions and bodily activities, without the food which is daily supplied to the body. it consequently depends considerably upon how we select our daily rations as to how this vital force will manifest within us. h. valentine knaggs. holiday aphorisms. a sun bath needs no soap. * * * * * man was made for the weather, not the weather for man. * * * * * a long drink often makes a short walk. * * * * * you may bring a man to the sea, but you cannot make him think. * * * * * a tanned face doesn't make a healthy body. * * * * * dew paddling should be done in the dark. * * * * * the only things that bathing machines make are cowards. * * * * * it is better to board yourself than let others be bored by you. * * * * * "a bore is one who thinks his opinions of greater importance than your own." * * * * * people who throw pebbles into the sea shouldn't dive near shore. * * * * * a toothbrush is what many forget but few should need. * * * * * scotland yard is not in the grampians. * * * * * cheap food is often dearly bought. * * * * * lyons have no depots in skye. * * * * * orange-trees never yet sprang from scattered peel. * * * * * a pear in the hand is worth two in the can. peter piper. the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v september no. 26. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. food reformers sometimes forget that "man does not live by bread alone," not even when supplemented by an ample supply of fresh air and physical exercise. it has been pointed out by psychologists that the more highly organised and highly developed the creature, the less it depends on nervous energy obtained via the stomach and the more it depends on energy generated by the brain. true, the brain must be healthy for this, and one poisoned by impure blood, due to wrong feeding, cannot be healthy. but something more than clean blood is necessary. for, as change of physical posture is necessary to avoid cramped limbs, so periodic reversal of mental attitude (consideration from other than the one view-point) is necessary to the brain's health. again, change of air is often prescribed when the patient's real need is a change of the personalities surrounding him. while for the lonely country dweller a bath in the magnetism of a city crowd may be a far more efficacious remedy than the medicinal baths prescribed by his physician. for man lives by _every_ word that proceeds out of the mouth of god.--[eds.] fear and imagination. _regular readers will recognise in this article a continuation of the series previously entitled "healthy brains." the author of "the children all day long," is an intimate disciple of one of the greatest living psychologists, and she has a message of the first importance to all who realise that true health depends as much on poise of mind as on physical fitness. we regret that in the previous article, "imagination in play," the following misprints occurred:--p. 475, line 4 from top, "movement" should be "moment"; p. 475, line 5 from bottom, "admiration" should be "imagination."_--[eds.] some people are given to excusing their own uncharitable thoughts by saying, "i suppose i ought not to have minded her rudeness; i am afraid i am too sensitive." in the same way, people say, "oh, i _couldn't_ sleep in the house alone" (or let a child go on a water-picnic, or nurse a case of delirium or do some other thing that suggested itself), "i have too much imagination." in both cases the claim, though put in deprecating form, is made complacently enough. the correlative is: "you are so sensible, dear; i know you won't mind," which is a formula under cover of which many kindnesses may be shirked and many unpleasant duties passed on. the sensible, practical people who listen to these sayings sometimes attach importance to them, so that a habit has grown up of describing morbidly neurotic people as "over-sensitive" and cowardly ones as "too quick of imagination." ultimately, this leads to the thought that both sensitiveness and imagination are mental luxuries too costly for ordinary folk to grow, and that it is safest to check, crush or uproot them when we discover them springing up in others or in ourselves. is not this attitude of mind due to a misunderstanding? imagination is an _organ of activity_; it can be kept in the highest possible condition of health by having plenty of exercise; it should be working continually against resistance. a rabbit's gnawing tooth, if the opposing tooth be broken, may grow inwards and cause the creature's death, but the same activity of growth, if working under suitable conditions, enables him to go on living and gnawing at his food year after year without wearing his tools away. the problem, then, in economy of effort is: how shall we use whatever force of sensitiveness and imagination we have, so as to get its maximum efficiency of usefulness and its minimum pain and inconvenience? for many ages man has been dominated by fear. his way to freedom, now, is to step out through his cobweb chains and go right forward with courage and in faith. so we are told with relentless and almost tiresome reiteration. it is the fashion, one might almost say, to have cast off fear, and the one thing an honest "modern thinker" is afraid of is being afraid. (to less honest ones it is the thought of _being thought_ afraid that is a very real and present fear.) but, if this standpoint is right, is not fear at least a vestigial organ, a survival of a mental activity which served its purpose in times gone by? is it not even truer to go further still and say, as _each particular fear_ serves its purpose it may safely be discarded, but that, as far as our present knowledge goes, other grades of sensitiveness, finer shades of imagination of the type we have called fear, must take its place, to be discarded in their turn for yet other apprehensions? for if we lost the kind of perception that we associate with fear, if our imagination closed itself automatically to the suggestion of all sorts of ugly possibilities, should we not find ourselves soon in the midst of difficulties akin to those of the hero of the german tale of the man who felt no pain? we accept the evidence of pain as a guide to action; when we have decided on action we proceed to get rid of the pain as expeditiously, safely and permanently as we can. the same thing seems true of fear. over and over again we laugh at ourselves for fearing something that either never happened at all or happened in such a way as to be softened out of all likeness to the monstrous terror we had created. on the other hand, when misfortune falls heavily because of our lack of imagination in not foreseeing possible consequences of particular actions or events, we lament and complain: "if i could only have guessed! if i had only known!" fear pure and simple--the imagination of possible trouble--is a stage we can hardly yet afford to do without. but when it has roused our attention to a danger, its work is done. let us practise turning it into action; taking due precautions against accident, guarding against hurting a neighbour's feelings, watching some possibility of evil tendency in ourselves. then, and not till then, may we let it drop. it may pass; it has done its work. it is no longer our responsibility to foresee, it is our privilege to lay down the fear and live happily and at peace. even the dread perceptions of eternal laws come under the same method. "the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom," the _beginning_: the end is faith and love. e.m. cobham. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #to our readers.# | | | | readers who appreciate the independence and all-round nature | | of _the healthy life_ can materially assist the extension of | | its circulation by tactfully urging their local newsagent to | | have the magazine regularly displayed for sale. an | | attractive monthly poster can always be had free from the | | publishers, 3 tudor street, london, e.c. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ how much should we eat? _the article (signed "m.d.") with the above title which we published in the july number has, as we anticipated, aroused considerable discussion. one interesting criticism appeared in the august number. we now publish two further contributions, to be followed, in our next issue, by two further articles by dr rabagliati and mr ernest starr._--[eds.] i as one who has tried the low proteid diet, and came to grief on it, i desire to set my experience against that of mr voysey,[9] and to assert that, if it is true for him, it certainly is not true for me. mr voysey indulges in many loose and generalised statements which do not help the average man or woman in the least. i imagine it is these that "m.d." has in mind when he advises a certain standard of diet, below which it is not safe to go. if mr voysey can, as horace fletcher can, exist on a very low proteid diet, that does not prove that all men and women can do the same and be healthily active; it only shows that he and fletcher are exceptions to the average person, and that it may be dangerous to follow their example. for most men, "m.d.'s" proteid standard is not so nauseating as he finds it. here is a specimen dietary for a day, for a man of ten stone, following, as most of us do, a sedentary occupation:- 3 oz. cheese. 9 oz. bread. 8 oz. vegetables and salad. 8 oz. fruit. 1+1/2 pints milk. will any average person say that that quantity, divided into three meals, would be nauseating to him? and is that diet so very expensive that it would be beyond the means of an agricultural labourer in any country? it is certainly no mockery. the cost to such a labourer would probably not exceed 3d. or 4d. of course the diet can be made as expensive as one chooses, and widely varied. [9] see august number. who amongst ordinary men and women has a reliable natural taste that would be an infallible guide in all matters of food? and what a misleading statement that is which asserts "that all the hardest work of the world has always been done by those who get the least food." put it to the test on the average person and see where it leads to. my contention is that the average person, throwing over his or her accustomed meat diet, requires some definite guidance as to the quantity of proteid, such as dr haig's wide experience and much patient research have proved needful, or at least advisable, for the continuance of a healthy and vigorous life; and i will say that it does not help this average person in the least to put before him the misty statement that "the quantity depends on the development that is in progress, and is only discoverable by the natural guides of appetite and taste, ruled by reason and love of others." all very noble and very well in another place, but hardly meeting the case of the ordinary person who is seeking a healthy diet. nor can you "make the body a more harmonious instrument for the true life of man" by habitually underfeeding it. i thought that was a mediaeval notion that had been knocked on the head long ago. is there any man, lay or scientific, mr voysey notwithstanding, who can claim to have as wide an experience of diet in its relation to health and disease as "m.d.," to say nothing of the trained mind and long years of patient thought that have been exerted in dealing with the facts of this wide experience. for myself, i have come to see that, if "m.d." does not hold in his grasp the absolute truth in the matter of diet, he is nearer to it, and is a safer guide, than all your low proteid advisers, lay or otherwise, where they come much below "m.d.'s" standard. so, using mr voysey's phrases, i would urge laymen like myself to shun that weak-kneed manikin, the low proteid diet, and unite with me in a long strong pull to get him and others like him out of the rut in which that sorry weakling holds him. hy. bartholomew. ii the editors were quite right in saying that the article under this heading in the july issue would arouse discussion. my wife and i, having discussed "m.d." and many others with the title, feel constrained to put forth a warning against blind faith in anything which the faculty have to say on dietetics. there are of course brilliant exceptions, such as dr rabagliati, dr knaggs, dr haig, the late dr keith and others, who give chapter and verse for every statement made; but when we consider the excellent work of laymen such as albert broadbent, joseph wallace, horace fletcher, alice braithwaite, eustace miles, hereward carrington, edgar j. saxon, bernarr macfadden, arnold eiloart, ordinary folks like ourselves may be excused if we venture to give our experience as against that of "qualified" men. with your permission, then, we reply to "m.d.'s" five suggestions in the order he gives them:-1. food qualities are _not_ of extreme importance. 2. quantity tables may have been "settled" by physiologists to their own satisfaction many years ago; but very good reasons have since been given for altering, or even ignoring, them. 3. the particular number of grains of proteid to be consumed per day is not of serious moment. 4. that departure from the quantity specified has not led to disaster is proved by the fact that the human race still persists, in spite of the very varying eating customs found in different nations. the great majority being poor or ignorant, or both, know neither "tables" nor the need for them. 5. there can be no reply to such a general statement as: "the nature of this disaster may appear to be very various, and its real cause is thus frequently overlooked." in such matters an ounce of personal experience is worth a pound of cut-and-dried theory. we--my wife and i--have been reared in an atmosphere suspicious of doctors, both sets of grandparents having relied rather on herbs, water treatment, goodness of heart and faith in god; and their children have had too many evidences of medical ignorance to accept any dogmas. we are anti-vaccinators, nearly vegetarian, and, to come to the point, we have four children who will persist in thriving on a basis of always too little rather than too much of food. the respective ages are girl 13, boy 10, girl 6, boy 2. all have been brought up on these lines: never pressed to eat, but continually asked to chew thoroughly. foods "rich in proteid" put sparingly before them. milk has been well watered; and eggs, bacon and other tempting and rich foods only on rare occasions given to them. we would ask readers who can to make the following experiment: let your children have a good drink to start the day, and then run and play; don't offer food till asked for. you will almost to a certainty find, if you start this plan immediately after weaning, that day by day and year after year it is twelve to one o'clock before they inquire for "something to eat." we have done this for twelve years, with children of entirely different temperament and of both sexes. they go to school, poor things! breakfastless. during these twelve years light breakfast for father has been on the table--he goes without lunch--and not once in fifty do they ask to join him. nor, if invited, will they after three or four years of age. the have never had a fever which lasted more than a day or two, and they are all above average height and weight. they get fruit in season just as asked for, and as much to drink as they like, _but not at meal-times_. our experience is over a period of twelve years, and we have come to the conclusion that the infectious diseases so prevalent and death-dealing amongst children of all classes, rich or poor, are, in the main, the result of over-feeding. we find it wise to keep highly nutritious foods (like eggs, cheese, meat, etc.) away from children--that is, for regular consumption; a little occasionally may do no harm. you will have it borne in on our minds year by year, as your children grow up under such a plan, that dr rabagliati, hereward carrington and others are quite right. we do not get our strength, nor heat, from food. let the force of animal life (zoo-dynamic, i believe dr rabagliati calls it) have free play, and your children can't help growing up well and strong. in to-day's _london daily chronicle_ i see a special article by dr saleeby, under this heading: world's doctors versus disease. 5000 medical men meet to-day. the triumphs of three decades. we know how much this wonderful faculty knew thirty years ago about, _e.g._, fresh air for consumptives. there is not a word said in this article (which is a sort of programme of the weighty matters for discussion) on the relation of food to the body. that question probably 4950 of them believe was settled by the eminent physiologists who compiled those "food-tables" years ago--and in so doing went far to pave the way for the modern frightful increase of cancer, bright's disease, etc., as well as for "scientific" horrors like anti-toxin, tuberculin--not to mention compulsory eugenics! j. methuen. health through reading. do many people consider reading from the point of view of health of mind and body--of refreshment in times of struggle--of recuperation after knock-down blows of sorrow, disappointment or misfortune? let us begin by saying that some of the greatest books are not to be read by everybody at all seasons. when one's heart or ankles are weak, one does not start to climb mountains, or one may end as a corpse or a cripple. so with one's soul under shock or stress. personally, i can imagine nothing more cruel than the action of two women, one a story-teller of great repute among the "goody," who, to a specially stricken and lonely young widow, tendered as "bed-side books," victor hugo's _les miserables_ and browning's poignant _the ring and the book_. if they had wished to make her realise to the bitterest depths the awfulness of the world wherein she was left alone, and the blackest depravity of the human nature around her, they could not have done differently. _les miserables_ she read till she reached the dreadful scene where a vicious cad hurls snowballs at the helpless fantine. then the strong instinct of self-preservation made her put the book aside--not to touch it again for nearly thirty years. with _the ring and the book_ her mind was too wrung and too weary to wrestle--all it could receive was a picture of wronged innocence, and especially of the rampant forces of evil with which she was left to contend. with the same want of tact and judgment, if with unconscious cruelty, the gloomy, fateful _bride of lammermoor_ was selected out of all scott's novels for the reading of a very homesick youth, solitary in a strange country! yet we must always remember that, as in affairs of the body so of the spirit, "what is one man's meat may be another man's poison." some of the wisest and most successful nurses or doctors will occasionally permit an invalid to indulge in a longed-for diet which would certainly never be prescribed. they know that idiosyncrasy follows no exactly known rule. so we could tell of one who, amid the dry agnosticism of the later half of last century, had felt her faith, not indeed extinguished, but obscured and darkened. from the perusal of certain writers she had shrunk, perhaps with cowardice. they were put on such a pinnacle that she feared she would find no arguments fit to oppose to theirs. weakly, she locked the skeleton cupboard. then she was attacked by a malady which, while leaving her mind free and strong, she knew might be very speedily fatal. straightway she said to her husband: "in two or three days i shall probably 'know'--or cease from all knowing. there will not be long to wait. therefore bring me three books," which she named, works of authors of extreme agnostic views. rather reluctantly he complied with her wish. she went steadily through the joyless pages, turned the last with the significant remark: "if this is all they can say, well!--" the skeleton cupboard, once opened, was speedily swept out. she quickly recovered, but never forgot her experience. yet it must be remembered that this was the patient's own prescription, and was permitted by one who thoroughly understood her temperament. therefore, though one would never wish to overrule a strong personal desire, that is quite different from offering counsel and furtherance--or proving experiments upon oneself. a celebrated woman writer of the middle of last century was of opinion that young people of both sexes should not indulge in reading "minor poetry." "let them keep to the great poets, made of granite," was her graphic phrase. a woman of singularly self-controlled nature has confessed that the only time in her whole life that she experienced an unwholesome moral and emotional disturbance, after reading a book, was when, at about twenty-two years of age, she read emily bronte's _wuthering heights_. she dared not finish it: and when, some time later, a copy was presented to her, she caused it to be exchanged for another book, not wishing it even to be in the house with her. years afterwards, she read it again, quite unmoved. it may be added that her first reading was made in the course of a systematic study of english literature, which had already led her through the works of chaucer and fielding. she has herself asked: "is it possible that the strong and unpleasant effect was produced because the book was the production of another young woman, perhaps of somewhat 'sympathetic' temperament?" taken as a whole, probably most fiction and all highly emotional work of any sort should be indulged in sparingly by those in the danger-zone of life, or by any under special mental or moral stress. history, philosophy (with sustained chains of reasoning) and biographies (best, autobiographies) of active and strenuous lives, should be resorted to by those temporarily doomed to spells of suspense and involuntary inaction. invalids should be encouraged to read plutarch's _lives_ rather than the _memorials_ of other sufferers, however saintly! it may be broadly stated that, during the tragic episodes which seem to occur in all lives, the most wholesome reading is to be found in the books of the great world-religions--the bible, and the teachings of buddha, confucius and mahomet. the bible is of course a library in itself, and many of its books are suited to very widely different circumstances and temperaments. the psalms, the gospels, the epistle of st james, and parts of those great poems known as the "prophetical books" and the more personal and less doctrinal portions of paul's epistles are perhaps of widest application. from the words of buddha, confucius and mahomet there are many admirable selections--and one remembers a wonderful compilation of more than thirty years ago, called _the sacred anthology_, and wonders if it be out of print. it does not follow that these works should not be studied at other times than "tragic episodes." if this were more often the case, perhaps there would be fewer "tragic episodes"! next to these come such wonderful books of spiritual experience as a kempis's _imitation of christ_, the _pilgrim's progress_, the _devout life_ of francis of sales and others which will occur to the memory. allusion to the _pilgrim's progress_ brings us to the remark that no books are more truly wholesome than some that can be enjoyed by those of all ages, and of very varied types of "culture": in which the children can delight, and which refresh the aged and weary. like nature herself, they have hedgerows where the little ones can gather flowers, little witting of the farther horizons of earth and sky lifted up for the eyes of the elders. let the children read the _pilgrim's progress_ simply as "a story," its eternal verities will sink into their souls to reappear when they too are in _vanity fair_ or in bitter conflict with _apollyon_. for the same reason, the book of proverbs should be commended to youthful study. under wise supervision--or rather, in mutual study--it becomes at once a series of vivid pictures of primitive eastern life--for all allusions should be explained, where possible, pictorially--while at the same time the memory will be insensibly stored with shrewd common sense and knowledge of the world, to be turned to, and drawn upon, as needed. and then, while the children revel in the fun and the fancy of hans andersen's _fairy tales_, let the sorrowful or sore or wounded heart turn to them for solace, soothing or healing. hans andersen enjoys a very special "popularity" and yet some, who have learned to love and value him, doubt whether justice has yet been done to his work. because it is matchless for the young, it may be easily forgotten that it can be so, only by some quality which makes it matchless for all others. perhaps some of his most popular stories are not his most wonderful, but have simply caught the popular fancy, because of some artist's illustration, or some personal application to the writer's own history, as in the case of his _ugly duckling_. how many--or rather, how few!--can readily recall the pathos and wit of his _portuguese duck_ or the deep philosophy of his _girl who trod on a loaf_? it is told of hans andersen, a gentle soul in a homely exterior, which attracted the snubs and neglect which "patient merit of the unworthy takes," on some such occasion was once heard to murmur: "and yet i am the greatest man now in the world!" it was very naive of him to say so, even in a whisper, probably wrung from him only in self-defence, but perhaps he might have thought it, in solemn silence--and--not been so very wrong! it may have been part of the very transparency of his inspired genius that he could not keep the secret to himself! there is at least one reader who declares that she finds the seeds of all vital philosophy--ancient or modern--in his stories. how much he derived from those who went before him, it is not for us to say, but this disciple, herself a devoted student and admirer of the world's latest teacher, leo tolstoy, yet puts hans andersen above him, as having attained in practically all his work what tolstoy attained only occasionally--_i.e._ tolstoy's own ideal of what art should be and do. in such a paper as this little can be done beyond indicating on the broadest lines the kind of reading which tends to preserve or to restore mental health. away with your "problem" novels and "realistic" poems stated in the filthy material of moral gutters! hans andersen will take some birds, some flowers, some toys, and will state the same problems, and get the same eternal solutions, without making the inquirer run any risk of meanwhile catching moral malaria. isaiah will help us to build "castles" for the human race and for our own future, but he will take care that we shall remember that righteousness and unceasing vigilance and unflagging repair must go into the laying of foundations and the upholding of walls. david, even in his "cursing psalms," will exemplify for you the power of hate and vengeance in your own heart, and as he holds it up before you, you will see how small a thing it is, how mean, how ludicrous! as a man eats and drinks, so is his body: if he is a gross feeder, his body will be gross and sensual; if his food lacks nourishment, he will pine and fade. so it is with our minds and our morals. with whatever original "spiritual body" we may start, it needs spiritual sustenance, spiritual discipline, spiritual sufficiency and spiritual abstinence. too often we ill-use it, as bodies are ill-used, goading its weakness with fiery excitement, or gorging its greed with sickly sentiment, or emasculating it by empty frivolity. all who desire spiritual health must find out what books best promote it in themselves: and sometimes they are found, like wholesome herbs, in very lowly places. one good rule is never to recommend what we have not seen proved in ourselves, or on others. isabella fyvie mayo. the swan-song of september. this fine sonnet is from _lyric leaves_, poems by s. gertrude ford. 2s. 6d. net (postage 2d.). (c.w. daniel, ltd., 3 tudor street, london, e.c.) sing out thy swan-song with full throat, september, from a full heart, with golden notes and clear! no rose will wreathe thee; yet the harebell's here, and still thy crown of heath the hills remember. bright burns thy fire, e'en to its latest ember, the sunset fire that lights thee to thy bier, flaming and failing not, albeit so near dun-robed october waits, and grey november. and though, at sight of thee, a chill change passes through wood and wold, on leaves and flowers and grasses, thy beauty wanes not; thou hast ne'er grown old; death-crowned as cleopatra, lovely lying even to the end; magnificently dying in pomp of purple and in glare of gold. s. gertrude ford. the quest for beauty. if you have travelled at all frequently on certain of the london "tube" railways you may occasionally have noticed, facing you in the carriage, a small framed poster which for beauty and imaginative power has, i should think, never been surpassed in advertising art. if the first sight of it did not make you catch your breath you will not, i am afraid, be interested in this article. the poster represents a rich landscape, in which noble tree-forms show sombre against a tumultuous sky--the latter an architectural mass of pale cloud, spanned by a vivid rainbow. across the lower part of the picture is a scroll, on which are written, in musical notation, two bars from chopin's twentieth prelude. at the top are the words, _studies in harmony_: it is an advertisement of somebody & co.'s wall-papers. in both colour and design this poster is very beautiful. it would be scarcely less so without the rainbow; but "the dazzling prism of the sky" not only intensifies the subtle harmony of colour throughout the picture: it turns the poster into a symbol. and the artist might well have stopped there; only, you see, he had an inspiration. when he wrote across the picture those eight descending chords from the immortal _largo_ he made of the poster--a poem. i do not know anything about the artist who conceived this advertisement of wall-papers. i do not even know his name. but i believe him to be the herald of an invasion. the invasion of life by beauty. do you think it a degradation of art that it should be enlisted by the makers of wall-papers? are there not too many ugly and discordant posters? do you consider trade and manufacture so sordid that they are beneath the ministrations of beauty? it doesn't matter a new penny whether you answer such questions with a nod or a no: the invasion has begun. it is irresistible. beauty is stooping--stooping to conquer. your ardent social reformer is too often obsessed with one idea. across his mental firmament he sees only one blazing word: injustice. and, fine fellow though he often is, he is inclined to be impatient with any talk of art or beauty. "how can beauty grow in these vile cities?" he cries. "what is the use of your music, your statuary, your fine pictures, your poetry, to the starving and the oppressed?" and he does not see that his passionate desire for justice is at root the quest for beauty, for fullness and harmony of life. his stormy sky shows no rainbow: yet it is there. and so is the stately music, the transmutation of colour into sound. and if his eyes could be opened to one and his ears to the other, there would be more power to his elbow. for beauty is inspiration and courage- "my heart leaps up when i behold a rainbow in the sky...." and there is more than that in it. the cultivation of a sense of beauty, of harmony, makes reformers less harsh in their judgments, broadens their sympathies and helps to save them from becoming mere doctrinaires. if you have any love for the beautiful you simply cannot be happy about most utopias, though they be justice itself in civic form; and, when our "scientific" fabian has demonstrated to you how to organise the national life in all its parts into one vast smoothly working state mechanism you will shudder, and then laugh. and then, without any rudeness, you will say: "hang mechanism and a minimum wage! live men and women want living crafts, liberty and a maximum beauty!" and really, i am coming to see that there are a great many health-culture enthusiasts (not to mention food reformers) who see no rainbow in the sky and hear no music in the wind; and even if they did, ten to one they would see no connection between the two. i verily believe there are some poor souls who have studied food questions so closely that they cannot see the sun for proteid nor the sea for salts. in all meekness, and knowing the frailty of the human mind (i have written dozens of articles on diet!), i would prescribe for them a course of artistic wall-paper advertisements, combined with the letters of robert louis stevenson. he, poor fellow, had to battle against disease all his short life; but he managed to end one of his letters something like this (i quote from memory): "_sursum corda_! heave ahead! art and blue heaven! april and god's larks! a stately music.... enter god." a somewhat ecstatic utterance. a trifle too exclamatory. perhaps. you and i don't end our letters like that. (or do you?) more likely we say something about the weather down here being miserably cold (or damp, or dull, or changeable, or hot) and brave out the lie with "yours truly." but o for one little spark from the fire that shone in the soul of r.l.s. better to die young with a broken heart, if it were a heart as brave and gay as his, than beat methuselah by means of a mincing, calculating, cold-blooded attention to irritating self-made little rules. oh yes, i know well the value of little rules. and i know also that nature offers us only two alternatives--obedience or death (either sudden or slow). but then nature is something more than mistress and lawgiver. she is beauty. and in that aspect, as in all other aspects, nature is unescapable. we turn our backs on her only to find her awaiting us at the next turn in the road. looking at the matter all round, i don't think we can come to any other conclusion than that nature (or whatever you like to call it, her or him) is aiming at beauty all the time. so that we who are literally, if not figuratively, the children of nature, had best do likewise. some mystic or other has said that man's search for god is god's search for man. if he was right--and i think he was--it follows that man's quest for beauty is beauty invading life; and that the only healthy life worth the having is that which begins with "lift up your hearts!" and issues in "a stately music. enter god." edgar j. saxon. * * * * * _semper fidelis._ do two things worth doing, every day. be scrupulously polite and kind, rather than witty or entertaining. cherish cleanliness, sobriety, frugality and contentment. cultivate sweetness of disposition and tranquillity of mind. think before speaking, and so reduce your causes of regret. seek peace and be peaceable for _lis litem generat_. begin at home, let home always find you faithfully on duty. care carefully for those whom providence has entrusted to your care. and the reward of the faithful will abundantly yours, and your heaven will go with you wherever you go. "a.r." more holiday aphorisms. two's company, three's fun. * * * * * levity is the bane of wit. * * * * * braggers mustn't be losers. * * * * * never put on to-day what you can't put on to-morrow. * * * * * it's an ill mind that finds no one any good. * * * * * it's no use crying over spilt milk: you're better without it. * * * * * look before you sleep. * * * * * never put an excursion ticket in the mouth. * * * * * long hair never made true poets. * * * * * obesity always carries weight. * * * * * look after your manners and your friends will look after themselves. * * * * * cranks of a feather fight together. * * * * * all is not toil that blisters. * * * * * _to sea anglers_: a live catch is no better than a dead fish. * * * * * better a place in the sun than a plaice on a hook. peter piper. healthy homemaking. xxi. hired help (_continued_). what is the homemaker of limited means, who must have some help, to do under present conditions? well, meantime, there is only the young "general" for her, either the "daily girl" or one who "lives in." of the two i prefer the "daily girl," when she can be obtained. and the younger she can be obtained, other things equal, the better. she will have fewer bad habits to overcome. some housewives object to the daily girl on the score that she may bring dirt or infection from her home, and also because she can seldom arrive early enough to help get breakfast. but a little management overnight can reduce the labour of breakfast getting to a minimum, and if the "outings" of the girl who lives in are as frequent as they ought to be the risk of her carrying infection, etc., will always apply. the "daily girl" has definitely fixed hours of work and the same chance of enjoying a measure of home life, of keeping her friends and individual interests, as the typist or factory worker whose lot the domestic servant so often envies; while her employers are not faced with the alternatives of condemning a young fellow-creature to a solitary existence or forcing an unreal companionship which is equally irksome on both sides. it is true that the wages of the "daily girl" do not equal, in actual money, those of the factory worker, neither does she obtain the saturday half-holiday or the whole of sunday free. but to set against this she receives her entire board and, with a kindly mistress, is not tied down to staying her full time on days when she is "forward" with her work. the life of the young "daily girl," if her employer is a conscientious woman, need not be hard nor unpleasant; very little harder and no more unpleasant than the lot of the young "lady" who is paying from l60 to l80 per annum to learn cookery, laundry and housework at a school of domestic economy. properly conducted, the relations between employer and employee, "mistress" and "servant," are those of mutual aid. such relations _may_ be, and too often _are_, those of an inefficient little drudge for a "mistress" almost equally ignorant and inefficient. but when the employer is an intelligent woman with a sense of justice (i prefer a sense of justice to sentimental theories about sisterhood--people do not always treat their sisters justly) the weekly money payment and food will be but a small part of the girl's wage. in addition she will receive a training that will equip her for the "higher" branches of domestic service, or for homemaking on her own account. not every girl has the sense to appreciate this when she gets it, nor the intelligence to profit by it; while it is certainly rather trying to the employer when the girl is "all agog" to "better herself" as soon as she has gained a bare smattering of how to do certain things properly. but all this is "the fortune of war." some girls never cease to be grateful to their first teachers and leave them reluctantly, while other girls never realise that they have anything to be grateful for. when gratitude and affection come they are pleasant to receive. but the motive power of the really conscientious woman is not the expectation of gratitude or affection. a word to the unconventional homemaker. the young "general" is a bird of passage. age and experience bring with them the necessity of earning more, and if her first employer cannot periodically raise the girl's wages the latter must in time seek better paid employment, probably with a mistress who is not unconventional. it is unkind, therefore, to refrain from teaching the girl how she will be expected to do things in the ordinary conventional house. i do not mean that the employer ought to slavishly run her home on conventional lines for the instruction of her "help." but it is kinder, for instance, to help a girl regard a cap and apron with good-humoured indifference, or as on a par with a nurse's uniform, rather than as "a badge of servitude." it is kinder, too, to show her that it is not only "servants" who are expected to address their employers as "sir" and "ma'am," but that well-mannered young people in all conditions of life can be found who use this form of address to persons older than themselves. i do not suggest for one moment that any attempt should be made to delude a girl into the belief that she will not be expected, in conventional households, to behave with equal deference to persons younger than herself. such deception would be unpardonable. but it is anything but kind to allow a young girl to drift into careless and familiar habits of speech bound to lead to dismissal for "impudence" in her next "place." there is a type of person, for example, who seems to believe that, in order to show that he is "as good as anybody else," it is necessary to be rude and familiar. but good manners are not necessarily associated with servility. and it is no kindness to help to unfit a girl for getting her living in the world as it is. it may seem that, in this article, i am more concerned for the "hired help" than the homemaker for whom i am ostensibly writing. but the points i have touched on are just those about which i know many thoughtful women are puzzled. i cannot solve their individual problems for them, of course, i can only just barely indicate some of the thoughts that have come to me on a subject that is so intimately bound up with the whole of our present unsatisfactory social and economic conditions that it cannot be adequately discussed in a little tract upon domestic economy. florence daniel. the care of cupboards. there are three methods in general use of caring for cupboards. some housewives prefer their cupboard shelves of bare wood, to be well scrubbed with soap and water at the periodical "turn-out." others cover all shelves with white american cloth, which only needs wiping over with a wet house-flannel; while still others prefer to dispense with the necessity for wetting the shelves and line them with white kitchen paper, or even clean newspaper, which is periodically renewed. of the three methods i prefer the last, with the addition of a good scrubbing at the spring clean. the weekly or fortnightly scrubbing is apt to result in permanently damp cupboards, unless they can be left empty to dry for a longer time than is usually convenient. the use of american cloth is perhaps the easiest, most labour-saving method, but the cloth soon gets superficially marked and worn long before its real usefulness is impaired, so that the cupboard shelves never look quite so neat as after scrubbing or relining with white paper. the larder should be thoroughly "turned out" once a week. once a fortnight is enough for the store-cupboard and for china cupboards in daily use. while cupboards in which superfluous china and other non-perishable goods are stored, and that are seldom opened, need not be touched oftener than once or twice a year. in very small houses one cupboard often must house both china and groceries, thus combining the offices of storeroom and china cupboard. the larder, strictly speaking, is for the food consumed daily. but when larder and store-cupboard have to be combined, the groceries may be packed away on the upper shelves, which can be tidied once a fortnight; but the shelves doing duty for the larder proper should never be left for longer than a week. nothing betrays the careless housewife like an ill-smelling larder. all food should be examined daily and kept well covered. hot food should be allowed to cool before storing in the larder. in the summer time special precautions must be taken against flies, all receptacles for food which are minus well-fitting lids being covered with wire-gauze covers or clean butter muslin. if the shelves are lined with paper, care should be taken at the weekly change to examine the wood for stains caused by spilt food that has penetrated through the paper. these should not be just left and covered over, but well washed off. with ordinary carefulness, however, they need not occur. f.d. book reviews. _the new suggestion treatment._ by j. stenson hooker, m.d. cloth 1s. net (postage 1+1/2d.) c.w. daniel, ltd., 3 tudor street, e.c. this book is a striking example of the new synthetic movement in the medical profession. it is an exposition for the general reader of certain basic principles of mental treatment and of the author's methods of applying these; it is also, in reality, an appeal to doctors generally to put aside prejudice and examine the immense potentialities of rational "suggestion" healing methods. after examining the main features and disadvantages of mere hypnotic treatment and passing under review present-day "mental science," the author explains wherein his method of mental treatment both avoids the dangers of hypnotism and reinforces ordinary self-suggestion. throughout there is the frank recognition that few forms of dis-ease are curable by one means alone; on the other hand, it is contended that most disorders, both mental and physical, are remarkably amenable to a rightly directed course of the new suggestion treatment, supplemented by other natural means. the narrowness of view that too often characterises the specialist is entirely absent from this book. it is throughout thoroughly broad, refreshingly sensible and profoundly convincing. _the cottage farm month by month_ (illustrated with original photographs). by f.e. green. cloth, 1s. net (postage 2d.). c.w. daniel, ltd., 3 tudor street, london, e.c. here is a book of immediate social interest, of great practical value, and of uncommon literary quality. in the course of twelve chapters, bearing the titles of the months of the year, it reveals a welding together of two things which in many minds have unfortunately become divorced: the practical problems and arduous labour which no tiller of the soil can escape and--the keen delight of a poetical temperament in the ever-changing, yet annually renewed, beauties of earth and sky and running water. it escapes the dry technicalities of the agricultural text-book, while at the same time conveying innumerable valuable hints on practically every branch of "small farming"--advice which springs from the author's thorough knowledge based on long and often hard experience. on the other hand, while entirely free from that all too common defect of "nature-books"--hot-house enthusiasm--it will delight the most incurable townsman (providing his sense of beauty is not withered) by its joyous yet restrained pictures of open-air things. _simple rules of health._ by philip oyler, m.a. (2nd ed.). 3d. net. post free from the author, morshin school, headley, hants. an admirable epitome of what might be called "advanced health culture without crankiness." the author is an ardent advocate of simplicity in all things and--practises what he preaches. moreover, he is one of those who sees health from all points of view: he is as much concerned with what the english bible calls "a right spirit" as with a fit body and a responsive mind. it is a little book deserving of a wide circulation. correspondence. a remedy for sleeplessness. to the editors sirs, would you care to publish the following experience of a cure for sleeplessness:- i had no difficulty in going to sleep, but usually awoke again at about two a.m. with palpitation, and it often took me two or three hours to go to sleep again. i cured myself in the following way: i left off supper and reduced my tea meal by half, and the result was continuous sleep; the symptoms, however, began to come back again after a time, so i gradually cut the tea meal right away, and half of the midday meal as well. the cure was then permanent and after a time i found that i could resume the tea meal again. at the present time i am having a tea meal of fruit only. in addition i should advise those who suffer from this complaint to keep cheerful, and to avoid excessive physical or mental fatigue and worry. yours faithfully, "a six months' reader." is pure lime juice obtainable? the editors have received the following letter from messrs rowntree & co., ltd.:- "we note in your issue of july 1913 under the heading of 'lemon or orange squash' a note to the effect that bottled lemon squashes and lime cordials 'are not pure in the strict sense of the term, since they are bound to contain 10 per cent. alcoholic pure spirit by government regulations.' we should be glad to know what is your authority for this statement. possibly it is a misprint, because obviously the government does not require anything of the kind. our own lemon squash and lime juice cordial are entirely free from any form of preservative, including alcohol. they are made up from pure lemon juice and lime juice respectively, with sugar, and contain no foreign ingredient." the statement complained of was based on an article entitled "fortified lime juice" which appeared in _the chemist and druggist_, 13th may 1911 (page 51). on again referring to this article we find that the government regulation applies only to _exported_ lime juice. we regret having made this error, and are genuinely glad to have messrs rowntree's assurance that their own "lime juice cordial" and "lemon squash" are "entirely free from any form of preservative, including alcohol." nevertheless, we think our suspicions regarding the presence of preservatives in such articles are justifiable in view of the following authoritative statements made by _the chemist and druggist_ in the article referred to:- "the british revenue authorities have drawn the line a little tighter in the discharge of their responsibility respecting the soundness of lime-juice intended for exportation or for use on board ship. the new rule henceforth is to grant a 'pass' certificate for unfortified lime-juice to last for fourteen days only, at the end of which time another certificate must be obtained. as this new regulation affects lime-juice in its natural condition before rum or any other spirit is added to it, only lime-juice manufacturers or importers are concerned in the matter.... _with such rapidly deteriorating liquid as lime or lemon juice the addition of the preservative spirit is a necessity, hence the sooner it is fortified the better._ the revenue authorities permit duty-free spirit to be used for this purpose, but in order that lime-juice manufacturers shall have this advantage of not paying duty on the spirit used the revenue authorities insist on approval of the juice and its subsequent fortification in bond under supervision of the crown.... in reference to the proportion of spirit used, previously the regulation was expressed in a permissive sense, but now the emphatic "must" is used. in the last government laboratory report it was stated that 396 samples were examined, most of which were lime-juice, representing nearly 50,000 gallons. even the fortified article is re-tested if more than three months old in cask or two years old in bottle, and this re-testing resulted last year in a condemnation of several hundred gallons owing to deterioration during storage. this juice is principally for use in the mercantile marine to combat scurvy." from which it would appear that the use of _some_ kind of preservative is essential with such a rapidly deteriorating liquid as lime or lemon juice; and if not alcohol, there are innumerable chemical preservatives available. we wish we could rely on receiving assurances from other "lime juice" importers and manufacturers similar to that we have received from messrs rowntree. * * * * * _to people with strong convictions:_ a holiday is the best of all opportunities for appreciating the opposite point of view to our own: this is why everyone needs a day's holiday once a week. health queries. _under this heading our contributor, dr valentine knaggs, deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest to health seekers and others._ _in all queries relating to health difficulties it is essential that full details of the correspondent's customary diet should be clearly given._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on _one side only of the paper_, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] faulty food combinations. h.e.h. writes.--i should like your opinion of the statement of the late mr a. broadbent, that fruit when taken with starchy food by dyspeptics delays digestion, and that the digestion of starchy foods and vegetables occupied only one-third of the time needed for the digestion of starch with fruit. i have lived on a strict vegetarian diet and observed the laws of hygiene for two and a half years, to rid myself of dyspepsia, with great success, having increased my weight by thirty-six pounds; for the last nine months of this time i have lived on a largely "unfired" diet, but am still troubled with acid risings and flatulence and cannot account for it. will you kindly enlighten me on the subject? i am a carpenter by trade and get eight hours in the open air every day. i take a tumbler of distilled water hot with the juice of one orange at 6 a.m., breakfast at 7.30 a.m., dinner at 12 noon and tea at 6 p.m., all consisting of wallace unfermented bread and biscuits, various fruits (mostly apples, bananas and tomatoes) and nuts, about 1/2oz. at a meal; also a little cheese, about 1 oz. at a meal. the late mr a. broadbent was quite right, in my opinion, when he asserted that fruit taken with starchy foods delayed digestion. to reap the true benefit from fruit it must be taken alone. the dominant element in fruit is oxygen and the feature of oxygen is its power to start the process of oxidation in decomposing and disintegrating substances. it follows that when the stomach is filled with fermenting food-stuffs, or the tissues are clogged with the products derived from such, the oxidising action of fruit will be correspondingly intense. the naturist who applies the schroth cure for the purpose of curing chronic diseases uses fruit as his chief eliminating agent. the reader will remember that the peasant healer, schroth, made his patients take dry stale rolls alone for three whole days, with nothing whatever to drink, and on the fourth day, he gave them a full bottle of white wine, which then caused intense oxidation, with marked elimination of poisons. his methods, if successful, were drastic and weakening, and so the latter-day exponents of schrothism have modified this and give their patients zweiback or twice-baked bread instead of rolls, and on the third or fourth day make the patient partake freely of fresh fruit. this process of alternate dry days and fluid days is continued for some weeks until the cure is complete. i have merely referred to this matter to show the part played by fruit in the body. to a healthy person fruit is in truth a splendid regenerating food, but it should, whenever possible, be eaten alone. to a dyspeptic, fruit is often equally good, if _taken by itself_. the case of vegetables is different, and i hold with broadbent that salad or properly cooked vegetables do go well with cereals, because they contain, not oxygen and oxygen acids, but mineral elements like soda, lime and magnesia, which neutralise the acids and toxins which form in the body as a result of its work. the vegetable is just as active as the fruit as an eliminant, but it works on different lines. cereal foods, if eaten slowly in a dry condition are made alkaline by the saliva, so that the vegetables, which are also naturally alkaline, would harmonise well with cereals if eaten with them. our correspondent should modify his diet as follows, and then, i anticipate, he will cease to be troubled with his acid dyspepsia and flatulence. he should take his fruit alone, and take any of the crisp unsweetened wallace "p.r." biscuits in preference to the unfermented bread, which latter is often difficult to digest:-_on rising._--a tumblerful of hot distilled water. _breakfast_ (at 7.30).--fresh fruit only. _lunch_ (at 12).--1 to 2 oz. of cheese, preferably home-made curd cheese; salad of green leaf vegetables; "p.r." or ixion biscuits with fresh butter, or nut butter. _dinner_ (at 6).--1 to 2 oz. of flaked pine kernels, finely grated raw roots or tomatoes, with pure olive oil; granose biscuits, or shredded wheat biscuits, and fresh butter. _at bedtime._--cupful of dandelion coffee or hot distilled water. neuritis. e.m.a. writes.--at the age of five years i had an attack of rheumatic fever through taking a severe cold, and have been troubled more or less with pains since that time, which i feel sure are caused through rheumatism of the nerves. i am now fifty-eight years of age and have been a vegetarian for six years. my diet is:--8 a.m., cup of sanum tonic tea; 9 a.m., cup of dried milk; 10 a.m., half of an apple and a little crust of wholemeal bread; 1 p.m. conservatively cooked vegetable, using "emprote" for sauce; 4 p.m., cup of dried milk; 6 p.m., a little green salad with st ivel lactic cheese (size of one large walnut); 9 p.m., cup of dried milk. do you think dried milk is harmful to me? i should miss it very much were i to leave it off. i must mention how great a help _the healthy life_ magazine is to me in many ways. neuritis is a painful and wearying form of nerve trouble which mostly affects the arms and legs. it can, however, originate in any other part of the body through the spinal nerve centres. it may sometimes be due to injury, but the usual cause is some form of thickening or misplacement of the spinal structures, which induces pressure upon the nerves as they emerge through the apertures between the spinal bones. a careful examination of the back will show the site, and often the nature, of the thickening or encumbrance which is present. in our correspondent's case the thickening process doubtless occurred as an after effect of the attack of rheumatic fever. the best remedy is suitable osteopathic treatment for the spine, supplemented by _either very_ hot or _quite_ cold spinal sitz baths, by acetic acid skin treatment, or by any other means which will have the effect of disencumbering the spine. by means of our treatment we free the painful nerves from harmful pressure and promote an increased blood circulation in the parts affected. in this way the cause of the disorder is removed. a diet along the following lines would be better than the present one:-8 a.m.--tumblerful of hot distilled water. 9.30.--one raw egg beaten up with cream and vegetable juice or clear vegetable soup made without salt. wholemeal bread with plenty of butter and some celery or watercress. 1.30 p.m.--two conservatively cooked vegetables done without salt, with grated cheese as sauce and a granose biscuit with butter. 4.--tumblerful of hot distilled water only. 6.30.--2 oz. of cottage cheese or cream cheese, salad and granose biscuits, or "p.r." crackers, with butter. 9.30.--a raw egg beaten up with cream and vegetable juice or soup. i think dried milk preparations are inadvisable in such cases as these (especially when taken as beverages, as the "milk sugars" present are very prone to ferment and to hinder the cleansing of the digestive tract), and that the required proteid is best obtained from eggs and curd cheese. fat is very necessary in nervous troubles; hence plenty of cream, fresh butter and cream cheese should be taken; also pure oil with the salad. malt extract. l.f.h. writes.--is malt extract a good thing to take daily with an ordinary non-flesh diet, two teaspoonfuls or so at breakfast? and is the desiccated or dry malt extract to be preferred to the ordinary sticky article? malt extract of good quality, containing an active form of diastase, is a good form of relish to take with meals. the diastase promotes starch digestion and makes a good addition to foods of the cereal order. the thick sticky form is the best because the diastase is then in an active condition. dried malt usually will have this diastase destroyed, hence, although much more convenient to handle, it is not so good dietetically as the sticky original extract. about sugar. c.t. writes.--i have read the article on sugar with considerable interest. i have noted nervous disorders, etc., manifest in cases of excessive consumption of manufactured sugar. i have been an abstainer from cane sugar (all commercial sugars, though _i do not know of any objection to milk, sugar_) for many years, regarding it as an unnatural excitant and stimulant as well as being inimical to digestion. as a physiologist i have taken immense interest in longevity, feeling that an active life past the age of ninety-five or a hundred, and upwards, carries with it, in evidence of right living, the force of demonstration, and more conclusively, in direct ratio to the advance of years. i firmly believe that all anomalies will ultimately admit of resolution. in this connection i could mention a number of strange and paradoxical cases for which, as yet, i have obtained no solution. i know of centenarians who began using "sugar" freely late in life. in one case, when past eighty, a new set of teeth (not odd "supernumeraries") appeared all round! how is it, again, that the natives of the west indies, when living on sugar (in its crude state, i suppose) have excellent teeth and perfect health? is not raw sugar better the less manufactured it is? on the other side, captain diamond, at 114, attributes his health in great measure to abstinence from sugar. most of these queries are answered in the completed book[10] published this year. the point about "milk sugar" not being injurious he will find answered on page 72. [10] _the truth about sugar_, 1s. net. (c.w. daniel, ltd.) "milk sugars" taken to excess with a mixed diet, or in the form of milk as a beverage, break down into lactic, butyric and other destructive acids under the influence of intestinal germs and thus do harm to the body. the natives of the west indies (page 39) take the sugar cane in its natural state as a living vegetable food--a very different thing from the isolated and chemicalised sugar on our tables at home. moreover, the chewing required helps digestion. this is very different to the drinking rapidly of sugared beverages, which do not receive this necessary mouth preparation. one is quite prepared to admit that paradoxical cases do occur where sugar seems to agree well even with octogenarians, but they are, in my opinion, the exceptions, and i am constantly coming across cases where the free consumption of table sugars has proved very harmful to both old and young. ulceration of the stomach. a.l.m. writes.--our domestic servant, a girl aged twenty-four, is suffering from ulceration of the stomach and has had periodical attacks for the past six years. she has apparently, until she came to us, eaten and drunk very unwisely. she has been with us seven months and has been fed on a non-flesh diet since she came. for the last four weeks tea, coffee and cocoa have been forbidden, and as little sugar is consumed as possible. she had a very bad attack in august and we had to call in a doctor is we did not like the responsibility. he strongly recommended the hospital and an operation, which would ensure that there would be no repetition of the complaint. she decided to go and was there six weeks. after much experimenting there, inoculating and wondering whether it was tuberculosis, they operated and in due course she came back. we went to the sea for three weeks and shortly after our return the vomiting of blood and pains recommenced. after four days in bed she returned to light dishes, and a fortnight after another slighter attack came on, which in twenty-four hours. she takes hot boiled water five times a day. she suffers also from a horny skin on the palms of her hands, with deep cracks where the natural lines are. these periodically bleed. this skin exists also on her heels and the soles of her feet. before and after, an attack this skin seems to be worse than ever. i mentioned the fact of the recurring attacks since the operation to the doctor and he seemed surprised and said the matter must be constitutional and there was no hope for her. my own opinion is that pure food will put her right eventually, and that these attacks will recur in diminishing force until the poisons are eliminated front the system. her diet is at present as follows:- _on rising._--half-pint of boiled water (hot). _breakfast._--either shredded wheat softened in hot milk or breakfast flakes and cold milk: followed by either bananas or apples. half-pint boiled water (hot). _lunch._--ordinary vegetarian cooked dishes, vegetables conservatively cooked, some fruit. half-pint boiled water (hot). _tea meal._--wholemeal bread (artox flour), usually non-yeast, nut butter. lettuces and radishes when obtainable. half-pint boiled water (hot). _before retiring._--half-pint of boiled water (hot). it has been shown by brandl and other investigators that ulceration of the stomach can always be produced in animals by feeding them with an excess of sugar foods. the same thing applies to human beings, who, if fed with an excess of sweetmeats, sugar, milk or soft mushy cereals, will first contract catarrh of the stomach, which will ultimately deepen into a condition of ulceration. the rationale of the process is this: fermentation and putrefaction of the foods eaten to excess produce in the stomach various acids and toxins. these become absorbed and pass into the liver. then the liver becomes clogged, its flow of blood is obstructed and this naturally retards the flow of food from the stomach. that organ becomes congested and inflamed and, when the lower end, or pylorus, is obstructed, this congested state may easily deepen into ulceration. we also nearly always find a tender spine, showing that the nervous system has equally participated in the conditions produced, and this nervous factor intensifies the trouble by retarding the due working of the digestive functions. what we have to do to cure a case of ulcerated stomach is _to withhold the foods which create fermentation_. then the liver will be allowed time to work off the poisons which are clogging its substance and when this has come about the stomach will slowly return to its normal condition. the diet which our correspondent cites is badly arranged. it is a mistake to give fluid _with_ the meals, and the mushy food at breakfast and the soft food at dinner should be changed to drier and crisper forms of nutriment. the following diet would be a distinct improvement:-_on rising._--half-pint of boiled hot water, sipped slowly; or quarter-pint sanum tonic tea, taken hot. _breakfast._--a shredded wheat biscuit _eaten dry_ and well buttered; a lightly boiled egg and some finely grated raw roots, especially carrots and turnips. in a case of this sort it is best not to mix cereals with fruits. an alternative breakfast would consist of _fruit alone_ such as two apples, finely grated at first, or two bananas mashed and mixed with pure olive oil and sprinkled with flaked nuts but care must be taken that the pulped banana is well chewed. _lunch._--grated cheese, or cream cheese, with some finely chopped salad, or grated raw roots, or conservatively cooked vegetables (preferably roots or onions baked fairly dry by the casserole method) can be taken at this repast. follow with a slice or two of cold ordinary toast or rusks with butter. _tea meal._--half-pint of hot boiled water with a little lemon or orange juice added to it for flavouring. _supper_ (about 6.30).--stale standard bread with butter and curd cheese or an egg. the non-yeast bread should be avoided as in the weak state of the stomach it will not be properly digested; besides, the bran may irritate the lining in the present condition of the stomach. as soon as the stomach has regained its power of digesting food, and the ulcers have healed, then fine wholemeal biscuits of the wallace or ixion kind can be taken, but the unfermented bread had better be avoided. _at bedtime._--a half-pint of hot water. going to extremes in the unfired diet. w.o.c. writes.--as a bachelor who (not believing in, and therefore doing without domestic help) is anxious to reduce time spent on cooking to a minimum, i shall be glad if dr knaggs will tell me whether the use of the oven, pan and kettle are necessary to healthy diet. for instance (1) would a diet of bread and butter, biscuits, cheese, fruit (fresh and dried), ordinary cold water and cold milk, be as healthy as a diet of hot vegetables, puddings, cocoashell, etc.? (2) are cooked lentils, butter-beans, macaroni, etc., more beneficial taken hot than after they have cooled? (3) could uncooked vegetables _of sufficient nutriment_ be substituted for these? i shall be glad if it is quite safe to live entirely on raw foods, whether fresh or "prepared." the use of the oven, pan and kettle is not essential to a healthy diet, but few people in this changeable, and often cold, depressing climate are willing to forgo their occasional use. one cannot get hot water for a drink without a kettle or a small saucepan and a gas ring, and hot water is often a very comforting and useful drink, especially where an effort is being made to break off the tea and coffee habit. a diet of bread and butter, biscuits, cheese, fresh and dried fruits is excellent, provided our correspondent also includes grated raw roots and salads as the medicinal part of the regimen, and keeps the fresh fruit to itself as one meal of the day. cold water or cold milk could also be taken in the place of hot water or hot milk, although i deprecate the use of milk as a beverage unless a person is willing to live entirely on milk like a baby does. the hot vegetables are uncalled for, provided the raw vegetables are substituted for them. the puddings can well be discarded. cocoashell beverages are useful in very many cases. beans or lentils can be eaten sparingly in a raw state if first soaked, then flaked in a dana machine, and afterwards flavoured with herbs or parsley. i certainly think that, if they _are_ to be cooked, the taste is better if eaten hot; but there is no reason why cold cooked lentils should not be eaten any more than is the case with an other form of cooked food. uncooked vegetables will not take the place of lentils, because they are of a different order of food-stuff. the uncooked vegetable would go well with the lentils as neutralising agents of the acids into which all nitrogenous foods break down in the body. most people will find that nuts, cheese and eggs are better sources of proteid than lentils or other "pulse foods." h. valentine knaggs. the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v october no. 27. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. just as there is a pride that apes humility, so there is an egotism that apes selfishness, a cowardice that apes stoicism and an indolence that apes effort. this is especially apparent in matters pertaining to health. how often, on the plea of not causing worry or expense to others, does a man or woman not put off taking necessary rest, or consulting a doctor, until a slight ailment that once would have yielded to treatment becomes an irreparable injury. such conduct is often admired as unselfish, but for unselfishness and stoicism a psychologist would read fear, indolence and egotism. fear of being thought hypochondriacal and fear of facing facts; shrinking from the exertion involved in the effort to become healthy and from the pain involved in witnessing the possible distress and anxiety of friends should the complaint prove serious--regardless of the fact that its neglect and resultant incurability would cause infinitely more distress; above all, that mental egotism which breeds in its victim an unreadiness to acknowledge that he does not _know_ what may be wrong and to take prompt steps to remedy his ignorance. it is not fair, of course, to attach too much blame to the patient. such faults as those cited above are in themselves symptoms of nervous disease. body and mind act and react upon one another. nevertheless, the practice of the virtues loses its meaning when there is no pull in the opposite direction.--[eds.] imagination in insurance. _regular readers will recognise in this article a continuation of the series previously entitled "healthy brains." the author of "the children all day long" is an intimate disciple of one of the greatest living psychologists, and she has a message of the first importance to all who realise that true health depends as much on poise of mind as on physical fitness._ it is an unpleasant subject, but have you ever faced the fact that your widow might be left in poverty? we all know the phrases that come so glibly from the lips of the insurance agent. perhaps the very fact that it pays companies to spend thousands a year on the salaries of agents, and other thousands on broadcast eye-catching advertisements, shows that there are many things which our imagination only accepts "against the grain." fire, storm, loss by theft or burglary, sickness, disablement and death we do not, by choice, dwell on these things in thought. now some people are inclined to pet this impulse of turning away. "do not think dark thoughts," they tell us, "the best insurance is unconsciousness, insouciance, denial. misfortune will pass you by if you do not look for it." perhaps there is something to be said for this method when it comes with absolute spontaneity from the innermost nature. but if for the radiant apprehension of beauty and health we substitute an effort to cling to the picture of good when our very bodies and nerves are warning us with suggestions of evil, we run grave risks. by adopting someone else's sense of freedom from danger and repressing our own conviction that for us a certain danger, more or less remote, exists, we are putting great pressure upon ourselves. at times of ill-health or accidental worry, a sleepless night may bring us an agonising succession of imaginative pictures, those very pictures which we have attempted to banish from our daily life. if we have still greater power of repression these grim images, forbidden throughout every moment of waking life, may reappear in dreams. (of the still more serious dangers of repression and of its relation to various forms of insanity, this is hardly the place to speak.[11] it ought not to be necessary to appeal to alarming instances in order to make us attend to a suggested warning.) [11] see bernard hart's illuminating treatment of the whole subject in _the psychology of insanity_, cambridge manuals of science. now if we decide to regard all fear as a suggestion of precaution, the emotional part of it to be laid aside as soon as it has fulfilled its function of arousing interest and directing action, it is easy to see the psychological justification for insurance. of course pecuniary insurance is but one instance of such sequences of action, though it happens to be a rather obvious one. in a different field, most of us know the delightful feeling of relief experienced after consulting a doctor about some symptom that has perhaps been troubling us for a long time. "may i safely do this? ought i to refrain from that?" and such perpetually recurring irritations to the attention are replaced by the knowledge that it is now the doctor's business to decide whether this or that is "serious," and that as long as we carry out his orders we may lay aside all worry about the matter. so in the case of fire insurance, what we are really buying with our annual premium is freedom from haunting questions as to the loss that would ensue if our house or shop or office were burnt down or damaged. whenever the thought comes, it may, as far as the money loss is concerned, be dismissed. we see then that instead of keeping the suggestion of such misfortunes before us, as some people might allege, the act of insurance substitutes for vague and recurrent fears a formal and periodical recognition of possibilities, a recognition, too, that contains within itself a precaution against some of the results of the misfortune should it ever occur. what we buy, at the cost of a fixed number of pounds or shillings of money and a few minutes of time once a year, is the right to put the dangers out of our consciousness altogether and yet leave no residuum of repressed fear to split up our personality or give us indigestion. if we choose, for some reason or other, to let our imagination dwell on the objective side of the possibility we have insured against, we shall find a pleasure in thinking of what can be done by many people working together. if we need help to meet some misfortune, it is ours as a right, not doled out to us through others' pity. and every year that we have made no claim we have the delight of knowing that we are helping those who need. the art of working together is yet in its infancy. but if even the present standard of method devised for money insurance were to be adopted in the deeper matters which we so often allow to trouble us, what an advance in mental development we should have made and what new possibilities of safe action would be opened up! e.m. cobham. * * * * * every youth should learn to do something finely and thoroughly with his hands.--_ruskin._ the scientific basis of vegetalism. this article has been translated from the french of prof. h. labbe, the head of the _laboratoire a la faculte de medecine_, in paris. it reflects a rather characteristic aloofness to any considerations other than scientific or economic. but it will well repay careful study.--[eds.] i vegetarianism has been the object of many attacks, and has also been warmly defended. most of its adepts have sought to give the value of a dogma to its practice. for quite a number of people "vegetarianism" is a kind of religion, requiring of its votaries a sort of baptism, and the sacrifice of many pleasures. it is this which justifies the infatuation of some, and the systematic disparagement of others. "vegetalism"[12] cannot pretend to play a similar part, or to lend itself to ambiguity. to be a "vegetalist" is to choose in the vegetable kingdom, with a justified preference, foods susceptible of filling the energy-producing needs, and the needs of the reparation of the human system. "vegetalism" is a chapter of dietetic physiology which must utilise the precise methods and recent discoveries of the science of nutrition. [12] the word "vegetarianism" implies a judgment of the qualities which such a diet entails. this word is derived, in fact, from the latin adjective "vegetus" (strong). the word "vegetalism," which we oppose to the preceding one, admits only the establishing of a fact, that of the choice--exclusive or preferred--of the nutritious matters in the vegetable kingdom. ii before putting "vegetalism" into practice the first point is to know whether the foods of "vegetal" origin contain, and are susceptible of producing regularly, the divers nutritive principles indispensable to the organisation of an alimentary diet. the principles are the following:--proteid or albuminoid substances; hydrocarbonated and sweet substances fatty substances; mineral matters, alkalis, lime, magnesia, phosphates and chlorides, etc. in most compound foods, no matter of what origin, mineral materials almost always exist in sufficient quantities. the most important amongst them, at all events, are found combined in liberal, even superabundant, portions in dishes of vegetal origin. the analysis of the ashes of our most common table vegetables fixes us immediately to this subject: leguminous plants supply from about three to six per cent. of ashes, rich in alkalis, lime and phosphates. potatoes, green vegetables and fruit as a whole absorbing considerable quantities of mineral elements. these are the elements of a nature to allow a precise reply to this question which we propose to expound briefly. iii in order to examine a food thoroughly, for the purpose of ascertaining if it can be advantageously introduced for consumption, whether albumins, fats, hydrate of carbon, or sugar, etc., or again an association of these principles in a composite article of food are in question, divers researches must be carried out before giving a final judgment. if a more or less complex article of food is in question, before considering it as a good nutriment, its centesimal composition, or its immediate composition, should be established; its theoretic calorific power should be known, and it should be measured if this has not yet been done. besides the calorific yield thus estimated _in vitro_, the real utilisation in the human organism of articles of food alone or mixed with other foods should be determined, taking simultaneously into account their effects, whether tonic, stimulating or depressing. from a different point of view it is no longer allowable to neglect before judging whether such and such a nutritive substance is advantageous, the valuation of what we have called, with prof. landouzy, the economic yield--that is to say, the price of the energy, provided by the unity of weight of the article of food. it is only in reviewing "vegetal" substances, taking these divers titles into consideration, that we shall be justified in attributing to the practice of "vegetalism," integral or mitigated, its definite value. iv only a few years ago, when schutzenberger, emulator and forerunner of fischer, armand gautier, kossel, first disjointed the albuminoid molecule, to examine one by one its divers parts, the composition of the various albumins was very little known. whether, therefore, albumins of the blood, or those of meat or eggs, were in question, these bodies were hardly ever separated, except through physical circumstances, amongst others by constant quantities of different coagulation. as to the centesimal formula and the intimate structure of the different protoid substances, they could be considered as closely brought together. from this fact, the physiological problem of the utilisation of albumin was simpler. no matter which article of food contained this albumin, its nutritive power by unity of weight remained the same. at the present time the number of albumins is no longer limited. it is not now physical characteristics founded difficult separations which arbitrarily distinguish those bodies from each other. the individuality of each of the albumins results from its formula of deterioration, under the influence of digestive ferments, or of chemical bodies acting in a similar way, as do mineral acids and alkalis. for want of constituary formula this methodical deterioration makes known the number of molecules (acids or other bodies) which are responsible for the structure of each albumin. these deleterious formula of proteid matter are not less suggestive than composition ones. they reveal notable differences between "vegetal" and animal albumins. to be sure, animal albumins (beef, veal, mutton, pork, etc.) which we are offered in an alimentary flesh diet, resemble more nearly the structure of our own bodily albumins than do the gluten of bread or the albumin of vegetables. this fact seems actually the best support of the theory which affirms the superiority of the flesh over the vegetable diet. such a remark is therefore well worth discussing by showing that the consequences which can be deduced from it are paradoxical, and rest upon hypothesis which, not very acceptable in theory, are hardly verified in practice. admitting that albumin plays in alimentary diet only the plastic part of reconstruction of used-up corporal matter, it might be advantageous to ingest but one albumin the composition of which is very similar to our own. by virtue of the law of least effort such a one in equal weights ought to be of more service than a foreign albumin, as it requires less organic work. for man, albumin of animal origin ought to be more profitable in equal weight than vegetable albumin. in the organism, indeed, albumin passes through a double labour. after the intestinal deterioration, followed by a passage through the digestive mucus membrane, a re-welding of the liberated acids takes place, with a formation of new albumin. if, therefore, alimentary albumin's mission is, not to be definitely burnt up in the organism, but to help in the plastication of the individual, the more its initial formula approaches the definite one to which it must attain, the more profitable it becomes, giving out less useless fragments and waste. animal albumin approaching more nearly to human albumin, is also the one whose introduction into the daily alimentary diet is most rational. this statement seems to be the defeat of vegetal albumin. but let there be no mistake. it consecrates at the same time the triumph of anthropophagy, for there could not be for man a more profitable albumin than his own, or that of his fellow-man! this should make us pause and reflect, before allowing this deduction to be accepted. besides, these arguments _ad hominem_ do not appear to us necessary for repelling such an interpretation of facts. modern works have shown us that the greater proportion of ingested albumin played, in fact, a calorific, and not a plastic, part. under these conditions one is justified in doubting whether there takes place with regard to the total albumins ingested a work of reconstruction thus complicated in the organism, after their first deterioration. evidently one may come to believe that this complicated labour applies only to the more or less feeble portion of albumin really integrated. practically speaking, the best criterion for judging the utilisation of an ingested albumin lies in the persistence of the corporal weight, allied to the ascertained fact of a stable equilibrium in the total azotized balance-sheet which is provided by the comparison of the "ingesta" with the "excreta." from this point of view there exists the closest similitude between the albumins of animal and those of vegetable origin; both, in fact, are capable of assuring good health and corporal and cellular equilibrium. however, the digestibility of vegetable albumins seems to remain slightly inferior to that of animal albumins. 97 per cent. of the animal fibrine given in a meal are digested, where 88 to 90 per cent. only of vegetable albumins are absorbed and utilised. it is a small difference, but not one to be overlooked. we must say, however, that the method one employs in determining these digestibilities takes from them a part of their value, and renders difficult the comparison of results obtained. sensibly pure albumins are too often compared in an artificial diet. one deviates thus from the conditions of practical physiology. in fact, in ordinary meals, all varieties of foods are mixed together, acting and reacting upon each other, reciprocally modifying their digestibility. if one conforms to this way of acting towards alimentary albumins, the results change sensibly. in the presence of an excess of starch, under the shape of bread, for example, vegetable albumin seems to be absorbed in about the same proportions as animal albumin. if, in a flesh diet, animal albumins are always consumed nearly pure (lean meat containing hardly anything but albumin, besides a little fat, and an inferior quantity of glycogen) vegetable albumin is always, on the contrary, mixed with a number of other substances. this is doubtless one of the reasons which causes the digestibility of vegetable albumins to vary, the foreign nutritive matters being able to bring about, under certain circumstances, and in cases of superabundant ingestions, a real albuminous "saving" in the newest sense of the word. besides, a prejudicial question makes the debate almost vain. when it was admitted by such physiologists as voit, rubner and their school that from 140 to 150 grammes of albumin in the minimum were daily necessaries in the human diet, a variation of a few units in the digestive power presented some importance. nowadays the real utility of albumins is differently appreciated. the need of them seems to have been singularly exaggerated; first lowered to about 75 gr. by a. gautier, it has dropped successively with lapicque, chittenden, landergreen, morchoisne and labbe, by virtue of considerations both ethnological and physiological, to 50 grs., 30 grs. and even to 25 or 20 grammes. the "nutritive relation"--that is to say, the yield from albuminoid matters to the total nutritive matters of diet--is thus brought down from 1/3 its primitive value to 1/15 or 1/20 at most. it follows that the slight inferiority found in the digestive powers of vegetable albumin appears unimportant. it is sufficient to add 2 or 3 more grammes of albumin to a ration already superabundant of from 40 to 50 grammes of vegetable proteins to bring back a complete equilibrium in the use of vegetable and animal varieties. the theoretical inferiority of vegetable albumin thus almost completely disappears. h. labbe. (_to be continued._) * * * * * if your system has become clogged, go slow--and fast. ode to the west wind. o wild west wind, thou breath of autumn's being, thou from whose unseen presence the leaves dead are driven like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, pestilence-stricken multitudes! o thou who chariotest to their dark wintry bed the winged seeds, where they lie cold and low, each like a corpse within its grave, until thine azure sister of the spring shall blow her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill (driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) with living hues and odours plain and hill wild spirit which art moving everywhere; destroyer and preserver; hear, oh hear! thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion, loose clouds like earth's decaying leaves are shed, shook from the tangled boughs of heaven and ocean, angels of rain and lightning! there are spread on the blue surface of thine airy surge, like the bright hair uplifted from the head of some fierce maenad, even from the dim verge of the horizon to the zenith's height, the locks of the approaching storm. thou dirge of the dying year, to which this closing night will be the dome of a vast sepulchre, vaulted with all thy congregated might of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere black rain, and fire, and hail, will burst: oh hear! thou who didst waken from his summer dreams the blue mediterranean, where he lay, lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams, beside a pumice isle in baiae's bay, and saw in sleep old palaces and towers quivering within the wave's intenser day, all overgrown with azure moss, and flowers so sweet the sense faints picturing them! thou for whose path the atlantic's level powers cleave themselves into chasms, while far below the sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear the sapless foliage of the ocean know thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear, and tremble and despoil themselves: oh, hear! if i were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; if i were a swift cloud to fly with thee; a wave to pant beneath thy power, and share the impulse of thy strength, only less free than thou, o uncontrollable! if even i were as in my boyhood, and could be the comrade of thy wanderings over heaven, as then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed scarce seemed a vision,--i would ne'er have striven as thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. oh lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! i fall upon the thorns of life! i bleed! a heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed one too like thee--tameless, and swift, and proud. make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: what if my leaves are falling like its own? the tumult of thy mighty harmonies will take from both a deep autumnal tone, sweet though in sadness. be thou, spirit fierce, my spirit! be thou me, impetuous one! drive my dead thoughts over the universe, like withered leaves, to quicken a new birth; and, by the incantation of this verse, scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! be through my lips to unawakened earth the trumpet of a prophecy! o wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind? percy bysshe shelley. what makes a holiday? what is it makes a holiday? some people want paris, some monte carlo, one man cannot be satisfied without big game to hunt, another must have a grouse moor. the student has his sailing boat, the young wage-earner his bicycle, three girl friends look forward to their week in a hastings boarding-house. almost anything may be "a change"; most things, to someone or other, are "a holiday." what does it all mean? the sands of west sussex are wide and free, firm and smooth for walking with bare feet, lovely with little shells and sea-worm curves and ripple marks and the pits of razor-shells. above them are the slopes of shingle, gleaming with all colours in the september sun. farther up again, the low, brown crumbling cliffs crowned with green wreaths of tamarisk. the sea comes creeping up, or else the wind raises great white breakers; if the waves are quiet, old breakwaters, long ago broken themselves, smashed fragments here and there of concrete protections put by man, gaps in the cliff and changes in the coast-line, remind us of the vast force behind the gentle and persistent lap of water. the beach itself reminds us of it; there a flint and here a rounded pebble made out of brick or glass, worn down from man's rubbish to sea's proof of power. over it all are the children, brown-legged and bare-headed. (is it something in the weather this year that has given us the particular red-brown, suggestive of shrimp and lobster, that is the colour-vintage of 1913?) babies with oilskin waders, bathers, girls in vividly coloured coats walking along the sands; all make up the picture and give us once again the thrill of holiday. inland, the sussex lanes are green and the trees are broad and shady. thatched cottages are everywhere, and barns with heavy brows; yesterday i saw some pots put for shelter from the sun under the far-projecting thatch of a farmhouse. the gardens are full of sun-flowers and hollyhocks, fuchsia and golden rod; the walls are covered with jasmine and passion-flowers. old, old churches make us feel like day-flies. the yew in the churchyard five minutes' walk from here is said to be 900 years old; the church itself is thirteenth century, but into its walls were built fragments of a former church, far older, on the same site. it carries us more than half-way back to the foundation of christianity. dim tales of heathen earls and norman kings hang around the villages, and the very floor of the sea beyond the land is richly laden with stores of half-forgotten memories. which of all these things makes these days my holiday? all of them, perhaps. present moving life, and long-past history, the mighty movement of nature and the changes of geologic time: sheer beauty too and the gaiety of amusements and excursions; do not all have their place in unwinding us from the tight coils we make for our working days? freedom to take from the world whatever is there of beauty and of interest--it really hardly matters what or where; freedom enhanced by sympathy, perhaps, for we seem to need some comrade in our play; so many days and nights following each other--no matter exactly how many--for letting ourselves go, and letting the world and all its power and wonder flow into us; that, whatever be place, time and conditions, is the making of a holiday. c +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #to our readers.# | | | | readers who appreciate the independence and all-round nature | | of _the healthy life_ can materially assist the extension of | | its circulation by tactfully urging their local newsagent to | | have the magazine regularly displayed for sale. an | | attractive monthly poster can always be had free from the | | publishers, 3 tudor street, london, e.c. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ healthy life abroad. "hygie." _a new definition of neurasthenia._ we cull the following definition of neurasthenia from our french contemporary: neurasthenia is discouragement of the soul. being in a state of discouragement the soul ceases to take care of the body and allows it to become encumbered with waste products. the body in its turn becomes so defective that the soul is incapable of repairing the enfeebled organs and throws the body away into the water or leaves it somewhere to be crushed or abandons it by some other means. neurasthenia may be compared to an indolent mechanic. he neglects to oil his engine. it runs off the rails and is smashed. _fresh departures._ the vegetarian society of france has introduced three new sections into its organisation. the first is documentary, and aims at the collection, centralisation and classification of all information bearing on food reform. the second deals with domestic economy and hygiene. a number of ladies willing to devote themselves to the popularisation of the leading ideas of vegetarianism have joined this section. they offer advice and instruction to all who wish to familiarise themselves with food reform principles. the third section is concerned with physical training and outdoor games, with special reference to the relationship between these things and a non-flesh regimen. "vegetarische warte." _nietzsche as fruitarian._ "a simple life," wrote nietzsche in 1879, "is very difficult at the present time," and went on to explain its difficulties and to suggest that even the most determined would be obliged to leave the discovery of the way to a wiser generation. he himself, however, took some steps upon the way during his stay in genoa, when he lived on bread and fruit and spent but a few shillings a week. eggs were occasionally included, and artichokes--and the little cookery he needed was done by himself over a spirit lamp. his winter in genoa, he declares, was the happiest in his life and saw the production of his "twilight of the gods." _food reform in russia._ the movement goes ahead rapidly in russia. hardly a town of any size but has now its vegetarian restaurant. this year the first russian vegetarian congress has been held. it seems to have been a very successful gathering. "seldom," writes one who was present, "have i experienced such a strong impression as was made upon me by this first vegetarian congress in moscow." unity seems to have been the prevailing note. papers were read on the general significance and the various aspects of vegetarianism, followed by discussions. amongst the various excursions undertaken was a pilgrimage to yasnaya polyana, including a visit to tolstoy's grave. a vegetarian exhibition has also been held in moscow. it included a fine show of fruits and vegetables, exhibits of various substitutes for leather, soaps made of vegetable oils, an abundance of russian and foreign vegetarian literature of all sorts, from the noblest reaches of theory to the most invaluable details of practice. the next congress is arranged for easter 1914, at kiev. _a hopeful sign._ fifteen years ago the berlin municipal authorities stoutly refused professor baron's offer to found an orphanage which should be conducted on vegetarian principles. at the present moment it is being arranged that all school children shall be taught the value of vegetables and leguminous preparations and the wholesomeness of a diet that is relatively non-stimulating and practically meatless. d.m. richardson. the curtained doorways. in george macdonald's _phantastes: a faery romance for men and women_ it is told how a man found himself in the midst of a great circular hall built entirely of black marble. on every side and at regular intervals there were archways, all heavily curtained. hearing a faint sound of music proceeding from one of these hidden doorways he went towards it and, drawing aside the hangings, found a large room crowded with statuary, but no sign of an living creature. yet he was certain the music had proceeded from that particular archway. greatly puzzled, he let the curtain fall and stepped back a few paces. at once the music continued. stepping stealthily and quickly to the curtain, he again lifted it, and received a vivid impression of a crowd of dancing forms suddenly arrested: something told him beyond dispute that at the moment he had drawn the hangings aside what were now lovely but motionless statues had sprung each to its pedestal out of the mazes of an intricate dance. sound and movement had been frozen, in a flash of time, into a crowd of beautiful forms--in stone. no statue but seemed to tremble into immobility as the intruder's gaze turned this way and that no marble face but seemed to be aglow with the music that had died with his entry; no white limb but seemed to be tremulous with the rhythm of the dance that had ceased so suddenly. if the subtlety and imaginative truth of this story should lead you to read the whole book, i shall have had the privilege of introducing you to what is surely one of the finest and most delicately wrought fantasies in the english language, a fantasy so permeated with beauty and truth that you will neither wish nor need to look for the "moral". but whether you read _phantastes_ or not, i may be allowed to suggest that the incident i have attempted to describe conveys one of the secrets of healthy living. it is a trite saying, that health is harmony. but i plead for a much wider and fuller interpretation of harmony than is customary. _mens sana in corpore sano_--a sane mind in a healthy body--does not fill all the requirements of a healthy life. it is but an excellent theme, wanting orchestration. it is good to aim at a harmonious working of one's internal arrangements if one has had the misfortune or the folly to break that harmony. the physical basis of life must be attended to if we would be well. only, you cannot stop there without imperilling the whole scheme. again, it is good to train the body by means of exercise, play, singing and handicraft; all these things react both upwards and downwards, outwards and inwards. for example, one of the special virtues of tennis, if it be played at all keenly, is the necessity for making one's feet (those neglected members!) quick and responsive to the messages of eye and brain. in an increasingly sedentary age the rapidly growing popularity of tennis is, for this one reason alone, a good omen. but if you play tennis, or any other healthy outdoor sport, or learn how to sing, or how to breathe, or if you do muller's exercises daily, for the sole purpose of benefiting your liver or developing your muscles, or of "keeping fit," you will miss the real prize. it is good, also, to train the mind to be logical, critical and balanced: it is good to cultivate a retentive memory and to store up useful facts. but if while you are aiming at intellectual fitness and alertness you allow these good things to obscure other and better things, if, in short, you let means become ends, you will never be healthy, because you will miss half the joys of living. there are many very skilful performers on musical instruments. they have set themselves, or their parents have set them, to gain certain prizes, distinctions or qualifications. no music is now too difficult for them to execute. but that is exactly what they do--they execute it: destroy its head and heart by sheer mechanical perfection. they have mastered the piano, or the organ, or the violin, or their own voice; but music eludes them. you see why i began with that tale of the curtained doors, the mysterious music, and the quivering statuary. there is an elusive, haunting quality about life and all living things which, if we look for it and listen to it, imparts a glamour, a rhythm, a beauty to everything that is worth doing. the great danger is that in the pressure of work, the hurry of play, the pursuit of health, or the training of the mind we miss the very thing which can give meaning and value to all these things. the severely matter-of-fact people don't go near the curtained doors, and if they did, would discover only a lot of cold, lifeless statues. whoever heard of statues dancing? whoever heard of music without instruments? and yet this very sense of a lyrical movement imperfectly seen, and of a temporarily frozen music, is not only the very secret of all art: it is a slender guiding clue to the centre of everything.... and in the house of every man, and of every woman, are the curtained doorways. edgar j. saxon. how much should we eat? _this discussion arose out of the article with above title, by "m.d.," which was published in our july number._--[eds.] iii i lift my hat to m.d. and trust that, as i don't know him, the somewhat jarring difference that i have with his views will not be put down to personal feeling. a.a. voysey has put my first objection quite well from the layman's point of view. he says "there is no agreement between those who have been taught physiology." this is true. playfair's full diet is different from voit's. voit's is different from atwater's. atwater's is different from chittenden's. the custom of reducing the diets to calories, inasmuch as it introduces a false theory, has had a disastrous effect on progress, and has been a great hindrance to the attainment of knowledge. if the coal in the fireplace _were_ the cause of the heat of the fire (but is it?), there is no analogy between the elevation of the heat by hundreds and even thousands of degrees when the fire is lighted, and the elevation of half-a-degree or a degree which occurs when food is taken into the body, especially when we remember that a similar elevation of temperature occurs when work is performed by means of the body without eating or drinking at all. it is quite evident to every clear seer, or it ought to be, that the force of animal life or zoo-dynamic is the cause of the heat of the body, just as the electric force is the cause of the liberation of heat through the battery, and the chemic force is the cause of the heat of the fire, and that zoo-dynamic and electro-dynamic and chemico-dynamic are forms or species or varieties of the one omnipotent and eternal energy by which all things in this universe consist. the aggregate of all the particular forces makes up the eternal energy which is one. they are all species of the one, but it is convenient and even necessary for our limited intellects to consider them separately, for the indefinite number of the facts and also their intricacy and complexity stagger and overwhelm us unless we do; and indeed they stagger us even when we try to treat them and take them up separately for consideration and examination. but now for the proof of a.a. voysey's statement. ranke found he required 100 grammes proteid; fat 100 grammes; carbo-hydrate 240 grammes to keep him going. these he could have got from 9 oz. of lean meat or 250 grammes, 18 oz. of bread or 500 grammes, 12 oz. or 55 grammes of butter and 1 oz of fat (i do not, of course, suggest that it would have been wise for him to get them so). moleschott's demands are: proteid 120 grammes, fat 90 grammes, carbo-hydrate 333 grammes. voit demands for hard work: proteid 145 grammes, fat 100 grammes, carbo-hydrate 450 grammes. atwater demands for hard work the following:--proteid 177 grammes, fat 250 grammes, carbo-hydrate 650 grammes. horace fletcher, we are told by professor chittenden, took for a time, when everything was accurately measured and weighed: proteid 44.9 grammes, fat 38 grammes, carbo-hydrate 253 grammes. cornaro lived on 12 oz. of solid food and 14 oz. of red wine a day for a period of something like 60 years, from 38 years of age to about 97, and had vigorous health during the time except when he transgressed his rule. of course, he was not a hard physical worker--_i.e._ he did not do the work of a navvy. but how, in view of these differences, can m.d. say: "these quantities were settled by physiologists many years ago, and no good reasons have since been adduced for altering them"? it is amazing to me to read such a statement. it reminds me of a statement by a distinguished physician in london during last year to the effect that we could not give a growing schoolboy too much food--we could not over-feed him. my opinion, on the other hand, after a long experience, during which time my eyes have not been shut, is that the large majority of the diseases of humanity are due to mal-nutrition and that the form of that mal-nutrition is over-feeding--not under-feeding. this opinion should be taken for what it is worth. but to test it we should ask ourselves: what is the reason for the necessity to take food into the body? is it to give strength and heat to the body? or is it to restore the waste of the body sustained by the action on it of the force of life or zoo-dynamic which inhabits it? the demands for food will vary and vary much according to the way in which we answer this question. as you allowed me to discuss this question in _healthy life_ in july and august of last year i must not take up your space by discussing it again. but the answer we give determines the amounts of food that we require to take, since, obviously, if the strength and heat of the body depend upon the food, the more food we take the more strength and heat shall we have; while, if the function of food in the adult or grown body is only to restore the waste of the body, the question is how much is the waste. there are various ways in which this question can be answered and i cannot go into them now; but i say, in my opinion, the waste is very much less than is commonly supposed. the body, i take it, is made by zoo-dynamic or the life-force to be a fit habitation for itself. the body must waste when the life-force acts through it, and that waste must be restored by food and sleep, or the body will die; since things (the body) cannot act as the medium of conveying forces (zoo-dynamic or the life-force) without wasting under their action. but so beautifully has the body been made by zoo-dynamic that it wastes very little, much less than is commonly supposed, by the action of zoo-dynamic through it. not seeing this, we ingest into the body far more than is required to restore its waste, and so we fall ill, for, obviously, if we ingest more than the quantity necessary for this purpose we choke the body up and render it inefficient for its purpose as an instrument for work. now this is precisely what seems to me to happen in life. as we are all under the double delusion that the strength of the body and its heat come from the food, we all with one accord put far too much food into the body, and when we find that we die, all of us, generation after generation, at from 50 to 70 years of age, we make up little proverbs to justify our unphysiological conduct and say that three score years and ten are the measure of the duration of life. m.d. says that "some twenty years ago most people lived fairly close to the old physiological quantities" (but what are these? for we have seen how they vary), "now they have been cut adrift from these and are floundering out of their depth." may i remind m.d. that people are now living longer than they did twenty years ago. how does he account for that? no doubt some of the increase in the length of life is due to the diminution of the birth rate, but still i suppose m.d. would admit that there is an increase in the duration of life over and above what can be accounted for in this way. if so, how does he account for it? m.d. says, further: "for the public it will now probably suffice if they insist on raising (or considering, a.r.) the question of quantity" (of food, a.r.) "wherever they suffer in any way." i agree with all my heart. but m.d. implies, if i read him aright, that the public should increase the quantity of their food when they suffer in any way. i, on the other hand, and rather unhappily for myself, am convinced that the raising of this question implies that it should be answered in the exact opposite way to that of m.d. and that we should diminish our food if we "suffer in any way." and i can point to nature's own plan as a corroboration of the truth of my view, for her plan when we suffer in any way is to fling us into bed and take away our appetite, or at least to diminish our appetite if we are not so ill as to require to remain in bed. the whole question of medical practice depends on the answer we give to this question, and therefore one might go on indefinitely with its discussion. neither the editors' space and patience nor my time allow of this; but i should like to ask m.d., with all respect, if he remembers what dr king chambers said of the starvation that comes of over-repletion? dr king chambers occupied one of the most prominent places as a consultant in london (very probably, i suppose) when m.d. was a very young man. my late lamented friend, dr dewey of meadville, pennsylvania, used the phrase "starvation from over-feeding," not knowing that dr king chambers had used practically the same expression before him. that i made the same discovery myself, and independently, is not, i take it, a sign of acuteness of intellect or of observation. the amazing thing is that every practitioner is not compelled to make the same discovery. but if it is a true discovery, then it follows that all the signs of lowered vitality referred to by m.d., while they _may_ be caused by under-feeding, may also be caused by over-feeding and may therefore require for proper treatment, not increase of the diet, but diminution of it. a low temperature, therefore, a slow pulse, languor, pallor, inanition, fatigue, good-for-nothingness, inefficiency, anorexia, anaemia, neurasthenia, etc., etc., may all be due to blocking of the body with too much food as well as to supplying it with too little. fires may be put out by heaping up too much coal on them. to make them burn briskly we ought to push the poker in and gently lift the coal so as to admit of the entrance of air. then in a while our fire will become brisk and bright. and so it may be in the body. nay, my opinion is that almost always these marks of depression are caused by blocking up of the body and that therefore the proper treatment is, as a rule, not increase but diminution of the diet. the place in the body in which the blocking first occurs is the connective tissues or the tissues that connect every part with every other. it is here that the lymph is secreted, and as the lymph joins the thoracic duct which conveys the products of digestion to the blood, it is obvious that lymph-secretion is a complementary digestive process and it is also obvious how blocking up of the connective tissues, which is the immediate cause of anorexia and inanition, usually comes to exist in the body. m.d. talks of "natural food." he seems to be a vegetarian? good. but is not the question of how much food we ought to eat equally urgent whether we are vegetarian or omnivorous? i think it is. i do not think that the chief cause of our illnesses to-day is taking wrong or unsuitable food. in my opinion we are ill mainly because we take suitable food too often and because we take too much of it. my answer to the question, therefore--"how much should we eat?--a warning"--turns on the previous question: what is the function performed by food in the body? as i think that this function in the grown body is only to restore the waste, the warning in my mind is far rather that we should take less than that we should (as m.d. advises us) take more. i agree with him in the view that "chronic starvation is insidious." but, as i believe that "chronic starvation" is usually a form of dr king chambers's "starvation from over-repletion" and of dr dewey's "starvation from over-feeding," i am bound to be of the consequent opinion that it is to be met, not by increase, but by diminution of the diet. this is one of my reasons for thinking that none of us ought ever to eat oftener than twice a day, under fifty years of age, and that after that we would do well to eat once a day only. i feel sure that if we altered our habits in these ways, we should add very much both to the duration and to the efficiency of life. this is not a question of dietetics only. the issue is of the most practical character. what an addition of five or ten or fifteen or twenty or twenty-five years to the average duration of life might mean to this people and still more to the people of the whole globe is unpredictable by mortal man. but it is evident that it would be of the very greatest import to humanity. this is the great issue of the discussion of this subject. it seems to me that illness might be enormously diminished and health and efficiency and happiness immensely increased. but i think that these boons might be obtained, not by indulging the body and its appetites, but only by the exercise of a wise restraint and government over it. it is at least very much to be desired that more agreement might be manifested in the opinions and practice of qualified physiologists so that the public might have clear guidance, and not as at present, be advised in ways so conflicting that they do not know what or whom to believe. a. rabagliati, m.d. * * * * * _to tourists:_ every little village has a little shop where you can buy nasty little sweets. pickled peppercorns. he was a native of liverpool, but had liver for many years in the isle of wight--_edmonton_ (canada) _journal_. funny he didn't go to poole and leave his liver behind him. * * * * * real flesh food found at last. --from an advt. in daily papers. evidently we have all been vegetarians and knew it not. * * * * * nothing can replace salt.--from an advt. in _punch_. many food reformers advantageously replace salt with nothing. * * * * * the golf craze has been greater this autumn than in any previous year. nobody is quite safe from the fever. it seizes those who mocked at it, and pays no respect to sex or age.--_british weekly_. by the time the next medical congress comes round it is expected that at least three distinguished bacteriologists will have discovered the golf-fever microbe. they will probably agree to call it _mashilococcus caddes_. * * * * * between lunch and dinner take another tumbler of water cold. take a glass of cold water half-an-hour after lunch, half-an-hour after tea, half-an-hour after dinner, and before going to bed at night. never drink between meals.--_woman's life_. all other methods failing, try putting your watch half-an-hour on after each meal. * * * * * i once got a circular from a man who grew potatoes containing his photograph, and, i think, an autobiography.--_musical standard_. not nearly so convenient as one of those automatic egg-stamping hens. * * * * * _stop-press news._ a "pocket clipper" has been invented (according to a certain catalogue) which can be used for the beard or hair at back of neck. but surely people who can do anything so clever as grow a beard on the back of the neck ought not to be tempted to clip it off. peter piper. healthy life recipes. more egg dishes. in our issue of may 1912 we published a number of special recipes for eggs. these were much appreciated. and even now this and other back numbers are asked for. we now give some further recipes. it should be remembered that eggs are a simple form of animal food and much purer than meat. they are also easily digested by most people. they therefore form a very useful substitute for flesh-foods, especially where the latter have only recently been discarded. the normal progress towards a more or less ideal diet involves, of course, the elimination of eggs as well as of other dairy products. but wise food reform proceeds always by steps. savoury baked eggs. melt a little butter, or vegetable fat, in an open earthenware baking dish; break into this as many eggs as required. cover thinly with grated cheese; add a knob of butter and bake till set. the dish can be placed direct on the table. egg on tomato.[13] one egg, two medium-sized tomatoes, butter. skin the tomatoes; cut in halves and put them, with a small piece of butter, into a small stewpan. close lightly, and cook slowly until reduced to a pulp. break the egg into a cup, and slide it gently on to the tomato. replace the pan lid and the egg will poach in the steam rising from the tomato. [13] this recipe is from _the healthy life cook book_, a new and revised edition of which is in contemplation. savoury egg fritters. six eggs, two large tomatoes, half-teaspoon mixed dried herbs, about three tablespoons ground biscuits ("ixion" or any of the unsweetened "p.r." kinds). hard boil three of the eggs and chop them finely. skin the tomatoes, mash them and add to the chopped eggs with the remaining eggs (well beaten), herbs and biscuit powder. should the mixture be too moist to mould add more biscuit powder; if too dry add a little water. cut and shape into finger shapes and either fry in olive oil or bake on buttered tin or open earthenware baking dish. (the last-mentioned is the best method, as the baking dish can be brought to the table as it is, and there is only one dish instead of two to wash up afterwards.) savoury egg patties. the above egg fritter mixture made rather moist may be used as a filling for savoury patties. make for these a short crust with 1/2 lb. of artox meal, 3 oz. of nutter and water. slightly bake the shells of pastry (made thin) before adding the filling, and finish to a golden brown. serve these and the fritters with either brown gravy or white sauce. sweet egg souffle. five eggs, 3/4 lb. soft cane sugar, 1 oz. ground rice, 2 oz. of butter, rind of half a lemon. separate the yolks and whites of the eggs. beat up the yolks and sift in the ground rice, sugar and grated rind of the lemon. to this batter add the well-whisked whites. well heat the butter in a frying pan, turn in the batter and fry over gentle heat till set. fold over the edges and place on well-greased flat dish and bake for barely a quarter of an hour. sift over some soft cane sugar and serve very hot. snow eggs. three eggs, one and a quarter pints of milk, a teaspoon of soft cane sugar, vanilla flavouring. separate the yolks and whites of the eggs and whisk the whites to a very stiff froth with the sugar. put the milk into a saucepan and when it boils drop in whites of eggs in small pieces shaped between two dessert spoons. only a little should be cooked at a time in this way, and each should be allowed to poach for two minutes, and when done should be taken out with a slice and put on a sieve to drain. when all the whites are used in this way, strain the milk and add it to the well-beaten yolks. pour into a double saucepan and stir over the fire till the custard thickens; flavour with vanilla to taste. when _cold_ pour into a dish and lay the snow eggs on top. (kindly supplied by mrs edith wilkinson.) egg-raised cherry cake. 9 oz. good "standard" flour, 5 oz. nutter (or other nut fat), 5 oz. cane castor sugar, 2 oz. preserved cherries (glace), 2 oz. well-washed sultanas, 2 oz. ground almonds, four eggs, outer rind of lemon (grated). beat nutter and sugar to a cream; add eggs one by one, beating all the time; have ready the flour, with the fruit, grated lemon rind and ground almonds mixed in, and add gradually to the above mixture, beating all the time, and until of even consistency throughout. line a cake tin with double thickness of buttered paper, pour in the mixture and bake in moderate oven about one and a half hours. _any housewife who doubts the possibility of making light and dainty cakes without the now customary baking powder and baking soda, etc., should try the above recipe. no one could wish for a more excellent cake._ note on casseroles. now that casserole cookery (_i.e._ cooking in earthenware dishes, both open and covered) is becoming more widely known and practised, readers will be glad to know that many housewives believe in boiling new earthenware before using it, as this effectually toughens and hardens it. this is particularly efficacious in the case of ordinary brown kitchenware, the articles being placed in a large pan of cold water which is then brought slowly to the boil. after being allowed to boil for ten minutes remove the pan and allow the water to cool before taking out the ware. health queries. _under this heading our contributor, dr valentine knaggs, deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest to health seekers and others._ _in all queries relating to health difficulties it is essential that full details of the correspondent's customary diet should be clearly given._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on _one side only of the paper_, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] excessive perspiration. miss r.e.n. writes.--i am troubled with excessive perspiration. i neither eat meat nor drink tea. i have a cold sponge bath down to my waist every morning, and i change all my clothes when i go to bed. my diet is, roughly, as follows: _breakfast._--oatmeal porridge with toast or bread and jam or golden syrup. hot water. _lunch._--peas, beans or lentils, eggs, cheese. vegetables: potatoes and onions, or carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, turnips. puddings, fruit or milk wholemeal bread, not much sugar except for sweetening fruits, etc. _tea meal._--wholemeal bread and butter, nuts, jam, cake, pastry; hot water. _at bedtime._--hot water or coffee. if our correspondent wishes to remedy this excessive perspiration she must get a hot towel-bath daily (all over),[14] wearing porous linen-mesh underclothing next the skin. she should also discontinue the soft sugary and starchy foods, and not mix fruit with other foods (it is best taken by itself, say, for breakfast). she needs more of the cooling salad vegetables. the following diet would be a great improvement:-_on rising._--half-pint of hot boiled water, sipped slowly. _breakfast._--wholemeal bread or biscuits and butter (all made without salt), with salad or grated raw roots. stop porridge, jam and golden syrup. avoid drinking at meals. _lunch._--two eggs, or 2 oz. of curd cheese. two vegetables cooked in casserole without salt; wholemeal bread or biscuits and butter; a few figs, prunes, dried bananas, or raisins, washed but not cooked. avoid milk puddings or stewed fruits as too fermentative and heating. _supper meal._--1 to 2 oz. flaked nuts, some crisp "p.r." or "ixion" biscuits with nut butter. some fresh salad or grated roots. stop jam, cake and pastry. _at bedtime._--half-pint of hot boiled water, or clear vegetable soup, sipped slowly. [14] the sanum oxygen baths are also excellent in a case of this kind. diet for ulcerated throat. mrs l.b. writes.--do you think it would be wise for a person suffering from ulcers in the throat and on other mucous membranes to adopt a diet devoid of meat, yeast and salt? it would certainly be wise to discard meat and salt in a case of this kind, but yeast is sometimes useful taken as "unflavoured marmite." the chief cause of ulcers is the abuse of the soft cereal and sugary foods. in a case of this sort i should advise a diet consisting exclusively of well-dextrinised cereals--_e.g._ granose, melarvi, etc.--with plenty of grated raw roots and finely chopped salads and tomatoes. this can be combined with curd cheese, raw or lightly cooked eggs, flaked nuts or brusson jeune bread as the proteid part of the diet. farming and sciatica. mrs a.c.b. writes.--for two months my husband, who leads an active open-air life, has had severe pain all down the back of his left leg. it is like neuralgia, and comes on worse when sitting. he has been a farmer all his life, but is anything but strong and constantly taking cold. are these pains likely to be due to wrong food? this pain is evidence of sciatica. chills alone will not produce sciatica, which has its real cause in the system being choked up with acids and toxins of various kinds. in such a case as this, warm water enemas should be taken freely to clear the colon well; sugar, milk and all starchy mushy foods should be strictly avoided; vegetables should be taken either as baked roots or as fresh salads; eggs and cheese should be substituted for meat; and plenty of fresh butter should be taken. boiled water, _between meals_, will be good, but nothing should be given to drink with food. salt, pickles, and greasy or highly flavoured foods should be avoided. temporary "bright's disease" and how to deal with it. miss e. would like to know what kind of diet is suitable for one who has been suffering from bright's disease following a serious illness. why should meat have any bad effect upon the kidneys? she does not take it, although her medical man advises the use of it at once. it is not an uncommon thing for people who have suffered from an acute septic fever to find albumen temporarily present in the urine. this is due to the irritant action of the toxins and other poisons (which the fever is the means of ejecting) upon the structure of the kidneys. the kidneys are filters and they remove the bulk of the soluble waste of the body. the practitioner frequently finds albumenuria in cases of scarlet fever, typhoid fever, diphtheria, etc., and the object of his treatment is to prevent this condition of kidney irritation from becoming an established disease (bright's disease). flesh foods, and especially meat extracts and meat soups, are the worst possible wherewith to feed these fever cases, because they throw so much extra work upon the kidneys. meat is composed mainly of proteids. it also contains the urinary wastes and the toxins (due to fear) which were in the animal's body and on the way to elimination when it was killed. this sufferer should take one meal per day consisting of fresh fruit only; the rest of the diet should consist of salad vegetables and finely grated raw roots, home-made curd cheese, dextrinised cereals (such as melarvi biscuits, shredded wheat, "p.r." crackers, granose biscuits, grape-nuts, twice-baked standard bread, etc.) and fresh or nut butter. phosphorus and the nerves. w.h.h. writes:--i should be very grateful if dr knaggs could help me with any information or hints regarding phosphaturia. i suffer much from this troublesome complaint. we have to remember that the nervous system is two-fold. the one, or conscious portion, consists of the brain and spinal cord, from which all the nerves or branches travel to all parts of the body and give us dominion over them. the other, or subconscious, called the sympathetic nervous system, lies on either side of the front of the spine as two long chains with centres, or ganglia, at intervals. this second system is not within our control and has to do with the regulation of our vegetative functions, including the bulk of the digestive process. all nerves, whether they come from the brain or from the sympathetic system, ranging to their smallest terminals, are built alike of cells, and these cells secrete a complex _fatty_ substance, called _lecithin_, whose dominant element is phosphorus. this phosphorus has to be supplied to the body with food, and as food, and it cannot be properly utilised or assimilated by the body or used by the nerves to build up their _lecithin_ unless it is eaten in the form of organic compounds. the tissues of the body are continually dying, as a result of work done, and are continually being replaced by fresh young tissues as needed. it is the function of the nerves to manage this work for us as well as to similarly arrange for reproduction. in order to control the functions of the various organs and tissues and to regulate the rate at which they reproduce themselves, the nerves extend their terminal branches, not only into every tissue, but into every microscopical unit of such tissue, and the part of the cell which represents the nerve terminal is the inner structure called the nucleus. now it will be obvious that the more the two nervous systems are worked the greater will be their depletion of _lecithin_ and the more need there will be for fresh supplies of phosphorus in the daily food rations. the person who works hard, whether it be manual labour or brain work, needs food and rest at intervals in order that the nerves may recuperate and replenish their stocks of _lecithin_. a goodly proportion of uncooked foods rich in phosphorus must be supplied to make good the wear and tear, and the digestion must equally be efficient if these food-stuffs are to become assimilated. cooking of food to a large extent breaks down the organic phosphorus salts and makes them inorganic. in this state they are of but little use to the body. poor digestion associated with putrefactive fermentation equally converts the organic salts into inorganic ones. these pass into the blood and are promptly eliminated by the kidneys as waste (_phosphaturia_) and thus they never reach the nerves at all. we must remember that phosphorus is usually found in natural foods bound up with the proteid and especially with that proteid which has to do with the reproduction of the species. for this reason man instinctively resorts to the use of egg-yolks, and to the various seeds (such as nuts, wheat, barley, etc.) because of their rich phosphorus content. these proteid-bound phosphorus salts can only be properly utilised when the hydrochloric acid of the stomach juice is well formed, for it converts them into acid salts which are readily absorbed. therefore to ensure free absorption we must always remember to give the phosphorus-containing foods with such meals as will cause free secretion of the gastric acid. when fermentation is active and the stomach juices are weakened the germs of the intestines rapidly break up the phosphorus constituents of the proteids and make them inorganic. therefore the first thing to do when a person is found to be suffering from _phosphaturia_ is to stop the intestinal fermentation by a right diet, clear the bowels of their accumulated waste poisons and give the nerves plenty of rest. another consideration to bear in mind is that the nerves need fat wherewith to build up the _lecithin_. an excessive fermentative sourness of the stomach makes the food so acid when sent into the bowels that the bile, pancreatic and other intestinal juices cannot neutralise them, and so the fats themselves are not emulsified and digested, which fully accounts for the mental depression and debility of which these patients complain. people who are suffering from "nerves" in any form need plenty of pure fat (fresh dairy butter, cream, nut butter, fruit-oils, etc.) and an abundance of natural fresh vegetable products at once rich in phosphorus and iron and in organic alkaline acid-neutralising earthy salts. these arrest fermentation and so enable the phosphorus and the fat to become duly assimilated. canary _versus_ jamaica bananas. r.b., lincoln, would like to know if there is very much difference, as regards food value, between the jamaica and canary banana. "i have heard it said that the jamaica is only fit for the dust-heap. well, i cannot very easily think it is so useless, and at the same time i have an idea that the canary is the better of the two. i should be very pleased to know if you think there is much difference between them." the difference between jamaica and canary bananas is due to the length of time necessary for them to reach us from their place of growth. it takes, i believe, nearly twice as long for a ship to travel from jamaica as from the canary islands. hence the fruit imported from the latter place can be picked in a much riper condition than would be the case with the jamaica article. this probably accounts for the better quality and flavour of the canary banana. besides this the climate may have some determining influence. to say that the jamaica bananas should be discarded because they are of a less satisfactory food value or because their flavour is less developed is uncalled for. the disparity in price is also very marked, so that the poor can readily procure the jamaica banana where they would not be in a position to afford the better class of fruit coming from the canaries. i have discussed this subject in p.34 of my book, _the truth about sugar_. h. valentine knaggs. correspondence. leytonstone _to the editors._ sirs, enclosed please find p.o. for a copy of _the healthy life_ to be sent to carnegie public library, close to midland station, leytonstone, also to the alexandra holiday home, y.w.c.a., alexandra road, southend-on-sea. at the latter home there are something like 500 to 600 visitors every year, many of whom are semi-invalids. no doubt the magazine will be scorned by many, yet i am quite certain that there are others amongst the number there who will gladly welcome the truths it teaches, and if only one or two are helped to live a more healthy and therefore more happy life, it will be quite worth while. please do not mention my name in either case. yours, etc., x. there is every reason why _the healthy life_ should be known and read in every public library in the united kingdom. in this we are entirely dependent upon those readers who are ready to follow the excellent example of the above correspondent. a year's subscription--2s.--is a very small price to pay for bringing the message of this magazine before the public in this way. we should like to hear from readers in all parts.--[eds.] +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #back numbers# | | | | if readers who possess copies of the first number of _the | | healthy life_ (august 1911) will send them to the editors, | | they will receive, in exchange, booklets to the value of | | threepence for each copy. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v november no. 28. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. it was the slave-woman who laid her child under a bush that she might spare herself the pain of seeing it die! one of the commonest sources of mental and moral confusion is to mistake the egotistic shrinking from the sight of suffering with the altruistic shrinking from causing it and desire to relieve it. the so-called sensitive person is too often only sensitive to his or her own pain and, therefore, finds it difficult in the presence of another's suffering to do what is needed to relieve it. the healer, the health-bringer, the truly sympathetic person, does not even hesitate to inflict pain when to do so means to restore health.--[eds.] castles in the air. _regular readers will recognise in this wonderfully simple and suggestive article a continuation of the series previously entitled "healthy brains." the author of "the children all day long" is an intimate disciple of one of the greatest living psychologists, and she has a message of the first importance to all who realise that true health depends as much on poise of mind as on physical fitness._--[eds.] of all the occupations which imagination gives us, surely none is more popular or more delightful than the planning out of future days. pleasure and fame and honour, work and rest, comfort and adventure: all things take their turn in our romances. not all the castles are for ourselves alone. in childhood it is our school, our club, our town that is to be the centre of great events. the young man's castle is a nest to which he hopes to bring a mate. the mother sees the future coronet or laurel-wreath round the soft hair of her baby's head. and we all build castles for the world sometimes--at least for our own country or our own race. sometimes we knock them down and rebuild again in rather different shape--mr wells has taught us what a fascinating game it is. sometimes, especially perhaps in little, unimportant things, our imagination does centre chiefly around our own activities. what we mean to do, what we might do, what we would like to do: there must be something else besides selfishness and waste of time in the constantly recurring thoughts. who does not know the charm of looking down the theatre-list of the morning paper? one may be too busy or two poor to go often to the play, but the very suggestion of all the colour and interest is pleasant. who does not like looking over prospectuses of lectures and classes at the beginning of the winter session? "i _should_ like to go to that course on greek art. oh, it is on mondays, then that is no good. german, elementary and conversation. how useful that would be! gymnasium and physical culture; how i wish i had another evening in the week to spare!" railway books, again, and guides and travel bills--how delightful they are! it is easy to plan out tours for one's holidays up to the age of 100. "brittany; oh yes, i must go there one day. and norway, that must really be my next trip." the rockies, the cities of the east, coral islands of the pacific--they all seem to enrich our lives by the very thought of their possibilities. again, who does not love a library catalogue? to go through with a pencil, noting down the names of books one wants to read is a form of castle-building by no means to be despised. some people get the same pleasure out of house-hunting; they see an empty house and go and get the key in order to see over it. the chances of their ever living there are practically none, but the view gives a stimulus to their inventive activity: they plan out how they would furnish the rooms and fill the empty hearths with dreams. is not the same thing the explanation of shop-gazing? the woman who has bought her winter coat and hat does not as a rule refrain from looking any more into shop windows till the spring; instead, she clothes herself in imagination in all the beautiful stuffs she sees displayed, and if some of the things demand ballroom, racecourse, golf links or perhaps the alps for the background, why, so much the better, the suggestion puts, as it were, a view from the windows of her castle in the air. a garden--a dozen square yards or reckoned in acres--is full of material for our imagination; indeed, a seedsman's catalogue or a copy of "amateur gardening" will often be enough to start us; long lines of greenhouses will build themselves for us, or rockeries, or wild glens with streams in them, and the world will blossom round about us. sometimes it is ambition that calls us, personal or professional; we get beforehand the sweet taste of power upon the tongue. it may perhaps be sometimes the rewards of work, riches and honour and so on, but more often, i think, the dreams of youth circle round the work itself. we will be of use in the world, we will find new paths and make them safe for those coming after us to walk in, we will get rid of that evil and set up a ladder towards that good; we will heal, teach, feed, amuse, uplift or cherish the other human beings round about us. we will store only for the sake of distributing; we will climb only to be better able to give a helping hand. well, there are some danger signals at cross-roads of our dream-way, some precautions to be observed if we would not let romance obscure and hinder us in our search after reality. but none of these "castles" are bad in themselves. in so far as they quicken our attention power, deepen our thoughtfulness, make our activities more elastic and keep us from carelessness or sloth, they are surely all to the good as episodes in our development. e.m. cobham. the scientific basis of vegetalism. this article, the earlier part of which appeared in the october number, is from the french of prof. h. labbe, the head of the _laboratoire a la faculte de medecine_, in paris. it reflects a characteristic aloofness to a any considerations other than scientific or economic. but it will well repay careful study.--[eds.] v though the consumption of vegetable foods seems to offer a slight disadvantage from the point of view of albuminoid matters, this is not the case touching hydro-carbonated matters and sugars. the vegetable kingdom constitutes the almost exclusive source of these alimentary principles. one cannot indeed take much account of the consumption of the .5-.6 per cent, of glycogen which exists in the animal muscle partaken of under the shape of butcher's meat. there is hardly enough in this for a large eater of between 200 and 250 grammes of meat, to find in hydrocarbonated matters the 1/300 or the 1/400 of the daily ration. hydrocarbons are necessarily borrowed from the vegetable foods. this is also the case with sugars which do not exist in the animal kingdom in appreciable quantities. it is the same thing with alcohol which is obtained only from the vegetable kingdom. vi as to fatty matters, animal foods, like vegetable products, are abundantly provided with them. moreover, from the point of view of digestibility and capability of assimilating, one may say that there is a quasi-absolute identity between animal and vegetable fats. the reason which would induce us to prefer either would not seem to be of a physiological nature. the economics, which we shall see further on, take this upon themselves, as the most serious reproach which can be made against the use of animal dishes is doubtless their dearness, and the reason which militates most in favour of the predominance of a vegetable diet is to a certainty its cheapness. vii such are, briefly expounded and refuted, the fundamental objections which can be brought against the vegetarian diet and the "vegetalian" customs. there exists, in fact, no serious physiological or chemical reason for not satisfying our needs solely with foods of vegetable origin. it may be interesting to note that, in reality, the most confirmed flesh eaters support their energy-producing needs mainly with vegetable products. in the mixed diet universally practised meat plays but a small part. in meat the waste in preparation and consecutive waste at table is considerable. to really introduce 200 grammes of meat into the stomach, nearly 400 grammes must be purchased, and expensively put into use. what do these 200 grammes really bring in nutritive elements? meat. 200 gr. (mod. fat.) at 18% albumin = 36 gr. album., about. " " 5% fat = 10 gr. fat, about. ---- 46 gr. these 46 grs. constitute barely the 8 per cent. of the total weight of a ration, averaged in nutritive elements, calculated as follows:- albumin 80 fatty matters 70 hydrates of carbon 350 this is a very feeble proportion. if one turns to the calorific point of view, in order to estimate the share of energy useful to the organism, we arrive at much the same conclusion. the 46 grs. of nutritive animal elements barely provide 230 thermal units which can be utilised, while the total diet which we are considering brings a power of disposal of nearly 2,350 thermal units. it is, even then, barely 10 per cent. of the total energy. the most convinced flesh eaters, those who buy 400 grs. of meat a day for their consumption, must learn, willingly or unwillingly, that the animal element enters only in an infinitesimal part into their real substance and reparation. viii beyond this very feeble nutritive help is there, then, in meat, anything else which makes the use of this article of food necessary, agreeable or particularly strengthening? it is incontestible that meat contains stimulating substances, which, as prof. armand gautier has said, play the part of nerve tonics, and have perhaps a direct action on the circulation. these special meat matters are found concentrated in the gravy. meat gravy, in fact, beside a feeble proportion of albuminoid matters, or solubly derived quantities, polypeptides, etc., in notable proportion of liberated acids, contains a certain quantity of matters, qualified by the generic name of extractives; a notable quantity of these extractive matters being creatine and creatinine, as well as substances of which the fundamental nucleus is the puric grouping. these purins, by the name which e. fischer attributes to them, derive from a special grouping which it would be supposed exists in a hypothetic body, but which is not known in a state of liberty, purin. this first term gives rise to a series of bodies in lateral groups, of which the most interesting are caffeine and theobromine. amongst these substances the one which has the maximum of oxidation is no other than uric acid. caffeine and theobromine enjoy nervine properties and energetic vascular actions. these properties minutely studied are utilised every day for therapeutic purposes. it is probable that the other bodies of the series which are met with in the extract of meat enjoy analogous physiological properties. these substances are ingested without discernment, often in great excess, and daily, by people who consume meat. amongst these latter, many would not dare to drug themselves with a centigramme of pharmaceutic caffeine, whereas they absorb each day gr. 5 and more, of its homologous constituents. therefore, in the same way as chocolate, tea and coffee, meat has a stimulating effect on the system. he who is accidentally deprived of it finds that he experiences a passing depression. this obviously proves that by the exaggerated use of meat, one drugs and doctors oneself without discernment. however this may be, the judicious part played by meat must apparently be reduced to that of a condiment food destined to produce in a measure the whipping-up which is useful, and sometimes indispensable to the system. we cannot here discuss the expediency of action and the harmlessness of the dose of substances reputed stimulating. but one can ask oneself whether, to attain this object of stimulation, carnivorous feeding is indispensable, and if vegetarianism could not supply the need. the reply is easy: the vegetable kingdom disposes of a variety of stimulating articles, such as tea, coffee, kola and cocoa. through their active substances these foods are nerve tonics of the first order, less dangerous in their use than meat, because more easily assimilated, of far more continuous effects, less mixed with other substances, sometimes noxious, and consequently more measurable. besides, in pulse food, quantities of purins are found as important as in meat. if the part they play has not been systematically studied from the point of view of their effects on the nervous organism, they still give rise to the same terminal products, such as uric acid. one can quite well argue that the pulse purins have physiological effects comparable to those of meat purins. on the other hand, vegetable purins have the considerable advantage of being less easily precipitated in the urine, after the human interorganic metabolism, than those resulting from the metabolism of flesh material. this explains why a frequent use of a vegetable diet offers appreciable advantages in the amelioration of arthritic diatheses so common amongst us. certain effects observed in these diatheses arise from the purins, from their localisation in the system, and their vitiated metabolism. the use of a moderate vegetable diet is the best means of treatment in order to relieve, to ameliorate, even to cure, arthritic diathesis. ix such are the certain physiological advantages which the predominant use of vegetable products are capable of offering. if one takes the pure energy-producing point of view, the superiority of the vegetarian diet becomes greater still. from the fine works of a. chauveau, modern physiology has shown us that muscle, in working, consumes sugary materials. these are provided by ingestions of sugar in a natural state, of dextrine or of starch; for a less important part, the glycogen of the system may also arise from hydrocarbonated cords existing in the molecule of certain albumins. therefore it is only in an infinitesimal part, due to the fibrine of meat, and to the small proportions of glycogen which it contains, that flesh diet intervenes in the direct production of kinetic energy. the demonstrations which have been essayed, touching the muscular superiority of vegetarians, appear superfluous to us. such experiments could only have a positive value if they were made on both series of antagonistic subjects, with alimentary powers of energy-producing equality. it should be distinctly understood that the vegetarian does not profit by any mysterious forces. the habit of preferring to nourish oneself with vegetable foods, can, at most, or at least, favour the physiological integrity of the subject, shield him against disease and assure his revictualment with foods recognised as active and easily measurable. one cannot leave alcohol out of the list of advantageous vegetable foods. in fact, provided one keeps to strictly limited doses, it may be included among the alimentary foods, on a footing comparable to that of sugar. if one knew how to use without misusing it, alcohol might become a daily food. x another order of ideas which one cannot pass by in silence at the present time militates in favour of vegetable alimentation. dietetics cannot neglect economic problems. a flesh diet is very costly. in large towns, like paris, at a time when everything is increasing in cost, one must be favoured by fortune to be able to indulge in the real luxury of consuming the calories of meat. as we said in 1905, with prof. landouzy and m. labbe, in our inquiry into popular parisian alimentation, the calorific energy of meat comes, on an average, to between 15 to 20 times dearer than that of bread or pulse foods. the diet with a vegetable predominance may therefore, by those who adopt it, be considered as much less costly than a mixed one. does not this fact, then, deserve to be taken into consideration and compared--startlingly illustrative--to the ingenious calculation recently made by lefevre in his examination of vegetarianism? one acre of land planted for the purpose of breeding cattle produces three times less living strength than an acre planted with wheat! is it not criminal, or at any rate ill-judged, for the richness and health of the country to have, by the laws of a draconian protectionism, spurred the french agricultural population along the road to the breeding of cattle, thus turning it away from cultivation? these laws are the cause, on the one hand, of the high price of wheat, owing to the abandonment of its culture and the barriers opposed to its entrance, and on the other, of the dearness of meat, owing to the stock and the land which the cattle require. under these facts economists have indeed a direct responsibility, as for more than fifty years economic orthodoxy has presented meat as a necessity, whereas it is the least advantageous particle amongst so many others. in conclusion, let us hope that future distinctions of "vegetalists," vegetarians or flesh eaters may be completely abolished. _in medio stat virtus._ the dietetic regimen, the general adoption of which must henceforth be desired, must reject all preconceived and hereditary ideas, and unite in one harmonious use all foods with a hygienic end in view. the place of each one amongst them and its predominance over the others should be determined only by conforming to reasons at the same time physiological and economic. h. labbe. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #to our readers.# | | | | readers who appreciate the independence and all-round nature | | of _the healthy life_ can materially assist the extension of | | its circulation by tactfully urging their local newsagent to | | have the magazine regularly displayed for sale. an | | attractive monthly poster can always be had free from the | | publishers, 3 tudor street, london, e.c. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ health and joy in hand-weaving. _this article gains additional interest from the fact that it has been written by one who works her own loom and teaches others the ancient and healthy art of hand-weaving._--[eds.] hand-weaving is an art, a handicraft, one aspect of which we are apt to forget--namely, that it is a splendid health-giver. indeed, all who have felt the rhythm of the loom, as they throw the shuttle to and fro, and in blending colours and seeing the material grow thread by thread, can witness to the power of the work to banish both the large and small worries that eat away our health of mind and body. the hand-weaver learns to look upon his (or her) loom as a very good friend. the possibilities in weaving are immense, and the great difficulty that always confronts the weaver is the impossibility of letting gussets into the day: the end of the week comes all too soon. one very satisfactory thing about weaving is the fact that from the very first we can use the things woven, even those we learn on. first, there is plain weaving, with which we can make dress materials and many things for household use. then come fancy and striped materials, which require more knowledge and ingenuity. there are endless varieties in bands of different patterns thrown in with the shuttle, or shuttles, sometimes as many as a dozen of which may be in use at a time. these can be used for the purpose of ornamentation. in weaving these no end of play of colour can be made, by using many colours in rotation, either as the groundwork of plain material, under the patterns, or as the pattern itself. metal threads can also be used of various kinds, either as an entire texture, or to enrich the fancy bands. lastly, there is inlay weaving, by which we can put in by hand, with little separate bobbins, as we go along, any cross-stitch design, lettering, monograms, figures and designs of every description. anyone with a knowledge of carpentry can make his own loom, the construction being of a very simple nature. in fact, the orientals erect a few sticks, dig a hole in the ground to sit in, tie their warp up to a tree, and then produce the most charming work, both in texture and colour. the warp can also be made as these people often make theirs, by fixing it to sticks stuck into the ground, and walking backwards and forwards with the thread, singing as they go. yes, singing! i think we english folk might learn from them to put more joy into our work, that fountainhead of life and health. we are apt to take such a serious view of ourselves and of all we do. so often, too, we only feel the dull and quiet colours, instead of using the many brilliant ones that nature loves so well. once we begin working in, and appreciating, these we realise the exhilarating effect on our spirits. indeed, i think we are only beginning to realise what a great influence colour has upon us, and all that colour signifies, each colour having various meanings of its own. many people are now realising that we are surrounded by a halo of colour woven by our character--the most highly developed people being surrounded by clear, bright colours. it is strictly true that we are all weavers, every day of our lives. by following the laws of nature we make the finest texture composed of all the most glorious colours or qualities in the universe, so by degrees bringing ourselves, and others, into perfect harmony and peace. minnie brown. how much should we eat? _this discussion arose out of the article with above title, by "m.d.," which was published in our july number._--[eds.] iv in dealing with this vitally important question, we shall most of us, i take it, agree upon certain points. in the light of recent knowledge upon, and extended experience of the subject, one such point which now appears incontrovertible is that there are thousands die annually--directly or indirectly--through overfeeding where one dies through insufficient nourishment. and it may at once be said that, as regards these thousands, the death certificates are practically valueless as data in relation to erroneous dieting, so that in this way we can never get at a correct estimate as to the actual number of deaths due to overfeeding. bright's disease, gastric and intestinal affections, growths of various kinds, cancer, etc., are each in their turn certified as the "cause of death." most often, however, the initial cause is the overloading of the system with an amount of food beyond that which is necessary or healthful--and thereby clogging up the tissues, the organs and smaller bloodvessels. but it may be said: "how can you substantiate such a general and sweeping statement?" in the first place--and this is profoundly significant--other things being equal, it must be acknowledged by all unbiased people that the small and moderate feeders do not contract disease in anything like the proportion that big feeders do, and as a natural consequence live longer lives. further, it must surely be quite evident by this time that there is a sufficiently large enough number of people who are thus existing in good health--and steadily regaining it where it has been lost--on the lines of moderate feeding. and the number is accumulating at a rapid pace; more and more are coming into line with those of us who, having thus found health in themselves, their patients and friends, are preaching the practice of two meals a day, and sometimes only one where there is serious organic disease to combat--thus defying the dicta of those eminent physiologists who "settled" the question years ago. now i quite admit--it would be impertinence to do otherwise--that "m.d.'s" statements and views must not be ignored, must indeed be respected. and he tells us that he "heard of," in one day, three cases which "went wrong" through underfeeding; well, for those three cases we can point to hundreds who are _going right_ through eating just enough and not too much. i am prepared, on the other hand, to admit the danger of a continued semi-starvation diet; our difficulty is to define in each individual case what exactly would be a semi-starvation, and what a sufficient diet. it is impossible to have a fixed standard for everybody. after all, "the proof of the pudding is in the eating"; often it is a matter of experimenting for some little time, and in this way we could judge largely of the result of our dieting by our state of general health. on some main points of the question i am now absolutely convinced--viz.: 1. excessive bulk is always dangerous, often disastrous, causing sudden death in a large number of cases. 2. starchy foods are best strictly limited as we get along towards middle age and beyond. 3. a life which is largely mental or sedentary will be healthier and longer on a strictly moderate diet. 4. a life largely of physical labour must be dealt with on its own particular conditions. 5. at all times due regard, of course, must be paid to age, weight, etc. 6. on the whole, "eminent physiologists" have erred on the side of excess of proteid being advised. 7. middle age is the critical time of life in respect to a man's diet in other words, i would say in axiomatic form that as a man feeds at or about middle age, so will he be for the rest of his life. j. stenson hooker, m.d. v as a very interested reader of this discussion i should be very glad to know exactly what "m.d." means by _each pound_ of _bone_ and _muscle_ in the body weight? what proportion (approximately) is it to total body weight? i have been trying to keep up to dr haig's 9 grains per lb. of "body weight" and find that it is too much for my digestive powers, which are very weak owing to chronic nervous dyspepsia. if i take 15 per cent. or 20 per cent. _less_ proteid my troubles are so greatly lessened that i feel that to continue to take the lower amount would mean perpetual relief. but there have been so many warnings, including m.d.'s, of the dangers of under-nutrition, that i am in a quandary; and others of your readers too. if m.d. means grains per lb. of _something less_ than total body weight, a lesser amount of proteid than i try to take may have his sanction, and be safe for me. jno. a. cookson. * * * * * there appears to be a sincere attempt in "m.d.'s" article to prove that a physiologist is the best guide in diet. but, as one can get the degree of m.d. without any scientific knowledge of dietetics, the inference that one would be likely to make from such an alarming article is erroneous. i say "alarming" because vague statements are made as to patients who were rescued just in time to be stimulated by over-feeding into a semblance of health, and we are treated to a list of very alarming symptoms in the last paragraph on p. 443. "m.d." says, "suppose that the animal fed for years on unnatural food has become so pathological that it can no longer take or digest its natural food." how grateful to m.d. for this statement will be those who long for an excuse to cling to the spoiled, boiled and unnatural dishes of which the popular diet mainly consists! and how they will continue to overeat themselves, content to avoid the truth regarding food quantities. living on a right and natural diet, a man or woman will correct the effects of wrong living. this will bring crises, and unless they know that this is nature's attempt to rid the body of unwanted and effete matter they may be duped into returning to their high feeding, either by those whom "m.d." calls diet quacks or by qualified quacks. i do not believe it possible for anyone to die for lack of indication that they were eating too little. the opposite is what people die of. if we carefully read dr rabagliati's article in the same issue we shall rightly ask what would be the results of analyses and measurements in such a case. about a year ago we had a young woman under our care who had suffered with deafness and other troubles for years. she had tried dietetic treatments, "uric-acid-free" and otherwise, and had at last been told that her deafness was incurable, being due to heredity and deficiency in the organs of hearing. she was extremely thin when she came to us, but we did not measure her, nor analyse unclean excreta, nor weigh her. she saw an m.d. who was in sympathy with the philosophy of fasting, and she fasted (taking water only) for 28 days. she then had four days of fruit juice, and was so disappointed at having broken her fast prematurely that she continued it for another 12 days, making 44 in all--40 days actual fasting. [_during this period she was living an almost complete out-door life._--eds.] during the fast many interesting phenomena were witnessed, chief among which was the discharge from ears and nose--significant indeed to all who study nature's ways. result: normal hearing restored. this was nearly twelve months ago; and, having heard of her recently, we find that, though she had had a cold, there has been no recurrence of deafness. i wonder what assistance measurements would have been in this true cure. the patient (an adult) weighed 4st. 8 lbs. at the end of her fast and could then walk short distances. the way in which "m.d." dismisses "a little gout" in his last paragraph but one almost leads one to think that he is unaware of the failure of the natural defences of the body that must have gone on in a very serious degree before the manifestation of gout became possible. i respectfully submit this problem to "m.d.":--if a very thin patient can go without food entirely for 40 days, with only benefit accruing, _how many centuries_ will it take for a fairly fat person to die through slightly under-eating? as dr haddon has said, the proteid myth will die hard, but there are physiologists who, with their faces to the light, are finding the truth of man's requirements in food and who know that absolute purity and simplicity are the ideals to be sought and that all food we eat more than is absolutely necessary is a diversion of energy to carnal channels. ernest starr. a doctor's reasons for opposing vaccination. in opposing vaccination i am aware that it is a thankless task to brave the abuse and antagonism which everyone who attempts to move forward in the work of medical progress is sure to encounter. in order that i may not be regarded as prejudiced against the dogma of vaccination, i will preface my remarks with the confession that i was at one time myself a confiding dupe of the "tradition of the dairymaids." while attending medical college i was told that inoculation with cow pox virus was a certain preventive of small-pox, and like most other medical students i accepted with childlike faith and credulity the dictum of my teachers as so much infallible wisdom. after an experience derived from treating a number of cases of post-vaccinal small-pox in patients who gave evidence of having been recently and successfully vaccinated, i awoke to a realisation of the unpleasant fact that "protective vaccination" was not all that was claimed for it. i thereupon began a study of the vaccination problem in all its bearings. after several years of reading, observation and experience i became fully convinced that "successful" vaccination not only fails to protect its subjects from small-pox, but that, in reality, it renders them more susceptible to this disease by impairing their health and vitality, and by diminishing their power of resistance. personally, i have known of recently vaccinated patients dying from small-pox while having the plainest foveated vaccine marks upon their bodies, and i have seen other individuals who had never submitted to vaccine inoculation have variola in its mildest and most benign type. in view of such experience i refused to ignore the evidence of my own senses, and determined to follow the dictates of reason instead of the dogmas of faith, and have, consequently, for the past fifteen years refused to pollute the blood of a single person with vaccine virus. i oppose vaccination because i believe that health is always preferable to disease. the principle and practice of vaccination involves the introduction of the contagion of disease at least twice, and, according to numerous authorities, many times, into the human organism. the disease conveyed by vaccination causes an undeniable impairment of health and vitality, it being a distinctly vaccine "lymph," is taken from a lesion on the body of a diseased beast, and inserted by the vaccinator into the circulation of healthy children. the performance of such an insanitary operation, in the very nature of the case, is a violation of the cardinal principles of hygiene and of sanitary science.... moreover, this operation is in direct controversion of the basic principles of aseptic surgery, the legitimate aim of which is to _remove_ from the organism the products of disease, but never to _introduce_ them. the prime aim of the modern surgeon is to make every wound aseptic and to keep it so. the careful operator employs every means at his command to clear the field of operations of all bacteria. he utilises every particle of the marvellously minute and intricate technique of asepsis to prevent the entrance through the wounded tissues of any disease elements before, during or after the operation. he fears sepsis equally with death, and yet, under the blighting and blinding influence of an ancient and venerated myth inherited from his ignorant and superstitious forbears of a pre-scientific age, he will deliberately inoculate the virulent infective products of diseased animal tissues into the circulation of a healthy person. and as if to cap the climax of his stupidity and inconsistency, he performs the operation under "aseptic precautions." the poisonous matter which nature wisely eliminates from the body of a diseased calf in an effort to save its life and restore it to health is seized upon by the vaccinator and implanted into the wholesome body of a helpless child. think of the unparalleled absurdity of purposely infecting the body of a healthy person in this era of sanitary science with the poison from a diseased beast, under the senseless pretext of protecting the victim of the ingrafted disease from the contagion of another disease! can inconsistency go further? i oppose the practice of vaccination because it is not known what vaccine virus is, except that it is a mixed contagion of disease. we hear much these days about "pure" virus and "pure calf lymph." nothing could be more absurd and meaningless than the flippant talk indulged in by vaccinators and the purveyors of vaccine virus about "pure calf lymph," a hybrid product of diseased animal tissues. "pure virus" translated into plain english is pure "animal poison." the phrase "pure calf lymph" is applied to an brand of vaccine virus now in use is a misnomer for two reasons. it is not "pure" and it is not "calf lymph." calf lymph is the normal nutrient fluid which circulates in the lymphatic vessels of the calf. lymph is described by physiologists as a "transparent, colourless, nutrient alkaline fluid which circulates in the lymphatic vessels and thoracic ducts of animal bodies." lymph is a physiological product, while the so-called "pure calf lymph" used by vaccinators is a pathological product, derived from a lesion on a diseased calf. the difference between calf lymph and so-called "pure calf lymph" is as great as is the difference between a food and a poison. the vaccine mixture now most generally used by the medical profession is known under the name of "glycerinized vaccine lymph," but it is not _lymph_ at all. it is made by utilising practically the entire lesion or pock on the heifer when it is in the vesicular stage. such a lesion is broken open and scraped with a volkmann spoon until the whole of the tissue is forcibly and roughly curetted away, consisting of pus, morbid serum, epithelium, fibrous tissue of the skin, and any foreign matter on or in it, constituting what is called "pulp." this pulp is then passed between glass rollers for trituration and afterwards mixed with a definite amount of glycerine and distilled water. this complex pathologic product of unknown origin is injected into the wholesome bodies of helpless children under the false but plausible name of "pure calf lymph." ... i oppose the practice of vaccination because under whatever pretext performed the implantation of disease elements into the healthy human organism is irrational and injurious. it is subversive of the fundamental principles of sanitary science, while the attainment of health as a prophylactic measure is rational and in harmony with the ascertained laws of hygiene and consistent with the canons of common-sense. i am firmly convinced that the absurd and unreasonable dogma which assumes to conserve health by propagating disease should receive the open condemnation of every scientific sanitarian. that this health-blighting delusion conceived in the ignorance of a past generation should find lodgment in the minds of intelligent people enjoying the light of the world's highest civilisation is to my mind inexplicable.... sanitation and isolation of the infected offer the only rational and effective antidote for these disorders. away, then, with the abominable and filthy subterfuge! give us health instead of disease. health is the great prophylactic. no man in perfect health can be truly said to be susceptible to the infection of small-pox, nor to that of any other zymotic disease. vigorous health confers immunity from disease-producing agents as nothing else can. it is usually after the vital functions have become impaired by the effects of vaccination or some other injurious cause that individuals become susceptible to small-pox infection. j.w. hodge, m.d. [_the above article can be obtained in pamphlet form from the publisher. wm. j. furnival, stone. staffs._--eds.] the new race. (_specially written for the healthy life._) a new race on the ruins of the old build we: a temple of the human form fairer than marble, since with life-blood warm, well crowned with its appointed crown of gold, russet or ebony; lines clear and bold beneath--a citadel no ills can storm, buttressed with health; a type to be the norm in that great age the world shall yet behold. for now the laws of health and heaven are seen in their identity, life's body and soul; though, like divorce, disease may come between what god hath joined; but at the human goal, where the new race rules, splendid and serene, sit health and holiness, made one and whole. s. gertrude ford. the play spirit. we all long for reality. most of the amusements in the world are imitations of the reality for which we long. they promise a satisfaction they are unable to give. drink, mechanical love-making, all snatched gratification of the senses, religious excitement, revivalist meetings, and so forth, most theatre-going and sports, all simulate the real glory of life. they bring an illusion of well-being. they produce a glow in the nervous system. they cause the outlines of everyday life as we know it to grow suffused. they give us a momentary sense of heightened power and freedom. we float easily in a happy world. a sort of relaxation has been achieved. the less common forms of amusement bring us nearer to the gateway of reality. for some, they have been the rivers leading to the ocean of truth itself. art, for instance, the interpretation of life in terms of beauty; the "artist," the man in whom sensuous perception is supreme, offers us a sublime aspect of reality. he dwells in the universe constructed for him by his senses and tells us of its glories. he achieves "freedom." the veil covering reality is woven for him far thinner than for common men. he sees life moving eternally behind the forms he separates and "creates." and to those of us who are akin to him, who are temperamentally artistic, he offers freedom of a kind. the contemplation of a work of art releases the tension of the nerves. to use the language of psychology it "arrests" us, suspends the functions of our everyday surface personality, abolishes for a moment time and space, allows the "free," generally suppressed subconscious self to come up and flood the surface intelligence, allows us for a moment to be ourselves. but, still, this momentary relaxation, this momentary "play," this holiday from the surface "i," remains an affair dependent upon suggestive symbols coming from "without." the supreme artist achieves freedom. we, who in matters of art are the imitative mass, can only have "change," a new heaven and earth, a fresh "culture." then there is love. that promises, at the outset, complete escape into freedom and reality. and supreme lovers, both of individuals and of "humanity," have indeed found freedom and the pathway to reality in love. but ordinary everyday people rushing idolatrously out to find themselves in others find in the end only another i. the religions perhaps work best and longest. but even here average humanity, where the mystical sense is feeble, are thrown back in the end upon ethics--and go somewhat grimly through life doing their duty, living upon the husks of doctrine, the notions and reports of other men. if the play spirit within us, that longing for the real joy of life, for real relaxation and re-creation, fares so poorly for most of us in the amusements large and small that life offers to our leisure moments, is it any better in the "games" the individual chooses for himself--hobbies, for instance? can these generally "instructive" and "useful," generally also solitary, occupations be called play? are they not merely a reversal of life's engine, rather than an unmaking and a remaking. they are merely a variant of life. they are very truly called a "change of occupation." they are led and dominated, commonly, by the intelligence. they contain no element of freedom. the same defect is found in all organised "games." * * * * * real play, like every other reality, comes from what our mechanical and practical intelligences have called "within." real play arises when the "i" is in direct contact with the myself, with life, with god, with the actuality moving beneath all symbolic representations. it is only when "i," the practical, intelligent, abstract-making, idealising, generalising, clever, separated "i," the "i" which has a past, a present and a future, renounces its usurpation of the steering apparatus, that play can be. "i," to play or to pray or to love, must be born again. "i" must relinquish all. "i" must have neither experience nor knowledge, neither loves nor hates, neither "thought" nor "feeling" nor "will"--nor anything that can arrest the action of the inner life. when this complete relaxation, which has its physical as well as its mental aspect, is achieved, then and then only can "i" rise up and play. then "i" shall rediscover all the plays in the world in their origin. "i" shall understand the war-dance of the "savage." "i" shall know something about the physical convulsions of primitive "conversion." the arts may begin to be open doors to me. "i" shall have stood "under," understood my universe, in the brief moment when "i" abandoned myself to the inner reality. the words of the great "teachers" will grow full of meaning. my own "experiences" will be re-read. i shall see more clearly with my surface intelligence what i must do. i shall be personal in everything, personal in my play. surface self-consciousness which holds me back from all spontaneous activity will disappear in proportion as "i" am immersed in the greater "me." look at that woman walking primly down the lane to the sea with her bathing-dress. she is a worker on a holiday. but she cannot play. she goes down every day to bathe in the cornish sea, the sea that on a calm sunny day is like liquid venetian glass and flings at you, under the least breeze, long, green, foam-crested billows that carry you off our feet if you stand even waist-high. she potters in the shallows and splashes herself to avoid taking cold. her intelligent "i" is uppermost. her world of every day never leaves her. she will go back to it as she came, unchanged. her wistful face betrays the seeker lost amidst unrealities. if the "i" were a little more intelligent, she might try to defy the surrounding ocean, to pit her powers against it, to swim. she would learn a most practical and useful and withal invigorating accomplishment. if her busy, watchful "i" could be arrested she might "see" the billows, the sky and the headlands reared on either side of her bay. she might dance into the water, and see her world dance back. she would fling herself amongst the wavelets where she stands and splashes. she might give herself up and know nothing but the beauty and strength around her. it would not teach her to swim, but she would have taken a step towards the great game of walking upon the waters. d.m. richardson. travels in two colours. one is often tempted to suspect that in some schools there is a deep-laid plot to destroy in the bud any love for poetry which children may possess. otherwise how is it that little boys and girls are made to commit to memory william blake at his highest reach of mystical fire, as in _tiger, tiger, burning bright_, or william wordsworth at his lowest ebb of uninspired simplicity, as in _we are seven_? these are very popular, apparently, as poems for children to recite; yet in the one case it is beyond any teacher's power to show children the unearthly flaming beauty which alone gives the poem its peculiar quality and undefinable power; and in the other the maudlin sentimentalism and almost priggish piety of the verses are positively dangerous to the child's health of mind. both types of recitation work out in the end to this--that when the child attains adolescence, and the great world of literature dawns on the hungry mind, an evil association of ideas has been established--the association of poetry, the highest of all arts, either with the saying of lines without meaning, or with the learning of "poems" devoid of what wholesome youth really desires or enjoys. people may wrangle all night as to whether the normal healthy child is at heart a mystic or a realist; whether he likes fairy tales because they show him a magical world where flowers can talk and umbrellas are turned into black geese, or because they tell of strange romantic things happening to a real human boy like himself; but there can be no shadow of doubt that much of the verse intended for children is either too clever in its humour to make them laugh, or too bald in its matter or tone to stir the romance that is never quite asleep in their hearts. there are really surprisingly few versifiers who have altogether avoided these errors. some of george macdonald's _poems for children_ are almost perfect, both as regards lyrical form, simplicity of language and in the unobtrusiveness of the inner truth they convey. for example, "the lightning and thunder they go and they come; but the stars and the stillness are always at home." but others come perilously near mere versified moralising. lewis carroll's nonsense verses in the two famous _alice_ books are supreme among their kind; but are they not sometimes just a shade too ingenious, or too adult in wit? probably stevenson, in those seemingly artless poems in _a child's book of verse_, comes nearest to a level perfection. who has ever approached him in his power to understand and express the small child's world, desires and delights, without a trace of the grown-up's condescension or self-consciousness? well, these great ones are no longer in the world; yet, with the recognition of their genius, there is the usual danger of bemoaning the lack of worthy successors. not but what there is some excuse for such lamentation; for this reason that every christmas there is a veritable flood of children's verse, a great deal of which is either painfully didactic, painfully sentimental, painfully funny or painfully foolish. what i wish to do at the moment is to call attention to the fact that there is one man alive in england--one of many, i do not doubt: but one at a time!--who is doing "nonsense verses" for children which are guiltless of all the faults i have indicated above. jack goring is known among some of his friends as "the jolly rhymster." he writes his verses first for his own children, and then publishes them from time to time for the pleasure of other children. the secret of his success is partly that he knows that even small children like a story to be an adventure; partly that he understands how their own romances, the things they picture or hum to themselves when well-meaning adults are not worrying them, or rather, trying to amuse them, begin--wherever they may end!--with a perfectly tangible object, such as a pillar-box, a rag-doll or a toy locomotive. one of "the jolly rhymster's" best things begins- "finger-post, finger-post, why do you stand pointing all day with your silly flat hand?" --which is exactly the sort of question that a very small child in all probability does really ask itself when it has seen a finger-post day after day at a cross-roads. how the poem continues and where it ends you must find out for yourself. it's all in a book called _the ballad of lake laloo_. in the recently published volume[15] that now lies before me, this telling of a tale of wonder which begins with an ordinary thing is again evident. nip and flip, aged six and four respectively, are the adventurers; and they make three voyages in this little book. in the first, _the fourpenny-ha'penny ship_, they circumnavigate the world. now please note how mr goring strikes the right note at the very outset: "nip and flip took a holiday trip on a beautiful fourpenny-ha'penny ship with a dear little handkerchief sail; and they sang, 'yo ho! we shall certainly go to the end of the world and back, you know, and capture the great seakale.'" [15] _nip and flip._ by jack goring. illustrated by caterina patricchio. 1s. net (postage 1+1/2d.). c.w. daniel, ltd., 3 tudor street, london, e.c. and there follows a picture (in black and gold) of this strange monster, just to make sure that no one will suppose they were out after a vegetable. the tale moves along, as such stories should, very rapidly. thus- "and when they came to the end of the world, their dear little handkerchief sail they furled and put on the kettle for tea." but you have only just time to look at the tea things when- "but alas! and alack about six o'clock the good ship strack on the almond rock and split like a little split pea." so the story goes on, through divers adventures, "from timbuctoo to timbucthree" and so at last home again. the next voyage is to the land of make-believe on a christmas eve, "in a long, long train of thought." in the course of this tale we are given a little picture of flip herself, and here it is for you to look at. only, in the book her shoes and stockings, the inside of her skirt, and the squiggly things on the top of her head are a bright golden colour. [illustration] the third voyage is all the fault of a toy monkey--"six three-farthings and cheap at the price"--and takes them among whales, mermaids, sea-serpents and other deep-sea creatures. here, then, are delightful little pictures on every page, which even a two-year-old will enjoy. and here are verses which most boys and girls under seven or eight will like to learn. and the best of it is that it doesn't matter a bit if they do "sing-song" them, for they are the kind of verses which only sound right from the lips of quite small children who have never been taught elocution. edgar j. saxon pickled peppercorns. soup.--oxtail from 10 a.m.--from a restaurant menu. what it was in the early morning it would be indiscreet to inquire. * * * * * i learn that a serum for mumps is now being made at the pasteur institute. "a number of monkeys were inoculated with the serum," says _the times_ (30th july), "and a mild form of the disease was produced." it is an age of scientific progress, so we may expect news shortly of sera for toothache, hiccough, and the hump. it will not be necessary to inoculate camels for the last. * * * * * you will say--with mr arnold bennett, the distinguished playwright and novelist--"the tonic effect of ********* on me is simply _wonderful_."--from an advt. in _punch_. you may join in the chorus if you like, but you mustn't all expect to be simply _wonderful_ playwrights and testimonialists. * * * * * a strange shampoo.... "i make my chemist get the stallax for me," said she. "it comes only in sealed packages, enough to make up twenty-five or thirty individual shampoos, and it smells so good i could almost eat it."--_secrets of beauty_ column in _the daily sketch_. which only shows how careful one has to be. * * * * * in the days to come every army will fight on bloodless food.--_herald of the golden age_. when every army fights on bloodless food, we may be just as far from the golden age as we are now. * * * * * i am told that an obscure practitioner who sent up an account of some interesting discoveries, addressed to medical congress, dietetics section, london. has had his communication returned by the post office, marked _not known_. * * * * * there is no truth, it is said, in the rumour that a secret meeting was held during the congress to discuss the proposed raising of the rate of commission payable by surgeons to physicians. peter piper. healthy life recipes. some "emprote" recipes. exaggeration is popularly regarded as one of the vices of food reformers; but it is certainly no exaggeration whatever to say that mr eustace miles and the restaurant associated with his name have had a large share in bringing about the more sympathetic attitude towards "food reform" noticeable on all sides to-day. mr miles is no amateur in the gentle art of self-advertisement: he would be the first to admit it. but the advertisements have resulted undoubtedly in a very large number of people taking the first steps towards food reform, people who are repelled by the out-and-out "vegetarian" propaganda. there are those who view with disfavour the introduction of manufactured or artificial foods into the health movement; they think it hinders simplicity. there is a truth in this; but, on the other hand, it must be recognised that the great majority cannot be reached save by meeting them half-way. this applies to the flavours of foods, the digestibility of foods and the convenience of foods. few can go straight from beef to nuts. after generations of abuse the human digestive system has to be humoured if the ideal is to be approached. and in this invaluable work of meeting people half-way and of humouring their tastes and digestions, the restaurant in chandos street, london, the specially prepared foods made and sold there and the strongly individual, thoroughly sane and pleasantly straightforward advocacy of mr. eustace miles have been a very important factor. the idea behind "emprote"--the eustace miles proteid food--is that, being a blend, in powder form, of various kinds of proteid (the proteids of milk, of wheat, and so forth) it supplies the right kind of substitute for flesh foods not only because it is so easily assimilated, but because it is in a very convenient and easily kept form. we believe such foods have a very definite and necessary part in the progress of the individual from the customary unhealthy diet to the better ways of feeding. the following recipes illustrate some of the methods of using "emprote." they are taken from the booklet _45 quick and easy recipes for healthy, meatless meals_, to be obtained for 2+1/2d. post free from 40 chandos street, london, w.c.-savoury cheese sandwiches. _note.--these savoury sandwiches can form a complete meal with a little salad (dressed with oil and lemon juice), or celery or lettuce or watercress or other salad material._ 3 oz. of cheddar cheese; 1 oz. of "emprote"; the juice of half a lemon; two tablespoonfuls of fresh tomato pulp or tomato chutney; a pinch of celery salt. prepare some slices of not too new bread and butter. mill the cheese, add to it the "emprote" and the celery salt, then add the tomato pulp or chutney and the lemon juice. mix all well together into a smooth stiff paste, and spread upon the slices, and form sandwiches, which may be eaten with watercress or lettuce or cucumber. if the material is too moist, mix in a little more "emprote," or else "procrums." macaroni cheese. one teacupful of macaroni; two tablespoonfuls of milled cheese one tablespoonful of butter; one dessertspoonful of flour; one tablespoonful of "emprote"; one large cupful of milk. boil the macaroni for half-an-hour in a little water. strain the macaroni and put it in the bottom of a buttered dish. (put the liquid in the stock-pot, to thicken a soup.) mill the cheese, and put half of it over the macaroni. in the small saucepan make a sauce of the butter, flour, milk and "emprote." pour this over the macaroni and cheese, sprinkle the rest of the cheese on the top, put in the pan to brown, then serve. stuffed vegetable marrow. mince two large onions very fine, and fry in 1 oz. of butter; add 3 oz. of "proto-savoury," one dessertspoonful of nutril, 1 oz. of breadcrumbs (or "procrums"), and one egg. scoop the seeds from one large vegetable marrow, fill with the mixture, and bake for one hour. serve with apple sauce. _note.--"proto-savoury," "nutril," and "procrums" are special "e.m." products and are readily obtainable from health food stores, etc._ a nourishing gravy ready in a minute. when cutlets or croquettes are heated up, or when macaroni or vegetables or a vegetable stew (none of which are really adequate substitutes for meat) are to be made nourishing, mix some of the e.m. savoury (or mulligatawny, or blended) gravy powder, with hot water, to the thickness of gravy, and add to the dish. * * * * * new method of preparing fruit for the dinner-table. in cold weather fruit is often cold, and if heated in an oven may be injured partially or wholly. here is, perhaps, a new way of warming fruit which has been tried and proves satisfactory. wash the apples, pears, oranges, bananas and wipe them and place on a dish on the dinner-table. also place a jug of boiling water and a bowl upon the table. then when the fruit is required pour the hot water into the bowl and place the fruit in it and cover with a plate until warm enough to eat comfortably. bananas should be peeled before placing in hot water. "a.r." health queries. _under this heading our contributor, dr valentine knaggs, deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest to health seekers and others._ _in all queries relating to health difficulties it is essential that full details of the correspondent's customary diet should be clearly given._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on _one side only of the paper_, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] eczema as a sign of returning health. mrs m.k. writes:--until the last few years i have been subject to sciatica and a certain amount of dry eczema. about a year ago my health greatly improved, with the exception of the eczema, which has much increased the last year, coming out in large angry spots which irritate. i am 69, small, spare and white, have never been strong until a year ago, have led a sedentary life, being an artist. three years ago i left off eating meat. my diet at present is: _on rising._--cup of hot rain-water. _breakfast_ (8 a.m.)--unfired bread with butter and pine nuts; cup of weak tea, no sugar. _at 11._--one raw apple. _dinner_ (1 p.m.)--one lightly boiled egg or an omelette, with "artox" home-made bread, and butter conservatively cooked celery or broccoli; stiff milk pudding with eggs in it, or "artox" pastry. _tea_ (5 p.m.).--weak china tea "artox" bread, and butter, and home-made plain cake. _supper_ (8.30).--slice of bread and butter; tumblerful of hot rain-water sipped at bedtime. i have not been able to digest uncooked vegetables, excepting lettuce; nor do i eat other fruit than apples; any sweet things cause acidity. i do not suffer with constipation. in this case it will be noted that the skin disease occurred simultaneously with a marked improvement in health. this shows that nature was adopting her usual plan of forcing the impurities outwards to the surface and that the change of diet made this possible. with her body less encumbered with waste a return of health became possible. the plan now to adopt is not to check this skin trouble but to cure it along safe lines by amending the diet and purifying the skin itself by means of warm alkaline baths. these baths, which should be taken twice a week at first, are made by adding a 1/4lb. of bicarbonate of soda and a 1/4lb. of "robin" starch to an ordinary hot bath at a temperature of 105 degrees, which can be gradually increased to 110 degrees as the correspondent can bear it. in this the bather stays for from ten to twenty minutes to well soak out the acids and the oily greasy waste from the surface. the starch is added because it moderates the action of the alkali and leaves a comfortable gloss on the skin after the bath is finished. the bath gradually clears the poisons from the skin and encourages the free action of perspiration, thus promoting the further elimination of waste acid poisons and at the same time clearing the skin and making it healthy. the next thing to do is to amend the diet so that as little waste as possible shall be formed. rice is the cereal that contains the least amount of waste of any kind and this should therefore be the cereal selected. the wholemeal, although good for most people, is not suited to this case. a strict salt-free diet is also necessary, as it is often the retention of salt in the system that leads to the presence of eczema. the following amended diet should suit the case, and it should be continued until the skin has quite cleared itself:-_on rising._--cup of filtered boiled rain-water. _breakfast._--cottage cheese, 2 oz.; rice, boiled or steamed without salt (large plateful), with granose biscuits or toasted "maltweat" bread. _at_ 11 a.m.--more rain-water (not fruit). _lunch._--the same as breakfast. _tea._--hot rain-water only. _supper, 6.30._--the same as breakfast. when the skin is quite clear the correspondent can return to the wholemeal bread (but biscuits made with "artox" would be better than the yeastless bread), and also to a more varied diet generally, as at present. deafness. j.g. writes:--my hearing got bad about twenty years ago, caused i think by a cold in the head. when in bed i can hear the tick of a watch with the left ear but the other is almost stone deaf. i am not much at a loss in ordinary conversation, but in trying to hear people speak i lose much of what is said. although i have no real pain, my head is rarely clear, feeling full and congested. i have now and again a slight sensation of giddiness or reeling. the right ear runs some offensive matter, and there is always a hissing sound. i live what is, i think, a simple life, but i must confess to a little smoking. my general health is good. i am a working farmer and fairly active for one of my age (69). my diet is generally as follows: _on rising._--one or two cups of warm water, sometimes with lemon juice. _breakfast._--an apple or orange, oatcake and dairy butter. baker's bread and one cup of tea. _lunch._--nil, or perhaps i should say that i eat an apple or orange before each meal or a bit of turnip or even cabbage. _supper._--potatoes with fish, and milk pudding. on some days it may be broth with meat cooked in it. _before retiring._--nothing but water, or at other times oatcake and one cup of milk. there does not seem to be much prospect of this correspondent recovering the hearing of his right ear, as the conditions have lasted so long. he might, however, certainly try by diet and hygiene to get rid of the unpleasant discharge and the noises. to effect this he should carefully syringe the ear once or twice a day with a weak solution (1 grain to the ounce) of permanganate of potash, using an all-rubber ear-syringe. then he should get someone to well stretch the upper bones of the spine and to massage well the muscles at the back of the neck to induce, thereby, a better circulation in the nerves and blood-vessels which proceed from that part of the spine into the ears. in this way he will be able to ensure a removal of the clogging poisons which are lurking in the bad ear and thus promote less noises and a better health state of the ears generally. the diet should be amended as follows:-_on rising._--one or two cups of warm water, with lemon juice added. _at 8. breakfast_.--apples, oranges or other fruit only. _take plenty of fruit at this meal and eat it at no other time._ _at 12. lunch._--one boiled egg or some cream cheese: oatcakes and butter or good wholemeal biscuits ("p.r." or "ixion" kinds) and butter, and a plateful of finely grated raw roots (carrots, turnip, etc.). _tea meal._--one cupful of hygiama, using water in place of milk. _dinner._--cheddar cheese or cottage cheese (the latter is best); potatoes and a green vegetable, cooked by baking or steaming, without salt. no broth or meat. (meat and especially meat broths are very undesirable in this case.) _before retiring._--hot water only. another case of deafness. j.a.b. writes:--i have been a reader of _the healthy life_ for the last six months, and am suffering from a complaint since i was three years old. when three years old i was attacked by scarlet fever and on getting better i had a discharge from my right ear. this continued for several years, then it would disappear and reappear at short intervals of say a few weeks. this last few years the discharge has disappeared for six months, only to reappear again for a week with severe pains in back over right shoulder and right side of neck. i always feel weak and tired when discharge reappears and sometimes experience pains in the head and cannot remember anything for a few minutes. this correspondent needs a suitable diet in order to purify his blood stream and to promote elimination of bodily poisons which are evidently affecting his ears. he also needs suitable massage and stretching movements applied to the upper part of the spine, which is functioning badly. then he can supplement this by taking turkish baths or wet sheet packs to promote a free action of the skin and thus clear away poisonous waste from the system. the same diet as recommended to the previous correspondent should be tried. concerning cottage cheese. mrs c.e.j. writes:--i have been making cottage cheese curdling the milk with lemon juice, as recommended in _the healthy life_. suppose the milk contains disease germs, would not this cheese be injurious, as the milk is not sterilised by being brought to boiling point? i have also been drinking the whey from the same, as it as given in _the healthy life beverage book_. i notice in a reply given in this month's issue that dr knaggs states that the whey of the milk is the dangerous element. since reading this answer i have been somewhat in doubt as to drinking the whey. i should like to know if it can be taken without harmful effects. ordinary unboiled milk, free from preservatives, is far less dangerous to health than boiled milk, because nature inserts in the raw milk certain germs known as the lactic-acid-producing bacilli, which protect us from the injurious germs. these lactic germs cause the milk to go sour and produce in this way the much-extolled soured or curdled milk. they convert the sugar of the whey into lactic acid by a process of fermentation. if milk is boiled it cannot go sour because the germs natural to it have been destroyed by the heat and it becomes necessary to introduce fresh lactic germs into the boiled milk as is done in the artificial production of curdled milk. failing this, milk will undergo, not lactic fermentation, but _putrefaction_, and thereby develop highly dangerous qualities. when a person takes soured milk its lactic acid acts as a powerful germ destroyer and in a certain concentration it actually kills the lactic germs as well. it also keeps down the disease-producing germs of putrefaction which work in an alkaline medium (opposite to acid) by depriving them of the sugar of the whey. boiled milk, if set on one side, in warm weather, speedily becomes alkaline and putrid or putrefactive. it is in this condition that, when babies take it, they are made dreadfully ill with diarrhoea and inflammation of the stomach and bowels. hence it is the chief cause of the appalling mortality among infants in hot weather. mrs f.k.j. need have no fear of any harm coming to her as a result of eating cottage cheese, but she should not take the whey unless she has decided to undergo a whey cure and take _nothing but whey_; in this latter case, there being no other foods taken, there will be no germs to act harmfully upon it. if there is much flatulence and stomach or bowel trouble sweet milk or whey will simply feed the germs which are the cause of the digestive trouble, or self-poisoning, and are thus far better discarded. diet for obstinate cough. miss n.s. writes:--for the last three weeks i have been troubled with a very bad cough it started in the first place with a cold in the head and then it got on my chest, and do what will i cannot get rid of it. i have been having honey and lemon juice, and also each morning have taken olive oil and lemon juice beaten up together, but without (apparently) any effect. i have bad coughing fits in the night and the next morning i do not feel up to much. i may say that i have not taken meat for about six years, and i try to follow the kind of diet advocated in _the healthy life_. i am 23 years of age and a typist in an office, which is about 4 miles from my home. i try to get out in the fresh air as much as possible to counteract any bad effects which may arise from my work. my people at home are very much opposed to my food reform sympathies and efforts. this correspondent should consult a sensible doctor about this cough and thus be on the safe side. it is unwise to allow a cough to become chronic without ascertaining the cause of it. coughs are often due to stomach and liver trouble, as distinguished from lung trouble. in either case a salt-free diet will greatly help. thus _breakfast._--all fresh fruit, nothing else but fruit. apples best. (_not_ stewed fruit). _lunch._--boiled or steamed rice, done without salt; about 2 oz. cottage cheese or a poached egg; a little raw carrot, turnip or artichoke, finely grated, with dressing of fruit-oil beaten up with a raw egg. the grated roots must be well chewed; as a change they may be cut up and cooked in a casserole with very little water. _dinner._--potato baked in skin, with fresh butter, a little cheese, or flaked nuts, and a few plain rusks, or a saucer of p.r. breakfast food, dry, with cream. the honey and lemon juice should be disgarded in favour of liquorice (little bits being sucked at intervals) or of linseed tea. i have often found an obstinate cough yield to a diet which contains lactic acid buttermilk, combined with the use of the new oxygen baths. the lactic acid buttermilk can be obtained from any good dairy and should be taken in the morning fasting and at bedtime. water grapes. w.g.b. writes:--referring to article in january number entitled "grape juice for all," i think perhaps it would interest others besides myself if dr knaggs would give us his opinion on the value of what are commonly termed "water grapes," as compared with more expensive kinds. on the continent the grape cure is a popular method of treatment. it is especially good for those who are anaemic and underfed as well as for those who suffer in the opposite way from over-feeding. it depends upon which condition is present as to the kind of grapes selected for the cure. fully ripe grapes with but little acidity (water grapes) are best suited for persons suffering from anaemia and malnutrition. the unripe or sour grapes answer best for cases of over-eating associated with constipation, gout and allied disorders of nutrition. the excess of acid and cellulose helps the bowels and promotes elimination of the gouty poisons. our correspondent will note that for thin people who are pale and deficient in vitality the water grapes will be found most salutary. they are best taken alone at breakfast without the addition of any other form of food. cereal food in the treatment of neuritis. e.j.h. writes:--a friend of mine who is suffering from an attack of neuritis (not badly) is desirous of trying the diet of twice-baked standard bread as recommended by dr knaggs in an answer to a query in _the healthy life_ some months since. she has asked me if dr knaggs would limit the quantity of this bread taken in the course of the day. if dr knaggs will very kindly tell me this i shall be greatly obliged. neuritis is a form of rheumatism or gout which involves the nerves. its usual starting centre is the spine itself, from which all the nerves of the body spring. the diet needs to be greatly restricted so that the poisons can be eliminated. the most important foods to cut down are the cereals because they are very slow to digest and are apt to cause constipation with its attendant self-poisoning of the system with uric and other acids. horses and animals suffer from neuritis from over-feeding with cereals and beans, and the stockbreeder or horse expert usually restricts these foods and gives plenty of grass, hay, chaff and green clover, which corrects the trouble. the same thing applies equally to man. he should take his cereals in the form they are the most easily assimilated--namely, twice-baked or dextrinised. thus "pulled" or twice-baked bread, granose or melarvi biscuits, or rusks, or toasted "maltweat" bread are the best form of cereal for people suffering from neuritis. other treatment besides diet restriction is, of course, needed to cure neuritis, because we have to clear the clogged tissues of the poisons which are interfering with right nerve action. thus we can resort hot alkaline baths, turkish baths, massage and osteopathic stretching movements to help in this respect. h. valentine knaggs. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #back numbers# | | | | if readers who possess copies of the first number of _the | | healthy life_ (august 1911) will send them to the editors, | | they will receive, in exchange, booklets to the value of | | threepence for each copy. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ the healthy life the independent health magazine. 3 amen corner london e.c. vol. v december no. 29. 1913 _there will come a day when physiologists, poets, and philosophers will all speak the same language and understand one another._--claude bernard. an indication. there are some statements, the very simplicity and truth of which create a shock--for some people. for instance, there are certain seekers after health who ignore and are shocked by the very obvious truth that "brain is flesh." a brain poisoned by impure blood is no fit instrument for the spirit to manifest through, and "mental suggestion" must inevitably prove of no avail as a cure if the origin of the impure blood be purely material. it is just as futile, on the other hand, to treat the chronic indigestion that arises from persistent worry, or indulgence in passion, by one change after another in the dietary. the founder of homoeopathy insisted that there was no such thing as a physical "symptom" without corresponding mental and moral symptoms. "not soul helps flesh more than flesh helps soul." thus the scientist and the poet come to the same truth, albeit by different ways.--[eds.] plain words and coloured pictures. while most of us would at first sight find fault with mr g.k. chesterton's sweeping advice- "and don't believe in anything that can't be told in coloured pictures," many would probably end by endorsing it. but we should do so only because we were able to give a very wide and varied meaning to "coloured pictures." no one ever made a coloured picture of the "wild west wind"; but there are plenty of coloured pictures in which there is no mistaking its presence. we all believe in wireless telegraphy (now that it is an accomplished fact) which is, in itself, untranslatable into colour or line; but its mechanism can be photographed, and its results in the world of men and ships are in all the illustrated papers. music, which is pure sound, is to some the surest path to the reality behind this outward show things; yet to some at least of such music is indeed form and colour, even though the colours be beyond the rainbow. for in truth, everything worth believing in, all those things, those ideas, which renew the springs of our life, have form and they have colour. even to the colour-blind one word differeth from another in glory. this is no idle fancy, no mere subject for academic debate: it is the most practical subject in the world. for even as the body is fed not by food alone but by the living air, so is the spirit nourished not alone by right action but by inspiring ideas. ideas are pictures; and the best ideas are coloured pictures. hence the great value of words. it is idle to speak of "words, idle words," as though they were the transient froth on the permanent ocean of thought. they are the vehicle, the body of thought. if the thought be shallow or silly, the words will indeed be "idle." but if the idea be inspiring the words will be the channel of that inspiration. the greater part of this power in words is lost to us to-day. everything tempts us to hurry over words. we talk too quickly to be able to pay that respect to words which they deserve; and we read the newspaper, the magazine, the novel, the play, the poem, with the same disastrous haste. we devour the words but lose their essence. hence there is a grave danger that through this neglect we shut out one of the main streams by which our life must be fed if it is not to shrink into mere fretful existence. there is a curious idea in some minds that fine language consists of long words difficult to understand. nothing could be farther from the truth. most of the great words--the words of power, as the old kabalists called them--are short words, words in common use. and how common is the sound of them in the mouth of the preacher! not long ago i heard an intelligent and cultured man reading one of the many beautiful passages from the english bible:- "ye dragons, and all deeps; fire and hail, snow and vapour; stormy wind fulfilling his word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars, ..." and he read it as though it were a draper's sale bill. and yet it needs but a very little imagination for such a passage to become a series of vivid pictures. fire, hail, snow, vapour, hills, mountains, cedars, dragons and deeps--every word is "a word of power" if only there is no hurry, if only each word as it comes is given time to call up the picture of the real thing before the inward eye. and you may hear children of fourteen and fifteen who have passed examinations in "english" recite line after line of, say, matthew arnold's _the forsaken merman_ with a glib self-assured colourlessness due solely to the fact that no teacher has ever taught them respect for simple words. and what simpler words could there be than these, for example- "where great whales come sailing by, sail and sail, with unshut eye, round the world, for ever and aye"? simple, common words; yet if there is that leisurely attention to each one as it comes what an exhilarating picture arises of the great sea-beasts, and of "the round ocean and the living air." i am not pleading for the stylist's concentration on words which exalts them above the things they body forth. the most vivid and beautiful description of dawn in the english language- "night's candles are burned out, and jocund morn stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops" though spoken by the most sensitively vibrant voice in the world, can never come near the real dawn breaking across real mountains. but the point is that those two lines composed of simple english words have power, if we pay them respect, to create the dawn within the mind, and to supply the spirit with that beauty which is its very breath. if this patience with words, this respect for the familiar fine things of our native tongue, this desire to make them yield up their strength and beauty, if this has nothing to do with healthy living i don't know what has. william wordsworth's- "and vital feelings of delight shall rear her form to stately height" is only a metrical expression of a great and practical truth. you do not need to be a "christian scientist" to know that ideas and emotions can affect the stoop of the shoulders or the lines of the mouth. other people besides "eugenists" have observed that ugly or mean-spirited parents seldom have beautiful children. but though the power of ideas is a commonplace, and though psychologists tell us how much we may improve mental concentration by letting the words of any sentence call up each its own picture, what they a omit to do is to recognise the need of the human spirit for beauty. you can concentrate your thought on the list of pickles in a grocer's price list: it is doubtless a good exercise. but the same exercise directed to some great phrase, such as emerson's _trust thyself: ever' heart vibrates to that iron string_; or some vivid lyrical image such as _all the trees of the field shall clap their hands_, or even a complete poem of simple words but permanent beauty, such as that one of wordsworth's beginning _i wandered lonely as a cloud_; this will not only improve concentration and sharpen memory: it will enrich the mind with ever-available sources of inspiration, courage and joy. edgar j. saxon. the world's wanderers. tell me, thou star, whose wings of light speed thee in thy fiery flight, in what cavern of the night will thy pinions close now? tell me, moon, thou pale and grey pilgrim of heaven's homeless way, in what depth of night or day. seekest thou repose now? weary wind, who wanderest like the world's rejected guest, hast thou still some secret nest on the tree or billow? percy bysshe shelley. cloud-capped towers. building castles in the air has always been one of the favourite amusements of mankind. to it we owe much, not only of the zest of life, but also of motive power for overcoming difficulties and reaching out towards new possibilities. yet all literature, and tradition that is earlier than any written literature, is full of a deep note of warning; over and over again we see in the dim past the shadow of a tower that was built in vain, of walls that were piled too high and toppled into ruin, of crests that tapped the thunder-clouds and drew down lightning to their own destruction. evidently man has seen danger in his own desire! the castle must be built with wisdom as well as with industry and boldness if it is to escape disaster and to become a storehouse, a safe defence or a vantage-ground for surveying earth and sky. there is one obvious precaution we should observe in building our castles, and that is to realise that all which we imagine and think about tends sooner or later to externalise itself and pass into action. every idea tends to glide into an ideal. nearly all thinkers have recognised this, and have seen that morality lies much farther back than action, farther back than conscious will. banquo had dreams of ambition, as had macbeth, but they dealt differently with them; while macbeth allowed his visions to lead him on to treachery and murder, banquo prayed against the temptations that came to him in sleep. to most of us imagination, sleeping or waking, comes in less dramatic form, but we should all think more sanely and act more wisely if we interposed a definite revision by the conscious mind and will of all our plans and ideals between their (perhaps quite automatic) formation in our imagination and their translation into fact. slack muscle should go with the daydream or picture of the future; we should not strike or clench or lift until we have decided that the action is right and just and wise. the girl who counted her chickens and broke the eggs is a true enough example: every doctor and coroner knows many instances of results far more tragic. but sometimes the vision has nothing in it but what is pure and good and noble. are there any dangers even here? there is this danger always, that we find the picture so lovely and so satisfying that we cannot summon up courage and energy to turn away from it towards the serious work which it suggests. the castle in the air is radiant and tall, but it is generally meant as a model for a tougher building made out of common earth, by toil and pain, amidst mud and dust. it is so much easier, as sordello knew, to imagine than to do. actual circumstances, real life, other people all this that lies round us is sterner stuff than our easily moulded material of dreams. who has not at some time or other lain sleepily in bed of a morning and gone through in thought the processes of getting up, until a louder call or an alarum bell has awakened the realisation that the task is not yet begun? who has not been tempted to shirk practice of some sort in thinking of a prize? who has not sometimes built expectation higher and higher until his demands of fate have become so great that, in despair of making good, he has let the whole plan slip away into the valley of forgotten dreams? these dangers, the almost involuntary carrying out of unworthy aims that have been cherished in thought and the loss of vigour for real achievement, due to too easy an indulgence in blameless aspiration, are fairly obvious and have long been recognised. there is another that has been seen from time to time and occasionally expressed.[16] we have seen that too loose a dream-world may make the world in which we live seem dull and ordinary. but is not the converse at least as often true? if our thought-world is too narrow, too selfish or too weak, all our ordinary work, sound and compact though it may be, is stultified, misdirected, often wasted. we all know how in the industrial world something more than industry is needed; in the emotional world something more than a clumsy and unapprehending goodwill. we need a certain insight to turn these solid qualities of labour and feeling to the best account. "a man's reach should exceed his grasp," a great poet tells us, and even the birds or beavers do not go on quite blindly with their building, but, when effort on effort has been destroyed by wind and water or man's interference, they at last accommodate their instinct to circumstances so as to give themselves a better chance of fulfilling their deeper purpose. in many ways we have hardly outgrown the beaver stage: wars, accidents, disease, disputes--how many times must we try over again the same path which has led us before into trouble and disaster before we put our imagination seriously to work on the problem and try to find some more complete solution? of all the dangers of the use of the imagination, perhaps the greatest of all is the neglect to use it, the denial of it and its consequent starvation. e.m. cobham. [16] mrs book sees an allusion to this danger, as well as to the first, in the warnings against covetousness in the tenth commandment. the play spirit[17]: a criticism. [17] see the article, "the play spirit," in the november issue. with your contributor's description of the play spirit, that happy leisure from self and its responsibilities in order that time and thought and heart may be filled with wider inspiration, most of your readers will, i think, entirely agree, and all of us will be grateful for the spirited claim on behalf of "play." the one criticism that occurs to the mind is that a touch of professionalism, of patronage towards the ordinary person, has crept into the author's thought and peeps out through many of the sentences. "common men" ... "ordinary everyday people" ... "average humanity," ... "a worker" who ... "cannot play"; does the writer of the play spirit really show us what is in their hearts? he is an artist in words, he is a keen admirer of other arts, he is interested in thinking; it seems all but impossible to him that anyone can have "freedom" without the power of expressing it, without even the consciousness of its possession. we are all too apt, i think, to imagine that our own discoveries of the mystery and magic of life are peculiar to ourselves, or shared only with a sympathetic few, passed on sometimes (by the _very_ few who have both will and power to do so) to such of the outsiders as are interested enough to enter into that enchanted garden and take gifts from it. but has not the supreme discovery of the greatest artists, philosophers and teachers been that the "everyday people" _do_ live as deeply and broadly as the thinkers and artists? they are inarticulate and cannot tell what they see, but to them life is made amusing, or interesting, or consecrated according to their temperament. who can say what the cornish sea means to that tired worker? at least it seems a boldness that is almost insolence to decide what it did _not_ mean to her! has not every life its revelations? is it not because we do _not_ see as god does that some one particular life which strikes across our path cannot reveal its revelation over again to us? surely "the commonplace is the highest place." or rather, there are no hierarchies of the soul. artist or seamstress or carpenter, we live by the glory that flows to us through whatever curtains of environment are round us. i have not a word of criticism for the writer's ideal. all that i would suggest is that the ideal is really present in the world, "common" as the "everyday" flowers at his feet. not all can sing or paint or write, but many more can laugh or run and all, perhaps, can love and pray. l.e. hawks. on learning to breathe.[18] [18] this is article has been specially written as a preface for _health through breathing_, by olga lazarus, shortly to be published (1s. net). to breathe correctly and sufficiently is to live more healthily. this dictum is incontrovertible, and it becomes my pleasant duty herein to demonstrate its truthfulness. and, after a careful perusal of the hundred exercises which the authoress has so clearly and succinctly described, i am still more convinced of the very great, one might almost say of the tremendous, importance of deep-breathing exercises. what has struck me so forcibly in this little book is the fact that there is no undue enthusiasm evident; no embellishment of the subject; no extravagant claims for the system advocated; just a plain sane, sober and intelligent description of procedures of immense value to all who would either keep, or improve, their health. the authoress has, as it were, laid before the reader a feast of good things in the way of physical culture, and leaves it at that. she seems to have brought into purview a splendid variation of the exercises, and indeed every mode of breathing and exercise likely to be beneficial--to those in health as out of it. reverting for a moment to the supreme importance of the subject, i may say that it has of late years come home to me more than ever, and with greater insistency, that innumerable ills of to-day are due to faulty breathing and lack of correct physical exercises generally. i wonder how many of us could conscientiously say that we devote fifteen or twenty minutes regularly every day to the system? and yet such a great deal could be done for health in that time! no, we "haven't time," or we "oversleep ourselves so often," or we make some such other flimsy excuse; but of course we ought to "make time," we ought not to "oversleep ourselves." the fact is, rather, that most of us are too lazy to go through the exercises, even though we may know of their transcendent benefit. in the words of the poet: "let us, then, be up and doing"--that is, up in time in the morning in order to be going through exercises such as described in this little volume. it is within my personal knowledge, and must be within the personal knowledge of every actively engaged physician, that but very few of us yet have any idea, in spite of all the teaching and the advocacy of it, of really deep and scientific breathing. if the system could be made quite general and enforced upon us--especially when young or adolescent--we should not see, as we do now, _thousands_ walking about the streets whose nostrils are too narrow through insufficient breathing, whose lungs are not properly inflated as they inspire; and, as a consequence, who have neither the bloom nor the carriage of health. perhaps if i show here how vastly important it is for us to have our blood well oxygenated, it may be some sort of encouragement for mrs lazarus's readers to persevere with and _work into their lives_ the system she advocates and describes. if we did not renew the oxygen in our lungs to a sufficient extent, we should die in a few minutes. we can do without food for many days; without water for less days, but only for a few minutes without oxygen. anything which tends to increase the intake of this vitally important element, whether deeper breathing or exercises, will have a very pronounced effect upon our general health. now deep breathing is, _par excellence_, the way to bring about this desirable condition. it may interest the readers of this little book if i remind them that in the ordinary way the total capacity of the lungs is about 340 cubic inches; as a rule, the amount of air breathed amounts only to some 20 or 30 cubic inches, but this, by special effort, can be increased by some 110 cubic inches. thus it is demonstrated how much more air we could take into the lungs by better and deeper breathing, thereby securing, sooner or later, a greater natural expansion of the lungs, with the result, of course, of improved health generally. it would surprise most people if they tested their breathing capacity by the aid of the spirometer, to discover how inefficiently they did breathe; in other words, how much below the normal was the amount of air they were usually inspiring. encouragement might also be found in the matter--incentive, that is, to learn how to breathe and exercise correctly and scientifically--if mention were here made categorically of the very profound influences upon certain physiological processes of our organisation which are brought about if we would but mend our ways in this respect. space will only allow of a few such to be detailed. 1. the circulation is improved and equalised. this implies much more than appears on the surface: it means that the blood is made to flow from any congested internal organ (such as the liver, stomach, etc.) towards the peripheries--that is, the extremities and everywhere where there is the capillary system--the changing-place between the venous and the arterial blood; thus we at the same time warm our extremities and relieve internal congestion. in other words, "to bring the blood to the surface" in many conditions of ill-health is of paramount importance. 2. it will strengthen the action of the heart and lungs. for lack of proper breathing exercises the heart's walls get thin, the expansive power of the lungs' tissue gets less, and as a consequence, when any little extra strain is thrown upon either, permanent damage is often the result. 3. in any tendency to constipation, indigestion and similar conditions, such exercises are especially beneficial, and that both by flushing the system with more oxygen and by mechanically exerting pressure on the different organs--thus giving those latter what is actually a good massaging! 4. indirectly, such exercises must of necessity be splendid for "nerves," as we thus get these supplied with a larger amount of purified blood, and of course this must result in better and heightened nerve and brain action. and all this--and much more which we have not space enough to deal with--being so, it might now be well asked, who and what class of individuals would benefit by these exercises. the list is a long one, and would include practically all growing children and adolescents--in order that adenoids, narrow chests, debility in general, malnutrition and a host of other abnormal states might be either cured or prevented. innumerable adults would also benefit by such exercises: those who are in health, in order to keep so; those who are depressed mentally, or who are suffering from constipation, dyspepsia, anaemia, obesity, debility, etc. even those who are "getting on" in years could, with care and caution, go through such exercises to advantage, providing, that is, that their heart, lungs and blood vessels are fairly normal; it is only where there is serious organic disease such exercises must be withheld. thus we have a big field for such a system which mrs lazarus has described so fully in this little work of hers; it deserves wide recognition, and my final word to the reader is not only to keep the book as a "boon companion," but to encourage others to purchase it and to carry out its most excellent teachings. j. stenson hooker, m.d. letters of a layman. 1.--doctors and health. medicine is a progressive science--and art, if we judge by the statistics given of the fall in the rate of mortality. even this, however, must be carefully analysed, because a good deal of the fall of mortality is due to the great reduction in the birthrate which has taken place in the last twenty years. still, after this has been allowed for, there is probably a balance in the doctors' favour--something to the good of the science and art of medicine. doubtless the science is improved and the practical advice offered by medical men is better and more effectual than it used to be. a layman, nevertheless, may be forgiven if, with all due deference, he is tempted to believe that many of the benefits attributed to medicine have been achieved through attention to sanitation--cleanliness and ventilation. of course this is due to the work of science, which necessarily includes the members of the medical profession, but it is not due to medical science _qua_ medical science. the terms 'sanitation' and 'sanitary' nearly always connote only ideas associated with cleanliness, free ventilation, etc. they scarcely connote ideas of food management, or, if they do, it is only to the extent of inferring that food shall not be adulterated or of bad quality--and perhaps that there shall be enough of it. such questions as what food shall we eat, and how much; what are the real reasons for taking food into the body, whether it is to give strength and heat to the body or only to supply the body's waste, as dr rabagliati contends--these and other relevant questions are usually left to unorthodox members of the medical profession to declare upon. they seem to be very important questions, but we do not find that they were discussed--or ever mentioned--at the thirty-fourth international medical congress, which completed its sittings several months ago. obviously, the practical questions of food supply are answered very differently, according as one _believes_ they must be answered one way or another, as, for instance, in dr rabagliati's or dr haig's way. but that they are questions not worthy of consideration by doctors in congress may be taken as an ominous sign. it must not be forgotten that we owe many valuable discoveries of medical science to qualified members of the profession, just as discoveries of mechanical science are made by men working at their respective trades. we have sorrowfully to admit, however, that nearly all the great achievements upon which medicine plumes herself are in the direction of increasing the doctors' power over his patient, and seldom of giving his patient power over disease. it is also true that the advocacy by unorthodox members of the profession of simple and natural remedies often involves them in a charge of charlatanism, and subjects them to persecution by medical associations. if the medical profession were all that it is supposed to be, it might be good that the reformer should suffer in solitude while his experiments and methods were subjected to adequate tests and criticism. if the associated physicians and surgeons jealously guarded the public from quackery while they impartially investigated every fresh discovery, the true reformer would welcome the protection afforded him from the "counter-currents of senseless clamour" within the doctors' own ranks, occasioned by party and vested interests. it may be true that "loneliness tends to save the seer from becoming a charlatan and to make of him a true reformer." but it is not that peculiar loneliness of the seer that the medical trade unions afford the reforming physician. that is inevitably and sufficiently accorded him by the "unwillingness of the masses to enter into the thoughts of the seers."[19] an ignorant and inert people will always follow a charlatan, because they like to do things which are mysterious and involve no trouble on their part. [19] the reason "why the prophet should be lonely" is perfectly elaborated in a chapter under that title in _logic taught by love_, from which i have quoted. the seer among doctors is boycotted by his fellow medicos _after_ he and his co-workers have tested their experiments for themselves, weeded out what is false from what is true, and proved their methods to be right. not only that, but too often it turns out that it is proper food selection, cleanliness, personal effort and restraint advocated by doctors as substitutes for serums and drugs, which excites the opprobrium of medical coteries. whereas, the misguided serum specialist, who ought to be saved from himself, and from whom the public ought to be protected, is given full medical honours--and facilities to become that most dangerous type of charlatan, the licensed one. there are doubtless many abstract questions of health and disease which orthodox and unorthodox doctors alike are unable satisfactorily to settle. but if that be admitted, then it is certainly not in the public interest that serum treatments should be accepted as almost the last words in medical science. more anti-social still is it to attempt to justify the compulsory orders of parliament that expensive sanatoria shall be built to cope with disease that might be more economically and more satisfactorily treated. is there not too little consideration given to theoretical issues underlying practical experience of disease? is there not too great an anxiety to force remedies at the public expense before all the bearings of the different questions and their phases have been considered? all new methods savour too much of compulsion. they all require the provision of large armies of officials to carry them out. it is interesting to note that the successors of the men who told us how grievously the church has failed because she is established, should be so anxious to more firmly establish the medical priesthood. modern statecraft calls out to us: 'we will appoint officials to inquire into and decide upon what is to be done, but we will make no inquiries into the real nature of this disease and that: we will find out remedies which, in the form of serums to be injected into the blood, shall counteract the effects of disease: we will also appoint, at your expense, doctors to perform these operations: we will force the man whose family may have the misfortune to contract a disease, which the doctors have not told him how to prevent, to submit them to such treatment.' but nothing is said about the desirability of exercising government over oneself, one's body and one's mind! and nothing is _said_ either, but it is suggested, that, if one accepts meekly coercive treatment by official doctors, one may probably be able to ignore the laws of life and health without having to pay the penalty. no sane and properly instructed citizens would be satisfied to have state officials compel them to do what they ought to do for themselves. it is because of this and because the suggestions and compulsions of modern medicine are in keeping with the prevailing philosophy that accumulates knowledge without wisdom, that we need such counteracting influences as are afforded by journals like _the healthy life._ layman. a doctor on doctors. "i charge that whereas the first duty of a physician is to instruct the people in the laws of health and thus prevent disease, the tendency has ever been towards a conspiracy of mystery, humbug, and silence." "i charge that the general tendency of the profession has been to depreciate the importance of personal and municipal cleanliness, and to inculcate a reliance on drug medicines, vaccination, and other unscientific expedients." alexander ross, m.d., f.r.s. +--------------------------------------------------------------+ | | | #to our readers.# | | | | readers who appreciate the independence and all-round | | advocacy of _the healthy life_ can materially assist the | | extension of its circulation by tactfully urging their local | | newsagent to have the magazine regularly displayed for sale. | | an attractive monthly poster can always be had free from the | | publishers, 3 tudor street, london, e.c. | | | +--------------------------------------------------------------+ modern germ mania: a case in point. under the sensational heading, _doomed to carry germs: woman typhoid victim for life_, the following account appeared recently in _news of the world_:- almost unique in medical history is the case of a woman typhoid carrier, who, it is said, will carry the bacilli with her through life. the case is described by dr barbara cunningham in a report of the manchester medical officer of health. in order that the woman shall cease to be a source of danger--as she has been keeping lodgers--the health authorities are giving her 7s. a week, and that, with her old-age pension of 5s., will be sufficient to keep her without lodgers. the case has aroused much interest in manchester. the principal restrictions on the part of the health department are that she must not cook or wash for anyone. anyone can, however, cook for her. in discussing the case dr martin, who for 25 years was medical officer of health for gorton, remarked that in some cases of typhoid carriers the infection ceased to exist for a time, but it was unusual for it to exist year after year. "the reason for the woman referred to carrying the typhoid bacilli with her through life is," he added, "because of a peculiarity of constitution. there is no remedy to be found for it at present, and no means of freeing her from the germs, hence the reward offered by an american to anyone who can find a remedy for such cases. the germs themselves are proof against remedies, and they go on multiplying. the woman is incurable, and you cannot kill the germs without killing the woman. it is the first case, to my knowledge, where the health authorities have taken such measures to prevent a spread of the infection." the history of the affair is interesting. the woman's case had been reported to the authorities, and when her lodger became ill with typhus she was suspected, and was found to be giving off large numbers of typhoid bacilli. she was placed in monsall hospital for two months, during which time she was treated with gradually increasing doses of vaccine prepared in the public health laboratory, york place. when discharged, three separate tests were made as regards the typhoid bacilli. for one week after her discharge the organisms did not reappear, but during the second week a few colonies were grown, and in the third and fourth weeks the number increased. shortly after that her lodger developed enteric fever. this case is instructive, because it shows very clearly the utter futility of the modern method of treating infectious diseases by means of drugs and vaccines. it is well known that the infecting agent or microbe found in cases of typhoid fever originates in man himself, that, in fact, it is essentially a man-made disorder. dr budd, who was the first to fully investigate this important subject, brought together the most convincing considerations to show this. we know further that impure water and milk, shellfish and certain foods which are contaminated with sewage are capable of giving rise to epidemics of this complaint. this was shown in paris in may last, when a plumber carelessly connected a pipe along which seine water flowed to a drinking-water pipe. the typhoid germ is always present in seine water and this mistake cost the lives of twenty people. dr freeman, an american doctor, who has studied the habits of the typhoid germ, tells us that it does not survive so well outside the human body as does the tubercle microbe, but it can, nevertheless, do an incalculable amount of mischief when the local authorities are careless about the matter of sewage disposal. a great deal has been heard of late of what are termed typhoid carriers. there are apparently numbers of people who, while they appear to be in good health, yet harbour these germs and are thus liable to infect others with them; and the problem is what to do with them. the orthodox authorities, as happened in the case cited above, would like to isolate them indefinitely and even to pension them off for life, but this seems to be a hopeless way out of the difficulty. the remedy seems obvious to me. let us stop the drugs and serums and use common-sense hygiene of the body instead. this must be patent to anyone who has any knowledge of the subject; but why the authorities do not put it into execution i am at a loss to imagine. surely the right thing to do is to clear away the impurities in which the typhoid germs live. _by depriving them of the material or soil in which they grow and propagate we should practically starve them out of existence._ moreover, this seems to me to be a perfectly easy procedure. if this woman were handed over to me for treatment i should at once place her on an antiseptic diet consisting solely of salads, grated roots, fresh fruits, sour buttermilk and dextrinised cereals. the effect of this diet would be to cleanse and sterilise the entire digestive tract, and thus break up and clear away the soil in which the microbes are living. supplementary to this cleansing diet other means could be adopted to effect a general purification of the whole body. thus vapour baths could be used to promote skin action; beverages could be taken morning and night, consisting of distilled water with lemon juice or suitable herbal "teas" to promote free action of the kidneys; and colon-flushing treatment could be used to fully cleanse the colon, or large bowel. by combined treatment of this rational order, i am convinced that this woman would speedily become freed from her unpleasant visitors and would be enabled to return to her relations without, as it were, a stain upon her character. h. valentine knaggs. buried talent competition. the editors of _the healthy life_ are convinced that there are many men and women who can write well and interestingly on subjects relating to health in its many aspects; and they wish to unearth this talent. they therefore offer a _first prize_ of _two guineas_, a _second prize_ of _one guinea_, and a _third prize_ of _books_ (published at _the healthy life_ office) to the value of half-a-guinea, for the best essay, sketch or short story appropriate to the pages of _the healthy life._ please read the following conditions carefully:-conditions. 1. each essay, short story, or sketch must contain _not less than 1000 words_, and _not more than 2000 words._ 2. each essay, short story, or sketch must be written (or typed) on one side of the paper only, leaving at least one inch of margin on which each 100 words must be indicated in figures. 3. each attempt must be accompanied by the front cover (or top part of cover showing date) of either the december or january numbers. (where more than one ms. is sent in by one contributor, extra covers in proportion must be enclosed.) 4. the full name and address of the competitor must be written at the foot of last page, in addition to the competitor's _nom de plume_ (if any). 5. all essays, short stories or sketches must be sent in not later than the 31st of january 1914, addressed _buried talent_, _the healthy life_, 3 tudor street, london, e.c. 6. no one who is at present, or has ever been, a regular contributor to _the healthy life_ is eligible for a prize. 7. the editors reserve the right to publish any contribution sent in under this competition. 8. the decision of the editors will be final and no correspondence can be entered into with unsuccessful competitors. competitors are asked to note that legibility of handwriting will carry weight as well as intrinsic merit. healthy life recipes. soups. many cases of ill-health demand that the meals should be as dry as possible. having granted this, it will be admitted that there is quite a proper place for soups in ordinary everyday food reform catering. the chief objection to ordinary soups is that they are made on a basis of meat stock and flavoured with one of various "meat extract" preparations. meat stock, meat gravy and meat extract all alike represent the least desirable elements in flesh food, namely, the acids and tissue-wastes of the living animal at the moment of its death--acids and tissue-debris which were on their way to normal excretion via the lymph channels, veins, etc. it is therefore only common-sense to avoid such soup-bases, especially as the most excellent soups can be made without recourse to any animal product. the juices of vegetables, being rich in alkaline "salts" and other organic elements, are the natural cleansing agents in a rational diet. hence to obtain a maximum _remedial_ effect, vegetable soup should be taken in the form of a clear, unflavoured broth, quite apart from the solid meals, and preferably on retiring. but for the dinner or supper soup, some richness of flavour and creaminess of substance are pleasing and legitimate. the following recipes explain, first, how to prepare vegetable "stock," and then how to make rich, creamy nourishing soups, on the basis of that "stock." each recipe will, of course, suggest variations. how to make vegetable stock. put any fresh vegetables in season in a large stewpot--being careful not to include _overmuch_ cabbage or other coarse green leaves, as these give a rather strong flavour--with a quart or more of water, cover, and simmer gently for at least two hours. the outer leaves discarded when preparing vegetables for the table, the stalks and stems, and the peelings of apples, potatoes, etc., should all be used for stock, care being taken, of course, to cleanse them well first, cutting out any insect-eaten or decayed parts. almond cream soup. mix two tablespoonfuls of fine wholemeal or good "standard" flour into a smooth paste with a little water, add this to the hot stock (as above), and stir till soup is thickened. just before serving stir in a tablespoonful of almond cream (either "p.r." or mapleton's). _the addition of the almond cream gives the above a nutritive value, apart from the tonic and cleansing elements in the stock._ nourishing artichoke soup. pare, scrub and cut into small pieces, 1 lb. of artichokes and put immediately into a pan with a pint of water or milk and water. boil till soft, then rub through a wire sieve, using a wooden spoon. put back in pan, add a little more water, a little chopped parsley, and a small piece of butter (or nut butter). bring to the boil, stirring well; stir in a tablespoonful of pinekernel cream ("p.r." or mapleton's), and serve at once. leek and celery soup. put four well-cleansed medium-sized leeks (cut up small), the outer parts of a head of celery (chopped), a quart of water and 2 oz. unpolished japan rice, into a pan and simmer for two hours. rub through wire sieve, return to pan, bring to the boil, and serve. _this soup is not so much nutritive as cleansing and antiseptic._ taste or theory? fruit and the oxalic acid bogey. many and varied are the creeds of health reformers, but all may be included within two main camps. and the opposing battle-cries are instinct _versus_ intellect, taste _versus_ theory, _a priori versus a posteriori_, motives _versus_ purposes. some overlapping and confusion of creed may be found in both camps, but in the main one is filled with lovers of nature, the other with devotees of science. "we believe in simplicity," cries the nature-lover from the meadow where he is taking a sun-bath; "you are so complex, so artificial." "we believe in being 'sensible,'" retorts the devotee of science from the cabinet where he is taking an electric light bath, "you are so extreme." "not extreme--consistent. your treatment varies every month as the decrees of 'science' change." "but your treatment varies every minute as the wind and clouds change. i can keep mine constant with mathematical accuracy, or vary the light to a nicety by pressing a button." and so also is it with regard to diet. the person who talks learnedly about germs and calories (though he never saw a germ or measured a calorie in his life) will be found in the same camp with the electric light advocate, while this other who cultivates a taste in harmony with nature by consuming what he likes best of her unaltered products, he is found arm in arm with the sun-bather. but science will by no means allow him to eat his uncooked food in peace. "if we all adopt _that_ diet," her pseudo-disciples cry, "what is to become of the potatoes?" now, with regard to uncooked foods, it would seem that as little fault can be found with ripe fruit in its natural state as with any article of diet. yet even here "science" holds up a warning hand and is succeeding in scaring people away from one of the most harmless, most wholesome and most neglected of foods. leaving generalities, let us come to a specific case, an actual difficulty propounded to me by a sufferer, one who had spent her substance till she could spend no more in having various parts of herself examined and in learned prescriptions and processes of cure, but who found herself as far from health as ever. obsessed by certain theories of "science," this lady had acquired a dread of sugar _in every form_. hence her query addressed to me: "in your book, _no rheumatism_, you say that sugar is to be avoided. why, then, do you recommend fruit, which is mostly sugar?" i replied as follows: "the reason i recommend ripe uncooked fruit--in spite of its containing a certain quantity of sugar--is that it contains also purifying salts, and that for most people it is the pleasantest form in which these salts can be taken. moreover, fruit sugar appears to be more wholesome than that formed from starch. when you say that 'fruit is mostly sugar,' are you not leaving the water of the fruit out of account? as the water often amounts to 90 per cent. this makes all the difference. taking the fruits generally grown in this country the average proportion of sugar is seven per cent. [this statement is based on the following figures given in goodale's physiological botany:- apples contain 7.73 per cent. sugar pears " 8.26 " " plums " 3.56 " " strawberries 6.28 " " gooseberries 7.03 " " grapes are stated to contain 24.36 per cent, but often contain much less and sometimes even more.] "now a person eating fruit _ad lib._, but allowed other foods, will hardly ever eat more than a pound or two a day (generally less). but suppose him to eat two pounds. seven per cent. of this is 2+1/4 oz. if he eats only 1 lb. he takes 1+1/8 oz. sugar. now compare this with the amount he gets from starchy foods, say, bread, which contains fifty per cent. of starch and sugar. as the starch, if it is to be assimilated, must be (and as a general rule practically all is) converted into sugar during digestion, we get from 1 lb. of bread 8 oz. of sugar (to be exact, nearly 9 oz., because starch forms rather more than its own weight of sugar). but the weight of bread allowed for daily food, if no other starchy or sugary food is taken, is--according to orthodox physiology books--1 lb., 11 oz., yielding over 14 oz. of sugar. now i reduce the starchy food to 8 oz. or less (_no rheumatism_, p. 34), yielding at most about 4+1/2 oz. of sugar. you see, then, that the patient can now afford to take even 2 lbs. of fruit, because this will bring his total of sugar up to only 6+3/4 oz., as against 14 oz. allowed by the orthodox. and if, as i recommend (p. 33), fruits containing but little sugar (especially cucumbers) are taken, his total sugar under my regime will be even less than 6+3/4 oz. "as so many people fail to distinguish between fruit sugar occurring naturally in fruit and ordinary separated and concentrated cane sugar, or even beet sugar separated by various chemicals--'shop sugar,' in fact--i translate for you a passage from dr carton's _trois aliments meurtriers_[20]:-[20] _some popular foodstuffs exposed_, translated by d.m. richardson. 1s. net. daniel. "'let us proceed now to the study of the third deadly food. the sugar contained in vegetables and raw fruits is a living aliment, physiologically combined with the protoplasm of the vegetable cells, associated with ferments and with vitalised chemical salts. the absorption of this natural sugar is effected by a harmonious contact, by an exchange of energy between the living vegetable cells and our living digestive cells. "'the sugar of commerce, on the contrary, is a dead food which has lost all association with vegetable protoplasm, with vitalised mineral salts and with oxidising ferments which would render it physiological. it is nothing more than a drug, a dangerous chemical, because nature has nowhere presented it to us in this form.... its absorption involves an anti-physiological irritation which over-excites the viscera, and when repeated ends by profoundly altering them.'" "this is all very well," cries pseudo-science, "but people may eat too much fruit." "certainly, but then i warn them at once," quoth taste. "but they have an idea it is good for them, and they disregard your warnings." "if they 'have an idea' which runs counter to my warnings and my penalties, to say nothing of my promises and my rewards, then they can only get that idea from you, mr pseudo-science, with your theories and your figures and your long words." "why not from your relative, unnatural taste? anyhow, it is my duty to warn them." "if they don't heed my warning, they certainly won't heed yours," says taste. "but i can paint such a picture of the trouble they store up for the future if they persist in excessive fruit eating!" "never mind about persisting and storing up for the future. i punish excess in fruit eating as in everything else by prompt discomfort and pain." "but what do you know about oxalic acid?" "enough to avoid it. like every other poison it is repugnant to me." "yet fruit which is so nice in the mouth may ferment in the intestines and form that very poison. then what are you going to do about it?" "take care that not too much fruit is eaten another time." "but in the meantime the oxalic acid already formed must be neutralised at once." "no, no! it would be a pity to do that. oxalic acid is the latest fashion. what would your patients do without it? and what would you do without your patients?" "it must be neutralised at once. it can only be neutralised at the cost of abstracting lime from the system. result: oxalate of lime, forming calculus, or 'stone,' which you don't want, and tissues depleted of lime which you do want." "so you get your patients after all. in fact, having 'neutralised their oxalic acid' to escape you, they come back to you with two diseases instead of one. it seems to me you are a very profitable investment, mr pseudo-science." "really, mr taste, you would not, i presume, have me suppress the truth simply because it happens to be profitable?" "but is it the truth? what proof have you?" "i presume you are ignorant of the fact that animals have died with all the symptoms of oxalic acid poisoning, simply through taking too much sugar." "what kind of animals? you chose such as are used to taking shop sugar as part of their ordinary food, of course?" "well--no; not in that form. the subjects of the experiment were rabbits." "ah! and from these you draw deductions about man who has been eating artificial sugar for ages. how like a vivisectionist! but what doses of sugar did the rabbits get?" "about one-fortieth of the body-weight." "that would be as if a man of 150 lbs. weight should take 3+3/4 lbs. sugar at a meal! and since it is excessive fruit you are warning us against, can you tell me how many pounds of fruit--say, apples--one must take in order to get that amount of sugar in a day? no less than sixty pounds. really your warning seems a little superfluous." "it is all very well for you to scoff, mr taste, but if it were not for me you would know nothing about the latest diseases. i really believe you would be content to go right through life without knowing that you had a duodenum or an appendix." "quite" assented taste cheerfully. arnold eiloart, b.sc. a symposium on unfired food. _in november, 1912, we published a letter from a reader containing the excellent suggestion that readers who had experimented to any fair extent with unfired diet should be invited to contribute to a conference on the subject in_ the healthy life, _and that the symposium should be gathered round the following points:--_ (1) the effect of the diet in curing chronic disease. (2) its effect on children so brought up--_e.g._ do they get the so-called "inevitable" diseases of chicken-pox, measles, etc., and especially have they good (_i.e._ perfect) teeth? (3) the effect of the diet in childbirth. (4) the cost of maintaining a household in this way, as compared with the cost under ordinary conditions. (5) is the diet satisfying, or is there a longing for conventional dietary (often found amongst food reformers)? (6) is the diet quite satisfactory in winter? _a number of interesting letters have been published this year, and we shall be glad to receive a large number of personal experiences, but they must be brief, and classified under the above heads as far as possible. the following is a striking piece of personal evidence._--[eds.] buckhurst hill, essex, _28th april 1913._ to the editors of _the healthy life._ dear sirs, as a slight contribution to the interesting discussion which is taking place in your magazine, will you allow me to give you a short summary of nearly sixty years experience of the effects, in my own case, of flesh eating, vegetarianism and the uncooked food diet. this is not a fairy tale, as some may be inclined to think, but a plain unvarnished statement of facts. the flesh-eating period lasted for seventeen years. when three months old i was the unfortunate victim of vaccination poisoning, and for years afterwards was continually in the doctor's hands. the best medical men in this country and america were consulted; for months daily visits were paid to a noted chicago specialist in the hope that he might be able to effect a cure, but it was a case of "love's labour lost," and, instead of improving, my condition grew steadily worse. during all these years, drugging was constantly going on, the pills and potions ordered were religiously swallowed, and, strange as it may seem, the ordeal was survived. flesh meat was eaten daily, and, of all the members of the medical profession consulted, not one of them ever hinted that a change of diet might be beneficial. when 17 years of age my attention was drawn to an article in _the phonetic journal_ on the advantages of a non-flesh diet. by this time, being thoroughly tired of taking endless quantities of useless, poisonous and expensive drugs, i decided, there and then, to throw "physic to the dogs," making up my mind that if death did come, and it seemed to be staring me in the face, i would, at any rate, die a vegetarian. within six months the most dangerous symptom had completely disappeared and has never recurred, but, although greatly benefitting by the new diet, and enjoying on the whole fairly good health, yet there were frequent attacks of rheumatism, lumbago and neuralgia; dyspepsia, with its attendant pain and flatulence, often made life miserable; now and again the liver would rise up in rebellion, bringing in its train vertigo, blurred vision and severe headaches; constipation, that bane of modern life, was a source of endless trouble, in fact, for many years the enema had to be used once or twice a week, and last, but worst of all, came those sharp, shooting, lancinating pains, one of the premonitory symptoms of cancer. obviously, there was still something radically wrong somewhere, and on retiring from practice, a great deal of time and attention was devoted to the subject, innumerable experiments were made, and, ultimately, results obtained, the value of which cannot be exaggerated. five years ago the uncooked food diet was commenced, and from the very first week a steady improvement took place. the constipation vanished as if by magic; there has not been the slightest touch of rheumatism or neuralgia for at least three years the liver is now an unknown quantity, the dyspepsia is a thing of the past, and, most important of all, the cancer symptoms are entirely gone, and in their place has come an abounding health, vigour and vitality that is marvellous. the years seem to have "rolled back in their flight"; all the centres of life are rejuvenated; and the hopes, feelings and aspirations of youth sway me now as they did nearly half-a-century ago. work, mental or physical, is a perfect pleasure, and to feel fatigue is almost unknown. what a glorious gift life really is has never been realised till now, and the wealth of the indies would not induce me to go back to the flesh-pots, or live on cooked foods again. this diet gives two important advantages: firstly, the elimination of all excess of starchy matter prevents the formation of needless fat, and, secondly, the entire absence of artificially sweetened food removes one of the main causes of over-eating. will people ever learn that fat, instead of being a sign of health, is the very reverse, that every ounce of superfluous adipose tissue means more work for the heart, diminished vitality, lessened energy, and, when excessive, is not only a distinct menace to longevity, but to life itself? i never take more than two meals a day and very often only one, which consists of raw vegetables, nuts, olive oil and unfired bread; the second meal, when required, is a simple fruit salad. when a vegetarian the writer lived for years on a shilling a week; it costs rather more now, the oil, nuts, fruit and bread being more expensive than beans, rice, meal, etc., but the difference is so trifling that it is not worth talking about. whilst "fletcherising," deep breathing, distilled water, olive oil, fasting, saltless food, the open-air life, regular exercise, etc., were valuable allies, it was not until the powerful aid of uncooked food was invoked that the real benefits began to appear and life became a real joy. yours, etc., john reid, m.b., c.m. health queries. _under this heading our contributor, dr valentine knaggs, deals briefly month by month, and according as space permits, with questions of general interest to health seekers and others._ _in all queries relating to health difficulties it is essential that full details of the correspondent's customary diet should be clearly given._ _correspondents are earnestly requested to write on _one side only of the paper_, giving full name and address, not for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. when an answer is required by post a stamped addressed envelope must be enclosed._--[eds.] _every inquiry must be accompanied by the front cover (or upper part of same showing date) of a recent number_ of _the healthy life_. onion juice as hair restorer. mrs m. mcc. writes:--in your book, _onions and cress_,[21] on p. 49, it is stated that the juice of onions mixed with honey will change the colour of hair from grey to black. will you be kind enough to tell me in what proportion these should be mixed, as, of course, if not in a proper mixture, the hair would become so clogged. and will you also kindly tell me how one is to extract the juice from the onions, whether they are to be boiled or squeezed when raw. with regard to the use of a mixture of onion juice and honey as a hair restorative the reader of my little book must remember that it is largely a compilation of quotations from old herbal books, and it gives the history, use and folklore of these interesting edibles. i am not responsible for this recipe and cannot therefore vouch for its utility. we know, however, that onions contain a wonderful sulphured oil and that sulphur in one form or another is an important ingredient of most hair preparations which restore colour. the raw juice evidently should be used, and this can be extracted either by pounding and grating and then extracting the juice under pressure, or it can be readily obtained in any quantity by putting onions through the enterprise juice press. the amount of honey, i think, to be added to this juice should be very small, otherwise, as our correspondent surmises, the preparation would be very sticky and objectionable. would any reader care to try this and report upon it? [21] _onions and cress_, 6d. net (postage 1d). sciatica. mrs m.g. writes:--my husband is a sufferer from sciatica; has had it for some years, on and off, but just lately he seems is to get it constantly--sometimes a little, sometimes a lot. he has been taking some salicylate of soda, and i have tried to persuade him to give it up. his age is 42. for his meals he takes, on rising, an apple or a cup of apple tea; an hour afterwards his breakfast, which consists of two tablespoonfuls of a proteid food mixed with distilled water, and a hard biscuit, two slices of whole meal brown bread, nut butter, and watercress or lettuce. during the morning he drinks barley water. for dinner, a salad and a few ground nuts and hard biscuits and an apple; sometimes home-made nut meat and spinach, hard biscuits and dried or fresh fruit. for tea, a salad or lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cress, and shredded wheat and wholemeal bread. last thing at night, a few steamed onions and distilled water. his bowels are in good condition, very regular, but he has this constant gnawing pain. if you can help me in any way as to a change in his diet, it will be a relief to me. i do not mind the trouble of preparing things for him. it is about two months ago that he has taken to drinking distilled water, which i make myself. his occupation is very sedentary, with long hours, sometimes from six in the morning till nine at night. he has a bicycle, and gets as much exercise as possible. from the description given one would assume that the sedentary occupation and long hours of work have caused this correspondent to fall into bad postural habits of sitting and standing, coupled with excessive depletion of his nervous energy. the diet given is on good lines and, with the addition of home-made curd cheese and eggs as proteid, might certainly be continued as it stands, especially as the bowel action is regular. what the correspondent does need is less hours of work; more physical exercises of a brisk back-stretching nature, and certain spinal stretching manipulations of an osteopathic nature. full deep breathing in fresh air will also be beneficial. the lower part of the spine, from which the sciatic nerves originate, needs the most attention. refined paraffin as a constipation remedy. mr e.h. writes:--will dr knaggs very kindly say whether refined paraffin, now being given so generally for the relief of constipation, may be regarded as a harmless method of overcoming this trouble or whether its use might lead to harmful results. i am told that this preparation of oil is not assimilated, and is therefore harmless, but i should much appreciate dr knaggs' opinion on this matter. the use of refined paraffin as a remedy for constipation is just now all the rage with the orthodox medical profession. there is nothing really to be said against its right use, provided it is made to serve as one of the means to an end. it has been proved that this paraffin, which is quite tasteless, odourless and easy to swallow, is not absorbed by the system but passes unchanged and unaltered through it. it acts therefore as a mere mechanical lubricant. the one thing to remember is that its use should be combined with a curative diet, so that it need not be taken indefinitely. (1) dry throat; (2) saccharine; (3) dilated heart. mr l.s. writes:--i have read _the healthy life_ from the appearance of the first number, and i have studied the answers to correspondents, but have not observed a case identical with my own, hence my reason for troubling you. (1) the back part of mouth next throat has a curious glazed appearance--no cough or expectoration. i am inclined to think it extends to and includes the stomach. i have always a good appetite, but am not well nourished; much under weight. age 44 years; school officer; cycle 25 miles a week. eat meat sparingly, not a pound a week. live principally upon eggs and bread and butter--(three eggs a day): "digestive tea" two and three times a day. 2. is saccharine less harmful than sugar for sweetening? 3. as the result of a nervous breakdown i had five years ago i suffer from a dilated heart, consequently--i suppose--i have palpitation occasionally, oftener when in bed. i don't think my heart is really normal since my breakdown five years ago. 4. would bathing myself with cold water over the region of the heart strengthen the muscles? would you please suggest anything for strengthening heart. are lemons or eggs injurious to the heart? 1. the throat symptoms indicate a dry, irritable, heated condition of the mouth and throat which, as the correspondent surmises, equally affects the stomach and the rest of the digestive organs. he should have a breakfast of fresh fruit only, take salads and grated raw roots with his meals and stop tea altogether. he can drink distilled water and vegetable or lemon drinks (unsweetened) instead. 2. saccharine is a mineral substance, a fossilised product of putrefactive action in the coal age. it is closely analogous to carbolic acid, which equally originates from microbic action. by leaving off sugar and replacing it by saccharine our correspondent gains nothing. he is simply leaping from the frying pan into the fire. it is best for him to cultivate a taste for unsweetened or even acid drinks. 3. a dilated heart is usually an after effect of a dilated stomach, which strains it, just as it does every other organ, whether in the chest or the abdomen. 4. bathing the chest with cold water is not desirable. what is needed is that the correspondent should drink as little fluid as possible and pay close attention to the condition of his digestive mechanism. if the organs are dilated or misplaced he should wear a belt and take suitable gentle osteopathic exercises. treatment for stammering. a.m.d. writes:--could you kindly give in _the healthy life_ magazine some suggestions as to the best method to follow in a case of stammering (slight) in a boy of ten or eleven years who has been rather left to himself, the hesitancy in speech being regarded as incurable? this boy should be trained by someone who understands how to cure stammering. the correspondent would do well to consult miss behncke of 18 earl's court square, s.w., who makes a speciality of treating such cases. why the red corpuscles are deficient in anaemia. a.m.d. writes:--is there any way, independent of diet, of increasing the red corpuscles in the blood? i have tried walking nine miles a day, thus getting up free perspirations. what of this method? i did imagine that this resulted in a better condition of the skin, the latter losing in a measure the white and parched appearance. a deficiency of red corpuscles in the blood, which shows in anaemia, is usually caused by self-poisoning. when food ferments or putrifies in the colon, owing to faulty diet and other causes, certain toxins are created. these become absorbed into the blood and there destroy the red corpuscles. walking is a good form of exercise, but it will not suffice alone to remedy this type of anaemia unless the diet and general habits of the patient are so arranged that the unsanitary condition of the colon is also remedied. the correspondent will find, if she studies the replies to others in this magazine, many details as to diet, etc., for rectifying bad conditions in the bowels. the correct blending of foods. t.b.w. writes:--is it inadvisable for a dyspeptic (and sufferer from constipation) to eat salad, or cooked vegetables, and stewed fruit at the same meal; also, do i do right in eating bread and butter (preferably crust) or hard biscuits with stewed fruit or soft vegetables, etc.? would you please inform me the best still that i can obtain--preferably one that does not require much attention, and is fairly portable, and that does not cost much to work? i do not believe that it is right to mix salads or cooked vegetables with stewed fruits. it is better to take them at separate meals. it is, in my view, equally bad to take cereals (_i.e._ bread, biscuits, etc.) with stewed fruits. the reason is that cereals call for an alkaline form of digestion in the mouth which the acid fruits or the added sugar greatly retard. i believe strongly in the all-fruit breakfast or all-fruit supper, when fresh, dried, or even stewed dried fruits (possibly with some fresh cream) can be taken alone, without either cereals or vegetables. cereals go best with salads and cooked vegetables, because of the alkalinity of the latter which harmonises with the salivary secretion intended for the digestion of grains. the gem still is the best to buy. it is well made and does not need much attention. the large automatic commercial size is, however, the best if any quantity is needed, as it works throughout the day with practically no attention when properly adjusted. difficulties in changing to non-flesh diet. f.c.w. writes:--i shall be glad if you will inform me from your experience whether, after one has broken from the customary meat diet and adopted a "reform" diet, there is any real difficulty in reverting to the former state. i have seen it stated that vegetarian diet did not call into action all the natural powers of the digestive organs, and, this being so, the tendency was for them to become weakened so that the food reformer eventually found himself unable to digest meat. i believe some health culturists make practice of taking meat twice a week. i have been about seven or eight weeks on reform diet, and though better in some ways have to confess to a feeling of deficient energy and nerve power. i was once told by a doctor that i could not afford to do without the stimulating effect derived from meat. i propose making a test of the two methods, but should like to hear from you in reply to the above query. another new feature i have noticed on the new diet is a thinness of the teeth and a feeling of weakness in them generally. this correspondent omitted to supply his amended diet, so this was asked for and is as follows:- _on rising_ (6.40).--cup of cold water. _breakfast_ (8 a.m.).--porridge, boiled egg or white fish done in oven. turog brown bread and butter; a banana; cup of coffee. _lunch_ (12.45, _at the home restaurant_)--nut or cheese savoury and one vegetable, a sweet dish, a few dates or a nut and fruit cake. _tea meal (in office at 5)._--bread and butter, piece of cake, large cup of cocoa. _supper._--one of following:- (a) "force" with stewed prunes and junket; small piece of cheese with wholemeal biscuit. (b) milk pudding and stewed fruit; small piece of cheese and biscuit. (c) vegetable soup with toast. (d) bread and milk and fruit cake. _on retiring_ (10 p.m.).--cup of hot milk. the correspondent adds further:- i have only been about eight weeks on food reform and the general result, so far, is less susceptibility to draughts and ability to sleep with windows open top and bottom, which i could not do before, and a feeling of lightness and freshness. on the other hand, i have not the same nerve force or power. i am of a highly sensitive nervous disposition, and the latest trouble is with my teeth. i was told yesterday by a dentist that a non-flesh diet is harmful to them and that were one to eat meat only, there would be no trouble! perhaps it is owing to the dates and nut-and-fruit cakes which i have been eating, or to a general weakened condition due to want of finding my natural diet. i have a friend who is a fine specimen of physical development, and on his going on to food reform he had to have his teeth seen to. i suppose it would not be the softer diet giving his teeth less to do. i am at a disadvantage as i can get nothing specially prepared at home and can only add to my diet articles which i can prepare myself. i like my liquids fairly sweet and i like liquid foods. i am a catarrhal subject and when this starts at the back of the nose the hearing is affected. whenever a person changes from a meat diet to one that is of the non-flesh order the digestive organs have to learn how to adjust their secretions to the altered diet. this applies just as forcibly when a food reformer wishes to return to the "flesh-pots." after a long course of abstinence from meat the food reformer does find it difficult to return to it. this is due not so much to the difficulty in digesting it as to the violent stimulation and grossening of the body which it induces. i have never heard of any food reformer who discarded meat for ethical or humane reasons who willingly returned to meat so that he could if necessary be in a position to digest it. with regard to the loss of energy and nerve power the correspondent must distinguish between real weakness and absence of stimulation. the first effects of discarding meat show a deficient energy due to the absence of stimulation. when this has passed it gives place to a feeling of buoyancy and energy which is permanent. the dental weakness is aggravated, if indeed it is not actually _caused_, by the milk puddings, porridge, cake and sugared beverages which are a feature of this correspondent's diet, and to the absence of salad vegetables. if he amended his diet somewhat as follows he should make steady progress in energy and general fitness:-_on rising._--tumblerful of cold water. _breakfast_ (7.15).--one lightly boiled, baked or poached egg; veda bread and butter, a little watercress or other salad. a small cup of hygiama in place of the sugared cocoa. _lunch_ (12.45).--nut or cheese savoury and one vegetable; baked pudding by preference for second course, or simply a nut and fruit cake; no dates. _or_ salad with grated cheese or cream cheese, or flaked pine nuts; followed by a piece of the excellent wholemeal cake supplied at the restaurant this correspondent frequents. _tea meal._--one cup of salfon cocoa (unsweetened), preferably without other food. _supper_ (6 to 7) (this meal is at present far too mushy).--cream cheese, veda bread with fresh butter or nut butter, salad, tomatoes, cucumber, etc., with dressing of pure oil and lemon juice. _or_ simply fresh ripe fruit, with dried fruit and cream; no cereals. _on retiring._--cupful of hot unsweetened lemon water, or weak barley water; no milk. h. valentine knaggs. correspondence. _all correspondence should be addressed (and all contributions submitted) to the editors, _the healthy life_, 3 tudor street, london, e.c._ cottage cheese. wilderton, bournemouth. bournemouth. _to the editors_, dear sirs, _re_ mrs c.e.j.'s letter and the reply thereto: i should be inclined to doubt the wisdom of making this from unboiled or uncooked milk unless one had it from one's own cows and could supervise the dairy oneself. the average milk that comes into towns from country farms is--well, it's unthinkable. there's a saying that what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve over, but that doesn't alter the fact that the average cow is none too clean, the average milker's hands and clothes (to say nothing of his face, hat and head) none too clean, the milking-place none too clean, and the circumstances of transit such as don't make for cleanliness. i have put it very moderately, as those who know country dairy farms will admit. those who particularly want clean cheese from uncooked milk should buy it from a county council dairy farm or similar institution. yours truly, b.c. forder. will other readers do likewise? mrs e. bumpus writes (7th october 1913):- i am ordering two copies each month from my local newsagent.... i thought he might be induced to show copies of your publication in his window. [an attractive blue poster is supplied each month free by the publishers to all genuine agents who apply for the same.--eds.] _the healthy life_ in the libraries. mr c.h. grinling writes (25th october 1913):- i note the suggestion on p. 580 of the october number of _the healthy life_. a friend enables me to ask you to send _the healthy life_ regularly for one year to the woolwich public library, william street, woolwich. i enclose 2s. the librarian will see that it appears on the magazine-room table regularly. [there is every reason why _the healthy life_ should be known and read in every public library in the united kingdom. in this we are entirely dependent upon those readers who are ready to follow the excellent example of the above and other correspondents. a year's subscription--2s.--is a very small price to pay for bringing the message of this magazine before the public in this way. we should like to hear from readers in all parts.--eds.] fruit-oils and nuts. westcliff-on-sea, 22nd oct. 1913. _to the editors_, sirs, with reference to the last paragraph of "phosphorus and the nerves" on p. 579 of the october number, i should be obliged if i could be informed through your correspondence columns (1) what are the "fruit oils" recommended therein and (2) how they are to be taken. (3) is olive oil good to take? (4) is it good for children? if so how is it to be administered? (5) what nuts are richest in phosphorus? i enclose my card, and remain, yours truly, w.w. (1) any olive oil that bears a thorough guarantee of purity (such as "minerva" olive oil, "creme d'or" olive oil, etc.); also any pure nut oil (such as supplied by mapleton's or the london nut food co.); also the pure blended oil sold as "protoid fruit oil." our advertisement pages should be studied for further details. (2) suggestions were given on pp. xxxiii and xxxv of the november number. (3) yes, excellent. (4) yes, they usually take it more readily than adults, for the latters' palates are generally spoilt. for its use see _right diet for children_, by edgar j. saxon, 1s. net. (5) almonds and walnuts. if the nuts are found difficult to digest try them in a finely prepared form, as in mapleton's almond cream, "p.r." walnut butter, or "protoid" almond butter.--[eds.] pickled peppercorns. lady cheylesmore was wearing a magnificent cock pheasant's plume. the eagle eye of the customs official caught sight of it and handed her a pair of scissors to help her detach it.--_daily news._ now we know what a really well-trained eagle eye can do. * * * * * perhaps the only remnant of the awful sameness characteristic of the typically english kitchen is the bacon and egg breakfast to which the average briton clings with wonderful tenacity. the mere possibility of infidelity to that national dish is enough to make one shudder. no one could be such an iconoclast as to suggest a variant from the traditional breakfast; it would be table-treason of the worst kind.--_daily telegraph._ a middle-aged briton named leary, of bacon and eggs got so weary, that for no other reason he committed high treason- but whether he shuddered's a query. * * * * * silver-fox furs are rapidly becoming more and more rare, and this fact lends a special interest to the wonderful collection of these skins now being shown this week by revillon freres at 180 regent street. these beautiful silver foxes, to the number of over a hundred, are grouped in eight large showcases on the ground floor, and represent the latest arrivals from revillon's canadian outposts, where they have special facilities for securing these rare skins.--_daily chronicle._ a ninth large showcase containing specimens of the steel traps in which "these beautiful silver foxes" are caught, and in which they remain till "collected," would give added interest to the collection at 180 regent street. * * * * * sixty-six persons banqueted at gorleston on a single "sea-pie," which weighed 200 lbs. prepared by an old smack skipper, it was built in three stories. the foundation consisted of beef bones, and inside were six large rabbits, half-a-dozen kidneys, thirty pounds of beef steak.--_daily chronicle._ not to be confused with the gorleston mausoleum. peter piper. valere aude (dare to be healthy) _or_ the light _of_ physical regeneration a vade mecum on biology _and the_ hygienic-dietetic method _of_ healing by dr. louis dechmann biologist _and_ physiological chemist second edition (compendium) 1919 seattle. washington christmas 1918 washington printing company seattle usa 1919 dedication "dispel this cloud, the light of heaven restore; give me to see, and ajax asks no more!" (pope) to you of that great voiceless multitude, "the people"-you whose bewildered cry is still for light; whose silent tragedy our well beloved longfellow could so well portray: "o suffering sad humanity! o ye afflicted ones, who lie steeped to the lips in misery, longing, and yet afraid to die, patient, though sorely tried!" to you and your needs this brief epitome of a coming greater work is given as a fitting christmas offering- "let there be light!" it is the cry which despairing, deluded humanity, in the darkness of its frenzied ignorance, has flung back hopelessly to heaven since first the spirit of an infinite intelligence brooded upon the race. it is the appeal of man's immortal unity to the all-father, from age to age, for knowledge sufficient for its hourly needs, since ever, back in the far dim ages of the earth, primeval man, beetle-browed, furtive and fashioned fearsomely, first felt the faint vibration of a soul; and, like an awakened giant, that chief of human faculties, a mind took form which, pressing on along the uncertain way, has scaled the giddy heights of knowledge where genius, enthroned, does battle with an envious world of shams and greed and venal prejudice. led by the resistless pulse of power it follows still that "banner with a strange device: excelsior!";--for, ever onward yet it wends its way where'er the devious pathway trends, whose troubled, varied course is time, whose bourne is in eternity. but where seek we, then, the answer to a cry so shrill, that smites the high face of heaven from a world in pain? shall we seek it where false learning leads us in the quest?--ah no. it comes, not in the crash of sinai's thunders with the rockings of a riven sphere, as in the allegoric stories of a puerile past. softly it falls--yes, almost fearfully--from the fervid lips of some lone world-neglected persecuted man--some patient toil-worn son of science, whom genius loves to call her own--though, haply, to the schools, to fortune and to fame unknown. one whose transcendent, superconscious mind has dared, prometheus-like, to snatch from heaven the fire of the immortal gods and offer it in benefits to all mankind. thrice happy he upon the sensory surface of whose open mind such seeds of knowledge and of wisdom fall, and happy the land where one and all may dare to warm chill hands and hearts before its sacred flame; that halcyon land, the ultima thule of our fond imaginings, wherein true freedom reigns; wherein the legalized tyranny of the chartered libertines of a so-called learned profession shall be finally relegated, in common cause to the limbo of a sordid and degraded past. for these are they who seek to maintain a strangle-hold on science, who paralyze the arm of individual research and, even in this advancing age, still block the path of progress and of peace, of universal freedom and equality of intellect, to all beyond the narrow limits of their own elect. thus then, to the free fraternity of the open mind i dedicate this brief resumé of the product of long years of study and of toil, steadfastly believing that therein is found the missing dimension for their urgent need, suited alike to all who hold that to maintain the health of body and of mind is a worthy object for enlightened man. to you, mothers of the land, who recognize your duty, towards god and to the state, to rear your children healthy, strong and good to look upon. to all whose keener common-sense looks upon nature, the creator, as logically therefore, the healing power also. to all endowed with wit to understand the obvious truth that, not by poisonous drugs is healing wrought, but by such reasonable help as man's intelligence can afford, to second nature's effort to that end; and further, that, in order to achieve success, it is useless to attack, suppress or remove the symptoms of disease by force of drugging or the knife, whilst the _cause_ of the evil is left untouched, unthought of, and, too frequently, unknown. truth and reason alike proclaim: remove the cause and the symptom _must_ disappear. to all, then, to whom the ever blessed triad of health, hope, and happiness on earth, are dear, the sanctity of child-life and the improvement of the race; and especially to those whose clearer mental vision can grasp the stupendous fact of eternal universal unity--the oneness with that mighty primal cause, the great life principle, immanent and active throughout all nature; can grasp and assimilate the idea that everything that has life is, each in its separate form and degree, but a medium through which the infinite universal source of life--that vast, ineffable power which we, blindly, designate as god--or good--seeks expression in the scheme of evolution whose aim sublime is pure perfection, as its ultimate, attainable, though far off goal. directed and attracted by an intelligence we call divine, it is a hope, instinct with ability, implanted by that power in the soul of man, as patent in his ceaseless struggle upward toward the light of fuller knowledge; it is a power, restricted, only in degree, by that individual sense of human limitations fostered by false prophets and grounded in the vitals of the race. to you all, this brief precis is presented, as a guide, with the author's benediction, coupled with the fervent hope that, reading the scientific deductions and precepts therein contained you, too, may see regeneration's light and seeing, may "_dare to be healthy._" louis dechmann, _christmas, 1918. seattle, wash._ "dare to be healthy" fore-word _to the reader_: the volume, shortly to be published, and to which the ensuing pages are designed to serve the purpose of stepping-stone or forecast, has been compiled for the purpose of placing before the public the experiences of thirty-five full years of my life as a biologist and physiological chemist, devoted to the sifting and solution of vital problems of health and eugenics and in the practice of the resultant knowledge of the laws of life discovered in the course of my research. i would beseech you, in your own vital interest, to peruse these pages thoughtfully and with an open mind. there are throughout america already, thousands of steadfast disciples who are daily reaping the benefits of the teachings contained therein; and i would that you also may be added to that goodly multitude, to enjoy together with them the best advantages emanating from systematic study along the most advanced lines of modern thought and science. the facts are correlated and simply expressed with the earnest desire to bring within the scope of the layman the good that may accrue. it is, however, not for the laymen alone that this work is undertaken, but for unprofessional and professional alike, be he medical student or practitioner or other interested person; for to each and all i present herein the best that a lifetime of research has enabled me to wring from nature's secret store for the betterment and conservation of human life and the help of human kind. in the development of my movement i have formulated a system under which all may participate in the benefits of my message, though possibly prevented by circumstances in some cases from coming within direct personal contact with myself. this system comprises the following: the "dare to be healthy" club. the "dare to be healthy" lecture course. the "dare to be healthy" hygienic dietetic course. full particulars regarding these will appear at a subsequent point in this prospectus. louis dechmann. introduction "... argentea proles, auro deterior, fulvo pretiosior aere." (ovid) succeeding times a silver age behold excelling brass, but more excelled by gold. hessiod, in his celebrated distribution of mankind, divides the species into three orders of intellect. "the first place," says he, "belongs to him who can, by his own powers, discern what is fit and right, and penetrate to the remoter motives of action. "the second place is claimed by him who is willing to hear instruction and can perceive right and wrong when they are shown to him by another;--but he who hath neither acuteness nor docility--who can neither find the way by himself, nor will be led by others, is a wretch without use or value." "you are seeking truth," quoth adalbert von chamisso, "_remember that the world clings more firmly to superstition than to faith_,"--or, to borrow expression from an equally inspired source,--remember that perverse humanity rarely fails to favour, rather, what shakespeare terms "_the seeming truth which cunning times put on to entrap the wisest._" courageous, then, must be the knight who sets his lance in rest to tilt against the windmills of the world. nevertheless, although the truth is still banned as "heterodox" by common consent--or tacit connivance--an attitude patent to commercial instincts in view of the cataclysm which must naturally ensue, with deadly results to the vested interests of orthodoxy, so soon as the long-trusted barriers of plausible and pretentious mystery and importance shall be swept away by the rising tide of popular indignation. when the masses become educated to discriminate between truth and falsehood and thus shall come into their rights, then and not till then, will the dawn of physical salvation break. still, i maintain, there are, and have been all along the way, eminent medical men of high intelligence, who, unlike the drones of the medical hive, have dared to think for themselves and have even dared to speak their thoughts. thus, for instance, spoke sir william w. gull, physician to her late majesty queen victoria: "having passed the period of the goldheaded cane and horsehair wig, we dare hope to have also passed the days of pompous emptiness; and furthermore, _we can hope that nothing will be considered unworthy the attention of physicians which contributes to the saving of life_." again, an authority of the first rank, prof. oesterlin, says in his noted work on the materia medica: "_the studious physician of our century will hardly expect to accomplish by force, through some strange drug or other, that which only nature can bring about when assisted by all the rational accessories of hygiene and dietetics._ _nature alone can furnish the beneficient means, sufficient for all needs_,"--which the science of medicine never has afforded and never can. as we survey the civilization of our age and its medical science, we see, on the one hand, the crude superstitions of the masses, the subtler superstitions of the educated classes; gross materialism, bewildering darwinism, pessimism, and degenerate political economy; on the other hand, unmitigated quackery and cupidity, with its weight of oppression on humanity,--everywhere confusion instead of harmony. very surely,--and perhaps more speedily than we think--a reaction will come, when our present degenerate system of medical subterfuge--misnamed science--will have passed away, to be replaced by accredited methods of natural healing consistent with the dignity of an enlightened, self-respecting people. "ignorance is the curse of god: knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven" (shakespeare) the hygienic-dietetic method of healing biology, the science of life, has developed under my hand that system of natural healing which i practice, in common with some of the most successful physicians on the continents of europe and america. although based upon the same biological laws, their systems of therapy--or healing--differ materially from one another. my system is entirely my own, developed during the last thirty-five years to that degree of perfection it has attained today. i am, naturally, honestly proud of the success achieved during this strenuous period, yet am i still as anxiously imbued as ever with the spirit and habit of research which is now directed to the endeavour to further simplify my method of treatment, by further discoveries in the realm of that most abstruse of the sciences, _physiological chemistry_. in this baffling but wonderful domain i am inspired by the ambitious hope that some, at any rate, of the many unsolved problems of the science of life may yet give up their secrets to the demand of my persistency, exerted in the interest of the well-being of humanity. after centuries devoted by the faculty to a futile and arrogant attempt to counteract the disturbances of health, which we call diseases, in the stereotyped manner known as "orthodox;" after endless complications, infinite "specializing"--in itself a futility--and unblushing complicity with the powers that be, we find them now at length, baffled, discredited, but unashamed, cast back, discomforted, upon mother nature's kindly breast, their victims humbly seeking healing in simple unity from her ample store. based upon this firm foundation, we term the new departure the "natural method of healing." the greatest physicians of all time, from hippocrates to our own day, were satisfied to be simply _natural_ physicians. they were not satisfied to merely suppress the symptoms of suffering and to quiet the sufferer by abnormal appliances. their higher, more ambitious aim was to reach the active source of distress--and in this they succeeded. for, not only did they achieve where others failed, but, in addition to healing, they also _prevented the recurrence_ of disease, and, more noteworthy still, they established a system of prophylactic therapy, which is the highest function of the healing art; namely, the _prevention of disease_ by treatment _before full development_, or, in other words, the _preservation of health_. it is not the object of this brief brochure to enter into the devious details which a full explanation of this practical, successful, modern method would require. it is designed merely for those who, after experiencing disappointment and failure in other directions, have had recourse, as a last alternative, to advice and assistance, from myself. such patients, as a rule, have heard of my method from others; have heard that it differs widely, in its frank simplicity, from the empty pomposity of the old-school "orthodox" elements, though of the principles of the old-school teaching they have really little or no conception, beyond a crude, unwholesome, fear of the unknown, consequent upon the, _very necessary_, veil of mystery with which its votaries surround themselves--a semi-superstitious sentiment inherited from a malignant past and one which does little credit to the vaunted modern civilization of today. on this point of difference they ask for enlightenment, and naturally enquire as to the nature of both, but especially of this new hope which is held out to them as a refuge in their hour of despair. this information it is equally my duty and my desire to give, and in the most convenient and simple form, shorn of all shroud of mystery; for my object is to educate and not to conceal. it is my chief desire that patients should thoroughly understand the methods and principles of the new-school of healing and should exercise their own intelligence as to its merits as compared with the old, and, being once thoroughly convinced--not by faith, or fear, or fashion, nor yet biased by the unfair influence of the false prestige of a legalized monopoly detrimental to the interest of the people--they should forthwith honestly test the new deliverance by faithfully following my advice and instruction, to their own unfailing ultimate benefit and relief. as a labour of love towards the world in general and the people of my adopted country in particular, i have made it my duty to formulate the substance of my researches in the field of science--researches which represent the struggles of a lifetime--in a large and comprehensive work which, to the scientist as well as to the laymen, will constitute in the most detailed and complete degree a reliable guide to the conservation of health which, even now, in the immediate present, has come to be regarded not only as a scientific phase of education, but as a duty incumbent upon every citizen. should sickness supervene, as well it may sometimes, despite all reasonable precaution, the knowledge and instructions contained therein are sufficient, if closely followed, to prevent, for the most part, the serious consequences of disease and to afford the patient the necessary enlightenment to enable him to co-operate with the hygienic-dietetic physician in the task of restoring him to health and ability. this book, entitled "_regeneration_" or "_dare to be healthy_," will consist of some three thousand or more pages. it will be published shortly; and, in the common interests of human health will, i trust, find prominent place on the book-shelf of every home whose inmates either belong to the ever increasing number of the followers of my patients, or who, by careful study of my teachings therein contained, may be finding their independent way back from the dreary depths of suffering to the glad plains of health. in following up the general outline of the "new regeneration" these pages will not lend themselves to the otherwise necessary encounter with what are now admitted to be the recognized errors of the, temporarily dominant, medical school, save in so far as it may be requisite to remove from the mind of the layman pernicious and antiquated ideas to which he has been long and persistently educated, or to protect those who have ceased to believe in them from the pitfalls to which, as an alternative, they may be exposed amongst the numberless unscientific, quasi-miraculous, healing cults, or the equally pernicious nostrums of the spectacular advertising medicine vendor, both of whom reap golden harvests among the ranks of the so justly disappointed and despairing people. * * * * * it is, nevertheless, an imperative duty to issue this necessary warning; namely, that the public should safeguard itself against the absurd, but possible mistakes of confusing the legitimate scientific school of the hygienic dietetic method of biological healing with the nebulous cults aforesaid. there is no vestige of resemblance between them, either in thought or principle, and nothing could be more fatal and foreign to the truth. * * * * * there is one thing, and one only, which, like the rest of the community, we share with them in common, and this is that _growing spirit of profound distrust_ with which all classes seem daily more and more constrained to regard the medical fraternity and all its ways. it is the general knowledge of the existence of this sentiment which has called into being the present epidemic of curious cults and catholicons--due, it would appear, more to this insidious temptation to such _commercial enterprise_ than to any other cause--and which form so prominent a feature throughout all sections of the community--and especially in the press--throughout the length and breadth of the land. to such, in an alarming degree, the public turns, in protest, as it were, against the tyranny and turpitude of this "learned profession," with its kindred corporations and its studied callous disregard of scientific advancement in any direction which might tend to jeopardize or reduce the profitable exercise of its own obsolete methods, its system of poisonous medicaments, and dangerous operations and anti-toxins. there is no possible efficacy or help to be derived from other teachings, whatsoever they may be, except from those based absolutely upon the solid foundation of biological fact. since johannes müller (1833) wrote the first book on physiology and its chemistry, more than a thousand so-called "authorities" in that branch of science have tried to find some of the secrets of nature pertaining to physiology. a very few (about 10 or 12) may be named as great men who discovered certain laws and solved certain problems. but the majority added nothing to müller's discoveries. most of them became teachers or authors, one plagiarizing the work of the other, eulogy being very liberally distributed on all sides, but valuable deductions from the great masters, very few have been able to make, and even those were more or less suppressed by the "orthodox school." in less than half the time since 1833, i.e. 85 years, it was my good fortune to give more valuable deductions and practical applications to the student and the reader, than the mediocre talents of the "old school" were able to give. * * * * * i pretend to no miracles and expect none; nor do i arrogate to myself any so-called _super_-natural secrets or powers; i simply maintain that, aided by the erudition of the great scientists of the past and present, this system has finally been brought to a point which should rightly have been always the chief aim of medical science, namely, an _exact knowledge of human nature and the human organism, as it is_. with this vital knowledge at command i have been able to successfully formulate a system for supplying the individual organism with any of the various constituents of which it may be deficient, in a manner in which it can best receive and assimilate the same, thereby maintaining a correct balance between the constituents of the blood wherein lies hidden the sole criterion of health and the fatal secret of disease. simple as this may sound, the way has been long and lonely until that elusive goal was reached; and, even now, in the heat of the controversy which ensues, we find ourselves sometimes in a somewhat parlous position, placed, as it were, between two fires; on the one side are those who, though not without sympathetic feeling for the well-intentioned, earnest-minded believers in the errors now being exposed, yet cast aside all scruples in the interest of humanity and truth. on the other side are those obsessed by care and compunction for these accredited practitioners who by reason of age or temperament are unable or unwilling to assimilate new ideas or to relinquish the theories of a life time in order to enter the field of competition with the men of a younger generation. such is the impasse before which we stand. regeneration of the race by the light of biology aided by physiological chemistry. "for as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:... whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it." (st. paul, i corinthians, xii. 12 & 26.) "_dysaemia, or impure blood is the cause and source of disorder in all constitutional diseases. so spoke the master. believe it who will, that, in a nutshell, is 'the burden of my song'--the alpha and omega of my teaching_." (from chapter x. "dare to be healthy.") _the process of natural healing_ is the art of curing diseases by natural methods. as natural remedies, only those may be included which stand as vital conditions in constant relation to the organism, assimilable thereby. among these are no poisons or chemical preparations, such as were promulgated by paracelsus and the medicasters; for these are elements abnormal to the body, and call forth its reactionary powers, and so, being useless, they are eliminated; or, after having served an improper purpose, to _suppress_ some symptom of disease, they become embedded in the tissues, there causing various forms of medicinal complication or morbid condition. do we not produce blood poisons enough by our irrational diet and modes of living? the human body is a microcosm--a world in minature--and as such, exists in constant interchange with universal nature. a definite relationship exists between it and the solid, fluid and gaseous elements. solid food, water and air, elements of the universe, must become elements of our bodies, if relations of universal unity are to be maintained. there must be a constant interchange of organic matter, and this inter-transmission is the cause of life, of health, and of disease; therefore, we must first of all see that the conditions of this process are uninterrupted. food, air, water, light, exercise, must be so provided that they condition the process of nutrition and metamorphosis. skin, lungs, kidneys, intestines, must always be in condition to eliminate the abnormal products of decomposition. if then disease be a derangement of the life process, it is self-evident that disease is not confined to one organ alone, but that the whole body is diseased. the body, thus, being in fact an indivisible unity, the treatment we employ in disease must, logically, act upon it as a united whole. the modern school of medicine in its present, bacteria ridden frame of mind or mania, looks upon the bacillus, or microbe, as the sole cause of disease. the cause, however, is not the bacillus, but rather the impure blood which prepares a fertile soil for the development of those destructive germs. he who lives strictly in accordance with the rules of hygiene need not fear the bacillus, for man is not born to sickness; he creates sickness for himself by his irrational mode of living. what does the world profit by bacteriological institutions if the people continue to live in the old sins against health and hygiene? man may be born with a predisposition to disease, but not with disease itself. our health depends entirely upon the conditions of our life. in cases of predisposition to disease, therefore, as well as in disease itself, according to the principles of hygiene, we must employ only the hygienic and dietetic methods of treatment. is the medical science of the day, then, totally incompetent? you may well ask.--have the patient studies and researches of nearly two thousand four hundred years, since the days of hippocrates, been all in vain? the reply lies ready to your hand, from the lips of one of the brightest scientific spirits that ever illumined this dull earth of ours with knowledge and sincerity. in goethe's faust the following lines are found,--lines which sad memory brings back to the minds of many an unfortunate who, according to the dictates of the medical science of today, is pronounced incurable--a sufferer from one or other of the so-called chronic diseases--and in dire need of both physical and spiritual support. "i have, alas, philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence too, and, to my cost, theology with ardent labour studied through, and here i stand with all my lore, poor fool, no wiser than before" like faust, such sufferers study day and night the opinions of learned doctors and follow their prescriptions with ardent zeal. the more they study, the more doctors they consult, the more rapidly does strength fail them, until at length they realize that, in spite of all their lore, they are but "poor fools, no wiser than before." for more than two thousand years it has been, in fact, as it is to a great extent today; the physician prescribes to the best of his knowledge, medicines compounded according to certain rules dogmatically laid down in the schools. here we have at once the fatal mistake at a glance. instead of studying nature and the laws of nature, instead of using natural means to _heal disease_, they administer deadly poisons to _allay suffering_, poisons, which doubtless may be able to repress pain or to temporarily suppress the symptoms of disease; but can _never remove the cause_, which alone may rightly be called healing. the drugs prescribed by thousands of physicians today, with but a casual acquaintance with their action, are bound by their nature to produce evils worse than the disease itself. to cite an instance: physicians prescribe creosote in cases of consumption to stop the expectoration of blood. creosote will do this, and may suppress the cough, as well as the accompanying pain; but will it cure consumption or destroy or remove the cause of this deadliest of diseases? on the contrary, it inevitably produces laryngeal phthisis after a very short time. it destroys the head of the windpipe and the patient dies in consequence of the destruction of one of the most important organs of the body. in most instances the physician is either oblivious or unaware of these facts. he follows those old-standing doctrinal sophisms laid down by human "science" but discredited by nature. his courage is called "audacity" by those who have not lost all feeling for humanity. meanwhile, those who regard medical science from a business standpoint only, are very quick to pronounce judgement upon any natural treatment of disease and to condemn the most successful natural physicians as charlatans and frauds. in order to be competent to decide upon a correct course in the treatment of disease the physician must possess a thorough chemical knowledge of all the fundamental substances of which the human organism is constructed. with the patient therefore rests the responsibility of choosing his physician, since no physician can be of any assistance who cannot define what substances are deficient in the blood, and who does not possess the requisite technical knowledge to supply this deficiency by adequate dietetic means. in my nutrition cell-food therapy for constitutional diseases, i have followed consistently upon the lines of one of the greatest masters of physiological chemistry that the world has known, who, in one of his medical colloquies spoke as follows: "in order to thoroughly understand any form of sickness or disease, so as to undertake the cure of the same, it is first of all necessary to picture before one's mental vision the ways and means of its inceptive formation, and by degrees to trace its origin, step by step, before one is enabled to decide upon adequate remedial measures conformable to the individual stages of the same." in this sense it has ever been my strenuous endeavor to fathom the secret of the inception of constitutional diseases; but the entire medical literature did not advance me further than pathological anatomy, which informs us that the original cause of disease is a change in the form of the cellular elements of different digestive organs,--in explanation of which the customary technical terms are used, such as "atrophy," "degeneration," "metamorphosis," etc. but, i reasoned with myself, this surely cannot be seriously regarded as the origin of disease! the cause of the visible changing of the cellules must be sought in the conditional interstitial substances which cause the invisible changes or shiftings of the cellular forms, and which are scientifically termed "_changed nutritional conditions_." by the aid of physiological chemistry i was successful in finding a pathway to the centre of those mysterious occurrences of life. and this was my course of reasoning: as the cellules, which are the smallest individual elements of the human system, are only _products of the blood_, and for their composition require the different chemical substances in sufficient quantities, it is obviously necessary to fathom what those chemical elements of the cellules may be, what form they take in their mutual relation to the separate parts of the body, and in what way they enter the organism. in this manner i obtained a clear insight into the actions of the so-called _mineral material_ in the organism, and it gradually became obvious to me that everything is dependent upon the introduction of the proper _sanguifying or nutritive_ mineral salts into the blood. on this basis i founded the so-called "_organic nutritive cell-food therapy_" (called the dech-manna therapy). the point may be raised that the elements of the food we eat or drink are heterogeneous and that the mineral matter in them is naturally and casually acquired, according to the properties of the soil they grow in. this is the general opinion, but not the fact. our vegetables, grain, meat and milk contain too much phosphoric acid and sal ammoniac, and this is due to the use of artificial and animal fertilizers, while the sulphurics are very often entirely missing. von liebig says: when we consider that the sugar refineries of waghausel have an annual output in the market of 600,000 lbs. of potassic salt, which is taken from the soil by the turnips of the baden fields without being replaced, and that there is cultivated in northern germany, year by year, with the assistance of guano, an immense amount of potatoes solely for the manufacture of spirits, and that these potato fields are consequently robbed of the essential ingredients which potatoes should contain, and as these elements are only partially replaced by the insufficient component parts of the guano, we cannot be in doubt as to the condition of these fields. the ground may be ever so rich in ingredients, but it is exhaustible. the analysis of our blood indicates that, in order to remain healthy, it must contain twice as many sulphuric as phosphoric salts. we talk glibly about a natural mode of living, a simple diet; but where in our civilized countries can we find food that really serves healthy sanguification? the crux of the question is this: why do we propose to _heal naturally_ and not also to _nourish naturally_?--the latter is, to say the least of it, just as important as the former. but if both were practiced conjointly, a beneficial object might be more quickly and surely gained. it is true, we are taught to eat more vegetables than meat; that our bread lacks the chief nourishing qualities, and so on; but we have hitherto been in no wise informed as to the substances that are relatively harmful or beneficial to us. why is it then that the science of the sanative power of nature, as well as medical science, is still in doubt in regard to the relation that must absolutely exist between the separate component parts of our nourishment in order to obtain normal healthy sanguification? _the reason is that the application of a real chemistry of life has never been comprehended until now._ according to my judgment it is von liebig and julius hensel who showed us the paths we are to take to the field of enquiry most important of all; for without a sound body all the coveted acquisitions of modern times are worthless to us. the solution of the question how to prevent the degeneration of mankind would be a simple and natural one, if history and proverb had not taught us that as often as a new truth appears "the very oxen butt their horns against it." they cannot help this, the "disposition" is natural; for when pythagoras had found the master of arts, mathesios, he was so overjoyed that he sacrificed one hundred oxen to the gods, and ever since that time oxen are attacked with an hereditary fright whenever a new truth appears,--the human ox is no exception. of what use to us, for instance, are the roentgen x-rays in diseases of the nerves when there is a generally diseased condition of the blood, which, as we now know, is also the primary cause of lung, liver, stomach and kidney troubles, cancer, scrofula, rheumatism, gout, obesity, diabetes, and the rest? in such cases _chemistry_ is necessary, in order to ascertain what ingredients are missing in the blood; they cannot be detected microscopically. what blunders are continually committed in the treatment of nerve diseases! no one considers the physiological law that _no parts of the nerves can perform their functions lastingly and naturally unless they are continually supplied with blood permeated_ with oxygen; and for this purpose iron is most necessary as an adequate ingredient. physicians of the old-school do prescribe iron plentifully, but in inorganic form; and because it is not organized it is indigestible and is excreted. that is why the treatment of the diseases of the nerves, which are so general and widespread, has been so unsuccessful. it is not generally known that organized ammonium phosphate (lecithin), which is the mineral foundation of the neurogen i prescribe, will regenerate the nerve cells if consumed in the proper proportions. it is, likewise, little known that although a person with diseased lungs be placed under conditions where he may acquire an ample quantity of pure air--that is oxygen--and may consume as much as four quarts of milk daily, he will nevertheless most certainly be doomed to perish if his food does not contain the elements of iron, lime and sulphur in sufficient quantities. these simple physiological laws have been ignored and medical men have given us instead, the teachings of the school of bacteriology with its pitiful illusions and its endless train of suffering and sorrow. the testimony of many patients who have undergone treatment in the best physical culture and so-called, natural healing establishments both in europe and america, serves to show that their success has been but partial and one-sided; that is, they have abandoned their wrong albumen theory, and their state of health has consequently improved. but, practically, the treatment has failed; for complete and final recovery--that is, full and correct nutrition and strengthening of the nerves, has not been accomplished. such failure is due to the fact that certain essential constituents have not been supplied. these vital constituents my organic nutritive cell-food therapy is designed to provide. what is lacking in the field of practical science, as authoritatively voiced by the unprogressive faculty of today, is an absence of chemical knowledge, especially on the part of the physician and the naturalist; and, as likewise, the so-called scientific farmer upon whose assurances we so naturally rely for the wholesome production of food is woefully ignorant on matters of agricultural chemistry, the logical consequence is that in all civilized countries great mistakes have been unconsciously made and perpetuated, detrimental to the health of man and beast alike and vitally prejudicial to the healthy sustenance of the race. _where are the most vitally necessary mineral substances_ to be found in nature? it is an established fact that the fields, on which our nutritive salts or cell-foods--our vital sustenance--are grown, were originally formed from decayed primitive rock and _this primitive earth-crust matter is composed of the same mineral substances that are found in normal blood_. therefore, our physical welfare and our capacity to resist disease is clearly dependent upon the condition of our fields. we must always bear this in mind--the old truism--that, "as a man eats, so is he." _we are thus, directly, the products of our fields._ wrongly fertilized, our fields must produce sickly vegetation, and this in turn will produce a sickly race and disease in cattle. primitive rock consists of granite, porphyry, gneiss and basalt, deposits which are still found upon the earth in immense quantities, and in the same condition as thousands of years ago. as a matter of fact, proposals have been made by noted scientists to utilize pulverized rock of this kind as compost to _assist_ the fields in a natural way, and so to restore them to their former producing power, which would thus enable plants, animals, and man, alike, to regain those substances indispensable to proper sanguification and general growth. the agricultural experiments performed with this stone dust fully confirm this assumption. one of the most important tasks of today is to indicate to the farmer new ways and means of promoting and increasing growth for the food supply of the nations. why, then, i imagine i can hear it asked, if this fact be true and demonstrated, has it not been applied? this question may be answered by another. why does not the natural system of hygienic dietetic healing find general application in cases of sickness, since its success is so obviously greater than even that claimed by medical science? to this vital question upon which so much of human life and happiness depends, the weak and degrading answer must suffice; to the effect that the last vestige of public respect for the sciences would be shaken, and many wise theories would fail of their imaginary virtues and succumb, before humanity's best birthright--the quality of healthy blood, kind nature's ample gift to all,--could be wrested from the selfish hand of tyranny and mankind enabled to secure from nature's willing hand the succour that an infinite providence offers to disease. a physician to whom i once explained my theories, heard me for some minutes and then he said "well, and so you want to create healthy blood in this way?" "yes, surely," i replied. "we have no use for that," he callously exclaimed, "there would _be no business in that_." _hence mankind must degenerate and disease of all kinds ride rampant_ through the land, rather than upset the firmly rooted fallacies of the past or foil the ghoul-like greed of a certain set of conscienceless practitioners. to the first of these the terse old latin satire would apply: "homine imperito nunquam quidquam injustius qui, nisi quod ipse fecit, nihil rectum putat." (terentius.) "who is there so unreasoning as he, that learned drone, who reckons nothing perfect save what he himself hath known." (m.b.) to the second let an outraged public reply. * * * * * but meanwhile, as the hideous holocaust proceeds, the mills of god grind slowly but mysteriously secure. the eternal law of equity is working still; and from every evil there proceeds a good. truth may be hidden in the nether deeps, but some day the strained tension breaks, the balance reversing brings it to the light. its spirit works for ever, like a ferment, hidden long, deep down in the universal heart of things; for with majestic, unimpressionable tread, sublimely the silent force of human progress moves; slow and inevitably sure, the great indwelling spirit of a vast eternal energy leading man ever upward to the true and best. against this axiom, alas, graceless and suicidal seems the unwisdom of the world, in action against all who offer it salvation from its pain; aye, though he be christ or commoner. rather be wrong in league with wealth and power than be right--and stand alone. this is now the worldly wisdom of the sage. genius at grips with material and religious power, fares ill; as with far-famed copernicus, or "starry galileo and his woes"; or, in a brave woman's daring words:--"he, who dares to see a truth not recognized in creeds, must die the death." "a time of transition is a time of pain," is a truism well recognized by all, and he who would press regeneration upon the world--weak, weary and unthinking as its people are--must run the gauntlet of the bitter antagonism of the exploiting clans on this benighted sphere, though later he may see, across the bourne that bounds life's earthly day, a stately monument, perchance, by gratitude upreared, where pious crowds pay tribute to his name. hymn of health (from the greek) health, thou most frangible of heaven's dower, with thee may what remains of life be spent; cease not upon me, thus, thy gifts to shower, and in my soul to find a tenement. for what is there of beauty, wealth or power, of gentle offspring, or the wiles of love, but owes its solace, sweet, in every hour, to thee, thou regent of the powers above. the spring of pleasure blooms if thou but bless, and every step upon the autumn way is lit by thee, parent of happiness! without thee sadly sounds life's roundelay. (m.b.) health is one of those intangible inestimably precious possessions, like life and liberty, to which all are entitled by natural law. yet are there but few who are careful to conserve this priceless heritage. it is a boon all too often unappreciated until lost, and once lost, it may not always be regained, though intense be our regrets and our endeavours exhaust the field of human resource. again, although the possession of passable health may be ours, it is a condition rarely totally untroubled and continuous and, therefore, cannot be correctly classified as perfect health. these simple definitions may seem to the reader trite and trivial; but how many of us, let me ask, give thought to their vital vast significance. never to need a physician; ever to be unconsciously guarded against all access of disease; to maintain the fair form and vigor of the body without effort, so that no depleting influences can find a hold; this is the health ideal by nature set, the standard to which the earliest progenitors of our race may doubtless have conformed, but upon which succeeding generations have sedulously turned their backs. philosophers have defined this physically perfect state. historians have immortalized it in heroic tomes. poets have extolled it in great epic verse. artists have depicted it in portraiture and tapestry. sculptors have expressed it in the life-like stone. the sick have longed for it. saints have prayed for it and, in the search for its fabled, false elixir, alchemists have sacrificed their lives. it remained for the smug, "sober judgment" of our day to pronounce it "unattainable"--unattainable! this, however, is a matter of small moment; for, as whittier reminds us: "the falsehoods which we spurn today were the truths of long ago"--and although men part reluctantly with favorite--and lucrative--fallacies, and "faith, fantastic faith, once wedded fast to some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last," nevertheless this false belief, like so many other sapient pronouncements of human wisdom, must be subjected to final reversal. the ideal state of health is, truly, "unattainable" when we refuse to yield obedience to the simple laws of nature--when we continuously persist in interference with her work and embarrass her with artificial substitutes, defying her august hygienic precepts by our manner of life. not so, however, if we yield to her inducements, fulfil her requirements, and submit ourselves freely to her unerring will. there is less of fault than of weakness in the fact that so many of us fail to give nature the opportunity to rear us as healthy men and women, to keep us more free than we are from suffering and disease. her ways are ways of pleasantness and follow on the lines of the veriest simplicity. the preservation of health must needs, then, move along these self-same simple lines. it is ignorance, in most cases, rather than unwillingness that brings upon the race the punishment we call disease. but how can they be expected to learn who have no teacher? and how can they teach who are themselves untaught? it is incumbent upon those who have acquired knowledge to impart life-saving truths, and _there is no greater benefactor of his kind than he who reduces life's problems to their simplest terms_. "he that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty." such is the dictum of king david, the psalmist, as expressed in the hebrew scriptures. all that man's intellect can conceive of the almighty is bounded by its expression in nature. it is neither arrogant, nor irreverent, then, to claim with reasonable confidence that the devoted service of long years of close application to research in nature's secret dwelling-place may entitle such an one to share the guidance of the almighty mind and inspire him to share its favours with his fellow man. * * * * * this then, the author of this brochure, realizing vividly and with sympathy, humanity's sore need, has been constrained to formulate, for the benefit of those desirous to learn;--a means of enlightenment suitable and accessible to all. for although, to quote from goethe, whose transcendent mind was almost omniscient in all mundane things: "allwissend bin ich nicht; doch viel ist mir bewusst." (omniscient am i not, though much i know.) yet "unity is strength," and in conjunction with associated minds, such knowledge as i have may amply suffice to save many a sad sufferer from hereditary doom. the scheme, or, to be more explicit, the club, i purpose to inaugurate, is fully expounded in detail in the succeeding pages. the dare to be healthy club all other things the mandate, "must", obey, man only has the power, "i will", to say. (after schiller.) (m.b.) thoughtless and imitative, men follow custom, careless where it may lead, and unconsciously imitate each other. strong harmful habits grow, which overcome the opposing will and fickle fashion rules where common sense should reign. such instances are common to us all. a combination opposed to such influences is the force we need and for this purpose i propose to establish a club for the study of the ways and means of health. the dare to be healthy club. the club will be comprised of those who desire to pursue a course of health study by correspondence. this combination will constitute the first and only club of its kind in the world. it will unite in its membership a group of independent thinkers, representative of all parts of the american continent. the purpose of the club will be to teach the science of regeneration--to teach them to "dare to be healthy" according to the laws and teachings of biology. these teachings will consist of a two years' course in _biology_, dealing with its most important branches, in _physiology_, _anatomy_, _hygiene_, _physiological chemistry_, _pathology_, according to biological facts, and _therapy_ in accordance with biological and physical laws and precepts. all methods of _natural healing_ will be explained in detail, including diet, breathing exercises, and rest. the comprehensive aim will be to inculcate the principles which govern the process of perfect metabolism--that is to say, the changes of nutritive matter within the body--as the means of bringing into being a race endowed with health and beauty and therefore predestined to happiness. the course of instruction will be based upon the literature of science, including certain fundamental teachings from the pen of the author of the present pamphlet, which comprises, moreover, extracts from the works of distinguished scholars whose theories have been tried and tested during the last thirty-five years. its precepts will be based upon personal experience and actual practice, the outcome of careful and patient observation. the series throughout will be formulated with a view to the purpose of graduating later from among those who follow the course, a body of competent instructors capable of transmitting the knowledge they have acquired to others, privately or professionally. but remember the axiom of cicero: "not only is there an art in acquiring knowledge but also a rarer art in imparting it to others." the first question, then, which will naturally arise in the mind of the reader will be: _what is this method of regeneration?_ the reply to this question is in reality a simple one, but in order to explain and define the word "regeneration" from a purely scientific standpoint, it will be necessary to cite the results of the author's researches and to outline his method of healing by regeneration, showing how he purposes to lead the way from a dark past and a dull present into a brighter future. before doing so, however, it may perhaps conduce to a better understanding if i quote from the remarks of an eminent local authority on the chemical composition of the body--a subject "new," as it appears, to the general medical practitioner of the day though, for over a quarter of a century freely expatiated upon by the great biologists of the period. the extract is taken from a recent article by assistant surgeon general dr. w.c. rucker, of the united states public health service, and reads as follows: "much of the advance of modern medicine has been accomplished through the development of physiological chemistry which is even yet a new science. "although so new, it is assuming such importance as to make it manifest that the physiology of the future will be written largely in terms of chemistry. "we have come to realize that the body is in a literal sense of the word, a chemical laboratory. the foods we eat, the fluids we drink, the gases we breathe are complex chemical compounds which the body must take apart and put together again in such a way that the materials may be delivered in a shape that will enable the cells to store them. it is then the business of the cells to utilize these materials for tissue building and in the production of energy, in the form of work and heat. the body manufactures different kinds of products, some beneficial, others harmful. thus for example, excessive muscular effort throws into the bloodstream fatigue products that are poisonous. a person utterly tired out is really suffering from acute poisoning. on the other hand, to resist invasion by infectious diseases, the body manufactures anti-poisons that kill the enemy germs--making in other words, its own medicine." the physical processes here mentioned by dr. rucker are fully explained in my book, "dare to be healthy," chapter vi, vii, viii, and the natural principles involved have been practiced by me for over 30 years. i mention the fact simply as corroborative evidence of the authenticity and value of the work shortly to be published. "art may err, but nature cannot miss,"--is an aphorism attributed to the poet dryden. it adequately supports dr. rucker's wise, significant and timely pronouncement and reminds me of an illustrative incident recorded in connection with the world famed physician boerhaave of leyden,--holland's chief centre of learning--who lived some 250 years ago, when doctors knew less than at present of the circulation and functions of the blood. boerhaave, it appears, conceived the idea of a sort of posthumous pleasantry, of a distinctly lucrative nature, at the expense of his medical brethren. professional ignorance and popular superstition had alike surrounded his name with a halo of mystery and he was credited with almost miraculous powers of healing and the possession of the secret of disease and health. at the sale of effects, following his death, there was a great gathering of the most celebrated physicians of the day and his books and records fetched fabulous prices. but one special tome, ponderous, silver-clasped and locked, entitled: "macrobiotic, the true and complete secret of long, healthy life," was the cynosure of every avaricious eye. the auctioneer shrewdly reserved it until the last. amidst a scene of unparalleled excitement and competition the great book was at length knocked down to a famous london physician for no less a sum than seven thousand gulden. when opened with eager anticipation before the disappointed bidders, its pages were found to be blank--with one exception. upon this one was inscribed in the handwriting of boerhaave himself, only these ten words: "_keep the head cool, the feet warm, the bowels open._" turning to an excited audience it was thus the great london authority spoke: "i once heard it said that the world is simple; that health is simple; that it is the folly of man that causes all complications, and that it is the delicate task of the true physician to reduce everything to its original simplicity. heaven knows that our great master, boerhaave, has solved life's problem. to me this truth is well worth the 7,000 gulden i pay to secure it; while to you, my friends, who have travelled from distant parts of the globe in search of it, receive from me the legacy of our master and also be, likewise, content." the moral that this story teaches is the same eternal lesson of all time, as expressed through the medium of biology: that not by art or artifice can health be cheaply snatched at will from the infinite sources of life, but that by consistently following the guidance of nature's laws the healthy functions of the human organism may alone be correctly maintained, or, when driven by ill-treatment into decline, it is the rational scientific assistance we afford to the efforts of nature, by which alone we may hope to re-establish that normal condition of health. for, in the worthy words of wordsworth i may say: "so build we up the being that we are." the writer does not claim for this method so great a degree of simplicity. but he does base it upon the same truth that simplicity and a return to natural conditions are the only ways of effectively healing the diseased body. guided by the great masters of biology and physiological chemistry, his object has been to determine the elements of which the twelve main tissues of the human body are composed and to learn in what manner these tissues suffer from the various diseases which attack them. were i desirous of emulating the illustrious boerhaave, i might concentrate my work into these few words: _supply the system with the necessary constituents of its tissues and at the same time assist the organism by means of simple and natural appliances, and regeneration will continue until the desired physiological condition is reached._ in so doing, i fear, i should bequeath but little to the comprehension of humanity. i desire that all shall benefit by the diligent research work of my life. i desire to leave my legacy to humankind clearly and distinctly defined, in rules carefully expressed in the course of study i have prepared. i do not expect them to be accepted without controversy. nor do i look for gratitude from those whom i seek to benefit. i have no delusions and the satisfaction of having delivered my message will be my sole reward. i can only trust in this more enlightened age, that history as poetized by pope may not repeat itself: "truths would you teach, or save a sinking land? all fear, none aid you, and few understand." my solace, even so, for the nonce would be the knowledge of life and health restored to the faithful, though, comparatively, few and the confidence that truth must, in the issue, at length prevail, convincing, victorious over all. before proceeding further i wish it to be distinctly understood that it is no part of my scheme or intention to seek in any way to eliminate the physician. as there are, in fact, no two human organism exactly alike, so also is there divergence, more or less, in each individual case, in disease; and however apparently similar the symptoms may be, the knowledge and experience of a physician becomes necessary in order to determine correctly what the ailment is and how general principles should be applied in each particular case. on the contrary, i purpose to explain fully the secret causes of disease and their removal, in pursuance of the belief held in common with fair-minded physicians the world over, that a better knowledge of the human organism and hygiene on the part of the layman, would be of equal advantage alike to physician and patient. drawing aside the veil from professional secrecy and allowing the patient to know the why and the wherefore of things, means positive success for my hygienic-dietetic system of healing, because it is the only system which can ultimately survive in the light of general knowledge and wisdom. no knowledge, no precautions, will always prevent disease. it is the natural incidence of the law of cause and effect that man, collectively, cannot expect to go through life unmolested by disturbances of health. from the very outset the tendency to disease is inherited; and indeed today, although we have now learned how to combat the enemy, yet opposing hosts are seen to be so vast and strongly entrenched about us that we realize to some extent the years that must elapse before mankind can be entirely set free from his hideous heritage, the harvest sown by past ignorance, deception and neglect. but, from the malignant evil of internecine strife universal good is rising with an awakened nation's cry--a cry for freedom and release from the ever-lengthening chains of pernicious interests and obsolete institutions. the moment of release is at hand: that pyschological moment of which james russell lowell sings: "once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side." and knowing what the people know--they who have borne so long, in grimly impotent silence, under the guise of freedom, the fortunes of the slave--can we for one moment doubt what view their lawful, reasoning demand for redress will take and whether or no it will prevail? the hundred million voices of the union sternly answer: no! in effecting this release, so far as the science of healing is concerned, my system, which i claim to be entirely original, will be found particularly efficacious, for it presents plainly and convincingly, in the light of the most recent discoveries, the truth that _all constitutional diseases are but the variations of one basal deficiency_; that the entire art of rational healing lies in a knowledge of the component parts of the body tissues, in a determination of the tissues involved in the process of degeneration in each specific instance, and in the subsequent treatment thereof by means of supplying to the blood the elements necessary to regenerate the tissues in question. from this brief explanation may be judged the importance of the hygienic dietetic physician in cases of sickness. the quack and charlatan it is who persuade people to believe that they do not need the physician, and compel them to pay for this belief in money and in health. it is the obvious duty of every one to seek aid in case of sickness from some physician who is a profound and professed advocate of the only sensible, practical method of treatment; but, at the same time i would make it possible for all to acquire sufficient knowledge to enable them to judge for themselves whether the attendant summoned responds in some measure to this requirement, the simple and logical course of which contains at least some ray of hope for all who suffer. * * * * * it may not be amiss to cite here a brief outline of the teachings of the four bright particular stars who have served as beacon lights in the history and development of medicine. not only does the modern medical world acknowledge the doctrines of these four men as the foundation upon which the practice of healing has been raised to a science, but moreover,--_a point much more important for our consideration_,--it also admits that the least essential part of the work of hippocrates, the "father of medicine;" namely, his _statement of theory_, is the part which has been accorded permanent prominence, whilst the portion of greatest value in his labours; that is to say, the _practical part_, has been neglected and ignored. the following passages are taken from the article entitled "history of medicine" in the encyclopedia britannica, 11th. edition, vol. xviii, pages 42-51. "_hippocrates_, called the 'father of medicine,' lived during the age of pericles, (495-429 b.c.), and occupied as high a position in medicine as did the great philosophers, orators, and tragedians in their respective fields. his high conception of the duties and position of the physician and the skill with which he manipulated the materials that were at hand, constituted two important characteristics of hippocratic medicine. another was the recognition that disease, as well as health, is a process governed by what we call natural laws, learned by observation, and indicating the direction of recovery. these views of the 'natural history of disease' led to habits of minute observation and careful interpretation of symptoms, in which the hippocratic school excelled and has been the model for all succeeding ages, so that even now the true method of clinical medicine may be said to be the method of hippocrates. one of the important doctrines of hippocrates was the healing power of nature. he did not teach that nature was sufficient to cure disease, but he recognized a natural process of the humours, at least in acute disease, being first of all _crude_, then passing through _coction_ or digestion, and finally being expelled by resolution or crisis through one of the natural channels of the body. the duty of the physician was to 'assist and not to hinder these changes, so that the sick man might conquer the disease with the help of the physician.'" "_galen_, the man from whom the greater part of modern european medicine has flowed, lived about 131 to 201 a.d. he was equipped with all the anatomical, medical, and philosophical knowledge of his time; he had studied all kinds of natural curiosities and was in close touch with important political events; he possessed enormous industry, great practical sagacity, and unbounded literary fluency. at that time there were numerous sects in the medical profession, various dogmatic systems prevailed in medical science, and the social standing of physicians was degraded. he assumed the task of reforming the existing evils and restoring the unity of medicine as it had been understood by hippocrates, at the same time elevating the dignity of medical practitioners. in the explanation and healing of diseases he applied the science of physiology. his theory was based upon the hippocratic doctrine of humours, but he developed it with marvelous ingenuity. he advocated that the normal condition of the body depended upon a proper proportion of the four elements, hot, cold, wet and dry. the faulty proportions of the same gave rise, not to disease, but to the occasions for disease. he laid equal stress upon the faulty composition or dysaemia of the blood. he claimed that all diseases were due to a combination of these morbid predispositions, together with injurious external influences, and thus explained all symptoms and all diseases. he found a name for every phenomenon and a solution for every problem. and though it was precisely in this characteristic that he abandoned scientific methods and practical utility, it was also this quality that gained for him his popularity and prominence in the medical world. however, his reputation grew slowly. his opinions were in opposition to those of other physicians of his time. in the succeeding generation he won esteem as a philosopher, and it was only gradually that his system was accepted implicitly. it enjoyed great, though not exclusive predominance until the fall of roman civilization." "_thomas sydenham_, (1624-1689) was well acquainted with the works of the ancient physicians and had a fair knowledge of chemistry. whether he had any knowledge of anatomy is not definitely known. he advocated the actual study of disease in an impartial manner, discarding all hypothesis. he repeatedly referred to hippocrates in his medical methods, and he has quite deservedly been styled the english hippocrates. he placed great stress on the 'natural history of disease,' just as did his greek master, and likewise attached great importance to 'epidemic constitution,' that is, the influence of weather and other natural causes on the process of disease. he believed in the healing power of nature to an even greater degree than did hippocrates. he claimed that disease was nothing more than an effort on the part of nature to restore the health of the patient by the elimination of the morbific matter. the reform of practical medicine was effected by men who advocated the rejection of all hypothesis and the impartial study of natural processes, as shown in health and disease. sydenham showed that these natural processes could be studied and dealt with without being explained, and, by laying stress on facts and disregarding _explanations_, he introduced a _method_ in medicine far more fruitful than any discoveries. though the dogmatic spirit continued to live for a long time, the reign of standard authority had passed." "_boerhaave._ in the latter part of the seventeenth century a physician arose (1668-1738) who was destined to become far more prominent in the medical world than any of the english physicians of the age of queen anne, though he differed but little from them in his way of thinking. this was _hermann boerhaave_. for many years he was professor of medicine at leyden, and excelled in influence and reputation not only his greatest forerunners, montanus of padua and sylvius of leyden, but probably every subsequent teacher. the hospital of leyden became the centre of medical influence in europe. many of the leading english physicians of the 18th century studied there. boerhaave's method of teaching was transplanted to vienna through one of his pupils, gerard van swieten, and thus the noted vienna school of medicine was founded. the services of boerhaave to the progress of medicine can hardly be overestimated. he was the organizer and almost the constructor of the modern method of clinical instruction. he followed the methods of hippocrates and sydenham in his teachings and in his practice. the points of his system that are best known are his doctrines of inflammation, obstruction, and 'plethora.' in the practice of medicine he aimed to make use of all the anatomical and physiological acquisitions of his age, including microscopical anatomy. in this respect he differed from sydenham, for the latter paid but little more attention to modern medicine than to ancient dogma. in some respects he was like galen, but again differed from him, as he did not wish to reduce his knowledge to any definite system. he spent much time in studying the medical classics, though he valued them from an historical standpoint rather than from an authoritative standpoint. it would almost seem that the great task of boerhaave's life a combination of ancient and modern medicine, could not be of any real permanent value, and the same might be said of his aphorisms, in which he gave a summary of the results of his long experience. and yet it is an indisputable fact that his contributions to the science of medicine form one of the necessary factors in the construction of modern medicine." * * * * * these extracts represent the principles of that bright constellation of master minds who have gone before us and guided our footsteps through tedious and tentative wanderings into the pathway of truth. may their undoubting, united testimony act as a reassuring, convincing influence which will carry the reader back to the very fountain head of medical jurisprudence, through the medium of the encyclopedia britannica, the highest accepted authority and criterion of authenticity in the english speaking world; for, at the same time it will also provide a positive and perfect safeguard and assurance of the solid basis and absolute authenticity of my methods and teachings besides indicating definitely the source and direction whence they are derived and establishing their classical trend and legitimate purpose. system of regeneration in order to bring the entire system of regeneration under review, i shall here endeavour to present in condensed form all the essential points in my teachings. the reader will thus be enabled to picture to himself his body, with its vital organs, clearly as in a mirror; he will become familiarized with its composition and twelve principal tissues, as well as with the sixteen elements of which they consist. man is a unit, and the human body an accumulation of millions of separate cells, which are centres of life and which, in different groupings and combinations, form the various organs that render existence possible. this existence is the natural sequel of the existence of former human beings. they generated the life that is to be transferred by us to other living beings. the several functions of the organism combine to form a chain of activities in which there must not be a single link missing, if life is to continue. these activities are comprised within an accumulation of cells which are by no means stationary, for life means nothing more than the constant dying, of the old cells and the reconstruction of the new. it means that the human body as a whole is continually in a state of composition and decomposition. not until the accumulation of cells we call the body is recognized as one complete correlated and inseparable entity and the absolute interdependence of the separate cells, each one upon the others, is likewise accepted as the verified fact that it is--not until then will the erroneous and obsolete idea be discarded, by which the various organs of the body have been professionally treated as separate and independent considerations, even to the extent of being dealt with, in cases of disease, as totally aloof from one another and conveniently classed as proper subjects for submission to the expert opinion of that superior class of physicians who devote their attention exclusively to special organs and are accordingly termed "specialists." thus the question arises: what is the cause of _disease_? the question does not apply to any one particular form of disease or class of diseases, but to disease generally, as a concrete term meaning any disorder which may manifest itself by individual disturbances in the body; for such disturbance is but a variation in quantity or quality of one general disturbance, a variation in the mechanism that controls the work of keeping the existing cells in proper condition and replacing those cells which are constantly being destroyed. it is a variation in the process of _regeneration, which we term life_. metabolism is the process which is constantly going on in the human system, whereby the cells that have been consumed by oxidation are removed through the excreta--the faeces, the urine, the perspiration, and the exhalations from the lungs--to be replaced by new ones. _metabolism_, means change of matter. it signifies the course by which nutritive material, or food, is built up into living matter. this process is accomplished through the blood, which distributes the necessary material to all parts of the body where cells need to be replaced and carries away the consumed portions. in the marvelous performance of its functions, when properly supplied, it carries the elements that are essential to regeneration in the correct proportions. when not properly supplied, these proportions become incorrect and foreign formations may arise which are disturbing to the organism. in nature there is a constant tendency to counterbalance disturbances in the proper proportion and by distribution of cell building material to restore the normal condition. we may thus speak of the overwhelmingly curative tendency of nature. metabolism is the function of the body which most constantly requires attention. so, therefore, it is always through the blood that we must assist nature in the process of counterbalancing and rectifying or healing abnormal conditions. it follows then, that, despite the apparent variety in _constitutional_ diseases, they are all practically the same. they are all disturbances of metabolism through some irregularity in the quantitative or qualitative condition of the blood. professor jacob moleschott, the great physiologist, has crystallized this truth in the immortal words: "one of the principal questions to be always asked of the physician is this: how may good healthy and active blood be obtained? view the question as we may, we shall be forced to acknowledge openly and explicitly or guardedly and indirectly that our volition, our sensations, our strength, and our pro-creative powers are dependent upon our blood and our blood upon our nutrition." if such unity exists, why then the great difference in the human organs? how is it that a bone in its stonelike hardness is essentially the same as the exquisitely sensitive eye? this is owing to the adaptive property of the cells, in the course of their enormous accumulation, to different functions, which, again, depends upon the varied arrangement of the constituent elements. these elements all find lodgement in the blood, and are carried by it in necessary quantities to the points where they are needed to assist the organs in replacing consumed matter. the difficulty found in grasping this idea of _unity_ has led to the most momentous errors in modern medical science. one result has been the undue attention paid to the study of anatomy, insomuch that the different organs are regarded as wholly distinct groups of cells. this is convenient from a descriptive standpoint, but it tends too much to draw attention away from the source of life, and of health. only by noting the common characteristics of the cell accumulations termed organs, are we enabled to supply the necessary elements that may be lacking. and thus we arrive at the subject of _the chemical analysis of the human body_ and its various organs, a subject that has been badly neglected throughout the centuries. it has been determined that the entire human body consists of a certain number of chemical elements, appearing in different aggregations in different parts. these aggregations repeating themselves in the various organs. twelve principal aggregations of chemical elements have been established and designated by the term _tissues_. this fact led to the discovery of the truth that in the process of healing attention must be given, not to the various organs, but to the various tissues. these tissues are dependent directly upon the condition and contents of the blood, whose office it is to nourish them and which exhibits the wonderful property of conveying to each tissue its selective regenerative materials, _provided of course, that these elements are present at the time in the blood_. sixteen definite elements have been established--and a seventeenth will probably soon be added thereto--which, in their various combinations and aggregations, form the different tissues of which the organs in the human body are composed. the prevalence of one or several of these elements in a certain tissue forms the main or governing feature of that tissue. thus, the prevalence of potassium phosphate characterizes muscle tissue, the prevalence of ammonium phosphate (lecithin) nerve tissue. each one of the various tissues consists of certain of these elements, and each tissue at every point where it occurs is affected by the lack of any of its elements. one of the greatest physiological chemists, justus von liebig, maintains that, if one of the necessary elements in a chemical composition is missing, the rest cannot fulfill their duties and the respective cells must become diseased and degenerate. this discovery, known as "the law of the minimum," has thrown additional light upon the tasks before the new school of medicine. upon the basis of a careful diagnosis, the necessary nutritive salts or cell-foods, carefully compounded in accordance with the law of chemotaxis must be administered. this law discovered by _engelmann_, requires that these cell-foods must be administered in digestible and assimilable forms so that the cells will be attracted by the chemical reaction, which may be of a positive or a negative character. this being so, we can easily build up the tissues, by studying their chemical composition and supplying to the system that which is necessary, in the form of food. the cell will take care of the rest. each tissue has its specific cell-system, and each cell will be attracted only by those ingredients which are needed for the mother tissue. _to bring to a tissue through the blood the lacking constituent element or elements is the only means of regenerating and healing diseased cells._ in this connection we are considering only constitutional diseases. it has been shown that the lack of certain chemical elements from the blood signifies disease and that the variety of the disease depends on which of the elements are either lacking entirely or are present in incorrect proportion. after this lack has been determined, the course to pursue in curing the disease is to supply the lacking chemical elements in the form of concentrated cell-food in _addition_ to the regular food. this method displaces entirely the old system of filling the body with poisonous drugs in order to _counteract the effects of the disease_. such a system may suppress the symptoms by benumbing the nerves and preventing pain, it may counteract the natural process of healing of which inflammation, fever and pain, are the outward manifestations;--_but it can never cure_. the discovery of dysaemia, or impaired blood supply, as the governing cause of disease, has destroyed another idol of modern fetish worship in medicine. since the discovery of various species of bacilli, which accompany nearly every form of disease in some form or other, these have been commonly declared to be the causes of diseases, and the tendency is to find some poison that will kill the bacilli in order to cure the disease. the bacillus, on the contrary, is only the consequence, or symptom, of a disease. the diseased and decomposing parts furnish fertile soil suitable to the propagating of bacilli because of the lack of the normal chemical elements in the blood and tissue. but to kill them, while the underlying conditions for their reproduction remain unchanged, can, obviously, never effect a cure. so the great hopes that have attached to sero-therapy are doomed to disappointment, and the application of anti-toxins prepared from the serum of animals, are fated shortly to vanish in the wake of others of those strange temporary crazes which periodically obsess mankind for a while and pass away. the discovery that a dysaemic condition of the blood leads to certain destructive processes termed diseases, was soon followed by the apprehension that one of the principal factors in bringing about such disturbance is _predisposition_,--in many cases heredity. the term "hereditary disease" signifies that the improper chemical composition of the blood of one or both parents is transmitted to the offspring, and that it causes in them likewise a degeneration of certain tissues and of the organs composed of those tissues. the hygienic-dietetic system of healing does not, however, regard heredity as an invincible enemy, especially since my discovery of the "law of the cross-transmission of characteristics." it is in the solution of this problem of "hereditary disease" that my system will eventually come into its own and will ere long be recognized as the most rational and effectual therapy ever applied since the beginning of the art of healing. it may be years before it is accorded the proverbially tardy acknowledgment of the "orthodox" schools, but that it will, nay _must_ be eventually adopted is virtually a foregone conclusion--that is, if it be indeed the function or policy of the physician of the future to adequately seek to succour the suffering and regenerate the races of mankind. of the physician of the present it can at best be said in goethe's incisive words: "er halt die theile in seiner hand, doch fehlt ihm leider das gelst' ge band." he holds the parts within his hand, but lacks the mental grasp of all. for full explanation of the significance of my law, i must refer you to the first lecture in my book entitled "within the bud,"--and the lesson therein on the theory of "pangenesis," which space forbids my repeating here. this lesson will convey conclusively to any thinking mind what heredity really means. after a brief study of this interesting subject the importance of the "law of the cross-transmission of characteristics" will become amply apparent and the intelligent reader will undoubtedly wonder why it has not been applied and acknowledged long ago. for answer, i must refer you to the schools, whose policy it has ever been to, at any rate, abstain from assisting, if not absolutely to diplomatically hinder the development of fresh scientific discoveries. but the time is fast approaching when a sharp and decisive end to this iniquity will be demanded by the will of an enlightened people; only then will the existing orthodox power be compelled to loosen its obstructive grip which the interests of humanity have, so far, been powerless to unclasp. but, to quote the stirring words of one who looked with prophetic, faithful eye into the tangled problems of futurity: "the people will come into their own at last,- god is not mocked for ever." my law of the cross-transmission of characteristics may be simply stated as follows: under all conditions, the matter of sex is determined in the egg-cell at the moment of fertilization. under all conditions, the sex is determined by a struggle for the mastery in the egg-cell, between the energy of that egg-cell and the energy of the male spermatozoon. in a crisis, when the life of one of the two seeds is trembling in the balance, one of them--through the exertion of its "latent reserve energy," dominates, and engenders a child of the opposite sex. this reversal of the sex is in conformity with the law of the _cross-transmission of sex_; that is, the mother is represented in the male offspring and the father in the female,--this being the normal expression of the law of cross-transmission of characteristics. the "latent reserve energy" is provided by nature for the "preservation of species," and through this provision an impulsive, vehement energy can, at the final moment of a crisis, be called upon for the salvation of its kind. a _seeming_ exception to this is due to the "law of the dominant" which overrides the action of "latent reserve energy," and is a provision of nature for the preservation of the "dominant," which is the most prominent quality in nature. when the subject is properly understood, this _seeming_ exception will also become clear. in the natural course, the study of heredity leads to the understanding of _predisposition_. in other words, if you have understood heredity, it will be easy to understand predisposition; for it means that the protoplasm or seed, from whichever organism it may proceed, must contain some of the salient characteristics of its ancestors, good and bad, dominant and recessive. not only will it contain characteristics from father and mother, but from _all_ the direct ancestors. it is impossible to know exactly which points will manifest themselves, but a good many _bad_ points _may be_ eliminated by studying the ancestral line; and the direct diseases or bad characteristics of a parent, _must be_ eliminated by applying the law of the cross-transmission of characteristics. for example: if the father has a certain disease or positive symptoms of that disease, by no means create a girl, as she will certainly be predisposed for that disease, and may pay the penalty, if "regeneration" is not begun early. the same principle applies to the mother. if she is diseased, do not create a son, until "regeneration" has been brought about. furthermore, it will be possible to improve the offspring by encouraging and promoting the good points, especially after studying and applying the above law, as well as my law of the "determination of the sex at will." looking at the question from this point of view, we begin to realize the enormous significance of my discovery. this supplies the main reason for the study of the laws, for the "_prevention of diseases_." only when we know that every acquired characteristic may be transmitted to the offspring will we become conscious of the _terrible responsibility_ we assume when we reproduce offspring, and realize that we may create more pain and suffering instead of eliminating it. as nature _demands_ that we reproduce ourselves or be punished for disobeying her laws, what is to be done? study and follow the advice given in this book, and you will awake to the fact that nietsche's words were not "utopian" when he commanded us to "reproduce something better than we are." together with the predisposition to disease, the child also acquires the hereditary tendency to regeneration; and thus rational hygienic-dietetic treatment may be able to eliminate the diseases which were formerly pronounced incurable. this can only be effected by the effort to remove the cause and strengthen the weak points by means of regeneration. the reader will now plainly understand that in order to heal, according to the hygienic-dietetic system, the blood must be supplied with the chemical elements that are missing from the tissues. there are three ways of accomplishing this; namely, by diet, by nutritive preparations, and by physical treatment. the first and most natural way is by means of proper diet. since the chemical elements are introduced into the body through the food, the quantity and quality of the food must be regulated. the patient must receive food that will help in regenerating his blood; particularly such food as contains the elements that are lacking in the affected tissues in his body. the regular supply of food is however usually insufficient to overcome the process of destruction, and it is therefore necessary to add the missing elements in purer form and larger quantity. these nutritive preparations contain only such chemical elements as exist in the human body; they also contain them in the proper chemical proportion and are entirely free from poisonous substances. they promote a general regeneration of the blood that will eventually lead to a complete cure. physical treatment may be made to assist the proper circulation of the blood, opening at the same time the pores of the skin for the withdrawal from the body of disease elements and the introduction of desirable material. massage, gymnastics, ablutions, and various kinds of baths and packs constitute the most of the healing measures of this description resorted to. this is indeed the legitimate field for osteo-chyropractice. in order to understand the method of treatment which i apply, it is necessary to understand one of the great laws of physiological chemistry, acknowledged as such by the great masters of chemistry, such as liebig and hensel. this law demonstrates that _nature is a unit, its component parts a given number of elements, each of which has distinct qualities, and the combination of which produces the various manifestations of life_. these elements are classified as combining to form minerals, plants and animals. they are all closely interrelated. the plant draws the mineral elements from the soil, and after certain processes of combination, conveys them as food to the animal. the animal substances that man consumes make up the balance of the elements that are required to build up the human body. it is a matter of comparatively new discovery that the minerals are just as important a part of the human body and of its food as the other basic chemical elements. the discovery showing of what minerals the necessary ingredients of the different body tissues are composed and in what combination and quantity, in order that they may become incorporated into the organism, has made it possible to supply them to the diseased body in the purest and most effective way through nutritive preparations, while their existence in food also furnishes an indication as to the regulation of diet. i have already given, in the preceding pages, the frank expression of favourable opinion upon this vital topic generally, as voiced with unmistakable, conviction by no less an authority than assistant surgeon-general, dr. w.c. rucker of the united states public health service. i will now cite, in further corroboration, the opinion of the distinguished editor of "the fra," as addressed to myself personally, in special relation to an advance section of the book "dare to be healthy," together with other similar matter, and which, coming as it does from one who is himself a leader in the van of the advancing phalanx of the followers of truth and enlightenment, may be safely held to constitute a just criterion of the literary and technical value of the work. it is expressed as follows: _from john t. hoyle, managing editor of "the fra."_ "from my reading of your 'lessons,' and especially from 'dare to be healthy,' i can see that you have evolved a new concept in medicine, or rather 'nature healing,' which promises great results. i trust you will be able to put the whole into a printed book that we may all have the benefit of your discoveries. unlike most physicians, while you treat of the most profound and vital scientific subjects, your language is so well chosen and your method of presentation is so clear, that no intelligent person would have difficulty in following your thought. you have undertaken a monumental work, and that success may attend your efforts is our heartfelt wish." _from elbert hubbard._ "what i have read of it is intensely interesting and shows that you have a keen insight into the philosophies of life." there are other spontaneous and unexpected testimonials of an equally encouraging and complimentary nature from men whose knowledge and attainments entitle their opinions to the tribute of respect. these might well be likewise added here, but for the necessary limitations of space. when moses saved the hosts of israel from starvation in the desert, by obtaining the solid and liquid food requisite for their deliverance, he called the name of that food "manna." in like manner, both as a just tribute to the success they have achieved in the past and as an earnest of the deliverance they are destined to achieve in the future, i have designated my preparations by a similar term and called them the _"dech-manna" nutritive preparations_. although presented in so condensed a form, the preceding outline cannot fail to inspire in the mind of the reader a vivid conception of the simple grandeur of nature's handiwork, more especially as regards her provisions in relation to health and disease--secrets revealed, through microscope and alembic, to those who, in spite of organized discouragement, have attempted to fathom the erstwhile mysteries of human suffering and to carry hope and freedom into the hostile camps of fear, disease and death. to bring these considerations within the comprehension of all, and to win all, so far as possible, to the practical observance of the means and precepts of health and safety is the object of the projected course of study of which the following is the business proposition. the dare to be healthy club business proposition the course of study in connection with the above consists of a series of one hundred lessons to be issued in weekly instalments, the whole course to extend over a period of two years. each lesson will consist, approximately, of some twenty-two to twenty-five full-sized pages (i.e. 25/28 lines of 8/12 words each) which will be mailed to every subscriber weekly prepaid. it is necessary, in view of contingent expenses that a membership of _one thousand subscribers_ should be obtained, as only when such an amount of support is guaranteed would the printing of the hundred lectures under the easy and advantageous terms offered be at all justified. if, however, it should be represented to me by those most immediately interested, that it is their desire to confine the club to narrower limits, i might, though with some reluctance, consider the advisability of reducing the minimum membership to _one hundred students_ provided that these should agree to contribute the sum total of the fees for the two years course in advance. with every twentieth lesson will be forwarded to the subscriber, gratis, one of five well bound volumes of superior literary attraction and interest. these five volumes are as follows: atlas of human anatomy (profusely illustrated with coloured plates and containing folding manikin) especially compiled for the student. manual of physiology, especially compiled for the student. manual of physiological chemistry, especially compiled for the student. manual of biological therapy, dechmann's system, (500 pages). medical dictionary (pocket edition in flexible leather with gilt edges, giving 30,000 definitions.) at the end of the course each student in good standing, will receive free of cost a membership diploma in the form of a beautifully artistic colour plate, the facsimile of which will appear herewith. "within the bud; the procreation of a healthy, happy, and beautiful child of the desired sex, by l. dechmann, biologist." this is a book of 302 pages, the paper bound edition retailing at $3.00, the edition de luxe at $5.00, can be obtained at any book store or direct from the author. the above literature cannot be otherwise procured, and its cost actually amounts to nearly one-half the subscription for the entire course of lessons. at the close of the course a beautiful engraved cover design for binding the 100 lessons may be obtained at the price of $1.00. separate file binders and perforators for the lessons, each cover holding some 300 pages, may be obtained at the nominal cost of about 50 cents each; one of these will be delivered free with the first lesson. cell-foods. in addition to these advantages, all members of the club will be entitled to procure any supplies they may need of the dech-manna cell-foods at special (wholesale) prices. louis dechmann. _biologist and physiological chemist._ 127 north 59th street, seattle, wash., u.s.a. the basis of proceedings _of_ the dare to be healthy club in the ensuing pages i shall endeavour to give the reader a necessarily brief and cursory, glance into the subjects which will form the underlying motif of the vast and manifold deliberations which will constitute the fundamental basis of the projected course of study which will be brought under the consideration of the members of the proposed association and will constitute the schedule, as it were, of the periodical dissertations of these matters of world-wide and vital individual significance to be comprised in the series of one hundred lessons. i have been at some pains to avoid as far as possible the use of technical and professional phrases and terminology, for the express purpose of bringing within the scope of every faculty of understanding these subjects which are equally _a matter of life and death importance_ to every man, woman and child, in all the wide and varied range of nationalities and languages which constitute so large a part of our great republic and upon whose health and efficiency so much of our national life depends. the great and ominous unrest, so much in evidence of late, is ample proof of a latent popular dissatisfaction with the conditions of life and it is equally significant of the prevailing nervous tension--the obvious result of malnutrition of the system--which is one of the most prominent popular features of the worry-worn denizen of today. life, health, happiness--that vital interdependent triad--are surely a preoccupation strong enough and precious enough to startle the minds of the most complacent; and it is with the object of awakening all to their possibilities--in health or in disease--of protection of the one, and hope and regeneration under the other, that the course of study has been inaugurated of which the following is but a bare outline. man as a unit.[a] the human body is an accumulation of millions of separate cells, which are the bearers of life, and which in various groups form the different organs, the combined action of which constitutes our individual existence. this existence itself is the natural issue of the existence of our predecessors, who generated the new life which will be transmitted by us and reappear in our offspring. in like manner all the functions of the body form an endless chain in which not a single link must be faulty or missing, if healthy organic life is to continue. this accumulation of cells, however, is by no means inactive. on the contrary, organic life is nothing but the constant dying of the old and the reconstruction of new cells; it means that we are in a perpetual condition of composition and consequently of decomposition throughout our entire being, its different parts and organs. as soon as we are able to recognize this accumulation of cells as one individual whole and thus arrive at the idea of their absolute interdependence, we shall get rid of the prevalent idea, that the mere structural differences between the respective organs of the body make them separate and independent things which may be treated irrespective of one another in case of disease, or dealt with by different specialists. we arrive then at the one great question: _what is the cause of disease?_ not of one or other form of disease or class of diseases, but of disease as a whole. _there is, in fact, only one disease._ what appear to us as different disturbances of the normal condition of our body, are only variations, in quantity or in quality, of the one thing. it is the variation of the controlling element which performs the necessary work of keeping the existing cells in proper condition and replacing those which in the course of nature are destroyed. in a word, the work of _perpetual regeneration, which is life_. metabolism. this continuous changing of the entire human body,--the removal of the discarded cells, burned up by oxidation and expelled from the body in the urine, the perspiration and other excretions, and their replacement by new ones,--is called metabolism, that is, "change of matter." this change is brought about by means of a vital fluid in the body, which circulates from the moment in which the spermatozoon, or male seed, touches the female egg in the womb of the mother, until the time of our last breath. that fluid is _the blood_,--the carrier of nature's supplies to all parts of the body for the rebuilding of cells; the exact and equitable distributor in quantities of material which determines the quality of the cells. in its marvelous performance of this function, the blood is the bearer of the sole existing condition of health; namely the necessary elements of cell-building in the right proportions. this is health, and the lack thereof is disease. the demand of nature for upbuilding and rebuilding is the strongest instinctive impulse of our being; and this being so, a wrong proportion may cause the upbuilding of things which are different and disturbing to the normal organism. but, on the other hand, kindly nature exhibits an ever existent inclination to counterbalance any disturbance in the right proportion, and to bring back conditions to uniformity. we may thus justly speak of _the overwhelming healing tendency of nature_. metabolism is, therefore, the one great dominant function of the body which, accordingly, must have our especial care. it is the blood, consequently, to which alone we can resort if we desire to assist nature in its process and tendency of balancing and healing. this again indicates that, notwithstanding the apparent great variety of _constitutional diseases, they are all practically one and the same disease. they are all disturbances of proper metabolism, by some irregularity of the quantitative or qualitative condition of the blood_. this governing truth the great physiologist, prof. jacob moleschott, has formulated in the memorable words: "it is one of the chief questions which humanity must always ask of the physician: how to attain good, healthy and active blood. and, view the question as we may, all who give it serious thought, are forced by experience to acknowledge explicitly, or otherwise, that _our mental and physical capacity, and likewise the power of reproduction, are directly dependent upon our blood, and our blood on our nutrition_." variety of organs. why then, you may ask, if such unity exists, why this dissimilarity in the tissues of the respective bodily organs? how is it that a bone in its stonelike hardness is essentially the same as the infinitely tender tissues of the eye? this difference is due to and accounted for by the adaptation of certain portions of the immense accumulation of cells to diverse functions, which has necessitated the variable conformity of the supporting elements. but all of these elements are in the blood, which carries them in the necessary quantities to the different organs to which they belong and where they are utilized to replace used-up matter. i do not overlook the difficulty of grasping this idea of unity. the fact, that it is so difficult to realize, has led to the greatest errors in present day medical science. it seemed at first sight, so obviously necessary to study the different organs as entirely different groups, to work out a careful system of bones, of intestinal organs, of blood-vessels, of nerves, and so on; all of which is of course very valuable, in its place, but only from a descriptive standpoint. anatomy shows us what life has produced in the construction of a human form, but it does not indicate the source of life, nor, consequently, the source of health. it is well to know the different forms of cell accumulations, which are called organs, but if we desire to keep them in good order, we must watch closely what is common to them all; for it is only from this point of view, that we are able to determine the necessary, and possibly, the lacking elements for purposes of healing. thus, as one of the greatest achievements of modern science, we come to the one most vital thing, so sorely needed and yet so badly neglected throughout the centuries: _the chemical analysis of the human body and its different organs._ a new light has now dawned upon the subject most essential to the inauguration of a new and effective system of healing. the physiological chemist has at length discovered that the human body, and every organ of that body consists of a certain number of chemical elements, which appear in different parts in different aggregations. these aggregations, however, repeat themselves in the various parts or organs. it was thus finally discovered that there are _twelve different main aggregations of such elements_, which groups of equal elements we call _tissues_. through this discovery we have arrived at the great truth that _it is not to the purpose, in healing, to turn attention to the various organs, but rather to the various tissues_. the influence which can be exercised on these tissues is exercised through the blood which nourishes all of them alike, and which has the wonderful capacity of carrying to each of them their necessary building and rebuilding, or regenerating materials,--_provided, of course, that these are, as they should be, present in the blood_. the constituent elements. research in physiological chemistry, has so far determined that there are sixteen definite and discernible elements--and a seventeenth is now in course of determination--which, in their various combinations and aggregations, form the different tissues of which the various organs of the human body are constructed. the preponderance of one or more of these elements in a certain tissue forms the main or governing feature, or tissue of any organ. thus the prevalence of potassium phosphate forms the muscle tissue, the prevalence of ammonium phosphate (lecithin) forms the nerve tissue. for the purpose of general explanation it is sufficient to know that each of the various tissues consist of some of these elements, and that each of the tissues, at whatever part of the body it exists, is affected by the lack of any one of these elements. the greatest chemist of the age, justus von liebig, maintains that if one of the necessary elements in a chemical composition is missing, the rest cannot fulfil their duties, and the consequence of such deficiency is that the cell in question must become diseased and degenerate. this discovery, known as "the law of the minimum," has thrown an additional reassuring light upon the practice of the new school of medicine. _to bring to the tissue the lacking constituent element or elements by way of the blood is the only means of regenerating that tissue, that is, of healing its diseased cells._ dysaemia the cause of all constitutional diseases. within the limits of this abstract i do not propose to deal with the disturbances in the system caused by traumatic influences, such as wounds, etc. we are treating only of _constitutional_ diseases which, whether of acute or of chronic character, are all caused by the lack of such chemical elements as described. it has been shown that the blood supplies all the chemical substances to the different tissues, and that, consequently, it is the lack of these elements in the blood, which causes the tissues to degenerate, or, in other words, _the lack of certain chemical elements in the blood is disease_. it is, therefore, merely a question as to _which of the elements are missing or which do not exist in correct proportion_, that determines the different forms of disease. when once this fact is established, the method of healing consists mainly in supplying in the regular way, that is, _by certain additions to the regular food_, the missing chemical elements in organic form; and medical science has but _to determine which elements are wanting_, and consequently, must be supplied. _it goes without saying that in this system the old, pernicious drug method of filling the body with various poisons to counteract the effects or symptoms of disease, has no place whatever._ certain poisonous drugs may prove effective to suppress certain symptoms by benumbing the nerves and preventing pain; they may, and do counteract the natural process by which nature exercises her power in various ways in the spontaneous effort to throw off disease, in the form of inflammations, fevers or pains; _but they can never heal, or eradicate disease_. with the discovery of dysaemia as the governing cause of disease, another idol of regular medicine has been cast down. since the discovery of the bacillus or microbe, which in varied form accompanies nearly every variety of disease, it has become a dogma of the at present dominant school of medicine that the various bacilli are the actual causes of the different varieties of disease, and the tendency has been to find some poison that would kill the bacilli in order to heal the disease. the truth is that the bacillus is not the cause, but the effect of disease; in fact is nothing but another consequence or symptom of a specific form of disease. bacilli grow spontaneously in the ready soil which the diseased and decomposing tissues provide, through lack of the necessary chemical elements; but to attempt to exterminate them, while the underlying conditions for their reproduction remain unchanged, can, of course, never bring about healing. and thus the high hopes and claims attached to the sero-therapy inocculation process, the injection into the blood of anti-toxins prepared with the serum of animals, have positively vanished. hundreds of thousands of human beings have perished in the course of this delusion; but countless numbers will have cause, yet in our day, to rejoice at the exposure of the stupid and unnatural theory, so long legally enforced, that the introduction into the human system of such poisonous substances could remove or overcome the natural consequences of constitutional disease. heredity. the discovery that a diseased condition of the blood leads to certain bodily disturbances which we call disease, was soon followed by the realization of the fact that one of the main conditions which bring about such disturbances is predisposition, which in many cases is hereditary. "hereditary disease" simply means that the improper chemical composition of the blood of one or both parents has become duplicated in the offspring, and that it has similar consequences in causing the degeneration of certain tissues, and consequently of the organs composed thereof, as may have been the case in the parents. it is at least reassuring to know, however, _that to the modern hygienic-dietetic system of healing, heredity, though perhaps more tenacious, is by no means an invincible enemy_. with a predisposition to disease the child acquires also the hereditary tendency to self-protection, and thus rational hygienic-dietetic treatment may be able to eliminate, in a comparatively short time, the chain of diseases which in former years, generations have carried hopelessly to the grave. healing. it has been already stated that healing, under the modern hygienic-dietetic system, means supplying to the blood such chemical elements as will replace what are missing in defective tissues of the body. i will now outline the methods of carrying it into effect. in a general way there are three means of doing this: no. 1. _diet_: the first and most natural way is by proper diet. as the normal chemical elements are introduced into the body as constituents of the regular daily food, the task which, in the first place, confronts the hygienic-dietetic physician is that of regulating the quantity, quality and description of food. too little importance has heretofore been given to this question and, beyond prohibiting certain dishes and obviously detrimental viands, little attention was paid by the average physician to the matter of the every-day nourishment of the patient. the hygienic-dietetic physician on the other hand, employs the utmost care in giving to the patient everything that will help to regenerate his blood, laying particular stress on such foods as contain the largest proportion of the chemical elements that are missing in the affected tissues. no. 2. _nutritive compositions_: the process of destruction, however, which has to be met, in more or less advanced stages, in nearly every case requires supply, in quantity of the pure material to compensate the deficiency of the missing elements, beyond that which could be derived in the ordinary way of digestion from every-day food. to meet this difficulty, certain condensed preparations have been devised. these nutritive compositions contain only such chemical elements in like chemical proportions as exist in the human body. they are of the purest material and contain no injurious elements whatsoever, while they foster that general regeneration of the blood which will finally bring about a complete cure. no. 3. _physical treatments_: it is the object of these treatments to assist the proper circulation of the blood; to automatically open the pores of the skin for the external treatment of certain diseases; to withdraw elements of disease from the body, and to introduce certain material influences, through the pores. massage, gymnastics, ablutions, various kinds of baths and "packs," constitute the chief features of the healing methods in this department. following this general explanation of the system, i may now go a little deeper into the question of the constituent elements, the tissues formed therefrom, the degeneration of these tissues, and the species of degeneration which constitutes the various forms of disease commonly known to us. after this i will give a concise and simple general idea as to how my methods should be applied. the unity of nature. to fully understand the method of healing which i apply, it is necessary to understand one of the great natural laws, the discovery of which by the great chemists, justus von liebig and julius hensel, has shown us the path along which to proceed. this law demonstrates that, in the last analysis, _nature is a unit, a composition of a number of elements, each one possessing distinct qualities, the combination of which produces the various manifestations of life_. these are classified, for convenience, according to their main qualities, as minerals, plants or animals. all of them are closely interrelated and one transmits the basic elements to the other. it is the plant which draws the mineral elements from the soil, and after certain processes of composition conveys them as food to the animal, including the human being, while such animal substances as are used for human food, contribute the balance of the elements for the upbuilding of the human body. it is a matter of comparatively new discovery that minerals are thus just as important as a component part of the body and of its food as are other basic chemical elements. the discovery as to the mineral constituents of the body, their nature, proportion and in which composition and in which quantity as necessary ingredients of the different body tissues, in order that they may become a part of the organism, has made it possible to administer them to the diseased body in the purest condensed and most effective way in _nutritive compositions_, while their proportionate existence in food is also a criterion of diet, not only for the sick, but also as a preventative of disease. the chemical process of disease. in this, my scrutiny of nature's deep designs, i did not rest content when only the composition of all the tissues of the body had been laid bare; but i delved deeper and discovered that certain electric currents and reactions of these elements were the causes of accelerating or retarding the natural processes of metamorphosis and metabolism,--provoking disturbances of the normal, which express themselves as disease. excessive growth, and lack of growth, are thus explained, together with other phenomena which in this short chapter it is impossible to give in scientific detail. it is my object now merely to show that in their apparent simplicity the manifestations of life require special technical knowledge such as cannot be expected of the layman in any adequate degree. notwithstanding this free and open statement of cause and cure available to the patient and to the world at large, the hygienic-dietetic physician himself can by no means be dispensed with in case of the appearance of disease, for only by his knowledge, experience, and skilled advice can the aforesaid natural system of healing be applied with effect in each individual case. and here it must always be borne in mind that, of the countless individual organisms that this world contains, no two, even, are exactly alike; and that consequently only the skilled and accustomed practitioner =will be able to regulate such hidden, internal processes as cause the visible disturbance, and thus bring about healing and regeneration, which simply means a return to the normal=. =his methods will prevent the use of the surgeon's knife, which only removes the symptom, leaving the cause untouched and inflicting useless and irreparable harm. the specialist, with his poisonous specific remedies for forms of disease, which after all are only degrees of chemical exhaustion, will also disappear, together with all similar treatment which enervates the body making it an easy prey to new attacks of the same chemical anomalies which must and will most certainly return so long as they are not rectified according to the principles of biology.= the twelve tissues. bearing the above principle of unity in mind, we may now proceed one step further, and study the most important details upon which the method of healing, as applied by the hygienic-dietetic physician, is based. as previously mentioned, the cells of the human body are organized into twelve distinct tissues, some of which are the component parts of the various organs as discernible by form and function. these twelve tissues are the following: 1. the plasmo tissue (blood plasma). 2. the lymphoid tissue. 3. the nerve tissue. 4. the bone tissue. 5. the muscular tissue. 6. the mucous membrane tissue. 7. the tooth and eye tissue. 8. the hair tissue. 9. the skin tissue. 10. the gelatigenous tissue. 11. the cartilage tissue. 12. the body tissue in general. 1. _the plasmo tissue_: this tissue is a liquid, the blood plasma, which is one of the important component parts of the life-giving substance, blood. it is the blood serum--blood-water and fibrogen--which harbours the white and the red corpuscles. the red corpuscles are the carriers of oxygen to the various tissues, which the body draws from the atmosphere, and of the other nutriments. they exchange it for the carbonic acid which is forming in the body, and while the blood in flowing through the system of arteries, brings the oxygen, it carries away, through the veins, the poisonous carbonic acid which is exhaled into the atmosphere. the red corpuscles, after having performed their duties, enter the liver and are used to build the gall. the proper quality of the plasma alone regulates the speed of blood circulation and ensures its entrance into the finest capillaries--the ultimate branches of the blood-vessels--hence, its capacity to carry supplies of nutriment to the tissues. the disturbance of this proper quality is among the main factors of constitutional disease. 2. _the lymphoid tissue_: the lymph is another of the life-giving liquids of the body, which through a vascular system of its own, draws certain nutritive substances from the food and carries them to certain organs which it feeds, especially the nerves. after this slow task is completed, the rest of the lymph enters the blood and is carried by it to other parts of the body where only smaller quantities of lymph are needed for nourishing purposes. the proper quality and chemical composition of the lymph, which is different from that of the blood, is of no less importance than that of the plasma for the preservation and regeneration of the organism. what the plasma is to the blood, the lymph is to the nerves. 3. _the nerve tissue_: a particular aggregation of cells forms the nerves, which, emanating from their center in the brain and spine, run as another separate system all through the body. this system, however, is not one of vessels; but the nerves may best be compared to the wires of a telephone system, establishing connection between the remotest parts of the body and its central point, from which the directions for both voluntary and involuntary movement are given and transmitted through the nerves. they are of a peculiar chemical composition in which the nerve fat (lecithin) plays a very important part, since its frequent presence in insufficient quantity is among the most common causes of a great number of nervous and other diseases. 4. _the bone tissue_: the bones consist of a special and very distinct tissue in which lime predominates. this gives them the strength and solidity which enables them to act as support to all the other organs. the bones too are fed by the blood, and it is through the blood that the necessary constituent parts for the regeneration of their tissue is conveyed to them. while naturally their power of resistance is greater than that of any other organ, they are nevertheless subject to a number of structural disturbances, other than traumatic, the causes of which are sometimes hereditary, sometimes acquired through deficient properties of the nourishing blood. certain tissues which form the connection between the bones and the rest of the organs, and the gradual transition into other tissues, are subjects separate and distinct and will be treated separately. 5. _the muscular tissue_: as to quantity, the muscular tissue represents the maximum of any in the human body. the muscles do not only consist solely of this one tissue, but of several others, as do most of the other organs; but here, as in all other cases, the principal component element is called after the organ in which it is chiefly found. the structure of the muscular tissue varies according to its function, so that we distinguish between the striated and the unstriated or smooth muscles. this, however, has no influence on their chemical composition, a distinctive element of which is muscular fibrin, which has the particular property of contractibility. 6. _the mucous membrane tissue_: the mucous membrane forms the covering of many of the organs, and its chemical and structural composition is identical in all parts of the body. it is characterized by a viscid watery secretion from the mucous glands, which are always found in the mucous membrane. its extremely delicate nature renders it subject to all sorts of irregularities in chemical composition. this is the cause of numerous diseases, most of which are due either to overproduction or underproduction of the secretion which regulates numerous functions of the body. 7. _the tooth and eye tissue_: while very different in external appearance, functions and physical qualities, the teeth and the eyes have nevertheless, the most important part of their chemical composition in common; namely, _the fluoric acid_, which distinguishes them from all other tissues. in the process of natural healing the replacing of any element lacking through destructive causes in either tissue will practically be the same. 8. _the hair tissue_: certain chemical component elements are only found in the tissue which is called the hair, and which receives its nourishment like all other tissues, through the blood. while the hair may seem to be in apparently slight connection with the rest of the body, it is in reality, none the less an organic portion of the same, and dependent, like the rest upon the same central system of supply. 9. _the skin tissue_: with reference to this tissue, much the same remarks apply as already mentioned in regard to the mucous membrane. it, however, has certain chemical elements, which are characteristic to its various layers. since the skin forms the most important intermediary between the external elements and the chemical and structural elements of the interior of the human body, it is of the greatest importance that its chemical composition should always be correct, and that it should not be subject to decomposition such as improper nourishment engenders. it should be borne in mind that the skin, like all other organs of the body, grows from the inside outward, so that any ailment concerning the skin, which is not of a traumatic nature, must be based upon wrong or insufficient nourishment, and cannot be cured in any other way than by internal regenerative means. 10. _the gelatigenous tissue_: this tissue, chemically and otherwise peculiar as it is, forms the chief component part of many of the human organs, and it may be truly said that the lack of attention which its peculiarities have received in the past is responsible for more disease and its fatal issue than almost anything else. the gelatigenous tissue contains a number of special component elements, which require special nourishment through proper diet; and in view of the fact that the gelatigenous tissue pervades so many of the various organs, its effect upon the functional abilities of a great number of them is obvious. the elasticity of most organs which work by contraction and expansion, depends entirely upon the gelatigenous, rubber-like tissue of which they are so largely composed. 11. _the cartilage tissue_: practically the same applies to the cartilage tissue; but it is only recently that it has been found to what extent this is the case. although entirely different in nature and chemical composition, the cartilage tissue serves to maintain certain outlines of form and feature in the human body, which are not based on the still stronger forms of supporting material, such as the bone tissue and the gelatigenous tissue. 12. _the body tissue in general_: this comprises the red blood corpuscles and all tissues which are in any way different from the distinct tissues just described, but which nevertheless cannot be classified as separately and distinctly independent. it may be justly presumed that all elements of the other tissues are to be found in these final tissues which share the unity of the organism. * * * * * by devising a specially nourishing dietary system for the body tissue in general, all component elements profit, in like degree, and such disturbances as attack practically all the tissues and organs of the body severally and conjointly; will be effectively prevented or cured in the regular course of nature, in strict accordance with biological principles. degeneration of tissues. speaking biologically, if through some disturbance in the normal chemical composition of the tissues, degeneration sets in, we speak of it as disease. such degeneration may attack one tissue or several at the same time. _to reduce the elements to their proper proportions, to force them thereby to reassume their normal functions, means to restore health, or, to heal._ as previously explained, it has been the great achievement of hygienic-dietetic science, based on the natural laws of biology, to discover that so many diseases which for centuries were considered as entirely different from each other in cause and treatment, were essentially the same. it was found that they were nothing but the natural consequence of impure or imperfect blood, the result of malnutrition of the vital fluid, the malign effect of which increases in degree and manifestation the longer the impurity passes, by process of heredity, from one generation to another. instead of following the natural tendency to return to the normal, the blood becomes the fertile soil in which all manner of irregularities may germinate in abundance, and combine in strong attacks on the normal healthy organs, which will fast relax their natural power of resistance. the system of natural healing, while adhering closely to the principle of the unity of the body as well as of the unity of disease, has by no means ignored that such differences are due to the differences in the twelve tissues and _according to the said differences, the constitutional diseases are grouped under the accustomed titles, as follows_: 1. degeneration of the plasmo tissue: anaemia, chlorosis, pernicious anaemia, etc. (a.) scrofulosis. (b.) tuberculosis. (c.) syphilis. (d.) cancer. 2. degeneration of lymphoid tissue: (see i.--a. b. c. d.) 3. degeneration of the nerve tissue: neuralgia, neuritis, neurasthenia, asthma, epilepsy, st. vitus's dance, etc., etc. 4. degeneration of the bone tissue: rickets, osteomalacia and similar diseases. 5. degeneration of the muscular tissue: muscular rheumatism, sciatica or nerve rheumatism, atrophia, amyloid heart, kidney and liver. 6. degeneration of the mucous membrane tissue. (a.) catarrh in all its forms: bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, inflammation of nose, throat, bowels, stomach, bladder, etc. (b.) hemorrhoids, polyps, adenoids. 7. degeneration of the tooth and eye tissue: all tooth and eye diseases. 8. degeneration of the hair tissue: all hair diseases. 9. degeneration of the skin tissue: all skin diseases. 10. degeneration of the gelatigenous tissue. (a.) stomach and intestinal diseases--acute forms. (b.) stomach and intestinal diseases--chronic form. 11. degeneration of the cartilage tissue: ankylosis, gout, arthritis deformans. 12. degeneration of the body tissue in general. (a.) locomotor ataxia. (b.) basedow's disease. (graves disease.) (c.) diabetes mellitus. (d.) obesity. (e.) bright's disease. (f.) arterio-sclerosis. the a.b.c. of my system of healing. setting aside for the time being the special groups of more complicated diseases, such as are characterized by the degeneration of several of the tissues at the same time, i will now give a short and comprehensive description of the several distinct groups of disease. in each case, as already shown, there must be a joint co-operation of these three factors: (a.) _diet_, or the natural means of providing both healthy and degenerating tissues alike with such substances as will support and strengthen the healthy tissues, enabling them to resist the danger of disease and consequent decomposition, and will also arrest degeneration and prepare the way for the regeneration of the tissue which is already affected. (b.) _nutritive compositions._ such as will in each case introduce into the system in a pure and proportionate combination, the necessary quantities of the sixteen nutritive elements, the lack of which is the characteristic factor of all disease and which diet unaided could not adequately produce with the needful speed and proportion, unless supplemented in this simple and effective manner. (c.) _physical treatment_, for the purpose of assisting the proper distribution and assimilation of these nutritive factors--(a. and b.)--and promoting the proper circulation of the blood. diet. this is a subject of vast and vital importance. it comprises the science of alimentation, which forms one of the indispensable functions of life; it is thus, of necessity, a serious preoccupation under all conditions. i have treated this important subject in my greater work with the minute detail, which it deserves; thus, in following the advice given, therein, in chapter xviii, the reader will be able to ascertain the foods that are best suited to various conditions, and how to prepare them in the most sensible way. at present, i can treat it only in a short and general way, giving the principal groups of diet prescribed, with more or less variation, in each case of disease as a part of the general treatment. a few words may show _why_ diet plays so important a part in this system of healing. in the body there is a laboratory which produces spontaneously everything necessary to maintain life. this laboratory has various branches which are busy day and night without interruption. here the life blood is created. prominent amongst these branches are: the stomach with its prolonged intestines; the liver; the kidneys; the lungs, and the skin. each one of these branches has a distinct part, or function to perform. the stomach serves as the sorting house. here the food is mixed with the gastric juice which aids digestion and dissolves those ingredients necessary to produce blood, flesh, fat, bones, etc. each of the other branches receives that portion of the ingredients needed to perform its share of the work. a structure cannot be constructed without a frame upon which every part depends. in order to stand erect, the body must possess such a framework. the skeleton is the same to the body as the frame is to the building. this frame, then, or skeleton, together with the flesh, blood, etc. are all formed from the material furnished by the food. a residue of the digested food is removed from the body as useless; everything else is utilized. the portion of the food used, therefore, must contain all those ingredients which go to make up and maintain the body in perfect working order. experience has suggested certain groups of suitable diet which for the sake of convenience i shall enumerate under the title of _forms no. i to no. vi_. these food forms contain everything of which patients may safely partake, and from these selection, in each case, must be made. they are as follows: _form i. complete elimination of the stomach in the nourishing process._ to allay thirst, moisten the mouth with pure or carbonized water, melting small pieces of ice on the tongue. small sips of water either lukewarm or cold, according to the condition of the stomach. otherwise, only introduce water by clyster--i.e.--injection, and if the stomach cannot be disturbed for more than one or two days, introduce nourishing substances by way of the rectum. _form ii. purely liquid nourishment, "soup diet."_ consommé of pigeon, chicken, veal, mutton, beef, beef tea, meat jelly (which becomes liquid under the influence of the heat of the body,) strained soups or such as are prepared of the finest flour with water or bouillon, of barley, oats, rice (thick soup), green corn, rye flour, malted milk. all of these soups, with or without any additions, such as raw eggs, either whole or the yolk only, if well mixed and not coagulated, are easily digested. _form iii. nourishment which is not purely liquid, but partly glutinous._ milk and milk preparations (belonging to this group on account of their coagulation in the stomach): (a) cow's milk, diluted and without cream, dilution with 1-2 to 2-3 barley water, rice water, lime water, vichy water, weak tea, or pure water. (b) milk without cream, not diluted. (c) unskimmed milk. (d) cream, either diluted or undiluted. (e) all of these milk combinations with an addition of yolk of egg, well-mixed, whole egg, cocoa, also a combination of egg and cocoa. milk mush made of flour for children, arrowroot, mondanin, cereal flour of every kind, especially oats, groat soups with tapioca or sago and potato soup. egg,-raw, stirred, or sucked from the shell; or slightly warmed in a cup; any of these, either with or without the addition of a little sugar or salt. biscuit and crackers, softened or well masticated and salivated, taken with milk, mush, etc. _form iv. diet of the lightest kind, containing meat, but still mainly glutinous._ noodle soup, rice soup. mashed boiled brains or sweetbread, or puree of white or red roasted meat, in soup. brains and sweetbread boiled. raw scraped meat (beef, ham, etc.) lean veal sausages, boiled. mashed potatoes prepared with milk. rice with bouillon or with milk. toasted rolls and toast. _form v. light diet, containing meat in more solid form_: pigeon, chicken boiled. small fish with little fat, such as brook or lake trout, boiled. scraped beefsteak, raw ham, boiled tongue. as delicacies: small quantities of caviar, frogs' legs, oysters, sardelles softened in milk. salted potatoes crushed, spinach, young peas mashed, cauliflower, asparagus-tips, mashed chestnuts, mashed turnips, fruit sauces. groat or sago puddings. rolls, white bread. _form vi. somewhat heavier meat diet. (gradually returning to ordinary food)._ pigeon, chicken, young deer, hare, everything roasted. beef tenderloin, tender roast beef, roast veal. boiled pike or carp. young turnips. all dishes to be prepared with very little fat, butter to be used exclusively. all strong spices to be avoided. =note=:--for special dietary in all diseases, see under each separate tissue degeneration in the succeeding chapter on therapy. footnotes: [a] in the following chapter, several important paragraphs given in the foregoing had to be repeated as the readers who were not interested in the "club" proposition, would miss these points. nutritive compositions in order to convey a better understanding of these nutritive compositions, i deem it necessary to outline and explain more emphatically and in greater detail their wonderful scope and possibilities, in perhaps a more impressive manner, by giving the reader the benefit of an article entitled: "the functions of minerals in our food how they may be greatly increased" of these i have sent some 560 copies to all our senators and congressmen, as well as to our chief government physicians, for their information and disposition, with the intention of placing my knowledge and equipment freely at the disposal of the united states government. i have made this purely disinterested proposal at this critical and trying juncture, in the interest, first, of our war-worn soldiers; next, of our women, enervated by unaccustomed labour and restricted means; and lastly, of the children, born, and yet to be born of them--the future citizens of the republic--all, in short, who, under stress of injury, strain and hardship abroad, or the sometimes equally strenuous privations of war conditions at home, may, in their respective degrees, be suffering from nervous breakdown or depleted vitality and the various disorders which my proffered remedial measures are so admirably fitted to successfully overcome, bearing, as they must untold relief, comfort and renewed health to thousands. i have not spared expense in putting this matter fairly and fully before the authorities--and indeed the initial cost of so doing has already absorbed some $300 or more. that is merely a detail. but the main point is this: that i have offered this valuable knowledge--(practically the work of a lifetime)--to the nation, together with the prescriptions of my compositions, free of cost, as an earnest of my sympathy and goodwill; and had the government, seen fit to accept my proposal, the immediate effect would have been that these compounds, which at present, through reduced manufacture and the consequent great scarcity of chemicals (necessarily of the finest description and purity) are very costly, would have been brought by extensive and organized production within the reach of every citizen, removing at once that paramount difficulty of my system, so far as the general public is concerned; namely, the expense. i append hereto a copy of the article referred to, together with copy of an accompanying letter. my dear senator: the disarrangement of the habits of life of our civilian population, and the physical needs of our boys who will return from europe wounded and crippled, prompts me to offer my services to the government for the development of specially enriched foodstuffs to maintain the health of our people under the strain of the war, but particularly to aid in the speedy recovery of our boys who return shattered from the trenches. i have spent more than thirty years in the study of physiological chemistry and biology, and this study has been devoted to the application of scientific principles in the treatment of various diseases. hitherto our food experts and medical men have been satisfied with a ration properly balanced as regards protein, carbohydrates and fat, but the mineral salts in our food have been given little if any serious consideration. indeed, they have usually been dismissed as "ash." as a matter of fact, however, as the statement i am sending you under separate cover will show clearly, even to a layman, mineral salts perform an important function in keeping the body strong and healthy. i am prepared to demonstrate that the quantity of essential minerals in vegetables, small fruit and eggs can be multiplied several times by scientific fertilization and nutrition. if i can do this (and i am prepared to prove that i can) the government should be willing to arrange for the production of such foods in connection with every military hospital and convalescent camp, both here at home and behind the lines in europe. moreover, given a central experimental station with proper equipment, it would be an easy matter to train men to teach this knowledge to soldiers at every reconstruction camp. the statement is made by dr. mae h. cardwell, of portland, oregon, one of the investigators for the federal children's bureau that millions of children are suffering from lack of sufficient food and from improper feeding, and she adds that not only the parents but the doctors, in many cases, need education with respect to what constitutes proper feeding for children. i think that when you have read and digested my statement of the function of the mineral salts in the human economy, you will agree with me that the need for just what i am asking the government to give me an opportunity of doing is very great indeed. i trust that i may count upon your co-operation, not only in getting this matter before the proper officials, but also in seeing that an opportunity for a fair demonstration is accorded me. the dissemination of this knowledge and the production of such foods would make america the alma mater of the world in scientific nutrition, thanks to the application of physiological chemistry. as things are now done in agriculture and in aviculture, however, very little can be expected along this line. i will give you two concrete illustrations of what can be done in the way of augmenting the mineral content of food, and then i will point out the significance of that fact. we will consider eggs: ordinarily 100 grams of egg yolk contains from 10 to 20 milligrams of iron, but eggs laid by hens fed by my method yield from 30 to 80 milligrams of iron per 100 grams of dried yolk. this is an increase, as you see, of between 300 and 400 per cent. such eggs might be justly classed as haemoglobin eggs, and they would be a godsend to our boys suffering from anaemia due to wounds or operations. at the same time, my method of handling chickens greatly enriches the lecithin, or nerve substance, in the eggs, and they are, therefore, of special value in dealing with cases of shell shock and nerve exhaustion. what is true in the case of iron and lecithin content of eggs produced by my method, is equally true with respect to their content of all the other essential mineral elements; they are all multiplied several times. this is made possible of accomplishment by the application of the principles of physiological chemistry to the breeding and feeding of the poultry. needless to say, i am prepared to submit to the test of scientific examination of my claims. no, not merely a theoretical examination of myself, but, rather, to submit the claim i make for eggs produced under my direction to the test of chemical analysis. it is a very easy matter to determine thereby whether my claims are well founded. i cannot state my desire to serve the government in this way too strongly; as i have spent more than thirty years of my life in the study of biology and physiological chemistry, i feel that it is my duty to offer to the government the benefits of my knowledge and experience. all that i can ask in this connection is to be given an opportunity to prove that my claims are sound and practical. i believe that you will realize the full value of such a course of action as outlined, if it can be proven practicable. the opportunity of offering proof under direction of the proper branch of government is, i repeat, all that i ask at the moment, as the results will tell their own story far more eloquently than mere words. thanking you for giving this matter your attention, and trusting that my hope of serving in the ranks of those seeking to rebuild our boys will not prove vain, i am, sir, yours truly, l. dechmann. the function of minerals in our food: how they may be greatly increased. by louis dechmann. 1918. when physiological chemistry has isolated and classified the component elements of the various organs, tissues and fluids of the body, it must analyze and classify the vegetables, fruits and meats on which man feeds in order that we may not only know how to arrange a perfectly balanced ration for the healthy, but shall be able to add lacking elements to the diet of the diseased. this classification of foods naturally leads, if there be a deficiency of any essential element, to the analysis of the soil on which this food was raised. in the course of my studies in physiological chemistry and biology, which have extended over a period of more than thirty years, i have been led to grappel with problems in agriculture, in horticulture, and in aviculture, for the purpose of finding solutions to problems in human nutrition. very early in my studies i learned the value of the mineral elements in our foodstuffs. i was led to attempt to augment the quantity of mineral salts in various foods, and my efforts were crowned with success. but this is not the point, however, to enter into a detailed discussion of that aspect of the subject. it may be wise for the sake of clearness to divide this statement into two parts, as follows: 1. a brief summary of the function of minerals in the human economy. 2. a short argument showing how we can and why it is imperative that we should augment the mineral content of our vegetables, small fruits and eggs. in the case of eggs, for example, i am able to increase their iron content 300 or 400 per cent. more than that, i can multiply every item in their mineral content several times, thus producing specific eggs for those suffering for lack of any mineral. in other words i am able to produce special eggs for a given tissue degeneration as, for instance, haemoglobin eggs for degenerate blood; lecithin eggs for the nerves; calcareous eggs for the bones, and kaliated eggs for the muscle. so much by way of preface. i. the following explanations are made for the purpose of showing you that i have made extensive studies along these lines, and are not, naturally, intended to be taken as a lesson to you personally. there are sixteen chemical elements absolutely essential to healthy human life, which are classified by physiological chemistry as the elements of organic life. in the composition of vital tissues we constantly find these basal elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, fluorine, silicon, and iodine. the function of these elements will be discussed in a moment. i would here lay stress upon the fact that the absence of the tiniest ingredient necessary to the growth and functioning of an organ will, according to the law of the minimum as laid down by justus von liebig, result in disease, improper functioning and degeneration of that organ or tissue. although the chemical salts constitute but a small part in the composition of our bodies, and are a very small item in our daily diet, their importance cannot be too strongly emphasized. they are the main sources for the development of electro-magnetic energy in the blood and nerves, and perform other services. i am of the opinion that "vitamines" are neither more or less than these chemicals in proper proportion and relation, but whether you agree or disagree with this conclusion, you will instantly agree that the elements named above are indispensible to perfect metabolism. it goes without saying, of course, that no action in the world occurs of itself, that is without impulse, hence the body must be given impulse to growth. a series of chemical and physical facts indicate that phosphorus plays this vital part. the property of phosphoric acid of uniting with carburetted hydrogen to form carbonic acid and phosphureted hydrogen certainly is of fundamental importance, as phosphureted hydrogen readily ignites on coming into contact with oxygen. since cerebrin consists of a combination of phosphoric acid with gelatine which contains ammonium and with oleine, it is easy to infer that the light of the soul may be due to the phosphoric acid in the nerves, and still further the potassium phosphate forming the mineral basis of the muscles. thus we come to the conclusion that the phosphates, combinations of phosphoric acid with basic substances, possess in general the property of imparting the true impulse to growth, that is to accumulation of organic matter. like every other structure, however, the body requires supports and props and, above all, a firm foundation on which to rest. iron and lime, whose union is secured by their opposition to one another, bring into conjunction materials of contrary disposition for the creating of organic forms of the nature of plant and animal bodies. the sulphuric compounds are related and yet opposed to the growth determinating phosphoric compounds. all organic building material (protein) contains phosphorus and sulphur, in varying proportions, and all indications are that sulphur plays the part of a regulator in organic growth. just as an engine requires a governor to regulate its pace, so the human body requires a controlling factor to ensure definite stability. it is interesting to observe that normal blood contains about twice as many sulphates as phosphates. when there is great scarcity of sodium sulphate in the blood, abnormal growths develop from the phosphatic nerve tissues, and they continue to develop so long as the blood and lymph are deficient in sulphur, particularly the sulphates. this is, i believe, the genesis of polyps, tumors and cancers. in the same manner that sulphuric acid controls and regulates the phosphoric acid of ammonium phosphate, so lime and magnesia act on the ammonia of this same ammonium phosphate. phosphatic ammonium carbonate lodges in the gelatinous cartilage and stretches it, when there is a deficiency of lime and magnesia in the food, resulting in rickets. such a growth of cartilaginous tissues is controlled by lime and magnesia, as they change the pliant cartilage into bony barriers in which small particles of magnesia combine to produce phosphate of ammonium and magnesium which checks the further deposit of cartilage. lime and magnesia are indubitably quite as effective agents in the control of ammonia as sulphur is in the control of phosphorus. if we consider the minerals as the foundation and mortar which give stability to the vital machine, leaving out chlorine and fluorine, we find that iron, manganese, potash, soda, and silicic acid play this role. sulphur, because it possesses the property of becoming gaseous, is able to take part directly in the formation of albumen, that variable basis of body material, whereas all of the other mineral substances except silicic acid can only be assimiliated in so-called binary compounds in the form of salts. i will give a brief review of them, beginning with iron, as thus the significance of augmentation of the mineral content of vegetables and small fruits and eggs will be made much clearer. normal blood albumen is essentially a compound of calcium and sodium into which iron and sulphur both enter. a deficiency of calcium commonly makes itself known by dental defects, just as lack of sulphur reveals itself by the falling out and poor growth of hair. insufficiency of iron in the blood is evidenced, apart from lack of spirit, by paleness of face and blue lips; insufficient sodium by glandular tumors and abnormal cartilaginous growths. the entire amount of iron in the blood of an adult person is, on the average under normal conditions, four grams, as much as a nickel weighs. we may well judge that this amount is not sufficient to set the motive power of our bodies in action, if we overlook that complex factor the circulation of blood. the left side of the heart has the capacity of containing about six ounces of blood, and every heart beat drives this amount through the aorta. with seventy beats to the minute, twenty-five pounds of blood is pumped from the heart every minute. what is the result? that the four grams of iron keep up such an incessant movement that they pass from the heart into the aorta sixty times an hour or 1440 times in 24 hours. it may be asserted, therefore, that in 24 hours 13 pounds of iron (that is 1440x4 grams) pass from the heart into the aorta. can it be doubted, in view of this, that the iron serves to produce an electro-dynamic force? in respect to the generation of electricity, it matters not whether there be an entirely new supply of iron passing a given point, or whether the same iron pass that point anew each minute. two factors work together in the circulation of the blood, namely, the active attraction of nerve tissue and the passive susceptibility of the blood contents to that attraction. faraday has conclusively shown that blood is magnetic in character because of the iron it contains. if four grams of iron is the normal quantity in the blood, it is clear that the reduction of this amount, say by two grams, will lessen its susceptibility and slacken its circulation. the electrical nerve ends will then strain in vain for the electricity which the blood current should yield, and the result will be neuralgia. it is the magnetic iron in haemoglobin which makes every sort of nervous function possible, in the cerebral (brain) and in the sympathetic (intestinal) tracts, and since it is thus made clear that intellectual activity on the one hand and breathing and digestion and excretion on the other are dependent on the iron content of the blood, we must also recognize that, as iron attends every nerve action, the secretion of urine too takes place under the influence of haemoglobin. insofar as haemoglobin hastens the departure of the excrementitious matter in urine out of the system, there is a daily loss of iron in the urine. this loss in the form of urohaematin may total four centigrams, or a hundredth part of our supply. this loss of iron if not replaced by eating suitable food will soon make itself felt. in the course of a day the reduction by four centigrams will diminish the energy of nervous activity about 1440 times the apparent loss, so that even a four weeks-tropical fever, during which no meat is eaten, may completely exhaust the strength of an individual. moreover, iron conditions bodily warmth as it combines with oxygen in a higher and a lower degree. in the lungs it is highly oxidized by the respired oxygen, but in contact with the nerve ends it gives itself only to a part of the oxygen present, and burns a certain portion of the lecithin to water, carbonic acid and phosphates, thus creating body warmth to a considerable extent. in response to the chemical consumption of lecithin a new oil flows down the axis cylinders of the nerve fibrils, which are arranged like lamp wicks. the duration of the flow of this oil is, on the average, about eighteen hours. when the cerebro-spinal nerves refuse longer to perform their function, fatigue and sleep ensue, and the current of blood leaves the brain and seeks the intestines. while the cerebro-spinal system rests, the sympathetic system takes up its task of directing the renewal of tissue and supplying the nerve sheaths through the lymph vessels, which draw their material from the digestive canal, with a new supply of phosphatic oil. thus the brain and spinal nervous system are prepared for another day's work. for the fulfillment of these processes, the magnetic blood current forms the intermediary. the presence of formic and acetic acid supplies the blood with fresh electricity to stimulate the nerves. "under normal conditions," says julius hensel, "this function is assigned to the spleen. this organ takes the part of a rejuvenating influence in the body in the manner of a relay station, and does so by virtue of an invisible but significant device. in every other region of the body the hairlike terminals of the arteries which branch out from the heart merge directly in the tiny tubes (capillaries) of the veins, which lead back to the heart again: in the spleen this is not the case. here rather the arteries end suddenly when they have diminished to a diameter of one one-hundred-and-fortieth of an inch and end in a bulb (the malpighian bodies). under such circumstances the sudden stoppage, particularly the impact of the magnetic blood stream against the membrane of a malpighian body, exemplifies the physical law of the induction of electricity, in accordance with which the blood that enters the spleen is changed into plasma and exudes through the membrane of the malpighian bodies. the event indicates some fluidity of the red blood cells, which is a change effected in the body by the impact of electric sparks, and one which electrical therapy also brings about locally to prevent increase in the solid constituents of the blood." the numerous malpighian bodies in the spleen act as so many electrical conductors, and the product of their electrical activity is found in the formic and acetic acid of the fluid plasma which filters through the malpighian corpuscles and supplies the acid tissue of the spleen (pulpa splenica). these acids are the electrolytic division products of lecithin. in the splenic pulp arise the capillaries of the splenic veins whose acid blood is carried directly to the liver, where certain cells formed like galvanic elements possess the property, through the electrical action of formic and acetic acid, of extracting from blood albumen the opposite of acids, namely, alkaline bile. the normal functioning of the liver, therefore, is dependent upon that of the spleen, and since the bile produced by the liver goes to aid the digestive activity of the duodenum, disturbance of digestion must result when the quality of the bile is inferior. one of the substances contained in bile, lecithin, is of wide importance. when it was referred to a moment ago, i spoke only of its individual chemical nature as a fat in combination with ammonium phosphate, as by so doing i avoided error in connection with its apparently complicated formula, which includes glycerophosphoric acid, trimethylamin, palmitic and stearic acids. as it is a fatty substance, the only question that arises, is, what does it contain besides fat? this may be answered by a process of substraction: 2 (c_{21} h_{42} o_{4}) c_{42} h_{84} o_{8} which represents tallow or stearate of glycerine. lecithin, c_{42} h_{84} o_{9} np, differs from this only by a larger amount of np. the significance of this difference becomes clear when two atoms of water are added. then ammonium phosphate, po_{3} h_{4}, n is formed. the two atoms of water needed for the condensation of the ammonium phosphate from the stearate are obtained by separating them away from two of glycerine. the bile contains lecithin in a partially oxidized form. the chemical "remainders" are biliverdin and cholesterin. the latter when normal has, as you know, the power to neutralize snake venoms and other poisons, and thus acts as a natural anti-toxin. in addition, the bile contains combinations of stearine with gelatine and with carbonate and sulphate of sodium, which theoretical chemists believe are twin compounds of glycocholate and taurocholate. these fatty compounds depend upon stearine partly oxidized, that is deprived of a certain number of atoms of hydrogen. as the compounds of fatty acids with ammoniacal blood gelatine and sodium carbonate, the ingredients of the bile also, develop into a peculiar soap. in the economy of the body the bile acts as a soap. when it is discharged into the duodenum, it changes the fats into so fine an emulsion (chyle) that the microscopically fine drops of fat may be drawn into the orifices of the lymph canals and conveyed to the circulatory system, and the cleavage products of albumen produced by gastric digestion, the peptones (leucin and tyrosin) are carried along with them for the renewal of tissue cells consumed in respiration. if a soda soap is requisite for the purpose just stated, it follows that soda in the food is essential, as otherwise the supply of soda in the blood albumen cannot be renewed, and the bile cannot get its necessary supply of soda from blood albumen devoid of soda. consequently, the entire nutritive process is dependent upon bile, and the bile cannot properly perform its function if denied soda. in addition to carbonates of sodium, especially the hydrocarbonate known as glycolate, the bile apparently contains ammonium sulphate combined with hydrocarbon (taurin); but this results from the transposition of sodium sulphate and gelatine. gelatine contains six atoms of hydrocarbon joined with two of ammonium carbonate, a group which is separable by chemical action into five of carburetted hydrogen with ammonium carbonate (leucin or gelatine milk), c_{5} h_{10}, co_{2}, nh_{3}, and into one of carburetted hydrogen with ammonium carbonate (glycin or gelatine sugar), ch_{2}, co_{2}, nh_{3}. this latter substance, gelatine sugar, is not produced in the liver, as it exists already in the blood gelatine. in an isolated condition it has the property, in virtue of its ammoniacal acids and its carbonic acid bases and, therefore, of both combined, its salts, of producing chemical fixation. this property is conveyed to the undivided blood gelatine in which the gelatine sugar is contained intramolecularly. since normal blood albumen is inconceivable without sulphur it is absolutely essential, in accordance with our knowledge of the constituents of the bile and their origin, that our nutriment should contain a sufficiency of sodium sulphate, if normal blood serum is to be produced. the use of pepsin for this purpose cannot serve nature's purpose, as it contains neither sodium carbonate nor sodium sulphate. our blood must be given a fresh and sufficient supply of sodium carbonate and sodium sulphate via our food, if it is to produce normal bile and supply the requisites of normal nutrition. it is erroneously held that sodium sulphate is simply a laxative, even borner's "royal medical calendar" so classifies it. often it discharges this function, it is true, in concentrated solution (one to five). but it is an important ingredient of healthy blood albumen (one to one thousand), and in this proportion assists in the formation of normal bile. the blood of the caucasian race is found to contain about ten parts of salt to the thousand, and this proportion of salt denotes firm tissue material. if the quantity of salt in the blood is diminished, the bi-concave red blood cells swell to a spherical form from access of water and lose their ability to unite for the production of connective tissue. moreover, to the extent salt in the blood cells is decreased the connective tissue and muscle and tendon substance absorb water and the tissues become spongy, especially in the kidneys, so that the thinned blood albumen seeps through (urea albumen). phosphate of potassium is the mineral basis of muscle tissue, phosphate of lime with a small amount of magnesium phosphate the basis of bones, and phosphate of ammonium the bases of nervous tissue. there is a sufficient quantity of phosphate in all healthy foods. when the milk fed to nurslings, however, is greatly thinned with water instead of firm muscle fibers and solid lymph glands we find loose and spongy tissues. this is a scrofulous condition. in the formation of healthy bones and teeth, calcium fluoride is essential. it is insoluble in plain water, but is made soluble by the aid of the glycocoll in blood gelatine and changed into ammonium fluoride. it appears in this form in the cartilaginous matter of the eye lenses, and lack of calcium fluoride in the food results in the clouding of these lenses. silicic acid is not only indispensible to the growth of hair, but it forms a direct connection between blood and nerve tissues. it is found in birds eggs, both in the white and the yolk. it is a conservator of heat and electricity as it is a good insulator. it also possesses eminent antiseptic qualities. its mere presence in the intestinal canal, even its simple passage through the canal; conserves the electrical activity of the intestinal nerves and thus influences the whole sympathetic nervous system. this brief review, cursory as it is, of the function of the minerals in the renewal of substances undergoing tissue change, makes it clear that our daily food must contain a sufficient quantity of them if healthy metabolism is to be maintained. chemically considered the human body is one individual whole, its characteristic chemical basis being gelatine. lieut. c.e. mcdonald, u.s.a. medical corps, recognized this when he recently wrote: "the similarity of chemical compositions explains why, when any particular region falls a prey to chemical decomposition, others quickly become affected." oxygen gas is the medium through which chemical combustion is carried on in the body for the purpose of preparing materials to enter into its composition. the mineral salts already named not only form the solid basis of the various tissue but also serve as conductors or insulators of electricity in the body. the absence of one of them for a protracted period is sufficient to explain widespread degeneration in the system. in view of the fact that these various minerals play an indispensable part in healthy metabolism it is imperative that a sufficiency of them should be supplied in proper proportion in our daily food. it is imperative, if we desire to retain or to restore health to the body. these mineral elements are to be found in the first instance in the earth, but they are of no use to the body in that form. we cannot digest and assimilate inorganic matter no matter how finely it may be pulverized. but plants can assimilate them from the earth and organize them in such form as to make them easily assimilable by animals and man. if the soil on which our food is produced is itself deficient in some of these elements, our food must also lack them. if, moreover, we cannot for any reason add the missing elements to the soil, we must supply them to the human system in the shape of prepared nutritive salts. it is preferable, of course, that our food should contain all of the elements necessary for the proper nourishment of the body. thus we are forced to return to consideration of the soil. it is an established fact that our fields were originally formed from decayed rock, and analysis shows that this primitive rock contains the same minerals as healthy blood. but if our agriculturists are taught that stable manure and three or four other things are all that is necessary for the fertilization of their fields, where shall the other minerals essential to human metabolism come from? what a man is, largely depends upon what he eats. hence man is very largely a product of the fields. when the soil is denuded of any of the elements essential to plant and animal life, it must be properly fertilized. incomplete or improper fertilization can have but one result, to-wit, it will produce sickly vegetation, and this in turn must produce unhealthy cattle, and since man is dependent upon plant and animal life for his food a sickly race of human beings is the ultimate result. is not barrenness of the soil responsible for disease in potatoes, for san jose scale, phylloxera, and other similar phenomena. the fields are manured profusely, it is true, but the very chemical elements which are not only essential to the development of wholesome plant tissue but which would also enable the plant to protect itself against parasites, are not used. every farmer has observed, for instance, that grass grown upon cow dung in pastures is not eaten by cows, oxen or sheep. the instinct of the animals is correct. in using the term incomplete fertilization, i mean supplying only potash, phosphoric acid and nitrogen, and possibly lime and sulphur, when the soil is denuded of several other elements. no matter how rich a field may be made in these things if it lacks other elements healthy vegetation cannot be grown in it. improper fertilization is another matter. it may consist in dressing a field with nothing but stable manure, or of applying crude sulphur or brimestone instead of using calcium sulphate--plus the other lacking elements. the advocate of crude sulphur certainly does not know how truly criminal his advice is. it is not to be denied that at the outset sulphur will increase the crop yield. but in the end--what? the sulphur will dissolve all of the essential minerals in the soil, and in the course of four or five years they will all be leached out and it will be so barren that not even wild grass can be grown upon it. improper fertilization may also consist of a dressing of carbonate of lime applied at the wrong time or in excessive quantity. the effect of this course will be equally as harmful, namely, the transformation of the nitrogenous material into free nitrogen which will ascend to heaven. without nitrogen albumen cannot be formed, and without albumen the formation of vegetable and animal tissue is impossible. wholesome soil may, then, be defined thus: it is such ground as contains a sufficient supply of humus and nitrogen and all of the essential mineral components of organic tissue. the problem of fertilization, therefore, consists of supplying any or all of these elements in which the soil is deficient. the aim of fertilization, as a rule, is merely to increase crop production. but this may prove to be not merely shortsighted, it may turn out to be a social crime. it is criminal, indeed, as a great many diseases are directly traceable to incomplete and improper fertilization. let us face the effect of attempting to fertilize our fields with nothing more than stable manure, which, it is true, supplies phosphoric acid, potash and nitrogen. we know that phosphorus forms the foundation of nerves, and too much of it provokes nerve irritation in exact ratio to the deficiency of sulphur. there should be twice as many sulphuric salts as phosphoric salts in the blood, if it is to be normal and the nerves are to be steady. foodstuffs from fields that have been fertilized in this manner must, of course, contain a superabundance of phosphoric salts and be deficient in sulphuric salts. is it strange, then, that the present age presents a picture of restless, irritated nervous activity and thoughtless action? we must return to the primitive rock and humbly learn the lesson it has for us, and upon this rock we must rear our science of fertilization and nutrition. this rock consisted of granite, porphyry, gneiss and basalt, and these are still found upon the earth in immense quantities in practically the same condition they were thousands of years ago. both justus von liebig and julius hensel, as a matter of fact, advocated that this rock should be finely pulverized and used as a compost to assist in restoring and maintaining the original fertility of the soil and thus aid the development of healthy plant and animal life. indeed the instincts of both animals and human beings lead them under certain conditions right back to the rock and its lesson. note the avidity with which hens confined in arid runs devoid of vegetation, worms, insects and small stones devour a compound of lime and ground bones and oyster shells. observe a child whose ration is deficient in mineral elements eating egg shells, wall plaster, chalk and other earthy substances. what do these things mean? nothing more than this: both chicken and child express a natural craving for the essential elements to build bone and form the basis for the tissue. i have discussed the important part the minerals play in both the vegetable and animal kingdoms for the purpose of laying stress upon our great need of more of them in our daily diet, and i may add that this is equally as true in the case of those we call healthy as of those who are diseased. no matter how carefully the diet may be regulated as regards the quantity of protein and carbohydrates and fats and the ratio between them, healthy metabolism is impossible without a sufficiency of the essential minerals. ii. how can we perform this imperative duty to mankind? the solution of the problem of supplying these essential minerals demands that our soil shall be properly fertilized for the growing of wholesome vegetables and fruits and our cattle properly fed with a ration rich in mineral content. thus the food which we eat will contain all of the elements necessary to the growth and maintenance of our bodies in a state of health. in the course of my effort to show why it is imperative that we pay greater heed to the mineral content of our foodstuffs, and why it is imperative that we enrich that content, i have shown basically how that end is to be attained. in conclusion i will cite the result of a series of experiments in applying the principles of physiological chemistry to poultry, and i may say that it took me twelve years to find the breed which would most readily lend itself to my purpose. i experimented with 250 varieties of hens before i found the one most amenable to my method of feeding and breeding. while living at needham, massachusetts, i made a thorough test of my principles with the selected variety of hens. they were not only fed a ration properly balanced for protein, carbohydrates and fat, but i gave them a liberal supply of properly prepared mineral salts. i used three different mixtures of feed, made up in 100 pound lots, in which the proportion of albumen ranged from 13.50 to 18.00 pounds; of fat from 4.00 to 5.00 pounds; of carbohydrates from 41 to 44 pounds; and actual nutritive salts from 4.50 to 5.00 pounds. the respective ratios being: 1:4, 1:3.5 and 1:3 it is not necessary to enter into discussion of the details of the feeding method and the variation in the daily handling of the hens. the result of this experiment, however, was completely satisfactory, as the eggs produced by those hens not only contained a startling increase in the quantity of mineral salts, but their fertility was far greater than that of hens handled in the usual manner. the increase of fertility in itself is, it seems to me, the best proof of the soundness of my theoretical premises. some of the results of this experiment were published in the reliable poultry journal in 1905, and dr. woods offered confirmatory evidence of the soundness of my conclusions two years later, after he had himself experimented along the same line. i will cite just one fact revealed by that experiment, namely, that whereas 100 grams of dried egg yolk ordinarily contains only from 10 to 20 milligram of iron the eggs of those hens yielded from 30 to 80 milligrams. and all of the minerals were increased from 10 to 25 per cent or more. the method of applying the principles of physiological chemistry to the enriching of the mineral content of our foodstuffs evolved by me is, with due recognition of the difference between the vegetable and animal kingdoms, equally applicable in the raising of all our foodstuffs with an augmented mineral content. i will adduce just one result of my work in the handling of small fruit: on the average, 100 grams of dried strawberries will yield 8.6 to 9.3 milligrams of iron, but strawberries raised by me yield from 30 to 40 milligrams per 100 grams. in view of the facts with regard to the function of these minerals, it is indisputably true that a ration is physiologically inefficient if it does not contain a sufficiency of them in proper proportion. moreover, this is trebly true in the case of those whose constitution has been weakened by loss of blood from rounds, by shell shock and trench fever, and of those here at home whose nerve tissue has been degenerated and whose blood has been weakened by anxiety and the strain of unwonted manual labor. the last consideration applies with especial force to the multitudes of women who have entered industry as manual laborers. what kind of offspring can we expect from these people whose plasma is thus degenerated? the children are the citizens of the future, and even before they are born we must plan for their health. what could be more effective in treating the anaemic condition of wounded and crippled boys, and in treating the same condition in women industrial workers, than haemoglobin eggs? what could be more efficacious in treating conditions arising from shell shock, from bad wounds and operations thereon, and neurasthenia in general, than an abundance of lecithin (which, as you know, dear doctor, is made from the yolk of the egg)? what could be more successfully used in treating conditions arising from shattered bones and from operations for the removal of bone tissue than calcareous eggs in connection with a ration perfectly balanced as regards all of the other essential elements. for the regeneration of the blood and bone and nerve tissue of these victims of war, something more than a sufficiency of nutritive food, as that term is commonly used, is needed, and something more than medicine is needed! i am the last person in the world to deny that wonderful progress is made in surgery every day, and the last to fail to applaud its successful efforts, but you know quite as well as i do that in 90 out of 100 cases recovery involves exhaustion of the patient's reserve energy. moreover, when the reserve energy has already been drawn upon almost to the point of exhaustion, no matter how successful the operation may be the recovery of the patient is a very doubtful quantity. the first requisite in all surgical cases, as also in all anaemic and neurasthenic cases, is to restore metabolism to its normal condition and thus help the patient to regain his reserve energy in order to prevent the collapse of the whole fabric. it is indubitably true that healthy metabolism and the restoration of reserve energy depends upon the organism being given the requisite quantity of the sixteen essential elements of organic life in easily digestible and assimilable form, and i am asking for the opportunity to demonstrate how foods extremely rich in these elements may be produced and used to aid nature. i have not entered into a full discussion of the various aspects of my method of accomplishing that, but have confined myself to consideration of the basic principles underlying it. neither have i attempted to show how these different minerals will serve as regenerative agents in different dysaemic conditions. i am prepared to discuss the matter from both of these viewpoints, however, and, more than that, i am ready to practically demonstrate the soundness of my theories, when given an opportunity under proper conditions to do so. --sapienti sat-finis. nutritive compositions. the sixteen substances,--nutritive cell foods,--of which all of the tissues of the body are composed are: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, potassium, soda, lime, magnesia, iron, manganese, phosphor, sulphur, silica, chlorine, fluorine and iodine. my nutritive compositions consist of these same sixteen nutritive salts, each composition mixed in the same proportion as they are found in the healthy tissue for the regeneration of which they are prescribed. since in various diseases not only one but several tissues are affected, it must be decided individually in each case whether only one, or several, of the nutritive compositions will require to be taken, and in what proportion. in accordance with the system of the twelve tissues of the body, the twelve nutritive compositions, commonly known as "dech-manna" compositions, are the following: no. 1. plasmogen bloodplasma-producer. no. 2. lymphogen lymph-cell-producer. no. 3. neurogen nerve-cell-producer. no. 4. osseogen bone-cell-producer. no. 5. muscogen muscle-cell-producer. no. 6. mucogen mucous membrane-cell-producer. no. 7. dento-ophthogen tooth and eye-cell-producer. no. 8. capillogen hair-cell-producer. no. 9. dermogen skin-cell-producer. no. 10. gelatinogen gelatigenous-cell-producer. no. 11. cartilogen cartilage-cell-producer. no. 12. eubiogen healthy body-cell-producer. in addition to these i use only a few specialities in certain cases of disease, viz.: a. oxygenator a radium emanation for the bath. b. eubiogen liquid same as no. 12, but liquid form. c. tonogen a stimulating tonic. d. tea. diabetic, dechmann e. tea. laxagen, after kneipp f. salve. lenicet, after dr. reiss g. massage emulsion, dechmann h. propionic acid for steam atomizer i. oxygen powder, after hensel j. anti-phosphate, dechmann (these specialities are used only in certain individual cases, according to prescription). nutritive compositions. in discussing the various preparations of dech-manna-diet, i refrain from detailed prescription and analysis. my intention is to explain them in such a way that it may become apparent to everyone that they are rational remedies for every properly diagnosed constitutional disease. if i should do more than this, it would be simply placing a premium upon unscrupulous imitations. for the present therefore, i prefer to have the remedies prepared exclusively by accredited and absolutely reliable chemists of first class local standing, in order that i may myself assume the entire responsibility. in cases of illness, however, it is always necessary to consult a biological-hygienic physician. the dech-manna-diet remedies, for the time being, will always be obtainable on application to myself, to be administered in accordance with such medical directions. i trust that very shortly when official and general recognition will permit, i shall be enabled to entrust the detailed prescriptions to a wider circle of practising physicians and chemists. in order to illustrate how necessary it is to abstain from more detailed description of my remedies, i will cite but one of several incidents which happened to me in course of practice. in the year 1905, i wrote a number of articles for the "reliable poultry journal" on the scientific feeding of chickens, and gave, amongst other tables, two food-formulas of the mineral contents of _chicken food rations_. (both formulas were copyrighted). i gave the same gratis, for private personal use. a certain "chicken specialist" from the orange river colony, south africa, first wrote a glowing article upon the wonderful success he had secured with my prescriptions. not satisfied with this, however, he conceived a brilliant idea of great possibilities of future income to be derived therefrom. he left south africa and came to america, the country of unlimited possibilities, and settled in los angeles, california, where he floated a company, which sells my copyrighted prescriptions for poultry feeding, to all and sundry as specifics for all possible and impossible ailments. this ambitious gentleman even went so far as to offer my labouriously earned discoveries to the united states government.--but further comment is unnecessary! this is but one of numerous instances of the kind some of which are embodied in a little treatise i have published, free to my friends, entitled "a message to the thinker." patients sometimes ask me what my methods have in common with "schuessler's tissue remedies." i answer: nothing--absolutely nothing, as the explanation will show. schuessler's therapy claims that the minerals are needful to build up the system; but he only uses one trillionth part of a gram and _imagines_ that the remainder is to be found in the food. now anybody with a fair understanding can easily figure that if a patient of middle age eventually loses through disease about 200 grams of lime, it is simply a farce to claim that the above dose of 1/100,000,000,000 of a gram (which is the homeopathic dose of schuessler), will cure or replace the lime which was lost. there are other equally erroneous pretentions in schuessler's therapy which are really too silly to go into in detail. time and space are too valuable to squander on any such puerile hypothesis. dech-manna-diet. mentor to prescriptions. it may be well to preface this summary of prescriptions with the following explanatory remarks; namely, (1) that while my compositions are usually taken in the form of powders, they may be taken in the form of capsules or tablets, in which case the dose given is always exact. they may also be mixed with eubiogen or various kinds of food, except where this is strictly forbidden by the physician. such mixtures cannot be harmful, since they consist of components from which our body-cells are constructed. they may be taken either singly, or as compounds. (2) as regards the matter of quantities:-whenever one-fourth teaspoonful is mentioned, the meaning is that one-fourth of a _heaping_ teaspoonful be taken. whenever a _level_ one-fourth teaspoonful is meant, as in the case of plasmogen, it is because the basic remedy is heavier and, therefore, the smaller quantity renders an equal amount in weight. every dose mentioned herein contains the exact amount of the necessary constituents, and the harmonious system of dosage which i have worked out, consists of reducing every compound dosage to one gram, which weight is equal to about one quarter teaspoonful of the regular preparation, made lighter and fluffier through trituration with milk-sugar. this trituration is a manual process and requires some three hours steady and continuous rubbing of the ingredients with pestle and mortar, for each separate composition. all my compositions should be kept in a dry and cool place. it is best to put them into wide-mouthed bottles with glass stoppers, as they are all hygroscopic, that is, sensitive to moisture. dech-manna composition no. 1. plasmogen (plasma producer.) plasmogen--blood-plasma producer. (the red and white blood-corpuscles are produced by using eubiogen, xii). (a). blood-plasma, is the habitat of the red and white blood-corpuscles. it can be readily understood that the more sanitary a place, the better will be the condition of those who live in it. therefore, the plasma, (blood-plasma), must first be made as perfect as possible in accordance with the teachings of science and especially of biology,--a theory which my own experience has proved to be correct. no matter how perfect the red or white corpuscles may be, if they live in diseased blood-plasma, they cannot perform their functions properly and, as a consequence, the resistant power of the system is crippled. (b). plasmogen contains all the constituents in the proportions in which they should be contained in perfect plasma. the law of the minimum teaches that if one of the ingredients is lacking in the food, the cells _must_ become diseased. this the great justus v. liebig emphasized when he said: "if the most minute component is lacking, the rest cannot perform their functions." taken as directed, the plasmogen is also in its natural dosage. it was only after years of ardent study that i was enabled to produce this composition in the perfect form in which it is furnished today. since the plasmogen contains all the salts necessary to keep the blood in perfect harmony, the circulation as well as the resistant power will be maintained, the heart relieved, the fighting capacity of the white corpuscles strengthened, and therefore the power of disease very greatly reduced. (c). in all cases of constitutional disease, plasmogen is used to bring about a proper regeneration and preservation of the blood-cells. in all cases of acute, febrile diseases its purpose is to bring about a proper circulation and fluid condition of the blood-cells. the most wonderful results will accrue through the use of plasmogen in _all acute_ febrile cases, particularly in the case of children; also by using the same as directed in individual cases of constitutional diseases. it is indispensable in producing bactericide blood, which is necessary to regenerate the body-cells. therefore, i recommend it in _all_ regenerative treatments. how many thousands of children may be saved by this single remedy alone only the biologist who has studied life according to the teachings of nature's laws, is able to appreciate today. it will take some time before the general medical practitioner will realize the truth of this statement, because the old-school medicine does not teach these facts. therefore it is the duty of every thoughtful mother to prevent harm to her children resulting from the drugs they favour. all anti-febrile chemicals are rank poisons and contrary to nature's way. _only by producing a higher temperature is nature able to throw off impurities_; but in many cases this becomes dangerous, because so very few know how to avoid an over-taxation of nature's strength. instead of assisting nature by keeping the head cool, the feet warm and the bowels and pores open, the anxious mothers will wrap their babies up nicely, give them some patent or other obnoxious medicine, and really kill nature's efforts by means of narcotics and other poisons. results are always fatal. the mother must learn to use correct, harmless remedies and to follow the instructions given nearly 3000 years ago by the wise hippocrates, the "father of medicine," who warned every medical practitioner with these words: "nil nocere." (never do harm). (d). _dose_: in acute cases, that is to say, in emergency cases where the patient, for instance a child, has developed a high temperature, and the doctor has not as yet diagnosed any special form of disease, or has been unable to do so because the time of incubation of the germ has not passed, give the patient a dose of plasmogen, that is, one gram, or as much as will lie on a ten-cent piece, or one-fourth of a level teaspoonful. dissolve it in one-half tumbler of water, (or milk if prescribed), and let the patient drink it slowly at intervals, as seems necessary. in ordinary cases individual directions should be followed. dech-manna composition no. ii. lymphogen (lymph cell producer.) (a). in nearly every tissue and organ of the body there is a marvelous network of vessels, called the lymphatics. these are busily at work taking up and making over waste fluids or surplus materials derived from the blood and tissues generally. the lymphatics seem to spring from the parts in which they are found, like the rootlets of a plant in the soil. they carry a turbid, slightly yellowish fluid, called lymph, very much like blood without the red corpuscles. the lymph is carried to the lymphatic glands where it undergoes certain changes to fit it for entering the blood. it is a fact that very few doctors know, that the whole nervous system can only be fed by the lymph, whose central station is the so-called ductus thoracicus (thoracic duct), in the upper region of the chest. as there is no pulsation or magnetism connected with the same, the body must lie down and rest at night. then and only then is the system enabled to feed all the nerve centers, especially through the influence of the sympathetic nerve system, which may be said to work in the form of a relay station, through its inherent power from the very beginning. therefore, it becomes quite a task to regenerate a broken-down nervous system, for those practitioners who are not familiar with physiological chemistry--that is, life chemistry, which teaches the composition of the tissues. the law of chemotaxis will explain it. the lymphatic system also plays a great part in constitutional diseases of the blood. every degeneration of the blood cells, or dysaemia, is influenced more or less by the perfect condition of the lymphatic fluid. all cachectic or morbid nutrition conditions are due to imperfect lymph. (b). lymphogen contains all the organic minerals in the same proportion in which they are contained in perfect lymph, and if taken as directed, will always restore the lymphatic system and allow it to perform its important function. (c). the great importance of perfect lymph will be understood from the previous remarks, especially those pertaining to the feeding of the whole nervous system. if the lymphatic system is impeded by underfeeding or inanition of the nerve-cells, how can any one with common sense expect such a system to be in perfect working order and harmony? this applies particularly to those constitutional diseases where the lymphatic system and the lymph itself are degenerating through causes due to heredity, predisposition or acquisition of such conditions. (d). _dose_: twice daily i gram or one-fourth heaping teaspoonful or, if in tablet form, i tablet, dry or with a little water or in foodstuffs; to be taken at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or as specially directed. dech-manna composition no. iii. neurogen (nerve cell producer). (a). the nerves are the cord-like structures which convey impulses from one part of the body to another. the tremendous importance of their absolute health is obvious, since the co-operation of all parts of the human body depends upon it, while, on the other hand, their very delicate structure exposes them to numerous and easily acquired forms of disease. (b). this composition contains all the constituents required to generate nerve tissue. the most important and expensive is lecithin. pure lecithin, the kind i use, is made from the yolks of fresh eggs. in this composition i supply nutritive cell-food for generating lecithin in exactly the same form in which it is found in a healthy, perfect nerve-cell. it is absolutely digestible and assimilable, and is triturated with the finest milk sugar. (c). all morbid conditions caused by imperfect nerve-cells can be regenerated through this composition as long as there is some foundation left on which to work. under an endless variety of names--as a matter of fact, a big book would not be sufficient to describe all so-called "nervous diseases"--it can be readily seen in what a brainless way some "nerve specialists" classify patients of this kind. not knowing the constituents of the nerve-cells, they still attempt to prescribe for neurasthenic patients. the results are in accordance with such travesty of treatment. the increase in the number of insane asylums gives, or should give, a true picture of existing conditions. what is needed is a little more knowledge of physiological chemistry, but as it is too much to expect of the ordinary so-called "nerve specialist" to be familiar with this science, we must per force be content with the prevailing condition, that is, a condition characterized by ignorance of the most vital laws of being. but what reasonable ground of complaint, let me ask, have the people, themselves, in this matter? of the appalling results of the prevailing medical system, recognized as it is by the law of the land and supported and virtually endorsed by the people's own will and prejudices, they themselves, though well aware, are yet complacent. but, mark it well, not until independent medicine shall be accorded reasonable recognition, a fair field and general fair play, and the chance afforded to science outside the "orthodox" medical clique to inaugurate some drastic measures of urgently needed reform, not until then will it be possible to alter this disastrous state of affairs--not until then will matters become less unbearable to the individual and less discreditable to every one concerned. _we can cure disease only by removing its cause; this is my maxim and it is true for all time._ much of neurasthenia is due to the degenerate times in which we are now living. causes must be removed in every line of life, political, social, and economical, before normal physical and mental conditions can be restored. then neurasthenia, in all its forms, will be a disease of the past, but not before--not withstanding the frequent alleged discoveries of serums and antidotes of wonder-working properties so triumphantly heralded from the "halls of science." (d). _dose_: twice daily, 1 gram or one-fourth heaping teaspoonful or, it in tablet form, 1 tablet, dry or with a little water or in foodstuffs; to be taken at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. or as specially directed. dech-manna composition no. iv. osseogen (bone cell producer). (a). if i tell you that it takes seven different compositions of organic lime to make perfect bones, some people, even very learned ones, may doubt my word. but biology and physiological chemistry teach that this is so--and prove it. if this composition were lacking in a certain quantity of organic magnesia, the bones would grow hard and brittle. it is the magnesia that turns the tissue into perfect, elastic form. (b). osseogen is the composition the constituents of which are necessary to generate perfect bone tissue. how many troubles could easily be prevented by using this cell-food in time! (c). this composition becomes an absolute essential in all cases of imperfect bone structure, such as rachitis, or rickets, constitutional disease of children, osteomalacia, tuberculosis of the bones, deformity of bone structure, such as curvature of the spine, etc. softening of the bones, known as osteomalacia, curvature of the spine, rachitis and many other terrible conditions of disease would not be known to humanity if proper precaution were taken in time. hundreds of patients are today cured by my method of supplying this lacking constituent in a form assimilable to even the smallest infant. lime-water and such imaginary substitutes are pure nonsense, as must surely be apparent to even the simplest layman when they consider for a moment that it takes seven different lime compositions in order to supply the necessary lime for generating bone tissue. is it necessary to say more to convince even a dogmatist? how indispensable osseogen becomes may be realized when people begin to know enough about themselves to realize that our bone structure must be "fireproof" in order to last for the normal span of human life! (d). _dose_: once or twice daily, according to the individual case. 1 gram will be sufficient for a proper dose. as stated before, one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful is equal to a gram. it may be that in a short while i shall be able to supply all these compositions in tablet form in their respective doses. then medication will become still more simple. this composition may also be taken in food or a little water. dech-manna composition no. v. muscogen (muscle cell producer). (a). the term muscle signifies every organ of the human body which, by contraction, produces the movements of the organism. muscles are of the greatest variety and strength, but all consist of the same chemical elements, and can be regenerated in case of disease, like every other organ, by feeding the patient with the chemical substances which the muscle cells require. (b). into this composition i have introduced the components necessary for muscle tissue. the basis of this form of cell-food is potassium phosphate. it will regenerate all muscular tissue when used as directed. all minerals contained therein are organized and in a perfectly digestible and assimilable form. even an infant can easily digest it. it will prevent all decompositions of the muscular system and regenerate the cells as long as any basis for life is left. (c). as it is impossible for even the healthiest system to build up new tissue without the necessary proportion of albumen, it becomes very important to use the right proportion and form of this component. therefore, all patients who are in need of this special tissue builder, must at the same time take the main composition, eubiogen (life producer). under no. xii, i will endeavor to give the reader some little idea of its properties, and describe its marvelous regenerating powers. (d). _dose_: 1 gram, or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful once or twice daily will be sufficient. it may have to be taken for 3, 6, 9 or 12 months, and even longer. everything depends upon the cause of the degeneration of the muscle tissue. dech-manna composition no. vi. mucogen (mucous membrane cell producer). (a). the entire intestines, the stomach, all cavities, organs, openings of the body, the genital and urinary tracts, etc., are lined with mucous membrane, which must always be kept in a normal and healthy condition, otherwise the functions of metabolism and procreation of the organism cannot be carried on in safety and health. (b). mucogen consists of all the constituents necessary for the building up of the peculiarly tender tissue called mucous membrane. these constituents are absolutely indispensible, and nature must be supplied with them if disease of the mucous membrane is to be healed by removing its cause. (c). the tenderness of this tissue is obvious, and experience has shown how much it is exposed to changes in its normal condition, how easily an increase or decrease in its main functions is brought about. while this increase or decrease in many instances is a natural fight of nature against the intrusion of opposing elements into the body, it frequently assumes dimensions that are most unpleasant and seriously impair the health, such as catarrhal conditions, all of which are due to poor or degenerated cells of this tissue. the frequent occurence of this form of disease shows the importance of always supplying the cells of this tissue with the substances that keep them in health, or if need be, will regenerate them. (d). _dose_: 1 gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful once or twice daily will be found sufficient to supply the requirements. in some instances this composition, as well as others, may be mixed with the main composition eubiogen, in order that the patient may digest it more readily, especially in the case of a child. special directions must always be followed closely. dech-manna composition no. vii. dento and ophthogen (tooth and eye cell producer). this refers to the enamel of the teeth and the crystalline lens of the eye. (a). two special tissues of the human body, the close connection between which has been observed and recognized but very little, contain a predominant quantity of fluoride of lime, and consequently may be placed under one heading in this system, although the basis for the fluorate of the teeth is calcium, while the basis of the crystalline lens of the eye is gelatine. (b). i have composed this cell-food, containing the necessary fluoride of lime, in this particular way in order to avoid too much specialization. from long years of practical experience i have found that the special cells of each tissue will take up only those constituents which they need for the construction of their respective tissue, as taught by the law of chemotaxis. (c). composition no. vii will be prescribed in case of tooth and eye troubles. any observant student of human nature will have noticed that in severe cases of degeneration (as for instance, diabetes) not only one of these two tissues mentioned above is affected, (as the decaying and falling out of the teeth), but in most cases also the other (as cataract of the eye). some doctors of course may ask what in the world the tooth has to do with the eye. but, alas! they have yet much to learn. the two are not so distinct from each other when one understands. i fear that later on, when this method, which is the only true and natural one, comes into practice, everything will be specialized to such an extent that the real science of it will become so complicated that the proverb--"veritatis simplex oratio est"--(the language of truth is simple)--will become entirely obsolete. it is my endeavor to state the pure unvarnished truth, and in terms as simple as possible; that is my mission. (d). _dose_: one gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful, or one tablet in a little water or milk, once a day will be sufficient except in very severe cases of degenerated tissue. dech-manna composition no. viii. capillogen (hair cell producer). (a). the hair is built of a number of elements not contained in other tissues of the body, and which must be supplied in order to keep the hair in good health and prevent it from falling out. (b). capillogen contains all the necessary constituents in proper proportion required by perfect hair tissue. (c). the main disease of the hair, responsible for this falling out, may be due, to two different causes. it may be due to the quality of the hair, or to the condition of the nutritive soil of that part of the skin where hair is wont to grow. if the loss of hair is due to the first cause, its regeneration, through dech-manna composition no. viii, naturally gives rise to the hope that the lost hair may be replaced, if the process of regeneration is not begun too late, as is usually the case. my composition, however, is not a "hair restorer." as a great many of my readers may know, and some of them to their sorrow, all so-called hair restorers on the market are failures--although perhaps not so to the manufacturer or clever salesman. my composition will prevent the hair tissues from degeneration. thus baldness, which might otherwise have occurred in a larger or smaller degree, may be prevented. in the case of the disability of the skin to retain the hair, which may occur after forms of febrile disease, such as typhoid fever, or if children show little promise of growing nice hair, the composition will prove very useful in combination with dech-manna composition no. xii, eubiogen, which restores the original strength of the whole body, while hair regenerated by the blood through capillogen has a better chance of growing and remaining in the regenerated soil. (d). _dose_: one gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful, or one tablet in a little water or milk, once a day. it is imperative to follow directions implicitly. dech-manna composition no. ix. dermogen (skin cell producer). (a). the skin, like all other tissues of the body, is made up of different constituent elements. while its disease appears on the outside, it is built up, like all other parts of the human organism, from within and through the blood only. the elements necessary for regenerating the skin and keeping it in a healthy condition must, therefore, also be supplied to the body from within, in the form of nutriment, as otherwise, though we might suppress and eliminate the symptoms, the disease would still remain. (b). dermogen, skin producer, contains all the constituent elements which a healthy skin tissue requires. (c). the skin, being exposed to all external influences, discloses the symptoms of all forms of skin disease, the names of which are legion. the skin specialist termed "dermatologist" is another production which flourishes--more or less--upon the ignorance of the public. the patient, alas, is less fortunate. he tries one after another until disgusted he sometimes resorts to special diet. sometimes this may help, if he choose a certain kind of vegetable diet, and especially if the vegetables are such as contain a great deal of silica; for silica is the mineral basis of skin tissue. full details of this are to be found in my analysis of foodstuffs given in the chart at the end of volume no. i of my work, "regeneration." (d). _dose_: one gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful of dermogen in a little water or milk once a day until regeneration of the skin is fairly started. reduce the dose gradually until complete recovery has been accomplished. dech-manna composition no. x. gelatinogen (gelatigenous tissue producer). (a). all blood and lymphatic vessels, the alveoli of the lungs, all tendons and cords in the entire system, the bowel tract, including the stomach, the bladder, and in fact every organ or tissue which has the function of expanding and contracting, must be of healthy gelatigenous (rubber-like) tissue; otherwise it cannot perform its functions in the system and must degenerate. (b). gelatinogen contains the constituent elements of gelatine, which it carries, through the blood, to the parts of the body where it is needed to rebuild degenerated gelatigenous tissue. (c). while there are not many special forms of disease of the gelatigenous tissues, many diseased conditions are more or less connected with its degeneration. in fact, every layman should be able to judge the importance of perfect gelatigenous tissue. but how many human beings ever think of such things. yet they know very well that a poor rubber tire on an automobile will not last very long or stand much strain; for the fact appeals to the pocket book--and that degenerates. it is well to learn the truth before too late and give, to the rising generation at least, the chance to which they are surely entitled:--a good healthy body. (d). _dose_: twice daily, 1 gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful, or one tablet, at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or as individually prescribed, in a little water, milk or other foodstuffs, to be taken for a certain length of time. dech-manna composition no. xi cartilogen (cartilage producer). (a). every bone in the human system must be covered with cartilage at its ends so as to prevent self-destruction through friction, especially in the joints. (b). cartilogen consists of all the necessary constituents of this important material, and under certain circumstances it must be introduced in this concentrated form, as for instance when the general diet is unable to counteract the influences of disease which tends to degenerate the cartilage and subjects the body to the great suffering which the absence of cartilage invariably produces. (c). cartilage keeps all the joints in working order and must be regenerated constantly. as soon as the blood and lymph no longer contain the proper, necessary constituents for the rebuilding of cartilage tissue, the consequence is degeneration of this tissue. it is obvious then that the presence of proper cartilage constituents in the blood is of the greatest importance to the regenerating forces in the human body. our foodstuffs, therefore, must contain the material in a digestible, assimilable form, thus to prevent inanition of the cells, otherwise degeneration of the cartilage tissue must follow. (d). _dose_: one gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful twice a day for a certain period, depending on the condition of the patient. this may be taken in the same manner as previously described. dech-manna composition no. xii. eubiogen (healthy life producer). (also termed "positive composition"). (a). while all other compositions contain _special_ elements for the rebuilding of _special_ tissues through regeneration of _special_ cells, eubiogen contains a combination of all the important elements in the most concentrated form. i was fortunate enough, after years of experimenting with plants and animal life, to concentrate the solid constituents of the human body _ten_ fold. the full import of this achievement few can realize, but those who know what it means in time and study. the effect of this composition is felt simultaneously in all the vital tissues of the body, and since the co-operation of all these tissues is what we call "life," i feel there is no name more fitting for this product than the one i have selected, namely, "eubiogen," or "healthy life producer." i maintain that it is the most scientific composition discovered since the time of hippocrates and the following is its analysis: it has at all times been an ideal aim of mankind to produce a species of food that would combine a minimum of quantity with a maximum of quality, and philosophers and scientists have dreamed of a time when the day's portion of foodstuffs would be concentrated in one small pill. the biologist cannot accept this theory. while greek mythology seemed to symbolize a similar idea; namely, of one concentrated food-substance combining all nutritive elements, as represented in their "ambrosia," the food of the gods. yet the gods and goddesses were permitted to partake of it only at solemn assemblies when all sat at the table of zeus and enjoyed their food and drank its liquid counterpart, termed "nectar." this symbolism represented ambrosia and nectar as the highest climax of food; just as the greek gods stood for the climax of various human qualities, in each case attributed to one single personality. the greeks knew well that the human body requires a variety of food in order to remain healthy. it is an echo of the same thought expressed in the bible when the jews are given the "manna" only in the utmost emergency. the bible also advocates a considerable variety of food, regarding which the old testament lays down the most careful and explicit regulations. in praising "ambrosia" as the climax of food-substances, greek mythology attributed to it the power not only of regeneration, but of procreation. for the reproduction of healthy human life in its offspring, was to them just as sacred and important a preoccupation as it was natural, to ensure the survival of the race; and to secure to all the food that would assist in this, their highest and most worthy aim, seemed to them a manifest duty which, at the present day, prudish "morality" either practically ignores or modestly pretends to neglect. healthy food, generally speaking, will do much towards ensuring healthy offspring. but the times of extreme leisure, as enjoyed by the ancient greeks, are long past and a more exacting age makes its more strenuous demands upon the human tissues, and in innumerable cases causes them to deteriorate more rapidly than they can be regenerated and restored to their original vigor by even the healthiest food. hence i have felt justified, in considering the best interests of the race--present and future--in devoting the crowning effort of my long scientific career to the production of modern biological remedies such as would be felt in the reproductive powers of the people--a consideration concerning which the old-time, prudish reticence is a foolish figment rapidly passing away. now, as regards myself and my great work. surely to boast a little is but human. the man who puts his very best efforts into an ideal, and having achieved it, has not striven to reap the fruits thereof for selfish gain, but year by year, has perfected that work until the tests have finally permitted him to cry: "eureka"--it is accomplished beyond dispute,--that man has the right to overstep the conventional rule which forbids self-praise. while in other work accomplished i see but the links of an uncompleted chain, the synthesis of eubiogen, i feel to be one of those so rare occasions in human life, when a tested accomplishment allows and even demands a somewhat different treatment. and so i have the courage to speak as follows in eulogy of my own production: this product is my masterpiece. i am proud of it. nothing like it in efficiency has ever before been given to the world. in the fullest sense of the word, it is in food value the most perfect concentration that science and research have ever evolved. it is the result of the quest of 30 years and should make its finder famous. hundreds of men of mark have each one given to mankind some noble token of their genius; but of such gifts not one possessed the concentrated virtues, the materialized knowledge of "eubiogen." this, to unsympathetic ears, may sound like vain, exaggerated vapouring;--but it is not so. _it is the truth_. it is impossible to describe the real value of its properties within a limited space. sufferers in their thousands will yet live to be grateful for the benefits derived from it, and the full and positive knowledge of its excellence makes it the more difficult to describe in a few weak words. an abler pen than mine would fail to do it justice. in sentimental somnolence i sometimes dream how, perhaps, in the days to come, another hand may write in glowing terms the faithful history of "eubiogen" and say kind feeling words and fair of the hard worked lone scientist who gave its healing virtues to mankind, terming it--he too perhaps--the stereotyped "ambrosia," the diet of the olympian gods; but for myself, it is all i ask to know that it has served the appointed end to which my energy has aimed,--that it has proved a food instinct with healing and comfort to my kind--a staunch support and refuge for the overwrought sinews of humanity. may such be my guerdon of reward for the long years of thought and toil and--i shall rest content. (b). eubiogen contains the best and purest ingredients science and experience can produce today. it is the most delicate and at the same time the most digestible and assimilable cell-food obtainable. many great names since the time of hippocrates have figured in the list of those who shared with me the ambitious hope to give mankind some wonder-working remedy--metschnikoff, voit, koenig, biedert, rubner, gruber, kussmaul, bischoff, teschemacher, hirschfeld, boemer, wintgen, virchow, hammarsten, gilbert, fournier, heim, lahmann, von noorden, epstein, wair mitchel, salkowski, kornauth and the rest, but not one of them ever dreamed of a perfect regenerator of the cells of the human body such as this composition, eubiogen, affords. the analysis of my product, shows that it is practically impossible to improve upon in life-giving, cell-generating qualities. this fact should satisfy the student. still i will describe the ingredients a little more minutely, so that all who use it may be convinced that they are doing the best that can be done, as known to the science of today, to improve conditions of health for themselves and for their offspring. as a basis, then, i use for the necessary trituration, the finest radio-active milk sugar produced, flavored with _pure_ vanilla extract. the high percentage of albumen contained in it is due to the use of the most highly perfected hygienic product of albumen known to chemistry. it is chemically pure and manufactured from eggs, milk and vegetables and, therefore, absolutely free from microscopical germs, harmful to the human system. the organic iron contained in it is obtained from the red-coloring matter of healthy ox blood, called haemin, examined and tested. for the nerve material, pure lecithin or nerve fat is used, obtained from the yolks of fresh eggs. these two products are enormously expensive. all the organic minerals are in the form of glycerophosphates, and the milk sugar necessary for making a perfect trituration is radio-active, as explained before. to make the whole product as digestible and assimilable as possible, i use the best material known, that is, taka and malt diastase. it is made palatable through the use of genuine van houten's cocoa in chocolate form. it will remain in good condition an unlimited length of time when kept in a dry, cool place. no drugs of any kind are used. this i guarantee in the fullest sense of the word. the manufacturer is a renowned chemist of the highest type, and all the products are of the highest quality obtainable. this is capable of verification by any really capable authority on the chemistry of food. in order to bring this product within the reach of all classes, the same has been compounded in three different forms: form aaa. contains radio-activity, haemin, lecithin, glycerophosphates and all other constituents of the highest purity. form aa. contains haemin, lecithin, glycerophosphates and all other constituents of the highest purity. form a. contains haemoglobin, glycerophosphates and all other constituents (chemically pure.) for the use of babies and very feeble invalids, special composition b (see appendix) may take the place of eubiogen, since it contains nearly all of its constituent elements in a form that can be assimilated by either. it will regenerate the invalid as fast as his condition will allow, and is the salvation of weak children. (c). as to when eubiogen should be administered, the rule is simple. whenever any of the dech-manna compositions are given, eubiogen should be given in smaller or larger doses, as the case may require, remembering that its most important task is to rebuild and regenerate the body so that it may readily perform its fullest functions and transmit the power unimpared to posterity. (d). _dose_: the dose may vary considerably, from 1 to 3 times a day. generally a dose consists of 1 gram or one-fourth of a heaping teaspoonful. the composition may be combined with any kind of food, or may be given in separate form with chocolate in equal parts. there are endless ways in which my remedies may be administered, since they are merely concentrated cell-food. _it must be definitely understood at the outset that these remedies must be absolutely and entirely dissociated with the idea of so-called "medicine,"_ prescribed by the old-school doctor, which has nothing whatsoever in common with my "remedies," since these contain the real constituents of our body-cells and _not_ poisonous chemical concoctions, known as medicines, which _may_ in some cases suppress symptoms, _but never will and never can remove the constitutional cause or condition of disease_. =comparative analysis.= =the human body= consists of: 83.0% water \ 0.9% minerals | 3.8% albumen | solid constituents 2.5% fat | only 17% 9.8% carbohydrates | ----- | 100.0% / =eubiogen= consists of: 9.0% minerals. (chiefly glycerophosphates, haemin or blood-iron and organized minerals) 10 times concentrated. 33.5% albumen. (egg, milk and vegetable-albumen) 9 " " 15.0% fats. (chiefly cacao, glycerin fats, lecithin) 6 " " (note.--lecithin is made from fresh yolks of egg.) 42.5% carbohydrates (chiefly malt extract, milk, sugar etc.) 5 " " ----- of the original amount 100.0% solid constituents. in the human body. =note.= 1 pound of powdered egg-albumen represents the total egg-albumen contents of 116 eggs. 1 pound of powdered milk-albumen represents the total milk-albumen of 25 pints of milk. 1 pound of blood-iron represents 250 pounds of haemoglobin. (the cost of haemoglobin is $4.50 per pound, the value, therefore, of 1 pound of haemin or blood-iron is $1,125--) appendix life preservers and elixirs. in addition to the twelve dech-manna compositions mentioned before, i have composed three others that are most important and are to be used practically and in various doses; the first and the third should be used in nearly every treatment of patients suffering from constitutional diseases, while the second is the remedy which takes the place of eubiogen when the patients are babies or very weak. special dech-manna composition. (a) oxygenator. this consists of radium emanation tablets or powders and the necessary bath salts for the decarbonization of the system in all cases of what is called auto-intoxication. they have a wonderful effect on the metabolism of the human organism, and increase the oxidation of all diseased cells that poison the system. the radium tablets are officially guaranteed and the bath salts are the result of many years study in balneotherapy and hydrotherapy, and have demonstrated their effectiveness by the wonderful results that have been obtained during the last thirty years. rheumatism, gout, arterio-sclerosis, etc., cannot exist in the system when these baths have been taken for a certain length of time. i rarely undertake a treatment for disease of this kind without them. how to apply oxygenator. for a half or partial bath fill the bath two-thirds full of water at 90° to 98°. use one pound of bath salts. mix and dissolve them completely in the water. as soon as dissolved, put two of the oxygenator radium tablets into the water, one at the head and one at the foot of the bath, allowing one-half to one minute for dissolving. mix very slowly and quietly in order not to release too much of the radium emanation. lie in the bath very quietly for 20 to 25 minutes, with cold compresses on the head. then open the cold water faucet, begin to move about in the bath, sit up and wash face and chest with cold water. let the cold water run into the bath until you notice some signs of "goose-flesh," then get out and rub down well with a good turkish towel. never remain alone while taking this kind of a bath. stop the bath immediately if any feeling of faintness is experienced. drink a glass of tonogen, or other refreshment. special dech-manna composition. (b) eubiogen liquid. this composition is in liquid form and intended for babies and very feeble invalids. it contains nearly all the constituents of no. xii, eubiogen, but in such a form that even the infant can safely partake of it, with rapid regenerative results. thus the degeneration of inherited or predisposed conditions or weak tissues will be prevented. _dose_: from one-half to three teaspoonfuls a day, pure or diluted in milk, according to the individual directions given. as a fermentative agent i know of nothing better, and through the formation of gases, acidity of the stomach will be prevented, perfect digestion assured and consequently health and normal conditions restored. special dech-manna composition. (c) tonogen. as a beverage tonogen scientifically speaking, stands at the head of all chemical achievements in drinks. therapeutically, there is nothing that could be more beneficial to the human system. it contains the fundamental constituents of normal blood and nerve cells in such form that even the weakest and most sensitive digestion will readily respond to its influence. this compound is absolutely free from all deleterious chemicals; as a tonic it is stimulating and strengthening and as a beverage it is so palatable that few will hesitate to pronounce its taste delicious. in all cases of acute febrile diseases, also in chronic forms of these diseases, as well as in climatic fevers, it is wonderfully effective in supporting the healing process of nature. from a physiologico-chemical standpoint, it has been thus described: tonogen is the acme of chemical perfection, both as a tonic and as a beverage. it is the captured and crystalized outcome of years of scientific observation focussed upon the true ingredients of healthy blood cells as viewed from both the theoretical and practical biological standpoint. it represents, in fact, a life study of the science of life, in a concrete form of body-cell invigorator suitable to all mankind, from earliest infancy to advancing age, and this of a nature equally digestible and assimilable to both. after but a brief experience of this seductive beverage, it may speedily be felt how, once digested and assimilated, it courses through the lymph channels and lacteal vessels and, by the familiar route of the chyle passes into the heart, where joined with the blood of that organ, it produces a sensation of liquifaction. in its course, by way of the arteries, it gradually reaches the external glands, warms the limbs and, in a manner electrifies them. in the body, it suffuses the pancreas and other glands and the intestines, mingles with the fluids existing in the glands and with the oily salts of the bile; and whatever impurities (autotoxins), may be there it drives in the form of excrement and urine completely out of the body. thus in its free and ample scope is all the ground of all the intricate vital processes of physiology covered in its course and the active principles of the excretions of skin, kidneys and intestines are made visible at a glance. in combination with plasmogen, taken alternately, it is really indespensable in all the diseases mentioned above. many a life has been saved through the use of this combination. it is one of my standard home remedies, and my own family would not think of allowing themselves to be without it for a single day, for, as they say, one never knows when it may be required. _dose_: one teaspoonful tonogen with three teaspoonfuls of granulated sugar in a tumbler of water, to be taken slowly, once or twice daily. in cases of diabetes and arterio-sclerosis the dose should be 20 to 25 drops tonogen in a teaspoonful of milk sugar 1 to 3 times daily. pregnancy is a contra-indication to the use of tonogen. appendix ii. the following compositions are also used especially in specific cases. =(d). tea. diabetic. _dechmann._= description: compound of many herbs (powdered) found beneficial to the diabetic system. =(e). tea. laxagen. _kneipp._= description: compound of several herbs (powdered) approved by the celebrated kneipp in cases of chronic constipation. =(f). salve. lenicet. _reiss._= description: the most beneficial salve in case of inflamed wounds, boils or exanthematous eruptions. =(g). massage emulsion. _dechmann._= description: consists of the finest ethereal oils and other ingredients useful and valuable, yet absolutely harmless, in case of nerve or muscular pains, applied as a liniment. =(h). propionic acid.= description: the product of various herbs known for their high percentage of propionic acid; applied in case of catarrh in the form of atomized steam. =(i). oxygen powder. _hensel._= description: a composition of sugar, gum tragacanth (traganth) and citric acid, used in the form of lemonade in case of high carbonic acid poisoning. =(j). anti-phosphate. _dechmann._= (otherwise termed "negative compound.") description: contains all basic salts as sulphates, thus acting as the governor of a machine; that is it prevents the accumulation of too much phosphate in the blood, which would promote the formation of all fungus growths. (see paragraph in the article, "importance of the mineral constituents in our food"). * * * * * a copy of my wholesale price list as given in 1915--before we entered the war--may give you a fair idea of the price of my compositions. since that time, most of the ingredients of these remedies have increased from four to ten times in value. the reader can easily judge therefrom of the fairness of the present values. i may say that most of the compositions are listed at only one-fourth to one-third advance, notwithstanding the high cost of chemicals. this fact will absolve me, i think, of any tendency to profiteering. price-list dech-manna compositions. no. per oz. per lb. i. plasmogen $0.75 $ 8.00 ii. lymphogen 1.00 10.67 iii. neurogen 1.50 16.00 iv. osseogen 1.00 10.67 v. muscogen 1.00 10.67 vi. mucogen 1.00 10.67 vii. dento & ophthogen 1.50 16.00 viii. capillogen 1.50 16.00 ix. dermogen 1.50 16.00 x. gelatinogen 1.50 16.00 xi. cartilogen 1.50 16.00 xii. eubiogen 2.00 21.35 same with sacch. lact. radio 2.50 26.67 a reduction of 33-1/3% on the prices per pound will be allowed on all the above products as quoted in the second column. a. radio emanation tablet (5,000 volts); per tablet $ 1.50 bath salts, original composition, lb. 1.00 b. eubiogen liquid (a) oz. 0.75 (b) oz. 1.00 pt. 8.00 pt. 10.67 c. tonogen (a) oz. 0.50 (b) oz. 0.75 pt. 5.33 pt. 8.00 j. anti-phosphate (a) oz. 0.50 (b) oz. 0.75 lb. 5.33 lb. 8.00 copies of the handbook "dare to be healthy" second edition, may be procured at 75c for the paper-bound edition and $1.50 for the leather-bound edition. physical treatment. as i have already stated, it is necessary in disease to assist the process of regulating the circulation and opening the body to the full benefit of the dietetic and nutritive salts treatment by applying a number of physical treatments, in each case, which, for convenience sake, i have divided into ten different groups, some of which may need to be applied simultaneously in certain cases. they are as follows: 23. ablutions with vinegar and water, 1 part vinegar, 2 parts water. 24. abdominal packs, vinegar and water, dito 25. partial packs: (a) vinegar and water, dito (b) radium and salts. 26. partial packs: (a) arms. (b) legs. (c) neck. (d) shoulder. 27. three-quarter packs, vinegar and water, dito 28. gymnastics. 29. massage. 30. breathing exercises. 31. oxygenator baths. 32. radium and salt baths. (a) half. (b) whole. note--=the vinegar= indicated to be used for these treatments, and in all similar treatments, packs, or ablutions, prescribed, is the natural, or what is known as "apple cider vinegar." the manufactured or ordinary table vinegar, as made from chemicals, is not suitable for the purpose. from these groups a treatment is usually prescribed in each and every case of disease. the importance of ablutions especially packs is so great that it is necessary to give further explanations concerning them: in a general way, it is necessary to apply a bath or an ablution (see form 23) when the test with the thermometer, usually applied under the tongue, in arm-pit or in the rectum, shows that the temperature of the patient exceeds 100 degrees. the patient grows restless, his skin feels dry and the pulse, which regularly is 70 to 80 with adults, 90 to 100 with children, and about 130 with infants, shows an increased speed. as soon as these symptoms appear, they indicate that the immediate cooling off of the body by means of a bath, an ablution or a pack is necessary. adults will always show the desire for such instinctively. in extreme cases baths or ablutions should be administered several times every day. healthy people perspire as soon as they become too hot. this means that they cool off through the evaporation of the perspiration. this is supplemented by the bath and its cooling effect; balancing the higher temperature of the body with the lower temperature of the water, brings this about. the blood which flows towards the skin during the bath is cooled off, and returns in this condition to the interior of the body, and is immediately followed by other quantities of blood. since the blood circulates through the body about twice every minute, the cooling takes place from 20 to 24 times during a bath, lasting from 10 to 12 minutes. this explains the soothing and cooling effect of the bath on the waves of blood and the nerves, which are irritated by the increased temperature. at the same time the bath opens the pores which assist in the excretion of degenerated matter produced by the disease, and fosters the reception of oxygen. it is a natural function of the body that an increased flow of the warming blood flies always to any region of the body which is assailed by external cold, so that such parts may not become too cold or, in common parlance, may not "catch" cold. this explains why the hands get red and hot after throwing snow-balls, the feet burn after a cold foot bath. as soon as the body, which is hot with fever, is put into the cool bath, the first effect is that the blood-vessels of the skin contract under the cooling influence. the blood recedes. soon, however, it streams with renewed energy to the skin to defeat the cold. the first action,--the recession of the blood,--is followed by reaction or increased activity of circulation towards the skin. this removes the pressure of the blood upon the overburdened internal organs, such as the brain, the lungs and the heart. the blood is diverted. for ablutions the water should be cool or lukewarm, the exact temperature to be determined by the strength of the patient. some vinegar should be added to the water, taking two parts water and one part vinegar. to accustom children to the use of water and ablutions is one of the important duties of motherhood. a healthy child should be washed once every day with water at 59 degrees to 64 degrees. the best way to wash the child is to put two chairs in front of its bed. on one of them place the vessel with the necessary water, on the other place the child, after it has been disrobed in bed, in a standing position, so that it can be supported with the back of the chair. the ablution is performed by means of strong application with the hands, dipped into the water, and is repeated several times. then the shirt is put on again, and the child is allowed to stay well covered in bed for another 15 minutes. children must become accustomed to gargling as early as possible, and to draw water up through the nose, or to remove it from the mouth through the nose. this is very valuable and facilitates the treatment of children in case of disease. vinegar packs. it appears opportune at this juncture, and before entering upon the detailed description of the modern healing system of vinegar packs, included in the prescribed course of physical treatments which follow, to make a few rational remarks illustrative of the physical significance and scientific basis of a branch of therapy which largely amongst the laity, through ignorance, and more so amongst the regular medical fraternity, for reasons of their own, is too frequently lightly regarded by the one and diplomatically depreciated by the other. in this manner one of the most potent and logical modern factors in the healing of disease would be conveniently consigned to the back ground in company with other simple _but unremunerative_ truths, but for the timely intervention of the new and enlightened school of independent medicine of which the biological or hygienic dietetic method of healing is the outcome. the wonderful efficacy of natural vinegar upon the organism and its employment in the form of vinegar packs and compresses dates back probably to the early traditions of the healing art, but scientific analysis of its subtle operation upon the system through the vital fluid has been left for the scientific research of today to determine. to those of the public--or the profession--therefore, who are not conversant with the subject the following notes may be valuable as descriptive of the why and wherefore of the use of vinegar. it will be admitted, i think, that one of the most prolific sources of disease, in innumerable forms, is that of congestion of blood. the greatest danger of such congestion is inflammation. should inflammation occur in or near a vital organ and fail to be promptly reduced and its cause (coagulation) removed, the result is decomposition--and decomposition, if not arrested means death. the most valuable--i might almost say infallible--remedy known, even to the greatest accepted authorities of physiology, for the prevention of inflammation is acetic acid in diluted form, or, in a word, vinegar, as a restorer of the fluidity of the blood. inflammation is the result of coagulation of the blood-albumen; congestion is its sequal, inflammation and decomposition of the tissues its climax. the last is nearly always fatal. _the manifest object therefore to be achieved in all such cases is to restore the normal fluidity and circulation of the blood_ without unduly taxing any vital organ. thus, for instance, hot packs on the feet draw the blood towards the feet, where no vital organs exist. hot packs act as an absorbent, by suction; cold packs, on the affected place, act in inverse ratio as an expelling force. the two operating conjointly promote full circulation and extend the absorbing tendency to the whole system. ice, on the other hand, though not infrequently prescribed, is too strong a force. it contracts the blood vessels, arrests normal circulation, and in many cases is the direct cause of death. this is attested by the teaching of physiological law which maintains that any part of the human system which is not fed by fresh oxygenous blood _must decompose_. packs, of course, must be regulated in accordance with the vital strength of the patient, as indicated by the physician; for in the course of the excretion of morbid matter through the pores, under the influence of the packs, a certain proportion of accompanying healthy substance is necessarily exuded simultaneously, with a slightly weakening tendency. this however can be promptly and effectively replaced by proper alimentation, or food selection in accordance with the dech-manna diet system already particularized. one other matter it is advisable to deal with in advance and that is the _nature of the vinegar to be employed for packs_. it must be borne in mind that for this purpose an absolutely pure natural product should be obtained. i recommend, in the first place a genuine _apple cider vinegar_; for apples not alone contain the pure acetic acid but also some five or six other fruit acids which are so beneficial for the purpose of keeping the blood at normal temperature and normal fluidity, and contain also a considerable amount of the essentials known under the head of vitamines. as a secondary alternative i would recommend _wine vinegar_ for the same purpose. the manufacturers vinegar product--_acetic acid, should never the used_ as it contains, very frequently, harmful ingredients. it should never be forgotten that the substances used for the purpose of packs, and thus absorbed into the system, become a part of the blood and therefore cannot be too pure. the reader will doubtless observe from the foregoing demonstration that the dechmann system of therapy differs materially from the science of the old-school of medicine in that it is not based upon evanescent theories of hairsplitting philosophy but upon the solid basis of cold-blooded fact. why then, the reader will inquire, should so wonderful and at the same time _simple, inexpensive and easily applied remedy_ be treated by "the faculty" with an affectation of indulgent toleration, ridicule or "damning with faint praise." to this riddle there are two solutions--neither of them very creditable to those concerned. on the one hand, only crass ignorance of some of the most important facts of physiology and physiological chemistry could account for it. and, it must be borne in mind that in the course of the prolific verbosity of pontificated dogma which has graced the scroll of medical science, whole libraries have been written--and ably written, too--by skillful pens for the sole purpose of covering the simple nudity of the agnostic position of science--the dreaded, confidence-shattering admission: "i don't know." failing this solution there is, unfortunately, but one alternative and that a singularly distasteful one to entertain; namely, to attribute the unpopularity of this splendid gift of nature to unprofessional considerations on the part of an apothecary-loving profession. the employment of vinegar is, as i have said, a royal remedy, ready to the hand of any man and at little or no expense, and it needs no "learned" interpretation. it is consequently beyond the omnivorous talons of "the trade." would it be unkind to say: "hinc illae lachrymae"? the packs. the packs mentioned as physical treatment, under nos. 24, 25, 26 and 27, are of the greatest importance, and in fact i never undertake the treatment of any disease whatsoever without applying them as the most effective means of restoring proper circulation of the blood and removing diseased matter from the body, which is the only way to bring about a real and definite cure. the effect of the pack is the cooling of the blood. the temperature of the pack is 50 degrees and more below the temperature of the blood. in the first place this brings about quiet after unrest. through the action of the body, which sends a large quantity of blood to the places which are touched by the cool compresses, a certain surplus of heat is created which is transferred to the compresses and retained by them as moist warmth. under this influence the blood-vessels of the skin extend and absorb blood more freely, which is thus diverted from the important internal organs to the skin. in all cases of fever the diseased matter is dissolved in the hot feverish blood and circulates in and with it. the evaporation of the skin is increased, and with it the diseased matter is absorbed by the compresses, which consequently diffuse an unpleasant odor when removed, and when cleansed, give to the water a muddy appearance. thus it may be observed to what extent the pack removes diseased matter from the body. packs must be changed as soon as they cease to give comfort to the patient, and make him too warm. highly flushed cheeks, increasing temperature and unrest are sure signs that the pack requires to be changed, and in case of high fever this may happen after 20 to 30 minutes. for short packs, such as are prescribed in all inflammatory and feverish diseases, water at from 59 degrees to 64 degrees is used. a piece of linen cloth is folded from 4 to 8 times, wrung out, but not too much, and then covered with moderately thick folds of woollen cloth. the stronger the patient and the higher the fever, the thicker should be the pack. for infants a double linen strip is sufficient. the faster the fever and inflammation recede, the longer may the pack last, up to three hours. the convalescent will enjoy the moist warmth, under the influence of which still existing diseased material is thoroughly dissolved and completely excreted. the dissolving effect of packs of long duration is most noticeable in chronic diseases. through the penetrating effect of the moist warmth on the body or parts thereof, deposited diseased matter is dissolved, and dislodged, existing excoriations are disintegrated, and withdrawn into the circulating blood, and thus excreted. the dissolving packs of long duration must be applied somewhat thinner than the cooling ones (from 1 to 3 folds); they must be wrung out more vigorously, and covered more closely. if a pack should be applied for the sake of prevention of disease, it may be put on in the evening and remain all night. in the beginning of fever, while it remains moderate, the patient can endure the pack for from 2 to 2-1/2 hours. biological hygienic therapy rejects the external application of ice, for it causes severe congestion of the blood. extensive application of the ice pouch causes more or less paralysis of the nerves, which in many cases prevents recovery and even causes chronic disease or fatal results. the biological hygienic treatment desires _to moderate inflammation only_, to the degree that it should lose its dangerous character, but it leaves to the body its power _to remove, through the process of inflammation, alien and diseased matter, and to absorb and gradually carry away the products of inflammation through the blood current_. paralysis of the vocal cords, of the muscles of the eye, of the nerves of hearing, the exudations from the nose and eyes after diphteria, meningitis and scarlet fever, adhesions, suppurations after pneumonia and other forms of inflammatory disease, are often the _consequences of the use of ice_, because the products of inflammation are not absorbed, and the ice paralyzes the neighbouring nerves. inflammations, which are suppressed by medicine or ice, must renew themselves; since the causes, the alien matter (auto toxins), as well as the products of inflammation remain in the body and are not thoroughly excreted. to apply water, on the contrary, quickly removes not only the inflammation, but its causes and eventual consequences. the organs which have been inflamed do not show any further inclination to renewed inflammation. in no case will a chronic ailment be the consequence of an acute disease, provided the same is dealt with in a natural way, according to the principles of biological hygienic treatment. in order to bring about the complete excretion of all autotoxins and, in case of inflammation, the complete absorption of all products thereof, it is necessary to continue the lengthy packs even during the period of convalescence, and not to stop immediately the fever and inflammation have somewhat disappeared. this is a mistake which is frequently committed, and the fault is then laid at the door of the biological hygienic system. any relapse, or succeeding illness, will be avoided by continuing the packs for four to six weeks after the disease has been cured, applying them during the night and at first also during the day-time, from two to three hours. while most people understand the cooling effect of a pack, _the important diverting, dissolving and excreting effect is rarely understood_. few people understand why ablutions, abdominal and leg packs are prescribed in case of inflammation of the eyes; why, in case of ulcers, besides compresses on the part affected, nightly abdominal packs and ablutions in the morning, are considered indispensable; and why, in case of inflammation of _one_ leg, the healthy leg is also subjected to a pack. and yet the explanation is very simple, rational and logical. in limiting packs, in case of inflammation, to the inflamed part only, the blood current would be directed mainly to the one place, and the excretion of autotoxins from the body would only occur in the inflamed place. the blood would carry all diseased matter principally to the diseased spot and deposit it there. the inflamed organ would thus be burdened with work which it simply would not be able to perform. the effect is far otherwise when the pressure of blood into the diseased part is moderated, if the dissolution and excretion of the matter that causes the disease, takes place, not in one spot only, but is distributed over the entire body. if the entire skin comes into action, the entire body participates in the healing process. in biological hygienic-dietetic practice it is, consequently, not sufficient to treat the one diseased organ only. in all diseases _the co-operation of the entire body in a general treatment, remains the main issue of the biological, hygienic therapy_. it regards the human body, as so often stated, purely as a unit, and knows neither specialist nor special cures. this is the key to its success. important general advice. for use in packs take coarse, previously used and loosely woven linen, which readily absorbs water and clings closely to the body. after each pack the linen must be rinsed well and boiled and the woollen material or blanket must be thoroughly aired. from time to time the woollen covering must be washed, or chemically cleaned, if possible. raw silk is an excellent substitute for linen. it clings well to the body, does not cause any discomfort, and has an excellent absorbing quality for water and other substances. the proper application of the pack is of course of great importance. adults can easily apply many of the packs without assistance, but generally speaking a third person is necessary, whether in the case of children or patients. it is consequently advisable for every mother to become thoroughly familiar with the methods of applying packs, and she should always have the necessary material on hand. it should be cut to the proper size, and there should be duplicates of each piece for the necessary changes. the approximate measurements for adults are: =width= =length= neck pack 5" 40" to 60" shoulder pack 10" 40" abdominal pack 28" 40" to 60" breast or stomach pack 16" 52" to 60" "t" pack 16" 52" to 60" cross piece alone 5" 24" the shawl 32" to 40" 32" to 40" scotch pack (undivided) 16" 80" to 100" same for children 10" to 16" 60" to 80" calf pack 24" 26" leg pack 24" 30" three-quarter pack 56" 52" to 60" whole pack 68" 80" the measurements for children are accordingly shorter and narrower. as to the application of packs, a mother can learn a great deal by experimenting on her own body. packs at night are by no means detrimental to adults, and the application of a regular abdominal pack, a three-quarter pack, and a whole pack once a week or once every two weeks is decidedly advantageous. three-quarter and whole packs should be occasionally tried on the body of children with dry linen so that in case of disease the mother will be a well trained nurse, at least in this respect. to go about the application of the pack quietly and without much talking is very comforting to the patient, who usually grows excited during the procedure. in case of acute feverish disease the packs and the changes must be applied very quickly, so that the patient will not catch cold. while, as a rule, the patient should not be disturbed in a quiet sleep, unconsciousness or delirium must not prevent change of the pack. packs should be applied so as not to cause any creases which may hurt the patient. the temperature of the water used for packs should be as follows: for the cooling packs, 59 degrees to 64 degrees. for dissolving packs, 64 degrees to 71 degrees. the higher temperature is used in the treatment of infants, nervous and anaemic persons. in chronic diseases a gradual return to a lower temperature by about 2-1/2 degrees per week is advisable. no packs or compresses should be put on when parts of the body are cold. in such cases the parts in question must first be warmed. the linen should be wrung out less for short cooling compresses than for dissolving packs of longer duration. cooling compresses must be changed as soon as the patient indicates that he feels oppressed or irritated by the heat. as a general rule, packs on the legs may be left on feverish patients twice as long as packs on the upper parts of the body. no fever being apparent, the abdominal pack may be changed after about 2-1/2 hours, the leg pack after 5 hours, and even not at all during the night. packs should be renewed according to requirements of the individual patient, not in accordance with fixed rules. great care must be exercised to fasten the packs well and tightly. this is usually done with good strong safety pins; these should be fastened perpendicularly, or at right angles to the length of the material. when changing the pack on feverish patients who are to receive an ablution or a bath two or three times a day, all pins must be loosened under the bedcovers so that the pack may be removed quickly. if ablutions only are to be given, the pack is removed gradually as the respective parts of the body are to be washed. when the fever is moderate, there should be ablutions morning and evening, or a bath in the morning and an ablution in the evening. when packs are applied only at night, patients require only an ablution in the morning. if the packs are not renewed, an ablution must follow the removal. this refreshes and strengthens the skin, closes the wide open pores and prevents taking cold. dissolving packs, if annoying at night, may be removed under the bedcovers without an ablution. if the pack is changed without intervening ablution, the new pack must be ready to be applied before the old, hot one, is taken off. while in a pack, the patient should not leave his bed, not even for the purpose of urinating or for stool. general rules. the following general rules must be applied in connection with the directions given anon for packs during different diseases. in case of inflammation, the inflamed spot is cooled off by local compresses, and diverting packs of longer duration are applied on other parts of the body. for instance, in case of inflammation of the brain or tonsils. the first step is to cool off the blood which flows to the neck and head by short-time compresses on the neck and on the cervix. at the same time an attempt must be made to divert it through lengthier packs on the abdomen, the legs and the wrists, thereby to prevent a further delivery of diseased matter to the centre of inflammation. the solution and excretion of diseased matter from other points than the inflamed spots will thereby be effected, and these will be unburdened and calmed accordingly. in case of inflammation of the organs of the breast (lungs, heart), the blood is diverted to the abdomen, legs and lower arms through long-time packs, and the upper parts of the breast are cooled with short compresses. if the inflammation has its seat in the abdomen, this must be cooled off, while the diversion with longer-time packs is made to the legs and arms. ulcers are treated by applying extremely hot compresses, which are frequently changed, and the surrounding parts are cooled off and diversion is effected through nightly packs on the abdomen and on the legs. the hot compresses dissolve the diseased matter, so that the ulcer opens. thereupon cool compresses of 71 degrees to 64 degrees are applied and allowed to remain for 2-1/2 to 3 hours, which will effect quick healing without the necessity of an operation. _the main rule is never to divert towards a vital organ_ of the body, such as the lungs or heart; thus, in case of inflammation of the head, diversion must be attempted, not to the breast, but to the arms and legs. abdominal pack (24) the abdominal pack should be applied on infants and children whenever they show signs of illness in any way, and naturally, in cases of summer complaints, measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, pneumonia, typhoid fever, in which cases a pack should be applied during the entire course of the illness with slight intermissions only. as in acute diseases, it is also applied in chronic ones. (see descriptions to follow). its early application will often serve to prevent serious sickness. the abdominal pack reaches from the level of the base of the breast bone to the hips. it is made from a piece of linen crash about 12 inches in width which must cover the space from 6 inches below the arm-pits to the hips, while its length must be such that it can encircle the body, overlap upon the abdomen and be secured with tapes at the left side. a further piece of soft linen is needed to pass between the legs, to be fastened to the former, back and front, with safety-pins. the next requirement is a piece of woollen cloth, or blanket, folded double or treble as required, in breadth, about 6 inches wider than the linen crash and of equal length, with a shorter woollen strip for between the thighs, attached like the linen, back and front. for children a linen towel etc. with the accompanying woollen coverings, will be found, as a rule, sufficient; for infants, a properly folded piece of old linen. the linen as well as the woollen material must be properly folded before the pack is made, and measured, so that the patient need not be kept waiting while the pack is being placed on the body. [illustration: no. 1] the above cut shows how to apply the abdominal pack on an adult patient. the linen is saturated in two parts of water with one part of vinegar, at 64 to 75 degrees fahrenheit, well wrung out, and is placed on the woollen material in such a way that the latter extend about 2 to 3 inches on the upper and lower edge. the pack is now placed around the back of the patient, who sits in bed or is held in position by another. the patient's shirt is lifted and he is laid down on the moist linen, which is then quickly raised on both sides and folded over the abdomen. the same is done with the woollen material, which is then fastened tightly in the middle, the upper and lower corners with three safety pins. then the shirt is pulled down and the patient is warmly covered. in individual cases it is advisable sometimes to divide the pack into a back and front compress of greater proportions. in such cases the woollen cloth, which is used for the abdominal pack is placed underneath the patient as before. a towel is folded 6 to 8 times, so that it will grow warm slowly and thus may remain on the body for a longer time. this is placed under the back of the patient. then two properly folded towels, which are not wrung out very thoroughly, are put on the abdomen, and tucked down a little on both sides. the woollen cloth is thereupon fastened so as to keep the compresses in place, the arrangement being otherwise exactly as before. in such cases the back compress only needs to be changed every 2 to 3 hours, even in case of severe fever. the front towels may be changed several times in the meantime. since this system permits the application of the pack without disturbing the patient and making him sit up too often, it is very desirable in cases of severe illness. the undivided pack is often very uncomfortable for patients suffering from respiratory complaints. it is better to treat very excitable patients with front compresses only. when the stomach pack only is prescribed, as in catarrhal and nervous, stomach or liver complaints, which pack may be worn during the night as well as the day, a long, wide mesh shawl, with a bandage, 7 to 8 inches in width at each end, is most servicable, as it will reach around the body 4 or 5 times. in order to exclude the air as much as possible, the moist compress is first applied, and then the shawl is placed around the body in such a way that each succeeding turn covers the previous one to about one-half, in bandage form. the cross pack (25) this is applied in case of men's diseases and women's diseases of the sexual organs. to the woollen material and the linen crash of the abdominal pack, another piece, about half as long and about 7 inches wide, is sewed or pinned before application, in the form of a t. [illustration: no. 2] before the two ends of the abdominal pack are folded over on the front of the abdomen, the narrower piece is drawn up between the legs from behind, so that the end of it can be fastened to the two sides of the abdominal part of the pack that are folded over in front. as shown above, the abdominal pack must reach down as far as possible, and if a patient is unable to stand both packs, the moist part of the abdominal pack may be omitted, and only the regular pack over the sexual organs and the woollen part over the abdomen applied. in case the cross piece is for the purpose of cooling and contracting, it must be frequently renewed. women should accompany the ablutions mornings and evenings with injections of lukewarm water at 71 degrees to 82 degrees, and men should make ablutions of the sexual parts 5 to 6 times a day with water at 64 degrees to 71 degrees. the cross pack has the advantage of gradually putting back into normal position, the female organs, if they are in any way displaced. these packs will help to cure cases of leukorrhoea and gonorrhoea, locally too, without operations or the application of poisons, especially if applied at an early stage. leg packs (26) these are applied in a similar way to the abdominal pack. a towel or linen is doubled, moistened, and placed upon the woollen cloth, so that the woollen material extends about two inches beyond the upper and lower edges of the towel. these are laid together under one of the patient's legs, covering it from the middle of the thigh to the ankle, turned up from both sides and fastened with three safety pins. the other leg is packed in the same way, each one separately. [illustration: no. 3] in like manner partial packs of the calves or the feet are applied. in all of these cases it is more expedient and comfortable to use "knit" packs. cotton stockings of suitable length from which the foot has been removed, should take the place of the linen or towel in the packs previously described. they are moistened and covered with woollen stockings of corresponding length. the foot parts are to be used only for foot packs in a similar way. the woollen stocking should be as loose and comfortable as possible. in case of bent legs (through gout or otherwise) the moistened linen is wrapped around the leg like a bandage, and then a woollen bandage is wound over it. in cases of severe fever the wrists are also packed, no woollen cover, however, being necessary in this case. the leg pack has, in the first place, a diverting and consequently a calming effect. it is, therefore, of the highest value, next to the abdominal, cross, neck and shoulder packs, in all feverish and especially all chronic cases of disease where congestion in the head and breast, with consequent dizziness, headache, insomnia, pains in the lungs and heart, must be removed; moreover, in chronic cases, they assist in the effects of the abdominal pack. foot packs, that is, wet stockings, have a very favorable action upon headache, toothache and earache, and are best applied during the night. if they excite the patient too much, they may easily be taken off during the night; otherwise they should be followed by a cold ablution of the feet in the morning. nervous patients are usually unable to stand the wet stockings, which only work well if the feet become warm quickly, which, as a rule, is not the case in feverish illnesses. patients who suffer from cold feet should take a steam foot bath before applying cold foot packs. since the legs and the feet develop less heat than the abdomen, leg and foot packs do not require as thick material as abdominal packs, and are changed less frequently. they are best applied when the fever is at its height, in the late afternoon and at night. in case leg packs are continued for a long while, the legs show decreasing inclination to grow sufficiently warm. whenever this occurs, leg packs must be discontinued, or the packed legs must be warmed in an artificial manner. the diverting wrist packs are of special value, especially in all acute diseases of the lungs (inflammations, bleedings, hemorrhages) and the heart. neck pack (26) this is made by folding a piece of linen fourfold, long enough to reach twice around the neck. it is dipped in the vinegar-water at from 59 degrees to 64 degrees, placed around the neck and some woollen material wound over it, covering well the moist linen. the neck pack has its effect on the inside of the neck in case of tonsilitis, croup, etc. if stiffness of the neck, headache or similar pains are felt after its use, the moist linen should not be extended to the back part of the neck but only the front and sides. where the effect is to be extended to the trachea and its branches, the bronchia and the tips of the lungs, especially in the case of cough, it is still better to apply the following: shoulder pack (26) for this purpose a short towel is folded into a strip of about a hand's width, extending from one of the nipples across the opposite shoulder, around the neck, to the other nipple. [illustration: no. 4] a woollen shawl or fabric, fastened together with a safety pin, must cover the moist towel completely. the shoulder pack is always applied together with the abdominal pack. it is put on first, and the two ends are pulled under the abdominal pack, and then fastened. [illustration: no. 5] the scotch pack (26) the scotch pack is of the greatest advantage in all diseases of the trachea and the lungs, also in case of whooping cough. two towels are sewn together lengthwise and, as a moist pack, are placed over the breast of the patient so that the seam will be in the center. the ends are crossed over the back, one end is brought forward over the left and one over the right shoulder; then the ends are crossed once more and tucked under. a woollen shawl or covering is placed over the moist towels as usual, so that it completely covers the moist pack. the ends are tucked under the pack in front. the pack is fastened with safety pins where the ends cross. the divided scotch pack (26) this pack is, in some respects better than the last, since it is less liable to form creases, and the upper portion may be changed more frequently for the purposes of cooling, than the undivided pack. it is used together with the abdominal pack. [illustration: no. 6] [illustration: no. 7] instead of using one strip 4 to 6 inches wide, folded 4 to 6 times, as for the shoulder pack, two strips are taken. one strip is passed across each shoulder, and crossed on the breast as well as on the back. the woollen strips used for covering are of course wider and of double thickness. the ends of the two strips are drawn underneath the abdominal pack, and held by it, and the two shoulder packs may be changed as often as necessary for cooling purposes without necessitating a simultaneous change of the abdominal pack. the shawl (26) (this is an application similar to "kneipp's shawl") a large square piece of linen crash from 35 to 40 inches in width is folded into a triangle, dipped in the vinegar-water at 59 to 64 degrees, and after being wrung out, is applied diagonally round the neck. the upper part of the back, the cervix, the neck, the shoulders and the upper parts of the breast are thus covered. a woollen wrap, the ends of which are pinned together on the back, will cover the whole pack tightly. this pack must be changed if the patient becomes too hot (after 1/2 to 2 hours), otherwise it may stay on all night. in case of feverish catarrh it is used together with the three-quarter pack. among other things the "shawl pack" causes the cooling of the blood which streams to the head. thus its effect in case of congestion and brain trouble is explained. _neck and shoulder packs, scotch packs and shawl packs must always be used in connection with a diverting leg, calf or foot pack._ the three-quarter pack (27) next to the abdominal pack the three-quarter pack is one of the best applications, especially for children. a piece of woollen cloth, or a single blanket, as long as the patient and sufficiently wide to reach all around him, is placed on the bed in such a way as to be level with the arm-pits of the patient. a bedspread of about the same size as the blanket is then dipped into cool vinegar-water, wrung out well, and placed on the blanket so that the upper edge of the latter protrudes. the patient is now laid on the bedspread so that it reaches to the arm-pits. the moist spread is then turned up on both sides, part of it is tucked between the legs, and the protruding lower end is laid on or between the feet. thus the body, from the arms down, is completely wrapped in the wet spread, and the woollen blanket is covered over it as usual and fastened with safety pins. the patient's shirt is then adjusted. the head, the neck, the uppermost part of the breast and back are not packed. another blanket is placed over the patient and well fastened on all sides. a pillow must be placed between the feet and the lower edge of the bed. to avoid cold feet the wet spread should reach only to the ankles, and the feet be covered with the woollen blanket, or a hot bottle placed near them. [illustration: no. 8] the three-quarter pack is very valuable in feverish diseases, since it takes effect on so large an area of the skin. it is also very helpful in case of meningitis and other inflammations. it should, however, not be applied by a layman, except with the greatest caution. the inflamed parts must be covered with compresses, as in case of pneumonia and inflammation of the heart. if three-quarter packs excite children too much, they must be replaced by abdominal and leg packs. the patient should remain in the pack as long as he does not become too hot or restless. this may occur after 20 to 30 minutes, in case of severe fever; otherwise, the pack may last an hour or longer. the pack is very useful with children when indications of disease appear. in many cases it will develop and cure disease, such as measles, if it is properly applied for 2 to 2-1/2 hours, and followed by a bath at 77 degrees or an ablution at 64 degrees. when fever and inflamation begin to slacken, and also during convalescence, three-quarter or whole packs applied daily or every second day, followed by an ablution, are very useful for the purpose of solution and excretion. in such cases the moist heat should be conserved by applying additional blankets or comforters to the limit of endurance. the half pack (25) the half pack is applied like the three-quarter pack, with the exception that it reaches only from the arm-pits to the knees. it is especially necessary to close it carefully around the legs. the half pack allowing the body more freedom, it may be kept on all night. it is most effective on the thighs in cases of sciatica. it is, however, also applied in case of febrile disease. the whole pack this is applied in nearly the same way as the three-quarter pack, but includes also the arms, breast and neck. [illustration: no. 9] in this case the blanket must reach to above the ears. on top of the moist spread a towel is laid, which is first drawn around the abdomen. the patient's arms must be somewhat bent, so that they will not oppress the breast when packed with it. otherwise the arms may be treated just like the legs, so that the moist spread touches them everywhere. when it is impossible to fasten the blanket at the neck with safety pins, it can be tucked firmly under both shoulders. the blanket must be drawn tightly over the shoulders and the ends tucked under the opposite shoulder. it must exceed the length of the patient by 18 inches. in case one blanket is not large enough, two must be used, one of which may be drawn down 6 inches below the other. [illustration: no. 10] additional blankets, pillows and comforters may be used in case of high fever. the advice already given in regard to the differences in packs, depending on their various purposes of cooling, diverting, calming or dissolving, must also determine in this case as to the extra amount of covering. the access of cold air at the neck and legs, however, must always be carefully guarded against. an ablution or bath must follow each whole pack. if properly applied, the "whole pack" will be of the greatest benefit in all febrile and chronic cases. inflammations require partial packs, while at the same time dissolving or diverting packs of longer duration are applied to the parts of the body which are not affected. small compresses small compresses may be applied to any part of the body. they reduce ulcers and slight inflammations; they dissolve coagulation in cases of rheumatism or gout, even of long standing. a medium sized piece of linen folded six to eight times, is useful in case of toothache or earache. the compress must be covered with a woollen cloth and fastened as securely as possible. dissolving compresses must be covered more thickly than cooling ones. special compresses are sometimes needed on the head, on the heart and around the neck to prevent congestions. they are covered only slightly, and like all cooling compresses, are changed as soon as they become hot. gymnastics, massage and breathing exercises (28, 29, 30) the three items under "physical treatment": 28. _gymnastics_, 29. _massage_ and 30. _breathing_, require only a few explanatory remarks. their common object is, by means of external mechanical aid, to stimulate the circulation of the blood which is undergoing the process of regeneration. they remove obstacles to circulation and produce movements and reactions. while, in the case of massage, this external aid must, as a rule, be given by a third person in order to be effective, gymnastics and breathing exercises depend upon the patient himself. all of them, however, have the common attribute that, in order to be useful, they must be strictly individual. the old proverb: "no one thing is good for everybody," is fittingly applied in this case. there are few things that are so much abused as this rule in regard to gymnastics. i cannot urge too strongly the importance of caution in advising such exercises. while much of what is claimed for them may be good and true, the governing question as to _what is suitable in an individual case_, can obviously not be determined by any such impersonal advice. it is the exclusive right and the duty of the attending physician to prescribe whether, and to what extent, these exercises should be applied in each case. this is true of gymnastics even when practised by reputedly healthy people. by executing certain movements, they may develop disease and weaken certain organs, through ignorance of their abnormal condition. in case gymnastics or breathing exercises are prescribed as part of a treatment they should be executed in strict accordance with the order of the attending hygienic-dietetic physician. one of the great principles never to be overlooked in gymnastics is, that in order to have the desired effect they must be carried out with the greatest regularity. as to massage, this requires knowledge of anatomy in general, and of the anatomy of the individual to be treated, in particular. only in this way can the desired effect be produced on certain muscles and nerves, with the further consequence that their movements promote the correct and health-giving circulation of the blood. here again the governing factor must be the prescription of the hygienic-dietetic physician who has studied the individual case and knows the effect he wishes to produce by means of massage, and how to procure the same. books on massage and its general practice without knowledge of the particular case, will really accomplish nothing. electric vibrators in certain cases, and where it is not a question of general massage, the patient will be able to apply massage for himself according to the physician's prescription. in this connection he will find an electric vibrator of valuable assistance. it will allow him to extend the area of the self-applied massage, but again, it will be useful only to the extent that it is carried out in strict accordance with instructions. oxygenator, radium and salt baths (31, 32) since the discovery of radio-activity and the many effects which the presence of radium in certain waters and minerals produces on the human body, it has been the special task of research to find means of giving humanity in general the benefit of this important discovery. the radium preparation, called "oxygenator," possesses the quality of oxidizing about five times as quickly as any other known substance, and thus removing the degenerated and diseased cells of the human body accordingly. this material itself, as well as other combinations of radio products and salts i use and prescribe for half or whole baths, as the case may require. they are of the greatest assistance in carrying out the course of treatment in each individual case. what in former times could be effected only through expensive trips to the few famous healing springs of the world, can now be accomplished in the comfort of the home or the sanatorium. but these measures, too, should be followed only in strict accordance with the physician's orders, bearing in mind that there is such a thing as "too much" even of so valuable an energizer as this. the diseases to be treated and the application of the method. having given, in the foregoing paragraphs, a brief description of the course of healing which i advocate, i am now about to give a short explanation of the different methods to be applied in treating various forms of disease, all of which have been already explained as degenerations of the twelve tissues of the body. this will enable patients to apply the prescriptions given to their individual cases. ..._once more, however, i warn every one not to commit the mistake of believing that a layman can cure his own disease by even the most careful study of a book such as this is._ to the patient, who has been led into the path of health, it will, as is its purpose, give such instructions as will enable him to see his condition plainly. _he will then be able the more effectively to follow the instructions of the physician, and--what is of equal importance--to inform him correctly in regard to his own observations of his condition and the changes brought about by the treatment._ there is another point that i wish to mention here at the outset. disease, although reduced to its last analysis under this system, is never so simple that it can be determined as the degeneration of one tissue exclusively. the unity of the body, the close connection of the various tissues, and the gradual transition from one into another, make it impossible to draw the lines as sharply and distinctly as between chemical elements. for the sake of classification we make the degeneration of a certain tissue the distinguishing element between various forms of disease. let us not forget, however, that this does not mean more than the _degeneration of the main tissue_ which is affected by this particular complaint, while the same is also characterized by simultaneous degeneration of one or more of the other tissues, only to a lesser degree. it is, therefore, not inconsistent if, in giving the more detailed description thereof, several tissues are mentioned as being degenerated, and not only the one particular tissue from which the class derives its name. i. degeneration of the plasmo tissue. _anaemia, chlorosis, pernicious anaemia. a. scrofulosis. b. tuberculosis. c. syphilis. d. cancer._ to many who are unfamiliar with the results of modern research, and even to many physicians of the old school of medicine, the family of disease forms, as enumerated above, will look somewhat formidable. it comprises the most disastrous plagues of mankind,--plagues for which cures have been so frantically sought with such an ominous lack of results. it thus constitutes one of the most practical revelations of the biological method of research to positively proclaim that the common cause of these manifestly so different constitutional diseases is one and the same. that this fact was not recognized long ago is the reason they have been pronounced incurable by so many physicians who, by poisoning symptoms, established only a semblance of cure, until biological study led to the recognition of the truth. it discovered that all of these constitutional diseases are essentially blood defects and degenerations, resulting in the destruction of the body tissue in general,--the necessary and logical consequence of an imperfect condition of the blood. so there is a ray of hope for humanity breaking through the night of despair; that is, that its worst foes can be made to disappear in due time by attack directed at their common root. not the knife of the surgeon, not the poison of the physician of the old school, but simply harmonizing the individual life with the laws of nature, will eradicate the cause. the tremendous importance of the subject, the wide field to be covered, makes it wellnigh impossible to treat the matter within the present limits as extensively as it should be treated. a large part of my book, "dare to be healthy," of which this is but an abstract, deals exhaustively with this topic. there the reader will find the most interesting details in regard to the connection between these widely divergent forms of disease. their nature as blood-diseases carries with it the fact that they are preeminently persistent through many generations, so that today there is but a minority of human beings in whom all tendency towards them is missing. so predisposition advances with the continuity of environment, the one point at which, at least in the case of the so-called white plague, or tuberculosis, an effort against it has been made. _the development towards the eradication of these evils has been neutralised by the overwhelming importance science has given to the theory of the bacillus as the incentive element of disease, while it is only a product of the same. the serum and anti-toxin therapy, which in its fight against the bacillus, lost sight of the first task of medicine, that of fighting the disease, was the logical consequence thereof._ the blood liquid which consists of the plasma and red and white blood corpuscles, and is the carrier of the lymph to such parts of the body as are not fed directly by the lymphatic vessels, such as the nerves, must have a well defined chemical composition in order to fulfil its task. what we call deficiency of blood is, with the exception of traumatically inflicted losses, normal in quantity, to a great extent, but deficient in quality. this consists in the chemical composition and the proportion of nutritive salts in the serum, or in the relation and quality of the oxygen carriers, that is, the red and white corpuscles, whose task it is to remove foreign and disturbing elements from the blood. it is obvious that deficiency in these elements may be of infinite variety and of the most far reaching consequence for the various tissues of the body, which receive their nourishment therefrom. according to the nature of the effects which this variety in blood deficiency (dysaemia) produces, we distinguish certain groups of degenerations in the body, for which names were established at a time when the unity of these forms of disease had not yet been recognized. thus, where dysaemia produces only general debility, we call it anaemia, which may gradually become destructive and develop into "pernicious" anaemia. when it affects girls with all kinds of disturbances in menstruation, perverting their appetite and causing a greenish color of the skin, it is called "chlorosis." if the symptoms are the destruction of the lymphatic glands, so often noticed in children said to be hereditarily affected, we speak of "scrofulosis." when erroneous composition of the blood, produced by poor living and unsanitary environment, causes destruction of the lungs or of certain bones or tissues, the name "tuberculosis" indicates that the decaying condition of the affected tissues results in producing numerous tubercle bacilli. in the many cases in which the destruction is even more widespread, attacking the skin, bones, brain and other tissues or organs, and where the decomposing poison, if not hereditary, has entered the blood by way of sexual intercourse, the ominous word "syphilis" indicates the resulting blood disease. when the weakened tissues, which are not sufficiently fed with the elements they need for their normal existence, cannot resist the developing power of the phosphates prevalent in the blood, the much dreaded malign "cancer growths" appear. the destructions wrought by dysaemia in these various forms, cannot be fully described in this brief abstract. they can all be reduced, arrested and forced to give place to healthy regeneration by the hygienic-dietetic healing system. in each case, however, the possibility of cure will depend entirely on the degree of decomposition which has been reached. if the trouble is from hereditary tendency it is obviously harder to fight, and a long regenerative treatment may be anticipated. if attacked at an early stage, complete restoration to health is possible in a comparatively short period. the most careful and thorough investigation by the physician must precede any treatment. it is his task to prescribe accordingly, with the development of the disease and its gradual disappearance. the simultaneous direct and indirect affection of various tissues, especially of the lymphatics, will necessitate more complicated application of the various nutritive compositions. therapy. _diet: i. for the anaemic._ all that grows in the sunshine makes blood. therefore, the food of an anaemic person should consist mainly of articles of diet which grow above the surface, such as green vegetables, fresh greens, fruit, berries. since the blood has already grown very thin, as little fluid as possible should be taken, and for this reason the boasted milk cures are far from advisable. if all hot reasoning is avoided and little salt and sugar are used, no thirst will be felt. coffee, tea, beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks are to be avoided because they consume oxygen, such as also do thin soups, lemonade, malt coffee, and other beverages of slight food value. _breakfast_: in summer, a glass of cold milk, sweet or sour, and with it strawberries, huckleberries, cherries, or other fruit in season; in winter milk or cocoa, oatmeal porridge with bread (whole wheat, whole rye), or something similar. when the bowels are sluggish, take a little fruit on rising in the morning and at bedtime. _dinner_: cereals, rice, macaroni, dumplings and eggs, with fresh greens, spinach, fresh peas, fresh beans, cauliflower, all varieties of cabbage, cucumbers, pumpkins and squashes. root vegetables are not excluded. celery and parsnips alone interfere with the renewal of blood. they ought not to be eaten frequently. _afternoon lunch_: fruit, milk or one cup only of weak cocoa. if the appetite is good, omit this meal. _supper_: every day, if possible, some fresh greens seasoned with lemon juice, particularly cresses, lettuce, endive, spinach and red cabbage, with puddings of meal or eggs. sour milk with fruit and mild cheese, may be taken for a change. in winter, thick soup or porridge with fruit, preferably apples and huckleberries. also an apple at bedtime. anaemic people commonly have no wish for meat. they force themselves to eat it in the belief that only on a meat diet is it possible for them to become strong. they would do better to follow their inclination and refrain from it altogether. they regain health faster on a purely vegetable diet, one special reason being that the digestion is less burdened. fattening, combined with rest and rational remedies, like dech-manna-diet, are the best means of curing anaemia. the deficient appetite must be stimulated through tastefully prepared dishes and much variety. the patient will thus unconsciously be induced to take more food. delicacies and dainty dishes foster pleasure in eating, and a little food between the principal meals will help to make up the necessary amount. spinach, also egg omelettes filled with spinach, puddings, groat, oatmeal, light dishes prepared with plenty of eggs, sugar, butter and milk, also roasted meat if desired are the best articles of food for anaemic patients. drinks that are recommended are: strong malt extracts, buttermilk, sour milk, dech-manna chocolate, fruit coffees, fruits, berries, honey and dech-manna-diet. _i. and ii. a. for scrofulous patients._ two affections, rachitis and scrofula, frequently co-exist, and the same dietary is appropriate for both. scrofulous patients often have a great longing for sulphur and for irritating compounds. frequently they consume salt greedily, eat charcoal, onions, and other piquant substances. this indicates their need of vegetables and fresh greens full of nutritious salts and of pungent taste and smell because of the amount of sulphur they contain. various kinds of cabbage are appropriate for the principal dinner dish, cooked or raw in the form of a salad, with horseradish to give them relish. for seasoning of vegetables and salads, onions and leeks may be used unsparingly; onion soups will be found palatable and will improve the lymph. at supper water-cress, lettuce, radishes, and sandwiches made of chives are preferable to sausage and rich cheese. fresh, mild cheese makes a good side-dish. meat should be eaten sparingly, because it rapidly changes into products of decomposition in the lymph, and so the harmful rather than the useful fluids of the body are increased. in connection with rachitis and scrofula a ravenous appetite is often manifested. this is a morbid symptom. it arises from exhaustion of the stomach and intestines, for no increase of bodily weight accompanies it. the greater part of the nourishment taken passes out of the system without being digested. such persons, whether adults or children, should have their meals at regular, short intervals, for they are unable to restrain their morbid eagerness for food. after a few days of strict diet they lose their appetite, a condition that must be accepted until a natural hunger takes its place and results in a normal increase in bodily weight. it is well known that many people suffer from hives and eczema after having eaten certain dishes, such as crawfish, strawberries, oysters, honey, tomatoes or cheese. for such people to refrain from partaking of this kind of food is no protection against eczema. only regeneration of the blood will lead to a cure. as a rule such patients should avoid sharp and spicy dishes; especially desirable is a diet of fresh, good meat, not in very large quantity, alternating with days on which no meat at all is taken. it is imperative to avoid sharp cheese, such as roquefort, mustard, sardelles, mixed pickles and similar spicy dishes. form vi is best for patients suffering from scrofulosis. _i. and ii. b. for tuberculosis patients._ patients who suffer from diseases of the lungs or other tubercular tissues do not require food of different composition than is generally recommended, provided their digestive organs are healthy. they must have albumen (medium fat beef, veal lean pork, haddie, pickled herring, eggs, brick cheese, peas) and fat in sufficient, even abundant quantity. warmed milk is recommended especially. variety in food should prevail. this will be the best means of overcoming the dangerous lack of appetite, which must be stimulated by delicacies and cleverly prepared dishes given between meals, sandwiches, cold fowl, jellies, piquant cold meats. the single portions should be small but frequent. good beer rich in malt, sherry, malaga and other sweet wines, are all able to promote the appetite, unless the physician orders strict abstinence from alcohol. in case of haemorrhage of the lungs, the physician will generally prescribe liquid food exclusively, and his orders must be observed strictly. in such cases it is very advisable to take gelatine, which can be prepared in a variety of ways, or meat jellies. care should be taken in all forms of tubercular patients, that the special tissue gets its special composition. _i. and ii. c. for syphilitic patients._ the diet for people affected with syphilis does not vary from the one given under i and ii. a. for scrofulous patients. just as in the case of scrofulosis, a rich diet is recommended for syphilis. (form vi). in former times starvation-cures were applied in case of syphilis, based on the hypothesis that diseased humours in the body should be reduced. in view of the noxious effect which the disease exercises on the entire body, this method has been given up. in case of the hereditary syphilis of infants, the best possible diet for the mother must always be insisted upon. (never less than form vi and dech-manna eubiogen, with each meal). if nursing by the mother is impossible, and since a wet-nurse cannot be subjected to the danger of contamination through the child, easily digestible substitutes for mother's milk should be selected; that is, not cow's milk, but other approved nutritive foods for infants. it will be most beneficial to add dech-manna eubiogen liquid to the child's food. _i. and ii. d. for cancer patients._ cachectic patients should not, as some authorities recommended in former times, be starved by poor diet in addition to the losses which they already suffer when afflicted with diseases, such as cancer. except in case of cancer of the stomach and bowels, when i would recommend form iii and, with gradual improvement, an increase up to form vi, the latter form of diet should always be prescribed in case of cancer. special instructions, as given under the heading, i. and ii. c. for syphilitic patients, should also be followed in these cases. _dech-manna-compositions_: (only main compositions, specialities to doctor's order). i. anaemia: plasmogen, eubiogen. i. and ii. a. scrofulosis: plasmogen, lymphogen, dermogen, eubiogen. i. and ii. b. tuberculosis: =plasmogen=, =lymphogen=, mucogen, gelatinogen, =eubiogen= i. and ii. c. syphilis: =plasmogen=, =lymphogen=, dermogen, =eubiogen= i. and ii. d. cancer: =plasmogen=, =lymphogen=, =eubiogen.= _physical_: i. anaemia. breathing exercises. i. and ii. a. scrofulosis: partial packs, oxygenator baths, radium and salt whole baths. i. and ii. b. tuberculosis: ablutions, breathing exercises. i. and ii. c. syphilis abdominal packs, partial packs, oxygenator, radium and salt half baths. i. and ii. d. cancer: oxygenator, radium and salt whole baths. ii. degeneration of the lymph tissue. the lymph, the second life-giving fluid, is first drawn from the chyle, the milky juice, into which all food is converted after it leaves the stomach, and after having directly fed the nerves, enters the blood through the ductus thoracicus, and accompanies it in its circulation. according to its nature some degenerations of the lymph tissue are coincident with degenerations of the blood, and especially the plasma, such as scrofulosis, tuberculosis, syphilis and cancer, while other degenerations of the lymph tissue coincide with degenerations of the lymph-fed nerve tissue and are consequently treated under that heading. iii. degeneration of the nerve tissue. the nerves which form the very complicated system of gelatinous cords of various sizes which emanate from the brain and the spinal cord, send thousands of branches throughout the entire body. they communicate the impressions from the outside to the brain and convey its conscious or unconscious (instinctive) mandate to the muscles of all organs. the nerves are fed by the lymphatic system and are everywhere accompanied by blood-vessles, and the oxygenous blood in the latter conveys the oxygen to the nerve substance, which it consumes and thus develops power sufficient to execute the various functions. naturally the supply that replaces the burned nerve substance, must be adequate, and if for any reason whatsoever more nerve substance is consumed than the body is able to renew by the time it is needed, the nerve system becomes degenerated and numerous disturbances are the consequence. this is the great field of mental functions and disturbances, of moods and reactions on muscular tracts which in themselves are healthy, but are paralyzed in their work through the defective functioning of the power-conveying nerves. again it is impossible here to give more than a general description, showing on what conditions nervous diseases are based. the manifold manifestations of this degeneration were combined into groups under the old system in which the greek name of a system was everything, its practical explanation but little. the principal ways in which these degenerations manifest themselves are pains, mental agony and derangement, temporary cessation of functions, cramps, involuntary movements and similar disturbances. the names generally applied to them are neuralgia and neuritis,--causing pains in the nerves of certain parts of the body; neurasthenia,--consisting mainly of the complete relaxation of tension in the nervous system, causing sadness, inability for work, etc.; asthma, cramp-like cessation of certain functions of the small vessels of the lungs, alveoli, which impedes respiration; epilepsy, temporary cramp in the greater part of the body, causing loss of consciousness, involuntary movements of the limbs, etc.; st. vitus's dance,--a similar affection, usually in children. while the complicated nature of nerve diseases requires very careful treatment of great individual variety, the general rule is that the re-enforcement of the nerves with the material of which they are built, together with regeneration of the blood, which, when in normal condition prevents such disturbances, will bring about a cure. of course this is sometimes a slow process, especially when, as in the case of epilepsy, the nervous disease is of an hereditary character, and the resistant power of the nerves is correspondingly weak. in regard to one of the most disastrous diseases, caused by degeneration of the most important nerve i.e. the vagus, see under "catarrh"--section vi. therapy. _diet_: if the entire nervous system is in a condition of pathological irritability, as in cases of neurasthenia and hysteria, it is the object of rational diet to keep all irritations from such a vibrating organism. to prescribe: "no coffee, no tea, no alcohol, no strong spices and no tobacco," will do no harm, and in most cases will prove beneficial. nothing is more absurd than the attempt to strengthen nervous people by the use of alcohol. when forbidden alcohol entirely, it will very often transpire that some symptom, like headache, neuralgia, etc., was due to its use. whenever the general conditions permit the continued use of alcohol to a certain extent, it must not be left to the patient's judgment to determine how far this may go, but definite quantities must be prescribed in each individual case, although the patient's experience may be of assistance in determining the quantity. (moritz). good results have been obtained by limiting the meat diet of extremely nervous patients, and prescribing for them a diet consisting principally of milk, eggs, cereals, vegetables and fruits. in this way the irritating effect of many of the meat extracts is avoided. at the same time the digestive work of the stomach, reduced by the limited meat diet, and the stimulation of stool, always promoted by a prevalence of vegetable elements in the diet, exercises a beneficial influence on the condition of the patient. disturbances of the stomach and intestines are very closely connected with neurasthenia, loss of strength of the nerve-tissue, and hysteria, in some cases being the cause, and in other cases, which occur more frequently, the consequence of the same. excessive and, more rarely, defective secretion of hydrochloric acid by the stomach cells, cramps, general atony or debility, of the stomach, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, tympanites (excessive production of gases), may all arise from nervous causes. in such cases the diet must be the same as given for nervous disease. not only in these cases, but in most instances of nervous diseases, a diet which does not produce irritation and excludes alcohol, will have to be prescribed. the danger of alcohol in cases of peripheric neuritis, epilepsy and mental diseases, is obvious. epileptics, like other nervous patients, should receive a diet that is mainly, but not solely, a vegetable diet, exclusive of all highly spiced food. the same principles govern in case of basedow's disease, which is a special type of irritating disease. absolutely necessary foodstuffs to be recommended in this case are clams, sole and water cress, because they contain more organic iodine than any other known food-stuff. as iodine is the basic mineral of the thyroid gland, and other preparations are poisonous or dangerous, the necessity of partaking of these dishes becomes obvious, in addition to the fact that if properly prepared, they are delicious. this organic iodine will regulate the secretions of the glands. a diet void of irritation is also most important for children who suffer from nervous conditions, such as st. vitus's dance, involuntary urination during sleep, etc. alcohol and alkaline and carbonated drinks must also be avoided in all nervous conditions that are combined with hyperaemia of the brain, as meningitis, apoplexia, tumors of the brain, etc., since they produce congestions. special dietetic directions cannot be given for all of the innumerable varieties of the various other nervous complaints. the general principle must always govern, that sufficient food is the natural foundation, not only of the self-healing tendencies of the organism, but also of any effective therapy. in special cases where neurasthenia and hysteria or nervous dyspepsia prevail, it will be necessary to apply a special diet to be prescribed by the physician, who must understand the underlying cause, which is, 9 times out of ten, the degeneration of the vagus nerve. see article on influenza. dech-manna-compositions _(only main compositions, specialities to doctor's order)_ acute form, neuralgia, neuritis: =neurogen=, plasmogen, eubiogen. chronic form, asthma, epilepsy, st. vitus's dance: =neurogen=, plasmogen, lymphogen, eubiogen. _physical_: acute form: partial packs. chronic form: partial packs, massage iv. degeneration of the bone tissue. =rickets, osteomalacia and similar diseases.= the condition of the skeleton,--the solid structure of the osseous frame,--is of the greatest importance to the maintenance of health. its various forms of disease,--such as deficient development of bone; osteomalacia,--softening of the bones; flat foot; caries--molecular decay or death of the bones, especially of the teeth,--are based mostly upon rachitis (rickets). rachitis should be fought at the time the child develops in the womb, by properly feeding the mother and preparing her to give it, after birth, healthy milk, with all the elements necessary for bone structure. rachitis is principally lack of lime in the food, which causes parts of the bones to remain soft instead of becoming rigid. it is a constitutional, often hereditary, disease caused by poor nutrition and by influences of environment, such as marshy regions and humid climates. the lack of lime in the food is often obvious when children show a tendency to eat chalk, and even to scratch walls in order to eat the lime obtained therefrom. more solid food, that gives work to the teeth and the digestive organs, is certainly advisable in such cases. the symptoms of rachitis become apparent at the pelvis and at the wide open, soft parts of the skull, the unossified fontanelles. the cartilage in the wrists and ankles becomes thick. slow development of the teeth, swollen glands in the neck, inflammations in different parts of the body, cramps and convulsions,--among others, of the vocal cords,--are further indications. in the progressive development of the disease, the softened cartilage grows and protrudes everywhere, especially in the thorax, such as "rachitis rosary." crooked bones and hunchbacks not infrequently develop. _therapy._ _diet_: older children should receive chopped meat, eggs, zwieback or whole grain bread. bouillon will stimulate their digestion. uffelmann recommends a mixture of one part veal bouillon and two to three parts of milk, which children like. it is unnecessary to give calcium directly, when a rachitic diet is observed. sufficient is contained in the dech-manna-diet, given principally in milk and as a rule also in the drinking water. quantities of amylaceous (starchy) food, candy, cakes and other sweets, coarse vegetables and potatoes must be avoided, since with children they are the cause of stomach trouble, resulting in decomposition and the formation of acids in the intestines. _breakfast_: milk and whole grain bread, or oatmeal porridge and fruit.--whole grain bread signifies any variety of bread made from flour containing the entire contents of the grain, the gluten as well as the bran; among these are graham-bread, rye-bread, pilot-bread, and rhenish black bread. _mid-morning lunch_: raw scraped carrots; for small children and for those having poor teeth, oat flakes. _dinner_: every other day--legumes, prepared in various ways, and fruit, vegetables or fresh greens; for example: (a) white beans boiled to the consistency of a thick soup, with apples. (b) fresh pea soup containing rice, barley, sweet corn or oatmeal; a thick pea-porridge with parsley, served with carrots, cabbage, white turnips, red cabbage, savoy cabbage, or various fresh greens; or simply browned. (c) dried pea soup with similar contents; barley porridge, fresh greens, baked potatoes; or browned and eaten with any vegetables. (d) lentils boiled in soup with the same contents as before; or as porridge, particularly with potatoes and fresh greens. care must be taken never to eat leguminous products in large quantities, because their nutritious properties are so high. potatoes should be used whole when added to other vegetables, and steamed not strained, because they easily lose thereby their valuable sulphuric contents. _afternoon lunch_: fruit and whole grain bread, or a glass of milk and bread. _supper_: in summer, cold or warm porridge with fruit and fresh greens, and besides these millet, buckwheat, oats, barley and graham-bread, as especially efficient bone material. sweet or sour milk proves a relishing addition. in winter, soup made of the above grains, or of potatoes not deprived of their mineral contents by peeling and straining. _dech-manna-compositions_: =osseogen=, plasmogen, cartillogen, eubiogen. _physical_: gymnastics, massage. v. degeneration of the muscular tissue. =muscular rheumatism, sciatica, infantile paralysis, atrophy, amyloid organs.= the muscles, about 400 pairs, which must perform all the actual work of the body, require good nourishment through the blood, which will rapidly replace the cells that are constantly used up. muscular degeneration is caused by disturbances in the quality and circulation of the blood. interruption in the proper circulation of the blood, stagnation etc., cause _rheumatism_ with intense pains, and this can be removed only by restoring the undisturbed circulation of the blood, carrying all substances requisite for the proper nutrition of the muscles. if disease of the muscular tissue combines with a diseased condition of the accompanying nerves, we speak of _sciatica_. infantile paralysis, which often appears suddenly, muscular atrophy, which develops slowly, _progressive and chronic atrophy_ of the muscles, are also forms of muscular disease, combined with destruction of the accompanying nerve tissue. a special group of muscular diseases consists of amyloid (fatty) degeneration of vital muscle substance, as for instance of the heart, the kidneys, the liver. these are also caused by faulty composition of the blood, which does not feed the muscles with the substances required and thus causes them to degenerate by developing too much fat. the predisposition for such forms of disease is very often inherited. amyloid degeneration is often combined with wasting diseases, such as atrophy, tuberculosis and dropsy. _therapy._ _diet_: sufferers from gout must always be guided by the necessity of avoiding all food that contains large quantities of acid. in a general way it is also necessary to live moderately in every respect and so avoid all excesses. there are a number of dishes that are harmful to such patients. among them are various meats, especially dark roast meat, also game. in general, and especially in very severe cases, it is better to refrain from white meat also. spleen, liver, kidney, sweetbread, brains are absolutely prohibited, also sausage and smoked and canned meats, oily fish, especially eel, salmon, pike, and all smoked fish, because they may create a large amount of uric acid. the amount of meat eaten must not exceed 200 grams per day. the following must also be avoided: all sharp cheeses, cabbage, sauerkraut, and beans. among vegetables the following are recommended: asparagus, celery and potatoes. the vegetables containing oxalic acid, such as spinach, sorrel, rhubarb and cress it is best to avoid. butter is permitted in small quantities, also eggs. sweet farinose dishes are unnecessary. tea and coffee are allowed as beverages in very small amounts. the principal drinks, however, should be mineral waters, such as vichy, apollinaris, etc., which may be varied from time to lime. it is strongly recommended that the patients eat much fruit. fruit-acids promote good circulation. _breakfast_: (a) in winter, tea made from the leaves of the haw, blackberry, or strawberry, cereal coffee, weak cocoa with bread and butter. (b) in summer, sour milk, fruit juices, or fruit and bread; among fruits particularly strawberries, currants, gooseberries, huckleberries, cherries, grapes, apples. _mid-morning lunch_: radishes mashed with apples, also a raw cucumber or tomato in the form of a salad. _dinner_: no meat, no soup; fresh greens, fresh vegetables with potatoes, rice, macaroni, and a dish of corn, rice, groats, peas, beans, tomatoes or mushrooms. in addition, light custard with fruit or sweetmeats with fruit. _afternoon lunch_: fruit only. _supper_: fresh lettuce, with macaroni, baked potatoes, pancakes, custard; or radishes with cream and potatoes, custard, mild cheese and leeks. exclusive fruit dietaries, comprising strawberries, currants, cherries and grapes, are effective in preventing eruptions on the skin and removing their effects. from one to three-quarters of a pound of fruit should be eaten at a meal, either with a little bread or with sour milk, and at dinner as a desert. in winter, from three to seven lemons a day serve the same purpose. the juice is used without sugar and with as little water as possible, never with the meal, but a little before, or in the morning on an empty stomach. only fresh lemons should be used for this purpose, not the prepared lemon juice which is on the market. tomatoes may be eaten in the raw state, likewise. in mild cases of gout and rheumatism some crisp lean meat and fish may be eaten, but not every day. a diet without meat has a better curative effect upon the disease. alcohol is to be shunned as totally inadmissible. the wines which contain no alcohol must serve as substitutes. _special diet: for diseases of the heart and inactive kidneys._ patients, who are afflicted with any kind of heart or kidney disease, must be very careful never to overload the stomach. they should eat small meals, at frequent intervals, and avoid irritating food; the amount of liquids and milk must be determined by the physician. a moderate amount of salt only is allowed, and if the physician so prescribes, a diet containing little salt, must be observed. in case of acute inflammation of the kidneys, meat is absolutely prohibited; the best diet is an exclusive milk-diet, consisting of at least 1 to 1-1/2 quarts fresh milk, and in certain cases warmed milk, taken by the spoonful; the quantity to be increased, if necessary, to 3 and 4 quarts per day. instead of milk, buttermilk, sour milk, kefir, koumiss or yoghurt may be taken. beef broths are strictly prohibited. in their place glutenous soups, of oats, barley sago, tapioca, rice, groat, may be taken; furthermore leguminos soups, made from the preparations of the firms knorr, liebig, maggi, and others. 1 to 2 spoonfuls of these preparations are put into a cupful of water, some salt is added and the mixture is then boiled. a more varied diet is allowed in lighter forms of the disease, such as milk dishes, mashed potatoes, preserved apples or pears, rolls and butter, bread, cream, cream cheese, farinaceous dishes, eggs and green vegetables, meat according to the orders of the physician. spices and alcohol must be strictly avoided. in cases of chronic kidney diseases, greater variety should be observed in the diet. in any event, however, a certain quantity of milk should be taken, not less than 1 quart per day. the following food is to be limited: all game, including birds, sausages and smoked meat, sweetbread, brains, liver, spleen, crawfish, lobster, rich cheese especially roquefort, parmesan, camembert, all sharp spices, such as pepper, paprika, mustard, cinnamon, garlic, onions; among vegetables such as radishes, horseradish, celery asparagus, mushrooms, tomatoes, sorrel; furthermore, all meat extracts, piquant sauces and soup spices. no alcohol should be served on the table of a patient with kidney disease. the exceptions must be prescribed by the physician. the same applies to all new wines and beef soups. the following dishes are permitted: among meats, white meat (about 200 grams per day, preferably at noon). this comprises domestic fowl, fresh pork, lamb and veal, also beef, especially boiled beef. as a variety from time to time, mutton and fresh fish. the preferable way to prepare dishes for patients suffering from kidney diseases, is to boil them; the next best way is to steam them, and the third and least desirable way is frying. strongly recommended: calf's feet and pig's feet, calf's head, especially in the form of jellies and pickled, if so ordered by the physician. occasionally raw beef may be given, but without sharp spices. fish: trout, pike, carp; saltwater fish: haddock and cod-fish, boiled blue; also frogs' legs. eggs are permitted, soft boiled, 2 to 3 per day. vegetables: with the exception of those mentioned, vegetables are very commendable, especially potatoes, green peas, white and yellow turnips, red beets, cauliflower, lentils, beans, the last particularly, mashed; also salad with cream and a little mild vinegar or lemon juice. fruit-acids must not be classified with vegetable or meat-acids, as several, so-called "food-specialists" try to impress on patients, for they do not know, what they talk about. fats, such as cream, butter, rich cheese, olive oil, may be given if they agree with the patient; bacon is not so good. bread, white as well as brown, and especially graham bread, may be eaten without restrictions. as drinks: mineral water with lemon or orange juice added. raspberry juice is permitted, but currant and gooseberry juice must be avoided on account of the substances contained in them irritating to the kidneys. fruit juices free from alcohol (apple cider) may be given. every _morning_ on rising, a glass of fruit juice or some fruit. these fruit-acids promote peristaltics of the bowels, and free circulation of the blood. at _supper_: salad of cresses or celery, or a mixed salad, radishes, asparagus, squash and cucumbers. when the urinary flows is very scanty, supper may consist of a cup of celery soup, or asparagus broth; in winter, haw tea. a few suggestions for _dinner_, omitting meat entirely: dumplings with cabbage salad, red cabbage or bavarian cabbage; sliced oatmeal cake with fruit.--cucumbers with eggs and potato bread, rolled griddle cakes and fruit.--cabbage with rice and butter, griddle cakes with fresh greens. squash with lemon, potatoes, baked beans, fruit.--red cabbage with macaroni, potato fritters, with fruit.--dumplings and pears, lettuce.--white turnips with cream and potatoes, buckwheat groats, fruit.--pea soup with sweet corn, squash and rice with fruit.--lentils and potatoes, salad of celery or beets, fruit.--asparagus with drawn butter and parsley sauce and bread dumplings, oat groats with fruit.--cauliflower with macaroni, buckwheat groats and milk.--cabbage with browned potatoes, oatmeal cake with fruit. _for irritable kidneys (inflammation, supperation, contraction, etc.), and diseases of the bladder._ for patients suffering from these diseases all spiced and sharp dishes are prohibited, especially dishes with much pepper and mustard, also mixed pickles, preserves containing vinegar, salads unless seasoned with lemon juice instead of vinegar; furthermore, dishes which produce gas, such as dishes made from yeast. fruits are permitted only in small quantities, avoiding absolutely gooseberries and preserves made from the same. preserves from other fruits, such as apples and cherries, are permitted in smaller quantities. as drinks, the mineral waters which are recommended for people suffering from gout, are advisable here also. kidney stones require a mixed diet, preferably vegetable; fat and carbohydrates--very little meat--no sweetbread, kidneys, brains, liver or spleen; meat, if taken at all, must be boiled. not permitted: game, pickled fish, piquant sauces, beef broth. dispense with meat, raw celery, radishes, pears, cucumbers, even asparagus in large amounts, at least during the state of inflammation. eat eggs only in a raw or very soft boiled state. in place of these foods make up a diet of milk preparations, rice, groats, oats, millet, buckwheat. currant juice and wild cherries, apple sauce, diluted lemon juice, are all of great benefit. soups made from squash, cucumbers or celery, haw tea, buttermilk and sour milk, mild cheese, or porridge and fruit are excellent supper dishes. _for liver disease._ in general, fatty substances should be eliminated as much as possible from the nourishment in the case of liver disease, jaundice and gall stones. to be recommended are light farinaceous dishes with milk, vegetables, fruit and all easily digestible foods. meat must be taken only in very small quantities, according to the advice of the physician, and with very little fat. spices and alcohol are prohibited. pastry and rich foods must be avoided. in case of jaundice the patient should receive liquid food only during the first few days, consisting of soups, light tea, carbonated waters; later, milk, the yolks of eggs, zwieback and light milk dishes. patients suffering from gall stones may receive the same diet as prescribed for those suffering from liver disease, generally speaking. in case of liver disease it is necessary to adhere very strictly to the prescriptions of the physician, since they are due to various reasons, and only the physician can give the proper individual directions, after having determined the cause. every morning on rising, a glass of unsweetened lemonade, or a wineglass of currant wine or grape juice, or some acid fruit.--the same on retiring at night. for a second breakfast, four or six radishes, or a tablespoonful of grated radish, or a teaspoonful of horseradish mixed with broth and white bread, eaten with a little toast and butter.--the same for supper. the following are a few suggestions for dinner without meat: cabbage, potato porridge, gooseberries with egg and milk sauce.--lentils with potatoes and fresh greens, cresses or lettuce, fruit.--savoy cabbage with rice and tomato sauce, fruit with millet cakes.--leeks with potatoes, macaroni and plums.--young green beans with dried white beans and apples or other fruit, beets with cream, rolled dumplings, fruits.--white cabbage with macaroni, chopped apples or curdled milk. _dech-manna compositions_: (only main compositions, specialities to the doctor's order.) _rheumatism_: =muscogen=, =plasmogen=, eubiogen. _sciatica_: =muscogen=, =plasmogen=, neurogen, eubiogen. _amyloid heart_: =muscogen=, =plasmogen=, eubiogen. _amyloid kidney or liver_: =muscogen=, =plasmogen=, mucogen, eubiogen. _physical: rheumatism_: partial packs, either vinegar and water or radium and salts. massage, if necessary, and special oxygenator baths, and radium and salt baths. _sciatica_: leg packs, oxygenator baths, half radium and salt baths, followed by massage. _amyloid heart, kidney or liver_: abdominal packs, gymnastics, oxygenator baths, whole radium and salt baths. vi. degeneration of the mucous membrane tissue. =catarrh in acute and chronic forms, bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, inflammation of nose, throat, bowels, stomach, bladder.= =decomposition of mucous membrane, hemorrhoids, polyps, benign tumors, also bright's disease in initial stages.= catarrhal disease is amongst the most common, in varied form and degree, owing to the very tender nature of the mucous membrane. these ailments are characterized as destructions of the protective membranes which cover the serous layer of the organs, in which layer the lymph circulates. the numerous ends of blood-vessels and nerves which are thus exposed to attack, and the spreading of the disease to healthy tissues which thus become affected in the same way, make the various catarrhal troubles with their accompanying excretions particularly unpleasant. all degenerations of the mucous membrane are based on deficiencies in blood circulation and composition. a cure is effected through the restoration of the serous layer to normal conditions and the regeneration of the blood and its circulation. these various forms of catarrh affect all parts that are covered with mucous membranes, among them the female sexual organs, hence leukorrhoea or fluor albus, which, if not properly treated, constitutes the basis for all sorts of polyps, tumors, etc., and in many cases of continued attack forms the predisposition to cancer. the lymphatic system is the carrier of all germs to the various mucous membranes, and promotes the spreading of catarrh to all parts of the body. among the more serious and dangerous forms of acute disease of this class which, lacking proper treatment, develop into chronic forms, are the catarrhal affections of the lungs and bronchia, =grippe=, =influenza=,[b] catarrh of the intestines, the bladder, the hemorrhoids and bright's (kidney) disease. the latter especially is among the most dangerous diseases, and is considered incurable by the adherents of the old medical school. the discovery that it is essentially the same as other catarrhal diseases has, however, established the possibility of complete cure, which has been effected in many, even neglected, cases of long standing, under my present system. the many varieties of symptoms, all of which are finally reduced by proper treatment of the mucous membranes, it is impossible to cite, in this brief synopsis. more details concerning this important group will be found, together with the modern explanation of the development of serious disease from apparently unimportant catarrhal affections, in the very complete and extensive descriptions given in chapter x, section 6, of my greater work. _therapy._ _diet_: (a) catarrh in all its acute forms. in these cases the diet is almost identical with the fever diet, as given in forms ii, iii, and iv. (b) catarrh in all its chronic forms. diet as above, but apply forms iv, v, vi. (c) haemorrhoids, polyps, adenoids, benign tumors or fungus growths. there are no special prescriptions for these, regarding diet, except that easily digestible food must be eaten. mashed vegetables and fruit should prevail. the indigestible tissues, such as skin, sinews and gristle, should be removed from the meat. no gas-producing dishes, such as sauerkraut, cabbage, turnips or beans, ought to be taken. _throat and larynx disease._ to avoid irritation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and larynx, all sharp and spicy dishes and drinks are prohibited. in case of fever, particularly recommended are warm glutenous soups, creams, milk, steamed fruit, fruit soups and sauces, minced white meat, baked or steamed fish, no sharp spices. _dech-manna-compositions_: (only main compositions, specialities to the doctor's order). in general: =muscogen=. _bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, inflammation of nose, throat, bowels, stomach, bladder, also benign growths in all chronic forms._ =muscogen, plasmogen=, gelatinogen, eubiogen. _bright's disease_: (see special section xii chapt. x, "dare to be healthy.") =physical treatment.= _bronchitis, pleurisy_: ablutions with vinegar and water; partial packs or ablutions with vinegar and water; shoulder packs. _pneumonia_: shoulder packs. _inflammation of nose, throat etc._: partial packs or radium and salt three-quarter packs. _inflammation, of bowels, stomach and bladder_: warm abdominal packs in addition to the above. _catarrh in chronic forms_: cold abdominal packs, massage. _decomposition of mucous membrane_: abdominal packs, partial packs, with vinegar and water, or salt and radium emanation, oxygenator and other baths, in case especially prescribed. vii. degeneration of tooth and eye tissues. it has been explained that this unusual method of classifying the eyes and the teeth together in one group, is based upon the biological, chemical discovery that the lens of the eye, like the enamel of the teeth, contain fluoric acid, otherwise contained also in very small quantities in the enamel of the finger-and toe-nails. disease of the eyes and of the teeth would require lengthy description, for which space is lacking; suffice it to mention that the best way of preserving the health of the teeth and of the eyes is to keep them scrupulously clean. this simple hygienic method, regarding the teeth, will prevent decay. in all cases where eye trouble concerns the lens, as well as when there is a general disposition to caries in the teeth, the following treatment will produce a curative and preventive effect. _therapy_ _diet_: since most of the disease of the teeth and eyes is merely the consequence of other disease, such as bright's disease, diabetes, etc., the diet will be in accordance with the main disease, as described. in the treatment of both, rye bread, which contains large quantities of fluoric acid, is highly recommended. _dech-manna-compositions: teeth_: =dento-ophthogen=, =plasmogen=, osseogen, eubiogen. _eyes_: =dento-ophthogen=, =plasmogen=, gelatinogen, eubiogen. _physical_: all physical directions according to the main disease of which the tooth and eye disease, is but an accompanying symptom. viii. degeneration of the hair tissue. the hair, though a tissue by itself, is connected with the rest of the body and nourished by the blood, as are all the other tissues, in organic unity. in the long course of years that mark the progress of the race, it has lost much of its original significance as a body covering against the elements, but even in its present reduced capacity, it is a good and true indicator of certain deficiencies in the blood and in the functions of the body. its principal disease manifests itself in loss, through the shrinkage of the little globular terminal, by means of which it is rooted in the skin. the hair has become an accepted criterion of youth and beauty, and its change in color or its loss are consequently regarded as the unfailing heralds of approaching age. the vast majority of people accept this fact with reluctance, and thus the hair, more than any other feature has become a centre of the nefarious activities of impostors. its loss can be prevented to a great extent, and its quality kept in healthy condition, if it is treated in the proper hygienic-dietetic manner. _therapy._ _diet_: diet in case of hair disease calls for a combination of food containing lime, silica and gelatine. it must be selected from a list of foods that possess these special nourishing qualities. _dech-manna-compositions_ =capillogen=, =plasmogen=, gelatinogen, eubiogen. _physical_: no special directions required. ix. degeneration of the skin tissue. according to the conception of the human body as a unit, it is not difficult to understand that the skin, while not a separate organ, forms the outermost layer of the body-tissues and is nourished _from within_. by means of more than 2,500,000 small openings in the skin, called the pores, communication is established between the external and the internal parts of the body. this produces a permanent exchange of matter, and thus the skin is, in fact, a second system of respiration of the greatest importance to the health of the entire body. naturally it is subject to traumatic accidents through its exposed position. traumatic affections cannot now be discussed; except to give a brief idea of the constitutional diseases of the skin which, like all others, originate in deficient blood. often they are only secondary, and indications of various, more complicated, diseases. in a few cases they affect the skin alone, but are nevertheless constitutional, especially in such cases as could not exist at all, were the disposition not established constitutionally. there is hardly another department of medicine where the "quack" reaps so great a harvest as in the treatment of skin diseases. thus the suppression of symptoms becomes the rule; the removal of causes is invariably neglected. many forms of skin disease, being the result of sexual infections, are allowed to develop because prudery and other motives prevent the early investigation of the cause, and hence delay its prompt treatment and healing. it is easy and natural for every one to notice the skin and see when there is anything amiss. upon discovery immediately consult an hygienic-dietetic physician, and follow his advice closely, since skin diseases are among the most obstinate to overcome. the physician will be able to determine whether there is real constitutional trouble or merely a superficial skin disease. thus the underlying evil, if any, can be correctly treated, in combination with such specialities as the skin tissue requires. _every skin disease must be treated from the inside_, so as to destroy the disposition and even the chance for development. in view of the large field and the great importance of this group, it will be advisable for every one to read the many pages that have been devoted to this special subject in my work, on "regeneration" or "dare to be healthy," chapter x, section 9. _therapy._ _diet_: the general rule of abstaining from highly seasoned food should govern all patients suffering from skin diseases. special attention should be given to a diet consisting of good, fresh meat, not too rich; it should be alternated with days on which no meat is eaten. strong cheese (roquefort), mustard, sardelles, mixed pickles must be avoided. see also remarks on scrofulosis under i. a. _dech-manna-compositions_: =dermogen=, =plasmogen=, gelatinogen, eubiogen. _physical_: partial packs, either vinegar and water, or salt and radium. special packs by order of the doctor. x. degeneration of the gelatigenous tissue. another group of organ's of vast importance is the one which consists of gelatigenous tissue. in fact all blood and lymphatic vessels, air alveoli of the lungs, tendons and cords of the whole system, the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus, the stomach, the bladder, and indeed every organ or tissue which has the function of expansion and contraction, must be made of gelatigenous (rubber-like) tissue. otherwise it cannot perform its duties in the organism and must needs become degenerate. while there are not many special forms of disease of the gelatigenous tissue itself, many diseased conditions occur in connection with its degeneration. this in turn is caused by the lack of gelatigenous food, which the blood must convey to this tissue wherever it exists in the body. it is obvious that any degeneration which may affect the intestinal duct, the bladder or other organs which contain gelatine in their composition will require gelatigenous regeneration. the principal forms of disease which may affect the organs in question are those which have been discussed under catarrhal diseases (section vi). the acute and chronic forms of stomach and intestinal disease, especially, belong to this group, and have consequently received special attention. the treatment of this question in my work, "regeneration" or "dare to be healthy," chapter x, a and b, will answer, in detail the questions of those who desire more enlightenment on this most vital and intricate subject. _therapy._ _diet_: these forms include all catarrhal disease mentioned under vi. a, also all inflammatory conditions of the stomach and intestines, in their acute form. as far as the latter are concerned, the suitable lists of diet will be found under forms ii, iii, iv, v and vi. regarding the same diseases in the chronic form, the special diet lists are given under forms iv, v and vi. in addition the following suggestions will be helpful: _diseases of the stomach and intestines._ these prescriptions of diet serve especially for the diseases of the stomach and intestines. in most cases a prescription for the rational preparation of food is such as only the hygienic physician is able to give. food for persons suffering from diseases of the stomach, must be selected individually according to their idiosyncrasies. in one case the stomach must be prevented from doing too much; in another case it must be stimulated. in one case the object is to fatten; in another, to remove fat. in some cases the physician prescribes food which will retard the movement of the bowels, in other instances, the patient requires food that will promote such movement. the diet for patients with fever must be different from the diet for convalescing patients. people suffering from diabetes require a peculiar preparation of their food. not everything that is good for an adult will be beneficial to a child. the digestibility of many foods depends upon their preparation. the value of food for patients can be judged rightly from but one standpoint, that of digestibility. the fundamental principles governing the nourishment for patients are digestibility, great variety, abolition of all strong spices, nutritive and well selected material. the temperature of drinks must be in strict accordance with the prescription of the physician. the patient must be urged to thoroughly masticate the food, so that it will be properly salivated and thus facilitate digestion. patients seriously ill, should receive their food mashed or minced, so that they can partake of it more easily. all waste parts, such as skin, fat, sinews, bones, must be removed from the food, even for convalescents. warmed up food and fibrous vegetables must be banished from the patient's diet. it must not be a question as to what the patient wants; the prescription of the physician only must govern. the patient's food must be prepared carefully, absolutely correctly and in a cleanly manner. in case of strong thirst, great care must be exercised in regard to drinks, depending on the physician's directions. the thirsty feeling of the patient may be alleviated by putting glyzerine on his lips and small pieces of ice on his tongue, without, however, permitting him to swallow the water as the ice melts. _normal diet for stomach diseases._ milk, sweet and sour, buttermilk, yoghurt, kefir, albumen cacao, cereals in the form of mush, strained legumes, cooked in soup or milk, all sorts of glutinous soups, farinose dishes prepared from stale rolls, biscuits, zwieback, tender and easily, digestible meats, mashed game meat, chicken, raw beef, ham, meat jelly, young vegetables, preserved fruit. avoid the following: all indigestible fats, meat which requires more than 4 to 5 hours for its digestion, hot salads, gas-producing vegetables, gravy, fruits which abound in cellulose, such as apricots and peaches, hard stems, xylocarp ribs of leaves, the strong smelling and sharp tasting parts of some kinds of vegetables, as for instance, new potatoes, cabbage (in the cooking of which the first water must be poured off), hot soups and spicy herbs, spices of all kinds, high game, sausages, bacon, yeast pastry, drinks too hot or too cold, strong coffee (in the place of which fruit coffee is recommended), stale raisins and almonds, nuts, too much candy, much liquid with meats, and excitement of all kinds while eating. _general hints for a nourishing treatment._ the patient who is to gain in flesh must adhere strictly to the prescribed diet as well as to the prescribed rest, if the treatment is to take effect. the following articles are very nourishing: yolks of eggs prepared in any style, milk, cream, kefir, rich cheese, beef marrow on toast (cooked in soup), all kinds of noodles and dumplings, puddings, cocoa and chocolate, white bread, rich thick soups, gravy, potatoes and oats prepared in various ways, sweet beer, malt beer, sweet wines and puddings with preserved fruits, fruit juices, meat from well-fed animals only. all meals must be served in small portions, so as not to create distaste for food. 7 _a.m._--250 grams of fresh, boiled, unskimmed milk, or 1/4 quart cocoa prepared with milk or knorr's oat-cocoa, or 1/8 quart cream with tea added, one roll, butter and honey. 9 _a.m._--1 cup bouillon, 20 grams hot or cold roast meat, 30 grams graham or gluten bread, 10 grams butter. then 1/4 quart milk, butter and graham bread. 11 _a.m._--1/4 quart milk with the yolk of one egg. 1 _p.m._--100 grams soup (oat, barley, vegetable soup), green corn, sago soup, 100 grams potatoes, 100 grams tender vegetables, such as spinach, mashed peas, mashed carrots, mashed artichokes, asparagus tips strained, 20 grams easily digestable rice, 50 grams preserved fruit; or, no soup, but, instead meat, vegetables, apple sauce, dishes made from milk or flour, such as noodles, fruit, 1/8 quart cream. 4 _p.m._--light tea or milk, with malt or cocoa added, two crackers, 1/2 quart milk. 6 _p.m._--20 grams meat (hot or cold roast meat), raw meat or 10 grams graham bread, 10 grams butter, milk chocolate, graham bread, butter, honey. 8 _p.m._--1 cup soup with 10 grams butter and one yolk, barley, oats, etc., eggs or meat, vegetables, preserved fruits, graham bread, butter, mild cream cheese. 9.30 _p.m._--1/4 quart milk, with a spoonful of malt extract, 1/8 quart cream. as a special breakfast, for a thin patient, the following drink is recommended: to a cup of unskimmed hot milk add one yolk and one spoonful of pure bee-honey. this must be taken in the morning on an empty stomach for several weeks. _in case of constipation._ if constipation is due to nervousness or sluggishness of the bowels, the best means to overcome the trouble is mixed coarse food, using various mineral waters, and little meat, but plenty of vegetables, especially sauerkraut, cabbage, comfrey, cauliflower, pumpkin, tomatoes, cucumbers, various salads and fruits, jellies. among beverages sour milk, buttermilk, kefir no. i and ii, yoghurt, various new wines, fruit juices, different mineral waters, such as apollinaris, karlsbad waters, hunyady; coarse bread, such as graham, avoiding fine white bread. in extremely chronic cases use my laxagen tea in case of emergency. _dech-manna-compositions_: =gelatinogen=, =plasmogen=, mucogen, eubiogen. _physical_: abdominal packs, with vinegar and water. acute--warm. chronic--cold. xi. degeneration of the cartilaginous tissue. cartilage in the human body is the material which must cover the end of each bone so as to prevent its destruction by friction. it is the important part in all joints. it is obvious that any degeneration of this particular tissue will cause friction, which is combined with severe pains, called ankylosis, gout. the degeneration is usually a consequence of improper proportion of the various food ingredients consumed, omitting the material necessary for the construction of the cartilage, which, being in use, is constantly used up rapidly. regeneration of the blood, by assisting it in its important task of feeding the cartilaginous tissues, and regulation of the diet are the only two possible remedies for this form of disease, of such frequent occurrence, the alleged cure for which attracts thousands to bathing resorts, where they derive not the slightest real benefit. the variety of gout called arthritis (deforming gout), is the most pronounced and dangerous phase of this form of disease. _therapy._ _diet_: the diet is exactly the same as prescribed for rheumatism and gout under v, degeneration of the muscular tissue. _dech-manna-compositions_: =cartilogen=, =plasmogen=, gelatinogen, eubiogen. _physical_: partial packs, salt and radium, massage, oxygenator bath, half bath radium and salt. in case of arthritis, also special packs according to the directions of the doctor. it is impossible to give a diet for arthritic patients, peculiarities of this disease being largely individual. xii. degeneration of the body tissue in general. by "body tissue in general" is understood the body with the total sum of its cells--especially the red blood corpuscles--and their various aggregations. consequently a special composition of nutritive salts, under the name of eubiogen, has been composed, which is the most perfect duplication of all the chemical elements of the entire body in the correct proportion. eubiogen, therefore, is prescribed as a secondary dech-manna-composition, to be taken with all other compositions. but it also acts independently as the best means of preventing degeneration, and in this capacity should not be missing in the diet of adults as well as of children. the cost thus incurred would be recouped many times over through its prevention of disease. eubiogen takes a leading position in reference to the following complicated forms of disease, in the treatment of which it becomes the most important factor among the nutritive compositions: ataxia, basedow's disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, bright's disease, arterio-sclerosis. i am prepared to explain to patients, this curative method and the reasons for its application; but these complicated diseases, while based on the same degenerations of blood, and consequently of the tissue and organs, as all others, offer impressions which, from the point of view of the conscientious physician, cannot be presented with but a few bare words of explanation. nor does the space at my disposal permit me to go into the matter with due thoroughness. all of these ailments have been described in my work: "regeneration or dare to be healthy." the intelligent reader will readily conceive that he who has found the secret of the degenerations constituting the various forms of disease, will not hesitate before their complications. _ataxia, basedow's disease, diabetes mellitus, obesity, bright's disease and arterio-sclerosis, can be cured. they can be cured by the same methods of which simpler examples have been already given. no one, who in the struggle for health has surrendered to the attack of constitutional disease, the germ of which may have been implanted in him by his forefathers, needs despair. let him seek advice before too late, and the strong probability is that in due time he will have regained his health, and will be enabled to fulfil his duties to himself and to posterity._ _note._--in reference to the foregoing tables of dietary "regimen" the reader must clearly understand that the prescriptions are merely indications of diet appropriate to various phases of the complaints to the treatment of which they are attached; but the decision as to how and when these phases occur in individual cases should be left entirely to the discretion of the physician in charge of the case who will, of course, also pronounce upon the diet. should there be no such authority present, the greatest care and common sense must be devoted to the selection from the said tables of a system of diet suitable to the various stages of disease. any recommendations therein contained which may appear to be contradictory or conflicting must be ascribed to their complication on a progressive dietary system consistent with the prospective advancement of the case towards recovery. infantile paralysis. amongst the forms of degeneration of the muscular tissue the reader will have noticed that of infantile paralysis or poliomyelitis. the startling prominence that this complaint quite recently acquired was due to its world-wide ravages in epidemic form and the absolute and confessed inability of the combined sagacity of the whole faculty of the orthodox medical profession to cope with it or to cure it--to fathom its cause and origin or to curtail its increasing rate of mortality. i am therefore constrained, so far as space permits, to give the matter special and particular consideration. the scientific name, "poliomyelitis," is derived from the greek words: polios, grey and myleos, marrow; for its chief feature is a softening of the grey spinal marrow. first noticed by the medical world no later than the year 1840, statistics show that in the last decade it has appeared in various parts of the world in epidemic form, notably in sweden and norway. in america, epidemics occurred in 1907 and 1908 and again in 1916. it was promptly and energetically dealt with by the rockefeller institute of new york where the proof was established of the possibility of transmission by a living virus taken from the spinal marrow of a victim; but whether this disseminator may be correctly termed a bacillus, or fungus or a germ, medical-science has been unable lo determine; neither has it succeeded with the most powerful microscope in discovering the individuality of this "carrier," whilst all experiments with re-agents have been bare of results. thus the researches of science have merely brought us back to the starting point; namely, that there is a "something" which exerts a degenerating influence upon the cellular tissue of the spinal marrow and causes the morbid enlargement of its cells. the new york board of health, cites eight different forms in which the disease may appear and acknowledges a startling failure to determine either any uniform period of incubation (i.e. the time between contagion and the appearance of the symptoms,) or the period of infection (i.e. how long a sick person may be a danger to others). the new york press accepts the situation philosophically; as follows: "infantile paralysis cannot be cured by means of medicines. the physician must of necessity limit his ministrations to easing the pain, providing for easy movement of the bowels and so forth, but otherwise _he must let nature take its course_." medical reference books vaguely define the disease with diverse and indefinite theories, showing that science on the subject is practically mute. but the medically "unprofessional," random remark of the new york press-man has exactly hit the mark: "let nature take its course." the fact is that nothing very clear or absolute can be said about infantile paralysis; for observation shows that it is apparently a matter of racial conditions and environment and that only from the general application of the laws of nature, as taught by biology can we reasonably hope to solve the problem or cure the disease. as the result of careful study of many cases i simply confirmed the fact that infantile paralysis belongs strictly to the class in which in the foregoing chapter i have placed it, and is subject to the same rules, influences and treatment. in most of the cases treated i have not failed to discover the existence of spinal trouble in one or other of the parents. this, engendering _predisposition_ to similar complaints _in the children of the opposite sex_, which, acted upon by the irritants bred of poor or irrational nutriment and unhygienic environment in greater or lesser degree, results in attacks of this disease, in plain or epidemic form as the case may be, to which all children so predisposed are liable. thus, incidentally, is my recently discovered "law of the cross-transmission of characteristics" amply verified. as to the cause which leads to the development of this predisposition in the children, the answer, of course, is improper nourishment; and amongst the contributory causes i would specially indicate, "pasteurized" and "sterilized" milk which has been absolutely banned by science on the basis of physical chemistry, according to which it was definitely proved in a report laid before the paris academy of sciences, that valuable bone-forming ingredients in the milk, (a combination of carbonic and phosphoric lime,) are lost in course of pasteurization, since at the temperature necessary for the process they are _transmuted by heat into insoluble elements_, (phosphate and carbonate of lime) which, precipitated by chemical action, either drop to the bottom in sediment or cling to the surface coating and, in either case, are eliminated and lost to the child to an extent which constitutes a serious deterioration in its food and one likely in any case to promote rickets. milk also contains important constituents which change into necessary food elements in the course of natural fermentation--gelatine for instance--which being, as has been shown, so vital a factor in the building up of tissue, it needs no argument to prove the disastrous consequences its depletion must engender in the child and it may be likewise safely left to the intelligence of the reader to grasp the obvious fact that for the prevention or healing of infantile paralysis the one and only safeguard is regeneration through the course already indicated of hygienic-dietetic treatment which will, if applied beforehand, eliminate the tendency to disease or, in the event of its occurrence, will conduct it along safe and natural lines to a quick recovery. this brief sketch of the subject must suffice for the present purpose but a special article[c] with full and interesting details has been devoted to the subject, which will appear in my greater work, "regeneration or dare to be healthy." "facial diagnosis" and "the clinical eye." it is an incident common to the experience of all natural hygienic physicians for the patient to exclaim in quasi protest: "but doctor! how can you tell?" accustomed to the pompous pantomime of the orthodox physician--the gold watch and chain trick, while pulse and tongue reveal their hidden records--and then the well known questions which call forth the personal predilection in the fashion of disease and diet, (prescriptions which are often not untinged by the physician's own proclivities), at first the patient misses the old familiar presence. if ill he _must_ be, he expects that the process should proceed from the outset on the old accustomed, "strictly respectable" lines, and something like resentment stirs him when, in place of questioning, a physician presumes to _tell him_ at a glance the substance of his malady _unasked_. but such is the method of real efficiency and such the qualification of the men who practice the new philosophy which shall save the world from shams. _facial diagnosis_ is the determining factor of the logical and never failing science of natural therapy which is coming to the rescue of mankind, in spite of legal and commercial obstruction. _the "clinical eye"_ is, emphatically, _not_ the sad old "eye of faith" which has sent its millions to their doom, but the _sober, steady, practiced introspective hopeful eye of knowledge and experience_. the external symptoms visible to the clinical eye of a physician worthy of the name, vastly outweigh in important significance, all the objectionable detailed examination of parts and organs which from long use has become the habit of the old-school practitioner. moreover the swift impressions gathered under the clinical eye are spontaneous and reliable whereas, as the result of questioning or the description of the patient, they possibly are not, but rather represent too often some preconceived notion of alleged heredity or devotional pessimism, sometimes original but more probably the suggestion of relatives and friends. the subject is a vitally important one and, with a view to clearing away the obstruction of old superstitions from the mind of the reader, i shall trespass upon my allotted space in order to give a brief extract of my remarks thereon as expressed in my greater work: "regeneration or dare to be healthy." diagnosis, physiognomy and psychology. the biological healing system, based on the laws of nature and the acknowledgment of the fact that no two cases of disease are exactly alike, requires much broader knowledge and much deeper insight on the part of the physician than did the old-school of medicine with its search for symptoms of special diseases and its occult prescriptions. since the object is to get at the root of the evil in order to regenerate the patient thoroughly, it becomes imperative to obtain, what is hardest to elicit from him perhaps, the accurate truth about himself and his ailment. and though expert in recognizing external symptoms, it is unwise to rely entirely thereon and research must continue into realms where the patient himself only can lead us and where, willing or otherwise, he is apt to mislead. psychology teaches how to find the way into the darkness of a patient's soul. physiognomy teaches, not only to read in the face and external appearance, the story of a life which is written there in characters which only experience may decipher, but also to realize when the patient employs physiognomical expressions to hide what we persistently seek; namely, the truth. and again, in regard to healing, psychology teaches how to influence the patient so that he may discontinue to be his own worst enemy; that he may recognize his mistakes as such and discard them, although possibly he may have grown so addicted to his tastes as to prefer to continue therein in place of daring to be healthy. in the plan of production of a regenerated and healthy humanity, every individual of this kind must be regarded as a foe who interferes with the prevention of disease both now and in futurity. to win such an one over, to make him an enthusiastic believer in the theory that health is a necessity, and, a task less easy, to prevent his relapse into his previous degenerate manner of life and health,--this is another branch of science for which psychology and physiognomy are more needful than anything else. here again it is the true physician's principle to enlighten the layman, and not to surround his methods with a mysterious, but imposing wall of secrecy. we do not hesitate to reveal the main points of our system of diagnosis, which is much broader than the old system of scholastic medicine,--the performance with auscultation, percussion, x rays and the rest. certain knowledge of these things will lead every one, ere long, to submit all disturbances of health to the hygienic physician while prevention is still probable and possible, instead of waiting until disease has taken firm hold. it will also enable men to realize that the old-school practitioner who pronounces them sound while they feel for themselves that there is something wrong within has yet "a something" left to learn. the realm of psychology, however, is beyond the scope of my present endeavour, save in so far as it may serve to show that we are fortified with this particular knowledge, and to the end that this book may constitute a help to the aspiring hygienic-dietetic physician, calling his attention to the necessity of acquiring as profound a knowledge of psychology as may be. i will confine myself at present, therefore, to the external symptoms which must be observed, though they are not generally considered as symptoms of disease; and yet they indicate disease or the disposition thereto, individual or hereditary, as the case may be. i shall consequently deal with the peculiarities of hands and feet, nails and hair, eyes and ears, nose and teeth, mouth, forehead, tongue, chin, cheeks, neck, chest, abdomen, legs, and general constitution. nature has endowed us with strong discriminating faculties against certain external indications of disease. we experience a pleasant feeling when the hand is pressed by another hand that is warm and dry, but we shrink from the hand that is cold and moist and clammy. perspiring hands and feet are a sure indication that some process of degeneration is going on within the body, the production of diseased cells being in excess of what the body, under normal conditions, is able to excrete, and therefore they seek unusual channels of leaving the body, that is, through the skin and mucous membranes. perspiring feet are a symptom of disposition to colds and possibly tuberculosis, while perspiring hands indicate certain nervous diseases and disposition to gout; constantly cold hands and feet are usually found in people who suffer from scrofulosis or anaemia. in many cases the quality of _nails_ leads to the conclusion that there is a thorough disturbance of the process of nutrition. if they are fragile and brittle, there is no question but that there is lack of certain nutritive salts in the blood. swollen and deformed nails indicate special disturbances in circulation, chronic heart and lung diseases. _hair_, or rather the absence of hair, especially in early life, is sometimes another indication of faulty nutrition. baldness or premature gray hair is usually a pathological indication, as is also the dishevelled hair of nervous people and children suffering from scrofulosis, while rich, glossy hair is always a sign of good health. the development of the hair depends upon the activity of the skin, the nerves and the composition of the blood. the blood of dark-haired people is lacking in water and fat, but richer in albuminous matter. poor quality of hair is indicative of living in bad air, poor nutrition of the skin, hard mental work, pain and sorrow. sexual excesses during youth are often the cause of premature baldness and thin hair. the _eyes_ present a picture that manifests the general condition of the body, whether it be healthy, disposed to disease, or suffering from disease. protruding eyes are the sure symptom of the disease known as basedow's disease; they indicate also short-sightedness, and hereditary epilepsy. the condition of the mucous membranes of the eyes permits certain conclusions as to the genital organs. if the eyes are abnormally small, we draw the conclusion that there is general weakness and deficiency in nutrition. they indicate retarded development, which may be seated in the central nervous system. the eyes usually recede during severe diseases. a hyperaemic condition of the eyelids, with or without inflammation, is always a symptom of a dysaemic condition of the entire system (scrofulosis). in some cases of scrofulosis there is not another visible sign on the entire body, and yet the eyelids and eyelashes, which sticks together most of the time, tell the story of an inherited condition of dysaemia. a yellowish hue of the eyes indicates disease of the liver. the color of the iris does not indicate much in itself, although the theory of liljequist, which deserves some attention, claims that if a person deteriorates in health, the eyes, if originally light blue, darken more and more and finally change into brown or the color of the hybrid race. liljequist's scale of healthy eyes reads: light blue, medium blue, dark blue; then light, medium and dark brown. however, brown eyes do not represent sickness; they but indicate nervousness and sensibility. according to liljequist, individuals belong to the hybrid race when they are born of parents one of whom has blue eyes and the other brown eyes. the weaker race transmits the brown colour of its iris to the middle part of the iris of the child, while the colour of the stronger race reappears in the outer part of the iris; not, however, as pure blue, but tinted with a delicate shade of green, in consequence of the light brownish-yellowish colour which emanates from the central part. when death is imminent, the iris displays a grayish-black, muddy gray or muddy brown colour. the pupil of the eye is irritated in cases of nervous disease and indicates this condition. in cases where only one pupil is dilated, a local disease of the optic nerve or one side of the brain is evident. if the pupils are insensible to external irritations and remain rigid, the conclusion is that the brain or the spinal cord is badly affected. it may be stated in a general way that clear, brilliant eyes, (when not caused by fever) are usually an indication of the good quality of the blood as well as of all other humours of the body, together with normal activity of all the central organs. the _mouth_ and _tongue_: pathological indications manifested by the mouth are principally displayed by the lips, which are clear red in healthy people, while a hectic red indicates fever and pulmonary disease. pale lips indicate anaemia and chlorosis, and lips of a bluish hue are signs of a generally weakened organism. frequent, vivid contractions of the lips (usually thin in this case) indicate great nervousness. the color of the mucous membrane of the tongue is a very fair indication of health or sickness. if a person is in health, the tongue is rosy and not coated. but any disturbance in the intestines causes a more or less coated tongue, and consequently shows the detrimental influence these particular ailments exert upon the brain and nerves. hence, a coated tongue affords a valuable indication in making a correct diagnosis, especially in case of chronic catarrh of the stomach, this being one of the main causes of depression, and melancholia, as stated by piderit. the _forehead_, or rather the record traced thereon, in lines of nature's unimpeachable calligraphy, warrants certain conclusions as to mentality and character; and these may be important in determining the truthfulness of the patient's stories of suffering and other items which facilitate or impede a correct diagnosis. the interpretation of such features, however, belongs to the realm of pure psychology, this is also true of similar conclusions drawn from the outlines of the chin. of much more importance for the purpose of diagnosis is the _nose_. even a child understands what the red nose of the habitual drunkard signifies. a bloated nose with a tendency to become sore is an indication of a disposition to scrofulosis. other indications of disease are displayed to the experienced physician by the condition of the nose. the _nose_ is one of the most typical of the human organs; it is also in the closest connection with the entire system with its groups of organs--the brain, intestines, breast and even the sexual organs. the infinite variety of nasal formation has attracted the intense interest of the physiognomist to this organ. the most important function of the nose lies in its action as a respiratory organ. bad habits or faulty construction which prevent it from serving in this capacity, lead to much suffering and disease, and it is always important to determine whether the channels of the nose are clear and open and efficiently serve their purposes. the function of the nose as an olfactory organ must also rank highly in its importance. in this case, however, the nose of the physician plays the important part; not the nose of the patient. in fact, most of the famous authorities, among them professor jaeger of stuttgart, dr. heim of berlin and dr. lahmann of dresden, have made very valuable discoveries in this respect. dr. heim has found methods of determining the nature of certain acute diseases from the odour emitted from the person. dr. lahmann distinguishes the hypochondriacal, the melancholic and the hysteric odours, which, as he says, are most characteristic. the same applies to the odour of diabetics and other people who suffer from disturbances of digestion, and patients who suffer from cancer and other diseases involving a process of putrefaction. the fact that most patients diffuse unpleasant odours is of the greatest importance to married people, as it easily produces antipathy, and especially in the case of chronic diseases, is frequently made the basis of separation and divorce. were this defect known to be but the symptom of a curable disease, the husband or wife would probably prefer to consult the hygienic physician rather than the lawyer. knowledge in such case would mean the preservation of domestic happiness. _the teeth_: the parents of a young man once complained to me that their son had been rejected as a cadet at west point upon physical examination, because two of his teeth were filled. the authorities are certainly justified in their decision. the lack of perfect teeth indicates faulty digestion. usually the teeth are ruined during youth because children breathe through the mouth instead of through the nose,--either on account of the physical condition of the nose or because the tonsils are enlarged. the lack of sufficient nutritive salts in the diet is often revealed by the condition of the teeth. from a physiological standpoint the teeth are no less important than the brain, the eyes and the hair; and the conclusion that perfect eyes, hair and teeth indicate a perfect brain is absolutely justified, while the lack of perfection in these organs shows internal deficiencies long before they appear in external manifestation in the form of disease. since healthy blood is the basic condition of healthy teeth, the fact that people have clean white teeth, set in regular line, indicates the existence of healthy blood. on the other hand, a bad composition of the blood is manifested by short, irregularly set, yellowish teeth. the teeth of healthy people are always somewhat moist, dry teeth are accordingly a bad sign. the only advantage of yellowish teeth rests in the fact that their dentine is, as a rule, stronger. extremely bluish white teeth often consist of a soft, porous and tender dentine. faulty structure of the teeth indicates weak bones in general. crippled teeth and the late appearance of teeth in infants,--that is, not before the ninth month,--are symptoms of rachitis. healthy children have their teeth between the fifth and seventh months. the teeth of diabetics become loose without any formation of tartar, (an incrustation of phosphate of lime and saliva). extremely yellow teeth indicate jaundice, while reddish teeth show hyperaemia of the dentine. carious teeth are a result of disturbed circulation. the gums are also very indicative of disease. if they are of a pale pink colour, they indicate anaemia or chlorosis; if bluish red on the edge, they indicate tuberculosis. some of the most striking indications of existing disease are demonstrated by the _neck_. by feeling the neck and carefully watching its external appearance, the experienced scientist will obtain much valuable information that will aid in his diagnosis, and give him additional knowledge as to the processes going on within the body of the patient. the significance of the formation of the _thorax_ (_chest_) is well known, even to many laymen. flat chest, so-called chicken chest, indicates imperfect development of the lungs, and when extreme, even tuberculosis. a flabby abdomen indicates disposition to hernia and stagnation of the blood, frequently causing hemorrhoids or inflammation of the prostate gland in men, and all kinds of diseases--inflammatory or catarrhal--in women. as to the _legs_, the so-called varicose veins are indications of weak blood-vessels and intestinal hemorrhage, while inflamed nerves lead to the conclusion of gouty diathesis and the danger of paralytic strokes. the _skin_ usually affords more indications that aid in forming a correct diagnosis than is usually recognized. if examination were made of the excreta through the pores of an individual during 24 hours, some conclusion might be definitely arrived at as to any germs of disease present in the body and in course of expulsion in this way. all bacteria incident to detrimental processes proceeding within the human organism, are to be found in the perspiration. freckles indicate a certain predisposition inherent in the blood, while some forms of eczema point to the conclusion that there are diseased processes in action within the body. it is most important under this system to determine the chemical condition of the body in each individual case. acids or alkalines prevail. if the former, patients have bad teeth, a disposition to gout, diabetes and cancer. the normal condition is the predominance of alkalines. in such cases as the former, physiological chemistry will point to the counterbalancing of the acids to establish a correct composition of the blood, and thus to prevent the impending danger. the biological system of health which is rapidly taking the place of all others, is equipped with so searching a knowledge of the human organism that no disease, be it ever so adroitly concealed, can escape its minute attention; not excepting even the disposition to disease. the old adage is still true that "prevention is better than cure" and the intelligent person will probably recognize the wisdom of so safe and sane a course and endeavor to prevent the evils to which he may be exposed. thus, for his own satisfaction, if he be wise he will adopt these two simple precautions: (1) examination by an accredited hygienic-dietetic physician. (2) regulation of his mode of living in accordance with the course prescribed. the words of the famous moleschott ring true today, more than in the past, when he said: "one of the principal questions a patient should ask his physician is, how to make good, healthy blood." experience shows that there is but one method to attain good blood,--that _priceless factor_ upon which our _thinking_, our _feeling_, our _power_ and our _progeny depend_, and that is by means of _correct food and nutrition_. footnotes: [b] see special article on influenza, page 408. [c] this article is also printed in pamphlet form and may be had from the author for 50c. postage paid. children's disease. _"the cause of the poor to plead on, 'twixt deity and demon."_ (carlyle). _"child of mortality whence contest thou, why is thy countenance sad, and why are thine eyes red with weeping?"_ (bartauld). i have opened this chapter with somewhat startling mottos, for its pathetic theme is children and children's disease; and it seems to me appropriate, in view of what it portends, to send forth in this form a world-thought, as a harbinger of sympathy--a foreword which may set in motion the thought-waves of pity. for of all living creatures born into this world of pompous ignorance and maudlin solicitude to struggle for precarious existence from the cradle to the grave, by reason of the unnatural conditions of our vaunted hygienic and educational systems--generously termed "civilization"--there is surely nothing quite so "poor," so woefully devoid of practical protection, and, in its exceptional helplessness, so weakly gushed over and little understood as the child of frail humanity. "the cause of the poor"--thus the legend runs--"in deity's or demon's name." for truly, of the two angels which, we are told, attend upon the birth of credulous mankind and the initial stages of development, the malign influence would seem to be ever in the ascendant, irrespective of the social status of the, more or less, pre-natally affected, innocent reproduction wherein is focused the latent follies and delinquencies of the race, as portrayed in the course of its long pangenesis. now, incredible though it may seem and deplorable though it be, the secret which has revealed itself with absolute force and conviction to the judicial minds of unemotional scientific observers is simply this: that the children of the present generation are, as an incontestable matter of actual fact, really brought into this world alive and some attain to maturity, not through maternal intelligence, but rather, _in spite of mothers_. this is a hard saying but none the less a truth. they survive in spite of the idiosyncracies of their fondly irrational, untutored mothers rather than because of any practical, efficient effort these contribute towards the well being and survival of their offspring. this, as a general rule, is unhappily beyond question. it is a rule which has, naturally, many exceptions,--many brave and brilliant ones--these however only serve to confirm it. comte, writing as an authority on the subject, made the assertion that there is hardly an example on record of a child of superior genius whose mother did not possess also a superior order of mind. as an example he cites: the mother of napoleon bonaparte, high-souled, heroic and beautiful; the mother of julius caesar, a singularly fine character, wise and strong; the mother of goethe,--affectionately termed: "the delight of her children, the favourite of poets and princes--one whose splendid talents and characteristics were reproduced in her son." there are also, we know full well, unnumbered hosts of others, whose kindly light has been shed in many an humble or secluded home, whose beloved names have been called blessed by thousands though unrecorded in historic page--who have lived and loved and passed on to higher realms--to the world, to eulogy and to fame unknown. in ancient days, when athens was the centre of culture and of learning, the greek mothers were more prone to regard the significance of pre-natal influences than are the mothers of the present day of putative advancement. the hereditary tendencies of child-life, with all its complexities of racial and ancestral character and the qualities resulting from the dual source of parentage, were then perhaps better understood, or at least more seriously considered; also the obvious but grossly disregarded fact that the cradled infant of today may be the responsible citizen of the future, was kept more effectively in mind and its significance to the state more fully recognized. the wisdom of solomon was never more clearly demonstrated than when he said: "train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it." it is a piece of world philosophy which has reigned unquestioned throughout the ages--a policy upon which human discernment, in church and state, has relied with unfailing effect; "for the thoughts of a child are long, long thoughts"--those well-remembered words, how true; for those "long thoughts"--the mental environment of the formative period of child-life--do inevitably determine the future character of the individual, and the immediate result of neglect in these vitally important stages is painfully and promptly apparent in the aggressive and unchildlike deportment of the turbulent young neophytes of both sexes, so disproportionately in evidence in all directions throughout the community of the present, as to bring into ridicule and utter contempt existing methods of control. this dire defect in individual restraint may be largely ascribed to both physical and mental degeneracy, of hereditary origin; and when to this is added the attempts of parents to maintain the tranquility of the home by threats, bribery and fatuous promises--undue severity on the one hand and undue licence on the other--serious developments are not far to seek. it has been well said that children who are governed through their appetites in their infancy are usually governed by their appetites in maturity. thus it is, by unwise methods of control which appeal wholly to the spirit of greed, emulation and selfishness in the child--the purely animal instincts--with perhaps the occasional degrading influence of corporal punishment, as a later development, that so many young lives are wrecked and the downward path made easy which leads through duplicity to crime. the infantile precosity of the age leaves little scope for the old-time sentimental prudery of parents who fail to discriminate between innocence and ignorance; but it has been stated by a well known american authority on the subject of child-culture, whose experience of child-life and schools is nation-wide, that only about one child in a hundred receives proper instruction early enough to protect it from vice. then again there supervenes the evil of the competitive school system which, too frequently, forces the education of a child beyond the natural order of growth. countless numbers of little ones are injured by enforced premature development, thereby diverting the vital forces to the development of the brain which should be devoted to the development of the body. encompassed by such a chain of adverse circumstances as the combined result of parental egotism and pedantic, pedagogical ignorance, is it wonderful, i would ask, that the ghastly record of the hideous sacrifice of child-life is what it is, and that the young lives which do by chance escape the horrible holocaust, still reap the prevailing harvest of prolific ills of which the coming explanation will give some adequate conception. often the fondly futile questions fall from the anxious lips of maternal foreboding: what has the future in store for me? will my child live? will providence grant me this long-sought blessing? a thousand such thoughts continually assail the heart in a mother's intense solicitude; but not in vain will her hopes be set, if haply, she may reverently follow the course of mother nature's laws and precepts, into which i will endeavor to give you some insight. every thinking man must shudder to find it recorded in statistical tables how insane asylums and prisons are overflowing, how suicides and crimes against life and soul are but common incidents. it is not hard for each one of us to see the demon of greed and avarice in the eyes of those we meet, ready and eager to snatch away the very bread from the lips of his fellow man because he, too, is hungry and lacking life's necessities. the egotism of mankind grows constantly stronger; all are in haste to become rich, that thus they may enjoy life before its little span is spent. what has become of the youths exuberant in strength, who once were wont to set out, all jubilant with song, in their heyday of freedom, to revel in nature and bathe their lungs in its balsamic atmosphere--to return strengthened to their sleep at early evening, and who really sought to retain their health? they who were the pride of their parents, the joy of their sisters, the blissful hope of a waiting bride. can we recognize such in the average youth of today,--the citizen of the tomorrow--these effigies of men, degraded by the demons of alcohol and nicotine, by the gambling passion, and by the company of loose women, into dissipated dissolute invalids unwholesome in themselves and a menace to the race? let us pass on rather to the gentler sex. where are the sprightly, modest maidens with cheeks rosy with healthy blood, graceful in figure with well developed forms--the chaste, pure spirit shining in their eyes, with witchery and common sense combined? where are the fathers and mothers whose good fortune it is to possess such children as these? can it be that they should deem these caricatures of fashion worthy of their fond desire?--these whose days are spent in idling, who find their pleasure in the streets, the shops, the theatres and the like they term "society?" those men are old at forty years. those youths too often die at twenty, dissipated wrecks, holding as a mere ceremony the marriage they expect eventually to consummate; or married, now and then produce a single child that had far better never have been born. what of those mothers who cannot nourish their own offspring, but fain would make shift with all imaginable unnatural substitutes and bring up children in whom a predisposition to disease has already been born? oh nature! high and mighty mistress! a bitter penalty dost thou exact from these thine erring progeny. and rightly so. cruelly plain dost thou stamp thy mark on the tiny brow of the unborn child to mark in what degree its parents have departed from thine eternal ways of truth. when a great man, recently, in his address before the body of a famous university, solemnly asserted that mankind is growing better, day by day, he must have had before his inner eye fair visions of a future race--the future of truth, which come it must--some day--but now lies dormant in the lap of the gods, its alluring, visionary, transcendental form depicted, for an optimistic instant, in the fervent, hopeful heart of a sincere but far-sighted reformer. but it is written: false prophets must come, deceiving in respect to all things in heaven and earth. "mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur." (the world wishes to be deceived, therefore, let it be deceived.) the world elects to be deceived. it is so--often on the most paltry of pretences. and here lies the fatal and prolific cause which has ever, throughout the ages, wrought infinite harm and impeded the progress of the world: _the world's indifference to truth._ for the proper understanding and radical cure of any disease it is of primary importance to have before the mind's eye a distinct picture of its character and developments, thus tracing it back step by step to its source, so that the therapeutic, or healing measures employed may be properly adjusted to its various stages. nature has her foes, chief amongst which are ignorance, indulgence and fear; and these foes have ever waged fierce warfare upon her from time immemorial. but today a positive spiritual revolution is being wrought among men, for mother nature is calling defaulting humanity back to herself with no uncertain voice. back to nature is now the cry. never before were homilies on food so manifold and the ability to profit by them so diminished; never were remedies so abundant and conditions of health so bad; never were deeds of charity so numerous and the poor so discontented; never were measures of reform so prominent and their results so meagre; never was production of commodities so enormous and the cost of living so excessive; never were the resources of all the world so accessible and counterfeits so plentiful; never was enlightenment so widely diffused and sound judgment so restricted; never were the avenues of truth so open, yet never was falsehood so widespread, as in our time. our age--well named by dr. rudolph weil, the age of nerves--has brought to our service the most significant development of natural forces--electricity in all its forms of application, to medicine and industry and traffic; the expression of motive power in terms of machinery--railroads, ocean travel, air navigation, and endless appliances from the almost limitless scope of which, in the hands of man, the master, not even the very wild beasts escape. meanwhile however--most strange anomaly--mankind degenerates in body and still more in mind. the race has become diseased, is suffering, cries out for a betterment of its conditions, grows constantly more embittered and renounces its faith in the powers, human and divine. epidemics of terrific proportions sweep their recurring millions into the arms of death; diseases of stupendous mortality, such as tuberculosis, cancer, syphilis, diabetes, and the extensive array of so-called contagious diseases of children, are continually increasing, in spite of doctors, hospitals, sanatoria, hydros, hygienics, asylums, nostrums and serums, and continue to afflict humanity, taking their ghastly toll in daily thousands, despite the vaunted but theoretical advancement of medical science. in the field of medical science the controversy rages at full blast today. an endless succession of hypotheses, conjectures and dogmas lies widespread before us--a troubled sea of uncertainties--a complex labyrinth of doubt. the "doctors of medicine" are many but responsible physicians are few, while disease is constantly on the increase among mankind. it is really little that the people have to learn, for instinct has taught them there is little to be hoped of succour from the professional source. but the world-old habit of superstitious fear and reverence for the "medicine man" fetish yet holds its grip upon the race--alike in the savage or the senate and, despite the knowledge of its fallacy, humanity, still faithful, turns to it weakly, fear-driven, in its hour of distress, knowing no self-reliance and no safer refuge. the reader will pardon this digression, since it is better that from the outset we should divest ourselves of all delusions and recognize existing conditions as they really are in order that it may help to eliminate these ignorant superstitions from the public mind and implant therein the wholesome fact that there is _no magic in medicine_ but simply _an ordinary problem of cause and effect_. existence is movement; the whole visible world is progress, development. these are facts which, in truth, are daily becoming more generally known. but man--even modern man--is still so stubbornly unyielding in his faith that what he learns in an instant becomes immovably rooted in his mind to the utter exclusion, generally, of anything new, which even though it be a matter of demonstrated fact, it matters not if at variance with this earlier knowledge; to him it is an impossibility. how often the fallacy of such ultra-conservative principles has been demonstrated has no bearing upon the case; the fact remains--irrational, stupid though it be--that, sublimely indifferent to criticism, it survives, with all the wrong and persecution that follows in its train. but one of the most noticeable surprises of this description occurred in the year 1896, when professor roentgen made public his discovery of the x-rays; for through this discovery facts were disclosed such for instance, as the permeability of solid bodies by luminous rays and the possibility of photographic examination of bony tissues in living creatures--facts entirely incompatible with prevailing ideas and teachings. but these facts were not only intrinsically veracious but were capable of occular demonstration, beyond all possibility of doubt, and thus, as nothing could be changed or refuted, _science found itself compelled, for once, to honour the truth in its initial stage_--to receive them gracefully unto itself and adopt them in its teachings. this discovery of the x-rays was followed closely by that of the n-rays, by the two curies, husband and wife. this further discovery was a still greater surprise to the scientific world than the former one; for by its aid was established nothing less than the inconstancy of matter. hitherto science, dealing not with knowledge, but with opinions, had held the belief that the atom is the ultimate form of matter and that no chemical or physical force can divide it, a teaching held to be incontrovertible. first, the discovery of the x-rays had markedly disturbed this belief, and then, on the discovery of the n-rays, it soon became indubitably clear that a constant destruction is taking place within the atom, an uninterrupted throwing off of smaller particles. but it is not our task to show how one discovery after another was made. we are merely interested in knowing that, because of these discoveries, we find today in the atom--not in the radium atom alone, but in every atom as such--only a union of particles identical with one another, the so-called electrons, being but special forms of electro-magnetic forces. professor gruner writes as follows: "the atom is no longer the accepted, final unit of matter, but has given place to the electron. the atom is no longer an individual compact particle of matter, but an aggregate of thousands of tiny bodies. furthermore, the atom is not indestructible; it can throw off successive electrons or groups of electrons from its numerous contents and so keep up a gradual, but veritable destruction." professor thomson, who won the "nobel" prize for his work on natural science, makes these distinct assertions: "(1) the electron is nothing more than a form of electricity. (2) each electron weighs 1/770th of a fluid atom. of an atom, that is, which, hitherto had been regarded as the smallest individual particle. (3) a fluid atom consists of 770 electrons and is formed of electricity without any other material. (4) the atoms of other elements, besides radium, are also composed of electrons and of nothing else. the number of electrons varies in different elements; for instance, an atom of quicksilver is composed of 150,000 electrons. (5) electricity is the basis of all being." hitherto we have been taught to consider our bodies and their organs from no other standpoint than that of their elements. for if we attribute all the life of the body to the cells, these must consist only of primary matter, like the atoms of which they are formed. but we have now come to know that atoms, and, therefore, our bodies as well, are formed of electrons, or we might say, of crystalized electricity, consequently, we are compelled to recognize in the body a human machine operated entirely under the direction of electrical forces. for electrons cannot lose their electrical character, merely because they are grouped together in atoms and form our bodies. it is a well known scientific fact that atoms attract and repel each other, just as is the case with electro-magnetic forces. our bodies, then, are not only formed of electrons, which unite into atoms, but they are absolutely filled with free electrons; for every atom is surrounded with an envelope of free electrons, or, in other words, is the centre of a molecule of electrons, and carries its envelope of electrons precisely as the earth carries its envelope of air. thomson asserts on the basis of his latest observations that: "every atom forms a planetary system. the 150,000 electrons of mercury, for instance, are arranged in four concentric spheres, like a system about the sun." when we arrive at a complete understanding of these facts and their bearing upon life, we shall be able to control our bodies with perfect success by regulating their electric forces and adjusting their energies. as yet the main difficulty which obstructs our comprehension comes from the seeming dissimilarity of things within and things without man's "passing strange, complex mortality." this apparent lack of co-ordination presumedly stands in direct contradiction to the similarity of electrons. but however similar electrons may be, they still have different vibrations, which cause the differences between various objects,--between colors, shapes and sounds, between positive and negative conditions. it is only by differences of vibration in this world substance, which we may now venture to term electrons, that we are able to perceive a difference in objects around us. it is a matter of primary interest that the organs of the body should differ in this way; for in them are electrons with their inherent electro-magnetic properties, upon which the whole bodily machinery depends. within our bodies positive currents of energy flow from above downward; for manifestly the remainder of the body is governed by the head. the electrons of the head must consequently be arranged as in a magnet--the positive pole above, the negative below--and they must be always connected with their opposite pole, because the strength and the nature of a magnet depend entirely upon such connection. thus our heads, under normal conditions, are cool, and our feet warm, so long as positive electro-magnetic force flows from above downward. in most men of the present day, on the contrary, a condition usually exists the exact opposite of that common to normal healthy individuals. a sense of well-being prevails in the body only so long as the electrons are in sympathetic contact with their opposite poles, and, because by this means they increase and extend their forces reciprocally, there exists also throughout the entire body a feeling of physical strength. life upon the earth is dependent, as we know, upon the power of the sun. positive electrical forces are displayed in sunlight, and we find that the electrical forces of the soil furnish their complements. electrical power is manifested by both the earth and the sun--a fact unquestioned by those acquainted with observations made in the field of radio-activity. as a third factor, absolutely essential, i may mention the ocean, which i regard as the storage battery that distributes the power. then mark the natural contrast between these mundane and solar forces--the one of a nature warm and vibrating quickly, the other cold and more slow of vibration. from this we may infer that we have before us an electrical opposition, a polarity; and assuredly the electrical forces of the earth are those which are negative, since they vibrate more slowly and yield to control, while those of the sun are, on the contrary, positive, since they possess the higher capacity for vibration and dominate the electrical forces of the earth. we may assert, further, that the forces of the earth are electrical, whilst those of the sun are magnetic. in support of this assertion the proof may be advanced that a magnet can raise a heavier load after lying in the sunlight; for the close affinity, between magnetism and sunlight are, in this way incontestably demonstrated. the interchange of these principles underlies all mundane activity and existence, and upon its cessation life would wholly disappear from the planet. the various organs of the body, like everything else, fall under the immediate influence of this interchange of polar forces. the same electric or electro-magnetic opposition exists therein as are elsewhere apparent in nature and, for evidence of the same we have not far to seek. the phenomena occurring in electrolysis--the science of chemical decomposition by galvanic action--are well known. when a current of electricity passes through a fluid capable of decomposition the acids gather about the positive pole and the alkalies about the negative pole. we thus detect the exercise of separate activities on the part of the positive and negative electrical forces,--their polarization,--when we notice that alkalies and acids separate upon the application of electrical forces. similar conditions exist in our bodies. they occur in the mucous and serous membranes; for the serous secretions react acid, the mucous ones, alkaline. the contrast, in anatomical structure, between the mucous and the serous membranes is due to the fact that they line the various organs, respectively, within and without. it also indicates an opposition in their electro-magnetic forces. these membranes cover, not only the large organs, but also the small ones, to the smallest muscular fibres. in this way an electro-magnetic contrast exists in every part of the body, and it is this opposition of forces which keeps the vital machinery of the body in working order. electro-magnetic attraction and resistance are the agencies which control metabolism and the action of the organs, so long as bodily strength and healthy blood are maintained. all internal and external stimuli are nothing more than electro-magnetic processes. even our bodily temperature, as we commonly think of it under such conditions, resolves itself into electro-magnetic force or its product. electricity, magnetism, light, and heat differ only in respect to vibration, and are in the final analysis one and the same. but since our bodies are not cold like the earth or, like its electric forces, vibrate slowly, but are warm and of quick vibration, we are sufficiently assured that they contain, not only the cold electro-magnetic forces, of slow vibration, but also those that are warm and vibrate rapidly. and thus, when a correct relation exists between positive and negative forces--that is to say, between the forces of electricity and magnetism, then only have we normal temperature, _then alone are we normally healthy_. when we come to enquire into the sources from which the body obtains these forces, there is little to be said. they are well known, can easily be traced, but to the keenest mind of scholarly research their source of origin is still an unturned page. of things in the human economy which count, however, first in importance are food and breath; for in every atom of food we eat and every breath of air we breathe there are electrons which enter the body, there to be seized by the attraction of electro-magnetic action, stored away, and applied in vital processes. a source of vital energy, commonly known and little recognized, is the free, pure air, or, ether charged with the electrons of space. out of space, positive and negative electrons constantly pass into the human body, their effect we feel at once; when, for instance, in a cold room, we commence to feel chilly, or on removal to a warm room, or into the sunlight, a comfortable feeling of warmth pervades the body and restores its normal temperature. weather and local conditions have no small influence upon our state of health. in dry and elevated positions or in warm weather the condition of the body is more positive; in damp, low-lying places and in raw weather the electro-magnetic forces have a negative tendency. _this is the explanation of those disturbances of health which occasionally arise and which we sometimes experience in the dire form of epidemics._ as an illustration, the difference of climatic conditions between the adjoining states of washington and oregon are a case in point. among other disturbing influences which effect the electro-magnetic forces of the body are _overfeeding_ and _underfeeding, too much_ and _too little exercise_, particularly too much or too little _stimulation_, or _false stimulation_, or excitement of a physical or mental nature. any one of these influences may produce disorder in the relations of the electro-magnetic forces of the body. the positive or negative electrons may be abnormally increased or diminished or their location disturbed. when the body contains too many negative, slowly vibrating forces, or electrons, and its aggregate of electron vibration is consequently diminished, the result follows that the feeling of strength--the vitality, that is, becomes depressed; we feel weak, tired in the limbs; we possess little warmth and easily grow cold; metabolism falls below the normal; the skin becomes pale and so causes the overplus of negative electrons stored in the mucous membrane to set up a morbid action of that structure. catarrh sets in. in short, negative diseases are the immediate result; such, for example, as nervous debility, anaemia, diabetes, catarrh of the stomach, intestines or air passages, _influenza_, cholera and diphtheria. in these conditions the principles of physiological chemistry laid down by me may well be called into service and improvement effected by a correct adjustment of diet. when there is an excess of rapidly vibrating, positive electrical forces, or electrons, raising the vitality of the nerves and blood above the normal, the sufferer becomes easily excitable; the body is hot and inclines to inflammatory, feverish or positive diseases, which take the form of inflammation of the lungs, measles, scarlet fever, chicken-pox, typhoid fever, etc. as i have already remarked, in order to understand a disease and to undertake its cure, it is first of all necessary to form a clear mental picture of its course and origin. with this purpose in view and a medical library at command i have honestly tried to formulate from the initial stages a mental picture of scarlet fever, measles, and kindred ailments; but the entire medical literature did not advance me further than pathological anatomy, which informs us that the original cause of disease is certain changes in the form of the cellular elements of different digestive organs, in the explanation of which the customary technical terms are used, such as atrophy, degeneration and metamorphosis. by the aid of true physiological chemistry i have been enabled to trace these mysterious incidences in the life current, learning that the cellules--the smallest elements in the human system--require for their composition alternating quantities of different chemical substances. which of the chemical elements these are, what mutual relations exist between different organs of the body, and by what means they enter the organism, it has become my intricate and absorbing task to observe. in this investigation it was gradually made clear to me that every organ and every tissue is dependent upon the introduction of proper nutritive constituents into the blood. healthy blood formation is the one great essential requisite to the maintenance of health or the cure of disease. and such blood must be formed from a full supply of the requisite chemical factors, including all of the mineral ingredients. _dech-manna diet._ this is a point commonly overlooked, and my organic nutritive cell-food termed dech-manna-diet is especially designed for the purpose of its enforcement. in order to obtain a clear understanding of the various forms of disease which attack the human body, it is requisite to know more of the condition we call inflammation. to this end we may consider successively the following facts; namely, that electrons so fill the body as to bring its condition to one equivalent to that of a magnet; that electron lies ranged beside electron; and, that no alteration of location takes place. _effect of injury._ but now, suppose some part of the body is subjected to a morbid irritation by some injury. the affected electrons are set into increased vibration and acquire an excess of force above that of the neighbouring electrons. for, the faster a substance vibrates, the more its force increases--a fact with which we are familiar in the action of boiling water and the generation of steam. in proportion as the affected part exceeds the adjoining parts in the vibration of its electrons, it becomes more positive than they and gradually involves these adjoining electrons in the accelerated process of vibration. so, at the seat of injury a centre of positive action is brought into existence which becomes the more intense the longer it continues. since the electrons in this locality fall out of their regular positions, in consequence of the general attraction and gravitate toward their appropriate poles, they are found to exercise a reciprocally repellent influence upon each other, by which action the vibration naturally increases still further. this causes pain; for the pronounced opposition of the electrons is attended by a feeling of considerable unpleasantness. the blood, which is an efficient conductor of electro-magnetic force, becomes involved through its ready mobility. the affected part becomes filled with blood. it swells and becomes inflamed;--quickened metabolism and greater warmth are produced by the increase in blood contents and by the more rapid vibrations of the electrons. if the inflammatory process progresses further, the tissues finally disintegrate, partly because of blood stagnation, but chiefly because of the supra-normal vibration of the electrons. either the tissues are shattered by this motion, or melt in the resultant heat. they undergo purulent disintegration, as we may call it. _bacteria._ since the cells created are formed of bacteria, that is to say, of vital germs, as the body tissues are of cells, the destruction of the tissues and cells of necessity sets bacteria free; these therefore are not in reality the cause, but the result of disease. _febrile, or positive diseases._ in pronounced inflammation the disturbance of the electrons, the heat, apart from the functional irregularities which occur in systemic processes, is diffused through the entire body: the sickness becomes fever. the blood is impelled with increased pressure throughout the whole body. if during this process negative electrons hold the preponderance in the body, the fever is of a feeble, adynamic type. but when there are many positive electrons in the body and extensive regions are involved in the disease process, so that pronounced cause exists for increased vibration of electrons, there arise those conditions we designate as scarlet fever, measles, and chicken-pox. for, just as in a steam engine, the increased vibration of the steam exerts a strong pressure upon the piston, so the increased vibration of the electrons in the body finally drives the blood with a similar pressure to the skin, where it produces stasis, or stagnation, sweats and other like disturbances. _curative process._ as to curative measures, the course to be followed is clearly self-evident and defined. it could not be other than that of regulating each vibratory body, of soothing the electrons quickened by morbid conditions, and accelerating those which have been depressed. _law of opposites._ since treatment can effect this end in no other way than by producing contrary conditions it is evident that a plan of opposition must be followed. and, just as day is the opposite of night, summer of winter, heat of cold, the positive of the negative, so, from the changes effected by this opposition every circumstance and every manifestation takes its rise. this is natural law, fixed and immutable throughout nature and for all time. following this law consistently, our course is clear and simple: in cases of innutrition we seek to increase the nutritive faculty by means of proper food; for the overworked we prescribe rest, for those who need exercise, work; warmth for the cold and cooling for the feverish. _action of water._ for cooling we use pure water, the most common and most serviceable of remedies. it cools, soothes and restores equilibrium because its mineral affinities determine its vibratory action as of lower, slower grade, and because one of its constituents is oxygen, the most negative of all elements. _action of earth or mud._ even more opposed to inflammation than water, is earth, or mud. mud produces a more decided cooling effect than water; necessarily so, since its nature is more pronouncedly negative, its vibrations slower. antiphlogistine, clay acetate, or mud, would be of undoubted service in accordance with the law we have been following; but the same object may be more easily and readily attained by the use of packs. _vinegar packs._ in employing vinegar in this connection, it should only be used with mud or water. acids are decidedly negative in their electrical action, and therefore, have a curative effect upon inflammatory diseases. the use of vinegar in connection with clay and water in the treatment of inflammations and fevers is a common, old-time custom; but those who do so, ignorantly perhaps, from force of example or hear-say, unconsciously carry out in so doing one of the plainest scientific laws. why so? is it because this liquid kills bacilli or destroys morbid products? no, because it quiets the agitated electrons and equalizes their distribution. the safest plan is to take two parts water and one part of vinegar. vinegar prevents coagulation of the blood-cells, and in consequence, stagnation and inflammation are avoided. _cooling drinks._ for a similar reason acid drinks, such as lemonade, raspberry vinegar, and diluted raspberry juice, are of the greatest services in inflammations and fevers. they compose the system from within outward. for, as soon as any electrical negative is brought into contact with the system, streams of electricity course through the body and reduce the inflammation. the best lemonade for this purpose is my preparation "tonogen," because it contains all the necessary acids, besides the necessary constituents for inducing circulation and thereby preventing stagnation it is easily established that patients treated according to my method have become very much stronger and healthier than they were before the beginning of their illness. formerly, the proportion of deaths among these who contracted typhoid fever reached twenty and thirty per cent and even higher. these deaths occurred simply because of excessive internal heat. today, a wide experience shows that hardly any of such cases succumb. _temperature reduction._ the application of water in typhoid fever has secured for it a permanent place in the sickroom. not only have we been enabled by reducing the temperature with water, to attain the very best results in the treatment of typhoid cases, inflammation of the lungs, and all positive heat diseases, but by the same measures, we are now able to forestall its development with increasing certainty. brand kept typhoid fever away from his soldiers while it raged around them in the severest form, by the simple specific of a daily bath of an hour's duration in cold water. it is easy to understand why scarlet fever, measles and chicken-pox--all positive diseases--demand the exclusion of sunlight in their treatment. experience has shown that the treatment of these diseases makes a more favorable progress when sunlight is excluded. this fact stands in sharp contrast to all previous observations as to the importance of sunshine in the treatment of disease. _negative diseases._ now let us leave the consideration of the febrile or positive diseases and turn to those of negative character, as well as to disturbances where a reduced vibration of the electrons, a preponderance of cold negative electrical forces, and unhealthy action on the part of the mucous membranes, constitute the condition. _curative process._ in this instance, in order to initiate the curative process it is necessary to accelerate the vibration of the electrons in the body--to render the system positive. the principal remedy is heat, because it engenders a higher rate of vibration of the electrons. for this reason steam baths and other methods of applying heat prove highly remedial in negative diseases of the catarrhal and kindred varieties. they increase the vibration of electrons throughout the body and consequently, stimulate metabolism. the morbid activity of the mucous membranes is reduced and the blood flows actively again toward the surface, so that the internal organs experience immediate relief from abnormal pressure. _sun baths. light baths._ unquestionably in this age, marked as it is by the prevalence of negative ailments, sun baths and electric light baths will celebrate triumph upon triumph over disease, for they reanimate the vibration of the electrons even more than do steam baths, and create a direct supply of rapidly vibrating positive electrons. one can easily be satisfied on this point by observing the result of the simple but conclusive experiment of lying in the sunshine when cold. baths in electric light and in sunshine strengthen the system of one negatively sick, just as a strong current of inductive electricity gives augmented force to a machine operated by inadequate electric power. the responsive reaction need cause no surprise, for every popular sea-beach shows with what wonderful electrical results a salt water bath is attended when followed by a sun bath in the sand. _exercise._ equally important in the management of negative diseases is exercise. everyone knows that exercise makes us warm, and we know now that warmth comes from a quicker vibration of ether, or rightly speaking, the electrons of ether. so, not only is the circulation of the blood improved and metabolism increased by exercise, above all, the vibration of the electrons is enlivened, thus causing their character to be changed to positivity, and the number of positive electrons in the body to be increased. consequently, negative diseases, which result from a preponderance of negative electrons in the body, disappear before systematic exercise, as the darkness of night before the rising of the sun. _massage._ massage not only removes mechanical disturbances of circulation, but also increases the vibration of electrons in the body. it is, therefore, an invaluable remedy in negative diseases. in case of chronic depression, we should by no means underestimate the importance of that comfortable feeling induced by the exercise of electronal vibrations, which supervenes upon properly administered massage. _colored light treatment._ a recent method of treatment is that by colored light. sunshine, prismatically dissected, is known to vibrate at a rate of about four hundred million for red and eight hundred million for blue. the different rays of sunlight therefore must have different effects upon the world of living things, and red light must produce conditions of less violent vibration, blue light of quickened vibration. in scarlet fever, measles, and chicken-pox, as in all positive febrile diseases, we have seen that there is a morbid increase of vibration in the electrons. here, therefore, red light is used for curative purposes because it vibrates quietly. in lupus, chronic rheumatism, anemia, and such diseases, a slow vibration of electrons takes place in the body; hence, in such cases, blue light is a medium of cure. _internal treatment._ these considerations of the effects of colored light bring us to the treatment of disease by so-called internal means. _salts._ in a chemical sense the salts of the body are those compounds which consists of two elements, such as water. all salts possess the peculiarity of producing electrical excitation; consequently it is possible for them to generate electricity when coming in contact with carbohydrates. now the entire structure of the human connective tissue is nothing more or less than a combination of carbohydrates with a salt, that is, with sulphate of lime-ammonia. in this way, natural electrical energy of a positive character exists in the connective tissue which forms the basis of the spleen, the lungs, the stomach, the intestines, the muscles, in fact of the whole body. therefore, the nervous and arterial systems, together with the heart, are supplied, through the medium of their basis of connective tissues, with electrical energy, by the contact of the electro-negative oxygen which the blood furnishes and the positive sulphate of lime-ammonia in the walls of these organs. _nourishment._ we now come to a consideration of nourishment. we recognize today the truth of what was asserted years ago by jezek; namely, that food undergoes a kind of gaseous decomposition in our bodies--one in which the atoms of the elements are resolved into electrons and so become the foundation of new atomic structures. for the separation of atoms into electrons and their entrance into new and different forms--that process which is constantly taking place before our eyes in the external world of nature--must assuredly be likewise going on in like manner in the human body. _food._ the world is just awakening and far more inquiry will now be made in the future as to the chemical properties of food, and also as to its necessary quantity and calorific value. it will then be clearly appreciated that vegetable food has a higher value as a producer of energy than animal food, because we find in it in more available form the original elements of force which exists in all matter. for the animal kingdom lives upon the vegetable kingdom and obtains every power it has from vegetable atoms. in the vegetable kingdom the vibration of the electrons is of an electrical character; therefore, vegetable food is of value in the form of electrical force, through its nutritive salts. by maintaining vital processes through its vibrations it renders us another service of a magnetic nature. it is definitely known that quite as much force is derived from vegetable as from animal food, because the former is introduced into the system chiefly in the form of a rapidly vibrating positive magnetic force. because of its slow vibration vegetable food manifests a lower degree of heat than animal food, and plants possess less warmth than animals. _diet._ for this reason vegetable diet is distinctly appropriate in febrile diseases. by reason of its more moderate vibration it is also the best diet for nervous people. _food standard._ the usefulness of any article of diet depends upon its adaptability for entering into combinations within the system. this, in turn, depends solely upon its higher or lower standing in respect to vibrations. this is the reason why the human organism cannot subsist upon mineral food. _heat._ we need in our vital economy a definite amount of heat, or positive magnetic force. this is lacking when the system neither produces enough to meet its needs in compensation for expended energy or is not properly supplied with food, fresh air and sunshine. _discretion._ for this reason it is well to remember that discretion must be used, as any unauthorized, unwise or too rapid change to a strict vegetarian diet may result, in certain cases, in bringing about an underfed condition or in weakening, and even disease, so that the system may be obliged to call in the aid of digestive tonics in order to obtain all the material it needs for the formation of its body-cells. enough, however, has been said on the subject i think, to clear the stage, as it were, of the debris of antiquated "orthodox" performances. we of the independent and rational branch of the science of healing, ignorantly termed "unorthodox," have devised a means of preventing disease and curing it, when encountered, in a natural way, with materials that regenerate and invigorate the blood, and this method is slowly but surely fighting its way into general recognition. in time we may hope to be able to make the so-called "inevitable" children's complaints a matter of the past, and to raise a generation in which the sins of the forefathers shall be extinct, so that sane and healthy offspring will be the result. but pending such time--until the final victory of the biological-hygienic system for the prevention of disease--we are now prepared and able to cope with the still existing conditions, and to heal, if proper attention is paid to our teachings. _diet for children in general._ for the infant child as well as for its mother, it is naturally best that it should be nursed by the mother. the infant should receive the breast every three hours approximately, and no food should be given it during the night, in order to make the feeding regular and avoid intestinal catarrh through overfeeding. a regular diet is necessary for a nursing mother. hot spices and foods producing gas, must be avoided. tight clothes that cause degeneration of the mammary glands, are prohibited. if the mother is unable to nurse the child, and a wet-nurse cannot be afforded, the child must be fed artificially, and this requires painstaking care and attention. the main factor is to secure good cow's milk, which is most like human milk. milk from cows that are kept in barns, should not be used, for these animals constantly live in stables that lack fresh air, and under conditions very detrimental to the milk. the milk should be warmed carefully, thereby approximating the temperature of the mother's milk (86° to 98.6°) before it is given to the infant. the nursing bottle and the rubber caps must be kept scrupulously clean. the milk should be shaken thoroughly before being used, in order to make a perfect intermixture of milk and cream. the newly born infant is not able to digest undiluted milk, and therefore must receive: 1st to 5th day: 1 part milk to three parts water. 5th to 30th day: 1 part milk to two parts water. 30th to 60th day: half milk, half water. 3rd to 8th month: i part milk, one-half part water. or: 1st to 3rd month, every 2 hours; 1 part milk, two parts water, with the addition of 2 table-spoonsful milk sugar to i or 1-1/2 quarts milk. 4th to 5th month, every 3 hours: 1 part milk, 1 part water. 6th to 9th month: 2 parts milk, 1 part water. thereafter pure milk, with the addition of very little sugar, or gruel made of oatmeal or something similar. among the preparations that are best known are knorr's and nestle's. not until the first teeth have made their appearance, should the child begin to have thin groat soup, a few soft boiled eggs, and a little more solid food. infants fed artificially must receive food frequently. later on, still maintaining the milk diet, light milk and flour food, vegetables and meat gravy may be given. infants and even older children should, under no circumstances, receive miscellaneous delicacies, or highly seasoned and greasy dishes. strong tea and coffee are poison to the nervous system of children. in case of intestinal diseases milk must be substituted for other diet, with decoctions of cereal flour. furthermore, dech-manna chocolate and malt-chocolate, boiled in milk, are recommended. _diet for school children._ the appetite of children increases with their growth and years, and is always a sign of good health. much exercise in the open air is of the greatest benefit to children. it is not, however, immaterial how children are fed. the theory that children should receive whatever is served on the family table, may be correct from the standpoint of discipline, but it may bring about trouble if the food that is offered does not agree with the stomach of the child. food for children should be light and display variety. it is not correct to believe that what is eaten with aversion, has a healthy effect, and by forcing children to eat food against which their natural instinct rebels, parents have often seriously injured their children. in a general way, soup, vegetables, farinaceous food or a little meat and fruit is sufficient for the principal meal. in the morning a cup of milk, cocoa or weak coffee (fruit or malt), with a piece of bread; for anaemic children, butter and bread and honey. prepared in various forms, plenty of milk and farinaceous food, rice, groat, oats, barley, cornmeal, fruit and cooked fruit should be eaten, which all children like and which are superior in effect, since they are so easily digested. pure water with a little fruit-juice added occasionally; in the afternoon weak tea with milk, fruit coffee, cocoa, malt chocolate; in the summer time, cold sweet or sour milk; these should be the drinks for growing children. bread and butter with a little marmalade is always welcome. when fruit is in season, some fresh fruit and dry bread is sufficient in the afternoon; the supper should be simple, warm or cold, but without high seasoning; potatoes with butter, soft boiled eggs, bread and ham, cold roast meat, soup or some well prepared farinaceous food one hour before bedtime. food should not be served very hot, should be well masticated and eaten with little to drink during the meal. it is better to take a glass of water before the meal. alcoholic drinks are strictly prohibited, since they produce nervous irritation and make study much harder. game, when not too high and without spice is good for growing children. dishes prepared from internal organs, such as liver, kidneys and brains, are usually repugnant to children, and should be avoided. steamed vegetables are preferable to those cooked with sauce. salads for children should not be highly seasoned, but should be prepared with butter, cream and lemon juice, in which form they are of great nutritive value. avoid delicacies and mayonnaise dressing. ice cream is the delight of most children. permit small quantities, but eaten with crisp biscuit only, so as to avoid catarrh of the stomach. children should have one or two meals between the regular meals. greatest variety should prevail at dinner and supper, and the favorite dishes of the various children should be served from time to time. taste and appetite are the means by which the intestinal organs express what they consider most suitable for the system. that which tastes good not only influences the health of the body, but also the mental condition of the child. proper food, ample time for play and much fresh air will make the physician's visit a rare necessity. however, if a child becomes ill, medical advice should be obtained immediately and followed strictly, thus avoiding many sad experiences. nearly all forms of children's disease are combined with fever, and even without any of the characteristic symptoms of the various forms of disease, children are often subject to more or less intense attacks of fever. therefore, in the following pages i am giving an extensive description of fever from a biological standpoint, together with its dietetic treatment--not _cure_ for, as will be seen, _fever in itself is not a disease, but the attempt of nature to get rid of a disease_. this elaborate description of fever in all its phases will also serve as a valuable illustration of the manner in which all subjects dealt with are treated in my greater work: "regeneration, or dare to be healthy." fever and its treatment, based on biology (a) general description. fever is one of the protective institutions of the body, which very often acts most advantageously in the interests of the preservation of the organism. it is a symptom, or rather a group of symptoms, consisting of an increase of temperature, acceleration of metabolism, excitement of the nerves, numbness and frequently delirium. undoubtedly a fever of long duration and high temperature may injure the organism to the extent that death ensues. there have been, nevertheless, at all times, those who hold the opinion that fever, as such, does not under any circumstances, injure the organism of itself alone. fever has at all times been regarded, and to a much higher degree today than formerly, as a healthy reaction against diseased matter, and indeed, as an expression of the healing tendency of nature, hippocrates considered it an excellent remedy. thomas campanello recognized its qualities of removing diseased matter. this doctrine is corroborated by the findings in regard to infections. through fever the organism is freed from micro-organisms which may have forced their way in. fever operates like fire, destroying the contagious matter. after this is done the remnants are excreted through intense and extremely offensive perspiration. experiments have taught us that the growth and the resisting power of many microbes decrease if the temperature of the body rises, but 1.8 to 3.6 degrees above normal. it is also a remarkable fact that in every disease where bacteria are found, there is a special type of fever, which takes its course in such strict accordance with its law, that the physician is thereby able to determine the nature of the disease. while the degree of temperature is decisive in regard to the life of micro-organisms, the height of the temperature does not, in itself, constitute a criterion of the gravity of danger. it is the duty of the physician to fight the fever, since the patient may succumb to a high temperature, as to a low one. in order to gauge the situation accurately it is necessary to regard fever, not as a disease, but as what it really is in essence: a symptom which accompanies the greatest variety of the processes of disease,--symptom of the most variable significance in various cases. it must be fought like other symptoms, such as vomiting, coughing, pains and diarrhoea; namely, in a general way--provided only that it is not a manifestation of the healing tendency of the organism. in decreasing the fever, we moderate the excitement of the nerves, remove the numbness, secure calmness, refreshment and sleep, and defend the patient against threatening manifestations of disease. very often it is not a case of treating the fever, but of dealing with the disease which causes the fever. we must consequently not be guided by the thermometer but by the condition of the nervous system. two conditions must be observed in treating fever according to the rules of biology. in the first place, the treatment of febrile disease must not be carried on in accordance with general principles, but individually, according to the nature of the disease in each particular case. in the second place, it is necessary that the antipyretic treatment, to reduce the fever, should not be foreign to the organism and should not be such as is not measurable in degrees as to its effects, or has any unpleasant accompanying effects or after-effects. only the biological system of healing responds to these demands. only cognate physical forces, in affinity with the human organism according to biological laws, can influence vital occurrences with the hope of success and without the danger of unfavorable accompanying effects and consequences. only physical remedies and treatments permit of adequate gradations such as will appeal to the power of reaction of the organism. in the appropriate application of certain, influences of nature, especially in the diversified applications of water, we possess a mode of procedure which, assisted by an appropriate dietetic regime adapted to the principles of biological healing and to the conditions of life in health and disease, offers advantages which no other treatment affords and benefits the patient to an extent which cannot be too highly estimated. in the treatment of fever we must, in the first place, follow the impulses of instinct--harmonized, however, with the fundamental laws and methods of biological treatment--if success is to be obtained. instinctively, in the case of a hot forehead, we turn to the application of cold compresses; for cold feet, the use of such appliances as will bring about heat. tormenting thirst is assuaged by a mouthful of cooling water. but the instinct of impulse alone might also lead one burning with high fever to seek relief by immersion in cooling water; thus, in order to discover the rational course we must be guided by the fundamental laws of the biological system of healing. (b) treatment. to these biological explanations of what fever is, it will be interesting to add some general description and explanation of its treatment, such as may serve in an emergency as an indication of the proper course to be pursued and by the most simple means, pending the attendance of an hygienic physician. i must again call special attention to the importance of not clinging too literally to the letter of the law,--of every rule laid down,--but rather to study by the light of such laws and with alert intelligence the special features of the case at issue. of all hygienic treatments of fever, which have come under my notice in the course of many years, there is none more clearly, simply and intelligibly described than that which dr. c. sturm, has published in his book, "die natur liche heilmethode" (the natural method of healing). i will, therefore, employ it in my explanations, (as translated from the german) adding to it my advanced methods, especially the hydropathic and dietetic treatments which are more in accordance with the demands of modern biological therapy. in the first place, as we know, fever is indicated by an abnormally hot skin. this heat is noticeable even by touching the patient with the palm of the hand. a precise measurement of this heat, of course, requires a thermometer. the best kind is a so-called maximum thermometer. the temperature is taken by putting the lower end of the glass into the axilla, or arm-pit, of the arm, or in the mouth or the rectum of the patient, and leaving it there for from 8 to 10 minutes. when withdrawn, the temperature of the patient can be read at a glance. the temperature of the skin, however, is not the only indication of fever. it is accompanied simultaneously by accelerated action of the pulse, up to 120 beats per minute, and even more; also by increased thirst and, as an indication of very intense affection, extreme exhaustion and lassitude. the increased excretion becomes manifest through dark and strong-smelling urine and, especially at the time when the fever begins to abate, through intense perspiration. in the beginning of fever the change alternating between chills and abnormal heat is very characteristic; frequently, and especially in severe attacks, it begins with shivers. the patient suddenly feels an intense chill, so that he commences to shake all over, his teeth chatter and he grasps whatever covering he can for warmth. suddenly, following this, a rapid increase of temperature occurs, and the patient begins to complain of intense heat. in other cases patients complain of feeling very cold, while their skin indicates a marked degree of warmth. with higher degrees of temperature, the fever may induce a loss of consciousness. the patient becomes delirious, loses urinary and fecal control and displays the signs of total collapse. fever, as i have already indicated, is a kind of physical revolution, a state of excitation which, differing so widely as to cause, character and degree, cannot be judged according to any fixed rule. the temperature of a patient we may read from the thermometer; but the real nature of the fever we do not learn until we consider his constitution, his innate faculties and the strength to which his various organs have attained. for this purpose we must take into consideration not only the physical attributes, but also the quality of the senses and of the mind, since these items are of the utmost importance in determining the tenacity, i.e., the power of resistance of the patient. from this point of view it will be understood that people possessing a calm and phlegmatic temperament, will not attain to high degrees of fever, except in cases of very serious complications, while nervous people may quickly reach very considerable degrees of temperature. children and younger people are more inclined to high fever, since their organs are still immature. this explains why simple inflammations, which are not general throughout the body, or frequent indigestion, which in itself does not figure as a dangerous illness, will in the case of children appear under the gravest symptoms. it follows, therefore, how necessary it is to discriminate closely and decide accordingly between severe symptoms of fever as manifested by people of calm temperament, and similar cases when manifested by people of nervous temperament. unfortunately fever has been treated in the past according to set and rigid rules. as soon as the temperature of a patient rose from 98.6° and 99.6° to 100.4°, it was pronounced to be fever, and preparations were made to treat it accordingly. the treatment became more energetic the higher the fever rose to 105.8° and 107.6°. it was said that under all circumstances the temperature must be lowered to normal. this idea is decidedly wrong and most dangerous for the patient. for, while a calm and phlegmatic patient may withstand this strong reduction of excitement in his internal organs, which in fact require it, the procedure necessary to bring it about, as a rule exceeds what the nervous patient can endure. the fever should only be reduced in accordance with the strength of the patient, otherwise extreme irritation must ensue, such as has caused the death of hundreds of thousands in the past. it is better, therefore, to leave a nervous patient in his fever and strengthen him by various devices, so that he may overcome it. later he may require and, consequently, be able to withstand stronger measures. for this purpose i recommend simple ablutions, in some cases the application of abdominal packs for half an hour _using two-thirds water and one-third vinegar_, as previously prescribed. in addition, the natural vigor of the patient is to be strengthened by administering to him, at intervals of from half an hour to two hours, dechmann's tonogen and dechmann's plasmogen alternately. the treatment must be in proportion to the strength of the patient. thus the quiet, energetic temperament can endure more extensive packs; his nature in fact requires them. his body may be completely packed or at least three-quarters, by placing the moist sheet around his entire body except the arms, while the woolen blanket is either wrapped around the whole body, including the arms, or, as before, leaves the patient free to move his arms, which are then only covered by the bed-clothes. a patient of this kind may also be treated with ablutions or put into a half bath at 75.2°, while cooler water is poured over him. young and strong patients have endured even cooler baths as powerful stimulants. the nearer a patient approaches to a nervous, weak condition, the more caution is required to allow him hike warm baths only, or, still better, ablutions at 77°, which may be made severer by not drying the patient. it is very beneficial to weak patients to frequently wash their hands, face and neck, without drying them. a very careful treatment of the hair is also a great necessity, especially for women. clean and well combed hair is very beneficial to a patient. slight ablutions of the head and combing the hair while wet, are very cooling and refreshing. the stronger the nature of a patient, the safer it becomes to rely upon a single mode of procedure. thus, cold packs may be sufficient in case of high fever if applied about every half hour or hour; or, if the temperature is not quite so high, at intervals, from one hour and a half to two hours with weaker persons more variety of procedure is imperative, but none of them must be too stringently applied. in these cases mild ablutions should be used several times during the day, and they may be alternated with packs of the whole lower part of the body or packs on the calves of the legs. cool or cold enemas are rapidly absorbed and thus have a quieting influence on the large blood reservoir in the abdomen. little mouthfuls of water are also taken from time to time, but too much water always weakens the patient. (c) diet in cases of fever. as diet in cases of fever i recommend the prescriptions of professor moritz, which coincide with my own experiences, so far as a fever diet is concerned; and in addition the physiologico-chemical cell-food which i have used for many years with the greatest success (dech-manna diet). the importance of the latter is due to the fact that it not only _prevents_ the destruction of the cells, but has a general strengthening effect upon the system. whatever the differences in manifestation the febrile diseases may show, the _febrile reduction of the digestive capacity of the stomach and the bowels is so characteristic_, that it should be specially noted in this connection. true, fever shows considerable _disturbance of metabolism_, since the _decomposition of the albumen is increased in an abnormal way_. this fact, however, does not demand any particular attention, in regard to diet. as far as possible during fever it is well to exercise an economizing influence on the decomposition of the albumen of the body through the introduction of _all kinds of food_ that produce energy, so that it is not necessary to _give preference to any one particular kind of food_. the injury to digestion during fever comprises not only the peptic functions, which manifest themselves clearly in a reduction of the excretion of hydrochloric acid, but all functions pertaining thereto, the motory as well as the resorptive. the danger that the patient will receive too much solid food, hard to digest, is generally speaking not very great since, during acute fever, patients as a rule show a decided lack of appetite. the other extreme is the more likely to occur; that the amount of nutrition given may be less than what is requisite and helpful; too much deference being paid to the inclinations of the patient. formerly the general belief obtained that fever would be increased, in a degree detrimental to the patient, by allowing the consumption of any considerable amount of food, and following this doctrine, the patient was permitted to go hungry. this, however, is absolutely erroneous. _no one would feed a feverish person in a forcible manner, but it is absolutely imperative to take care that he receives food productive of energy in reasonable quantities._ as a rule hardly one-half, or at the most two-thirds of the normal quantity of nourishment necessary for the preservation of life, may be introduced into the organism in case of acute febrile disease. i have already indicated that there is no particular danger in such partial "inanition" (starvation) for a short period, but that, accordingly, the qualitative side of the nourishment becomes more important the longer the fever lasts. it has also been mentioned that the organism reduces its work of decomposition, gradually adapting itself to the unfavorable conditions of sustenance, and thus meets our efforts to maintain its material equilibrium. _it is important always to make use of any periods of remission and intermission, during which the patient has a better appetite and can digest more easily, to give him a good supply of food._ it is also well to administer _as much nourishing food as possible_ in the beginning of an illness, which is likely to be lengthy, provided the patient is not yet wholly under the effects of the febrile disease. the food must then be gradually reduced in the course of the illness. as to quality, the diet must be selected from forms ii and iii (as below), and will consequently consist of glutinous soups, in some cases with the addition of a nutritive preparation of egg, meat jelly, milk and possibly thin gruel and milk. the quantity of food which the patient may receive can only be given approximately, as follows: for adults--(to constitute a sustaining diet). soup 1/2 pint, milk and milk gruel 1/3 pint, meat 3 oz., farinaceous food the same, 2 eggs, potatoes, vegetables, fruit sauces 2 to 2-1/2., pastry and bread 2 oz. these quantities must be considered as the maximum for each portion. the quantity of beverage at each meal must also be very limited, not exceeding 3 to 6 oz., so that the stomach is not overburdened unnecessarily nor its contents too much diluted. the reduced meals are harmonized with the object of sufficient general nourishment by eating more frequently, about five to six times a day. patients with fever should have some food in small quantity every 2 to 3 hours. it is important that _the patient be fed regularly at fixed times_. this will be found advantageous both for the patient and for nursing. _form ii_ comprises _purely liquid nourishment, "soup diet."_ consommé of pigeon, chicken, veal, mutton, beef, beef-tea, meat jelly, which becomes liquid under the influence of bodily heat, strained soups or such as are prepared of the finest flour with water or bouillon, of barley, oats, rice (glutinous soup), green corn, rye flour, malted milk. all of these soups, with or without any additions such as raw eggs, either whole or the yolk only, if well mixed and not coagulated are easily digested. (besides albumen preparations, dech-manna powders, dry extract of malt, etc., may be added). _form iii_ comprises _nourishment which is not purely liquid_. milk and milk preparations (belonging to this group on account of their coagulation in the stomach): (a)--cow's milk, diluted and without cream, dilution with 1/2 to 2/3 barley water, rice water, lime water, vichy water, pure water, light tea. (b)--milk without cream, not diluted. (c)--full milk, either diluted or undiluted. (d)--cream, either diluted or undiluted. (e)--all of these milk combinations with an addition of yolk of egg, well mixed, whole egg, cacao, also a combination of egg and cacao. milk porridge made of flour for children, arrowroot, cereal flour of every kind, especially oats, groat soups with tapioca, or sago, and potato soup. egg, raw, stirred, or sucked from the shell, or slightly warmed and poured into a cup; all either with or without a little sugar or salt. biscuit and crackers, well masticated to be taken with milk, porridge, etc. as a rule fever is accompanied by an increased thirst, which may be satisfied without hesitation. it is unnecessary, and detrimental, for patients suffering from an increased excretion of water through the fever heat, to be subjected to thirst. since the mucous membrane of the digestive channel is usually not very sensitive to weak chemical food irritations, the cooling drinks, which contain fruit acids, such as fruit juices and lemonades, are as a rule permissible. fruit soups may also be given. it is different, of course, if an acute catarrh of the stomach or of the bowels is combined with the fever. in such cases fruit acids must be avoided. still it is not necessary to resist the desire of the patient to take whatever may be given him, at a low temperature. even ice cream, vanilla or fruit water ice, may be used in moderate quantity. warning against cold drinks is necessary only in case of disease of the respiratory organs when the cold liquids would cause coughing. the use of dietetic stimulants such as dechmann's tonogen, eubiogen and plasmogen, is the same in these cases as has been mentioned in several places previously. * * * * * as soon as the patient has made sufficient progress, he may receive more solid food. the salivary digestion being improved, he may now be allowed several more substantial dishes of rice and groat, cooked partly in milk, partly in water and eaten with fruit juice. he may also have several kinds of green vegetables, like spinach, cauliflower, asparagus, comfrey, etc. with additional increase in his strength, fresh fish, well prepared, is especially refreshing to a patient with light fever. as to mental pabulum, in case of severe fever, i recommend for the patient absolute mental and physical rest; little talking, no noise, no visits, no disturbance of any kind. within his system nature has to accomplish an enormous task to facilitate which complete quiet is essential. just as he who has serious preoccupations needs quiet environment, so that his attention may be devoted to his thoughts, so also a patient in the throes of fever must relax all external considerations in deference to the struggle of the vital forces within. whatever disturbance of mentality occurs has always prejudicial effects, such indeed as may in some cases cost the life all are seeking to save. scarlet fever. scarlet fever is an exanthematous form of disease distinguished by a scarlet eruption of the skin. it produces marked symptoms in three localities, the skin the throat and the kidneys. it is doubtful whether it can be conveyed from one person to another; at least nothing is known concerning the "contagium," or germ of conveyance of infection,--according to the differential diagnosis of dr. g. kuhnemann, whose work on the subject is held to be authoritative. it is not to be denied that the disease may be carried by articles of clothing and by intermediary persons, who themselves are not suffering from it. the incubation period--the time intervening between infection and eruption--during which the infected person is "sickening for" disease, varies from two to as much as eight days. chills, feverishness, headache, nausea and actual vomiting are the initial symptoms, and sore throat with difficulty in swallowing soon follow. inspection reveals the appearance of an acute throat inflammation, and the tip and sides of the tongue are red as a raspberry. a few hours later--or at most a day or two--the eruption appears; first in the throat, then on the face and chest. it begins with minute, bright red, scattered spots, steadily growing larger until they run together so that the entire skin becomes scarlet, being completely covered with them. frequently the temperature in the evening ranges as high as from 103° to 105° fahrenheit. albumen is always found in the urine. after two or more days the fever mounts gradually, the throat symptoms increase, the eruption fades away, and from four to eight days later the patient's condition returns to normal. at the beginning of the second week desquamation, or scaling, begins, the skin peeling off in minute flakes. at this stage heavy sweats set in and the excretion of urine is increased. in epidemic form the type is sometimes much more malignant, even to the degree that death occurs on the first day with typhoid and inflammatory brain symptoms, unconsciousness, convulsions, delirium, excessive temperature, and rapid pulse. this may happen even without the eruption becoming fairly recognizable. in such severe epidemics the throat symptoms are apt to take on the aspect of diphtheria. the renal discharge exhibits the conditions of a catarrh of the urinary canals originating from causes we do not understand. among the after effects of scarlet fever are inflammation of the ear with all its consequences, and inflammatory affections of the lungs, air passages, diaphragm and heart membrane. the cause, i repeat again, is _dysaemia_--impure blood. if the patient is predisposed to this form of disease and moreover, a weakling, the case is a dangerous one. every good mother should see to it that there is healthy blood in her offspring. the task is comparatively an easy one, the method, is simple and ignorance ceases to be an excuse, for my object is to place the necessary knowledge within the reach of all. the treatment of scarlet fever varies according to which symptoms are most severe. in the first place prophylactic efforts must be constantly employed to prevent _possible_ contagion. healthy children must be strictly seperated from the sick till the end of desquamation or scaling--a period of four to six weeks. if the course of the attack is normal, the patient should be kept in bed under a light cover with a room temperature of 60° to 65°. the sick room must be well ventilated and aired daily. the windows should be hung with transparent _red_ curtains. the diet may consist of milk, curds, barley soup, oatmeal gruel, flour gruel, with some cooked fruit and, of drinks, lemonade, soda water, and raspberry juice; but the most important drink from a scientific point is dechmann's "tonogen," as previously described. the linen should be changed often sponge baths with chilled vinegar-water (1 part cider vinegar diluted with 2 parts water) are helpful when the temperature rises to 102°. if the temperature reaches 105° or over, baths must be promptly administered. the patient may be placed in a bath of 85° or 90°, and the water allowed to cool gradually down to 70° or 65°. a sick child may stay in such a bath ten or twenty minutes, while the time in a bath practically should not be more than three or five minutes. the bath must be repeated as soon as the fever again reaches 105°. when the first symptoms of measles, scarlet fever or chicken-pox are noticed, give the child a three-quarter pack. (see directions under "packs"). after each pack sponge the patient with cool vinegar-water. if the fever is high during the night, apply a sponge bath every half hour or hour. during the day give the patient 1/4 teaspoonful of dechmann's plasmogen, dissolved in 1/2 pint water, a little every hour. in the evening and during the night alternate this blood-salt solution with tonogen. blood plasm contains eight different salts in different composition, and only when the actual physiological composition is employed can there be any guarantee against the decomposition of the blood-cells. plasmogen is such a composition. when diphtheria and bright's disease complicate the case, they must be dealt with as under ordinary conditions and treated by a competent, hygienic dietetic physician. if recovery is prompt and desquamation (scaling) is in progress, warm baths may be applied for a few days. when the temperature and urine continue normal for a few weeks, the child may be regarded as restored to health. measles. measles or rubeola is an exanthematous or eruptive contagious form of children's disease. in measles the medium of contagion is the excretion from the air passages, mucus coughed up and air exhaled; also the saliva, tears, blood and perspiration of the patient. in measles also, as is the case with regard to scarlet fever, the "contagium," or germ of contagion, is unknown. the general susceptibility to measles is extraordinarily great the poison being of a virulent nature. if the disease attacks one of feeble constitution whose environment is unfavorable and insanitary,--dwelling in badly ventilated rooms, for instance, with little attention paid to personal cleanliness, the attack is likely to assume a malignant form. a period of from ten to fourteen days may elapse between infection and the development of the symptoms. during this period the patient may infect others. this explains how easily a whole school may become infected. during the preliminary period children feel tired, relaxed, suffer pain in the joints and headache; they have chills and are feverish at evening. among the symptoms enumerated are catarrhal affections of the air passages, the larynx, the nose and eyes. constant sneezing, nosebleeding, cough, watering eyes, ultra sensitiveness to strong light, are concurrent conditions. at the same time the fever becomes pronounced. these symptoms continue for four or five days and then rapidly abate and the eruption appears. first a red rash is seen, which spreads over the surface of the face. inside the mouth and throat a similar mottled redness is seen. in the course of a day the eruption spreads over the whole body. after continuing at their height for a day or two the symptoms gradually decline, and in a little over a week the child may be pronounced well. the skin then sheds all the superfluous cuticle left by the eruption, and in three or four weeks after inception the normal condition is again reached. in the malignant form all the symptoms are of a severe type. occasionally catarrhal affections of the air passages, croup or pulmonary inflammation supervene, and the patient succumbs. other concurrent forms of disease are whooping cough, diphtheria, pulmonary consumption, inflammation of the eyes, ear disease, and swelling of the glands. measles demand no distinctive treatment. the room must be well ventilated, with a temperature of about 60°, and light must be almost totally excluded. at night no lamp should be allowed. _treatment and diet_ should be the same as in scarlet fever. german measles. german measles (rubella or roetheln), is an eruptive form of children's disease, much more harmless than the disturbances previously depicted. it is one which occurs in epidemics, but to which children individually are largely susceptible; the actual contagium thereof, however, is likewise unknown to science. eight days generally intervene between the time of infection and the breaking out of the rash. during this period no acute symptom is noticeable. in the majority of cases the fever that precedes the eruption is not high; headache, cold and sorethroat accompany the appearances of the rash, which in this case breaks out at once, and not after several days, as in the case of actual measles. the spots are about the size of lentils, and are quite deep red, appearing first upon the face. after the rash has been out for one or two days, it gradually becomes paler, the fever goes down, and recovery progresses rapidly, usually without any after effects. it is not necessary for the patient to remain in bed longer than three or four days; nevertheless, the treatment should be just the same as prescribed in the case of the real measles, so as not to leave any weakness or subsequent complication. there are many other forms of disease, besides these, which are likewise accompanied by fever and a rash, which also appear in epidemics and are evidently due to a great variety of causes. as they, however, invariably run the natural course, i shall not dwell upon them here. chicken-pox. chicken-pox, or varicella, of which the contagium also remains a mystery, is another infectious eruptive form of disease, peculiar to children. it begins with the appearance of a number of little pigmented elevations on the skin which develop into vesicles and pustules. after a certain period they become encrusted with scabs, which dry up and fall off. when the pustules are deep-seated, small scars remain there is no fever, and the illness is over in about fourteen days. the contagion passes through personal contact, or through clothing and bed linen. if symptoms are severe enough to require it, treatment should follow the directions for scarlet fever. small-pox. as a matter of fact chicken-pox is of congeneric origin with small-pox, with which, in a very much milder degree, it has various features in common. but small-pox itself is engendered of foul and insanitary conditions of life, impure blood and bad and insufficient nourishment and these, together with its risk under unscientific conditions and in times past of facial disfigurement, have made its name more repugnant to the layman than perhaps any other form of disease. all that need be said about it here, however, is that it is largely a terror of the past and that the sure preventative against it always, and the one reliable anti-toxin against contagion, under all circumstances, is good healthy blood and hygienic-dietetic living. those readers who may desire a minute description of this form of disease will find the same in chapt: xii of my greater work "regeneration." typhoid fever or typhus abdominalis. _(a) general description._ this description of fever is usually termed typhus or nerve fever. it characterizes all forms of typhoid disease of which the following features constitute the prominent symptoms. to a peculiar degree, chiefly young and strong individuals of from 15 to 30 years of age are attacked by this disease, while those in early youth and of more advanced years are much less subject to the same. it is a complaint very dangerous to those who eat and drink to excess and without discretion. strong excitement of the mind, such as a shock or great anguish, will undoubtedly favor the appearance of typhus. the seasons too have considerable influence upon it, most cases occurring during the autumn months--from august to november. it has been previously indicated to what extent the study of the hygienic conditions of life will assist in the discovery of the real causes of so-called contagious disease. one instance may show the enormous influence of dietetic movements on the outbreak of great epidemics. it is reported in the "journal of the sanitary institute," london, that the english seaside resort brighton, in the period from july, 1893, to august, 1896, 238 cases of abdominal typhus were observed,--about equally divided for the different years. in 56 cases the typhus was caused by the eating of oysters (36 cases) or clams (20 cases). there was evidence that the water from which these oysters and clams were taken was badly polluted by the excrement of several thousand people, brought through sewers to the place were the shell-fish had been gathered. it was very characteristic in a number of cases that only one of a number of persons, who were otherwise living under equal conditions, fell ill with typhus, a short while after having eaten some of the shell-fish. no other points essential to the spreading of this contagious disease could be discovered. brighton is healthily situated and built; hygienic conditions in general are favourable; much attention is paid particularly to keeping the soil clean, removing all faeces and providing good drinking water. contamination through milk in all of the 56 cases, according to most careful investigations, was out of the question. they occurred in entirely different streets in various precincts of the town; 45 of the patients lived on 43 different streets. besides the people attacked by typhus, many other persons fell ill from lighter disease of the intestines, after having eaten of these crustaceous bivalves, the symptoms being diarrhoea and pains in the stomach. measures were taken to remove the noxious causes as soon as the source of infection was discovered. the same conditions were some time ago noticed in berlin. out of 14 people invited to a dinner, nine fell ill--5 of them very seriously--under symptoms of typhus, after having eaten oysters from heligoland. part of the personnel of the kitchen and some of the servants were taken ill with the same critical symptoms. _b. essentials._ abdominal typhus is a general illness of the whole body, and consequently all organs of the body are more or less altered in a morbid way while the disease lasts. the main change occurs in the lymphatic glands of the intestines and in the spleen. the following are its anatomical symptoms: with the beginning of the disease the lymphatic glands of the mucous membrane of the intestines begin to swell; they are constantly growing during the course of the disease and attain the size of a pea; extended over the level of the mucous membrane they feel firm, hard and tough. in favourable cases the swelling may go down at this stage, but generally the formation of matter begins through the dying of the cells, caused by insufficient nourishment. this is gradually thrown off, and a loss of substance remains--the typhoid ulcer. this varies in size and in depth. light bleeding in no great quantity ensues. if the ulcer has gone very deep, the intestines may be perforated and then the faeces and part of the food enter the abdominal cavity. the result is purulent and ichorous peritonitis. as a rule, however, the ulcers are purified and heal by cicatrization. usually the spleen is enormously enlarged (through a rapid increase in the number of its cells). the swelling of the spleen can easily be detected by external touch. _(c) symptoms and course._ during what is termed the earlier stage, which as a rule last about two weeks and precedes the breaking out of the disease proper, the patient still feels comparatively well, or only begins to complain of headache, tired feeling, prostration in all the limbs, dizziness, lack of appetite. it is thus absolutely impossible to fix a definite date for its development. in most cases the patient complains of a chill, followed by feverishness,--symptoms which confine him to bed,--although no actual shivering takes place. it is expedient, although quite arbitrary and subject to many modifications, to divide the course of the illness into three periods:-(1) the stage of development. (2) the climax. (3) the stage of healing. during the stage of development, which usually lasts about a week, the symptoms of the disease rapidly increase. the patient gets extremely weak and faint, has severe headaches and absolutely no appetite. in consequence of the high fever, he complains of thirst; the skin is dry, the lips chapped, the tongue coated; the pulse is rapid and full; the bowels are constipated, but the abdomen is practically not inflated nor sensitive to pressure. in most cases the spleen is evidently enlarged. before the end of the first week the climax is reached. this in the lighter cases lasts for the second week, or in more severe cases, even until the third. the fever is constantly high, even 104° and over. the body is generally benumbed, the patient becomes delirious at night or lies absolutely indifferent to all surroundings. the abdomen is now inflated, the buttocks show small, light red spots,--the so-called "roseola,"--which are characteristic of abdominal typhus. furthermore, in most cases, bronchial catarrh of a more or less severe nature appears. instead of obstruction of the bowels there is diarrhoea--about two to six light yellow thin stools, occur within 24 hours. during this second stage the complications appear. at the end of the second or the third week respectively, the fever slackens; in cases which take a favourable turn, the patient becomes less benumbed and less indifferent, his sleep is quieter; appetite gradually returns. the bronchial catarrh grows better, the stool once more becomes normal; in short, the patient enters the stage of convalescence. this is a short sketch of the course the illness usually takes. of the deviations and complaints accompanying abdominal typhus, the following are the most important details:-the fever takes its course in strict accordance with the described anatomical changes in the intestines. it increases gradually during the first week, and at the end of that period it reaches its maximum of about 104°. it stays at that point during the second stage, gradually sinking during the third stage. in lighter cases the second stage may be extraordinarily short. if perforation of the intestines, heavier bleeding or general collapse should ensue, attention is directed thereto through sudden and considerable decrease in the temperature of the body. pneumonia, inflammation of the inner ear and other accompanying complications also cause sudden access of fever. effect upon the digestive organs: the tongue is generally coated while the fever lasts; the lips are dry and chapped, and look brown from bleeding. if the patient is not carefully attended to during the extreme numbness, a fungus growth appears which forms a white coating over the tongue, the cavity of the mouth and the pharynx, and may extend into the oesophagus. later on the tongue loses this coating and becomes red as before. few symptoms are shown by the stomach, except occasional vomiting and lack of appetite. during convalescence there is great desire for food. the anatomical changes in the intestines have already been mentioned. while obstruction prevails during the first week, the second week is characterized by diarrhoea of a pale and thin consistency. when general improvement sets in, the stools gradually decrease in number, they grow more solid and finally reach the normal. the abdomen is not very sensitive to pressure and is usually intensely inflated with gas. in the region of the right groin a cooing sound is often heard, caused by a liquid substance in the intestines, which can be felt under pressure of the finger. bleeding from the intestines is not infrequent and happens during the third week of the illness. it usually indicates a bad complication, since the result may be fatal. the stool assumes a tar-like appearance through the mixture of the coagulated blood with the faeces. close attention must be given to minor hemorrhages, since they often herald others of a more intense nature. in such extreme cases of serious complications, however, a cure has nevertheless been sometimes effected. they are occasionally followed by the immediate beginning of convalescence. the perforation of the intestines, which is caused by an ulcer eating its way through the wall of the intestines, is much more dangerous. it happens most frequently during the third or the fourth week. the patient feels a sudden, most intense pain in the abdomen; he collapses rapidly, the cheeks become hollow, the nose pointed and cool. vomiting follows, the pulse becomes weak and extremely rapid. the abdomen is enormously inflated and painful. in the severest cases death ensues, at latest, within two or three days, the cause being purulent and ichorous (or pus-laden) peritonitis. such extreme developments as these, however, are infrequent, since the illness, by timely attention according to the methods herein prescribed, will, as a rule, respond to the treatment and take a favourable turn. _respiratory organs_:-in the course of typhus, intense bleeding of the nose is not infrequent. in the severer cases this is a sign of decomposition of the blood, but in lighter cases it merely serves to alleviate the intense headache which is a feature of the case. the throat is liable to be affected; hoarseness and coughing occur; hardly any case of typhus catarrh. this sometimes extends into the air-passes without a more or less intense bronchial cells and causes catarrhal pneumonia, which--if not promptly treated according to the instructions herein detailed--may become extremely dangerous. _organs of circulations_:-with the exception of a strongly accelerated action, no change is noticeable in the heart. it may, however, suddenly become paralyzed and cease entirely, owing to the general weakness of the patient and the intensity of the fever. weakness of the heart and possible cessation occur only during the climax or convalescence. _nervous system_:-disturbances of the nervous system are very frequent, hence the name "nervous fever." consciousness is, in nearly all cases, more or less benumbed, and at times completely lost. the patient is either lying absolutely indifferent, or he is delirious, cries, rages, attempts to jump out of bed and can only be subdued by the strongest efforts. patients lose control of urinary and faecal movements and require feeding. these disturbances disappear as soon as convalescence sets in and consciousness returns. as a rule the patient, on return to consciousness, knows nothing of what he has gone through, and has no reminiscences of the immediate past. sometimes cramps in the masticatory muscles have been observed, which explains the grinding of teeth apparent in some instances. convulsions in the limbs and facial muscles sometimes appear, but most of these disturbances are of short duration. _urinary and sexual organs_:-with high fever albumen appears in the urine. in some instances it may lead to inflammation of the kidneys, the symptoms of which may at times completely overshadow the symptoms of typhus. fortunately this complication is very rare. catarrh of the bladder occurs, because the patient retains the urine too long, while in a state of unconsciousness. inflammation of the testicles has been observed with male patients, and pregnant women have miscarried or given birth prematurely. _bones and joints_:-inflammation of the joints is infrequent and in a few cases only, inflammation of the periosteum has been observed. _skin_:-at the beginning of the second week small rose-like spots of a light rose colour appear on the buttocks (roseola typhosa), which later on are also found on the upper legs, upper arms and back. they soon disappear, however, and leave no traces. pustular eczema is so rare in cases of typhus, that as a rule its appearance is taken to indicate that the disease is not a case of abdominal typhus. frequently, however, urticaria, (nettle-rash) perspiration and other pustules are to be noticed. the great variety of symptoms indicates that innumerable peculiarities may occur in the course of typhus. in some cases it is so light and indistinct (walking typhoid) that it is extremely difficult to diagnose it. in other cases pneumonia or unconsciousness, headache or stiff neck are indicated so overwhelmingly, that it is well-nigh impossible to recognize the underlying illness as typhus. in such cases one speaks of lung and brain typhus. _recurrence_:-in about 10% of all cases recurrence is observed, mostly caused through mistakes in diet, leaving bed too soon, and excitement. usually in such relapses the fever takes the same course as the original attack, but is much less intense. although such secondary attacks are not very dangerous as a rule, great caution should be observed, especially in regard to diet, which must be followed in the strictest way until all danger has passed. complications and subsequent troubles:--are very frequent and a serious menace to life. the most important are hemorrhage of the brain, meningitis, erysipelas, gangrene of the skin and bones, wasting of the muscles, fibrinous pneumonia; pericarditis, and frequently weakness of the heart with its consequences. purulent inflammation of the middle ear is one which deserves special attention. loss of hair is a frequent occurrence during convalescence, owing to the ill-nourished condition of the skin; this, however, is but a temporary feature soon succeeded by renewed growth. _the prognosis_ or forecast of typhus is not altogether bad, notwithstanding the gravity of its symptoms and the dangers of its course. statistics show that the mortality from typhus does not exceed 7% but each complication makes the result more uncertain and the outlook less hopeful. in the event of perforation of the intestines and severe internal hemorrhage supervening, the chances of saving life are slender. _d. treatment._ the treatment of typhus requires, in the first place, a correct judgment of the physical condition of the patient in determining the fever treatment to be applied. success in severe cases of typhus will only be secured by those who understand the correct methods of treating the skin. robust patients, with reserve energy and resisting power, may receive the unrelaxing application of repeated whole packs or cool full baths. there is, however, a species of endurance, which may prove unable to endure the sustained and active force of these applications. in such cases milder applications and more frequent changes are recommended. packs, interchanged with baths, clysters or enemas which subdue fever, alternated with ablutions, and similar methods. extremely stout and nervous patients must be treated with the greatest caution. as typhus cases gradually develop, care must be exercised to prevent too violent treatment in case of serious complications. in fact the physician must not be guided by fixed rules, but must be able to individualize with prompt discretion. during the severest stage the diet must be absolutely a fever diet, prescribed in form ii, while patients suffering from lighter attacks, and convalescents, may be permitted the milder fever diet, given in form iii. _mental condition._ great care and observation is necessary with regard to the patient's mental state. the observance of a quiet demeanour on the part of everyone about the sick room should help to keep the patient quiet and undisturbed and may serve to preserve his consciousness. i have treated very severe cases of typhus, with extremely high fever, during which, however, consciousness remained. inexorable strictness in this respect is often resented and misunderstood by those surrounding the patient until they realize the far-reaching importance of the orders by comparison with other cases. cold ablutions on the affected parts, air and water cushions, must be employed early enough to avert any danger of bed-sores. this strict treatment of the patient--physically and mentally, will in most cases be sufficient to render his condition endurable; otherwise the struggle against the irritation of complications becomes intense, rendering it imperative, in the first degree, that the brain symptoms should be carefully watched. cold compresses on the head must be used in case such symptoms appear, but absolute undisturbed rest will conduce more than anything else to their infrequent occurrence. collapse must be contended against with light stimulating food (light bouillon of veal or chicken with a little condensed substance). wine with alcohol might endanger the life of the patient. if the collapse is protracted, constituting a menace to life, the addition of cold water to the lukewarm bath and similar procedure may be tried, but only by a skilled expert. diarrhoea must be resisted by means of diet and clysters (enemas) with rice-water, if necessary; the enemas must be given _cautiously_. they are dangerous on account of possible violations and consequently rupture of the ulcerated intestines. these and other points, however, such as threatening paralysis etc., are entirely in the hands of the physician. the contest against all the complications of typhus must be directed by absolutely skilled and experienced persons only, since in this disease particularly every mistake of any importance whatsoever, may cost the life of the patient. besides this specific form of typhus which commands general attention, the others are of merely theoretical interest. one, however, i wish to mention in passing; namely: _e. relapsing fever (typhus recurrens)._ this also begins with chills and shivering, and a general tired feeling, and is immediately followed by high fever, up to a temperature of 104°. the skin is covered with excretory perspiration. the brain symptoms are lacking. the illness reaches its climax very quickly; but suddenly the patient feels much better, after extremely free perspiration. he continues remarkably well for about a week, when a new attack of the illness, a relapse, occurs. there are frequently from three to four relapses of this kind, which severely tax the strength of the patient. the number and the intensity of these relapses determines the degree of the illness. the treatment is regulated in accordance with the principles to be applied in abdominal typhus. the relapses may be averted or at any rate reduced to a great degree, by strict observance of the methods herein prescribed, especially in regard to diet. _f. diet in cases of typhus._ typhus abdominalis is a form of disease which requires the most careful dietetic treatment, since it combines high fever, which lasts for several weeks, with a severe ulcerous process in the small and large intestines. nutrition is seriously hampered by the long duration of the illness, usually considerable lack of appetite and the absolute necessity of nursing the ulcerous intestines in the most studiously careful way. in cases which develop to the highest degree, it naturally follows that the patient wastes away to a great extent. _in the first place, all solid food must be strictly avoided. too great stress cannot be laid on this point_, since the patient, especially in lighter cases, frequently shows a strong desire for food--especially fruit. any lack of firmness and caution in this respect may have the most disastrous consequences. many a patient suffering from typhus has lost his life or experienced a bad relapse and hemorrhages of the intestines through a mistake in diet,--through taking too much or unsuitable food. the most critical period for the liability to hemorrhage, which in some cases is very profuse, is the third, and in lighter cases, the second week, when the crust of the intestinal ulcers begins to scale off. the diet list, as in cases of typhus, consists of form ii, and milk; and it should be made a rule to confine it strictly to the most simple food, bouillon, mucilaginous soups, milk, undiluted or with tea, everything prepared with a little egg. cream will sometimes agree with the patient. the stools will indicate the digestion or otherwise of the milk. if there are many morsels of casein apparent in the same, the quantity of milk must be reduced and given in diluted form. the use of meat juice, liquid or frozen, and meat jelly, is quite permissible. although neither of these preparations are very strong, they must be considered as important building-stones for the nourishment of the patient, and they offer a little variety, which is often most desirable. _drinks._ for drinking, usually fresh water is used, also bread and albumen water, especially dechmann's plasmogen, 15 grains in one pint of water, a mouthful from time to time alternating with dechmann's tonogen. great caution must be used in regard to fruit juices and lemonade on account of the danger of irritation of the intestines. carbonated and other mineral waters must be strictly avoided, since they only add to the usually prevailing meteorism, or gas in the abdominal cavity. albumen water, which is occasionally used in case of febrile disease and intestinal catarrh of children, is prepared by mixing the white of an egg and two to four spoonfuls of sugar in a tumbler of water. this is strained and cooled before being used. it is easily understood that by this we generate new life in the patient, so to speak, through the albumen, since it contains a large quantity of tissue building material, which in turn prevents catabolism or destruction of the organism, this as contrasted with the methods of the old regime which dooms the patient to certain death by opiates,--a course frequently resorted to by inexperienced practitioners. if, by attention and care, the treatment has succeeded in strengthening the energy of the resisting organism to a certain degree during the fever, it becomes necessary in due course to regulate the desire for food, which sometimes grows and asserts itself in a rapid and energetic manner, while the fever is receding. the cessation of fever by no means indicates that the ulcers are completely healed, and any mistake as to quantity and quality of food may cause a relapse. liquid diet must, therefore, be given exclusively for at least, another eight days after the fever has ceased. after this, from week to week, gradually, the use of form iii, may be employed and thereafter more solid food, as given anon, under form iv. _these cautions must be strictly heeded, especially in case of typhus recurrens._ if in the course of typhus severe complications, such as hemorrhage of the intestines or perforation thereof, should supervene, nourishment must immediately be reduced to a minimum. in such instances it is best to confine the diet to mucilaginous soup and to forbid everything else, as long as hemorrhages have not ceased, or the other dangerous peritonitic symptoms have not disappeared. gradually, form v and lastly, form vi, may be followed. _form iv. diet of the lightest kind, containing meat, but only in scraped or shredded form._ noodle soup, rice soup. mashed boiled brains or sweetbread, or puree of white or red roasted meat, in soup. brains and sweetbread boiled. raw scraped meat (beef, ham, etc.) lean veal sausages, boiled. mashed potatoes prepared with milk. rice with bouillon or with milk. toasted rolls and toast. _form v. light diet, containing meat in more solid form_. pigeon, chicken boiled. small fish, with little oil, such as brook or lake trout, boiled. scraped beefsteak, raw ham, boiled tongue. as delicacies: small quantities of caviar, frogs' legs, oysters, sardelle softened in milk. potatoes mashed and salted, spinach, young peas mashed, cauliflower, asparagues tips, mashed chestnuts, mashed turnips, fruit sauces. groat or sago puddings. rolls, white bread. _form vi. somewhat heavier meat diet. (gradually returning to ordinary food.)_ pigeon, chicken, young deer-meat, hare, everything roasted. beef tenderloin, tender roast beef, roast veal. boiled pike or carp. young turnips. all dishes to be prepared with very little fat, butter to be used exclusively. all strong spices to be avoided. regarding drinks to be taken with these forms of diet, as a rule good drinking water takes the first place. this is allowed under all circumstances. still less irritating are weak decoctions of cereals, such as barley and rice water. other light nutritive non-irritating drinks are bread water and albumen water. only natural waters, such as vichy, apollinaris with half milk or the like are to be used. drinks containing fruit acid, like lemonade and fruit juices, are somewhat stimulating; however, in a general way, they may be given during fever, but not in typhus. of alcoholic drinks the best is light wine (bordeaux), first diluted and later in its natural state. as a rule it should not be used before form iv has been followed and form v commenced. occasionally, mild white wine or well fermented beer, may be permitted. coffee is absolutely forbidden during any of the foregoing forms of diet, but light teas with milk are allowed in most cases. the main point in the different forms of diet as enumerated herein is to be found in the mechanical gradation of the substances in accordance with the progressive condition of the patient. the diet in a certain individual case of the kind will not, however, always be necessarily identical with one or any of the foregoing forms, but must depend upon the individual condition. in the first place, under each form there are easily discernible gradations, according to relative points of view which are all familiar to the physician and to which attention must be paid under similar circumstances. on the other hand, very often one of the items of a later form may be allowed while, in general, one of the previous forms is applied. thus the transition from form ii to the first items of form iii is hardly perceptible. of course every form comprises all previous ones, so that each consecutive form affords a greater range than the last. occasionally other points than those i have mentioned may have to be taken into consideration. it is obviously impossible as the reader will observe, to formulate an absolutely uniform scheme applicable to every case. next to the description and quality of food, the quantity to be introduced into the stomach at one time, is a matter of the utmost vital importance. dech-manna-compositions. (only main compositions, specialities to doctor's order.) in all forms of typhoid fever: =neurogen=, =plasmogen=, =tonogen=, eubiogen. _physical: partial packs._ so-called "negative children's disease". in strong contrast to the conditions of "positive" disease amongst children, due, as i have explained, to over-vitality and too rapid vibrations, we have to consider the opposite condition of negative disease, comprising all physical disturbances wherein cold negative electrical forces and reduced vibrations produce unhealthy action of the mucous membranes, resulting in degeneration of the tissues known as catarrh in various forms. bronchitis, grippe, influenza and light catarrhal inflammation of the respective organs. one of the most serious in this chapter is summer-complaint (cholera infantum). this disease, which causes the death of so many, is due to the bringing up of infants on artificial food instead of on the mother's breast. it is one of the negative diseases caused by diminished vitality. the disease is similar to asiatic cholera. an extensive description of the same is given in chapter xi a of my book, "regeneration or dare to be healthy." frequent vomiting and diarrhoea, with rapid collapse of all vitality, and severe brain disturbances manifest themselves, and death frequently occurs after 36 hours. during hot weather bacterial germs impregnating the air, frequently enter the milk, and many children succumb to the disease at the same time, until wind and rain improve the general conditions. this is the explanation of the occasional epidemic appearance of cholera infantum--and its established cause. _therapy._ _diet_: the mother's breast or the breast of a healthy wet nurse is the very best remedy for this complaint, if applied at an early stage. if this is impossible, a gruel of barley, oats or mucilaginous rice-water, a decoction of salep (1 teaspoonful to 1 pint of water), or rice water (1 teaspoonful of crushed toasted rice to 1/2 pint water) are recommended. the missing nutritive substance is best supplied by calcareous earth (calcium carbonate), giving 1/4 teaspoonful in a tablespoonful of sweetened water every 3 to 4 hours, for a day or two. it is the simplest, yet most wonderful remedy ever discovered. it is in cases like this that physiological chemistry celebrates its victory. try it and you will be convinced. for more vigorous means the physician must be consulted, as he should be in any case of this kind, and that as quickly as possible. _physical_: sponging the entire body of the child with lukewarm vinegar and water, using one-half vinegar and one-half water, may prove very successful. warm packs around the abdomen and extending down to the soles of the feet, often prove very effective. the abdomen must be kept warm. the employment of coloured light for curative purposes has been already explained in the preceding pages. the use of _blue_ curtains is, accordingly enjoined here on account of the invigorating influence of the more violent vibrations of _blue light_ upon an organism suffering under the reduced vibration of a "negative disease." =the contagious character of children's diseases.= in strict adherence to the biological standpoint, it is recommended that a child be separated from the other children in the house as soon as it becomes ill, and if it is not convenient to send the other children away to be taken care of by friends, they must at least be excluded from the sick-chamber. _each one of these diseases develops some sort of bacillus in its first appearance, and this leaves the body and may fall on receptive soil in the body of another child._ since all the children in one family live in the same environment and receive practically the same nourishment, and are of the same parentage, the presumption prevails that each one of them is equally susceptible to the disease with which one of the children has been affected. it is, therefore, advisable to adopt preventive and protective measures with them all, by applying abdominal packs and giving them dechmann's plasmogen, which will strengthen the white corpuscles of the blood in their fight against possibly intruding bacilli; also dechmann's tonogen, in order to give the red corpuscles and the heart the power to endure the greater efforts which the demand for increased vitality will necessitate. the application of these measures will in many cases entirely prevent an impending attack of the disease, and if not, will at least make it easier to control. _the golden rule_: keep the head cool, the feet warm and the bowels open; that is the golden rule to be followed in the treatment of all children's diseases. all means that are applied must have but the one object, that of making the condition of the blood as good as possible, so that it will maintain a fluid form and circulate readily, richly supplied with all the necessary upbuilding substances. this, and not the use of anti-toxins, will guarantee a speedy return to normal conditions. _diet_: the importance of the diet in all of these diseases has been indicated on several occasions. its application is treated extensively under the fever diet; exceptions to be determined by the physician. _dech-manna-compositions_: the compositions to be used in case of children's diseases will, as indicated above, consist mainly of plasmogen and tonogen. small doses of eubiogen will be of great advantage in promoting the general condition of the patient. these three compositions should always be available in a family where there are children, as their application will prove very beneficial in any case, even before the arrival of the physician. _physical_: the correct application of ablutions of vinegar and water, of partial and other packs and various baths, must be left to the prescription of the physician, depending on the nature of the individual case, and the effect on the patient, with the exception of the abdominal pack. this should always be applied immediately: cold in positive, and warm in negative diseases. the tonsure of the tonsils. though not strictly within the scope of my intention in the present booklet, i feel that no treatise, however brief, which purports to be a free and candid expression of the ills that child-life is heir to, could afford to ignore the burning and much debated question of the tonsils and their significance, present and future, to the well-being of the child, or could deem the task accomplished without raising a warning and protesting voice on behalf of the helpless victims, whose recurrent name is legion, against the callous and persistent violation and destruction of the functions of vital organs, the only shadow of justification of which is, on the one hand, a fashionable popular delusion on the part of parents and, on the other, interested complacency on the part of their medical advisers, accentuated by a strong and dangerous tendency towards operation and empiric surgery generally. this is a strong and sweeping indictment, perhaps. let us therefore pause for a moment whilst we consult other sources of opinion for confirmation or refutal. and, in the wide range of american and english criteria, what corroboration do we find? we find, as regards america, the venerable professor alexander h. stevens, m.d., a member of the new york college of physicians, writing as follows: "the reason medicine has advanced so slowly is because physicians have studied the writings of their predecessors instead of nature." from england the verdict comes to this effect: professor evans, fellow of the royal college of physicians and surgeons, of london, says, in part: "the medical practice of our day is, at the best, a most uncertain and unsatisfactory system: it has neither philosophy nor common sense to recommend it to confidence." if such opinions prevail _within_ the sacred, state-protected precincts of the profession, how long, revolted confidence exclaims--how long before a credulous, deluded public awakens from its deep hypnotic trance. against tonsil destruction three arguments stand: (1) that the primal intention of universal mind--(sometimes termed the soul of being; the spirit of all good or, in simple reverence, "god")--was obviously no malign intention, but an intention for _good_, is an axiom which will be rationally accepted, i presume, as logically and conclusively assured. (2) that the functions of the tonsils are, in the present state of medical knowledge, practically still unknown is the deliberate and final statement made within the past few years by one of the greatest reputed authorities on the subject. (3) that the tonsil has some important mission to fulfill is clearly demonstrated by the fact of its frequent recrudescence, or rather, the natural renewal of the organ after surgical removal--a spontaneous physiological organic mutiny, as it were, supported by its lymphatic glandular dependents, against the reckless ignorance of medical practitioners and the perversity of the medico-cum-parental fashion of the day. for the fact that it is a fashion, and nothing more, is unhappily fully established on ample and high authority within the medical prescriptive pale. and, in fact, even as "the tonsure" or shaving of the crown, became by fashion and mendicity a feature of priesthood and monastic piety, so has the slaughter of the tonsils come to be regarded by fashion and mendacity as a feature of childhood and medical expediency and ineptitude. professor john d. mackenzie, m.d., of baltimore, a distinguished leader of the advanced school of medical science, in the course of a brilliant and exhaustive treatise on the subject written as he says, reluctantly, in the interest of the public health and safety, quotes the deliberate opinion of an equally eminent medical friend to the effect that: "of all the surgical insanities within his recollection this onslaught on the tonsils was the worst--not excepting the operation on the appendix." dr. mackenzie then proceeds to show how abysmal has been the ignorance of the functions of these organs from the earliest times, (including a distinguished english medical luminary who went to far as to say: "were i attempting the artificial construction of a man i would leave out the tonsils,") adding that the tonsil was regarded as a useless appendage and "like its little neighbour, the uvula, was sacrificed on every possible pretext or when the surgeon did not know what else to do." "never," he says, "in the history of medicine has the lust for operation on the tonsils been as passionate as it is at the present time. it is not simply a surgical thirst, it is a mania, a madness, an obsession. it has infected not only the general profession, but also the laity." in proof of this he adds: "a leading laryngologist in one of the largest cities came to me with the humiliating confession that although holding views hostile to such operations he had been forced to perform tonsillectomy in every case in order to satisfy the popular craze and to save his practice from destruction." he cites an instance in which a mother brought her little six-year-old daughter to him, "to know whether her tonsils ought to come out;"--and in answer to the assurance: "your baby is perfectly well, why do you want her tonsils out?" the fond mother's reply was: "because she sometimes wets the bed!" recent universal inspection of the throats of school children has revealed the fact that nearly all children at some time of life have more or less enlarged tonsils. and the reports maintain that this, for the most part, is harmless if not actually physiologic--natural--and that their removal in these cases is not only unnecessary but injurious to the proper development of the child. nevertheless, the reports of the special hospitals for diseases of the nose and throat show to what an appalling extent this destructive operation is perpetrated throughout the land. "much wild and incontinent talk," dr. mackenzie continues, "for which their teachers are sometimes largely to blame, has poisoned the minds of the younger generation of operators and thrown the public into hysteria. they are told that with the disappearance of the tonsils in man, certain diseases will cease to exist and parents nowadays bring their perfectly sound children for tonsil removal in order to head off these affections. summing up the writer demonstrates that the functions of the tonsils are, at present unknown and that until known nothing authoritative can be said definitely on the subject, whether they be portals for the entrance of disease or the exit for the very purpose of germs of infection; common sense must decide;--whether they protect the organism from danger or invite the presence of disease." i, for my own part, am of dr. mackenzie's opinion: that there is an endless flow of lymph from their interior to the free surface, which unchecked, _prevents the entrance of germs from the surface and washes out impurities from within_. that in any case, one of the functions undoubtedly is the production of leucocytes or protective white blood corpuscles and that the tonsil is not, as generally understood, a lymphatic gland; that the general ignorance of this fact has led to the useless sacrifice of thousands of tonsils, on the fallacious assumption that their functional activities may be vicariously undertaken by other lymphatic glands; and finally, that the physiologic integrity of the tonsil is of the utmost importance in infant and child life. the consensus of advanced scientific opinion is now to the effect that the activity of the tonsils as possible accessories of disease has been vastly exaggerated, that like the thousand and one successive misleading theories which in turn, from time to time, have seized upon the imagination and obsessed the minds of the medical fraternity for brief and passing periods, this pernicious craze too, has about run its course. the causes from which this peculiar lust for operation emanates would be perhaps a difficult psychological puzzle to determine; the malign impulse, as regards some special function, seems to spring, as it were, by intuition, unbidden into being from the illusive depths of some perverted intellect, to rage for a while through the medical world with a death roll deadly as the plague and as suddenly to pass into desuetude and disappear behind the impregnable ramparts of "prescriptive right" and "privilege"--terms which in plain parlance mean to the masses in cold actual fact, the absolute negation of all right--the domination of arbitrary, irresponsible and state protected wrong. between facts and fables, the evidence with regard to the tonsils and their functions seems to establish the conclusion that they have been wrongfully and foolishly held responsible for "an iliad of ills." the region of the nose and mouth is obviously the happy hunting-ground of myriads of pathogenic bacteria. it is likewise continually the scene of innumerable surgical operations, performed necessarily without antiseptic precautions, thus extending the area of possible infection indefinitely to the entire upper air tract which medical incompetence so often fails to explore. and indeed, as dr. mackenzie freely remarks: "of far graver, far-reaching and deeper significance are cases of infection in which life has doubtless been sacrificed by clinging to the lazy and stupefying delusion that the tonsil is the sole portal of poisoning." the mere size of the tonsil, it is shown, is no indication for removal except it be large enough or diseased enough to interfere with respiration, speech or deglutition--that is, swallowing; in which case only a sufficient portion should be taken away, and that without delay. the tonsil may be greatly enlarged or buried deeply in the palatine arcade and yet not interfere with the well-being of the individual. such tonsils are the special prey of the tonsillectomist. if they are not interrupting function they are best left alone. moreover, it occasionally happens that the resurrection of a "buried" tonsil is followed shortly by the _burial of the patient_. the practical illuminating lesson to be gleamed is this: that if in infancy and childhood, we pay more attention to the neglected nasal cavities and to the hygiene of the mouth and teeth, we will have less tonsil disease and fewer tonsil operations. "the partial enucleation of the tonsil," the writer asserts, "with even the removal of its capsule if desired, is complete enough for all necessary purposes and practically free from danger; moreover, it produces equal or better results than complete enucleation with its many accidents and complications, to say nothing of its long roll of _unrecorded death_." another point: from the professional vocalist's point of view. the tonsils are phonatory or vocal organs and play an important part in the mechanism of speech and song. they influence the surrounding muscles and modify the resonance of the mouth. enlarged by disease, they may cripple these functions and if so, their removal may increase the compass of the voice by one or more octaves; but it is a capital operation and a dangerous one in which a fatal result is by no means a remote possibility. the object of this interesting paper, it is pointed out, is not to assail operation for definite and legitimate cause, but to warn against the "busy internist"--the hospital surgeon--too busy for careful differential diagnosis--and his "accommodating tonsillectomist" who is "in the business for revenue only." but the onus for the existing deplorable state of affairs he lays frankly upon the shoulders of the teachers and insists that the cure of the evil is largely educational. "when," says he, "_pre-eminent authority proclaims in lecture and text book as indisputable truth the relationship between a host of diseases and the tonsils of the child and advises the removal of the glands as a routine method of procedure, what can we expect of the student whose mind is thus poisoned at the very fountainhead of his medical education by ephemeral theory that masquerades so cheerily in the garb of indestructible fact_?" "how," he exclaims, "are we to offset the irresponsibility of the responsible?" but we hear on all sides--"look at the results." results? here is a partial list from the practice--not of the ignorant, but of the most experienced and skilled: death from hemorrhage and shock, development of latent tuberculosis, laceration and other serious injuries of the palate and pharyngeal muscles, great contraction of the parts, removal of one barrier of infection, severe infection of wound, septicemia, or bacterial infection, troublesome cicatrices, suppurative otitis media and other ear affections, troubles of voice and vision, ruin of singing voice, emphysemia, or destruction of the tissues, septic infarct,--infected arterial obstruction, pneumonia, increased susceptibility to throat disease, pharyngeal quinsy and last, but not least tonsillitis! the trenchant and tragic article concludes with the expression of the hope that the day is not far distant when not only the profession but the public shall demand that this senseless slaughter be stopped. "is not this day of medical and moral preaching and uplifting," it is asked, "a fitting one in which to lift the public out of the atmosphere into which it has been drugged, and as to the reckless tonsillectomist, a proper time to apply the remedy of the _referendum_ and _recall_. it has come to a point when it is not only a burning question to the profession, but also to the public. this senseless, ruthless destruction of the tonsil is often so far reaching and enduring in its evil results that it is becoming each day a greater menace to the public good." such is the wisdom of these world-wide sages, they wildly yearn to learn its innermost and break the organ's wondrous works with sledges- though music, its sweet soul, for aye is lost; that they have reached the goal, such is their dreaming, when tissues, nerves, and veins reveal their knife- when in the very core their steel is gleaming- but, one thing they forget--_and that is life_! this matter of the functions of the tonsils is fully dealt with in my greater work "regeneration or dare to be healthy"--chapters vii. and viii., in which i show on the best authority that _the tonsils have a great mission to fulfill_--so great indeed that their treatment according to the present methods of the medical faculty can, in my estimation, only be stigmatized as the equivalent of a crime. it is the conclusion arrived at scientifically by the greatest authorities that the tonsils secrete a very potent anti-toxic fluid which is excreted whenever dangerous pathogenic bacilli attempt to enter the pharynx or larynx, constituting in fact the ever watchful sentinels of the oral and nasal portals through which an entrance into the human organism might be surprised by its ever active surreptitious enemies--the bacteria of infection and disease. pre-natal care. it would be improper to close this section, touching child-life, without some special reference to pre-natal care. it has been well said by eminent authorities that a child's "_education should begin long before its birth_." this to many may seem mysterious or even foolish, according to their advancement on the plane of knowledge. but america has long ago awakened to the truth of it, and pre-natal clinics have been established on a large scale--notably in new york--for the scientific supervision and comfort of expectant mothers who may need it. the natural right of every child to be born in health and happiness, is at length recognized. human magnetism, or nerve force, is beginning to be understood and utilized as a great vital, health-compelling, harmonizing factor of vast significance to the future of the race. the real and practical alliance between the physical and the psychic--between body and mind--is better realized; as for instance: you may be seized with _an idea_, or a passion, and it disturbs your _health of body_; you may take indigestible food, or suffer injury or fatigue, and it disturbs your _health of mind_. but beyond and behind all else are all those seemingly occult and sinister, pre-natal influences centered in hereditary and kindred considerations which are still more significant and difficult to locate and overcome. these problems have been thought out and solved long before the dawn of the present social awakening and the conclusions have been tabulated in the closest detail from the first moment of embryonic life, faithfully defining the paths that inevitably lead to the desired goal of hygienic birth, of physical perfection and the mental state termed happiness, in infancy. all these things will be found minutely focussed in picturesque relief, in my previous work entitled: "within the bud." endemic and epidemic disease. among the most deadly menaces that beset human life upon this planet are those forms of disease classed under the head of so-called endemic and epidemic disease and including in its baleful limits yellow fever, cholera, pellagra--otherwise known as hook-worm, plague and so-called spanish influenza. based upon physiological chemistry and explained from the biological standpoint, the explanation of these covers a wide scientific area and geographically treated embraces the globe. the various problems of their cause and prevention have exercised the mind of science and research to an enormous degree and heavy premiums have been placed upon their solution, with more or less success and much expenditure has been incurred in the examination of local conditions. as far as this continent is concerned, perhaps the most troublesome has been climatic fever which varies greatly in form and intensity according to temperature and location. "yellow fever," as it is named, has swept some southern localities from time to time, but science, sanitation and hygiene have curbed its virulence and spread, as in the case of outbreaks of epidemics such as small-pox--for the control of which, by the way, the advocates of the vile and pernicious practice of vaccination, fraudulently claim the credit, even in these advancing times, when the wiles of self interest are disclosed, the worship of the "putrid calf" exposed and the days of the vaccine vendor numbered. yellow fever occurs on the coast of tropical countries and, as a rule, is fatal, after a rapid development of from 3 to 7 days. the explanation of the cause of the disease is comparatively simple: the air on the hot coast lands is highly charged with evaporated water. heat and humidity have the effect of diverting from the human organism the electricity which, as already shown, constitutes its vital cohesion and the same influences likewise reduce the oxygen in the atmosphere. these are the two primary causes of yellow fever. pellagra (hook-worm or lombardy leprosy) is, according to the tenets of the regular school, an endemic skin and spinal disease of southern europe. it is said to be due to eating damaged corn but dependent also upon bad hygienic conditions, poor food and exposure to the sun. its salient features are weakness, debility, digestive disturbance, spinal pain, convulsions, melancholia and idiocy. more recent investigation has judged it to be a deficiency disease, due to low and unvaried diet and consequent failure of metabolism. in every case these climatic disease forms are caused by a combination of hot air, lacking oxygen, and evaporated water, including cholera which also varies in intensity according to heat conditions. cholera and plague originate on the coast of bengal, india, where conditions are bad enough of themselves without the apology of the illusive bacillus as a causative agent. that cholera is contagious cannot be doubted and it is no superstition that fear predisposes thereto. for all emotions consume electrical power in the body and thus break down its power of resistance. infantile paralysis, typhoid-fever, small-pox, etc., are dealt with elsewhere and therefore need no mention here. it is impossible to deal adequately with so wide a subject within the narrow limits at my disposal; but the full details and environment of each, together with the respective methods of treatment will be found in detail in the parent work "regeneration or dare to be healthy." the spanish influenza. in any attempt to unravel the tangled skein of cause and circumstance which surrounds the subject of the world-sweeping pandemic which masquerades under the misleading title of the "spanish influenza," the first and most important initial step must be a keen and careful sifting of the facts and forces, natural and artificial, which control or dominate the situation. the debatable questions appear to be chiefly the following: (1) the fundamental causes that underlie the great-epidemics or pandemics that the world experiences from time to time--the present one in particular. (2) the fact or fallacy of the germ as a causative factor or merely an effect or product of disease conditions. (3) the alternative course, origin and medium of transmission and finally (4) the soundness and efficiency or otherwise of the preventive and curative measures with which the combined intelligence of the medical faculty has risen to the dire emergency of the moment for the protection of the people who have relied so confidently, as by law compelled, upon the standard of their acumen and official aid as competent guardians of public safety. the findings, as to the first question, are to the effect that it appears, from the earliest recorded annals of disease, that epidemics corresponding to the present outbreak have occurred at irregular periods all up the centuries under names and conditions peculiar to the times, and following usually in the wake of some great social cataclysm, strain or upheaval, the result of wars, persecutions, famines and distress--causes which clearly illustrate the close reactive connection between the mental and physical action of disease. the great pandemics seem to have originated largely in the orient--the region of vast congested populations and racial struggles and starvation--the advent of their apparent influence upon the western world depending chiefly upon the rate of commercial or popular intercourse, the movements of armies or the ingress or egress of peoples. the logical establishment of direct proof of the connection between these visitations and local epidemics in distant lands is a problem as yet unsolved. the weight of evidence, at first sight, would seem to lie rather in the other direction--to indicate that such epidemics are the direct outcome of existing local conditions, mental and physical. for example: at the end of that strenuous period in england's history, between the reign of the first charles and the fall of the commonwealth, an epidemic broke out which, as the historian tells us, converted the country into "one vast hospital." the malady--which by the way was fatal to cromwell--the lord protector himself--was then termed "the ague." the term "influenza" was first given to the epidemic of 1743 in accordance with the italianizing fashion of the day, but was eventually superseded by the french expression "la grippe," usually held to represent a more modified form of the disease which appears to vary in intensity and virulence according lo its provocation and derivation. the old school hypothesis and the deductions therefrom would seem therefore, to be this: that a super-malignant contagium imported from some foreign source falls upon organisms predisposed to infection by mental stress or physical privation and over-strain or both combined; and the contagion thus generated through the medium of some unsuspected "carrier" seizes upon and sweeps through that portion of the community so predisposed, in the form of a great, general epidemic with a maximum of mortality. at later intervals the same repeats itself with less violence and reduced mortality, because a great proportion,--representing the sufferers in the original epidemic,--being now thereby immune, the onus falls upon that section of the younger generation unprotected by individual resistant force who consequently become the chief sufferers--as in the case of the present epidemic, the pandemic form of which is obviously due to the fact that equal conditions of unrest, privation and distress prevail universally throughout the entire nerve plains of the planet. the first recorded outbreak in america occurred in the year 1647, followed by a second in 1655 and again in 1789 and 1807. in these the mortality appears to have been confined, after the first outbreak, to a few mere modest thousands whereas in the present visitation a conservative estimate places the figures of the horrible world-holocaust at no less a sum than 18 _million lives_ in all.[d] the ravages in america have been appalling including many of the medical profession. we pass on then to the second item--the question of the germ. the illusive germ has come to be regarded by the layman with reserve--nay more--with suspicion. the part of the bacteriologist has been somewhat overdone. the conditions of popular credence are not what they were. a great change has awakened the masses of the people and a new intelligence is born which now discerns that disease is one great unity just as the body is one inseparable interdependent whole--that _the cause of disease is in the blood_ and dependent upon its nourishment and moreover, that the _physical forces of the body can be exhausted as much by mental strain,--causing the too rapid burning up of nerve fat (lecithin),--as by excessive physical exertion_. for example. mental disturbance--grief, worry, excitement--produce immediate physical effect in headache, palpitations and the like. physical exhaustion--privation, hunger and over-work--on the other hand produce mental depression and collapse. the inevitable law of compensation rules. thus the germ, bacillus, or microbe, as a direct _cause_ of disease is an exploded fallacy. they are now recognized as the _result_ of disease--_not the cause_: releasing irritants perhaps and possibly carriers or transmitting mediums to other diseased or predisposed organisms. it follows accordingly that sero-therapy or inoculation with specific serums derived from such germs, as a preventative of disease is simply a pernicious farce; "pernicious," since the introduction of such poisons by inocculation into the blood constitutes in itself a serious menace to life and health. this has never been more clearly demonstrated than in the present singularly futile efforts of the regular medical faculty to stay the on-rush of the influenza epidemic or to save or safeguard its victims--a fact which compels the people in their thousands to turn to the less pretentious but more successful members of the eclectic or irregular schools among whom both help and healing may be found. and this is the history of the influenza germ: the bacterial criminal was located. we know it, for the discovery was officially proclaimed and vouched for by the press with all due pomp and circumstance. true, it was "so minute as to be _invisible to the most powerful microscope_;"--but it was sensed by science, none the less, and handed over captive, for "culture" to the _manufacturing chemist_. inoculation followed freely--the people in their thousands and our gallant troops alike submitted to the mandate of the powers that be--the soldiers voiceless and under penalty. america breathless, awaited the result. there was none. finally scare-heads in the press astonished the land. they were these: "_medical world is baffled by the 'flu'._"--"_exhaustive experiments leave doctors mystified._"--"_every test a failure._"--"_explosion of accepted theories causes science to grope for light._" it appears that, through the heroism of a _hundred_ of our naval men who volunteered for the purpose at the risk of life, the medical authorities in desperation were enabled to try every possible method of infection with the alleged influenza germs, our boys submitting to inoculation and even to the repulsive ordeal of introduction into the nose and throat of diseased mucous from and close contact with coughing and spitting bed patients in the severest forms of the disease. the experiments were made simultaneously at san francisco and boston under the direction of surgeons mccoy and goldberger of the u.s. health department and the naval authorities. the astounding negative result as indicated by the press, was described as "the sensation of the day," for the fact was revealed that _not one, of the hundred who underwent these drastic and determined tests, developed any symptoms of influenza._ this picture of failure was surmounted by the summing up of the situation on the part of the highest medical authority; to this effect: "these new experiments in the transmission of influenza," said surgeon general blue, "show how difficult is the influenza problem." the result points clearly to a state of natural immunity enjoyed by those who, like these men of the naval service, lead an hygienic, contented well regulated life with the simple accessories of good and sufficient food, fresh air and regular exercise. the same principle has been recently demonstrated in england in the same connection by the annual report of one of the great public schools celebrated for hygienic methods, where amongst a total of 800 students not a single case of influenza appeared--although no preventive measures were employed beyond the simple rules of health and cleanliness. finally, as regards serums and specifics, the judgment of dr. karl f. meyer, of the hooper institute of medical research of the university of california, may be accepted as focusing the consensus of unbiased opinion on the subject. it was as follows: "serums have not yet been introduced which produce immunity from spanish influenza. the serums now employed are of no use whatsoever. you have no idea how really and truly helpless we are. as an example, take the advice given us by the public health department when we asked what should be done if the epidemic struck west. they said: '_organise your hospitals and undertakers_.'" in the same statement dr. meyer declared that the medical fraternity _is in total darkness as to the cause and nature of the epidemic_. of other preventive measures resorted to--masks, quarantine and the veto upon public gatherings--proved equally mistaken and futile. masks of a texture calculated to baffle the most determined attempts of the minute invisible homicide were made compulsory, and in the great cities masquerading millions became a constant feature of the streets, until an idea of the danger of masks, _as microbe preservers and carriers_, dawned upon the official mind. thus, beyond fostering fear and depression amongst the citizens nothing was achieved in the direction desired, but rather the reverse; since it is now very generally recognized that such mental conditions with their consequently lowered vitality are a common prelude to disease. at the annual meeting of the american public health association in chicago, following a two days' discussion of preventive measures against influenza and pneumonia, dr. chas. j. hastings, president of the organization said: "a tremendous amount of damage is done by interfering with nature, when nature would have done better had she been left alone. we have very little power over pneumonia. i am convinced that as many patients have been _killed_ by physicians as have been _cured_." the talented "health" editor of the los angeles times, commenting upon these matters, writes: "the handling of this epidemic by 'health boards' and doctors who have been running around like wet chickens--their eyes, however, fastened on the feed box--has furnished another striking evidence of the futility of what is misnamed 'medical science.'" all this carries one back 50 years to the memory of sir john forbes, court physician to the late queen victoria of england, and the eminent editor of the british and foreign medical review, who thus tersely recorded the scientific conclusions arrived at in the course of his long, professional experience, in connection with drugs, drug medication and allopathy, under the title of "why we should not be poisoned because we are sick:" "firstly,--that in a large proportion of cases treated by allopathic physicians, the disease is cured by nature and not by them. secondly,--that in not a small proportion, the disease is cured by nature in spite of them. thirdly,--that consequently, in a considerable proportion of diseases it would fare as well or better with patients if all remedies, especially drugs, were abandoned;" and he emphatically adds: "things have come to such a pass that they must either mend or end." this, be it remembered, was in 1868,--50 years ago--and such frankness would not have been tolerated from other than "sir john"--for, as was said by an inspired american: "he who dares to see a truth not recognized in creed must die the death." and now indeed is revealed the wisdom of shakespeare when he said: "ignorance is the curse of god;" or of bolinbroke's bitter assertion: "plain truth will influence half a score men at most in a nation or an age, while _mystery will lead millions by the nose_." i am not prepared to endorse the cynical saying of voltaire: "regimen is superior to medicine--especially as from time immemorial out of every hundred physicians ninety-eight are charlatans." but this much is certain, that they have found the needs of nature too laborious--the pathway of their leader--the great hippocrates--of galen, sydenham, boerhaave, too tame, and have listened to the lure of paracelsus, and adopted, with its high pontificial manner and medication, the more luxurious empiricism of the medicasters of five centuries ago. but the time has come when the reign of bigotry, drugs and mystery must have an end--the chartered lien on human life must cease and the antique secret consistories so long omnipotent, must be brought to the enlightened level of the day. we have come to the parting of the ways, where it becomes the bounden duty of every earnest, fair-minded physician to cast off the manacles of professional caste and secret obligation and to advance with open mind across the wholesome confines of eternal truth. this as much in their own interest as in that of their patients. for there is disaffection in the once solid phalanx, and we find strictures such as these in the standard works of the profession: "it cannot be denied that practitioners in medicine stand too low in the scale of public estimation and, something is rotten in the state of denmark." a series of articles appearing recently, in the english review, from the daring and masterly pen of george bernard shaw, deals with the subject with an ungloved hand, taking as opportunity a vitriolic controversy recently raging between exalted lights of the medical profession in london, which raises abruptly the long-drawn curtain of mystery and exposes the secret skeleton to the view of a wondering world. speaking of the absolute, autocratic powers of the medical monopoly and the superstitious, hopeless complacency of the public, the writer says: "the assumption is that the 'registered doctor' or surgeon knows everything that is known, and can do everything that is to be done. this means that the dogmas of omniscience, omnipotence and infallibility, and something very like the theory of the apostolic succession and kingship by anointment, have recovered in medicine the grip they have lost in theology and politics. this would not matter if the 'legally qualified doctor' was a _completely qualified healer_: but this is not the case; far from it. dissatisfaction with the orthodox methods and technique is so widespread that the supply of technically qualified _unregistered_ practitioners is insufficient for the demand.... the reputation of the unregistered specialist is usually well founded. _he must deliver the goods._ he cannot live by the faith of his patients in a string of letters after his name." from all sides the same dissatisfaction is told showing that, with the sick and simple majority, what is termed "the attractive bed-side manner" of the polished practitioner has vastly out-weighed--in the past--the more vital advantage of superior skill on the part of practitioners of the drugless and natural systems which are winning their way to favour, in spite of the organized opposition of the orthodox profession and the powerful "vested interests" of the medicine-men. to return to the subject proper: the summing up as to the efficacy of inoculation, drugs, serums and specifics for influenza may best be found in the supplements to the u.s. public health reports, and vouched for by surgeon-general rupert blue and the government experts: "since we are uncertain of the primary cause of influenza, no form of inoculation can be guaranteed to protect against the disease itself." "no drug has as yet been proved to have any specific influence as a _preventive_ of influenza. "no drug has as yet been proved to have any specific _curative_ effect on influenza--though many are useful in guiding its course and mitigating _is symptoms_. "in the uncertainty of our present knowledge considerable hesitation must be felt in advising vaccine treatment as a curative measure. "the chief dangers of influenza lie in its complications, and it is probable that much may be done to mitigate the severity of the affection and to diminish its mortality _by raising the resistance of the body_...." it is not my purpose in adducing these startling facts to impugn the allopathic system or to disparage the elder branch of the profession of healing. they are simply assembled for the purpose of proving a case in favour of the newer or hygieo-dietetic system. but here in consecutive order of testimony is a truly terrible denouncement--the testimony, as it were, of two hemispheres of the terrestrial globe proclaiming the positive failure of the section of science upon which, for very existence, their inhabitants have been accustomed to rely! now health and disease are dependent upon degrees of positive and negative vibrations, as is every form of life in the great cosmic unity of the universe. both are tones with endless modulation, but the integral fact, in either case, _is one_. disease, then, is a unit--a degenerate function of the blood--and, such being the case, the failure of any curative principle or system aspiring to remedy that degenerate functioning, in any degree, is a failure of that principle or system as a whole. the sensational admission, therefore, of the chiefs of the profession in america and england, as herein cited, amounts in plain language to the tacit admission that drugs and serums are powerless to produce any "preventive influence" or any "curative" effect upon influenza, (or as it rationally and logically follows, upon any other disease) although, as openly stated in this official proclamation, they may influence the "symptoms." but, finally--and here is the supreme announcement, wherein at length the truth comes out triumphant--"the severity of the disease may be mitigated and its mortality diminished _by raising the resistance of the body_." this in one single sentence is the sum total of the teachings of the eclectic, independent and legally debarred and officially unrecognized physiologico-chemical, hygieo-dietetic school of natural science which i have the honor to represent. the true teaching of hippocrates, surnamed "the father of medicine"--the ostensible leader, for all time, of the "regular school" of medicine was comprised in one phrase: the _vis medicatrix naturae_--the healing power of nature. the teaching of our new, independent school is identically the same--plus the physiologico-chemical discoveries of the intervening centuries. they are plain and natural precepts, surrounded by no fearsome atmosphere of mystery. they are to this effect: that the human organism, together with all its interdependent parts, organs and functions, is an inseparable whole--a unit--subject absolutely to natural laws. as said st. paul: "and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it." (cor. 12-26.) that disease, therefore, is likewise a unit with a diversity of manifestations which, like all conflicting elements, develop in the individual organism along the lines of least resistance, according to the weakness--hereditary or acquired--of the individual. this we term predisposition. the cause of predisposition to disease, centres absolutely and entirely in the blood, causing obstructions to normal circulation, the obstructing materials being poisons and impurities, either hereditary or acquired through malnutrition or the introduction of unassimilable matter into the system in the form of improper food, drugs, medicines or vaccines which remain as poisons in the blood. disease is the remedial effort of nature to throw off such obstructions--a process of purification and regeneration--and its symptoms should be assisted and regulated rather than resisted and suppressed. "doctors prescribe--but only nature cures," is an ancient axiom, but it faithfully represents the "_vis medicatrix naturae_." the question has recently been publicly propounded "is sickness criminal?" very certainly, disease is the outcome of personal neglect, in past or present; but the nature of the question is a sign significant that the laity are awakening to the truth that the healing power of nature rests wholly in the generation and conservation of latent reserve energy. as regards the influenza controversy the official verdict is, as we have seen, that the regular medical profession as a whole, has failed in its endeavor to fathom the mystery and is at present "_really and truly helpless_." let us therefore, seek the cause of this disastrous failure and strive to solve the problem along other lines. if so poor be the harvest, what of the soil? is the natural enquiry. and it must be generally admitted that this spectacular failure lies in the superficial teaching of the medical schools--its search for causes in the mature, and "specialized," anatomical organs in place of the fundamental physiological, chemical and embryonic causes from which, in their appointed order those various organs are evolved;--first the brain and nervous system, afterwards the tissues and the bones. thus, unversed in the deeper phases of causation, men are hurried unprepared into ranks of a noble profession to struggle as best they may, through lack of deeper knowledge, with the serious symptoms of disease--at first by rote but later, are tempted to tamper empirically with its issues. it has been said by a great scientific authority that, in order to thoroughly comprehend and cure any form of disease it is necessary, in the first place, to mentally map out and visualize the course of its growth and to follow it backward, step by step, to its source before it is possible to formulate curative treatment adapted to its cause and phases. to commence then at the initial stage, let us bring upon the scene one of the greatest chemists of the age: justus von liebig, the discoverer of "the law of the minimum," which is this: that of the sixteen known constituents of the blood essential to the healthy growth and maintenance of the organs and tissues of the body, the absence of any proportional ingredient, however small, will cause degeneration in the organism and interfere with the proper functioning of one or more of the activities concerned. _upon this law is based the attested, dominant fact that all our mental and physical activities--powers of thinking, feeling, motion and every action, including the reproduction of species are equally dependent upon our blood--and our blood, in turn, depends upon proper nutrition._ the ancient aphorism: "man is as man eats," is therefore true in theory and in fact. human diet and human life being thus closely allied, it becomes a consideration of the first magnitude to see that all food contains in well balanced degree a correct proportion of the sixteen essentials: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, iron, sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, sodium, magnesium, calcium, manganese, fluorine, silicon and iodine. amongst the chemical salts of such scientific nutrition may, or may not, be found the famous "vitamines," long sought of science; but what they certainly do supply is the electro-magnetic energy, the impulse of growth and vital function, the secret of bactericide blood and its power of circulation. it is the magnetic iron in the blood which promotes nerve function in both the brain and the intestinal tract, producing on the one hand intellectual activity and on the other, breathing digestion and excretion. similar causal action in corelation to the integral elements of food prevails throughout the organs of the body, demonstrating the vital importance of the quality of our daily food for the renewal of tissue and the maintenance of healthy metabolism. in an attempt to define the _primary cause of influenza_, prof. kuhnemann, a well known authority on practical and differential diagnosis, gives a minute description of its various _symptoms_, terminating with a weak suggestion that the already discredited bacillus _may be regarded as the cause_. this is, in detail, as follows: "fever is always present," prof. kuhnemann says, "but not of any certain type. at times, after short periods of apyrexie there is a rise in temperature sometimes swelling of the spleen. there is no characteristic change in the urine; sometimes albuminuria. there is an inclination to perspire freely; consequently miliaria is often present; also herpes, less frequently other exanthema, petechien. the mucous membranes are inclined to hemorrhage (epistaxis, hematemesis, menorrhagia, abortion). "complications and after effects: (1) of the respiratory system:--croupose and broncho-pneumonia of atypical progress (atypical fever of protracted course, relatively strong dyspnoe, cyanosis, feeble pulse) and high mortality; after effects serous or mattery pleuritis, lung abscesses, phthisis. (2) of the circulatory system:--myocarditis, endocarditis, thrombosis. (3) of the digestive tract:--chronic stomach and intestinal catarrh, dyspepsia. (4) of the nervous system:--any form of neuralgia, paralysis, neuritis, psychosis, etc. (5) of the sense organs:--otitis media; nephritis and muscular rheumatism are also observed. influenza aggravates any case of sickness, especially lung trouble." all this seems to constitute a very formidable and perplexing indictment, sparkling with learning and bristling with difficulties. but when these mellifluous mysticisms are once translated into "the vulgar tongue" they prove to be, strange to say, easily within the comprehension of the ordinary layman. for instance, "apyrexie" means free from fever; albuminuria--albumen present; miliaria--an acute inflammation of the sweat-glands (abnormal sweating); herpes--an inflammatory skin disease characterized by the formation of small vesicles in clusters (fever rash); exanthema--skin eruption; petechien--spots; epistaxis--nose-bleeding; hematemesis--vomiting blood; menorrhagia--excessive menstruation; croupose--resembling croup; broncho-pneumonia--inflammation of the lungs; atypical fever--irregular fever; dyspnoe--hard breathing; cyanosis--blue discoloration of the skin from non-oxidation of the blood; pleuritis--pleurisy; phthisis--consumption; myocarditis and endocarditis--inflammations of the heart; thrombosis--coagulation of blood; intestinal catarrh--inflammation of the bowels; dyspepsia--indigestion; neuritis--nerve inflammation; psychosis--mental derangement; otitis media--inflammation of the ear; and nephritis--inflammation of the kidneys. "aetiology:--the influenza bacillus (found in blood and excrement) is to be regarded as the cause. the malady is highly contagious. period of incubation given as, from two to seven days. runs its course in one or two weeks, recovery as a rule favorable; though convalescence is often protracted. unfavorable results are brought on through complications, most often by pneumonia. "diagnosis:--easily determined during an epidemic or marked symptoms. the catarrhal form of influenza differs from simple catarrh of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract through the presence of nervous symptoms and a more abrupt beginning. the symptoms may be similar to those of measles or abdominal typhus. in each case, complications with pneumonia must be considered. "the proof of the presence of the influenza bacillus," he concludes, "is of little value in the diagnosis and differential diagnosis in medical practice as the bacillus cannot be distinguished with enough accuracy through the microscopic examination, which must be a very minute culture proceeding." this is the final dictum of medical science on the subject--science which however, adds nothing to our knowledge and leaves us still in darkness and uncertainty, while memory brings a well known couplet to the mind: he holds the threads of wisdom's way loosely, with palsied hand. why lacks he now, for pity's sake, the grace to understand? m.b. (after goethe.) but let us weigh this long list of symptoms and estimate their respective significance by the light of physiological perception. the ever present fever is due to stagnation of the blood. swelling of the spleen is caused by catabolism of the malpighian bodies. albuminuria is the result of cold in the plexus renalis; perspiration is due to numbness in the nerve fibrils. the inclination of the mucous membranes to hemorrhage is explained by congestion of blood in the capillaries, due to lack of vigor in the nerve fibrils. when the nerve fibrils fail to act, the capillary circulation stops and the blood overloaded with carbonic acid presses against the walls until they burst. the complications and after effects are explained in the following manner: complications in the respiratory system are all due to failure to properly treat the acute stage of the disease, and where the resistance of the patient has been sapped they usually end fatally. complications in the circulatory system are subject to the same explanation as fever. digestive complications are due to impaired metabolism brought on by loss of energy in the vagus nerve. complications in the nervous system are consequent upon the degeneration of the whole vagus tract. sensory complications are due to the disease attacking the "minoris resistentia," the point of least resistance in the patient. this explanation of the real significance of the symptoms of influenza should make it sufficiently apparent that its cause is fundamental, widespread and deeply rooted in the organism--a menace not to be lightly and tentatively treated with impunity. that the disease is not one that may be met--with any prospect of success--with febrifuges, drugs, serums and specifics--to say nothing of whisky and the like futilities, to use no harsher term, such as are said to have characterized the prescriptions of a very considerable proportion of the regular medical profession and with such terribly disastrous results. what the liquor statistics show on our side of the line i am at the moment unable to say, but i see it reported in the press of an adjoining province that under nominally strict "prohibition" the sale of liquor had increased no less than 900 per cent, largely upon doctors orders, and that the sales from the government stores in one city, during the past month had totaled $50,000--as compared with $6,000 for the corresponding period of the previous year. the professor's elaborate diagnosis, from a physiologico-chemical point of view seems rather to point to a meaning which he has missed--to indicate a latent, more remote possibility behind the shy bacillus, as the primary cause of the disease. let us endeavor to read the riddle rightly. on scientific contemplation it at once becomes apparent that the symptoms as defined by kuhnemann--and indeed all other observers--are confined to the regions traversed by the _vagus_ (wandering) or _pneumogastric_ nerve--a nerve of comprehensive scope and bi-functional activity, _physical and psychic_ and in operation, remarkably in accord with the manifestations of influenza. concisely stated, the physiological function of the _vagus nerve_ is to regulate the process of breathing, tasting, swallowing, appetite, digestion, etc.; and the result of its failure to function would create coughing, choking, indigestion--separately or in combination. its mental functions include the expression of shame, desire, disgust, grief, torture, depression and despair. the following is its academic description: _vagus_ or pneumogastric nerve (tenth cranial); function--sensation and motion; originates in the floor of the fourth ventricle (the space which represents the primitive cavity of the hind-brain; it has the pons and oblongata in front, while the cerebellum lies dorsal), and is distributed through the ear, pharynx, larynx, lungs, esophagus, and stomach; possesses the following branches--auricular, pharyngeal, superior and inferior laryngeal, cardiac, pulmonary, esophageal, gastric, hepatic, communicating, meningeal. it is interesting to compare the scope and characteristics of the vagus, as here defined with the details of prof. kuhnemann's diagnosis of influenza and to draw conclusions. in order to establish more unmistakably the symptomatic sympathetic connection between the vagus and influenza, it may be well to touch briefly upon the initial processes of metabolism and nerve production. an inherent impulse in the ovum (protoplasm or egg cell) serves to separate the albuminous substance into groups of an opposite nature. water is chemically separated from one portion, which results in thickening the albumen from which it was extracted, while the liberated water aids in liquifying another portion of the albuminous matter. thus, on one side slender threads arise, termed fibrine or filaments, and on the other lymph fluid appears, which receives the particles of salts freed from the filaments during their chemical separation. when the fibrine and lymph are organized from the protoplasm, the remaining albumen is absolutely unchanged and ready to furnish material for the growth of either. it is the function of salts to increase the electrical tension of the lymph. all salts possess the property of being electrically positive or negative. the more concentrated a saline solution, the greater its electrical energy. that the function of the lymph is to assist in the formation and nutrition of the nerves is apparent when the nature of lymph and the composition of nerve substances are compared. the contrast which exists between fibrine and lymph, and the similarity of lymph to nerve fat when taken together, justify the conclusion that the nerve substance lecithin, was formed from lymph in the first instance. the whole process of life consists of an electro-chemical combustion. this is clearly shown in the case of lecithin, which serves to control both motion and sensation. in the presence of oxygen it burns up, forming a new chemical combination, and throwing off minute quantities of carbonic acid and water in the process. _every movement and process, both voluntary and involuntary, and every thought and emotion, depends upon oxidation, which consumes muscular tissue and nerve substance._ the greater our physical exertion the more muscular tissue must be consumed. the higher our emotional state, the more we think or agitate ourselves, the greater must be the quantity of nerve substance burned up. all of the substance burned up in labour, in worry and in thought, must be replaced or the flame will flicker out! the metabolism of muscular tissue is not in question at the moment. we are concerned here with nerve metabolism alone. this occurs in the following manner: in response to the demand for new material created by the chemical combustion of lecithin, new oil flows down the axis cylinders of the nerve fibrils, which are arranged somewhat in the manner of lamp wicks. the average duration of the flow of this oil is about eighteen hours. when the cerebro-spinal nerves refuse to perform their function any longer, because the supply of oil is running low, fatigue and sleep ensue, and the blood descends from the brain to the intestines. thus the cerebro-spinal system is permitted to relax and rest. in the meantime the sympathetic nervous system has taken up the task of directing the renewal of worn tissues, which draw their supply of necessary materials from the digestive canal, with a new supply of phosphatic oil. for the carrying out of these processes, which prepare the brain and spinal nerve system for the demands of another day, the magnetic blood current acts as distributor of supplies. through the fact that this supply is directly dependent upon nutrition, three possibilities inevitably present themselves: (1) that any radical change of diet may result in an insufficient supply of the various elements necessary for the production of lecithin in the requisite quantities. (2) that strenuous and unaccustomed physical and mental exertion may involve a consumption both of nerve substance and muscular tissue, greater than the outcome of the ordinary diet is able to compensate. (3) that a protracted term of emotional strain and agitation may adversely affect both appetite and digestion while rapidly consuming the substance of the nerves. in discussing the causes of disease julius hensel lays great stress upon the emotions. he goes so far as to say that they "_undoubtedly occupy the first place amongst the factors causing disease_, and we must not evade the consideration of them. _we shall find that their action also amounts to an electro-chemical process._" i would not for an instant be understood to contend that the emotions alone are sufficient to explain the origin of disease--not at all. there are other factors--jointly or severally dominant--diet, occupation, changes of weather, climate, or conditions. in the matter immediately under review, however, the world-wide pandemic of "spanish influenza," there can remain no shadow of doubt in the mind of any unbiased observer who follows the question fairly along the lines of electro-chemical biology, but that the general emotional disturbances incident upon the war conditions of the world, combined with the chaotic dietetic position with its anxieties and privations under strenuous and unwonted physical demands, do undoubtedly afford a sound and reasonable explanation of the cataclysmal outbreak which has recently fallen upon the nations. the brazen blast of war, in 1914, with all its ruthless wreck and carnage, shook the universal fabric of the sphere. fear, fraud and famine were met together, duplicity and greed had kissed each other. short rations and with some, starvation, were soon the order of the day. the corners of the earth were swept of stale forgotten stores and profiteers waxed fat and prices soared, whilst the vitals of the working world were vastly underfed. the ranks of labour, depleted of its men, were filled by females uninured to toil and dangerous nerve racking environments. relentless time brings its revenges fast; but still they worked and suffered while malnutrition sapped the life-blood of the race. in the homes of the fighting men fear reigned supreme--ever the sword of damocles suspended at the hearth. and then the death lists came and the world was wet with human tears and all the furies flew the earth--grief, hatred, revenge, love, pity and remorse, but the wail of mourning was throughout all lands in all the "sable panoply of woe" attending fast lowering vitality, bred by force of pain and hope deferred. pliny well said: "dolendi modus, non est timendi"--pain has its limits, _apprehension none_--and now as in his day, the latter bore the palm. such was the position when two years ago the world first felt the impact of the pestilence and millions withered up like blighted corn. the vagus nerve with which we have been dealing, is concerned with the expression of emotions such as these; and being so, was burned up rapidly with fervent heat--the flames of sorrow still with fasting fed. in the majority of human lives such was the case, while the sources of nutritive reserve force were depleted by lack of things of universal use and foreign substitutes for normal food. small wonder then the once steady nerves soon buckled with the strain; that sickness followed swiftly with disaster in its train and that the death rate rose enormously, beyond recorded precedent. and then when seeming good succeeds the storm of ills a plethora of new-born cares arose and worse, more fatal still, reaction from the strain which with relaxing energy demands its deadly share. here in america we meet our troubles with serener front, unawed by state-fed sacerdotal superstitions; but in england how the scourge has wrung from dire depression its full toll of death. there for the first time deaths exceed the births and for the final quarter of 1918, the deaths exceed those of the former term by 127,000 of which influenza claimed one hundred thousand dead. similar conditions, it would appear, have been more or less general throughout the european and indeed all other continents and the title "pandemic" has been richly earned; but the term which would seem to me more descriptive still would be _"panasthenia"--the general loss of vitality_. the human organism is, as we know, electro-magnetic. the effect upon the fabric of abnormal disturbance is registered with infinite exactitude by electrons--atoms of electricity--which rise and fall in numerical vibration according to the positive or negative tone of the whole; and excessive manifestations in one direction or the other, indicate respectively, a condition of positive or negative disease. when the slowly vibrating negative electrons outnumber the rapidly vibrating positive atoms the electronic vibration of the whole body is lowered. as a result, we become depressed, weak, tired and retain little bodily warmth. digestion is upset, metabolism falls far below normal, and the skin becomes pale, because of the morbid action set up in the mucous membrane by the excess of negative electrons. catarrh supervenes. this is the condition in which negative disease thrives best: influenza, nervous debility, anaemia, sleeping disease, cholera, diphtheria and the rest, in all varied forms of negative disease. the vagus, or wandering nerve, permeates every vital section of the body, as the accompanying plate will show. it controls, as has been shown, all the highest functions, both mental and physical of human life--that life which depends for its well-being upon electro-chemical combustion, metabolism, and the fuel supply we designate as food. it is the first postulate of healthy vitality in the human frame that metabolism and catabolism--intake and output--shall go hand in hand--that the body must receive continually such fresh nutrition as may replace what it consumes in the process of muscular action and the exercise of mental and emotional activity, and we are consequently brought to the conclusion that such bonds of safety and provision being rudely and suddenly severed, all physical resistance must be quickly broken down, the latent reserve energy is used and disappears, psychic resolution--the immunity of mind--soon abdicates its throne and the depleted organism, robbed of all defense, falls victim to contagion when it comes to kill. _treatment._ as regards the treatment, actual and preventive, applicable to spanish influenza, the methods employed under the hygienic-dietetic system of healing have been already defined in a previous chapter on the subject of negative disease in general. instruction, however, devoted to influenza alone may be found in chapter vi of the special pamphlet issued in that connection under the title: "influenza, cause and cure,"[e] and also in my greater work: "regeneration or dare to be healthy," now in course of completion. * * * * * and now, one final word in conclusion, for the purpose of drawing together, as it were, the multiplicity of threads which constitute the complex skein of causes and effects, with their remedial measures which cover the wide range of human life's vicissitudes--the interruptions of its would-be harmonies--which take the forms, all too common in these times of stress, of physical disturbance and of mental strain which come to us in the combined and threatening guise of suffering and disease. that these forms are more pronounced, more virulent today than ever before in the records of the race, is surely great nature's manner, crude and masterful, of pressing her mandate home--right home upon the plastic film of evanescent shadows and ephemeral shades we proudly call our consciousness. how many, let me ask, how many of us, in the absorbing round of life's futilities, have paused to really recognize the sinister "hand writing on the wall?" the phase of the world's history through which we pass complacently is of no light portent, its happenings no casual concern, but, in point of crucial fact, a virtual "rending of the sphere"--a cosmic upheaval such as never yet before has racked the tense life sinews of the world, confounding the wisdom of the wise and wrecking in one fell climax of contempt the moral precepts of two thousand years. the greatest human struggle the world has ever known synchronizes strangely, yet logically with the world's greatest pestilence which has swept successive millions to their doom without exacting from the residue even the sentimental tribute of a tear. the official brains of the entire globe are leagued in self-protective unison "to make the world safe for democracy;" but demos dies, by violence and disease, ere yet salvation comes. it appeals to its old-time standards for relief,--they are gone; to its pastors--they are mute; to its masters--they are impotent; to its doctors--they are baffled, helpless and aghast, whilst vainly searching earth and air for some frail pretext of unreal enlightenment, some fragile figment of belief. and yet in hypnotized complacency the masses stand; for meanwhile commerce reaps its costly gains and labour draws in enhanced increment the wages of the living and the dead. less serious visitations have, in former times, left their eternal imprint on the age. they served to point the moral of widespread reform--to emphasize the practice of hygiene and sanity. for all such scourges are but signs of nature's trust betrayed, her sacred laws defied in the wild rush for gain, oblivious of the law of compensation's cost, with its inevitable reckoning. thus, to the discoverer of the lost initiative, what prospect does the future hold in store? pandemics, such as this, repeat themselves; and other forms of dread disease are following the footsteps of mankind. arterio sclerosis, (hardening of the arteries), with its kindred complaints, for instance, now threatens to become a standing feature of the race through ignorance of the physiological functions of the nerves, their tissue exhaustion and supply. with such impending dangers are our men distressed; and yet there seems but grudging, slight encouragement for those who seek to stay the onslaught of the foe, by scientific measures of precaution and hygiene. what the nation needs is now a practical and nation-wide awakening. let the people realize the danger of their risk; let them rally to the call and loyally support those who thus offer them the safeguard of knowledge as a refuge from the impending storm. then will so-called "incurable disease" be relegated to the limbo of the past and, among other prophylactic means, this, my latest great discovery--the cause of influenza, its prevention and its cure, a discovery which must rank amongst the great scientific achievements of the day--will mitigate the force of epidemics on mankind. it should also give to the reader of this little book a fair assurance of what immunity it is possible to secure by careful study and practice of its truths and should prove to the thinker the nucleus of a lesson which can nowhere be better learned than in the teachings and the precepts of the hygienic-dietetic school. "but to the hero, when his sword has won the battle for the free, thy voice sounds like a prophet's word and in its hollow tones are heard the thanks of millions yet to be" finis. wide and unlimited as the field of biology and the hygienic-dietetic method of healing is, i have in the foregoing pages tried to devise a guide that will indicate the points that are most necessary to the confidence of the patient, based upon knowledge. if i have enlightened my readers sufficiently regarding the most modern results of biological research, if i have succeeded in showing them the ray of hope, in the midst of their suffering, that will give them courage to live, and live as healthy human beings, i shall feel amply rewarded for the hard work that had necessarily to be done before the present pinnacle in the art of healing could be reached. let me repeat: this brochure is not designed to lead any one away from the man who knows, who has gone to the sources of wisdom, to bring salvation to those who demand the right to live in health and vigor. far otherwise; for my deliberate injunction is that the cure of disease, in any form, should not be undertaken except under the guidance of an hygienic physician who may indicate to them the path, so that they may not tread it blindly, but in the light of knowledge. the outlines of a great and wonderful science are presented. another wall between the layman and the professional has been torn down. if, my readers, you can one day say this booklet has guided you to the right path, back to the enjoyment of life in youthful health and vigor, then join with me and others in propagating these sane and safe principles, and make others "dare to be healthy," as you have dared yourself. footnotes: [d] this amount is given by the seattle post-intelligencer, in an editorial devoted to the terrible plague on march 16th, 1919. [e] the pamphlet, which also contains a chart of the vagus in 2 colors, may be obtained either from the author or through any bookseller. the price is 50 cents. index dedication, 5 foreword, 13 introduction, 15 the hygienic-dietetic method of healing, 19 physiologico-chemical research, 20 the natural method of healing, 20 prophylactic therapy or prevention of disease, 21 the new-school of healing, 22 "regeneration" or "dare to be healthy", 24 distrust of the medical fraternity, 25-6 johannes müller and his followers, 26-7 the medical impasse, 28-9 the regeneration of the race, 31 dysaemia--the cause of disease, 31 the process of natural healing, 31 the human body a microcosm, 32 the body an indivisible unity, 33 the bacteria craze, 33 predisposition, 34 the allopathic failure, 35-36 choosing a physician, 37 cell-food therapy, 37 medical literature, 38 chemical elements of the blood, 39 dech-manna, or "organic nutritive salts or cell-food therapy", 39 "as a man eats, so is he", 46 humanity the product of the exhausted fields, 46 the remedy, the question and the reply, 47 no "business" in healthy blood, 47 truth versus creeds and capital, 49 health: hymn of health, 51 the health ideal by nature set, 52 ignorance the basis of disease, 54 a means of enlightenment, 55 the dare to be healthy club, 57 the purpose of the club, 58 the teachings of the club, 58 two years' course in biology, 58 physiology, anatomy, hygiene, physiological chemistry, pathology, according to biological facts, 58 therapy, in accordance with biological and physical laws and precepts, 58 its comprehensive aim, 58 the course of instruction, 58 its precepts, 59 graduates as teachers, 59 the method of regeneration, 59 dr w.c. rucker assistant surgeon gen. us public health service on physiological chemistry, 60 the boerhaave incident, 62 the secret of disease and health, 62 the eternal lesson nature teaches, 64 simplicity the essence of the system, 64 a life's legacy, 65 the physician, 66 fair minded physicians, 66 behind the veil, 66 disease the heritage of the ages, 67 the moment of release, 67 disease a unit, 68 the part of the physician, 69 the teachings of great masters, 69 hippocrates, 70 galen, 71 thomas sydenham, 73 boerhaave, 74 system of regeneration, 77 man as a unit, 77 perpetual existence, 77 functions, 77 cell life, 78 specialists, 78 cause of disease, 79 metabolism, 79 creative matter, 79 functions of the blood, 79 foreign formations, 80 nature's curative powers, 80 the blood as universal medium, 80 the oneness of disease, 80 all powers dependent on nutrition, 80 diversity of construction, 81 adaptivity of cells, 81 medical misconception, 81 resultant errors, 82 diagnosis, 82 chemical analysis of human body, 82 the twelve tissues, 82 secret of healing, 82 tissues depend upon the blood, 82 the 16 elements of the blood, 83 dominant features, 83 von liebig's law of the mirimuin, 83 the law of chemotaxis, 84 cell attraction, 84 process of healing, 84 constitutional disease, 84 new cell food treatment, 85 old system superseded, 85 dysarmia, 85 the bacillus fallacy, 85 predisposition, 86 hereditary disease, 86 heredity not invincible, 87 the dechmann law of the cross transmission of characteristics, 87 the theory of pangenesis, 88 the dechmann law of the determination of sex at will, 89 latent reserve energy, 89 law of the dominant, 90 heredity and predisposition, 90 prevention of disease, 91 terrible responsibility, 91 alternative betterment, 92 the "incurable," curable, 92 chemical elements missing, 92 three methods of supply, 92 diet, 92 nutritive preparations, 93 physical treatment, 93 nature a unit, 94 natural elements, 94 importance of minerals, 94 testimonials, 95 dech-manna nutritive preparations, 97 the means of health and safety, 98 the dare to be healthy club, 99 business proposition, 99 membership, 99 terms and literature etc., 100 "within the bud", 101 cell foods special rates to members, 102 the basis of proceedings, 103 life, health, happiness, 104 man as a unit, 105 metabolism, 106 variety of organs, 109 the idea of unity, 109 the constituent elements, 111 dysaemia, the cause of all constitutional diseases, 113 heredity, 116 healing, 117 the unity of nature, 119 the chemical process of disease, 121 the twelve tissues, 123 1. the plasmo tissue (blood plasma), 124 2. the lymphoid tissue, 125 3. the nerve tissue, 125 4. the bone tissue, 126 5. the muscular tissue, 127 6. the mucous membrane tissue, 128 7. the tooth and eye tissue, 128 8. the hair tissue, 128 9. the skin tissue, 129 10. the gelatigenous tissue, 130 11. the cartilage tissue, 130 12. the body tissue in general, 131 degeneration of tissues, 132 the meaning of "healing", 132 grouping of constitutional diseases, 133 the a.b.c. of my system of healing, 135 a. diet, 135 b. nutritive compositions, 135 c. physical treatment, 136 diet--its vital importance, 136 the reason why, 137 the laboratory of the body and functions of its branches, 137 creation of life blood, 137 building the framework, 138 the material, 138 the refuse, 138 diet forms no. i to no. vi, 138 nutritive compositions, 143 representations to government, 143 functions of minerals in our food, 148 minerals in the human economy, 148 chemical elements essential to life, 149 the impulse of growth, 150 the genesis of polyps, tumors and cancers, 151 review of mineral elements, 152 iron in the blood, 152 generation of electricity, 152 faraday, on magnetic blood, 152 the motor of nervous function, 153 creation of bodily warmth, 153 the secret of sleep, 153 the function of the spleen, 154 rejuvenating influence, 154 the malpighian bodies, 154 the liver and the bile, 155 lecithin or nerve fat, 155 system of cell renewal, 156 nutrition-soda and the bile, 156 chemical fixation, 156 sodium sulphate essential, 157 basis of muscle tissue, 157 basis of bones and teeth, 158 growth of the hair, 158 medium of chemical combustion, 158 human organism cannot assimilate inorganic matter, 159 necessity of prepared nutritive salts, 159 incomplete fertilization, 160 sickly (food) vegetation, 160 improper fertilization breeds disease, 161 the rock and its lesson, 161 food instinct, 161 an imperative duty to mankind, 162 result of experiments (poultry), 162 results of experiments (small fruit), 163 haemoglobin eggs for weakened constitutions, 164 lecithin for neurasthenia, 164 physical regeneration, 164 reserve energy essentials, 165 nutritive compositions, 166 16 nutritive cell-foods, 166 12 "dech-manna" compositions, 166 specialities, a. to j., 167 explanations, 168 schuessler's absurdity, 170 =dech-manna compositions=- no. 1. plasmogen--(plasma producer), 172 no. 2. lymphogen--(lymph-cell producer), 176 no. 3. neurogen--(nerve-cell producer), 179 the ignorance of "nerve specialists", 180 consequent increase of insanity, 180 a complacent public, 181 neurasthenia, 181 no. 4. osseogen--(bone cell producer), 182 deformity of bone structure, curvature of the spine, etc., 183 the lime-water fallacy and others, 183 "fire proof" bone structure, 183 no. 5. muscogen--(muscle-cell producer), 184 combination with eubiogen (no xii), 185 no. 6. mucogen--(mucous membrane-cell producer), 186 pervading importance of membrane, 186 catarrhal conditions of tissues no. 7. dento & ophthogen--(tooth & eye cell producer), 187 connection between teeth and eye, 189 no. 8. capillogen--(hair-cell producer), 189 causes of falling hair, 190 prevention of baldness, 190 failure of "hair restorers", 190 no. 9. dermogen--(skin-cell producer), 191 the fallacy of dermatology, 192 no. 10. gelatinogen--(gelatigenous-tissue producer), 193 the functions of expansion and contraction, 193 no. 11. cartilogen--(cartilage producer), 194 prevention of friction, bones and joints, 194 no. 12. eubiogen--(healthy life producer), 196 positive composition, 196 eulogy of eubiogen, 196 analysis of eubiogen, 201 3 forms of eubiogen, 204 special composition b alternative for infants and feeble invalids, 204 comparative analysis human body and eubiogen, 206 =appendix i=, 207 life preservers and elixirs, 207 =special dech-manna compositions=, 207 a. oxygenator (radium tablets), 207 balneotherapy-directions, 208 b. eubiogen liquid. for babies and feeble invalids, 209 c. tonogen--tonic and beverage, 210 universal scope and effectiveness, 211 combination with plasmogen, 212 =appendix ii=, 213 =compositions for specific cases=, 213 d. tea, diabetic, 213 e. tea, laxagen, 213 f. salve, lenicet, 213 g. massage emulsion, 213 h. propionic acid, 213 i. oxygen powder, 213 j. anti phosphate or negative compound, 213 price list dech-manna compositions, 214 physical treatment, 215 baths and packs--vinegar water, 215 massage and exercises, 216 importance of ablutions, 216 the habit of gargling, 220 vinegar packs--their significance and basis, 220 effect of the packs, 226 temperature, 226 construction of packs, 227 length of application, 227 danger of ice applications, 228 excretion of auto toxins, 230 dissolving, diverting, excreting, 230 general treatment of body, 232 the key to success, 232 general advice for packs, 232 measurements for material, 233 temperature of packs, 234 duration of packs, 235 changing the packs, 236 general rules, 237 "diverting packs" important, 237 the main rule, 238 24. abdominal pack, 238 divided packs, 241 25. the cross pack, 242 26. leg packs, 244 partial packs, 245 foot and wrist packs, 246 neck pack, 247 shoulder pack, 248 scotch pack, 249 divided scotch pack, 250 shawl pack, 251 27. three quarter packs, 252 half pack, 255 whole pack, 255 small compresses, 257 28. gymnastics, 258 29. massage, 258 30. breathing, 258 electric vibrators, 260 31. oxygenator, 261 32. radium and salt baths, 261 diseases, treatment and method, 262 i. degeneration of the plasmo tissue, 263 anaemia, chlorosis, pernicious anaemia, 263 a. scrofulosis, 266 b. tuberculosis, 266 c. syphilis, 266 d. cancer, 267 therapy, 267 diet i. for anaemic patients, 267 i. & ii. a. for scrofulous patients, 269 i. & ii. b. for tuberculous patients, 270 i. & ii. c. for syphilitic patients, 271 i. & ii. d. for cancer patients, 271 dech-manna compositions, 271 physical, 272 ii. degeneration of lymph tissue,272 iii. degeneration of the nerve tissue, 273 neuralgia neuritis, neurasthenia, 274 asthma epilepsy st vitus's dance, 274 therapy, 275 dech-manna compositions, 277 physical, 277 iv. degeneration of the bone tissue, 277 rickets osteomalacia and similar diseases, 277 therapy, 278 diet, 278 dech-manna compositions, 279 physical, 279 v. degeneration of the muscular tissue, 280 muscular rheumatism, sciatica, 280 infantile paralysis, atrophy, 280 amyloid organs, 280 therapy, 281 diet, 281 special diet for disease of heart and inactive kidneys, 282 for irritable kidneys and diseases of the bladder, 285 for liver disease, 286 dech-manna compositions, 287 physical, 287 vi. degeneration of the mucous membrane tissue, 288 catarrh, acute and chronic, 288 bronchitis, pleurisy, pneumonia, 288 inflammation of nose throat, bowels, stomach and bladder, 288 decomposition of mucous membrane, 288 hemorrhoids, polyps benign tumors, 288 bright's disease, initial stages, 288 therapy, 289 diet, 290 for throat and larynx disease, 290 dech-manna compositions, 290 physical, 290 vii. degeneration of tooth and eye tissue, 291 therapy, 292 dech-manna compositions, 292 physical, 292 viii. degeneration of the hair tissue, 292 therapy, 293 diet, 293 dech-manna compositions, 293 physical, 293 ix. degeneration of the skin tissue, 293 therapy, 295 diet, 295 dech-manna compositions, 295 physical, 295 x. degeneration of the gelatigenous tissue, stomach & intestinal disease, 295 therapy, 296 diet, 296 normal diet for stomach diseases, 297 general hints for nourishing treatment, 298 treatment, 298 in case of constipation, 299 dech-manna compositions, 299 physical, 299 xi. degeneration of the cartilagenous tissue, 300 ankylosis. gout. arthritis, 300 therapy, 300 diet, 300 dech-manna compositions, 300 physical, 300 xii. degeneration of the body tissue in general, 301 infantile paralysis, 303 facial diagnosis and "the clinical eye", 306 diagnosis, physiognomy and psychology, 308 the biological healing system, 308 the psychological side, 308 regeneration and retrogression, 309 the true physician's principle, 309 external symptoms, 310 perspiring hands and feet, 310 quality of the nails, 311 baldness, gray and dishevelled hair, 311 the evidence of the eyes, 312 prof liljequist on the colour of the eyes, 312 the shades of death, 313 testimony of the mouth and tongue, 313 indications of the nose, 314 diagnosis by odour, 315 story of the teeth and gums, 316 demonstrations of the neck, 317 significance of chest formation, 317 signs of the abdomen, 317 indications of the legs, 317 indications of the skin, 318 freckles, 318 chemical construction, 318 prevention and cure, 319 simple precautions, 319 children's disease. introduction, 319 the cause of "the poor", 319 the child of mortality, 319 parental egotism and pedagogy, 323 maternal solicitude--and ignorance, 320 vital statistics, 324 o tempora! o mores!, 325 the world's indifference to truth, 326 for the understanding of disease--the sine qua non, 326 back to nature, 326 "the age of nerves", 327 medical polemics, 327 "existence is movement"--progress, 328 man, the sceptic, 328 the x-rays and the sequel, 329 the atom and the electron, 330 "man's passing strange, complex mortality", 332 the vibrations of electrons, 332 electro-magnetic control, mundane and solar forces, 333 the ocean a storage battery, 333 the action of acids and alkalies, 334 electro-magnetic processes and metabolism, 335 weather and local influences, 336 negative and positive vibrations, 337 healthy blood formation, 338 dech-manna diet, 338 electrons and the effect of injury, 339 bacteria, 340 febrile, or positive diseases, 340 curative process, 341 the law of opposites, 341 action of water, 341 action of earth on mud, 341 vinegar packs, 342 cooling drinks, 342 temperature reduction, 343 negative diseases, 344 curative process, 344 sun baths, light baths, 344 exercise, 345 massage, 345 coloured light treatment, 346 internal treatment, 346 the salts of the body, 346 nourishment, 347 the science of food, 347 diet, 348 food standard, 348 heat production, 348 discretion in diet, 348 diet of children in general, 349 diet for school children, 351 fever and its treatment based on biology, 354 a. general description, 354 b. treatment, 357 c. diet in cases of fever, 362 scarlet fever, 367 measles, 371 german measles, 372 chicken-pox, 373 small-pox, 374 typhoid fever or typhus abdominalis, 375 a. general description, 375 b. essentials, 376 c. symptoms and course, 377 stage of development, 378 the climax, 378 stage of healing, 378 respiratory organs, 381 organs of circulation, 381 nervous system, 381 bones and joints, 382 urinary and sexual organs, 382 skin, 382 recurrence, 383 d. treatment, 384 mental condition, 385 e. relapsing fever (typhus recurrens), 386 f. diet in cases of typhus, 387 dech-manna compositions, 392 physical treatment, 392 negative children's disease (so called), 393 catarrh, 393 bronchitis, 393 grippe, 393 influenza, 393 catarrhal inflammations, 393 cholera infantum or summer complaint, 393 therapy, 393 physical treatment, 394 the contagious character of children's diseases, 394 the golden rule, 395 diet, 395 dech-manna compositions, 395 physical treatment, 396 the tonsure of the tonsils, 396 a strong indictment, 396 american and english corroboration, 397 arguments against tonsillotomy, 397 a medico-cum parental craze, 398 prof mackenzie's denunciation, 398 maternal ineptitude, 399 wild and incontinent superstitions, 400 operators and their teachers, 400 facts and fables, 401 a "lazy and stupifying delusion", 402 the "roll of unrecorded death", 402 a trenchant and tragic article, 404 the true mission of tonsils, 405 pre-natal care, 405 pre-natal clinics, 405 human magnetism, 405 hygienic birth, 406 endemic and epidemic disease, 406 climatic, or yellow fever, 407 pellagra, or hook worm, 407 cholera and plague, 408 the spanish influenza, 409 the world's great pandemics, 410 terminological notes, 410 fundamental causes, 410 sero therapy, or the illusive germ theory, 412 the alternative origin, 412 the attitude of the public, 413 the history of the influenza germ, 413 culture and the manufacturing chemist, 413 the great experiment, 413 the dictum of surgeon genl. blue, 414 serums and specifics, hospitals and undertakers, 415 opinions of the press, 416 the parting of the ways, 417 george bernard shaw's views, 418 public health reports, 419 raising the resistance of the body, 419 the vis medicatrix naturae, 421 st paul, on the unity of the body, 421 the cause of medical failure, 421 the law of the minimum, 423 the sixteen essentials, 423 prof kuhnemann, on the influenza, 424 the interpretation, 427 the professor and the shy bacillus, 428 the vision of the vagus nerve, 429 its vast responsibility, 431 three nutritive possibilities, 432 the emotions as factors of disease, 432 "panasthema," the general loss of vitality, 434 the seat of affection in the vagus, 435 "the writing on the wall", 437 demos dies by violence, 438 nature's trust betrayed, 438 the law of compensation, 438 a great scientific discovery, 440 finis 440 errata in valere aude page 6, line 28 from top read, sinai's 19, line 5 from top read, continents 134, line 10 from top read, adenoids 149, line 9 from top read, haemoglobin 149, line 27 from top read, fluorine 150, line 6 from top read, a comma after 'itself' 152, line 5 from top read, tumors 152, line 20 from top read, grams 156, line 34 from top read, two of ammonium 156, line 45 from top read, ammoniacal 157, line 44 from top read, phosphate of ammonium 161, line 44 from top read, avidity 166, line 7 from top read, fluorine 182, line 9 from top read, organic lime 186, line 14 from top read, indispensible 187, line 1 from top read, dimensions 192, line 17 from top read, the patient 200, line 22 from top read, vain 201, line 16 from top read, sinews 223, line 1 from top read, oxygenous blood 244, line 22 from top read, leg 261, line 6 from top read, allow him to extend the area 276, line 27 from top read, alcohol and alkaline 279, line 11 from top read, legumes 281, line 3 from top read, amyloid degeneration 301, line 31 from top read, space at my disposal 315, line 20 from top read, the hypochondriacal 365, line 16 from top read, form iii comprises 409, line 34 from top read, social cataclysm. 414, line 37 from top read, consensus. 423, line 36 from top read, chlorine. 427, line 21 from top read, to numbness in the nerve. 429, line 35 from top read, more unmistakably. 430, line 31 from top read, nerve substance lecithin. 438, line 16 from top read, hypnotized complacency. 440, line 12 from top read, hygienic-dietetic. [transcriber's note: the items on the list of errata have been corrected in the text.] [transcriber's notes] page numbers in this book are indicated by numbers enclosed in curly braces, e.g. {99}. they have been located where page breaks occurred in the original book. this book is derived from a copy on the internet archive: http://www.archive.org/details/religionandheal02walsgoog obvious spelling or typographical errors have been corrected. inconsistent spelling of names and inventive and alternative spelling is left as printed. extended quotations and citations are indented such as reports, letters and interviews. [end transcriber's notes] religion and health by james j. walsh, m.d., ph.d., sc.d. etc. medical director of fordham university school of sociology, professor of physiological psychology, cathedral college lecturer on psychology and sociology, marywood college, scranton, pa., mt. st. mary's, plainfield, n.j. boston little, brown, and company 1920 _copyright, 1920_, by little, brown, and company. _all rights reserved_ published october, 1920 _norwood press_ set up and electrotyped by j. s. cushing co., norwood, mass., u.s.a. to his eminence james cardinal gibbons an exemplar of religion and health for our generation contents page introduction 1 chapter i can we still believe? 8 ii prayer 33 iii sacrifice 59 iv charity 80 v fasting and abstinence 109 vi holydays and holidays 120 vii recreation and dissipation 132 viii mortification 147 ix excesses 168 x purity 184 xi insanity 205 xii nervous disease 217 xiii dreads 234 xiv suffering 254 xv pain 265 xvi suicide and homicide 277 xvii longevity 294 xviii the bible and health 306 xix health and religion 319 index 333 {1} religion and health introduction physicians are agreed that there is no entirely satisfactory definition for health. we all know quite well what we mean when we use the word, but it does not admit of such exact limitations as would make a scientific formulation of its meaning. religion is another of the words which, in spite of its common use, is extremely difficult to define exactly, and it has often been said that we have no definition that will satisfy all those who profess religion and certainly not all those who have made a study of it from the standpoint of the science of theology. as is true of health, each of us knows pretty thoroughly what we mean when we use the word, though our definitely formulated signification for it might not meet with the approval of others, especially of those who are exacting in their requirements. with the two principal words in the title incapable of exact definition, it might seem that the subject matter of this book would be rather vague at best and unpromising in practical significance. but all this indefiniteness is in theory. there are no two words in the language that are more used than health and religion, none that are less vague in practice and no two subjects have a wider appeal or a more paramount interest. the linking them together for discussion in common because of their mutual influence will serve to {2} throw light on both of them and undoubtedly help toward a better understanding of each. ordinarily the most satisfactory definition of a word can be obtained from its etymology. unfortunately in the matter of religion there is a very old-time division of opinion as to the derivation of the word which makes etymology of less definite significance than usual. cicero suggested that _religio_ came from _relegere_, to go through or over again in reading, speech or thought, as prayers and religious observances generally are repeated. on the other hand st. augustine and lactantius insisted on deriving _religio_ from the latin verb _religare_, which means to bind again, to bind back, to bind fast. the word obligation has an analogous origin and illustrates the meaning of religion as if its form from etymology should have been religation. it is this latter derivation that has been most commonly accepted in the modern time. a man may recognize the existence of god and yet not feel any particular obligations toward him, but if he binds himself anew to the deity whom he recognizes, by trying to make his life accord with the divine will as he views it, then he practices religion. james martineau said, "by religion i understand the belief and worship of supreme mind and will, directing the universe and holding moral relations with human life." what will occupy us in this book is the effect of this profound feeling and sense of obligation toward a higher power on health, that is, on that wholeness of body and mind which constitutes a normal condition for human beings. there are many more relations between the two words than would at first be suspected or that most people {3} might think possible. the old high german word _haelu_ or _haelo_, from which our word health is derived, meant also salvation. the original root _hal_ means haleness or wholeness and also refers to healing, and curiously enough the word holiness is derived from the same root. holiness has now come to refer to perfection, or at least normality of soul, while health refers to normality of body. our word health is related more directly to whole than it is to heal, in spite of the feeling there might be because of the spelling that the latter word must represent its immediate origin. holiness of soul exactly corresponds in etymology with wholeness of body. cardinal newman would, i suppose, be an authority on the subject of religion as satisfying for most people as could be found. in his "grammar of assent", which he wrote in order to define as exactly as might be possible just how men came to admit certain propositions with special reference to the acceptance of religion, he gave a definition of what he meant by the word in as simple words as it is possible to use, perhaps, to express so large a subject. he said: "by religion i mean the knowledge of god, of his will, and of our duties toward him." matthew arnold, who represents among english-speaking peoples almost the opposite pole of thought to cardinal newman, in what concerns religion, suggested in "literature and dogma" that "religion, if we follow the intention of human thought and human language in the use of the word, is ethics heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling; the passage from morality to religion is made when to morality is applied emotion." both of these men, in spite of their distance apart, insist on duty as the essence of religion. matthew arnold calls it ethics and says nothing as to the foundation of it; the great english {4} cardinal speaks very simply of our duties toward god. newman says nothing of the emotions but appeals only to the reason, while, curiously enough, the rationalizer in religion emphasizes the emotions. between these two definitions there is a world of difference that we shall not attempt to bridge, for we want to treat of the relations and above all the interaction of religion and health in the widest sense of these terms. the "century dictionary" definition more nearly resembles that of cardinal newman than matthew arnold's formula, but it generalizes in a way that would describe the practice of religion for a greater number of people and especially for those who still believe that there are more gods than one. it runs: "recognition of and allegiance in manner of life to a superhuman power or superhuman powers, to whom allegiance and service are regarded as justly due." even this definition is not too broad for the subject matter of this book, for i am one of those who believe that there is a blessing on every sincere effort of worship of the higher power, no matter how groping it may be. above all, every regulation of life with reference to a power above us felt to have a providence over the world in which we live has an almost inevitable reaction on health and will lead to better things. the sincere pursuit of good conduct as an end in life under a providence that is recognized will almost necessarily lead to better knowledge of our relations to the higher powers, and also of our relations to ourselves and the world around us. with these preliminaries we are ready to consider religion and health and their mutual influence, but the inevitable question that suggests itself is, "is religion a living force in our time? has not science given it its {5} death blow? while it walks the earth as yet, is it not only as the ghost of an outworn phase of human interest? is it any more than merely a superstition in the sense once suggested as the etymology of this word by james russell lowell as if derived from _superstes_, a survivor, representing, as all superstitions do, a survival from a previous state of thinking, the reasons for which have disappeared, though the mental inertia of human beings still keeps them in vogue?" a good many people in our time, including not a few of those who are rather prone to consider themselves above the rest of the world, have not hesitated to express the view that it is only old fogies and especially those ignorant of modern science who continue to think that religion can still be taken seriously. some few of them have the best of good will in the world and appreciate how much of benefit was derived from religious belief, benefit which they confess did good both for the mind and the body of man; and they are even ready to express sorrow that it has outlived its usefulness, but they feel that they must insist that religion is now only the wraith of its former self, a misty congeries of old-fashioned beliefs which the ignorant alone reverence, accepting it very much as they do ghost stories in general. president schurman of cornell in an address before the liberal club of buffalo thirty years ago, [footnote 1] reminded us that there are a number of people who are always ready to proclaim the end of religion and to weep for it. religion continues to be as living a force and as lively as ever in spite of their proclamations, and this has been true generation after generation practically since the beginning of christianity. president schurman said: {6} "every now and then we hear the requiem of religion chanted alike by the spirits who mock and by the pious souls who have 'no language but a cry.' i suppose we shall always have professional mourners. but it is greatly to be desired that their services should not be prematurely given. if there is anything in the world that is alive and active, it is just this religious spirit, for whose demise certain mourners go about the streets. the body of religion changes, the spirit and the life abide forever. to the assertion that religion is defunct, i reply by pointing to the intense interest which men to-day everywhere feel in religion. it was recently stated by a massachusetts judge--burke observed truly that we americans like to appeal to the law--that there is nothing in the world perennially interesting but religion. the ground of this dictum is to be found in the constitution of humanity; for the human soul which the things of sense fail to satisfy can attain its true home and its complete self-realization only in conscious communion with the spirit behind the veil." [footnote 1: "agnosticism," scribners, new york, 1895. ] the recent death of mrs. humphry ward recalled the experience with regard to her book "robert elsmere." in a certain narrow circle of intellectuals it was supposed that this novel represented a veritable death blow to a series of compromises which had permitted people familiar with modern progress and science, and especially with the higher criticism, to continue to practice their religion in peace in spite of the fact that belief had long since departed. how amusing it is now and indeed how almost incomprehensible to learn that mrs. humphry ward's husband, a well-known english critic, suggested shortly after its publication that her novel had {7} "shaken the very pillars of christianity." it is surprising indeed how often the foundations of religion are supposed to have been completely undermined, and yet the edifice itself continues to stand and to be the shelter for the vast majority of mankind from the buffetings of a world that without it would be almost shelterless for them and a place of trial too hard to bear. men are incurably religious, and just as no tribe has been found, however low in the scale of savagery, which has not formulated for itself some system of worship of a higher power and definite feelings of dependence on it, so even those whose minds under the influence of certain phases of intellectual development lead them away from formal religion find deep in their hearts the belief and appreciation of their relations to a power that makes for good, even though it may be difficult to understand the mystery of it. long ago the scriptural expression was formulated that only the fool who thinketh not in his heart says there is no god. due acknowledgment of the thought in practice, however imperfect it may be, is religion. religion has been with us for all the period that we know anything about man, for the very cave man buried his dead with manifest confidence in a hereafter, and there seems no doubt that it will be with us until this stage of mundane affairs has passed. it affects the body as well as the mind, as indeed do all the great modes of thought, and it deserves to be cultivated, not only for its effect on the soul but also on the mind and heart and the bodily powers. there is no doubt at all that it means very much, and there is only the question of facing its significance for the whole man candidly and straightforwardly. {8} chapter i can we still believe? there is no doubt that man's quite instinctive attitude toward the mystery which surrounds him, out of which he came and into which he goes, has always so influenced his attitude of mind toward his body and its processes as to affect them deeply. the medicine man with his appeal to the religious as well as the superstitious feelings of man always had a potent influence over the most primitive of mankind, but culture has not obliterated this source of special reaction in men. even now, for the great majority of men it still remains true that no matter how vague their religious instinct may be, it continues to affect, to a notable extent, their physiological and psychological functions. an eclipse of the religious instinct is at the basis of the increase in suicide and also undoubtedly of insanity in our day. the lack of an abiding faith in providence is the source of many dreads and worries that affect health. every physician is sure to know of highly educated patients whose ills reflect their mental relation to the mystery of life and whose symptoms take on or lose significance, according to their religious feelings. the question that in our time, however, is coming insistently into a great many minds is, can we, as intelligent human beings, reasonably in touch with man's recent progress in science, be fair with ourselves and still continue {9} to believe in the great religious truths that affected our ancestors so deeply? while we may realize all the depth of the mystery in the midst of which we are, can we, with our little minds, hope to fathom any of it? this is the questioning feeling that will not down for a certain number of those who have had educational advantages. must we not just confess our inability to, know anything definite in reality with regard to it, and feel that those who have thought that they held the key of the mystery were deluding themselves or allowing themselves to be caught by pseudo-knowledge, an inheritance from unthinking generations, instead of realities? has not the modern advance in science made it very clear to us that all we can hope to say of man's origin and man's destiny is that we do not know just what all this mystery that surrounds us is about? will not this very rational attitude of mind preclude at least the educated intelligent people of our generation from having their health affected in any way by their religion? above all, if religion is to influence health, must there not be some regular practice of it, and have not the scientists of the last generation made it quite clear that this is out of the question in any sincere and serious way for any one who knows enough of science and appreciates the present position of our knowledge of the facts of the relationship of man to the universe? for a large and growing number of people, as the result of the prevalence of this impression, the practice of religion seems to be an interesting but entirely worn-out relic of an older generation when folk were more easily satisfied with regard to such things than we are in our enlightened scientific era. religion is surely not something that our contemporaries, with their broader {10} outlook on the meaning of life, can be brought to conform to very readily. the question "can we still believe?" would seem then to have for answer in our time at best, "speculatively, perhaps yes! but practically, no!" we may still feel the religious instinct, but we can scarcely be expected to acknowledge religious obligations in any such strictness as would demand in our already overstrenuous daily life with its many duties the devotion of time to religious exercises. we surely cannot be expected to assume any additional obligations or rebind ourselves to a divinity who seems to be getting farther away from us. almost needless to say, if all this be true, then religion can have, in our time, only a very slight and quite negligible influence on health. men may be incurably religious in the mass, as yet, but this instinct is manifestly passing, for the educated at least, and for sensible people is now without any significance for physical processes, though it may at times even yet affect psychological states. there is only one fair and practical way to reply to this question "can we still believe?" especially for those who think that modern science has obscured the answer, and that is to turn to the lives of the men who made our modern science and see how they answered it in their definite relations to religion. the surprise is to find that while so many people, and not a few of them professors in colleges and even universities, are of the very often expressed opinion that science makes men irreligious or at least unreligious, that is not true at all of our greatest scientists. most of the men who have done the great work of modern science have been deeply religious, and a great many of them have practiced their {11} religion very faithfully. it is true that not a few of the lesser lights in science have been carried away by the impression that science was just about to explain everything, and there was no longer any need of a creator or creation or of providence, but that is only because of their own limitations. francis bacon, himself a distinguished thinker in science, declared some three hundred years ago that his own feeling was that a little philosophy takes men away from god, but a sufficiency of philosophy brings them back. his opinion has often been reached by our deepest thinkers in the modern time, and it is just as true for natural philosophy as it was for the metaphysical philosophy of the older time, for bacon's aphorism had been more than once anticipated in the early days of christianity, notably by st. augustine, and it would not be hard to find quotations from greek thinkers along the same line. the scriptures said very emphatically, "only the fool who thinketh not in his heart says there is no god." while young scientists then are so prone to feel that science and religion are in opposition, and a certain number of scientific workers never seem to outgrow their youthfulness in this regard, it must not be forgotten that the greatest scientists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries have practically all been firm believers in religion. lord kelvin, at the beginning of the twentieth century, at the moment when he was looked up to by all the world as the greatest of living physical scientists, did not hesitate to say that "science demonstrates the existence of a creator." as president of the british association for the advancement of science he declared: "but strong, overpowering proofs of intelligent and benevolent design lie all around us; and if ever {12} perplexities, whether metaphysical or scientific occur, they turn us away with irresistible force, showing to us, through nature, the influence of free will, and teaching us that all living beings depend on one ever-acting creator and ruler." once when particularly disgusted with the materialistic views of those who, while denying the existence of the creator, attributed the wonders of nature, animate and inanimate, to the potency of a fortuitous concourse of atoms, lord kelvin wrote to liebig, the great chemist, asking him if a leaf or a flower could be formed or even made to grow by chemical forces, and received the emphatic reply, "i would more readily believe that a book on chemistry or on botany could grow out of dead matter by chemical processes." expressions similar to those of lord kelvin and liebig are commonplaces in the history of science. sir humphry davy declared, "the true chemist sees god in all the manifold forms of the external world." linnaeus, to whom the modern world confesses that it owes so much in the organization of botanical science, once exclaimed in what has well been called a spirit of rapture: "i have traced god's footprints in the works of his creation; and in all of them, even in the least, and in those that border on nothingness, what power, what wisdom, what ineffable perfection!" it would be very easy to make a long list of extremely great scientists who were firm believers. clerk maxwell once said to a friend, "i have read up many queer religions; there is nothing like the old one after all; and i have looked into most philosophical systems, and i have seen that none will work without a god." pasteur declared in his address before the french academy, when {13} admitted as a member, "blessed is the man who has an ideal of the virtues of the gospel and obeys it." he had once said, impatient at the pretensions of pseudo-scientists: "posterity will one day laugh at the sublime foolishness of the modern materialistic philosophy. the more i study nature, the more i stand amazed at the work of the creator. i pray while i am engaged at my work in the laboratory." kepler, the great astronomer to whom we owe so many significant basic discoveries, once said: "the day is near at hand when one shall know the truth in the book of nature as in the holy scriptures, and when one shall rejoice in the harmony of both revelations." sir isaac newton, whose modesty was equaled only by the magnitude of his discoveries, was so impressed with his own littleness in the contemplation of the wonderful works of god that he declared, a short time before his death, "i seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me." dumas, the great french chemist, for many years the secretary of the french academy of sciences, once suggested the great difference there is in the matter of religious belief between the original worker in science and those who know their science only at second-hand. those who have acquired their knowledge of science easily have no idea of the difficulties which the original investigator had to encounter and how deep are the mysteries which he knows lie all around him. the second-hand scientist becomes conceited over his {14} knowledge, but the original investigator becomes humble. dumas said: "people who only exploit the discoveries of others, and who never make any themselves, greatly exaggerate their importance, because they have never run against the mysteries of science which have checked real savants. hence their irreligion and their infatuation. it is quite different with people who have made discoveries themselves. they know by experience how limited their field is, and they find themselves at every step arrested by the incomprehensible. hence their religion and their modesty. faith and respect for mysteries is easy for them. the more progress they make in science, the more they are confounded by the infinite." professor p. g. tait, professor of natural philosophy at edinburgh university for the last forty years of the nineteenth century, and who was the co-author with lord kelvin of thomson's and tait's "natural philosophy" (the well-known t+t) summed up the question of the supposed conflict of religion and science rather strikingly and in a way that makes it easy to comprehend many modern misunderstandings. he said: "the assumed incompatibility of religion and science has been so often confidently asserted in recent times that it has come to be taken for granted by writers of leading articles, etc., and it is, of course, perpetually thrust by them broadcast before their too trusting readers. "but the whole thing is a mistake, and a mistake so grave that no true scientific man (unless indeed he be literally a specialist--such as a pure mathematician, or a mycologist or entomologist) runs, in britain at least, the smallest risk of making it. "when we ask of any competent authority who are the {15} 'advanced', the best, and the ablest scientific thinkers of the immediate past (in britain), we cannot but receive for answer such names as brewster, faraday, forbes, graham, rowan hamilton, herschel, and talbot. this must be the case unless we use the word 'science' in a perverted sense. which of these great men gave up the idea that nature evidences a designing mind?" lord rayleigh, the physicist and mathematician, professor of experimental physics at cambridge and then tyndall's successor as professor of natural philosophy at the royal institution, who, after having been secretary of the royal society for some ten years, was elected to what has been called the highest official position in the scientific world--the presidency of the royal society--wrote in answer to a question: [footnote 2] "i am not able to write you at length, but i may say that in my opinion true science and true religion neither are nor could be opposed. "a large number of 'leading scientists' are not irreligious or anti-christian. witness: faraday, maxwell, stokes, kelvin, and a large number of others less distinguished." [footnote 2: i owe this and a number of other quotations in this chapter to tabrum "religious beliefs of scientists," london, 1911.] practically all the men whose names are connected with the evolution of electricity in the nineteenth century were thorough-going believers in revealed religion. galvani, volta, coulomb, ohm, ampã¨re, oersted, faraday, sir humphry davy, and many others are among the believers. faraday once declared when the dark shadow of death was creeping over him, "i bow before him who is the lord of all, and hope to be kept waiting patiently for his time and mode of releasing me, {16} according to his divine word and the great and precious promises whereby his people are made partakers of the divine nature." earlier in life, in the very maturity of the intellectual powers which made him immortal in science, lest perhaps some one should suggest that he had lost his mental grasp toward the end, he said: "when i consider the multitude of associate forces which are diffused through nature; when i think of that calm and tranquil balancing of their energies which enables elements, most powerful in themselves, most destructive to the world's creatures and economy, to dwell associated together and be made subservient to the wants of creation, i rise from the contemplation more than ever impressed with the wisdom, the beneficence, and grandeur beyond our language to express, of the great disposer of all!" it would be easy to multiply quotations such as this from the great original workers in modern electricity. hans christian oersted, for instance, the great danish scientist, to whom we owe the discovery of the "magnetic effect" of the electric current, the demonstration of the intimate relationship between magnetism and electricity, whose name all europe rang with in the early part of the nineteenth century, was a man of really great genius and scientific penetration and yet of deeply fervent piety. he did not hesitate to say that genuine knowledge of science necessarily produced a feeling of religious piety towards the creator. lord kelvin once quoted some words of his in this regard on a memorable occasion, which are particularly to our purpose here: "if my purpose here was merely to show that science necessarily engenders piety, i should appeal to the great truth everywhere recognized, that the essence of all {17} religion consists in love toward god. the conclusion would then be easy, that love of him from whom all truth proceeds must create the desire to acknowledge truth in all her paths; but as we desire here to recognize science herself as a religious duty, it will be requisite for us to penetrate deeper into its nature. it is obvious, therefore, that the searching eye of man, whether he regards his own inward being or the creation surrounding him, is always led to the eternal source of all things. in all inquiry, the ultimate aim is to discover that which really exists and to contemplate it in its pure light apart from all that deceives the careless observer by only a seeming existence. the philosopher will then comprehend what, amidst ceaseless change, is the constant and uncreated, which is hidden behind unnumbered creations, the bond of union which keeps things together in spite of their manifold divisions and separations. he must soon acknowledge that the independent can only be the constant and the constant the independent, and that true unity is inseparable from either of these. and thus it is in the nature of thought that it finds no quiet resting place, no pause, except in the invariable, eternal, uncaused, all causing, all comprehensive omniscience. "but, if this one-sided view does not satisfy him, if he seeks to examine the world with the eye of experience, he perceives that all those things of whose reality the multitude feels most assured never have an enduring existence, but are always on the road between birth and death. if he now properly comprehends the whole array of nature, he perceives that it is not merely an idea of an abstract notion, as it is called; but that reason and the power to which everything is indebted for its essential nature are only the revelation of a self-sustained being. how can {18} he, when he sees this, be otherwise animated than by the deepest feeling of humility, of devotion and of love? if any one has learned a different lesson from his observation of nature, it could only be because he lost his way amidst the dispersion and variety of creation and had not looked upwards to the eternal unity of truth." the great contemporary and colleague of oersted in the demonstration of the intimate relations between magnetism and electricity who was quite as outspoken as the danish scientist in his recognition of the relations of science and religion, was the frenchman ampã¨re, whose name was chosen as a term for one of the units of electrical science, because of his great original work in extending our knowledge of electricity. this choice of his name was made by an international congress of scientists who felt that he deserved this very great honor. ozanam, to whose thoroughly practical christianity while he was professor of foreign literatures at the university of paris we owe the foundation of the conferences of st. vincent de paul, which so long anticipated the "settlement work" of the modern time and have done so much for the poor in large cities ever since, who was very close to ampã¨re and indeed lived with him for a while, said that, no matter where conversations with him began, they always led up to god. the great french scientist and philosopher used to take his broad forehead between his hands after he had been discussing some specially deep question of science or philosophy and say: "how great is god, ozanam; how great is god and how little is our knowledge." of course this has been the feeling of most profound thinkers at all times. st. augustine's famous vision of the angel standing by the sea emptying it out with a teaspoon, which has been rendered so living {19} for most of us by botticelli's great picture, is but an earlier example of the same thing. one of ampã¨re's greatest contemporaries, laplace, reã«choed the same sentiment, perhaps in less striking terms, when he declared that "what we know is but little; while what we do not know is infinite." writing of ampã¨re after his death ozanam, who knew him best, brought out this extremely interesting union of intellectual qualities, his science, his faith, his charity to the poor which was proverbial, and the charming geniality of his character, as well as his manifold human interests, in a passage that serves very well to sum up the meaning of the great frenchman's life. "in addition to his scientific achievements this brilliant genius has other claims upon our admiration and affection.... it was religion which guided the labors of his mind and illuminated his contemplations; he judged all things, science itself, by the exalted standard of religion.... this venerable head which was crowned by achievements and honors, bowed without reserve before the mysteries of faith, down even below the line which the church has marked for us. he prayed before the same altars before which descartes and pascal had knelt; beside the poor widow and the small child who may have been less humble in mind than he was. nobody observed the regulations of the church more conscientiously, regulations which are so hard on nature and yet so sweet in the habit. above all things, however, it is beautiful to see what sublime things christianity wrought in his great soul; this admirable simplicity, the unassumingness of a mind that recognized everything except its own genius; this high rectitude in matters of science, now so rare, seeking nothing but the truth and never {20} rewards and distinction; the pleasant and ungrudging amiability; and lastly, the kindness with which he met every one, especially young people. i can say that those who know only the intelligence of the man, know only the less perfect part. if he thought much, he loved more." ohm, after whom another of the units of electricity is named, was another of the scientists who realized very clearly the existence of providence and in one very disappointing circumstance in life, when he found that some of his work at which he had spent much time was completely anticipated by a norwegian investigator, he said very simply, "man proposes but god disposes"; and he chronicled the fact that without the bait of this discovery which he vaguely foresaw at the beginning he would not have taken up the work, and yet during the time when he was at it "a number of things of which i had no hint at all at the beginning of my researches have come to take the place of my original purpose and compensate for it." when he undertook his next work he foresaw that he might not be able to finish it; he had hoped against hope that he would, and in the preface to the first volume he declared that he would devote himself to it at every possible opportunity and that he hoped and prayed that "god would spare him to complete it." this simplicity of confidence in the almighty is indeed a striking characteristic of the man of whose discovery of the law of electricity lord kelvin declared that it was such an extremely simple expression of a great truth that its significance is probably not confined to that department of physical phenomena, but it is a law of nature in some much broader way. professor george chrystal of edinburgh in his article on electricity in the "encyclopaedia britannica" (ix edition) says that {21} ohm's law must now be allowed to rank with the law of gravitation and the elementary laws of statical electricity as a _law of nature_ in the strictest sense. volta, whom the international congress of electricity so deservedly honored by giving his name to one of the units of electricity, is the genius who first constructed an instrument which would give a continuous flow of electricity. the voltaic pile is a very great invention. volta was much more, however, than merely an ingenious inventor. he was a great scientist who made discoveries not only in electricity but in various other branches of physical science. he was one of the eight foreign members of the french institute, knight commander of the legion of honor, one of the first members of the italian academy and the gold medalist of the french academy. there was nothing he touched in his work that he did not illuminate. his was typically the mind of the genius, ever reaching out beyond the boundaries of the known,--an abundant source of leading and light for others. far from being a doubter in matters religious, his scientific greatness seemed only to make him readier to submit to what are sometimes spoken of as the shackles of faith, though to him belief appealed as a completion of knowledge of things beyond the domain of sense or the ordinary powers of intellectual acquisition. in volta's time as in our own some of the less important workers in science had their faith disturbed by their knowledge of science and attributed that result to science rather than to the limitations of their own minds. one of them declared that though volta continued to practice his religion, this was more because he did not want to offend friends and did not care to scandalize his {22} neighbors and especially the poor folk around him in his country home, whom he did not want to be led by his example into giving up what he knew to be the most fruitful source of consolation in the trials of life, rather than because of sincere conviction. volta, having heard this report, deliberately wrote out his confession of faith, so that all the world of his own and the after time might know it. when he wrote it he was just approaching his sixtieth year and was in the full maturity of his powers. he lived for twelve years afterwards, looked up to as one of the great thinkers of europe and as one of the most important men of italy in his time. "if some of my faults and negligences may have by chance given occasion to some one to suspect me of infidelity, i am ready, as some reparation for this and for any other good purpose, to declare to such a one and to every other person and on every occasion and under all circumstances that i have always held, and hold now, the holy catholic religion as the only true and infallible one, thanking without end the good god for having gifted me with such a faith, in which i firmly propose to live and die, in the lively hope of attaining eternal life. i recognize my faith as a gift of god, a supernatural faith. i have not, on this account, however, neglected to use all human means that could confirm me more and more in it and that might drive away any doubt which could arise to tempt me in matters of faith. i have studied my faith with attention as to its foundations, reading for this purpose books of apologetics as well as those written with a contrary purpose, and trying to appreciate the arguments pro and contra. i have tried to realize from what sources spring the strongest arguments which render faith most credible to natural reason and such as cannot fail to make {23} every well-balanced mind which has not been perverted by vice or passion embrace it and love it. may this protest of mine, which i have deliberately drawn up and which i leave to posterity, subscribed with my own hand and which shows to all and every one that i do not blush at the gospel--may it, as i have said, produce some good fruit. "signed at milan, january 6, 1815, alessandro volta." silvio pellico, whose volume, "my ten years' imprisonment", is one of the precious little books of literature that seem destined to enduring interest, had doubted in the midst of his trials and hardships the presence of providence in the world and the existence of a hereafter. in the midst of his doubts he turned to volta. "in thy old age, o volta!" said pellico, "the hand of providence placed in thy pathway a young man gone astray. 'oh! thou,' said i to the ancient seer, 'who hast plunged deeper than others into the secrets of the creator, teach me the road that will lead me to the light.' and the old man made answer: 'i too have doubted, but i have sought. the great scandal of my youth was to behold the teachers of those days lay hold of science to combat religion. for me to-day i see only god everywhere.'" in spite of traditions to the contrary great physicians in their relation to faith are like the great discoverers in electricity. as a rule the greater they are as original workers in the medical sciences the more emphatic their expressions of their belief in religion and its efficacy in the relief of human ills. the opinions of a few of our greatest physicians in the modern era of medicine are quoted here as examples of their attitude of mind. sir richard owen, probably the greatest anatomist of {24} the nineteenth century, was a convinced christian and saw nothing in scientific truth inimical to the christian faith. in an address before the young men's christian association, he asked his "fellow christians": "has aught that is essentially christian suffered--have its truths ceased to spread and operate in mankind--since physical doctrines, supposed or 'declared contrary to holy writ', have been established? "allay, then, your fears, and trust in the author of all truth, who has decreed that it shall never perish; who has given a power to man to acquire that most precious of his possessions with an intellectual nature that will ultimately rest upon due demonstrative evidence." sir james paget, sometime president of the royal college of surgeons of england and vice-chancellor of london university, looked upon as one of the most distinguished of medical scientists in his time, after whom a special disease described by him has been named, in answer to the question as to the attitude of scientists toward religion said: "you will find among scientific men very few who attack either theology or religion. the attacks imputed to them are made, for the most part, by those who, with a very scanty knowledge of science, use, not its facts, but its most distant inferences, as they do whatever else they can get from any source, for the overthrow of religious beliefs." sir samuel wilks, another of the presidents of the royal college of physicians and distinguished in many other ways among the physicians of great britain, in his harveian oration expressed himself very definitely in this matter of the relations of science and religion, and his quotation from our own oliver wendell holmes adds to the interest of what he has to say. {25} "hear what a learned professor of anatomy, wendell holmes, can say: 'science represents the thought of god discovered by man; by learning the natural laws he attaches effects to their first cause, the will of the creator', or in the poetic language of goethe: 'nature is the living garment of god.' "science conducts us through infinite paths; it is a fruitful pursuit for the most poetic imagination. we take the world as we find it and endeavor to unravel its mysteries; but the alpha and omega we know not. enough for us to look at what is lying around us; it is a part we see and not the whole, but we can say with the poet, 'we doubt not, through the ages one increasing purpose runs.'" professor sims woodhead, well known as one of the distinguished contributors to pathology in the nineteenth century and who was, before being professor of pathology at cambridge the director of the laboratories of the conjoint board of the royal college of physicians (london) and surgeons (england) may very well be taken as a representative of the medical scientists of the last generation of the nineteenth century. it has been said that where there are three physicians there are two atheists, and perhaps this may be true among the smaller fry of the profession, but it certainly is not among the most distinguished members of it. such men as pasteur, lord lister, robert graves, corrigan, laã«nnec, claude bernard, johannes mã¼ller, are the outspoken contradiction of it. pathology and anatomy, in both of which subjects professor woodhead was a teacher, are often said to be rather serious in their inroads on the faith of the men who pursue them closely. professor woodhead is on record categorically with regard to this subject of {26} the relations of the bible and religion, and science and religion, and his words are well worth while quoting here. "as regards the statement that 'recent scientific research has shown the bible and religion to be untrue', nothing is further from the real fact; the more the bible is tested the more it is found to be made up of historical documents. moreover, it is recognized that the bible, as a record of truths, never falls foul of science in its search after truth, and scientific men are too true to themselves to take the stand that they will not accept truth of any kind. "i agree with you that certain theories put forward in the name of science may be opposed to certain theological dogmas; but men are certainly coming to see that between the facts of science and the essential teachings of the christian religion there is never any real opposition; and by the 'christian religion' i mean the religion of christ, not what some people have wished to read into it; and by 'science' i mean a search for truth and knowledge, and by 'men of science' i mean men engaged in that search." professor john w. taylor, one of the distinguished physicians of great britain and president of the british gynecological society, summed up the answer to the question "can we still believe?" in words that show how devout a great medical scientist can be: "what can we 'hold by' as christians? we can hold by the faith of the early apostles as enunciated in the apostles' and the nicene creeds, and plainly foreshadowed in 1 cor. xv. this was written within thirty years of our lord's crucifixion and must have been 'received' by st. paul immediately on his conversion." any one who will turn to that chapter of first corinthians will {27} find that it contains all the essentials of christian faith, yet here is a great modern physician finding in it the expression of his own mental attitude toward religion in our time. biologists, in spite of popular impressions to the contrary, have paralleled physicians in this regard. to cite but one or two: professor george romanes, who was considered not alone one of the leaders of scientific thought in england, but one of the foremost naturalists of modern times, after expressions as a younger man that showed his deep and even devout belief in religion, wrote somewhat later a defense of atheism on scientific grounds. some years afterwards, in the maturity of his powers, he prepared a thorough-going recantation of this in the shape of a work designed to show the fallacy of his former atheistic views, in which he said: "it is a general, if not a universal rule that those who reject christianity with contempt are those who care not for religion of any kind. 'depart from me' has always been the sentiment of such. on the other hand, those in whom the religious sentiment is intact, but who have rejected christianity on intellectual grounds, still almost deify christ. these facts are remarkable." "unbelief," professor romanes concluded, "is usually due to indolence, often to prejudice, and never a thing to be proud of." in every department of science one finds the representatives of the various branches of scientific study in harmony on this subject of religion and science. professor george boulger, whose work has been mainly done in botany and who was a fellow of a number of the scientific societies of england and vice-president of the selborne {28} society, has some very direct expressions in the matter that add to the significance of what has been said by others. "in philosophy, in physics, and in astronomy i am content to place myself on the side of bacon, of newton, of napoleon. i believe, with bacon, that 'a little philosophy inclineth man's minde to atheisme; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's mindes about to religion.' with newton i am content to 'seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.' with napoleon--not a man of science but a man of the world, a man of action--i would say to our neo-epicureans as he did to his sceptical officers, pointing to the stars, 'gentlemen, you may talk all night, but who made all these?'" he recognized how many difficulties there might be for the scientist, but felt, as cardinal newman once said, that hundreds of difficulties may not make a single doubt. professor boulger has dealt with some of these cruder difficulties with trenchant directness. "i am perfectly aware of the temptation of the physiological laboratory, when one is face to face with the facts of the localisation of brain-functions and the influence of purely physical conditions upon mentality, until one is almost led to buchner's gross misstatement that 'the brain secretes thought as the liver secretes bile'; but here, as ever, it is at the very base of the problem that the unsolved mystery shows itself insoluble. force, matter, life, thought, will,--what are they, whence come they? science deals with their phenomena, their manifestations. with john ray i would term the study of nature a pious duty, one suited to a sabbath day and not {29} improbably one of the main occupations of the endless sabbaths hereafter.... but true science will never presume to say that it can deal with anything beyond these phenomena. as i am as convinced that the christian faith is a divine revelation as i am that 'nature' is the creation of the divine first cause, it is, of course, to me unthinkable that there could be any conflict between them." not only the scientists themselves but the philosophic students of the whole range of modern thought who took the information imparted by the specialists and coordinated it for the purpose of finding the philosophic conclusions to be drawn from it all as to man's life and destiny and the meaning of it all have recognized the place of religion in life and its significance for humanity. mr. frederic harrison, the well-known english apostle of comte, whose positivism might possibly have been expected to lead him away from such ideas, did not hesitate in the midst of that wave of skepticism which spread over europe shortly after the "silly seventies" when so many even of the well-informed thought that natural selection was going to explain everything for us and solve all the mysteries, to utter some very strong words on the subject that well deserve to be recalled. in his book, "the creed of a layman," he said, for instance: "i believe that before all things, needful beyond all else, is true religion. this only can give wisdom, happiness and goodness to men and a nobler life to mankind. nothing but this can sustain, guide and satisfy all lives, control all characters and unite all men. true religion must rule in every heart, brain and will, over every people of the whole earth; inspire every thought, hallow every emotion and be the guide of every act." {30} and by what he termed the true religion mr. harrison did not mean merely some vague deism or some shadowy belief in a vaguer power that made for righteousness, but a very definite personal relationship to a personal god who was not only to be looked up to and reverenced but who was to be loved. "the paramount importance to man of religion--at once dominant over brain and heart--a living reality and working power--the necessity for this has not only never left me at any time but year by year has grown deeper as a conviction and more familiar as a rule of life. but as the indispensable need of true religion grew stronger in my mind, i more and more came to feel that religion would end in vague sentimentality unless it has an object of devotion distinctly grasped by the intellect and able to kindle ardent emotions. the nature--if not the name--of the supreme being is in truth decisive. unless the supreme power be felt to be in sympathy with the believer, be akin to the believer, be in active touch with his life and heart, such a religion is merely a dogma; it cannot be a guide of life in the spring of action--the object of love." agnosticism, so fashionable in educational circles at the end of the nineteenth century, has practically disappeared, or at least has suffered such an eclipse that its adherents are comparatively few. there was a time in the generation that is still alive when a great many educators who felt that they were the leaders of thought in our time were quite sure that agnosticism would be the only mode of intellectual reaction which the educated man could possibly think of allowing to take place in him by the time the year of grace 1920 had come. instead agnosticism, like so many other movements of similar {31} kind founded on human thinking, in accord with the fashion of the moment, has dwindled into insignificance. fortunately there were some educators who even twenty-five years ago recognized the real portent of it and stated their opinions so emphatically as to keep the educational world of their time from being entirely run away with. president schurman of cornell said: "agnosticism is the apotheosis of skepticism. it is skepticism as a creed, as a system, as an ultimate resting-place. those who proclaim it strangely misread the processes and the conditions of our spiritual life. _they make the aimless gropings of the youthful intellect an ideal for the thinking of mature men_. only, instead of the awful earnestness of the inquiring youth, they often affect an indifference to the great problems which oppress him. as though we could be indifferent to the highest interests of the human spirit! so long as life lasts, so long must we strive to grasp the ultimate truth of things. to shut our eyes to problems is an ostrich policy. man is called by an inner voice to strive, and strive, and strive, and not to yield. agnosticism would eradicate this noble endeavor. its only justification, so far as i can see, is that men never attain the absolute truth, but only make successive approximations to it." such men seem to forget the great lesson that the differential calculus has taught us. it represents one of the greatest developments of modern mathematics. it does not solve problems by absolute solutions but by such approximations as make the answer which cannot be reached very clear. it has been of immense value in adding to the knowledge of mankind and in giving science particularly a command over principles that would otherwise seem impossible. religion requires {32} faith to complete it. knowledge can never more than approximate conclusions with regard to many religious questions. such approximations, however, like the answers in differential calculus, represent real advances on the road to knowledge that are of great value in directing men toward what is best in life. mr. frederic harrison has answered this question "can we still believe?" by insisting that belief in the hereafter is the most precious heritage that man has, to be fostered above all else. he said: "the great truth of a life beyond the grave is indeed one of the best possessions of man, the fondest of all noble, living and working doctrines on earth. when paul first preached it in that sublime song of triumph over death, which has so often thrilled us to the marrow as we stood round the coffined dead, he gave the human race a new and imperishable hope to last while the planet endures.... let us cherish and hold fast this glad tiding of good things." any one who faces the question of religion seriously realizes that not only it is not a thing of the past but that the rationalistic tendencies of the later nineteenth century have had their usual inevitable reaction emphasized by the great war, so that men are readier to be swayed by religious influences than ever before. the more one studies the problems of health of mind and of body connected with religion, and the strong factor that it is for the making of character, the shaping of destiny and the cultivation of happiness, the more one realizes the truth of napoleon's expression that if religion were to disappear we should have to reinvent it, because of the immense benefit that it represents for mankind. {33} chapter ii prayer in spite of a very prevalent impression in the matter, the all-important element of religion is not attendance at church or the public exercise of religious functions, or even the joining in religious celebrations, for all these may be accomplished by routine without an element of real devotion to the creator in them. they may even be gone through with hypocritically while all the time one is thinking of merely worldly things, or even of the effect that one is producing on others by the show of devotion, though with such slight advertence as to make the devotions of extremely little value or even a sort of insult to the almighty if the negligent attitude of mind is assumed deliberately. bodily participation in worship is a necessary adjunct of the expression of religious feeling, but it is of course of just so much less importance than the mental worship of the creator as the body is less important than the mind. mental adoration of the deity is accomplished through prayer, which is the all-important personal element of religion. prayer in the words of the old christian teachers is "a raising up of the mind to god asking for help, begging for forgiveness for past errors and thanking him for all that he has done for us." real prayer is no mere formula of words, and some very fervent prayers are made without being formulated into words at all. i remember {34} once suggesting in a medical meeting that prayer was an extremely valuable adjunct to the treatment for certain milder forms of disturbed mentality and for the dreads and obsessions that haunt men and women, that is, in general for that very important class of diseases which in our day are grouped under the term psychoneuroses. a physician friend, in discussing the suggestion, said that no words that he knew would dispel or be of the slightest help in any of these conditions as they came under his observation. prayer is not, however, a formula of words, but an act of the mind and the heart and the will, for to be genuine, it should contain acknowledgment, affection and resolve. my colleague's failure to appreciate the true meaning of prayer and his apparent persuasion that the words were the all-important element in prayer are not surprising, for rather frequently it happens that the personal experience of the professional classes as to prayer is not calculated to be really enlightening. professor james confesses that unfortunately comparatively few educated people have the real power of prayer; those who have, however, possess a magnificent source of renewed energy that can be of the greatest possible service to them. he says: "relatively few medical men and scientific men, i fancy, can pray. few can carry on any living commerce with 'god.' yet many of us are well aware of how much freer and abler our lives would be, were such important forms of energizing not sealed up by the critical atmosphere in which we have been reared. there are in every one potential forms of activity that actually are shunted out from use. part of the imperfect vitality under which we labor can thus be easily explained. one part of our mind dams up--even _damns_ up!--the other parts." {35} manifestly the well-known professor of psychology envied those who lived lives of prayer and felt that he was missing something in life from not possessing the developed faculty to enjoy their privileges. like so many other of the good things of life, prayer, to be really efficient for all the good it can produce, must be a habit and must be practiced as a rule from very early years. otherwise it is hard to make it such a factor in living as is significant for the best, and professional men commonly have not given enough time to the practice in their earlier years to make it of potency when it may be needed. it is of course not long vocal prayers--though many people find not only consolation, but strength for their work and the added capacity to bear their trials in these--but the frequent raising up of the heart and mind to the power above us, striving to put our intentions in line with his in the hope to do our work so that it will not be unworthy of the best aspirations that he has put in our hearts, that counts. many of the saints have suggested that all our work should be a prayer begun with the right intention, pursued, no matter how difficult it may be, with the feeling that this is what we ought to do here and now, and finished with the offering of it to the creator who has lent us the energy to accomplish it. _ora et labora_, pray and work, was the motto which benedict, who revolutionized the social conditions of europe by bringing back the dignity of labor and lifting men's minds out of the rut of the cult of their bodies, into which they had fallen at the close of the roman empire, gave to the members of his order. it was really not two things but one that he meant. what his sons accomplished as the result of his great motto we are only just beginning to recognize. they saved the old {36} classics for us, kept the torch of education burning when barbarism might have quenched it, passed it on to the new generation, yet at the same time saved and developed agriculture so that, as president goodell of the massachusetts agricultural college said, they made some of the best agricultural schools, in the best sense of that term, that have ever been made, and organized health and happiness for the country people as they have never been made possible before or since, except in the very modern time. in the chapter on longevity there are some statistics which might very well and easily have been increased in numbers with regard to the effect of st. benedict's foundation on the length of life that men have lived. even now, in the midst of all our improvement in sanitation which has so lowered the death rate among mankind, we find that nearly fifteen hundred years after benedict's work was first begun, his direction to make life a compend of work and prayer is having its effect in prolonging existence for the followers of his rule to-day. he himself would probably have said that it was the combination of these two that proved so effective in this important matter of lengthening life. we find that people outside the monasteries work enough, however, but fail to pray, so it would seem that prayer is a particularly important factor for monastic longevity, at least. length of life comes, however, from a healthy mind in a healthy body, and nothing so conduces to the possession of a healthy mind as the habit of prayer, since it enables man to throw off to some extent at least--and the deeper the prayer habit the more it will do it--the solicitudes and anxieties with regard to the past and the present and the future which disturb so many people. as ignatius loyola, the {37} wise founder of the jesuits, said: "pray as if everything depended on god; work as if everything depended on you; but leave everything to the almighty, for you might as well since his will will surely be accomplished anyhow." it would be very easy to think that such habits of prayer in the midst of work would only be possible if the work that one was engaged at was not very interesting or was not taken very seriously and was being accomplished in more or less of a routine. in particular many scientific students, and especially those who are interested in psychology, would probably feel quite sure that very great results could not be accomplished in any important work if distractions of this kind were allowed and above all encouraged. it is interesting then to take some of the examples of men who are known to have formed and maintained such habits and yet accomplished very great work for mankind. the list might be made a very long one; we shall mention only a few of the most distinguished. almost in our own time pasteur said, as we have already quoted: "the more i study nature the more i stand amazed at the work of the creator. i pray while i am engaged at work in the laboratory." a distinguished contemporary of his in france in his earlier years was leverrier. there is no doubt at all about his power of concentration; he is the scientist who discovered the planet neptune by mathematics alone without the aid of a telescope. he constantly kept a crucifix in his observatory and used to turn his eyes to it frequently for recollection and then go on with his calculations. there is a well-known picture of vesalius, who so well deserves the title of father of modern anatomy, at work in his {38} anatomical rooms with a crucifix before him. the composition is founded on the tradition that the great anatomist was a devout man who prayed as he worked. he made a pilgrimage to the holy land in his older years in expiation for a fault committed. in spite of traditions to the contrary, a great many of our scientists of the last two centuries whose work has meant most for modern medicine have been men to whom prayer meant very much. there are traditions of morgagni, the distinguished father of modern pathology, as virchow hailed him, which show that never a day passed without his raising his heart in prayer. volta and galvani, whose names have become so familiar in modern electricity, were both of them well known for their devotion to the practice of daily religious duties. french scientists were not less devout. laã«nnec, a breton by birth, lost none of the devoutness of his early years so characteristic of the bretons even when he was in the midst of the great work which enabled him to write the greatest medical book in modern times. ozanam has told us that when he himself felt thoroughly discouraged and ready to think religion something that any one who wanted to keep up with modern thought would have to give up, he wandered into a church, hoping that prayer might help him to dispel his doubts and difficulties and found there praying before the altar devoutly his great professor of science, ampã¨re. deep thinkers, whether of scientific temper of mind or not, have recognized the value of prayer. vesalius' great contemporary, michelangelo, who is perhaps the greatest intellectual and artistic genius that the world has ever known--sculptor, architect, painter, poet, and unsurpassed in all these modes of human expression {39} at their highest--was another for whom his crucifix meant much and who frequently turned to it. one of his greatest sonnets is dedicated to the crucified one. of leonardo da vinci's private life we we know less, but on his death bed he left a sum of money to be used to provide candles to burn before the altar of the little village church at which he had prayed as a boy, so that evidently something of that old fervor of spirit was his at the end. leonardo da vinci's mind was one of the most acute in the whole history of mankind. he was a great painter, sculptor, architect, and also a great engineer, a great scientific discoverer, an inventor of all sorts of useful appliances and a veritable marvel of comprehensive appreciation of the significance of even the most obscure things. he is a founder in half a dozen sciences, paleontology, biology, anatomy, physics and mechanics, and nothing makes one feel the smallness of the ordinary man like reading a sketch of leonardo's achievements. of course the clergymen scientists have been men of prayer, but few people realize how many of them have made distinguished contributions to the domain of science. poggendorf's "biographical lexicon" contains the names of nearly a thousand clergymen who have made such contributions to science as deserve that their fame should be thus enshrined among the scientists of history. one of the greatest astronomers of the nineteenth century was father secchi, a jesuit, some of whose work was done for a time in america. among the most distinguished names in modern science are abbã© breuil and father obermaier, who have taught the world so much about the cave man. both of them are well known for their faithful performance of their religious duties in the midst of their scientific work. {40} raising up the heart and mind in the midst of work, instead of increasing distractions, rather helps to control them. distractions will come and may prove seriously wasteful of time, but are caught in the habit of lifting up the mind occasionally, and then the original work is taken up with renewed energy. above all, such a habit of prayer keeps people from getting into a state of irritable haste about their work in which they consume a lot of energy without getting much done and wear out their nervous systems by the feeling of nervousness that comes over them. to do anything under a sense of pressure is nearly always to disturb the best efforts of the mind and skimp the work. doing things in this way leads to that bane of modern existence, nervous breakdown, which has become ever so much commoner since men forgot that it is not labor for ourselves that counts so much as labor for others, and that an over-anxiety to get things done for selfish reasons burns up nervous energy faster than anything else. fussy, irritable effort to work gets on the nerves sooner than any amount of calm effort would. prayer as i have described would be the cure for it. st. theresa's well-known prayer is the antidote. [footnote 3] [footnote 3: let nothing disturb thee, let nothing affright thee, all things are passing, god never changeth. who god possesseth in nothing is wanting. alone god sufficeth. (longfellow translation.) ] when the life of the late cardinal vaughan of london appeared, one of the most surprising things in it was the story of the distinguished english cardinal's habit of prayer. almost needless to say he was an extremely busy man. important problems in the administration {41} of his immense archdiocese and in the relationship of the english catholics to their fellow citizens came before him every day. he had to carry the heavy burden of responsibility and make his decisions promptly and thoroughly, for a great many details necessarily devolved on him. somehow he found time for hours of prayer during the day, and those who knew him best felt sure he would have declared that so far from distracting him in his work or taking time from it in any real sense of the word, it would have been quite impossible for him to accomplish all he did without this habit of prayer. it was this which enabled him to keep a placid mind and make his decisions easily and firmly in the midst of his work. he himself would undoubtedly have added that he felt he actually derived help from the infinite through prayer, which enabled him to do his work ever so much better than would have been possible by his own unaided effort. there have been many others, and not a few of them who were not churchmen, who have felt this same way even in our strenuous times. a whole series of the generals in command of important departments of the french army were men who never let a day pass without prayer and who often raised their hearts and minds up to the power above them for help in their work and also for resignation that the will of the most high might be accomplished. general pau, for instance, was one of these. when, during the war, he was presented with flowers by the children of villages through which he passed, he would say, "these must be for the altar," and then he would ask the children to pray for the success of the french army and would insist that for victory "we must pray very much." general de castelnau was another of these men who {42} found a resource and a real help in prayer. he felt that the prayers of others helped him. that is the index of real recognition of the value of prayer. "i beg you to implore him especially to give me light and courage; there is no position where one is more completely in his hands than that which i hold." he wrote to monsignor ricard, archbishop of auch, "more than ever i find by experience the all-importance in war, as elsewhere, of the 'imponderables' and these 'imponderables' are manifestly in his hands who knows all and guides all." we might go on with such examples. for instance, marshal pã©tain, who at the end of the war was in command of the french troops, was another of these strong men of prayer. earlier in the great war he had been in command at verdun, transferred there just as it seemed almost impossible to believe that the germans could be kept from taking the place. the words of his first order issued the day of his arrival--"they shall not pass"--show the character of the man. he was almost reckless in his bravery when it was necessary to impress his troops with the need to go on, no matter what it cost. alone and on foot he led his troops under a rain of german shells at saint bon; after that he could ask anything of his men. general gouraud, whose masterly defense of the allied line when the germans made their great final unsuccessful attack stamps him as one of the greatest military leaders of the day, had been wounded a number of times before this, but refused to give up, and when, early in the war, one of his arms had to be amputated and the surgeons were afraid that he would object, he said very simply, "go on, if you think it necessary; i offer it to god for france." his recovery from his several wounds at that time seemed almost impossible, so in gratitude for it he {43} hung an _ex-voto_ in white marble at the shrine of our lady of victories in paris. general fayolle is another striking example of prayerfulness in a practical man. he had intended to spend a year of his retirement, which came just before the war opened, in following the footsteps of st. paul's missionary voyages. he offered himself for service and proved a great leader, yet a simple, kindly man whom his soldiers called pã¨re fayolle. a letter of his directed to the mayor of mainz showed very clearly that while he remembered and realized all the cruelty of the german occupation of belgium and france, there was no fear of reprisals from the french, just though they might be. he is a man of deep knowledge of his religion as well as of firm piety, and he is famous for his matter-of-fact common sense. he has all the qualities which some people, because they have had so little experience in the matter, assume are not to be found in a man who believes thoroughly in and practices prayer. a good deal has been said in recent years about the practice of "going into the silence" and finding there renewal of self. like so many other new modes of expression, this is merely a new formula for that very old religious custom, meditation, and some of the old writers on spiritual subjects, not only generations ago but actually many hundreds of years before modern history began, laid down the rules for it rather carefully. meditation can be a source of some of the most valuable suggestive, helpful consolation as well as profound enlightenment in difficult problems that human nature has. above all it generates a calm that makes for peace of mind and, therefore, health of body. john boyle o'reilly recognized its deeper meanings a generation ago when he wrote: {44} "the infinite always is silent: it is only the finite that speaks. our words are the idle wave-caps on the deep that never breaks. we may question with wand of science, explain, decide, and discuss; but only in meditation the mystery speaks to us." most of the religious orders, and it is in them particularly that the effect of religion on health and happiness and efficiency and increase of the power to achieve, under the influence of profoundly religious motives, can be studied, require by rule that their members shall spend at least half an hour in meditation each morning; and with many of them, of course, an hour or more is required. they prepare for it the night before by reading some passage in the life of christ, or by taking some special lesson from his teaching; the next morning they reflect how this can be exemplified in their own daily lives and proceed to make certain practical applications of it to the everyday concerns with which they are occupied. it is surprising how efficient in living up to their very best during the day this makes a great many of the members. there are exceptions, of course, who fail to derive the proper benefit from the practice because they do not devote themselves to it with sufficient earnestness to secure its advantages, but most of them, as the result of this daily period of morning prayer, are rendered capable of going through a monotonous round of hard daily work and succeed in getting excellent results and in keeping cheerful and light-hearted in the midst of what might otherwise seem a very trivial mode of life. the motives thus imparted to them often make even the trifles of life of great interest and significant import. {45} as a result of their life of prayer, members of religious orders have ever so many less complaints than people who live under corresponding circumstances, largely within doors amid a rather monotonous round of existence. it is extremely rare to find religious devotees who "enjoy poor health" as so many of the laity do. having less complaints they suffer less from disease, for after all discomfort depends on two factors,--one the irritation and the other the mode of its reception. an irritable person will suffer tortures, though under the same circumstances a placid, composed person will be but very little disturbed. whenever there is much reaction, there is always an increase of the pain that has to be borne. whenever much attention is paid to discomfort, the concentration of mind on it multiplies by the law of avalanche the number of cells in the brain affected, and this multiplies the actual discomfort felt. a few thousand cells may be affected by a particular focus of irritation, but if all the other cells of the brain are concentrated on this sensation, each of them, and there are many millions of them, will share something at least of the discomfort. besides, concentration of attention sends more blood or rather opens the blood vessels in the irritated neighborhood somewhat in the way that a blush opens them up on the cheeks, and this hyperemia increases the sensitiveness of the part. the individual, then, who by the help of prayer lessens his complaints actually lessens his discomfort. to stand a thing patiently for a high motive actually makes the pain suffered less than it otherwise would be. when a man can look calmly forward to the future and say wholeheartedly, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven," a great many things are easier to bear {46} because of the recognition of the fact that they are the will of a providence who oversees everything that is being accomplished, and that somehow, somewhere, all is to be for the best. when men recall to themselves the words, "forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors," or "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us," word it as you will, they are reminded of how much they owe to the father in heaven, and, therefore, how much they ought to be willing to pay back, not only for what they have been given but also for all the failures that they have made, to say nothing of serious faults. suffering then comes to have a real meaning that any one, even the least intellectual, can understand, and by that very fact it becomes easier to bear. i have often found that i could do a great deal for nervous patients by suggesting that they adopt some morning practice of prayer. usually the best thing for my catholic patients was to advise them to go to mass. for this they had to get up at a definite hour, dress promptly, and usually be some blocks away from home by eight o'clock. some such duty as this, requiring promptitude and taking the mind off oneself and the little troubles that often loom so large in the morning, is an excellent thing for neurotic patients. the great characteristic of the neuroses is that they make people feel depressed when they first awake. they often feel tired and incapable and find it hard to begin the day well; and beginning the day well often means more than anything else in dispelling nervous symptoms and dreads and inhibitions. most nervous people realize that when they have to get up promptly at about seven o'clock, as for instance after a night on a train, they have almost none of the feelings of oppression that greet their arising {47} when they can turn over in bed and drowse a little longer and let the troubles which have awakened ever so much more promptly than their incentives to do things soak in and take possession of them. to get up and accomplish a duty that gives some satisfaction soon proves to be a wide-open gate of escape from these early morning "blue devils" of which so many of the nervous complain so bitterly. the differential diagnosis between merely nervous symptoms and the feelings of tiredness and incapacity which come from organic disease can often be made from the early morning symptoms. nervous patients feel their worst in the very early morning. they often wonder how they will be able to get through the day without breaking down. after an hour or two they begin to feel somewhat better, though life still looks blue enough. on towards ten o'clock they think that the sun may shine for them again. by noon, especially if they have done something in the meantime, they feel much better, and after their lunch in the early afternoon they begin to be quite chipper; toward evening they usually are persuaded that after all life may be worth living, and by the time they are ready to go to bed--and unfortunately they are tempted to put off going to bed until rather late because they do feel so well--they are inclined to wonder how it is possible that they felt so depressed in the morning. the sufferer from organic disease, however, always feels best in the early morning and begins to get tired toward noon; the evening is his time of least enjoyment, and he is quite ready to get to bed rather early. for the neurotic patient waking to a sense of his troubles at once, nothing is better than a prompt lifting up of his mind to god to offer him the new {48} day that he has given, no matter how it may turn out, and a readiness to take things as they come so that his will may be fulfilled. in nervous patients one would almost have the feeling that their wills did not wake up nearly so soon as their memories, or even quite so soon as their intellects, such as they have. their wills need to be aroused. for men setting-up exercises of various kinds are particularly valuable because the will has got to be used in doing them; many a young soldier who during the war was waked up at the unearthly hour of five o'clock and had perforce to get out of bed, found himself full of pains and aches not only of body, but of mind, and wondered how he could stand it. after ten minutes of setting-up exercises, with the blood coursing through his muscles and deep breaths of outdoor air to oxygenate sluggish tissues, he felt like another man. the days seemed nothing to endure then. for a good many nervous women the exercise of getting to church after prompt rising and dressing and then the occupation of mind with deep, serious thoughts of prayer, will do very much what the setting-up exercises did for the young soldiers during the war. i have tried this so often on patients that i know whereof i speak, and i can think of nothing that does them more good than to have some such enlivening incident that satisfies their hearts and minds and starts them at once doing something that will help them throw off the fear thoughts so prone to crowd in. it is surprising often to learn what things are accomplished by people who find an unfailing resource for their powers physical and mental in prayer. i had the privilege of knowing a frail little woman whose life seemed to be one long prayer, so entirely was every {49} action guided by what she felt god would like her to do at any particular time; and during very nearly sixty years she directed the destinies of a community of women who did more for the charities and education of an important state than any other single factor that i know. she organized hospitals, multiplied schools, built homes for the care of orphans, established an academy with excellent standards in the days when educational criteria were low, and put a climax to her work by building a college for women in which hundreds of young women are now being educated in the best sense of that word,--that is, not only having their minds stuffed with knowledge, but having their thinking powers aroused and, in huxley's expressive phrase, having their "passions trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience." i am sure that huxley's further words might be used of the graduates,--that they have "learned to love all beauty, whether of nature or of art, to hate all vileness and respect others as themselves." the little woman who did all this, frail little thing she often seemed, would have said, i feel certain, that she derived the energy to do it all from prayer. some years ago i wrote a sketch of another one of these women of prayer, a little italian noblewoman who, touched by the condition of the poor italians in america--only by america she meant both americas--came over here to help them. she organized columbus hospitals in new york, chicago, seattle and denver. she established literally hundreds of schools. she gathered around her a band of several thousand young women who devoted themselves to the accomplishment of anything and everything that would help the italians in this country. they were not all italians themselves, but they were won to {50} the work by the ardent enthusiasm and the marvelously charming personality of this little woman. the united states would seem to be field large enough for her zeal or for that of any one, but she did not think so, so she went down to south america and organized to similar good purpose down there, having herself carried on one occasion across the cordilleras in a hamper on mule-back. it seemed almost impossible that any one could have all the energy that she had and the initiative, and yet with it charming tact, winning ways and the prudence that enabled her to find her path in some of the most difficult circumstances. she said over and over again that she owed her power to prayer. many times when she was told that she must rest, she just prayed and went on. sometimes the stories of these old-fashioned, prayerful women of our time will be told properly. they hid themselves from publicity as sedulously as most people seek it. i think it one of the most precious privileges of life to have known a score of such women, east and west. some of them actually seemed to achieve the impossible and even ventured to get up from sick beds to do what they felt they must do, yet they pushed through successfully. not infrequently they had to stand all sorts of hardships. over and over again i have heard the story of pioneer work in the midst of privations that would surely seem must break down health; yet many of these women lived to be well beyond seventy and sometimes even beyond eighty years of age. they were strengthened, consoled, held up in trial by prayer, and it enabled them to tap layers of energy in their physical beings which they themselves scarcely knew they possessed and concerning which other people were {51} so dubious that they felt sure the workers would die young of exhausted vitality. many wondered why some of them did not suffer from nervous prostration. men and women of prayer seldom suffer from nervous prostration in the ordinary sense of the word, and what is called that in them is very often the manifestation of some organic ailment which has not been recognized. as to the power of prayer to enable people to stand suffering and pain, that is discussed in the chapters on these special subjects. raising the mind and heart to god will do more to make even the extremity of pain bearable than anything else in the world. i have known a man under an engine, almost literally cooking to death from the steam that was escaping near him, in poignant agony, take on a quiet, peaceful look after a priest had crawled under the engine to give him the last rites of the church; and though his groans would still escape from him involuntarily, it was mainly words of prayer that came and he was evidently in a very different state of mind from that which governed him but a few moments before when only the physical side of his case was occupying his mind. many a soldier during the war found that when a dread came over him, and he feared that his courage might leave him, especially when men were falling thick and fast all around, a little prayer would lift him up and give him new courage; and when he was so tired that it seemed as though he could not go on any farther it would enable him to tap a new level of energy and get his second wind, as it were, and "carry on." there are a great many people nowadays, and unfortunately they are ever so much more frequent among the educated classes than among those who have not had the benefit of an education, who seem to think that prayer {52} is a confession of weakness. when a man or a woman has recourse to prayer they would be inclined to say that it is because he or she has not the strength of character and personality that enables them to stand up under the trials of life and to face difficulties valiantly and hopefully. impressions like this have been rather fostered among the modern intellectual classes who, it must be recalled, are not always intelligent. we saw in the first chapter that while there is a very prevalent impression that somehow science is opposed to religion and that scientists find it utterly impossible to accept religious beliefs seriously and indeed can only pity those who continue to cherish such outworn superstitions, practically all the greatest scientists of modern times have been deep believers. what is true with regard to scientists and belief in religion is true also with regard to the strongest characters of the world and prayer. the greatest moral force of the war, the man who stood as horace long ago said the perfect man, _totus teres atque rotundus_, should stand, unmoved, even though the world is falling in pieces around him, was cardinal mercier. when they asked him at the luncheon given to him in new york by some two thousand of our most prominent commercial representatives how he, a bishop, "brought up in the peace and quiet of a university, should stand unmoved in the presence of the greatest military power on earth and insist on the rights of his country and his people", his very simple reply was, "as a bishop, there was nothing else that it occurred to me for the moment to do." some of cardinal mercier's favorite maxims show how deeply he feels whence comes his strength. he said, for instance, that "the ideal of life is a clear sense of {53} duty." his favorite quotation is from st. theresa, that well-known expression, "whenever conscience commands anything, there is only one thing to fear and that is fear." his maxim for daily life was "the whole duty of man consists in doing god's will to-day. i care to have no vain regrets with regard to the past and no idle dreams as to the future, but i shall be quite satisfied if god gives me his grace to accomplish his holy will to-day." it is easy to see from these that the cardinal feels his utter dependence on a higher power and the necessity for keeping as closely in touch with that higher power by prayer as possible. there is no doubt at all about his supreme strength of character and his placid, yet unbending resolution to accomplish what he sees as duty. there is no doubt, also, that he feels that he draws his strength to accomplish whatever he can from prayer. his daily recourse to it, far from being a sign of weakness in any sense, simply represents the man's own feeling of his inadequacy to accomplish what his conscience dictates unless he is strengthened from on high. perhaps it is to be expected that a churchman would find his strength in prayer, but it must not be forgotten that the greatest military leader of this war, who because of the immense armies that he had to lead must be considered one of the greatest military geniuses of all time, confesses also that the source of whatever power he had came from prayer. over and over again during the time while he was the commander-in-chief of the allied armies. marshal foch was discovered at prayer in some quiet chapel, manifestly absorbed in communion with god. when congratulated on what he had accomplished, he said at once, "do not thank me, but thank the author of all good to whom the victory is due." he {54} was often known to ask for prayers and when on the morning of the first battle of the marne he met the chaplain of one of his regiments, he said to him, "pray for us, father; we advance from here or die here to-day." there is a story that comes from his own headquarters that when sometimes he was thought to be asleep he was found at prayer. when his first decision as commander-in-chief of the allied armies had to be made, and he had to determine whether amiens should be surrendered to the enemy and a defense made on lines behind that city, both haig, in immediate command of the british forces, as well as pã©tain, the french commander, are said to have advised retirement. foch listened patiently to their reasons and then asked for twenty minutes by himself before making his decision, declaring that he would give it in that time. he spent those minutes walking up and down the garden in the slight rain that was falling, very much in the concentrated manner that he was known to assume when praying. at the end of twenty minutes he declared that amiens was to be held at all cost,--and it was. this was the first great step in the breaking of the enemy morale. when three months later, on the 18th of july--after the germans had tried for three days to come through his lines and had practically succeeded and then, lacking in men and munitions had to stop--marshal foch launched his counter-offensive which represented the beginning of the end of the war, it was easy to understand the strain through which he had just passed and the immensity of the responsibility of the decision that he had to make. after the orders for the counter-offensive had been sent out he said, "now i must rest." as can readily be imagined he had slept {55} but little on any of the three preceding nights. half an hour after he retired there came a dispatch which the high staff decided must be communicated to the general-in-chief. they hesitated for some time to wake him, but there was nothing else for it. his adjutant found him on his knees. the practice of prayer, then, instead of being an index of weakness of character, is on the contrary a note that is found exemplified in a great many men who are distinguished for their strength of character. it is the strong man above all who knows his own weakness and realizes how incapable he is of doing very great things of himself. it is the conceited man who is confident that he can accomplish anything that he wants out of his own strength and often fails. great generals almost as a rule have been men who turned aside from the immense calls made upon them by their military responsibilities to gain consolation and strength from the most high. it is surprising often to find how devoutly they turn to the higher power in their trials. field marshal lord wolseley carried a copy of thomas ã  kempis' "imitation of christ" with him always and read in it every day. when they found chinese gordon dead at khartum there was a little copy of newman's "dream of gerontius" in which he had been reading and making some annotations during the days before the end. for him, too, the "imitation of christ" was favorite reading, as it was for stanley the explorer and many another thoroughly practical, intensely brave and strong man whom the world has come to appreciate for his strength of character. in our time there has been noted an extreme lack of delicacy and a diminution of that reticence which {56} characterized human beings at their best. there has been a pouring out of the story of their woes and ills by men and women seeking sympathy which not only does them no good but which tends to break down their own character. it was nietzsche who said, in one of these striking aphorisms of his, "sympathy only makes us feel bad and the person for whom we sympathize feel worse than before." in an older time when there was more faith and the practice of prayer was commoner, the habit of prayer replaced this pouring out of the heart to others. people let god know about it and in that way brought themselves into the mental attitude that somehow, somewhere, all was well, for god's in his world and all is right with it. this proved an antidote to that sympathy-seeking self-pity which is not only so fatal to character development, but which actually makes the trials and sufferings of life harder to bear than they would otherwise be and will sometimes lift the little discomforts that are almost inevitably associated with living up to a plane of superconsciousness on which they seem to be torments. prayer is often its own reward, though any one who practices it in reality knows that there are other and much higher effects than this psychological influence which can of itself, however, neutralize many of the lesser disturbances of life that may be so readily exaggerated. to many people in our time prayer seems a useless exercise except in so far as the state of mind which it engenders reacts upon the individual to console and strengthen him in trials and to hearten him for difficulties that lie ahead. even if it had no other effect than this, prayer would still be a very valuable factor for health in the midst of the difficulties and above all the {57} dreads of humanity which are so likely to disturb the proper functioning of organic life. if this were all that it meant, however, prayer would not be a religious but a psychotherapeutic exercise. as a matter of belief, however, prayer is much more than this and, to the mind of the believer at least, leads to help from on high that may prove of immense consequence in the development of individual life. many people feel that it would be idle to think that prayer can alter the ordinary course of natural events and that these are rigidly connected with the causal elements which lead up to them and cannot be modified, once the chain of causes has been set to work. it is curiously interesting to realize that not a few of those who urge this inevitability of causation are just those who refuse to acknowledge the principle of causation as necessarily leading to the demonstration that there must be a first cause. as suggested by sir bertram windle, president of university college, cork, in his volume "the church in science" which has recently been awarded one of the bridgewater prizes in england, it is not difficult to realize "that the world is by no means so rigidly predetermined as many enthusiastic votaries of science would have us believe"; he adds: "there is room for free play; chance has a real objective significance, viz., the intercrossing of independent causal chains, and is not a mere cloak for ignorance. not alone is a large part of natural occurrences within our own control, but there is opportunity for god's special direction of events without any contravention of the laws of science. we cannot see far ahead; for aught we know, a small change of present plans may result in far-reaching future consequences. and many present {58} realities were once frail possibilities hanging on slender causal threads; did not england's present mineral wealth and insular position originate in some chance-formed heterogeneity in a nebula? all these life-histories of countries and individuals stand spread out to god's eternal gaze. at each stage he sees the possibilities foreclosed or initiated; he influences development by the primal distribution in the past and by direction and inspiration in the present." {59} chapter iii sacrifice the essence of religion is sacrifice. st. paul summed it up in his own inimitable fashion when he said, "i beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of god, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto god, which is your reasonable service." the supreme exercise of religious feeling is the readiness to make sacrifices because one feels that it is the will of the deity that they should be made. the "century dictionary's" definition of sacrifice, "the giving up of some prized or desirable thing in behalf of a higher object", represents the state of mind that one must have if one is desirous of practicing religion sincerely. the tendency to make sacrifices seems almost to be ingrained in humanity and to be a sort of instinct. it is one of these precious manifestations of nature so difficult to understand and yet representing some great basic principle of humanity. the feeling of satisfaction that comes with it represents that compensation for the exercise of a natural function which so often accompanies natural processes and is sometimes supposed to be a feature only of the physical yet is so invariably found also in the moral order. from the very earliest times men have made sacrifices in the spirit of religion. now that the story of the cave man is known not by inference but by actual discovery {60} of his remains in the caves of western france and northern spain, we find that he was an artist who invented oil colors, grinding the oxides of manganese and of iron in mortars and mixing them with the rendered fat of animals and painting some of the most vivid pictures of animals that have ever been made on the walls of his cave in order to make his home beautiful. instead of being just a little better than the beasts, he was an artist, and an artist is at all times the flower of our civilization, ahead of and not behind the rest of the race. in the tombs of the cave men finely made tools have been found buried with the bodies, demonstrating the belief in a hereafter and the readiness of those who were left behind to make sacrifices for their dead. for these tools had been produced at the cost of no little labor, and in the values of the time were precious. in order that their dead friend might be happy in another world they were quite willing to make these sacrifices and to devote other efforts to securing happiness for him. they devoted a good deal of care to the disposal of the body and even buried red coloring matter with the remains so that their dead friend might not look too pale in the next world and perhaps be the subject of remark, because of that. we rouge our corpses in our time again, but with the idea of making them presentable for this world. this state of mind which prompts man to make a sacrifice is, almost needless to say, extremely valuable for health and for happiness, because it makes people ready to offer up their feelings in case of disappointment and even to be ready to accept trials that may come to them--and life is sure to have them--as representing opportunities for the making of sacrifices. if one has set one's heart on something and has devoted great efforts to getting it {61} and then finds that owing to circumstances it cannot be secured, nothing is so effective as the deep religious feeling of sacrifice to aid in keeping the disappointment from affecting health and strength. we need it at the present time sadly, and its eclipse through decadence of religion has been a great misfortune. modern life has been very much disturbed by the fact that insanity and suicides are both on the increase to an almost alarming extent and that, sad to say, the average age at which they occur is steadily becoming earlier. suicide happens at ever younger years just in proportion, it would seem, to the spread of popular education and the lessening of the influence of religion, while at the same time the necessity for restraint for insanity and of internments in asylums is also coming at a younger age. people used to go through with some of the very hard things of life before they were ready to give up struggling or broke down in mind, but now some of the minor trials of early life--a petty setback in school examinations or disappointment in a youthful love affair--may bring about a very serious breakdown in physical or mental health and may even lead to suicide. we need ever so much more training in the discipline of sacrifice even from very earliest youth, but almost needless to say this can come practically only from religion, and religious influences are waning for a great many people. all young folks must be trained to give things up voluntarily so that when disappointment comes they are ready for it. they must be taught to stand some of the disagreeable things in life so that they may have the will power to endure even the hardest ones, if they should be called upon to do so. such discipline, instead of being cruel, is really kind, for constituted as life is and with {62} hardships and trials inevitable to the great majority of people, it is all-important that we should be prepared for them. it is the role of religion particularly to do this. it can accomplish it without producing unfortunate reactions, but on the contrary with personal satisfaction to the individual who has to be trained in endurance because of the feeling that the sacrifices have a worth beyond that of the merely material. whole-hearted sacrifice will lift a character up to heights of heroism that are supremely admirable and make life exemplary, though the failure to take the opportunities for sacrifice may lead to crushing of the spirit entirely. almost inevitably this brings about disturbance of health as well as deterioration of character. the loss of children by death, particularly when there are but one or two children in a family, as is so frequent in modern times, often brings on a state of mental perturbation in which the health of mind and body, especially of women, may suffer severely. religion, with its development of the spirit of sacrifice, whenever it is taken seriously, is the best possible sheet anchor in such cases, and the gradual diminution of religious feelings and abandonment of religious practice during the present generation have greatly multiplied the tendency to such severe breakdowns. a distinguished scientist. professor whittaker, the royal astronomer of ireland, dwelt on the scientific aspect of sacrifice for high purpose in a way that is illuminating and serves to make our generation understand better the enduring nature of sacrifice in creation and the place that it has in the up-building of what is best in life. "surrender to the will of god generally means the giving up of some of the delights of the world. like the {63} coral island built up on the accumulations of its own past life, the perfected kingdom is to be reached only by the sacrifice of countless generations of its own up-builders. but--and this is the greatest of all evidence of the divine life within humanity--in all ages men have left the pleasures of their former life to obey the inward call. the long procession that leads to the distant goal is reunited afresh in every generation: and to-day millions have found the joy of a life centered round the words of the master, 'repent', 'follow me.'" a distinguished mathematician who is at the same time a very well-known physical scientist declared not long since that the formula for happiness may be expressed as follows: h = g/w in this, h stands for the amount of individual happiness and is equal to what the individual has got, g, divided by w, what he wants. if a man has a great deal but wants ever so much more, his fraction of happiness may be comparatively small. if he has got even a little but does not want much more, his fraction of happiness may approach an integer. if he has got anything in the world and does not want anything more, according to the terms of the formula, he is infinitely happy, for one divided by zero equals infinity (1/0=infinity). what is important for men for their happiness then is not so much to try to increase the numerator by adding to or even multiplying their possessions, but to decrease the denominator by lessening their wants and by decreasing the number of things without which they feel that they cannot be happy. {64} almost needless to say the one element above all in life which enables men to reduce their wants and to live in satisfaction with few things is religion. a great many men in the history of the race have for religious motives assumed the obligations of voluntary poverty and have greatly increased satisfaction in life and have found happiness thereby. the multiplication of material wants which after a time become needs that actually cannot be dispensed with without a feeling of serious deprivation leads to such preoccupation with mere bodily concerns that no time is left to live the life of the spirit and really to enjoy the things of the mind and the heart and the soul with the supreme satisfaction which their experience gives to us. the old pagan poet, horace, suggested long ago that he hated the apparatus of luxury because it took away so much of the simple enjoyment of life and consumed so much time in idle concerns. nothing is so helpful in enabling men to simplify life as religious motives. they learn to make the sacrifice of certain inclinations and feelings that would tempt them to rival other men and to be satisfied with a little for the sake of the lessened allurements to luxury that are thus secured for themselves and their children. health comes as a by-product of this simplification of life as it is not likely to come under any other circumstances. to all men there comes, sooner or later in life, the realization that the getting of things cannot bring happiness. oscar wilde said in one of his well-known caustic epigrams, "there are two tragedies in life; the one is not getting what you want and the other is getting it; and of the two the latter is the worse." quite apart from the pessimism and the exaggeration of the apothegm which constitutes only part of the humor, there is a great deal of {65} truth in the expression, as all men learn eventually. what faust said to mephistopheles was that "if ever a time shall come when i shall be willing to say to the passing moment 'stay you with me, for i shall be satisfied with you forever' then you may have my soul." all that the devil had to do was to make him happy, but that is impossible, for "man never is, but to be blessed." there is no lasting satisfaction in getting, for men increase their desires with everything they get. men come to realize, if they gather wisdom with the years, that the fruit of striving and the quest after anything in the world, be it riches or knowledge or honor or power, is of itself but dust and ashes in the mouth once the goal has been reached, for it is the quest and not the attainment, the hunt and not the capture that counts in life, and the only thing that can possibly give any genuine satisfaction to man is the cultivation of the spirit of sacrifice. sacrifices made for a higher power give life a meaning that it would otherwise have lost. for those who have reached the years beyond middle life, the blessedness of giving rather than receiving, of making sacrifices rather than seeking satisfaction, means the renewal of life's hopes and aspirations. it is making a virtue of necessity to cultivate the spirit of sacrifice, but then it was a great philosopher who said that "the only virtue worth while talking about is the virtue that is made out of necessity." most of the things in life that are really worth while we have to do whether we want to or not, and it is the spirit in which they are done that lifts them out of the rut of common-place, sordid, everyday actions into the realm of spiritual significance, because they are done for a great purpose. each act of sacrifice may thus be made an act of worship {66} of the deity and have almost an infinite value. this makes even the minor acts of life produce a satisfaction not otherwise possible and gives a new significance to life when the novelty of living has worn off and when the _taedium vitae_, the tiredness with life that comes to every one after a while, if mere human motives prevail, steals over us. there is a passage in the scriptures, the truth of which a good many people seem to doubt in the modern time, though the experience of centuries has confirmed it. "it is more blessed to give than to receive." those who have experienced the delightful satisfaction of giving whole-heartedly, even when they did not have much to give, realize the truth of this. by comparison, the poor are the great givers among men, giving ever so much more in proportion to their means than do the rich, almost without exception, and it is to them particularly that these divine words have come home. they are ready to make all sorts of personal sacrifices to help those around them, almost as a rule, and they know the blessedness of giving. if the rich gave to others in anything like the proportion to what the poor so commonly do, there would be no suffering from poverty. the sacrifices which they make bring with them a satisfaction that is eminently conducive to health. there is nothing like the sleep that comes with the consciousness of good accomplished for others, and the poor enjoy that just in proportion to the sacrifice that their doing of good has entailed. giving up has often meant much for others, but it usually means more for oneself. the consciousness of having relieved the necessities of others is probably the best appetizer and somnifacient that we have. we talk of "sleeping the sleep of the just", and {67} the just man is above all the one who thinks of others. feelings of depression and melancholy, when not actually the consequence of organic disease or hereditary impairment of mentality, are probably better relieved by the consciousness of doing good to others than in any other way. this is particularly true when the doing of good entails some special sacrifice on the doer of it. nervousness, in the broad general sense of that word, is at bottom very often a manifestation of selfishness, that is, oversolicitude about oneself and one's affairs, and nothing so serves to neutralize it as personal sacrifices made for others. sacrifice, moreover, is the fundamental element in most of the practices of religion. it represents the underlying factor of charity and fasting and mortification, for personal sacrifices have to be made of time and money and often of inclination and immediate personal satisfaction in order to accomplish these. as they are treated in separate chapters, they need only be mentioned here as representing component elements in that readiness to make sacrifices for the sake of others and oneself which providence seems to demand. nothing requires so much sacrifice from men and women, even to the giving up of life itself, as war, and yet when whole-heartedly entered into, it becomes a magnificent discipline of humanity, affording satisfactions that are supreme and leaving memories that are the most precious for the race. above all, men learn in time of war that there are things in life that are worth more than life itself, and there is no knowledge in the world that is so precious for mankind as this. how much war's sacrifices may mean for the development of character professor william james has {68} emphasized in his essay on the "moral equivalent of war." he confesses the paradox, but he says: "ask all our millions, north and south, whether they would vote now (were such a thing possible) to have our war for the union expunged from history, and the record of a peaceful transition to the present time substituted for that of its marches and battles, and probably hardly a handful of eccentrics would say yes. those ancestors, those efforts, those memories and legends, are the most ideal part of what we now own together, a sacred spiritual possession worth more than all the blood poured out. yet ask those same people whether they would be willing in cold blood to start another civil war now to gain another similar possession, and not one man or woman would vote for the proposition." it must not be forgotten that strengthening of character, war's invariable effect on the man of moral aims, always diminishes the dreads of life. they mean ever so much not only for the development of the psychoneuroses and the whole domain of neurotic symptoms so common in our time, but also for the exaggeration of the symptoms of real physical disease which makes patients so uncomfortable, or full of complaints, and has led to so many useless operations in our generation. professor james even ventured to suggest that "the dread hammer (of war) is the welder of men into cohesive states, and nowhere but in such states can human nature adequately develop its capacity. the only alternative is degeneration." he adds that "the martial type of character can be bred without war", but only under very special circumstances and where men have been willing to give themselves up to a great cause. "priests and medical men are in a fashion educated to it, {69} and we should all feel some degree of it imperative if we were conscious of our work as an obligatory service to the state. we should be owned, as soldiers are by the army, and our pride would arise accordingly. we could be poor then without humiliation, as army officers now are." mr. h. g. wells, in one of his paradoxical moods, has dwelt on how far the sacrifices needed for military life have lifted the life of the soldier above that of the civilian, in so far as its social value is concerned. "when the contemporary man steps from the street of clamorous insincere advertisement, push, adulteration, underselling and intermittent employment into the barrack-year, he steps on to a higher social plane, into an atmosphere of service and cooperation and of infinitely more honorable emulations. here at least men are not flung out of employment to degenerate because there is no immediate work for them to do. they are fed and drilled and trained for better services. here at least a man is supposed to win promotion by self-forgetfulness and not by self-seeking." the war spirit with its necessary sacrifices serves to lift men above the dreads that wear away other lives and makes it very clear what the spirit of whole-hearted sacrifice can accomplish in keeping life from being disturbed by fear thoughts of many kinds. it might possibly be thought that the supreme call made upon nature's power to overcome such dreads, when combined with the extreme physical efforts that war often calls for and the draft upon nature's resources that the healing of wounds demands, would surely shorten the lives of military men, and that soldiers and officers, but above all these latter, would have on the average much less expectancy of life than the rest of mankind. apart from actual fatal {70} wounds, this is not true, however, but on the contrary men who have suffered severely from wounds, who have been placed under heavy burdens of responsibility and have gone through trials that would seem calculated to exhaust nature's powers, have lived far beyond the average length of life and even long beyond the vast majority of men. lord roberts, wounded over and over again, once shot almost to pieces, getting his victoria cross for bravery of the highest type, lived, still active, well past eighty and died from pneumonia behind the lines in the great war quite as any man of the generation after his might have done. sir evelyn wood is another typical instance of this living well beyond eighty in the enjoyment of health and strength and power to be of use to his country. the spirit of sacrifice for a great patriotic purpose is like the spirit of sacrifice from religious motives which blesses while it furnishes the highest satisfactions that can come to a man. if men and women could be brought to exercise from religious motives in time of peace as much of the spirit of sacrifice as they do for war and patriotism, the world would be a very wonderful place in which to live. as it is, there are a great many who do so and whose lives have become veritable blessings for others and yet sources of supreme satisfaction to themselves. their thoroughgoing faith and trust are examples to others that make life not only ever so much easier in the midst of hardships, but that give a new depth to the belief in immortality, because these others whose lives are so admirable have such a supreme faith in it that they direct all their actions to its reflection. as professor osler said in delivering the ingersoll lecture on immortality at harvard, a great many of us believe {71} because there are around us persons, often those whom we love dearly, whose lives and faith mean so much to us that their confidence in immortality is imparted to us. religion is above all the motive of sacrifice that makes life more efficient and is productive of the healthy mind in the healthy body. it has quite equaled war in this regard, and the lives of missionaries, when lived under the most difficult circumstances, have often lasted long beyond even the psalmist's limit of three-score years and ten. i have in mind as i write a dear old missionary who is still with us who spent twenty years with the nez percã©s indians in the distant west, sharing all the hardships of the tribe and yet accomplishing very little in the matter of winning them to christianity until at the end of that long time his leg was broken by a fall. the manly, uncomplaining courage with which he bore the accident won the hearts of the warriors, and they were ready to become christians and to follow whole-heartedly the principles of religion which could make a white man so completely a man in every sense of the word as they had found their missionary. his health in the midst of all this had been excellent, and he is now in alaska, past eighty, standing the climate and the trials of that country. it is surprising how weak women, in the spirit of religious sacrifice, accomplish what seems almost the impossible and actually live healthier lives after they have given up everything and there is nothing more for them to dread. we have all heard of the story of father damien who so bravely went to molokai in order to care for the lepers, but how many know that religious women have offered themselves for similar purposes, and not only at molokai but at tracadie in canada and in {72} louisiana have given themselves up for life to the care of lepers? i know from records that some of these women, after having made the supreme sacrifice, were actually better in health living among the lepers than they had been when apparently living under much more favorable circumstances in their city homes. some of them have lived to be very old, and none of them have contracted the disease. the story of such a striking personal sacrifice as that of father damien among the lepers at molokai, crowned by years of suffering and death, attracts sensational attention, but it must not be forgotten that he is only one of many who have given up all in similar spirit. there were many like him, though utterly unknown to the world, who in china, in distant india, in central africa, or among the indians in our own country, have sacrificed everything that the world deems most satisfying just to give themselves to the care of their savage brothers. i shall never forget dropping off years ago one day in the west at the then little station of missoula in montana to meet an old teacher of mine who had been famous for his knowledge of greek and of the aristotelian philosophy and who was then engaged in taking care of indians, where none of these special intellectual acquirements were of any service, but where his hearty good cheer made him the best of missionaries. he had made his sacrifice; he said there were plenty of others who could do the teaching of greek and philosophy, and he felt the call to do something for others who needed his personal services. he was in better health than he had been in years and in better spirits, and there was a look about him which indicated that some of the hundred-fold promised to those who give to the lord was already coming back to him. {73} many a man and woman in this country and in england has been lifted out of the depths, even out of the very "slough of despond" where dreads abound and a healthy mind in a healthy body is almost impossible of attainment, by reading about the work of doctor wilfred grenfell, who has so nobly given himself and his professional services to the care of the poor fishermen on the labrador coast. their sufferings are often so severe as to be almost unbearable, especially during the winter time, and yet they cling to their little homes on the rugged coast, ready to bear through successive winters the vicissitudes of a climate and the bitter struggle for existence which seem almost beyond the endurance of human nature and where they need so much the sympathy and kindliness which have been extended to them by doctor grenfell. any one who has come in contact with him personally learns that this spirit of sacrifice so finely exemplified and exercised to high achievement has made him a charmingly sympathetic man whom everybody who comes to know is sure to like, and who exhibits the best traits of the race in some of their highest forms of expression. withal he is a very practical, common-sense individual grafted on the lofty idealist. his sacrifices have done him good, and the example of them has stimulated and helped an immense number of other people besides the special objects of his devotion on the labrador coast. what marvelous examples men can give in this way, examples which fairly quicken life in other and weaker brethren and set them at their tasks whole-heartedly to accomplish whatever they can when otherwise they would have been discouraged and downcast and apt to find excuses in poor health or weakness, is well illustrated {74} by doctor grenfell's life and also by that of many others in our own day. i count it as one of the privileges of life to have been a close friend for some precious years of the man of whom one of those who came in contact with him has told the story which i shall quote. his example was all the more striking because it had for background that flagrant exhibition of the selfishness of men which a rush to new gold fields always presents. he was engaged in quite a different quest that for him seemed much more important, and he went on with his work in the midst of the excitement as calmly as if men all around him were not exhausting all their natural powers to the limit for a fancied prize which they were sure would make them happy. "all of us can remember the mad rush for gold to the klondyke, out on the northern edge of the world. nature has pushed her ice barriers far to the south of it and fringed them for leagues with impenetrable forest and towering mountain and treacherous river, as though to guard her treasure. men, lured by the golden gleams, essayed to break through. in tens of thousands they plunged into the unknown wilderness, pushing in frenzied haste through forest and caã±on and river. "by thousands they fell and died, and but a remnant crept out on the deadly yukon plain, every step on which was a fight for life. "some of the first of these hardy adventurers were making their way across the frozen alaskan waste when they saw ahead something moving that stood out black against the blinding white of the snow. stumbling through snowdrifts, waist-deep in ice hollows, jumping treacherous crevasses, they pushed on, and the dark spot gradually took shape. it was a loaded dog-sledge, and {75} in front, hauling laboriously, were a man and a dog. he was alone, and they stared in wonder at him, as if to ask what manner of man was this, so contentedly traveling in this land of dreadful silence,--a land that seemed to be the tomb of all living things that ventured into it. he gave them cheery greeting as they passed by, stopping not, for here the race was to the swift and strong, and wished them good fortune. their guide knew him, and they learned with astonishment that it was not love of gold that had made him risk his life on that frozen tundra. that gray-haired man with the kindly face, buffeted by the icy wind that cut like a whiplash, and bent low under the sledge rope, was the best-known man in the klondyke. his sledge was loaded with medicine and food for poor sick miners, 'his boys', as he called them, whom he kindly cared for in a hospital that with his own hands he had helped to build in the town in the valley of gold. they saw him next day, as he came down the street, still harnessed to the sledge; they saw the crowds that rushed from the canvas buildings on either side and pressed forward to shake his hand, and laughingly take the sledge from him, and swing along the street, filling it from side to side, to where at the far end stood his hospital; they saw him enter, and when they heard the shout of joy that burst forth from the inmates, at the sight of the only man that stood between them and death, tears sprang to their eyes, and they too pressed forward to exchange a word with and press the hand of a hero. too soon there came a day when the axe and the sledge rope fell from the once strong hands, and he lay, dead, among the boys whom he loved. they buried him in the frozen earth between his hospital and his church." the making of sacrifices for religious motives, that is, {76} from a religious sense of duty, is often followed by some of the most satisfying rewards of life. physicians frequently have this brought home to them when they encounter people who, because of unwillingness to make what seemed to be sacrifices in their earlier years, have to go through some rather serious conditions later on in life. the woman who, having had opportunities to marry, has refused them because she fears the cares of family life and dreads the dangers of maternity, will very often suffer ever so much more during the years of involution and obsolescence in the second half of life as the result of the loneliness that will come to her and the lack of any heart interest in life which will leave her without the resources and satisfaction which come to the woman whose children are around her and whose grandchildren bless her. the man who has remained a bachelor will very often, unless, perhaps, some of his brothers and sisters have married and taken the trouble and had the joy of raising children, be even more pitiable in his solitary old age. this may not seem to mean much for health and happiness, and there may appear more sentimentality than reality in it, but the statistics of suicide and insanity among the unmarried, which are ever so much higher than among the married, demonstrate how much of hopeless discouragement and mental discomfort comes to those who have given no hostages to fortune and no pledges for the future, by the sacrifice of some of the passing pleasures and selfish satisfactions of youth. nearly the same thing is true of the married folk who have only a child or two in the family. the children are almost inevitably spoiled. a careful study of the single child in the family has shown very clearly how nervous and selfish the solitary child is likely to be and how {77} much unhappiness the mother prepares for her child by refusing to give it the normal companionship of brothers and sisters. the real kindergarten of life should be the family of five [footnote 4] or six children raised together and learning to bear with each other and yield to each other and take care of each other as the highest kind of training in unselfishness. even when there are two children in the family, especially if these are of opposite sexes, the boy and girl are likely to grow up with entirely wrong notions as regards their importance in life. the whole household is centered around them, and they learn how to impose on father and mother. nearly always the parents prepare unhappiness for themselves as well as their children, though there is usually the excuse that they will be better able to provide for fewer children, afford them a better education, and bring them up so as to secure for them more opportunities in life. [footnote 4: dr. karl pearson, of london, the well-known authority on eugenics, has investigated rather carefully the health of children in large and small families, and has demonstrated that children are healthiest when there are five to eight children in the family. on the average, first and second children are not as healthy as those who come later in the family, and those who are in the best condition physically and mentally for life come after the fourth. the early children in the family are more liable to epilepsy and certain serious nervous diseases, and are often of unstable nervous equilibrium, while the later children are more gifted and are likely to live longer.] the sacrifices of social pleasures and of passing ease and comfort in order to bear and raise four or more children in the family are, as a rule of nature, amply rewarded in the health and strength of both the children and the mother. in my book on "health through will power", in the chapter on feminine ills and the will, i have pointed out that in spite of the tradition which assumes that a woman's health is hurt if she has more than {78} two or three children, the women of the older time, when families were larger, were healthier on the average than they are now, in spite of all the progress that medicine and surgery have since made in relieving serious ills. above all, it was typically the mother of numerous children who lived long and in good health to be a blessing to those around her, and not the old maids or the childless wives, for longevity is not a special trait of these latter classes of women. the modern dread of deterioration of vitality as the result of frequent child-bearing is quite without foundation in the realities of human experience. some rather carefully made statistics demonstrate that the old tradition in the matter is not merely an impression but a veritable truth as to human nature's reaction to a great natural call. while the mothers of large families born in the slums, with all the handicaps of poverty as well as hard work against them, die on the average much younger than the generality of women in the population, careful study of the admirable vital statistics of new south wales shows that the mothers who lived longest were those who under reasonably good conditions bore from five to seven children. here in america, a study of more favored families shows that the healthiest children come from the large families, and it is in the small families particularly that the delicate, neurotic and generally weakly children are found. alexander graham bell, in his investigation of the hyde family here in america, discovered that the greatest longevity occurred in the families of ten or more children. so far from mothers being exhausted by the number of children that were born, and thus endowing their children with less vitality than if they had fewer children, it was to the numerous offspring that the highest vitality {79} and physical fitness were given. one special consequence of these is longevity. the spirit of sacrifice brings its own reward. the realization from a religious standpoint that it is better to give than to receive is one of the greatest blessings that a man can have. nothing is so disturbing to health and happiness--and real happiness always reacts on health--as selfishness, the contradiction of the spirit of sacrifice. all the great writers on the spiritual life have emphasized the fact that nervousness is at bottom selfishness. conceit is the root of a great deal of unhappiness and consequent disturbance of the health of mind and body. {80} chapter iv charity charity is usually looked upon as a cure for social, not personal ills. its activities, while recognized as supremely effective in fostering the health of people who have to live on inadequate means, are not ordinarily considered as reacting to benefit the health of the individual who practices the virtue. any such outlook is, however, very partial. religion has always taught that the benefiting of others invariably served to bring down blessings on those who took up the precious duty of helpfulness, blessings which are not reserved merely for the hereafter, but are felt also in this world, which affect not only the spirit but the mind of man. "blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy" are the words of the sermon on the mount, and it must not be forgotten that that dear old-fashioned word, mercy, which is so often limited to forgiveness in our day, meant in the old time acts of benevolence--"works of mercy", as they were called--and in luke it is stated that the "neighbor unto him that fell among thieves" was "he that showed mercy on him." the personal satisfaction which comes from the performance of these works of mercy represents one of the most active factors that we have for good health and especially for the creation of that background of contentment with life on which good health is commonly {81} developed. the merciful garner some of their reward here in the shape of a less troubled life, so far at least as their own worries might be sources of trouble, and a fuller, heartier existence in the consciousness of helpfulness for others. the words encouragement, discouragement, in saxon english heartening and disheartening, putting heart into or taking heart out of people, have a literal physical as well as metaphysical significance that all physicians have come to appreciate rather thoroughly. charity is a cure not only for the ills of the social body, but it is also an extremely valuable remedy for the personal ills of those who devote themselves to doing their duty towards others. vincent de paul, that great organizer of charity, or as we would call his work in our time, social service--for during and after the great wars in france in the early seventeenth century he organized relief for literally thousands of people in the war zone and afterwards continued his great social work, which was quite as much needed then as our post-war work is now, in the large cities and towns of france--once used an expression in this regard that deserves to be repeated here because it emphasizes this reactionary effect of charity which means so much for health. vincent said that "unless the charity we do does as much good for the doer as it does for the one for whom it is done, there is something wrong with the charity." here is a phase of charity that has been forgotten only too often in the modern time. it emphasizes the fact that the most important remedy for that very serious affection _taedium vitae_, that sense of the unsatisfactoriness of life which comes to everybody at some time or other, is the doing of things for other people with a whole-hearted feeling of helpfulness. {82} it has been suggested that the doing of good for others, with all the good effects which flow from it for the active participants, may very well be accomplished without any appeal to religion, and that sympathy alone suffices as a foundation. sir w. thistleton-dyer, in reviewing huxley's position in this matter in a critique of clodd's "life of huxley", suggests that the mystery would still remain as to how the sympathy is to be infused. he adds: "my experience of human nature inclines me to think that it requires a more powerful appeal to the imagination than is afforded by a mere academic council of perfection of this sort." as a matter of fact altruism, as it has been called, is a very different thing from charity in its effect upon the doer. the deep feeling of the brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of god with which true charity is associated makes a profoundly impressive suggestion, with a favorable emotional tendency which serves to give almost as a rule and quite naturally a sense of well-being. the practice of charity from religious motives becomes, then, a very different thing from any mere feeling of sympathy with others founded, as it is so likely to be, on the selfish feeling of how painful it would be for us to be in like case, or tinged at least with the consciousness of condescension toward those below us which vitiates most of the good motives of doing for others on any human grounds. for those who feel that the new altruism may fully replace the old charity, and that people can derive just as much good from the stirring of their sympathies from merely humanitarian motives as they can from religious love of their neighbor, president schurman of cornell said some things that are very interesting: "it is a blessed characteristic of our own age that {83} religion has come to express itself so nobly in practical well-doing. but beneficence is not piety. to make the love of man the essence of religion is to misread the latter and to divest the former of its supreme spiritual dynamic. if the religious man is a benediction to earth, it is because his soul is bathed in the dews of heaven." the relief of the serious physical sufferings of those around us, together with the glimpse so often afforded while engaged in that work of the patience with which real ills are borne by others, is the best possible dispeller of the dreads which are the source of so many psycho-neuroses and the neurotic symptoms which complicate other diseases of modern times. these represent a much larger proportion of the ills of mankind than we were inclined to think. the great war proved a revelation in this regard, for one third of all the dismissions from the english army, apart from the wounded, were made because of neurotic affections. manifestly they must occupy an important place also in civil life. those who practice charity, that is, those who not merely supply material aid to be distributed through agents or almoners, but give their personal service for those in need, have the chance to be impressed with the thought of how much worse things might be with themselves than they actually are, and how thankful they should be for their own conditions. the best practical definition of contentment still continues to be the conviction that things might be worse than they actually are. indeed, it is this very satisfaction that comes from doing good that tempts people, humanly speaking, to do more and more of it, and the personal service habit, once formed, is as hard to break as almost any other habit that a man can contract. {84} the word charity has come to have in many minds a very unfortunate innuendo. it is associated with the thought of doling out alms, of pauperizing people and of making them dependent on others instead of arousing their power to help themselves. there are a good many people who seem to think that never until our time did the question of organizing charity, or social service as it is called, come into men's minds in such a way as to prevent these unfortunate abuses of charity which do so much more harm than good. the history of social service does not begin in our time, however, but goes back over all the centuries in the history of christianity. religion has always furnished the incentive to do good, but the church and common sense have helped people to regulate their charity in such a way as to make it really useful to men. during the middle ages there were many legal regulations against "sturdy vagrants" who imposed on people and took the charity out of the mouths of those who deserved it and who abused the opportunities for treatment in hospitals or for lodging in places provided for the poor. human nature has not changed much, and the tramp and the wanderer have always been with us, as well as the man who is willing to "give up", and let others take care of him. charity, as its latin etymology suggests, means the dearness of others to us. it is our personal interest in them that constitutes its essence and not at all the mere giving of something or even the doing of something in order to be relieved from the necessity of thinking about them. dear old sir thomas browne, in his "religio medici", put the whole question of charity very succinctly when he said, "this i think charity, to love god for himself and our neighbor for god." milton summed {85} up the complete quintessence of religion in the single word charity quite as doctor browne did, though with less aphoristic effectiveness. "our whole practical dutie in religion is contained in charitie, or the love of god and our neighbor." charity in this sense is a development of christianity, and the personal service idea is almost unknown in ancient times. lecky, in his history of european morals, says that "the active, habitual and detailed charity of private persons, which is so conspicuous a feature in all christian societies, was scarcely known in antiquity, and there are not more than two or three moralists who have noticed it." it is the love or affection that goes with whatever is done that is the real essence of charity. it is this quality especially which makes the charity of benefit to the doer. this helps him and above all her to eliminate that super-conscious preoccupation with self which has become the bane of existence in modern times. it is at the root of more serious physical and mental symptoms than any other single factor that we have in pathology. anything that will take people out of themselves, that will interest them in others and keep them from thinking about themselves, will do an immense amount of good in helping to maintain their good health, but above all will keep people from exaggerating feelings of all kinds, some of them scarcely more than normal, a great many of them merely physiological, into symptoms which seem to indicate serious disease and sometimes to portend extremely serious consequences. charity that really touches the heart is a panacea for more ills than any remedy we have. it will make even those who are sufferers from genuine disease often of severe or almost fatal character ever so much more comfortable, and it has {86} furnished some invalids with such occupation of mind and heart as has enabled them to do a great deal of good in the world. a great many of us know of one bedridden lady, utterly unable to sit up, who has succeeded in organizing throughout the country branches of an extremely valuable organization which helps the poor to provide proper clothing for their infants and has saved many lives and made many homes happier. there are a great many people who are afraid lest they should do harm by their charity and who apparently fail to realize that it is their own selfishness which takes refuge in the excuse that doing things for others may possibly pauperize the objects of their beneficence. as john ruskin reminded us in "sesame and lilies", it is extremely important not to let ourselves be deceived by any of the very common talk of "indiscriminate charity." he adds, in one of those passages of his that only he could write and that are so full of the meat of thought for those who care to think about such subjects: "the order to us is not to feed the deserving hungry, nor the industrious hungry, nor the amiable and well-intentioned hungry, but simply to feed the hungry. it is quite true, infallibly true, that if any man will not work, neither should he eat--think of that, and every time you sit down to your dinner, ladies and gentlemen, say solemnly, before you ask a blessing, 'how much work have i done to-day for my dinner?' but the proper way to enforce that order on those below you, as well as on yourselves, is not to leave vagabonds and honest people to starve together, but very distinctly to discern and seize your vagabond; and shut your vagabond up out of honest people's way, and very sternly then see that, until he has worked, he does not eat." {87} works of charity under religious impulses have always constituted an excellent resource for people inclined to be overoccupied with themselves and who need the stimulus of contact with those in suffering to make them realize that their own troubles are largely the result of too much preoccupation with trifling discomforts of various kinds or even with symptoms of various affections which must be borne and which will cause much less suffering and general disturbance of health if there is the distraction of sincere and deep interest in others. anything that will act as a brake on the working of the law of avalanche which is discussed in the chapter on pain and which serves to increase all suffering through subjective influences will do human beings a great deal of good. as a rule nothing is so effective in this direction as preoccupation with the much severer ills of other people. the seven corporal works of mercy, as they were called, that is, the seven modes of succoring those in need which st. paul suggested every christian should practice, are particularly valuable for the neurotic individuals whom, like the poor and needy, we have always with us, but who have multiplied so much more in this generation because a great many people have not enough to occupy their time properly, but above all have not enough exercise of their heart impulses and their affections to satisfy this imperative need of humanity. women particularly must be afforded, as a rule, the opportunity to mother somebody who requires their care. if they have no children of their own, and with the loosening of the bonds of religion more and more of them have not, then they will seldom be happy unless the chance is provided for them to devote the emotional side of their {88} natures to other human beings who need them and whose needs constitute the best possible opportunity for the exercise of the spiritual side of this precious function. the seven corporal works of mercy are: (1) to feed the hungry; (2) to give drink to the thirsty; (3) to clothe the naked; (4) to harbor the harborless; (5) to visit and ransom the captive; (6) to visit the sick; and (7) to bury the dead. these represented a list of very definite duties which children were taught to repeat from memory when they were young; and they were told very simply that if they did not take the opportunity to perform them they were really not doing their christian duty. to visit the sick, for instance, meant not only to spend an hour or two with a sick relative, but to seek out those who were sick and poor and had no one to care for them and make some provision for them. some of the old hospital visiting customs in this regard are extremely interesting, inasmuch as they reveal the resource that this must have been to people who are usually thought of as being occupied solely with social duties in the much narrower sense of the term. martin luther tells in one of his letters that during his visit to italy about four hundred years ago, one of the things that proved a great source of edification to him was the fact that the ladies of the nobility in the italian cities made it a custom to visit the hospitals regularly and to spend hours at a time there and do things for the patients with their own hands. some of them wore veils while they were performing this beautiful service in order that they might not be recognized, lest what they did should come to be talked about, and they did not want to practice their charity for the sake of publicity. the people of the old time were often as intent on avoiding publicity as our generation, as a rule, {89} seems to be intent on securing it. almost needless to say ostentatious philanthropy is not charity and has none of the reactionary good effects for the doer to be found in real charity. it must not be forgotten that whenever hospitals are visited regularly thus by the better-to-do classes there is very little likelihood of serious abuses creeping into them. the care of even the very poor patients is kept at a high standard because these visitors see the beginnings of abuses and either bring about their correction at once, or else devote themselves to some modification of hospital routine that will prevent the recurrence of such unfortunate conditions. religion thus proved a stimulus to the better care of the ailing poor that was a distinct benefit to the health of the community. it was when hospitals ceased to be the object of such attention on the part of the better-to-do people that they ran down into the awful condition which prevailed so generally in them even less than a century ago. burdett in his "history of hospitals" has not hesitated to say that hospitals placed in the midst of cities and visited regularly by the well-to-do represent a great social instrument for the betterment of all sorts of social conditions. the wealthy are kept from being selfish, the poor from being envious, the classes of the community are not so separated that they fail to understand each other, and both of them are greatly benefited by the experiences which bring them together. burdett has gone even further and insisted that the support of hospitals, by the state, because it removes opportunities for charity, is an unfortunate development in modern times. those who are well able to help the poor and the ailing get the feeling that due provision is {90} made for them out of the taxes, and that, therefore, no further obligation rests upon them and the needs and requirements of the poor are no concern of theirs. as a consequence, he says, "an increasing number of people are being brought up on a wrong principle and are thus led to forget the privilege and to ignore the duty of giving toward the support of those who are unable to help themselves." besides pointing out how much is lost of social value and social stimulus when private charitable institutions are replaced by state institutions, burdett emphasizes not only how much of social good is accomplished by voluntary charity, but also how much of personal relief is afforded to some of the trials of life that often prove the source of unfortunate pathological conditions. he said: "apart from the evils we have briefly referred to, there is a loss to the whole community in the lessened moral sense which state institutions create. the voluntary charities afford an opening for the encouragement and expression of the best of all human feelings,--sympathy between man and man. they give to the rich an opening for the display of consideration toward the poor which is fruitful in results. they create a feeling of widespread sympathy with those who suffer and impress on the population the duty of almsgiving to an extent which no other charity can do. they constitute a neutral platform whereon all classes and sects can meet with unanimity and good feeling. they provide a field of labor wherein some of the most devoted and best members of society can cultivate the higher feelings of humanity and learn to bear their own sufferings and afflictions with resignation and patience." i have made it a practice for years, now, when women {91} who were without children and without any special outlet for their affections suffered from neurotic symptoms, to prescribe that they get in touch with the ailing poor in some way. especially for those trying patients who complain of inability to sleep well, a feeling of depression when they awake, a lack of appetite, but also a lack of incentive to do anything and a tendency to stay much in the house and by themselves, a condition which not infrequently develops in childless women shortly before and after what is called "the change of life", no prescription is so valuable as hospital visiting, or where that is impossible for some reason, at least to make it a rule to visit sick friends regularly. i have seen women suffering severely from neurotic symptoms that made life miserable for them become not only quite reconciled to existence, sleep better and eat better, but actually find some of their first real satisfaction in life as the result of discovering that they could visit the orthopedic ward of a hospital regularly, tell stories to the crippled children and bring them little toys, help to make easter and the fourth of july and thanksgiving day and christmas and new year's happier for them. i have known women who thought after some serious domestic affliction that they could never be happy again, to find, if not happiness, at least satisfaction in life after they had visited a cancer home regularly for some time and had seen with what cheerfulness patients could face the inevitably fatal affection which they knew was gradually sapping life and carrying them day by day into the shadow of death. no therapeusis that i know is so valuable for the stony grief without tears that some women exhibit after a great loss as the ward for crippled children or some regular visiting of incurable patients. {92} to visit and ransom the captives, that is, to visit prisoners and help them in any way possible, is a work of mercy that comparatively few people in our day seem to think they are under any obligations to do merely because they are christians. they took this duty very seriously in the older time, however, and the result was excellent for the prisoners as well as for those who visited them. when condemned to serve a sentence and then left to wear out prison existence for years as best he can, seeing only his fellow prisoners and his keepers, a prisoner is very likely to grow bitter. in not a few of the prisoners, health of body and even of mind gives way under these hard conditions. if the prisoners were visited at definite intervals by some one willing to listen a little patiently to their story, for there is always another side to every story--even though the other side may not be very true--and who would occasionally bring them little things like tobacco as a solace or reading matter to occupy idle hours, and who would promise to interest himself in securing any favors that were possible and to see that they were given advantage of every benefit allowed them by the law, they would have less of the feeling that they were outcasts of society. it is because the corporal works of mercy as representing serious christian duties somehow have come to be neglected that we have had this rather disturbing social problem of the bitter-minded prisoner so likely to get into prison again thrust upon us. but it is also because of the lack of such a fine human interest as is afforded by contact with prisoners who show some hope of reform that many an overoccupied business man suffers from such profound weariness of life that rest cures and special vacations have to be prescribed for him. {93} i once had a bachelor friend whom i had known for many years come to me as a patient, and though he had been a model of common sense, whom i had been accustomed to think of as utterly without nerves, i was surprised to find how many neurotic symptoms were gradually developing in him. he had lost his sister who had made a home life and a heart interest for him, and he had no near relatives; he had nothing but his business to occupy him; he had no hobby and no interest in that direction that seemed likely to develop, and i wondered what i should advise him to occupy himself with to keep him from getting further on his own nerves. he had an extremely important and correspondingly difficult position involving the carrying of a heavy burden of responsibility for a great many rather complex details of a huge business. a chance remark of his own in pity for a young fellow whom his corporation had found cheating and had felt itself compelled to prosecute--for example's sake--led me to suggest the visiting of prisoners. for years that man spent several hours on two or three sundays of every month visiting the prisoners of a large city. he gathered around him a group of men who found a good deal of satisfaction in that work. he himself began to sleep better and wiped off the slate of life a series of dreads and obsessions that he was beginning to foster. men often talk of "the blue devils" getting hold of them, but it is often just a case of the devil finding work not for idle hands but for idle hearts. especially at christmas and easter he used to have as good a time, in the best sense of that expression, with his "little brothers" of the prison as any father and mother ever had with a house full of children. he once told me some of his experiences in a way that revealed his tactfulness in the {94} handling of these sensitive fellow mortals that was one of the most interesting revelations of the christian gentleman i think i have ever had given me. to harbor the harborless as a work of mercy, when stated in this form, seemed to me as a child, when i learned it in the catechism, some wonderful exhibition of charity for shipwrecked mariners. i could not help but think that it must be harborless sailors who needed to be harbored. stories of even two or three generations ago here in america show how seriously this christian duty of the old-fashioned words was taken. there are still many country places, in the mountains of kentucky and tennessee particularly, where a family will take in a stranger for the night if he happens to be in their neighborhood. they will give him his supper and breakfast too--or they would a few years ago--and likely would be insulted if he offered to pay for them. they have performed a simple duty of hospitality which comes down to them by tradition from the older time. a man who is still alive told me that when he was young, and two or three of his brothers slept in the bed with him, occasionally they would find, when they woke in the morning, that father had taken in a stranger during the night, and since there was no other place for him than the children's big bed on the floor, the children had been crowded over and room had been made for him with them. this happened not in the south, but in pennsylvania. i know that my old grandmother long ago, living in a one-roomed house with an attic, used to take in the "greenhorns" from ireland in this manner and give the men shelter and food until they could get a job; and give the girls who came a lodging and a chance to learn something about plain american cooking and the care {95} of a house until they would be ready to take a place in service. almost needless to say, this exercise of hospitality proved a very interesting diversion for people whose lives were rather monotonous. i feel sure that it must have meant much for the relief of that dissatisfaction with life because it lacks variety which is so often the first symptom of a neurosis. the stranger brought the news from a distance; the "greenhorns" brought news from ireland, and many things were talked over while they ate their meals or sat around the fire in the evening, and it proved real entertainment. this was not the motive for which the charity was offered, for that was, as a rule, as christian as it could be, but it represented that reward which is so often--it cannot but be divinely--attached to a good deed and which brings so much satisfaction with it. our entertainment of guests, as a rule, is very different. above all it entails no personal effort. even when people are invited to dinner nowadays, hostesses seem to consider it necessary to ask somebody to entertain them, for if they should be permitted to entertain themselves or be asked to make an effort to make their own conversation entertaining, they would probably be almost bored to death. is it any wonder that our fulfilment of so-called social duties often proves nerve-racking and a season of it must be followed by a rest cure while old-fashioned hospitality did good to the doer and the recipient? ours is the selfish striving of social aspirations; theirs was an exercise of real charity, an external expression of the dearness of fellow mortals. above all, the presence in a household of an occasional guest who is not a relative is good for family life. it {96} relieves the monotony, often relaxes domestic tension, gives a new zest to living and cements personal friendships. to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty and to clothe the naked were, in the christian ritual of corporal works of mercy, not obligations to be accomplished by writing one's name on a piece of bank paper and passing it over to a social service society of some kind, nor by handing a few bills to some almoner who distributes condescendingly your dole to the poor. some one has very well said that the only action calling for any reward in such activities is the effort required to write one's signature or reach into the pocket for the money. the rest of the transaction is only a matter of debit and credit on a bank balance and makes practically no difference in most cases to the individual who gives it. the most compelling motive for charity in our time is that you might as well give up to fifteen per cent of your income, for if you do not the government will take it anyhow. so have the satisfaction of getting ahead of uncle sam. charity in the older time was thought to be actual, personal work for others. it is this personal service which carries its reward with it, often by provision of needed physical exercise, always by happy occupation of mind, affording the opportunity for the satisfaction of heart impulses with the many other personal reactions which enter into true charity. religious teaching furnishes an abundance of examples of even kings and queens and the higher nobility and of wealthy merchants and their wives who devoted themselves to personal service in the performance of these works of mercy. st. louis of france, st. ferdinand of castille, st. catherine of siena, though she was only a dyer's daughter in this group of notabilities, {97} st. elizabeth of hungary, st. margaret of scotland and the good queen maud her daughter, dick whittington (of the cat), lord mayor of london and many others,--all these were held up as symbols of what people ought to do in the matter of personal service. there is often the feeling at the present time that when people give to charity it is not infrequently because they have heard some recent harrowing reports of the condition of the poor or have been brought in contact with some particularly pitiable case, and that the memory of these is likely to recur to them and intrude on their social satisfactions unless they can do something to make them feel that they have at least tried to fulfill their duty in the way of affording relief. a merchant on the way home from business who meets a beggar on the streets knows that as a rule, if he gives money, it will do harm rather than good, but he knows too that when he is comfortably seated after dinner before the fire, with his coffee and his cigar before him, if the thought of the beggar that he refused comes to him, it will make him uncomfortable. to give with the idea of avoiding such discomforts is, of course, not charity, but refined selfishness, and it is no wonder that it lacks the surpassing sense of satisfaction which helps so much in making life more full of the feeling of usefulness. this is not the charity that does as much good for the doer as for the receiver of it. in our time settlement work, neighborhood houses and the like have represented this personal service which religion in the older time listed under the various titles of the corporal works of mercy. many physicians have learned that young women particularly who had not very much to do, indeed perhaps no definite duties and yet {98} had an abundance of vital energy which had to be expended in some way, found very interesting and satisfying occupation of mind in connection with settlement work. above all they secured an opportunity for the exercise of the heart impulses, so natural to women, and which must almost as necessarily be expended on something as the physical energies which they develop every day must be employed in some sort of labor if they are not to be short-circuited and make them miserable. it is perfectly possible and even easy to pervert heart impulses which might be the source of good for self and others, into sexuality of various kinds, whether that be exhibited in philanderings with the male dancers employed by the hotels to make _thã©s dansants_ interesting for feminine youth--and also idle middle age--or in love affairs with the family chauffeur. they will find an issue some way almost inevitably. it may be that writing notes to the latest matinee idol or even letting one's feelings be properly harrowed up at performances of sex-problem plays may prove sufficient for a time, but something more will be demanded before long, and there must be something real to satisfy natural cravings. there is probably no better safeguard against the tendency of the young heart to overflow on unworthy objects than to give it the opportunity to exercise itself on unselfish aims which lead up to the fine satisfactions to be derived from helpfulness for others. settlement work and cognate personal activities have so organized the opportunity for this that young women do not have to travel in perilous neighborhoods except under such circumstances as reasonably assure their safety from insult or aggression of any kind. the charity that prompts occupation with such activities often leads to {99} a development of character, while at the same time affording such exercise of body and mind as greatly promotes that eminently desirable end,--the possession of a healthy mind in a healthy body. there is much discussion at the present time over sex dangers for young people, but it must not be forgotten that these are mainly due to the sexual incitements which we are fostering in the dance hall and the theater and the cabaret supper room, while the best possible corrective for sexual erethism is to be found in contact with some of the misery of the world. the remedy is at hand, but unfortunately it is not made use of as a rule, and we wonder why evils increase as selfishness becomes more rampant. john ruskin summed up the situation with regard to the young women of our time in his address on the mystery of life and its arts ("sesame and lilies"), in words that deserve to be in the notebook of every one who hopes to be able to help the young over some of the difficult parts of their path through life in our time. "you may see continually girls who have never been taught to do a single useful thing thoroughly; who cannot sew, who cannot cook, who cannot cast an account, nor prepare a medicine, whose whole life has been passed either in play or in pride; you will find girls like these, when they are earnest-hearted, cast all their innate passion of religious spirit, which was meant by god to support them through the irksomeness of daily toil, into grievous and vain meditation over the meaning of the great book, of which no syllable was ever yet to be understood but through a deed; all the instinctive wisdom and mercy of their womanhood made vain, and the glory of their pure consciences warped into fruitless agony concerning questions which the laws of common, serviceable life {100} would have either solved for them in an instant, or kept out of their way. give such a girl any true work that will make her active in the dawn and weary at night, with the consciousness that her fellow creatures have indeed been the better for her day, and the powerless sorrow of her enthusiasm will transform itself into a majesty of radiant and beneficent peace." the friendly visiting of the poor is an old-fashioned christian practice which had lapsed, unfortunately, until it was restored to some extent at least by the great work of frederick ozanam of paris. the conferences of st. vincent de paul organized by him in paris while he was professor of the university there about one hundred years ago had for their principal object the visitation of the poor, not so much for the purpose of giving them alms as of helping them with advice, making them feel that there are people interested in them, and giving them a new sense of human dignity; though also providing them with such necessaries as they might be in immediate want of and, above all, securing them occupations whenever they were needed. i have known many men who have developed a new and vigorous sense of life as a consequence of learning that they could be so useful to others as the ozanam organization permitted them to be. for a great many men some such escape from the sordid routine of daily business life is needed. this is particularly true when they have passed a little beyond middle age, which for me is not beyond fifty, as so many people seem to think, but thirty-five, the period indicated by dante in the first line of his "divine comedy" as marking the mid-point of existence. after forty, particularly, most men who take life seriously and do not merely try {101} to make money and kill the intervening time that hangs heavily on their hands in any way that they can, as a rule lose their interest in reading novels and do not care for the trivial plays of our time. they need diversion. they are not likely to get it at the opera unless they are very musically inclined. card-playing may prove an excellent diversion and one that personally i think ever so much better than the reading of trivial novels, but there are a great many men to whom it has no appeal. if they stay at home they are likely to fall asleep in their chairs over the evening paper or a current magazine, and nothing in the world makes one feel so uncomfortable or so spoils an evening as to go to sleep in that way. if they are particularly occupied with business affairs these may intrude themselves on their evening hours, but they very soon learn the lesson that it is dangerous to take business home with them. they need some serious occupation of mind quite different from what occupies them during the day. professional men find something of this in the meetings of professional societies, but they too need a heart interest, a sympathy interest for their fellow man quite as well as the women. many of them find it with their children as these grow up around them, and family life will help very much. but as the children grow older and have their own interests in the evenings, father is more and more likely to be left by himself, and then he needs something that will occupy him in some broad, human way. a good hobby of any kind would be a saving grace, but hobbies, to be effective, should be cultivated from early in life. one cannot be created easily at need after forty. for such men friendly visiting of the poor, for it is only in the evenings that the man of the house can be {102} seen, since he is always at work during the day, will often prove a most valuable resource. in a number of instances i have suggested to men who were beginning to get on their own nerves that they interest themselves in this way and have been rather well satisfied with the results when they took the advice seriously. in a few cases i have seen really wonderful results when it seemed almost inevitable that men were drifting into dangerous neurotic conditions because they were living lives too narrow in their interests and above all so self-centered that they were dwelling on slight discomforts and exaggerating them into symptoms of disease. contact with the suffering that one sees among the city poor is a wonderful remedy for neurotic tendencies to make too much of one's own feelings, for the poor almost as a rule face the real ills of life with a simplicity and a courage that inevitably causes any one who is brought close to them to admire them and to feel that his own trials are trifles compared to what these people undergo with very little whimpering. there is another phase of charity, probably unintentional in its activity and almost unconscious, that is extremely interesting and has a very definite place in a discussion of health and religion. some men who have made a success in life far beyond their neighbors have preferred to continue dwelling in their old home rather than move into the quarter of the city to which their changed circumstances would have permitted them to go. such families represent the very best possible kind of settlements in the poorer quarters of the city and help more than anything else to keep a neighborhood from running down in such a way as to make life harder for the poor who dwell there. the old walled cities are often {103} said to have been almost intolerably unhealthy because of the inevitable crowding of the population which they compelled, and undoubtedly they were a fruitful source of disease and ills of many kinds for the population; and yet it is doubtful whether any old-time city was ever so insanitary as the slums of our modern crowded cities were a generation ago or are even in many places at the present time. there was one feature of the old cities whose obliteration one cannot help but regret. the better-to-do families often lived on the front part of a city lot while the less well-to-do, often indeed the men who worked for the proprietor of the house in front, lived on the back of it. this was true particularly in many foreign cities and continued until a few generations ago. this arrangement kept the conditions of living, so far as regards the middle class of the poor, from being so markedly indifferent as they are at the present time. those who lived in the rear knew all the happenings, the births and deaths among their employers, while the family in the front took an interest in the events, the births and deaths and illnesses in the families in the rear. this proved to be valuable for social reasons, and it kept conditions of health among the poor from degenerating in anything like the way that has happened in modern times. the mutual personal interests did a great deal more to make life more satisfactory and more full of good feeling than the relationships of classes to each other do in our time, and this reacted to make a state of mind much more conducive to health than would otherwise have been the case. such associations would seem to be almost impossible in modern days, and yet the late mr. thomas mulry, {104} president of the immigrants savings bank, at a time when, i believe, it was the largest savings bank in the world, continued to live down among the poorer folk to whom so much of his life was devoted for years after families of his standing in the financial world had long moved out. our present governor of new york has declared his intention of continuing his residence among his friends in the old seventh ward, and undoubtedly his presence there will mean much not only for the health of those around him, but also for the health of his family because of the simple life which is so likely to be perpetuated in these surroundings. for such social work as this, religious motives are probably the most efficient impulses. nothing is quite so direct a denial of the brotherhood of man that religion teaches as the tendency for people to move away from old neighbors into the better quarters of the cities just as soon as they are any way able. such reasoning may seem idealistic and impractical, but then religion is the typically ideal and impractical thing in life which teaches that self-advantage is not so important as advantage for all those around one, and that man's principal duty in life is to love his neighbor as himself. how often has it happened that the building of the new house in a new neighborhood proves the last straw which serves to make an end of the good health and heartiness of life which the head of the family had enjoyed up to this time. the new habits that are necessitated, the interference with the active life which had been customary up to this time and above all the more luxurious living, very often with less exercise, which come under the new conditions bring about deterioration of health. the move is made for the sake of the {105} young people, but it takes the old folks out of the precious, simple habits of a life-time which meant much for the preservation of health, so that it is no wonder that many a physician has had a patient whose breakdown in health followed not long after the move to a new and handsome house that carried people away from their old associations and their old neighbors and left them without those heart resources which are so important for the preservation of a healthy mind in a healthy body. it is men, not things, that count in life, though that lesson is hard for many to learn. for a while, toward the end of the nineteenth century, owing to a misunderstanding of the significance of the struggle for existence, there came to be the feeling that sympathy and helpfulness for others was somehow contrary to modern scientific principles and that it represented at best a sentimentality that could scarcely hope to be effective and was indeed sure to fail in the long run because it was in opposition, though to but a very slight degree, to nature's inevitable elimination of the weak. further investigations in biology, however, have revealed the fact that while the struggle for existence is an important factor in whatever evolution takes place, mutual aid is another factor of scarcely less importance in general and of supreme significance within the species. while one species preys on another, the members of the same species usually possess certain deep-seated instincts of helpfulness. only at times when there is famine or when a mother is seeking food for her young do members of the same species seriously interfere with each other's activities, or injure each other, while a great many of them have mutually helpful instincts that are extremely precious for personal as well as generic developments. {106} the smaller living things, as the insects, dwell together in communities and perform their duties constantly with the community benefit rather than personal satisfaction in view. it might be said perhaps that these small creatures would have to be gifted in some such way to secure their preservation in the struggle for existence and their defense against their enemies. the larger animals, however, have the same helpful instincts. wild horses run in droves and when attacked by a pack of wolves--the wolves hunting in packs because they can thus secure their prey better--the horses gather in a circle with their heads facing in and the young foals and the mares in the center, and only a battery of heels is presented to the attackers. even such large animals as elephants travel in herds, with the huge bull elephants on the outskirts of the herd ready to hurl back any of the big cats, the lions or tigers who might spring to get one of those toothsome morsels, a baby elephant, traveling with its mother near the center of the herd. smaller animals live in villages and groups of various kinds, and those of the same species are often helpful to each other in many ways. manifestly the great law of charity in a certain basic way at least pervades all nature. nature may be "red in tooth and claw", but brother animals very often have by instinct a fellow feeling that is a factor in the preservation of the race. the idea that the discovery of the struggle for existence and the preservation of favorite races in that way has in any fashion neutralized the law of charity is entirely a mistake. men in their selfishness have occasionally asserted this, and above all those who felt uncomfortable because their own selfish successes were, as they could plainly see, causing a great deal of discomfort and sometimes the ruin of others. it was {107} once suggested that when the nurseryman wants to grow specially beautiful american beauty roses he is careful to eliminate all except a few buds, so that these may have an opportunity to grow to the greatest possible perfection, and that this same policy pursued in human affairs led to the production of such great institutions as the standard oil company. this was a particularly odorous comparison; it was made some twenty years ago. almost needless to say every one sees the absurdity of it now, though at that time there were not a few who thought that the biological principle of the struggle for existence justified even the hurting of rivals in order to secure success. the great war completed the elimination of such ideas. it was undertaken with the thought that any nation or people who could dominate the world was bound to do so, because that was manifest destiny for the benefit of the race. just as it took our civil war to end the defense of slavery in the united states, so it has taken the great war to end such pretensions and bring out the fact that mutual aid, and above all charity undertaken out of real love for others through a divine motive must be the rule for men, while its symbol, mutual aid among the members of the various species, constitutes an important element for the preservation of the various races and the working out of the great laws that underlie all nature. we in our generation were the inheritors of a philosophy of life which, for a time in what has now come to be called the "silly seventies", people thought could do away entirely with the necessity for a creator and with the idea of a providence because it seemed to them as though the suffering in the world around them contravened _their_ notion of an all-wise power capable of {108} relieving suffering and yet not doing so. the doctrine of the survival of the fittest seemed to many a demonstration that victory was to the strongest or to the swiftest, and that the rest must simply go to the wall or lag behind in the race of life. the doctrine of the superman seemed to be the very latest discovery of science, but now, after having fought a great war to overthrow that doctrine, the world is much readier to go back and take up the thread of the philosophy of the race before the theory of the struggle for existence came to figure so largely in it. we have come to realize that everywhere in nature there is a great law of mutual aid within its species impressed upon all living things, and this is even more applicable to the human species than to those of the lower orders. {109} chapter v fasting and abstinence practically all religions have enjoined fasting as a part of their practice, either as a sacrifice made to higher powers or a recognition of the fact that occasional voluntary abstinence from food gave man a power of control over himself which represented a real religious gain in his relations with the deity. we have heard not a little in modern times of the evils to health consequent upon the abuse of fasting and of the limitation of food generally. appetite must rule the quantity to be eaten, and this must not be interfered with by religious motives or health will suffer. undoubtedly imprudent fasting, like the abuse of anything else, no matter how good in itself, has done no little harm. so much has been said, however, of the hysterical and neurotic conditions which resulted in women particularly, who out of an exaggerated sense of piety ate less than was necessary to support their bodies properly, that a rather violent prejudice has been created in many minds with regard to fasting as if it were an old-fashioned superstitious practice which our progress in knowledge and in the proper understanding of man, and his relations to the higher powers had enabled us to see the foolishness of and do away with for good and all. careful observations made in the course of the advance of modern scientific medicine have, however, made it {110} very clear that periodical abstinences from food, or at least certain foods, especially among people who are accustomed to eat rather heartily, instead of being in any way a detriment to health, are practically always a distinct hygienic advantage. physicians are not likely to take seriously such expressions as that most people dig their graves with their teeth or that eating too much is the bane of the race, but they appreciate very well that there are a great many people, especially among the better-to-do classes, who eat more than is good for them. it is just the people who have least exercise and need the least food who are tempted by the variety and tastiness of modern food to eat too much. any practice that would limit this would undoubtedly be good. fasting and abstinence, because periodic, would be especially valuable, for they are likely to do less harm than any continued limitation of food. the one phase of modern sanitation and hygiene, as made clear from the mortality records of the departments of health of our cities, that has been seriously disturbing in recent years, has been the increase in mortality among people above the age of fifty. we have been very properly proud of the fact that we have reduced municipal death rates and made the average length of life much longer than it used to be. we have done this, however, by saving more young children and by greatly lessening the infectious diseases among young adults, but the deaths from apoplexy, bright's disease and heart disease, just when life is at its most valuable stage, have increased and not diminished. the tendencies to these serious degenerative diseases are due, it is well understood, ever so much more to overeating than to undereating. this is particularly true as regards the overeating of meat and other foods {111} rich in proteid materials which have been the special subject of religious fasting regulation. religion then, by inculcating the practice of fasting and abstinence from flesh meat at certain times, has conferred a great benefit on the race. one fish day in the week, for instance, all the year round, has in the minds of a great many physicians given nearly as much rest to the digestive tract and certain of the more delicate metabolic processes of the body as sunday freedom from labor has given to the mind and the body generally. the fact that a large part of our population will eat no meat on friday and must have fish leads to a commercial provision of fresh fish on that day in the week, of which practically all the community, including those who feel no religious obligation in the matter, takes advantage. abstinence from meat, however, is quite a different thing from fasting, and friday is a day of abstinence and not of fast. the fast days come at certain periods of the year, as in advent and lent, and certain days which are specially designated. the keeping of lent, during which for forty days people are expected to eat one third less than they have been accustomed to, is a very valuable institution. i am not one of those who think, that everybody eats too much and who like to be constantly insisting that people are destroying their lives by overeating, but i know very well that considerably more than half of humanity eat more than is good for them. i know, too, that about one fourth of humanity does not eat enough for its own good, and that unfortunately a good many of these are taking the warnings with regard to eating to heart, though those who need them most are neglecting them. practically everybody who is overweight is eating too much and exercising too little. a {112} good many people who are underweight are eating too little. considerably more than one half of adult mankind, however, would be benefited by keeping rather strictly the regulations for the lenten season. the fact that the sundays are not in lent and that good, hearty meals can be eaten on that day gives assurance that people are not likely to be hurt by the fast. i think that most of the physicians of the world would agree that the great majority of men and women would be benefited by the rest and change which their metabolic processes receive as a result of limitation of eating, and the observance of ecclesiastical regulations as to the modification of food. the reduction in meat eating and the production to some extent of a taste for the white rather than the dark foods generally, for butter and eggs and creamed vegetables rather than the meat soups and meat sauces and the dark, heavy meats, so rich in the irritative extractives, is undoubtedly of distinct hygienic advantage. of late years particularly, probably much more meat than is good for people has been eaten. the better-to-do classes have gradually come to the fashion of removing the fat, cutting off all the connective tissue portions of their meat and serving it or eating it in solid muscular masses, which is neither conducive to good digestion and elimination nor to the proper building up of the body. too many irritant materials are thus consumed, and it is no wonder that that properly dreaded disease, arterio-sclerosis, the hardening of the arteries, representing premature lessening of the elasticity of the tubes which convey the blood on which vital processes depend to so great a degree, has begun to be much more frequent than it used to be. there is agreement among physicians that {113} a rich meat diet has much to do with this and that excessive meat eating is a growing evil in our time. only religion could accomplish a change in this tendency, for there is an allurement about meat which grows as more of it is taken. this can be noticed in children very readily, and human habits in civilized countries have unfortunately followed a direction in this matter that requires some profound influence to modify them. not that meat is of itself a deleterious substance, nor one that should not be eaten, for there is no reason in nature for vegetarianism; but excess in eating it, like excess in anything else, may do serious harm. nature, and when we use the word we mean nature's god, set an index that is infallible as to the variety of our diet when we were given cutting and tearing as well as grinding teeth. the presence of both these varieties of teeth, though the meat-eating animals have only the incisors and canines, while the plant-eating animals have only the molars or grinders, makes it clear beyond all doubt that human beings were meant to eat meat, but in this, as in everything else, excess must be avoided, and if it is not serious consequences follow. a great many are inclined to think of abstinence as representing abstinence from food alone, but it must not be forgotten that as understood in connection with religion it represents abstinence from all the harmful things. for instance, it represents abstinence from sleep when that is being taken to excess, and as a rule any healthy human being above the age of twenty and under sixty who sleeps more than eight hours in the day needs to practice such abstinence. there is literally such a thing as oversleeping and thus accumulating more energy than one has use for. the surplus energy is then used up {114} within the individual to the disturbance of functions of various kinds. many a woman who has no children and who lives in an apartment hotel and has no duties that she has to get up for eats breakfast in bed, and does not rise until after eleven o'clock, after having gone to bed the night before sometime around midnight, and then wonders why she feels so miserable. nothing would do her more good than to be out a little after eight in the morning briskly walking somewhere with the idea of helping some one else. she needs to practice abstinence of a very definite kind. then there are others who abstain too much from exercise. whenever they go out they ride either in a trolley car or in a machine; the idea of walking a mile is disturbing to them and walking three or four miles seems utterly out of the question. some of them are gaining in weight and are already overweight; they are wondering why they cannot bring themselves down and perhaps they are practicing abstinence of all kinds for that purpose. the famous english statesman. lord palmerston, who lived in good health to be a very old man and was for sixty years very prominent in english politics, was well known for the amount of exercise that he took. his maxim with regard to it should be very well known. he said, "every other abstinence will not make up for abstinence from exercise." there are a great many people who are abstaining too much from exercise and need to abstain from rest. if they would do so for religious motives, and there are a number of people who keep themselves going when they are tired by these motives, they would not only accomplish a very great deal for their health, but they would at the same time make their religion mean ever so much more in a practical way in life. {115} the religious custom of setting a day of fasting before a feast day and of introducing three ember days before some of the larger feasts and at certain seasons of the year when, owing to the abundance of food provided for the day of rejoicing, people are likely to overeat, has been extremely beneficial as a simple matter of health conservation and prophylaxis against the effects of overeating. it has always been the custom to provide better and ampler meals on the feast days and if these are prepared for by a day of fasting, when one third less at least than usual is eaten, the stomach and digestive tract generally come to the full table much more ready for the feast. an old medical friend once suggested that the only things in the world worth while considering in matters of health are contrast and microbes. from the fast to the feast one gets the contrast and the variety in life distinctly makes for better resistance against microbic invasion. the church believes in the satisfaction of reasonable appetites and encourages the feast days and their celebration by a larger provision of good things, but conserves health and disciplines the moral character at the same time by inserting the fast days before them. the occurrence of feast days at regular intervals so that a special gratification of the appetite is looked forward to has been declared by most physicians who have considered the subject to be an excellent thing for health. monotony of diet begets sluggish digestion. in some very serious diseases, as for instance occasionally in bright's disease and rather more frequently in diabetes, fasting periods of short duration have been found particularly valuable as therapeutic measures. in certain forms of digestive disease fasting is also a valuable adjuvant, though it needs to be used under the {116} direction of a physician, for people who prescribe their own fasting often fail to realize that they may weaken their digestive organs rather seriously by the process. the stomach has a very good habit of passing on to the other organs the nutritious materials that come to it and will sometimes drain itself of necessary nutrition in following out this good habit in this matter. people who are overweight particularly are often benefited by a fasting period, though here too care must be exercised. ecclesiastical regulations which have introduced fasting at intervals, but with proper interruptions on sundays, even when there is a prolonged period of fasting, have certainly been beneficial to mankind. the loosening of the bonds of religion in modern times and the very general persuasion that somehow we are not capable of standing such abstinence from food as was insisted upon for the people of long ago are almost surely mistakes. all the nations of the world found during the war that their men could stand a great deal more than either they themselves or any one else thought they could. the soldiers taken out of the comforts of our cities lived in uncovered ditches in the open fields winter and summer, spring and fall, rain or shine, hail or snow, often with wet feet and clothes frozen upon them, with coarse food and not too much of it, taken at irregular intervals often in cold and unappetizing form, with interrupted sleep amid war's alarms and yet they actually came out of it in better health than they were before. we hear much of hurting human nature by deprivations, but it seems very probable that the old-fashioned habits of religious discipline with even fasting rigorously enforced, for all who are in normal health, would do good rather than harm. not only could men stand them, though so {117} many fear they could not, but they would be actually benefited by them. nothing is so relaxing to the physical fiber of mankind as overindulgence, especially if continued persistently. undoubtedly the old-fashioned ecclesiastical regulations would do good to the moral as well as the physical side of man and also to his mental power. an over-abundance of food sets up irritations of many kinds which make people restive in mind and body and adds fuel to passion. the expression in the scripture is "my beloved waxed fat and kicked." the people who kick over the traces of the ordinary rules of conduct in life are much oftener well fed than underfed. i refer, of course, to the sins against self and others rather than to the sins against property. fasting was always recognized as an extremely valuable adjunct in helping in the control of the passions. the practice of it made a man much more capable of controlling himself. the passions are all serious for health when permitted to get beyond bounds. many a case of indigestion is dependent on that irritability of temper which so often develops in good feeders and then proceeds to form a vicious circle of influence, perpetuating itself. irritability of tissues is often in direct ratio to irritability of temper, and not a few men owe both conditions to overindulgence in the pleasures of the table and failure to acquire, to some extent at least, such habits of self-control as the practice of fasting at intervals would help them to secure. the bodily passions, especially those related to sex, are particularly likely to be influenced by overeating and to be brought under subjection by fasting, while at the same time the practice of this gives strength to the will in overcoming appetites which is a very valuable auxiliary {118} for self-denial and self-control. all the authorities in the spiritual life, that is to say, to use a modern way of putting it, all the students of psychology in the olden time who devoted themselves to finding out how man could best regulate his instincts and train his will to self-control are agreed in declaring fasting particularly valuable for the proper regulation of certain very natural physical tendencies that may readily prove the source of serious temptations involving danger to health as well as to morals. if fasting had done nothing else in the olden time but help men to control tendencies to sexual excess, religion, by its encouragement of the practice, would be a great creditor to health. one of the reasons why young folks, particularly nowadays, find it so hard and indeed some of them seem to think almost impossible--to control their sexual impulses, is that they have had no practice in building up habits of control of bodily appetites and no exercise of their will power to help them to suppress the natural tendencies, whenever these threaten their own good or that of those around them. perhaps modern hygiene may in the course of time find it advisable to reintroduce days of abstinence from certain foods and definite periods of fasting into the year for the sake of their mere physical benefit, just as holidays have been reintroduced in the last generation or so to replace the lost holydays of the older time. there are undoubtedly corresponding benefits for humanity in both movements. some of these have been indicated more in detail in the chapters on purity, mortification and suffering, so that the specific benefits of the practice of self-denial with regard to food and drink which religion has always encouraged may be seen in them. religion {119} has always counseled plain food for growing young folks, pointing out the dangers particularly of overeating, feeding the sex impulses, or at least making them extremely difficult to repress. this is particularly true as regards the richer foods specially prepared with condiments that tempt the appetite and lead to the accumulation of heat-forming materials for which there is no natural outlet except hard physical exercise. sugar and the sweets generally are particularly undesirable in this respect, hence the benefit of the pious practice which makes many young folks abstain from candy during lent. {120} chapter vi holydays and holidays if religion had done nothing else for mankind than insert holydays into the year, which came to be holidays in the best sense of the word, the health of mankind would have a great deal for which to thank it. humanity is deeply indebted for the breaks in the routine of labor which came as the result of the institution of church holydays of various kinds and especially for the sundays. that every seventh day man should be free from labor was indeed a blessing. how few there are who realize that the sundays, taken together, fifty-two of them, make seven weeks and a half of vacation in the year. seven weeks of continuous vacation are usually too much for most people to enjoy properly; so long an interval palls on them. coming once a week, however, the sundays are probably the most wonderful aid to health and the conservation of strength and the keeping of people in good condition that we have. one of the things for which we find it hardest to forgive the french revolution is that when men tried to rule themselves by what they thought was pure reason, they changed the observance of sunday every seventh day into a day of rest every tenth day. there seems to have been no other reason for that except that the french were introducing the decimal system, and ten seemed to be {121} the number that appealed to them. perhaps there was the feeling that seven was a sort of mystical number often mentioned in the scriptures and deeply connected with religion. their thoroughgoing reaction against the mystical made them reject it. seven is, however, a much better number on which to regulate the day of rest than ten, and the seventh day has been extremely valuable for mankind. practically every one who has thought about the subject has recognized this, and yet it usually needs to be called particularly to their attention to have people generally appreciate it properly. mr. gladstone once emphasized the great benefits which he himself had derived from it and which he felt ought to be accorded to every workingman. "believing in the authority of the lord's day as a religious institution, i must, as a matter of course, desire the recognition of that authority by others. but, over and above this, i have myself, in the course of a laborious life, signally experienced both its mental and its physical benefits. i can hardly overstate its value in this view; and for the interest of the working-men of this country, alike in these and other yet higher respects, there is nothing i more anxiously desire than that they should more and more highly appreciate the christian day of rest." macaulay, the well-known english historian and essayist, emphasized particularly the fact that the rest of sunday, instead of proving a detriment to mankind, was actually an advantage. during the war the british had to learn that lesson over again. men and women in munition factories were at the beginning, owing to the high wages, but with the full approval of the government {122} authorities, encouraged to labor in the factories on sunday as well as on other days in the week. it was very soon found, however, that continuous labor, instead of enabling the operatives to keep up a greater production than before, was soon followed by a diminution in the power of production which sadly reduced the output. the restoration of the sunday rest was promptly followed by an increased output, for nature seems to need such a rest, or after a while there comes a lassitude and relaxation of muscular power which actually prevents men and women from accomplishing their tasks with anything like the energy that they have under a regime of six working days followed by a day of rest. only the most menial of routine labor, requiring no thought for its accomplishment, can be kept up without definite days of rest for relief and recuperation of forces. macaulay declared: "we are not poorer but richer because we have, through many ages, rested from our labour one day in seven. that day is not lost. while industry is suspended, while the plough lies in the furrow, while the exchange is silent, while no smoke ascends from the factory, a process is going on quite as important to the wealth of the nation as any process which is performed on more busy days. man, the machine of machines--the machine compared with which all the contrivances of the watts and arkwrights are worthless--is repairing and winding-up, so that he returns to his labours on the monday with clearer intellect, with livelier spirits, with renewed corporeal vigour." during the ages when organized religion had the power to regulate human life much more than it has at the present time, there were many more days of rest than the sundays. it is surprising now to find how many days {123} in the year there were on which the church forbade servile labor. all the holydays of obligation, so-called, were days of rest. from the very earliest time in christianity there were at least two dozen of these in the year. the feast days of the twelve apostles, for instance, were twelve holydays of obligation with no work, and then there were of course nearly another dozen important celebrations in honor of the lord. christmas, and new year, the annunciation on march 25, holy thursday, good friday and usually two or three days in easter week, whitmonday and, as time went on, certain feast days in honor of the mother of the lord were added and then certain local saints' days in particular regions, as for instance the patron saint of the church of the place and often of the country. all together there were some thirty of these holydays of obligation, that is one extra day every two weeks and a little more than that was a holiday, on which no work was done. as the vigils of all first-class feasts were free from labor after the vesper hour, two in the afternoon, and as no work was done on saturday afternoons after the same hour, there were actually well above one hundred days in the year free from labor. one of the awful things that happened in the social order in modern history was the obliteration of these holydays shortly after the reformation. we are engaged, now that we have waked up to the necessity of working people having days of recreation, in putting the holidays back into the year. we in this country have lincoln's day, washington's birthday, decoration day, independence day, labor day, and in most of the states columbus day, election day, and thanksgiving day as well as christmas and new year. in england, in {124} order to make up for some of the holidays that have been lost, or rather so unwarrantably taken away from the working classes, they put in the bank holidays four times in the year, having them occur on monday always, so that from saturday afternoon until tuesday morning people are free from the obligation of laboring. we know now how wise, from a human and merely natural as well as the divine and spiritual aspect was the insertion of holydays in the year. we must have more holidays; there should be at least one every month, and the old custom of having at least one every two weeks would be much better. there are not a few people, especially in our strenuous time, deeply intent on human productiveness rather than on human life and happiness, who seem inclined to think that so many holidays in the year sadly hamper the power of humanity to get things done and, therefore, represent a very serious waste of time. those who think that, however, are usually in quest of some personal advantage of some very sordid kind and are not interested in the real achievements of humanity. after all, human accomplishment, like personal advance, depends not on how much we get done but how well it is done. it is not from extremely tired, overwrought mortals, whose physical forces are always in tension because of the almost continuous strain to which they are subjected that we can ever expect to get any products that are really worth while. slave labor may be exploited thus, and it is possible to build barracks and railroads and even pyramids in this way, but to erect structures of any noble kind which comprise in material form beautiful expressions of the artistic feelings of mankind, there can be no rush of tired human beings, but time must be taken. {125} the late mr. standish o'grady of dublin, to whom probably more than to any one else is due the modern revival in irish literature which has been such an incentive for better poetry throughout the english-speaking world, once discussed this question of the achievement of mankind when men are released from the obligation of continuous labor and are free to think and have the opportunity to invite their souls and be inspired to higher things. it was at a dinner here in america, and he was remarking the fact that every one whom he met over here in this country was busy, _busy_, busy! they did not apologize for the fact, as a rule, but on the contrary seemed to be proud of it and to think that it must be the normal state of man to be so occupied with what he was about that he was ever deeply intent on it. he reminded his american audience that leisure was the foster-mother of nearly everything that mankind had ever done that was worth while, for the worth-while things must have thought in them, and thought requires time and leisure for its fulfillment. mr. o'grady recalled the fact that twice in the world's history when men accomplished results so great that the world will never willingly let die the monuments then created, the most important feature of life was its leisure. actually one third of the time of the men of greece in the periclean period, that golden age of achievement, was spent in the preparation for and the celebration of religious mysteries. their greatest architectural monuments were their temples; their finest sculptures were the figures of the gods and goddesses, but what is not usually realized is that their literature was the product of the leisure afforded for competitions in their great religious festivals, and their painting had a similar origin. the {126} greeks, like the medieval christians, had a great many feast days during the year, and on these they held games and contests of various kinds, not only athletic but poetic, dramatic and literary of all kinds, for herodotus read his great history before the assembled multitude in the celebration of a religious festival at athens and was awarded a prize equivalent very probably to ten thousand dollars in our time. what was true of the greeks was true also, as has been said, of the middle ages. the generations which made the great gothic cathedrals which we have come to look upon as such triumphs of construction, which built the magnificent abbeys and town halls and hospitals of the later middle ages, enduring monuments of their genius in construction, spent one third of their time in the celebration of and the preparation for religious festivals. twice in the history of the world, once in the later middle ages and in the older days in greece, dramatic literature originated anew in religious mystery and morality plays. the men who gave us magna charta and all the great charters of liberties that lie at the basis of modern rights and privileges in practically every country in europe had the time to think out the solutions of their problems in the leisure afforded by the fifty-two sundays and thirty holydays of obligation which they were accustomed to celebrate. the undying literature of the thirteenth century, the cid in spain, the arthurian legends in england, the nibelungen in germany and dante all came at a time when men set apart days for religious meditation and a contemplation of higher things than the sordid concerns of everyday life. so far from one day of leisure in three interfering with human productivity in the best sense of that word, the {127} custom actually added to it. men who work continuously from day to day without intermission can make a quantity of trivial things, but they cannot make anything that would be enduringly interesting, for they have not the time. i have often said that i thought that the greatest expression in american literature is those famous words of thoreau as to the relation of time and money. the sage of walden found that by working about one half a day in the week he could support himself, and he used the rest of the time for the study of nature around him and for inviting his soul in the woods and along the streams. he feared that the business of making a living might keep him from really living. it is easy to understand that his thrifty yankee neighbors failed utterly to comprehend any such attitude toward what they conceived to be a workaday world. especially at harvest time when they needed help it seemed a shame to see thoreau wandering apparently lazily and aimlessly while they were working so hard and looking for workers whom they were willing to pay what they thought was very good wages. they stopped thoreau and offered him better pay than they were usually accustomed to offer, but thoreau replied very simply, "i have no time to make money." there seem to be a great many people in our day who apparently are of the opinion that the only reason for which time is given is to make money. the sundays and holydays, as arranged by the religious authorities, made excellent recreation days. after their morning spent in church, listening to a sermon by some favorite preacher, but having the eye and the ear and even the nose appealed to by the rest of the celebration, the people were then free for recreation. the old church had no puritanic scruples about people playing on the {128} sabbath; there were sports of various kinds on the green in front of the church and their parish priest might be the referee; neighboring parishes held contests in archery or at bowls or in what the irish call hurling and the english call shinney. at certain seasons the guilds offered prizes for these contests; the young were encouraged to go into training for them for weeks beforehand, and the prizes were conferred rather gloriously before all those whom the young folks most loved and respected. these church holidays were associated with various celebrations, such as may day, the feast of the innocents or fools; the beating of the bounds when in procession the parishioners on the rogation days walked round the various properties of the parish and asked the blessing of heaven on the crops; the carnival time when, before abuses crept in, the church encouraged the celebration that would mark the beginning of lent and make everybody ready to bid good-by to the pleasures of life for a while. then the various fairs and markets were usually so timed that they immediately followed some important festival day in the year and afforded people an opportunity for a little vacation and an outing in connection with the feast, while at the same time they were able to buy what they needed. above all, religion insisted that some part of these days of recreation, the holydays of the years, should be spent not merely for one's own selfish pleasure, but in bringing pleasure to others. it was suggested, for instance, that there could be no better occupation for a portion of christmas and easter or of some sunday afternoons than visiting the sick or prisoners or bringing consolation to those in need. kings and queens washed the feet of the poor on holy thursday, and there were {129} similar practices at other times in the ecclesiastical year. the people were encouraged to bury the dead reverently and then to keep their graves green and to visit them occasionally on the holydays as a sign that their memory had not faded, though also as a reminder of the fact that sometime they hoped to be with their dear friends in another world. this may seem a rather solemn occupation for recreation, but taken in the open air, while the children played around the graves and the old folks sat and tallied, it was ever so much better than that unconquerable tendency to crowd together in hot, dusty places which afflicts people on our holidays. the old graveyards represented the parks in even the smallest towns, and the inhabitants had a pride in keeping them in order and found a pleasure in visiting them occasionally. in the unfortunately crowded conditions in which they often lived, the only lungs for some of their villages were to be found in the churchyard. there was scarcely a town in this country two generations ago that had anything approaching a public park, except its cemetery. there is a constant tendency to encroach on the sunday rest for commercial and industrial reasons of one kind or another, and only religious influences have saved the sabbath for mankind. even as it is, the decadence of religion in many countries has led more and more to neglect of the sabbath-day rest, and in certain of the european countries particularly, sunday, instead of being a day of rest for the small tradesman, is sometimes his busiest day. here in this country religious influences were the only factors that kept the saloons more or less closed on sunday and kept the rest day from being an orgy of dissipation for many people. selfishness continues to encroach on the precious day of rest and various {130} forms of trade try to present some necessity for their being open on the sabbath. this has always been the way, and the religious sanction in the matter has been the most precious safeguard. at the present time, there are a good many stores open for a while or for the whole day on sunday for which it is hard to find any necessity. some of the fresh food and milk stores have a certain justification, but why tobacco stores should be open, seeing that their product will keep perfectly and that any man can rather easily lay in a store to carry him over a day at least, is indeed hard to understand. [footnote 5] [footnote 5: there are probably several hundred thousand men in this country who have to work on sunday because the tobacco stores are open. this is an abuse corresponding to that with regard to the saloon, which will almost surely bring about a reaction in the public mind against the traffic in tobacco generally.] another abuse of the public confidence is the opening of all drug stores on sunday. as a consequence hundreds of thousands of men are deprived of this day of rest in the week. drugs are extremely important and should of course be available at all hours, but there is no more reason for all the drug stores to be open every sunday than there is for all the drug stores to be open all night. certain drug stores should be open, but as st. antonius suggested five hundred years ago, there is no good reason why there should not be an arrangement by which the drug stores should be open in rotation on sundays, so that drugs would be always available and only the absolutely necessary articles needed for emergencies should be sold on that day. there is no reason at all why the modern department store annex of the large drug corporations which happens to have a small corner of its store space set off for the filling of prescriptions should {131} do business on sunday than for an immense department store to put in a prescription department and then sell goods all over the house because they have to keep their drug department open on sundays. only the religious element in life will save us from this commercial invasion, with the harm which it does in depriving so many people of their day of rest. the future of the sunday as a needed day of rest is dependent more on religion than on any other factor. the insidious selfish quest for money will find excuses for the violation of the day in one way or another. the institution and maintenance down the ages of the sabbath day of rest is a wonderful example of what religion can accomplish for man in the face of the corroding power of selfishness and is the best demonstration of its living influence for the bodily as well as the spiritual and mental health of mankind. {132} chapter vii recreation and dissipation as has been suggested in the last chapter on holydays and holidays, religious institutions have been the most effective organizers of recreations sane and safe for the mind as well as for the body of man, and recreation is one of the most important factors for the preservation of human health. the man who does not take the time for recreation and above all who does not know how to recreate is almost inevitably drifting toward a premature aging of tissues, or often is laying the foundation for an acute breakdown in health. recreation is an absolute need of humanity, adding to health, strength, efficiency, length of life, and power of accomplishment. instead of being a waste of time, it is a time saver and above all a saver of suffering, mental and physical, as the years roll on. dissipation is, however, the very opposite of recreation. what corresponds to these two words in human conduct is confounded in the minds of a great many people probably as often as the activities which respond to those other much abused words, liberty and license. recreation, as the etymology indicates so clearly, means the building up of energy, while dissipation signifies the scattering of it, usually to no purpose. it is extremely easy for what is meant to be recreation to become {133} dissipation, and religion has been the most important factor in life in controlling the tendency to dissipation which exists among men, not only from the moral but also from the intellectual aspect of life. religious motives have succeeded better than any other factors in lessening this tendency and securing such genuine recreation as would serve to rebuild men's minds and bodies after they had been more or less worn out from work, and at the same time tend to keep them from immorality and afford such relief from the strain of serious occupation as would provide real reconstruction for them. unfortunately in our time, just in proportion as religion has lost its hold on men, recreation has become largely a matter of dissipation of mind when not also dissipation of body. more and more barbaric or merely bodily modes of recreation are preoccupying the leisure time that men have outside of their regular occupations in life. it must not be forgotten that the way a man or a generation spends its leisure is the best possible index of the character of the man or the generation. it is the way that a man spends the time that he is free to use any way that he wishes which reveals what he is. it was a great philosopher who said, "tell me what a man does with his leisure, and i shall tell you what sort of a man he is." we all have to work a certain portion of our time, and often what we work at is not a matter of choice but necessity. what we do during our leisure, however, is dependent on ourselves and represents our tastes. the recreation of our time reveals that people are ever so much more interested in their bodies than they are in their minds and hearts and souls. very often the recreation of the older time consisted of hours spent with all the advantages of outdoor air, exercise, and fine {134} satisfaction of mind, perhaps in visiting the poor or the prisons or the hospitals, or in encouraging the sports of children, or in arranging for outings of various kinds in which the pleasantest of social intercourse between friends and neighbors was associated with such recreation of body as gave a good healthy weariness after a day's outing. more and more these old-fashioned modes of recreation are passing, and sophistication has brought in occupation of mind with a lot of unworthy things. instead of taking an active part in what is supposed to recreate them people must now be amused. whenever this happens and participants pay for the amusement, the character of the amusement degenerates because it must appeal to as great a number as possible. as a consequence, in our day recreation, especially for young folks who ought of course to be actively engaged in sport and not merely onlookers, consists in attendance at "shows" and games. the "shows" have an appeal merely to the senses, they have not an idea lost in them anywhere; the music is a caricature of real music founded on the fact--which the most primitive of savages have always discovered for themselves--that a rhythm appeals to men and gives them a certain bodily satisfaction, probably because of some ill-understood interaction with the heart beat. the main feature of appeal is really the sex element that enters into the show and produces feelings. the lyrics are, if that term for them were to be taken seriously, a crying shame, for the words of the songs usually mean absolutely nothing. the rule is to take certain words that rhyme, like kiss and bliss, and love and glove, and for the rest to talk about the moon and some sentimental twaddle. there is not a glimpse of poetry about them in any sense of the word. {135} the attendance at games of various kinds in which people watch other people exercise is a favorite occupation in our time, but it is only the shadow of recreation. it is usually associated with feelings aroused by the desire for one side to win, either because of betting or some other sentiment often entirely artificial. whenever anything occurs to disappoint the desire, there is likely to be an exhibition of some of the ugliest feelings of mankind. men invade the field, take up quarrels, and sometimes not only threaten but actually attempt bodily injury of the players and particularly of the umpire. probably nothing could be more unworthy as recreation for human beings than this passive interest in the exercise that other people take, and the elevation of the contests of paid professionals into something to occupy men's minds seriously and even arouse their feelings deeply. more and more bodily interests are drowning out higher interests, and prize fighting and wrestling command ever larger audiences, while the sums of money that are paid for such exhibitions grow in size, showing the importance of bodily interests to the general public. there is an old story of cimabue's madonna causing the stoppage of business in florence in the old days, but the transport of no mere picture along the street, no matter how beautiful it might be, would have any such effect nowadays, though the arrival of a prize fighter who had just won a heavyweight contest, if his coming were announced beforehand, would almost surely interfere seriously with business for some time in the neighborhood of the station. just as in the days of rome when the amphitheater was the center of attraction, recreation is becoming mere barbaric dissipation for a great many people. {136} the cultured, intelligent romans--at least many of them were educated--went to see gladiators fight with wild beasts or with each other unto the death, or to get a special thrill by seeing the christians thrown to the lions. the other shows they attended were mainly the dancing of slave girls scantily dressed, whose actions were meant to excite sex feelings. at rome the women had no virtue and the men no courage; they were interested in their bodies and degeneracy had come. no wonder the real barbarians came to replace their counterfeit presentments in the pseudo-refined romans. even our mental occupations are very largely taken up with bodily interests. reading is supposed to be an intellectual diversion, but it has become a matter of attention to sex and other bodily emotions. my friend. doctor austin o'malley, suggests that one of the most important criteria of intelligence is contained in the rule "the book that you like is like you," to which may be added, of course, that the play that you like is like you and the magazine that you like is like you. if our generation is to be judged by its occupation of its leisure, the estimation will not be very high. most of the leisure time of men is spent in reading the newspapers. indeed, it may be said without exaggeration that the greater part of civilized mankind now spends the major portion of its hours of relaxation over the newspaper. news was defined by an old-fashioned editor succinctly as sin. the definition has enough of truth in it to give us pause when we consider that every one is occupied with the newspaper for an hour or more each day. we want to know the last details of the ugly sex crimes and the misfortunes of various kinds that have happened to people, perhaps with a feeling that things might be worse for us {137} than they are, but the suggestive effect is almost the worst that could well be imagined, and the recreation of mind becomes a sad dissipation of mental energy. religion brought the holydays, which were in our modern sense holidays, into the year, but did ever so much more than this by suggesting, organizing and encouraging such occupation of them as afforded recreation for men and women in definite contradistinction from dissipation. on all the sundays and holydays men rose to attend services and usually spent some hours in this occupation. attendance at religious services in our time has become very largely a matter of duty, requiring considerable self-denial and control for its accomplishment. the religious ceremonials of the older time were, however, extremely interesting, and people looked forward to them. they had to attend them as a matter of duty, but the great majority of them found a pleasure in the duty because of the appeal that the church ceremonial made. various societies associated with religion in one way or another organized the recreations for the afternoon of the holydays or for the vigils or eves of the great festivals, on which there was no work done after the vesper hour. the guilds, for instance, most of which received saints' names, and many of which built chapels of their own and were closely affiliated with the ecclesiastical authorities, offered prizes for athletic exercises among the young folks, both boys and girls, and arranged contests in archery, in the pitching of quoits, in the old-fashioned form of hockey and the like, between the inhabitants of neighboring villages, and then there were also individual athletic contests of various kinds. banquets were held four times a year on the special feast days, to which a man was expected to bring either his wife or his {138} sweetheart. they did not believe that it was good for men to be alone in their feasting, and realized that there was likely to be much less of excess and ever so much less of a tendency to quarrel if the women were present. the banquets were held in the afternoon, and there was dancing on the green afterward for the young folks and games of various kinds, all of which were meant to give the young particularly innocent enjoyment and bring them together for proper matchmaking. religious authorities have always recognized the necessity for recreation. besides, they have always tried to keep recreation on that higher plane where it may do good and not harm. dancing, for instance, has very often had a place in religious ceremonials. rhythmic movements of the body can add to the significance of even the deepest thought. they may, of course, be reduced merely to the expression of sensuality or constitute an invitation to it. david danced before the ark, and dancing has always had a place in the expression of religious feelings. the old greeks employed dancing to great effect, even in their higher religious ceremonials. the great greek dramatists wrote choric odes which are among the most beautiful lyric poems ever written. they were on such subjects as life and death and man and fate and all the other great mysteries with which man is confronted. the chorus, in singing them, danced, and the reason for the dance was that it added to the significance of the beautiful words that had been written. the greek plays were staged as a part of the religious ceremonial in celebration of the festivals of dionysus; his name has been translated by the supposed latin equivalent bacchus, but the greeks meant the god of inspiration and not the god of intoxication. {139} religion then proved a source of a great deal of genuine recreation. it emphasized the joys of existence rather than merely the pleasures of life. it encouraged family participation in everything and found a place for the children. there is a great distinction between joy and pleasure that is often missed when religion is in decay. joy is a profound feeling usually associated with the performance of simple duties and rather easily attainable by every one. pleasures are often expensive, frequently are followed by remorse, and more often than not do harm rather than good to those who indulge in them, especially to any excess. joy, however, inspires human beings to the further accomplishment of duty, gives a supreme sense of well-being, brings light-hearted sleep and is very precious in the memory. joys are usually associated with domestic duties and religious observances and the celebration in family groups of the great festivals. what religion did in bringing joy into life is one of the most precious factors for real recreation that we have. the main feature of religion's work for recreation, however, consisted of the development of dramatics. twice in the world's history, as i have noted in the chapter on holydays and holidays, dramatic literature has developed out of religious ceremonials. these ceremonials very naturally take on the dramatic form, and the evolution of this in the course of time led to additions to religious services which soon came to occupy so much attention as to deserve a place and time for themselves, and then they were transferred to the temple porch in the older time, or to the open space at the foot of the steps, or in the middle ages to the churchyard or the green in front of the church. this encouragement of recreation with a deep appeal {140} to the emotions and the higher feelings which at the same time brought satisfaction for the intellect, proved of the greatest possible service for health. men need to have thoroughgoing diversion of mind from their ordinary occupations. such diversion of mind is, in my opinion, even more important than exercise of body. the effort in our time is concentrated on doing nothing with the mind, as a rest for it, or doing something that is so trivial that it is supposed to provide opportunity for mental recreation. almost needless to say it is impossible to do nothing with the mind. the mind will keep right on thinking about something or other, and unless thought is diverted it is very inclined to recur to the last worries and troubles which the individual has experienced. the attempt to occupy the mind with trivial matters does not divert it. to read the newspaper or some popular magazine or a light novel will enable the person to kill time, but up through the print will always come obtruding itself the worry or anxiety that occupied it before. what is needed for true recreation is that the mind shall be interested in something very different from its ordinary occupation. this interest must be deep and abiding and holding, or it will not prove so successful as would otherwise be the case. some form of intellectual hobby makes the very best recreation, but not every one has either the time or the money and above all the intelligence to cultivate a hobby that will be absorbing in its appeal. religion, then, with its universal appeal, its deep touching of the feelings, its sense of supreme satisfaction when people believed, its presentation of ceremonies that have even a sensory attraction, formed in the past a fine avenue of escape from the sordid considerations of life for a great many {141} people and can still be an invaluable resource for those who take it seriously. in the midst of trials and hardships the folk of the older time learned to turn to religion as a consolation that occupied their minds and promised them divine help in their difficulties. religion as organized in the later middle ages, with its great celebrations on the festival days in the beautiful gothic churches, on the background of great art, served this purpose of diversion of mind extremely well. if that had been its only purpose it would have been quite unworthy of the great intellectual and artistic accomplishments which religion aroused. but as a secondary consideration this must not be forgotten, and the absence of an appeal of this kind makes for that tendency to dissipation of mind which is so unfortunate because [it is] so unworthy of human nature and at the same time proves so ineffective as providing any real recreation of mind. in the old days when the puritans went to a sermon two hours long, they listened with rapt attention to the preacher, and in so doing their minds were occupied with an entirely other subject from that which ordinarily attracted their attention. such a diversion, even though it may seem to be pretty hard work, represents a real mental rest because the part of the brain that is usually occupied gets its rest, the blood being diverted to other parts of the brain. this may seem a paradox to some people until they are reminded that men who have lived very long lives have usually been men who turned from one form of mental work to another for diversion and rest. gladstone, for instance, who was prime minister of great britain when past eighty years of age, was an intensely hard intellectual worker all his life, but found recreation from his political cares in the study and {142} discussion of the problems of greek literature. leo xiii, who lived to be ninety-three, concerned to the very end with the administration of the church--an immense task--found his recreation in the writing of latin poetry, though that might seem to some people too hard work of itself to be classed as rest. for a great many of these hard-working, long-lived people, as was true of both leo xiii and gladstone, prayer was a recourse in time of trial that made anxiety less and took the edge off solicitude and occupied the mind with the profound thought of the providence that overrules and somehow cares for us. i have often said before medical societies, and in articles for medical journals, because the expression represents a definite medical conclusion in my mind, that the reason why nervous and mental diseases were growing commoner in our time was that men and women had no real mental recreation. they go to trivial shows of various kinds, vaudeville, musical comedy and the movies, and they laugh a little and feel a great deal, but think almost not at all. they try to forget their ordinary occupations and worries, and indeed plays and novels are now advertised as "the kind that make you forget", but they do not succeed very well in this effort and their minds are not really diverted. for diversion the mind should become occupied rather deeply with some other subject, so that the blood which has been going to a particular part of the brain in order to call up the memory of things associated with the special interests of the individual may be diverted to another part. this will give the portion of the brain previously occupied a rest as almost nothing else will. doing nothing with the mind is impossible, though some people apparently come very {143} near it. doing very trivial things will not divert the current of attention so as to allow of real rest. attention is probably a matter of increased blood circulation to a particular set of brain cells. these will go on working in spite of the wish to stop, unless the blood is actually diverted elsewhere in the cerebral tissues or the individual sleeps, with its accompanying brain anemia. for believers religion has this deep appeal and strong interest which represents very definite diversion of mind. of itself, then, it may afford genuine recreation, though so little associated with recreation in the modern sense of the term. it is the most cogent reliever of worries. it affords the best neutralization of such intense preoccupation with merely sordid concerns as may prove dangerous for health. religion has always insisted that idle dissipation of mental and physical energy was an extremely dangerous thing. the devil finds work for idle hands is an expression that has come from very early christian times. while the church has appreciated thoroughly the necessity for occupation of mind and enjoyment and amusement and has put the holydays into the year in large numbers and made true holidays of them, it has also recognized clearly the dangers there might be in recreations of various kinds. fashion has often been strong enough to override religious counsels in the matter, but at least they have served to restrain to some extent, and they have always pointed out the dangers so that young folks have not gone into them unseeing and unthinking; thus a good many have been saved from grave risks and absolute moral and physical injuries which might have proved serious as the result of religious regulations and advice. {144} dancing has always been one of the modes of recreation with regard to which religion has felt the need to exercise surveillance and inculcate the necessity for proper supervision. there has been no unthinking opposition to it and no mere bigoted intolerance. the dance has always been recognized as an excellent exercise of the body and a very definite mode of expressing beautiful thoughts in graceful postures and movements; the dance has actually been used in church ceremonies, and its symbolism made to lend significance to the body's share in worship or in the expression of beautiful thoughts. when graceful dancing was to a great extent discarded and the essence of the dance came to be the intimate contact of two persons of opposite sex in the lively movements of modern dancing measures which were almost sure to arouse passion, no wonder that religion counseled prudence in order to prevent harmful developments which are often the source of so much danger for health of body as well as for holiness, that is wholeness of spirit. the restraint exercised in this way over the control of occasions that might lead to serious consequences makes religion an important factor for health. it is quite true that religion does not often succeed in her well-meant efforts in controlling such tendencies to dissipation and sometimes seems utterly to fail, but that is largely because in recent years there has been an unfortunate decadence of religious influence, and people do not live up even to the principles of religion which they themselves hold. among those who still maintain the religious life, the restraint exercised as regards many of these unfortunate dissipations means a very great deal for health of body and mind. certainly social evils would be much worse only for the presence of a great {145} conservative institution exercising restraint and calling on people to practice self-control and self-denial in these matters, no matter how alluring they might be nor how much they may have met with the approval of what is called society. probably the most important element for health in the modern time is the conservation of the distinction between recreation and dissipation. almost inevitably recreation becomes dissipation; that is, the relaxation of mind and body so necessary for health becomes a dissolution of physical and mental forces to the serious detriment of the individual, unless there are strong, impelling motives to prevent the degeneration. such motives may be drawn from human respect or from the desire to maintain the body in healthful vigor, but these lower motives very often fail of their purpose and at best apply only to a comparatively few among mankind. for the great majority of men, motives with a deeper appeal than mere self-respect or the respect of others or even the preservation of the body from impending disease are necessary. in youth particularly bodily degeneration seems a distant possibility, almost surely to be escaped without much difficulty, especially if one has any luck, and even if serious disease be incurred it will surely be cured rather easily by the means that science now has at her command. the general appeal that is necessary to give men a fixed point of support in maintaining recreation on a high level and not letting it slip down into dissipation is to be found in religion. the reason why recreation and dissipation have so often come to be confounded in our time, or at least that recreation has sunk to a much lower level than it used to occupy, is the diminution of religious influence over a {146} great many people. the old religious family life made it much easier to maintain such discipline in the lives of growing young folks as kept them from the tendencies to dissipation almost sure to develop unless there are strong safeguards in the household. where the young folk themselves are firm believers in the great truths of religion, their control is much easier and is exercised much more by themselves than by any external measures. it is the having a fount of incentive to what is good and deterrents for what is evil within oneself that is the best possible auxiliary for the neutralization of tendencies to evil that are as natural as they can be and that represent one inexplicable phase of that mystery of evil by which we are surrounded in the world. the only satisfactory explanation of that is to be found in faith, and it is from this that strength can be derived to prevent the lower nature of man which shares so many animal proclivities from governing the individual to the detriment of both sides of his being. {147} chapter viii mortification mortification is a word with an interesting etymology. it means literally the dying or more properly the putting to death of one part of an animal body while the rest is alive. from this it has come to mean, to quote the century dictionary, "the act of subduing the passions and appetites by penance, abstinence or painful severities inflicted on the body." it has had this signification from the very earliest times of christianity, for the early fathers spoke of dying to self to have a higher and a nobler life. it is used exactly in this sense in the old medieval latin as well as by that first great prose writer in modern english, sir thomas more, for he spoke of "the mortification of the fleshly woorkes" in just this signification. after all our recent poet laureate, when in "in memoriam" he summed up so much of the current thought of our time, expressed the same ideas as the earlier religious authorities when he said that "we rise on stepping stones of our dead selves to higher things." it was a favorite idea of the greeks of the classical period that the way to get most out of life was to repress the body and give the mind and soul a chance. aristotle said, "the vanities of the world are a hindrance to the soul," and he paraphrased by anticipation that expression which came to mean so much during the war that our {148} rising generation learned the precious lesson "that there are things in life worth more than life itself" when he said, "'t is better for the soul's sake to suffer death than to lose the soul for the love of this life." socrates had said before him, "a wise man ought to look as carefully to his soul as to his body", and plato, going straight to the point, declared, "whoso desireth the life of his soul ought to mortify the body and give it trouble in this world." no one knew better than plato that the desire of having things did more than aught else to make the higher life impossible. he did not hesitate to say, and the expression constitutes one of the most striking commentaries on our time that we could have, "the soul is lost that delighteth in covetousness." pythagoras long before the group of the classical period had said, "order thyself so that thy soul may always be in good estate; whatsoever become of thy body." it would be easy to find almost as many expressions commending mortification among the old greek philosophers as among the fathers of the church. plato said, "he obeyeth many that obeyeth his body." and aristotle said, "he that hath bound himself to follow his fleshly delights is more bound than any caitiff", which after all, is only another way of wording plato's expression, "the worst bondage is to be subject to vices." seneca, five centuries afterwards in rome, declared, "too much liberty turneth into bondage", doubtless imitating, as he did so often, euripides, who declared, "better is it to be free in heart and bond in name than to be free in name and bond in heart." in spite of this very respectable ancient lineage which would indicate an agreement for many centuries among thoughtful people that mortification has a definite place {149} in life, many in our time seem inclined to think that the idea underlying the word is a mistake, and that the virtue attributed to it does not actually work out in practice. hence mortification is at present considered by a good many to be only one of the good old ways of life evolved in an earlier day when men were less capable of judging of the significance of things than they are now, but which humanity ought to set definitely back in the lumber room of discarded notions, now that an era of really rational development of humanity has come. the old-fashioned idea that in this way the passions can be controlled is looked upon as a sort of worn-out superstition, good enough for people who did not know as much as we do and who did not understand as we have come to understand the profounder psychology of humanity. we are apparently quite sure in our time that sweet reasonableness must be the only rule for mankind and that anything so crude as self-inflicted suffering is not needed by generations which have not sounded the depth of human nature as we have done. nothing is commoner than to read tirades of various kinds against the practices of mortification that were in vogue in the older times. a great many writers who think themselves well informed feel assured that the people of the olden time performed the most difficult acts of penance and inflicted intense self-suffering on themselves with no other purpose in view than to curry favor with the almighty quite as if they felt that the creator delighted in the suffering of his creatures. they do not seem to realize at all that the real reason why the older peoples thought such self-inflicted suffering might be looked upon with favor from on high was that the efforts required to perform these acts strengthened their wills {150} so as to enable them to repress their passions and inordinate desires and to control the tendencies to do wrong which are in every nature and which require constant watching and subjection, or they prove extremely difficult to master. before the war, when the world generally was rather inclined to take a good deal of its psychology from germany, the scoffing tone with regard to mortification was particularly rife in academic circles. while other nations as a rule did not adopt the german idea of the superman, they were usually much more tinctured with that teaching than they suspected. nietzsche's great teaching was that a man must follow his instincts and develop his personality to the highest, regardless of the consequences to others. one of his famous parables is that of the soft coal and the diamond. the soft coal is heard complaining to the diamond, "we are brothers, why then do you scratch me?" and the diamond replies, "since we are brothers how is it that i can scratch you; why are you not as hard as i am, and then all would be well between us?" and nietzsche's conclusion was, "for i preach to you a new doctrine; be ye hard." as germany had more professors of psychology than any other nation, it is easy to understand what far-reaching influence her teaching had. a very few were conservative, but most were radical, and the only consolation that we have now is to realize that the nation which had the most professors of psychology least understood the minds of men, as was demonstrated very clearly by the egregious blunders which the german government made with regard to the neutral nations during the course of the war. the modern psychologists who have thought most deeply about human nature do not share at all the {151} supercilious contempt for mortification and even the habit of performing frequent acts of self-repression, though they may cost effort and suffering, which so many thoughtless people are ready to express. professor william james, who was surely not at all a medievally minded individual and who is recognized as one of the leaders of thought in modern psychology, did not hesitate to express his conclusions on this matter in a paragraph that should be very well known: "as a fine practical maxim, relative to these habits of the will, we may, then, offer something like this: keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day. that is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points; do every day or two something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test. asceticism of this sort is like the insurance which a man pays on his house and goods. the tax does him no good at the time and possibly may never bring him a return. but if the fire does come, his having paid it will be his salvation from ruin. so with the man who has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self-denial in unnecessary things. he will stand like a tower when everything rocks around him, and when his softer fellow mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast." above all in youth there is need of enduring hard things in order to form character and enable people to control themselves and deny themselves. this is sometimes supposed to be a medieval idea, but goethe, with all his leaning toward the ways of the old greeks and his liking even for the olympian religion, did not hesitate to say {152} that the most important thing in the world for a man was self-denial. _entbehren sollst du, sollst entbehren_. "you must deny yourself, must deny yourself." there is only one way to do this, and that is to practice it by a succession of acts until it becomes habitual. the great world teacher of this practice is and has always been religion. sacrifice has been preached as the very essence of christianity. to many people it may seem as though mortification, that is, the practice of doing a series of things that are hard to do and even painful to accomplish, in order to increase one's power over oneself may be beneficial and even necessary for weak characters; but that surely strong men and women can dispense with any such artificial support of their personalities. such an expression must probably be considered an excuse that enables people to escape the difficulties and self-denial of practices of mortification, but not at all as a real reason. some of the strongest men who have ever lived have recognized the necessity for the insurance policies of little acts of supererogation that require real will power to accomplish in order to keep their strength of character at its top notch of efficiency. probably few men in history have ever had a stronger character than sir thomas more. all his life he was noted for the absolute purity of his motives and the thoroughgoing righteousness of his life. he is the only man in the history of england who ever cleared the docket of the court of chancery. he was the first lay lord chancellor that england ever had. the opportunities for using his high office for his own benefit are well illustrated by the expression of lord campbell, who declared of more in his lives of the lord chancellors: "i am indeed reluctant to take leave of sir thomas more, {153} not only from his agreeable qualities and extraordinary merits, but from my abhorrence of the mean, sordid, unprincipled chancellors who succeeded him and made the latter half of the reign of henry viii the most disgraceful period in our annals." nearly a hundred years after more's death when lord bacon was impeached by the english parliament, he made as the excuse for having taken bribes that he was the best lord chancellor that england had had for fifty years. very probably he was; no one knew that better than he. yet sir thomas more had gone unscathed through the fire of temptations such as these to which every lord chancellor for a hundred years afterward yielded; but more went farther, and when it was a question of conscience he died for what he felt was the right. it did not matter to him that others had been able to compound with their consciences; he even told the jury that condemned him that he hoped to meet them in heaven, but right was right and even death was not too high a price to pay for its fulfillment. one of more's practices at times during his life had been the wearing of a hair shirt; even when in prison--and god knows the tower of london, with the shadow of the scaffold hanging over it, would seem to be mortification enough--he wore his hair shirt, and it was found among his possessions after his death. i suppose to-day, after a generation of contemptuous scoffing at mortification, it may be necessary to explain to many people what a hair shirt is. it is a very coarse undergarment woven of hair to be worn next the skin, and the discomfort of the skin surface is so great that until one gets a little used to it one can scarcely think of anything else except the constant irritation. it was {154} a very common practice to wear it in the middle ages, and we have the story of one mother who felt that perhaps nothing would do her boys more good than to learn to stand something like this in order that they might be able to withstand youth's temptations. she was mabel rich, the mother of edmund of canterbury, who has come to be looked upon as one of the great characters of english history. for years he suffered in exile rather than give up to the king the rights of his people and the church; this great scholar, professor of oxford that he was and leader among men, who might have had all sorts of favors from the king had he yielded, spent fifteen years in poverty and hardships rather than yield a point of conscience. he tells that when he and his elder brother went off to the university, where they were to be gone for four or five years, their mother packed with their clothes a hair shirt for each of them. she asked them to wear them occasionally for her sake and to remember that they had to stand many things in life in order to keep on the right path. this london tradesman's wife of the early thirteenth century knew as well as any city mother in modern times the dangers her boys were going to encounter and which they would have to go through successfully or lose health of soul and body. there is apt to be a feeling in many minds that these problems have only come to be realized in our day, but that is due only to failure to project our knowledge of human nature into the past. mabel rich, like a good sensible mother, did not make an hysterical appeal that might cause her boys to feel her fear that they could not keep right, but she asked them, partly for her sake but mainly for religious motives, to submit to voluntary sufferings sometimes so that they might have the strength {155} to bear any temptation that came to them. edmund of canterbury declared, toward the end of his life, that he owed more to his mother and her example and training for whatever his character had enabled him to accomplish in life than to any other single factor. in the chapter on purity i have quoted distinguished authorities in psychology who insist that the one way to strengthen the young man and the young woman against the allurements of impurity and thus help them to avoid the extremely serious dangers to health involved in yielding to such temptations is to have them practice self-denial in little things. mortifications of one kind or another are to be undertaken, and the young folks build up self-control by the doing of things which are hard, though not obligatory, with the one idea of enabling them to perform even harder things in self-control whenever it may be necessary. there are some who seem to think that such practices may weaken men's powers of accomplishment, as if personality might be impaired by self-control, but there is no reason to think that. foerster, the well-known german writer on ethics, knowing well how much contempt has been thrown on asceticism in recent years, did not hesitate to say that the fear of weakness is all due to a misunderstanding. the ascetic is not a stunted human being who has mutilated himself, or prevented his development lest by any chance he might wander so far away from the path to his heavenly home that he might not get back. asceticism has for its derivation the greek verb [greek text] which means to exercise,--that is, not to decrease but to increase power. the ascetic exercises his will power so that he will be able to follow the straight path that he wants to tread, no matter how many difficulties present themselves to him. {156} no matter how steep the hills, he will not turn aside to the pleasanter paths that lead so gently downward because he wants to "carry on." professor foerster said: "asceticism should be regarded, not as a negation of nature nor as an attempt to extirpate natural forces, but as practice in the art of self-discipline. its object should be to show humanity what the human will is capable of performing, to serve as an encouraging example of the conquest of the spirit over the animal self. the contempt which has been poured upon the idea of asceticism in recent times has contributed more than anything else towards effeminacy. nothing could be more effective in bringing humanity back to the best traditions of manhood than a respect for the spiritual strength and conquest which is symbolised in ascetic lives." with regard to that anxiety of mothers to help their boys and girls in the very serious matter of sex temptation which has become so prominent a social feature in recent years, foerster has a passage that is well worth putting before every mother: "there are plenty of modern mothers who are aware of the necessity for instruction in matters relating to sex, and who are perhaps anxiously awaiting the suitable moment: it is a great deal more important, however, that they should make their children acquainted with what sailer called 'the strategy of the holy war', that they should train them every now and then to deny themselves some favourite article of food, or to accomplish some heroic conquest of indolence, or to practise themselves in ignoring pain. "the outstanding feature of sexual education should not be an explanation of the sex functions, but an introduction to the inexhaustible power of the human spirit {157} and its capacity for dominating the animal nature and controlling its demands." joseph de maistre once said: "everything that hinders a man strengthens him. many a man of thirty years of age is capable of successfully resisting the allurements of a beautiful woman because at the age of five or six he was taught voluntarily to give up a toy or a sweet!" mortification in little things seems to many people too trivial in its effects to be of any real significance. if there is anything in the world that has been brought home to us in medicine in the modern era it is that little things count immensely. microbes so small that we not only cannot see them, but never hope to be able to increase the powers of the microscope in such a way as to be able to get a sight of them, may cause the most serious epidemics. one of these ultramicroscopic microbes is probably the cause of infantile paralysis, which we know to have been in existence over five thousand years, because the mummy of a princeling of one of the early dynasties in egypt shows that its possessor suffered from it as a child. another of the ultramicroscopic microbes is perhaps the cause of influenza which carried off in a few months more victims among young people than the greatest war in human history did in over four years. no wonder that little things count in the moral order then, since they may mean so much in the physical order. whenever anything affects living beings, then it cannot be counted small. four hundred years ago michelangelo declared that "trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle." no one had a better right to an opinion in the matter than he, for he was the greatest sculptor since the time of {158} the greeks, one of the greatest architects who ever lived, perhaps the greatest decorative artist in all history, as the sistine chapel demonstrates, and he wrote sonnets of the highest quality. if in the mind of so supreme an artist soul little things count so much in making a great work of art, surely they must count for a very great deal in making a moral masterpiece, or anything that approaches it. michelangelo himself recognized over and over again in life what bearing the trials and troubles of existence might have on building up character for him and bringing him other than an earthly reward. he once said to one of the popes, "if these fatigues which i endure do not benefit my soul i lose both time and labor." there is a famous sonnet of his in which he begs pardon of his crucified god if he had ever attributed to himself any of the glory which he ought to have given to his maker. if ever a man lived who had the right to have some conceit of himself it was michelangelo. when we look around and see the little whippets who have monumental conceit and then think of michelangelo's deprecation of himself, it is easy to understand how he must have suppressed--or, as they said in the older time, mortified--his pride in order to keep his humility and not let any self-exultation run away with him. mortification in its true sense is indeed much more a question of the mind and the heart than of the body. cultivating detachment from the things around us means more than anything else. this mortification of the spirit of man so that material possessions are not allowed to crowd out the genuine good things of life is particularly important. nowadays people are so afraid to be poor, or indeed to lack anything that their neighbors have, that {159} the principal efforts of life are expended in "keeping up with the smiths", or with some other utterly insignificant people who happen to be making a display. i suppose that every physician in a large city has known people who actually denied themselves some of the necessaries of life in order to wear a little better clothes, and of course every physician everywhere sees people who deform their feet and disturb their organic health in other ways trying to keep up with the fashions. the fear of being thought to have less than other people and of having to deny oneself something that happens to be fashionable is particularly rife in our time and plays sad havoc with mental equanimity and with such satisfaction with life as is the best safeguard of continued health. there was a time centuries ago, under the roman empire, when money had come to be as much thought of as in our own time, when the wealthy went down to naples in the winter, up to como in the summer, had a house at ostia as well as a palace in rome. it is easy to understand that the people then as now failed to comprehend how any one could possibly choose to be poor, even though thus he succeeded in putting off the cares of wealth and gave himself an opportunity to live his life for the sake of higher things. religion raised up men who went into voluntary poverty and restored the dignity of labor, when manual work had become almost a disgrace, by deliberately electing to occupy themselves with it for a certain number of hours a day. their example proved very precious, and as it was mainly the young men who did it, they influenced deeply a series of generations. the sons of the nobility as well as of professional classes were represented among {160} these reformers who believed first in reforming themselves, but along with them were young men of all classes, and the barriers between the classes were thus lowered. the cultivation of religious poverty proved the greatest kind of blessing in the social order and has always meant much for the amelioration of social conditions which it brings with it. i suppose that the greatest possible benefit for health that could be conferred on mankind at the present time would come from the eradication of the mad strife for the possession of money which has taken possession of so many men's minds. our recent great war was precipitated by the struggle for markets and favored nations among whom to distribute surplus industrial products so that certain nations might go on piling up money. this is so badly distributed that serious social disorders are impending. men spend their lives getting money and then leave it to their children, to hurt them physically and morally. they take away incentive, and they provide the greatest possible facilities for temptations. justice hughes said some years ago, when governor of new york, "the main occupation of men in our time seems to be the raising of a corruption fund for their children." we need some of that poverty of spirit which christianity brought in with it when it was so sadly needed and which was cultivated with so much success during the later middle ages, when the great scholars and saintly characters who most deeply influenced the times were mainly members of the mendicant orders, that is, of associations of men who refused to own any possessions in order that they might have the time to devote themselves to higher things and who depended on the {161} work of their hands and the beneficence of the public to enable them to continue their work. their motto was plain living and high thinking, and it is surprising how much they accomplished. the spirit which made st. francis of assisi choose the lady poverty for his bride and delight to call himself _il poverello di dio_, "the little poor man of god", would seem to be entirely too impracticable and utterly idealistic to have any interest for our time, and yet literally more than a score of important lives of st. francis have been written during our generation. we are beginning to wake up to the realization of the fact that "things are in the saddle and ride mankind", and that things seem ever so much more important than thoughts, though it requires no special intelligence to understand what an utter contradiction of real values any such state of mind represents. what is now needed above all is such detachment from the things around us that we shall be poor in spirit. this is the element above all that religion supplies. in the sermon on the mount, that greatest sermon ever preached, the master said, "blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." certainly there is no straighter road to heavenly peace than that, for a man may have great possessions and yet be poor in spirit because he is detached from them and has mortified his feelings with regard to them so that they do not puff him up and make him vain (what striking old saxon words those are), so that he is able to use them not for himself alone but for the benefit of the community. the expression "poor in spirit" is not popular in our time and has often been spoken of contemptuously. there are some who think that actual poverty, as well as poverty of spirit, has a paralyzing effect on human {162} incentive, but it is well to realize that there are a good many serious thinkers in our generation who do not agree with this impression but on the contrary feel that detachment from temporal goods may well prove a source of the highest and best stimulation to the accomplishment of what is really worth while in life. some of them express themselves rather strongly on the subject, and perhaps no one has stated his mind more emphatically with regard to it than professor william james, who did not hesitate to declare just when money had come to be apparently the most important thing in modern life: "among us english-speaking peoples especially do the praises of poverty need once more to be boldly sung. we have grown literally afraid to be poor. we despise any one who elects to be poor in order to simplify and save his inner life. if he does not join the general scramble and pant with the money-making street, we deem him spiritless and lacking in ambition. we have lost the power even of imagining what the ancient idealization of poverty could have meant: the liberation from material attachments; the unbribed soul, the manlier indifference; the paying our way by what we are or do and not by what we have; the right to fling away our life at any moment irresponsibly--the more athletic trim, in short, the moral fighting shape. when we of the so-called better classes are scared as men were never scared in history at material ugliness and hardship; when we put off marriage until our house can be artistic, and quake at the thought of having a child without a bank account, it is time for thinking men to protest against so unmanly and irreligious a state of opinion.... i recommend this matter to your serious pondering, for it is certain that the prevalent fear of poverty among the {163} educated classes is the worst moral disease from which our civilization suffers." all the great religions have preached mortification. some of them have made it apparently of value in itself as working merit, but this was practically always an abuse of the original idea that a man learned to control himself by practicing hard things. our generation resents even the term "hard things" and does not like to hear "hard sayings", though even that gentlest of human beings, the divine master, felt that he had to use them. there can be no doubt at all, however, about the benefit to be derived from enduring hard things. every trainer who hopes to have a winning team in any department of athletics knows that he has to put them through hard things in order to enable them to acquire power and make their energies available when they are needed. somehow people do not seem to realize that exactly the same thing is necessary with regard to training of the will as for training of the muscles, and that indeed training of the muscles is of itself effective largely because of the training of the will connected with it which makes the nervous system capable of reacting according to the desires of the individual. while we are so intent on making things easy for the young, let us not forget that the best authorities on the subject of man's development of his powers so as to make them available for life's purposes are practically all agreed that the most important element in the formation of character--and on character depends destiny--is the having to go through hard things when one is young. in the chapter on suffering i have quoted thucydides in this matter and its approval by gladstone and john morley in our own time. we hear much of a favorable {164} environment for young folks but most of what is so called represents the worst possible set of influences for the development of character. professor conklin of princeton, in his volume on "heredity and environment," which consists of lectures delivered on the harris foundation of the northwestern university and afterwards at princeton, and which therefore must be taken to represent the scientific thought of our time, does not hesitate to say: "how often is it said that the worthless sons of worthy parents are mysteries; with the best of heredity and environment they amount to nothing, whereas the sons of poor and ignorant farmers, blacksmiths, tanners and backwoodsmen, with few opportunities and with many hardships and disadvantages, become world figures. probably the inheritance in these last-named cases was no better than in the former, but the environment was better. 'good environment' usually means easy, pleasant, refined surroundings, 'all the opportunities that money can buy', but little responsibility and none of that self-discipline which reveals the hidden powers and which alone should be counted good environment. many schools and colleges are making the same mistake as the fond parents; luxury, soft living, irresponsibility are not only allowed, but are encouraged and endowed--and by such means it is hoped to bring out that in men which can only be born in travail." above all, mortification, that is, the suppressing of the natural inclinations, must be practiced for health's sake as regards the bearing of ills that have to be suffered anyhow, and in the forbearance from passion when that would certainly prove physically disturbing. "bear and forbear" has been sometimes set down as the most {165} important formula for life, and it is certainly as valuable for the physical as for the moral side of humanity. the repression of the natural tendencies is an extremely valuable practice for the prevention of the many excesses which have so much to do with the undermining of health. the man who controls himself and compels his instincts to submit to correction and modification, even when that is unnecessary, so far as any serious consideration is concerned, will surely find himself in a position to resist natural proclivities to evil which may easily be serious from the standpoint of health, whenever they assert themselves. austerity is supposed to be old-fashioned and out of date, but all those who want to get anything really worth while done in the world know that they must deny themselves and their inclinations and work out their ideas in lonely vigil and by hard work. nothing that is easy counts. when men do things that will be remembered they have devoted themselves whole-heartedly to them to the exclusion of more attractive occupations. matthew arnold, in his splendid sonnet on austerity as the poet must practice it, has brought this out very forcibly. he tells the story of jacopone da todi, the author of the stabat mater, who, on his wedding day, saw his bride of the morning killed by the fall of a stand at a spectacle and found beneath her bridal robes a penitential garment. he was so deeply impressed that he became a franciscan and subsequently the author of the famous hymn. certainly pathos was never more wondrously expressed than by this man whose own austerities, initiated by the example of his beloved bride, made him ready to strip himself of every trivial interest in the cult of the eternal verities. {166} "that son of italy who tried to blow, ere dante came, the trump of sacred song, in his light youth amid a festal throng sate with his bride to see a public show. fair was the bride, and on her front did glow youth like a star; and what to youth belong- gay raiment, sparkling gauds, elation strong. a prop gave way! crash fell a platform! lo, 'mid struggling sufferers, hurt to death, she lay! shuddering, they drew her garments off--and found a robe of sackcloth next the smooth, white skin. such, poets, is your bride, the muse! young, gay, radiant, adorn'd, outside; a hidden ground of thought and of austerity within." so far from mortification being in any sense of the word an old-fashioned, worn-out practice, good enough for the foolish people of the dark ages who had nothing better to think of, it is, in so far as it brings about training of the will and exercise in self-denial and self-control, the most important element in education at all times. we have unfortunately been neglecting it, but that neglect is the real trouble with our modern education. nearly every one who talks about education has some mental panacea for it; but the trouble lies deeper than that. it is the education of the will that has unfortunately been neglected and that requires, to cite once more the century definition, the subduing of appetites, even though painful severities should have to be inflicted on the body. huxley, in his address on "a liberal education; and where to find it", delivered before the south london workingmen's college, has a passage in which he brings this out very well. almost needless to say huxley was the farthest possible from being medievally minded, and {167} yet he placed the essence of a liberal education in will power over self rather than in intellectual development, or above all the accumulation of information. he said: "that man, i think, has had a liberal education who has been so trained in youth that his body is the ready servant of his will, and does with ease and pleasure all the work that, as a mechanism, it is capable of; whose intellect is a clear, cold, logic engine, with all its parts of equal strength and in smooth working order; ready, like a steam engine, to be turned to any kind of work and spin the gossamers as well as forge the anchors of the mind; whose mind is stored with a knowledge of the great and fundamental truths of nature and of the laws of her operations; one who, no stunted ascetic, is full of life and fire, but whose passions are trained to come to heel by a vigorous will, the servant of a tender conscience; who has learned to love all beauty, whether of nature or of art, to hate all vileness, and to respect others as himself. "such an one and no other, i conceive, has had a liberal education; for he is, as completely as a man can be, in harmony with nature." {168} chapter ix excesses the most important rule of conduct for health is the avoidance of excesses of any and every kind. men have recognized this fact for as long as the memory of the race runs. the instruction of ptah hotep, the letter of advice from a father to his son, written by the vizier of king itosi in the fifth dynasty in egypt, something over five thousand years ago, which is often called the oldest book in the world, emphasizes particularly the necessity for the avoidance of excess in all things. self-control and self-denial are held up as the highest attributes of man. one of the seven wise men of greece adopted as his contribution to the wisdom of mankind "avoid excess." a favorite maxim of the romans was _ne quid nimis_, "let there be nothing too much"; and another favorite expression of theirs was _in medio tutissimus ibis_, "you will go most safely if you follow the mean" (and not either extreme). the most powerful factor for securing the avoidance of excess among men has always been religion. the four cardinal virtues are prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance, and the last is considered by no means the least. almost needless to say, by temperance was meant not only abstinence from excessive drinking and eating, but that moderation and self-control in all things which the ancients recognized as the most important factor in human life, and which religion, trying to perfect {169} nature by grace, set forth as one of the cardinal or "hinge" qualities on which the whole of a good life swings. when reason and not impulse, when virtue and not passion, when strength of character and not weakness rule a man's life, the motives which impel him or, as we would rather say in our modern knowledge of psychology, stimulate him to action and enable him to accomplish what he desires in so important a matter are drawn much oftener from religion than from any other source. religion has done more than anything else to make people rational in their lives and not merely the sport of their impulses and instincts. men are animals, but possessed of reason, though reason can be obscured to a great extent or even almost completely eclipsed by the impulses that arise from the lower nature of man. religion has above all helped to make men think of others who are so often hurt by their unreason rather than themselves, and has helped to keep them from self-indulgence. abernethy, the distinguished surgeon who impressed himself so deeply on the history of medicine in london at the beginning of the nineteenth century, was accustomed to say that the two great killing powers in the world are stuff and fret,--in a word, eating too much and worrying about things, most of which will never happen. satisfying the desires of mankind and fostering their dreads will do more to wear out life before its time than anything else. religion represents the ever present signpost pointing away from travel in either of these directions. men do not heed her warnings very often until they have gone so far on the road of life that some of their powers have been lost because of their neglect, but at least they can recognize then that the signposts are {170} always in place, and that they saw them, and that it was their own fault if they did not follow them. homer, three thousand years ago, told the poetic story of the men who had been turned into swine by circe and who, though swine, knew that they were men, but could not get back to the use of their reason. the similitude lies so close that it is perfectly clear that the idea behind the old myth of the goddess who invited men to share swinish pleasures and secured such control over them that they could not get back their reason again was the goddess of lubricity. ulysses himself had to abstain from the indulgence that had captivated his men, and then he had to come to their assistance with the herb _moly_ which, revealed to him by one of the gods, enabled him to turn circe's victims back to men again. the old fathers of the church used to emphasize the fact that this herb _moly_ represented grace, for without divine assistance it is almost impossible for men who have given themselves over to the pleasures of the body to win back self-control again. men may recognize their unfortunate state yet be unable to set themselves right. no wonder the church fathers proclaimed the story as told by homer to be one of the prefigurements of christian symbol which showed that the old poet was, in a certain way at least, a messenger from celestial powers carrying on the tradition of providence in the world. it is a commonplace among physicians that the so-called pleasures of life indulged in to excess are much more prone to be followed by ill health than is the hard work of existence, no matter how apparently trying the work may be. we hear much of hard work shortening life and of bringing on states of exhaustion in which health is at a low ebb, but physicians find it very difficult to collect {171} cases that illustrate any such effects of hard work. some of our hardest workers, men who have devoted themselves to half a dozen different difficult tasks with an ardor that made other men wonder how they could possibly stand it, have lived to even advanced old age. i have personally known about a dozen physicians who lived to eighty-five or beyond, and all of them without exception had been very hard workers when they were young. distinguished generals often live to a good old age; though not infrequently they have been shot to pieces when they were young, wounded a number of times during life, yet, like lord roberts, sir evelyn wood and von moltke, they have lived well beyond eighty years of age, active and capable until the very end. the ill effect of hard work is a fetish created by people who are themselves afraid of hard work. hard play has killed many more men than hard work. concentrated efforts to compress into life all the possible pleasure that one can secure will break a man down sooner than anything else in the world. such a breakdown is usually thorough and seldom is followed by complete and enduring recovery. hard physical work, on the contrary, performed under any reasonably favorable circumstances, is a factor conducive to health and strength and long life, and this is particularly true if it is accomplished in the open. the devotee of pleasure is notably shortlived. work, according to the scriptural expression, was imposed as a curse on man, but it has been very well said, "if when the lord curses they turn to blessings this way, what must it not be when he blesses?" no wonder that we say, "blessed is the man who has found his work." the more experience a man has had, the more he recognizes this truth. work is one of the most precious {172} resources for men in the world, while pleasure, unless carefully guarded from excess, can be the worst of curses. though so costly, so much sought after and so often even looked forward to as the reward for work, pleasure is but seldom satisfying and is often followed by remorse which proves disturbing to both mind and body. the deterioration of constitution brought about by the physical consequences of pleasures indulged in to excess must be counted among the most serious factors for ill health to which humanity is subject. doctor carroll, in his "mastery of nervousness", says very well, "the danger of overwork is far less common than that of underwork.... close observation brings the conviction that the great majority claiming overwork as the reason for their nervous deficiency are the victims not of earnest productive work itself but of defective methods of work discounted by haste, stress and strain, by impatience, worry and fear." in a word nervous breakdown, when it comes to a busy man or woman, is due ever so much more to the irritable state of mind into which they get in the midst of their press of work than to the work itself. the feeling of haste is ever so much more dangerous than the actual hurry. the mistakes that are made under these circumstances are great wasters of time and of energy and disturbers of morale, until a feeling of impotence grows on one and then becomes inveterate. as a matter of fact a great many people who break down do so not during the stress of work but afterwards, when they have the leisure to look back on it and think about it and wonder why they did not break down, and while their friends keep sympathizing with them and they have the chance to let their self-pity cause the crumpling of their character. {173} premature old age, that is, the precocious hardening of the arteries, for "a man is as old as his arteries", came particularly, the older physicians used to say, to the devotees of the three pagan deities, venus, bacchus and vulcan. that is, senility came before it was due in the order of nature to those who indulged in venery or in wine and its almost inevitable accompaniment, overeating, and then to the man who did such hard physical work as the blacksmith does, for vulcan, it may be recalled, was the blacksmith among the gods. in this enumeration two out of three of the factors unfavorable for health come from the pleasures of life; but i think there is no doubt in the minds of physicians that if a comparison in the number of patients whose ailments were the consequences of the worship of the deities named were to be made, there would be found ten times as many men who became prematurely old or suffered from the development of organic affections because of wine and venereal disease as from hard physical labor. aneurysm is the one form of arterial degeneration to which the hard worker is particularly liable, and the more we have learned of that the more we have come to realize very clearly that while the hard work was the immediate occasion, the real underlying cause of the degeneration of arteries that led to the development of the aneurysm was to be found in some overindulgence. the french physicians sometimes said satirically that overwork of the heart much more than of the head or the hands laid the foundation on which aneurysm developed, for it occurs oftenest on a luetic basis. practically all the degenerative diseases affecting heart, arteries, kidneys and brain are due to excesses. the excesses of life are counted by religion among the deadly {174} sins. pride, anger, covetousness, lust, gluttony, envy and sloth,--all these represent indulgence in evil passions that very readily affect the body. religion has constantly used all its influence to overcome them and has succeeded better than any other single factor in life. it is perfectly possible to have a veneer of religion and be a miser or a glutton or a very devil of pride, but real religion of the heart, while it does not eradicate the tendency that exists in human nature toward these unfortunate qualities, helps the possessor of them materially to control them and to keep his passions in subjection. in this control of excesses religion has been an extremely important factor for health. it is true that many other factors, human respect, worldly consideration, preservation of one's own dignity and similar non-religious factors have had a like influence. occasionally indeed it would seem as though mere respectability had more to do with preventing men and women from making exhibitions of themselves by the public commission of sin than even religion itself. this would appear to be surely true if different strata of society were compared with each other. if, for instance, the working classes who practice their religion and the better-to-do classes who perhaps neglect it were to be compared in these regards, the contrast would favor the latter as a rule, but any such comparison would be eminently odious. there is no doubt that mere human motives can be effective, but the value of religion should be gauged from its effect on people who are living in the same circumstance. the vast majority of the very poor have found religion a sheet anchor of veritable salvation under circumstances where sin would have been not only not a disadvantage but actually have proved of material benefit to them. while, on the other hand, many {175} a well-to-do person lacking religion has fallen into sin in spite of the fact that every human motive spoke emphatically against their commission of it. religion has been particularly helpful in the neutralization of temptations to excess in the matter of alcoholic liquor. father matthew's great crusade in ireland, england and this country enlisted millions of people under the banner of temperance and helped marvelously in enabling the world to understand that the serious evils connected with the liquor traffic were by no means inevitable, but could be repressed to a great extent by simple personal appeals which called to the manhood of men and made them understand their own power to throw off the shackles of what to them seemed an unconquerable habit by a serious act of the will. the immense amount of suffering that was thus saved to the women and children of men who had been accustomed to drink a considerable portion or sometimes practically all of their wages and leave their families to get on as best they might is almost incalculable. a still more important result of father matthew's work was the demonstration that men who are the victims of even such a habit and craving as that which is produced by indulgence in liquor may break it completely by a single powerful act of the will, when to that is added the strong suggestion that they will surely be helped by divine favor to accomplish what they have purposed. literally hundreds of thousands of men under father matthew's inspiration, and touched by the example of others around them, broke off once and for all from liquor habits to which they had been enslaved sometimes for years. professor william james in his essay on the "energies of men" first published in the _american magazine_ under {176} the title of "powers of men" (october, 1907)--it was originally the presidential address delivered before the american philosophical association and therefore written not for popular reading, but as a serious contribution to science--has on this, as on many other subjects, a paragraph that is valuable in this regard. it is not only interesting but is eminently suggestive with regard to the effect that can be produced on a man by deep emotion, and when that emotion is based on profound religious feeling it can be not only immediate but extremely enduring in its effect. this is what proved to be the case for the vast majority of those who took the pledge from father matthew. professor james said: "the normal opener of deeper and deeper levels of energy is the will. the difficulty is to use it, to make the effort which the word volition implies. but if we do make it (or if a god, though he were only the god chance, makes it through us), it will act dynamogenically on us for a month. it is notorious that a single successful effort of moral volition, such as saying 'no' to some habitual temptation, or performing some courageous act will launch a man on a higher level of energy for days and weeks, will give him a new range of power. 'in the act of uncorking the whiskey bottle which i had brought home to get drunk upon,' said a man to me, 'i suddenly found myself running out into the garden, where i smashed it on the ground. i felt so happy and uplifted after this act, that for two months i wasn't tempted to touch a drop.'" nothing is so capable of giving a fillip to a sluggish will, arousing it to efforts that even its possessor never dreamt it capable of, as religion. the change of life known as conversion has not infrequently revolutionized an existence that seemed hopelessly and helplessly committed {177} to the baser aims of living. instances are in every one's experience, and the veriest self-missioned exhorter has many of them to his credit. religion has listed temperance among the four cardinal virtues, and though it is usually named the last--prudence, justice, fortitude and temperance--it is considered by no means the least in importance, and the cardinal virtues, as the etymology of their descriptive epithet signifies, are literally the "hinge virtues" on which the religious life depends. religion has not, however, ever favored that complete prohibition of the use of the milder alcoholic beverages which have such a definite place in life. life is, as a rule, too hard a thing for most people without the opportunity for escape from the tension of existence represented by mild alcoholic stimulation. at the very beginning of christianity paul advised his disciple timothy to take a little wine for the stomach's sake, and in this religion is only helping nature, provided there is no abuse, for natural digestion is accompanied by the production of a certain amount of dilute alcohol. absolute prohibition of very natural indulgences that are not in themselves wrong is so likely to be followed by a reaction in the opposite direction that abuses are almost sure to occur. temperance and not prohibition represents the true religious aspect of this question. unfortunately very serious abuses had followed the interesting developments of modern human ingenuity in the making of strong liquors. natural processes only make liquors of various kinds that do no harm unless taken in great excess and that have a very special place in the human economy. from the abuses no argument holds against the use, but it was the very reaction produced in religious minds against the serious associations of {178} the drink traffic that led to the enactment of laws against it. in themselves they represent a great benefit for humanity, for it is perfectly sure that we shall never want the saloon back again, nor the free consumption of strong alcoholic liquors which are not stimulants but narcotics and have done not so much physical harm as moral harm. they have caused the workman to neglect his family and bring them very often to the point of starvation; they have filled our jails, have made the need for charity greater than it would otherwise be; have fomented passion and only too often encouraged vice, and we must never have them back. even the exaggerated religious reaction has done great positive good, and when it settles down to moderation in prohibitive laws we will set a magnificent example for the rest of the world, the first hints of which are already manifest. what is true for the alcoholic craving can be just as true for addictions of all kinds and particularly for drug addictions. in our day a great crusade is needed for the relief of this evil, for in spite of efforts at repression, drug addictions are growing in frequency rather than decreasing. we have tried to use material repressive measures and have failed. it is time for us to realize that there remain moral and religious motives, appeal to which can produce almost incredibly strong effects. these can prove effective against many of the most unfortunate habits of mankind which are likely to turn out extremely deleterious to health if persisted in. religion can thus be a source of power--virtue is the word the romans used for this and its full form is not translated by our english word virtue any more--to help in the neutralization of human tendencies more prone than any others to shorten life or be the origin of serious disease. {179} it would be too bad to reduce religion to the rã´le of merely a scavenger of bad habits, a sweeper up of the unconsidered trifles which if allowed to act tend to the deterioration of physical existence, but what happens when religion does bring about improvement in the victims of these unfortunate habits is that a great new incentive is given to life, and men, realizing what they have been rescued from, may now turn the new energies they have found to great purposes. some of these at least have learned to devote themselves unstintedly to work for others which proves a source of the greatest possible good. how many a rescued drunkard has, after reform, given himself whole-heartedly to helping others out of various unfortunate conditions in which both body and soul were being pulled down to the very lowest that was in them. some of these "rescued" ones for twenty or more years devoted themselves, in the midst of what might have seemed almost inevitably compelling temptations to their former habits, to the care for others until their names became household words in the great cities of their time because of the good they were accomplishing. jerry macaulay was an example of this that new york will not soon forget, but we have had many humbler fellow workers of his. the human will, stimulated by religious motives, can change the whole course of man's life when his character would seem to have made it inevitable that this could not be changed for the better. how true the maxim of conduct in life is: "plant an act and reap a habit; plant a habit and reap a character; plant a character and reap a destiny." what seemed the almost unescapable destiny of many men has been changed by the influence of religion over habits, so that a natural disposition which by habit {180} had become a personality fraught with evil for self and others has been changed into an individual that proves an asset instead of a liability to the community. not only in the matter of substances harmful in themselves, but in those which though good and even necessary when taken in moderation, yet are greatly harmful when consumed in excess, the regulations of religion have been particularly helpful to mankind. fasting has been encouraged and indeed set down as an absolute obligation for all those who are in health. mortification, that is, self-denial with regard to things that people like very much, was counseled and the counsels so often repeated that people were almost sure to practice some of them and many were taken quite seriously to heart. moderation in eating was advised at all times, and any serious excess set down as gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins. how much the religious counsels against excess may be needed nowadays even with regard to things quite harmless or even valuable for mankind will perhaps be best appreciated from the present status of sugar consumption in the world. one hundred and twenty-five years ago a few thousand tons of sugar supplied all the needs of mankind. now nearly twenty-five million of tons are scarcely sufficient to maintain prices for the commodity at a level low enough so that people may continue to buy it in the quantities they desire. sugar is an artificial product made from starchy substances, not unlike alcohol in certain ways and capable of doing at least as much physical harm as alcohol. there are at the present time half a million people in this country who either have now or will have before they die, diabetes. this is a serious disease; when it occurs under thirty it is practically always fatal. under forty it may shorten life {181} seriously. it always greatly weakens the individual and makes him subject to certain other serious diseases. we need self-control in the use of sugar; the habit of taking it grows on one. the use of sugar and milk in tea and coffee is an occidental abuse that the orientals who originally began the drinking of these substances find it extremely difficult to understand. tea with milk and sugar in it a chinaman would be likely to think of as sweetened milk soup. the reason for adding milk and sugar was to cover up the defective qualities in poor tea or coffee, or mistakes in their making by which certain bitter astringent principles not meant to be in solution had their taste covered up by the sweet milkiness. the habit of using tea without sugar often formed by the practice of a little mortification would probably result in more good than merely the absence of the sugar. every one of the seven deadly sins represents excesses in bodily or mental propensities against which religion set up the attitude of utter disapproval and pointed out their inevitable tendency to part a man from what was best in him. teaching children from their early years that pride, covetousness, lust, anger, gluttony, envy and sloth were serious offenses made for an early realization of the necessity for guarding against them. all of them represent extremely unfavorable factors for health. pride goes before a fall, and the disappointments which it almost inevitably brings with it represent more occasions for depression and melancholic tendencies than almost anything else. the inordinate desire for money has brought down on many a man serious nervous prostration. with regard to lust and its awful consequences to health nothing need be said here, and not much needs to be said {182} even in the chapter on purity. we have had its baneful effects dinned into our ears particularly in recent years. anger is not so serious, and yet many an older man especially has shortened his life quite materially by giving away to ungovernable bursts of temper. nervous people who do not control their tempers often suffer from serious lack of nerve control as a consequence of their lapses of temper. gluttony has already been touched on and needs no illustration as to its extremely bad effect on health. envy often makes most of the functions of the body perform their work incompletely because nothing so disturbs even such apparently purely physical functions as digestion and nutritional metabolism generally as the wearing of a grouch. the grouchy man almost never digests well and quite inevitably his state of mind interferes with other functions. little need be said about sloth and its effect upon health but the fact that from the very earliest times religion has pointed out that the mere doing of nothing could of itself become a serious, even capital offense, for a healthy person represented an excellent stimulus to that activity of mind and body which is so important for health. it is only lately that we have come to realize how dangerous a remedy rest may be, to be prescribed with great care, for it is a habit-producing remedy nearly as risky as opium and never to be prescribed on any general principles. there has been ten times as much harm done to health by rest as by vigorous exercise or even hard work. the hard workers are nearly all long lived, but the sons and daughters of rest pass away from the scene, not of their labors, but of their languors, rather early, as a rule. religion then has been an extremely valuable factor for the control of excesses, or at least for their limitation, {183} and thus has been of great significance for health. religious counsels and prohibitions have not entirely prevented excesses even in those who were adherents of religion, for man is so constituted that it is not quite possible to have all men follow the wiser course. even the best of men have to confess, like st. paul, that sometimes, though they know the better path, they follow the worse. if to do good were as easy as it is to know what it is good to do, life would be a much simpler matter. not knowledge, but will power is needed, and religious practice builds this up and strengthens the will so that it is able to resist many temptations that would otherwise prove difficult to surmount. the contest between good and evil has gone on in spite of religion, and will go on, but there is no doubt at all that evil would have accomplished much more of harm only for the help that religion has been to mankind, and this has been particularly manifest in the limitation of the excesses which so often prove detrimental to health. the old saw of english tradition which in some form or other is many centuries old is well worth recalling in this regard. "virtue, temperance and repose slam the door on the doctor's nose." we hear much of the vicious circles that are formed by which things go from worse to worse, one unfavorable factor helping on another, but we forget apparently that there are virtuous circles according to which "all things work together for good." this means good not only for the soul and the mind, but also for the body and for health. religion makes for health and health promotes religion, and the virtuous circle is completed. {184} chapter x purity nothing has worked so much detriment to the health of mankind for many centuries as the habits that may be generalized under the term impurity. until recent years it has been the custom to suppress the knowledge of the immense physical evil that was being worked to humanity by the venereal diseases. a generation ago it was only imperfectly known, but now we recognize that no set of diseases are more important for the race and its health than those which usually occur as the direct result of violations of the moral code. their ravages have increased just in proportion to the gradual diminution of the influence of religion during the past few generations. they have probably worked greater havoc on the better classes than on the poorer classes. there are nations like the irish, over whom religion has a strong hold, in which the injury worked by these diseases has been almost negligible. there have been classes of men like the clergymen, deeply under the influence of religion, who have escaped almost entirely the awful, destructive effects of these affections. we have only just waked up to the realization of how much this element of conduct, so profoundly influenced by religion, has meant for suffering and death among men. in spite of the fact that there was a conspiracy of silence with regard to the venereal diseases, something of their {185} fearful effectiveness in adding to mortality lists came to be known, at least by those who were interested in the subject, a generation ago. though every possible excuse was taken not to list death as due to these diseases during the twenty-five years before nineteen hundred, when, just after the smug mid-victorian period, the conspiracy of silence was at its highest and was particularly hide-bound in england, no less than sixty thousand deaths from venereal disease were registered by the english registrar general. nearly twenty-five thousand of these were females. over two thousand deaths a year is a pretty heavy toll, but such statistics give only the very faintest hint of the awful ravages of these diseases. it is not alone death that occurs as a consequence of them but long years of suffering and crippling of various kinds, the blinding of children and the birth of dead or idiotic children, or of other poor little ones who grow up to be epileptic or to become insane in early adult life, or to exhibit other sad marks of the diseases of their parents. civil statistics of these diseases mean very little, especially in english-speaking countries, because of our prudery with regard to them. army medical statistics, however, have had to be rigorously kept because of the amount of military inefficiency due to these affections. the statistics of the last generation in england show that it was not an unusual thing for nearly one in four of the soldiers in a regiment to be admitted to the hospital each year because of venereal disease. actually nearly one in five of the effective strength of regiments was constantly in a hospital because of these diseases. it is improbable that soldiers are notably more immoral than civilians of the same class, except that perhaps there has been in the army a tradition of greater contempt for these affections. so {186} far as large cities are concerned, many good medical authorities are convinced that the average young men of the population suffer to about the same extent as soldiers. actually something more than three out of five in the english army suffered at some time from these diseases, and as they are extremely difficult to cure and often continue to have serious effects for years, as well as being contagious for others, we get some idea of what an immense amount of harm has been worked by them. it might possibly be thought that conditions in america were better than in europe in this regard, but our experience during the war did not justify any such optimism. nearly six per cent of the men mobilized for the army in the united states actually showed signs of these diseases when they were admitted for examination on arrival in camp. this percentage does not include those who had been cured prior to their examination. from some of the cities of this country the proportion of young men actually suffering at the time of their enlistment from these diseases was more than one in ten, and from certain of the southern cities it actually approached very close to one in five. according to the statement of the surgeon general of the war department, diseases due to impurity constituted the greatest cause of disability in the army. when the physicians were given the opportunity to make a more careful examination of the second million of the draft than had been possible for the first, the percentage of diseased men ran up notably, in spite of the fact that warnings in the matter led a great many of those who were drafted to seek proper treatment before presenting themselves at the camps. we have waked up at last to something like the full significance of these diseases in the destruction of the race. {187} the american social hygiene association in its publication no. 250, "conquering an old enemy", dared to tell the story of these affections very straightforwardly. there are many physicians connected with this association and its opinions are thoroughly conservative and not at all hysterical. we get a striking idea of the destructiveness of these diseases from an early paragraph of the publication: "in these united states and in this year of peace 1920, more lives than the whole empire of great britain lost during any year of the great war will be flicked out by two diseases which are curable and preventable diseases. nor will the year 1920 stand alone. in the four and a half years of intensive warfare between 1914 and 1918, the fifteen civilized nations which fought at armageddon gave to these twin scourges a heavier toll than they did to bullets, shells, gas, air-bombs, all the ghastly, wholesale killers of modern battle." the more important of these diseases is estimated by authorities to kill annually in the united states more than 300,000 people. it is far more deadly than tuberculosis and carries off every year nearly, if not quite, as many lives as influenza at the height of its epidemicity. france lost during the four years and four months of armageddon 1,350,000 lives in battle. we lost almost as many during the same time from this affection which a few years ago we were ostrich-like hiding from ourselves by refusing to look at it. the other of these affections is probably responsible for more serious suffering in women and female complaints that require operation as well as blindness in children than any other single factor that we have in modern life. there is no element that has so seriously interfered with the simple joys of existence, the {188} raising of children and family life in peace and happiness, as this affection. when it is realized how many complications and sequelae may develop from these diseases, but above all how much harm may be done to innocent wives and children, some notion of the suffering that has thus been inflicted on mankind will be obtained. the one significant factor in the control of this source of ill health has been religion. just in proportion as religion has lost its hold over the rising generation, there has been a marked increase in this particular mode of ill health. the only effective brake on human passion has been religious feeling, but above all religious training. if religion had done nothing else than limit to a noteworthy extent the irregular living consequent upon yielding to passion, that would be sufficient of itself to make not only personal but community health greatly indebted to religion. other motives have at times been appealed to and sometimes with apparently good results for the time being, but never with any enduring effectiveness against the flood tide of feeling which comes over those who have had no practice in self-repression and who have not learned to appeal to the higher motives to help them in this matter. for a great many young men, "sowing their wild oats" has been sowing a crop of seeds whose products have meant the ruination of their own lives, but unfortunately also only too often of the lives of their future wives and their unborn children. we know now that the great majority of all the blind children in our blind asylums owe their blindness to one of these venereal affections. three out of five at least of the imbeciles and epileptics in our institutions derive their mental trouble from the other {189} of these diseases. we hear a good deal about young folks "seeing life", but for many the process which has been thus lightly glossed over should be described literally as "seeing death." since the unfortunate breakdown of religion to a considerable extent in the last few generations and its tendency to change into a mere social influence at most, there has been a great increase in the prevalence of these diseases. some of this is undoubtedly due to our modern city life and its temptations, but the individual attitude toward life means more. st. theresa said, "when the individual is well grounded in faith, the temptation means little." an attempt has been made to control the power of temptations and repress the passions of men by other means. above all, knowledge of the awful sex disease dangers which they were running has been turned to as a hopeful remedy in this matter. it was thought that young folks could be terrified by the knowledge of the hideous possible consequences of their acts into avoiding the lapses which occasion them. in spite of the fact that practically all of our prominent psychologists have opposed any such method as this, a great many people who have very little right to an opinion have insisted that this policy must be followed in our schools. there is probably nothing that could do more harm than this. the diffusion of the knowledge of the immense amount of serious, even fatal, disease consequent upon sex irregularities suddenly thrust upon the world has made a great many people a little hysterical and has tempted them to turn to remedies which are not only not likely to be helpful but are almost sure to be vicious in their consequences. it is like finding {190} that a child has swallowed some poison and in the excitement administering another with the vague hope that one may neutralize the other. professor foerster of the department of psychology and ethics at the university of munich does not hesitate to say that such teaching is sure to do harm and not good. he has suggested that "in making use of the intellect to restrain sex instincts there is every danger of the intellect itself, through excessive familiarization with details of such knowledge, being captured and employed in the service of the enemy." he praises the older teachers, "the great educators of the past who have all been instinctively aware of this truth and have hence strongly insisted on the importance of cultivating a sense of shame; for they have realized that the chief task of sexual education is not to attract the attention of the young to sex matters, but as far as possible to distract them from it." professor mã¼nsterberg of harvard university took very strong ground against the teaching of sex hygiene in public schools and stated his opinion quite as emphatically as professor foerster that such teaching, even though it be given with the best of intentions, is sure to do much more harm than good. he said: "the cleanest boy and girl cannot give theoretical attention to the thoughts concerning sexuality without the whole mechanism for reinforcement automatically entering into action. we may instruct with the best intention to suppress, and yet our instruction itself must become a source of stimulation which unnecessarily creates a desire for improper conduct. the policy of silence showed an instinctive understanding of this fundamental situation. even if that traditional policy had had no {191} positive purpose, its negative function, its leaving at rest the explosive sexual system of the youth, must be acknowledged as one of those wonderful instinctive procedures by which society protects itself.... "a nation which tries to lift its sexual morality by dragging the sexual problems to the street for the inspection of the crowd without shyness and without shame, and which wilfully makes them objects of gossip and stage entertainment is doing worse than munchausen when he tried to lift himself by his scalp." it would be perfectly easy to give many other quotations from prominent psychologists who agree with foerster and mã¼nsterberg in this matter. what is forgotten is how large a rã´le suggestion plays in all matters relating to conduct, but particularly sex conduct. the exhibition of such ordinary crimes as "second-story work", climbing porches in order to steal while the family are at meals, the picking of pockets and the like, on the reels of moving pictures has been found to be followed over and over again by the occurrence of such crimes among the boys and even the girls in the neighborhood where the exhibition was given. girls see a woman's reticule cleverly rifled in a street car or on a crowded corner and, tempted by the cleverness of it, they are led to imitate the action. in many cities the police refuse to allow such reels to be exhibited unless the punishment for the crime completes the picture. even with this, however, it has been found that such exhibitions prove criminally suggestive, for the young folks remember the cleverness and think of the fun that one can have with the money, while the punishment is, if not forgotten, at least so pushed into the background of memory as to have comparatively little deterrent effect. {192} if this is true with regard to indifferent actions of this kind, the temptations to which are more or less artificial or but of comparatively slight allurement, it is easy to understand how serious and profound can be the suggestive power of sex knowledge for which there is likely to be so prurient a curiosity and with regard to which there are in the best-regulated healthy individuals, bodily stirrings almost as soon as the mind begins to be occupied with them. for that is the danger,--that even in the best of men the physical sex impulse may be awakened. in those who for professional reasons are quite familiar with sex matters, as for instance the physician, the dwelling on sex subjects even in matters of disease may arouse physical elements in the system, and these may react to deepen the attention until other considerations may be quite pushed into the background of consciousness. if this is true for older people, how much more so for the young, who have not yet been disillusioned on sex subjects and whose inhibitions are likely to be so much weaker. a great many of the people who are so intent on sex education apparently do not realize that their very tendency to occupy themselves with this subject so much is due to unconscious physical stirrings within themselves, consequent upon the preoccupation of mind with these subjects to the exclusion of healthier considerations. the imparting of knowledge often serves only to awaken sleeping passions unsuspected before in the organism. everyday experience shows how little knowledge helps. the people whose sex divagations get most frequently into our courts are those between thirty-five and fifty years of age. there is no question at all that they know enough to keep them right if knowledge made {193} for righteousness. i have said elsewhere, and i know it to be true, that medical students, in spite of their knowledge of the consequences of venery, are not better, but on the average a little worse in these matters than other students in the universities. their knowledge, like all knowledge, acts as a suggestion to evil much more than as a protection against vice. when temptation comes they are likely to think of the possibility of avoiding the worst evils and of the powers of medicine, and anyhow youth always feels in the expressive french phrase. _on meurt! les autres!_ people die! oh, yes, other people. the one factor in life that will give the most precious aid in the protection of humanity against sexual temptations is religion. all the higher religions have emphasized the virtue of purity, that is, of freedom from sex vice, as of the greatest importance. for christianity this has been a corner stone of the spiritual life without which righteousness, to use the good old-fashioned word which indicated that a man went "right" in life, was impossible. we are a little afraid of these old-fashioned religious words in our time, and we use such expressions as "go straight", somewhat as during the war the soldiers used the expression "go west" in order not to have to mention the solemn word death, but the old-fashioned words express exactly the meaning that we want, and they often carry valuable suggestion with them. in the sermon on the mount, christ held out his highest rewards in heaven for those who practiced purity. he insisted, however, not on purity of body alone, but on purity of mind and heart when he said, "blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see god." the head master of harrow, the great public school {194} in england, proclaimed a very great truth that we all know, but need to be reminded of, when he said to his young men at harrow that "the bible does not so much speak as thunder against impurity, and it is no injustice to a secularistic morality to say that purity received from the lips of jesus christ a dignity, nay, a paramount authority which it cannot receive from human lips. nor is personal chastity the same thing if it be taken to be a sanitary, or conventional, or moral practice, as if it be a duty resulting from the sanctity of the body as the temple of the indwelling spirit of god." doctor norman porritt, in his book on "religion and health", does not hesitate to say that religion is the only factor that can be helpful in this extremely important matter of the prophylaxis of sex disease. he goes so far as to say that "give to the tempted the reinforcement of religion, and you place him in a position well-nigh impregnable." it has been well said that if the man who first wrote "honesty is the best policy" meant that people should be honest because that was sure to rebound to their own benefit in the end, he was a rascal at heart. in something the same way doctor porritt suggests that to teach that purity is the best policy is to take an extremely low motive for the purpose of combating one of the most alluring temptations that man has. he says very emphatically and yet surely with a great deal of common sense: "and what is to be the remedy for the scourge which is incapacitating and crippling a fifth part of the nation's manhood, checking the natural expansion of population and sweeping unknown thousands to untimely graves? there are many remedies. we may look to the creation of a public sentiment which shall regard immorality as a disgraceful thing, to be {195} ashamed of rather than proud of; we may learn to point the finger of scorn at the tempter as readily as we spurn his victim; we may prove, both by precept and our own example, that chastity is compatible with health, and that impurity--even when no gross disease follows--tends to deterioration and disorder; that the reasoning which gives a sanatory sanction to immorality and vice is a subtle sophistry. we may cultivate the manly exercises and stamp out impurity by wholesome books, elevating amusements, and noble ambitions; we may endeavour to check the spread of these diseases by legislative restrictions; we may inculcate teetotalism and banish enervating habits and too stimulating foods. each of these measures may do something. some of them may do much. but all of them have one fatal defect. they are all tarred with the brush of expediency. expediency, and not wrong-doing, is the danger signal they show. and when the hot blood surges through young veins in the struggle with an imminent temptation, what becomes of expediency?" many people are ready to declare that the conspiracy of silence which has characterized the old-fashioned attitude of mind with regard to sex matters generally is due to the church more than to any other agency. i think that from what we have said the church's insistence on reticence with regard to sex subjects as the policy most likely to do good in the long run is now recognized by psychologists as being founded on motives that are the basis of natural defense by human nature in an extremely thorny matter. ignorance is not innocence, but a saving lack of knowledge may spare a great many evil suggestions that would otherwise work harm. you cannot neutralize sex temptations by the {196} provision of knowledge, you cannot even minimize them, and you may tactlessly add not a little to their danger. there is a prudery which is not proper reticence that is cultivated by some people who happen incidentally to be religiously inclined. they would not call a spade a spade for the world. they would not hint at the fact that conjugation is always the origin of life for worlds. they would not use certain plain words that must be used in order to express very definite ideas without the feeling that they had smirched themselves by saying such things. if they had gone through europe in the old days and seen the public comfort arrangements, they would have collapsed then and there. all this is sheer prudery and when applied to sex matters represents really a neurosis of excessive precaution and inhibition with regard to some of the most natural things in the world. any one who understands even a little of the religious attitude toward marriage will appreciate readily that such a state of mind is as far as possible from being that of the church. marriage is termed holy and blessed, and the ministers of the sacrament are the married persons themselves. only those who fail to comprehend religious teaching in these matters have suggested that religious reticence with its conservation of that supreme reverence which even the great pagan teacher quintilian recognized as due to youth represented an unfortunate cultivation of harmful ignorance. on the contrary, it is a part of that great tradition of age-long reticence which represents the highest wisdom of humanity. hence the reversion to that mode of dealing with the question which has characterized the teaching of conservative psychologists in the last few years. {197} the greatest safeguard of purity with all that it means for the preservation of health and strength is the practice of self-denial with regard to the luxuries of life. no element in life has emphasized that and encouraged its practice so much or so constantly, and so persistently tried to train her children in it from youth as religion. it is almost impossible, for young people particularly, to keep right in this matter if they constantly indulge in luxuries. the very word luxury has come to be defined as "lust and lasciviousness and indulgence in lust", because there is such an almost inevitable connection between the exuberance of animal spirits which develops in connection with indulgence in luxuries of various kinds that the two words have almost necessarily come to have an intimate association. the word is applied to the friskiness or wantonness of animals, and it is very easy to understand its application. men as well as animals who take more food than their occupations in life enable them to dispose of properly become similarly wanton or out of control. in scriptural words they "wax fat and kick." religion has encouraged innocent enjoyment of every worthy sort as a distraction of mind and an outlet for youthful energy, but has discouraged in every way possible that complete gratification of the senses or of bodily desires which is so likely to be fatal to such strength of will as will enable people to control themselves. clarke says, "luxury does not consist in the innocent enjoyment of any of the good things which god has created to be received with thankfulness, but in the wasteful abuse of them to vicious purposes in ways inconsistent with sobriety, justice or charity." professor foerster, whose books on the subject of the {198} training of youth and especially on sex matters in youth attracted so much attention shortly before the war, faced frankly this problem of the necessity for the practice of mortification, or as he did not hesitate to call it, genuine asceticism, the exercise of the virtues of self-control and self-denial as the most important factor for the protection of youth. he said: "all solutions of the sex problem which tend to emancipate sex feeling from the control of moral and spiritual law (instead of making it the chief aim to place the spirit in a position of mastery over the sex nature) are essentially hostile, not only to our whole social evolution and to the development of individual character, but to actual physical health in the sphere of sex. to secure the mastery of man's higher self over the whole world of animal desire is a task, however, which demands a more systematic development of will-power and the cultivation of a deeper faith in the spiritual destiny of humanity than are to be found in the superficial intellectualistic civilization of to-day. to achieve such a result it will be necessary not only to have recourse to new methods and new ideals, but to make sure that we do not allow what is valuable and in any way worthy of imitation, in the old, to be forgotten. the ascetic principle in particular is to-day in danger of being undervalued." the cult of the body which has become so much the occupation of the present generation, which refuses to make the necessary effort of mind to secure intellectual pleasures, has always been the special deprecation of the church. a great many of the words in the language show the effect of that religious attitude very clearly. sensuousness, while its original meaning is only anything connected with the senses, has come to mean the quality {199} of being particularly alive to the pleasure that is received through the senses and therefore by implication, at least, not particularly intellectual. the _edinburgh quarterly_ reviewer long ago, in the famous article which byron suggested as having snuffed out the "fiery particle" of keats' soul, hurt him most by suggesting his lack of intellectuality and declaring that he was "too soft and sensuous by nature to be exhilarated by the conflict of modern opinions", hence "he found an opiate for his despondency in the old tales of greek mythology." sensuality even more than sensuousness has come to mean under the sway of the senses and the bodily desires rather than of the mind. pope spoke of men "sensualized by pleasure" like those who were "changed into brutes by circe." there is probably no epithet that a man of intelligence resents more than to be called a sensualist. goldsmith summed it up when he spoke of "the vulgar satisfaction of soliciting happiness from sensual enjoyment alone." religion has particularly emphasized the danger and the actual degradation of human nature which this brought about. bishop atterbury declared that "no small part of virtue consists in abstaining from that in which sensual men place their felicity." longer ago shakespeare summed up the degeneration of the sensualist when he said "those pampered animals that rage in savage sensuality." this is quite literal degeneracy, for as man is both animal and rational, overindulgence in the pleasures of the senses drags him down toward his animal nature, that is, toward the _genus_ below the _genus homo_ to which man belongs. no wonder men resent the epithet "degenerate." {200} as the result of the influence of religion other words such as carnal, worldly, have come to be stamped with a meaning which makes people understand much better than would otherwise be the case the real significance of indulgence in bodily or mere earthly pleasure. the words are no longer fashionable, but that is because the deeds which they represent have become quite fashionable, and those who affect them do not want to have the innuendo of decadence and wrongful indulgence which necessarily goes with them applied to their acts. religion has thus created a state of the public mind that has been extremely helpful against sensual pleasures and their power to ruin health, so long of course as religion held its place of influence over men. above all religion has insisted, and it is almost the only agency which continues to do so, that there can be no purity with its power for good for the health of both mind and body if the excitants of sensuality are indulged in. there must not only be no doing of evil, but there must be, as far as possible, no thinking about it, and especially there must be no dwelling on sensual pleasure, for bodily cravings will almost surely be aroused that make temptation almost insuperable. to think of delicate viands when one is hungry causes a flow of saliva, making the mouth water, but we know now that it causes a flow of what are called the appetite juices in the stomach which adds materially to the feeling of hunger and would make it very hard to resist taking food if it were placed before one, even though there might be some rather serious dangers connected with its taking. the thirsty soldier finds it extremely difficult to obey military laws with regard to not drinking any water that has not been examined and declared wholesome by the medical regime {201} of the army, and if he should dwell much on his thirst it would make it ever so much harder to restrain if water from outside military sources should be offered to him. other pleasures of sense are even more likely to become the subject of almost insuperable temptations if the objects of them are dwelt on. religion therefore has insisted, and is still insisting, on the necessity of avoiding attendance at such theaters as quite inevitably set up sensual excitation. fashion, which is another word for the world--and religion has always pointed out that the three great enemies of the development of the spirit of man are the world, the flesh, and the devil--has always set itself in opposition to religion in the approval of sensual gratification. that conflict is unending. a great many people declare that they would rather be out of the world than out of fashion, and it is surprising what insensate things fashion leads people to. the present fashion for the slow dance with the partners closely wrapped in one another's arms, for that is of course the essence of all the modern dances, no matter what their varying names may be, is only another development of the unending opposition between fashion and religion. here once more, as with regard to the theater, religion presents the only serious protest. dame fashion insists that she sees no harm in it, but that is of course only a fashion of speech. it is quite impossible for a physician to watch the dancing without becoming convinced that human passions must be aroused by such close contact of human bodies of opposite sexes. in this, however, as in so many other phases of life, only religion can interfere or protest with any hope of success. her protest remains often unheard; fashion {202} may be almost all powerful even against the higher calls of duty as well as against common sense. certainly religious influence has had more to do with keeping a great many women from following the dictates of fashion in emphasizing their sex and therefore exciting the men with whom they come in contact than any other single factor. it has not been entirely successful, it never will be; the conflict will go on and worldliness will constantly come to the surface in some form or other, often to the detriment of health; and religion when properly vital will continue to be the most important factor in keeping evil from gaining such ascendancy as would be seriously detrimental to the healthy mind in a healthy body. religion is the only agency in the modern time that tries to regulate the reading of young folks and indeed of others in this dangerous matter of sex excitation. a great many books seem to be written at the present time for no other purpose than to excite sex feeling,--and thereby to make money. they depend for their sale entirely on the fact that for a great many people there is a distinct physical pleasure in reading about sex subjects. this is particularly true of women. a great many of them, and especially those who have not very much else to do and who therefore have no proper outlet for animal spirits and for the energies that tend to accumulate in them because they feed well and sleep long, are prone to indulge in this sort of luxury. most of them would resent the suggestion that it was wrong for them to indulge their feelings in this way, but religion has always taken a decided stand and insisted that the fomenting of desire and the toying with alluring thoughts and the inviting of temptation are of themselves actually sinful. as john boyle o'reilly said, {203} "temptation waits for all, and ills will come; but some go out and ask the devil home." physicians have always insisted that the sexual erethism which is excited by the reading of books on sex subjects, the attending of sex problem plays and of shows of various kinds is the worst possible background for healthy living. such frequent titillation of delicate nervous mechanisms plays sad havoc with general nervous control. unfortunately just those who are indoors a great deal, who take very little exercise, and who live on dainties are most likely to indulge in these habits of life with regard to reading and the theater and dancing and the like which are most harmful for them. they are irritable in the nervous sense and excitable, and this erethism increases their nervous instability which responds by craving further excitement. a vicious circle is formed which very often leads to nervous breakdown. just now we are hearing much about sexual repression as the cause of nervous disorders, but sexual repression is as almost nothing in its tendency to produce neurotic or psycho-neurotic affections compared to the partial tantalizing, sexual indulgence which comes from sensual reading or lascivious shows. the plays that are seen, the jokes that are heard, the sex problems that are dwelt on, the stories that are read must get more and more spicy and contain more and more sex "pep" to afford any satisfaction, and the consequence is a disturbance of delicate parts of the nervous system which react more or less seriously to lessen the control over the whole nervous mechanism of the body. when doctor s. weir mitchell pointed out two generations ago that not only headache, but rather serious nervous disturbance involving often the gastro-intestinal {204} tract and sometimes other large organs like the brain itself, as well as even mental operations, might come from so small a cause as disturbance of accommodation in the eye, most physicians refused to believe that such far-reaching symptoms could come from what was apparently so trivial a factor. the accommodation mechanism of the eye is extremely delicate, however, and requires such nice adjustment that any interference with it causes a waste of nervous energy that is likely to make itself felt at almost any part of the nervous system. in our day disturbances of the eye are confessed by all to be extremely important. in something of the same way disturbances of the sexual system of the body are reflected throughout the whole nervous system. religion has counseled, commanded and thundered against any practices, however simple they might seem in themselves, that would serve as excitants for the sex feelings. without her influence even more harm would have been done than has been. it is the waning of religious power over public morality and public opinion that has led to the orgy of indulgence in sexual excitation, which has had such bad effects and which unfortunately so often leads to sexual acts which are fraught with the hideous dangers of venereal disease, because passion excited will find its satisfaction. society heedlessly arouses passion but apparently cares not what happens afterwards. {205} chapter xi insanity there is a very prevalent impression that religion is a common, even rather frequent cause of insanity. this is founded on popular experience. it has often been noted that not a few of the people who go insane have delusions on religious subjects. it is also a very common observation that those who are on the road to insanity and have finally to be placed in an asylum have for some time been making themselves conspicuous by their excessive practice of religious observances of one kind or another. it is not surprising then that the familiar fallacy _post hoc ergo propter hoc_, "after this therefore the result of this", should have come to be applied in these cases, and that religion should be set down as a prominent factor of mental disease and perhaps one of the commonest causes of the condition. those who have given most study to the subject, however, know very well that this conclusion is quite as unjustified by the facts of the case as the corresponding one with regard to religion being a frequent source of nervous diseases. we will discuss that in the chapter on nervous diseases, and almost necessarily the closely related subject of mental disturbances is touched on somewhat there. of course it is well understood that a great many of those who are on the road to such mental alienation {206} as will eventually require their internment in an asylum will give many external manifestations of religious feelings, some of them exaggerated beyond reason, as perhaps the very earliest striking symptom of their mental alienation. religion, as we said in the introduction, is one of the most universal interests of men. when people go insane, some interest will receive exaggerated attention. the delusions of their insanity are dependent on what the deepest interest of the individual was. if he was interested in money, he will believe himself the richest or perhaps the poorest of men. if he is interested in science, his delusions will be associated with that subject. delusions concerning some phase of science are probably even more common in our day than those based on religion. electricity is the source of more delusions than anything else, though hypnotism and telepathy and other sensationally exploited modes of so-called psychology are a close second in this respect. if the patient has recently suffered a severe loss by the death of a friend, sorrow will be the central idea of his mental disturbance; if there has been a disappointment in love, that will be the focus of his mental troubles; if there has been a money loss, that disappointment will be the core of the depression. almost any human interest may thus become the root of excitement or discouragement leading to mania or melancholia. the great war gave us some very interesting material as to mental as well as nervous disease. in nothing was that more interesting than as to the causes from which insanity develops. it might very well have been expected that a great many people would break down under the awful conditions in which they were placed during the war. for instance poland was fought over some six times, {207} and portions of austria overrun three times, and servia was, between war and the ravages of famine and disease, a veritable shambles of its people for three or four years. it is easy to understand the awful states of anxiety and solicitude and almost continuous terror to which the inhabitants of belgium, occupied by the germans, were subjected, particularly in the smaller places where they were utterly at the mercy of the german officials whose one idea, fostered by their military teaching, was that the end of the war would be brought about or at least greatly hastened by a policy of frightfulness. literally many millions of people were subjected to conditions which would seem to be impossible for human nature to stand for any length of time, and yet they had to bear them continuously for four years or more. the records of the development of insanity among these people have been rather carefully gathered, and they reveal the astounding fact that the insanity rate was very little higher among all these intense sufferers from the war than it would have been under the ordinary conditions of civil life. manifestly a certain number of persons had the insanities which would have developed in them in later years anticipated by the trials and the hardships of wartime conditions, but only those suffered from insanity as a rule who might have been expected to do so because their family or personal history revealed tendencies in that direction which would almost surely have made themselves manifest sooner or later even under the inevitable vicissitudes of peace time. what modern medicine has revealed to us is that apart from certain infectious diseases which produce degeneration of the physical basis of mind and the absorption of certain poisons--alcohol is a typical example--which {208} cause a corresponding degeneration to the infections, the supreme factor in insanity is the inheritance of a predisposition to the affection. two things have become perfectly clear in the course of modern medical investigation, that insanity and longevity run in families, and that there is almost no other basis on which the two conditions may develop. infections or intoxications in the broad sense of the word may produce conditions to foster or impair respectively either of them, but even they are of minor significance compared to the original inheritance in either case. clouston, the well-known english authority on mental diseases, whose opinion is founded on many years of personal observation, in his book on "unsoundness of mind" [footnote 6] has put the relationship between religion and mental disease very clearly. he said: "it is true that religion, touching as it does, in the most intense way the emotional nature and the spiritual instincts of mankind, sometimes appears to cause and is often mixed up with insanity. but in nearly all such cases the brain of the individual was originally unstable, specially emotional, oversensitive, hyperconscientious and often somewhat weak in the intellectual and inhibitory faculties and, if looked for, other causes will usually be found." he had said just before, "to talk of 'religious insanity' as if it were a definite and definable form is in my judgment a mistake." [footnote 6: methuen, london, 1911. ] so far from prayer--the principal exercise of religion, that is the raising up of the mind to god, either in petition or in resignation--unsettling people's minds, it has exactly the opposite effect. professor william james, whom most people are not inclined to think of as likely to be an overstrenuous advocate of religion, in his {209} well-known essay on "the energies of men" has a paragraph in which he quotes from a physician who had had long experience in the care of a great many insane and who did not hesitate to say that prayer was a benefit and not in any sense of the word a detriment to his patients. "doctor thomas hyslop, of the great west riding asylum in england, said last year to the british medical association that the best sleep-producing agent which his practice had revealed to him was prayer. i say this, he added (i am sorry here that i must quote from memory) purely as a medical man. the exercise of prayer, in those who habitually exert it, must be regarded by us doctors as the most adequate and normal of all the pacifiers of the mind and calmers of the nerves." it is recognized as a general rule in asylum practice that when patients begin really to pray, a turn for the better has come in their condition, and they are on the high road to recovery. this does not mean, of course, noisy, wordy praying, but quiet raising of the mind to god and acts of resignation to their condition so long as they may be affected. there is a very general impression among those who have had most to do with the insane as well as among psychologists in general that religion, instead of favoring the development of insanity, rather inhibits it. professor mã¼nsterberg, in his "psychotherapy" dwells particularly on this. almost needless to say professor mã¼nsterberg did not wear the special favor of religion in the lists and was in no sense her champion. he is proclaiming simply what he knows and feels to be true. a very curious reflection on the relations of religion and insanity is to be found in the fact that the marked increase in the insane among the population of all the {210} great modern civilized countries and most striking among our own has come since the decay of religion and the decrease of religious belief. the statistics of that increase in the number of the insane are very startling to those who are not familiar with the subject. during a single generation the number of the insane in our institutions has increased to five times what it was before in proportion to the population. there is no doubt that this is due to some extent to the fact that people are much less ready to care for their insane relatives outside of institutions than they were a generation and especially two or three generations ago. we are much less ready to make the personal sacrifices needed to keep our friends at home, which is probably also due to the lowering of our religious sense of obligation in the matter. fortunately our insane asylums are much better conducted than they were, and this has made people more willing to confide their relatives to them. giving all due allowance for this, however, there has been an enormous increase in the number of the insane. such commonwealths as california and massachusetts, in which there are very large proportions of educated people, present the highest increase in the number of the insane. there are certain critical spirits who would say that it is our education without god and without religion that has fostered this state of affairs, and that it is particularly people of a certain limited intelligence who, when overeducated, lose their faith, who are most prone to lose their minds. the most important single factor in insanity, not dependent on constitution or heredity but on conduct, is that degeneration of the brain which brings on paresis or general paralysis of the insane. taken by and large throughout the world generally, nearly one in five of all {211} those who die in insane asylums die from this affection. it is the result of an infection usually consequent upon sexual immorality. the disease is inevitably fatal and once it begins it is steadily progressive from the delusions of grandeur so common at the beginning through various delusional states up to absolute dementia and death, which usually takes place in a little more than three years from the beginning of the disease; five years is a long time for a patient to survive. nothing has done so much to limit the occurrence of this disease as religious influences, and it has increased to become the modern scourge that it is just in proportion as religion has lost its hold upon the mind of the rising generation. the disease is particularly infrequent among clergymen, and while _lues_ from which the disease develops may be contracted innocently, it is very evident that a regular moral life such as is led under the sway of religious principles is the best possible safeguard against the spread of the disease. after paresis the most serious form of acquired insanity in modern life is that known as alcoholic insanity, due to excess in the taking of spirituous liquors. it is not necessarily inevitable that a man who frequently indulges to excess in alcoholic liquors will become insane any more than that he will suffer from alcoholic neuritis, but a large number of individuals prove susceptible to the toxic effects of alcohol in these ways. there is an inherent liability in their brain and nervous system to degenerate under the influence of alcohol acting as a poison. this is an extremely common form of insanity, but almost needless to say it occurs much less frequently in those who have any religious principles than in those who are without them, because religion protects from the excesses that predispose to these conditions. clergymen {212} very rarely suffer from them and though occasionally clerical patients have developed alcoholic insanity or alcoholic neuritis, these cases on careful investigation oftener proved to be due to certain patent medicines which contained alcohol in large percentage than to any direct consumption of spirituous liquor. religion by its calming influence keeps a good many people who have hereditary tendencies to insanity from developing outspoken symptoms of the disease. religious conviction has a definite efficacy in making people humble instead of conceited, and this is an excellent factor for preventing the tendency to insanity. nearly always the preliminary sign of insanity is an exaggeration of the _ego_ and a hint at least of delusions of grandeur. people who overrate their importance are often on the road to the asylum. religion, by inculcating humility, at least lessens this tendency and puts off developments that are inevitable so that many more years of reasonable sanity are enjoyed than would otherwise be the case. probably the worst thing in the world for those who have any inherited tendency to disequilibration of mind is to have an occupation in life which involves strains and stresses of emotion. the gambler, the speculator, the man who risks his all on some attempt to make a great deal of money, are much more prone to develop insanity than those who have occupations in life at which they work from day to day for a moderate wage, and who get their joy in life out of the fulfillment of domestic duties. almost needless to say religion has always discouraged gambling and such speculation as resembles it very closely, and the whole tendency of religious influence is to make people so satisfied with their lot in life that they will not take the risks which involve the {213} vehement mental emotions so likely to disturb those with inherited predispositions toward irrationality. undoubtedly religion has in this way saved a great many men from serious developments in mental alienation which might have come had they felt themselves free to take up the riskier avocations in life from which they were deterred by the feeling of religious disapproval. after the tendency to exaggeration of the ego and delusions of grandeur, the most common symptom of incipient insanity is delusion of persecution. as regards this, once more, the religious feeling of trust in providence and the conviction that god will somehow take care of them keeps many people from allowing their delusions of persecution to manifest themselves so soon or so violently as would otherwise be the case. only comparatively rarely do religious minded people in the midst of their delusions of persecution commit crimes, being deterred therefrom by the underlying consciousness of the wrongness of their acts in taking judgment on their persecutors into their own hands, even though they may have yielded to a belief in their delusions. it is true that a certain number of religious-minded people do commit crime under the influence of delusions, but these are rarer than the cases which occur in people who have never had any sense of religious morality. in a word religion has meant a very great deal for the limitation of insanity and the tendency to it, for putting off its development and giving patients years of sanity they might not otherwise have enjoyed, and it has had a very definite effect in limiting the crimes consequent upon insanity. it has a very marked tendency to create the atmosphere of placid trust and confidence which means so much for the preservation of sanity. far from being {214} a provocative of irrational tendencies it soothes patients' minds, prevents them from running into such excesses of emotion as are dangerous for mental balance, and it predisposes those who allow themselves to be deeply influenced by it to live such quiet satisfied lives without inordinate ambition and disordered desires as make for health of mind and body during prolonged life. it has often been said that religion unfortunately proved harmful to insanity and the insane in the old medieval days, because ecclesiastics, sometimes for the sake of the fees that they might secure for exorcisms, taught very generally the doctrine that the insane were possessed of the devil, and that the one thing to do for them, besides exorcising the evil spirit, was to chain them up and keep them in manacles in dungeons until there was assurance that they had been released from the devil that had gained possession of them. in spite of the fact that this is a rather common teaching in medical books and is frequently asserted even by physicians and sometimes indeed by specialists in nervous and mental diseases who are supposed to know the subject on which they discourse, there is very little foundation for this prevalent impression. undoubtedly there was the belief in the possibility of possession by the devil and some such modern scientific minds as alfred russel wallace and professor barrett of trinity college, dublin, have reverted to that belief because of their studies in spiritism and some of the curious results that follow from overdevotion to the cult of spirits. there was, however, a very definite recognition of the fact during the later middle ages that the insane were just ailing persons who had to be taken care of, properly treated, kept from hurting themselves or others, just as delirious individuals {215} would have to be guarded, but who must be looked upon as sick in mind, just as a number of people were sick in body and with more than a hint that the bodily condition had more to do with the insanity than anything else. i have discussed the subject at some length in my volume on "medieval medicine" recently published in london. [footnote 7] paul of aegina wrote in the seventh century of melancholy as a primary affection of the brain to be treated with frequent baths and a wholesome and humid diet, together with suitable exhilaration of mind and without any other remedy unless when from its long continuance the offending humor is difficult to evacuate, in which case we must have recourse to more complicated and powerful plans of treatment. paul was a very popular author much read in the middle ages. [footnote 7: black. 1920.] the church's view of the subject of insanity is very well expressed in bartholomew's encyclopedia. this was a work written particularly for the information of the clergymen of the time, in order to explain to them all references in scripture and to give them such details of knowledge as were necessary for preaching and for the teaching of their flocks. bartholomew was very widely read and went through many editions before printing, was put into print very early, and some of the editions are among the greatest of bibliophilic treasures. bartholomew, usually called the englishman--his latin name of _bartholomaeus anglicus_ is well known--boiled down all the knowledge of insanity into a single paragraph. he has nothing at all to say of possession by the devil, and his discussion of the whole subject of madness is as modern as can be. the causes of insanity which this clergyman writer {216} of the middle of the thirteenth century enumerates are those which psychiatrists of the present day are insisting on. the symptoms of infection, considering the brevity of the passage, are very well and clearly described, and the treatment suggested is the very latest in modern practice and consists of improvement of nutrition and the diversion of the insane. with all our supposed advance in knowledge no physician, even of the twentieth century, could have expressed the whole subject of insanity any better than bartholomew did. this paragraph is a complete refutation of the objections that the church by its insistence on diabolical possession as the principal cause of insanity did a great deal of harm. bartholomew said: "madness cometh sometime of passions of the soul, as of business and of great thoughts, of sorrow and of too great study, and of dread: sometimes of the biting of a wood (mad) hound, or some other venomous beast; sometimes of melancholy meats, and sometimes of drink of strong wine. and as the causes be diverse, the tokens and signs be diverse. for some cry and leap and hurt and wound themselves and other men, and darken and hide themselves in privy and secret places. the medicine of them is, that they be bound, that they hurt not themselves and other men. and namely, such shall be refreshed, and comforted, and withdrawn from cause and matter of dread and busy thoughts. and they must be gladded with instruments of music, and some deal be occupied." {217} chapter xii nervous disease just as with regard to insanity, there is a very common impression that religion increases the amount of nervous disease in the world and is responsible for a great deal of what has been called hysteria. not a few who think they have a right to an opinion in this matter, and some of them are physicians--though usually they are rather young--are quite ready to assert that religion is a fruitful source of nervous symptoms and very often of rather serious nervous conditions. we saw in the chapter on insanity how false is the prevalent impression as to religion producing tendencies to insanity, though of course a great many insane people have religious delusions. it is very much the same with nervous diseases. many nervous people pay a certain amount of attention to religion, and not a few of them cling to straws of hope that they may be able to overcome their neurotic tendencies by superficial attention to prayer or to some practices of religion which they seem to look upon about in the same light as patent medicines recommended for the cure of nervous diseases. people who are deeply religious, however, very seldom suffer from nervous affections, and they have in their religion the most beneficent of helpful resources, if by nature, that is, by heredity or unfortunate development, they have neurotic tendencies. {218} so far from religion increasing nervous disease, then, it has exactly the opposite effect. we have a number of testimonies to this purport from prominent neurologists, many of whom were themselves not believers in religion but who recognized its influence for good over others. such expressions are to be found in the writings of men of every nationality. not infrequently, in spite of their own religious affiliations, they acknowledge what a profound influence certain forms of religion have over certain people. these testimonies have been multiplying in our medical literature in recent years, because apparently physicians have come to appreciate by contrast the influence for good of religion over some of their patients, since they see so many sufferers from nervous diseases who have not this source of consolation to which to recur. in america we have a number of such testimonies. in his "self help for nervous women", doctor john k. mitchell of philadelphia, who may be taken to represent in this matter the philadelphia school of neurologists, to which his father lent such distinction, said: "it is certainly true that considering as examples two such separated forms of religious belief as the orthodox jews and the strict roman catholics, one does not see as many patients from them as might be expected from their numbers, especially when it is remembered that jews as a whole are very nervous people and that the roman catholic includes in this country among its members numbers of the most emotional race in the world. "of only one sect can i recall no example. it is not in my memory that a professing quaker ever came into my hands to be treated for nervousness. if the opinion i have already stated so often is correct, namely that {219} want of control of the emotions and the overexpression of the feelings are prime causes of nervousness, then the fact that discipline of the emotions is a lesson early and constantly taught by the friends would help to account for the infrequency of this disorder among them and adds emphasis to the belief in such a causation." in writing a "textbook of psychotherapy" [footnote 8] eight years ago one of the appendices was devoted to the relations between religion and psychotherapy. one of the paragraphs, written for physicians, and i may say that it has been read by many thousands of them, puts my own opinion on the dual subject of the nexus between religion, insanity and nervous disease, as succinctly as i can hope to put it. there is no doubt that an abiding sense of religion does much for people in the midst of their ailments and, above all, keeps them from developing those symptoms due to nervous worry and solicitude which so often are more annoying to the patient than the actual sufferings he or she may have to bear. while religion is often said to predispose to certain mental troubles, it is now well appreciated by psychiatrists that it is not religion that has the tendency to disturb the mind, but a disequilibrated mind has the tendency to exaggerate out of all reason its interest in anything that it takes up seriously. whether the object of the attention be business, or pleasure, or sexuality, or religion, the unbalanced mind pays too much attention to it, becomes too exclusively occupied with it, and this overindulgence helps to form a vicious circle of unfavorable influence. [footnote 8: appleton.] while many people in their insanity, then, show exaggerated interest in religion, this is only like other {220} exaggerated interests of the disequilibrated, and religion itself is not the cause but only a coincidence in the matter. some who are interested particularly in this subject, on reading this will at once revert to the fact that scruples are extremely common among the religiously inclined and that these are, after all, as a rule, only nervous symptoms which are surely fostered by religion. to say this, however, is to misapprehend the real meaning of scruples. the word is a very old one and means a little sharp stone, as if in trying to make progress the scrupulous found themselves hindered by having to walk over little sharp stones which so disturbed them that they were hampered in getting on. above all, scruples put them into a state of mind where they hesitate as to whether they can go on at all or not. the subject of scruples was very thoroughly worked out and carefully described by the older spiritual writers centuries ago. they wrote elaborate treatises on it, while it was not until our own time that physicians by their careful study of corresponding conditions entirely apart from religion came to appreciate that these conditions of the spiritual life were only expressions of a rather common set of tendencies altogether independent of religion. they are prone to develop in people with certain physical and mental characteristics who are possessed of dispositions and nervous systems particularly likely to be the subject of these hesitancies and doubts and difficulties for which there is very little basis in actuality. the whole chapter of phobias and the other chapter on obsessions and the third on what the french call _la folie du doute_, the doubting mania in our modern textbooks of neurology, are really so many chapters in the {221} literature of scruples of the old time, now transferred to the textbooks on functional nervous diseases. some nervous people who are religiously inclined get into a very disturbed state of mind from the fear that they may commit sin almost unknown to themselves or that they may be in sin unawaredly and cut off from their creator, and they become extremely miserable as a consequence. this is, after all, a very familiar picture to the neurologist accustomed to see patients suffering from functional nervous diseases. i have patients who suffer quite as much from the dread of dirt as these scrupulous people do from the dread of sin. women often suffer from this dread of dirt--misophobia is the scientific name derived from the greek--to an exaggerated degree. a woman patient of mine makes it extremely uncomfortable for the conductors on the street cars because, for fear of contaminating her hands, she dreads to touch the handle bars by which she could mount or descend easily. this adds greatly to the risks she takes every time she boards a car. she is constantly washing her hands to get the dirt off, so that in cold weather she sets up severe skin irritations and makes herself very uncomfortable. i have a male patient who would not touch the handle of my door for the world, and whom successive maids have come to know very well because he stands outside the outer door and has to have that as well as the inner door opened for him. he has said to me over and over again, "doctor, don't ask me to shake hands with you, because you shake hands with so many people." i have seen him standing outside of a large department store with the temperature around zero, waiting for some one to open the door so that he might slip in without touching it. nor are such states {222} of mind confined to the uneducated; on the contrary, they are commonest among those who have a good education and are quite sensible in other things. obsessions were originally described as super-religious states of mind in which some idea assumed a terrorizing character. the victims of them dread that they might commit some awful crime and as a consequence were profoundly miserable. instead of being confined to religion, such mental states are quite common in conditions altogether apart from religious feelings. women read of a mother killing her child in some awful way or perhaps accidentally poisoning it or burning it badly with some escharotic external application. they become obsessed with the idea that they may do something of this kind and fear that they may not be able to resist the suggestion. medical literature is full of such cases. a typical case is described by tangi in his textbook on insanity: "a young married woman suffered from nervous exhaustion after her first childbirth. she watched day by day her husband cutting up meat for his parrots with a pair of scissors, and the action filled her with disgust which later increased to positive horror. thus a repulsive obsession was produced and this in turn engendered the morbid suggestion to cut the tongue of her dearly loved child in the same way. the fear that she would not be able to resist this suggestion made the suggestion more vivid and the idea more imperative, causing an agonizing struggle each time." then there are accounts, some of them most poignant, from catholic patients of my own, who were sure that sometime while in the midst of their devotions or even at the very reception of the sacraments they would {223} blaspheme. they are people who fear that every pious act of theirs may just expose them to the risk of committing some awful sacrilege. almost needless to say such states have nothing at all to do with religion, and when similar conditions occur among the religious minded, they must be attributed to the general neurotic condition and not to the incidental religious tendencies. the doubting mania occurs among the religious minded when they keep on fearing that they have not done something that they should do. some of these individuals get into a profoundly miserable and disturbed state of mind, but that must not be blamed on religion. this sad state of mind in people who have no religion at all is extremely familiar to the neurologist, and it has no necessary connection with religious practice or religious belief. i have a patient who has been coming to me for many years now from a city in the middle west; he is a broker, and every time there is a panic in the money market i am almost sure to see him. whenever he gets very much disturbed over business matters, as is likely to happen in panic times, he develops a very striking _folie du doute_, or doubting mania. he will take a letter to a post box and go back three or four times, first to see if by chance he did not drop it on the way, secondly to be sure that it did not get caught in the slot; then, if the letter is important, he will go back to see if perchance there may not be some bolts or other obstructions at the top of the box that may catch it and delay its collection. i have even known him to wait for some time at the post box to see if the postman might not possibly drop it when he came to collect the mail. but then he does other things just as foolish. occasionally he will {224} get home from his office and suddenly have the feeling that he forgot to lock his safe. he will go back and then get part way up town when he is overcome by the fear that he may not have locked the door after him as he came out. at times when his _folie du doute_ is at its worst, he has been known to go back three or four times to close windows or for some other trivial reason. when he is in reasonably good condition there is very little of this state of mind manifest, but he can make himself supremely miserable when the obsession is on him. it is often said that the declaration by the church of the idea of possession by the devil rather encouraged the development of certain mental and nervous states and thus fostered neurotic manifestations of many kinds. this whole question of the possibility of direct diabolic influence over mankind, that is, of some evil spirit deeply influencing certain human beings, is yet a matter that is not nearly so settled as a great many physicians who have not been following scientific work in allied lines seem to think. so distinguished a scientist as alfred russel wallace, the co-discoverer with darwin of the theory of natural selection, had the feeling that spirits interfered much more in human affairs than a great many people were willing to admit, and that the evil spirits probably could, under certain circumstances, deeply affect individuals. professor barrett of trinity college, dublin, is even more outspoken in what he has to say in this regard, and now there is a very general feeling among those who have investigated spiritistic phenomena most carefully that if spirits do actually communicate directly with men, it is commonly not the spirits who claim to do the communicating who are actually present. almost needless to say any such conclusion as this would, {225} if maintained, throw even scientists back to the old idea of diabolism, which the church, on the strength of many centuries of experience, still teaches. one thing is perfectly sure: that if overzeal on the part of certain ecclesiastics rather encouraged neurotic manifestations because of the alluringly suggestive quality of the thought of diabolic possession, they did no more than physicians did in more modern times by their suggestive methods in the study of hysteria. a great french neurologist of to-day has pointed out that major hysteria as studied by french neurologists of a generation ago has practically disappeared, or occurs very rarely in our day because it is no longer unconsciously suggested to patients by physicians that these major symptoms are being looked for. overzeal in medicine raised up a whole series of symptoms that had no existence except in the heated imagination of their patients under the influence of strong suggestion. another extremely interesting phase of this subject is that in the old days many of the sensible ecclesiastics and some of the civil authorities came to recognize that people supposed to be possessed of evil spirits could be cured of their condition not infrequently by roundly whipping them. sir thomas more particularly called attention to how much good could be effected in this way. in writing an article on "psychoneurosis and the war" (international clinics, volume ii, series 29) i called attention to this in a paragraph that may be helpful in the understanding of the discussion of diabolic influence. it has been the custom for many years now, indeed for more than a generation, to think that the old-fashioned methods of treating many of the psychoneuroses by {226} punishment and the infliction of pain were founded on an entirely wrong principle. sir thomas more, for instance, tells the story of a number of folk in his time who suffered from rather serious complaints; some of them were dumb and some deaf, and some thought they could not see, and others could not walk. he says that some people considered them possessed of the devil, and that it was the presence of this very undesirable spirit that hampered their activities in various ways and made it impossible for them to use their powers properly. the description of the cases makes it very clear that he is referring to hysterical conditions of various kinds and the sequel as to the successful treatment which he says was frequently employed on them more than confirms the inference of hysteria and demonstrates the very definite hysterical character of the affection. many a physician down through the ages has been inclined to think that these people were possessed of a bad spirit of some kind, even though he might not be quite ready to think that a personal devil had taken hold of them and was seriously hampering their functions. we recognize that the real trouble is with their own spirit, to which may be applied whatever epithets come to mind, and no one will think them exaggerations; this spirit has lost its control of their activities, rendering them incapable of exercising their functions properly. there is a very widespread tradition, which has found its way into medical literature especially, that the fervent practice of religion in women has a very definite tendency to make them neurotic. particularly when religious devotion is associated with mortification and fasting, it is supposed to be serious in its effects. it is the custom to make references to such pious women as st. catherine {227} of siena and st. theresa of spain as typically exemplifying this neuroticizing tendency. any one who really knows the lives of either of these women will not be likely to think that they were neurotic in any proper sense of that word at all. both of them were not weak but had immensely strong characters, veritable towers of strength in supremely difficult times, supporting not only their own heavy burdens but helping others around them to bear theirs. of catherine of siena, swinburne, the english poet, surely not a sanctimonious person, whose sentimentality might lead to admiration for the hysterical bizarre, but who had studied her career because so many incidents in her life have been the subject of great paintings by a number of the greatest painters of italy, said: "then in her sacred saving hands she took the sorrows of the lands, with maiden palms she lifted up the sick time's blood-embittered cup, and in her virgin garment furled the faint limbs of a wounded world. clothed with calm love and clear desire. she went forth in her soul's attire, a missive fire." the great hospital at siena was rebuilt in honor of catherine shortly after her death because of the fact that she had spent many years of her comparatively brief life there; she died at thirty-two in personal service of all kinds to the patients suffering from every manner of disease, even leprosy, who were in the institution. (the lepers were housed apart from the others.) she placated so many feuds among the noble families of siena, feuds that were the cause of as many murders as the worst {228} of our own in kentucky, that she was asked to be the envoy of peace when cities were at war, and it was she who eventually by her influence brought the popes back from avignon to rome and thus put an end to the great disorders in the italian peninsula. st. theresa, the great spanish mystic of the sixteenth century, the other "horrible example," held up even by some neurologists, of hysterical tendencies due to religion and mortification, proves, when studied in real life, to have been at least as great and strong a character as catherine of siena. she well deserves the name of saint as a leader in unselfishness, but besides she had a fine sense of humor. that is what neurotic people lack above all--a sense of humor. all sorts of distinguished men in the spain of her time--and in the sixteenth century spain was by far the greatest country in europe, her sovereigns ruling most of europe and the greater part of america, and the nation gave birth to great art, literature, architecture and philosophy--turned to consult st. theresa in their difficulties. she wrote a series of books that have been republished in every cultured language in europe at least once a century ever since, and our own generation has been sedulous in the study of theresa's writings. no less than a dozen lives of her have been written in english in the twentieth century. this spanish lady who died three hundred and fifty years ago is still a very living force in the world. owing to the special conditions under which much of my work is accomplished, i am brought in contact with a great many religious women every year. for some twenty years i have spent some days each summer with groups of religious communities where large numbers were assembled for special intellectual and spiritual work. the {229} mother superior has often consulted me with regard to some of her daughters who had special nervous manifestations, but it is a never-ending source of surprise to find how few of them suffer from the nervous symptoms so common in our time. considering the fact that they spend their lives very largely indoors, that they live on very simple food--and sometimes i have been inclined to think with scarcely enough nor sufficient variety to make them capable of the amount and demanding nature of work they have to do--fewer of them suffer from nervous symptoms or affections than women of the same class who are living at home and on whom the demands are not nearly so strenuous. their religious duties, instead of being in any way a drain on their nerve force, though i have often heard it said that teachers ought not to be required to give quite so much time to their religious duties, represent a reservoir of energy from which they draw strength and above all placidity of mind and consequent power to accomplish more than would otherwise be the case. my duties often bring me into contact with numbers of sisters during their hours of recreation, so-called, and i do not think that i have ever seen a happier, heartier group of people than they make during these periods of relaxation. i have always considered it a privilege to share recreation after dinner or supper with a dozen sisters when i am lecturing in one of the smaller towns, and we have often laughed so heartily together that i have sometimes wondered what the neighbors would think of us. people with a sense of humor like this are not likely to have hysterical tendencies. nervousness is at bottom selfishness, and there is always a great deal of conceit in it. religious women are likely to be humble, and that means much in keeping them from various magnifications {230} of their ego which so often result in nervous and mental symptoms. i have often ventured to say that i was quite sure that a religious house, especially where there were many young people, in which laughter came easily and was heard frequently during the times appropriate for it, was sure to be a place of real spirituality and happiness. i have often dared to remind them that the one place where one hears no real laughter, though sometimes sounds are made resembling it, is an insane asylum. people who are ready to laugh are usually eminently sane. above all, they do not take themselves too seriously. it is taking one's self and one's feelings too seriously that is the root of a great deal of nervous and mental disturbance in this little world of ours. certainly the discipline of heart and mind and body and the feeling of satisfaction from duty well done that comes in connection with that complete sacrifice of themselves in a great religious cause which members of religious orders make, so far from predisposing them to nervous disease has just exactly the opposite effect. nervous diseases, instead of being fostered or fomented by religion, are on the contrary repressed rather effectually and equilibrium given even to those in whom some hereditary elements might have proved disturbing. this does not mean that all the religious minded are free from nervous symptoms, and it must not be forgotten that not every one who says "lord, lord," gets into the kingdom of heaven, either on earth or hereafter, but religion must be counted as an asset and not a liability in this matter. it will not overcome strong hereditary tendencies, and it will not help efficaciously those who do not submit to the discipline that true religious feeling entails, and of {231} course religion is not a panacea for the ills of mankind, though it must be counted a therapeutic adjuvant and not a nervous irritant. professor foerster, whom one is tempted to quote because of the thoroughgoing thoughtfulness of his treatment of many of these subjects and his wise conservatism founded on that deep consideration, has discussed the question of repression of self in matters of purity as a possible source of nervous troubles of various kinds. freudianism, as it is called, which has attracted so much attention in recent years, would seem to suggest the conclusion that a great many of the nervous symptoms of humanity are due to the repression of sex impulses. foerster has pointed out that just the opposite is true, and that there never was a time when there was so little real self-repression and also never a time when there was so much functional nervous disease. he said: "from this point of view there can be no doubt that the modern theory of 'living one's nature out' is largely responsible for the nervous degeneration of to-day, and that the widespread hysteria in modern life does not spring from those remnants of discipline and idealism which are still operative amongst us. one is compelled to ask indeed with astonishment, with what right freud finds the dangers of repression so alarming in an age which is conspicuous for self-indulgence. in reality there has never been an age which was less influenced by the spirit of abnegation and repression than is our own. the present age is one of disintegration, in which natural instincts have largely broken away from their controlling higher ideals; if, therefore, it suffers to a peculiar degree from nervousness, one can hardly look for the cause in the fact that it constitutes a high-water mark of control and {232} discipline. the precisely opposite conclusion would be nearer the mark." professor foerster admits, however, that it is perfectly possible that people who have no good motive for self-repression and who suppress instincts only out of the merest human respect and cowardice as to results, may very well suffer some of the consequences that freud has pointed out. he says: "there is one point, however, in which one can entirely agree with freud, or at any rate allow oneself, through him, to be led to the recognition of an important psychological and pedagogical truth. there are to-day certain circles who cling to the old ethical tradition only through considerations of an outward description, as the result of a species of timidity which keeps them from breaking with respectable customs; and yet these people are, at the bottom of their hearts, believers in a view of life of a totally different description--one which attaches no value or meaning to self-mastery and self-denial." almost needless to say this obscuration of religious motives with the result of leaving the individual too much at the mercy of the merely physical without adequate principles for self-control is not the fault of religion but of its very opposite--irreligion. foerster's words are all-important for the understanding of an important phase of the discussion of the cause and cure of nervous and psychic symptoms of various kinds which has attracted much more attention outside of medical circles than it deserves. the danger of the absence of religious motives in the world, because of the persuasion that new discoveries are doing away with the necessity for faith, has also been emphasized by professor foerster, who said: {233} "along with the disappearance of belief in a spiritual world arises the danger that even earnest and noble men and women will be influenced in their consideration of the deeper things of life by the newest and most tangible facts alone, and will be inaccessible to all arguments going beyond the scope of mere practical sense and expediency. it would appear as if the preponderance of an intellect directed towards external things destroyed not only belief in the invisible world in a religious sense, but also undermined the power of grasping the full value and reality of certain _imponderabilia_ in earthly life, and of understanding the deep-growing spiritual injuries which may proceed from apparently harmless and even outwardly beneficial things." {234} chapter xiii dreads the most fruitful source of neurotic affections and especially of what have come to be termed in recent years the psychoneuroses, those disturbances of nerve function due to an unfortunate state of mind, are the dreads or, as they have been called, the fear thoughts of mankind. men as well as women develop, in the sense of fostering, often almost unconsciously to themselves, a dread of the ulterior significance of some symptom, or feeling, or disturbance of function, which serves to make them extremely uncomfortable. the physical sensation which they experience and which is the basis and the source of the dread may be only a quite normal physiological feeling common to all humanity, heightened by overattention to it, but the fearsome state of mind will cause it to assume the significance of a definite symptom of some serious disease or, what may be worse, an indefinite symptom of some impending affection which, in the opinion of the sufferer, may be as yet too inchoate for the physician to recognize its real significance. it is not a question of an imaginary ill, as a rule, and there is but seldom a real hallucination or creation by the fantasy out of nothing, of the ailment from which these people suffer, but there is an exaggeration of some slight or at least comparatively insignificant feeling to {235} an extent that makes it assume a serious aspect. this inhibits normal function, lessens appetite and exercise, at times even disturbs sleep, and so brings about some at least of the ailments that are dreaded. not infrequently these dreads are very vague. people wake in the morning with a sense of depression and the feeling that something is hanging over them. as a result they feel out of sorts, their appetite for breakfast is blunted and they begin the day very badly just because of this incubus of vague disturbance of mind. almost anything that happens during the day will emphasize their depression; as a consequence lunch may be skimped, they do not get out as they should, and a vicious circle of influences is begun. perhaps they eat rather heartily for dinner and then fall asleep in their chair afterwards over the evening paper, and then find that when they go to bed they do not sleep promptly as they expected to. they worry over it, feeling there must be something the matter with them, since they cannot sleep lying down though they could sleep so well in the chair, and if there should be a repetition of these feelings the next day, it is easy to understand how a psychoneurosis would be started which might easily, if eating and outing and exercise were to continue to be neglected, develop into a serious condition. many a case of nervous breakdown has a beginning as simple as this, and people of nervous temperament must be constantly on guard against it. such patients--and they are much more common than might be thought and they have been with us for thousands of years, for plato describes some of them and the oldest prescription in the world is a fumigation that was directed to curing just such a neurotic condition--need to have faith in themselves and faith in their maker and to stop {236} hesitating and doubting and thinking and dreading. i have known men, but particularly women, who had been suffering in this way, become converted so that they took up the practice of religion which they had neglected before and proceeded to get immensely better. of course, there are any number of hypochondriacs among people who profess religion, but they are the exceptions which prove the rule that fewer people who have a real sense of religion and who take it seriously as a guide of life suffer from dreads and the symptoms which result from them than are to be found among the people who have given up the belief and practice of their religion. this is particularly true of those who belong to the old orthodox forms of religion which require self-denial and self-control as part of the practice of religious duties. as we have shown in the chapter on nervous diseases the quakers, the strict methodists, the roman catholics, the orthodox jews, get their reward for their submission to their religion even in this world by lessened solicitude about themselves. indeed there is nothing that is more likely to dispel dreads than an abiding sense of religion. if a man or a woman is convinced that there is a providence that oversees human life as well as the universe, in whom "we live and move and have our being" and of whose infinite knowledge and power we can have no doubt, the unreasonableness of dreads comes home to him. the man who prays every morning, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven", must have the feeling that his will _will_ be accomplished, and that is all that any of us can ask for. somehow that is for the best, though we may not be able to see just how. "if not a sparrow falls to the ground but your heavenly father knoweth", and if, as the master said, "are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and {237} not one of them is forgotten before god? but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. fear not therefore: you are of more value than many sparrows", surely the believer will keep himself at least from being overworried by dreads. his disposition may be such that he cannot dispose of them entirely, but at least the best source of consolation and strength is to be found in that strong faith for which there are so many strengthening expressions against the fears and dreads of life to be found in the sacred writings. how many striking sentences there are in the scriptures to help against these solicitudes: "and which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? if ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?" how one is tempted to quote others of the expressions in that same wonderful chapter of luke (xii). "the life is more than the meat and the body is more than raiment. consider the ravens; for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and god feedeth them; how much more are ye better than the fowls. but rather seek ye the kingdom of god; and all these things shall be added unto you. fear not, little flock; for it is your father's good pleasure to give you a kingdom." all over the scriptures are passages that are meant to be fear-dispelling and that have been for many men and women in many generations. for fear is often the state of man unless he has something to cling to. "fear not, i am with thee."... "fear ye not, nor be afraid, have i not told thee."... "fear not, i am the first and the last, for i the lord thy god will hold thy right hand, saying to thee fear not, i will help thee." scientists have recognized that religion and science {238} were coã¶rdinate factors for the neutralization of the dreads that disturb humanity. professor h. d. seeley, who was for many years professor of geography, geology and mineralogy at kings college, london, and who was a distinguished fellow of most of the important english scientific societies, the royal, linnean, geological, zoological and geographical, stated in his little work, "factors in life", his views as regards the place of religion in dissipating the fear thoughts of life, and places it side by side with science itself in this respect. he said: "to the religious neither life nor death has terrors, and in freeing existence from its greater anxieties the influence of religion works on the same foundation of moral efforts as science. the sciences are the sisters of religion in that they unfold something of the laws by which the universe is governed, and by which man's life is directed. they are thus far the stepping-stones of faith. and those who have learned that health is the reward which man may gain by moral discipline, that mental vigour may be augmented by the wise (or moral) use of food, and that education is the systematic exercise of moral responsibility in any or all the affairs of life, may find that in the practice and pursuit of the truths of science they are conscious of a religious education which is a light to the feet. such matters are factors in life, which may educate us in a reverent appreciation of religious truth and divine government of the world." many physicians of large experience have recognized the value of an abiding religious faith as a remedy for many of these dreads and doubts which so pester mankind and make so many people suffer even from physical symptoms that seem surely to have only material causes as their basis because they so hamper the will to live. {239} sir dyce duckworth, the distinguished english physician, once wrote to a friend: "what is always needed is a reverent study and a full acknowledgment of god as a father and as the great 'all in all.' in my experience the only solution of all our difficulties is to maintain a humble, child-like faith and a confident trust in the perfect love of god, who 'knows whereof we are made, and remembers that we are but dust.' "with that and perfect love, there need be no fear, and all will come right in his own time. that is the faith to live by and to die with, and the happiest people (and the happiest of the dying) are those who hold firm by that faith. "this is my experience after much thought, much knowledge of human nature, and not a little study of all the difficulties you relate to me." but it must not be thought that these dreads cause only the trivial instances of nervous breakdown in which people never very capable give way before the strenuous call of commercial life in the large cities of our time. nor must it be thought that education is dispelling them. some idea of the important role that dreads may play in the production of human ills that seem to be very serious and that often prove quite incapacitating for mental and physical work, even in men of fine abilities and proven powers, may be gathered from what happened during the recent great war. the allied nations had to maintain some fifty thousand beds behind the lines for the accommodation of patients suffering from functional nervous affections really founded on dreads. at the beginning these cases were misunderstood, and they were unfortunately called "shell shock" because they seemed so serious that it was thought that they were {240} due to some concussion of the nervous system, that is, some shaking up of its elements that made it impossible for it to function normally, even though there were no external signs of injury. after a time, however, it came to be appreciated that the great majority of these patients were suffering from major hysteria due to loss of control over the nervous system as a consequence of the almost inevitable dreads which developed in the awful conditions of warfare in the trenches, with its terrifying sights and sounds, and with the intense strain put upon the nervous system because of the demands made upon physical energy almost to the point of exhaustion. after loss of sleep and irregular eating, wet feet for days at a time, exposure to the inclemencies of the weather and then having to withstand an enemy attack, often at dawn after a fearsome barrage had been laid down on them for hours, it is no wonder that in many cases men's nervous control did give way. they were not cowards, they were not malingerers; on the contrary they were often brave men who had volunteered for the service, giving up important positions at home to take up the defense of their country; and yet after a time their dreads dominated them and they suffered from all sorts of symptoms. some of them could not see, a number could not hear; some could not use their legs, and some could not employ their arms properly; some walked with a limp, some had tremor that made their usefulness as soldiers absolutely at an end. nearly all of them had a series of complaints which they wanted to detail in all their minuteness to every physician who came near. their stories of what had happened were mainly untrue or utter exaggerations of the actual events, and yet these men were not liars and they were not the doddering idiots that they sometimes {241} seemed to be; they were just fellow mortals who meant to do their best, and who had been affected in this way because they were asked to stand what was beyond their strength of soul to withstand. the educated suffered more than the uneducated. there were four times as many "shell shock" cases among the officers of the british army in proportion to their number as there were among the privates. neither ambition nor nobility nor any artificial distinction of any kind seemed to make any difference, for all classes and conditions of men came down with it. its frequence can be very well judged from the fact that one third of all the dismissions from the british army, not counting the wounded, was for "shell shock", which of course should be called by its proper name of major hysteria. one seventh of all the dismissions, if the wounded were included, was for this reason. it had been the custom to think before the war that only a comparatively few men, mostly those of a certain feministic appearance and delicacy of constitution, were likely to suffer from hysteria. it was found, however, that college graduates who stood at the head of their classes, athletes who held records, broad-shouldered, healthy men who had been considered to be the very acme of common sense, men who were supposed to be without a nerve in their make-up, all these proved to have "nerves"; and when the war "got on their nerves", they suffered from the complaints which we have mentioned and many others, including pains and discomforts of all kinds, and inabilities and incapacities, motor and sensory as well as of the memory, of the mind or the will. this recent significant experience will give some idea of how potent dreads may be in the production of {242} symptoms which seem surely to be due to physical rather than merely mental conditions. most people would probably be inclined to think that in so far as dreads produced diseases by the exaggeration of minor symptoms, at most scarcely more than mental conditions of discomfort would result from them. what are called the psychoneuroses, that is, the neurotic affections dependent on the state of mind, may simulate almost any of the organic conditions and may seem to be serious diseases. through the creation of unfortunate habits, they may give rise to a great many rather severe physical symptoms. the war neuroses emphasized this for us. inability to use limbs, either legs or arms, is quite common in connection with them; disturbances of sensation, such as defective hearing and eyesight, or even what seems to be complete blindness and deafness, may develop. tremors are quite common, and pains and aches in connection with the disabilities of the limbs are extremely frequent. a very usual experience is to find that a patient has as a preliminary suffered some injury. this may not be very severe, but it is enough to cause the sufferer to spare the limb that is affected; and unfortunately physicians sometimes put a limb with a minor affection in plaster of paris or in a splint for a time. the patient's own solicitude with regard to the hurt may cause almost as effective splinting of it as a plaster cast or wooden slat and a bandage. whenever this happens, the unused muscles lose some of their nutrition. this is due partly to the fact that the circulation is interfered with because the active contraction of muscles, especially of the legs, is depended on by nature to help the venous or return circulation by bringing about compression of the veins. the valves in the veins are so arranged that when the {243} veins are compressed and the blood thus pressed out of them, it cannot move away from the heart but is impelled onward toward the heart. besides, the sending down of nervous impulses for the active use of muscles increases the size of the arteries to the part by direct action on their walls, and whenever there is failure to send impulses down, the arteries do not carry as much blood as usual, and the nutrition of the part suffers as a result. if this inactive state of the muscles continues for a few days, they will become somewhat flaccid, and after a week or more will actually begin to decrease in size. as a consequence of this, they cannot be used to as good advantage as before, and use of them sets up an achy condition as soon as the limb is set free for use, whether it has been splinted by the physician or by the patient's mind. if the patient is still solicitous, he notices this condition of pain and concludes that it means that the muscles are not yet in the condition of health where they should be used, and he puts on the splints, metaphorical or literal, once more. the muscles grow more flaccid and eventually atrophic as a consequence, until sometimes there will be a difference of more than an inch in the girth of two limbs at the same point, and this atrophy may proceed much farther. it seems almost impossible to believe that men and women could thus make a limb useless, but this is actually what happens rather frequently. the effects of the original injury will pass off in a few days, but the effects of the disuse of the limb may remain for months or even years because of the disturbance of circulation and of nerve impulse. it is probable that the nerves themselves have a trophic or nutritional--that is, vitalizing--influence upon muscles. some physiologists actually talk of there being {244} trophic fibers in the nerves, though it would seem more reasonable to think that the nerve trophic effect comes from the modification of the circulation to the part. whenever muscles have to be increased in size or won back from an atrophic condition, the individual to whom they belong must go through a period of soreness and tenderness in those muscles which often is very hard to bear. the young fellow who, after a rather relaxed summer, begins training for the football team in the fall, knows how sore and tender his muscles have become. after the first day or two of training, each time he wakes up at night he turns over in bed with the feeling that every bit of him is full of tenderness. any number of people under similar circumstances are inclined to think that they must have caught cold. they usually reason thus: "i got into a perspiration and sat down for a while and then took cold, and that is the reason for all this painful condition that has developed." that word "cold" is as unfortunate as "shell shock." there is no such thing as taking cold. we catch infections, but much more frequently in fall and spring than in winter. the young man who is in training usually pays no attention to such unfavorable suggestions or dreads, since he knows that he must take his medicine of further hard exercise until he has hardened and developed his muscles and then, instead of their causing discomfort, nothing in the world gives him so much satisfaction as their active exercise. older people, however, and especially those who have what may be called a "dready" disposition, do not call their muscle discomfort soreness and tenderness; they speak of pains and aches. the very words carry a suggestion of evil with them, and above all they carry with {245} them an inhibitory suggestion which keeps muscles from being used normally. if, then, certain older people get an injury, even though it may not be very serious, so long as it causes them to give up the use of a limb for a while, or sets them to using the muscles of it a little differently from before, a psychoneurosis on the basis of a dread, but with the physical basis of somewhat atrophied muscles to keep it up, may develop and persist for weeks and months and even years. as a consequence of this state--much more of the mind than the body--men may walk lame or be very awkward in the use of one arm, or they may have a little stoop, or they may dread very much the using of some group of muscles. such conditions occasionally occur in the neck or in various parts of the back, and especially in the lumbar region, with strikingly visible effects. it might seem impossible that such conditions should develop and persist for any length of time in sensible and above all intelligent people, and yet i suppose that every physician's case book contains a number of examples. after he has been in practice for ten years or more this will surely be true, if he has had much to do with nervous patients. one of the most distinguished scientists that we had in this country, possessed of one of the finest intellects of our generation, thoroughly sensible and noted for his executive ability, suffered from a slight attack of sciatica, to which he had been predisposed by some unusual work in connection with a heavy fall of snow when he had to go out and do the shoveling himself, since labor was not available. he never quite got over it. for some time he carried two crutches because he had so little confidence in putting down the foot on that side, after having spared it for a {246} while. then for several years he carried a single crutch. in the meantime he was examined by half a dozen of the best physicians in the country, who could find nothing the matter with him except that disuse had rendered the muscles of that leg slightly atrophic, and he would have to push through a period of soreness and tenderness while exercising them. he carried a cane ever afterwards, walked a little lame and favored that leg. persistent sciaticas of this kind and lumbagoes are much more common than they are thought. it was a case of this kind, undoubtedly, that brought about bernheim's interest in hypnotism at nancy and initiated that wave of attention to hypnotism at the end of the nineteenth century which did so much harm. a patient who had suffered from sciatica for some years and walked a little lame as a consequence came under bernheim's care, and he tried without success every therapeutic resource at his command to make him better. finally his patient gave up calling on him, completely discouraged. he had gone to a great many physicians before bernheim, and all of them had failed to do him any effectual good. they could relieve his discomfort for a while, but when he stopped taking drugs, that returned and his limb could be used no better than before. some months after bernheim missed the patient from his clinic he met him on the street one day, walking perfectly straight without his cane and evidently entirely well. he was so much interested that he stopped to ask what had cured him. the patient told him he had gone around to liebault, who, almost alone in europe, was still practicing hypnotism, for the practice had been greatly discredited by certain exposures in england shortly after the middle of the century. bernheim, who had ignored {247} liebault's work before, now took an interest in it and found of course that hypnotism--or indeed, though bernheim did not know that, anything else that would give these patients the confidence to push through a period of tenderness and soreness in regaining the use of their muscles--would cure them. the incident began that period of reawakened interest in hypnotism which now constitutes such a ludicrous series of events in the medicine of the end of the nineteenth century. such cases are by no means so uncommon as they might be thought. i have known the teacher of a high school to slip while coming out of school, fall on his knee, bruise it rather badly, and then have this bruised condition heal very well, only to develop in the course of a few weeks a distinct inability to use the muscles of that leg properly, until he had to walk with a marked limp. the circumference of the limb above the knee reduced distinctly in size, it suffered more from cold than did the other one; it perspired more freely; it was distinctly more sensitive to the touch, and it would seem as though there must be some serious underlying nervous condition. he passed through the hands of several specialists, including one who wanted to remove a cartilage in the knee joint which he said had been dislocated, and another who insisted that he was suffering from a neuritis of a branch of the sciatic nerve, and who wanted to inject water within the sheath of it or at least lay it bare and stretch it. fortunately we persuaded him to join an athletic club and take more exercise than usual and above all exercise that limb. he had had massage and passive movements for it, but these are of very little service in these cases, because the nervous impulses must come down from above. it would almost seem as though the {248} will sent down some of its own creative energy through the nerves which lead to the part. he is now entirely well, though he suffered for several years, and absolutely nothing was done for him except to make him eat better and make him push through a period of soreness and tenderness--he used to call them pains and aches before we explained the condition to him--until he had properly recovered the use of his limb. on the other hand, i have known a good clergyman with a rather similar condition to this, who had bumped his shin bone not far below the knee and after recovery from that had developed a marked psychoneurosis in the muscles above the knee, refuse to be cured by any such simple procedure as merely exercising himself back to health. he could not bring himself to think that it was only his own lack of will power that had caused the condition to develop. above all he needed something external to cure him. he finally went to a bone-setter, one of these old fellows who claim to be the seventh son of a seventh son, or something of that kind, possessed of marvelous hereditary power and instinctive intuition in the matter of setting bones right, and who cure nearly everything under the sun and a few other things besides by their supposed bone-setting processes. my clerical friend was sure that he had been cured by the bone-setter, but any physician would have told him that what had happened was that his faith in his healer had released his inhibition of his muscles and given him the confidence to go on and use them as they should be used,--that is, of course, as far as he possibly could at first. then they were gradually restored to their former condition of health and strength. that is what happened, and he has had no recurrence. he is quite {249} sure, however, that the trouble was a subluxation of his hip joint, which the bone-setter set right, thus allowing nervous impulses and the blood to flow properly through the part once more. his own will was the only obstacle and it was that alone that had to be overcome and used as a therapeutic agent. these patients are the stock in trade of all sorts of irregular practitioners. whenever they think anything is the matter with them they must be "cured"; they never get better of themselves. they need something or somebody to which to pin their faith. it is the hardest thing in the world to find out what is the matter with a man who has nothing the matter with him except a state of mind and its consequences in his physical condition. he must have his state of mind changed first of all, and usually he requires some rather strong suggestion for that purpose. what is likely to affect him most favorably is some novel or unusual method of treatment, or some new discovery in science recently applied to medicine, or some new method of healing, or some supposedly new invention or discovery in therapeutics. these patients are a veritable nuisance in medicine. it is the cures of them, made by all sorts of new-fangled remedies, which make it so difficult for physicians to judge whether a new remedy has a positive favorable physical effect or only a mental influence. very probably the best appreciation of the place of dreads in life and how much of good is accomplished by their neutralization can be obtained from the number of sufferers of all kinds who are cured by all sorts of new remedies which prove after a time to have no physical effect at all. we have discussed this subject of the {250} remedies that have come and gone in medicine in the volume "psychotherapy." it has been very well said that the most important chapter in the history of medicine is that of the cures that have failed. it illustrates very thoroughly how much influence the mind has over the body, and particularly how much dreads have meant for the production of symptoms which have been relieved whenever the patient had his dreads lifted, no matter what might be the agent to accomplish this purpose. instead of decreasing, dreads have increased just in proportion as popular education has spread and more people have been able to read and receive unfavorable suggestions of all kinds. this has been particularly true with the diminution of the influence of religion over people's minds. all sorts of religious substitutes which would give people enough confidence in themselves to enable them to throw off their dreads have gained vogue and have come to be very popular institutions in recent years. dowie, who claimed he was elijah returned to earth, and schlatter, who said that he was divinely inspired to cure people, were as successful in the twentieth century as greatrakes "the stroker," who said that the holy ghost appeared to him in a dream and told him to heal people, in the seventeenth. metaphysical healing of all kinds has been successful, and spiritualistic healing and new thought and magnetic healing, with as little magnetism about it as mesmer's famous battery which had no electricity,--all these have cured people. all sorts of healers are successful just because they lift the dreads and make people forget the inhibitions that they have been exercising over their functions. indeed this state of fear thought is one of the most prolific sources of {251} symptoms, or rather let us say of complaints, that medicine has to do with at all times, hence the importance of the chapter of the cures that have failed. almost any religious feeling will be helpful in the matter, but an abiding sense of rational religion will save many people from being imposed on by all sorts of upstart theories and religious systems which base their claim to recognition on these cures of human beings. these patients furnish a great many of the cures made at shrines. that is why at every shrine there are so many crutches and canes and braces and belts and splints and supports of various kinds to be seen. they have been left there by grateful patients who were able to drop them as the result of the change of mind that came over them during their devotions. many cures besides these occur at shrines, and i have taken a good deal of pains to assure myself that most of the affections that are healed at them are quite different from these psychoneuroses. over sixty per cent of the cures made at lourdes, for instance, are of tuberculosis processes. many of these are of external visible lesions. some of them, after years of progress in spite of all sorts of treatment, heal over in the course of twenty-four hours. i have seen this happen to a lupus, at lourdes, during my stay there, and i do not know how to explain that incident by any natural process. to me it seemed surely supernatural. i know that there are some physicians who suggest that we do not know all the possibilities of the therapeutic effect of the mind on the body, and somehow there may be included in the psychotherapeutic armamentarium the power to heal tissues rapidly, even when they have been the subject of a chronic granulomatous process for years, but i cannot but think that is {252} merely an effort to retain what seems to me plainly miraculous within the domain of the natural. i know too that doctor boissarie's experience, so carefully noted and written out in his clinic at lourdes, shows that there are cases of real joint trouble which have been cured with similar rapidity, but these are very rare. most of the halt and crippled who are cured at shrines have simply been the victims of an attitude of mind which has affected their muscles and their use of certain joints unfavorably, so that they had to carry crutches or canes or wear braces. the deep influence of religion will cure them very often, but it is not a miracle in any supernatural sense of the word, though it is a wonderful event, and that is all that miracle means by etymology. indeed, professors of neurology have occasionally foretold that certain of these patients would perhaps be cured at shrines, and their prophecies in specific instances have been fulfilled. the cures are examples of what faith can do in lifting a dread, but that faith may be exercised with regard to much less worthy objects than are presented at shrines and yet work successfully. when george cohan, in the "miracle man", had the cure that attracted attention to the "new prophet" occur with regard to a lame boy, he was eminently wise in the selection of just the type of case that could very readily be cured that way, and yet the fact that the boy had been lame for years and now walked perfectly made the healer seem a veritable wonder worker. dreads have always been with mankind, and their effects upon human bodies have been the stock in trade of the medicine man in primitive tribes and among savages and of his successors in suggestive medicine among educated and even cultivated people down to our own {253} time. they can be conjured away by almost any impression that is deep enough to produce a favorable suggestion. religion of all kinds has been appealed to successfully to neutralize them. the one rational cure for them is a deep sense of confidence in the almighty and in an overruling providence which serves to dissipate the phobic state of mind with its inevitable inhibitions on bodily functions. it may be necessary for its successful working that the correction of many minor physical ills should be secured, but the all-important basis of successful treatment for the psychoneurosis and the many ailments of mankind which are complicated by psychic states is a thoroughgoing belief that god is in his heaven and all is well with the world, even though there may be difficulties to be overcome, hardships to be borne, and many things that are far from easy to understand. {254} chapter xiv suffering the problem of the meaning of suffering and evil in the world is the greatest natural mystery that man has to face. it has raised the question as to whether life is worth living or not in some minds. it causes a great many people to be disturbed about the meaning of life and has led some sensitive people to conclude that there cannot be an overseeing, all-wise providence since otherwise he would surely prevent all the needless suffering there is in the world. biologists, owing to their occupation with the thought of the struggle for existence in current theories of evolution, have been particularly inclined to say that they could not think that there was a providence because there was so much of carnage in nature, so much ruthless destruction of life amid suffering for which it would be hard to find any satisfactory reason. there has been no little exaggeration in this view, for a calm review of conditions as they obtain in nature shows not so much of active contest as a healthy competition for the means of existence, in the midst of which death comes to the weakling without anything like the suffering so much emphasized. it must not be forgotten that the supersensitiveness of the sedentary student must be taken into account in the appreciation of the significance of such a declaration, {255} for the recluse scientist often shrinks from trials that the active outdoors man finds only a stimulus to action, which serve to develop powers and give satisfaction rather than any real suffering. the incentive to have life and to have it more abundantly which this affords to heartier natures makes the poet's expression, _forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit_, "perhaps we shall be glad to recall these hardships in the time to come", easy to appreciate. life without suffering would lack that contrast which saves it from the dull monotony that might tempt to waste of energy in dissipation. perhaps the best illustration of the actual benefit to man which accrues from suffering is to be found in the fact that one of the surprising results of the presence of the mystery of suffering in the world is that meditation over it has given rise to the five greatest dramatic poems that were ever written. men contemplating it have been led to the expression of the deepest thoughts that have ever stirred minds. these great poems have come at longer and shorter intervals during four thousand years, from job, the essential ideas for which probably date from about 1800 b.c., though its literary form is much later, through aeschylus' "prometheus", shakespeare's "hamlet", calderon's "the wonder-working magician", down to goethe's "faust." of these five dramatizations of the mystery of human suffering, recurring poetic impersonations of hamlet's "the time is out of joint: o cursed spite, that ever i was born to set it right!" the greatest, as conceded by all the critics, is not--as might be expected from the very prevalent impression that man makes wonderful progress down the ages--the {256} last one, goethe's "faust", but is the first one, job. no one has ever expressed so well the only reasonable attitude of mind that man must take in the presence of evil and suffering as this "man of the land of hus whose name was job and who was simple and upright and fearing god and avoiding evil", yet who had to bear some of the severest trials that man has ever been called upon to undergo. mr. h. g. wells has recently, in one of his thought-stimulating novels, shown us that verisimilitude of the most modern type could be woven into a story which followed the outlines of the book of job very closely, so that far from being dead, even the novelty-seeking fiction readers of our generation have brought home to them the fact that job is still a very living piece of literature. job's answer to the mystery of evil is that man must confess his inability to understand it, but he can trust the god who "thunders wonderfully with his voice" and "doth great and unsearchable things", "who commandeth the snow to go down on the earth and the winter rain", "who knoweth what ways the light spreads and heat divideth on the earth", "who joins together the shining stars, the pleiads, and can stop the turning about of arcturus" and "who created behemoth and leviathan and can bind the rhinoceros and has fashioned the ostrich." all that job can say is, "i know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee", therefore for any impatience that he may have displayed over his suffering he reprehends himself and promises to do penance in dust and ashes,--"and after this job lived one hundred and forty years and saw his sons and his sons' sons, even four generations. so job died, being old and full of days." {257} in any consideration of suffering, above all in connection with the related subjects of health and religion, we must not forget that suffering has always been a badge of the race, the common lot of men, so that this very community of it greatly reduces human reaction toward it, since the sufferer cannot help but note that every one else must submit to it as well as himself. at times among those who fail to think deeply enough this may be doubted. the poor may even envy the rich because they suppose that they must by their riches escape suffering, but most physicians soon learn to appreciate very well that the mental discomforts of the wealthy, their disappointed social ambitions, their thwarted aspirations after greater wealth, their envy of their more successful neighbors, but above all their frequent disappointment in their children, though it is almost invariably their very wealth that has spoiled the children and brought their greatest griefs on them, are really the source of much more genuine suffering than the poor have to bear. the worries of life increase with possessions, not decrease, as is fondly hoped, and as the author of the "romance of the rose" said some seven centuries ago: "and he who what he holds esteems enough, is rich beyond the dreams of many a dreary usurer. and lives his life-days happier far; for nought it signifies what gains the wretched usurer makes, the pains of poverty afflict him yet who having, struggleth still to get." suffering must ever remain a mystery, especially when we take into account the fact that all of us are profoundly possessed by the desire for happiness. we can never {258} probe to the bottom of the mystery and know all its meaning, but at least we can readily understand that in the vast majority of cases, instead of being an evil, it is a good. nothing so deepens and develops character as suffering. take the case of our young men who went to the war--so many of them scarcely more than boys, feeling but little of the responsibilities of life--and see how they have come back to us matured by the hardships and sufferings through which they had to go. thucydides said nearly twenty-five hundred years ago, "there is very little difference among men, only a few of them rise above the great mass because they have gone through hard things when they were young." it would seem as though we had changed all that, for we are deeply intent on making things just as easy as possible for the young, but a generation ago gladstone repeated thucydides' expression with heartiest approval, and twenty years ago john morley, writing the life of gladstone, agreed with both of them. i wonder if there are two men in our time who have known men better than gladstone and morley. in that sense suffering is no mystery, and it is easy to see how it is quite literally true that "whom the lord loves he chastises." it is the chastisement of suffering that brings out the powers of men. any one who has not had to suffer in life is nearly always a self-centered egoist without sympathy, but above all without that fellow feeling that comes only from having gone through similar experience. he who has not suffered has not really lived below the surface of his being at all, and he does not know himself. to "know thyself" is the most important thing in the world and the only way to know others. the men who have done great thinking for us {259} have nearly always been men who had to suffer much. it was a blind milton who wrote "paradise lost." when camoã«ns wrote what german and french critics think--and when germans and french agree about anything there is probably a deep underlying truth in it--the greatest epic in modern time, he was starving in a garret, and his old indian servant was begging for him on the streets to secure enough to keep body and soul together until the great work was finished. cervantes wrote what lord macaulay called "incomparably the greatest novel ever written" in a debtor's prison, out of which it seemed he might never be able to secure his release. dante wrote what many think the greatest poem ever written during a long exile in which he learned "how bitter it is to eat the bread of other's tables." _poeta laudatur et alget,_ "the poet is praised and starves", is as true in our time as when horace said it three thousand years ago. goldwin smith has brought out very clearly the fact that suffering and evil are really a necessity in the world if this is to be a place of trial, as every one believes, for of course such a belief represents the only satisfactory explanation of life as we have it. man must have something to strive for and against if there are to be stepping stones of our dead selves to higher things, and so it is not surprising that doctor goldwin smith should have said: "at the same time, so far as we can discern, character can be formed only by an effort which implies something against which to strive; so that without evil or what appears to us evil, character could not be formed. the existence of evil in fact, so far as we can see, is the necessary condition of active life." suffering has been with us from the beginning and it will always be with us; instead of an evil it is one of god's {260} great gifts to man, and yet it sometimes makes little souls bitter and swamps the efforts of those who cannot rise above its trials. religion is the one element that is supremely helpful in this. above all in the terminal sufferings of mankind, when there is no longer any question of pain that has to be borne in developing character for this life, the only consolation is that to be derived from religion and a firm belief in a hereafter and an acknowledgment of the fact that somehow god knows best and all is for the best. without this the awful suffering from cancer which is increasing rather than diminishing, and which seems to be so rooted in human nature that we shall probably never solve its mystery or at least be able to secure human nature against it, as well as ever so many other chronic sources of pain that will never cease entirely until the end of life comes, become hideous specters for humanity, and suffering has very little meaning. no matter what our attitude of mind may be with regard to suffering, there is no question but that we have to stand it under present conditions in this little world of ours. during the next twelve months scarcely less than one hundred thousand persons will die of cancer in this country and a million and a half victims of the disease will breathe their last throughout the world. when we add up all the accidents in industry and transportation, all the wounds in war and civil life, and then add the affections which in one way or another cause mechanical stoppages of processes in the body, for these are the exquisitely painful conditions, it is easy to understand that we need consolation for suffering. an old medical axiom is that "the doctor can seldom cure but he can often relieve and can always console." there are a good many physicians, however, who feel their ability to console sadly {261} hampered by the fact that so many men and women in our time do not believe in a hereafter for which their sufferings in this world can be a preparation, and that therefore the terminal suffering of existence, of which there is and manifestly always will be such an amount, can mean nothing for them except just so much pain that has to be borne without any good reason that they can see, except that somehow or other things were so arranged in this world that there is ever so much more of pain and suffering than of joy in it. two thousand years ago cicero said in his own oratorical way that it was better for all of us to believe in immortality, for if there was no immortality we should never live after death to know it--which comes very near being an irish bull by anticipation--while if there was, and we had not believed in it, there would come a very rude awakening to the truth of things. something of the same problem has been put in much more flippant and yet very expressive way in modern slang. "if there is no other world than this, then some one handed us an awful lemon when we were sent into existence." that is, i suppose, one answer to the mystery of suffering so sure to come to all men in some way or other, and it is one that counsels us to seek the only real consolation for suffering,--that which is to be found in the religious feeling that somehow or other, somewhere, there is some one who knows and understands, and suffering has its meaning. "god's in his heaven and all's well with the world" in spite of the fact that "nature red in tooth and claw" works such sad havoc with her creatures. what the belief in immortality and the feeling that this life is merely its portico can accomplish in giving a man equanimity in the face of disappointments and patient {262} fortitude under even atrocious pain is very well illustrated by what professor william james has to say of thomas davidson in his essay on him. [footnote 9] davidson died of cancer at a comparatively early age, considering the length of life that many scholars enjoy, and for many years he had prepared a large amount of material for that history of the interaction of greek, christian hebrew and arabic thought on one another before the revival of learning which was to be his magnum opus. davidson was destined never to finish the work. professor james, who had been an intimate friend and was so close to him in the organization of the glenmore school of the culture sciences on hurricane mountain at the head of keene valley in the adirondacks, had felt the possibility of this accident of destiny and had inquired of davidson with regard to his great prospective work. [footnote 9: "memories and studies", new york, 1911. ] "knowing how short his life might be, i once asked him whether he felt no concern lest the work already done by him should be frustrate, from the lack of its necessary complement, in case he were suddenly cut off. his answer surprised me by its indifference. he would work as long as he lived, he said, but not allow himself to worry, and would look serenely at whatever might be the outcome. this seemed to me uncommonly high-minded. i think that davidson's conviction of immortality had much to do with such a superiority to accidents. on the surface and toward small things, he was irritable enough, but the undertone of his character was remarkable for equanimity. he showed it in his final illness, of which the misery was really atrocious. there were no general complaints or lamentations about the personal situation or the arrest to his career. it was the human lot, and {263} he must even bear it; so he kept his mind upon objective matter." only a profound conviction of personal immortality will enable a man who feels that he is cut off in the midst of his work to bear with patience the final ailment which by its very progress is precluding the possibility of accomplishing the task that he had set himself. yet this interruption of their chosen labor inevitably comes to a great many men; for death, no matter how late it may seem to onlookers to occur, happens untimely to most of humanity, even though they may count up years far beyond the threescore and ten of the psalmist. the greatest resource in the midst of the suffering caused by the war for soldiers and civilians has been religion. it was sadly needed, but it was magnificently employed. any one who saw how much their religion meant to the soldiers who really had faith will appreciate very well how valuable it was for them. many a man who had given up his faith, and this was particularly true of the french, found a new power to dare and to do, and also to bear and to "carry on" in the religion that it had seemed they could so readily dispense with before. colton, writing a series of aphorisms in "lacon", a century ago, declared that there are three arguments for atheism more effective than any others,--health and wealth and friends. when we have our health and an abundance of money at command, besides many and powerful friends who seem willing to do everything that they can for us, we feel but little need of god and then many men refuse to believe in him. necessity is a very precious thing, the mother not only of invention, but of reverence and many other good qualities. but when suffering comes, especially if wealth, and in that case of course, {264} friends, have disappeared, god is a very firm support to lean on. many a man has found his faith again under such circumstances and has realized how flimsy were the veils which he had allowed to come between him and his recognition of his obligations to his creator. the presence of suffering and evil in the world has provided us with one of the most striking arguments for the existence of god and of a hereafter that we have. as goldwin smith said: "this at all events is certain: if death is to end all alike for the righteous and for the unrighteous, for those who have been blessings and for those who have been curses to their kind, the power which rules the universe cannot be just in any sense of the word which we can understand." doctor carroll, in "the mastery of nervousness" [footnote 10] has summed up the value of suffering as a revealer of power and a bracer of strength in words that are worth remembering. "none knows his real strength till he has faced failure and tasted the bitterness of defeat. physical and mental suffering and soul pain come to all that endurance may be developed, for without this the strength which conquers can never be. the master man laughs in the face of personal hurts; offenses fail to offend, insults fail to embitter; he turns with shame from the so-called depths of suffering; for him honor and majesty of soul are found upon the heights of suffering." in a word the really brave man does not let himself sink under the burden of suffering but maintains his place and stands up firmly under it. under these circumstances suffering, instead of being an evil, is a good. after the showing of mercy, man is likest to god when he stands suffering bravely and brings good out of evil even as providence does. [footnote 10: macmillan, new york, 1918.] {265} chapter xv pain pain is one of the very hard things of life which most people find it extremely difficult to bear with equanimity. i suppose that the majority of human beings, especially when they are young, do not feel nearly so much dread of death as they do of the possibility of years of discomfort preceding it or even a short period of very acute pain when nature is preparing for dissolution. older folks learn to bear physical pain better and come to appreciate how much harder to stand is mental anguish. modern life, with its cultivation of comforts and conveniences and the elimination of discomforts of all kinds, has greatly fostered the dread of pain. we hear much of the progress of humanity founded on the increase of comfort, but that way lies degeneracy and failure to take life seriously. human character develops under the stress of pain and even the body acquires self-control through it and is trained under the discipline of pain not to react so disturbingly as is the case when there has been no experience with it or but very little. we find it almost impossible to understand, now that we have cultivated the comforts of life so sedulously, how men and women stood the discomforts to which they were subjected in the ordinary run of life practically every day two generations ago. a great many of them slept {266} in little stuffy attics with scarcely any chance for the free movement of air on the hot days of summer, often immediately underneath a roof which had been exposed to the direct rays of the sun all day long. in the winter not infrequently they broke the ice in their pitchers to secure water for washing. their heating arrangements were so imperfect that in the colder months at least there was very little possibility of comfort. a grate fire makes a very charming ornamental addition to a room which is heated by steam or some other modern heating arrangement, but when it is the only means of heating it is not very efficacious except in milder weather. on very cold days an open fire will heat one side of the individual, but not the whole person, and at best the feet are likely to be cold because the open fire must be fed with an abundance of air and the draft runs along the floor in order to get to it. the story is told of an english public school in the old days where the head master met one of the smaller boys crying because of the cold; on being told what was the matter, the head master simply remarked that "this was no young ladies' seminary, and young gentlemen are expected to stand things without tears." twenty years later in india, during the mutiny, just before that boy who had cried from the cold led a forlorn hope of a charge with the idea of saving the lives of women and children, he remarked to his commanding officer who was himself also from that same public school, "this is what old... "--naming the head master--"would have said is no young ladies' seminary." and then he went out without more ado to accept death in a great cause. it is extremely difficult for us to understand how the people of the older time, young and old, endured all these {267} trials and hardships, though it is not difficult to comprehend that if one were exercised daily in standing things of this kind it would be much easier to bear pain and even serious discomfort than it is at the present time, when many people can bear only the touch of silk on the skin and the sybarite's complaint of his utter inability to sleep because there was a crushed rose leaf underneath him has become almost a literal reality. more and more we are eliminating discomforts from life and making things as comfortable and easy as possible. from the carefully tempered water of the morning bath to the warm foot bath just before sleep, in a bedroom where the temperature makes it possible to undress for bed without a shiver, all is arranged for the avoidance of the slightest discomfort. pain has become a veritable nightmare to most people as a consequence of the lack of the necessity to stand things in life, and it is therefore all the more interesting to see what an effect religion can have in enabling people to stand pain. in my volume "health through will power" i have told the story of the second last general of the jesuits and the very serious and intensely painful operation which he insisted on standing without an anaesthetic. the story is worth repeating here as showing what a habit of prayer and practice of self-control can do for a man in the face of some of the severest pain a human being is asked to stand. generals of the jesuits have usually found their way into literature for very different reasons from this. he had developed a sarcoma of his upper arm and was advised to submit to an amputation at the shoulder joint. as he was well on in the sixties the operation presented an extremely serious problem. the surgeons suggested {268} that he should be ready for the anaesthetic at a given hour the next morning and then they would proceed to operate. he replied that he would be ready for the operation at the time appointed, but that he would not take an anaesthetic. they argued with him that it would be quite impossible for him to stand unanaesthetized the elaborate cutting and dissection necessary to complete an operation of this kind in a most important part of the body, where large nerves and arteries would have to be cut through and where the slightest disturbance on the part of the patient might easily lead to serious or even fatal results. above all, he could not hope to stand the exaggerated pain that would surely be produced in the tissues rendered more sensitive than normal by the increased circulation to the part, due to the growth of the tumor. he insisted, however, that he would not take an anaesthetic, for surely here seemed a chance to welcome suffering voluntarily as his lord and master had done. i believe that the head surgeon said at first that he would not operate. he felt sure that the operation would have to be interrupted after it had been begun, because the patient would not be able to stand the pain, and there would then be the danger from bleeding as well as from infection which might occur as the result of the delay. the general of the jesuits, however, was so calm and firm that at last it was determined to permit him at least to try to stand it. the event was most interesting. the patient not only underwent the operation without a murmur, but absolutely without wincing. the surgeon who performed the operation said afterwards, "it was like cutting wax and not human flesh, so far as any reaction was concerned, though of course it bled very freely." {269} professor william james has noted this same power with regard to that most painful of all diseases in which pain seems so much harder to stand because it is hopeless, and there is no possibility that the endurance of it can lead eventually to any improvement. the patient must just stand being racked to pieces until the end comes. no wonder then that the professor of psychology should note with commendation the effect of religion in bringing about a sense of well-being in spite of the constantly progressive physical condition which was so painfully eating life away. he said: "the most genuinely saintly person i have ever known is a friend of mine now suffering from cancer of the breast--i hope that she may pardon my citing her here as an example of what ideas can do. her ideas have kept her a practically well woman for months after she should have given up and gone to bed. they have annulled all pain and weakness and given her a cheerful active life, unusually beneficent to others to whom she has afforded help. her doctors, acquiescing in results they could not understand, have had the good sense to let her go her own way." many physicians, i am sure, have had the opportunity to witness instances very like that which is thus recorded with whole-hearted sympathy by professor james. i count it as one of the precious privileges of life to have known rather well a distinguished professor of anatomy at professor james' own university. he suffered from incurable cancer and two years before the end knew that nothing could be done for him and that it was just a question of time and pain and the most poignant discomfort until the end would come. he continued his lessons at the university; he finished up a book that he {270} had long wished to write and had begun several times; he maintained his simple, social relations with friends in such a gracious spirit that none of them suspected his condition and continued until the very end bravely to go on with his work quite as if there were nothing the matter. i shall never forget how shocked i was when i once presumed to invite an addition to his labors by asking him to make a public address, and he told me, as a brother physician, just how much he had to be in the trained nurse's hands every day so as to keep himself from being offensive to others. i had met him at lunch in the bosom of his family and spent several pleasant hours with him afterward without ever a thought of the possibility of the hideous malignant neoplasm which was constantly at work making a wreck of his tissues and which no one knew better than he would never be appeased with less than his death. he himself would have said that whatever there was of courage in his conduct was due to the strength that came to him from prayer. it was his consolation and the sources of the energy which enabled him to stand not only the pain he had to suffer but to suppress any manifestations with regard to it and keep on with his work. there is an impression in many minds that as time goes on and medicine and surgery advance and science scores further triumphs, pain and ill health generally will decrease, and there will not be nearly so much necessity for standing pain as there is even at the present time. besides, it is thought that the discovery of new modes of stilling pain will still further eliminate the necessity for patience. as a matter of fact, all our advance in hygiene and sanitation and scientific medicine has served {271} rather to increase than lessen the amount of pain. people now live longer than they used to. they live on to die of the degenerative diseases which are slow running and often involve a great deal of pain over a prolonged period. one reason, probably the most important one, for the great increase of the number of deaths from cancer in recent years is the fact that ever so many more people now live on to the cancer age than before. every year beyond forty which a human being lives increases the liability of death from cancer in that individual. there are some enthusiasts in the field of medicine who are inclined to think that we may discover the cause of cancer and eliminate the disease, but after a generation of special effort in that direction with absolutely no hopeful outlook, this is at least a dubious prospect. indeed, there are many good authorities on the subject, who are inclined to feel that cancer more often represents an embryologic or developmental defect than almost anything else and that in so far as it does we can scarcely hope ever to eliminate it. while the death rate from other acute diseases has been decreasing in recent years and especially from the infectious diseases, the mortality from affections of the kidneys, heart and brain has been increasing. almost needless to say, these affections are practically always chronic, involve definite discomfort when not positively acute suffering, and not infrequently produce bodily states in which people must bear patiently a great deal of discomfort, sometimes for years. when people live beyond middle life they become more and more liable to be affected by these diseases, so that instead of needing less consolation for pain, our generation and the immediately succeeding generations at least are going to {272} need more. it is particularly the people who are stricken with chronic disease who need the consolation afforded by religion, above all when they know that their affection is essentially incurable and that the only absolute relief they can have will come from death. it is with this as with regard to hospitals and charity. the greater the advance in medicine and the longer people are kept in life, the more need there will be for hospital care and consequently for the exercise of charity in the best sense of that word and also for patience in pain and suffering. in these matters, as with regard to knowledge, science, instead of lessening the need of religion and its influence, is multiplying it. there is not the slightest reason for thinking that a man will ever make here on earth a heaven in which he may be perfectly happy, and even those enthusiastic advocates of modern progress who are inclined to think of the possibility of this set the date of it so far forward in the future, especially since the disillusionizing process of the great war, that even the fulfillment of their prophecy is not likely to do very much good for our generation or for many subsequent generations. we are going to need the consolations afforded by religion even more than our forefathers did in the past, now that physicians are able to prolong life and yet cannot entirely do away with suffering. above all it must not be forgotten that the cult of comfort and convenience and what may well be called the habit of luxury in the modern time has greatly increased sensitiveness to pain. there are two elements that enter into suffering, as we have said in the chapter on that subject. the one is the irritation of a sensitive nerve and the other is the reaction to it in the mind of the sufferer. if, for any reason, the nerve has been rendered {273} insensitive, or the mind put in a condition where it cannot receive the irritation, the subject will not feel the pain. if anything has happened to increase the irritability of a nerve, as happens, for instance, when continued irritation has brought more blood to the part than usual and the affected area is hyperemic and swollen, the pain will be greater because the nerve is more sensitive. if anything happens to make the mind more receptive of pain, and especially if the pain message that comes up along a nerve is diffused over a large part of the brain because there is a concentration of attention on it, then too the pain will be ever so much worse. we are, in various ways, adding to this subjective element of pain and therefore increasing it. we are going to need then all the possible consolation that can be afforded by religious motives. in an article written for the _international clinics_, [footnote 11] on "neurotic discomfort and the law of avalanche", i called attention to how much even comparatively mild pains can be increased by concentration of attention. [footnote 11: series 23, vol. iv.] the law of avalanche is a term employed by ramã³n y cajal to indicate the mode by which very simple sensations at the periphery of the body may be multiplied into an avalanche of sensations within the brain. in a lecture of his for _international clinics_ [footnote 12] professor ramon y cajal said: "impressions are made upon single cells at the periphery. as the result of the disturbance of the single cell, an ever-increasing number of cells are affected as the nervous impulse travels toward the nerve-center. finally the nervous impulses reach the brain and are spread over a considerable group of pyramidal cells in the cortex." [footnote 12: series 11, vol. ii.] in his paragraphs on attention he says that if conscious {274} attention is paid to the sensation a great many other cells throughout the brain become affected by it. it may be that every cell which subtends consciousness will at a given moment of intense attention be tingling from a single sensation. if it is unpleasant, the unpleasantness is multiplied to a very serious degree. the "law of avalanche" has a very large place in disturbing the lives of those people who have much time on their hands to think about themselves and who are always solicitous lest some serious condition should be developing. our self-conscious generation, as religious impressions have been diminished in recent years, is making its pains ever so much more difficult to bear than they were before. paying attention to slight discomfort will quite literally turn it into a veritable torment. prayer of itself, by distracting the attention, will act in an actual physical manner to reduce the pain, and the habit of prayer could accomplish very much in that direction. the feeling that somehow the pain that is being borne is not merely a useless torment but has a dual beneficial effect in strengthening character and storing up merit for the hereafter, as the religious minded believe, will do a very great deal to make the pain more bearable. as we are not going to have less pain for humanity, and suffering and death are to be always with us, not even the most roseate dreams of medical scientists contemplating their elimination, it is easy to understand how valuable religious motives will continue to be. meantime physicians have abundance of experience of how much religion can do to make life, even under the most trying circumstances, not only useful for self and others, but even satisfying for those who would otherwise find it an almost intolerable burden. {275} probably the most fruitful source of consolation to be found in life is contained in the profound conviction that the lord and master said to those who would come after him that if they would be his disciples they must take up their cross and follow him. one of the very great books of world literature is "the imitation of christ", the keynote of which is contained in its title. this little book, which has chapters bearing such titles as "that a man must not be over eager about his affairs" and "that a man has nothing good of himself" and which suggests "that true comfort must be sought in god alone" and "that all care should be cast upon god" and "that worldly honor must be held in contempt" and "that all things, however grievous, are to be borne for the sake of eternal life" and "that a man ought to consider himself more worthy of chastisement than of consolation", has been the favorite reading of more of the men and women whose opinions are worth while in the world's history than probably any other, with the exception of the bible itself. it has been placed next to homer and dante and shakespeare among the books which scholars would preserve if, by a cataclysm, all the other books in the world were to be destroyed. when, some years ago, there was a spirited discussion in the english newspapers and magazines as to the ten books which should be selected if one were to be on a desert island for the rest of life with only these ten books for company, the "imitation of christ" almost invariably found its way into the list and usually among the first five. if the little book which emphasizes the pain and suffering of life has come to be looked upon as one of the greatest books of the world, by the very fact of its {276} profound treatment of this subject in lofty poetry, then it is easy to understand the place that pain bears in life. it is at the very heart of it. nothing so reveals its meaning and makes it so bearable as religion. just as it is true with regard to suffering, as stated in the chapter on that subject, that the five poets who at long-separated intervals in the world's history dared to take the mystery of suffering in the world for the subject of their poems, made by that very fact the greatest dramatic poetry that has ever been made, so this humble member of the brethren of the common life, thomas ã  kempis, working just as the renaissance was beginning, and writing the spiritual conferences for "those humble-minded patient teachers and thinkers" as hamilton mabie said, "whose devotion and fire of soul for a century and a half made the choice treasures of italian palaces and convents and universities a common possession along the low-lying shores of the netherlands", composed what his contemporaries called "ecclesiastical music", and what all subsequent generations have agreed in thinking the most wonderful expression of the significance of life in terms of christianity that has ever been written. {277} chapter xvi suicide and homicide no book on religion and health would be complete without a discussion of the effect of religious influence on these two very important factors in modern mortality statistics, especially in our own country,--suicide and homicide. one of the most disturbing features of public health work is the occurrence of such a large number of deaths every year in our great city life from murder and self-murder. it is discouraging to have the death rate from nearly every form of disease coming down while these are going up. any factor which promises, however modestly, to remove even to a slight degree this stigma from our modern civilization is worthy of consideration. the moral factors in life are most important in this regard and over these religion has the most direct and potent influence. one of the most disturbing features of our modern life is the fact that in spite of the notable progressive increase of comfort in life far beyond what people enjoyed in the past, there has been a steadily mounting growth in the number of suicides every year in civilized countries. comforts and conveniences have become widely diffused, so that the luxuries of the rich in the older time have become the everyday commonplaces of the poor or the simple necessities of the middle class, and life would {278} seem to be ever so much more easy than it used to be. yet more and more people find it so hard that they are willing to go out of life by their own hands to meet untimely the dark mystery of the future. it has become quite manifest that comfort of body and peace of mind are by no means in such direct ratio to one another as is usually thought, but rather the contrary. our suicides take place more frequently among the better-to-do classes than among the poor who might possibly be expected to find life so hard that they could not stand it any longer. even chronic suffering does not cause so many suicides as the various disappointments of life, most of which are only transitory in their effect. perhaps the most disturbing feature of the suicide situation lies in the fact that the average age of those who commit suicide every year is constantly becoming younger. suicide used to be the resort particularly of the discouraged beyond middle life, but now it is becoming ever more and more the mode of escape from an immediate future of unhappiness which ever younger and younger folk foresee for themselves. disappointments in love have always been occasions for suicide, but other causes have multiplied in recent years to an alarming degree, and now high-school children with the suggestion of sensational newspaper accounts of suicide in their minds turn to self-murder over failures in examination or setbacks in school work or over a scolding at home. even below the age of fifteen suicides are reported rather frequently, because children have been punished or have been refused something that they had set their hearts on. the generation is engaged in producing many oversensitive young folk who cannot stand being disturbed in their hopes and aspirations. {279} suicides have increased just in proportion to the decrease of attention to religion and the absence of religious teaching and above all of religious training, that is, of such practice of self-denial and of mortification for religious motives as leads to formation of character. when children and young folks are always given their own way and are not taught that denying themselves is of itself a virtue because it leads to strength of will power and enables one to stand the inevitable hardships of later life, no wonder that their first serious disappointments come to them as such disturbing misfortunes that they can scarcely picture to themselves a time when they shall be happy again. above all a great many of them have no real belief in immortality and therefore face the future life with no feeling as to its mystery and no proper sense of their obligation toward a creator who gave them life to use to the best advantage possible and who wants them to play the game of life fair, taking the ill with the good and "carrying on." the lack of religious feeling has left them with nothing to cling to in the midst of their trials, and though they may have friends, all human beings are eminently alone, and we must go through what is hard in life by ourselves. we never feel our loneliness more than when some severe trial comes. we almost resent the pity of others, and emerson's phrase that we are "infinitely repellent particles" becomes a very grave reality. it is the easy custom of our time to blame nearly all the social ills on what is called our present-day strenuous existence. there are a great many people who seem to think that men never worked so hard as they do now, though as a matter of fact in what concerns the accomplishment of things worth while our generation is {280} sadly backward. he unfortunately grows preoccupied with trivial narrow concerns and keeps on working at them so continuously that we have become very fussy folk because we have no variety of occupation to relieve the strain of daily life. it must not be forgotten in this regard that some of the men who have lived the longest have been extremely hard workers, accomplishing so much in a number of lines of thought and endeavor that it has seemed almost impossible to understand how they did it, yet they have been healthy and hearty in mind and body until fourscore years, and sometimes, like ranke, the great german historian, and pope leo xiii and chevreul, the distinguished french chemist, even beyond ninety years of age and more. the strenuous existence is a good excuse, however, and a great many people are sure that it is the overtiredness and the disturbance of health and the depression which comes in connection with this that causes suicide or at least contributes greatly to the increase of it in our time. only a little analysis of suicide statistics, however, is necessary to make it very clear that it is not physical factors which contribute most to the increase of suicide, but that it is the state of mind of the individual. if the physical counted for much then it would be confidently expected that suicides would be commonest in the winter and least frequent in the summer, particularly in the pleasanter months of the summer time. the statistics show, however, that the month which has the most suicides is june. june is probably the pleasantest month of the year in most ways in our climate. july is likely to be very hot. may often has cold and rainy days at the beginning, but june has often a succession of almost perfect days. james russell {281} lowell sang, and it has been reechoed many times, "what is so rare as a day in june", yet this is the month which more people take to put themselves out of existence than any other. brides have chosen it as the favorite month for marriage because all nature looks so lovely and in sympathy with their own joy and because there are fewer rainy days in it than any other. happy hearts are beginning a new existence with the brightest possible prospects just when so many others are voluntarily getting out of what seems a hopeless life. december, which has so many gloomy days and which naturally is likely to be so much more depressing than the succeeding months of the winter, for the clear, cold days of january and february are bracing, might on physical grounds be expected to be the month with most suicides in it. christmas with its celebrations and the announcement of peace and joy to men of good will might be expected to lower the number of suicides for the latter third of the month, but even the joy of that occasion could scarcely be hoped to neutralize completely the depressing effect of the weather. just exactly the contradiction of these anticipations is what happens. suicides are least frequent in december of any month in the year, and the last ten days of the month have the most of them because it is not so much the individual's own sense of hopelessness in life, complicated by physical suffering and material trials of various kinds, that tempts to suicide, as the contrast of the joy of those around him with his own feelings which emphasize his depressed state of mind until he feels that he can stand it no longer. june's gayety with its happy brides adds to the number of suicides and the christmas festivities have a like unfortunate tendency. gloomy weather has exactly the {282} opposite effect from what would surely have been expected on the general principle that the physical plays the most important rã´le in the production of suicides. this is brought out still more clearly by the careful review of the effect of the weather on suicide which was made some years ago by professor edmund t. dexter [footnote 13] of the university of illinois. [footnote 13: _popular science monthly_, april, 1901.] he followed out the records of nearly two thousand cases of suicides reported to the police in the city of new york and placed beside them the records of the weather bureau of the same city for the days on which these suicides occurred. according to this, which represents not any preconceived notions but the realities of the relationship of the weather to self-murder, the tendency to suicide is highest in spring and summer, and the deed is accomplished in the great majority of cases on the sunniest days of these seasons. it is not at all a case of heat disturbance of mind or tendency to heat stroke, for as has been seen june is the month of most suicides and while it often has some hot days it does not compare in this regard with july and august or even september as a rule. his conclusions are carefully drawn, and there is no doubt that they must be accepted as representing the actual facts. all the world feels depressed on rainy days and in dark, cloudy weather, but suicides react well, as a rule, against this physical depression, yet allow their mental depression to get the better of them on the finest days of the year. professor dexter said: "the clear, dry days show the greatest number of suicides, and the wet, partly cloudy days the least; and {283} with differences too great to be attributed to accident or chance. in fact there are nearly one in three (31%) more suicides on dry than on wet days and more than one in five (21%) more on clear days than on days that are partly cloudy." in reviewing the subject of suicide in my book on "psychotherapy" [footnote 14] i suggested that this subject of depressed weather conditions as the contributing cause of suicide might be carried still further and the lack of the dispiriting influence of dark, damp weather, as a suicide factor, could be seen very strikingly from the suicide statistics of various climates. [footnote 14: d. appleton & co., new york, 1912.] the suicide rate is not highest in the torrid or in the frigid zones, but in the temperate zones. in the north temperate zone it is much more marked than in the south temperate zone. civilization and culture, diffused to a much greater extent in the north temperate zone than in the south, seem to be the main reason for this difference. we make people capable of feeling pain more poignantly, but do not add to their power to stand trials or train character by self-control to make the best of life under reasonably severe conditions. severe physical suffering of any kind, provided it is shared by a whole people, reduces the suicide rate. famine, for instance, though it might be expected that people facing starvation would surely take the easier way, rather reduces the tendency to suicide. earthquakes followed by loss of life and intense suffering have the same effect. it might possibly be thought that this would be true only among less well educated people, the orientals or perhaps certain of the south americans where lack of education made them less poignantly sensitive to physical {284} suffering than among the more refined people in our western civilization, but the earthquake at san francisco demonstrated very clearly the effect upon average californians who, i suppose, must be considered to have been rather a little above than below the general run of americans in what we are accustomed to call civilization and education. before the catastrophe, suicides were occurring in that city on an average of twelve a week. after the earthquake, when, if physical sufferings had anything to do with suicide, it might be expected that the self-murder rate would go up, there was so great a reduction that only three suicides were reported in two months. some of this reduction was due to inadequate records, but there can be no doubt that literally a hundred lives were saved from suicide by the awful catastrophe that leveled the city. men and women were homeless, destitute and exposed to every kind of hardship, yet because all those around them were suffering in the same way, every one seemed to be reasonably satisfied. evidently a comparison with the conditions in which others are has much to do with deciding the would-be suicide not to make away with himself, for by dwelling too much on his own state he is prone to think that he is ever so much worse off than others. if life were always vividly interesting, as it was in san francisco after the earthquake, and if all men worked and suffered as the san franciscans did for a few weeks, suicide would not end more than ten thousand american lives every year, as it does now. the one hope for the man who is contemplating suicide is to get him interested in others, to arouse him to the realization of the fact that there are others suffering even more than himself, but above all to get him to feel that he can relieve the {285} suffering of others. selfishness is the root of suicide, usually pathological in its utter preoccupation with self as the most important thing in the universe, but often only the result of a fostering of self-interest and a failure to train the mind to think of other people, which is of the very essence of religion. it is not when things are made easy for mankind, but on the contrary when they are passing through times of difficulty and severe stress that the suicide rate goes down. war always brings a striking reduction in the number of suicides. our spanish-american war reduced the death rate from suicide in this country over forty per cent throughout the country and over fifty per cent in washington itself, where there was most excitement with regard to the war. this was true also during the civil war. our minimum annual death rate from suicide from 1805 (when statistics on this subject began to be kept) to the present time was one suicide to about twenty-four thousand people, which occurred in 1864, when our civil war was in its severest phase. there had been constant increase in our suicide rate every year until the civil war began, then there was a drop at once and this continued until the end of the war. in new york city the average rate of suicide for the five years of the civil war was nearly forty-five per cent lower than the average for the five following years. in massachusetts, where the statistics were gathered very carefully, the number of suicides for the five-year period before 1860 was nearly twenty per cent greater than for the five-year period immediately following, which represents the preliminary excitement over the war and the actual year of the war. this experience in america is only in accordance with what happens everywhere. mr. george kennan in his article on {286} "the problems of suicide" [footnote 15] has a paragraph which brings this out very well. he says: [footnote 15: _mcclure's magazine_, june, 1908.] "in europe the restraining influence of war upon the suicidal impulse is equally marked. the war between austria and italy in 1866 decreased the suicide rate for each country about fourteen per cent. the franco-german war of 1870-1871 lowered the suicide rate of saxony eight per cent, that of prussia 11.4 per cent, and that of france 18.7 per cent. the reduction was greatest in france, because the german invasion of that country made the war excitement there much more general and intense than it was in saxony or prussia." above all the sense of patriotic duty, the recognition of the fact that there are things in life worth more than life itself, lifts men out of the depression into which they have permitted themselves to be plunged as a consequence of their utter absorption in themselves and their own narrow interests. old-fashioned religion has a distinct effect in the reduction of the suicide rate, and all over the world the orthodox jews who cling to their old-time belief and above all to their orthodox practices and mode of life have undoubtedly the lowest suicide rate of any people in the world. this is true, though almost needless to say a great many jews, not only in the foreign countries but here in our own great cities, have to live under circumstances that are the most trying that it is possible to imagine. a great many of them live in slums, doing intensely hard work in sweat shops--though, thank god, these are fewer now than they used to be--and yet the jews cling to life in the midst of trials that would seem almost impossible for human nature to bear. the jewish {287} suicide rate is the lowest everywhere in spite of racial differences, for after all there are german jews and portuguese jews and russian jews who have lived among the respective peoples after whom they are called for centuries and who might therefore be expected to take on the characteristics which their environments have brought. there is a very great difference in the suicide rate between the orthodox and unorthodox jews, that is, those who have given up the beliefs and religious practices of their forefathers. it is in favor of the orthodox jews, though of course the record is complicated by the prosperity of those who have given up their religion. wealth and speculation greatly favor the occurrence of suicide. it is well known that roman catholics the world over have much less tendency to suicide than their protestant neighbors living in the same communities. it is true that where the national suicide rate is high, many catholics also commit suicide, but there is a distinct disproportion between them and their neighbors. the suicide rate of protestants in the northern part of ireland, as pointed out by mr. george kennan, is twice that of roman catholics in the southern part. he discusses certain factors that would seem to modify the breadth of the conclusion that might be drawn from this, but in the end he confesses that their faith probably has most to do with it and that, above all, the practice of sacramental confession must be considered as tending to lessen the suicide rate materially. it is the readiness to give their confidence to some one on the part of these patients, for that is what they really are, that seems to the physician the best hope of helping them to combat their impulse, and mr. kennan's opinion is worth recalling for therapeutic purposes: "in view of the fact that the suicide rate of the {288} protestant canton in switzerland is nearly four times that of catholic cantons, it seems probable that catholicism, as a form of religious belief, does restrain the suicidal impulse. the efficient cause may be the catholic practice of confessing to priests, which probably gives much encouragement and consolation to unhappy but devout believers and thus induces many of them to struggle on in spite of misfortune and depression." it is not surprising that in countries where attendance at church and adhesion to religious organizations has dropped very seriously, the suicide rate should be higher than in countries where the great mass of the people are still faithful churchgoers, take their religious duties very seriously and therefore are subjected to the deepest influence of religion over the heart and mind at regularly recurring intervals. they find consolation in their suffering, advice in their trials, strength for their difficulties and a fount of hope almost for their despair. above all they are deterred by the thought of another world than this and the possibility of punishment in it, if they have not had the courage and the manly strength of soul to face their difficulties in this. it has come to be the custom rather to minimize the effect of deterrent motives on human beings and to say that men cannot be scared into doing good or avoiding evil, and it is quite true that a policy of frightfulness pursued out of mere malice to effect a human purpose will have exactly the opposite effect over the great majority of mankind, but when men realize that they are bringing punishment on themselves by their own acts, and that those acts are unjustifiable on any rational grounds, they have a very different feeling as a rule with regard to punishments that may be impending over them for their conduct. it {289} is quite one thing to be unjustly punished and resent it and quite another to feel that the punishment we are incurring has justice in it, though we may not be quite able to understand all the significance of it or plumb its mystery entirely. shakespeare has hamlet discuss that whole question in his soliloquy so well that it deserves to be quoted here: "... and by a sleep, to say we end the heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to,--'t is a consummation devoutly to be wished. to die,--to sleep:- to sleep, perchance to dream:--ay, there's the rub; for in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause. _there's_ the respect, that makes calamity of so long life: for who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely, the pangs of despised love, the law's delay, the insolence of office, and the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes, when he himself might his quietus make with a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life, _but that the dread of something after death,- the undiscovered country, from whose bourn no traveller returns,--puzzles the will and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of?_ thus conscience does make cowards of us all." we have come to resent somewhat the suggestion of deterrent motives as helpful for the doing of good, and the dread of punishment as unworthy of men, but the religious beliefs of a hereafter of suffering for the coward who dares not face the trials of life are still and have always been {290} valuable in keeping people up to their duty. the war restored some of the sadly needed old-fashioned attitude toward punishment as a help to discipline, and we are now more in sympathy with old-fashioned religious ideas in the matter. there has been an even greater increase of homicide than of suicide and for very similar reasons. our homicide rate here in america is a disgrace to a civilized country. ambassador andrew d. white, whose long experience in european countries made his opinion of great value, declared that for homicide we were the worst country in the world, with more killings of human beings to our credit than even vendetta-ridden corsica. this is not due to any persistence of "wild west" conditions but obtains in the east as well as in the west. indeed our large cities are by far the worst in this regard. new york and chicago have many times as many murders annually as london has, though there is no very great difference in the composition of the population of these cities, for all of them house large numbers of foreigners of all kinds and they have about the same sort of slums and very nearly the same social conditions. poverty is worse in london and if anything that ought to add to the homicide rate. reverence for human life has very largely broken down, and the taking of it is not considered to be anything like the serious crime that it was even a few years ago. this increase in homicide in civilized countries, like the increase in suicide, has come after the serious breakdown of religion. that the rise in the homicide rate is not a question of the familiar fallacy _post hoc ergo propter hoc_, "after this therefore because of this", is the opinion of a number of men who have a right to have opinions {291} on this subject, and who insist that it is the obliteration of religious feeling with its emphatic insistence on the awfulness of the crime of murder that has largely served to make homicide the very common event that it is. one powerful factor in this matter is undoubtedly the failure to punish murder properly, and as far as may be adequately, that has developed in recent years in this country. very few murderers are executed. less than five per cent altogether of those who have committed deliberate murder are ever executed, and in some states it is actually only two per cent. when but two out of every hundred men who take life deliberately lose theirs, it is easy to understand that men, in times of intense anger, will not have the restraint which would otherwise be exerted over them by the fear of prompt loss of life under disgraceful circumstances for themselves. many a man will take his chances of having a long prison term for murder shortened by executive clemency or a pardon board who would hesitate very much over the thought of having to die himself by prompt legal measure. i have heard a distinguished jurist say that they execute nine out of ten of their murderers in england, while we execute a little more than two out of every hundred on the average of ours, so that there is little reason for wonder why we have ten times as many murders. the real reason for this decrease in the number of executions and the growth of the opposition on principle to capital punishment in this country is the increasing obscuration of the belief in immortality. people have become afraid to do the irretrievable act of sending a man out of life because, thinking only in terms of this life, they feel he should have a chance for reform here and above all because they hesitate to think that men ever {292} have the right to deprive another of existence, for if there is no other world than this, the end of physical life means annihilation. if life is but the portal to eternity, however, at longest a brief period of trial before entering upon another and much more important stage of existence, then the execution of a criminal done with all the dignity of the law, exacting a compensation as adequate as possible for a wrong that has been done, instead of being a dreadful thing has a very definite nobility about it. of course, if there is no other world, the question of execution becomes a very different consideration,--the obliteration of a fellow human being. this feeling is often not consciously reflected upon, yet it is effective in suggesting conclusions and ruling the mental attitude. the old religious orders had a tradition that certain men, because of the circumstances in which they died and above all the fact that they had sufficient warning as to the end of life and the chance to prepare themselves for eternity, were predestined to heaven, though they might have to go through a great deal of suffering, quite as dante foresaw, before getting there. among these the most prominent classes were men and women afflicted with an incurable disease which it was recognized would surely bring on a fatal conclusion with but a few months' or years' delay, and then those who were condemned to death had their weeks and months of preparation in prison for that event. this intense belief in a hereafter made the outlook on both murder and execution a very different thing from what it is without it. sentimentality reigns now where the sentiment of justice formerly ruled. a man who has committed an ugly sex crime capped with murder or who has often, after making her life miserable for months or years, {293} murdered a poor wife in cold-blooded deliberateness, will be the subject of sentimental compassion during his trial from a crowd of silly women who will send flowers to his cell to lighten his solitude and who, if they can obtain permission, will visit him in the death house. they forget all that his victim suffered and the necessity for producing a definite effect upon the minds of others who might have the temptation to follow in his path, and whose minds are of a caliber that they can only be deterred by holding up adequate punishment before them. the gradual diminution of the place of religion in life has given rise to an unfortunate phase of popular psychology with regard to the effect of punishment in general on human beings. the wisest writings that we have, the holy scriptures, which even those who might deny their direct divine inspiration would confess readily to contain the most marvelous knowledge of man and his ways to be found in literature, have insisted particularly on the deterrent effect of punishment held up before men and the reforming value of it when properly inflicted. probably nowhere in modern social life is a revival of religion more needed to save men from unfortunate tendencies in their natures than in what concerns the estimation of the value of human life and the prevention of a further increase in our awful statistics of suicide and homicide. religion is almost more needed for this than for the so-called social diseases. {294} chapter xvii longevity in spite of the psalmist's warning that threescore years and ten are the years of man and that life beyond that is likely to be filled with all sorts of discomforts, practically all men are anxious to live long lives. they are satisfied to take the diseases of advanced years provided only there are surceases from pain at intervals and they are able to occupy themselves for some part of the time with their usual interests. it is true that a certain sadly increasing number in our time shorten existence by their own hand, and at an ever younger age on the average and that some at least of those who do so are not insane in any justifiable legal sense of the word, but they are felt by all to be unfortunate exceptions who prove that the rule of love of life and desire to cling to it through sad and evil case is practically universal among men. life may be, in the words of the cynic, a chronic disease, whose termination is always death, but most men prefer that the disease should last as long as possible. the most important factor for long life is of course heredity. the man who wants to live long should have been careful to be born of long-lived parents and grandparents. doctor oliver wendell holmes once said that the physician would often like to be in the position to treat in the persons of his patient's grandparents a {295} number of the diseases that he sees in his consulting room. whatever truth there may be in that, there is no doubt at all that there is very little hope of a man living long if his parents and grandparents have been short-lived, unless of course their taking off has been due to accident. after family heredity, however, undoubtedly the most important factor for longevity is an abiding sense of religion. a great many religious people live beyond the average age, and a great many clergymen live to be very old men and yet retain their faculties and physical powers very well. they are not longer lived than other professional men on the average, because many of those who become clergymen are delicate by nature and only rarely so robust as other college men. in recent years the insurance companies have come to recognize very clearly what is called the moral hazard in life. a man who lives a quiet, simple life without excesses in eating or drinking, getting his full quota of sleep and his meals regularly without temptations to high living of various kinds is much more likely to outlive his mathematical average of expectancy in life than the man who does not follow that sort of existence. almost needless to say it is seriously religious men--all clergymen do not necessarily come under this head--who live these very regular lives and do not allow themselves the occasional divagations in life which may not in themselves prove serious but which often lead to conditions and developments that impair health and shorten existence. there are undoubtedly a good many men who have sowed their wild oats very freely when they were young and who have continued all their lives to be rather free livers, and who yet have lived on to good round old age. what we speak of here, however, is the average {296} length of life which in men who live without excesses and without over-solicitude about the future or the present is sure to be longer than in others. the old proverb says that "worry and not work kills men." undoubtedly worry rather than work ages men before their time and breaks down their vital resistance and makes them much more susceptible to the many diseases that may shorten existence as the years go on than they would have been liable to had they lived regular lives. religion is the great salve for worries. when genuine it lessens the irritations of life, makes them more bearable, renders the disposition more equable and more capable of standing the stresses and strains of sudden trials or serious misfortunes than it would otherwise be. religion does not change nature essentially, but it lifts it up and modifies it to a noteworthy degree. even christ did not come to change human nature; he assumed it and showed men how to live. religion does not make a passionate disposition mild, but it confers upon the passionate man the power to control his passions to no small extent and often so thoroughly that even those who know him best have no idea of the storms which start to brew within him but are suppressed. almost needless to say the moderation in all things which religion counsels and which its training fosters is extremely conducive to long life, if there is any underlying basis for that in the nature of the individual. religion is like oil for machinery. it lessens the friction, prevents the development of heat which would only be destructive and serve no useful purpose, soothes the temper against reactions and smooths out life's ways. some one once suggested that it represented the rubber tires of the modern automobile, but that is not a good figure, for the inflation {297} on which a man is smoothly carried may blow out at any moment and leave him to run on the rim. that is much better represented by sentimentality and the motives drawn from it rather than from religion. the direct influence of religion on health can very probably be estimated best by the comparative death rate of occupations. clergymen, according to english statistics which are gathered rather carefully, have the lowest death rate, even below that of gardeners and nurserymen whose constant outdoors life gives them such an advantage and whose simple laborious occupation without excitement is so favorable for long life. after these come the farmers and then the agricultural laborers, and then a long distance afterwards the schoolmasters and grocers and mechanics generally. the highest death rates in occupations occur not among the laboring classes occupied at the particularly unhealthy trades--plumbers and painters who are subjected to lead; file makers and knife grinders whose lungs are seriously hurt by dust; and earthenware manufacturers who are subjected to the influence of both dust and lead--but among the inn-keepers, spirit, wine and beer dealers and above all the inn and hotel servants among whom the moral hazards of life are greatly increased and over whom religion fails to have the influence that would be beneficial. perhaps the best way to demonstrate the effect of religion in lessening the wear and tear of life, thus proving conducive to its prolongation, is to take the statistics of the lives of those who devote themselves so thoroughly to their religious duties that they are called by the name _religious_. they give themselves not alone to the daily but almost to the hourly practice of religion, and its influence has a thoroughgoing opportunity to exert {298} itself over their lives. most of them live very simply and abstemiously, and indeed many people would be inclined to say that they did not take quite sufficient food to nourish them properly and that they allowed their sleep to be interrupted by religious duties in such ways as not to afford themselves quite rest enough. they are all very early risers, at five o'clock in the winter at the latest and in summer at four, while not a few of them get up at some hour during the night to sing some portion of the office, the full round of which has to be completed every day. their beds are usually rather hard; there is no carpet on the floor in their cells, their lives to most people would seem rather narrow and without adequate diversion, and yet they are noted for living beyond the average age, except in cases where work in hospitals or the like subjects them to the danger of infection. the tradition with regard to this prolongation of life among the religious has existed since a very early time in christianity and indeed was noted before the christian era among the men and women who, as among the buddhists, lived in monastic seclusion lives of great abstinence and occupation with the contemplation of the hereafter. in the very early days of christianity a number of the men who withdrew to live the lives of solitaries in the desert regions of egypt and of syria exceeded the psalmist's limit of life, though the account of their neglect of food would seem to make that almost impossible. a number of them lived to be beyond seventy and not a few beyond eighty and some of them over ninety. st. anthony, who is often spoken of as the first hermit, lived to be beyond one hundred. it is a matter of never-ending surprise to find how many {299} people who dwell in monasteries, where their occupation is mainly some simple work of the hands varied by long hours of reading and prayer during every day in the year, live to be very old. it might be surmised that their opportunities for introspection and thought about themselves would be so frequent and extensive that they would get on their own minds and probably be the victims of various nervous symptoms that would shorten existence through worries over trifles. so far is this from being the case, however, that some of the most striking examples of group longevity among people who are unrelated are to be found in what are known as contemplative monasteries, that is, institutions where there is only enough active life every day necessary to maintain health and supplies for the simple physical needs of a monastery, and the rest of the time is spent in reading, prayer, meditation and the saying of the divine office. the modern religious orders, which imitate some at least of the austerities of the old solitaries and those who in the early days of christianity lived in communities, have a record of longevity quite equal to that of their forbears. what an absolutely regular life under deep religious influences, where practically every hour of the day has its allotted task, where no meat is eaten and two lents a year are kept--that is one third less is eaten for about one fourth of the year--will do to prolong human life, can be seen very well from the vital statistics of the well-known trappist monastery at gethsemane in kentucky, which are before me as i write. the average age at death of the members of this community for the last twenty-five years is nearly seventy-three. a number of them lived to be beyond eighty, and as the abbot has written to tell me, the most satisfactory thing for the {300} community lies in the fact that the old members, even at fourscore years and more, can practically always join in the common life of the community and do not need to be specially waited on or taken care of. their death is likely to be quiet and rather easy, the flickering out of the spark of life rather than its extinction. one of the benedictines has furnished me statistics for that order here in america, for there might be the feeling that in other countries life would be different and that longevity would occur for different reasons than those which occasion it in this country. a great many among the benedictines live to celebrate their golden jubilee, and life among them has been calculated to be at least ten years more than that of their brothers and sisters who remained in the world. of course it might be said that only the people of very placid disposition who take things very quietly and are not inclined to worry would enter such institutions as these, and there is some truth in the statement. it is not nearly so true, however, as most people would imagine, for a great many of those who enter convents and monasteries were rather lively and gay when they were younger; indeed it has often been said that it was the liveliest, happiest and most charming girls at the convent schools who were destined to enter the convents afterwards. as regards the monasteries for men, the same rule of longevity holds, and yet a great many of these men were not only lively and gay, but some of them had rather stormy careers before they settled down to the contemplative life after something of remorse over the foolishness which had led them astray in their younger years. the men and women who enter religious orders are of course the more serious characters who take life rather {301} placidly, and this adds to their expectancy of life, for it is worry rather than work or suffering that shortens existence, but it must not be forgotten that not a little of their placidity is not natural to their dispositions, but is rather acquired as the result of their deep religious feelings and their recognition of the fact that god's will will be accomplished anyhow and there is no use worrying about things. undoubtedly one of the principal reasons why the death rate among women at all ages is so much more favorable than might be expected, in spite of their apparent tendency to worry more, their nervousness about many things, and the dangers of maternity as well as their weaker physical constitution, is to be found in the fact that religious influences are much more profound over them and have a more calming effect than over men. a very old expression calls women the devout female sex, and the influence of their devotion to religion is reflected in their mortality statistics. doctor woods hutchinson, in his "civilization and health", [footnote 16] has a chapter on "the hardy nerves of women" in which he brings out the fact that women resist the corroding effect of the strenuous life of modern civilization better than men and are not subject to the factors which have made modern health statistics so disturbing. for while we have been lengthening the average term of life and reducing the death rate in general, we have been shocked to find that the mortality above forty-five has been increasing rather than decreasing, so that men are being taken off just at the prime of life and at the height of their usefulness more than ever before, in spite of all our hygiene and the development of sanitary science. [footnote 16: boston, 1914.] {302} the difference in mortality between men and women after the age of forty-five, that is, just at the time when religious feelings are likely to represent so much of a resource for the devout female sex, is so striking as to deserve to be noted particularly, and the contrast continues more and more to be emphasized as the years go on. the average age at death has risen during the past generation from about thirty-three to slightly above fifty, but this improvement has been chiefly effected by saving the babies and children from death from unclean milk and the acute infectious diseases, and young adults from the great plagues of past generations, typhoid and tuberculosis. doctor hutchinson goes on to say: "naturally this preserves a much larger number of individuals to live to, say, the age of forty-five. and, as we must all die sometime, we begin to drop off somewhat more rapidly after this point has been reached--that is to say, the stupid and helpless creature, man, does. woman, however, is far too shrewd for that. while man's mortality, after falling off markedly up to forty-five years, begins after that period to increase distinctly, woman's death rate, on the other hand, continues to decrease until fifty-five years of age, beating man ten years; then yields to the force of circumstances only to the extent of about one tenth of the increase man shows between fifty-five and sixty-five; and after seventy proceeds to decrease again." incidentally, it may be remarked that the total increase of mortality after forty-five in man is only about six per cent; besides which, the race need not worry much about what happens to the individual after fifty-five or sixty, provided he has done his share of the world's work. but {303} women pass men three laps to the mile, for their increase of death rate after the age of fifty-five is barely one per cent, or one sixth of man's. the lessened death rates among women at all ages are notable, particularly among those who have taken life seriously and religiously. typical examples of similar longevity which they themselves would surely have declared to have been influenced more by their religious attitude of mind than by any other single factor are noteworthy in the lives of the two english cardinals of the nineteenth century, newman and manning. both of them were men who accomplished a very great deal of work in their younger years and who then went through the serious mental strain of giving up friends and ways that had been very near and dear to them and making a great revolution in their lives. both of them lived to be well past eighty, and indeed newman lived to be past ninety in the full possession of vigorous power of mind until the very end of life. he himself had not looked for long life, but on the contrary had felt that he was one of those fated to die rather young; indeed, in the sixties, he had begun to think that he would give up work, and his friends had settled down to the idea that he would not be long with them, when an attack on his sincerity aroused him to a magnificent response that is one of the precious treasures of nineteenth-century literature and then for nearly thirty years longer he was a great intellectual force. this same thing is very well illustrated in the lives of the popes of the nineteenth century, that is, during the period when modern hygiene and sanitation have developed to such an extent as to make the conservative influence of religion on health felt to the best possible effect. the {304} popes all down the centuries have lived far beyond the average of humanity, in spite of the burdens of responsibility placed on them, and even the shortening of life by martyrdom of so many of them at the beginning. our nineteenth and twentieth-century popes have proved wonderful examples of what placidity of mind can do under the most difficult circumstances in keeping worries from wearing out life energies, in spite of the fact that the life stream in some of the cases did not appear to be very strong at its source and long life seemed almost out of the question. these long lives might very well be matched from the lists of old pastors from all the denominations and the sects who have outlived the years of the psalmist without incurring the physical evils which he prophesied. old clergymen are particularly likely to retain the full possession of their senses and to live on to a quiet, peaceful old age. i once heard one of them say--i believe that it was a quotation--that he used to think that all the pleasure of life was contained in the first eighty years, but now at the age of eighty-five he knew that there was a great deal of life's satisfaction to be found in the second eighty years. there are exceptions to the rule, of course, and most of us would think that they are the sort of exceptions that prove the rule. there is an old saw in many languages which says that the good die young, but physicians are likely to think that this old-fashioned expression is founded on nothing more than the fact that a good many of the weaklings born without very much vitality develop into harmless nonentities who have no strong impulses to either good or ill, and who have but very little resistive vitality and die of the infectious diseases in early youth {305} or are carried off by tuberculosis a little later. it must not be forgotten, however, that it is as much of an accident to run into a bacillus as into a trolley car, and indeed often more serious, and though all that too is in the hands of the lord, in the order of providence secondary causes work out their destined effects. quite contrary to the tradition that the good die young is the world experience that a great many of the good, that is, men of sterling character and worth who have proved thoroughly capable of doing what is best in life for the benefit of others rather than for themselves, live on to be a source of inspiration to those around them for many, many years of a long and physically active life, even though sometimes they may run into the rule that whom the lord loves he chastens, and they may have had many trials. the scriptural promises made over and over again were that the years of those who should keep his word should be long in the land. that promise has been fulfilled so often as to make it a commonplace. three hundred years ago shakespeare summed up at least the physical effects of keeping the law when he had old adam say in "as you like it": "though i look old, yet i am strong and lusty; for in my youth i never did apply hot and rebellious liquors in my blood; nor did not with unbashful forehead woo the means of weakness and debility; therefore my age is as a lusty winter. frosty, but kindly. let me go with you: i'll do the service of a younger man in all your business and necessities." {306} chapter xviii the bible and health from the very earliest times religious legislation has proved an extremely important factor for health. the book of leviticus, one of the very oldest religious documents that we have, contains a sanitary code which is a marvel of completeness in its prescriptions for the maintenance of health and the prevention of disease. it anticipates most of the modern discoveries in this matter and the faithful keeping of its regulations has made the jew the powerful personal factor that he has been so often in history, notwithstanding the fact that he belonged to a despised subject race. the orthodox jew has kept his health in spite of the unfavorable conditions in which he was placed much better on the average than the gentiles around him, and it is for that reason that his nation has been preserved. it would have seemed almost impossible for a people treated so badly as they were, crowded into unhealthy ghettos, often in the lowest and most insanitary parts of the towns, with no municipal care exercised for their health--except when it was feared that epidemics might spread from them to the gentiles---to have maintained themselves for all these centuries; but they have not only survived but have been the most vigorous of people, at all times full of initiative and readiness to work far beyond the average of humanity. {307} the sanitary code of the jewish people which is contained in the old testament is one of the greatest triumphs of sanitary legislation that the world has ever known. doctor alexander rattray, in his volumes on "divine hygiene, sanitary science and sanitarians of the sacred scriptures and mosaic code", [footnote 17] has brought this out very clearly. the scriptural motto of his work, "that thy way might be known upon earth; thy saving health among all nations", is an excellent text for what he has to say. with regard to the sanitary code of the hebrews, as compared with other ancient documents in sanitation. doctor rattray says: [footnote 17: london, 1903.] "indeed, contrasted with the teachings of modern times, the comprehensiveness and sufficiency of the rules and cardinal points comprised in the hebrew sanitary code, primitive in time but not in practice; ancient, but not antiquated and obsolete; comprising a treasure of infallible truth, which is the admiration of all experts; and altogether so remarkable as to be comparable to, if indeed they do not surpass both in literary style and professional excellence, extracts from the best modern works on hygiene. so that savants, notwithstanding their increased anatomical and physiological knowledge, the accumulation of ages and the result of modern enlightenment and civilization, bringing with them vastly improved facilities for medical study, professional experience in hospitals and communities, may still quote his model work with approval; sit with advantage at the feet of the jewish sage; and learn in language as concise and forcible as that of the best modern thinkers, not only the great base facts, but even many of the less important minutiae of the art and science which they {308} study; if they would not continue to despise this authority because he is a hebrew; ignore his work because it is asiatic; slight the book in which it is found because it is not a rare, costly and abstruse volume; spurn instruction on a scientific subject because it comes from a biblical source; and neglect the ready-made and divinely inspired code because it is ancient and a non-professional publication." the question of the place that this health legislation of the bible has in medical history is worth noting, for it makes very clear that it was no mere human development but something divine. doctor rattray said: "moses was no doubt learned in the medicine and surgery of that era, and could at least have taught his old egyptian teachers, both theoretically and practically, especially in sanitary matters, a science of which they knew little, as the germ thought of preventive medicine had not then been begotten. but it was not to be his role to indoctrinate the jews and mankind in the least important sanatory or healing branch of medicine, but rather to initiate its higher and most philosophical department, the sanitary or disease preventing. and to shew both by precept and practice that this is the most philosophic and wisest policy to pursue regarding physical health, as it also is in moral, social and spiritual matters. part of his beneficent and divinely inspired mission was to inculcate in those early days the lesson popularly taught in modern times by the trite yet true proverb, 'prevention is better than cure': and to illustrate it on the israelites; to shew that its scope is not only of private but of national, nay racial, import; and applicable not only to his day, but all-time: although grievously neglected in past ages even by medical men. from its {309} biblical study does not medical science thereby appear in a new light, and come in the garb of one of the most incontrovertible aids to human faith in the veracity of holy writ; the truth of scripture as the inspired word of the almighty; god's medical message to man, sent in his own method, at his own time, and by servants of his own choosing? "the sinaitic or so-called 'mosaic' code and its hygienic sub-code, more ancient by five or six hundred years than esculapius and the earliest human medical records, was not written and interpolated by any modern or medieval medical sage, but is as moses says, an emanation of his era. and yet, as he himself affirms, it was not his conception, but strictly and entirely divine in elaboration, codification, and delivery to humanity. its true author and deviser was jehovah, and moses merely its earthly recipient, editor and human expounder and applier. for this most important educational information we are indebted to god's holy bible, and to that alone. what was the supernal object of the code? it was humanitarian and tuitional." the english physician discusses the origin of this code of laws and traces it to divine interposition: "viewed apart from its source, the hebrew health code is an anachronism. and it must be evident that moses was not a semi-barbarous jew, but either a secularly scientific or an inspired man. and if we cannot accept the former hypothesis, and think it unlikely that imparted information and unaided intellect could have originated this consummate production; then we must avow the latter conviction, that he was truly 'a man of god.' but was the sanitary code that goes by his name, or styled the 'sinaitic', his conception or not? this {310} question moses himself answers indirectly and often; and takes no credit for but disclaims it. assuredly moses was not only a man of science and the foremost sanitarian of his own or any other age; but also a man gifted by his maker with the faculty to discover and appreciate not only the great fundamental facts and elements, but also many of the more important minutiae of private, public, and national sanitation. still he takes no credit for the sanitary utterances of the pentateuch or even says or hints at their being partly, chiefly or wholly self-generated; and his own unaided creation; or that we are purely indebted for them to the genius of their practical expounder. over and over again he insists and reiterates that they are solely heaven-sent and of divine origin. nay, more, what he says appears to suggest that his sanitary code was a premeditated and authoritative emanation, which in its elaboration probably occupied more years than any work that has since been handed down to posterity. in early times medical treatises were more slowly elaborated than now; and swayed only by the double patriotism of zeal for his master and loyalty to his people, moses had no need to give hasty and incomplete work to the world. in the desert he would have ample time to write his book of the law and the early story of man and the earth leisurely. from the holy bible alone we glean the great base facts about the mosaic law and its hygienic portion. here we learn, and by moses' own handwriting, that he was not their author, but jehovah himself; that moses only gave or wrote the law as averred by the saviour (john, vii. 19); therefore, that it is divine and inspired. moses was merely its earthly recipient and transcriber and applicant. this great fact practically {311} attested by over two millions of hebrews, who heard the voice of god delivering the decalogue at sinai, materially enhances the value of the bequest, as its supernal nature and origin attests its truth and infallibility. this great honour reserved for moses, and the culminating fact in his earth history, stamps his character and place in history. taught by the divinity as no other man has yet been, moses thus became earth's greatest sanitarian and the deity's ambassador and mouthpiece to man in sanitary as in many other matters. what moses wrote was revealed. he penned as he was inspired and wrote what jehovah dictated in the holy of holies. moses himself attests this, and thus wholly disclaims the authorship. chapter after chapter begins thus, 'and the lord said' (leviticus, xvii). and thus the hebrew leader and sage, as has been recorded by his successor joshua, himself 'full of the spirit of wisdom' (deuteronomy, xxxiv. 9), fully deserves this record, 'there arose not a prophet since in israel like unto moses whom the lord knew face to face' (deuteronomy, xxxiv. 10-11)." the distinction between the meats allowed to the hebrews and those not allowed remains down to the present day an extremely valuable canon of preventive medicine. the carnivorous animals were not to be eaten and were declared unclean. they are, as modern science has abundantly shown, much more likely to be the subject of parasites of various kinds than are the herbivorous animals. any animal that died of itself or had been torn by beasts was not to be eaten, and this was an extremely wise provision, for those that had died were very likely to be the subject of serious disease, while those torn by wild animals, if they did not perish at once were likely to have pyemia or septicemia set in in their wounds, {312} while if they had been killed at once and their bodies had been exposed for any length of time in the open air, they were likely to become the subject of serious putrefactive changes from the growth of bacteria in them. any of these processes were likely to make the meat toxic, and the one safeguard was prohibition of their consumption. the hebrews were not allowed to take the blood of animals, hence the necessity for having cattle butchered in their own way so that it might be _kosher_, and it is interesting to realize that this prohibition probably meant much for the prevention of disease. meat that is well drained of blood keeps longer than that which contains the tissue fluids, and it has come to be felt that the protection of the hebrews to a considerable extent against tuberculosis, so that their death rate from this disease is much lower than that of other races living under similar circumstances, is perhaps due to their abstinence from blood according to their law. they were forbidden to eat many of the fats, and this was hygienic in general, for the fat is a sluggish tissue and may contain parasites; but above all this was important for preventing the hebrews from eating such an amount of fat as would make them obese and sluggish. the orthodox jews of the present time who fail to keep this prohibition as to fat are weighted down with a load of surplus fatty tissue that takes away from their activity and shortens their lives. obesity has certain relations directly with diabetes which also makes this fat prohibition of significance, and as the jew is probably more subject to diabetes than most of those living in similar circumstances there is here another index of the value of this mosaic law which prevented pathological tendencies of several kinds that now make themselves manifest. {313} the greatest weight was placed upon keeping food materials covered from the air, and the use of liquids kept in vessels that were uncovered is forbidden, as is likewise the eating of fruit with open moist cracks. it has often been said in modern times that the paring of fruits, when unbroken, constitutes the best possible safeguard against spoiling, and many have the feeling that this fact was discovered or its significance properly recognized only since we have been studying fermentation and putrefaction. it was known long ago, however. it was recognized also that food materials should not be handled except with the greatest precautions and that those who prepared them should practice careful cleansing. these regulations undoubtedly had much to do with the prevention of the spread of the infectious diseases. we have learned in recent years that cooks have had much to do with the spread of the intestinal infections, and we now recognize the need of the meticulous precautions on which moses insisted. the place of the hands in conveying disease was emphasized very much, as for instance by jewish writers who insisted on the rule that coins should never be placed in the mouth because they had been handled by so many people. we have now come to appreciate this thoroughly, after having suspected for some time that the hands have more to do with the conveyance of contagion in many diseases than almost any other factor. a series of experiments made upon young sailors in the united states service after the armistice was signed and when the "flu" was at its height demonstrated almost beyond doubt that influenza cannot be conveyed by breathing or coughing into the faces of others, nor in any way through the air. most army surgeons came to the {314} conclusion, therefore, that the mode of conveyance of the disease was by the hands, which in handling food and in touching the mouth and nose transmitted infectious material which had been gathered in various ways. it is interesting then to realize that the jewish law insisted on careful cleansing of the hands before eating and on not touching the mouth or nose before the hands were washed in the morning, and that the talmudic writings emphasized these regulations as regards the cleansing of the hands. they required that the finger nails, when pared, should be burnt. some of the talmudists suggested that if water could not be obtained gloves should be worn while eating, which would recall the use of surgical gloves in modern times, for the surgeons learned long since that the hands were by far the most dangerous media for the transmission of infection. some years ago sir benjamin ward richardson, one of the most distinguished of the english physicians of the latter half of the nineteenth century, pointed out that the records showed a very marked difference in the health and death rate of the jews living in various cities of great britain as compared to their gentile neighbors, and always in favor of the jews. other statistics gathered later in the nineteenth century and at the beginning of the twentieth emphasize the fact that there is manifestly something which enables the jew to resist disease and maintain health under circumstances where the people around him suffer much more severely than he does. for instance, in manchester the average annual death rate for three years in the two jewish districts was over eight in one and over nine in the other below the death rate per thousand of the whole city. the two jewish districts are among the worst slums of manchester, yet {315} not only do they exhibit a much lower death rate, but the morbidity statistics show that there is less sickness among the jews from all the serious infectious diseases than among the gentiles. they had a higher morbidity rate than all the other parts of the city for erysipelas, pyemia, and puerperal fever, showing that they were subjected to the influence of dirt and septic contagion, but in everything else they were much lower in the sickness rate than their neighbors. they had only about one half as many premature births, their children suffered from only half as many convulsions and scarcely more than half as much from diarrhea and dysentery. the children in the jewish districts proved to be particularly capable of resisting disease and their death rate is distinctly lower. the diarrheic diseases of childhood are practically all due to improper feeding, and the saving of children's lives in the unsanitary jewish districts where poverty stalks abroad so openly is due to the more healthy feeding of the infants, but above all to the mother's very careful care of them. the jewish mother is, by age-long tradition, an absolutely unselfish caretaker of her children. when they are ailing her devotion is constant, and nothing is too much for her to do. no wonder that she saves more of her children than the gentile mothers around her. it is because of the presence of the jewish mothers in new york and boston that our boards of health have come upon the startling discovery that the foreign-born mother in this country raises one in seven more of her children than does the native-born mother. the reason, of course, for this is maternal devotion and readiness to sacrifice herself in any and every way for the sake of her children. at least twice as many of these foreign mothers--and among {316} these of course every orthodox jewish mother who can possibly do it--nurse their children, and that is by far the most important factor in securing the survival of children beyond the first year. the jews have been particularly careful for the lives of their infant children both before and after birth. it is considered a disgrace for a jewish mother to have a premature birth, for it is felt that some blame attaches to the mother. as for the prevalent practice of abortion, there is almost none of it among the poor jewish populations, and none at all until their orthodox jewry begins to break down under the influence of contact with their gentile neighbors. human life is a very sacred thing to the orthodox jew, and no matter how small or insignificant that life may be it has all the qualities of humanity for him and appeals to his protection. the solicitude of the jewish mother for her children has been the subject of poet and painter all down the ages and is to be found as well developed and as strikingly manifest in the slums of the large cities of the west where it is so extremely difficult of exercise as it was in the jewish towns of the olden time. in leeds, toward the end of the nineteenth century, there were some fifteen thousand jews, the great majority of them belonging to the very poorest class. most of them lived in the central ward of the city. as pointed out by doctor porritt in "religion and health", "that ward, one of the most squalid in leeds, had a death rate lower than that of the whole city, the statistical records for which show all the advantages derived from the healthier or better class districts." in london itself, in whitechapel and mile end, which were principally occupied by jews, the death rates were only 18.5 and 19.3 per thousand of population, while in {317} the neighboring districts of limehouse and st. george, where there were many fewer jews--limehouse being practically without them--the death rates were respectively 23 and 24.6 per thousand. there was distinctly less morbidity from the infectious diseases in the jewish districts, there being actually more than one fourth more in limehouse than in mile end on the average, and the infantile death rates were much lower among the jews in spite of the fact that most of them were immigrants who had led very hard and anxious lives before settling in london and since coming had to work under unwonted, exceedingly unsanitary conditions, in a climate to which they were not as yet accustomed. in other countries besides england the mortality and morbidity statistics favor the jew even more strikingly than in england. in frankfurt (on main), as pointed out by sir benjamin ward richardson, where the influence of the jewish ghetto still made itself felt about the middle of the nineteenth century and jews were herded together under restricted regulations that would seem inevitably prone to hurt their health, they had as a matter of fact ever so much better health than the gentiles around them. the average duration of life among the jews was forty-eight years and nine months. among all other classes it was thirty-six years and eleven months. more than half of the jews reached fifty years of age, while scarcely more than one third of the other classes lived up to that. during the first five years of life jewish children died at the rate of about thirteen per cent while gentile children died at the rate of a little more than twenty-four per cent. one fourth of the jewish population attained the age of seventy; one fourth of the rest of the inhabitants lived to be less than sixty. {318} in furth the tenacity of life among the jews could be noted at all ages. of the jewish children from one to five years ten per cent died, but among the rest of the population the infant mortality of the same age was fourteen per cent. at every stage of life jewish mortality was lower until past the age of sixty, when, owing to the greater number of jews who reached advanced age, the ratio was inverted. the number of jews who lived to be above eighty and even ninety is strikingly larger than among the gentiles. in prussia, legoit found that the average life of the jew is greater than that of the gentile by at least five years. the mortality among the population of the whole kingdom was a little over two and one half per hundred, while among the jews it was only one and one half per hundred. the population in prussia is increasing annually at the rate of one and one third per hundred among non-jews, but at the rate of nearly one and three fourths among the jews. the ordinary population requires fifty-one years to double itself, but the jews require only forty-one and a half years for the same progression. sir benjamin ward richardson, by a comparison of the ages of two thousand five hundred jews buried in london in three years with the mortality of the whole population of london at different ages, found that under five years of age forty-four jews died to forty-five non-jews; from thirty-five to forty-five years of age, five jews died to every eight non-jews; and it was not until the age of eighty-five was reached that the ratio was reversed and two jews were buried to every one non-jew, there being considerably more than twice as many non-jews alive at that age to supply the bodies for the burial. {319} chapter xix health and religion [footnote 18] [footnote 18: the suggestion for this chapter came from reverend william j. lockington's little book on "bodily health and spiritual vigour", longmans, green and co., london, new york, bombay and calcutta, 1914.] religion, as we have seen in the course of this book, does very much for health, but according to the great principle of nature, reaction is equal to action in compensation and health undoubtedly also accomplishes very much for religion. indeed there are a great many troubles commonly presumed to be of the spirit and a great many supposed disturbances of the spiritual life that are really only manifestations of ill health of one kind or another, or at least of some hampering of bodily function reflected in the mind. this has always been recognized by all the great authorities in the spiritual life, and none have insisted more than the writers even of the highest mystical theology on the necessity for taking proper care of the body if the spirit is to be free for religious life. desolation, that is that feeling of utter dissatisfaction with religious exercises and difficulty in continuing them of which so much is said in spiritual literature, is very often nothing more than dyspepsia. what is familiarly called the "blues" or the "blue devils", that is the state of depression in which nothing seems hopeful and the future seems very blank indeed, is a common experience among mankind generally and is very often dependent on {320} some disturbance of the digestive tract. there is a well-known expression in english according to which the answer to the question "is life worth living?" is "that depends on the liver", meaning not only the person that does the living, but also that large organ in the right upper abdominal quadrant, the largest, heaviest organ in the body, disturbances of which it is no wonder cause serious interference with a number of the functions of both mind and body. many a long-faced person indeed who thinks himself pious is only bilious, and many a sad-eyed visionary who is quite ready to proclaim himself religious is only what the ancients called atrabilious and needs some liver regulator as badly as ever horace thought he needed hellebore in the spring. there are a good many traits of disposition or habits of life often supposed to be dependent on the state of the spirit that are really only symptoms of bodily indisposition. many a fit of temper is consequent upon the condition of the digestive organs rather than the state of the soul. suspicion and jealousy are not infrequently not so much vices as unfortunate feelings exaggerated out of all reason by some disturbance of health. there are certain times in women's lives particularly when almost any feeling that comes to them is magnified and takes on a significance quite beyond the reality. physicians constantly have to remind their women patients to wait a few days and not let their inhibited feelings run away with them as they are so prone to do at certain periods. not a little of the irritability of life and especially the exaggerated response to minor irritations is due to insufficient oxygenation of tissues because the individual concerned is not getting out into the air sufficiently. at the end of a number of hours of mental work indoors, {321} especially in a stuffy atmosphere, most people are inclined to be irritable. if instead of going out into the fresh air and staying out for some time when they get the chance, they think that they feel too tired for the effort which that involves, and prefer to rest in a comfortable chair or perhaps lying down, their irritability will often not be lessened but sometimes will even be heightened. on the other hand, if they get out into the brisk, bracing cold air of the winter time particularly, they come back with their irritability thoroughly dissipated as a rule and ready to go on with other work almost without a sense of weariness. probably nothing makes a man say his night prayers more unsatisfactorily and with less devotion than to sit down in a nice comfortable chair after a rather heavy evening meal and smoke and read the paper or perhaps a magazine until he goes to sleep. he wakes up feeling all out of sorts, while if he played a game of cards with friends he would feel fine at the end of the evening and be ready to thank the lord for another day and for the prospect of a good night's rest for the work ahead. above all, people who are living healthy, outdoor lives are much more prone to take a happy view of life, to see the bright side of things and to radiate good will and sunshine than those who are overmuch in the house. the cheerful givers whom the lord loves come especially from among these. a great many of the people who want to pour out their ills perennially, because they like to indulge their self-pity by rolling the delectable morsels of their sufferings under their tongues, and who go around seeking consolation and sympathy whenever they are in even slight trouble are indoor people. they occur especially among those who spend a good deal of {322} time sitting down and not exercising their bodies enough. the good old rule _ora et labora_ is an extremely valuable precept, not only for the next world but also for this. pray and labor, but be sure that labor gets a fair share of the time and be sure that the body has enough exercise to keep it going and to keep its functions in good condition, otherwise the prayer will be disturbed and life will be far from happy. happiness comes to those who are healthily tired every day. long ago dooley said in one of those wise sayings of his which made even the _london times_ declare that the wisest man that was writing english in our day wrote under the name of dooley in chicago, that the one thing above all that made life worth living was to be tired enough at the end of every day so that one would sleep well every night. without that life is indeed a burden. the practice of hard work, some of it physical, is a very good rule for the physical as well as the spiritual life. a hard-working man has little time to be grouchy and to throw wet blankets over the good that others are trying to do. he is likely to be a lifter and not a leaner, a doer and not a talker. nothing keeps people from finding fault so well as having so much to do that they can scarcely find the time in which to do it all. especially is this important for those who have to spend a good deal of time in each other's company, and who must learn to bear with each other's faults and go on with their own work to the best of their ability. it must not be forgotten that a great many of the faults of others are to be attributed rather to the state of their health than to their disposition, and once this is rightly understood charity will readily help us to gloss them over or forgive them. any one who makes his own faults the subject of excuse {323} on the score of health, when his health is something that by a little care he could improve, is of course imposing on himself if he does it at all deliberately, and he is trying to impose on good nature if he thinks that other people do not appreciate that his ill health is really an excuse and not a reason for his faults. in the chapter on abstinence it is suggested that one of the best things that men and particularly women could practice to advantage from the standpoint of religious abstinence would be abstinence from excessive rest. rest is one of the most dangerous remedies that we have, nearly as dangerous as opium and with a definite tendency for a habit to be acquired by the system for it whenever it is indulged in to excess, exactly as is true of the opiates. if mortification of the spirit were to be practiced by abstinence from overrest and by a definite amount of exercise every day it would be an excellent thing for the religious as well as the physical life. this is one of the most frequent advices of those interested in the spiritual life as well as the bodily health for many generations. what people need is to keep busy. this is good for both their minds and their bodies. it requires a great deal of mortification of the inclinations to keep at work and above all to take exercise voluntarily when one might sit around and enjoy the delightfully lazy feeling of doing nothing, but that way lies serious disturbance of health. the men who have been very hard workers, especially from a sense of duty and not for mere selfish reasons, taking a great deal of exercise and going to bed so thoroughly tired every night that they went to sleep as soon as their head touched the pillow, have been long-lived as a rule, unless they met with some accident or infection. {324} above all, it is important for any one who wishes to retain his self-respect and keep from that sluggishness which is so fatal to the power to pray and to meditate not to permit his abdominal and flank muscles to become overstretched and to allow fat to accumulate within the abdomen until it is actually a burden. there is almost no excuse for any one permitting his waist line to become larger in girth than his chest, unless of course he happens to have some deformity that makes exercise very difficult or practically impossible. to keep these muscles in good condition prevents slouchiness and makes the individual ever so much more ready for activity of any kind. the only way that these muscles can be kept in tone to hold in the abdomen properly and keep the circulation within it in such vigor as will support the digestive tract so as to permit and encourage its proper activities is by exercising them. this requires the performance of certain exercises every day. stooping, bending, stretching, all these must be practiced if the muscles are not to be allowed to degenerate. there is no harder task than to keep up the custom of performing these exercises regularly a couple of times a day, for though only from five to ten minutes is needed night and morning to maintain the muscles in condition or even to restore them when they have once begun to sag, all sorts of excuses come in to prevent the regular practice of the exercises, and it is the regularity above all that counts. a man who keeps these muscles in good shape will be much readier for every sort of activity than if he allowed them to yield, and one of the secrets of the army officers' power as the years go on so that, quite contrary to the usual rule in life it is men well beyond sixty who make some of the greatest successes as leaders, is because their {325} regular training and discipline keep them from letting their muscles lose tone and their powers deteriorate. the setting-up exercises of the army or navy indulged in for fifteen minutes a day--and this could be divided into two periods--would keep men in condition and prove at the same time a very salutary mortification and above all an exercise in self-control and persistent application to a good purpose that would constitute a magnificent factor for that training of the will that is so important for religion. nerve irritation is oftener a function of insufficient exercise and air with overfeeding than of any other factor. this same thing is true for suspicion and jealousy and envy and other of the supposed inner emotions of the soul. they will disappear very often before the fresh air, while they will be fostered by life indoors and by the coddling of ills by rest and high living generally. the passions, by which a great many people mean mainly the sexual feelings, though of course they also include the tendency to overeat and especially to stimulate one's self to eating in various ways, are all fostered by being much indoors and not getting enough fresh, outdoor air and particularly cold air. there are a great many people who seem to forget that air is absolutely the most important requisite for life, and that when it is cold it takes heat away from the animal body and sets all the cell functions working at their best. human beings are practically heat engines, and we keep on manufacturing heat all the time. as our temperature never rises except when we suffer from fever, some outlet must be found for this heat, and unless there is exposure to the air and especially air in motion that will carry heat away from us, the heat is consumed in {326} various large organs and almost invariably succeeds in making us quite miserable. it is under these circumstances of sluggish indoor living particularly that irritability of all kinds is heightened and that the tendency to lack of self-control is most manifest. it is a form of intoxication actually that comes over people and would remind us not a little of the intoxication that follows from smaller amounts of alcohol with the resultant lack of inhibition. when people are much out in the air it is surprising what they can stand in the shape of injury without great suffering. our young soldiers learned during the war that their outdoor life in camps and at the front made the slighter wounds appear almost as nothing to them and even the severer wounds caused them nothing like the pain which they had anticipated or which they actually would have caused if the soldiers continued to be in the same state of mind and body as regards the reaction to pain which had been true during their civilian days. it requires much less courage to be heroic when one has been living the outdoor life and has been hardening muscles by exercise and plain food and not too much sleep than when one is living the indoor, relaxed over-rested life. that does not lessen the merit of what they did, but helps to account for its development in just ordinary mortals and above all helps to explain why now they modestly prefer not to talk about it, for to them it seems to have been just all in the day's work. not infrequently oversensitiveness of disposition which resents even the slightest imputation and which is often prone to translate what was a mere conventional remark into a fancied insult is due to lack of sufficient outdoor air to keep the individual in good health. on the other {327} hand men and women who spend a good deal of time outside are capable of standing even severe insults without wincing under them and sometimes this rebounds greatly to the benefit of the cause for which they are working. father lockington has dwelt on this in one of his chapters rather interestingly. "good health helps us to be patient and silent under insult and wrong, when this makes for duty better done. the souls for whom we labour are often unreasonable, often ungrateful, often crooked, but the trained worker never hesitates. strong and self-contained he moves serenely on; no display of temper mars his work, no hasty word is uttered, however great the provocation. like the missionary calmly wiping his face, when spat upon in the japanese street, or that little sister of the poor, who, struck across the face when begging food for her old people, calmly answered, 'that is for myself, and i deserve it; please now give me something for christ's poor,' such a worker sees only souls here below, and christ above, waiting for them. a healthy body will keep the mind broad and even; it has no place for brooding suspicion to lurk; it will help the soul to take a wide view of life and prevent that narrowness of thought, so fatal to work, to which our life of continual introspection tends." a great many of the vicious impulses in connection with suspicion and jealousy and envy may be traced to a lack of diversion in life. there are some people who take no pains to organize existence in such a way that they have definite diversion at certain times. every human being ought at some time on every sunday to decide that on certain days of the following week, and above all on certain evenings, he will do things in which he is {328} particularly interested and which he can look forward to with pleasant anticipation. those who can should arrange either to go to the theater, or to a lecture in which they are interested, or to visit friends whom they care to see, or to go to a library and look up something that they have been wanting to find out about; or, if it is pleasant weather, to go for a short excursion or a boat ride or something of that kind and they should make two or three appointments with themselves for definite occasions of recreation for the ensuing week. as a rule all that is necessary for this is to make up one's mind to do it, though there is a tendency on the part of a great many people just to let each evening be like every other evening and because of lack of sufficient interest they lose that variety which is the spice of life. as a result existence becomes dreadfully monotonous, and those who live such narrow lives become the subjects of all sorts of unfortunate suggestions with regard to those around them. over and over again i have found that when women patients particularly were the subjects of various of these nervous irritabilities so that they were permitting themselves actually to be led into being deluded into various suspicions, there was a prompt disappearance or significant minimization of these thoughts when diversions were properly introduced into their lives. the founders of religious orders were very wise in this matter. in all the religious orders the members are required by rule to spend a certain time in recreation, that is in conversation and lighter occupation, usually several times every day. this must be spent in company with the others and the members of the house are not allowed to absent themselves without good reason. young religious sometimes feel like resenting the rule requiring {329} them to be present day after day at recreation as if it represented a waste of time, but they learn later on in life how wise it is. the various feast days of the church are celebrated in such a way that there is a definite diversion from the usual routine of life and then there are special indulgences at table and in the matter of spending time in the open and receiving visitors and other things of that kind which mean a very great deal in breaking the monotony of the religious life. very often scruples are, as we have pointed out in the chapter on nervous diseases, only a manifestation of a nervous disposition sometimes on a hereditary, but sometimes on an acquired basis. the acquired basis is very often a lack of nutrition due to insufficient food, for people who are underweight are much more subject to dreads and obsessions of all kinds than are those who are up to weight. living on the will, as it is called, when one is underweight and does not eat very much, certainly not sufficient to supply the energy for what has to be accomplished, is a fruitful source of irritability of any and every kind. it keeps people on edge, that is in a condition of unstable equilibrium, and almost anything that touches them has a tendency to put them into a state of disequilibrium. bringing people up to normal health and especially up to normal weight is often the best possible means to lessen their tendencies to scruples and to various other manifestations supposed to be spiritual yet which represent only conditions and symptoms that are frequently seen in those who have no religion and no conscientious obligations with regard to anything. it is surprising how often a sluggish state of the bowels proves to be seriously disturbing to the spiritual life. {330} people find it hard to pray without distraction or to meditate without getting sleepy, and they are liable to think of themselves as perhaps being the object of very special attention on the part of certain evil spirits who make it their business to distract and obtund those who are trying to put themselves in communication with the most high, when all that is really the matter is that they are absorbing certain materials which ought to be excreted promptly but which are being delayed in their intestinal tract longer than is good for the individual. i am not one of those who believe that intestinal auto-toxemia is a very serious condition which produces dire results, but i know very well that absorption in any quantity of residual materials from the intestinal tract that were meant to be excreted will produce langour and sluggishness. the present fad among certain physicians for attributing a great many serious symptoms to intestinal auto-intoxication has no basis in physiological chemistry and represents only one of those exaggerations of a minor truth for which medicine is so famous. the idea of self-poisoning, which is all that auto-intoxication means, is a very old one in medicine and the use of drastic purgatives such as calomel in large doses and the antimonial purges and then of blood letting represent the responses to this idea which doctors made in an older time. we know that they did harm and those who would exaggerate the meaning of auto-intoxication in our time are likely to do just as much harm, but there is no doubt at all that obstipation will make the majority of human beings uncomfortable and take away their initiative and keep them from being up to their best in mental and spiritual matters. to use some of the greatly advertised remedies or modes of treatment which are suggested for {331} it, however, would probably do more harm than good. there are a number of simple sensible methods of treatment by which the affection may be overcome. above all the formation of good habits, of taking an abundance of water, of eating coarse food, the peelings of baked potatoes and the parings of baked apples and an occasional orange with its peel, and using marmalade rather freely as well as eating whole wheat bread will gradually overcome the condition. the important thing is not to mistake the merely physical affection for a spiritual disturbance. it requires persistence to form good habits and it is ever so much easier just to take something that will supposedly do the same good work "while you sleep" and are not bothered by the exertion of the will power necessary to form the habits that are required. many a disturbance of health is due to sloth and laziness rather than to ignorance of what ought to be done or to any inherent tendency to ill in the body. any number of people blame providence for ills which they have brought on themselves by neglect of their own health and the habits necessary to maintain it. nothing so conduces to good health as the regularity of life without haste and without worry which the rational practice of religion brings in its train. the attitude of mind that a trusting faith in the almighty fosters is particularly likely to prevent the neurotic symptoms and exaggerations of feelings which are responsible for so much of the modern suffering of mankind. it makes the real pains and aches ever so much more bearable and eliminates those which to a great extent are imaginary. the success of all sorts of curious therapeutic systems which prove after a time to be utterly without beneficial {332} effect on the human body shows how much faith in anything may mean for health and restoration to health, even in the midst of what is supposed to be rather serious illness, and as men are bound to have faith in something and a living faith in a providence that somehow, even though we may not be able to understand it, cares for men, drawing good even out of evil, can accomplish an immense amount in making men less amenable to suffering even in this world. it would be too bad to reduce religion merely to this status, but this should be one of its benefits. as the scriptures said, "for it is not a vain thing for you because it is your life, and through this thing you shall prolong your days in the land." {333} index {334} {335} index abernethy, 169 abortion, 316 abstinence from exercise, 114 accommodation of the eye, 204 advent, 111 aeschylus, 255 agnosticism, 30 aid, mutual, 106 alcohol, 207 altruism, 82 ampã¨re, 15, 18, 38 aneurysm, 173 anthony, st., 298 antonius, st., 130 apoplexy, 110 aristotle, 147 arkwright, 122 armageddon, 187 arnold, matthew, 3, 4, 165 arteriosclerosis, 112 asceticism, 151, 155, 198 "assent, grammar of", 3 atrabilious, 320 atterbury, bishop, 199 augustine, st., 2, 11 austerity, 165 auto-intoxication, 330 auto-toxemia, 330 avalanche, law of, 87, 273 b bacchus, 138, 173 bacon, francis, 11, 28, 163 barrett, 214, 224 bartholomew, 215 belief in immortality, 291 bell, alexander graham, 78 benedict, st., 35, 36 benedictines, longevity, 300 bernard, claude, 25 bernheim, 246 biliousness, 320 blind children, 188 "blue devils", 47, 93, 319 "blues", 319 boissarie, doctor, 252 bone setter, 248 botticelli, 19 boulger, professor george, 27 brethren of the common life, 276 breuil, abbã©, 39 brewster, 15 bright's disease, 110, 115 browne, sir thomas, 84 buchner, 28 burdett, 89, 90 burke, thomas, 6 byron, lord, 199 c calderon, 255 camoã«ns, 259 campbell, lord, 152 cancer, 260 card playing, 101 carnival, 128 carroll, 172, 264 castelnau, general de, 41 catherine, st., of siena, 96, 227 cave man, 39, 69 {336} cervantes, 269 charity, law of, 106 chest, girth, 324 chevreul, 280 chicago, 49 christ, imitation of, 276 christianity, pillars of, 7 chrystal, professor george, 20 cicero, 2, 261 cid, 126 cimabue, 136 circe, 170 "civilization and health", 301 clarke, 197 coddling, 325 code, hebrew health, 309 cohan, george m., 252 cold, 244 colton, 263 columbus hospitals, 49 comfort, increase of, 265 conklin, professor, 164 contagion, 313 corrigan, 25 coulomb, 16 culture sciences, glenmore school of the, 262 d damien, father, 71 dancing, 138 dante, 100, 126, 269, 276, 292 davidson, thomas, 262 davy, sir humphry, 12, 16 dearness of fellow mortals, 95 decadence, 200 degenerate, 199 degeneration, 145 delusions, 206; of grandeur, 211; of persecution, 213 denver, 49 descartes, 19 dexter, professor edmund t., 282 diabetes, 115, 312 dionysus, 138 discomfort, neurotic, 273 disease, conveyance of, 314 disease, mental, 142; statistics, 187; venereal, 184 dissipation, barbaric, 136 diversion of mind, 140 dowie, 250 dramatics, 139 dreads, 57; in life, 249; of punishment, 289 drug addictions, 178 e edmund of canterbury, 154 electricity, delusions, 206 elijah, 250 elizabeth, st., of hungary, 97 elsmere, robert, 6 ember days, 115 "energies of men", 175 environment, 164 epileptics, 188 erethism, sexual, 99, 203 esculapius, 309 euripides, 148 exercise, 114 exercises, setting up, 325 existence, strenuous, 279; struggle for, 105 exorcism, 214 expectancy of life, 295 f faraday, 15 fashion, 143, 201 fasting and sex impulses, 118 faust, 65, 255 fayolle, general, 43 fear thoughts, 234, 250 ferdinand, st., 96 first cause, divine, 29 fittest, survival of the, 108 foch, marshal, 53 foerster, 155, 190, 197, 231 _folie du doute_, 220 forbes, 16 francis, st., of assisi, 161 frankfort on main, 317 {337} freud, 231 freudianism, 232 frightfulness, 207 furth, 318 g galvani, 15, 38 ghetto, 315, 317 gladstone, 121, 141, 163, 258 goethe, 151 goldsmith, 199 goodell, president, 36 gouraud, general, 42 graham, 15 graves, robert, 25 greatrakes, 250 grenfell, doctor wilfred, 73 grouch, 182 guilds, 137 h habit, 179 haelo, 3 haelu, 3 haig, 54 haleness, 3 hamilton, 15 hamlet, 255, 289 hands in contagion, 313 happiness, formula of, 63 harrison, frederic, 29, 32 hazard, moral, 295 healing, metaphysical, 250 heart disease, 110; impulses, 98 hebrew sanitary code, 307 henry viii, 153 heredity, 164; and longevity, 295 herodotus, 126 herschel, 15 hobby, 101, 140 holidays, bank, 124; in the year, 122 _et seq._ holiness, 3 holmes, oliver wendell, 24, 294 homer, 170, 275 homicide, increase in, 290 horace, 52, 64 hospitality, 94 hospitals, 49 hughes, justice, 160 human engines, 325 humility, 212 hungry, feed the, 86 hutchinson, woods, 301, 302 huxley, 49, 82, 166 "hygiene, divine", 307 hygiene and sanitation, 270 hypnotism, 246 hyslop, doctor thomas, 209 hysteria, 225; major, 241 i ignatius loyola, 36 imbeciles, 188 imitation of christ, 275 immortality, 279; belief in, 291 _imponderabilia_, 233 impurity, 184 infinite, 44 influenza, 157, 313 ingersoll lecture, 70 insane, increase in, 209 insanity, alcoholic, 211; delusions, 206; limitations of, 213; religious, 208 instinct, religious, 8 instincts of helpfulness, 105 irritability of life, 320; of temper, 117; of tissues, 117 j jacopone da todi, 165 james, professor william, 34, 67, 151, 162, 176, 262, 269 jesuits, general of the, 267 jewish ghetto, 317; longevity, 318; resistance to disease, 315 job, 255 joshua, 311 joy, 139 k keats, 199 kelvin, lord, 11, 12, 15, 16, 20 {338} kempis, thomas ã , 1, 276 kennan, george, 285 kentucky, mountains of, 94 kepler, 13 _kosher_, 312 l lactantius, 2 laã«nnec, 25, 38 laplace, 19 laughter and sanity, 230 "layman, the creed of a", 29 lecky, 85 legoit, 318 leisure, 133 lent, 111 leo xiii, 280 leverrier, 37 leviticus, 306 liberty, 132 license, 132 liebault, 246 liebig, 12 life, factors in, 238; prolongation of, 298; the mystery of, 99 linnaeus, 12 lister, lord, 25 living on the will, 329 lockington, rev. william j., 319, 327 london, 316 longevity, 295; and monasticism, 299; jewish, 318; of benedictines, 300; of professions, 297; of trappists, 299; religious, 297; trades, 297 louis, st., 96 lourdes, 251 lowell, james russell, 5, 281 loyola, ignatius, 36 lubricity, goddess of, 170 lumbago, 246 luther, 88 luxury, 197 m mabie, hamilton, 276 macaulay, 121 macaulay, jerry, 179 magician, the wonder working, 255 magna charta, 126 maistre, joseph de, 157 malingerers, 240 manchester slums, 314 mania doubting, 223 manning, cardinal, 303 margaret, st., of scotland, 97 marne, first battle of the, 54 marriage, 196 martineau, jacques, 2 matthew, father, 175 maud, queen, 97 maxwell, clerk, 12, 15 meat eating, 112 meditation, 43 mephistopheles, 65 mercier, cardinal, 52 mercy, corporal works of, 88; works of, 87 mesmer, 250 michelangelo, 38, 157 microbes, ultramicroscopic, 157 milton, 84, 259 mind, diseases of the, 142; diversion of the, 140; "unsoundness", 208 "miracle man", 252 misophobia, 221 mitchell, dr. john k., 218 mitchell, s. weir, 203 moderation, 296 molokai, 71 moly, 170 more, sir thomas, 147, 152, 225 morgagni, 38 morley, john, 163, 258 mortification, 325 mosaic code, 307 moses, 310 mother, foreign born, 315; native born, 315 mã¼ller, johannes, 25 mulry, thomas, 103 mã¼nsterberg, professor hugo, 209 mutiny, indian, 266 {339} n napoleon, 28 nature, human, 296 neptune, 37 nerve irritation, 325 nerves, 241 nervous, breakdown, 235; diseases of jews, 218 nervousness, 229 "nervousness, mastery of", 172, 264 netherlands, 276 neurotic tendencies, 217 newman, cardinal, 3, 4, 28, 303 newspapers, 136 newton, sir isaac, 13, 28 new york, 49 nibelungen, 126 nietzsche, 56, 150 o obermaier, father, 39 obesity, 312 obsessions, 222 oersted, 15, 16, 18 o'grady, standish, 125 ohm, 15, 20 olympian religion, 161 _ora et labora_, 35, 322 o'reilly, john boyle, 43, 202 osler, professor, 70 overeating, 110 overindulgence, 117 oversensitiveness, 326 overwork, 172 owen, sir richard, 23 oxygenation of tissues, 320 ozanam, 18, 19, 38, 100 p paget, sir james, 24 paralysis, general, of the insane, 210; infantile, 157 park, public, 129 pascal, 19 pasteur. 12, 26, 37 patience, 270 pan, general, 41 paul of aegina, 215 pearson, doctor karl, 77 pellico, silvio, 23 periclean period, 125 pã©tain, marshal, 42, 54 pity, 279 plato, 148, 236 poggendorf, 39 poor in spirit, 161 poor, little sisters of the, 327 pope, 199 porritt, dr., 316 poverty, voluntary, 159 practitioners, irregular, 249 predispositions toward irrationality, 213 prison existence, 92 prometheus, 255 prudery, 185 prussia, 318 psychology of humanity, 149 psychoneuroses, 68, 225, 242, 248 psychotherapy, 219 ptah hotep, 168 pythagoras, 148 q quintilian, 196 r ramon y cajal, 273 ranke, 280 rattray, doctor alexander, 307 ray, john, 28 rayleigh, lord, 16 reading, 136, 202 reasonableness, 149 recreation, 328 _relegere_, 2 _religare_, 2 _religio_, 2 _religio medici_, 84 religion and health, 316; and science, 9; and suicide, 286; foundations of, 7; requiem of, 6 {340} repression, sexual, 203 rest, dangerous, 323; sons of, 182 reticence, 195; religious, 196 rich, mabel, 154 richardson, sir benjamin ward, 314, 317 roberts, lord, 70, 171 romance of the rose, 257 romanes, professor george, 27 rowan, 15 ruskin, 86, 99 s sabbath, 128 saint anthony, 298 saint antoninus, 130 saint augustine, 2, 11 saint benedict, 35, 36 saint bon, 42 saint catherine of siena, 96, 227 saint edmund of canterbury, 154 saint elizabeth of hungary, 97 saint francis of assisi, 161 saint ignatius loyola, 36 saint louis, 96 saint margaret of scotland, 97 saint theresa, 40, 53, 189, 227, 228 saint vincent de paul, 18, 81, 100 sanity and laughter, 230 schlatter, 250 schurman, president, 6, 31, 82 sciatica, 245 science and religion, 9 "scientists, religious beliefs of'", 15 scruples, 220 secchi, 39 seeing life, 189 seeley, professor a. d., 238 self-consciousness, 274 self-mastery, 232 self-pity, 56 self-poisoning, 330 seneca, 148 senility, 173 sensuality, 199 service, social, 84 settlement work, 18, 97 sex education, 192; hygiene, 190; irregularities, 189; problem, 198 sexuality, 98 sexual repression, 203 shakespeare, 199, 255, 275, 289 shame, 190 shows, 134 silence, 43; conspiracy of, 185; policy of, 190 "silly seventies", 107 sins, seven deadly, 181 sistine chapel, 158 slave labor, 124 sleep, 113 smith, doctor goldwin, 259, 264 socrates, 148 standard oil company, 107 stokes, 15 stores, drug, 130; tobacco, 130 suffering and providence, 254; mystery of, 255 sugar, consumption of, 180 suggestion, 191 suicide and religion, 286; and sunlight, 282; and war, 285; in december, 281; frequency, 278; in ireland, 287; in june, 280; in switzerland, 288; "the problem of", 286 superman, 108, 150 _superstes_, 5 swinburne, 227 sybarite, 267 sympathy, 56 t tabrum, 16 _taedium, vitae_, 66 tait, professor p. g., 14 talbot, 15 talmudic writings, 314 tangi, 222 taylor, professor john w., 26 temptation, 189 temptations, sexual, 193 theresa, st., 40, 53, 189, 227, 228 {341} thistleton-dyer, sir w., 82 thoreau, 127 thucydides, 163, 258 tracadie, 71 trappist longevity, 299 tuberculosis, 312 u ulysses, 170 undereating, 110 underwork, 172 v vacation, yearly, 120 vaughan, cardinal, 40 venus, 173 verdun, 42 vesalius, 37 vincent de paul, st., 18, 81, 100 vinci, leonardo da, 39 virtue, 178 virtues, cardinal, 177 volta, 15, 21, 38 von moltke, 171 vulcan, 173 w waist line, 324 wallace, alfred russel, 214, 224 war and suicide, 285 "war, moral equivalent of", 68 war neuroses, 242 ward, mrs. humphry, 6 watts, 122 weight, normal, 329 wells, h. g., 69, 266 white, andrew d., 290 whittaker, professor, 62 whittington, dick, 97 wilde, oscar, 64 wilks, sir samuel, 24 will, training of the, 325 windle, sir bertram, 67 wood, sir evelyn, 70, 171 woodhead, professor sims, 25 work for idle hands, 143 workers, hard, 323 world, flesh and devil, 201 world invisible, 233 worry not work, 296 z zone, temperate, and suicide, 283 -----------------------------by the author of "religion and health" health through will power by james j. walsh, m. d. _medical director of fordham university school of sociology_ 12mo. cloth. 288 pages. ----"the american public sorely needs the gospel of health that dr. walsh preaches to it in his new book." --_the pilot, boston_. "i do not wonder that your splendid book 'health through will power' has met with such great success. i know that i could hardly leave the book out of my hands, it was so interesting and instructive." --_archbishop patrick j. hayes, of new york_. "'health through will power' is packed with medical wisdom translated into the vernacular of common sense." --_the ave maria_. "your book is capable of adding largely to happiness, as well as health. it is also wonderful, spiritually. i feel like recommending the book to everyone i know." --_mgr. m. j. lavelle, of new york_. "this book should find a place in every home, as it will help to bring us back to a more natural manner of living." --_the rosary magazine_. -------little, brown & co., publishers 34 beacon street, boston 