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 WITH 
 
 Anatomy and Physiology 
 
 JOSEPH F. EDWARDS, M.D. 
 
 
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EDWARDS' 
 
 HYGIENE 
 
 WITH 
 
 ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY 
 
 BEING AN AMPLIFICATION OF 
 
 EDWARDS' CATECHISM OF HYGIENE 
 
 BY 
 
 JOSEPH F. EDWARDS, A.M., M.D. 
 
 Member of the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania ; Member of the 
 
 American Public Health Association; Foreign Associate Member 
 
 of the French Society of Hygiene; Fellow of the College of 
 
 Physicians of Philadelphia ; Member of the Philadelphia 
 
 County Medical Society ; Editor of " The Annals 
 
 of Hygiene," etc., etc., etc. 
 
 Sntenoeo for Scbools ano aeneral IReaoitv 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 EDWARD P. SLEVIN 
 28 BAKCLAY STREET, NEW YORK 
 

 Copyright, 1894, 
 EDWARD P. SLEVIN 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Hygiene is generally defined as ' ' the prevention 
 of disease : as synonymous with pure air, pure water, 
 and pure food." 
 
 I go much further and define Hygiene as a science 
 that gives health and contentment to all who follow 
 its rules. Hence, every human being should learn 
 these rules. 
 
 Throughout this book I have used simple language, 
 avoiding technical terms, where possible. Anatomy 
 and Physiology are treated only when connected 
 directly with Hygiene. 
 
 Many of the illustrations are entirely original in 
 design, and explain physiological actions without 
 bringing anatomy into prominence. Care has been 
 taken with the anatomical plates, so that nothing ob- 
 jectionable will be found. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 I. General Considerations 
 II. The Human Body .... 
 
 III. In The Dissecting Room — The Skin . 
 
 IV. The Muscles 
 
 V. The Nerves 
 
 VI. The Circulation — Heart and Bloodvessels 
 VII. Air — Oxygen — Respiration 
 VIII. Ventilation — Heating .... 
 
 IX. Digestion 
 
 X. Absorption ...... 
 
 XI. Indigestion ..... 
 
 XII. Food — Cooking 
 
 XIII. Excretion 
 
 XIV. The Bones and Skeleton 
 
 XV. General Consideration of Hygiene 
 
 XVI. Heredity 
 
 XVII. Hereditary Diseases 
 XVIII. Two Journeys Through Life 
 
 XIX. Disease ...... 
 
 XX. Disease Germs ..... 
 
 XXI. Contagion ..... 
 
 XXII. The Avoidance of Contagious Diseases 
 
 XXIII. Exercise (Physical) 
 
 XXIV. Exercise (Mental) . . . 
 XXV. Bathing — Cleanliness 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 30 
 
 40 
 
 48 
 
 63 
 
 75 
 
 100 
 
 124 
 
 141 
 
 145 
 
 157 
 
 165 
 
 177 
 
 182 
 
 197 
 
 218 
 
 221 
 
 226 
 
 231 
 
 237 
 
 240 
 
 245 
 
 293 
 
 299 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER. PAGE. 
 
 XXVI. Clothing— Dress 318 
 
 XXVII. Sleep 339 
 
 XXVIII. Stimulants — Condiments, etc 347 
 
 XXIX. Habits and Customs 384 
 
 XXX. Religion and Health 399 
 
 XXXI. Society and Health 406 
 
 XXXII. Education and Health 409 
 
 XXXIII. Water 418 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Centr 
 
 es in 
 
 The Sanitarian's Interpretation of the Book of Genesis 
 
 Frontispiece 
 
 1. Natural Cycle of Organic Matter 
 
 2. Natural Disposal of Organic Matter 
 
 3. Unnatural Cycle of Organic Matter 
 
 4. City House and Sewer Gas . 
 
 5. The Vital Organs .... 
 
 6. Vertical Section of The Skin 
 
 7. Three Papilla? or " Tactile Corpuscles " 
 
 8. Diagram Showing the Position of the Nervous 
 
 the Head ..... 
 
 9. Showing the Muscles in Action 
 
 10. Striated Muscle .... 
 
 11. Non-Striated Muscle . 
 
 12. The Function of the Nerves 
 
 13. A Fly on My Nose 
 
 14. Brain and Spinal Cord 
 
 15. Reflex Movements of Stomach 
 
 1 6. Vertical Section of Skull and Brain 
 
 17. Human Blood Corpuscles 
 
 18. The Heart 
 
 19. The Heart and Circulation Simplified 
 
 20. Relations of Bloodvessels 
 
 21. The Cycle of Oxygen 
 
 22. Diagram of the Circulation 
 
 23. The Municipal Circulation 
 
 24. The Lungs 
 
 25. The Lungs 
 
 26. Pulmonary Vesicles 
 
 27. Draughts 
 
 5 
 8 
 9 
 11 
 15 
 31 
 32 
 
 34 
 41 
 44 
 44 
 
 45 
 49 
 50 
 51 
 56 
 64 
 66 
 67 
 68 
 81 
 83 
 84 
 87 
 88 
 90 
 103 
 
Vlll 
 
 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 28. Window Ventilation 
 
 29. Ideal Ventilation and Heating 
 
 30. Bath-room Ventilation 
 
 31. Window Ventilation 
 
 32. Foul Cellar .... 
 
 33. The Alimentary Canal 
 
 34. Grain of Wheat 
 
 35. Muscular Fibre . 
 
 36. The Alimentary Canal 
 
 37. Churning of Food in the Stomach 
 
 38. Circular Muscles of Stomach . 
 
 39. Tube Constricted 
 
 40. Chyme Passing Out of Stomach 
 
 41. The Liver 
 
 42. Loaf of Bread 
 
 43. Diagram of Food Values 
 
 44. The Lungs and Heart 
 
 45. A Kidney . 
 
 46. The Skeleton .... 
 47-58. Relative Influence of Heredity and Hygiene 
 
 Longevity ....... 
 
 59. Chevreul at 100 years of age 
 
 60. Hon. Hamilton Fish at 60, 70, and 83 years of age 
 
 61. David Dudley Field at 63 and 86 years of age 
 
 62. Hon. Chauncey M. Depew passing through life 
 
 63. Hon. W. E. Gladstone 
 
 64. Cardinal Manning 
 
 65. Dr. O. W. Holmes .... 
 
 66. De Lesseps ...... 
 
 67. Cardinal Newman .... 
 
 68. Admiral Sir Provo Wallis 
 
 69. A Journey Through Life " as it is " 
 
 70. " " " " "as it should be" 
 
 71. Disease Germs 
 
 72. The Blacksmith's Abnormal Arm . 
 
 73. Showing the Course of the Circulation of the Blood 
 
 74. The Mechanism of the Valves of the Heart 
 
 109 
 112 
 116 
 119 
 121 
 126 
 127 
 127 
 131 
 132 
 134 
 134 
 135 
 136 
 139 
 160 
 171 
 171 
 178 
 
 upon 
 
 . 198-209 
 210 
 211 
 212 
 213 
 214 
 214 
 214 
 214 
 215 
 216 
 222 
 224 
 233 
 246 
 252 
 253 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 IX 
 
 FIG. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 75. Mechanism of a Syringe .... 
 
 254 
 
 76. Correct Position in Standing .... 
 
 . 262 
 
 77. Incorrect " " « ... 
 
 262 
 
 78. Please Sell Your Horses and AValk More 
 
 . 264 
 
 79-102. Exercise 
 
 271-290 
 
 103. Interior of Stabiani Baths at Pompeii 
 
 . 301 
 
 104. Julius Csesar ...... 
 
 303 
 
 105. A Modern Bath-room ." 
 
 . 311 
 
 106, 107. Trimming the Toe Nails 
 
 316 
 
 108. Dress— The Chiton 
 
 . 320 
 
 109. An Egyptian King 
 
 321 
 
 110. An Egyptian Queen 
 
 . 321 
 
 111. An Assyrian King 
 
 321 
 
 112. Eastern Costume 
 
 . 322 
 
 113. A Sanitary Costume 
 
 323 
 
 114. Hat Ventilation 
 
 . 326 
 
 115. The Foot — Natural and Deformed 
 
 331 
 
 116. Proper and Improper Shoe .... 
 
 . 331 
 
 117. Ribs, Proper 
 
 334 
 
 118. Ribs, Effect of Corsets on .... 
 
 . 334 
 
 119. Foot in High-heeled Shoe .... 
 
 335 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 Iii the beginning of time God made a certain, defi- 
 nite amount of organic matter; at the end of time 
 there will be exactly the same amount of matter. 
 During the almost inconceivably long period of time 
 that has elapsed, and will elapse, between the begin- 
 ning and the end, this amount never has, and never 
 will, vary the one -millionth part of one grain. Matter 
 is indestructible; this is a scientific fact — a funda- 
 mental, undisputed and indisputable fact, that must be 
 ever borne in mind when treating of organic bodies. 
 Man is an organic body, and, at the very threshold of 
 the study of man, we must clearly grasp the fact 
 that the organic matter of which he is made is not 
 capable of being destroyed. That which seems to our 
 uneducated senses like destruction, is, in reality, but 
 a change of form. 
 
 It is of the utmost importance that we get this 
 idea firmly fixed in our minds, because it is the cen- 
 tral point, or the axle, so to speak, around which 
 revolves the whole science of hygiene. 
 
 In the beginning God established certain definite 
 natural laws to govern matter. Out of this matter He 
 made man and woman, acting, in their creation, in 
 accord with the laws that He had created; and in 
 
2 HYGIENE. 
 
 these natural laws it is but fair to assume that He 
 provided, pre-eminently, for health, and not for dis- 
 ease ; because in the very centre of paradise, in the 
 most conspicuous locality, he planted the tree of life, 
 so-called, because by eating of the fruit of it man 
 would have been preserved in a constant state of 
 health, vigor and strength. This condition of health 
 was the design of the Creator, and He placed it 
 not only within the reach of all, but so easily ac- 
 cessible, as typified by the planting of the tree of 
 life in the midst of paradise, that it could be 
 missed only by their willful obstinacy. It was not the 
 "tree of life," but rather the "tree of knowledge" 
 that our first parents were forbidden to eat of. 
 This injunction was placed upon them not only 
 as a test of their obedience, but because the Almighty 
 knew that, led on by the devil, they would seek the 
 fruit of the tree of knowledge in the belief that it 
 would impart to them a knowledge superior to that 
 which the Creator wished them to have. Now, to my 
 mind, all this means that God, as the Creator of 
 Nature and Natural Laws, intended that we should live 
 natural lives in accord with nature's laws, and that 
 while we did so, health and strength would be ours; 
 but that He did not intend that we should acquire a 
 degree of knowledge that would cause us to run 
 counter to the laws of nature, though at the same time 
 He endowed His creatures with ' ' free will ' ' that they 
 might do as they pleased. He made Adam and Eve 
 familiar with the laws of nature, and He placed the 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 3 
 
 fruit of the ' ' tree of life ' ' and health within easy 
 reach. At the same time He placed within their power 
 the tree of knowledge, leaving to their own free will 
 whether to eat of the fruit which, as they thought, 
 would give them a knowledge superior to that of 
 natural laws; but He warned them that if they chose 
 this fruit, they would thereby bring upon themselves 
 disease and premature death. 
 
 The lesson of the Garden of Eden is the selfsame 
 lesson that the Sanitarian of to-day teaches. To the 
 simple child of nature, living strictly in accord with 
 the laws of nature, hygiene is an unneeded science; 
 health and vigor and long life belong to him, and will 
 be his by right; but when the boasted superior intel- 
 ligence of man has tempted him to devise methods of 
 life in opposition to those indicated by nature, just as 
 in the days of Adam, so in our own time, the penalty 
 is disease and premature death. 
 
 Since, then, disease is the result of a violation of 
 natural laws, it must be met and fought by an appli- 
 cation of these laws, which are the laws of health or 
 the science of hygiene. 
 
 One more lesson from the Garden of Eden. God 
 placed Adam in an open garden. He did not clothe 
 him in flannel and broadcloth and place him in a 
 palace. No one questions that He could have done so 
 had He so willed. But He did not; and why? Be- 
 cause it was not part of His grand design of health 
 that man should wear clothing or live in houses. It 
 was only after his departure from the original state of 
 
4 HYGIENE. 
 
 natural simx^licity that man conceived the idea of 
 clothing and houses. Mark this point well, because, 
 while I shall not be foolish enough to urge human 
 beings to abandon clothing and houses, yet it is a fact 
 that disease exists because of unnatural conditions of 
 life, as represented by clothing, life in houses, and 
 many other artificial conditions, and because I want to 
 impress upon you the fact that it is the province of 
 the science of hygiene to nullify the evil effects upon 
 health of those artificial conditions of living that the 
 so-called civilization of man has enabled him to devise. 
 It is not the purpose of this book radically to reform 
 the present methods of life, but rather to point out 
 how the diseases that are incidental to our methods of 
 living may be avoided. 
 
 One more illustration, to make this point still more 
 clear. In some of the primitive portions of Norway 
 (and, still more notably, in lands yet more primitive), 
 courts, judges, prisons, and written titles to property 
 are unknown, because the people are so primitively and 
 so naturally honest; so, also, among these simple- 
 minded, primitive people, good health is the rule, 
 because they are so thoroughly natural and live so 
 nearly in accord with the laws of nature, that disease 
 does not find among them an excuse for its existence. 
 
 Of course, taking humanity as we find it to-day, I 
 do not mean to say that in each individual case the 
 existence of disease is the fault of the individual him- 
 self, as we use the word fault; that is to say, it is not 
 because a particular man has done something that he 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 knows to be wrong in the eyes of nature that he is 
 sick, but I wish to be understood, in the beginning, as 
 enunciating the fundamental doctrine, that nature is 
 opposed to disease ; that disease is the result of unnat- 
 ural conditions of living; and that, while no single 
 individual can be held^ -^responsible for the ex- 
 istence of diseased /y ~$h >\ conditions, yet dis- 
 
 Rl a U^ J.^ ® ^ \ \ 
 
 ease exists be- kt ,:, ; -:si :; i|p \'< 7-\\ cause humanity, 
 
 kfo inly. \W , fjl 
 as a whole, ' ^°\^Cfstri 75^ has seen tit to 
 
 depart from 
 methods of life 
 by the Creator, just 
 disregard the injunc- 
 To go back to 
 ity of organic mat- 
 of the "Natural 
 the question clear. 
 
 Fig. 1. 
 
 The Natural Cycle of 
 
 Organic Matter. 
 
 the natural 
 laid down for it 
 as Adam saw fit to 
 tions of the Creator, 
 the indestructibil- 
 ter, this drawing 
 
 Cycle ' ' will make 
 According to the laws of nature, 
 that which p asses away from man as waste should 
 be returned to the ground where it will serve 
 
b HYGIENE. 
 
 as nourishment to vegetable life. The words of the 
 priest, when, on Ash -Wednesday, he places ashes 
 upon the forehead of the faithful, saying, " Remem- 
 ber, man, that dust thou art and into dust thou 
 shalt return," have more even than a religious 
 significance. They remind us that as our bodies are 
 made from the earth and are being continually nour- 
 ished and kej)t alive from the earth, through the 
 agency of the food that we eat, which is derived from 
 the earth, so our bodies are, or, at least, according to 
 the laws of nature, ought to be, continually returning 
 to the earth from which they have come. Not only at 
 the final death of the body, as a whole, but daily, 
 hourly, momentarily, it is the design of God that our 
 bodies should be returned to the earth from which 
 they have been derived. 
 
 We all know, by instinct, that we must eat in 
 order that we may live. The wise man eats that he 
 may live, while the foolish man " lives that he may eat;" 
 but, in either case, as we take food in, so do we give 
 waste out, and this waste is, in reality, the same 
 organic matter that we have taken in, but so altered in 
 its every aspect, in its passage through our bodies, 
 that it is unrecognizable. Nevertheless, it is the same, 
 and, having been derived from the earth, it must be 
 returned to the earth, from which it has been only 
 borrowed to serve the purposes of human existence. 
 If it is thus returned, it will give nourishment to 
 vegetable life : to the potatoes and the turnips and the 
 beets and the wheat, rye and carrots. In time man 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 7 
 
 will eat these vegetables, and this same organic matter 
 that has nourished him in the past will become again 
 a part of his organism. Some of these vegetables, or 
 the grass, or the corn, that has been nourished by the 
 waste from man, will be eaten by the cow or the 
 sheep or the pig or the chicken, and, after a temporary 
 residence in lower animal life, will come back as 
 steaks, or roasts, or chops, or milk, or eggs, to the 
 human being. This is the ' ' Natural Cycle ' ' of organic 
 matter, and it is what the Creator intended when he 
 made organic matter. 
 
 This question can again be made very clear by con- 
 templating this picture (Fig. 2), that j)lainly shows what 
 takes place in a state of nature. We must ever re- 
 member that ' ' God made the country and man made 
 the city," and in this picture we see a piece of 
 God's handiwork. The artificial devices of man do 
 not regulate the disposal of the waste from horses, 
 cows, chickens and ducks, living in the country in 
 a state of nature. As this waste, which is an organic 
 compound, is deposited on the ground, it gradually 
 separates into its simple elements, and we note the 
 gaseous elements rising to give nourishment to the 
 trees, while the solid ingredients are washed down by 
 the rains to feed the roots of the grass and the vege- 
 tables. Is not this ''natural cycle" of organic matter 
 beautiful, and does it not seem almost sacrilegious that 
 man should nullify it by the use of the intellect with 
 which God has endowed him? Yet that is what he 
 does do. 
 
HYGIENE. 
 
 __ 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 9 
 
 After a time, when man had lost his pristine love 
 for, and affiliation with, nature, he became dissatisfied 
 with the condition in which God had placed him ; and 
 it occurred to his mind, deteriorated by its growing 
 divorce from nature, that it would be a good idea for 
 human beings to live together in community of life; 
 and thus the first city was formed. 
 
 It must be plain to any one that in a city the waste 
 from man cannot be disposed of in a natural manner, as 
 it is in the country; that the organic matter discharged 
 from his body because it is no longer fit to form a part 
 of that body, 
 cannot, under 
 the artificial 
 conditions of 
 city life, pass 
 through that 
 cycle of natu- 
 ral changes 
 that, alone, 
 can make it 
 again suitable 
 nourishment 
 for his body. 
 As an inevit- 
 able conse- 
 quence, we 
 have the ' ' Un- 
 natural Cycle 
 of Organic matter. ' : 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 The Unnatural Cycle of Organic Matter. 
 
10 HYGIENE. 
 
 It is the immutable law of human life that this 
 very life is the result of the ingestion of food, and its 
 rejection as waste after it has served its purpose in the 
 maintenance of life. Since, then, man must eat food 
 and void waste, whether he lives in accord with nature 
 or with art, we are confronted with the question as to 
 what becomes of this waste in cities, where the agents 
 of nature are denied access to it. God made the coun- 
 try and He ordained the "Natural Cycle of Organic 
 Matter," providing suitable and efficient agencies there- 
 for. Man made the city; it is an artificial production, 
 not contemplated in the designs of the Creator; and 
 man must devise some means to dispose of his own 
 waste organic matter. He conceived the idea of a 
 " Cycle of Organic Matter," but, as everything that 
 man makes is artificial or unnatural, so this cycle is 
 also unnatural, and, being so, is, of course, imperfect. 
 
 There is but little grass, and there are no 
 cows, chickens or sheep in cities. Man cannot 
 void his waste on the ground, as in a state of 
 nature ; it must be, therefore, carried away from 
 him, so far as possible, in pipes and other recep- 
 tacles. But such methods are obviously unnatu- 
 ral and imperfect, and the result is that some 
 of the organic matter that has passed from man as 
 waste, comes back to him in the water that he 
 drinks and the air that he breathes, without having 
 been rendered fit nourishment for his body by a 
 previous passage through vegetable and lower animal 
 life. 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 11 
 
 This idea will be made clear by this drawing of a 
 city house. 
 
 
 / Sy 
 
 Fig. 4. 
 City House and Sewer Gas. 
 
 The sewer is seen in the street, in front of the 
 house; also a drain carrying the waste from the occu- 
 pants of the house to the sewer, to be carried by it to 
 whatever point the authorities may have designated 
 as its final resting place. Much of this compound 
 organic refuse separates, while yet in the sewer, into 
 its original elements. There is no grass ; there are no 
 trees, no sheep, cows, horses, pigs, chickens or grow- 
 ing vegetables in this sewer to act as nature's agents 
 in the transmutation of this organic refuse, hence, as 
 
12 HYGIENE. 
 
 it separates into its original elements, some of these 
 elements, unfitted to sustain healthy life, must, of 
 necessity, in the shape of gases, find their way back 
 into the house from which they have been discharged, 
 to become unhealthy parts of the unhealthy looking 
 persons whom we see as the victims of this ' ' Unnatural 
 Cycle of Organic Matter." (See fig. 3.) 
 
 I have here touched upon the question of sewer-gas, 
 about which you hear so much, and about which I 
 shall have much more to say; but, at the risk of repe- 
 tition, I would remind you that what I have thus far 
 said has been said for the purpose of making clear to 
 your minds that it is only because humanity has de- 
 cided to live in a way not ordained by nature, that the 
 study and practice of the science of hygiene has be- 
 come a necessity in order that we may enjoy good 
 health and the longevity to which we are entitled. 
 
 If universal humanity would, to-day, abandon all 
 artificial methods of life, and universally (I would 
 emphasize the word universally) return to that natural 
 code given to Adam in Eden, Ave could burn our books 
 on hygiene, and, in a short time, by the unaided 
 instincts of nature, all would attain and enjoy a full- 
 ness, not only of physical and mental, but also of 
 spiritual health, that would make the very act of 
 living, happiness. 
 
 But such will not come to pass; the tendency of 
 humanity is more, and still more, towards artificiality, 
 and, because of this fact the science of hygiene must 
 be regarded as the most important part of education. 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 13 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 1. Has the amount of matter in the world ever varied since the 
 beginning of time ? 
 
 2. Is matter destructible? 
 
 3. What is the seeming destruction of matter? 
 
 4. Who created matter and established laws for its government ? 
 
 5. Why is it fair to assume that, in His designs of Creation, God 
 provided for health and not for disease ? 
 
 6. Why were Adam and Eve forbidden to eat of the fruit of the 
 " tree of knowledge " ? 
 
 7. Can you apply the lesson of the Garden of Eden to the pre- 
 servation of health ? 
 
 8. What is the Science of Hygiene ? 
 
 9. Why does disease exist ? 
 
 10. Why is good health the rule among primitive, simple-minded 
 persons ? 
 
 11. Is each case of disease due to some fault of the individual? 
 
 12. Describe the " Natural Cycle " of organic matter. 
 
 13. Tell what takes place in a state of nature. 
 
 14. Describe the " Unnatural Cycle " of organic matter. 
 
 1 5. What becomes of organic matter when the agencies of nature 
 are denied access to it ? 
 
 16. Why is the study and practice of hygiene a necessity? 
 
 17. What would be the result of a universal return to natural 
 methods of life ? 
 
14 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE HUMAN BODY. 
 
 What I have already said brings us to the point 
 where we understand that hygiene is the science that 
 treats of health, that it is the science that tells a man 
 who is surrounded by unnatural conditions, provocative 
 of disease, how he may, to a certain extent, nullify 
 the evil tendency of his surroundings. 
 
 In order that we may clearly understand this sub- 
 ject, it will be well for us to have some knowledge 
 of what man is, and what the Creator intended should 
 be his healthy functions. In my opinion it is neither 
 necessary nor proper for the non -medical public to make 
 an intimate study of Anatomy and Physiology. Yet, 
 as a good engineer must be familiar with the various 
 parts that go to make up the whole of his engine, and 
 with the function that each part plays in the finished 
 production of the whole, so he who would be a good 
 conductor of his own bodily functions must know 
 something of the make-up and the healthy function 
 of the various parts that go to compose the body as a 
 whole. Therefore, without going into the details of 
 anatomy and physiology, I will describe the anatomy 
 and physiology of the human body sufficiently to 
 
THE II I'M AN BODY. 
 
 15 
 
 enable one to clearly grasp the hygienic dogmas and 
 theories that will follow. 
 
 The body of 
 man might be aptly 
 compared, for the 
 sake of familiar il- 
 lustration, to our 
 own United States. 
 We find in the 
 human body many 
 different systems, 
 just as we have 
 the different States. 
 Thus we have the 
 muscular system, 
 the nervous system, 
 the circulatory sys- 
 tem, the absorbent 
 system, the secre- 
 tory system, the 
 excretory system, 
 and so on. These 
 various systems 
 have their own 
 laws for their guid- 
 ance, just as each 
 of our States has its 
 own Constitution. 
 
 Each system has its own particular function to per- 
 form; the muscular system is to produce motion, both 
 
 Fig. 5. 
 
 The Vital Organs. 
 
 Front view of the organs in their natural rela- 
 tions. The heart is partly covered by the 
 lungs, but its true outline is indicated by a 
 dotted line. Only ten ribs are shown on each 
 side, the eleventh and twelfth (the floating 
 ribs) being too short to be included in the 
 section. 
 
16 HYGIENE. 
 
 voluntary and involuntary; the nervous system, like 
 the telegraph wires of a city, is to convey impressions; 
 the circulatory system, like the market-trains on a 
 railroad, is to convey nourishment to the various parts 
 of the body; the absorbent system, like the good 
 housewife who knows what to buy, and what to reject, 
 is to select from that which we eat that which the 
 body requires, and deliver it to the circulatory system 
 to be carried to where it is needed ; the digestive sys- 
 tem must convert the crude food that we eat into 
 nourishment suitable for the body, and prepare it for 
 the absorbent system ; the secretory system must select 
 from the circulating fluid that which is required by 
 each part to enable it to properly perform its duty; 
 while the excretory system, like the scavengers of a 
 well-governed city, must remove from the body that 
 which is no longer essential to its healthy life and the 
 longer retention of which would prove detrimental to 
 the harmony of the whole system. 
 
 The welfare and politically healthy life of this whole 
 country depends upon the integrity and faithful observ- 
 ance of the laws of each State. So, our own welfare 
 and the physically healthy life of our bodies depends 
 upon the proper action and performance of duty of the 
 various systems within us. The various States are 
 under the control and direction of a central govern- 
 ment, whose administration, be it good or bad, will, to 
 a certain extent, affect the welfare of each individual 
 State, beneficially or injuriously. So, our various sys- 
 tems are under the control of a central power, so to 
 
THE HUMAN BODY. 17 
 
 speak — the vital power, or the property which endows 
 us with life (whose executive is the intelligence) 
 and which enables us to direct the actions of our 
 bodies, either for their general good or their general 
 woe. 
 
 If one of our States is corrupt, and sends to the 
 National representation poor nourishment from which 
 to form its life, in the shape of corrupt and depraved 
 legislators, they not only do harm to themselves and 
 their own State, but, by interfering with and contami- 
 nating the other representatives, they injure the coun- 
 try at large. So it is with the human body. If we 
 neglect, abuse and deprave one particular system, the 
 evil effects do not, unfortunately, remain confined to 
 where they originated. According to the laws of 
 nature, which make each portion of the body dependent 
 upon each other part, the evil effects spread from sys- 
 tem to system, and, contaminating them all, interfere 
 with the healthy performance of duty. 
 
 I have used the above illustration to enforce the 
 statement I am now about to make. That a healthy 
 and proper performance of ALL the functions of the 
 body is necessary in order that we should enjoy per- 
 fect health and very great longevity. If one system 
 acts imperfectly, it will not only produce its own par- 
 ticular effects in causing disease and shortening life, 
 but, by interfering with the proper duty of other sys- 
 tems, will cause disease of them, and these, acting 
 injuriously upon still others, will disease them. This 
 will go on until the whole body becomes involved in 
 
18 HYGIENE. 
 
 this imperfect performance of duty, and premature 
 decay and early death ensue. 
 
 Just here it will be pertinent to anticipate what I 
 shall have to say frequently thoughout this book, and 
 to assure you, beyond doubt, that a man who may 
 have some diseased system, or set of organs, may yet 
 live to positive old age. He need not, and must not, 
 despair of long life. The absolutely and typically 
 healthy man is a great rarity ; yet many persons live to 
 a good old age. But, if a man has a diseased heart, a 
 deranged nervous system, a disordered kidney, a weak 
 stomach or an unhealthy liver, then, indeed, must he be 
 doubly careful. If such a defect does exist, then, by 
 following the advice of this book, he may live just as 
 long as the sound man who does not take care of him- 
 self; because, by so doing, he will reduce to the 
 minimum the amount of labor to be performed by the 
 part that is weak, will conserve, to the utmost limit, 
 the amount of vital power that is possessed by it, and 
 thus enable it to work, and his body to live much 
 longer than if he had neglected these precautions. 
 
 Later on I will go a little more fully into the Anat- 
 omy and Physiology of the human body; but I am 
 anxious that you should, first of all, have fixed in your 
 minds, rather a practical than a technical familiarity 
 with your bodies ; hence I am giving you first the im- 
 pressions of the body as they exist in my mind years 
 after the technical details have been planted there. In 
 my medical-student days, I was dismayed, confused, 
 disgusted, by the presentation to my utterly unprepared 
 
THE HUMAN BODY. 19 
 
 mind of technical terms and scientific discourses that 
 were, at first, as completely unintelligible as would be 
 the Chaldaic language to the boy who knows not how 
 to read. By dint of perseverance and hard work these 
 technical details and terms were committed to a secure 
 lodging in my brain, where, taking root, they ulti- 
 mately grew into a somewhat clear understanding of 
 their practical meaning. As this book is not written 
 for medical students, I do not propose that those who 
 use it shall be mystified and disheartened, by having 
 placed first before them a lot of dry, uninteresting and 
 unintelligible Anatomical and Physiological details, but 
 rather will I ask them to commence where I now am, 
 to view with me the human body as years of reflection 
 have brought me to view it ; then, when they feel a 
 practical familiarity therewith, the technical details 
 that follow will be readily understood. 
 
 Let us first clearly familiarize ourselves with the 
 human body as a whole before we take it up in detail. 
 
 Of course, you already realize that the body of man 
 is a mass of that organic matter about which, already, 
 so much has been said ; but the human body is also, 
 viewed from a physical standpoint, a marvelous ma- 
 chine. Wonderful in its origin and formation, mys- 
 terious in its functions, and immeasurable in its possi- 
 bilities, it is, nevertheless, in reality, a machine. Bear 
 in mind that I am not including the soul, when I call 
 the body a machine ; we are now considering the cor- 
 poreal, to the exclusion of the spiritual portion of man, 
 with which we shall have to do only incidentally. I 
 
20 HYGIENE. 
 
 wish this point to be clearly understood, since, al- 
 though true materialism and religion are perfectly 
 compatible beliefs, yet I do not deem it proper to dis- 
 cuss them in a work like this, and I do not wish to be 
 misunderstood. Whatever I may say of a materialistic 
 nature is intended only to apply to the body and not 
 to the soul of man. 
 
 No doubt, some may criticise me and I may be ac- 
 cused of a want of proper appreciation of the functions 
 of the human body, when I call this body a machine. 
 The over-sensitive feelings of some will be wounded by 
 this application of a word so common, and even may 
 be so vulgar, as machine, to an organization so deli- 
 cate, so refined, so divine, in its origin; so god-like, 
 so wonderful, and so incomprehensible, in its mani- 
 festations, as the human body. Yet, the comparison 
 is not so inapt nor so overdrawn as might at first 
 appear. 
 
 Webster defines the word machine as follows : "In 
 general, any body or assemblage of bodies used to trans- 
 mit and modify force and motion, as a lever, jnilley, 
 wedge, screw, etc. ; especially a construction, more or less 
 complex, consisting of a combination of moving parts, 
 or simple mechanical elements, as wheels, levers, cams, 
 etc., with their supports and connecting frame- work, 
 calculated to receive force and motion from a prime- 
 mover, or from another machine, and transmit, modify 
 and apply them to the production of some desired 
 mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom or 
 the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine." 
 
THE HITMAN BODY. 21 
 
 "3. Any instrument or organization by which power is 
 applied and made effective, or a desired effect pro- 
 duced; the whole complex system by winch any organ- 
 ization or institution exists or is carried on." In his 
 medical dictionary, Dunglison says: "The human body 
 is the collection of organs which compose the frame." 
 Is not the human frame a collection of organs and 
 parts, intended to receive, modify and transmit motion 
 and force? Is it not an "instrument by which power 
 is applied and made effective, or a desired effect pro- 
 duced?" Does not the human machine receive vital 
 force from its Maker, and does it not modify, regulate 
 and transmit this force so as to accomplish a certain 
 effect, known as life? Is not the human body, there- 
 fore, truly a machine? Let us compare the, seemingly, 
 most intelligent, the most human of hand-made 
 machines, the locomotive engine, to the body of man. 
 As you see the handsome, bright locomotive rushing 
 through the country at the rate of fifty miles an hour, 
 drawing after it many tons of dead weight, without, to 
 the eye of the casual observer, any visible reason, or 
 cause, for it to move at all, does it not seem, even to 
 the least romantic, to the most matter-of-fact individ- 
 ual, to be more than a mere thing of iron and brass? 
 Does it not almost seem to possess life, human life, 
 to be endowed with intelligence? It generates and 
 transmits force, and, as a resultant circumstance, it 
 produces definite action. Neither are its performances, 
 in reality, any less mysterious than the phenomena of 
 human life. 
 
22 HYGIENE. 
 
 The fireman puts coal into the furnace and water 
 into the boiler of his machine ; the coal burns and pro- 
 duces heat, the heat expands the particles of water 
 and converts them into steam ; this steam is conveyed 
 through a series of pipes and gives power and force to 
 this mighty thing of iron to move, and to present to 
 our wondering gaze startling and marvelous exhibi- 
 tions of power and strength. This much we know. 
 But the ultimate why, the very intimate, minute and 
 final question, why this burning of coal, and genera- 
 tion of heat, and vaporization of water, should convey 
 to this hitherto heavy, dead, inert mass of iron, such 
 terrific force, must ever remain an unanswered ques- 
 tion, a mysterious problem, as much so as the ultimate 
 why and. wherefore of all the mysterious phenomena of 
 this beautiful and mysterious world. 
 
 Now to our other machine, the human one : Food 
 is introduced into the stomach ; it meets with, 
 and is acted upon by the juices of digestion, and, as 
 a result, is converted into nourishment » suitable for 
 the body; as such (as blood) it is carried through a 
 series of pipes (blood-vessels) and, parting with its 
 power or force, gives power or force to the various 
 organs of the body to perform their different functions, 
 the sum -total of whose actions constitutes life. But, 
 the final why this food is capable of producing this 
 force will ever remain an impenetrable mystery, as 
 much so as the production of force from coal and 
 water in the locomotive. 
 
 The human machine, however, is, of course, infi- 
 
THE HUMAN BODY. 23 
 
 nitely more delicate, more wonderful and more perfect 
 in its organization and its manifestations than the 
 locomotive. It is the very highest type of machinery, 
 upon which, however (unconsciously and unwittingly), 
 all other forms are modeled. 
 
 It clearly bears upon it the stamp of its divine 
 origin. The machine of iron is the work of man, and 
 bears within itself no power of repair or renewal; 
 made by human agency, it possesses merely the power 
 to utilize the fuel, or food, supplied to it, in gener- 
 ating force, and it cannot, like the human machine, 
 repair or perpetuate itself. 
 
 Once worn out, its elements can, it is true, be util- 
 ized in the manufacture of a new machine, but only 
 through the intervention of the hand of man ; while 
 the human machine, once made by the will of the 
 Creator, not only possesses the power to generate 
 force sufficient for life, but can renew and repair its 
 waste, its wear and tear, and is capable of perpet- 
 uating, of originating, machines like unto itself. The 
 human machine is gifted with the power of writing. 
 The rjrinting machine possesses the power of printing. 
 The human machine can walk ; iron machinery, in the 
 shape of clock-work, can give this same power to the 
 inanimate doll of wood. The human machine can 
 receive, digest and utilize meat and vegetables and 
 convert them into force; the iron machine can receive 
 and consume coal and wood and convert them into 
 force. The man-made machine requires periods of rest 
 and repose, else it will prematurely wear out; the 
 
24 HYGIENE. 
 
 divinely -made machine likewise requires these same 
 periods. The human machine can speak. The phono- 
 graphic machine can do the same. The stove can 
 generate heat by the burning of carbon. The human 
 body also produces heat by the same process. The 
 human machine has the ability of relieving itself from 
 any excess of nourishment that may be forced upon 
 it; the boiler, through the agency of the safety- 
 valve, can relieve itself of any excessive and dan- 
 gerous quantity of steam that may have been gen- 
 erated from too much nourishment or fuel. 
 
 The human machine is sensitive to changes of 
 weather; the barometrical machine also responds to 
 them. The human machine, through the agency of its 
 nervous system, can transmit impressions; the tele- 
 graphic machine does the same. The human machine 
 has means of getting rid of its waste; the iron 
 machine has similar appliances. The human machine 
 can sew; the improved sewing machine can do it 
 better. 
 
 So I could go on, indefinitely, pointing out the 
 similarity between this human machine and the iron 
 machines of men. The human machine is, of course, 
 an incomparably finer machine than any other. It not 
 only possesses the properties of them all, but it is 
 endowed with many functions wanting in them; thus 
 demonstrating its divine handiwork. It can think and 
 see and hear and smell and taste; it possesses a mind, 
 a soul, and hence is, in its original conception, at 
 least, a perfect macldne ; though, unfortunately, its 
 
THE HUMAN BODY. 25 
 
 perfection lias, in many cases, been marred by the 
 hand of man. 
 
 Yon have my reasons for calling your body a 
 machine, and I have made my apologies to those 
 whose sensibilities might be wounded by the apparent 
 harshness of my comparison. 
 
 I have endeavored to make yon regard yonr body 
 as a machine for a purpose. The majority of men do 
 not regard the body at all; they rarely think of it, 
 and when they do, it is rather to think of it as a 
 mysterious something they know not, and care less, 
 what. It serves their purpose ; through its agency 
 they can make money and gratify their passions, and 
 this is all they care about. When the body dies (in 
 the commonly accepted usage of the term), that is, 
 when the soul dej>arts from it, the friends and rela- 
 tives of this mass of organic matter pay great respect 
 to it and treat it as something sacred — the body, mind 
 you, not the soul. This is additional proof (if any 
 more were wanted than their every-day life) that the 
 majority of men have either no conception at all, or at 
 the very best, a false one, of the true value of the body. 
 
 The body, worthless as it may seem to cynical 
 philosophers, is, nevertheless, when truly considered, 
 a most sublime machine. Upon its integrity depends 
 all that is desirable and pleasant in life. As the resi- 
 dence of the intelligence of man it is entitled to great 
 respect. If the church is honored and revered because 
 it is the house of God, should not the body be cher- 
 ished and protected since it is the dwelling-place of 
 
26 HYGIENE. 
 
 the soul? As it would be impossible to generate great 
 steam power in a weak boiler, so it is impossible to 
 produce intellectual greatness or spiritual perfection in 
 an unsound or diseased body. The psychical life must 
 be fed from a healthy stomach and have healthy sur- 
 roundings, else its manifestations will be unhealthy. 
 
 Since the engineer takes better care of his locomo- 
 tive, oftentimes, than he does of himself, realizing how 
 easily it may get out of order ; • and since man gener- 
 ally considers human-made machinery as very delicate 
 and very easily deranged, hence requiring very great 
 care and attention, it has occurred to me that if man 
 were to realize that his own body is but a machine, he 
 might be induced to treat it with more tenderness and 
 consideration. Hence my reason for demonstrating the 
 similarity between the body of a man aud a machine. 
 
 Now, it seems to me that you must have a fairly 
 good idea of what your body is, that it is a collection 
 of organic matter so arranged and subject to such laws 
 as will produce a certain definite result. It must be 
 clear that this organic matter has been brought to- 
 gether and has been made subject to these laws, so that 
 life, and all that it means, may result therefrom. And 
 now what is life? In a practical work like this it 
 would be out of place and unnecessary to enter into 
 philosophical dissertations as to the nature of this 
 much-mooted question. For our purpose it will be 
 sufficient to state that "Life is a 'peculiar, invisible 
 < i ad undeftnable agency, a gift of the Creator, which 
 has the power of starting and maintaining in motion 
 
THE BUMAN BODY. 27 
 
 for a certain 'period the various functions of the 
 body, whose proper action constitutes the healthy ex- 
 istence of the animal or the plant."' I say plant, 
 because the smallest blade of grass is endowed with 
 life and is subject to the laws of nature just as is the 
 body of man. 
 
 In connection with the question of Life, let us 
 view man, not as a machine, as we have been doing, 
 but, laying aside for a moment the mechanical aspect 
 and viewing man from a less mundane and a more 
 spiritual standpoint, inquire again, "what is man?" 
 Religion tells us "Remember, man, that dust thou art 
 and into dust thou shalt return." Philosophers moral- 
 ize on the worthlessness of the human body, and satir- 
 ize it. Poets sing the praises of the Soul and deride 
 its residence of clay. The medical man regards the 
 body as a general hospital, and its diseased organs as 
 patients requiring his ministrations. The business man 
 works his body for all it is worth and considers it an 
 indefinite something, never stopping to reflect what it 
 really is. 
 
 What, then, is man, from this new standpoint? 
 Man is, in reality, an animal, just as much so as an 
 elephant, a fly, or a mosquito is. Man is a combina- 
 tion of organs and parts ; man is a machine ; man is an 
 animal. The microscopic germ, invisible to the naked 
 eye, of the trichina in pork, is a living animal, as 
 much so as man is. It is capable of growth, devel- 
 opment and reproduction, just as man is. The horse, 
 the cow, the dog, the wild beasts of the forest and the 
 
28 HYGIENE. 
 
 fishes of the sea, are all animals, just as man is. They 
 all consist of an aggregation of organs and parts, 
 whose functions and duties are to originate, transmit 
 and modify force and motion. Wherein, then, lies the 
 difference between man and the lower animals? In the 
 immeasurably greater capacity for development en- 
 joyed by man. Man alone, of all the animals, pos- 
 sesses a soul, and this possession places him far away 
 from all other animals. 
 
 Yet, man, with his superior intelligence, can learn 
 a valuable lesson in hygiene from the lower animals. 
 The tigers and lions and elephants of India ; the buf- 
 falo of our prairies ; the polar bears of the arctic, and 
 the insect life of the torrid zone, rarely die of dis- 
 ease. And why? Because, lacking intellect, their 
 actions are guided solely by instinct ; they are obedient 
 to the laws of nature, and they come into existence, 
 pass through their lives and depart in accord with her 
 laws. These very same animals, when domesticated, 
 when brought into close relationship with human 
 beings, develop a tendency to the very same diseases 
 that afflict humanity. 
 
 This is notably seen in «ows ; the wild steers of Texas 
 are magnificently healthy cattle, while the cows of 
 our thickly settled States are very prone to consump- 
 tion of the lungs in identically the same form in which 
 it affects the human being. 
 
 Now, then, that we have studied man as the most 
 perfect type of machinery and as the highest type of 
 the animal, let us define him, as physically "« col- 
 
THE HUMAN BODY. 29 
 
 lection of or (/cu/s and parts whose duty it is to 
 contribute each its individual work toward the per- 
 formance of one grand function, which function we 
 will call life." Entering the "dissecting-room," let 
 us take up the study of the organization of this noblest 
 work of God. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 18. Why should we all have some little knowledge of Anatomy and 
 Physiology? 
 
 19. To what would you compare the human body ? 
 
 20. Are all the functions of the body necessary for life ? 
 
 21. If one organ or system is deranged, does it mean that life must 
 necessarily be short? 
 
 22. What do you say of the human body as a machine? 
 
 23. What is the advantage of regarding your body as a machine ? 
 
 24. Why should the body be cherished and protected ? 
 
 25. How would you define " Life " ? 
 
 26. What is man from a more spiritual stand-point? 
 
 27. What is the difference between man and the lower animals? 
 
 28. What lesson in hygiene can man learn from the lower animals? 
 
 29. What do you say of disease among domesticated animals ? 
 
 30. How would you define "Man"? 
 
30 HYGIENE „ 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 IN THE DISSECTING-ROOM.— THE SKIN. 
 
 Without the dissection of the human body it is sim- 
 ply impossible for any one to have a complete and 
 intimate knowledge of the make-up of this body, but 
 since an intimate acquaintance with anatomy and phy- 
 siology is necessary only to the student of medicine,' 
 and is^ not a requisite to a clear comprehension of the 
 laws of health, we will enter a dissecting-room and 
 learn enough anatomy and physiology to enable us 
 properly to understand what ought to be the organiza- 
 tion and healthy functions of the human body. 
 
 As we enter we see five students grouped about 
 one dead body, because each body is divided into live 
 parts ; the head and neck, the arms and one half of 
 the chest, the legs and one half of the abdomen. To 
 each one of these five parts one of the five students 
 has been assigned, and he will, knife in hand, separate 
 part from part until he has become familiar therewith. 
 The body has not been divided into live parts ; it is 
 entire ; but each student will dissect only that portion 
 to which he has been assigned. If he has been given 
 one arm and one half the chest, he will confine his 
 work to this part; with the next subject, he will 
 select one leg and one-half of the abdomen, and, with 
 
IN THE DISSECTING-ROOM. — THE SKIN. 
 
 31 
 
 the third, he will select the head and neck; finally, 
 if he be a diligent student, he will dissect a whole 
 body. But all this will take time; in fact, the late 
 Di\ D. Hayes Agnew, of Philadelphia, whose fame as 
 an anatomist was very great, told me that for seven- 
 teen years he passed fourteen hours daily in a dissect- 
 ing room. Of course we cannot spare so much time, 
 hence we will watch these students as they dissect one 
 body and gather what we can in reference to its 
 anatomy. 
 
 As we take a general view of the body before us 
 we see that it is * / 
 
 covered from head 
 
 to foot with skin, 
 and when we come e " 
 to study the make- 
 up of this skin we 
 are amazed at the «— - fH 
 wonderful work of 
 the Creator. The 
 skin is composed m 
 
 of two layers, the /— 
 under ■ layer being 
 called the dermis 
 or cutis vera (true 
 skin), while the up- 
 per layer is called 
 the cuticle or epi- 
 dermis. The epi- 
 dermis, or upper 
 
 tm 
 
 ''.' ""i 
 
 — c 
 
 J— 
 
 —if 
 
 '^£?^^ 
 Fig. 6. 
 Vertical Section of the Skin. — a, epidermis ; 
 b, dermis or cutis vera ; c, tissue beneath skin ; 
 d, connective tissue ; e, tactile corpuscles ; /, fat 
 tissue; g, sweat glands; //, tubes of sweat 
 glands ; i, orifices of sweat glands. 
 
32 HYGIENE. 
 
 layer, serves merely as a covering or protection 
 to the sensitive true skin below. In the true 
 skin are nerves and blood-vessels, and were it not 
 for this covering the blood-vessels would be con- 
 tinually in danger of being wounded, while the 
 exposed nerves would keep us in a constant state 
 of pain. ' In the true skin, in addition to nerves and 
 blood-vessels we find hair and hair follicles, seba- 
 ceous and sweat glands, lymphatic vessels and muscular 
 fibres. If you have ever burnt your finger severely 
 enough to cause a blister, you will understand that the 
 skin which rises and contains liquid is the epidermis, 
 and if you open this blister and cut away this skin 
 you expose the true skin, which you will find to be 
 very sensitive. The same thing occurs in cases of sun- 
 burn ; if you have been swimming on a hot day in 
 summer and your arm is sunburnt, you know how 
 the skin peels off and how sore your arm is to the 
 touch of the shirt; this is because the protecting skin, 
 or epidermis, has been blistered off, and the nerves in 
 the true skin thus exposed. 
 
 If you look at your hands 
 you will notice little ridges or 
 furrows upon the skin ; these 
 are made up of the ends of 
 Fig. 7. blood-vessels and nerves, and 
 
 Three Papilla- or " Tactile Cor- are known as ' ' tactile COl'pUS- 
 puscles of the Skin." _. 
 
 cles," Fig. 7. They are so 
 close together that in some parts of the body there are 
 as many as 35,000 in a square inch of skin. It is 
 
IX THE DISSECTING-ROOM. — THE SKIN. 33 
 
 through the agency of these "tactile corpuscles" that 
 we feel impressions made upon the skin ; the impres- 
 sion is made upon the end of the nerve and is carried 
 along this nerve, as electricity is carried along a wire, 
 to the brain, where all impressions are felt. 
 
 Right here it will be well for us to understand that 
 we do not really feel with the skin, taste with the 
 tongue, hear with the ear, see with the eye, nor smell 
 with the nose ; we do all these things, in reality, with 
 the brain. The skin, the nose, the eye, the ear, the 
 tongue, are merely agents of the brain ; they are 
 organs connected with the brain by nerves, just as the 
 various sub-telegraph stations are connected with the 
 central office by wires. These organs receive impres- 
 sions of touch, smell, taste, sound or sight; they 
 receive them merely on the terminal ends of the nerves 
 that are assigned to these organs, and with the rapid- 
 ity of lightning they ■ are conveyed along these nerves 
 to the brain, where are they felt and appreciated. The 
 sensation of impression is referred to the part upon 
 which the impression has been made, but the impres- 
 sion is really felt in the brain. 
 
 To make this still more clear, we will divide the 
 brain into two portions ; that which tills the upper 
 dome of the skull, the part that is generally under- 
 stood as the head, and that smaller portion, low down 
 in the back part of the head, just above the "nape of 
 the neck." In the upper portion of the brain, called 
 the Cerebrum, thought is produced. There intelligence 
 resides, and it is there the impressions about which we 
 
34 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 have been speaking are felt. In the smaller, lower 
 portion of the brain, called the Cerebellum (Fig. 8), is 
 
 originated the power for 
 the heart to beat, the 
 lungs to breathe : from it 
 all the more purely animal 
 duties of man derive their 
 activity. Hence, even 
 though the Cerebrum, or 
 upper brain, should be 
 removed it would yet be 
 possible for a man to 
 live, though he could 
 neither feel, nor taste, nor 
 see, nor hear, nor smell, 
 nor think. He would 
 still possess his skin and 
 his ears; his eyes, nose 
 and tongue ; their special 
 nerves would still run to 
 these organs, and impres- 
 sions could still be made 
 thereon; but, without the 
 cord) rum, it would be 
 impossible for the indi- 
 vidual to be cognizant of 
 these impressions. Thus, 
 it is evident that these impressions are not felt where 
 they are made, but must be carried to the cerebrum 
 to be appreciated. If you will look at your skin 
 
 Fig. 8. 
 Diagram showing the position of the 
 nervous centers in the head. — 
 F T, cerebrum ; C, cerebellum. 
 
I1ST THE DISSECTIXG-EOOM. — THE SKIN. 35 
 
 through a magnifying glass you will see a number of 
 little "holes*' or pores; these are the outer orifices 
 of the tubes that lead upwards from the sweat glands 
 located in the tissue down below the true skin. They 
 are almost infinite in number, as we find as many as 
 twenty-seven hundred of them in one square inch. 
 As they are found in the skin all over the body, one 
 human body contains nearly three millions of these 
 little glands. If we were to take the tube that runs 
 up to the surface from each and piece them all to- 
 gether we would have, from one person, a tube, or 
 hose, nearly two miles long. 
 
 These sweat glands have a most necessary duty to 
 perform. They are among the most important scav- 
 engers of the body ; it is their function to remove a 
 large, part of that organic waste about which we have 
 already said so much. In the warm weather you can 
 plainly see the work of these glands in the drops of 
 sweat, or perspiration, that gather on the skin or 
 trickle down the forehead. Even on the coldest days 
 of winter these glands are at work and we are sweating 
 all the time, but, just as fast as the perspiration is 
 brought to the surface it is evaporated into the sur- 
 rounding atmosphere, and we are not conscious of its 
 presence; hence, it is called "insensible perspiration. " 
 The perspiration consists of water and used-up organic 
 tissue ; the water passes off into the atmosphere, while 
 the organic matter is deposited on the skin and the 
 clothing. Hence it is that the skin becomes soiled 
 and requires frequent washing, else the orifices of 
 
36 HYGIENE. 
 
 these glands will become choked by the organic matter 
 deposited on the skin and their ability to remove the 
 waste from the body will be thus interfered with. 
 The deposit of this waste on the clothing soils it and 
 this accounts for the bad smells that you notice in a 
 room full of persons who do not wash and change 
 their clothing frequently. 
 
 These sweat glands have also another very important 
 function, namely, ' that of assisting in regulating the 
 temperature of the body. The temperature of a 
 healthy human being must be always 98 2-5° Fall. ; 
 under any and all circumstances, no matter if the 
 outside temperature be down to 20° below zero or up 
 to 212° Fall., if we place a thermometer in the 
 mouth, or under the arm, of a healthy individual 
 it will invariably register 98 2-5° Fah. Now, why 
 is this? Because, within the body, just as within 
 the stove, heat is being continually generated by the 
 union of carbon and oxygen ; perhaps enough heat 
 is being made to raise the temperature of the body 
 to 100° Fah., if so, the water that has been brought to 
 the surface by the sweat glands, evaporating into the 
 atmosphere, thereby cools the body down to the 
 proper standard. To understand this, wet your finger 
 and blow on it and see how cool it will feel ; this cool- 
 ness is caused by the rapid evaporation of the moisture 
 from the surface, and it is exactly the same process 
 that is continually taking place, unconsciously to us, 
 all over the surface of the body, thereby regulating 
 the bodily temperature. 
 
IN THE DISSECTING-ROOM. — THE SKIN. 37 
 
 It is the excessive abstraction of heat by an 
 abnormal degree of evaporation from the surface that 
 produces the condition popularly known as "taking 
 cold," about which we will have more to say later on. 
 
 Under ordinary conditions, about three pounds of 
 perspiration will be given off each twenty-four hours, 
 but this amount will, of course, vary according to 
 temperature and other circumstances. 
 
 There is a very close and intimate relation between 
 the action of these sweat glands and of the kidneys ; 
 when we are sweating profusely the kidneys have less 
 work to do, and vice versa. Hence it is most impor- 
 tant that those whose kidneys are weak, should, by 
 proper clothing, exercise, cleanliness and general care 
 of the skin, keep these sweat glands in a state of 
 healthy activity, as, by so doing, the kidneys will be 
 relieved of all unnecessary labor. 
 
 The function of the sebaceous glands that are found 
 in the skin, is to produce an oily, lubricating liquid, 
 which keeps the skin and hair soft and pliant. Hair 
 is found all over the body, and, I doubt not, that in 
 times gone by, before clothing was invented, it was 
 found all over as thickly growing as we now see it on 
 the head, because, in the absence of clothing, such a 
 covering was needed to protect the body from excessive 
 cold. The hair also serves other purposes. The eye- 
 brows prevent the perspiration on the forehead from 
 rolling directly into the eyes, by carrying the drops off 
 to run down the cheeks : the eyelashes protect the 
 eyes from dust, while, if we breath through the nose, 
 
38 HYGIENE. 
 
 as nature intends that we should, the hairs therein, 
 in connection with the sticky mucus secreted by the 
 lining membrane of the nose, will catch and hold the 
 particles of dust and germs of disease, that would 
 pass directly into the lungs if we breathe through the 
 mouth. 
 
 The nails are really outgrowths from the epidermis, 
 or upper layer of the skin. 
 
 Now, then, you understand that the skin is not 
 merely a covering for the body, but that it is an 
 organ, the function of which has much to do with the 
 maintenance of life. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 31. How is the body divided for purposes of dissection? 
 
 32. How many layers are there in the skin? 
 
 33. What is the dermis or cuta vera? 
 
 34. What is the cuticle or epidermis? 
 
 35. What is the function of the epidermis? 
 
 36. What is found in the true skin ? 
 
 37. When you burn your finger, what is it that rises as a blister ? 
 
 38. What are tactile corpuscles? 
 
 39. How many of these corpuscles are found in one square inch of 
 ?kin? 
 
 40. What is the function of these corpuscles ? 
 
 41. Do we really feel with the skin? 
 
 42. What is the cerebrum, and what takes place there? 
 
 43. What is the cerebellum, and what takes place there ? 
 
IN THE DISSECTING-ROOM. — THE SKIN. 39 
 
 44. Is life possible without the cerebrum ? 
 
 45. What are sweat glands ; how numerous are they, and what is 
 their function ? 
 
 46. What do you mean by " insensible perspiration " ? 
 
 47. What causes the bad odors that arise from the bodies of un- 
 clean persons ? 
 
 48. How is animal heat made and regulated? 
 
 49. What is " taking cold " ? 
 
 50. Is there any relation between the sweat glands and the kidneys ? 
 
 51. What is the function of the sebaceous glands? 
 
 52. Why is hair found growing on the body ? 
 
 53. What are the nails ? 
 
40 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE MUSCLES. 
 
 Being now familiar with the body's covering, the 
 skin, we will remove it and expose to view that which 
 lies below. Now we bring to view muscles, fat, 
 nerves, arteries, veins and lymphatics. 
 
 Let us take them up separately and see what they 
 are. Muscle is flesh; that which you eat, at dinner, 
 as a roast of beef is the muscle of the cow ; chops 
 are the muscular tissue of the sheep; pork is the 
 muscular tissue of the pig. 
 
 Through the agency of the nerves muscular tissue 
 is capable of contraction, and muscles are the organs 
 of motion. Motion makes life, and life consists of 
 motion both voluntary and involuntary, and all motion 
 takes place through the agency of muscular tissue. 
 Muscles are capable of contraction, by which their 
 length is shortened, and of relaxation, by which their 
 length is increased. Since each end of a muscle is 
 lixed, it is evident that when a muscle contracts, and 
 is, thereby shortened, the two points into which its 
 ends are fixed must be brought closer together; and 
 when these parts are, in turn, drawn further apart 
 again by muscles acting in an opposite direction, the 
 muscle, the contraction of which drew these parts closer 
 
THE MI'SCLKS. 
 
 41 
 
 together in the first place, must relax in order that 
 they may be drawn apart. 
 
 A simple illustration, and one that will make clear 
 the action of muscular tissue, is seen in the act of 
 flexing the fore-arm upon the arm. On the front of 
 the arm are certain 
 muscles ; one end 
 of these muscles 
 is firmly fixed to 
 the bone of the arm 
 above the elbow, 
 while the other 
 ends are equally 
 firmly fastened to 
 the bones of the 
 fore-arm below the 
 elbow. Xow, when 
 
 these muscles contract and become, thereby, shortened, 
 it is evident that the fore-arm will be brought nearer 
 to, or flexed upon, the arm. Again, there are muscles 
 similarly fixed upon the back of the arm and the fore- 
 arm, and when these muscles contract, the fore-arm 
 must be drawn away from the arm, or extended, while 
 the muscles on the front of the arm that are used for 
 flexion will now be relaxed. 
 
 Muscular tissue, then, is a tissue that because of its 
 capacity for contraction and relaxation is capable of 
 producing motion in any part to which it may be 
 attached or of which it may form an ingredient. A 
 muscle (or muscles) as you see it on the table in the 
 
 Fig. 9. 
 The left arm, showing the muscles in action. 
 
42 HYGIENE. 
 
 shape of beef, is made up of a number of fibres 
 (tliread-like tissue) and each of these fibres is com- 
 posed of a number of still smaller fibres or threads, 
 called fibrillcB. Each fibre, or bundle of fibrillar, is 
 enclosed in a sheath or covering, as are also the 
 bundles of fibres that make up each muscle. 
 
 Thus the ultimate structure of a muscle is a fibrilla; 
 a number of fibrillar grouped together, and enclosed 
 in a covering, make a fibre ; a number of fibres 
 grouped together and enclosed in a covering make a 
 muscle. 
 
 There are two kinds of muscles in the human body 
 — voluntary, those under the control of our will, and 
 involuntary, those over which our will has no control. 
 The muscles of locomotion, the muscles that move the 
 arm, as I have described, are typical of the voluntary 
 muscles ; they never contract unless we will them 
 to do so ; they are abjectly subject to the will. 
 
 The heart is a muscle, and it contracts , and relaxes 
 about 70 times in every minute of our earthly existence. 
 So that, in a person 70 years old, the heart will have 
 contracted and relaxed the almost incredible number 
 of two billion, five hundred' and seventy -five 'million, 
 four hundred and forty thousand times. Yet not one 
 single contraction of this enormous number has been, 
 in the slightest degree, under the control of the will. 
 Muscular tissue is found in the walls of the stomach, 
 and by its contraction and relaxation the food in the 
 stomach is kept moving about, a condition necessary 
 for digestion ; yet not the slightest movement of the 
 
THE MUSCLES. 43 
 
 stomach can be caused by our will. Hence, in the 
 muscle of the heart and the muscular tissue of the 
 stomach we have well typified the involuntary muscles, 
 those not under the control of the will. The wisdom 
 of the Creator is here well exemplified, for were it 
 necessary for us to will every rmlsation of the heart, 
 we would have no time left for anything else, while 
 many of us, I fear, would forget to keep the heart in 
 motion, and the whole machinery would come suddenly 
 to a standstill. 
 
 The Creator has, therefore, provided that all neces- 
 sarily vital movements, all muscular contractions 
 that are absolutely essential to the maintenance 
 of life, shall be placed without the control or 
 influence of our will. They are automatic, so to 
 speak, and the individual has no control over 
 them. 
 
 That which is spoken of as flesh is muscular tissue; 
 the muscles make up the bulk and shape of the body, 
 while it is rounded out and the crevices, so to speak, 
 are filled with fat. 
 
 There are about four hundred separate and distinct 
 muscles in the body, and they vary in shape, being- 
 short and narrow, long and rounded, broad and flat or 
 thin and flat, according as each of these shapes is best 
 adapted to the duties that each muscle may have to 
 perform. There is a slight difference in the anatomical 
 structure of voluntary and involuntary muscles. When 
 a fibre from a voluntary muscle is placed under the 
 microscope it is seen to be marked transversely by 
 
44 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 little lines or strice. Hence, voluntary muscles are said 
 
 to be striated or striped, while involuntary muscles are 
 
 spoken of as non-striated. 
 
 Muscles are supplied with blood-vessels, and derive 
 
 nourishment from the blood circulating therein. 
 
 They are also supplied with nerves. A muscle, 
 
 while the agent of motion, 
 does not possess in itself 
 the power of motion ; if 
 it were not supplied with 
 nerves it would be as inert 
 as the roast of beef on 
 
 Fig. 10. Fig. 11. 
 
 A portion of a voluntary fibre, Non-striated fibres of involuntary muscles, 
 
 sbowing the fibrillar transverse somewhat separated from each other for 
 
 stria\ microscopic examination. 
 
 {From Walker's Physiology. Allyn & Bacon, Boston.) 
 
 your table. The nerves supplied to the muscle give it 
 the power to move. Let me make this clear to you by 
 an illustration. A man or a boy approaches you on the 
 street, doubles up his fist and makes a motion as though 
 about to strike you in the face (see Fig. 12). Your eye 
 receives the impression of this impending danger, it is 
 carried by the nerve of sight to the brain, where it is 
 
THE MUSCLES. 
 
 45 
 
 received and understood by your intelligence ; if you 
 are plucky and think you are a match for the attack- 
 ing party, your will sends its orders through the nerves 
 to the muscles of your fingers to contract and make a 
 fist; to the muscles on the front of your arm to con- 
 tract and flex the fore -arm, and finally to the muscles 
 
 Tftat boy is your? fo 
 atri/er J ' 
 
 Fig. 12. 
 
 on the back of your arm to contract with force, thus 
 extending the arm, throwing out the fist and knock- 
 ing your assailant down. ■ If, however, you are a 
 coward, or if your intelligence concludes that "discre- 
 tion is tlw better part of valor," or, if you heed your 
 mother's and your teachers' injunctions not to fight, 
 
46 HYGIENE. 
 
 then- your will sends its orders by another set of nerves 
 to the muscles of the legs, and you walk, or run, away. 
 All this takes place, of course, instantaneously, but 
 each of these separate actions is included in the whole. 
 Do you not see how necessary the nerves have been to 
 this act ? Suppose your nerve of sight was defective ; 
 you would not have perceived the approach of your 
 adversary, and you would have been struck before you 
 were aware of his presence. Or, with vision perfect, 
 suppose that the nerve supply to your muscles was 
 defective, that you were paralyzed ; your intelligence 
 might will or wish that you should strike or run, but 
 its commands could not be conveyed to the muscles 
 unless there was a direct communication, by means of 
 the nerves, between the will, in the brain, and the par- 
 ticular muscles that the will desired to call into 
 operation. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 54. When the skin is removed, what is exposed to view ? 
 
 55. What is muscle? 
 
 56. What is the function of muscular tissue? 
 
 57. Give an illustration of the contraction and relaxation of muscu- 
 lar tissue. 
 
 58. What is the anatomical composition of a muscle? 
 
 59. How many kinds of muscles are there ? 
 
 60. What do you mean by a voluntary muscle ? 
 
 61. What do you mean by an involuntary muscle? 
 
 62. What is the heart ? 
 
THE MUSCLES. 47 
 
 63. Are the contractions of the heart under the control of the will? 
 
 64. How many times does the heart contract? 
 
 65. How is food kept moving in the stomach ? 
 
 66. Why are the vital muscular movements involuntary? 
 
 67. How many muscles are there in the human body? 
 
 68. What are the shapes of the muscles? 
 
 69. What is the difference in structure between voluntary and in- 
 voluntary muscles ? 
 
 70. Can a muscle contract of itself? 
 
 71. What do you say of the function of nerves in connection with 
 muscular contraction ? 
 
 72. Give an illustration. 
 
 73. If the nerves were defective, what would happen ? 
 
48 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE NERVES. 
 
 When we commence to remove the muscles from 
 the body that we are dissecting, we bring to view, 
 running here, there, and everywhere, between the 
 muscles, underneath them, above them, into the tissue 
 of the muscle itself, shining white cords which the 
 anatomist tells us are nerves. That we may properly 
 study the nervous system, we must first divide it into 
 two grand divisions, namely: 
 
 1. The Cerebro- Spinal Nervous System. 
 
 2. The Sympathetic or Ganglionic Nervous System. 
 Now, first we must understand that the nerves are, 
 to the human body, what the electric light, telephone 
 and telegraph wires are to the life of a community. 
 It is the function, or duty, of the nerves to receive 
 and transmit impressions and to receive and transmit 
 directions or commands. I have often thought that 
 we might really consider the wires of the telephone 
 as an artificial prolongation of the natural nerves of 
 man. A person calls you up on the telejmone and 
 says something; what he says is conveyed along a 
 wire to your ear; then it continues along your nerve 
 of hearing to your brain ; your brain recognizes and 
 understands the meaning; of the words that have been 
 
THE NERVES. 
 
 49 
 
 ■A« 
 
 / «</// iruti 
 
 spoken ; your intelligence, in your brain, formulates 
 an answer and directs the nerves running to the or- 
 gans of speech to convey its commands to these organs 
 to speak this answer, and your words, expressing your 
 thoughts, are conveyed over this telephone wire to 
 your auditor, to be received by his nerves of hearing, 
 in contact with the wire, conveyed to his brain and 
 there understood. The telephone machine and the 
 telephone wire cannot hear what has been said, in the 
 sense of understanding it, any more than can the ear 
 of man ; but the machine, like the 
 ear, and the wire, like the nerve, 
 are the agencies through which im- 
 pressions can be conveyed from one 
 person to another, or from one 
 portion of the body to another, 
 and through which the commands, 
 or directions, or motion, or activ- 
 ity that may be incited or excited 
 by these communications or im- 
 pressions, may be returned to the 
 appropriate spot. 
 
 The most trivial and the most 
 vital phenomena of life depend 
 upon the nerves. Suppose a fly 
 lights upon the end of your nose, 
 at once you brush him away 
 with your hand and think no 
 But reflect now for a moment, and learn what has 
 happened, and how intricate has been this seemingly 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 more about it. 
 
50 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 trivial incident. The fly lights upon your nose; his 
 delicate little feet make an impression upon the ter- 
 minal ends of those sensitive nerves in the papillae of 
 the skin about which I have already told you ; this 
 impression, slight as it is, runs along the nerve to the 
 
 brain with the rapidity of 
 lightning, and the brain be- 
 comes aware of the fact that 
 there is a fly on the end of 
 your nose, just as the ring- 
 ing of the telephone bell 
 makes you aware that some 
 person, at a distance, wishes 
 to speak to you. If the im- 
 pression made by the feet of 
 the fly is pleasant and agree- 
 able to your brain, no action 
 results, and the fly is allowed 
 to remain until he feels in- 
 clined to move away. But if 
 the impression made is un- 
 pleasant, your brain origi- 
 nates a command, which 
 is transmitted along the 
 nerves to the muscles of 
 your arm ; they are set 
 into motion and the fly is brushed away. This is a 
 voluntary act, and is performed through the agency of 
 the nerves of the first division, or the " Cerebro- Spinal 
 Nervous System." But now I have told you that the 
 
 Merves to front 
 of left ley 
 
 Nerves to back 
 «f ''ft I 'J 
 
 es to back 
 iqht Iff 
 
 Fig. 14. 
 
 Brain and Spinal Cord, with the 
 thirty-one pairs of spinal nerves. 
 
THE NERVES. 
 
 51 
 
 muscular movements necessary to the maintenance of 
 life, such as the beating of the heart, the contrac- 
 tions . of the stomach and bowels, the contraction 
 and dilatation of the blood vessels and many others 
 are not voluntary ; they are not under the control 
 of the will, and these move- 
 ments are performed through 
 the agency of the second 
 division of the nervous system, 
 the "Sympathetic or Gangli- 
 onic Nervous System." These 
 movements are reflex, so to 
 speak; they are automatic 
 and not volitional. To illus- 
 trate : Food is introduced into 
 the stomach, and an impression 
 is made by this food on the 
 nerves in the walls of the 
 stomach. This impression is 
 conveyed, not to the brain, as 
 in the case of the fly on your 
 nose, but to a ganglion, which 
 can be defined as a little brain 
 not endowed with intelligence 
 or the power of thought, and 
 
 because of the impression that this ganglion has received 
 it is stimulated to send back a command to the stomach 
 to contract. There is no intelligence about this act; 
 your will has nothing to do with it, it is purely 
 reflex, and it is over such automatic acts that the 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
52 HYGIENE. 
 
 ganglionic nervous system presides. It is not in 
 the power of your will to make your stomach 
 contract. 
 
 The wisdom of the Almighty in giving us these 
 two nervous systems will be made very clear by a 
 moment's reflection. You will understand that the 
 cerebro-spinal system presides over the functions of 
 animal life, while the sympathetic system presides 
 over involuntary functions, as growth and nutrition. 
 Now, we see that the intellect or mind which has 
 control of the cerebro-spinal, or voluntary system, is 
 not necessary for the maintenance of life, and. that 
 it can, therefore, be devoted to the purposes of 
 intellectual pursuits without being obliged to devote 
 all of its time to the effort of sustaining life; while 
 the sympathetic, or ganglionic system, presiding over 
 the functions of life, works automatically without 
 the necessity of direction from the will, which, in 
 fact, has no control over it. » 
 
 We might then say that the cerebro-spinal ner- 
 vous system belongs to and presides over the animal 
 side of man ; while the ganglionic system belongs to 
 and regulates the machine aspect of his existence. 
 But now while these two nervous systems are ana- 
 tomically distinct, and each has its own separate and 
 distinct function to perform, yet there is a more or 
 less intimate connection between them, and because 
 of this connection influences that act upon the cere- 
 bro-spinal system may affect and derange the func- 
 tions that are presided over by the ganglionic system. 
 
THE NERVES. 53 
 
 Thus while our will power has no control over the 
 action of the heart, yet an impression of fear made 
 upon the brain through the eye, or a shock, as of 
 sad news, carried to the brain through the ear, will 
 have the effect of immediately influencing the action 
 of the heart, and this is because of the connection 
 that exists between these two nervous systems, 
 whereby an imrjression made upon one may exert its 
 influence through the agency of the other. 
 
 I once saw a young man, whose brother had just 
 died, eat a heavy dinner ' half an hour thereafter, he 
 became very sick at his stomach and vomited all that 
 he had eaten. An analysis of what here occurred 
 will make clear the connection between these two ner- 
 vous systems. The death of this brother had made a 
 profoundly depressing impression upon the mind, in 
 the brain of this young man. This depressing im- 
 pression had been communicated to the nerves of the 
 ganglionic system that gave power to the muscles of 
 his stomach to move ; thus influenced, they were un- 
 equal to the performance of the duty required of them ; 
 the food in his stomach, not being moved about by the 
 muscular contractions of this organ, lay, as it were, in 
 a bag, and instead of digesting, it putrefied.* Having 
 putrefied, or rotted, it was offensive to the stomach, 
 'and, through the agency of the ganglionic system of 
 nerves, by a reflex, unconscious action, it was expelled 
 without any act of the will. Here we see an impres- 
 
 * The difference between digestion and putrefaction will be explained in the 
 chapter on Digestion. 
 
54 HYGIENE. 
 
 sion made upon the cerebrum, producing an effect 
 through the ganglionic nerves. 
 
 Again, the blood vessels all over the body are liber- 
 ally supplied with nerves derived from the ganglionic 
 system, and these nerves of the blood-vessels are called 
 vaso-molor nerves. The blood vessels are elastic tubes, 
 containing muscular tissue in their walls, and because 
 of this they are capable of contraction and expansion, 
 as is everything that contains muscular tissue. This 
 contraction and expansion the miso-motor nerves govern 
 automatically ;} according as 'any particular part of the 
 body may require a greater or a lesser amount of blood 
 for its nourishment, these nerves cause the blood ves- 
 sels running to this particular part to contract or ex- 
 pand until their calibre becomes just that which is 
 necessary to allow the desired amount of blood to flow 
 through it. \ You might use your will from now until 
 doomsday and you could not influence the calibre of 
 one small blood vessel the fraction of an inch ; but let 
 some one say something to you that causes a feeling of 
 anger or of shame — instantly the impression made upon 
 the brain by these words is transmitted to the vaso- 
 motor nerves ; they are thereby paralyzed, their con- 
 trol over the blood vessels is lost; the vessels yield to 
 the pressure of the blood ; they distend, and the red 
 blush of anger or of shame is seen upon the cheek. 
 Or, if the words that have been spoken produce an im- 
 pression of fear, the vaso-motor nerves, instead of 
 being paralyzed, are thereby stimulated to increased 
 action ; they cause the blood vessels to abnormally con- 
 
THE NERVES. 55 
 
 tract, to drive the blood out of them, and the rosy 
 cheek of a moment before is now the ashen cheek of 
 fear. 
 
 Do you not see how impressions made upon one 
 system may produce an effect through the other? 
 
 You must understand that the cerebrum, or brain 
 proper, that which has been already described to you 
 as occupying the dome or upper part of the head, or 
 skull, belongs to, and presides over the cerebrospinal 
 nervous system, and that the cerebrum is the seat of 
 intelligence, of thought, and that it is here that all 
 impressions recognized by our intelligence are received ; 
 while the presiding officials of the Ganglionic Nervous 
 System are small ' ' ganglia ' ' or collections of nervous 
 tissue, devoid of the intellectual functions that charac- 
 terize the cerebrum, or brain proper, possessed only of 
 the power of reflex action, and scattered in numerous 
 different localities throughout the body, wherever their 
 presence may be necessary to the maintenance of life. 
 
 Of course, you understand what a voluntary action 
 is — that it is an action produced by the will; walking, 
 talking, writing, are voluntary actions, because no other 
 power can cause you to perform these actions but your 
 will. A reflex action is not voluntary — you can neither 
 perform it, nor stop its performance, by the action of 
 your will; it is an action that is performed because the 
 part that has the power of performing it has been 
 induced, or stimulated, to do so, by an impression that 
 it has received. 
 
 Now that we have made clear the functions of the 
 
56 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 two nervous systems, and demonstrated how one may 
 act through the other, we will briefly study the 
 anatomical make-up of the systems. 
 
 1. The cerebbo-spinal nervous system includes 
 the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves which 
 branch off from each. 
 
 The brain, which occupies the skull, consists of 
 three parts : the cerebrum, the cerebellum and the 
 medulla oblongata. 
 
 The brain consists of two kinds of tissue, one gray, 
 
 the other white; 
 it is the function 
 of the gray mat- 
 ter to receive im- 
 pressions and to 
 formulate ideas 
 and commands, 
 while the white 
 tissue, which is 
 thread-like in 
 structure, is to 
 carry or convey 
 impressions or di- 
 rections. The gray matter might be likened to the battery 
 which generates, and the white matter to the wires 
 that convey the electric current. Get this distinction 
 firmly and clearly fixed in your minds, because where- 
 ever we find gray nervous tissue it is always a nerve 
 centre capable of receiving impressions and of origi- 
 nating force, while the white nervous tissue is always 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 Vertical Section of Skull and Brain. — a, cerebrum 
 
 b, cerebellum ; d, medulla oblongata. 
 
THE NEEVES. 57 
 
 the cord or wire along which either the impression 
 passes to the nervous centre, or the force originated 
 therein passes out to the point for which it is 
 designed. 
 
 The cerebrum, or upper portion of the brain, is the 
 organ of mind. There the intellect resides, and there 
 all voluntary motions or acts have their origin. It is a 
 fact that the cerebrum is relatively larger in man than 
 in any other animal, which accounts for, and is a 
 necessity of, his superior intellectual capacity. The 
 brain is abundantly supplied with blood, relatively 
 much more so than any other part of the body, 
 because, while its weight is not more than 1-40 that 
 of the whole body, yet it receives fully 1-5 of all the 
 blood, which very clearly indicates the amount of work 
 that is expected from this organ. 
 
 Below the cerebrum, posteriorly, is the cerebellum, 
 or little brain, the structure of which is the same as 
 that of the cerebrum, while its function is different. 
 The function of the cerebellum is to preside over the 
 co-ordination of muscular movements. The cerebrum 
 originates, while the cerebellum regulates voluntary 
 muscular motion. 
 
 The writers for a monthly magazine send in their 
 contributions to the editor, who revises and arranges 
 them so as to make an harmonious journal. So, while 
 the cerebrum originates, the cerebellum might be said 
 to edit its work, and so arrange and revise it as to 
 provide an harmonious result. 
 
 A drunken editor might edit a journal, but it would 
 
58 HYGIENE. 
 
 be a sorry mass of jerky, disjointed literature, because 
 lie who should have arranged it in order is incapable 
 of doing so ; a drunken man will stagger unsteadily 
 down the street because the liquor he drinks has so 
 acted upon his cerebellum that it is not able to regu- 
 late his movements. The cerebrum may be still able to 
 originate commands, but if the cerebellum is incapable 
 of regulating and systematizing them, the result would 
 be a series of irregular, irrational, and meaningless 
 muscular motions that would be ludicrous, if not pit- 
 iable. 
 
 The medulla oblongata, or third division of the 
 brain, is the upper end of the spinal cord, or the grad- 
 ually changing connection between the brain and spinal 
 cord. While not endowed with the intellectual facul- 
 ties or possibilities of the cerebrum, it is yet the centre 
 of life, because from it originates the nerves that con- 
 trol many of the vital functions, hence it is so deeply 
 buried within the skull as to be almost beyond the 
 possibility of injury by any ordinary accident. In the 
 barbarous method of destroying criminals by hanging, 
 a rope is fastened around the neck, and by opening a 
 trap the body is allowed to suddenly fall several feet; 
 the weight of the body suddenly jerking downwards 
 away from the head that is held up by the rope, dis- 
 locates, or separates the bones in the neck, pressure is 
 made upon the vital nerves in the medulla oblongata, 
 and death promptly ensues. 
 
 Thus, then, we have the three divisions of the brain 
 enclosed in a hard, strong, bony covering, the skull, 
 
THE NERVES. 59 
 
 which serves to protect these delicate organs from 
 injury. 
 
 The spinal cord is composed also of gray and 
 white matter. It runs down through a canal in 
 your "backbone," or spinal column, extending from 
 the base of the brain above to the end of your 
 ' ' backbone ' ' below, and in its course it is continually 
 sending off nerves to the different parts of the body (see 
 Fig. 14). Finally, when it reaches the lower end of the 
 ' k backbone ' ' it divides into two great nerves, each as 
 broad as your little finger, which are called the Sciatic 
 Nerves. One of these nerves runs to and down each 
 of your legs, branching into an infinite number of 
 little nerves, to terminate each in one of the ' ' tactile 
 corpuscles' 1 '' in the skin, with which you are already 
 familiar, or in some other portion of the lower limbs 
 for which this special nerve may have been designed. 
 Whenever you hear anyone complaining of that pain- 
 ful disease sciatica, you will understand that it is an 
 inflammation of this big sciatic nerve. 
 
 You will understand that with the nerves of the 
 human body, as with the wires of an electric machine, 
 a complete circuit must be established in order that 
 an effect may be produced; that is to say, the elec- 
 tricity generated in a battery must be not only carried 
 to the point where its power is to be made manifest, 
 but it must be provided with the means of returning 
 to the place in which it has been generated, else its 
 power will not become manifest. So, also, in the 
 human body the nervous circuit must be complete, 
 
60 HYGIENE. 
 
 else the nervous force will be impotent. Hence we 
 find that nerves not only run from the brain and 
 spinal cord to the organs, muscles and skin, but that 
 they also run to the brain and spinal cord from the 
 muscles, organs and skin. 
 
 To use again, for illustration, the iiy on the nose : 
 When the fly settles on your nose, we might suppose 
 that he creates a certain electrical action, if you 
 please ; this action is conveyed along the nerves to the 
 brain and from the brain to the arm, the finger 
 comes into contact with the nose, or the fly thereon, 
 the circuit is completed, and an effect results. But 
 you say that the fly disappears before your finger 
 actually touches him, and that, therefore, the circuit 
 has not been completed. The electrician tells us that 
 electricity is capable of transmission for a limited dis- 
 tance through the atmosphere without the aid of 
 wires; hence, when your finger approaches your nose, 
 the circuit is completed through the atmosphere. 
 
 The sympathetic or ganglionic nervous, system con- 
 sists of a double chain of ganglia on the sides of the 
 spinal column ; also of ganglia scattered throughout 
 the body. Now, what do I mean by ganglia? This 
 is the plural for ganglion, and ganglion is a Greek 
 word meaning a knot; hence a ganglion is a knot or 
 lump of nervous tissue, similar to that which con- 
 stitutes the brain. As I have already said, a ganglion 
 might be, almost, regarded as a minute brain, devoid 
 of the intellectual faculties that characterize the brain 
 proper. These ganglia are connected with each other 
 
THE XERVES. 61 
 
 by nerve filaments, or threads, and with the cerebro- 
 spinal system by motor and sensory nerve fibres. 
 From these ganglia very delicate nerves are distributed 
 to and received from those organs and portions of the 
 body whose functions are reiiex or automatic, and 
 not subject to the will. As I have already inti- 
 mated, the blood-vessels receive the nerves that regu- 
 late their calibre from these ganglia. 
 
 The Sympathetic Nervous System, as already stated, 
 governs and regulates, chiefly, the involuntary func- 
 tions, such as respiration, digestion, circulation, secre- 
 tion, excretion, the regulation of temperature, and so 
 on, but, because of the connection between the two 
 nervous systems, already alluded to, these vital func- 
 tions may be more or less influenced by impres- 
 sions made through the cerebro-spinal nervous system. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 74. When we remove the muscles, what is brought to view ? 
 
 75. What are the two grand divisions of the nervous system? 
 
 76. What relation do the nerves hold to the body ? 
 
 77. Illustrate the function of the nerves. 
 
 78. Give some actions that are performed through the agency of the 
 cerebro-spinal nervous system ; through the agency of the sympathetic 
 or ganglionic nervous system. 
 
 79. What do you mean by a reflex movement? 
 
 80. What is the necessity for these two nervous systems ? 
 
 81. Illustrate the connection that exists between the two svstems. 
 
62 HYGIENE. 
 
 82. What are vaso-motor nerves ; what is their function ? 
 
 83. How do emotions affect the vaso-motor nerves ? 
 
 84. What is the cerebrum, and what is its function ? 
 
 85. What are ganglia, and what is their function ? 
 
 86. What does the cerebro-spinal nervous system include ? 
 
 87. What kinds of tissue form the brain, and what is the function 
 of each ? 
 
 88. What is the organ of miud ? 
 
 89. What is the cerebellum, and what is its function? 
 
 90. Illustrate the co-ordinating function of the cerebellum. 
 
 91. What is the medulla oblongata, and what is its function ? 
 
 92. What is the mechanism of death by hanging? 
 
 93. What is the spinal cord ; what is it continually giving off; and 
 how does it ultimately terminate ? 
 
 94. What is sciatica? 
 
 95. How do you liken nervous effects to electrical effects? 
 
 96. Of what does the sympathetic nervous system consist? 
 
 97. How does the ganglion differ from the brain ? 
 
 98. What does the sympathetic nervous system regulate and control ? 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 63 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE CIRCULATION-THE HEART AND BLOOD- 
 VESSELS. 
 
 Everywhere throughout the body, into every or- 
 gan and tissue and part thereof, just as run the 
 nerves, so also do we find blood-vessels distributed. 
 As it is the function of the nerve to give power to 
 move, so is it the function of the blood-vessels to con- 
 vey nourishment, that this power may be made effect- 
 ive. The body must be nourished that it may live, 
 and it derives this nourishment from the blood, that is 
 forever circulating, from the moment of birth to the 
 instant of death, everywhere throughout the body. It 
 is the blood coursing through the vessels that we speak 
 of as the "Circulation,"'' and in the performance of 
 the function of circulation, the following organs are 
 concerned : 
 
 1. The Heart. 
 
 2. The Arteries. 
 
 3. The Capillaries. 
 
 4. The Veins. 
 
 Before proceeding to study each of these parts sepa- 
 rate^, let me give you a familiar illustration that will 
 make very clear the nature and the function of the 
 ■'Circulation." Let us suppose an ideal city, wherein 
 
64 HYGIENE. 
 
 the authorities have a real interest in the welfare of 
 each inhabitant. Of course, it is necessary that every 
 person in this city has food to eat; hence, wagons, 
 loaded with provisions, are continually circulating 
 throughout the streets of this city, from which the 
 residents of each house may select that particular 
 food which they require. In the human body, the 
 blood-vessels are the streets and the blood is the food 
 that is being continually carried about that each organ 
 and part may select therefrom that which it specially 
 desires for its nourishment. 
 
 Now, what is blood ? 
 
 Blood is a red liquid containing certain solid ingre- 
 dients which are called corpuscles. Most of these are 
 
 Fig. 17. 
 Human Blood-corpuscles (highly magnified). From a photograph. 
 
 disc-shajied (Fig. 17) and red in color, and it is their 
 red color that gives the red coloring to the blood, for 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 65 
 
 the liquid portion of the blood is, itself, not red in 
 color. There are also in the blood a number of white 
 or colorless corpuscles, in the proportion of about one 
 of the white to 350 of the red. The living blood may 
 be tabulated as follows : 
 
 ! Liquor Sanguinis I 
 a r i n 1 f Red Discs ) o 
 
 Solid or Corpuscle ( PaleCellg }l 
 
 These red corpuscles are not more than 1-3200 of 
 an inch in diameter, and there are about 250,000 mill- 
 ions of them in every pound of blood. It is esti- 
 mated that the total amount of blood in the body is 
 about 1-14 of the whole weight of the body, so that if 
 you weigh 126 pounds there will be about nine pounds 
 of blood in your body, and this will give us the really 
 incredible number of 2,250,000 millioxs of these little 
 corpuscles that are, at this moment, circulating through- 
 out your body. I have made this statement because 
 it will probably cause you to think that this red blood 
 corpuscle must be quite an important part of your 
 body and well worthy of consideration. So it is, and 
 it will be well for you if you learn to treat this 
 little organism with very great respect, for one of its 
 chief functions is to convey oxygen to the various 
 portions of the body ; and so necessary is oxygen that 
 if you were deprived of it you could not live for five 
 minutes. 
 
 Now that we know what blood is, let us see how 
 and why it circulates throughout the body. The blood- 
 vessels are tubes capable of contraction, and expansion, 
 
m 
 
 IIYCIENE. 
 
 and it is through these tubes that the blood is pro- 
 pelled by the heart. 
 
 The heart is a double-acting pump, capable of both 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 Heart, front view. — 1, right ventricle; 2, left ventricle; 3 and 4, right auricle; 
 5 and 6, left auricle ; 7, pulmonary artery ; 8, the aorta ; 9, superior vena 
 cava; 10 and 11, front coronary artery and vein which in part control the 
 blood-supply of the substance of the heart ; 12, lymphatic vessels. — From 
 Walker's Physiology. Allyn & Bacon, Boston. 
 
 propulsion and suction. Fig. 18 gives us an anatomical 
 view of the heart as it really looks, but, recalling how 
 utterly unintelligible such pictures were to me in my 
 
Fig. 19.— The Circulation of the Blood. 
 
 Red lines — Arterial blood. 
 Black lines — Venous blood. 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 07 
 
 early student days, I have had prepared figure No. 19, 
 which, while not anatomically correct, will yet give one 
 a very clear and practical comprehension of the circula- 
 tion of the blood. 
 
 The heart is divided into four cavities, called 
 the right and left ventricle and right and left auricle, 
 and while there is a direct communication between the 
 auricle and ventricle on either side, the only communi- 
 cation between the two sides of the heart is by means 
 of the circulation, and to pass from one side of the 
 heart to the other it is necessary to travel all over 
 the body. I have placed the ventricles uppermost in 
 this drawing, as it makes the matter more clear, but, 
 in truth, the auricles are located above the ventricles. 
 
 Now, let us start at the left ventricle and follow 
 the blood in its journey of nourishment throughout the 
 body. This ventricle is full of blood, and it contracts 
 just as you would close your fist ; contracting, it must 
 necessarily force the blood out of it. And where does 
 the blood go ? Up into the great blood vessel of the 
 body, called the aorta, which starts from this ventricle. 
 But why does not some of the blood go into the 
 left auricle ? Because there is a valve, or trap door, 
 between the ventricle and auricle which, as the ven- 
 tricle contracts, shuts down and closes the opening 
 between the ventricle and auricle, leaving thus only 
 one opening through which the blood can escape, and 
 this up into the aorta. Shortly the aorta commences 
 to give off branches, just as we see branches springing 
 from the trunk of a tree; each branch gives off still 
 
68 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 smaller branches, and so they go on dividing and sub- 
 dividing, just as do the branches and twigs of a tree, 
 until they have reached and penetrated every part and 
 crevice of the body. 
 
 Even the heart itself is supplied with blood-vessels; 
 it is not nourished from the blood within its cavity, 
 but has small blood-vessels throughout its walls from 
 which it derives its nourishment. 
 
 Throughout all of these divisions and sub-divisions, 
 to the most remote portion of the 
 body this blood flows through 
 vessels that are called arteries. 
 Each little artery terminates in a 
 vessel called a capillary, and these 
 minute capillaries form a network 
 all over the body. From these 
 little capillaries still other vessels 
 start, and they are called veins ; 
 two little veins unite to form one 
 larger one ; two of these larger ones 
 unite to form a third, still larger, 
 and so just as the aorta by a 
 process of division formed itself 
 into an infinite number of little 
 arteries, so this infinite number of 
 little veins, by a process of com- 
 bination, form themselves into two 
 large veins which carry the blood 
 back to the right auricle of the heart; from there it is 
 passed into the right ventricle; from there into the 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 Relations of Blood-vessels, 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 69 
 
 lungs, and from the lungs back to the left auricle of 
 the heart, thence into the left ventricle, from which it 
 again starts on its journey through the body. 
 
 Let me .make this clear by a familiar illustration. 
 If you have running water in your house, you will 
 understand that this water is brought into the house, 
 from the water-main in the street, in one pipe ; when 
 this pipe enters the house, branches are taken off from 
 it to the rooms in which the water is to be used. 
 If there are twenty spigots in your house, this one 
 pipe will divide into twenty pipes, each one supplying 
 the water to a spigot in a different part of the house. 
 But now when you have used the water in the basin 
 or the tub or the closet, it is soiled, and you want 
 to get rid of it; each one of these twenty spigots 
 will have a corresponding waste pipe to carry away 
 the foul water, and these twenty waste pipes will 
 gradually come together until they have all united 
 into one, through which the foul water is carried 
 away from your house. The water has entered, and 
 it leaves, the house in a single pipe, but during its 
 stay it has circulated through twenty different pipes. 
 This illustration of the circulation of the blood will 
 be even more clear when you remember that the water 
 which enters your house is supposed to be clear, pure 
 water, and that which leaves it foul, dirty water, 
 made so by the admixture therewith of the decaying 
 organic matter from your body given to the water in 
 the act of washing; because the blood that starts 
 from your heart to circulate throughout your arteries 
 
70 HYGIENE. 
 
 is supposed to be. good, pure, healthy blood, capable 
 of giving good nourishment to your body, while that 
 which returns to the heart, in the veins, is foul, 
 dirty, unhealthy blood, incapable of giving healthy 
 nourishment to the body, and it has been denied by 
 the entrance into it of the decaying organic particles 
 of your body which it has gathered up (to be thrown 
 out) on its journey through the body. 
 
 Now that we have an idea of 7iow the blood cir- 
 culates, let us see why it circulates. The arteries, 
 we must understand, are merely tubes through which 
 the blood is carried about the body; their walls are 
 strong and firm, and no blood can pass through 
 these walls ; but when these arteries have terminated 
 in capillaries we find a different structure. The walls 
 of the capillaries are much thinner, and are pervious to 
 the blood ; the capillaries exist everywhere throughout 
 the body, forming, as it were, a mesh-work or net- 
 work over and around every organ and part, bringing 
 the blood into the most intimate contact with the 
 tissues, when, as Dalton says, "The nutritious ingre- 
 dients of the blood transude through their walls, and 
 are appropriated by the tissues beyond. In the 
 glandular organs they supply the substance requisite 
 for secretion ; in the villi of the intestine they take 
 up the elements of the digested food; in the lungs 
 they absorb oxygen and exhale carbonic acid ; in the 
 kidneys they discharge the products of destructive 
 assimilation collected from other parts. The capillary 
 circulation thus furnishes, directly or indirectly, the 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 71 
 
 materials for the growth and renovation of the entire 
 body." 
 
 Is this clear ? If not, let ns try again. The blood, 
 passing through the arteries reaches the capillaries, and 
 here it finds thin walls through which it can pass out 
 into the tissues to nourish them ; the dead tissue 
 that is no longer of any use passes through the walls 
 of these capillaries into the blood within them, and 
 the blood, now loaded with impurities, passes on into 
 the veins and is returned by them to the right auricle 
 of the heart. 
 
 The rapidity of the current of blood in the arteries 
 is much greater than it is in the caj)illaries ; indeed, it 
 is estimated that the blood flows 360 times faster in 
 the aorta than it does in the caj)illaries. This is 
 because the united calibre of the capillaries is so 
 much greater than the united calibre of the arteries 
 that when the blood flows out into them it has so 
 much more space in which to spread that the propul- 
 sive power from behind is less potent for speed ; just 
 as would be the case if we were to turn a mighty 
 torrent of water into numerous channels, the aggre- 
 gate area of which would be much greater than the area 
 of the original stream ; ultimately, the water in these 
 little streams would become absolutely sluggish. 
 
 So does the circulation of blood in the capillaries 
 become comparatively sluggish, and this very slowness 
 of circulation favors the exudation of the nutrient 
 material, just as it would be much easier for the 
 passengers to leave a slowing, creeping train than it 
 
72 HYGIENE. 
 
 would be for them to escape from the lightning 
 express. 
 
 Now the blood, returning to the heart loaded with 
 impurities, is, from the heart, pumped into the lungs, 
 where_, through the process that there takes place, 
 (which we will describe later on), it is relieved of 
 much of its impurity. 
 
 Although we have said that the blood circulates 
 much more slowly through the capillaries than it does 
 through the arteries, we shall be surprised when we 
 learn with what wonderful rapidity the circulation is 
 completed ; for, from the time that a given quantity of 
 blood leaves the heart, circulates throughout the entire 
 body and returns again to the heart, not more than 
 twenty seconds will have elapsed. 
 
 Of course, you are already prepared to answer that 
 the heart derives its power to alternately contract and 
 relax, and to propel the blood, from the nerves that 
 are supplied to it ; and you remember that these nerves 
 are derived from the ganglionic system, that the con- 
 traction of the heart is reflex or automatic, and that 
 it is not under the control of the will. 
 
 But this is not enough ; it will not do merely to 
 give the heart this power to contract, else it might 
 run wild. Instead of contracting, with order and regu- 
 larity, seventy times every minute, it might contract 
 forty times one minute ; one hundred and forty times 
 the next minute ; eighty times the third minute, and 
 so on. This would never do; we must have some 
 order and regularity about the vital functions ; hence, 
 
THE CIRCULATION. 73 
 
 we find that the heart is not only supplied with nerves 
 that enable it to contract, but that it also has nerves 
 that regulate and control these actions. Just as the 
 good driver will use both whip and reins, the one to 
 accelerate, the other to regulate the speed of his horse, 
 so the heart has two sets of nerves, the one to accel- 
 erate, the other to regulate and control its action. 
 
 I have already told you about the red corpuscles 
 in the blood, and have mentioned that there are also 
 white corpuscles in this liquid. I would have you not 
 forget these white corpuscles, because, as you will see 
 further on, according to the theories of some very 
 eminent authorities they play a most important role 
 in the prevention of disease. These bodies are much 
 larger than the red corpuscles, and are found, as 
 already stated, in the blood in the proportion of 1 
 of the white to about 350 of the red. These cor- 
 puscles are possessed of the power of making a pecu- 
 liar movement, which is called the "Amoeboid Move- 
 ment," and which consists in the alternate protrusion 
 and retraction of different points of their little bodies, 
 whereby they are enabled to move from place to place. 
 
 The veins, through which the blood returns to the 
 heart, are like the sewers of a city; they are the 
 tubes or pipes through which the blood that has been 
 defiled in its passage throughout the body passes to 
 the various organs whose duty it is to renovate and 
 purify it. 
 
74 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 99. What is the circulation, and -what is the function of blood- 
 vessels ? 
 
 100. What organs are concerned in the circulation f 
 
 101. Give a familiar illustration of the circulation. 
 
 102. What is blood, and what are corpuscles? 
 
 103. What is a prominent function of these corpuscles, and how 
 would you demonstrate their importance ? 
 
 1 04. Describe the heart. 
 
 105. Describe the circulation of the blood. 
 
 106. What is the aorta, and how does it branch ? 
 
 107. WLat are arteries; capillaries; veins f 
 
 108. Give a familiar illustration of the division of arteries and 
 combination of veins. 
 
 109. What is the function of the capillaries, and how is tissue 
 nourished ? 
 
 110. Describe the way in which the regular action of the heart is 
 maintained. 
 
 111. What are white corpuscles, and what is their importance? 
 
 112. What is the amoeboid movement? 
 
 113. What are the veins, and what is their function? 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 75 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 AIR— OXYGEN— RESPIRATION. 
 
 It is possible for man to live for weeks without 
 food, for days without water, but he could not live 
 for live minutes without air. If you doubt this, hold 
 your breath and see how many minutes will elapse 
 before you will be absolutely compelled to take a 
 breath whether you will it or not. Bread is said to be 
 the "staff of life," but this is a mistake; air is the 
 "staff of life," because it is the one thing without 
 which life would be impossible, and it is one particular 
 ingredient of air that is so essential to life. I would 
 that I could burn the name of this ingredient so 
 deeply and so indelibly upon the minds of every 
 human being, that it would be ever before him. This 
 vital necessity is 
 
 Oxygen. 
 
 Oxygen is a gas everywhere present in the atmos- 
 pjhere. While not itself capable of burning, it is 
 impossible for anything else to burn unless it is sup- 
 plied with oxygen. That the tire in your stove may 
 burn, it is necessary that you should open the lower 
 door that it may have a draft, and this draft means 
 nothing more than the access of the air, containing 
 
76 HYGIENE. 
 
 oxygen, to the fire. If you put a close-fitting cap 
 over a lighted candle, the flame is at once extin- 
 guished, because the oxygen has been shut off from it; 
 if you place a burning candle in a glass jar that has 
 been filled with oxygen, you will at once note a 
 marked increase in the brilliancy of the flame, because 
 the oxygen has added force and power thereto. All 
 burning or combustion is attended by the union of car- 
 bon and oxygen and the resultant formation of car- 
 bonic acid, which is a combination of these two 
 elements. That which occurs in combustion of articles 
 in general, occurs also within the body of man, 
 wherein there is constantly going on a process of com- 
 bustion or burning; oxygen is uniting with carbon and 
 carbonic acid is being formed, and this process is abso- 
 lutely necessary to life. 
 
 Oxygen is, so to speak, "nature's stimulant;" it is 
 the agent that gives us power to live healthy lives, and 
 without a plentiful supply of it, healthy life is impossi- 
 ble. In the ordinary amount, or proportion, in which 
 oxygen exists in the atmosphere, it is conducive to 
 healthy life ; in excess, it so stimulates the vital func- 
 tions, as we have seen that it does 'with the flame of 
 the candle, that they are performed with unnatural 
 activity, and we live our lives much faster, as it were. 
 
 This property of oxygen is entertainingly described 
 by Jules Verne, in his little book, "Dr. Ox." 
 
 Dr. Ox is a scientist, who is anxious to test the 
 effects of breathing pure oxygen gas. He visits a 
 quiet, old-fashioned Dutch town, the inhabitants of 
 
AIR— OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 77 
 
 which are a very slow-moving, phlegmatic, easy-going- 
 set of people. 
 
 . A play in the theatre consumes a week's time; the 
 councillors take an almost interminable time to con- 
 sider every trivial question of legislation that comes 
 before them; the pace of the snail would be marvel - 
 ously fast when compared with the movement of these 
 sluggish, bnt worthy people. 
 
 Dr. Ox secures permission to introduce illuminating 
 gas into this town, and, as he places the pipes for this 
 gas to flow through, he also, surreptitiously, arranges 
 another set of pipes, running to, and having an out- 
 let, in every house and public hall, and through these 
 pipes he delivers to the people pure oxygen gas. 
 
 The effect of the inhalation of pure oxygen is im- 
 mediate, wonderful and ludicrous. The play that con- 
 sumed a week is rushed through in one hour; the 
 council chamber is filled with excited, turbulent, talka- 
 tive councillors, who become so excited over legislation 
 that a rough and tumble fight ensues, a thing hitherto 
 unheard of in this ancient town ; the streets are filled 
 with wildly gesticulating people, and there is every evi- 
 dence that the "town has gone mad." The supply of 
 oxygen is turned off and the town at once resumes its 
 wonted aspect of calmness and serenity. 
 
 This fancy sketch is based upon the well-known 
 physiological property possessed by oxygen of stimu- 
 lating the vital powers; but it is, of course, overdrawn 
 that the point may be well illustrated. 
 
 While oxygen is the supporter of life, pure oxygen 
 
78 HYGIENE. 
 
 would be too strong for the human being to breathe, 
 hence it is found in the atmosphere diluted. The at- 
 mosphere consists of oxygen and nitrogen, in the pro- 
 portion of 21 parts of oxygen and 79 parts of nitrogen 
 in every 100 parts of air. 
 
 It is the main function of respiration or breath- 
 ing to take into the lungs this oxygen that it may 
 be distributed therefrom to the different parts of the 
 body. I would dwell very fully upon the question 
 of air and its most important ingredient, oxygen, 
 because, while we have seen that it is absolutely 
 essential to healthy life, yet there is no single 
 article necessary to life of which the average human 
 being seems so much afraid as he is of pure air or 
 oxygen. 
 
 You may question this assertion, because you have 
 never reflected upon it, but, before we get through, 
 you will be prepared to admit that though we may 
 deny the allegation theoretically, yet, practically, as 
 evidenced by the lives that we lead, we are very much 
 afraid of fresh air. 
 
 The lungs are the organs of respiration, and when 
 we inhale or ' ' breathe in " or inspire, we draw into 
 the lungs a certain amount of oxygen. You will 
 remember that the blood which has been carried to 
 the right side of the heart by the veins is impure 
 blood, rendered so by the waste or debris of the 
 body which it has gathered up in its circulation 
 throughout the body. This impurity consists largely 
 of carbonic acid ; hence, when the blood is pumped 
 
AIR — OXYGEN— RESPIRATION. 79 
 
 from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs it 
 is loaded down with carbonic acid. In the lungs, as 
 in all other parts of the body, we find immense 
 numbers of the small, thin-walled blood-vessels which 
 we have called capillaries; when the blood flows into 
 these capillaries, it becomes, you remember, compara- 
 tively stagnant, and while thus almost still, the car- 
 bonic acid passes from the blood through the walls 
 of the capillaries into the lungs, while the oxygen 
 that we have inspired passes from the lungs through 
 the walls of the caxjillaries into the blood. The blood 
 that goes to the lungs is blue, or venous blood ; the 
 blood that comes from the lungs, back to the heart, is 
 red, or arterial blood, and this change has been 
 brought about by the removal of carbonic acid from 
 and the entrance of oxygen into the blood. 
 
 Now we exhale, "breathe out" or expire, and we 
 discharge from the lungs, into the surrounding atmos- 
 phere, the carbonic acid that has been derived from 
 the blood in the process of its purification. We must 
 never forget the sublime truth that oxygen is not only 
 the great vivifler, but that it is also the great purifier 
 of nature. 
 
 Therefore we may define " respiration " as that 
 function by which oxygen is introduced into and 
 carbonic acid is taken out of the body, 
 
 This is what we ordinarily understand as respira- 
 tion; it is that which is, to a certain extent, obvious 
 to the eye ; but wonderful is the body of man ; for 
 in addition to that which we have described, there 
 
80 HYGIENE. 
 
 goes on, within the innermost recesses of the body, 
 another process of respiration, which is spoken of as 
 ' ' internal respiration. ' ' 
 
 When the oxygen enters the lungs it passes 
 through the walls of the capillaries into the blood, 
 and is taken up by the red corpuscles, already 
 described. These corpuscles now start off on their 
 journey throughout the body, and when they reach 
 the capillary circulation, in every part of the body, 
 they give off the oxygen which they have carried 
 from the lungs to the different tissues that require 
 it that they may live, and they take up from these 
 tissues the carbonic acid that has been formed as the 
 result of the life of the tissue, and they carry this 
 carbonic acid back to the lungs to be thrown out of 
 the body. 
 
 You see the difference in these two respiratory 
 functions. In the lungs oxygen is taken in, while 
 carbonic acid is given out ; in the tissues, carbonic acid 
 is taken in, while oxygen is given out. These red 
 corpuscles are, therefore, in reality, little wagons or 
 conveyances, whose duty it is to convey nourishment 
 to and remove waste from the various organs and tis- 
 sues and parts of the body. Do you not here again 
 see a demonstration of the ' ' Natural Cycle of Organic 
 Matter?" 
 
 But let us carry this "Cycle" a little further. 
 Vegetable' life also has the function of respiration ; it 
 breathes just as man does, but it absorbs carbonic acid 
 and gives off oxygen, and it is in this way that the 
 
AIK — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 
 
 81 
 
 Fig. 21.— The Cycle of Oxyen. 
 The dotted lines represent carbonic acid. 
 The black lines represent oxygen. 
 
82 HYGIENE. 
 
 atmosphere, rendered foul by the respiration of man, 
 is purified by the respiration of plant life and ren- 
 dered once more fit for human respiration. 
 
 Now we have seen that oxygen is carried to every 
 portion of the body by the red blood corpuscles, and 
 that this is the chief function or duty of these little 
 bodies, and when Ave remember that you have 2,225,000 
 millions of them in your body, constantly employed 
 in the conveyance of oxygen, it will be easy enough 
 to understand how very essential oxygen must be to 
 the healthy life of the body. You will remember that 
 heat is being continually generated within your bodies, 
 and it is being made therein by the same process 
 exactly by which it is produced in the stove, namely, 
 by the union of oxygen and carbon, which is con- 
 tinually taking place; and heat being continually thus 
 generated in all the tissues and organs and paits of 
 the body, the degree of heat being regulated, as 
 already explained, by evaporation from the surface. 
 
 Ordinary illuminating gas is composed of carbon 
 and hydrogen. When you turn it on and apply a 
 lighted match you start a process whereby the carbon 
 of the gas unites with the oxygen in the air of the 
 room and this union is attended with the production 
 of heat, just as it is in the recesses of the human 
 body. 
 
 Here, then, you see that oxygen is not only neces- 
 sary for nourishment, but that it is the agent for 
 producing bodily heat, without which life would be 
 impossible. 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 
 
 83 
 
 Now you understand that 
 it is the red blood corpuscle 
 that carries the life-giving 
 element, oxygen, to the 
 various parts of the body. 
 Let us get this clear by a 
 familiar illustration. Fig. 22 
 represents the human cir- 
 culation, while Fig. 23 rep- 
 resents the circulation of 
 a city; and between these 
 two we will find many 
 points of similarity. 
 
 Let us take the city of 
 Philadelphia, for instance, 
 and let us take all the 
 people away from it. We 
 have the streets and the 
 houses and the electric wires 
 and the Mater pipes and 
 the sewers, just as we have 
 the organs and the muscles 
 and the blood-vessels and 
 the nerves in a dead human 
 body. Keep the people away 
 from the city for a time 
 and it would fall into 
 decay, just as would the 
 
 dc.'ZZ&l'^iDTi'^, 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 Diagram of the Circulation, 
 human body if deprived of The white lines are the arteries, the 
 ii n jj ,-, . . black lines are the veins. The 
 
 blood and oxygen ; the city i ungs surround the heart. 
 
84 HYGIENE. 
 
 and the human body alike require constant attention 
 and repair. 
 
 Let us, then, imagine a completed city, so far as 
 streets and buildings and wires are concerned, and let us 
 drop into this city a lot of people, and, at once, the 
 city is alive, so to speak ; the electric light shines ; 
 stores are opened; factory whistles blow; and the thou- 
 sand and one things that, in the aggregate, constitute 
 the vitality of a community, become manifest. To one 
 who views the city at two o'clock in the morning it 
 is as a dead body; the parts of the city are all 
 there, but no life is evident. It is the living, moving, 
 acting individual human beings that give life to the 
 city of wood and stone and bricks ; so to the city of 
 flesh and bone (the human body), it is the aggregate 
 labor of the ever-circulating individual blood corpuscle 
 that gives it life, activity, vitality. 
 
 My fancy leads me to liken the individual man, 
 in his relation to the vitality of the city, to the indi- 
 vidual blood corpuscle in its relation to the life of the 
 human body. 
 
 This little corpuscle is, relatively, to the human 
 body nearly as large as is the man when compared to 
 the city that he inhabits. Through the blood-vessels of 
 the body continually journey these little corpuscles, 
 carrying life to all the parts thereof; through the ves- 
 sels, or streets of the city, continually travel these indi- 
 vidual human beings, carrying vitality to all the parts 
 thereof. 
 
 Now, we already know that when these corpuscles 
 
Fig. 23.— Diagram of the Municipal Circulation. 
 
ah: — oxygen — Respiration. 85 
 
 have made the circuit of the body, they are worn out; 
 they are loaded down and oppressed with carbonic acid 
 and, before they are ready for more work, they must 
 be .carried to the lungs to be aerated, to be invigor- 
 ated, to be rejuvenated by the life-giving oxygen of the 
 atmosphere. So the individual man, after his day of 
 labor, is worn out, and he must be refreshed ere he 
 is able to continue his work. 
 
 In the very heart of Philadelphia is a great rail- 
 road station into which are continually arriving, and 
 from which are constantly departing, trains loaded with 
 the business men of the city whose homes are in the 
 adjacent country. 
 
 When I stand in front of this station of a cool, 
 fresh, fall morning, and watch the rosy-cheeked, vig- 
 orous, healthy-looking men and women, fresh from the 
 country, being pumped, so to speak, from the station 
 into the street, and branching into the different streets 
 of the city, carrying the vitality of the country into 
 even the most remote corners thereof, I am forcibly 
 reminded of the function of the human heart ; and 
 when, at evening time, these self-same individuals, tired 
 and jaded with their day's work, are sucked into the 
 station and again pumped out into the country to be 
 re-invigorated, aerated, oxygenated, as it were, I am 
 more forcibly reminded of my morning's fancy. 
 
 The blood, pure and fresh from the lungs, is 
 pumped all over the body, as a vitalizer; received back 
 into the heart impure, it is pumped into the lungs to 
 be purified ; back again it travels from the lungs to the 
 
86 HYGIENE. 
 
 heart once more pure and fresh, ready to carry vitality 
 to the body. 
 
 The aggregation of individuals, pure and fresh from 
 the country, is pumped from the station all over the 
 city, as a vitalizer; received back into the station 
 impure, it is pumped into the country to be purified; 
 back again it travels from the country to the station, 
 once more pure and fresh, ready and able to carry 
 vitality to the city. Again, if when the blood is 
 pumped into the lungs it meets there an impure atmos- 
 phere, deficient in oxygen, it must be evident that 
 when it starts again on its journey of vitality it will 
 not be as vigorous, healthy blood as it would have 
 been had it been subjected to a purer atmosphere in 
 the lungs. Is it too much to claim that the individual 
 who, after an exhausting day's work, seeks his recu- 
 peration in the more or less impure atmosphere of a 
 city, will not be as healthy and vigorous in the morn- 
 ing, as he who rushes off to the pure, life-giving 
 atmosphere of the country ? As the blood corpuscle 
 must be thoroughly oxygenated in the lungs, so the 
 city corpuscle (the individual man, woman or child) 
 must be well oxygenated in the pure air of the 
 country, else the human body, in the first instance, 
 and the body politic — the community, the city — in 
 the second instance, will not achieve the greatest 
 measure of development, of material prosperity, of 
 which each is capable. 
 
 The lungs are two in number and are located 
 one in either side of the chest, or that cavity bounded 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 
 
 87 
 
 by the ribs. They are sponge-like in structure, and are 
 capable of being compressed into a very small space or 
 of being very greatly distended. Into the tissue of 
 each lung run a great number of little tubes, called 
 bronchial tubes; and when you speak of bronchitis, it 
 means an inflammation of the lining membrane of these 
 
 little tubes. When the air is taken in through the 
 nose (as it always should be) it is drawn down through 
 a single tube called the larynx; still further down, it 
 goes through a continuation of the larynx, called the 
 trachea; shortly, the trachea divides into two tubes, 
 called respectively the right and left bronchial tubes,- 
 
88 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 one tube passing into each lung, to give off branches, 
 divide and sub-divide until the branches have reached 
 each and every portion of the lung tissue. I have 
 said that the lung is sponge-like in structure; just as 
 the sponge can absorb water into the little holes or 
 cavities with which it is everywhere riddled, so the 
 lung tissue is full of little elastic bags or sacs, 
 called pulmonary vesicles, and it is into one of 
 
 Fig. 25.— The Lungs. 
 
 these little vesicles that each ultimate branch of the 
 bronchial tube terminates. These vesicles are very thin, 
 elastic and distensible, and on their outer wall is found a 
 network of the capillary blood-vessels, already described. 
 When the air enters these little vesicles they 
 become distended thereby and through their thin walls 
 
A I R — OXYGEN RESPIRATION. 89 
 
 the oxygen passes to enter the blood in the capillaries 
 on their other side, while, inversely, the carbonic acid 
 in the blood passes through the wall of the vesicle, 
 to its cavity, to be thrown out in the act of expiration. 
 
 The lungs might be likened to a number of bunches 
 of grapes (Fig. 25). Let the main stem represent the 
 windpipe ; (the larynx and trachea) each branch-stem 
 will represent a branching bronchial tube ; while the 
 ultimate little branches, each terminating in a grape, 
 will illustrate the ultimate little bronchial tubes, each 
 terminating in a pulmonary vesicle; and if we imagine 
 each grape to be inclosed in a network of little tubes, 
 we can understand the arrangement of the capillary 
 vessels around each air vesicle. (See Fig. 26.) 
 
 The movements of respiration are both voluntary 
 and involuntary ; they are reflex or automatic, as we 
 have seen that all the vital functions are, but their 
 force can be increased by the use of muscles that are 
 directly controlled by the will. 
 
 A person who may be unconscious will yet breathe, 
 and he does so by the action of muscles that derive 
 their power to act from the sympathetic or ganglionic 
 nervous system, these movements being reflex and 
 involuntary. It is, however, utterly impossible for 
 our will to control the function of respiration, so as 
 to stop it, save to a very limited degree ; while it is 
 very easy for us to use our will to increase the force 
 and power of this function, from which we learn a 
 valuable lesson, to be discussed further on. You may 
 "hold your breath' ' for a minute or so, but it will 
 
90 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 then happen that the "necessity for respiration" will 
 overcome the strongest will. The demand of the sys- 
 tem for oxygen is so imperative that it is not within 
 the power of the strongest will to refuse obedience 
 to it for more than a minute or so ; it would be 
 simply impossible for a person to commit suicide by 
 
 Fig. 26. 
 
 refusing to breathe, because the reflex muscles would 
 prove stronger than his will ; yet this same person 
 could starve himself to death by refusing to eat. 
 
 Is not this another evidence of the prime necessity 
 of oxygen to healthy life ? 
 
 The diaphragm (pronounced diafram) is the chief 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 91 
 
 muscle of inspiration, though it is aided by many 
 others. It is a large muscle that divides the chest 
 from the abdomen, and it is located, roughly speak- 
 ing, at the base of the ribs, running from one side 
 to the other and from the front to the back of the 
 body. • Upon this muscle the lower ends of the lungs 
 rest. It is an involuntary or reflex muscle, contract- 
 ing and relaxing about eighteen times in every min- 
 ute. When this muscle contracts it is drawn down- 
 wards, the cavity of the chest is enlarged, and, since 
 "nature abhors a vacuum," the air rushes into the 
 lungs to fill them, to swell them up, and thus fill the 
 increased capacity of the chest, which otherwise would 
 be full of nothingness, a condition that will not be 
 tolerated by nature. As you are reading this book, 
 and breathing naturally, stop for a moment and take a 
 long breath ; now you have called into play the acces- 
 sory muscles of respiration, you are using the voluntary 
 muscles : your will has commanded the muscles of your 
 chest, attached to your ribs, to contract; they have 
 obeyed, and, in doing so, have raised your ribs so as 
 to still further increase the capacity of your chest, and 
 more air must rush in to fill this extra space. Now 
 why do these reflex or involuntary muscles contract, 
 what excites them to action, what is the cause of respi- 
 ration ? The presence of carbonic acid in the blood 
 and the necessity for its removal is the exciting cause 
 of respiration ; this carbonic acid, offensive to the 
 nerves, and poisonous to the body at large, so impresses 
 the nerves, that they demand its removal, and they 
 
92 HYGIENE. 
 
 secure this removal by compelling the muscles of res- 
 piration to act as we have described. Therefore, we can 
 say that the presence of carbonic acid in the blood and 
 the necessity for its removal, with the deficiency of 
 oxygen in the blood and the demand for its increase, 
 are the causes of respiration. 
 
 Besides the ordinary acts of respiration, the 
 muscles of respiration are capable of a series of 
 movements of an involuntary reflex nature indicative 
 of certain emotions and mental states. 
 
 Coughing is a violent expiratory movement caused 
 by some stimulus applied to some portion of the air 
 passages, and is the effort of nature to force out, by 
 a violent passage of the air outwards, whatever may 
 be causing the irritation. 
 
 Sneezing is caused by a stimulus applied to the 
 nose or eyes, and consists of a deep inspiration, fol- 
 lowed by a sudden .and violent expiration, the effort 
 here again being made to dislodge the irritating article 
 by the sudden forcing of a current of air against it. 
 The entrance of dust into the nostril, by acting as an 
 irritant, will cause the act of sneezing in the effort 
 of nature to get rid of the dust. Sneezing is a purely 
 reflex act, since it is impossible to produce it volun- 
 tarily, except indirectly by irritating the lining mem- 
 brane of the nostril. 
 
 Laughing consists of a full inspiration, followed 
 by a series of very short, rapid, jerky expiratory 
 efforts. The facial muscles are, at the same time, 
 thrown into a characteristic set of movements. 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 93 
 
 Crying is made up of a series of short, sudden 
 expirations, accompanied by peculiar facial contortions, 
 and the flow of tears. 
 
 Sobbing consists of a rapid series of jerky inspira- 
 tions, causing but little air to enter the chest, fol- 
 lowed by one long expiration. 
 
 Sighing is a long, slow inspiration, quickly fol- 
 lowed by a corresponding expiration. 
 
 Yawning is a very long, deep inspiration, com- 
 pletely filling the chest. It is accompanied by a 
 peculiar depression of the lower jaw, wide-open mouth, 
 facial movements, and, commonly, stretching of the 
 limbs. 
 
 Hiccough is an unexpected inspiratory spasm, 
 chiefly of the diaphragm, the entrance of the air 
 being checked by the sudden closure of the glottis. 
 
 You now understand that oxygen is a necessity of 
 life, and you understand that the air expired from 
 the lungs is poor in oxygen and rich in carbonic 
 acid, and that the expired air is, therefore, unfit to 
 sustain healthy animal life until it has been purified 
 by the respiration of vegetable life. 
 
 To impress this truth upon your minds in a prac- 
 tical way, I will give you some historical facts to 
 demonstrate it. 
 
 In the year 1756 the half -civilized Nabob of Cal- 
 cutta confined, for only one night, one hundred and 
 forty-six men in a cell known as "The Black Hole 
 of Calcutta," 18 feet long by 14 feet wide, with two 
 small windows. The following morning one hundred 
 
94 HYGIENE. 
 
 and twenty-three dead bodies were taken out, and 
 twenty-three beings who could scarcely be said to be 
 alive. 
 
 In 1848 two hundred deck passengers of the 
 steamer Londonderry, on her passage by way of 
 Liverpool to America, were ordered below by the cap- 
 tain, on account of stormy weather, into a hold that 
 was 18 feet long by 11 feet wide and 7 feet high. 
 The hatches were fastened down, and when they were 
 opened the next morning, seventy-two dead bodies 
 were found and several of the remainder were dying. 
 
 In 1750 forty persons perished from putrid fever 
 caused by breathing the foul air that issued from the 
 prisoner's dock of the "Old Bailey Prison. 1 ' The 
 deaths in all these cases (says Dr. A. N. Bell, who 
 records them) were caused by the repeated respira- 
 tion of the same air, with its constantly accumulating 
 load of carbonic acid and other poisons, exhaled from 
 the lungs and skin, which exposure to the free atmos- 
 phere would have wholly dissipated and destroyed. 
 
 As I finished the last sentence I was called hur- 
 riedly to a patient whose case will serve to clearly 
 point a prominent fact in the physiology of respira- 
 tion. This patient was in the last stages of consump- 
 tion. Every part of his body was extremely weak, 
 and his heart participated in this general weakness ; 
 lie was gasping for breath, complaining that he was 
 suffocating. He was breathing 32 times in every min- 
 ute. (You remember that about 18 times per minute 
 is normal.) Now, why ? Because his heart was so 
 
AIR — OXYGEN — RESPIRATION. 95 
 
 weak that it was not able to pump enough blood 
 into his lungs to receive and convey to the tissues 
 of the body the requisite amount of oxygen. His 
 distress was referred by him to his chest; he was 
 short of breath ; but to the eye and the ear of the 
 physician every little particle of tissue in this man's 
 body was short of oxygen, and it was crying out for 
 more. So little blood was being sent to his lungs by 
 his weakened heart that he was breathing twice as 
 fast as normal in his effort to give this blood sufficient 
 oxygen; but yet the supply was not equal to the 
 demand, the tissues required more, and he was fran- 
 tically trying to supply the demand. 
 
 I gave him some medicine to stimulate and increase 
 the power of his heart; in ten minutes the action 
 of this organ was perceptibly strengthened, his respira- 
 tions dropped from 32 to 20, more blood was going 
 to the lungs; the demand of the tissues for oxygen 
 was being met, and the distressing sense of impend- 
 ing suffocation disappeared. 
 
 To go back from this digression. We spoke of 
 other poisons besides carbonic acid being exhaled 
 from the lungs. The expired air also contains traces 
 of the following impurities : ammonia, hydrogen, car- 
 buretted hydrogen, organic matter. These, and prob- 
 ably other impurities, give the breath its peculiar 
 odor and noxious properties; for an atmosphere ren- 
 dered ' k stuffy" by expired air is much more injurious 
 to health than an atmosphere in which a similar 
 deficiency of oxygen or excess of carbonic acid has 
 
96 HYGIENE. 
 
 beeu artificially produced by chemical means. This 
 fact is most important when calculating the ventilation 
 required for hygienic purposes. 
 
 The organic matter discharged in expiration is most 
 actively poisonous, so much so that the accumulation, 
 on a window pane, from the expired breath of a 
 human being will produce instant death if injected 
 under the skin of a rabbit. 
 
 You remember that oxygen exists in the atmos- 
 phere in the proportion of 21 parts in every 100; 
 if the proportion should get as low as 7| parts, 
 a sense of suffocation would be experienced, and 
 if it gets as low as 3 parts, death rapidly 
 ensues. This was what happened in the cases that 
 we have described. These persons breathing and 
 re-breathing the same air all night consumed the 
 oxygen and gave out carbonic acid ; there was no 
 chance for this air to give up its carbonic acid to 
 vegetable life and absorb oxygen therefrom ; hence 
 the time arrived when there was less than -three parts 
 of oxygen in every one hundred parts of the atmos- 
 phere of the apartment, and the death of the occu- 
 pants was the result. 
 
 Connected with the function of respiration is the 
 voice ; the voice is a wind instrument, just as is the 
 cornet or the flute. Any wind instrument makes 
 sound by the passage of air through openings, and 
 the various notes or tones are produced by enlarging 
 or contracting the calibre of these openings. The 
 violin makes sound by scratching the strings, which 
 
 
AIR — X Y < i E X — RESPIRA T ION. 97 
 
 starts them into motion, and this motion imparted to 
 the air sets it into vibration, and in this way the 
 sounds of music are produced. 
 
 So the voice which, being natural, is therefore, of 
 course, the most perfect of musical instruments, pro- 
 duces sound by the passage of air through openings 
 and against cords, or strings, which this air sets into 
 motion. The organ of voice is called the larynx, and 
 it is that part of the throat that stands out prominently 
 and is known, popularly, as Adam's apple. The 
 human voice is produced by an expiratory blast of air 
 being forced through a narrow opening at the top of 
 the windpipe, and this opening is called the glottis. 
 This glottis, which lies in the lower part of the larynx, 
 or "Adam's apple," is bounded on each side by the 
 edges of thin, elastic, membranous folds that project 
 into the air passages. These membranous folds, which 
 are called the vocal cords, are set vibrating by the 
 current of air from below, and, in turn, communicate 
 their vibrations to the air in the air passages situated 
 aboVe them. In his '"Manual of Physiology," Dr. 
 Yeo says that the vocal apparatus produces sound in 
 the same manner as a musical instrument of the reed- 
 pipe variety. If we compare it with the pipe of an 
 organ, we find all the parts of the latter represented. 
 The lungs within the chest act as the bellows." The 
 bronchial tubes and the trachea* are the supply pipes 
 and air box. The vocal cords are the vibrating tongues ; 
 
 *The trachea is a tube connecting the larynx above with the bronchial tubes 
 below. See Fig. 24. 
 
98 HYGIENE. 
 
 while the larynx, mouth, and nose act as the accessory 
 or resonating pipes. The blast of air is produced and 
 regulated by the muscles of respiration, while the spe- 
 cial muscles of the larynx, by enlarging or contracting 
 the glottis, and by stretching (making more tense) 
 or relaxing the vocal cords, regulate the pitch of the 
 notes produced. Other sets of muscles, by altering the 
 conditions of the resonating pipes, give rise to many 
 modifications in the vocal tones, and thus produce what 
 is called speech. Not only do the lungs and the larynx 
 and trachea take part in the production of speech, but 
 the tongue, the lips, the cheeks and the teeth — all, by 
 modifying the way in which the air leaves the mouth, 
 have their part in regulating speech. You all know 
 how imperfect is the speech of a person who has no 
 teeth, and, in like manner, one whose tongue, lips or 
 cheeks are paralyzed cannot speak distinctly. For 
 instance, if you undertake to pronounce the letters b, 
 2?, f, V, note how the sound is produced through the 
 agency of the lips ; and if the muscles of the lips were 
 paralyzed, it would be utterly impossible for you* to 
 pronounce these letters. 
 
 Now say t, d, s, I. See how the tongue is pushed 
 either against the roof of the mouth or the teeth, and 
 try to say these letters without allowing your tongue 
 to do so ; it is impossible. 
 
 So, then, we understand that the organs of speech 
 are the lungs, bronchial tubes, trachea, larynx, mouth, 
 cheeks, lips, nose, tongue, and teeth; and that for per- 
 fect speech all of these parts are essential. 
 
AIR — OXYGEIN — RESPIRATION. 99 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 114. What is the " staff of life ? " 
 
 115. What is oxygen? 
 
 116. How do you prove that oxygen supports combustion? 
 
 117. What is nature's stimulant? how does Jules Verne demon- 
 strate this property of oxygen ? 
 
 118. In what proportion is oxygen found in the atmosphere? why 
 is it diluted ? 
 
 119. What is the main function of respiration and what are the 
 organs thereof? what takes place in the lungs? 
 
 120. What is internal respiration ? describe it. 
 
 121. Describe the cycle of oxygen. 
 
 122. Give a familiar illustration of the oxygen-bearing function of 
 the red corpuscle. 
 
 128. Compare the human circulation with that of a city. 
 
 124. Describe the location and make-up of the lungs ; what is the 
 larynx; the trachea; pulmonary vesicles ? what takes place in these 
 vesicles ? 
 
 125. Are the respiratory movements voluntary ? 
 
 126. Is the necessity for oxygen imperative? 
 
 127. What is the diaphragm .' describe the mechanism of respiration. 
 
 128. What is the exciting cause of the respiratory act ? 
 
 129. Describe the special movements of the muscles of respiration ; 
 coughing; sneezing; laughing; crying; sobbing; sighing; yawning; 
 hiccough. 
 
 130. Give some illustrations of the fatal effects of a deficiency of 
 oxygen. 
 
 131. What does the expired breath contain besides carbonic acid ? 
 
 132. What is the lowest percentage of oxygen in the air that is 
 compatible with life ? 
 
 133. Describe the organs and mechanisms of voice ; what is the 
 r/lottis f what are the vocal cords ? 
 
100 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 VENTILATION-HEATING. 
 
 Having said so much about oxygen, it will be most 
 appropriate to now take up the subject of ventilation, 
 because ventilation simply means (and it means nothing 
 more) a plentiful supply of oxygen to the human body. 
 Ventilation is an unknown and an unneeded word to 
 the aborigines whose lives are passed constantly in 
 the open air ; it is a word born of the necessities of 
 artificial civilization. Adam and Eve were familiar with 
 the uses of oxygen, but they knew not the word ven- 
 tilation. Does it not seem strange that with oxygen 
 everywhere present in the atmosphere, knowing how 
 absolutely necessary it is to healthy life, costing abso- 
 lutely nothing, being boundlessly accessible to the poor- 
 est as well as the richest person, does it not seem 
 strange that it is necessary for a science — the science 
 of ventilation — to spring into existence in order that 
 the mass of humanity may be afforded an adequate 
 supply of oxygen ? 
 
 Ordinary outside atmospheric air always contains 
 some carbonic acid, but not more than about six parts 
 in ten thousand, and when the proportion becomes 
 greater than this the air is unwholesome. Since man 
 has decided to shut himself up from the air in houses, 
 
V ENTILATK N — HEATING. 1 ' 1 1 
 
 it becomes necessary that lie should devise some means 
 by which the carbonic acid that his body is continu- 
 ally making shall be carried away, or in a short time 
 the atmosphere of the apartment that he occupies will 
 contain much more than six parts in ten thousand of 
 carbonic acid, and his health will suffer thereby. 
 
 In my Catechism of Hygiene, I have stated that 
 a human being will consume three thousand cubic feet 
 of air per hour. This is the ideal amount, and in pro- 
 viding for health it would be well if each person could 
 be assured of three thousand cubic feet of space. Of 
 course, it must be understood that when speaking of 
 ventilation we are dealing entirely with ' k in-doors," 
 for in the street or the country we find all the air 
 that is required. Let us now suppose a room twenty 
 feet long, ten feet wide, and eight feet high — 20 X 10 
 X 8 = 1,600 — and we have therein 1,600 cubic feet of 
 space; since air is everywhere present, we will have in 
 this space 1,600 cubic feet of air, and since one person 
 requires 3,000 cubic feet per hour, it will be seen that 
 a room of the size mentioned will contain only enough 
 air to supply one person for a little over half an 
 hour. This, of course, is the maximum amount 
 required; and I do not mean to say that it is absolutely 
 requisite for each individual to have 3,000 cubic feet of 
 space in the room, or house, that he occupies. My 
 idea is that the air in a room of the dimensions given 
 will, in the course of a half an hour, become suffi- 
 ciently deteriorated by the respiration of one person 
 to bring it down below the standard of purity 
 
102 HYGIENE. 
 
 required for perfect health. I am assuming, of course, 
 that none of the foul air is allowed to leave this room 
 and no fresh or pure air permitted to enter; which 
 is, fortunately, an impossibility, as we shall see later 
 on. I am stating an ideal condition, that we may 
 have a foundation from which to start in our discus- 
 sion of ventilation. 
 
 It is a fact that the walls of houses are porous, so 
 to speak; they are pervious to the passage of air. 
 Hence it happens that even though the doors and win- 
 dows may be closed, there is yet constantly taking 
 place an interchange of air between that without and 
 that within the house ; the inside air, loaded with car- 
 bonic acid, is passing out, and the outside air, loaded 
 with oxygen, is passing in, through the walls. In addi- 
 tion to this, more or less air passes in and out through 
 the cracks and crevices of the doors and windows, so 
 that, fortunately, it is not possible for us to shut out 
 all the air. 
 
 What we have described may be called ' ' natural 
 ventilation, ' ' and by these means the air will be changed 
 sufficiently to reduce the requisite cubic space from 
 3,000 to something like 400 or 500 cubic feet for each 
 individual ; but, without special ventilation it will not 
 be safe to go below this limit. 
 
 Open doors and windows afford the simplest and 
 easiest method of ventilation ; but here comes in the 
 danger of draughts. With door and window ventila- 
 tion we can safely reduce the requisite amount of cubic 
 space to about 250 feet for each person. 
 
VENTILATION --'I HATING. 
 
 103 
 
 Let us now clearly understand what is meant by a 
 draught. An old Spanish proverb says: " If cold wind 
 reach you through a hole, go make your will and mind 
 your soul." You know that "still waters run deep," 
 while shallow little streams usually rush tumultuously 
 along. 
 
 So a small stream of air, finding its way through 
 the keyhole, or a chink or crevice, will generally move 
 with great velocity ; and it is a current of cool or cold 
 air moving rapidly across a room, that may be called a 
 draught. 
 
 r - .... :: : : :; ::_ ;.,l ._j ~:^i^^_i^^:::: , ^:^i ^'\\\^\^ ; :: ::v:: : .^r~~r7^: > ^^^„;i 
 
 Fig. 27.— Draughts. 
 
 For instance, an open fire will draw from the room, 
 up the chimney, about 150 cubic feet of air per hour; 
 if no provision be made for the entrance of this air into 
 the room, it must be sucked in through the crevices of 
 the doors and windows, but, particularly, through the 
 
104 HYGIENE. 
 
 keyhole, as this is the largest opening. The flame of 
 a lighted candle held at the keyhole, will be blown 
 horizontally by the draught that is thus created, the 
 draught being a rapidly-flowing current of air from the 
 keyhole to the fireplace. 
 
 Hence, natural "ventilation" is very apt to be accom- 
 panied by draughts. Are draughts injurious ? 
 
 To a x^erson in robust health, a draught is not inju- 
 rious, unless he be overheated or very much exhausted 
 from violent exercise ; while to the very young and the 
 very old, and to those who are not very strong, a 
 draught is very dangerous. 
 
 It is a fact that a current of cold air flowing 
 rapidly against the body of one who is not strong is 
 injurious in several ways. By cooling the surface of 
 the body too rapidly it calls upon the heat-generating 
 functions within to supply more heat, and if they be 
 not vigorous they are unable to reply to the demand, 
 thus allowing the temperature of the body to fall 
 below that which is requisite for healthy life. 
 
 Again, this sudden cold applied to the skin so con- 
 tracts the orifices of the sweat glands _. that the 
 ' ' insensible perspiration ' ' is checked, and the effete 
 matter which this perspiration has been removing from 
 the body, is conrpelled to remain therein. 
 
 Still further, the capillary blood-vessels in the skin 
 are contracted by this cold air; contracting, they force 
 some of their contents of blood out of them, and 
 this blood, compelled to go somewhere, seeks lodg- 
 ment in some part or organ that is weak and unable 
 
V ENTILATION — HEAT] NG. 1 < >f) 
 
 to resist its intrusion, producing a congestion or an 
 inflammation. 
 
 Finally, the cold air acting upon and disagreeably 
 impressing the nerve terminals in the skin, this impres- 
 sion is made manifest, through the agency of the 
 nerves, upon some remote organ or part that may 
 happen to be weak. Thus, when a person is said to 
 have taken cold, you now understand that this means 
 that a draught or current of air cooler than the 
 body has caused the evaporation from this body of 
 more heat than it can afford .to lose, that it has 
 checked "insensible perspiration;" that it has driven 
 the blood from the surface, and that it has disagree- 
 ably impressed the nerves of the skin; a much more 
 complicated process than it would, at first sight, seem. 
 You can also understand how one in vigorous health 
 can resist the pernicious influence of a draught. The 
 abstraction of heat can be readily made up from his 
 vigorous heat-producing apparatus within, because as 
 more heat is required, he is able to make more ; the 
 checking of the insensible perspiration will be less 
 disastrous to him because he is able to withstand its 
 evil effects ; the contraction of the surface blood-ves- 
 sels cannot occur with him, because his internal vessels 
 being equally strong are able to successfully resist the 
 intrusion of an undue amount of blood, which must, 
 therefore, remain in the surface, while his nerves can 
 throw off the deleterious impression that would be 
 dangerous to less vigorous nerves. 
 
 Again, there is much in custom, and he who has 
 
106 HYGIENE. 
 
 accustomed himself to an unnaturally and unnecessarily 
 high artificial temperature, will be much more liable 
 to take cold from exposure to a draught than will 
 one who has not been made susceptible and tender, 
 so to speak. This can be readily exj)lained and under- 
 stood. The heat-producing function within the body, 
 you will recollect, is the same as the heat-producing 
 function of a stove ; that is to say, in the body, as 
 in the stove, heat is produced by the union of oxygen 
 and carbon. Therefore we may say that the body is 
 a stove or furnace in which carbon (or coal) is con- 
 tinually burning and producing heat. The human fur- 
 nace works automatically ; that is to say, it produces 
 just enough heat to keep the temperature of the 
 body up to the proper degree. Like the majority of 
 human beings, this furnace is not anxious to do any 
 unnecessary work ; hence if we are accustomed to 
 rooms of a very high temperature, by which the heat 
 of the body is artificially maintained, this natural 
 furnace will lag in its work; it will become lazy, as 
 it were, because the work required of it has been, 
 thereby, reduced ; becoming lazy, it is not able to 
 quickly respond to any sudden demand, hence when 
 the draught of cold air robs the body of its heat, 
 the natural furnace is not able to at once make good 
 this deficiency, as it would have been had it not 
 been weakened and enervated by want of use. 
 
 The average American hives himself up in such a 
 torrid temperature in cold weather that the moment he 
 is out of doors he appreciates cold to its fullest 
 
VENTILATION — HEATING. 107 
 
 intensity, and finds himself exceedingly susceptible to 
 the assaults of Boreas. With the Englishman this is 
 not true. The average temperature of the English 
 house in winter is not over 60°. We have found this 
 to be true of the hospitals as well as of the private 
 houses, even in the great "Consumption Hospital" at 
 Brompton, where the invalids, many of them pale and 
 emaciated, were wandering about in thinnest white cot- 
 ton garments, the temperature of the ward was never 
 above 58° or 60° ; yet no one complained of discom- 
 fort, neither was there any evidence that any person 
 was in the slightest degree inconvenienced by the tem- 
 perature, which to a similar class of invalids in this 
 country would be considered almost deadly. It is not 
 an uncommon practice for Americans, especially invalids, 
 to keep their rooms in winter time at a temperature 
 of 78° to 80°, and we have not infrequently found the 
 thermometer to indicate 85° to 90° in the room of an 
 invalid to whom we are very sure a lower temperature 
 would be absolutely intolerable ; so high a temperature 
 in the summer time would be pronounced ' ' roasting. ' ' 
 The dryness of the air, of course, renders a high tem- 
 perature more tolerable in cold weather if one chooses 
 to subject himself to it; but this cold weather oven- 
 baking, to which so many Americans subject them- 
 selves, has the effect of rendering them exceedingly 
 susceptible to colds, which are contracted as the result 
 of exposure to even slight changes of temperature, and 
 draughts of air by which some part of the body is chilled, 
 and to the weather changes, against which even the 
 
108 HYGIENE. 
 
 predictions of the weather clerk do not always render 
 adequate protection possible. 
 
 The Englishman, accustomed to a lower temper- 
 ature, finds himself thereby to a very considerable 
 degree protected from a large class of petty ailments 
 of which many Americans constantly complain, and 
 which render the lives of not a few almost inconceiv- 
 ably wretched. The proverbial American fear of draughts 
 is coming to be much talked and laughed about by our 
 cousins across the Atlantic. Just now a ridiculous, 
 but, to say the least, very impressive joke, in- 
 tended to satirize this particular feature of the Ameri- 
 can temperament, is going the rounds of the American 
 papers. The story relates to a certain Yankee who 
 died, requesting on his death-bed that he be cremated. 
 Accordingly soon after his death his friends proceeded 
 to carry out his request. After suitable preparations 
 his body was placed in the crematory and the door 
 closed. After the fierce, consuming flames had contin- 
 ued their work for an half hour or more, one of the 
 company ventured to open the door to observe how the 
 combustion was progressing. According to the account, 
 for the veracity of which we cannot vouch, however, 
 no sooner was the door opened than the defunct 
 Yankee sat up amid the flames, stark blue, and shiv- 
 ering, and exclaimed, "Please shut that door. You 
 know very well I never could stand a draught." 
 
 Understanding now what a draught means, you 
 should be able to anticipate the means that must be 
 employed to avoid its evil effects. 
 
VENTILATION — HEATING. 
 
 109 
 
 In the first place, you should endeavor so to 
 harden your body that it will not be susceptible to 
 draughts ; because, with all your precautions, you will 
 find it impossible to always avoid them. To do this, 
 you should copy the English custom of not allowing 
 the temperature of the house to be above G0° Fall. \ 
 and if, with this degree of heat, you feel chilly, you 
 can rest assured that the furnace within you is lag- 
 ging in its work, and the best thing for you to do 
 is to take a good, long, brisk walk in the open air, 
 whereby the generation of heat within will be in- 
 creased. 
 
 Suppose, in a room with an open fire, you throw 
 open the window; the draught, or current of air, in 
 
 Fig. 28. — Window Ventilation. 
 
 this room will now be directly from the open win- 
 dow to the fire. Of course, some little air will come 
 
110 HYGIENE. 
 
 through chinks and crevices and keyhole, but not to 
 any perceptible extent, because all the air that the 
 chimney requires can enter through the open window. 
 Under such circumstances, you can easily determine 
 the direction of the current of air, or draught, and 
 avoid it. 
 
 But will this current of air merely pass from the 
 window to the fireplace, and will the rest of the air 
 remain stagnant ? By no means. The stronger cur- 
 rent from the window to the fire will exert a suction 
 force upon all the air in the room, and will suck it, 
 so to speak, into the current, from every portion of 
 the room. But these smaller, secondary currents (indi- 
 cated by the lighter arrows in the drawing) will not 
 have the velocity of the parent current, they will not 
 be perceptible, and will not constitute what we have 
 described as draughts. Ideal ventilation is that which 
 will bring in pure and carry out foul air without 
 causing a draught, and it is in the effort to accomplish 
 this that so many systems of ventilation have been 
 devised, the advocates of each claiming that theirs is 
 the best. In truth, no better system of ventilation can 
 be had than an open fireplace, with a fire burning 
 therein, and an open window ; it will be easy to cal- 
 culate the direction of the greater current of air, which 
 will be in the shortest direction from the window to the 
 fireplace, and, having ascertained this, it will be an 
 easy matter to avoid the draught. 
 
 But, in very cold weather, a grate fire will not 
 sufficiently heat a room with a window opened. Hence, 
 
VENTILATION— HEATING. Ill 
 
 either tlie heat must be increased or the outside air 
 must be warmed before it is discharged into the room. 
 To meet these indications, I am satisfied that there is 
 nothing more efficacious than a properly constructed 
 old-fashioned hot-air furnace. It may be, that elec- 
 tricity, as its advocates claim, will solve the problem of 
 house-warming more satisfactorily than any plan yet 
 devised; but, until this has been demonstrated, experi- 
 ence has convinced me that we had better adhere to the 
 hot-air furnace. 
 
 If you have a hot-air furnace with a tube or box so 
 arranged that the fresh, pure air from outside is drawn 
 through it to the hot-air chamber of the furnace, and 
 in each room an open fireplace, with a fire burning 
 therein, you will have the best possible ventilation. 
 The inlet for the hot air is best placed near the ceiling, 
 for, as the air cools a little, it becomes heavier, and 
 will of its own weight descend ; so that not only 
 in this way is the circulation of the air aided, but 
 the level of the atmosphere in which the person moves 
 will not be so overheated as to make us tender, the air 
 cooling as it falls until that which is being used by the 
 individual has been reduced to a proper and healthy 
 degree. (See Fig. 29.) 
 
 Steam heating has its advocates, but practical expe- 
 rience causes me to deprecate it. It has an advantage 
 in not raising into the house so much dust as the hot- 
 air furnace does ; it also saves labor, as a whole house 
 or large building may be heated by a single fire. 
 
 But steam heat is not a healthful heat. There are 
 
112 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 a! 4 
 
 ^1. 
 
 ic 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 Ideal Ventilation and Heating. 
 
VENTILATION- -HEATING. 113 
 
 two methods of heating by steam, the direct and the 
 indirect. In direct steam heating, the steam is carried 
 all over the house in pipes and in each room a radiator 
 is placed. The indirect provides for a coil of steam 
 pipe in the cellar placed in a box, or compartment, into 
 which the air from without is introduced • through a 
 large pipe. This air is heated by contact with the hot 
 steam pipes, and it then passes up through pipes, or 
 flues, to be delivered into the different rooms and halls 
 of the house, just as is the case with the hot-air fur- 
 nace. 
 
 In direct steam heating, it will be seen, there is no 
 provision for the entrance of pure air; in the indirect 
 method pure air is introduced, but in neither is there 
 any provision for the removal of the foul air, both of 
 which are so efficiently provided for in a properly con- 
 structed hot-air furnace. Again, there is another objec- 
 tion to steam heating from a hygienic point of view ; it 
 is a fact, that when air is warmed it becomes thirsty; 
 that is to say, the higher you raise the temperature oi 
 air, the greater becomes its capacity for the absorption 
 of moisture. The air of a room heated by steam has a 
 great avidity for moisture, and the only way in which 
 this thirst of the air can be satisfied is by abstracting 
 moisture from the bodies of the occupants of the room, 
 and in doing this it unnaturally dilates the orifices of 
 the sweat glands, through which this moisture must 
 pass, thus rendering one very susceptible to "taking- 
 cold," from the action of a draught. If it be impor- 
 tant that we should have ventilation in every room of 
 
114 HYGIENE. 
 
 the house, it is much more important that the bed- 
 room should be thoroughly ventilated, for in this room 
 one passes more time than in any other room, and he 
 seeks this apartment for purposes of rest, that his rest- 
 ing body may recuperate from the drain that is made 
 upon it during his waking, working hours, and it is 
 absolutely necessary for this recuperation that there 
 shall be a plentiful supply of oxygen. 
 
 Unless carefully looked out for, the air of a bed- 
 room becomes stagnant and confined, and confined air 
 that has been breathed speedily becomes, like stagnant 
 water, full of self-multix^lying poison, deadly to human 
 beings. 
 
 If, after having occupied a room, with doors and 
 windows closed and no means of ventilation, for one 
 night, you go out of doors, walk around the block and 
 come back to the room, you cannot help but note the 
 foulness of the atmosphere of the apartment unless 
 your nerves of smell have completely lost their sensi- 
 tiveness. 
 
 This foulness is due not only to the carbonic acid 
 and other impurities given off in respiration, but also 
 to the emanations from the skin given off in the "in- 
 sensible perspiration;" and the foulness of an unventi- 
 lated bedroom is really something terrible. The offen- 
 sive effluvium which pervades close bedrooms (says Dr. 
 A. N. Bell) and the beds and clothing of those who 
 occupy them, is due to the accumulation of such impu- 
 rities as those above described, exhaled from the lungs 
 and skin. They not only adhere to the person, but to 
 
VENTILATION — HEATING. 115 
 
 all the surroundings. They penetrate and cleave to the 
 beds and bedclothes and wearing apparel; stick to the 
 walls and furniture ; in short, they thus create a nidus, 
 which is not only offensive to the smell, but perpetu- 
 ally lessening the vital force and predisposing to blood 
 poisoning all who habitually expose themselves to it; a 
 veritable hot-bed for the planting and propagation of 
 srjecific diseases, and the most fruitful of all sources of 
 scrofula and coiisumption, and other diseases often 
 falsely ascribed to heredity. 
 
 I cannot too strongly impress this point upon you. 
 Consumption kills more persons than any other disease — 
 more, indeed, than any five or six other diseases com- 
 bined; it is the greatest foe to human life and health; 
 it is a disease that, when far advanced, cannot be 
 cured; it is a disease that causes a long, suffering 
 sickness, and it is a disease that has for its greatest 
 cause the breathing of impure air. Physicians know 
 how to prevent consumption and how to cure it in its 
 early stages, but it is not by the use of any particular 
 drug, but by the avoidance of foul, and the abundant 
 use of pure air. 
 
 Not less important than ventilation of the bedroom, 
 is ventilation of the bath-room, particularly if there is 
 a water-closet in this room. Good plumbing aims to 
 prevent the return of foul air, or sewer-gas, from the 
 sewer up the pipes, back into the bath-room, to be- 
 from there disseminated throughout the house. No 
 matter how good the plumbing may be, it will be well 
 to take the additional precaution of securing good ven- 
 
116 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 tilation, so that any foul air that may return will be 
 carried away. This can be readily accomplished by a 
 very simple and inexpensive device. (Fig. 30.) 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 Bath-room Ventilation. 
 
 Have made a tin pipe with a funnel-shaped open- 
 ing at one end, located a foot or two above the gas 
 jet. Carry this pipe across the ceiling and out through 
 the wall over the window, putting a hood over the out- 
 side opening to prevent the rain from pouring down the 
 pipe. The gas will heat the air in the vicinity of the 
 pipe, causing it to rise, and an upward current will be 
 thus created. This current of air passing constantly 
 through the pipe to be delivered into the outside atmos- 
 phere, and sucking up, so to speak, all the air of the 
 
VENTILATION — HEATING. 117 
 
 room, including any foul air that may find its way 
 back from the sewer through the waste-pipes of the 
 bath-tub and water-closet. 
 
 Of course, it must be clearly understood that venti- 
 lation is only a requisite of cold weather; in the warm 
 weather of summer doors and windows are always open 
 and the pure air has free access to our rooms. But, 
 even in summer, some persons will close the windows 
 of the bedroom, because they do not consider it health- 
 ful to breathe ' ' night air. ' ' This is a very great mis- 
 take. Dr. F. L. Oswald reminds us that since the day 
 of creation, night air has been breathed with impu- 
 nity by millions of different animals, tender, delicate 
 creatures, some of them fawns, lambs and young birds. 
 Thousands of soldiers, hunters and lumbermen sleep 
 every night in tents and open sheds, without the least 
 injurious consequences. Men in the last stages of 
 consumption have recovered by adopting a semi-savage 
 mode of life, and camping outdoors in all but the 
 stormiest nights. In fact, night air generally contains 
 less carbonic acid than day air; and we must remember 
 that God made night air as He did day air, and that 
 He made it suitable for us. 
 
 Growing plants exert a considerable influence upon 
 the purification of the air of a room, and we have 
 already seen that green vegetation of every kind, 
 under the influence of sunlight, absorbs carbonic acid 
 and gives out oxygen ; but the flowers of plants and 
 fruits, while ripening, absorb oxygen, hence while bed- 
 rooms may be rendered more healthful by the presence 
 
118 HYGIENE. 
 
 of green flowerless plants, it will be better not to have 
 those that are in bloom or fruitage. 
 
 It is also claimed that while plants give off oxygen 
 during the daytime when under the influence of the 
 sun, the reverse takes place at night and they give off 
 carbonic acid; hence it is probably best not to have 
 growing plants in the bedroom at night. 
 
 Closely allied to pure air and ventilation is the 
 question of Sunshine. Corn, potatoes, hay, oats and 
 wheat require the sun that they may attain a healthy 
 growth, and much more essential is the influence of 
 the sun to the growth and health of man. 
 
 A house upon which the sun does not freely shine 
 for at least several hours of the day, will be a damp, 
 unhealthful house, the occupants of which will be con- 
 stantly unwell. Shade trees close to a house should 
 not be tolerated, but thinned out so that the sun may 
 have the fullest possible access to the house. 
 
 In addition to the ingredients already described as 
 being found in the atmosphere, we have another, some- 
 what illy defined, and not very clearly understood, 
 called Ozone, which may be considered as -oxygen in 
 another and more intensified form ; it is always present 
 in the free atmosphere to some extent, but is most 
 abundant in the air of the ocean and of pine for- 
 ests, and it is, doubtless, the presence of ozone that 
 gives to these localities their superior reputation as 
 health resorts. 
 
 It is a fact that in mid-ocean disease germs can- 
 not be found in the atmosphere, which, no doubt, is 
 
V KX'I I LATION — HEATING. 
 
 119 
 
 to be accounted for by the greater quantities of ozone 
 in the air, by which the disease germs, wafted from 
 the land, are destroyed. 
 
 What has already been said about ventilation, 
 implies, if acted upon, a certain expense. A hot-air 
 furnace and an open grate fire in every room will 
 bum a great deal of coal, but if one can afford to pay 
 for this coal, it will probably be cheaper in the eud, 
 for the amount of money saved in doctors' bills and 
 medicine, as a result of good ventilation, will more 
 than off-set the cost 
 of the extra coal. 
 
 If, however, one 
 cannot afford these 
 measures, then win- 
 dow ventilation must 
 be relied upon, and 
 this method can be 
 safely utilized as fol- 
 lows : Raise the lower 
 sash about one foot 
 and insert a thin 
 board in this open- 
 ing ; the air will 
 then enter in an up- 
 ward, indirect cur- 
 rent through the 
 
 space that is thus formed between the lower and upper 
 sash. 
 
 A simple and effectual arrangement is that of Dr. 
 
 Fig. 31. — Window Ventilation. 
 
120 HYGIENE. 
 
 Keen, viz. : fastening with tacks a piece of paper or 
 cloth across the lower ten or twelve inches of the 
 window frame, and then raising the lower sash more 
 or less, according to the weather. If desired, the 
 cloth so arranged may be suitably ornamented on one 
 or both sides. 
 
 As stated before, great numbers of patented devices 
 for ventilation are in existence, all based upon the 
 fundamental principle of the introduction of pure, and 
 removal of foul, air without draughts. Some of these 
 devices are very good, the majority of them are worth- 
 less; but the best is no better than the properly con- 
 structed hot-air furnace combined with the open fire- 
 place, while if this be impracticable, the raised window, 
 protected below as described, will be the next best 
 expedient. 
 
 Before dismissing the subject of ventilation, we 
 must,, for a moment, visit the cellar. The average 
 cellar is a hot-bed of disease. Decaying vegetables, 
 dirt and rubbish of every description are allowed to 
 accumulate therein. The air of the cellar, warmed by 
 the heater, has a tendency to rise, and, contaminated 
 by the foul emanations from this decaying organic mat- 
 ter, it does rise to be disseminated into every room of the 
 house. Very often the drain pipes from water-closets 
 run under the cellar floor, and very often these pipes 
 are broken or their joints leak, allowing their foul con- 
 tents to saturate the earthen floor of the cellar. (Fig. 32). 
 The furnace heat sucks up from the earth these foul 
 gases and distributes them throughout the house. To 
 
VENTII.ATIOX -HEATING. 
 
 121 
 
 Fig. 32.— Foul Cellar. 
 
122 HYGIENE. 
 
 the average housekeeper the cellar is as much of an 
 unknown land as the interior of Africa, and to this fact 
 can be attributed many of the mysterious cases of dis- 
 ease the origin of which seem inexplicable. 
 
 The cellar should be as bright and clean and pure 
 as the parlor. Having said this, I will venture the 
 assertion that it would be even better if we had no 
 cellar at all. By this I mean that if we would exca- 
 vate the ground only about three or four feet, so that 
 the greater portion of the basement or cellar floor 
 would be above ground, we would have an apartment 
 that could readily be made as bright and light and 
 clean and pure as any room in the house. No matter 
 how clean a dee]) clown cellar may be kept, the air 
 therein will not be wholesome, because the sun cannot 
 shine into such a cellar, and sunless air will be always 
 unhealthful air. 
 
 The cellar floor should be cemented, because there is 
 always air in the earth, called ground air', which is 
 not pure air, and, unless the floor is cemented, this air 
 will be sucked up by the heat of the heater and dis- 
 tributed throughout the house. 
 
 The walls of the cellar should be well whitewashed 
 four times a year, and a quantity of unslaked lime 
 should be always kept in boxes in the cellar; this lime 
 will purify the air, and, by absorbing superfluous mois- 
 ture, will destroy the dampness of cellar air. 
 
VENTILATION — HEATING. 123 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 134. What is ventilation ? 
 
 135. What is the ordinary proportion of carbonic acid in atmos- 
 pheric air? 
 
 136. How much air will be consumed by one person in one hour? 
 
 137. Is it necessary that each person should have this much room 
 space ? 
 
 138. What do you mean by natural ventilation? 
 
 139. What do you mean by a draught? 
 
 140. Are draughts injurious? 
 
 141. Explain the mechanism of the injurious effects of draughts. 
 
 142. What do you understand by " taking cold " ? 
 
 143. How does one in vigorous health resist the action of draughts? 
 
 144. What do you say of those who accustom themselves to high 
 temperatures ? 
 
 145. What is the average temperature of an English house? of an 
 American house? 
 
 146. How can we avoid the evil effect of draughts ? 
 
 147. What is ideal ventilation? 
 
 148. What do you say of the old-fashioned hot-air furnace? 
 
 149. Describe how a hot-air furnace should be arranged. 
 
 150. What do you say of heating houses by steam ? 
 
 151. What do you say of the ventilation of the bedroom? 
 _. 152. What is the greatest cause of consumption ? 
 
 153. What do you say of the ventilation of the bath-room? what 
 is the design of good plumbing ? 
 
 154. What is your opinion of night air? 
 
 155. What influence does vegetation exert upon the air of a room ? 
 
 156. Is sunshine essential for healthy life ? 
 
 157. What is ozone ? 
 
 158. What do you mean by window ventilation? 
 
 159. What about the average cellar ? what is ground air ? why 
 should cellar floors be cemented ? how should the walls be treated ? 
 how can the dampness of cellars be corrected ? 
 
124 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 DIGESTION. 
 
 Digestion may be defined as the function or process 
 by which the food that we eat is converted into nour- 
 ishment suitable for our bodies. It is a chemical 
 process, and a very complicated one. Digestion may be 
 said really to commence in the kitchen, for proper cook- 
 ing is a great aid to healthy digestion. But, since this 
 is not a cook-book, we shall be satisfied with merely 
 a reference to the kitchen as a part of the digestive 
 organs. 
 
 Contrary to the popular idea, digestion is not con- 
 fined to the stomach, but, commencing in the mouth, 
 it is continued throughout what is called the alimentary 
 canal ; this being the name given to that portion of the 
 body concerned in digestion. 
 
 I have said that digestion is a chemical ju'ocess ; it 
 is a chemical solution, as all food received into the stom- 
 ach, be it solid or fluid, must be converted into a 
 liquid ; it must be dissolved, before it can be absorbed 
 into the blood. Now, come into the laboratory of a 
 chemist and watch how he makes a chemical solution : 
 Here is the solid that he wishes to dissolve and there 
 is the liquid that is to act as the dissolving agent. 
 The first step taken by the chemist is to place this solid 
 
DIGESTION. 125 
 
 in a dish (called a mortar) and with an instrument 
 called a pestle, he thoroughly pulverizes this solid, reduc- 
 ing its particles to the finest possible state of sub- 
 division. The dissolving liquid is then poured into this 
 finely broken-up solid ; it is placed on a stove or over 
 the flame of an alcohol lamp, and as the mixture sim- 
 mers, with a gentle heat, the chemist's assistant con- 
 stantly stirs it. The result is a perfect solution. 
 
 If the solid had not been previously pulverized ; if 
 it is not kept warm, and if it is not constantly stirred, 
 the solution will be an imperfect one, and the time con- 
 sumed in making it much longer ; because the solid body 
 being an aggregation of minute solid particles, each of 
 which must be dissolved, the process will be more rapid 
 and more complete if, by the previous pulverization, 
 each little particle is exposed to the action of the dis- 
 solving liquid, while this exposure of the particles will 
 be still further facilitated by the constant stirring. 
 
 A simple little experiment, easily performed, will 
 make the point very clear. Take two lumps of sugar 
 and drop them into a tumbler of cold water. Pulverize 
 two more lumps of sugar thoroughly, put the powder 
 into a tumbler of hot water and with a spoon constantly 
 stir it. Now see which two lumps of sugar are dis- 
 solved first. 
 
 I dwell upon these points because their clear com- 
 prehension will enable you to grasp the idea of healthy 
 digestion and the essentials necessary for it. 
 
 Digestion, then, is a chemical solution of food, the 
 requisite conditions for which are pulverization of this 
 
126 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 food, heat and constant stirring. Without these con- 
 ditions digestion will be imperfect. 
 
 What the mortar and 
 pestle are to the chemist, 
 the mouth and teeth are 
 to us ; the mouth is the 
 mortar and the teeth the 
 pestle with which it is 
 intended that the food 
 shall be thoroughly 
 chewed, or broken up, 
 that it may be capable of 
 thorough and complete 
 solution. 
 
 God intends the teeth 
 primarily for use, second- 
 arily, if you please, for 
 ornament; and he placed 
 the teeth in your mouth 
 rather than in your stom- 
 ach, because it is his de- 
 sign that your food shall 
 be chewed in your mouth 
 and not in your stomach. 
 So well is this fact 
 understood by Mr. Glad- 
 stone, an active, healthy, 
 
 pancreatic duct ; DO, opening of the v icr 0r(ms ma n at 84 years, 
 
 common duct into small intestines. ° ^ 
 
 that it is related of him 
 that he makes it a prac- 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 The Alimentary Canal. — M, mouth ; 
 P, pharynx ; OE; oesophagus ; S, 
 stomach ; CO, its cardiac op ening ; 
 PO, its pyloric opening; ST, small 
 intestine ; VA, vermiform appendix ; 
 LI, large intestine ; R, rectum ; OB, 
 gall bladder; ED, bile duct; PD, 
 
 Accessory Digestive Organs: L, liver; 
 P, pancreas ; S, spleen. From Walker's 
 Physiology. A. Lovell & Co., New York. 
 
DIGESTION. 127 
 
 tice to chew every particle of food that enters his 
 mouth twenty times before he swallows it into his 
 stomach. 
 
 The mouth is the inlet to the digestive canal, and 
 from this inlet a tube extends down through the 
 body for some twenty-five feet, and this tube, with 
 its appendages, is the digestive or alimentary canal. 
 (See Fig. 33.) 
 
 If we follow a portion of food in its process of 
 digestion this function will be best understood, and 
 our description will describe eating and digestion as it 
 should be, not as it generally is, performed. The 
 food is taken into the mouth and is at once attacked 
 by the teeth, by which it is ground and cut and bruised. 
 You remember that a muscle is composed of little 
 fibrillaB inclosed in a covering (Fig. 35); the chewing 
 by the teeth breaks and tears this covering and brings 
 to exposure the little fibrillar of the muscle that you 
 have eaten as beef. The structure proper, the nour- 
 ishing ingredients of Hour, of potatoes, of corn, of 
 all vegetable food, is contained in a little cell or sac, 
 
 Fig. 34. Fig. 35. 
 
 which is bruised and broken by the teeth, thus setting 
 free the nutritious ingredients within. (Fig. 34). 
 
 The dissolving agents of digestion are certain fluids 
 furnished by the body, and these fluids find it very 
 
128 HYGIENE. 
 
 difficult (if at all possible) to dissolve the covering 
 of the muscular fibrillar or the cell -covering' of the 
 nutritious ingredients of vegetables. When these cov- 
 erings are broken by the teeth, the matter within is 
 exposed to and ready for the juices or liquids of 
 digestion. 
 
 The first digestive fluid that we encounter is saliva, 
 or spittle, in the mouth. Saliva is furnished to the 
 mouth by six salivary glands, two beneath the tongue, 
 one at each extremity of the lower jaw below the 
 ear, and one on either side within the angles of the 
 lower jaw. 
 
 As if it were but yesterday, I remember the first 
 line I ever read in a medical book, and I shall never 
 forget it if I* live to be as old as Methusaleh. I had 
 listened to a lecture by Prof. Leidy on the Liver; all 
 that he said was, of course, utterly unintelligible to 
 me; in the evening I looked up "Gray's Anatomy" 
 and turned to the chapter on the liver, and this is what 
 I read: "The liver is the largest glandular organ in 
 the body." Disgusted, I closed the book and went to 
 bed, determined to abandon the study of medicine, for, 
 I thought, how can I possibly master this art when in 
 the very first line I have read I find a word {glandu- 
 lar) of the meaning of which I have not the slightest 
 idea. 
 
 I can sympathize with your bewilderment when you 
 are told that saliva is furnished by the salivary glands, 
 and I hasten to try to make clear to you what a gland 
 is, because we shall have occasion to frequently use 
 
DIGESTION. 129 
 
 this word. A gland is an organ or part of the body 
 endowed with the power of removing from the blood 
 certain ingredients which, within itself, it elaborates 
 into a liquid capable of performing the part assigned 
 to it in the maintenance of life. A. gland is really a 
 little factory obtaining its raw material from the blood, 
 and turning out the finished product, saliva, just as a 
 factory obtains raw wool from the sheep and turns it 
 into beautiful cloth. The saliva does not exist, as 
 saliva, in the blood, any more than wool exists, as 
 cloth, on the back of the sheep ; but the ingredients 
 out of which saliva can be made are circulating in 
 the blood, and the salivary glands possess the power 
 of abstracting these ingredients from the blood and 
 elaborating them into the finished product which we 
 call saliva. 
 
 This property is possessed by all glands, and it is 
 called Secretion; get this clearly fixed in your minds, 
 because there is another function of the body, some- 
 what like secretion in its working, but very different 
 in its purpose, called Excretion, which we shall study 
 later on. 
 
 Secretion is the power possessed by certain parts of 
 the body of abstracting from the blood those ingredi- 
 ents which, when elaborated or worked up, by the part 
 secreting them, become capable of taking part in the 
 maintenance of life ; and the presence of the secretions 
 in the body is essential to its healthy life. 
 
 Excretion is the power possessed by certain organs, 
 or parts, of the body of abstracting from the blood the 
 
130 HYGIENE. 
 
 waste organic matter that has been used up in the pro- 
 cess of life and of removing it from the body, where 
 its continued presence would prove detrimental to 
 healthy life. 
 
 The reciprocal relations of the different parts of the 
 body are beautifully demonstrated in the function of 
 secretion. The secretion of the salivary glands, the 
 saliva, is an important factor in the conversion of food 
 into blood, while it is from this same blood that the 
 ingredients out of which saliva is made are procured. 
 
 To resume on digestion. The food having been 
 bruised and macerated by the teeth, is attacked by the 
 saliva and the chemical solution commences. 
 
 Much of the food that we eat is of a starchy nature, 
 such as bread and potatoes, and the first step in the 
 digestion of starch is its conversion into sugar, which 
 is begun by the action of the saliva. Saliva also lubricates 
 the food so that it may be more readily swallowed. 
 
 Now do you not see that when Mr. Gladstone's 
 food is ready to be swallowed, it has been thoroughly 
 broken up so that the juices of the stomach will have 
 easy access to its nutritious ingredients? The starchy 
 elements have commenced their conversion into sugar, 
 and the whole mouthful of food is so thoroughly 
 mixed with the lubricating saliva that it can quietly 
 and comfortably slip down the throat into the stomach. 
 
 From the mouth a tube called, in its upper part, 
 the Pliarynx, and in its lower part the QZ$op7iagus, 
 extends down to the stomach. 
 
 The alimentary canal might be likened to a tube 
 
DIGESTION. 
 
 131 
 
 about twenty-live feet long, varying in calibre, and 
 having a dilatation in one part of its course, as is well 
 seen in Fig. 3G; the dilatation of the tube is the 
 
 Large 
 intestine fe=" 
 
 Vermiform 
 Appendix I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 .Small ' /nfpsti 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 The Alimentary Canal. 
 
 stomach; the tube, it will be seen, then narrows and 
 for many feet lies coiled up in the abdomen, and is 
 known as the small intestine or bowel ; becoming of 
 
132 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 larger calibre, it ascends, traverses and descends, and 
 this larger portion of the tube is known as the large 
 intestine, or, respectively, the ascending, transverse 
 and descending Colon. 
 
 When the food, that has been prepared in the 
 mouth, is swallowed into the stomach, its contact 
 with the walls of this organ, by reflex action, as 
 I already described, starts the stomach into motion 
 and the food is churned or stirred about,— a condition 
 that we have seen is necessary to perfect chemical 
 solution. 
 
 About fifteen minutes after food has been introduced 
 into the stomach the muscular contractions of this organ 
 
 become very active, 
 gradually becoming 
 more and more ener- 
 getic until the en'd of 
 stomach digestion, 
 which lasts about five 
 hours. Owing to these 
 contractions of the 
 stomach, the food there- 
 in is kept in constant 
 motion flowing in the 
 direction indicated by 
 the arrows in Fig. 37. 
 From one end of the stomach it is pushed along 
 to the other end, following the direction of the 
 "greater curvature,''' 1 as it is called; then it returns 
 alone the "lesser curvature" and in the median line, 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 Churning of Food in the Stomach. 
 
DIGESTION. 133 
 
 to again pass along the greater curvature. At the same 
 time a peculiar rotary motion of the stomach is going 
 on, similar to that of rolling a ball between the palms 
 of the hands, so that the food is twisted in a given 
 direction and the deeper lying portion is brought into 
 contact with the walls of the stomach. 
 
 Just as the salivary glands secrete saliva, so 'the 
 glands in the walls of the stomach secrete the gastric 
 juice, the function of which is to perform that part of 
 digestion confided to the stomach, which consists 
 mainly in the digestion of albuminoid food. The chief 
 function of the stomach is the digestion of meat, for 
 the gastric juice has very little effect on vegetable food 
 in general. Understanding, as you do, that digestion is 
 a chemical solution, and how necessary for perfect 
 solution it is that every particle of the solid to be dis- 
 solved shall be subjected to the action of the dissolving 
 liquid, you are prepared to appreciate the importance 
 of these movements of the stomach, and, knowing that 
 these movements are under the control of the nerves, 
 it can be seen at a glance that derangement of the 
 nerves can interfere with the function of digestion. 
 But still more, the very secretion of • gastric juice is 
 under nervous influence, so that " rx>or nerves" will, 
 both chemically and mechanically, interfere with diges- 
 tion, by decreasing the amount or deteriorating the 
 quality of the gastric juice, and by interfering 
 with the proper contractions or movements of the 
 stomach. 
 
 That portion of the food the digestion of which has 
 
134 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 been completed in the stomach is absorbed therefrom 
 into the circulation. 
 
 The vegetable part of food (including, of course, 
 bread) as well as the fat of animal food, is not digested 
 in the stomach. Where, then, does it go ? 
 
 Around that end of the stomach where it is con- 
 tinuous with the tube that we have said is called the 
 intestine, you will find circular muscular fibres (Fig. 38) 
 which contract and refuse to allow the contents of the 
 
 Fig. 38. 
 
 Fig. 39. 
 
 stomach to pass on into this canal; just as though you 
 were to place a rubber band or a string tightly around 
 a point in the course of a rubber tube (Fig. 39). We 
 have said that heat was necessary for digestion, and we 
 find that the temperature of the stomach is 100° Fait. 
 This heat melts the fats, and the motions of the stom- 
 ach breaks up this oily fluid into smaller masses. The 
 partially digested vegetables, the broken-up fat, some 
 starch granules and particles of partially digested ani- 
 mal food will now be found mixed together as a turbid 
 fluid that is called cliyme. 
 
 About one half hour after the stomach digestion has 
 
DIGESTION. 
 
 135 
 
 Fig. 40. — Chyme passing out. 
 
 commenced, some of the food has been converted into 
 chyme, and the muscular guard around the opening from 
 the stomach into the intestines has a standing order 
 to always allow 
 chyme to pass 
 through ; while it 
 refuses passage to 
 the food that has 
 not been converted 
 into chyme? how- 
 ever, some solid 
 masses always man- 
 age to steal through this orifice when it opens to allow 
 the passage of the chyme. 
 
 Passing from the stomach out into the intestines or 
 bowels, we find a tube or canal, the construction of 
 which is practically the same as that of the stomach, 
 which, you will remember, is, anatomically speaking, 
 merely a dilatation of this canal. In the walls of the 
 intestines we find also (/lauds, engaged in the secretion 
 of a digestive fluid that differs, however, from that fur- 
 nished by the glands in the walls of the stomach. 
 While we know that the liquid secreted by these intes- 
 tinal glands does play its part in the digestion of 
 food, we are not yet very clear as to what this 
 part is. 
 
 In the abdomen are two large glandular organs, the 
 liver and the pancreas, each of which plays an impor- 
 tant part in the function under discussion. The function 
 of the liver, which is the largest glandular organ in the 
 
136 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 body, is so important to healthy life that the question 
 iw Is life worth living?" has been wittily answered: 
 "That depends ivpon the Liver." 
 
 Fig. 41. 
 Under Surface of the Liver. i 
 
 The liver has two distinct functions. 1st, the secre- 
 tion of bile; and, 2d, the manufacture of glycogen, which 
 is a kind of sugar. Bile is a bright yellowish-green 
 liquid, and when it is secreted by the liver it passes 
 thence through a duct, or tube, to be emptied into the 
 intestine just beyond the stomach. The pancreas is a 
 gland that secretes one of the most generally useful 
 of all the digestive fluids; and the pancreatic Jit ice, like 
 the bile, passes through a tube into the intestine. At 
 the stage of digestion which we are now considering, 
 we find the chyme in the intestine being subjected to 
 the digestive action of a liquid that is made up of 
 the secretions of the intestinal glands of the liver and 
 
DIGESTION. 137 
 
 of the pancreas. You remember that the conversion of 
 starch into sugar was begnn by the saliva; this change 
 is completed; and the starch becomes soluble sugar by 
 the action of these juices, the most active of which in 
 this connection is the pancreatic juice. You will also 
 remember that fat was only broken up in /the stomach, 
 but that it was not digested therein. 
 
 Now it is digested, mainly by the pancreatic juice 
 and, to a lesser extent, by the bile. 
 
 In addition to its digestive properties, the bile, 
 secreted by the liver, has several other very important 
 duties to perform. It might be called "Nature's lax- 
 ative;" for, by its stimulating power, it excites the 
 muscles of the intestine to increased action ; it also 
 moistens and lubricates the contents of the intestine, 
 and in this way keeps regular and natural the evacu- 
 ations from the bowels. 
 
 So, also, when the lining membrane of the bowel is 
 coated with bile the absorption of the digested fats 
 takes place much more readily than when the bile is 
 absent. 
 
 Remember that the partially digested food which 
 passes from the stomach into the intestine is called 
 chyme, when the digestion is completed, in the intes- 
 tine, the resultant liquid is called chyle, and it is now 
 ready to enter the circulation ; but before following it 
 there, w T e have some more of the food to dispose of. 
 
 Not all of that which enters the mouth is capable of 
 digestion, neither is all that is capable of digestion 
 digested. The juices of digestion cannot dissolve every- 
 
138 HYGIENE. 
 
 tiling, and even some tilings which they can dissolve 
 manage to escape their action. These indigestible and 
 undigested articles are forced gradually along the intes- 
 tines by the contraction of their muscular walls, their 
 bulk being increased as they travel by the w T aste from 
 the body at large, that is emptied into the intestine as 
 sewage is emptied into the sewer; and, finally, this 
 mass of waste is discharged from the body. 
 
 Food goes into the mouth, as coal goes into the 
 stove ; that which is necessary for the body is appro- 
 priated, as that which is essential to the production of 
 heat is selected from the coal; while the "residue," or 
 waste, is voided from the body, as the ashes are dis- 
 charged from the stove. 
 
 To recapitulate, digestion commences in the mouth, 
 is continued in the stomach, and is completed in ,the 
 intestine. It has already been stated that stomach 
 digestion requires about five hours, and it is estimated 
 that about twelve hours is required for the food to pass 
 through the intestine, so that we can say that from the 
 time a given quantity of food enters the mouth until 
 the undigested residue thereof is voided from the body 
 about seventeen hours will have elapsed. 
 
 Now let us go back to the chyme and chyle and see 
 what becomes of them. Strange as it may seem, until 
 you have reflected for a moment, we are not yet inside 
 of the body ; we are, in reality, as yet without the 
 body. The throat, stomach and intestines are, really, 
 prolongations from the mouth, and if you could cut the 
 bands that bind them in position, you could draw the 
 
DIGESTION. 
 
 139 
 
 whole of this twenty-five foot long tube out of the 
 month. It is not easy to grasp this idea, but it is 
 essential that you should, in order that you may under- 
 stand what is to follow. For a moment regard the ali- 
 mentary canal as a tube passing down the middle of 
 the body, with an opening above and an opening below ; 
 it is true that this tube passes down the inside of the 
 body, but the inside of the tube is not within the 
 tissue of the body proper. Suppose you take a loaf 
 
 of bread and pass 
 through the centre of 
 it a tin tube or pipe 
 (Fig. 42) ; this will 
 give you a clear idea 
 of the relation of the 
 alimentary canal to 
 the body. The tube 
 passes through, but the inside of the tube is not really 
 within the substance of the bread. So the alimentary 
 canal passes through, but its interior is not within the 
 structure of the body proper. The importance of clearly 
 understanding this distinction will be apparent when 
 we remember that the food, converted into chyme and 
 chyle, ready to furnish nourishment to the body, is now 
 in the intestines, without the body, waiting to gain 
 admission w itli in . 
 
 Fig. 42. 
 
140 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 160. How would you define digestion? 
 
 161. Is digestion confined to the stomach ? 
 
 162. What is the alimentary canal f 
 
 163. What is necessary for a perfect solution ; and how do you 
 apply this to the process of digestion ? 
 
 164. For what does God intend the teeth? 
 
 165. What do you say of chewing as a part of the digestive process ? 
 
 166. Describe the process of digestion. 
 
 167. What is a gland f 
 
 168. What is secretion f Give an illustration. 
 
 169. What is excretion? Give an illustration. 
 
 170. What is the function of saliva in the process of digestion? 
 
 171. What is the pharynx? the oesophagus? 
 
 172. Descrihe stomach digestion. 
 
 173. What influence have the nerves on digestion? 
 
 174. What kind of food is mainly digested in the stomach? 
 
 175. Where does the digestion of vegetable food take place? 
 
 176. What is chyme f 
 
 177. What are the intestines, and what takes place therein? 
 
 178. What are the functions of the liver and pancreas? 
 
 179. How is fat digested ? 
 
 180. What is nature's laxative? 
 
 181. What is chyle f 
 
 182. Is everything that we eat digested? 
 
 183. What becomes of the indigestible and undigested residue? 
 
 184. How much time is required for digestion ? 
 
 185. Are the stomach and intestines really within, the body? 
 
ABSORPTION. 141 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 ABSORPTION. 
 
 The process by which chyme and chyle gain access 
 to the circulation is called Absorption, and a beautiful 
 function it is. 
 
 All over the side of the alimentary canal in appo- 
 sition to the interior of the body, that is to say, the 
 side away from the interior of this canal, we find a 
 network not only of blood-vessels, but of other little 
 tubes whose duty it is to absorb the chyme and chyle 
 from the intestines and carry it into the circulation. 
 We have seen that some absorption takes place directly 
 from the stomach and some from the intestines. Now 
 we learn that some absorption takes place directly into 
 blood-vessels, while the bulk of the absorption is into 
 the other little vessels just mentioned, which are called 
 lacteals. Through these lacteal tubes the chyme and 
 chyle flow; these little tubes gradually coalesce until 
 they have formed one large tube, called the thoracic 
 duct, which carries its contents uj)wards and discharges 
 it into a very large vein under the left collar bone, 
 at a point just before this vein discharges its blood 
 into the right side of the heart. 
 
 If you will recall, for a moment, your knowledge of 
 the circulation of the blood, it will suggest to you a 
 
142 HYGIENE. 
 
 very interesting phenomenon, and one that will again 
 impress upon yon the importance of an abundant supply 
 of oxygen. 
 
 Yon will remember that venous blood is impure 
 blood, and that the veins are conveying blood that 
 requires purification in the lungs. Why is not the 
 product of digestion emptied directly into the arteries 
 that are carrying pure blood to nourish the body? Why 
 is the bulk of the digested food emptied into a vein 
 from which it must be passed through the lungs before 
 it starts on its journey of nutrition through the arteries? 
 
 God does nothing without design ; and when He 
 causes the chyme and chyle to empty into a vein, 
 instead of an artery, is it not because, although the 
 food has already passed through an elaborate process of 
 digestion, it is not yet tit to nourish the body until it 
 has been refined, purified, oxygenated, by its passage 
 through the lungs? 
 
 If such be the case (and it is most plausible), we 
 can thereby explain the poor nutrition of those who live 
 in ill-ventilated rooms and houses. We sometimes see 
 persons who have good appetites, who eat well and whose 
 digestion is seemingly good, yet of whom we say that 
 ' ' their food does not seem to nourish them ; ' ' they eat 
 plenty, yet are thin and weak, when we look for them 
 to be stout and vigorous. May it not be that because 
 this food, when it reaches the lungs, to be there puri- 
 fied and finally prepared for its mission of nutrition, 
 not finding enough oxygen there, starts on its journey 
 imperfectly prepared to nourish the body. 
 
ABSORPTION. 143 
 
 The lacteals, that we have described as conveying 
 the digested food, are but a -part of a general system 
 of absorbent vessels scattered all over the body. As 
 we find nerves and blood-vessels everywhere, so do we 
 also rind everywhere minute little tubes called lymphat- 
 ics; these little tubes converging together and being 
 joined by the lacteals (which are really also lymphatic 
 vessels) finally form the thoracic duct, already de- 
 scribed, and empty into the vein. 
 
 You already understand the function of the lac- 
 teals as the conveyance of digested food into the circu- 
 lation. The fluid that circulates in the lymphatics is 
 called lymph; it closely resembles the blood in compo- 
 sition and contains little bodies, very like the blood 
 corpuscles, which are called lymph corpuscles. The 
 lymph consists of matter which, while it has played a 
 part in the functions of life, has not been entirely 
 used up therein, but is capable, after repair, of still 
 proving serviceable to the body. In the course of 
 these lymphatic vessels are numerous little bodies 
 called lymphatic glands, and these glands are really 
 repair shops wherein the lymph is renovated or re- 
 paired, so that it may once more take its place as 
 blood. But remember that this lymph empties into a 
 vein and passes through the lungs to meet with 
 oxygen before it can again serve as nourishment to the 
 body. 
 
 Do you not here see how conservative are the func- 
 tions of the healthy human body ? Nothing goes to 
 waste ; nourishment is repaired and renovated, as your 
 
144 HYGIENE. 
 
 good, careful, thoughtful mother darns and mends and 
 patches your clothing; everything is utilized to its 
 full extent, and it is only when matter has been 
 entirely nsed up and is no longer of any use whatever 
 to the body that it is voided therefrom. 
 
 Remember this fact, as it will be dwelt on when 
 we come to discuss the function of Excretion. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 186. What is absorption ? 
 
 187. What are lacteahf 
 
 188. What is the thoracic duct f 
 
 189. Where does the chyle empty into the blood current? 
 
 190. Why does the chyle empty into a vein instead of into an 
 artery ? 
 
 191. How do you explain the poor nutrition of those who live in 
 badly ventilated rooms? 
 
 192. What are lymaphtics, and what is their function ? 
 
 193. What is lymph ? 
 
 194. What are lymphatic glands, and what is their function ? 
 
INDIGESTION. 145 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 INDIGESTION. 
 
 Understanding, as we now do, the function of 
 digestion, it will be most appropriate to take up the 
 subject of indigestion^ or dyspepsia, as this condition 
 really means the imperfect performance of the function 
 of digestion. Of course, you have now clearly fixed in 
 your minds the fact that all parts of the body are inter- 
 dependent, that the integrity of one part depends upon 
 the integrity of all others, yet you must also realize 
 that even though -all the parts may be, anatomically 
 and physiologically, perfect, still they cannot do their 
 work unless they are supplied with motor power. 
 Every act of life is accompanied by more or less 
 motion of the part performing it, and this power of 
 motion is derived from the food that we eat. But 
 food, as it enters the mouth, is not in condition to 
 give this power to the body ; that is to say, we cannot 
 take a piece of beef or a piece of bread, introduce 
 it directly into the blood and expect it to nourish 
 the body. All food must be prepared, by the process 
 that we have studied as digest ion, before it is capa- 
 ble of furnishing- nourishment or motor power to the 
 body. 
 
 As long as there is life there must be digestion, 
 
146 HYGIENE. 
 
 so that when we speak of indigestion we do not 
 mean that the function of digestion has been entirely 
 suspended, but that it is not being perfectly per- 
 formed. Perfect digestion means perfect health ; imper- 
 fect digestion necessarily implies imperfect health ; yet 
 many persons who were victims of chronic indigestion 
 have lived to very old age. Carlyle, who lived to 
 great age, was a sufferer from indigestion for very 
 many years, yet he lived on, though he was a very 
 crabbed, cross old man, and this irritability of his 
 temper was due to his imperfe'ct digestion. 
 
 While I would have you clearly understand that 
 no one part or function of the body can be considered 
 as more or less important or necessary than any other 
 part or function — since God clearly knew what he 
 was doing when he made man, and did not encum- 
 ber him with any unnecessary or useless parts — while 
 each and every part is, in its own sphere, absolutely 
 essential to healthy life; yet I am tempted to say 
 that if I were compelled to name a function that 
 might be regarded as the most important function of 
 the human body, I would say digestion, because by 
 preparing the nourishment for all the parts it is the 
 function without which no part could act. 
 
 Perfect digestion is an absolutely unconscious act; 
 it is in no way under the control of the will, and 
 the person whose digestion is perfect will be abso- 
 lutely unconscious of the performance of this function. 
 The possessor of a perfectly healthy stomach will not 
 be aware of the fact that he has a stomach. In 
 
INDIGESTION. 147 
 
 fact, this may be said of all the functions, for a per- 
 fectly healthy person will not be conscious of the 
 performance of any of the functions by which his 
 life is maintained, except that he is conscious of the 
 general result of the integrity of all of them, by the 
 health and pleasure which this confers upon him. 
 
 Whenever a person is made conscious of the exist- 
 ence of any organ by impressions that may be referred 
 to it, he may understand that the function of this 
 organ is not perfect, although the imperfection may 
 not be so serious as to amount really to disease of 
 this particular part. 
 
 So then indigestion, or dyspepsia, means an imper- 
 fect performance of the function of digestion. This 
 imperfection may be of two kinds. It may be that 
 the parts concerned are so much disordered that they 
 cannot properly do their work, and when digestion is 
 completed the resulting chyme and chyle are of inferior 
 quality ; or it may be that these parts are capable of 
 making good chyme and chyle, but that they can only 
 do so as the result of an amount of labor on their 
 part greatly in excess of the amount that would have 
 been necessary had they been in good condition. 
 
 Let us start three boys to do a sum in addition ; let 
 one boy be quick and accurate at figures ; the second 
 accurate, but slow, requiring time and labor to do his 
 sums ; the third boy, like Dean Stanley and Mr. Glad- 
 stone when boys, utterly unable to understand the 
 simplest problems in arithmetic. The first boy will 
 promptly hand in his addition, correctly performed, 
 
148 HYGIENE. 
 
 without any effort on his part ; after a while the sec- 
 ond boy comes along with his sum; it is correct, but 
 the worried expressipn on his face plainly tells that it 
 has caused him great effort to make it so; but the 
 third boy, struggle as he may, cannot get his addition 
 correct. 
 
 So we have the three types of digestion : 1 . Perfect 
 digestion ; 2. Labored or difficult digestion ; 3. Incom- 
 plete or faulty digestion. Labored and incomplete 
 digestion must be regarded as indigestion. 
 
 But now, just as the body requires good digestion 
 that it may be healthy, so does the function of diges- 
 tion require a healthy body that this function may be 
 properly performed. Good digestion makes good blood, 
 and good blood, in turn, will furnish good digestive 
 juices for the performance of this function ; for you 
 remember that all the juices concerned in the function 
 of digestion are secreted from the blood. 
 
 While, as has been said, the function of digestion is 
 an involuntary process, one over which the will has no 
 control, yet the will has control over the accessory or 
 collateral conditions that will help to make perfect or 
 imperfect this function. Thus, we have seen the impor- 
 tance of breaking up the food by chewing, and over 
 this duty the will has entire control, as it has over 
 many other of the incidentals to good digestion. 
 
 The voluntary aids to good digestion may be best 
 summarized by formulating rules for heaffliful eating, 
 in which they will all be brought out; but in giving 
 these rules, as in everything else, I wish to be distinctly 
 
INDIGESTION. 149 
 
 and clearly understood as a sanitarian who does not 
 believe in making- an observance of the teachings of 
 hygiene irksome, but rather one who holds that he 
 who uses ' ' common sense ' ' and lives in accord with 
 nature, is the very best of sanitarians. 
 
 Rules for Healthful Eating that Will Favor Perfect 
 Digestion. 
 
 1. Eat everything, except such articles as your own 
 individual experience teaches you disagree with you, 
 because the body of man requires a variety of nourish- 
 ment, and could not exist if confined to one or two arti- 
 cles. Br. Huf eland says: "In general, we find that 
 those men who were not too nice or particular in regard 
 to their food, but who lived sparingly, attained to the 
 greatest age. 
 
 2. Eat slowly and chew all of your food thor- 
 oughly, until it becomes pulpy and mushy, and well 
 mixed with saliva, before allowing it to pass into the 
 stomach ; because this is an absolutely necessary prelimi- 
 nary to perfect digestion. To do this effectually you 
 must take only a small quantity into your mouth at a 
 time, and put no more in until the first instalment has 
 been thoroughly chewed and comfortably lodged in your 
 stomach. 
 
 3. Cease eating before your sense of hunger has 
 been thoroughly satisfied ; because, though the sensation 
 of hunger is, in the first place, the voice of the body 
 demanding food, it does not follow that the stomach 
 has not received enough material for the nourishment 
 
•150 HYGIENE. 
 
 of the body until this voice of hunger is hushed, for 
 you must remember that the food must first be digested 
 before it can nourish your body, and that this process 
 will require some little time. Therefore, you may have 
 enough material in your stomach and still feel hungry, 
 for, not being yet digested and taken up, it has not 
 satisfied the wants of the body. 
 
 In view of these facts, a good plan will be always 
 to rise from the table with a comfortable feeling of 
 satiety, but, at the same time, feeling fully capable of 
 eating and enjoying "more than you have taken. 
 
 By eating slowly, you can easily determine when 
 you have reached this point. 
 
 4. Avoid stuffing. Nothing can be more conducive 
 to indigestion or dyspepsia than the habit so common 
 among our people of sitting down to eat and making 
 a business of it. 
 
 With hardly any interval between the mouthfuls, 
 they cram, and push, and force, and gulp and wash 
 down with huge draughts of water or wine, large 
 boluses of unchewed food, and never cease until they 
 are physically unable to hold any more. Is it any 
 wonder that they are obliged to loosen their clothing 
 to make room for their abnormally and enormously dis- 
 tended stomachs ? They grunt and groan, are short of 
 breath, say they have eaten too much, and in a few 
 hours' time stuff themselves again. Is it any wonder 
 that dyspepsia is so common among a people so liog- 
 gisli f Could it possibly be otherwise? Even a horse 
 knows when he has had enough, and no amount of 
 
INDIGESTION. 151 
 
 persuasion can induce him to eat another grain of oats. 
 Let me, therefore, beg of you to have as much sense 
 as a horse, and to learn when you have eaten enough 
 and to stop there. 
 
 5. Do not commence a meal when overheated; over- 
 fatigued; very much excited with anger or any other 
 emotion, or very much depressed; because the digestive 
 function, being unfavorably impressed by and partici- 
 pating in all of these conditions, will be unable to 
 properly perform its duty. 
 
 An anecdote that is related of a very eminent phy- 
 sician will well illustrate the importance of taking 
 plenty of time for meals. This physician had made it 
 a rule of his life to allow one full hour for dinner, 
 and under no consideration, no matter how pressing, 
 would he deviate from this rule. One day, shortly 
 after he had commenced dinner, a very wealthy and 
 influential banker came to his office to consult him. 
 He was told that the doctor was at dinner. Time 
 being valuable to him, he sent in his card, consider- 
 ing himself of sufficient importance to interrupt this 
 meal. Word was returned that the Doctor was at 
 dinner and would be out shortly. The banker waited 
 fifteen minutes, and becoming impatient, sent in a 
 second time. The same word was returned. After 
 nearly half an hour had elapsed, word was sent in a 
 third time. The Doctor then said, "Tell Mr. So and 
 So that I am at dinner, and will come out when I am 
 through and not before, and if that does not suit 
 him he can go to J< j ri<-ln>."' This final message, though 
 
152 HYGIENE. 
 
 not very elegant, was forcible, and demonstrated how 
 important to this great physician it was to have 
 plenty of time for an uninterrupted dinner. 
 
 6. Above all things, be regular in your habits of 
 eating. Always have your meals at the same hours. 
 Take plenty of time for them and occupy your mind, 
 while eating, with light and pleasant conversation. 
 Heavy reading, or any mental occupation requiring much 
 brain work, if indulged in while eating, will be very 
 injurious, because it will have a tendency to divert 
 blood from the stomach to the brain, and for proper 
 digestion to take place, it is necessary for the stomach 
 to have plenty of blood. 
 
 7. In warm weather avoid, or use sparingly, oily 
 and fatty articles of food, because they are both 
 unnecessary and positively injurious. Unnecessary, 
 because one of the chief functions of such food is 
 the production of heat, and the outside temperature 
 being high, you need but a small production of 
 internal heat ; injurious, because their particles not 
 being consumed in the production of heat, it becomes 
 the duty of the liver to remove the excess of them 
 from the body ; hence, if you use such food freely 
 in warm weather you give the liver too much work 
 to do, and it becomes exhausted and eventually dis- 
 eased. To carry out this rule in an easy way I 
 would suggest that you reduce, or entirely abandon, 
 the use of butter and gravy in summer. 
 
 8. Avoid severe exercise, either mental or physical, 
 for twenty minutes or half an hour after you have fin- 
 
INDIGESTION. 153 
 
 ished a meal ; because any exercise will tend to draw 
 the blood away from the stomach toward the organ or 
 parts so exercised, and thus interfere with digestion. 
 9. In such a climate as ours (particularly in win- 
 ter) three meals daily should be the rule. Breakfast 
 as soon as dressed, in the morning, should be a sub- 
 stantial meal, because it follows a long period of 
 fasting; dinner, the meal of the day, should be eaten 
 sometime between noon and two o'clock; a light sup- 
 per in the evening. Many persons object to a mid- 
 day dinner, because they claim that it makes them 
 drowsy and unfit for work. If it does, it is because 
 they are eating too much; they are gorging them- 
 selves. Eat less, and you will be equal to do a good 
 afternoon's work. Let us divide the day, and arrange 
 the meal-hours in the manner that would be the 
 most healthful for the average man. Suppose he 
 takes his breakfast at half-past six, his dinner at 
 half -past twelve, and his supper at half-past six; 
 suppose he rises at six and retires to bed at ten 
 o'clock. His period of active, waking, working life 
 would then be sixteen hours. Six hours would elapse 
 between breakfast and dinner, and six hours between 
 dinner and supper. Between supper and bedtime 
 would elapse three hours and a half, and between 
 rising and breakfast one half hour, making four hours 
 in all. When asleep all of the bodily functions are 
 much diminished in activity, merely working enough 
 to sustain life; the voluntary functions are com- 
 pletely at rest, while the involuntary phenomena of 
 
154 HYGIENE. 
 
 life -are working at very low pressure. So that the 
 sum total of the destruction of tissue (requiring food 
 for its repair) which occurs during the eight hours 
 of sleep would not probably exceed that which would 
 occur in two hours of waking, active life, when all 
 of the functions, intellectual and physical, are in 
 full activity; so that from supper, at half -past six 
 until breakfast at half -past six, there would elapse 
 a period during which there would take place a 
 destruction of tissue equaling in amount that which 
 would occur in each of the other intervals between 
 meals. Hence, you see, we would have in the above 
 regimen an accurate division of the twenty-four hours 
 into fasting, or inter-meal, periods of six hours 
 duration. 
 
 10. A golden rule: Never eat between meals; 
 because it is absolutely necessary for your stomach 
 to have periods of rest and repose, and if you are 
 continually eating you are also continually giving your 
 stomach work to do, and robbing it of its needed 
 rest. 
 
 11. Do not, as a rule, eat just before going to bed. 
 Your stomach is a patient slave and a faithful servant. 
 Tf you impose a task u pon it, it will use every pos- 
 sible effort to perform the duty. When night comes 
 your stomach is tired out and exhausted from its long 
 day's work, and it wants to go to sleep. If you put 
 food into it and order the process of digestion to com- 
 mence, your patient stomach makes an effort to obey ; 
 but it is so exhausted that it is utterly unable to' 
 
INDIGESTION. 155 
 
 properly do its work, and dyspepsia ensues. Still 
 more, its faithful friend and ally, the brain, resents 
 your cruel injustice to its comrade, and as a punish- 
 ment for your indiscretion tortures you with night- 
 mare, as though to say, if you are foolish enough to 
 rob your stomach of its needed rest, I will play the 
 same game with you. I will disturb and make uncom- 
 fortable with, hideous dreams your sleep, and see how 
 you like it. Seriously, in the majority of cases, night- 
 mare is nature's protest against an overloaded and 
 abused stomach, and its warning should be heeded. 
 There are some cases in which a glass of milk or 
 some light nourishment just before retiring will be 
 conducive to sleep, but for the great majority of 
 healthy persons the rule given above will hold 
 good. 
 
 12. As a rule it will be better, other things being 
 equal, not to eat when you are not hungry. Aj>]>< tile 
 is the voice of the body demanding nourishment, ask- 
 ing repair for its waste. If you are in health and 
 this demand does not exist, it will be because your 
 body does not require nourishment ; it has enough for 
 the time being; therefore, eating under these circum- 
 stances would be gorging, and would be unwholesome. 
 If you live a regular life, as you should, perform- 
 ing the same amount of work each day, and sitting- 
 down to your meals at the same hours, appetite will 
 generally be present. 
 
 To eat well is to nourish, to nourish is to make 
 good blood, and good blood makes good cheer, and 
 
156 HYGIENE. 
 
 good cheer good friends, and good friends make hap- 
 piness. 
 
 Therefore, to eat well makes happiness. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 195. What do you mean by indigestion? 
 
 196. Why is digestion such an important function? 
 
 197. What do you say of the unconsciousness of perfect digestion? 
 
 198. How do you divide indigestion ? Give an illustration. 
 
 199. What are the three types of indigestion ? 
 
 200. Why is general good health essential to good digestion ? 
 
 201. Has the will power any control over the accessories to good 
 digestion ? 
 
 202. What are the rules for healthful eating? 
 
FOOD — COOKING. 157 
 
 3.5 
 
 oz. 
 
 3.1 
 
 <( 
 
 10.7 
 
 u 
 
 1.0 
 
 a 
 
 18.3 
 
 OZ. 
 
 3 pints 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FOOD— COOKING. 
 
 There can be no doubt that the majority of persons 
 eat too much ; they eat more than the body requires. 
 An adult man should be well nourished if he be sup- 
 plied with the following daily diet : 
 
 Albuminous foods, . 
 
 Fats, ...... 
 
 Starch, ..... 
 
 Salts, 
 
 Total solids, 
 Water, 
 
 If you choose to take the trouble to weigh the food 
 that you eat in one day, you will find that it greatly 
 exceeds eighteen ounces; though nearly all that is con- 
 sumed greatly in excess of this amount is not required ; 
 it is not assimilated and is removed from the body as 
 waste. 
 
 Let us now, for a moment, learn something about 
 the food that we eat, which we divide as follows: 
 
 i. — ORGANIC 
 
 1. Nitrogenous: 
 
 (a.) Albuminous — as represented by eggs. milk, meat, 
 peas, wheaten flour, etc. 
 
 (b.) Albuminoid— as represented by soups, jellies, etc. 
 
158 HYGIENE. 
 
 2. Non-Nitrogenous : 
 
 (a.) Carbohydrates (sugar-starch) abundant in all 
 kinds of vegetable food ; in the cream of milk, and 
 present in small quantity in meat, fish, etc. 
 
 (b.) Fats — in the cream of milk, butter, cheese, fat 
 tissues of meat, some vegetables, oils, etc. 
 
 II. INORGANIC. 
 
 1. Salts — mixed with all kinds of food. 
 
 2. Water — mixed with the foregoing or alone. 
 
 To make this division a little plainer I will explain 
 that the class of foods called nitrogenous are so called 
 because they are rich in nitrogen, and that nitrogenous 
 foods are chiefly engaged in the construction of flesh or 
 muscle. The roast of beef or the beefsteak are good 
 illustrations of the class of food called nitrogenous. 
 The white of egg is nearly pure albumen, and food that 
 is rich in albumen is called albuminous, and albumin- 
 ous foods are nitrogenous because albumen is rich in 
 nitrogen. This idea will not be hard to get fixed in 
 your mind if you read it over a few times carefully, 
 and if you once get this division of foods clearly fixed 
 in your mind, it will make the question of nutrition 
 very easy of comprehension. Albuminoid material is 
 to albumen what the tangerine is to the orange; it is 
 not exactly albumen, but it is very much like it. Like 
 albumen, it is very rich in nitrogen, hence it also 
 belongs to the nitrogenous class. Now the non-nitro- 
 genous foods are, of course, as the very words imply, 
 not rich in nitrogen, but they are rich in carbon and 
 
FOOD — COOKING. 159 
 
 water. Fats are very rich in carbon ; carbon, you will 
 remember, is like coal, in that it has the property of 
 uniting with oxygen and producing heat. Hence the 
 non-nitrogenous or carbonaceous or carbohydrates are 
 foods that produce heat and fat. The production of 
 flesh, fat and heat are the three purposes for which 
 food is consumed, and you now understand which class 
 of food is best calculated to produce each particular 
 result. Of the inorganic foods, salt and water are 
 found in everything that we eat, the salt most com- 
 monly being found as the chloride of sodium, which is 
 the same salt that we have on the table. But other 
 mineral salts necessary for the body are also found, 
 while the water exists simply as water and nothing else. 
 While many words in science have many meanings, 
 water has only one ; water means water and nothing- 
 else. 
 
 By reference to Fig. 43 it will be seen that meats 
 and leguminous fruits are particularly rich in nitro- 
 gen, hence the best adapted for flesh and strength. 
 Leguminous fruits are also very rich in carbohydrates, 
 hence well adapted to make fat and heat, but not 
 any more so than bread, which, however, contains 
 comparatively little nitrogen, hence will not be so 
 good for muscle and strength. Study for a moment 
 and you will see why it has come to pass that when 
 one tries to set a good dinner he will have both 
 fish and meat. As you have already learned, we 
 require nearly as much fat as we do of albumen ; 
 meat contains only 11 per cent, of fat and 20 per 
 
160 
 
 IIYOIENE. 
 
 cent, of albumen ; but fish contains also 7 per cent, of 
 fat, which added to the 11 per cent, in meat, brings 
 the quantity of fat up to 18 per cent., very nearly up 
 to the 20 per cent, of albumen in meat. But we 
 also require a very large quantity of starch, which is 
 a carbohydrate (as much as 10.7 ounces in 24 hours), 
 
 Explanation 
 Human milk 
 Cow's milk. 
 
 Nitrogenous. 
 
 Fats. 
 
 Carbohydrates. 
 
 
 ZViW-P'A 
 
 86 
 
 Meat. 
 
 Fish 
 
 Leguminous fruits . 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 Green vegetables . 
 
 Bread 
 
 ^m 
 
 23/2 Z 
 
 Sf 
 
 13 
 
 ■iiiniiiiiiii m 
 
 
 Hfs^SSsS^ 
 
 2 20 3 4 
 
 7S/2 
 
 
 [ vP^-yy-^^ss 
 
 SgSlllsSgSSSSpl^iggfgg 
 
 IsgPS^ 
 
 ?& 3 
 
 88 
 
 „ 
 
 I M'-i==^=c==r 
 
 =3=^=r-Sr=SS5SS£=S 
 
 ^Jtp^C^C^ 
 
 6 & 
 
 JS 
 
 ss 
 
 1 I 
 
 1 : ~: ~~~- 
 
 ~:~:-"- : -~ '."■ J 
 
 Fiu. 43. 
 
 Diagram showing the Proportion of the Principal Foodstuffs in a Few Typical 
 Comestibles. The numbers indicate percentages. Salts and indigestible 
 materials omitted. 
 
 very much more than is required of albumen and fat 
 put together. Meat and fish contain no carbohydrates, 
 no starch; but look at the great quantity in bread, and 
 you will no longer wonder that bread is on the table 
 at every meal. Human milk, cow's milk, leguminous 
 fruits and bread are the only articles in this table that 
 
FOOD — COOKING. 161 
 
 contain all of the ingredients necessary to the suste- 
 nance of life, but with the exceptions of human milk 
 and cow's milk they do not contain these ingredients 
 in the requisite proportions. Hence we can readily 
 believe, as numerous experiments have demonstrated, 
 that no one group of the foodstuffs enumerated can 
 alone sustain the body, but rather prove that a certain 
 proportion of each is absolutely necessary for life. 
 
 From what we have studied we can deduce the 
 following conclusion : that if there be any special con- 
 dition of nutrition to meet, we have a general foun- 
 dation upon which to base our dietary. Thus if mus- 
 cular strength be the requisite, nitrogenous food, or 
 that rich in albumen, such as meat, milk, eggs and 
 peas will meet the requirement. If increase of weight 
 be desired by the accumulation of fat, or if an increase 
 of bodily heat seems desirable, then the carbohydrates 
 and the fats, sugar, starch, cheese, vegetables, fat 
 tissue of meat, etc., are called for. 
 
 The following bill-of-fare, while intended for a dys- 
 peptic or one wiiose digestive function is not perfect, 
 will yet serve as a guide iu eating to one whose 
 digestive function is good ; because, since it allows 
 that which is easy of digestion and forbids that which 
 is difficult, it wiil be evident that the function of even 
 healthy digestion will be better conserved by a more 
 or less close adherence thereto. 
 
 Eat 
 
 Soups, efc.— Thin soups, beef tea, broths. 
 Fish. — Raw oysters. 
 
162 HYGIENE. 
 
 Meats. — Beef, mutton, lamb, cliicken, game, ven- 
 ison, chopped meat, meat pulp. 
 
 Eggs. — Poached, soft boiled, or raw. 
 
 Bread and Farinaceous articles. — Bread, corn 
 bread, rice cakes, buckwheat cakes, macaroni, sago, 
 tapioca. 
 
 Vegetables and Fruits. — Green vegetables, such as 
 spinach, turnip tops, cresses, salads, celery, lettuce, 
 string beans, dandelion, chicory, asparagus ; oranges, ripe 
 peaches and pears. 
 
 Do Not Eat 
 Rich soups, any fried foods, veal, pork, hashes, 
 stews, gravies, made dishes, sauces, desserts, pies, 
 pastry, puddings, ice-cream, uncooked vegetables, 
 cooked oysters. 
 
 There is an apparent contradiction between this 
 diet table and Rule I., in which you are told to eat 
 everything except that which experience teaches will 
 disagree with you ; but the contradiction is not a real 
 one, for experience will soon teach the majority of 
 persons that those articles placed in the forbidden list 
 will disagree with them. 
 
 You probably wonder why potatoes have been left 
 out of this list; it was because they deserve a special 
 paragraph for themselves. - Potatoes are very nourish- 
 ing, but it requires a good strong digestive function 
 that they may be digested. The strong, hearty, vig- 
 orous Irishman, in his beautiful native country, can eat, 
 digest, and make strength out of potatoes ; but it is 
 
FOOD — COOKING. 163 
 
 not every one of the weaker stomachs of this coun- 
 try that can digest them. However, potatoes should 
 be eaten unless they are found to disagree. Of all 
 vegetable food, peas and beans are the most nourishing. 
 
 Do I expect you to eat only that which is allowed 
 in this diet list ? No more than I expect you to 
 abandon the house and live in a tent; I am setting- 
 up for you a standard, and the more closely you 
 adhere to this standard the better will it be for your 
 health. 
 
 One word as to cooking. Food is cooked before 
 being eaten for three reasons. 1. Cooking makes it 
 more agreeable to the taste ; 2. Cooking makes it 
 easier of digestion ; 3. Cooking destroys disease 
 germs that may exist in the uncooked food. It is 
 only the third proposition that we will discuss. Food, 
 particularly that derived from the animal kingdom, is 
 likely to contain the germ or seed of some disease 
 that may have afflicted the animal from which this 
 food has been taken. If eaten raw or but little 
 cooked, this germ or seed, taken into the human body, 
 may develop therein and give rise to disease. Hence 
 it is of the utmost importance that all food should 
 be tliorouglily cooked before it is eaten. 
 
 The manner of cooking does not matter much, 
 except in the instance of frying. Ordinary frying 
 will render the food so cooked very indigestible, 
 because the slowly heated fat evolves fatty acids which 
 are more or less injurious, and by penetrating into the 
 particles of the frying food envelop them in grease. 
 
164 HYGIENE. 
 
 As fats are not digestible in the stomach, it follows 
 that food so fried cannot be properly dissolved by the 
 gastric juice, but becomes an irritant. It is claimed 
 that scientific frying is one of the very best modes of 
 cooking, and to fry properly the fat should be boiling- 
 hot before the food is put into it, that an outer crust 
 may be formed which will prevent the fats from pene- 
 trating to the interior, and the fat should boil during 
 the entire process of frying. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 203. How much of each kind of food will an adult man require 
 daily ? 
 
 204. How do you divide food ? 
 
 205. What are nitrogenous foods? 
 
 206. What is albuminoid material ? 
 
 207. What are non-nitrogenous foods? 
 
 208. What is carbon, and what class of food is particularly rich 
 therein ? 
 
 201). For what purposes is food consumed, and which class of foods 
 is best calculated to produce each result? 
 
 210. What about salts and water? 
 
 211. Why is a mixed diet the most healthful? 
 
 212. What do you say of potatoes? 
 
 213. Why is cooking necessary? 
 
 214. What do you say of the manner of cooking? 
 
 215. What is scientific frying? 
 
EXCRETION. 165 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 EXCRETION. 
 
 You have not forgotten that matter is indestruc- 
 tible, and that which seems to us like destruction 
 is but a change of form. You must also know that 
 all matter is made up of a combination of ele- 
 mentary substances. So far as the human body is con- 
 cerned it is a compound of fifteen elements; 1. Oxygen; 
 2. Hydrogen; 3. Nitrogen; 4. Chlorine; 5. Fluorine; 
 6. Carbon; 7. Phosphorus; 8. Calcium; 9. Sulphur; 
 10. Sodium; 11. Potassium; 12. Iron; 13. Magnesium; 
 14. Silicon ; 15. Manganese. 
 
 While there are some seventy elements known to 
 chemistry, it is only the fifteen enumerated above that 
 enter into the composition of the human body. 
 
 Four of these elements — carbon, oxygen, hydrogen 
 and nitrogen — make up 97 per cent, of the body. 
 
 It is the constant union of these elements into 
 compounds, and the equally constant breaking up 
 again of these compounds into elements, and the re- 
 uniting of these elements into some other compounds, 
 that constitute the phenomena of life. 
 
 Chemical change is constantly going on in animal 
 life and after death ; during life there is a constant 
 building up into compounds and breaking down into 
 
166 HYGIENE. 
 
 elements; at the moment of death the building up 
 into compounds ceases and the breaking down into 
 elements alone continues, until "man has returned to 
 the dust from which he lias come." 
 
 Life of the body implies a constant building up 
 and a constant breaking down, and the perfect human life 
 will be that in which these two processes are evenly 
 balanced. It must be evident that from the moment 
 of birth until the period of physical maturity has 
 been reached, the x^rocess of building up will pre- 
 dominate over that of breaking down ; because not 
 only must the ordinary phenomena of life be pro- 
 vided for, but the increased growth and devehypment 
 of the body call for an excess of building up. When 
 the period of maturity has passed, and old age is 
 creeping on, as the time comes nearer and nearer for 
 the cessation of life, then will the process of ' ' breaks 
 ing down" predominate over that of building up. 
 But during the years of maturity when the body 
 sIk, nhl be adding nothing to, and losing nothing 
 from, its bulk, the two processes of "building up" 
 and "breaking down" should be evenly balanced. 
 
 The final element of the human body is called by 
 physiologists a Cell. 
 
 The word cell is derived from the Latin word 
 cella, meaning a closet or storeroom, and a cell may 
 be defined as a mass of 'protoplasm, capable of rnani- 
 fesling all the phenomena of life. Protoplasm is a 
 colorless, pale, milky, semi-translucent substance, vary- 
 ing in consistency from that of a gum solution to 
 
EXCRETION. 167 
 
 that of a soft jelly. There are many different kinds 
 of cells in the different parts of the body, and they 
 vary in size from the 1-3600 to the 1-300 of an inch 
 in diameter. Each cell possesses the power of divid- 
 ing itself into two, and each of these again into two, 
 and so on indefinitely. We have said that these cells 
 are capable of manifesting all the phenomena of life, 
 and as motion is a prime requisite of life, you will 
 be prepared to learn that each of these little cells 
 possesses the power of individual motion. Without 
 going too minutely into this cell question, it will be 
 sufficient to say that what the individual soldier is 
 to the army the individual cell is to the body. In 
 an army of 1,000,000 of men we find all sizes and 
 shapes and styles of men; different uniforms and fire- 
 arms ; some men have one duty to perform, others 
 another, but each individual man is endowed with 
 life, and it is the result of the part performed by 
 each that constitutes the efficiency of the army. 
 
 So in the human body there are millions and thou- 
 sands of millions of cells, of many different styles and 
 shapes, each with its own particular duty to perforin, 
 each individual cell endowed with life, and it is the 
 result of the labor of these countless myriads of little 
 workers that constitutes what is evident in you as the 
 life of the body. Get this idea well fixed in your 
 minds. The individual cell, endowed with life, is the 
 unit of life ; and it is the aggregation and combination 
 of uncountable numbers of cells, and their labor, that 
 makes the human body and the life of that body. All 
 
1(58 HYGIENE. 
 
 the organs, and tissues, and parts of the body, each 
 differing in structure one from the other, are all made 
 up of cells, the cells differing in the different parts of 
 the body. You remember that a muscle is made up of 
 a number of bundles of muscular fibres, and that each 
 fibre is made up of a number of fibrillse or little fibres. 
 Well, now you will learn that each fibrllla is com- 
 posed of a combination of cells. As in the muscle, so 
 in every other part of the body, the organ or part is a 
 compound body having for its original element the 
 cell; so that the human body might really be said to 
 be a combination of cells. This must make very clear 
 to you the position of a cell as the element of the 
 structure of the body, but you must not forget that 
 each minute little cell is endowed with life, possessing 
 all the attributes of life (except mentality) that is 
 enjoyed by your body as a whole ; that each cell is 
 really a little living, moving man, woman, boy or girl, 
 according to the body that it inhabits, and that it is 
 the aggregate lives of these cells that constitute the life 
 of your body as a whole. 
 
 So that the cell is both the anatomical and physio- 
 logical element of the human body. Now, then, so 
 long as any body lives, that is to say, so long as it is 
 capable of performing its functions, it must constantly 
 undergo certain chemical changes, a kind of decomposi- 
 tion, tending to produce disintegration, and a reinte- 
 gration by means of new chemical associations with 
 fresh material. This is true of the body at large, and 
 it is equally true of each individual cell of which the 
 
EXCRETION. 169 
 
 body is composed. When the food that we eat has by 
 the processes of digestion, absorption and assimilation 
 become an integral part of the cell, it consists of some 
 of the fifteen elements already mentioned, so combined 
 and arranged together as to be just suited for the life 
 of this cell, and as a result its vital phenomena become 
 manifest; but in the very production of this life these 
 elements have been disarranged in their combination ; 
 they have become separated or have formed into new 
 combinations, not fitted to sustain life ; as such they 
 are no longer of any use to the body, will prove harm- 
 ful if allowed to remain, hence they must be removed, 
 and the function by which they are removed is the 
 function of Excretion. 
 
 Is this question perfectly clear? If not, let us try 
 again, so that there can be no possibility of misunder- 
 standing. We will take our familiar illustration of the 
 fire in the stove. Coal goes into the stove; gases, 
 smoke and ashes come out of the stove. If you should 
 collect all of the gases, smoke and ashes given off from 
 a ton of coal you would find that they would weigh 
 exactly one ton ; but the composition of these gases, 
 ashes and smoke is very different from the composi- 
 tion of coal, although the same elements will be found 
 in all. The coal has undergone chemical change, and 
 in its changed condition is no longer of use in the 
 stove, hence it is removed as waste, while as a result of 
 this chemical change heat and light have been pro- 
 duced. So in the human body the food undergoes 
 chemical change, and in doing so gives rise to the 
 
170 HYGIENE. 
 
 phenomena of life; but, as a result of this chemical 
 change, it is no longer suited to maintain life, it 
 becomes, waste, and must be removed. 
 
 In every city there is a variety of waste material ; 
 we find ashes, garbage, foul water, dust, street dirt, waste 
 from human beings, etc. ; so in the human body also 
 there are many kinds of waste. In the well-governed 
 city there is an efficient system of scavenging ; one man, 
 with his cart and horse, will call for and remove the 
 garbage ; another the ashes ; still others the street dirt ; 
 while the ingenuity of man has devised a system of pipes 
 for the removal of the foul water and the human waste. 
 So also in the human body there are a number of scav- 
 enging organs belonging to the excretory system, each 
 with its own particular duty to perform. But, unlike the 
 waste -gatherers of the city, who, as a rule, will do only 
 that which is allotted to them (and generally only half 
 do that) the excretory organs of the body are friendly 
 and neighborly, and if one organ becomes more or less 
 incapacitated for work by disease or injury, some other 
 organ will take upon itself the work of the disordered 
 one. 
 
 The lungs, the kidneys, the liver, the skin and the 
 bowels constitute the excretory system. There are two- 
 lungs, two kidneys, one liver, one skin and one bowels. 
 
 The lungs are located one in each side of the chest, 
 and their anatomy you are already familiar with. In 
 addition to the elimination of carbonic acid, the air 
 expired from the lungs contains waste organic matter, 
 the result of the tissue changes, already described. There 
 
EXCRETION. 
 
 171 
 
 are two lungs, I have said, and if one becomes diseased 
 or unfit to do its full measure of work, its companion 
 
 Jlfern/L 
 
 Fig. 44. 
 The Lungs and Heart (viewed in front). 
 
 takes upon itself extra 
 work to make up for the 
 deficiency of its unfor- 
 tunate comrade. Since 
 the lungs excrete organic 
 matter, you can under- 
 stand why it is that car- 
 bonic acid is not the only 
 poisonous ingredient of 
 the air of an ill- ventilated 
 room . 
 
 The kidneys, two in number, are located in the 
 
 "small of the back," one 
 on either side of the spinal 
 column, or backbone. The 
 kidneys are very small 
 organs when compared witli 
 the amount of work that 
 they are called upon to per- 
 form ; for if it were possible 
 to name one excretory or- 
 gan as more important than 
 another, the kidney would be 
 the organ so distinguished. 
 Of course, such a distinc- 
 tion cannot- be made, as the 
 function of one part is as essential to healthy life as 
 that of another. 
 
 Fig. 45. 
 
 A Kidney — .1, an artery ; B, a vein ; 
 C, the duct that carries away the 
 materials filtered from the blood. 
 
172 HYGIENE. 
 
 You have now a clear conception of the uses of 
 nitrogenous food and the kinds of tissue that it nour- 
 ishes. It is chiefly the waste of nitrogenous tissue 
 that is removed by the kidneys. Meat is very rich in 
 nitrogen ; hence if we eat more meat than the body 
 requires and can utilize, the excess must be removed 
 by the kidneys. Thus it is that we find kidney disease 
 so prevalent amongst great meat-eaters who take very 
 little exercise. This point will be more fully discussed 
 in the chapter on Exercise. 
 
 In the existence of ttvo kidneys we again find evi- 
 dence of the wise forethought of our Creator; for when 
 one becomes deranged the other is ready and able to 
 take on extra work and thus make good the deficiency. 
 
 You already have a fairly good idea of the excretory 
 function of the skin. You remember the millions of 
 sweat and sebaceous glands located everywhere in the 
 skin ; and you remember that they not only bring water 
 to the surface of the body, to regulate by evaporation 
 the temperature of the body, but that this water con- 
 tains organic waste, which, when the water evaporates, 
 is deposited upon the skin, from which it must be 
 r< 'moved by washing. 
 
 There is a very close and intimate relation between 
 the excretory functions of the skin and kidneys. In 
 summer, when the skin is perspiring freely, the kidneys 
 are less active, and vice versa; and this relationship 
 will explain how " taking cold," by checking the 
 action of the skin, will sometimes act disastrously upon 
 the kidneys. 
 
EXCRETION. 173 
 
 The bowels, you already know, is a tube about 20 
 feet long, which is both a digestive and an excretory 
 tube. In addition to the waste, that is the result of 
 life, there is also a great mass of waste that is made 
 up of the indigestible and undigested constituents of 
 the food; this is gradually pushed along the bowels 
 until it is finally voided from the body. 
 
 Now get this idea well fixed. The function of 
 assimilation is a process by which each little cell 
 selects from the circulating blood that which is neces- 
 sary to its life ; the process of excretion is that by 
 which each little cell gives back to the blood that 
 which it has taken from it, so altered that it has 
 become useless in the body, to be carried by the blood 
 to the particular organ whose duty it is to remove it 
 from the body. 
 
 Down in Florida they have an ingenious machine 
 for sorting oranges. It consists of an inclined plane, 
 perforated by a number of holes of different sizes;- 
 the smaller ones at the top, increasing in size as they 
 descend. The oranges from the tree are elevated to 
 the top of this incline and allowed to roll down. All 
 the oranges of one size will fall through holes of one 
 size into bins below; and the sorting into sizes is thus 
 accomplished mnch more rapidly and accurately than 
 it could possibly be done by the hand and eye of 
 man. While crude, the comparison will give us an 
 idea of the functions of assimilation and excretion. 
 The nutritive elements in the blood roll along and 
 along until they find a cell into which they will, 
 
174 HYGIENE. 
 
 chemically and physiologically, accurately fit; then 
 they fall through into this cell. The waste material 
 in the blood flows along until it finds a cell in some 
 excretory organ just suited to receive it ; then it falls 
 out of the blood into this cell and is removed from 
 the body. Again, let me remind you that the cell is 
 the unit of life, and that when we are thus referring 
 to the function of one little cell, we are simply 
 reducing the functions of life down to the smallest 
 possible fractions. When we say that one cell in the 
 kidney removes some nitrogenous waste from the 
 blood, we must understand that myriads of cells in 
 the kidney are doing the same work, and that the 
 aggregate labor of all these kidney cells constitutes 
 the function of the kidney itself. 
 
 If it be necessary that the body shall be nourished, 
 and every child knows that it is, it is equally neces- 
 sary that the waste shall be removed therefrom. Not 
 only will the undue retention of waste in the body 
 prove detrimental to the health of the body as a whole, 
 but it will oppress and depress every function of the 
 body, so that the function of nutrition, as well as all 
 the varied phenomena of life, will be improperly per- 
 formed. 
 
 The public have great fear of a convulsion. Now 
 let us see what a convulsion is. A convulsion, in its 
 broadest sense, is characterized by a loss of conscious- 
 ness, and irregular, jerky motions of the muscles of the 
 body. In diseases of the kidneys convulsions frequently 
 occur. Now see what happens. The kidneys, being 
 
EXCRETION. 175 
 
 diseased, are not able fully to remove the nitrogenous 
 waste from the body. At first comparatively little 
 remains, but this little manifests its deleterious influ- 
 ence by interfering with all the functions and rjroduc- 
 ing a low standard of health. Gradually, as time 
 1 Kisses, and the kidneys become still less equal to their 
 task, more and yet more of this w T aste accumulates in 
 the blood, until the quantity becomes so great that it 
 is absolutely able to overcome the highest attribute of 
 man, his intellect. All intelligence is suspended, all 
 voluntary control of the voluntary functions of life is 
 lost by the evil influence of this retained w r aste upon 
 the brain. The muscles and the nerves that convey 
 power to these muscles to move are there, but the 
 mind no longer is in control ; the brain, however, 
 though deprived of its power of thought, is yet subject 
 to the action of irritants, and, irritated by this waste, 
 it automatically, or reflexly, sends out all sorts of 
 irregular and irrational commands to the muscles, in 
 response to which they jerk and twist and squirm and 
 contort into every conceivable shape, producing the hor- 
 rifying and awe-inspiring spectacle of a convulsion. 
 This is but a forcible illustration of what occurs when- 
 ever the waste that should be removed from, is retained 
 in, the body, and from it we deduce the conclusion 
 that the regular and full function of the excretory 
 organs is absolutely essential to health. 
 
170 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 216. How many elements are known to chemistry, and how many of 
 these elements enter into the composition of the human body ? 
 
 217. What constitutes the phenomena of life? 
 
 218. What chemical changes are continually going on? 
 
 219. What about the process of building up and breaking down ? 
 
 220. What is the final element of the human body ? 
 
 221. What is protoplasm? 
 
 222. Describe a cell; its size; method of reproduction and function ? 
 
 223. Are these cells alive ? 
 
 224. What is the function of excretion t 
 
 225. Give an illustration, using the stove. 
 
 226. Is there but one form of waste ? 
 
 227. How is the excretory system composed ? 
 
 228. What of the reciprocal relation between the different excretory 
 organs ? 
 
 229. How do the lungs act as scavengers ? 
 
 230. What is the function of the kidneys? 
 
 231. Why is kidney disease so prevalent among great meat-eaters? 
 
 232. Why do we have two kidneys ? 
 
 233. What is the excretory function of the skin, and what relation 
 is there between it and that of the kidneys? 
 
 234. What is the excretory function of the bowels ? 
 
 235. What is the process of assimilation ? 
 
 236. What is a convulsion ? how produced? 
 
THE BONKS AND THE SKELETON. 177 
 
 CHAPTER XI V. 
 THE BONES AND THE SKELETON. 
 
 We have now a very fair knowledge of the 
 structure and functions of the various organs and 
 parts of the human body. But all of these parts 
 are soft and, if left to themselves, would fall into a 
 confused heap. Hence it is necessary that they 
 should be supported. Most of the vital organs are 
 delicate and tender in proportion to the delicacy of 
 the functions they are called upon to perform ; hence 
 they must be protected from injury. The human 
 body has a definite shape, peculiarly its own ; where 
 does it get this shape? The muscles must have points 
 of attachment, else their contractions will be useless ; 
 where do they find these points? All of these condi- 
 tions and the answer to all of these queries are to 
 be found in the skeleton, or ;i bony system." 
 
 Chemically, bone consists of — 
 
 Parts. 
 Phosphate of calcium, .... 53 
 
 Carbonate of calcium, .... 11 
 
 Phosphate of magnesium, fluoride of calcium 
 
 and soda salts, . . . . 1 
 
 Gelatin, yielding animal matter, . . 33 
 
 98 
 
178 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 The mineral matter gives the hardness, while the 
 gelatin gives a certain amount of pliancy to bone. 
 
 Every child is familiar 
 with the general appear- 
 ance of bone, hence it 
 will be useless to waste 
 time in a description. 
 
 If you go to the 
 butcher shop and get the 
 butcher to give you a 
 bone, and if you put 
 this bone into a solution 
 of muriatic acid and 
 leave it there for a time,, 
 when you take it out 
 the shape will be the 
 same as before, but you 
 will find that the bone 
 has become like soft 
 glue; it can be bent 
 and twisted, and, if a 
 long bone, can be tied 
 into a knot. Now get 
 another bone and put it 
 into the lire for a few 
 hours. Lift it carefully 
 out. The shape will be 
 the same, but you can 
 crumble it into dust between your fingers. In the first 
 instance, the acid has dissolved out the mineral and 
 
 Fjg. 46. 
 The Skeleton. 
 
THE BONES AND THE SKELETON. 179 
 
 left the animal matter; in the second instance the 
 lire has burnt out the animal and left the mineral 
 matter. 
 
 It is important that you should understand well 
 the nature of these two constituents of bone, because 
 they have a practical bearing. 
 
 In childhood the animal matter predominates over 
 the mineral ; hence it is that, in proportion to the 
 falls and accidents of children, so comparatively 
 few bones are broken ; while in old age the animal 
 matter is lessened and the mineral ingredients greatly 
 in excess, in consequence of which the bones are so 
 brittle that they will sometimes break with no more 
 exertion than that of getting out of bed. 
 
 Because of the different purposes for which they 
 are intended, we find all sizes and shapes of bones. 
 In the arms and legs the bones are long; the shoulder 
 blades are flat ; the bones of the fingers and toes are 
 some of them oblong, others square, while still others 
 possess peculiar shapes adapted to the duty they have 
 to perform. 
 
 The "backbone" is not one single bone, as many 
 suppose, but consists of a number of bones placed one 
 on top of another, each being capable of motion on the 
 other, which allows of the various motions of the 
 body. 
 
 From the backbone the ribs pass outwards, for- 
 wards and inwards, like the hoops of a barrel, to be 
 attached, most of them, to the breastbone in front, 
 thereby inclosing and affording protection to the vital 
 
180 IIYGIEJNE, 
 
 organs (the lungs and heart) within the cavity of the 
 chest. 
 
 The skull is a bony covering of, and protection to, 
 the brain ; and that this protection may be the greater 
 where it is the most required, we find those portions 
 of the skull covering and protecting the more vital 
 portions of the brain to be thicker than other parts. 
 
 There are two kinds of joints in the skeleton : 
 1, The hinge joints, and 2, the ball and socket 
 joints. 
 
 The lunge joint, as its name implies, allows only 
 of that motion of flexion and extension that would 
 be the case if two bones were joined together by an 
 ordinary door hinge. The working of the hinge joint 
 is seen in the knee and the elbow. The ball and 
 socket joint, in addition to the hinge-like movement, 
 allows of a rotary motion, and its action is seen in the 
 hip-joint. 
 
 Now, if you have followed me attentively and 
 thoughtfully thus far, you have as clear a knowledge 
 of the anatomy and physiology of the human body 
 as it is possible for one 16 acquire unless he makes a 
 special study thereof, and goes into the dissecting room 
 and dissects a number of human bodies ; and you cer- 
 tainly have enough of this knowledge to enable you to 
 understand clearly the portions of this book that will 
 follow. 
 
THE BONKS AND THE SKELETON. 181 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 237. What is the purpose of the skeleton ? 
 
 238. What is the chemical composition of bone? and what purpose 
 does each ingredient serve? 
 
 239. If you soak a bone in muriatic acid what happens? 
 
 240. What effect has fire on bone? 
 
 241. What is the predominant element in the bones of childhood? 
 of old age? What are the sizes and shapes of bones? 
 
 242. How is the backbone made up ? What are the ribs, and 
 what do they protect ? 
 
 243. What is the skull, and what is its duty? 
 
 244. How many kinds of joints are there ? illustrate them. 
 
1 82 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 
 
 Now, in the very beginning, let ns clearly under- 
 stand what we mean by the word "hygiene." It is 
 one of those words, derived from the Latin or the 
 Greek, which some think should be confined entirely to 
 the nse of doctors, and with which the public at large 
 has nothing whatever to do. When we understand that 
 "hygiene" means the preservation of health, the avoid- 
 ance of disease, and the living of a life that will enable 
 ns to reach old age, we can readily understand that it 
 is a subject with which the public has everything to do. 
 
 Well, now you may ask the question whether it is 
 possible for us to avoid disease? You probably have 
 the idea which almost all persons seem to have, that 
 disease comes to us from God as a punishment for sin. 
 This is the idea that most persons have had from the 
 beginning of the world, and while it is, in reality, cor- 
 rect, it is not true in the way in which it is ordinarily 
 understood. I mean to say very plainly to you, that 
 vny many diseases are preventable. That you may 
 clearly understand what I mean by this, I Avould 
 remind you that, according to the Bible, God created all 
 of us, not for disease, but for health. It was the inten- 
 tion of the Almighty that we should all live healthy 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 183 
 
 lives, until we had reached an age beyond which life 
 would be impossible, and that we should then simply 
 cease to exist, as we sometimes see very old persons 
 doing. The Almighty established certain laws, which 
 we will call laws of nature, and he intended, or wished, 
 that we should live in accordance with these laws. But, 
 at the same time, he gave us a free will, so that it 
 is possible for us to obey or disobey these laws, as we 
 see tit. 
 
 If we were to obey the laws of nature strictly, dis- 
 ease would be unknown. To make this matter clear 
 and plain to you, let me remind you of the laws that 
 are made by men for the government and guidance of 
 cities. If now, for example, when some of you boys or 
 girls leave this school-room, you should on your way 
 home engage in a tight, and a policeman happened to 
 come along, the chances are that you would be arrested. 
 and possibly put into prison. Now, you are put into 
 prison because you have broken some of the laws of the 
 city. Just in the same way, if we break some of the 
 laws of nature, we must be punished for our disobedi- 
 ence of these laws ; and just as the prison is the pun- 
 ishment for breaking the laws of men, so disease is the 
 punishment for breaking the laws of God in the phys- 
 ical world. 
 
 With this understanding, you will probably ask 
 the question, does disease always follow disobedience 
 of the laws of nature, and does it mean that when- 
 ever a person is sick, he or she has broken some 
 law of nature? and I answer, yes; although the rela- 
 
1 84 HYGIENE. 
 
 tion between the disobedience of the law and the 
 occurrence of the disease may not be in every case 
 clearly made out, yet at the same time the punish- 
 ment by disease for the breaking of a law of nature is 
 very much more certain than is the jmnishment for the 
 breaking of the law of man. In order that we may 
 be punished for our disobedience to the laws of a 
 city, it is necessary that some man or some author- 
 ity should find out our disobedience. But in the case 
 of nature it is impossible for us to be regardless of 
 her laws without suffering the penalty; because God, 
 seeing everything, is always capable of detecting any 
 disobedience much more surely than will be the case 
 with an infringement of the laws of man. 
 
 To go back for a moment. I have said you may 
 ask whether disease will always follow an infringement 
 of the laws of nature? and again I answer, yes; al- 
 though the departure from health may in some cases be 
 so comparatively slight that you would hardly dignify it 
 with the name of disease. As a natural consequence of 
 the question just asked, you will be apt to ask whether 
 we can always avoid disease? and in answer to this 
 question, I would ask you carefully to bear in mind 
 this idea: if the observance of, or obedience to, the 
 laws of nature were universal, absolutely universal, 
 that is to say, if everybody strictly obeyed the laws 
 of nature, there would be no such thing as disease 
 in the world. This is the theoretical way of looking at 
 it. But, practically speaking, a certain amount of dis- 
 ease will, be always with us; because while you or 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 185 
 
 I might obey the laws of nature with the greatest 
 diligence, yet at the same time the neglect of our 
 neighbor to observe these laws might subject us to 
 many of the causes of disease. Now I think you 
 will understand what is meant when disease is spoken 
 of as a " Visitation of Divine Providence. " It is 
 really true, as has always been believed, that disease 
 does come to us as a punishment from God for sin; 
 but not, as was once held, because God wishes to 
 afflict us with suffering and death, but because we 
 have disobeyed the laws that he has established, in con- 
 sequence of which disease and premature death must 
 surely come to us. 
 
 I would have you clearly understand before we 
 leave this part of the subject, that, practically speak- 
 ing — (understand what I mean when I say practically 
 speaking : I mean to take the world as we find it, and 
 not as we think it ought to be) — that practically 
 speaking, disease is, in very many cases, unavoidable; 
 because, owing to the conditions in which many of us 
 are placed, owing to the way in which many of us 
 are required to earn our living, and owing to the 
 way in which many of us are surrounded, it is impos- 
 sible for us strictly to live in accordance with the laws 
 of nature. Therefore I would not have you think that 
 every person that is sick has been guilty of sin, as 
 we ordinarily understand the word sin. I purposely 
 say so much about this subject because, after all, it 
 is the whole foundation of the science of hygiene. 
 To repeat, that you may clearly grasp what I mean, I 
 
186 HYGIENE. 
 
 would say that if we all lived in accordance with the 
 laws of nature there would be uo disease in the 
 world; but that it is impossible for some persons to 
 live in accordance with the laws of nature, therefore 
 there is, and must always be, more or less disease in 
 the world, and that the nearer each individual con- 
 forms to the laws of nature, the less will be the sum 
 total of disease. 
 
 If, then, there ought not to be any disease in the 
 world, do I mean that it is possible for any person 
 to live forever ? Do I mean that we should never 
 die ? By no means ; because, as I have already, in 
 my '"Catechism of Hygiene," explained to you, it 
 lias been ordained by the Almighty that every living 
 thing that has life must die. Not only does every 
 man, woman, dog, cat, horse, cow and animal of every 
 description die, but so also does every leaf, every 
 vegetable, every living thing, after passing through a 
 period of usefulness in this- world, cease to exist. It 
 dies;, that is to say, it loses that active condition of 
 life with which we are familiar in everything organic. 
 
 Let us understand clearly what this means. As 
 stated in the beginning of this book, there is no more 
 matter in the world to-day than there was at the 
 beginning of time ; neither will there be any more or 
 any less matter at the last day than there is to-day. 
 What do I mean by matter t Without going into a 
 scientific discussion of the subject, I would simply say 
 that if you take a grain of corn and grind it up, you 
 have a lot of matter. If you take the human body, it 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 187 
 
 is made up of matter or material. This will probably 
 give you an idea of what the word matter means suffi- 
 ciently comprehensive for our purpose. 
 
 Now, as I say, there is no more matter in the world 
 to-day than there was at the beginning of time. In 
 the beginning of time, God made a certain definite 
 amount of matter, and he established certain definite 
 rules to regulate this matter. A certain part of this 
 matter he puts together, different particles one with 
 another, until he makes a human being. This human 
 being he endows with a certain amount of what we 
 will call vital force, by which we mean that he gives to 
 this amount of matter a rjower that enables it to live, 
 to walk, to talk, to see, to hear, to think, to eat, to do 
 everything that you and I are doing every day, and 
 which we call life. Now, when the time comes that we 
 call death, this matter is not destroyed. It is simply 
 deprived of the rjower of living. That which we call 
 the vital force leaves it, and it becomes simply a mass 
 of matter deprived of the life such as it has had while 
 it constituted our bodies. For example, one who looks 
 on you now sees evidences of life in each one of you, 
 boys and girls. When the time conies that you will 
 die, you will look just the same as you do now. You 
 will weigh just the same. The eyes and the ears and 
 the nose and the head and the arms and the legs will 
 all be there; but you will be unable to do any of 
 those things that you now do when living, After 
 a while, after this vital power has left you for a time, 
 your body will commence to decay. Now, what does 
 
188 HYGIENE. 
 
 that mean ? Simply this : that the particles of matter 
 which have been put together to form your body are 
 now separating, to be spread throughout nature, and to 
 form parts of other bodies. Strange as it may seem to 
 you, a part of the very matter that is forming your 
 body to-day, was yesterday a part of a cow, if you 
 please. If, for instance, you have eaten some beefsteak 
 for breakfast to-day, it has been cut from a cow; now 
 when you eat it, it becomes part of your body, and 
 after having served its purpose in your body, it is dis- 
 charged therefrom, to become part of some other vege-- 
 table or animal. I think you probably will understand 
 from what I have said what I mean when I say that 
 matter is indestructible, and that life, be it the life of 
 a man or of a cow or of a vegetable, is simply the 
 result of the coming together and the separation of par- 
 ticles of matter. 
 
 Of course now you will understand that we start 
 out with the fundamental idea of Almighty God being 
 tliH author of all life. We are not for an instant taking 
 a materialistic view of life, in the sense in which those 
 who do not believe in God view it. No man has ever 
 yet been able to make another man. No man has 
 ever yet been able to make even a potato, or a blade 
 <>!' grass. No man can ever originate life. I am simply 
 endeavoring to make you understand as I do the work- 
 ing of the laws of nature that have been ordained and 
 established by Almighty God. Now the question that 
 I ask, and that I have been trying to make you under- 
 stand by these remarks, is, whether it is possible for 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 189 
 
 us to live forever, if we would so obey the laws of 
 nature that there would be no disease in the world? 
 and I answer this, no; because, as I have explained to 
 you, it is the inevitable law of nature that every living 
 thing must die, sooner or later. But if we were to 
 strictly obey the laws of nature we would not die, as 
 most persons now do, of disease ; but having reached 
 an age at which our vital power would be exhausted, 
 we would simply, as it were, sink to sleep and wake 
 no more. In reality, each night when you go to sleep 
 you are, in a certain sense of the word, dead. Your 
 heart continues to beat, you breathe, but you are utterly 
 unconscious of the fact that you are alive. So far as 
 you yourself are concerned you are really dead when 
 you are asleep. You do not know that you are alive. 
 You do not perform any of the conscious acts of 
 living; and if you were in reality to die while asleep 
 you would never know anything about it. The person 
 who dies in accordance with the laws of nature really 
 goes to sleep and does not wake up again. For exam- 
 ple : A short time ago I had under my care a once vigor- 
 ous, strong, hearty and healthy Irish lady. She was 
 eighty-live years of age ; and when I was called to see 
 her there was nothing the matter with her except 
 general weakness. She had no disease ; she was not com- 
 plaining of any suffering or any pain, but said she just 
 felt weak. After attending her for about a week, dur- 
 ing which time she was daily getting weaker, when I 
 went one morning I found her lying in bed unconscious. 
 Her heart was beating slowly ; she was breathing slowly. 
 
190 HYGIENE. 
 
 She made no sign showing that she wanted to eat or 
 drink, but if food was put to her mouth, or drink was 
 given to her, she would swallow it. And so she went 
 along for four or live days, each day weaker than 
 the day before, until it required a careful exami- 
 nation to see that she was breathing at all, or that her 
 heart was beating at all ; and finally after a short time 
 she quietly stopped breathing, her heart stopped beat- 
 ing, and she died. 
 
 In a case of this kind, the laws of nature had 
 been strictly complied with. This old lady had lived 
 until all of the vital force born with her had become 
 exhausted, and then she simply ceased to live. 
 
 What, then, do I mean by vital force? Well, I 
 think I have already told you that by vital force I 
 mean that power to live that is born with each and 
 every one of us in accordance with the design of the 
 Almighty. Vital force means the power to breathe, 
 to eat, to think, to see, to hear, to move, to do all 
 those things that constitute life. A very important 
 question comes in just here. Is the same amount of 
 vital force born with each and every person ; or, in 
 other words, if we Avere all of us to obey the laws 
 of nature strictly, would we all live equally long? 
 No. You know that some children will inherit from 
 their parents a certain sum of money. Other children 
 will inherit more; while others, again, will receive 
 still less. Just as it is with money, so it is with 
 this vital force. Some of us will inherit from our 
 parents a certain amount of vital force; others will 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 191 
 
 inherit more, still others, less. What do I mean 
 when I say that you will inherit a certain amount of 
 vital force from your parents ? By this expression I 
 mean to convey the idea that, other things being equal, 
 as the parent is so will the child be; that is to say, 
 that if your father and mother are strong, hearty, 
 healthy persons, who have obeyed strictly the laws of 
 nature, that they will transmit to you a greater amount 
 of vital force than will be the case if they have lived 
 lives calculated to destroy or weaken their health. 
 
 For example, in order that this matter may be made 
 very clear to you, let us suppose that the father of 
 some particular boy or girl in this room has received 
 from his father one hundred thousand dollars. Let us 
 suprjose that he has invested this money so that it will 
 bring him in an income of five thousand dollars a year. 
 Let us suppose that he has so lived throughout his life 
 that he has never spent more than five thousand dollars 
 in any one year. When he comes to die, he will leave 
 to this boy the full sum of one hundred thousand dol- 
 lars that he has received from his father. But now, on 
 the other hand, let us suppose that he has not been 
 satisfied with spending only five thousand dollars, but 
 that each year of his life he has taken two thousand 
 dollars from the principal, and that he has lived in this 
 way for thirty years. A little calculation will show 
 you that two thousand dollars taken from the principal 
 for thirty years amounts to sixty thousand dollars, so 
 that he will in that time have spent sixty thousand 
 dollars of the hundred thousand dollars received from 
 
102 HYGIENE. 
 
 liis father; and as a natural consequence, lie will only 
 be able to leave to this particular boy the sum of forty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Well, now, exactly the same is the case with this 
 vital power. If I inherit a certain amount of vital 
 power from my parents, and if I take care of this force, 
 if I live in accordance with the laws of nature, I may 
 be able to transmit to my children just that same 
 amount of vital force that I have received from my 
 parents. But if I live riotously, if I neglect all the 
 laws of nature or of health, if I take no care of myself 
 whatsoever, I am spending my vital force just as I 
 might spend the money I would inherit, and I will be 
 able to transmit to my children no more than possibly 
 one-half or, maybe, one-fourth only of the amount of 
 vital force that I have received from my parents. 
 
 A thought occurs to me that will illustrate this idea 
 admirably well, and it is an extremely significant and 
 suggestive thought for the people of this country. If 
 you will look about among your friends and acquaint- 
 ances, you will be struck, as I have been, by this won- 
 derfully important circumstance. You will see families 
 wherein the father and mother have belonged, possibly, 
 to that hard-working, plain-living Irish race, men and 
 women who have come to this country from Ireland 
 (and also from other countries, but I have noticed it 
 particularly in connection with the Irish men and 
 women who have come to this country as poor boys 
 and girls) without a dollar, but with a magnificent 
 stock of vigorous health, ambition, pluck and deter- 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 193 
 
 mination to make their way in the world ; men and 
 women who have succeeded, from a worldly point of 
 view, in accumulating money and securing position, and 
 who have lived to the age, maybe, of eighty, eighty- 
 five, sometimes even ninety years, who have large fami- 
 lies, and yet, in the majority of instances, nearly all, if 
 not all, of the children have died even before their 
 parents. 
 
 Now, what does this mean ? To my way of think- 
 ing, it means unquestionably that these strong, healthy 
 parents, in their ambition for success, have so used up 
 their inheritance of vital force that they have received 
 from their sturdy parents, that they have had very lit- 
 tle vital force left to transmit to their children. How 
 rarely do you ever find a son or a daughter of a man 
 who has been eminent in any particular walk of life 
 attaining eminence in that line in which the father 
 has been famous. 
 
 What does this mean ? To my way of thinking, it 
 means that so much of the vital force of the parent 
 has been expended in attaining the eminence that he 
 has enjoyed, that he has very little of it left to trans- 
 mit to his children. I think you will now understand 
 what I mean when I speak of vital force. You will 
 understand what I mean when I speak of vital inherit- 
 ance. You will understand that everyone of us derives 
 from his parents a certain amount of vital force, 
 greater from those parents who have obeyed the laws 
 of nature, and a lesser amount from those who have 
 lived regardless of their health. Well, now, just here 
 
194 HYGIENE. 
 
 comes in a question of very, very great importance to 
 you. Suppose you have inherited from your parents 
 only a small amount of vital force. Suppose your £>ar- 
 ents have been utterly regardless of all the laws of 
 health or nature, and as a consequence, suppose you are, 
 as compared with your neighbor, a weak, delicate per- 
 son, are you therefore doomed to sickness and to early 
 death ? As you can readily understand, this is a ques- 
 tion of vital importance to you ; because if this were 
 the case, if you were necessarily doomed to an early 
 death, it would be a very sad state of affairs for you. 
 But fortunately such is not the case, and here comes 
 in one of the most beautiful aspects of the laws of 
 nature. 
 
 To illustrate again : Let me take two boys, and let 
 me call one Tom and the other Jim. Now let us sup- 
 pose Jim gets from his father one hundred thousand 
 dollars, and let us suppose that Tom gets only fifty 
 thousand. Let Jim spend every year besides his in- 
 come two thousand dollars of his principal. At the 
 end of thirty years Jim will have spent sixty thousand 
 dollars of his principal, and he will only have forty 
 thousand dollars left. Now Tom only has fifty thou- 
 sand dollars, and he gets only twenty-five hundred 
 dollars a year income from it; but Tom spends only 
 two thousand dollars a year; each year he saves five 
 hundred, and at the end of thirty years he has saved 
 fifteen thousand dollars. Now, when we add that to 
 his original fifty thousand dollars, we find at the end 
 of thirty years that Tom, who started out with fifty 
 
GENERAL CONSIDERATION OF HYGIENE. 195 
 
 thousand dollars only, now lias sixty- five thousand 
 dollars; while Jim, who started out with a hundred 
 thousand, has now only forty. So that the boy with 
 the smallest inheritance of money has been able, by 
 carefully handling that money, to be richer at the 
 end of thirty years than the boy who started out 
 with twice as much. 
 
 As with the money, so is it with the vital force. 
 The boy who inherits a smaller amount of vital force 
 from his parents may, by careful living, by carefully 
 watching his inheritance of vital force, outlive the 
 boy who has inherited a much greater amount. In 
 fact, not only may he outlive the other boy, but I 
 would assert it as a fact that he is much more likely 
 to outlive the other boy, because the very fact that he 
 is deficient in his inheritance of vital force will be apt 
 to serve him as a constant reminder of the necessity 
 of taking care of himself; while the boy who inher- 
 its a large amount of vital force will be apt to pre- 
 sume upon his strength, and will therefore neglect 
 the laws of nature, and will be very apt to wreck 
 himself before he has nearly reached the natural limit 
 of his vital inheritance. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 245. What do you mean by hygiene ? 
 
 246. Is disease, really, a punishment for sin? 
 
 247. What would be the result of a strict obedience of the laws of 
 nature? 
 
190 HYGIENE. 
 
 248. Does disease always follow disobedience of the laws of nature ? 
 24!*. Can we always avoid disease? 
 
 250. What do yon mean when you speak of disease as a " Visitation 
 of Divine Providence " ? 
 
 251. Has every sick person been guilty of sin ? 
 
 252. Is it possible for man to live forever ? 
 
 253. What do you mean by matter f 
 
 254. What becomes of the matter of our bodies when we die? 
 
 255. Who is the author of all life ? 
 
 256. If we all strictly obeyed the laws of nature, how would we die ? 
 
 257. Is sleep anything like death ? 
 
 258. What do you mean by " vital force " ? 
 
 259. Are we all equally endowed with vital force ? 
 
 260. Why is it that children so seldom equal their parents in special 
 attributes for which the parents may have been noted? 
 
 261. Suppose your vital inheritance has been small, are you neces- 
 sarily doomed to ill-health and early death ? 
 
HEREDITY. 197 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 HEREDITY. 
 
 The question that we have been discussing is in 
 reality the question of Heredity, and it is one of 
 the utmost importance, yet one that is not properly 
 understood. In calculating the probable length of an 
 individual life, insurance companies are accustomed to 
 lay great stress upon the length of life of the ancestors. 
 Again, in our efforts to educate the people in hygiene 
 we encounter many persons who, while scorning the 
 idea of fatalism, yet are in reality fatalists so far as 
 the question of health and longevity is concerned; 
 such x^ersons will argue that if an individual comes 
 of a long-lived ancestry he is likely to have a long 
 life, and vice versa. Now, while I do not dispute 
 the absolute influence of heredity in a state of rude 
 nature, and its partial influence in a state of artificial 
 civilization, yet I think that it receives more than 
 its due share of consideration, and I cannot bet- 
 ter demonstrate the true relative influence of heredity 
 upon longevity than by placing before you two ex- 
 treme illustrative types in the life histories of Tommy 
 Thin and Sammy Stout ; and I consider the right under- 
 standing of this question of heredity so important that 
 I must devote a whole chapter to its consideration. 
 
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210 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 Have I overdrawn the picture ? I admit that I have, 
 for the sake of illustration, drawn for you the 
 extremes; but I am quite sure that this little life- 
 
 Fr<;. 59. — Chevreul, at 100 years of age. 
 
 sketch gives us the true relationship between heredity 
 and longevity. Unquestionably, heredity is a potent 
 factor, but if relied upon solely it will fail us. Such 
 
HEREDITY. 
 
 211 
 
 is the lesson taught us again by the life history of the 
 eminent French chemist, Chevreul, whom I show you 
 as he appeared at the age of 100 years. It was not 
 heredity alone, nor was it chance, that enabled Chev- 
 reul to remain in this world in his human shape for 
 103 years. By no means ; his long life was one result 
 of his inherent wisdom, for all wise men are sanitarians. 
 A man of genius may be erratic, and he generally is so; 
 but a wise man, a man with a well-balanced mind, will 
 generally be found to be thoughtful of his health. 
 
 Is not this truth forced upon us when we look upon 
 the gradually ageing features of General Grant's great 
 Secretary of State, the late Hon. Hamilton Fish? And 
 
 Fm. 60. — The Hon. Hamilton Fish, at 60, 70 and 83 years of age. 
 
 as we see him at 60, 70, and 83 years of age, are we not 
 impressed with the natural and gradual manner in which 
 this great man passed through his part in the drama of 
 
212 
 
 iiyoiene. 
 
 life? And do we not learn the same lesson from the 
 features, at 63 and at 86, of that eminent jurist, David 
 Dudley Field? 
 
 Fig. 61. — David Dudley Field, at 63 and 86 years of age. 
 
 Look, now, at the natural passage through life of 
 that eminently natural, therefore cheerful, happy, con- 
 tented, healthy president of one of America's greatest 
 railways, the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew, of New York. 
 
 So also with Gladstone, lately the virtual ruler of 
 England at 84, and with those two great Cardinals of 
 the Catholic Church, Newman and Manning, aged 86 
 and 83 respectively at the time of death ; as with De 
 Lesseps, the French engineer, at 87, and Dr. Oliver 
 Wendell Holmes, at 84. From them, as from the 
 life histories of thousands of others, we learn the lesson 
 that what we are wont to look upon as great old age, 
 should be the lot of every human being that is born. I 
 have been showing you the features of some very old 
 men, and I now show you one more, in the person of 
 Admiral Sir Provo Wallis, of the British Navy, as he 
 
HEREDITY. 
 
 213 
 
 \V/ V 
 
 AT 2o 
 
 ?vr;6 
 
 Fig. 62. — Hon. Chauncey M. Depew. 
 
214 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 
 Fig. 63.— W. E. Gladstone. 
 
 Fig. 65.— Dr. 0. W. Holmes. 
 
 FlO. 6 I. I ardina] Manning 
 
 Fig. 66. — De Lesseps. 
 
HEREDITY. 
 
 215 
 
 Fig. 67. — Cardinal Newman. 
 
 appeared at 100 years of age, as though the spectacle 
 of a man 80 or 100 years old was a great curiosity. Well, 
 so it is, in these days of human degeneracy ; but I would 
 beg of you to remember that, according to the laws of 
 nature, the attainment of 100 years of healthy life should 
 not be regarded as a passport to a niche in a museum of 
 
216 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 curiosities, or as making one worthy of exhibition at a 
 sanitary convention, but as a consummation of human 
 
 Fig. 68. 
 Admiral Sir Provo Wallis, of the British Navy, at the age of 100. 
 
 life to which we all are entitled, and the failure to reach 
 which is due to some fault of our own or of our ances- 
 tors. 
 
HEREDITY. 217 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 262. What is heredity ? 
 
 263. Can the importance of heredity be overestimated ? 
 
 264. Relate the relative influences of heredity and hygiene upon 
 longevity, as illustrated by the life histories of Tommy Thin and 
 Sammy Stout. 
 
 265. Is it safe to rely solely upon heredity ? 
 
 266. "What lesson do we learn from the life histories of eminent 
 men who have lived to great age ? 
 
 267. To what length of life are Ave all entitled? 
 
21 S HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 HEREDITARY DISEASES. 
 
 Before we leave this subject of inheritance, let us 
 for a moment take up the question of hereditary dis- 
 eases; for this is a matter of the greatest importance 
 in connection with the study of hygiene. You are in 
 the habit of hearing it always said that consumption is 
 an hereditary disease; where the parents have had con- 
 sumption the disease is almost invariably looked for and 
 expected with the children. It is almost accepted as an 
 inevitable fact that the children of consumptive pa rents 
 must themselves die of consumption. Now there never 
 was a more erroneous, or more dangerous, or more ter- 
 rible conception of the truth than this. Every disease 
 can be, and no disease need be, hereditary. Now, what 
 do I mean by this? I mean, that if my father has had 
 any particular disease — I do not care whether it is con- 
 sumption, or Bright's disease of the kidneys, or disease 
 of the liver, or disease of the heart or of the brain, or 
 of any part of the body — if my father has had any par- 
 ticular disease, it is very likely that a weakness of that 
 particular part will be transmitted tome; and that if I 
 live a life that is calculated to favor the development 
 of this disease, that the disease will be very likely to 
 occur with me; but that if I lead a life calculated to 
 
HEREDITARY DISEASES. 219 
 
 keep my general health good, and in a special manner 
 calculated to avoid the particular disease with which 
 my father has been affected, that this disease will not 
 develop in me. Now do yon see what I mean when I 
 say that any disease may be, and no disease need be, 
 hereditary"? 
 
 This is a question of extreme imx)ortance, and it 
 cannot be too strongly impressed upon you, because it 
 is the tendency of the day to believe that if any dis- 
 ease is prevalent in any particular family, that the 
 members of that family are inevitably doomed to such 
 disease, and that it is useless for them to fight against 
 it. Now, from what I have said, I think you can plainly 
 see how erroneous this idea is. Suppose, for example, 
 my father and mother have both died of consumption. 
 Suppose all my brothers and sisters have died of con- 
 sumption. Suppose that my father and mother and all 
 of my brothers and sisters have lived lives that would 
 favor the development of this disease. Now, knowing 
 what I do of hygiene, knowing that there is a tendency 
 in me to consumption because of the family history, 
 suppose I go off (as I would do under these circum- 
 stances) and live all my life in the open air; suppose 
 I never go inside of a house night or day; I sleep and 
 eat. and work and play and do everything in the open 
 air ; suppose I make it a practice to exercise my lungs 
 in the way that I will tell you about further on — now 
 I can be morally certain that I will not die of consump- 
 tion, notwithstanding the fact that so many members of 
 my family have so died. 
 
220 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 268. What is the truth about the hereditary nature of disease ? 
 
 269. Is any disease necessarily hereditary? 
 
 270. Is not the tendency to any and all diseases hereditary ? 
 
 271. Can an inherited tendency to disease be nullified? 
 
TWO JOURNEYS THROUGH LIFE. 221 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 TWO JOURNEYS THROUGH LIFE. 
 
 Let us now board a fast express train on the 
 " Railroad of Life" and, starting from New York City 
 on the first day of September, 1894, ready for a jour- 
 ney of 100 years, see how many will reach the age 
 that God is willing that they should attain. 
 
 Let us take with us 1000 new-born babies. 
 
 Listen to the station-master giving his final in- 
 structions to the conductor, and you will hear some- 
 thing like this — "You are due at this station Sep- 
 tember 1, 1994, and at all hazards your time must 
 be made ; the welfare of your passengers must be a 
 secondary consideration ; your first and guiding motive 
 being that you shall ' make time.''" On the 1st of 
 September, 1994, the fast express, completing its jour- 
 ney of 100 years, creeps slowly into the station, — 
 weather-beaten, dismantled, minus engineer, firemen, 
 conductors and brakemen; nearly steamless, and in a 
 condition of general decay, very nearly akin to that 
 of Dr. Holmes' famous "One-Horse Shay," just ready 
 to dissolve into nothingness. From this phantom train 
 we see the grandson of the station-master of 1894 
 assisting one solitary, decrepit old man, three-fourths 
 dead, to alight, and from him he receives this report 
 
222 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 r 
 
 R 
 
 
 VvW 
 
 i'i\'^-" 
 
 
TWO JOURNEYS THROUGH LIFE. 223 
 
 of the journey of 100 years: "Traveling, as we did, 
 under orders to ' make time,' 1 regardless of the wel- 
 fare of our passengers, before we were one year on 
 our journey we had lost 149 of our babies, and 
 before we were five years out 263 were missing. 
 During the next five years we were more fortunate 
 and lost only 35. For the succeeding five years we 
 were remarkably fortunate and lost only 18. But now 
 our losses increased so that when we had been out 
 twenty-five years our force was reduced to 634. In 
 the next ten years we lost 62 ; while at the end of 
 45 years our original passenger list was cut in two, 
 and we had left of our original 1000 babies only 
 500 middle-aged men. At the close of the 55th year 
 we could count but 421, while only 309 remained 
 at 65, and 161 at the end of seventy-five years. 
 When we had been out 85 years our engineer and 
 conductor were counted among the missing, and only 
 38 tottering old men could be found in all our train. 
 Five years ago, when we had been 95 years on the 
 'journey of life,' our train-hands were all gone; the 
 engine, nearly exhausted and worn out, was running 
 without guidance or control, and but one poor old 
 fellow, besides myself, was to be seen in all the 
 cars. He fell off some little time after; and here you 
 see me, the sole survivor of the 1000 happy babies 
 that started from this station 100 years ago on the 
 "journey of life,' and / am only one-fourth alive." 
 What a doleful journey ; yet it is statistically cor- 
 rect, for of every 1000 babies born the proportion of 
 
224 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 
TWO JOURNEYS THROUGH LIFE. 225 
 
 deaths is as stated, and only one person out of every 
 4000 born reaches the age of 100 years. 
 
 But now, from the same station starts out another 
 train, similarly loaded, having, however, for its con- 
 ductress the Goddess Hygeia. It is, to a certain 
 extent, an experimental train — that is to say, sched- 
 uled on scientific principles, the effort is to be made 
 to demonstrate practically that "time" can be made 
 without sacrificing the interests and the welfare of the 
 passengers. One hundred years later, this same train, 
 smart and fresh and under the control of the same 
 officials with which it started (now grown grizzly 
 veterans) steams into the station on time, and from 
 every platform there alight hale, hearty, vigorous old 
 men of 100 years. The number of arrivals is not 1000, 
 but it approaches very closely to that figure, and as 
 we notice the populace singing the praises of the con- 
 ductress for her wise management of this long journey, 
 let us all put on our " thinking caps" and moralize 
 upon the meaning of these two journeys. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 272. Describe the fate of 1000 babies on their journey through life 
 as it is. 
 
 273. Out of every 1000 persons born, how many reach the age of 
 100 years? 
 
 274. Describe the possible fate of 1000 babies if the teachings of 
 hygiene were universally obeyed. 
 
 275. What is the moral of these two journeys ? 
 
226 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 DISEASE. 
 
 Of course you are prepared to understand that dis- 
 ease has caused the death of most of those who died on 
 the first of the two journeys just described. That is to 
 say, that their deaths were not natural, that they ought 
 not to have died when they did. 
 
 In order that we may go along smoothly in our 
 study of this subject, let us now, for a moment, consider-" 
 what we mean by disease. The word sickness is, of 
 course, very well understood by you, but I doubt if .you 
 have ever reflected upon the full significance of the word 
 "disease.'" Recall the comparison that we have made 
 between a human body and a machine, remember the 
 different organs and parts, each of which has its own 
 particular duty to perform. 
 
 In the human body in which all of these parts are 
 properly performing their duty we will have a condition 
 of perfect health. But now if one of these organs or any 
 pari of the body is so deranged that it is not able prop- 
 erly to perform its duty, then in reality we are in the 
 condition that we call disease. 
 
 Reflect for a moment. If you see a person sick with 
 scarlet fever, or with diphtheria, or measles, or typhoid 
 fever, you have always been accustomed to consider such 
 a person sick. It is easy enough for you to recognize 
 
DISEASE. 227 
 
 sickness when it is of sncli a nature as to confine the sick 
 person to bed. But the idea that I would have you now 
 understand is, that any departure from the normal healthy 
 condition of the human body really constitutes what we 
 will call disease, even though the person so diseased may 
 not seem to the eye of an observer to be in any way 
 sick. In my " Catechism of Hygiene" I have divided dis- 
 ease into two grand divisions : acute and chronic. It is 
 very important that you should understand what this 
 division means. I have already told you, in the book 
 referred to, that by an acute disease we mean a disease 
 generally caused by the introduction of some poison from 
 without into the body. But in this amplification of this 
 little book we must go farther, and define acute disease as 
 a disease that is characterized usually by marked symp- 
 toms, that has a definite course to run, and that must ter- 
 minate either in recovery, in death, or in the develop- 
 ment of a chronic disease. 
 
 Now, chronic disease means a slow, insidious, gradually- 
 developing condition, whereby some organ or part is so 
 altered in its composition that it is no longer able to ful- 
 fill properly its duty in the body. It is very important 
 that you should bear in mind the distinction between 
 acute and chronic disease, because, while of course all 
 disease, as we have already said, is due to some infringe- 
 ment of the laws of nature, and while it is the prov- 
 ince of hygiene to protect us from all disease, yet par- 
 ticularly may it be said that it is in the power of the 
 individual to protect himself from chronic disease in an 
 especial manner. 
 
228 HYGIENE. 
 
 Our own individual efforts may not always suffice to 
 save us from the causes of acute disease, because since 
 the majority of acute diseases are caused by the pres- 
 ence in the air that we breathe or the food that we 
 eat or the water that we drink of disease germs, it 
 is very often an impossibility, practically speaking, to 
 avoid taking into our systems the causes of acute 
 disease. But with chronic disease the case is very 
 different. It is almost always the case that chronic 
 disease is due to faulty methods of life on the part 
 of the individual himself. Chronic disease of the 
 liver or of the lungs or of the kidneys, implies a. 
 change in the structure of these organs, in place of 
 the normal healthy tissue of these parts. We will 
 find in anyone who is suffering from chronic disease, 
 therefore, a tissue that is not able properly to fulfill 
 the duty of these organs; and the change from the 
 normal to the abnormal structure is in most cases due 
 to faulty methods of life, although, of course, this 
 is not always so. 
 
 Therefore, you see that while hygiene really exerts 
 an influence in the prevention of all kinds of disease, 
 it is more especially in the case of chronic disease that 
 the efforts of the individual himself will be most 
 effective. But chronic disease, of course, does not 
 always begin as a chronic affection. Very often an 
 acute disease if neglected will result in a chronic 
 incurable affection of the part. Just here comes in a 
 very important point. Acute disease, I have already 
 told you, is fatal only in about a proportion of one 
 
DISEASE. 229 
 
 out of every five. That is to say, for every five 
 persons sick witli acute disease only one will die ; 
 whereas with chronic disease it is all the time slowly 
 tending towards a fatal termination. The point that I 
 want to call your attention to particularly in this 
 connection is that a person afflicted with chronic dis- 
 ease may often, though that disease may be incurable, 
 by proper methods of life so hold the disease in check 
 that he may live nearly as long with the disease .as 
 without it. To make this point clear to you, I would 
 compare a person suffering from chronic disease to a 
 ship at sea that has sprung a leak, but whose pumps 
 are in good working order. So long as this leaking 
 ship encounters only fair weather, and so long as the 
 crew are able to work at the pumps, she will sail 
 along as well as though she were perfectly sound. But 
 let her encounter a heavy gale, or let the pumps fail 
 to work properly, and she will soon founder. So, pre- 
 cisely, is it with the victim of chronic disease. Let 
 us suppose, for example, that the chronic disease be 
 that of the kidneys. Let us suppose that one has 
 chronic Bright's disease of the kidneys. So long as 
 such person lives in such a way as to put the least 
 possible amount of work upon these organs, so long 
 will he live in comparative health, able to enjoy himself 
 and to remain in this world as long as though his 
 kidneys were perfectly sound. But let such a person 
 neglect the laws of health, let him lead a reckless 
 life, regardless of the weak point in his system, and 
 he will very soon succumb to the disease. 
 
230 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 276. What is the cause of the death of most babies and young 
 persons? 
 
 277. What do you mean by disease ? 
 
 278. Into what two grand divisions do you divide disease, and what 
 do they mean ? 
 
 279. Can our own efforts save us from acute disease ? 
 
 280. What is the principal cause of chronic disease ? 
 
 281. In about what proportion is acute disease fatal? 
 
 282. To what would you compare the victim of chronic disease ? 
 
DISEASE GEKMS. 231 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 DISEASE GERMS. 
 
 Now we have made a still further sub -division of 
 acute diseases into contagious and non-contagious. You 
 already know that by this we mean that some diseases 
 are capable of transmission from one person to another, 
 and these we call contagious diseases ; while others are 
 not capable of such transmission, and these we will call 
 non-contagious diseases. Now read attentively, because 
 in connection with this subject of contagious diseases 
 I am going to tell you something extremely interesting. 
 According to the scientific doctrines of the day, all con- 
 tagious diseases are caused by the entrance into the 
 body of extremely small organisms, which we will call 
 germs. You have probably all heard more or less about 
 disease germs ; but now I want to give you a clear, 
 intelligent understanding of what they are. A . disease 
 germ is a little bit of a vegetable, just as much of a 
 vegetable as is a potato, or a cabbage, or a pea, or a 
 bean; but so extremely small that you could place 
 fully six hundred millions of them upon a space the 
 size of the head of a pin; and capable of such rapid 
 multiplication that, if not otherwise utilized, they would 
 in a few days' time fill the oceans of the world. Now 
 this seems very startling, but there is no occasion for 
 
232 HYGIENE. 
 
 alarm whatsoever. These germs are subject to, practi- 
 cally speaking, the same laws that govern all the rest 
 of the vegetable kingdom. When they enter the human 
 body they grow and multiply until they have attained 
 sufficient numbers and power to cause a particular dis- 
 ease. They then discharge from themselves a poison, 
 and it is this poison that is the cause of the disease. 
 There is a particular germ for each particular disease. 
 There is a sj)ecial germ for diphtheria, and it can pro- 
 duce no other disease* but diphtheria; a s})ecial germ for 
 typhoid fever, a special germ for measles, a special 
 germ for scarlet fever, a special germ for smallpox, a 
 special germ for cholera, and so on through the whole 
 list of contagious diseases ; and the germ of one par- 
 ticular disease can cause only that particular disease 
 and no other. If you plant in the ground a grain of 
 corn, it will produce corn, and nothing else. A pea 
 will produce peas, and nothing else. So is it with a 
 disease germ. Now if these germs are so small, and if 
 they multiply so rapidly, it is very evident that they 
 must be everywhere, and you must wonder why we are 
 not all of us all the time taking these germs into our 
 bodies. I answer you, yes,, undoubtedly we are all 
 constantly taking them in. Then why do we not, all 
 of us, have some of the contagious diseases caused by 
 these germs? Now suppose you were to take a grain 
 of corn and lay it on the floor of a school-room, and go 
 away, and come back in a hundred years. You would 
 find that grain of corn just as you had left it. In fact, 
 there have been taken from the tombs of Egypt grains 
 
DISEASE GERMS. 
 
 233 
 
 Various Forms of Germs Supposed to Cause Diseases. 
 {Copied from Dr. Carl Friedlcmder's "Manual of 
 Microscop leal Technology. ' ' ) Magn ified. 
 
 Pyjoemia. 
 
 Relopsing Fever. 
 
 Pneumonia 
 
 Consumption. 
 
 Anthrax 
 
 MALIGN AN T PUS TUL £ . 
 
 Erysipelas , 
 
 tm—BBmas* 
 
 Typhoid Fever. 
 
 Saliva Bacil/i. 
 
 Asiatic Cholera. 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
234 HYGIENE. 
 
 of corn that were buried there three thousand years ago, 
 with the mummies, and when brought to light they 
 were in the condition precisely in which they were 
 when placed in the grave. And these very same grains 
 of corn, three thousand years old, have been planted in 
 the ground, and have produced abundant crops of corn. 
 If you take your grain of corn from the floor and put 
 it into suitable soil, you will have an innumerable num- 
 ber of grains of corn produced from this one. So is it 
 with the disease germs. I am fond of calling these germs 
 seeds, because it makes their functions, or their duty, if 
 you please, clearer to the lay mind. 
 
 Now, just as we require that the grain of corn shall 
 be planted in suitable soil in order that we may have a 
 harvest of corn, so precisely do we require that the 
 seeds of disease shall be planted in a suitable soil that 
 we may have a crop of disease. 
 
 You can probably anticipate the idea that I have 
 in mind, and that I am now about to express to you. 
 Two conditions are necessary in order that acute con- 
 tagious disease may occur : First, we must have a germ 
 or seed; secondly, that seed must be planted in a 
 body that will x>resent a soil suitable for its develop- 
 ment. Now you can understand why it is that while 
 we are all of us all the time taking the seeds of 
 disease into our bodies so comparatively few of us 
 contract disease. Well, now, what is this particular 
 condition of the body that makes it a suitable soil for 
 the development of the seed of disease ? That is one 
 of the questions urjon which scientific men are now 
 
DISEASE GERMS. 235 
 
 at work, but which has not yet been distinctly settled. 
 However, I will tell you of the beautiful theory that 
 has been advanced by Metschnikoff, who is the chief 
 assistant of the famous Pasteur of Paris, and which 
 he calls phagocytosis, and by which he thinks that he 
 can account for the immunity that is possessed by 
 many persons against germ diseases. He reminds us 
 that in the human body there are a large number of 
 white cells, or little bodies that are only about 1-1200 
 of an inch in diameter, and which we have already 
 studied as the white corpuscles of the blood. For a 
 long time, and even to the present day, the exact 
 function or duty of these little bodies has not been 
 clearly understood. They are found in the blood, they 
 flow along in the circulation, but just exactly what 
 they have to do, we do not surely know. JNow Met- 
 schnikoff likens these little white cells to soldiers 
 who are defending a besieged citadel. When, accord- 
 ing to his theory, disease germs enter the body, they 
 are set upon by these white cells, and a fierce con- 
 flict takes place. If the white cells are victorious, 
 the disease germs are by them destroyed, and not 
 only destroyed, but consumed, eaten up; and the per- 
 son does not have the disease. But, on the other 
 hand, if the germs are victorious over the white cells, 
 they set to work to produce the particular disease of 
 which they may be the cause. This theory, while it 
 has not yet been universally accepted, is probably 
 more generally believed in than any other; and the 
 practical lesson that it teaches us is just that which, 
 
236 HYGIENE. 
 
 empirically, Ave already knew ; namely, that the best 
 way to resist the inroads of disease germs is so to 
 live that the whole body will be in the best possible 
 physical condition. These little white cells, small as 
 they are, are really part and parcel of the body, just 
 as much as any other part of the body, and if the 
 whole body be in good condition these little white 
 cells will partake of the general vigor, and will there- 
 fore be the better able to become victorious in their 
 conflict with the germs of disease. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 283. What do you mean by contagious and non-contagious diseases ? 
 
 284. What is the cause of contagious diseases ? 
 
 285. What is a disease germ ? describe their peculiarities. 
 
 286. To what laws are disease germs subject ? 
 
 287. Is there but one germ for all diseases ? 
 
 288. Is the germ itself the cause of disease? 
 
 289. Give a familiar illustration of the conditions necessary for the 
 development of contagious diseases ; the seed and the soil. 
 
 290. Are disease germs everywhere present ? 
 
 291. How do you explain the immunity of so many persons? 
 
 292. What is phagocytosis, and does it explain immunity ? 
 
CONTAGION. 237 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 CONTAGION. 
 
 Understanding as you now do how it is that these 
 germ or contagious diseases are produced in the 
 human body, you can understand very clearly how it 
 is that they are conveyed from one person to another. 
 The body of a person sick with a germ disease is, in 
 reality, the laboratory in which these germs are being 
 continually born, where they are continually growing, 
 and from which they are being all the time given 
 off, and from which they can readily pass through the 
 medium of the atmosphere, or of food or drink, into 
 the body of another. Just here I will tell you of an 
 extremely striking illustration of the power of disease 
 germs to pass from one sick to those that are well. 
 A few years ago, out in a small town in Ohio, a 
 physician was attending a case of diphtheria. He was 
 one of those men who ridiculed the idea of disease 
 germs, and thought it all nonsense to believe that it 
 was possible for these germs to pass from one to 
 another. He scraped a little bit of the membrane from 
 the throat of his patient, and took it home to examine 
 under the microscope. His children, like all other 
 children, always crowded about him whenever he was 
 using the microscope, begging permission to look 
 
238 HYGIENE. 
 
 through it. He allowed them to do so, and in less 
 than three weeks time all of his children were dead 
 with diphtheria. This man now believes in the germ 
 theory of disease. 
 
 I imagine that you have a pretty clear idea of 
 what we mean when we speak of acute contagious 
 disease. You understand that all acute contagious 
 diseases are caused by the entrance into the system 
 of these little germs or vegetable growths about which 
 we have been telling you. Now what do we mean 
 by an acute non-contagious disease? By an acute non- 
 contagious disease, we mean a disease that is not 
 caused by the entrance of germs into the system, but 
 that is produced by some agency that will cause a 
 temporary departure from the normal condition of the 
 system, such, for example, as diseases that are caused 
 by excessive cold or by excessive heat, or by indis- 
 cretions in eating, and the like. 
 
 Now, then, we come for an instant to recall what 
 we mean when we speak of a chronic disease, which 
 you will remember is a disease characterized by such a 
 change in the tissue or part affected that it is not 
 longer able to perform properly and thoroughly its 
 duty in the body. And you must understand that such 
 changes in the tissues of these parts or organs is due 
 to some unnatural agencies, although we may not 
 always be able to trace the connection nor to avoid the 
 cause. Some inherited defect, some fault of our own 
 or of our neighbor will be at the bottom of these 
 changes. For it was originally intended by Almighty 
 
CONTAGION. 239 
 
 God that the structure of these organs should remain 
 all through life the same, and that they should finally 
 wear out in the performance of duty, and such would 
 have been the case had our first mother Eve only 
 turned a deaf ear to the devil in the garden of Eden. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 293. What is the body of a person sick with a germ disease? 
 
 294. How can these germs pass from one to another ? give some 
 illustrations. 
 
 295. What do you mean by acute non-contagious disease? 
 
 296. What do you mean by chronic disease? 
 
 297. What was the design of God in reference to our vital organs ? 
 
240 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 THE AVOIDANCE OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 
 Isolation and Disinfection. 
 
 Now, understanding as you do what we mean 
 by acute contagious diseases, a most important ques- 
 tion comes up as to what is the best way to avoid 
 such diseases. If you want to avoid having a field of 
 corn, the best way will be not to plant the corn. 
 So, therefore, if you want to avoid having some germ 
 disease, the best way will be to avoid planting the 
 germs. But suppose the birds of the air are all pro- 
 vided with grains of corn, and that they are con- 
 tinually flying over your field and dropping a grain 
 here and there. It will be utterly impossible for you 
 to prevent the corn from growing unless you can in 
 some way either render the soil unsuitable for its 
 growth, or you can keep the birds away, or you can 
 so destroy the vitality of the grain of corn that even 
 when it is planted in the ground it will not be able 
 to grow. Now, then, practically the same measures 
 that you would take to avoid having a field of corn, 
 would be the same means that you would resort to to 
 avoid having a field of disease. 
 
 There are two words that I am particularly anxious 
 to impress upon your minds, two words that form 
 
THE AVOIDANCE OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 241 
 
 the foundation stone of all effort looking towards the 
 prevention of germ diseases. These two words are 
 "isolation"''' and "disinfection.'''' If you can keep 
 the birds with the grains of corn away from your 
 field, you are isolating them. If you destroy the 
 vitality of the grain of corn, so that it cannot grow 
 in the field, you are disinfecting it. Now it must be 
 evident to you that if you keep yourself away from 
 the germs of disease, and the germs of disease away 
 from you, that it will be utterly impossible for you 
 to get any particular disease; and this is what isola- 
 tion means. It means keeping the well away from 
 the sick, and the sick away from the well. Equally 
 clear must it be to you that if you can succeed in 
 destroying the vitality of these disease germs, that it 
 will be utterly impossible for "them to produce the dis- 
 ease; and this is what disinfection means, to destroy 
 the life of the disease germ. These two words, "isola- 
 tion" and "disinfection," with all that they mean, 
 with all the ramification of thought that they suggest, 
 really constitute the essence of the prevention of con- 
 tagious diseases. 
 
 But are these little bits of germs alive? you will ask 
 me. Just every bit as much alive as you yourself. 
 They possess every attribute of life. They can move. 
 They are most potent actors in the causation of disease. 
 They are capable of producing innumerable quantities of 
 little bodies like unto themselves, and equally potent 
 in the production of disease. Indeed, they are very 
 much alive, and it is only as living bodies that they 
 
242 HYGIENE. 
 
 are capable of producing disease. If you destroy their 
 vitality they are harmless, so far as the production of 
 specific disease is concerned. They are organic bodies, 
 and when they are endowed with life they are capable 
 of great potency. When dead their specific power has 
 departed from them, and they are simply dead organic 
 bodies. 
 
 Well, now you must plainly understand and antici- 
 pate me when I say that one of the most impor- 
 tant points that I can impress upon you is this : that 
 you should make it a rule when anyone connected 
 with you, or over whom you may have control, is 
 sick with a contagious disease, to allow no one to 
 approach close to such a person, and to take every 
 possible precaution that you may to destroy the 
 germs of disease that* are being continually given 
 forth from the body of the sick person. I would 
 impress upon you with all the vehemence of which I 
 am capable, the absolute necessity, not only the neces- 
 sity, I will say the absolute humanity, of making it 
 obligatory, if necessary, for the head of every family 
 in which there may be a contagious disease, to place a 
 placard upon the front door of his house notifying 
 everyone that may approach that there is danger 
 within. Is it asking too much of the average indi- 
 vidual thus to protect his friends and neighbors when 
 we have the example of the President of the United 
 States doing just this very thing? When the grand- 
 child of ex-President Harrison was sick in the White 
 House with scarlet fever, a i>lacard was placed upon 
 
THE AVOIDANCE OF CONTAGIOUS DISEASES. 
 
 243 
 
 the front door of the Executive Mansion stating that 
 there was scarlet fever in the house. Suppose there 
 were half a dozen rattlesnakes running around loose 
 in your house. Wouldn't you be at the front door, 
 or outside of the house, notifying everyone that might 
 approach of the danger within? Would it not be your 
 first thought to keep everyone from entering the house? 
 No one would for an instant think of any other 
 
 NOTICE. 
 
 This house contains a case of 
 
 DIPHTHERIA. 
 
 When the danger from contagion has 
 passed this card will be removed. 
 Per order, 
 
 Board of Health. 
 
 Any person removing this Card without 
 authority is liable to a fine of Fifty Dol- 
 lars. 
 
 course. And yet I can assure you that a house in 
 which there is a case of contagious germ disease is 
 infinitely more dangerous to those who may be allowed 
 to visit it than would be a house with five times a 
 half dozen of rattlesnakes. One can see the snakes, 
 and if he be nimble and quick, avoid them ; but how 
 utterly impossible would it be for one to escape 
 
244 HYGIENE. 
 
 inhaling, or in some way taking into his system, some 
 of these germs that I have told you are so infinitesi- 
 mally small. 
 
 Now, then, you have clearly fixed the idea that 
 acute contagious diseases are caused by the entrance 
 into the body of a poison from without, and that 
 these diseases are to be avoided by the practice of 
 isolation and disinfection. 
 
 Since non-contagious acute diseases and chronic 
 diseases are usually the result of some willful or 
 unconscious infraction of the laws of nature, their 
 prevention will be best accomplished by an adherence, 
 in a general way, to the teachings of this book, in 
 reference to what should be the proper performance 
 of the function of each and every part of the body. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 298. What is the best way to avoid contagious disease ? 
 
 299. What do you mean by isolation and disinfection f 
 
 300. Are disease germs alive? 
 
 301. Are dead disease germs capable of causing disease? 
 
 302. What should you do when anyone belonging to you is sick 
 with contagious disease ? 
 
 303. What is the duty of the head of a family in which there is 
 contagious disease ? 
 
 304. How can we avoid non-contagious, acute and chronic diseases ? 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 245 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 The popular ignorance, or misconception, of the 
 purpose of exercise is colossal. Motion and life are 
 synonymous ; motion is characteristic of animal life, and 
 every phenomena of life implies motion and is the result 
 of motion. The block of marble or the pillar of coal is 
 motionless, but no animal ever is without constant 
 motion from the moment of birth to the moment of 
 death. 
 
 Motion means exercise, and exercise means motion. 
 When any muscle or part of the body is in motion, it 
 is being exercised. When you wink, the muscles of the 
 eyelid are in motion, and they are being exercised. As 
 motion means exercise, so also does use mean exercise, 
 so that when any muscle is in use it is being exercised. 
 When you are walking, the muscles concerned in the 
 act of walking are being exercised. 
 
 Exercise, or the use of any muscle or part, means 
 that this part will be developed, enlarged and strength- 
 ened thereby ; inactivity or non-use means that the part 
 so neglected will become weak, soft, thin, and debili- 
 tated. The arm of the blacksmith (Fig. 72) will make 
 clear to you how excessive use will cause excessive 
 
246 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 development, for you see here the muscles of the right 
 arm developed to a size altogether out of proportion to 
 the rest of the body. 
 
 Wherein now lies the ignorance of the purposes of 
 exercise to which we have referred? In not clearly 
 understanding that there are two forms of exercise : 
 
 Fig. 72. 
 
 1. Exercise for health; 2. Exercise for muscular 
 strength. 
 
 There are two kinds of strength : 1 . Vital strength ; 
 
 2. Muscular strength. Vital strength implies a strong, 
 healthy condition of the vital organs, of the organs 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 247 
 
 necessary to life, such as the heart, stomach, brain, liver, 
 kidneys, lungs, etc. ; muscular strength implies a 
 strong, healthy condition of the voluntary muscles, 
 which are the agents or organs of voluntary motion. 
 But you may say that there is muscular tissue in the 
 vital organs, and that the heart, as the centre of vitality, 
 is a mass of muscles. True, you are right ; but the 
 vital muscles are not voluntary muscles, and when 
 we speak of muscular strength, as distinguished 
 from vital strength, we are referring to the voluntary 
 muscles. 
 
 But do not muscular and vital strength go hand-in- 
 hand ; will not the development of the voluntary mus- 
 cles tend to increase the strength of the vital organs? 
 To a certain point, yes; beyond this point, no. Exer- 
 cise of the voluntary muscular system, carried to the 
 extent of healthy development of these muscles, will act 
 favorably upon the vital organs, but when this exercise 
 is carried so far as to make one a prodigy of muscular 
 strength, it will generally transpire that the vital 
 organs will suffer in consequence. 
 
 There is one grand universal law of nature that 
 may be expressed in the one word moderation; while 
 there is nothing so abhorrent to nature as excess. 
 These two truths hold good in every department of 
 nature, and muscular exercise is no exception to the 
 rule. Moderation in all the duties and functions of 
 life means health ; excess in any one direction means 
 deterioration in some other direction. 
 
 Some pugilists have, by persistent and excessive 
 
248 HYGIENE. 
 
 exercise of the voluntary muscles, brought about such 
 an extreme development of these muscles that it 
 would be an easy matter for any one of them 
 to lift the Pope as one would a child ; but it is very 
 unlikely that any of these men will live to anything 
 like the age that has been attained by the venerable 
 Pontiff, who, though not naturally robust, has, by a 
 system of exercise for health, reached the age of 
 nearly 85 years. 
 
 While the Pope may be accepted as a type of 
 vital strength, a professional pugilist may be regarded 
 as a type of muscular strength. 
 
 Let me make this distinction still more clear to you. 
 An old lady (75 years of age) recently broke her leg, and 
 was in consequence laid up in bed for two months. 
 After she bad been in bed for about six weeks, I was 
 summoned hurriedly one day, with the report that she. 
 was dying. " Why do you think your mother is dying? " 
 I asked the daughter. "Because she is so weak; she 
 can hardly lift her arm from the bed,'' was the reply. 
 I examined the old lady's heart, and was able to assure 
 her family that there was no danger. Remember, this 
 good woman had been confined to bed for six weeks; 
 her voluntary muscles had been used very little, and 
 for the want of use they were weals.; she realized this 
 weakness, and, not understanding what you now do, she 
 was a In lined thereby. But when I found that her vital 
 strength, as evidenced by the strength of her vital mus- 
 cle, the heart, was good. I knew at once that there was 
 no danger of death. For a moment, look at the other 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 249 
 
 side. It has frequently happened that noted athletes, 
 men whose muscular strength was very great, men who 
 have entered into running or rowing matches, or some 
 other form of athletic contest, seemingly in the most 
 robust and vigorous health, have fallen dead before the 
 contest was over. 
 
 And why? Because, while their muscular strength 
 was very great, their vital strength was very limited. 
 
 Have I made this distinction between the two kinds 
 of strength very clear to you? I hope so, because it is a 
 matter of the most vital imxoortance that you should 
 clearly understand it. 
 
 I am a strong advocate of exercising for health, but 
 exercising for strength, as you now understand it, is 
 not to be recommended. 
 
 In saying this, I full well know that I am running 
 counter to the tendency' of the day in reference to phys- 
 ical culture; but this book has not been written to tell 
 j)eople that black is white because the people want to 
 think so; but throughout its pages the trntli will be 
 told, even though the truth may not be what some of 
 my readers may desire. 
 
 However, this craze, this infatuation for excess ire 
 physical culture, this exercising for muscular strength 
 at the expense of the vital strength, has, I believe, 
 reached its zenith ; its death-knell has been sounded 
 in the recent utterances of President Elliott, of Har- 
 vard University, and it will not be many years before 
 healthy moderation will supplant morbid excess in 
 physical exercise. 
 
250 HYGIENE. 
 
 Some physicians, I know, will say that these views 
 are not correct, but it generally will be found that 
 such physicians are themselves great athletes, so that 
 their opinion is moulded by prejudice or they have 
 some interested motive for advocating excessive phys- 
 ical culture. The great mass of the medical profes- 
 sion will endorse my doctrine, that exercise for health 
 and healthy strength, rather than exercise for exces- 
 sire muscular strength, is what we want to teach the 
 rising generation. 
 
 Unless intelligently directed, exercising in gymna-'" 
 siums is apt to prove dangerous, because of the spirit of 
 emulation therein engendered. Young men go into a 
 gymnasium and see an athlete on the bars. They try 
 to do what they see him doing, and the chances are 
 they fall and break bones or strain beyond repair some 
 cord or muscle which they have not been accustomed 
 to use. Man was not made to hang "head down- 
 wards," as we so often see him doing in a gymnasium; 
 if he were he would have a prehensile tail, like the 
 monkey. 
 
 "Where do we find the greatest development of 
 muscular strength combined with the highest type of 
 vital strength? In the wild beasts of the forest. And 
 do they exercise in gymnasiums? No, but in obedience 
 to nature's laws, they develop both their muscular 
 and vital strength to the highest degree by almost 
 constant motion in the open air. Motion and oxygen 
 are the two elements of strength in the brute. We 
 have already learned some valuable lessons from the 
 
PHYSrCAL EXERCISE. 251 
 
 brute creation; let us now draw another in this ques- 
 tion of exercise. 
 
 Exercise for health means motion, not strain; and, 
 with this idea in mind, athletic contests of all kinds must 
 be universally and unqualifiedly condemned, because it 
 will be almost impossible for one to engage in a con- 
 test without resultant strain. 
 
 When a muscle is exercised, a portion of its con- 
 stituents are consumed. As I have already told you, 
 every act of life entails, as the result of its perform- 
 ance, the destruction of its former composition ; its 
 constituents become separated; they are chemically 
 changed, and this change gives rise to the force 
 necessary to perform the action. But, when these 
 particles are used up, it is necessary for new ones to 
 take their place, else the body will suffer for the want 
 of them. These new particles are derived from the 
 blood ; the blood is pumped throughout the body by 
 the heart. Now, then, if these particles of tissue are 
 consumed abnormally fast, their places must be sup- 
 plied with abnormal rapidity ; and to do this the heart 
 must act with abnormal rapidity, hence an undue, 
 unnatural, and unjust demand is made upon the 
 heart. The heart endeavors to meet this demand; 
 and in doing so it is overtaxed ; it is strained; 
 it works hard and consequently becomes exhausted. 
 Then disease of this organ ensues. Thus, then, 
 you can understand that violent or excessive exer- 
 cise of any muscles is very apt to produce heart 
 disease. 
 
252 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 Let us see how this occurs 
 
 *L ^U 
 
 r% 
 
 Fig. 73. 
 Showing the Course of the Circulation of the Blood. 
 
 This diagram does not, of course, give, anatomic- 
 ally, a correct representation of the heart, but it 
 serves to illustrate my purpose. The heart consists of 
 four cavities, and the blood, in circulating through 
 the heart and throughout the body at large, follows 
 the course indicated in Fig. 73. 
 
 No. 1, of Fig. 74, is intended to depict the main 
 blood-vessel as it leaves the heart. Now, let us see 
 what happens; this cavity of the heart contracts, and 
 in doing so, forces its contents of blood up into the 
 vessel above ; but, now, in a second more, this cav- 
 ity has dilated to receive the blood from the cavity 
 below; why does not the column of blood in the 
 vessel above now back into the cavity when it dilates? 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 253 
 
 Because the opening into the vessel is guarded by 
 valves, which, when the cavity dilates, shut down, as 
 shown in diagram ~No. 2, and so thoroughly close the 
 
 I 
 
 if 
 
 Fig. 74. 
 
 aperture that not the smallest fraction of a drop of 
 blood can pass through it. This idea can be well 
 understood by looking at the rough diagram of a 
 syringe (Fig. To), in which we see, as it were, a 
 bulb in the course of a tube, with a valve at either 
 end of this bulb; when we press the bulb, the valve 
 nearest the pail of water closes, while the other 
 opens and allows the air that was in the bulb to pass 
 out of the nozzle of the syringe; when, now, we 
 allow the bulb to expand, the valve towards the 
 nozzle closes, that towards the pail opens, and the 
 water rushes up the tube to fill the bulb, in accord- 
 ance with the law of nature that abhors a vacuum. 
 
254 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 When we again press the bnlb, the valve towards 
 the pail closing, the water is forced ont of the nozzle, 
 and so on, by the alternate opening and closing of 
 these valves, is the current of water continued in the 
 same direction. But should the valve nearest the pail 
 be inefficient, we will be just as likely to force the 
 water backwards as forwards when we compress the 
 bulb ; in fact, more so, because gravity will favor a 
 downward flow, and the integrity of our current is 
 gone. The mechanism of the syringe and that of the 
 
 Fig. 75. 
 
 heart are very similar, though that of the latter is 
 more complicated and more delicate. 
 
 To go back to the heart. You understand, by 
 reference to diagram No. 2, why the blood does not 
 regurgitate ; you see the valve accurately closing the 
 aperture; but does it not occur to you to ask why 
 the column of blood, pressing down upon the leaflets 
 of this valve, does not force them into the cavity and 
 allow the blood to regurgitate, just as it passed over 
 them when forced out of the heart. Do you not see 
 the little cords passing from the edges of the leaflets 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 255 
 
 of the valves to the inside of the vessel or tube ? 
 These little cords furnish the answer to your ques- 
 tion ; they are just long enough to allow the valve to 
 shut down, and short enough to hold it in position 
 when it has occluded the opening. But, suppose you 
 have been exercising very violently, and the heart is 
 beating tumultuonsly, it must be evident that just as 
 the blood is pumped out with unwonted force, so 
 must it recoil against these valves with an increased 
 power, until, stretched beyond the power of resist- 
 ance, one of these little cords suddenly snaps and we 
 have the condition depicted in diagram No. 3 ; we 
 have now the beginning of organic heart disease. 
 The strain that was formerly resisted by three, must 
 now be met by two cords, while the edge of one of 
 the leaflets, unsupported by its cord, turns into the 
 cavity at every recoil of the column of blood, and 
 allows some little (rjossibly one half a drop at first), 
 of the blood to regurgitate into this eavity every 
 time it dilates. The valve is now imperfect ; the 
 integrity of the heart is gone, and, little by little, 
 this imperfection becomes more marked until after a 
 while we have the condition depicted in diagram No. 
 4. Those who have read Wilkie Collins' novel of 
 ''Man and AVife, 1 ' will remember how the hero, 
 Geoffrey Delamayn, a great athlete in his early days, 
 is, when about forty, a guest at a country residence 
 where some athletic sports are taking place. A run- 
 ning race is on the programme, and at the last 
 moment one of the contestants fails to appear; Dela 
 
256 HYGIENE. 
 
 mayn, the memories of his early victories rising before 
 him, concludes, though advised by a physician present 
 not to do so, to fill the place of the absent one. 
 He starts to run and is rapidly out-distancing his 
 competitor, when he is noticed to reel and totter, and 
 fall heavily to the ground unconscious. He is picked 
 up and subsequently pronounced by his physician a 
 hopeless invalid for life. Those who have studied 
 these diagrams will anticipate what had happened. 
 Delamayn had ruptured one or more of these little 
 cords. This is but one of the several risks of excessive 
 muscular exertion. I would be correctly understood, 
 I would not have the impression conceived that I am 
 broadly stating that physical culture, that muscular 
 exercise, is detrimental to health ; but what I would 
 like to have clearly understood is, that he who exer- 
 cises that he may develop his muscular strength to its 
 highest possible capability, is thereby lessening his 
 store of vital strength ; and I would have you ever 
 remember the distinction that I have drawn between 
 muscular and vital strength. 
 
 While muscular strength, as typified by such men 
 as professional pugilists, will enable one to lift great 
 weights, to strike great blows, to pull great loads, it 
 is vital strength, as typified by such men as Pope Leo, 
 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Cardinals Newman and 
 Manning, Tennyson, Von Moltke, Gladstone and T)e 
 Lesseps, that enables one to attain longevity and to do 
 so in health, comfort and with pleasure. 
 
 While, therefore, moderate muscular development 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 257 
 
 may be regarded as conducive to vital strength, and 
 thus to health and longevity, he who would pass an 
 impartial verdict must conclude that excessive muscular 
 strength not only does not conduce to vital strength, 
 but that the means by which it is attained are directly 
 opposed to the greatest measure of vital strength, to 
 the best health, to the greatest longevity. 
 
 So now, recognizing that there are two kinds of 
 strength, we must decide that which we wish to cultivate ; 
 whether it be solely or principally the muscular, that 
 we may be able to perform astonishing feats of strength, 
 or whether it be the vital, that we may enjoy good 
 health, immunity from disease, happiness and lon- 
 gevity. That great muscular development does not insure 
 long life is well attested by the short lives of profes- 
 sional athletes, which, while possibly partly due to 
 other causes, may yet be mainly attributed to their 
 over-muscular development, or to the effects of the 
 exercise incident thereto. I have been asked whether 
 I could give any rule that would serve as a guide to 
 distinguish between healthy and dangerous physical 
 development ; and I answer, yes, an absolute and unfail- 
 ing sign. If you are exercising and you commence to 
 be conscious that you have a heart by feeling its pulsa- 
 tions in your chest, the danger line has been reached, 
 and if you continue this exercise it will be at your 
 peril. Here, then, is our infallible guide — the action 
 of the heart. 
 
 It is a fact that a healthy man should be unaware 
 of the existence within him of any organ, save as the 
 
258 HYGIENE. 
 
 grand result of their healthy working is made known 
 to him in the sense of glorious pleasure that a healthy 
 existence confers. Just as soon as any special feelings 
 about the stomach, the liver, the kidney, the heart or 
 the brain forces the presence of these organs upon the 
 attention of a man, then may he be sure that the 
 particular organ to which his attention is directed has 
 lost its integrity, possibly only temporarily, mayhap 
 permanently. 
 
 Now, then, a normal, healthy heart will contract 
 and dilate, will pulsate, as we say, from sixty to eighty 
 times every minute during your lives; but if the heart 
 be healthy, you will be totally unconscious of this fact, 
 you will have no more evident knowledge of the ex- 
 istence of your heart than you now have of the habi- 
 tation of Mars. If, on the contrary, you become con- 
 scious that you have a heart, if you feel it beating 
 or pulsating in the chest," then rest assured there is 
 something wrong. I do not mean to say that you have 
 heart disease, as the public understands it, and that 
 you are in danger of sudden death ; but that there is 
 something wrong, as I have already said, either tem- 
 porarily or permanently. If this evident action of the 
 heart follows exercise, then you can depend upon it, 
 infallibly, that you are exercising too much, that you 
 have carried your exercise beyond the point of safety, 
 and that, treading upon dangerous ground, you had 
 better stop. I am enlarging so much upon this question 
 of conscious heart action, because I hrmly believe that 
 in attention thereto is to be found the "safety-valve" 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 259 
 
 of physical culture. The man who always desists the 
 moment he commences to feel his heart beat, will be 
 very unlikely to do himself harm by exercise, while 
 the converse proposition is equally true. 
 
 Still further, I have an idea (which I am willing 
 to admit may possibly be incorrect, though I do not 
 think that it is, as general physiological law will sup- 
 port it), that whenever any one part of the body is 
 developed to excess, such excessive development entails 
 a lessened vitality of the other parts. If, for instance, 
 the vital energies of an individual are concentrated 
 upon the development of his muscular system, then 
 would I fear that the lungs, the heart, the liver, the 
 stomach, the brain, and so on, would thereby be robbed 
 of that which they require ; the vital current, or, at 
 least, more than a due portion thereof, would be diverted 
 from the vital organs toward the muscular system. 
 
 There can be no question that a ' ' happy medium ' ' 
 in everything is the condition most conducive to health 
 and longevity. It is very generally recognized and 
 admitted that alcoholic excess is inimical to health; 
 but it is not so universally known that an excessive 
 consumption of good beef will be also conducive to dis- 
 ease, and in like manner will excessive physical culture 
 have a tendency, ultimately, to invalidate the person so 
 indulging. To go back, for a moment, to the condition 
 of the heart that we have been discussing. The question 
 will be naturally asked whether by a gradual process of 
 accustoming the heart to strain, the danger that has 
 been depicted will not be rendered impossible? To this 
 
200 HYGIENE. 
 
 question I answer, no ; the danger will be lessened, of 
 course, but it will not be nullified, and it will be impos- 
 sible for any one who subjects his heart to strain to say- 
 just at what moment this strain may become too great 
 for these delicate cords to withstand. 
 
 Clearly understand me. I am an ardent admirer and 
 advocate of ' ' physical culture ; " no one more firmly 
 believes that muscular development is an essential of 
 good health ; but I, equally, firmly believe in the wisdom 
 of exercising for health rather than of exercising for 
 strength . 
 
 I would not hold up professional, or even amateur 
 athletes as models ; I would not countenance contests of 
 strength and endurance, however interesting and attract- 
 ive they may be; I would not recommend walking 
 matches, and I would condemn with all the fiery vehe- 
 mence of my nature runniug matches (horses were made 
 to run and men to wall*) ; I would unhesitatingly and 
 unqualifiedly say that any form of physical culture that 
 looks toward the accomplishment of any definite result, 
 lie the means and consequences what they may, should 
 be condemned. To make my meaning clearer, I would 
 say that a boat race, wherein each man of the crew is 
 striving to make the boat go as fast as i;>ossible, and 
 where each must do his utmost to the end, regardless of 
 how he may feel or what may be the consequences, that 
 such a race, while it may increase the muscular, will 
 surely deteriorate the vital strength. What is true of 
 boat racing is equally true of all contests wherein as 
 much is expected of the weakest as of the strongest, 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 201 
 
 and wherein ambition and false pride will carry a man 
 to the danger point. Motion, as I have said, means 
 exercise, and every time any muscle of the body is 
 moved it is being exercised. As I write, my lingers are 
 being exercised, just as surely as they would be in a 
 gymnasium ; but if I carry this writing to an excess, I 
 am very likely to have "scrivener's palsy"; I have 
 carried the exercise of my lingers beyond the point of 
 health, and disease is the result. 
 
 As with the lingers, so with all the muscles of the 
 body, exercise is essential to health, but excessive exer- 
 cise is provocative of disease. Certainly, I think, I have 
 now made my idea clear. I am not preaching; I am 
 only stating facts. If you want to possess great muscular 
 strength for a little time, so that your friends will look 
 upon you with awe and fear, go ahead and develop 
 your muscular system by all the possible means of vio- 
 lent exercise within your reach. This is a free coun- 
 try ; we can all do pretty much as we please ; there is 
 no law against a person ruining his health, and, if .you 
 desire present muscular strength at the cost of future 
 vital weakness, you are at perfect liberty to acquire it. 
 
 But, if you desire that measure of physical culture 
 that is conducive to health and longevity, you will ever 
 remember that motion, not strain, constitutes healthy 
 exercise, and you will never forget to heed the caution- 
 ary signal that I have already told you is to be found 
 in the conscious beating of the heart. 
 
 By this time you ought to have a very good idea 
 of what is not healthful exercise, and you are com- 
 
262 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 mencing to wonder what kind of exercise will be good 
 for you. 
 
 In the first place, you should learn to stand 
 properly. You may smile and think that you already 
 
 Pig. 76. 
 
 Fig. 77. 
 
 know how to do so; but I assure you that very few 
 persons do stand properly, and when you have studied 
 Figs. 76 and 77, you will be forced to conclude that 
 von are not one of these few. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 263 
 
 Fig. 77 shows the position in which ninety-nine out 
 of every one hundred persons stand. To overcome this 
 defect and be able to assume the correct position, as 
 seen in Fig. 76, you must first develop and strengthen 
 the muscles of the back. Put both feet together (or, 
 if you are moving about* you need not pay attention 
 to the feet), draw the hips well back, project the chest 
 forwards, draw the shoulders back, hold the head 
 erect, with the eyes looking on a straight line ahead 
 of you, and draw the chin in. By frequently repeating 
 these movements you will gradually develop and 
 strengthen the muscles that should hold yonr body in 
 this position, and thus secure the first essential for 
 good exercise. 
 
 Of all forms of exercise none is equal to walk- 
 ing. I truly believe that if every human being would 
 walk five miles every day there would be very 
 little business for the doctor. It is said that in Boston 
 the " Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals" 
 has a man walking the fashionable thoroughfares 
 carrying a banner on which is inscribed, "Please 
 Blanket Your Horses.' 1 '' When, upon a cold day, he 
 sees a pair of closely-clipped and fashionably capar- 
 isoned horses standing in front of a store, in which 
 the owner is shopping, he stops and conspicuously 
 displays his banner. Very soon a crowd collects, and 
 as the fat lady who owns the team emerges from the 
 store, her curiosity is aroused ; one glance at the ban- 
 ner, and she disappears into her carriage and a pair of 
 horse blankets is the next purchase. Now, I would 
 
204 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 mill B#M ' 
 
 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 2fi7> 
 
 suggest that a similar banner, conspicuously displayed, 
 urging upon these good, fashionable, lazy, fat ladies 
 to '■'■Sell their horses and walk more" would do much 
 to improve their health and prolong their lives. 
 
 When a person walks he is exercising nearly every 
 muscle and portion of his body. It is not considered 
 graceful to swing the arms when walking, but grace 
 and fashion must quail and give way before the dic- 
 tates and laws of health, and we ought to swing our arms 
 as much as natural dictates would indicate, since by so 
 doing we will exercise them. Stop and reflect upon what 
 takes place in walking. The legs and the muscles 
 connected therewith, the arms and adjacent parts, are 
 all in motion. 
 
 When walking, place your hand on any portion of 
 your body, and you will be surprised to find that there 
 is motion in such part, and you will be gratified to 
 learn that such motion means exercise. Those portions 
 of the body that you would least suppose are in mo- 
 tion when you are walking. In addition to the exercise 
 of the external and voluntary muscles, all the internal 
 parts are kept in motion and are exercised. The ped- 
 ometer (an instrument to measure the distance walked) 
 is based upon this fact. 
 
 Every time you put your foot on the ground every 
 portion of the body is healthfully jarred; every organ 
 and part is slightly concussed ; it is shaken up, as it 
 were, its health increased and its life lengthened. From 
 the sole of the foot to the very hair of the head, every 
 fiarticle is kept in motion, and is consequently exer- 
 
266 HYGIENE. 
 
 cised. The joeclomeler, an instrument with works similar 
 to a watch, is loosely hung from the upper part of the 
 vest pocket; as the body is jarred at each step, a lever 
 is forced up and down, which gives motion to the 
 works ; each step is thus registered and a hand on a 
 figured dial records the number of miles walked. 
 
 This delicate instrument does more than merely 
 record, for satisfaction, the distance covered ; it proves 
 conclusively the concussion, or shaking, or moving of 
 the whole body in walking, and speaks louder than 
 words in favor of pedestrianism as an exercise. But, 
 walking can be abused; like every other good thing in 
 this world, too mucli of it is as bad as none at all. 
 
 For the same reasons that gymnasiums may be 
 injurious to the integrity of the heart, so walking will 
 be, if injudiciously indulged in. 
 
 If you walk exceedingly fast you use up muscular 
 tissue exceedingly fast, and the heart is called upon to 
 supply the loss in an abnormally short time. There- 
 fore overexertion on the part of this organ will be apt 
 to produce the diseased conditions already noted. 
 
 You can know that you are walking too fast when 
 you become very short of breath. 
 
 There is not nearly so much danger of walking too 
 far as there is of walking too fast. Fatigue, gradually 
 coming, will warn you when you have walked far 
 enough, and you will rest ; besides, the demand made 
 upon the heart from this cause will be of a totally 
 different nature. The demand will be great and un- 
 necessary, it is true, but it will be gradual and not 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 2G7 
 
 in the nature of a strain. The heart may become tired 
 from this extra work, but it will not be strained, 
 since no sudden, extraordinary demand has been made 
 upon it. It may be required to furnish more nourish- 
 ment, but the request will be gentle and easy, and 
 will produce only a fatigue from which subsequent 
 rest will enable the heart thoroughly to recuperate. 
 A continuous walk of twenty miles in seven hours 
 will be much less injurious than five miles walked in 
 one hour. 
 
 You can realize and demonstrate the truth of this 
 statement if you so desire. Start out sometime and 
 walk five or six miles as fast as you can. In a short 
 time you will find that you are getting "short of 
 breath, 1 ' your heart will commence to beat very rapidly; 
 your head to throb; your body to feel warm, and 
 when you are through you will be almost gasping for 
 breath, while your heart will be beating so rapidly 
 and so forcibly as to be plainly felt against the chest 
 wall. This excessive action will entail the same dangers 
 that the gymnasium does. Here again, you will note 
 what I have so frequently said, that excess is the dan- 
 gerous factor and the enemy to health and long life. 
 
 Riding. — It is a question which ought to take pre- 
 cedence, walking or horseback riding, as they are both 
 such excellent forms of exercise ? In riding, the same 
 jarring, the same motion of all parts of the body is 
 secured. It is a most admirable form of exercise. 
 Indeed, Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes has truly and wit- 
 tily said that "the outside of a horse is good for the 
 
268 HYGIENE. 
 
 inside of a man." The muscles of the legs are brought 
 into play in grasping the horse's sides ; the muscles 
 of the arms in directing his movements ; the muscles 
 of the trunk in sitting erect; while the jarring from 
 the motion of the horse is communicated to all the 
 organs and exercises them. Could a more thorough 
 exercise be invented ? Scarcely, if we except walking. 
 Therefore we must place the two side by side, and 
 recommend the use of both to those who can afford 
 it. But it is not everybody who can afford horseback 
 riding, while walking, in God' s pure air, is within the 
 easy reach of all. 
 
 Rowing can be made one of the most beneficial and 
 most pleasant of exercises, or it can be rendered very 
 injurious. I would advise young men to avoid boat 
 clubs. When they join such organizations they con- 
 stantly hear of races ; their ambition is stirred ; they 
 desire to become members of the racing crew from their 
 particular club ; and since practice is necessary to make 
 them sufficiently expert, they overwork. Finally, the 
 picked crew is chosen ; the day of the race arrives ; 
 everyone is anxious, and none more so than the mem- 
 bers of the various crews. The race begins. Soon one 
 of the men becomes exhausted, but he cannot stop ; 
 his pride (foolish sentiment) will not allow him to do 
 so. He tugs away at the oar when he ought to be in 
 bed. When the race is concluded, he leaves the boat 
 a very sick man ; he has overstrained himself and his 
 heart has given way to the strain. In this way, when' 
 indulged in to excess, does rowing become injurious. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 2G9 
 
 If, now, you will go out into a boat, and alone, or 
 with a companion, paddle leisurely about, not making 
 up your mind to reach any particular point in a given 
 time, but resting whenever you feel at all tired, you 
 will do yourself positive good. Thus, then, the same 
 general rule here holds good, excess is injurious ; exer- 
 cise iu moderation is beneficial. Excess is to be deter- 
 mined in the same way as in the case of walking. 
 
 There is comparatively little true exercise in driv- 
 ing, since the body is quiescent. Nevertheless, it is a 
 form of amusement to be commended, and there is 
 some exercise in it. If driving yourself, a certain 
 amount of exercise of the arms and hands and upper 
 portion of the body is secured in handling the horse; 
 while if some one else is driving, you will derive a 
 certain amount of "shaking up," of motion of the 
 body that will prove beneficial. Therefore, while not 
 constituting true exercise, in the sense of the foregoing, 
 driving, nevertheless, is very beneficial and ought to 
 be indulged in by all who can afford it. 
 
 Railroad traveling is a form of exercise not much 
 commented upon or recognized as such, still it is good 
 and wholesome exercise. While, of course, it cannot 
 hold rank with walking or riding, yet it is a very 
 good stimulant to the body. The rattle and jar of 
 the railroad train rattles and jars the body. It is a 
 passive exercise, it is true ; that is to say, the mus- 
 cles are not moved voluntarily, but they are moved, 
 all the same. Everyone who has traveled for a day 
 in steam-cars has experienced a sense of great fatigue 
 
270 HYGIENE. 
 
 when leaving the car; he feels tired, nearly as much 
 so as though he had walked all day. Were he to 
 sit quietly in a chair or lie in bed for the same 
 period, he might feel weak from want of exercise, 
 but he would not feel tired; therefore is it that he 
 feels, and is, exhausted, because the constant shaking 
 and motion which the body has received from the 
 vibrating and oscillating cars has exercised it. To 
 believe this, it will only be necessary for you to 
 notice, the next time you travel, how strong and 
 hearty all the officials of a railway train seem 
 to be. 
 
 Bicycling cannot be commended as highly as it could 
 be if the position assumed by the rider were not so 
 stooped, this position favoring the development of 
 "round shoulders" and narrow and contracted chest. 
 
 Having now discussed the principal forms of exercise 
 ordinarily indulged in, it will be well to consider and 
 demonstrate to you the safest and best methods of phys- 
 ical exercise, such as can be enjoyed by all, whether 
 rich or poor. 
 
 Remembering that exercise means nothing more than 
 mot ion, you will be able to understand the utility of the 
 methods I am now about to enunciate. They consist 
 simply in gentle, easy movements of all parts of the 
 body. When retiring at night, and upon rising in the 
 morning, when clothed only in undershirt and drawers 
 (so that your movements may be free and not hampered 
 as they would be if you were fully dressed) will be the 
 time to indulge in such exercises. Now, then, when 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 271 
 
 you are all ready, go through the following performances 
 some twenty, thirty, to fifty times each : 
 
 1 . Extend the two arms laterally from the body and 
 elevate them until the two hands come together above 
 the head; then bring them back to their original posi- 
 tion and repeat. The steps of this movement are seen in 
 Figs. 79 and 80. 
 
 Fig. 79. 
 
 2. Extend the arms laterally from the body, and 
 elevate them one-half as high as in the last exercise; 
 then flex the forearm on the arm. making a fist of 
 your hand as you do so; then extend the forearm, 
 
272 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 opening the fist as you do so ; or, you can change 
 this movement to that indicated in Figs. 81 and 82, 
 which is very much the same. An important element 
 
 Fki. SO. 
 
 of this, as of all other movements of the arms, is the 
 alternate closing and opening of the hands, as by this 
 all the muscles of the forearm are exercised. 
 
 3. Bringing your hands together behind in the 
 region of your loins, throw your shoulders back and 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 273 
 
 your chest out, and remain iu tliis position for a min- 
 ute or so. This exercise will not only cause you to 
 stand straight, but will develop and expand the chest 
 so that the vital organs within will have plenty of 
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 Fig. 82. 
 
 room. Fig. 83 represents this movement, while Fig. 
 84 shows the reverse, or faulty position. 
 
 Look at Fig. 84, and you will see the child in 
 whose narrow and cramped chest will be narrow and 
 cramped lungs that will gladly welcome and hospitably 
 entertain the seeds of consumption. But look now at 
 
274 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 Fig. 83 and see the same boy (aged 9 years) with 
 his shoulders thrown back, his chest out, his abdo- 
 men drawn in and his lungs distended (by full 
 inspiration) to their utmost capacity. If this boy per- 
 
 Fig. 83. Fig. 84. 
 
 severes he will never have need to fear consumption; 
 such lungs as he will possess will unceremoniously 
 expel the seeds of the disease ; such soil will offer 
 nothing congenial to the murderous little germ. This 
 position, combined with alternate forced inspiration 
 and forced expiration, which means breathing in 
 deeply all the air that the lungs can x )OSS ihly hold 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 275 
 
 and breathing out all that yon possibly can, consti- 
 tutes lung exercise, and in its lifelong practice in the 
 open air is to be found the best, simplest, surest and 
 only reliable preventive of consumption of the lungs. I 
 have told you that the function of respiration, or 
 breathing, is both involuntary or reflex, and volun- 
 tary. That while no effort of the will can entirely 
 stop your breathing, and while ordinary breathing 
 will be carried on without any effort of the will, yet 
 the voluntary muscles, under the direction of the will, 
 can increase the force and depth of both inspiration 
 and expiration. In the child the ribs are softer and 
 more pliable than in the adult; hence if you will com- 
 mence and persevere in this lung exercise, you will 
 throw or force the ribs out, thereby enlarging the cav- 
 ity of the chest, and thus securing for all your after 
 life plenty of room for your vital organs. 
 
 Force all the air that you possibly can out of 
 your lungs, expire as deeply as possible ; then measure 
 the circumference of your chest under the armpits, 
 and put this measurement down in a little book; now 
 take all the air you possibly can into your lungs, 
 inspire as deeply as possible ; again measure the cir- 
 cumference of your chest and record this measurement 
 in your book. Now note the difference between the 
 measurement at forced expiration and forced inspir- 
 ation, and see what the difference is. Regularly prac- 
 tice this exercise every day ; repeat these measure- 
 ments on the first day of every month, and note how 
 your ability to increase the circumference of your chest 
 
276 
 
 IIYOIENE. 
 
 will grow. At first, perhaps, the difference in these 
 measurements will not be more than one inch ; this 
 will gradually increase, until with some men the dif- 
 ference in the two measurements will reach the great 
 figure of from six to eight inches. Not only will this 
 exercise expand the chest and develop the lungs, but 
 
 Fig. 85. 
 
 it will compel the entrance into the body of a great 
 quantity of oxygen, and you already know how neces- 
 sary oxygen is. 
 
 4. Let the arms hang downwards in their normal, 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 277 
 
 natural position, and now rotate them ; that is to say, 
 so twist them that at one time the palm and again 
 the back of the hand will be in front. 
 
 5. With the arms in the same position as in No. 4, 
 alternately elevate and depress your shoulders. This 
 
 
 Fig. 86. 
 
 exercise will be most conducive to the development of 
 the muscles of the shoulders and chest, and will make 
 you " broad- slwuldered." The little boy in Fig. 85 
 (aged 5), gives us the first, and the larger boy (aged 9) 
 the second position f this exercise. 
 
278 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 6. Standing erect, rotate the head slowly from side 
 to side. 
 
 7. Bow the head several times. 
 
 8. Standing erect, with the hands by the side 
 (Fig. 80), bend over (as seen in Fig. 87), and 
 
 Pig. 87. 
 
 rise again to your former position ; repeat several 
 times. This will strengthen the muscles of the 
 back. 
 
 9. Standing erect, stoop down on your haunches, 
 until you are nearly sitting on the floor, then rise 
 and repeat. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 279 
 
 10. Rotate the trunk from side to side, and bend 
 it laterally. 
 
 11. Lie on the bed; elevate first one leg, then the 
 other. 
 
 12. Move one leg sideways away from its fellow, 
 then the other. 
 
 Fig. 88. 
 
 13. Rise to the sitting posture, recline, and rise 
 again, and so on. 
 
 14. Alternately make and unmake a fist, as depicted 
 in Fig. 88. This will develop all the muscles of the 
 
280 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 281 
 
 forearm and hand, from the elbow downwards. This 
 alternate opening and closing of the hand is a most 
 valuable exercise, and can be incorporated into every 
 other motion of the upper extremities. While execut- 
 ing this exercise with one hand, place the other hand 
 
 Fig. 91. 
 
 on any portion of the exercising forearm, and you will 
 become fully alive to the excellence of this form of ex- 
 ercise, as you will plainly feel that all the muscles of 
 the forearm are in motion. 
 
 15. Take up your father's cane and go through the 
 motions depicted in Figs. 89, 90 and 91. 
 
282 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 283 
 
 16. While the game of football as played to-day is 
 absolutely ruinous to health, yet a little mild exercise 
 with a football, as shown in Figs. 92, 93 and 94, will 
 be very beneficial to all your muscles. 
 
 Figs. 95, 96 and 97 give us the three positions of an 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■»&-** 
 
 - 
 
 **p. 
 
 
 Pig. 94. 
 
 exercise that we can all appreciate and easily execute. 
 Notice how, in Fig. 95, the hands are open ; in Fig. 96 
 they are tightly clenched, while in Fig. 97 they arc 1 again 
 widely opened, thus introducing here the motions of 
 Fig. 88. 
 
284 
 
 HYGIENE 
 
 This is not intended by any means to be a full table 
 of movements; Fig. 98 will suggest many more; they 
 are so varied and so numerous that it would be tiresome 
 to enumerate them all. These few will convey the prin- 
 ciple, and any intelligent person will soon be able to 
 
 Fig. 95. 
 
 regulate a course for himself. The idea is gently to 
 twist, and turn, and move every portion of the body, 
 from top to toe. 
 
 Your common sense, aided by these illustrations, will 
 teach you how to do this. If you please, you might 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 286 
 
 hold in your hands a pair of light wooden dumb-bells, 
 or you might use very light Indian clubs. Heavy clubs 
 and iron dumb-bells are injurious, because they will 
 cause more or loss strain. If you go through all the 
 
 ■I K 
 
 Fk 
 
 various movements that your ingenuity will suggest, 
 some twenty to fifty times each, you will find, when you 
 are finished, that you are tired enough without the still 
 greater exhaustion from overcoming the resistance of a 
 
286 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 dead, inert mass of iron. There will be enough exercise 
 in overcoming the natural resistance offered by the grav- 
 ity of your limbs, and no artificial weight will be needed. 
 This is true exercise ; there is no strain about these 
 
 Fig. 97. 
 
 movements, and if persevered in throughout life, morn- 
 ing and evening, devoting about half an hour to it on 
 each occasion, it will insure good physical develop- 
 ment, muscular activity, and healthy life, while it will 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 287 
 
 not interfere with intellectual training, neither will it 
 render possible the danger of diseased internal organs 
 from strain, providing, of course, you execute these 
 movements with judgment and do not carry them to 
 excess, using here the same guides as in walking. 
 
 Considerable space has been devoted to this ques- 
 tion of healthful exercise, because as a physician, 
 constantly observing the tendencies of humanity and 
 noting the results thereof, I am forced to believe that 
 because of the results of the present craze for exces- 
 
 
 
 ( L" ,'. i 
 
 
 , ! 
 
 1 < 
 
 I] 1 
 
 
 
 
 k 
 
 ill 
 
 
 "'-v : '- 
 
 >'' 
 
 1 *V> : ' 
 
 \ 
 
 
 ^3 -~-~h. -. -2:'.. --'" 
 
 1 
 
 ■ .1 ; 
 
 
 
 
 fc 
 
 Fig. 98. 
 
 Hoe physical culture upon our boys (the future men), 
 and of society upon our girls (the future women), the 
 outlook for the future of humanity is a sorry one, 
 unless the errors of to-day are made clearly apparent 
 to the minds of the rising generation. 
 
288 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 No one need say that these exercises cannot be 
 done, for I here show yon photographs of children, 
 ranging in age from five to nine years, who are so 
 treated, and who take great pleasure and pride in the 
 
 Fig. 99. 
 
 Fig. 100. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 
 
 289 
 
 exercise and its evident results. One final word in 
 conclusion. The oftener each of these motions is exe- 
 cuted the better for the welfare of the child. Com- 
 mencing with ten of each, if after a while the 
 
 Fig. 101. 
 
 child executes each motion twenty-five, fifty, one 
 hundred, five hundred times, daily, all the better. 
 There is no strain about these movements, hence they 
 run not be repeated too often. 
 
290 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 Such exercises as are depicted in Figs. 99, 100, 
 101 and 102 will cause great strain, and they should 
 not be generally resorted to. 
 
 Fig. 102. 
 
 Such and other like movements are justifiable and 
 permissible only under the advice and direction of a 
 competent physical instructor for the correction of some 
 special deformity. 
 
PHYSICAL EXERCISE. 291 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 305. What means exercise? 
 
 306. Does use mean exercise ? 
 
 307. When any muscle or part is exercised, what is the result ? if 
 neglected, what is the result ? 
 
 308. What is the result of excessive exercise ? 
 
 309. What are the two forms of exercise? 
 
 310. What are the two kinds of strength? 
 
 311. What does vital strength imply? what muscular strength ? 
 
 312. Do muscular and vital strength always go together? 
 
 313. What effect upon the vital organs will result from excessive 
 muscular development ? 
 
 314. What do you say of moderation t of excess ? 
 
 315. Who is a type of vital strength ? 
 
 316. Who are types of muscular strength? 
 
 317. Why do great athletes often die suddenly? 
 
 318. What do you say of gymnasiums ? 
 
 319. Where do we find the best combination of vital and muscular 
 strength ? 
 
 320. What are the two elements of strength in the brute? 
 
 321. What does " exercise for health " mean ? 
 
 322. When a muscle is exercised, what becomes of its constituent 
 parts ? 
 
 323. How can violent exercise produce heart disease? 
 
 324. Describe the mechanism of the circulation. 
 
 325. Is physical culture detrimental to health? 
 
 326. Give a rule that will serve a- a guide for healthful exercise. 
 
 327. What is the significance of conscious heart action ? 
 
292 HYGIENE. 
 
 328. What is the "safety valve" of physical culture? 
 
 329. What do you say of the " happy medium " ? 
 
 330. What do you say of " coutests " ? 
 
 331. What do you say of motion and strain? 
 
 332. How should we stand ? 
 
 333. What is the best form of exercise ? 
 
 334. Describe the benefits of walking. 
 
 335. What is a pedometer ? 
 
 336. Is there danger of walking too fast? 
 
 337. What do you say of riding ; of rowing ; of driving ; of rail- 
 road traveling ; of bicycling ? 
 
 338. Give some illustrations of easy, healthful muscular exercise. ■ 
 
 339. Describe " lung exercise." 
 
 340. What exercise will make you " broad-shouldered " ? 
 
 341. What do you say of football ? 
 
 342. What about dumb-bells and Indian clubs? 
 
 343. What will be the result of excessive physical development 
 upon the rising generation ? 
 
 344. Are violent gymnastic movements ever justifiable ? 
 
MENTAL EXEEGTSE. 293 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 MENTAL EXERCISE. 
 
 V A baby is weak ; its muscles are incapable of lifting 
 any appreciable weight; it cannot even hold its own 
 little body erect. As it grows older, these muscles, as 
 the result of exercise, grow stronger. To demonstrate 
 that the increase of size and power of muscles is due 
 to exercise or use, and would not occur without it, I 
 will give you an illustration. 
 
 If you should take a little boy, ten years of age, 
 and bind one of his arms to his side, not tightly 
 enough to interfere with nutrition by obstructing the 
 circulation, but so firmly that he would not be able to 
 move this arm, when this boy became a man he would 
 have no more power or strength in this arm than he 
 had when he was ten years old. Again, when a limb 
 is paralyzed its power of motion is lost; the will can- 
 not cause it to move. Its nutrition goes on all the 
 same, but on account of the absence of motion or 
 exercise, it wastes, or withers away. So that exercise, 
 or use, is necessary for the full development of any 
 part. 
 
 What is true of the muscles is equally true of the 
 mind. If you were to j)lace an infant in some isolated 
 
294 HYGIENE. 
 
 situation, where, while it had plenty of food, it was 
 denied all means of cultivating the mind, it would 
 ever remain an intellectual child, while it might become, 
 physically, a full grown man or woman. 
 
 When I was resident physician in the Philadelphia 
 Hospital I recall that we had among the inmates of 
 the Poor-Honse, attached to this hospital, a woman fifty 
 years of age, who had been brought to the institu- 
 tion when she was only four years old. During these 
 forty-six years she had only once been beyond the 
 walls of the institution, and then only for a few min- 
 utes. She was, in all her ways, like a girl of nine or 
 ten years of age. Her world had been narrowed down 
 to the inmates of this institution. Her mind had been 
 denied opportunities for cultivation, it had never been 
 exercised and was very immature. She would play 
 with dolls, and her chosen companions were the chil- 
 dren in the house. 
 
 It was really a sad sight to see this gray- haired 
 woman taking part in childish play with as much 
 pleasure as those young enough to be her grandchildren. 
 Yet there was no insanity or idiocy here ; the mind was 
 all present, but from want of use, or of exercise, it had 
 remained nearly as it was in childhood. 
 
 The mind must be kept in motion, just as with 
 the body, else it will not develop. Just as the mus- 
 cular system can be developed in any particular part 
 by specially exercising such part, so can the mind. 
 As the external muscular system can be developed so 
 as to produce great brute strength, so any function of 
 
MENTAL EXERCISE. 295 
 
 the mental organization can be cultivated to great ex- 
 actness by constant use or exercise. 
 
 We see illustrations of this fact continually before 
 us in men and women who have become famous in 
 some special branch of mental work. In medicine, we 
 have certain doctors who are called "specialists" in 
 certain diseases. It is the same with lawyers, engi- 
 neers and artists ; he who has made a special study of 
 a special subject has thereby specially developed a 
 certain portion of his mental organization, just as the 
 blacksmith, by a special use of the muscles of his 
 right arm, lias developed these muscles in a special 
 degree. 
 
 Tea-tasters so cultivate the sense of taste by repeated 
 and constant use of this sense, that their services are 
 in great demand in commercial circles. 
 
 By constant effort in that direction, memory can be so 
 cultivated that astounding development of this faculty 
 will result. 
 
 The sense of smell, of sight, of hearing — all, indeed, 
 are capable of development by exercise. 
 
 But here, as in the case of the physical being, the 
 desideratum, the most perfect type of manhood, is to be 
 derived from a judicious and divided development of 
 all the mental faculties. 
 
 To accomplish this every function of the mind 
 must be kept in motion, as every muscle of the body is. 
 
 A person must cultivate his powers of observation ; 
 he must not walk through life like an automaton, look- 
 ing neither to the right nor the left. He must notice 
 
296 HYGIENE. 
 
 all that goes on around him, and think about all the 
 occurrences of life. 
 
 His mental occupation should be varied, for monot- 
 ony will ruin the mind. 
 
 The life of a person who devotes himself to literary 
 pursuits should be varied. He ought, to read and write, 
 to think, converse and listen to others. 
 
 Thus will he exercise all portions of his mind, 
 and he will be capable of performing a greater and 
 more varied amount of work. The most perfect type 
 of humanity results from a judicious exercise of both 
 the mental and physical powers. Therefore, to attain 
 this high standard it will be necessary to practise 
 the advice already given about physical exercise, and 
 to combine the mental with it. 
 
 Business men care very little about mental develop- 
 ment beyond that requisite for the successful prosecu- 
 tion of their business ; but they ought to, for I can 
 assure them that they would enjoy their wealth much 
 more than they do if they would exercise and edu- 
 cate the mind. 
 
 If instead of accumulating a library of handsomely 
 bound volumes, merely for show, which they never 
 use, they would read these books and reflect upon 
 their contents, their ideas would become enlarged, 
 developed and refined. They would realize that there 
 existed a world outside of their counting-rooms ; they 
 would become intimate with the great minds and sub- 
 lime thoughts of other days, while they would regard the 
 pleasures and duties of life from a less sordid standpoint. 
 
MENTAL EXERCISE. 297 
 
 This reading, and subsequent thought, would consti- 
 tute mental exercise. The more a person reads the 
 more will he like to read ; the more lie thinks the more 
 capable will he be of thinking. 
 
 Thus, then, unconsciously to himself, would his men- 
 tal being expand ; he would gradually become more truly 
 a man, one to whom life would offer greater real pleas- 
 ure, while he would be more capable of being of service 
 to his fellow- men while he lived, and would leave a 
 greater void when he died. 
 
 But with mental exercise, as with muscular exercise, 
 one must be careful not to go to extremes. Excessive 
 mental exercise will act upon the health of the mind just 
 as excessive muscular exercise will act upon the health 
 of the body. While an excess in one direction may so 
 develop one part as to make you a mental 'prodigy, this 
 excess will react unfavorably upon the other parts and 
 upon the body at large. As with the body so with the 
 mind, gentle use or exercise of all the parts is what we 
 should aim at. While we cannot find quite so accurate a 
 guide to warn us of mental excess as is the action of the 
 heart to warn us of physical excess, yet whenever one 
 who is using the brain commences to suffer from per- 
 sistent headache, or to lie awake at night unable to 
 sleep, nature is sounding a warning that excessive men- 
 tal exercise is being indulged in. 
 
 Therefore, in conclusion, exercise is of two kinds, 
 mental and physical. It consists in motion, and this 
 motion is acquired by use. Lazy men are short-lived, 
 as a rule, while activity, or exercise, tends to prolong 
 
298 HYGIENE. 
 
 existence. Exercise of both parts of mankind is neces- 
 sary in order that a man may become thoroughly devel- 
 oped and that he may have a long life, and this exercise 
 is to be acquired by gently, but constantly, using every 
 portion of the body. , 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 345. How can you prove that physical development is the result 
 of use or exercise ? 
 
 346. What would be the mental condition of one who had been 
 isolated from human companionship from infancy? 
 
 347. Can you give an illustrative case ? 
 
 348. Is use necessary for mental development ? 
 
 349. What do you say of " specialists " ? 
 
 350. What of tea-tasters? 
 
 351. Is memory capable of cultivation? 
 
 352. Are the special senses developed by use ? 
 
 353. How can the best type of mental development be secured ? 
 
 354. What do you say of monotony ? 
 
 355. What will produce the most perfect type of humanity ? 
 
 356. What do you say of libraries and of reading? 
 
 357. What is mental exercise? 
 
 358. What of excessive mental exercise ? 
 
 359. What does wakefulness and persistent headache mean ? 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 299 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 BATHING— CLEANLINESS. 
 
 Leaving all religious questions entirely out of con- 
 sideration, there can be no donbt that the Jews 
 were, and are, most earnest practical believers in the 
 efficacy of hygiene. Moses was the greatest of sani- 
 tarians; great, not only because he taught the doctrines 
 of hygiene, but still greater because he was able to 
 induce his followers to practise them. 
 
 Whether it had the preservation of health for its 
 motive or not, I will not attempt to decide; but the 
 fact is very clear to my mind that very much of the 
 religion of the Jews had, and still has, for its founda- 
 tion the doctrines of hygiene. 
 
 In fact, all religion unconsciously preaches the "gos- 
 pel of hygiene,'''' and he who follows strictly the teach- 
 ings of religion to their uttermost ramifications will 
 be a perfect sanitarian. 
 
 Well, now, among the Jews in ancient times there 
 sprung up a sect called Hemerobaptists, so named from 
 their observing a practice of daily ablution as an 
 essential part of religion. St. John the Baptist 
 belonged to this sect before his conversion to Chris- 
 tianity. 
 
 Your studies in history have already made you 
 
300 HYGIENE. 
 
 familiar with the fact that in her palmy days Rome 
 was the "Mistress of the World." Rome, two thou- 
 sand years ago, had extended her dominion all over 
 the then known world. The health and strength, both 
 physical and mental, of the Romans in those days 
 was so great that the nation was irresistible, and it 
 conquered everything that it attacked, and it excepted 
 nothing from its attacks. 
 
 In those days of unparalleled physical supremacy 
 the most popular thing in the Roman Empire toas 
 
 BATHING. 
 
 Not only were magnificent bathing establishments 
 attached to the homes of the wealthy, but all over 
 the Empire enormous public buildings were erected 
 devoted to the purposes of bathing. That all might 
 avail themselves of the benefits of bathing, the charge 
 for a bath in one of these buildings was only one- 
 eighth of one cent; yet whenever an Emperor wished to 
 make himself particularly popular with the people he 
 would throw open these baths free of cost. Is it any 
 wonder that a people amongst whom cleanliness was 
 the most popular of all things should have enjoyed 
 such wonderful health and vigor? 
 
 The magnificence of many of the baths of Rome 
 and their luxurious arrangements were such that some 
 writers, as Seneca, are quite lost in admiration in 
 their description of them. These buildings were often 
 of immense size — that of Diocletian being 200 feet 
 long — and were adorned with beautiful marbles. 
 
 The halls were crowded with magnificent columns, 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 
 
 301 
 
802 HYGIENE. 
 
 and were ornamented with tlie finest pieces of statuary. 
 The walls were covered with exquisite mosaics that 
 imitated the art of the painter in their elegance of 
 design and variety of color. 
 
 A perpetual stream of water was poured into capa- 
 cious basins through the wide mouths of lions of bright 
 and polished silver; water issued from silver and was 
 received on silver. ' ' To such a pitch of luxury have 
 we reached," says Seneca, "that we are dissatisfied 
 if we do not tread on gems in our baths." 
 
 In these days of health and vigor the most attractive 
 resort in Rome was the bath, and the people appre- 
 ciated this fact; in our day the decorator's art is 
 enlisted that the saloon may be made the most attractive 
 resort, and the people, unfortunately, appreciate this 
 fact also. Here is a lesson for our temperance friends. 
 The mass of humanity does not think for itself; it is 
 guided by impulse, and it will seek that which is 
 attractive to the senses. A beautifully and artistically 
 decorated, comfortably warmed, and brilliantly lighted 
 saloon will attract more human moths than a dull, dis- 
 mal, bare and, often, dirty coffee house. 
 
 The Emperors of ancient Rome displayed more 
 knowledge of human nature than seems to be enjoyed 
 by the temperance leaders of to-day; they did not 
 attempt to compel, they wisely coaxed, and they suc- 
 ceeded. 
 
 Along in the fifth century we find the glorious 
 bathing establishments of Rome falling into decay, 
 and at the same time we find that Rome is no longer 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 303 
 
 "Mistress of the World." Gradually, as cleanliness 
 became more and more of a " lost art" anions the 
 
 Fig. 104. — Julius Caesar. 
 
 Italians, did the sanitary condition of the country 
 (which is an index of the inclinations and habits of the 
 people) become more and more deplorable; personal 
 
304 HYGIENE. 
 
 unclean] iness begot municipal filth, until the descendants 
 of the God-like warriors of Julius Caesar were roused 
 from their sanitary lethargy by the frightful ravages of 
 the cholera a few years ago, a scourge that could 
 never have entered the city of Rome in the days of 
 her magnificent baths and unlimited use of pure 
 water. 
 
 Reaction always follows excess ; hence the excess to 
 which bathing was carried in ancient Rome probably 
 accounts for the reaction that resulted in its neglect, 
 from which we draw the same old lesson of moderation, 
 so often preached. Rome enjoyed great health and 
 power, and one element of this health and power was 
 the cleanliness of its people ; but carried to excess, the 
 reaction came, and filth and dirt, equal in degree to 
 the former cleanliness, was one cause of the downfall. 
 
 The pendulum of a clock swings just as far in 
 one direction as it does in the other; push it with 
 your hand six inches more than usual to the right, and 
 it will swing back six inches more than usual to the 
 left. So excess is always followed by a corresponding- 
 reaction. 
 
 While, therefore, we learn from Rome the value of 
 bathing and cleanliness, let us also learn from Rome 
 the danger of excess, and profit thereby. 
 
 Remember what I have already told you about 
 the function of the sweat and sebaceous glands, and 
 what "insensible perspiration" is, and you will be 
 ready to understand what Dr. Wilson means when 
 he says that ' ' the flattened cells or scales of the skin 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 305 
 
 are being constantly cast off, but are retained on the 
 surface by contact with the clothing, and mingling as 
 they do with the oily products of the sebaceous 
 glands, they become glutinized, as it were, into a thin 
 crust, which covers the whole body. This, if not 
 periodically removed, attracts the floating dirt or dust, 
 which is ever present in the atmosphere, and the 
 consequence is that the balance of healthy life is dis- 
 turbed by obstruction of the pores of the skin ; a 
 larger share of work is thrown npon other excretory 
 organs, the blood is liable to be imperfectly purified, 
 and disorders, more especially of the skin itself, are 
 apt to be induced."* 
 
 So well was this understood by the Romans that 
 in connection with the bath they used a curved metal 
 scraping instrument, called a Strigillus, with which this 
 accumulation of dead organic matter was scraped from 
 the surface, this duty being performed for the wealthy 
 by servants, while the poorer classes scraped them- 
 selves. 
 
 Thus, by promoting the excretory action of the 
 skin not only is the general health of the body main- 
 tained, but the amount of work required of the 
 internal excretory organs — of the kidneys, lungs and 
 liver — is reduced to the minimum ; less labor is de- 
 manded of them, and they are thus enabled to retain 
 their healthy condition much longer than would be 
 possible if cleanliness of the skin was neglected. 
 
 You will often see dirty persons, those whose skin 
 
 * "Healthy Life and Healthy Homes." 
 
306 HYGIENE. 
 
 is so unclean that their presence is really offensive, 
 yet who present the appearance of good health, and 
 such cases make you skeptical as to the necessity of 
 cleanliness. But you must first inquire as to the 
 vital inheritance of these persons; perhaps they have 
 inherited so much vigor that they are able to keep 
 healthy even in spite of this want of cleanliness ; 
 while you must also remember that this condition of 
 the skin is placing extra work upon the internal organs, 
 in consequence of which they will not last as long as 
 they would if assisted iu their work by the healthy 
 action of a clean skin. 
 
 There is also an aesthetic aspect to this question of 
 cleanliness. If you find the odors from an unclean per- 
 son so unpleasant and offensive to your sense of smell, 
 you must remember that, if unclean, your presence will 
 be equally disagreeable to others. 
 
 Everything derived from the earth, you will remem- 
 ber, should be returned to the earth ; and if you do not 
 wash the dead organic matter from your skin and 
 return the water containing this matter to the earth, 
 these particles of decomposing matter, being detached 
 from your skin to float in the atmosphere, will be in- 
 haled and swallowed by yourself and others. 
 
 Whenever it is possible a full bath should be in- 
 dulged in daily, and the best time for this bath is just 
 before retiring. Authorities differ as to the best time 
 for the bath, but my reasons for advocating the bed- 
 hour are that a warm bath at this time will be con- 
 ducive to sleep, while the danger of ' ' taking cold ' ' will 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 307 
 
 be much less than it would be if the bath be taken in 
 the early morning or during the day, when one is liable 
 to go outdoors with the pores of the skin still open 
 from the warm bath. I have said warm bath, although 
 on this question, also, authorities differ, some claiming 
 that a cold bath is more conducive to health. 
 
 The ancient Romans preferred warm baths; while in 
 Japan, where liot baths are the rule, rheumatism is an 
 almost unheard-of disease. A cold bath is that in which 
 the temperature of the water is from 30° to 60° Fall. ; 
 a cool bath is from 60° to 75° Fall. ; a temperate bath 
 from 75° to 85° Fall.; a tepid bath from 85° to 92° 
 Fall. ; a warm bath from 92° to 98° Fall., and a hot 
 bath from 98° to 112° Fall. The Japanese consider 
 anything below 110° Fall, too cold, while anything 
 above 120° Fall, they consider unpleasantly hot. 
 
 When first Japan became open to the world, and 
 the Japanese began to take the advice of Western 
 folks on all manner of things, the Western physicians 
 strongly condemned the practice of hot baths, for no 
 other reason than that it was so foreign to their ideas 
 that it must be bad. A regulation was issued that the 
 public baths must not be heated above a certain com- 
 paratively low temperature, and there was consequently 
 great discontent among the people. 
 
 This discontent gave rise to an investigation of the 
 subject by physicians, both Japanese and foreign, with 
 the result that, except in the case of those suffering 
 from a weak heart, the custom was pronounced not 
 only harmless, but beneficial. The high temperature 
 
308 HYGIENE. 
 
 thoroughly opens the pores of the skin, and, even with- 
 out the use of soap, a healthy skin action and a clean- 
 liness are secured that are not to be had by any amount 
 of washing in cold water or by the taking of what 
 we call "hot baths." The hotter the water the less is 
 the chance of catching cold after the bath, while a 
 really hot bath taken just when it is felt that a cold is 
 coming on will generally stave it off. There can be no 
 doubt that the general healthiness of the Japanese, 
 living among sanitary surroundings in many ways very 
 defective, is greatly due to their habit of frequently 
 bathing in hot water. 
 
 Those who have never taken a really hot bath can 
 have no idea of the refreshing effect that it has, say, 
 after a tedious journey. 
 
 The cold bath has its advocates ; but they will gen- 
 erally be found to be very strong, vigorous men, in 
 most cases athletes, upon whom the shock of the cold 
 water will act as a stimulant. For the average indi- 
 vidual I would advocate a bath as hot as it can be 
 entered without discomfort. The cold bath will not 
 open the pores, will not favor the elimination of waste 
 material through these pores', and certainly cold water 
 will not dissolve away the dirt from the surface of the 
 body nearly so thoroughly as will hot water. The only 
 objection to be urged against hot baths is that they 
 may prove enervating and weakening. If one does not 
 remain in the hot water too long, I do not think this 
 weakening influence will amount to anything, while I 
 am quite sure that more persons will suffer from inter- 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 309 
 
 nal congestions as the result of cold bathing than from 
 serious enervation or weakness as the result of hot 
 baths. 
 
 Let me describe an ideal bath. In a tub full of 
 hot water, to which a tablespoonf ul of ' ' Household 
 Ammonia" has been added, lie down, with only the 
 head exposed, and soak for a few minutes. Then, 
 standing up, thoroughly soap the whole body with a 
 good pare soap. After this turn on a hot shower 
 bath, and while the water falls from a height on 
 the head and trickles down the body, wash the head 
 thoroughly. This will carry the soap, and the dirt 
 with it, away from the body, — and, having said your 
 prayers, you can go to bed with a clean body and a 
 clean conscience. 
 
 Turkish Baths. 
 
 Turkish baths are to be highly commended if 
 properly indulged in. The preliminary sweating pro- 
 cess opens the pores and brings the dirt to the sur- 
 face, from which it is removed by the subsequent 
 washing with soap. But if one goes out into the 
 cold outside air with the pores thus opened he is very 
 likely to "catch cold;'' hence, in cold weather one 
 should not venture out-of-doors within one hour after 
 the conclusion of a Turkish bath. I do not think that 
 the cold plunge with which the Turkish bath is gener- 
 ally concluded is good for the average individual; a 
 wry robust person may not be injured by it, but it 
 \\\\\ be safer for the average person to dispense with 
 
310 HYGIENE. 
 
 it. If one lias any form of heart disease, great caution 
 must be observed not to remain too long in the hot or 
 1 ' sweating ' ' room. 
 
 Sea Bathing. 
 
 The ordinary ocean bath, as indulged in at most 
 of our fashionable watering-places, is not nearly so 
 cleansing as a bath in ordinary fresh water, with 
 plenty of soap, in a bath-tub ; but it serves other pur- 
 poses. It is, of course, to a certain extent, purifying, 
 but its principal benefits are to be derived from the 
 following factors : 
 
 1. It is, unless indulged in to excess, a most com- 
 mendable form of exercise. 
 
 2. It promotes cheerfulness and good spirits. 
 Ocean bathing can be, and is frequently, carried 
 
 to an injurious excess. It is really a form of exer- 
 cise, and the same results of excess will be produced 
 here as I have already indicated in the chapter on 
 Exercise. 
 
 Very few persons, when carried away by the 
 excitement of ocean bathing, stop to realize how much 
 force they are expending. When a bather sees a huge 
 breaker approaching, he braces himself firmly and lets 
 it break over him. To realize how much force is thus 
 used, allow yourself to remain passive and see how 
 this breaker will wash you along, as it would a chip, 
 towards the shore. This exertion will prove positively 
 injurious to anyone who may have weak or diseased 
 organs. 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 
 
 311 
 
 If you are in robust health and perfectly sure that 
 your organs are sound, a daily surf bath of fifteen 
 minutes will be beneficial, but if you have any weak 
 organ or part you had better avoid ocean bathing. 
 
 The Bathroom. 
 
 Fig. 105 will give us some idea of how a model 
 
 bathroom ought to look. Plenty of light ; spaces under 
 
 basin and closet open to the air and the eye, instead of 
 
 being closed receptacles for all kinds of rubbish, as is 
 
 Fig. 105. 
 
 usually the case. A tiled floor that can be kept per- 
 fectly clean; the wall of tile or painted (not papered), 
 and withal an air of neatness and style very pleasing to 
 the eye. 
 
312 HYGIENE. 
 
 Rules for Out-of-door Bathing. 
 
 Avoid bathing within two hours after a meal. 
 Avoid bathing when exhausted by fatigue or from any 
 other cause. Avoid bathing when the body is cooling 
 after perspiration. Avoid bathing altogether in the 
 open air, if, after having been a short time in the 
 water, it causes a sensation of chilliness and numbness 
 in the hands and feet. Bathe when the body is warm, 
 provided no time is lost in getting into the water. 
 Avoid chilling the body by sitting or standing un- 
 dressed on the banks or in boats after having been in 
 the water. Avoid remaining too long in the water; 
 leave the water immediately if there is the slightest 
 feeling of chilliness. The vigorous and strong may 
 bathe early in the morning on an empty stomach. 
 The young and those who are weals, had better bathe 
 two or three hours after a meal — the best time for 
 such is from two to three hours after breakfast. 
 Those who are subject to attacks of giddiness or faint- 
 ness, and those who suffer from palpitation and other 
 sense of discomfort at the heart, should not bathe with- 
 out first consulting their medical adviser. 
 
 The Use of Soap. 
 
 Dr. Arthur A r an Harlingen states that those portions 
 of the body which are most exposed to dirt, as the 
 face, neck, arms and hands, should be washed at least 
 twice daily with warm water and soap; the hands 
 should always be washed before sitting down to meals, 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 313 
 
 or the dirt thereon will be conveyed to the mouth in 
 eating. If the full bath be not indulged in daily, cer- 
 tain parts, as the feet, armpits, groins and neighboring 
 parts should be washed every evening with soap. 
 
 The amount of soap used in the toilet should 
 depend upon the delicacy of the skin and the exposure 
 to which it has been subjected. A man with a coarse, 
 greasy skin, who has been exposed to the dust all day, 
 naturally requires more soap than a delicate woman 
 whose skin is dry and who is not much out-of-doors. 
 Persons in whom the oil glands of the skin are well 
 developed and active, especially those about the face 
 or shoulders, require much more soap in washing than 
 do those whose skin is harsh, dry and lacking in oily 
 secretion. 
 
 It is better to apply the soap by means of the 
 hands directly, without the intervention of sponges, 
 wash-rags, etc. Sjwnges are filthy abominations and 
 should never be used; they receive and retain the dirt 
 from the body, and in a short time become indescrib- 
 ably filthy. 
 
 The # ringers insinuate themselves more deftly into any 
 crevice or hollow of the surface than is possible for a 
 bit of flannel or a sponge; they can use just the 
 requisite amount of pressure and friction, and they are 
 not so likely to do damage in unduly rubbing or chaf- 
 ing the skin. 
 
 There is a good deal of choice between the various 
 soaps which are offered in the market for toilet use. 
 Soap should be composed of caustic soda and refined 
 
314 HYGIENE. 
 
 animal fat or the best olive oil, with some suitable 
 perfume. 
 
 Because of their cheapness, soaj) manufacturers will 
 use rancid fats and oily refuse in the manufacture of 
 soap, strong scents being used to disguise the original 
 bad odor. 
 
 The only way to get a pure soap is to buy that of 
 n reliable manufacturer, and be willing to pay a fair 
 price for it- 
 Cosmetics. 
 
 A few words may be said with regard to cosmetics. 
 These are substances applied to the skin, hair of the 
 head and beard, nails and teeth, to improve their appear- 
 ance. None are essential to health, and some are dele- 
 terious. Plenty of soap and water, exercise, pure air, 
 and health are the best and safest beautifiers of the 
 complexion. Numerous instances are on record of 
 poisoning from the use of cosmetics to improve the 
 complexion. Those which contain lead are usually most 
 injurious. 
 
 Care of the Teeth. 
 
 You already know how important the teeth are in 
 the function of digestion; that unless the food is first 
 well chewed by the teeth it cannot be well digested. 
 If you have no teeth you cannot chew, and if you do 
 not keep your teeth clean they will decay and rot away. 
 The teeth should be well brushed night and morning 
 and after every meal. The particles of food lodged 
 between the teeth in eating, decay and give rise id a 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 315 
 
 germ that will attack and destroy the teeth. When 
 brushing the teeth always carry the brush all around 
 the inside of the mouth, brushing it out well. Do not 
 be satisfied with brushing the front teeth only, as so 
 many do, the back teeth also require attention. A 
 mixture of orris root and chalk will make a very good 
 and cheap tooth powder. 
 
 The teeth should be examined at least twice a year 
 by a good dentist, as decay of some of them may have 
 commenced even before you suffer pain. 
 
 It has been claimed that foul, dirty teeth may even 
 cause bldoc 1 -poisoning. Dr. Goodman reports the case 
 of a man who suffered with persistent headache, irregu- 
 lar chills, bad breath and fever, which resisted treat- 
 ment. His teeth were so encrusted with tartar, the 
 result of neglect, that he was sent to a dentist to have 
 them put in order. He returned, showing a beautifully 
 clean set of teeth, and without further medication the 
 man was cured. 
 
 The Finger Nails. 
 
 Dirty finger nails are not only disgusting to look 
 at, but the dirt accumulating under the nail will afford 
 a good breeding place for disease germs. 
 
 The Hair and Scalp. 
 
 The hair and scalp require to be kept clean, as 
 much so as any other j)ortion of the body. The shower 
 bath, as suggested, will accomplish this. 
 
316 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 The Toe Nails. 
 To prevent ingrowing toe nails trim properly. 
 
 Fig. 106. 
 The right way. 
 
 Fig. 107. 
 The wrong way. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 360. What do you say of Jews and hygiene? 
 
 361. Who were the Hemerobaptists ? and why so called? 
 
 362. What was the most popular pastime in ancient Rome ? 
 
 363. Describe the magnificence and cheapness of the baths of 
 ancient Rome. 
 
 364. What is the lesson in temperance suggested by these baths ? 
 
 365. Was there any coincidence between the physical decadence of 
 Rome and the destruction of her public baths ? 
 
 366. What lesson in moderation do we learn from the experience 
 of Rome? 
 
 367. What is the result of a dirty skin ? 
 
 368. Why should we promote the excretory action of the skin? 
 
 369. How do you account for the healthfulness of persons who are 
 not cleanly ? 
 
 370. What of the esthetic aspect of cleanliness? 
 
BATHING — CLEANLINESS. 317 
 
 371. How frequently should we bathe? 
 
 372. What is the best time for bathing? 
 
 373. What do you mean by a cold bath ; a cool bath ; a temperate 
 bath ; a tepid bath ; a warm bath, and a hot bath ? 
 
 374. What of hot bathing and rheumatism in Japan ? 
 
 375. Why are cold baths not to be preferred ? 
 
 376. Describe an ideal bath. 
 
 377. What about Turkish baths? 
 
 378. What do you say about sea bathing ? 
 
 379. Describe a model bathroom. 
 
 380. What are the rules for out-of-door bathing ? 
 
 381. What do you say about the use of soap and sponges? 
 
 382. How can you procure a good, pure soap? 
 
 383. What about cosmetics ? 
 
 384. Why is care of the teeth so necessary? 
 
 385. Can dirty teeth produce disease ? 
 
 386. What about dirty finger-nails? 
 
 387. Is cleanliness of the hair and scalp essential ? 
 
 388. How can you prevent ingrowing toe-nails ? 
 
318 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 DRESS. 
 
 From the original primitive garment to the elab- 
 orate costume of to-day the progress of dress has been 
 a gradual one. 
 
 Theoretically .speaking, clothing may be said to be 
 unnecessary for purposes of life and health ; the human 
 animal is the only animal that puts on clothing other 
 than that provided for him by nature. Practically 
 speaking, clothing may be said to be necessary for 
 three purposes: 
 
 1. To cover the body. 
 
 2. To preserve the heat of the body. 
 
 3. For purposes of ornamentation and to cover 
 defects. 
 
 In our original state of purity and innocence there 
 was no necessity for covering the body. In a state of 
 perfect nature no artificial protection for heat was 
 requisite. In cold weather nature furnishes the horse 
 with an extra heavy coat of hair, which prevents the 
 too rapid radiation of the heat that is generated within 
 him. So also did nature for man when man loved 
 nature and obeyed her, and so also does she now do 
 for millions of aborigines who know not the restraints 
 of clothing. I do not mean to say that nature makes 
 
DRESS. 319 
 
 thick hair grow all over their bodies, but I do mean 
 to say that she regulates their heat producing and 
 heat radiating functions so that they are prepared 
 for the surrounding atmosphere and temperature what- 
 ever that may be. 
 
 The originally perfect human body required no 
 artificial ornamentation ; it was in itself divinely 
 beautiful; it had no defects to hide; it was physically 
 perfect. 
 
 Among the ancient peoples, while we find orna- 
 mental jewelry in common use, there would seem to 
 be no thought of using clothing for the purposes of 
 ornament, their sole thought in dress seeming to be 
 a covering for the body. ■ 
 
 The ordinary male dress of the Egyptians, 1600 
 years before Christ, consisted of a piece of linen cloth 
 tied round the loins, with, occasionally, an upper 
 garment or skin of a tiger or a leopard thrown 
 round the body ; nothing on the head ; nothing on the 
 feet. 
 
 In Greece, 450 years before the time of Christ, the 
 chief and indispensable article of dress was the Chiton 
 (see Fig. 108), consisting of one piece of material sewed 
 together in the form of a sack, open at top and bottom, 
 in height reaching from the neck to the feet of the 
 wearer, and in width equal to that of the extended 
 arms. This is all that the Grecian woman wore in- 
 doors. When out-of-doors a sort of woolen shawl, 
 called Himation, was wound about the body and pulled 
 up over the head. 
 
320 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 In these days of numberless articles, of mammoth 
 closets, of huge trunks, of costly and elaborate cos- 
 tume, what can we think of the Grecian lady of 
 nearly 2400 years ago with her two articles of dress. 
 Yet the grace and beauty and perfection of form of 
 the women of Greece has been per- 
 petuated in marble, and they are 
 even to-day models for all artists. 
 These women had health, both mental 
 and physical, and this was due in 
 no small measure to their manner 
 of dress, as we shall see later on. 
 
 We must not imagine that the 
 Chiton was like a coffee sack; on 
 the contrary, it was made of the finest 
 linen and was beautifully orna- 
 mented. Among the Romans, the 
 loose flowing toga is so familiar as to 
 need only mention. 
 
 The point to be made is that as 
 we go back to these ancient peoples who were many 
 hundreds of years closer to the original natural state 
 of man than we are, the more simple do we find their 
 dress, and always do we see it designed so that it will 
 cover and protect the body without constricting it. 
 
 In the more elaborate costumes of the Egyptian and 
 Assyrian kings and queens, while there is more attempt 
 at ornamentation in dress, we yet see that freedom of 
 movement and freedom from pressure are guiding 
 motives. 
 
 Fm. 108. 
 The Chiton. 
 

 - G? 
 
 8 a 
 
 fe be 
 
 fe ^ 
 
322 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 At the present time all the Eastern nations are more 
 or less inclined to wear loose and long, flowing gar- 
 ments ; their trousers, when any are worn, are very 
 long and gathered in at the ankles. 
 
 Fig. 112. 
 Eastern Costume. 
 
 Hygienically considered, the garb that is worn by 
 the women of Eastern countries (Fig. 112) has far more 
 
DliESS. 
 
 323 
 
 Fig. 113. 
 A Sanitary Custom. 
 
324 HYGIENE. 
 
 to commend it than the tight-fitting, body-distorting 
 dress of our more highly progressive nations. The loose, 
 flowing robes are certainly much more graceful and offer 
 much less resistance to the freedom of movement so 
 essential to health than the garments in use in our 
 own country. 
 
 Fig. 113 illustrates a custom of dress that is observed 
 in Mohammedan countries. I wonder if this custom of 
 dress did not have its origin in a hygienic principle. 
 
 I have already told you that nature designs that we 
 should breathe through the nose, and this she does for 
 two reasons : 
 
 1. The air is thereby warmed before it reaches the 
 lungs. 
 
 2. Disease germs floating in the atmosphere are 
 caught and held by the moist lining membrane of the 
 nose, from which they are discharged when we blow 
 this organ. 
 
 May it not be that these so-called benighted follow- 
 ers of Mohammed might have originated this custom of 
 covering the mouth and nose when on the street in 
 order to still farther enhance the efficacy of prevention 
 afforded by nose-breathing. Be this as it may, while 
 we cannot hope for the universal adoption of this pagan 
 custom, nor do we ask for it, yet I am quite sure that 
 such a protection to the lungs in the cold days of 
 winter will do much to save the integrit}^ of these vital 
 organs. Particularly would I advise an imitation of 
 this Mohammedan custom for the aged and for those 
 whose lungs are not very strong. 
 
DRESS. 325 
 
 I have told you that in a state of nature clothing- 
 is not really necessary for the conservation of heat. I 
 have seen the dress, the whole costume of the Egyp- 
 tians, from far up the Nile, which consisted merely of a 
 narrow band of leather to encircle the waist, from which 
 depended leather fringe of variable length. The Indians 
 of our far Northwest, who are subjected to the coldest 
 of weather, oftentimes, when found in their native, sav- 
 age condition, have been known to wear but little more. 
 Here, then, from the balmy climate of Nubia on the one 
 extreme, and from the freezing regions of our great 
 Northwest on the other, come living and speaking 
 examples to teach us that clothing is not really neces- 
 sary for human nature, but is one of those necessities 
 which the exigencies and misfortunes of artificial life 
 have forced upon us. But I am not writing this book 
 for aboriginal Egyptians and Indians. Therefore, having 
 used them to point my statement, that clothing is not 
 necessary, or would not be so for man in his natural 
 state, I will come down to the practical points involved 
 in dress and discuss clothing as I rind it among the 
 majority of my prospective readers. Do not forget that 
 clothing does not maize the body warm, it only serves 
 to keep it so ; remember that heat is generated within 
 the body, and the clothing pre vents its too rapid dissi- 
 pation into the surrounding atmosphere. 
 
 We will now commence at the top and go down to 
 the feet, and tell you about each article of clothing and 
 what will be the best. 
 
 High beaver hats in winter and high white cloth hats 
 
326 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 in summer are, by all odds, the most healthful head- 
 gear for men, and hats approaching these in shape, for 
 boys. 
 
 For the vigorous growth of the hair and to insure 
 a healthy condition of the scalp, it is necessary that 
 both should have plenty of air, which will at the 
 same time serve to keep the head cool and prevent 
 many a headache. 
 
 A low-crowned hat will necessarily confine a small 
 
 quantity of air on top of the 
 head, which will soon become 
 foul and superheated from the 
 dead tissue and heat given off. 
 But if you take a high 
 hat and have a small hole 
 punched through either side 
 just above the brim, and a 
 larger hole in the centre of 
 the croAvn, it will act like the 
 pipe of a stove; there will 
 
 be a constant draught, be- 
 Fig. 114. ° 
 
 cause the heat from the head 
 will warm the air, causing it to ascend and escape 
 through the upper opening, while fresh air will enter 
 at the sides to take its place, thus creating a constant 
 current that will be very conducive to health. Clothing 
 serves to keep heat within the body. But it will not 
 do to have too much heat retained; the surface must 
 be cooled by evaporation into the surrounding atmos- 
 phere, else the body would be feverish. 
 
DRESS. 327 
 
 Therefore, while clothing shields the surface from 
 the air, it must be of such a quality as to absorb the 
 perspiration itself. 
 
 To combine, then, the two necessary qualifications 
 for clothing we needs must have material that is por- 
 ous and capable of absorbing water, while at the same 
 time that worn in winter must be a poor, and that 
 for summer a good, conductor of heat. 
 
 There are two principal features in connection with 
 heat that more particularly concern us in their relations 
 to the human body, namely, conduction or radiation 
 and reflection. By the first, any excess of heat is con- 
 ducted, or taken away, from the body, while by the second 
 any outside very high degree of heat is reflected away 
 from the body, just as light is reflected from a mirror. 
 
 From these two indications has arisen the prevalent 
 fashion of wearing dark colored clothing in winter and 
 light colored clothing in summer. 
 
 While the texture and thickness, of course, make a 
 difference, yet the color is a very important factor. 
 Dark materials absorb heat from the sun's rays, when 
 the air in the interstices between the fibres of the 
 garments becomes warm, and so retains the heat in the 
 body; while, on the other hand, light-colored material 
 will reflect back the heat of the sun, so that this addi- 
 tional heat will not be added to that generated within 
 the body. 
 
 For this reason do men wear white high hats and 
 white straw hats in summer, while dark or black 
 hats are the rule in winter. 
 
328 HYGIENE. 
 
 Now we come to collars. They should be worn loose, 
 so as not to constrict the neck in the slightest degree. 
 Some of the largest and most important blood-vessels 
 in the body pass np and down through the neck ; 
 just beneath the skin of the neck are two very large 
 veins that bring back the blood from the brain. If 
 the collar is tight and compresses these veins, it will, 
 of course, interfere with the return of blood from the 
 brain, when a certain amount of congestion (of too 
 much blood in the brain) will be the result. 
 
 Then comes underclothing. In winter you should 
 wear underclothing made of wool for these two reasons-: 
 
 1. Because it will keep the heat in the body. 
 
 2. Because it will absorb the surface moisture. 
 
 For those who can afford it, silk is the best for 
 winter use, because it is the poorest conductor of heat 
 and will, therefore, keep the body warmer. 
 
 It will be well to wear woolen underclothing all 
 the year through, very thin in summer, heavier in 
 winter, because wool next to the skin to absorb the 
 moisture will be a very wise precaution. 
 
 Excessively heavy underclothing will be injurious, 
 because this great weight will really exhaust the body 
 in supporting it. It will be much safer to dress only 
 moderately warmly and to supply any deficiency in 
 heat by proper food and exercise. 
 
 .It is a mistake to wear very heavy outside cloth- 
 ing in winter. While, of course, you must make a 
 difference between winter and summer, yet even on 
 the coldest days the clothing ought to be only moderately 
 
dkess. 320 
 
 heavy, for the following reason : If yon accustom your- 
 self to the use of very heavy clothing in an artifi- 
 cially heated house, yon will be very apt to "take 
 cold" when yon go out-of-doors. 
 
 It would be much wiser to wear a moderately heavy 
 suit, and never go out-of-doors without putting on 
 an overcoat. Do not put on your extra coat and then 
 remain in the warm room for a few minutes ; put it on 
 just before you leave the house, and take it off the 
 moment you enter. 
 
 A long cloak, reaching to the knees, well lined, will 
 be an improvement on the overcoat ; in its capacious 
 folds one can envelop himself and defy the coldest days. 
 
 It is so much easier to throw the cloak over your 
 shoulders and draw it about you than it is to pull on 
 a heavy overcoat, pull down your undercoat, that it 
 may not project above the collar of your greatcoat, 
 and button this about you, that I am sure the superior 
 claims of the cloak will commend themselves to all who 
 give it a trial. 
 
 Now we come to stockings, and very few persons 
 realize what an important part these little garments 
 play in the preservation of health. 
 
 Two golden rules have been laid down that ought 
 to be observed by everyone. 
 
 1. Keep your head cool. 
 
 2. Keep your feet warm. 
 
 Every part of the body contains a certain amount 
 of blood; when a part is warm it contains more blood, 
 and nice versa. This you can understand, because the 
 
330 HYGIENE. 
 
 cold will contract the blood-vessels of the part that is 
 cold and drive the blood out of them, while heat, on 
 the contrary, will dilate the vessels and invite a How 
 of blood into them. 
 
 If your feet are cold the blood therein is driven 
 out ; but it must go somewhere ; it cannot leave the 
 body, and so it ascends and forces its unwelcome 
 presence upon some of the warm, internal and vital 
 organs ; — unwelcome, because they already have enough 
 blood and do not require any more ; hence it is that 
 wet and cold feet so often cause "colds." 
 
 Some years ago there lived in our city a very 
 eminent clergyman who, with his other profound 
 knowledge, thoroughly realized and appreciated the 
 necessity of keeping his feet warm. He always had 
 a large supply of stockings of different degrees of 
 thickness ; outside of his window hung a thermometer ; 
 when he arose in the morning he consulted his ther- 
 mometer, and decided what pair of stockings he would 
 wear according to the degree of heat or cold that it 
 registered. Many persons laughed at him for his "old- 
 maidish'''' habit, frut he lived to great old age and 
 performed an immense amount of work. 
 
 Now for shoes. I am quite sure that corns and 
 bunions were unknown in the days when man went 
 barefoot. Ill-fitting shoes are prolific sources of much 
 discomfort, and are always the cause of corns. 
 
 A corn is due to irritation, by which excessive 
 activity of the skin is excited, causing it to become 
 thick and hard at the point so irritated. You remem- 
 
DRESS. 
 
 331 
 
 ber that the nerves of the skin terminate in the true 
 skin : that is, below the outer layer. When the outer 
 skin becomes thick and hard and tough from pressure 
 and irritation, it impinges on the sensitive extremity 
 of a nerve, hence the painful corn. 
 
 A, normal foot, proper position of toes; B, normal foot, with an outline of the 
 front part of an improper shoe ; (\ toes crowded out of position as result of 
 wearing such an improper shoe. 
 
 Fig. 116. 
 An improper shoe. A proper shoe. 
 
 From Walkers Physiology. Allyn & Bacon, Boston. 
 
 If, then, an ill-fitting shoe rubs or presses on any 
 particular part of the foot more than on another, it 
 
332 HYGIENE. 
 
 will be very apt to produce a corn wherever this pres- 
 sure may have been exerted. 
 
 A good rule will be to buy shoes sufficiently loose 
 that you may put them on when new and wear them 
 straight along, without the necessity of gradually 
 ' ' breaking them in. ' ' A shoe that must be gradually 
 "broken in" will be all the time gradually ruining 
 the feet. 
 
 Again, loose-fitting shoes will be better calculated 
 to keep the feet warm, because they will allow space 
 between the foot and its coverings for a quantity of 
 warm air, heated from the foot ; while if the shoe -fits 
 "skin-tight" the foot will thus be brought almost 
 into direct contact with the outside air. 
 
 Above all things, avoid short shoes; there is no 
 more prolific cause of that terribly annoying, obsti- 
 nate and painful trouble, " ingrowing toe-nail '," than 
 short shoes. The best plan of shoe is that where the 
 sole is long and broad, projecting as much as one-eighth 
 of an inch beyond the foot and the upper. By all means 
 avoid sharp -pointed shoes. 
 
 India-rubber shoes and India-rubber coats are very 
 good articles in their time and place, but you must be very 
 sure that they are not used out of time. Since they are 
 designed to protect you from water you must use them 
 only when you are exposed to water. If you wear heavy 
 overshoes made of India-rubber on a clear, dry day, no 
 matter how cold it may be (and the same can be said of 
 an India-rubber coat), you do yourself an injury. Be- 
 cause, while India-rubber is impervious to water, it also 
 
DRESS. 333 
 
 refuses passage to air, hence the process of evaporation 
 from the surface is impeded and the water with its solid 
 refuse is compelled to remain on the skin. The same 
 thing, it is true, will occur in rainy weather, but then 
 the benefit derived from the protection from wet will - 
 offset the injury from the retention of perspiration. 
 
 All extra wraps, of whatever character, whether 
 they partake of the nature of coats, cloaks, scarfs or 
 gum material, impervious to water, should be worn only 
 when you are exposed to cold or wet, and ought to be 
 at once removed when you enter any heated building. 
 If you neglect this rule you will be very apt to take 
 cold, and no one can tell where an ordinary cold will 
 terminate. 
 
 The same advice about woolen undergarments ap- 
 plies to women and girls in an especial manner. A 
 man or boy will be protected, to a certain extent, by the 
 style of his outside garments ; while the loose dresses 
 and petticoats of the female will act like a veritable 
 funnel, the heat of the body will tend to cause an 
 upward draught that will invite the cold air from below 
 to flow upwards into contact with the surface. Woolen 
 drawers and undershirts will protect them from this danger. 
 
 All the remarks that have been made about clothing 
 in general apply equally to females ; but there are 
 some special features about their dress that require 
 special notice. 
 
 Corsets are used by women and girls on the theory 
 that as the lower part of the corset rests on the promi- 
 nences of the hips, the stiff bones in the sides will give 
 
334 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 support to the upper portion of the body and all the 
 organs it contains. These corset bones really act as 
 additional, artificial ribs or chest walls and backbone. 
 While corsets are unnecessary and health would be bet- 
 ter without them, yet, so long as they are used merely 
 as supports, their use is not so very harmful. 
 
 Fig. 117. 
 
 Represents the normal appearance 
 
 of the ribs. 
 
 Iiinimil' 
 
 Fig. 118. 
 Represents part of a photograph of the 
 skeleton of a young woman of twenty- 
 three years, showing the distortion of 
 the ribs produced by tight lacing in 
 an actual rase. 
 
 But the majority of fashionable women do not stop 
 here. They use corsets as an instrument of torture, 
 really, by means of which they lace themselves until 
 they reduce their waists to unnaturally small propor- 
 tions. It will be impossible to do this without com- 
 pressing the vital organs in the chest and abdomen, and 
 it will be impossible for organs so compressed to do 
 their duty. 
 
DRESS. 
 
 335 
 
 In a word, to dismiss the subject, because it is not 
 one that admits of argument : no woman or girl can 
 remain long healthy who resorts to very tight lacing. 
 (Figs. 117 and 118.) 
 
 In wet weather it would be well for women and 
 girls to wear thin rubber leggings from the knee down ; 
 by so doing they will not only keep the limbs warm, 
 but will prevent the wet and muddy skirts from com- 
 ing into contact with the stockings. If these are used 
 in connection with the woolen underclothing, with an 
 old-fashioned worsted sontag over the body of the 
 
 Fig. 119. 
 
 dress to protect the chest, and with waterproof and 
 gum shoes, the most fragile female is prepared to 
 brave the most inclement weather and to derive posi- 
 tive benefit from such exposure. Why it is I do not 
 know, but it seems to be a peculiarity of females to 
 have a passion for high-heeled shoes. They are very 
 injurious. God intended the foot to rest squarely on 
 tli< j ground, and if it does not do so the whole body 
 is thrown out of position. That in a high-heeled 
 shoe the foot cannot, and does not, rest squarely on 
 the ground is plainly seen in Fig. 119. 
 
336 HYGIENE. 
 
 Suspend all your clothing from the shoulders, and 
 
 allow no article to be kept in position by a circular 
 constricting force. Boys should always support the 
 trousers with suspenders, and never with a belt 
 strapped tightly around the waist. 
 
 Females should suspend the skirts by bands from 
 the shoulders. A piece of elastic, with a button-hole 
 in either end, one end buttoned to a button on the 
 stocking, the other end to a button on the drawer- 
 body, will support the stockings without the necessity 
 of constricting garters. The ordinary elastic garter 
 is injurious, because it exerts compression and_-thus 
 interferes with free circulation in the skin. By the 
 means suggested, all constriction will be removed from 
 every portion of the body; and this is the object you 
 must desire to accomplish. 
 
 A word about shoulder braces for the correction of 
 drooping or stooping shoulders. They are worse than 
 useless, as they make the deformity worse ; hence, of 
 course, they should not be used. Drooping shoulders 
 are caused by weakness of the muscles that ought to 
 hold the shoulders back ; and this weakness is due to 
 want of use of these muscles. Braces, by doing that 
 which these muscles should do, still further weaken 
 them, and when the braces are removed the deformity 
 is even greater than it was before their use. Round 
 or stooping shoulders must be corrected by exercising, 
 and thus strengthening the muscles that hold the 
 shoulders back ; and this form of exercise has been 
 depicted in Figs. 84 and 85. 
 
DRESS, 337 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 389. Is clothing necessary for life and health? 
 
 390. What are the purposes of clothing? 
 
 391. What constituted the dress of the Egyptians? 
 392.' What was the chief article of dress in Greece ? 
 
 393. What relation did the dress of the Grecian women hold to 
 their grace and beauty ? 
 
 394. As we go hack to primitive humanity, what do we notice about 
 dress ? 
 
 395. What do you say of the garb of Eastern countries? 
 
 396. Why should we breathe through the nose ? 
 
 397. How can you prove that clothing is not a necessity of life ? 
 
 398. Dues clothing make the body warm? 
 
 399. What style of hat i3 the most healthful? 
 
 400. What are the essential qualifications of material used for 
 clothing? 
 
 401. What of " conduction and reflection " ? 
 
 402. Why do we wear dark clothing in winter and light clothing in 
 summer? 
 
 403. What of texture and thickness? 
 
 404. What about collars? 
 
 405. What do you say about underclothing? 
 
 406. Is it right to wear very heavy clothing in winter? 
 
 407. What about cloaks versus overcoats? 
 
 408. What do you say about stockings? 
 
 409. What are two golden rules of health? 
 
 410. What is the effect of cold feet? 
 
 411. What about shoes, and corns and bunions? 
 
338 HYGIENE. 
 
 412. Give a good rule to guide us in the purchase of shoes. 
 
 413. What about loose-fitting shoes, and shoes that are too short? 
 
 414. Are sharp-pointed shoes injurious? 
 
 415. What do you say ahout gum shoes and gum coats? 
 
 416. What about " extra wraps " and " taking cold " ? 
 
 417. What about the clothing of females? 
 
 418. What about corsets as instruments of torture ; how may they 
 be worn without injury ; for what purpose are they used ? 
 
 419. What is the inevitable result of very tight lacing? 
 
 420. What do you say about rubber leggings ? 
 
 421. Are high-heeled shoes injurious? 
 
 422. How should we suspend our clothing? are tight waist-bands 
 and garters injurious? 
 
 423. What do you say about "shoulder-braces," and how can we 
 correct " stooping shoulders " ? 
 
SLEEJL'. 339 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 SLEEP. 
 
 A great philosopher has said, "Take from man 
 sleep and hope, and he will be the most wretched 
 being on earth." Sleep is as necessary to life as 'is 
 food. Every act of life, every thought, word, move- 
 ment of any kind, each contraction of the heart, 
 every performance of the liver, kidneys and all other 
 organs, entails, as a result of its performance, not 
 only the consumption of tissue, about which I have 
 told you, but also a certain amount of fatigue. The 
 body becomes exhausted in every part from the mere 
 act of living. The combined exhaustion of the individ- 
 ual parts makes the general fatigue of the whole body. 
 
 The exhausted body must recuperate ; it must 
 rest while the vital organs are accumulating a 
 new supply of force to enable their functions to 
 continue. 
 
 During sleep every function of the body is carried 
 on less rapidly. All the voluntary duties and per- 
 formances of life are absolutely suspended. Thought, 
 motion, sensation, are all in abeyance; they are for 
 the time being dead, so that but little vital force is 
 required to keep them in action. 
 
 They are like unto a horse that after a hard run 
 
340 IIYOIENK. 
 
 is allowed to walk slowly along a shady country road 
 that he may gain strength for another run. 
 
 These organs act slowly, generating a certain amount 
 of vital power, a small portion of which only is con- 
 sumed in giving them power to do their duty, while 
 the remainder is stored up in the body for future 
 use. 
 
 After awhile a sufficiency of this force is accumu- 
 lated; the exhausted organs and parts are refreshed, 
 and are ready to again resume their active life ; the 
 sleeper awakes with a fresh amount of vital force in 
 every portion of his body, and is once more ready 
 to take up his active daily duties. 
 
 Thus you understand the necessity of a full amount 
 of sleep. When exhausted you can, by an exercise 
 of your will power or by the use of stimulants, drive 
 your body to do more work, but you will do so at the 
 expense of your health. It will be like forcing a 
 jaded horse to more exertion by a liberal use of the 
 whip and spur. He will- go on because you force him 
 to do so ; he must move, since a will power stronger 
 than his own commands it ; but he will suffer in health 
 and strength for this unnatural labor. 
 
 So is it with' the human being. A man of strong 
 will can labor even when very much exhausted, but 
 the strongest man will surely, sooner or later, suffer 
 for this abuse of his organs. 
 
 This fact cannot be too strongly noted, since over- 
 work and too little rest and sleep are the greatest 
 enemies of health that we have in this country. When 
 
SLEEP. ■ 341 
 
 an energetic, go-ahead American lias any labor that 
 he desires to accomplish in a given time, he cares not 
 how long he works, he is ready to turn night into 
 day, and will not rest until he has finished his task. 
 
 This hurry and want of rest is the principal cause 
 of the many premature physical wrecks we daily meet 
 with. 
 
 An imperative law of nature is that the whole 
 body must be absolutely rested (such rest as it can 
 receive only from sleep) for a certain number of hours 
 out of every twenty-four. 
 
 Of course it is impossible to lay down an absolute 
 rule as to just how much sleep a person requires ; 
 but, to be definite, we can say that the average - indi- 
 vidual requires eight hours sleep. Some can do with 
 less and some require more, but this can be stated as 
 the average. 
 
 It is not a matter of indifference, as many suppose 
 and claim, when you take these eight hours. There 
 is a proper time for everything, and no other time can be 
 so good. This is true, in an especial manner, of sleep. 
 
 Since sleep is necessary for the renovation of the 
 exhausted energies of the body, it is evident that the 
 proper time for sleej) is when the body is exhausted ; 
 and it is apparent that work of all kinds should be 
 suspended when this fatigue conies on. 
 
 * To establish a rule, I would say that adults should 
 retire at ten o'clock and rise at six; growing children 
 require more sleep. Of course, going to bed at nine 
 or ten o'clock will interfere with many duties of 
 
342 HYGIENE. 
 
 fashionable society, but you must put these two propo- 
 sitions before you and decide which to adopt : 
 
 1. Become ardent members of fashionable society, 
 go to balls and parties ; eat late suppers ; go to bed 
 at two, three or four in the morning, and remain 
 there half the next day ; be constantly complaining 
 of headache, dyspepsia, backache, and die young ; or, 
 
 2. Eschew fashionable society, living in accordance 
 with the teachings of hygiene, of nature and of experi- 
 ence, enjoying all rational pleasures as every sensible 
 person does, and never have an ache or a pain ; feel- 
 ing always well, cheerful and happy; never experienc- 
 ing either the heart-aches or the unnatural stimulation 
 and abnormal depression of the devotees of fashion ; 
 and, finally, dying old men or women, whose memory 
 will be loved and cherished and whose examples will 
 be held up for the guidance of future generations, 
 while the butterflies of fashion pass prematurely away, 
 as little noticed and regretted and as soon to be for- 
 gotten as the leaves of ihe forest. 
 
 You must choose one of these i;>ropositions, an ^ y. 
 will be well if you are wise enough to choose the sec- 
 ond. You may not think so now, but you surely will 
 when you are forty years old. Fashionable society and 
 good sleep arc incompatible. My young readers may 
 laugh at this and call me an "old fogy." For a 
 while I may seem to be wrong, but when the man of 
 thirty-five or forty, continually complaining that his 
 "liver is out of order" suffering all the time from 
 dyspepsia, never knowing what it is to have a good 
 
SLEEP. 343 
 
 night's sleep, sits down to reflect ; from the ashes of 
 the past, like accusing angels, will rise up a long list of 
 champagne dinner parties, of balls and dissipation, of 
 overwork and worry, of fashionable assemblies and the 
 like, of terrapin suppers at three o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. When lying awake at night, restlessly tossing, 
 unable to sleep, though he has worked hard all day 
 and retired early, these visions will again come before 
 him, and he will despairingly cry out: " Why can I 
 not sleep as I once could? When I indulged in all 
 these good things I used to sleep like a top.'' Yes, 
 my friend, but you were then abusing yourself; you 
 were making unnatural demands upon your inheritance 
 of vital force. 
 
 Your capital was then large and could meet all 
 demands made upon it, but by extravagance you 
 have so squandered it that now but slight exactions 
 will create a panic, for you must remember that 
 " The excesses of youth are drafts upon mature age, 
 payable twenty years after date." 
 
 During healthy sleep the brain is in an a n antic 
 state, which means that there is less blood in the brain 
 than when awake. 
 
 There is a condition called stupor or coma which 
 simulates yet is not identical in any material particu- 
 lar with true sleep. When an intoxicated man falls 
 across the bed in a condition of drunken uncon- 
 scipusness he does not really sleep, though he seems 
 to do so. 
 
 Instead of having less, he has more blood than 
 
344 HYGIENE. 
 
 usual in his brain. But the blood is poisoned; it is 
 full of carbon, which has such an evil influence on 
 the brain as to interfere with all its duties and func- 
 tions. 
 
 If you were to sit in a close room in which the gas 
 is escaping, but not lighted, you would soon become 
 unconscious ; you would not be asleep, but your senses 
 and all the functions of your brain would be suspended 
 by the poisonous influence of the carbon in the escap- 
 ing gas. Your condition would be similar to that of 
 the man in the drunken stupor. 
 
 Alcohol is rich in carbon and acts on the brain just 
 as does the inhalation of gas. To prove that this con- 
 dition is not that of sound sleep, I ask you to reflect 
 upon two facts. Let a healthy man, immediately upon 
 rising from a long night's refreshing sleep, drink a 
 very large quantity of whiskey. At first he will be 
 stimulated, but in a short time, though he has done 
 no work to tire him, he will fall into the condition of 
 apparent sleep, and will so remain until the carbon of 
 the alcohol has been removed from his body. If you 
 feel his head you will find it to be warm or hot. 
 
 It would be impossible for the desire for healthy 
 and natural sleep to come on so soon after several 
 hours had been passed in sleep, and it would be like- 
 wise impossible for the head to feel warm unless there 
 was a great deal of blood in it. Hence, you see that 
 stupor and sleep are very different conditions ; the 
 former is an unnatural condition of unconsciousness 
 caused by the action of some poison on the brain ; the 
 
SLEEP. 345 
 
 latter is a natural condition whereby the brain and the 
 body are rested. 
 
 When you are sleepy the blood-vessels in your brain 
 are contracting and driving the blood out of this organ 
 that it may become anaemic. Suppose now, by the force 
 of your will or by the use of some stimulant, you keep 
 these vessels full of blood ; see what happens. If you 
 take an india-rubber band, and alternately stretch and 
 allow it to contract, its contractible power will remain 
 intact for a long time. But put this same band around 
 a large bundle of letters and thus keep it constantly on 
 the stretch ; after a time its power of contraction will 
 be almost lost. So with these blood-vessels of the brain. 
 If you refuse to allow them to contract when they want 
 to, and you keep them on the stretch abnormally long, 
 they will lose their ability to contract and will remain 
 permanently dilated. 
 
 So, then, you can see why sleeplessness is an usual 
 accompaniment of excessive brain work. 
 
 The essentials, then, for good sleep are : 
 
 1. Regularity. 
 
 2. Exercise. 
 
 3. Good digestion. 
 
 4. Freedom from anxiety of any kind. 
 
 5. Abstention from overwork, mental or physical. 
 
 6. To sum them all up. An* easy and equable men- 
 tal condition that cannot exist without all the six other 
 conditions. 
 
340 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 424. What has been said of sleep by a great philosopher ? 
 
 425. Is sleep a necessity of life ? 
 
 426. What is the condition of the vital organs during sleep? 
 
 427. If by the exercise of your will you deprive yourself of sleep, 
 what will be the result? 
 
 428. What are the greatest enemies of health in this country ? 
 
 429. What is the average requisite amount of sleep ? 
 
 430. What is the proper time for sleep ? 
 
 431. What do you say of fashionable society and sleep, and what 
 two propositions are presented for your choice ? 
 
 432. What do you say of the excesses of youth ? 
 
 433. What is the condition of the brain during sleep ? 
 
 434. What is stupor or coma ? 
 
 435. What is the apparent sleep of a drunken man ? 
 
 436. What is the effect of carbon upon the brain ? 
 
 437. If when sleepy you resort to stimulants to keep awake, what 
 will happen ? 
 
 438. What are the essentials for good sleep ? 
 
STIMULANTS — C0jS t DIMEXTS, ETC. 347 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 STIMULANTS— CONDIMENTS, ETC. 
 
 I approach this subject reluctantly, because it is 
 the one subject in the whole domain of science upon 
 which scientific knowledge does not arbitrate; it is 
 the one scientific subject in the discussion of which 
 science is dominated by prejudice. Those who want to 
 use stimulants claim that they are beneficial; those 
 who are opposed to their use unqualifiedly condemn 
 them, and will listen to nothing in their favor. 
 
 I must preface my discussion of this subject by 
 claiming that I am entirely unprejudiced on the sub- 
 ject. I have passed through the various stages of this 
 question ; I have had no sympathy at all with pro- 
 hibition ; then I was an ardent prohibitionist ; now I 
 have reached that position where though I believe that 
 stimulants are unnecessary to health and that human- 
 ity would be better off without them, yet I view the 
 question without in'ejudice. 
 
 Am I fickle in thus changing my views ? No ; 
 while I was ruled by prejudice I was fickle and 
 jumped from one extreme to the other. Now I am 
 firmly landed on the shore of scientific truth. 
 
 If this book has no other merit, I can honestly 
 claim that it is truthful, and I strongly feel the neces- 
 
348 HYGIENE. 
 
 sity of telling the truth about stimulants, because I 
 am sorry that most of the text-books for schools 
 handle the question of stimulants in an unscientific and 
 prejudiced manner. 
 
 I will not go deeply into this subject, contenting 
 myself by merely stating scientific truths. I have headed 
 this chapter stimulants, because this word is more 
 comprehensive than ' ' alcohol and narcotics, ' ' the 
 heading usually given to chapters on this subject. 
 
 Now, what do I mean by stimulants? By stimu- 
 lants I mean a group or class of articles which, though 
 not nourishing the human body, yet impart to its 
 various functions a temporary activity greatly in excess 
 of that usually enjoyed by them, to be followed by 
 a period of depression in proportion to the previous 
 abnormal activity. 
 
 Alcohol is not the only stimulant; but, with coffee 
 and tea, it is the only one that is in common use as 
 a beverage in this country. In other countries where 
 alcohol is not used as a beverage, some other stimulant 
 takes its place. 
 
 Coffee is used by 2,000,000 persons. 
 
 Paraguay tea is used by 10,000,000 persons. 
 
 Coca is used by 10,000,000 persons. 
 
 Chicory, pure or mixed with coffee, by 40,000,000 
 persons. 
 
 Cocoa, either as chocolate or in some other form, by 
 50,000,000 persons. 
 
 Haschisch is eaten and smoked by 300,000,000 per- 
 sons. 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 349 
 
 Opium by 400,000,000 persons. 
 
 Chinese tea is drunk by 500,000,000 persons. 
 
 All the known nations of the world are addicted 
 to the use of tobacco, chiefly in the form of smoke, 
 others by snuffing and chewing. 
 
 The following list of distilled spirits used in differ- 
 ent parts of the world will give some idea of the uni- 
 versality of their use : 
 
 Nations by whom employed. Name. Obtained from 
 
 Hindus, Malays, etc. . . Arrack Rice or Areca-nut. 
 
 Greeks, Turks, etc. . . Raki Rice. 
 
 Hindus Toddy Cocoanut. 
 
 Hindus (Mahrattas) . . Bojah Eleusine Corocana. 
 
 Hindus (Sikkim) . . . Murwa Eleusine Corocana. 
 
 Chinese Samshoo Rice. 
 
 Japanese Sacie 
 
 Pacific Islanders . . . Kawa Macropiper. 
 
 Mexicans Pulque Agave. 
 
 .South Americans . . . Chica Maize. 
 
 Tartars Koumiss Mare's milk. 
 
 Russians and Poles. . . Voldki Potatoes. 
 
 Abyssinians . . . Ta!ah Millet. 
 
 From time immemorial humanity has craved an artifi- 
 cial stimulant or an artificial sedative, and will con- 
 tinue so to crave to the end. From time immemorial 
 humanity has been guilty of sin, and will continue to 
 be so to the end ; but neither does the universal use 
 of stimulants and narcotics prove that they are benefi- 
 cial to the body, nor does the universality of sin 
 prove that it is beneficial to the soul ; but the uni- 
 
350 HYGIENE. 
 
 versal use of the one and the universal practice of 
 the other make it obvious to my mind that 
 neither will ever be totally eradicated. 
 
 With these preliminary remarks, we proceed to 
 the discussion of alcohol, as this is the stimulant in 
 common use in our own country. 
 
 Alcohol is a combination of carbon, hydrogen and 
 oxygen, and is always the result of fermentation of sub- 
 stances containing sugar, which is mainly converted by 
 this process into carbonic acid and alcohol. 
 
 In his standard work on hygiene, Dr. E. A. Parkes 
 thus sums up his conclusions on alcohol : ' ' The facts 
 now stated make it difficult to avoid the conclusion 
 that the food value of alcohol has been much over- 
 rated. It does not appear possible, at present, to con- 
 demn alcohol altogether as an article of diet in 
 health ; or, to prove that it is invariably hurtful, as 
 some have attempted to do. It produces effects which 
 are often useful in disease and sometimes desirable 
 in health, but in health it is certainly not a necessity, 
 and many persons are much better without it. As now 
 used by mankind (at least in our own and many other 
 countries) it is infinitely more poioerful for evil than 
 for good. As a matter of public health, it is most 
 important that the medical profession should throw its 
 great influence into the scale of moderation; should 
 explain the limit of the useful power, and show how 
 easily the line is passed which carries us from the 
 region of safety into danger, when alcohol is taken as 
 a common article of food." Remember that this quota- 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 351 
 
 tion is from the best text-book on hygiene that has 
 ever been written, and that it contains the conclu- 
 sions on the subject of a man whose whole life was 
 devoted to the consideration of the subject. 
 
 I have made the quotation because I could not 
 find other words to express so well the true scien- 
 tific aspect of the subject. 
 
 Read this quotation carefully and ponder over 
 the words that I have italicized, for therein will be 
 found the essence of the scientific aspect of this 
 question. 
 
 Very few persons drink pure alcohol; it is nearly 
 always consumed in the shape of a manufactured wine 
 or liquor. If this wine or liquor be pure and unadul- 
 terated, the alcohol is the active principle, and the only 
 one with which we have here to do. Hence, it will be 
 interesting to know about the amount of alcohol that 
 is contained in the various wines and liquors. I 
 reproduce the following table from Dr. W. S. Green- 
 field's work on alcohol: 
 
 Whiskey- 
 
 50 to 60 per cent. 
 
 Brandy 
 
 . 50 to 60 
 
 u 
 
 Rum . 
 
 60 to 77 
 
 «« 
 
 Gin ... 
 
 . 49 to 60 
 
 a 
 
 Port Wine (strongest) 
 
 25 
 
 it 
 
 Port Wine (ordinary) 
 
 23 
 
 <( 
 
 Port Wine (weakest) 
 
 16.5 
 
 u 
 
 Madeira 
 
 16 to 22 
 
 a 
 
 Sherry (strongest) 
 
 25 
 
 a 
 
 Sherry (weakest) 
 
 16 
 
 tt 
 
352 
 
 HYGIENE. 
 
 
 
 Burgundy- 
 
 10 to 14 per cent 
 
 Claret (strongest Bordeaux) 
 
 17 ' 
 
 
 Claret (average) 
 
 15 < 
 
 
 Claret (vin ordinaire) 
 
 8 to 9 < 
 
 
 Champagne 
 
 5 to 13 
 
 
 Hock 
 
 9 to 12 
 
 
 Sauterne .... 
 
 14 < 
 
 
 Cider* .... 
 
 5 to 10 ' 
 
 
 Ale (Burton) . 
 
 9 ' 
 
 
 Ale (ordinary) 
 
 3 to 5 
 
 
 Perry .... 
 
 7 ' 
 
 
 Brown Stout . . . 
 
 6 to 7 ' 
 
 
 London Porter 
 
 4.2 ' 
 
 
 London Small Beer 
 
 1.28 ' 
 
 
 It is not the use but the abuse of alcohol that is 
 to be condemned; if it could be used properly no one 
 would argue against it, but it seems to be an undeni- 
 able fact that, in the majority of cases, the use in- 
 evitably leads to the abuse; and such being the case 
 its use becomes dangerous. There undoubtedly are some 
 persons who can use alcohol as it should be used, and 
 who in consequence are not injured thereby, even 
 though they may not be benefited; but the number 
 of such persons is limited, and no one can tell before- 
 hand whether he possesses the qualifications that will 
 enable him to resist carrying the use of alcohol to 
 the extent of abuse. The only way to make abso- 
 lutely sure of avoiding abuse of alcohol is not to use 
 it at all. 
 
 * New cider contains but little or no alcohol, but as it stands it ferments and 
 alcohol is generated by this fermentation. 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 353 
 
 I think it would be well if the public could be 
 brought to regard alcohol rather as a drug than as a 
 beverage. We have already seen that opium is in 
 common use by 400,000,000, and haschisch by 300,000,- 
 000 persons ; thus nearly one-half the population of the 
 world have in common use two articles which, so used, 
 are more or less injurious. These same two articles 
 (opium and haschisch) are regarded as drugs in this 
 country. They are used (except in rare cases) only 
 when prescribed by a physician, and are thus pro- 
 ductive only of good. 
 
 So would it be with alcohol if it were regarded 
 as a drug ; if it were used only, as other drugs 
 are, when prescribed by a' physician, it would 
 be productive only of good, because there . can be 
 no question but that alcohol is a very valuable 
 drug. 
 
 It is the universality of the use of alcohol as a 
 beverage that makes it so dangerous. It is a fact, 
 and a very peculiar one, that a person who is using 
 alcohol to excess never seems to realize that he is 
 doing so, or if he does within himself so realize he 
 rarely admits it. 
 
 How often do you hear a person exclaim " I have 
 eaten too much dinner; " how rarely do you hear a 
 person exclaim ' ' I have drunk too much alcohol ! ' ' 
 Understanding, as we now do, that it is the abuse of 
 alcohol that is dangerous, and that any one who uses 
 it at all is in very great danger of falling into this 
 abuse, let us see what it does. 
 
354 HYGIENE. 
 
 The Abuse of Alcohol. 
 
 It is not the man who occasionally gets drunk and 
 then passes a long period of total abstinence who does 
 himself the most harm ; though the harm that is thus 
 done is great enough. The habitual drinking of alco- 
 hol, though it may never once be carried to the point 
 of intoxication, is the most dangerous form of its use. 
 
 Do not misconstrue me into saying that getting 
 drunk occasionally is not injurious. It is very injuri- 
 ous, but it is not so insidious as "constant tippling," 
 because, in the first instance, the system has the 
 period of abstinence in which to rid itself of the alco- 
 hol ; while in the latter case, the organs and parts are 
 continually subject to the action of alcohol, even 
 though this action be not, at any one time, so pro- 
 found as to cause intoxication or drunkenness. 
 
 When we come to discuss the effects of the abuse of 
 alcohol, I am as rabid as the most ardent prohibitionist 
 could desire. That the abuse of alcohol causes more 
 disease and kills more persons than any other dozen 
 causes, I am perfectly satisfied. There is no organ or 
 part of the body that is not injuriously affected by 
 the abuse of alcohol. 
 
 Influence of Alcohol on the Organs. 
 
 You remember how the cell is the unit of forma- 
 tion of the human body ; alcohol restrains the rapid 
 growth of young cells ; hence you see that its bane- 
 ful effects reach down even to the most elementary 
 conditions and states of the body. 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 355 
 
 Let us start where alcohol begins its journey, and 
 follow it from the mouth into the stomach. What does 
 it do there? You all know, who have used it, that 
 alcohol is irritating; it bites the mouth and throat. It 
 does precisely the same thing with the delicate coating 
 of the stomach ; like mustard applied to the skin, it 
 causes an extra amount of blood to flow into the ves- 
 sels of the lining of tne stomach. It is this excess of 
 blood that causes the sensation of warmth in the stomach 
 produced by drinking a glass of spirits. 
 
 All through this work I am trying to impress upon 
 you the important fact that any kind of excess is 
 injurious, so this excessive amount of blood in your 
 stomach will work you harm. At first this condition 
 is only temporary, but by repeated use of the agent a 
 chronic condition of engorgement is set up : that is to 
 say, there is always loo much blood in the walls of the 
 stomach. This irritation also causes the gastric juice 
 (which is the chemical agent provided by the walls of 
 the stomach to dissolve and digest our food) to be 
 poured into the cavity of the stomach in excessive 
 quantity. Excess again, mind you! A portion of this 
 juice remains in the stomach after all the food lias been 
 digested, and, being idle, looks around for something 
 to do, and actually turns upon the coats of the 
 stomach and irritates and injures them. Again, it is 
 a well-established physiological fact, and one which 
 common sense will make apparent to all, that when 
 vessels are filled to their utmost extent, they are inca- 
 pable of holding any more. Hence these vessels in 
 
356 HYGIENE. 
 
 the walls of tlie stomach which, properly acting, 
 should take up the products of digestion and carry 
 them to nourish the system at large, are so engorged 
 with blood as to be unable to do so. As a natural con- 
 sequence, a large portion of that which was intended 
 to repair the wear and tear of our bodies cannot be 
 absorbed, and much valuable nourishment is thus unwill- 
 ingly forced out of our stomachs and wasted. Let me 
 warn you that your feelings are no indication of the 
 amount of damage done to the stomach, as the follow- 
 ing interesting case will demonstrate : 
 * Some years ago a man called Alexis St. Martin re- 
 ceived an injury to his abdomen, which resulted in a 
 permanent opening from the exterior of the body to his 
 stomach, by means of which all the phenomena occur- 
 ring in that organ could be observed by an outsider. 
 Dr. Beaumont has put on record that after St. Martin 
 had freely used ardent spirits for eight or ten days, he 
 could perceive his stomach to be in a very unhealthy 
 condition, the surface of it being red and spotted with 
 ulcers, the gastric fluids were poor in quality and mixed 
 with a thick, ropy, gluey material, while from the little 
 ulcers a foul matter, mixed with blood, resembling that 
 which passes from the bowels in dysentery, was given 
 out. And yet, he notes that ' ' St. Martin complains of 
 no pain, nor shows symptoms of general indisposition ; 
 says lie feels well, and has a good appetite. ," He adds 
 that '■'■the free use of ardent spirits, wine, beer, or any 
 intoxicating liquor, when continued for some days, lias 
 invariably produced these morbid changes.'''' 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 357 
 
 Stop a minute and reflect what alcohol has already 
 done, before it has fairly entered your system, because 
 your stomach, being but a prolongation of your mouth 
 and throat, is really on the outside of your body 
 proper. Having done all the harm it could in the 
 stomach, the alcohol is absorbed from this organ and 
 fairly starts on its journey of destruction. 
 
 Almost with the rapidity of lightning it rushes to 
 the brain, for which organ it seems to have a peculiar 
 love, like the affection of a false friend who seeks 
 your company but to do you harm. Most of its 
 effects on this organ are so well known to all that 'it 
 is unnecessary for me to detail them ; I will, however, 
 tell you of a few, about which, most likely, you are 
 ignorant. Many persons die of apoplexy. Apoplexy is 
 a rupture or giving way of a blood vessel in the 
 brain, allowing the escape of blood into the tissue of 
 this organ. It will seem very plain when I tell you 
 that this rupture occurs at a point in a vessel where 
 it is abnormally weak, hence unable to withstand the 
 pressure of the current of blood forced against it by 
 the powerfully acting heart. It will appear equally 
 clear when I tell you that the constant and long con- 
 tinued use of alcohol causes an excessive development 
 and retention of fat in the system, and that particles 
 of this fat, carried through the system and deposited 
 in the walls of the blood-vessels of the brain, taking 
 the place of the naturally strong and resisting wall, 
 will render it weak. So, you see one of the natural 
 causes of death accounted for by alcohol. I do not 
 
358 HYGIENE. 
 
 mean tliat all cases of apoplexy are due to the use of 
 alcohol, but many of them are. 
 
 Again ; alcohol is, as I have said, at first stimulating 
 to the brain ; it causes an excess of blood to flow into 
 it, and by constant repetition the vessels become per- 
 manently enlarged, exerting an injurious pressure on 
 the brain tissue and interfering with its functions. 
 When the stupor comes on, the vessels are filled with 
 a dark, unhealthy and poisoned blood, and so this 
 most important organ receives poisoned food. You 
 must remember that all your tissues and organs are 
 fed from the blood. When the pathologist wishes to 
 preserve a brain for future investigation, he places it 
 in alcohol, which has the effect of hardening it; and 
 when death occurs from alcoholic poisoning, the sub- 
 stance of the brain is usually white and firm, as though 
 it had been preserved in alcohol. Now, reasoning from 
 these facts, can any one say that alcohol may not 
 produce the same effect on the living brain ; and in 
 pity's name, tell me, who can live and work properly 
 with a tough and hardened brain? 
 
 Moreover, it is a well established fact that all 
 diseases of the brain which are not purely of a con- 
 stitutional character (that is to say, diseases in which 
 the whole system is involved,) are much more com- 
 mon among habitual drinkers than among the temper- 
 ate. Every one has heard of, and even the greatest 
 drinkers have a terrible dread of, delirium tremens, 
 but let. me tell you that a form of mental disorder of 
 the same character, only somewhat less in degree, 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 359 
 
 marked by trembling of the hands and feet, and 
 occasional illusions, will sometimes afflict the habitually 
 moderate drinker, who has never in his life reached 
 the point of intoxication. In this connection, I will 
 tell you something startling, that will make you open 
 your eyes with wonder : Statistics, carefully kept, tell 
 us, beyond doubt, that from one-third to one-half of 
 the cases of insanity confined in asylums are caused 
 directly or indirectly by intemperance. 
 
 Let us go back to the stomach, and follow the alco- 
 hol from there into the lungs, which it reaches by 
 means of the circulation. The blood in circulating 
 throughout the system not only gives nourishment to 
 the various organs and tissues, but it also picks up as 
 it goes along the dead particles which are no longer of 
 any use, and carries them to the different organs whose 
 function it is to eliminate them from the blood and 
 throw them out of the body. Prominent among these 
 organs are the lungs. The blood charged with dead 
 material rushes into them, where it is purified, as it 
 were, by fire; the oxygen in the air which we take into 
 our lungs causing a combustion or burning to take 
 place (by the union of the oxygen with the carbon of 
 the dead tissue) which removes from the blood many 
 of its dead and decayed elements (which are thrown 
 out in expiration) and renders it once more pure and 
 fit to start again on its journey of nourishment. Sup- 
 pose this blood, when passing through the walls of the 
 stomach, has taken up a quantity of alcohol and car- 
 ries it into the lungs; see what will occur: Alcohol 
 
360 HYGIENE. 
 
 loves oxygen ; it greedily rushes forward and seizes it 
 all, which it appropriates to its own uses; so you can 
 anticipate what now happens. The decayed tissue in 
 the blood finding no oxygen to remove it, must remain 
 where it is, hence the poor blood leaves the lungs as 
 impure and poisoned as it came, and goes its weary 
 rounds again, carrying poisoned blood to all the organs 
 of the body and contaminating everything which it 
 touches. Here really lies one of the most evil effects 
 of alcohol ; anyone can readily understand how 
 utterly impossible it will be for his organs to .hold 
 together and properly perform their delicate and varied 
 functions when nourished so poorly. We realize how 
 necessary it is to eat plenty of nourishing food to sus- 
 tain life, but we do not stop to think that this food 
 which we take is rendered unfit to fulfil its mission in 
 the blood by the presence of this contaminating alco- 
 hol. To realize what I have said, notice how soon the 
 smell of alcohol can be detected in the breath after it 
 has been taken into an empty stomach (the vessels 
 absorb more rapidly when the stomach is empty), thus 
 showing its presence in the lungs, while its great affin- 
 ity for the oxygen is due to the fact that it is very 
 rich in carbon, and that these two elements have a 
 great attraction for each other. 
 
 Going back again to the stomach, our starting point, 
 let us follow alcohol from there into the liver, that 
 large and important organ. Dr. Carpenter, already 
 quoted, says, " That habitual excess in the use of 
 ■alcoholic liquors must have a direct tendency to pro- 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 3G1 
 
 duce certain diseases of the liver, will be questioned 
 by no one who considers their mode of introduction 
 into the system, and their influence on the condi- 
 tion of the blood.^ At first alcohol causes a conges- 
 tion, an excess of blood in the liver (as everywhere 
 else it does). This is followed by a contraction, 
 a diminution in size and an alteration of its struc- 
 ture. What are the results ? They are obvious. 
 The liver is unable to remove its quota of use- 
 less elements from the blood, while the poor blood is 
 obliged to retain still more poison. It is one of the 
 functions of the liver to remove from the blood some 
 of the same ingredients which are thrown out in expi- 
 ration from the lungs ; now, as I have shown you, 
 the lungs cannot act properly when alcohol contami- 
 nates them, so extra work is thrown upon the liver, 
 which eventually becomes fatigued from over-exertion 
 and succumbs to disease. The liver contracting down 
 on the large blood-vessels that circulate through it, 
 interferes with the free passage of that fluid, and 
 damming it up, so to speak, exerts a backward pres- 
 sure. It is opposed by the onward pressure of the 
 heart's action, and between the two forces the watery 
 constituents of the blood are forced slowly out through 
 the porous walls of the vessels, and we have in time 
 abdominal dropsy, and accumulation of water in the 
 cavity of the belly. Another natural cause of death 
 accounted for by alcohol. Still further, this excessive 
 retention of fat, to which I have referred, will cause 
 more trouble. Carried in the circulation, it seeks a 
 
362 HYGIENE. 
 
 place to rest; a particle settles in the strong, muscu- 
 lar wall of the heart, then another, and another, until 
 ultimately we have a fatty heart, which, being much 
 weakened by the presence of this poor substitute for 
 its former strong and stout muscular fibre, becomes 
 unable to effectually resist the backward pressure of 
 the mass of blood which it endeavors to force out of 
 its cavities (a pressure very great indeed), and all of 
 a sudden it ruptures or gives way in some weak spot, 
 just as the vessel in the brain does, and instant 
 death ensues. Or we may have the slower death -pro- 
 duced so often by fatty degeneration of the heart. 
 Still further, when by the use of alcohol we cause 
 the retention of too much fat in the system, this 
 fat must deposit somewhere. Hence, we can and do 
 have at times fatty degeneration of any or every 
 organ in the body. Fatty degeneration of an organ, 
 of which you hear so much, means nothing more nor 
 less than the substitution of fat for the normal tis- 
 sue of an organ. Each organ must possess its own 
 peculiar tissue in order that it may perform its own 
 peculiar function, and fat cannot perform any of these 
 functions. Does it not, therefore, seem as plain as 
 daylight that when, instead of its natural tissue, fat 
 enters too largely into the composition of an organ, 
 such organ cannot properly do its duty? In such 
 cases life must be shortened, since its prolongation is 
 dependent upon the integrity not of one or two, but 
 of all the organs. 
 
 The effects of alcohol on the nervous system are 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 363 
 
 all too manifest in the trembling of the drunkard 
 and the unsteady arm and hands of the moderate 
 drinker. What does it do here ? As elsewhere, it 
 congests the nervous centres, causes them to receive 
 poor nourishment, probably hardens their tisssue, and 
 hence interferes with their proper functions. Hum- 
 boldt has proved by experiment that when a nerve is 
 immersed in alcohol its excitability, that is to say, its 
 life, was at first increased, but if left for some time 
 in this fluid it was completely exhausted. 
 
 I might go on indefinitely, as long as the list of 
 human organs would last, and point out to you the bad 
 effects of alcohol on each of them. But do you not 
 think I have said enough to show you that the use of 
 this article is, to say the least, dangerous? For the 
 truth of my statements I can refer you, without fear 
 of contradiction, to any intelligent physician. 
 
 "How often do you hear a man say, "I do not drink 
 whiskey. I confine myself to beer." Deluded indi- 
 vidual, let me tell you that you make a distinction with 
 hardly a difference, and that only a difference of quan- 
 tity and not of kind. The deleterious agent, alcohol, 
 exists in beer as well as in whiskey, and if you drink 
 enough of it you will take into your system just as much 
 alcohol. Many men who confine themselves to the use 
 of beer and malt liquors seem to enjoy exceptionally 
 good health and to be capable of great physical exer- 
 tion; but watch them for a time, and you will find that 
 they break down prematurely. Experience proves thai 
 they succumb much mom readily 1<> diseases of an 
 
364 HYGIENE. 
 
 inflammatory nature, because the tone of the system has 
 been so lowered that they lack vital strength to with- 
 stand them. As an illustration of this fact, let me 
 quote from Dr. Carpenter (page 67) : ' ' The nurses in 
 the cholera hospital at Manchester were at first worked 
 six hours (during an epidemic), and allowed to go home 
 the other six, and the mortality was so great among 
 them that there were fears of the failure of the supply. 
 It was found, however, that they were much given to 
 alcoholic potations during their leisure hours ; and they 
 were therefore confined to the hospital, and debarred 
 from obtaining more than a small allowance of alcoholic 
 drink, after which not a single fresh case occurred 
 among them.'''' 
 
 The Creator of the world has given us a most beau- 
 tiful place to reside in, and has surrounded us with 
 numerous sources of pleasure and amusement. At the 
 same time, as though to remind us that unalloyed hap- 
 piness is not intended for us here, and to make us aspire 
 to a higher existence, He has placed or permitted to 
 exist among us certain evils, which, continually before 
 us, make us yearn for a higher and a purer life, where 
 we fondly hope they will be unknown. Prominent 
 among these evils I would place alcohol. Reasoning 
 from the experience of past centuries, I am forced to 
 think that as long as human life lasts, so long will our 
 complete happiness be interfered with by the existence 
 of alcohol or some similar poison. Wise legislation, 
 moral suasion and example, may serve, as they no doubt 
 do, to keep its use within certain bounds, but will never 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 305 
 
 entirely eradicate it. Hence, I deem it wise, in the 
 remaining portion of this chapter, to call medical re- 
 search and experience to my aid in pointing out to you 
 the least hurtful use of alcohol. 
 
 In the first place, let me caution young persons to 
 beware of the first glass. Like all the unnecessary 
 things in this world, before we use alcohol we care 
 but little or nothing for it; but with most persons 
 the first drink creates a thirst for the second, and in 
 a short time is established a habit most difficult to 
 break. Therefore, young persons, beware, and think 
 well before you take the first drop. Many young 
 men, but little more than boys, seem to think that it 
 makes men of them to drink, and so they commence 
 this habit, through a false idea of manliness, when 
 they really have no desire for alcohol. Let them 
 remember that in many cases instead of making men 
 it makes beasts and fools of them. Occasionally, but 
 very rarely, I have heard men advanced into the mid- 
 dle stage of life declare that they had never tasted 
 alcohol in their lives. It was a pleasure to note with 
 what an expression of pride and self-contentment they 
 made this statement ; and they had reason to congratu- 
 late themselves, for they had avoided an evil that but 
 few men in a million ever escarje. 
 
 Think, young man, when at seventeen you are 
 tempted to take your first glass of spirits, how proud 
 and happy you will feel at forty, if you can truthfully 
 deny all knowledge of the taste of alcohol. 
 
 Let me warn you all, but especially young men, 
 
366 HYGIENE. 
 
 against a disease of which I imagine yon have never 
 heard, namely, Dipsomania or Oinomania. This dis- 
 ease, according to Dr. Hutchinson, is characterized by 
 an irresistible propensity to swallow stimulants in 
 enormous doses whenever and wherever they can be 
 found. When you take your first drink you plant the 
 seed of this terrible disease, and in many cases, unless 
 its fertility is soon destroyed, it will germinate and 
 develop into a well-marked case of the disease, defying 
 all the efforts of yourself and your friends to overcome 
 it, and terminating only with your life. Many of you 
 no doubt will immediately be able to recall an instance 
 of this disease among your friends or acquaintances. 
 Of all diseases it is probably the most terrible, not 
 only destroying the body, but dooming the mind to a 
 living death while life lasts. The pangs of conscience 
 and the physical sufferings of the body during the in- 
 tervals of self-consciousness surely must equal the tor- 
 tures of the damned ; to say nothing of the business 
 and domestic misfortunes this life of semi-imbecility 
 must entail. Now, young men, a word more to you, 
 about which let me beg you to meditate. I will not 
 say much on this subject, only give you a few facts 
 to think over; if you have intelligence and good judg- 
 ment, and desire to do right, it will cause you to 
 think, and that I am sure will be sufficient; if you 
 have not, all the eloquence of Demosthenes would 
 not move you. 
 
 Plutarch" says, " One drunkard begets another;" 
 
 * Carpenter on Alcoholic Liquors, page 49. 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 367 
 
 and Aristotle adds, ' ' Drunken women bring forth chil- 
 dren like unto themselves.'''' Dr. Howe, in a report to 
 the legislature of Massachusetts, says, " The habits of 
 the parents of 300 of the idiots were learned, and 14-5, 
 or nearly one-half, are reported to be known as 
 habitual drunkards. " Again, '■'■The parents of case 
 No. 62 were drunkards, and had seven idiotic chil- 
 dren." These facts will not be questioned for an 
 instant by anyone who has passed a period in the 
 lying-in wards of a large municipal hospital, where 
 many of the patients come from the very lowest grades 
 of society, and the offspring are mainly the results of 
 intemperance and vice. Remember that many of you 
 will in all probability become fathers or mothers in 
 course of time, and as you read, study by heart, and 
 firmly fix in your minds, and keep ever before yon, the 
 four dismal facts I have given you, and let your 
 knowledge act as a lever to root out of your system 
 the seed of that terrible disease I have told you 
 about. Physically, this poison is more particularly in- 
 jurious to the young and growing organism, for the 
 evident reason that the body, when in process cf for- 
 mation and development, is more susceptible to impres- 
 sions of all kinds, good or bad, than when, further 
 advanced in life, it becomes more settled. Therefore I 
 would desire in an esrjecial manner to prohibit the use 
 of alcohol before the age of twenty-five years. If young- 
 persons will drink, I would urge them to confine them- 
 selves to beer, ale and light wines, in moderate 
 quantity, letting the more ardent spirits, brandy, 
 
368 HYGIENE. 
 
 whiskey, gin and the like, absolutely alone. They will 
 thus suffer the minimum of harm. 
 
 Let me condemn in the strongest terms the habit so 
 common among a certain class of Germans, of giving 
 beer to their little children ; it may make them fat 
 and rosy, and for the time apparently healthy, but in 
 the long run it will redound to their physical injury, 
 to say nothing of the evil effects of inculcating a taste 
 for it. 
 
 We will now for a moment stud}? - the chemical 
 effects of alcohol on the constituents of the blood 
 itself. An ingredient called fibrin, which is very essen- 
 tial to the formation of healthy tissue, is so affected by 
 alcohol as to lessen its coagulability, its ability to be- 
 come hard and firm, hence it cannot take its proper 
 place in its normal condition in the tissues. To make 
 this familiar, notice how much slower a wound heals 
 in an intemperate man than in one who does not use 
 alcohol. This is due to the lowered tone of the fibrin 
 and other elements of the blood. The blood contains 
 an infinite number of small disks, called red corpuscles, 
 which play an important part in nutrition ; now, when 
 touched by alcohol, they shrink and shrivel up, while 
 some of their contents ooze out; so you can see that 
 they must be unfit to perform their intended duty in 
 the body. Still further: the different dead and worth- 
 less particles which should have been discarded by the 
 different organs if they had acted properly, remaining 
 in the blood, finally accumulate in such immense 
 quantities that it becomes almost a mechanical neces- 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 369 
 
 sity for them to get out of it in some manner, so they 
 force their way through the walls of the blood-vessels 
 into the muscles and joints, and we have the swellings 
 and tortures of rheumatism and gout. Finally, a most 
 important function of the blood is interfered with. 
 Nothing occurs in this world by chance ; there is a 
 cause for everything. We have in our bodies what 
 are called involuntary muscles, that is to say, muscles 
 which act independently of the will when we sleep as 
 well as when we are awake. Over this we have no 
 control. The heart is the best illustration of this, 
 constantly and regularly contracting and relaxing; our 
 will has not the slightest control over it, though its 
 action is affected by emotions or other nervous influ- 
 ences. There are many other muscles concerned in 
 carrying on the business of life, which are similar to 
 the heart in this respect. Now, these muscles must 
 receive their power to move, their life, from some 
 source; they cannot move of themselves. This comes 
 from the central office, the brain and nervous centres, 
 which originate the power and distribute it to the 
 various muscles, through the agency of the human 
 telegraph wires, the nerves. Now, the nervous centres 
 must, in the first place, receive their power of orig- 
 inating before they can issue their commands. This 
 power they receive from the oxygen in the blood ; so, 
 you anticipate me, that if alcohol deprives the blood 
 of its oxygen, the nervous centres not receiving their 
 proper incentive to action must execute their work but 
 poorly. 
 
370 HYGIENE. 
 
 Many suppose that alcohol augments the powers of 
 the system to withstand the evil effects of heat and 
 cold and other depressing influences. This is a mis- 
 take. By blunting the powers of perception, alcohol 
 makes us think that we are less affected by these 
 deleterious agents, while in reality, by lowering the 
 tone of the general system, it allows them to do 
 greater harm. All medical experience proves this. To 
 be just, I must admit that the combination of alcohol 
 with oxygen, about which I have told you, does pro- 
 duce a great amount of heat, more, in fact, than is 
 produced by the natural process, just as the burning 
 of an alcohol lamp will give more heat than the burn- 
 ing of oil. Hence, alcohol may prove beneficial to 
 tide over a short period of excessive cold, when a 
 sufficient amount of heat-ru'oducing food cannot be 
 had. But its continued use for this purpose can only 
 do harm. 
 
 Some persons consider small doses of alcohol a 
 good tonic. Such an opinion is erroneously based on 
 a temporary benefit derived from its use. A tonic is 
 something that increases the general tone of the sys- 
 tem ; now, alcohol, by its stimulating j)ower, seems to 
 do this, while in reality it is vitiating the system, as 
 evidenced in the subsequent depression. Some persons 
 with a leaning towards fatalism will likely contend 
 that the fact of the desire for alcohol being so universal 
 is argument in favor of its beneficial effects, when pro- 
 perly used. Is not this desire rather one of the tempta- 
 tions which the Creator has allowed to be placed 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 371 
 
 before us? When some persons ascend great heights 
 they feel an almost irresistible desire to throw them- 
 selves down ; this desire is no indication that it would 
 be well for them to do so. 
 
 Owing to want of space, I must confine myself to 
 the statement that I can produce countless instances, 
 both of individuals and of large bodies of men, who 
 have clearly demonstrated their ability to perform 
 great physical labor in a high temperature with less 
 exhaustion and detriment to health when they did not, 
 than when they did, use alcohol; while it has been 
 abundantly proven that alcohol not only does not enable 
 one to withstand the evil effects of great cold, but 
 that, on the contrary, it makes them more susceptible 
 thereto. 
 
 Port, sherry and Madeira are very apt to disorder 
 the digestion and predispose or excite gout. Be care- 
 ful to avoid acidity in beer. A physician of large ex- 
 perience has remarked that ' ' There is no more fruit- 
 ful source of gout, rheumatism, diseased heart, dropsy, 
 and the consequent early death of the robust working 
 man, than this beer just on the turn and ready to 
 become thick vinegar in the stomach."* 
 
 I have now told you plainly what alcohol can, and 
 in the majority of cases will, do to the body of man. 
 It rests with each individual to decide whether or not 
 he will incur this risk. Of course alcohol will be more 
 injurious to some than to others; therefore, in this, as 
 in other questions, every man must be a law unto him- 
 
 * Healthy Life. — "Wilson; page 150. 
 
372 HYGIENE. 
 
 self. I can give you the absolute rules that guide the 
 action of alcohol on the body, but no one can tell just 
 how much or how little any particular individual will 
 be affected, except by experience of such particular 
 case. But I can tell you, beyond any doubt, that there 
 never has and never will be a perfectly healthy man 
 whose life has been prolonged or whose health has 
 been improved by the use of alcohol. 
 
 When there are two sides to a question it is but 
 just that they should both be presented ; and when I 
 find some good in alcohol, in the estimation of so high 
 an authority as Dr. H. C. Wood, Professor of Materia 
 Medica in the University of Pennsylvania, it behooves 
 me to give it to you. Dr. Wood says, "That in many 
 cases af illness, and in those periods of life when by 
 reason of age the body waxes weak, alcohol is possessed 
 of great virtues." "He believes the moderate employ- 
 ment of stimulants is very useful to individuals past 
 the age of sixty years. In the later years of life even 
 the narcotic influence of alcohol is of great value, eas- 
 ing the restlessness due to slight discomforts, and the 
 suffering of nerve failure incident to decreasing vitality. 
 In chronic diseases, malt liquors have both their advan- 
 tages and disadvantages. They represent food and 
 drink, are less apt to be abused than are stronger 
 liquids, and, by virtue of their bitterness, have some 
 tonic properties. The tendency to grossness seen in 
 beer drinkers undoubtedly largely depends upon the 
 solid constituents of the beer which is taken, and seems 
 to indicate the proper medical use of malt liquors, 
 
STIMULANTS— CONDIMENTS, ETC. 373 
 
 viz.: that they are especially to be employed in wasting 
 diseases, i. e. T where there is a tendency to the loss of 
 the bodily fat. As the malt liquors contain nutritive 
 material, it is less necessary to give food with them 
 than it is with whiskey or wines." 
 
 In conclusion, I will give you the opinions of some 
 eminent medical men on the use of alcohol. 
 
 Dr. N". S. Davis, the famous physician of Chicago, 
 says: "Alcohol is an ancesthetic [an agent calculated 
 to produce unconsciousness], directly diminishing 
 nervous sensibility, and lessening the natural changes 
 constituting nutrition and waste, and as it produces 
 these effects in proportion to the quantity taken, it 
 cannot but be more or less injurious • when taken in 
 any quantity whatsoever by persons in health. I 
 think actual investigation has fully shown that both 
 tobacco and alcohol, when habitually used, even in 
 moderation, do lessen both mental and physical 
 energy, and shorten the duration of life." 
 
 Dr. Roswell Park, of the same city, says, "I 
 think the greatest risk in the use of either [tobacco 
 or alcohol] is that he who indulges will be led 
 rather to increase than decrease the daily allowance, 
 and thus to use them immoderately. In cases where 
 constitutions seem intolerant, I think they do positive 
 harm. I can conceive of no permanent benefit to 
 health to be obtained by the use of either of the 
 drugs. On the contrary, I consider that the effort to 
 establish tolerance is. for the time being, a tax on the 
 health. It is only in cases of special privation or 
 
374 HYGIENE. 
 
 hardship that I think a person needs alcohol, and 
 tobacco one never needs, as proved by the fact that 
 its first effects on one unaccustomed to it are poisonous. 
 In general terms, while I cannot practice without 
 using alcohol, considering it sometimes as a positive 
 food, and again as a medicinal agent, I think anyone 
 can always do just as well without either of the 
 drugs as he possibly can with them." 
 
 Dr. R. L. Rea says: "Many persons live to ex- 
 treme age and use both, but where they are healthy 
 it is in spite of, and not because of the use of either. 
 Alcohol I believe to be a valuable medicine, but I 
 rarely prescribe it, especially for men, for fear of 
 replacing the disease by a worse one." 
 
 Dr. J. S. Jewell, and Dr. Bannister, of Chicago, 
 say : ' ' The moderate use of alcohol is probably not 
 injurious to many healthy persons. The danger is in 
 the difficulty of preserving moderation, in the true 
 sense, and this is sufficiently great to make total absti- 
 nence the only perfectly safe rule. We have seen per- 
 sons who seemed to be better for a little alcohol at 
 meals or in the evening, but we could not call them 
 healthy persons ; in every case it was a sort of medi- 
 cine. The habit of using either tobacco or alcohol is 
 apt to become intensified, and moderation so easily and 
 imperceptibly passes into immoderate use that we think 
 medical advice ought to be against these agents. The 
 fact that some cases are benefited by alcohol is no rea- 
 son for advising its habitual use, even in moderation." 
 
 I could go on indefinitely, giving you opinions of 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 375 
 
 the same tenor which I have received from medical 
 men, but they would be tiresome. These few will 
 suffice, when I tell you that they all express virtually 
 the same views. While they recognize that alcohol 
 may, in some cases, prove beneficial, yet they all claim 
 that it proves injurious in such a large majority of 
 cases, and that its use is so apt to grow imperceptibly 
 into abuse, that they universally advise against its in- 
 dulgence in health at all. 
 
 How to Break the Alcohol Habit. 
 
 There will be many of my readers, no doubt, who 
 will, after perusing this chapter, be anxious to give up 
 the use of alcohol, yet will fear that because they 
 have indulged in it for many years it will be injuri- 
 ous for them to do so. For the comfort of such, I 
 will say, remember what Dr. Carpenter has been quoted 
 to have said, in the early part of this chapter. 
 
 Believe me, that even the most inveterate drunk- 
 ards can absolutely abandon the use of alcohol with- 
 out detriment to health. They will have terrible 
 feelings for awhile, but their strength of will must be 
 brought into play to bridge over this terrible time, 
 until the forces of nature have once more asserted 
 their sway and enabled their various organs to perform 
 their duty without the aid of artificial stimulants. 
 
 I once knew a gentleman who for years was a very 
 heavy drinker. On his way home from business every 
 evening for more than twenty years he was in the 
 habit of stopping in taverns with friends, and managed 
 
376 HYGIENE. 
 
 to get drunk every night before he reached home. 
 Getting up in the morning, feeling terribly, he would 
 consume several cocktails before he was tit for any- 
 thing. 
 
 Finally, one morning, after he had been particularly 
 drunk the night before, he stopped at one of his usual 
 haunts on the way down town, and ordered a very 
 strong cocktail; as he was about to drink it, the 
 thought came suddenly into his mind : "1 have ruined 
 my life for twenty years with alcohol. I will never 
 drink another drop. 11 Going home, he sent for his 
 brother-in-law, who was a physician, and told him that 
 he had made up his mind to renounce alcohol for- 
 ever, and wanted some medicine to settle his nerves. 
 The doctor laughed at him, and said, "Why, you 
 will die without liqour." "All right," was the reply; 
 "if I do, I will die sober." This man told me that 
 for two or three months his life was a torture to 
 him; still, he adhered to his resolution. By degrees 
 he commenced to feel all right, and now for more 
 than twelve years he has not tasted liquor, neither 
 does he crave it. What he has done, all can do. 
 
 Make up your mind that you will not drink. Use 
 the power of will the Almighty has given you, and 
 allow no temptation to swerve you from your pur- 
 pose. Take my word for it, you will all enjoy better 
 health in the long run, and have much more pleasure 
 in life, without, than with the use of alcohol. 
 
 There can be no half-way business about breaking 
 the alcohol habit. The idea of cutting down, of grad- 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 377 
 
 imlly reducing the quantity used, has been tried over 
 and over again, and has, in the majority of cases, only 
 resulted in failure and in a consequent increase of 
 quantity used, on account of the spirit of desperation 
 born of repeated failures. 
 
 So much has been written on alcohol, its evils have 
 been so repeatedly pointed out, and yet it is so gener- 
 ally used, that I fear my arguments and words will 
 carry but little weight. Therefore, I will not longer 
 weary you. I have told you plainly what alcohol will 
 do; you must decide for yourself whether or not, 
 knowing these facts, you will use it. 
 
 But one more thing I must tell you again. 
 
 If you decide to give up the use of this agent, after 
 having used it freely for years, believe me there is 
 nothing to be gained by temporizing. Make up your 
 mind not to drink anything, and stick faithfully to your 
 resolution. 
 
 A Murderer's Story. 
 
 The Extraordinary Autobiography of a Condemned British Ruffian. 
 
 The English papers publish a long and curious state- 
 ment made by one Thomas Fury, alias Wright, alias 
 Cort, after being found guilty, at Durham assizes, of 
 the willful murder of a woman named Maria Fitzsim- 
 mons, at Sunderland, in 1869. Sentenced to fifteen 
 years' penal servitude, for robbery and attempted mur- 
 der, in Norwich, in 1870, he voluntarily accused him- 
 self of the murder of the woman Fitzsimmons. He was 
 
378 HYGIENE. 
 
 put on his trial and found guilty. Fury manifested the 
 keenest anxiety to be convicted, and received the sen- 
 tence of death with the utmost satisfaction. His auto- 
 biographical statement is a psychological curiosity, and 
 not without public interest as a contribution to the 
 study of "crime causes." The following extracts give 
 the main part of the story: 
 
 '"Although my past career, as both a thief and a 
 liar, would not, under ordinary circumstances, entitle 
 me to receive any credit in regard to my statements, 
 yet as I now stand before you for the last time, as a 
 dying, or rather, a dead, man, I beg your attention to 
 the few words I now address to you — not for my own 
 benefit, but for your own. Every cause must have an 
 effect, and every effect an antecedent cause, or series 
 of causes. I stand before you now as the resultant of the 
 forces of persuasion, example and compulsion. And 
 Maria Fitzsimmons, whom I murdered thirteen years 
 ago, was another of those terrific results. The injustice 
 of the land-laws in Ireland caused my relations to join 
 Ribbon-men, and leave their country; and then in- 
 duced my mother to come to England to meet my 
 father. Perhaps crime is hereditary in my case — 
 another fact to strengthen Darwin's and Huxley's the- 
 ories. I do not know, nor have I heard- of, but one 
 member on either side of our family that was not 
 strongly addicted to drinking. My father was a drunk- 
 ard. My mother was forced to become one — held down 
 by her nearest relatives while they poured rum down 
 her throat until she promised to be sociable. As 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 379 
 
 regards myself, I know that I was raving drunk before 
 I was eight years old, and several times before I was 
 ten years of age. One of the reasons for giving myself 
 up is to get rid of that craving for drink, for which, in 
 my case at least, extinction is the only cure. I shall 
 be quite reconciled to die a shameful and dishonorable 
 death — in fact, feel happy — if by my fearful doom some, 
 a few at the least, may be warned by the dreadful 
 example I have become, to avoid that habit while they 
 have strength yet to resist it. 
 
 " { I was early initiated into the accursed habit, and 
 it was more fully developed during four years spent 
 among seamen, who seem to think that drink is the 
 sum mum bonum of human life. After this it was my 
 fate to have to spend more than four years in prison. 
 Upon my discharge, and obtaining another ship, I 
 determined not to drink. Upon the mate offering me 
 my share of beer I civilly declined it, receiving a storm 
 of abuse in return, accompanied with an order to leave 
 the ship and go ashore if I did not like to drink. 
 Thirty miles from home, without a penny in my pocket, 
 what was I to do ? I saw the good, the evil I had to 
 follow. I drank the beer, was praised for being a man ; 
 and the result therefrom, as if human blood had been 
 given to a tame tiger, was that drink was all that I 
 lived for ; for this only did I work ; for it I neglected 
 my duty to myself, my mother and my employers; for 
 it I became again a thief, by using money entrusted 
 to me by my shipmates; for, by and through it I 
 now stand before you as the murderer of a woman. 
 
380 HYGIENE. 
 
 '''It would be only a waste of time to detail all 
 the other crimes I have been guilty of since February, 
 1869, while under the influence of drink ; mostly crimes 
 of violence. One of the effects of drink upon me is 
 an irresistible desire to do people injury, even though 
 they may have given me no provocation. Once I 
 threatened my mother with a knife, shame being the 
 only cause of not executing the threat. I have been 
 in prisons more than thirteen times, extending over a 
 period of eighteen years. During that time I have 
 spoken to many hundreds of prisoners, and only met 
 with one who had been an abstainer previous to his 
 conviction. And if any of you have the slightest feel- 
 ing of pity or commiseration for that poor unfortu- 
 nate woman whom I killed in my stupid, mad, drunken 
 fury, and for others, not only of her class, but of 
 every other class, let me beg of you who call your- 
 selves Englishmen to try, by will, word and act, and 
 influence, to banish those habits, tastes and customs 
 which are the sources of so much misery, vice and 
 crime.' " 
 
 Please bear in mind that I have been describing 
 to you the effects and results of intemperance in the 
 use of alcohol. There can be no question in the mind 
 of any impartial observer, that there are many per- 
 sons that can and do use liquor temperately or mod- 
 erately without doing themselves any harm ; but it is 
 also equally and undoubtedly true that very many 
 persons are so constituted that they cannot use it at 
 all without going to excess; and it is also a fact that 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 881 
 
 there is no way in which one can tell, beforehand, 
 whether or not he possesses the requisite self-control 
 that will allow of his using liquor and yet remaining 
 temperate. Hence, to sum np, while total abstinence 
 is not necessary for all, it is the safest and surest 
 way to avoid intemperance. 
 
 Coffee— Tea— Vinegar— Mustard— Pepper and Salt. 
 
 Coffee is a stimulant, but, unlike alcohol in this 
 respect, the stimulation produced by coffee is not fol- 
 lowed by a subsequent depression. The nutritive value 
 of coffee is not very great, though it ranks higher 
 than tea in this respect. If used to excess coffee will 
 produce wakefulness, and will unfavorably affect the 
 nervous system. 
 
 Although, as we have seen, tea is used by 500,- 
 000,000 persons, I can positively say that tea (at least, 
 as prej>ared m this country) ought not to be used by 
 anyone. Tea contains a great deal of tannin, and 
 because of this fact it greatly interferes with diges- 
 tion. 
 
 Salt is a necessity of all animal life. Of mustard, 
 pepper and vinegar, all that need be said is that they 
 are no't necessary to life, and as they. are irritants one 
 had just as well let them alone. 
 
382 HYGIENE. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 439. Does scientific truth dominate the question of stimulants ? 
 
 440. What do you mean by stimulants ? 
 
 441. Is alcohol the only stimulant? what are the others? 
 
 442. Is the use of distilled liquors universal ? 
 
 443. Does this universal use of liquor prove that it is beneficial to 
 the human body? 
 
 444. What is alcohol ? 
 
 445. What does Dr. Parkes say of the food value of alcohol ? 
 
 446. What is the active principle of all manufactured wines and 
 liquors ? 
 
 447. Is it the use or the abuse of alcohol that is to be condemned? 
 but what is the inevitable result of its use in most cases ? 
 
 448. What is the only way to make absolutely sure of avoiding 
 the abuse of alcohol ? 
 
 449. Why should we regard alcohol rather as a drug than as a 
 beverage ? 
 
 450. Does the victim of the excessive use of alcohol realize his 
 slavery ? 
 
 451. What is the most dangerous form of drinking? 
 
 452. Is any organ or part of the body exempt from the injurious 
 effects of alcohol ? 
 
 453. What is the effect of alcohol upon the " Cell " / 
 
 454. What is the action of alcohol upon the stomach ? describe the 
 experiments made upon Alexis St. Martin. 
 
 455. Describe the action of alcohol upon the brain ; what is 
 apoplexy? what is the relation between insanity and the use of 
 alcohol ? 
 
 456. Describe the action of alcohol in the lungs ; how does it inter- 
 fere with the oxygenation of the blood, and what is its effect upon 
 nutrition ? 
 
STIMULANTS — CONDIMENTS, ETC. 383 
 
 457. What is the action of alcohol upon the liver ? how does it 
 cause dropsy ? 
 
 458. How does the abuse of alcohol produce fatty degeneration of 
 the heart and other organs ? 
 
 459. What is the effect of alcohol upon the nervous system ? 
 
 460. What do you say of the difference between whiskey and beer ? 
 
 461. What do you say of the temporary, seeming health of some 
 who use alcohol ? 
 
 462. What has been noted of the influence of the use of alcohol in 
 making nurses susceptible to contagious diseases ? 
 
 463. What is the danger of the " first glass " ? 
 
 464. What is dipsomania ? 
 
 465. What do you say of the children of drunkards ? 
 
 466. What do you say of giving beer to young children ? 
 
 467. What is the action of alcohol upon the constituents of the 
 blood ? 
 
 468. How does the use of alcohol favor the production of rheumatism 
 and gout ? 
 
 469. When alcohol deprives the blood of its oxygen, what is the 
 effect upon the nervous centres ? 
 
 470. Does the use of alcohol enable us to withstand the evil effects 
 of extreme heat or cold ? 
 
 471. Is alcohol in small doses a good tonic? 
 
 472. What does Dr. Wood say of the use of alcohol in old age? 
 
 47^. What are the opinions of eminent physicians about the use of 
 alcohol? 
 
 474. How can you break the alcohol habit ? 
 
 475. Relate " A Murderer's Story." 
 
 476. Is it possible for anyone to determine for himself whether he 
 p assesses the ability to use alcohol and stop short of its abuse ? 
 
 477. What do you say about coffee, tea, vinegar, mustard, pepper, 
 salt ? 
 
384 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 
 
 Habit is controlled and corrected by habit. We 
 are all creatures of habit, and the majority of us crea- 
 tures of very bad habits, so far as health and long life 
 are concerned. Did we but realize the fact that habit 
 is corrected by habit, and that good habits, if culti- 
 vated, would be just as natural and easy of acquisi- 
 tion as bad habits, I imagine that all of us would be 
 very ready to make at least a slight effort to substitute 
 our faulty habits with those that would be for our good. 
 
 Very few persons act upon reason; the mass of 
 humanity is guided solely by impulse, and that which 
 has become a habit is that which we are always 
 doing. 
 
 Lord Brougham tells us that he who makes sobriety 
 a habit, finds intemperance hateful; to him who makes 
 prudence a habit, profligacy will be as contrary to his 
 nature as the most atrocious crimes would Ije to any 
 of us. 
 
 It is evident, then, that we should cultivate hygienic 
 habits; it may be a little irksome and require a little 
 thought in the beginning, but once cultivated into 
 "habits" their performance will be as natural and as 
 instinctive as all "habits" always are. 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 385 
 
 Therefore, let us start out with the idea that it is 
 just as easy to cultivate habits that will be condu- 
 cive to, as those that will be inimical to health. 
 
 Every person is endowed with the power of "will," 
 and by the exercise of this will-power the bodily 
 actions are controlled. 
 
 The ugly habit of ' ' biting the nails ' ' could be 
 readily controlled and corrected if one would but 
 2)ositively and firmly make up his mind not to bite 
 them. 
 
 Cleanliness should be made a habit, and when thus 
 cultivated it would be as natural as the opposite con- 
 dition now is to so many persons. 
 
 No one should ever eat a meal without previously 
 washing the hands, and the teeth should be thor- 
 oughly brushed and the mouth well rinsed out after 
 every meal. 
 
 The filthy habit of putting coins in the mouth 
 should be corrected by never putting anything into 
 the mouth except food and drink. You do not know 
 in what foul pockets, dirty boxes, soiled hands, or 
 diseased mouths this money that you are handling 
 has been. 
 
 "Make haste slowly" is a maxim that should be 
 ever before you; "hurry and worry" are fatal; they 
 kill many persons. Cultivate the habit of never doing 
 anything in a hurry; be deliberate in all of your 
 actions; above all, do not run upstairs. Suppose you 
 weigh 120 pounds and you run up a flight of twenty 
 steps; on every step you have lifted 120 pounds; 
 
386 HYGIENE. 
 
 when you reach the top you have lifted 2400 pounds, 
 and this in the .space of about one minute. Is it 
 any wonder that your heart throbs and that you are 
 out of breath? Never do anything in a hurry; don't 
 hurry upstairs ; don't hurry along the street; don't 
 hurry in any of the various duties of life. Take 
 your time about everything. It is all nonsense for 
 men to think that hurry means business. Really 
 great and successful business men never do things in 
 a hurry; they are always deliberate and placid. Some 
 men are always in a hurry, and for a time they seem 
 to prosper; but watch them and you will see that 
 such men die in a hurry. It is not the fastest walker, 
 but the one with the greatest endurance who finally 
 wins the race; hurry will not produce lasting ma- 
 terial success, and it will kill. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of controlling your temper and 
 never give way to anger. John Hunter was one of the 
 greatest surgeons of England ; he had heart disease ; 
 he knew that he had it and he was ever watchful to 
 restrain himself from excitement or anger, knowing how 
 dangerous these emotions might prove to his weakened 
 heart. 
 
 For years he thus lived in comfort. One day, losing 
 control of himself, because of an unjust criticism upon 
 his actions, he rose, full of anger, to reply, and as he 
 opened his mouth to speak, fell lifeless to the floor. 
 Anger had killed him. A well-known surgeon of 
 St. Petersburg was about to perform an operation, 
 when he was angered by the awkwardness of one of 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 887 
 
 his assistants ; he spoke sharply to him, fell fainting 
 to the floor, and died in a few minutes. 
 
 When you have learned to control your temper you 
 have learned one of the greatest secrets of health and 
 long life. Learn how to laugh and look upon the 
 bright side of everything; for everything has a bright 
 side, if we look for it, no matter how dismal it may 
 appear at the first glance. 
 
 A famous literary man, replying to an inquiry about 
 his health, said: "lam suffering much from rheuma- 
 tism ; my liver and stomach are sadly out of order ; 
 my kidneys do not act well; I suffer much from head- 
 ache; but otherwise, thaiik God, I am quite well." 
 Cultivate the habit of finding the best and not the 
 worst aspect of your conditions and surroundings. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of avoiding quarrels and disputes ; 
 they never do good and always do harm. The vener- 
 able Father Curley, who died a few years ago at the 
 age of more than 90, and who was one of the fore- 
 most, if not the leading, astronomers of the world, tells 
 us that when he was young he had fallen into the 
 habit of disputing, and always liked to carry his point; 
 but, noticing that it disturbed his peace and led him 
 into faults, he had made a firm determination never 
 to forget himself and never to dispute on any subject. 
 He had adhered so strongly to this resolve that for thirty 
 years he had never been a party to any dispute. 
 
 Make it a rule of life never to take offense unless 
 there is some good reason why offense should be given, 
 and you will thus avoid many quarrels. 
 
388 HYGIENE. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of avoiding excess in anything; 
 excessive joy is as injurious as excessive grief; too 
 much roast beef is injurious ; too much exercise ; too 
 much sleep ; too much of any of the good things of 
 life is not good wisdom. It is not the use but the 
 abuse of anything and everything that proves detri- 
 mental to health. Try to cultivate the habit of moder- 
 ation in everything. 
 
 Do not look for trouble and cause to worry ; wait 
 until it comes to you ; it is a great piece of folly for 
 one to be always ready to meet trouble half-way ; if 
 he would put off all the journey on trouble he might 
 never meet it. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of eating slowly and thoroughly 
 chewing every mouthful of food before swallowing it 
 into the stomach ; the reasons for this have been 
 already given, but, in addition thereto, this habit should 
 be cultivated on the ground of economy. All persons 
 eat too much ; that is to say, they eat more than the 
 body requires, and this they do because they eat too 
 fast ; a small piece of meat or bread, thoroughly 
 chewed before it is swallowed, will yield more nourish- 
 ment to the body than many times its bulk if hastily 
 swallowed ; hence, by eating slowly and chewing thor- 
 oughly the demands of the appetite will be satisfied 
 with a very much smaller quantity of food than is the 
 case when we eat hurriedly, and the amount of money 
 spent for provisions will be thereby very greatly lessened. 
 
 Do not breathe through the mouth, unless it is im- 
 possible to breathe through the nose. The nose was 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 389 
 
 made for breathing; and air passing through the long, 
 moist, nasal passage is purified, and leaves behind, 
 adhering to the moist lining of the nose, dust, disease 
 germs and various impurities ; while the air also is 
 warmed and tempered for the lungs. But when you 
 breathe through the mouth, dust, dirt and disease rush 
 down into the lungs, and fastening there develop and 
 destroy the whole system. Avoid the disgusting and 
 unheal thful habit of spitting here, there and every- 
 where. The saliva that is thus wasted is required in 
 the body for purposes of digestion, and its loss will be 
 felt. The promiscuous spitting of consumptives is very 
 likely to convey the disease to others ; the germs of 
 the disease are discharged in the expectoration, and 
 when this dries up the germs are set free, to be wafted 
 about and into the lungs of other persons. You should 
 cultivate the habit of swallowing your saliva ; this may 
 be a little hard at first for boys, who seem to think 
 that "spitting'" is a symbol of manhood; but it is 
 what should be done. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of properly brushing the teeth. 
 Strange as it may seem, but few persons use a tooth- 
 brush as they should. It is not enough to brush the 
 t^eth alone, but the whole inside of the mouth should 
 be brushed as well. Many cases of "bad breath" are 
 due to neglect of this simple practice. The dead tissue 
 in the mouth should be brushed loose and rinsed away, 
 otherwise it will putrefy and prove very unpleasant and 
 offensive to both the individual and anyone who may 
 be in close proximity to him. 
 
390 HYGIENE. 
 
 By all means cultivate the habit of standing erect; 
 the head well up ; the chin drawn in ; the shoulders 
 thrown back; the chest expanded, and the body resting 
 squarely on both feet. Avoid the habit of standing on 
 one foot only. It is excellent practice for one to walk 
 with a good-sized book balanced on the head, because 
 in order that the book may be so balanced an 
 erect and proper carriage of the body is absolutely 
 essential. 
 
 Dirty finger-nails are not only unsightly, but they 
 offer good soil for the growth of disease germs; as a 
 rule finger-nails are dirty merely because their owners 
 have not cultivated the habit of cleaning them. It 
 will take but a minute or two of time daily to 
 make them clean, and when you have formed this 
 habit you will be surprised to see how repulsive dirty 
 finger-nails in another will be to you. Recently, 
 in Vienna, finger-nail dirt from 78 j>ersons was 
 examined, and 36 different kinds of disease germs were 
 found therein. 
 
 Bathing has been already so thoroughly discussed 
 that I will merely point the necessity of cultivating 
 the habit by relating an anecdote : A French doctor 
 went to Damascus to seek his fortune. When he saw 
 the luxurious vegetation, he said, ' ' This is the place 
 for me, plenty of fever." And then, on seeing the 
 abundance of water, he said, ' ' More fever ; no place 
 like Damascus." When he entered the town, he asked 
 the people, "What is this building?" "A bath!" and 
 "what, is this building?" "A bath!" and "that 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 391 
 
 other building?" "A bath!" "Curse on so many 
 baths, they take the bread out of my mouth," said 
 the Doctor. ' ' I will get no practice here, the people 
 are too cleanly." So he turned his back and went 
 out of the gate again and hied himself elsewhere. 
 
 Many writers claim that drinking water is a mere 
 habit; I think that it is a very good habit to cultivate, 
 and I do not think that one can drink too much pure 
 water; what is meant by pure water will be understood 
 when we come to the chapter devoted to this subject. 
 While it will be injurious to wash our food down our 
 throats with water, yet the habit of commencing and 
 finishing a meal with a glass of water is a very good 
 habit. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of frugality in eating, and do 
 not overload your stomach because that which you 
 happen to be eating is j)leasant to the taste. Pope 
 Leo is very frugal. When elected Pope, it is related 
 of him that when he first sat down to dinner he 
 found an extra dish on the table, prepared in honor 
 of his election. To the servant, he said: "Do you 
 think I can eat more as Pope than as Cardinal? Don't 
 let this occur again; I shall regulate my own stomach." 
 
 Cultivate the habit of self-control in everything; 
 persons without self-control, as a rule, die young, no 
 matter what may be their surroundings and conditions. 
 
 Be ever ready for fun ; most persons take this world 
 too seriously; we are too down-hearted, rheumatic and 
 crotchety, and need to be stirred up and refreshed by 
 a sail down the river, a visit to the circus, a good look 
 
392 HYGIENE. 
 
 at a game of baseball, a picnic in the woods, and the 
 like. 
 
 Eating candy is a habit, and I have my own very 
 decided views on the subject. I do not believe that 
 good, pure chocolate candy, mint, cream or any plain, 
 pure candy in moderation will do anybody any harm ; 
 but variously colored candies, candies from the "corner- 
 stand," of inferior quality, and covered with the dust 
 and dirt of the street, cheap candy, ' ' prize-package ' ' 
 candy, are all injurious. ' Good, pure, harmless candy 
 cannot be bought for nothing ; it costs something to 
 make, and must be paid for accordingly, but it is the 
 only kind that can be used with impunity. 
 
 Let me beg of you to avoid the frightful habit of 
 giving the " Jciss of disease and death,'''' by which I 
 mean that you should discountenance the prevalent 
 habit of kissing between strangers. There is no longer 
 any room for doubt that much disease is conveyed from 
 one person to another in this way. Kiss your own 
 family and those intimate friends, about the condition 
 of whose health you are well informed, but do not kiss 
 strangers, and do not allow them to kiss you. 
 
 liaising the hat in salute on the street is a sense- 
 less custom that has resulted in giving many a bald- 
 headed man neuralgia. The bald head warmly covered 
 by the hat is suddenly exposed to a cold blast of wind 
 on a wintry day ; perspiration is checked ; this process 
 is repeated many times, and neuralgia or a "cold in 
 the head " is the result. In some portions of Europe 
 the military salute has taken the place of removing 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 393 
 
 the hat; use your influence for the adoption of this 
 custom in our own country. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of airing your day clothing when 
 you retire to bed at night. It will be just as easy to 
 hang your clothes over the back of a chair by an open 
 window as to throw them here, there and everywhere ; 
 and when you rise in the morning, do the same with 
 your night garment. 
 
 Don't eat snow. Pure and clean as it looks, it is 
 full of disease germs and impurities that it has carried 
 down from the atmosphere. Frolic and play in it all 
 you wish, but do not eat it. 
 
 Cultivate the habit of eating air. The native of 
 Hindustan recognizes as one of the differences between 
 a dog and a man, the superior breathing capacity 
 of the latter. For example: we say in English, "A 
 dog walks out," and "A man walks out;" but in 
 Hindustan the expression is, "A dog walks out, ' ' and 
 ' ' A man goes forth eating air. ' ' This expression is said 
 to be more than three thousand years old. " Eating air " 
 consists in expanding the lungs with air, as already 
 described, and you should cultivate the practice of this 
 habit on every possible occasion. 
 
 Be cheerful. ' ' You can do something to encourage 
 yourself in serenity of aspect and demeanor," says 
 Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, "keeping your infirmities 
 and troubles in the background, instead of making 
 them the staple of conversation. This piece of advice, 
 if followed, may be worth from three to five years of 
 life to you." 
 
:104 HYGIENE. 
 
 Always thoroughly dry your hands after washing 
 them, particularly in winter. Many persons will hur- 
 riedly dry the hands, leaving considerable moisture 
 between the lingers, and such a condition is most fa- 
 vorable for the production of "chapped hands." Dry 
 each finger separately and thoroughly. 
 
 If you ask any very old person the secret of his 
 longevity, you will almost always learn that he has 
 acquired the habits of abstemiousness and regularity. 
 Von Moltke, the great German soldier, when 90 years 
 of age, would rise at five in the morning, make his 
 own cup of coffee over a spirit lamp, and busy himself 
 with farm and garden until 10 o'clock, when he took a 
 bowl of soup or a biscuit, after which he attended to 
 business until 1 o'clock. From 1 to 2 he rested. At 
 2 he dined sparingly, and worked again till friends 
 dropped in, with whom he talked or walked until his 8 
 o'clock tea, and at 10 he was in bed. Of course, 
 we cannot expect children and young men and women 
 to be so very regular in their habits, but the sooner 
 you become abstemious and regular, the better will be 
 your health and the longer will be your life. 
 
 Chewing of tobacco is a habit, and a very nasty 
 habit, to say nothing of its unheal thfulness. A mouth 
 full of tobacco, with offensive saliva flowing out of the 
 angles of the mouth, and tobacco stained teeth, is a 
 very repulsive sight. The story is told of a certain 
 preacher "out West," who, while a good man in his 
 way, had this unfortunate habit of chewing tobacco. 
 One day he was riding on horseback through the conn- 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 395 
 
 try when there came up a shower. Riding up to a 
 cabin he hastily hitched his horse, and knocked at the 
 door. A sharp-looking old lady answered the sum- 
 mons. The preacher asked for shelter. "I don't take 
 in strangers — I don't know," replied the lady, suspi- 
 ciously. "But you know what the Bible says," said 
 the preacher — "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, 
 for, thereby, some have entertained angels unawares." 
 "You needn't quote Bible," said the old lady, quickly. 
 " No angel would come down from Heaven with a quid 
 of tobacco in liis mouth, as you have.'''' The door was 
 shut, and the preacher unhitched his horse and rode 
 away in the rain. 
 
 Smoking of tobacco is but a habit; there is no sense 
 or reason in it; it is a habit the cultivation of which 
 causes most boys many spells of sickness. Let it 
 alone ; you will be thankful in after life if you follow 
 this advice. 
 
 A strong, hearty baggage-man who could with 
 apparent ease elevate a modern Saratoga trunk, was 
 recently the object of the most intense admfration to 
 a boy of twelve, whose greatest ambition is to be 
 strong, and who would rather be John Sullivan than 
 President Cleveland. "What do you eat," this mod- 
 ern Hercules was asked, "to make you so strong?" 
 "Oatmeal," was the reply; "a good big dish of it 
 every morning for breakfast. There is nothing better," 
 he added, "and being cheap it is within the reach of 
 all, even the poorest." Learn a lesson from this man, 
 and never start off to school in the morning without 
 
396 HYGIENE. 
 
 some food in your stomach. When a mother tells me 
 that her boy or girl will not eat breakfast, and comes 
 home from school at noon weak, languid and com- 
 plaining of headache, my advice is to place before 
 this child some oatmeal, or steak, or whatever there 
 may be for breakfast, and give the child the choice 
 between eating it or spending the day in bed. Do not 
 scold ; do not be cross ; merely explain kindly that if 
 no breakfast is eaten the body will be weak and 
 unequal to the tasks of the day ; very few children 
 will choose to remain in bed all day, and the breakfast 
 will usually be eaten. 
 
 He who gives loose reins to passion or inclination 
 soon forms habits of pernicious tendency that will be 
 most difficult to overcome; while those who persistently 
 struggle against the tide of evil that eventually seems 
 so easy to us, and try for better things, will soon 
 form habits that help to improve the physical as well 
 as the moral nature. Habits, like rivers, have small 
 beginnings ; but as their lines begin to lengthen their 
 force increases, until at last, borne on by this resist- 
 less sway, we are powerless to check our course. In 
 youth we form habits that cling to us through lifetime 
 with a pertinacity that shows their mastery of us, 
 hence we must be very careful to cultivate healthful 
 habits. 
 
HABITS AND CUSTOMS. 897 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 478. What do you say of human beings as creatures of habit, and 
 how is habit controlled and corrected ? 
 
 479. What guides the actions of the mass of humanity ? 
 
 480. Why should we cultivate hygienic habits ? 
 
 481. How may we control our bodily actions? 
 
 482. What do you say of biting the nails ? 
 
 483. What of cleanliness as a habit ? 
 
 484. What of putting coins in the mouth ? 
 
 485. What about " hurry and worry " ? 
 
 486. What about temper ? give some illustrations of the fatal results 
 of losing one's temper. 
 
 487. Why should we always look for the bright side of everything? 
 
 488. What about quarrels and disputes? 
 
 489. What do you say about taking offense? 
 
 490. What about excess ? 
 
 491. What about looking for trouble? 
 
 492. What about habits of eating ? 
 
 493. Why should we breathe through the nose? 
 
 494. What do you say of the spitting habit ? 
 
 495. What about cleaning the teeth ? 
 
 496. How should we stand ? 
 
 497. What of dirty finger-nails ? 
 
 498. Give an anecdote illustrating the value of the bathing habit ? 
 
 499. What about the habit of drinking water? 
 
 500. What do you say of frugality ; of self-control ; of fun ; of eat- 
 ing candy? 
 
 501. What is the " kiss of disease and death ? " 
 
398 HYGIENE. 
 
 502. What about raising the hat in salute ? 
 
 503. What do you say about airing your clothing? 
 
 504. What do you say about " eating snow " ? 
 
 505. What do you mean by " eating air " ? 
 
 506. What about cheerfulness? 
 
 507. What is a fruitful cause of chapped hands ? 
 
 508. What about abstemiousness and regularity ? 
 
 509. Is tobacco-chewing a habit ? 
 
 .510. What about smoking of tobacco? 
 
 511. What do you say about starting to school on an empty stom- 
 ach? 
 
RELIGION AND HEALTH. 
 
 399 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 RELIGION AND HEALTH. 
 
 Before the International Congress of Hygiene, held 
 a few years ago, in London, Mr. Ogle presented sta- 
 tistics as to the comparative mortality among those 
 between twenty-five and sixty-five years of age, en- 
 gaged in various occupations in England. The death- 
 rate among clergymen being the least, this was taken 
 as a standard of comparison. The following table 
 presents the comparative mortality : 
 
 Clergymen, 
 
 100 
 
 Hatters, 
 
 19.2 
 
 Gardeners, 
 
 . 108 
 
 Printers, 
 
 193 
 
 Farmers, 
 
 114 
 
 Cotton workers, 
 
 196 
 
 Paper makers, 
 
 . 129 
 
 Clerks, 
 
 199 
 
 Grocers, 
 
 139 
 
 Physicians, 
 
 202 
 
 Fishermen, 
 
 . 143 
 
 Bookbinders, 
 
 210 
 
 Cabinet makers, . 
 
 148 
 
 Butchers, 
 
 211 
 
 Lawyers, 
 
 . 152 
 
 Glass makers, 
 
 214 
 
 Mechanics, 
 
 155 
 
 Plumbers and painter? 
 
 j, 216 
 
 Tradesmen, 
 
 . 158 
 
 Cutlers, 
 
 229 
 
 Shoemakers, 
 
 166 
 
 Brewers, 
 
 245 
 
 Barbers, 
 
 . 172 
 
 Omnibus drivers, 
 
 267 
 
 Upholsterers, 
 
 173 
 
 Wine merchants, 
 
 274 
 
 Masons, 
 
 . 174 
 
 Potters, 
 
 314 
 
 Laborers, 
 
 185 
 
 Miners, 
 
 331 
 
 Wool workers, 
 
 . 186 
 
 Hotel waiters, 
 
 397 
 
 Tailors, 
 
 189 
 
 
 
 I might stop right here, say no more, and yet 
 
400 HYGIENE. 
 
 claim that I have indisputably proven that a religious 
 life is a healthful life ; that religion and hygiene go 
 hand-in-hand ; that he who practices the teachings of 
 religion is also (perhaps unconsciously) practicing the 
 teachings of hygiene; for we here have undoubted 
 evidence, that among those whose life-work is the 
 teaching of religion, among those most familiar with 
 religion, the death-rate is the lowest that obtains among 
 all classes of humanity. 
 
 But I will go further, and tell you that many 
 years ago, on my journey from Frascati (near Rome) 
 to Tusculum, where I was to view the site of Cicero's 
 villa, I halted at the entrance to the monastery of the 
 Camaldolese monks, where I had the unique satis- 
 faction of inspecting a body of men who never speak. 
 An inflexible rule of this order is silence, save among 
 those who come into contact with the outside world 
 in the intercourse necessary for the maintenance of 
 the community. After I entered the building, I found 
 in a little cell, not more than 6 by 8 feet, an old 
 man who had been bed-ridden for twenty-five years. 
 His great age, and the fact that he had been at one 
 time of the world and worldly, was to be found in 
 the statement that, in early life, he had been a 
 soldier under the first Napoleon. Stop for a moment 
 and realize if you can what it means to lie on your 
 back in a bare-walled room, 6 by 8 feet, for twenty- 
 five years. Yet this venerable old man was one of 
 the happiest, jolliest mortals I have ever met. Because 
 of his affliction he was allowed to talk, and when I 
 
RELIGION AND HEALTH. 401 
 
 asked him if he was not unhappy and depressed by 
 his condition, his eyes twinkled merrily, and with an 
 unmistakable expression of joy and satisfaction he 
 assured me that he was the happiest of mortals, because 
 he was suffering all the time for God's sake; religion 
 taught him to accept his lot in patience, and one of the 
 principal lessons of hygiene teaches us the same thing. 
 From this extreme case, let us transfer our thoughts 
 to the various religious communities of men and women 
 that exist throughout the world, and learn therefrom a 
 most salutary lesson. The desire to serve God is the 
 foundation stone of all these communities ; yet if I were 
 to outline a constitution for the organization of a Com- 
 munity of Sanitarians,* I could hardly improve upon 
 the rules and regulations of a religious community. 
 The members of these communities are not fatalists 
 by any manner of means, yet, believing that their 
 actions are ultimately guided and controlled by a 
 higher intelligence than that of humanity, they are 
 ever ready to accept that which happens as for the 
 best, while vain and useless repinings for what might 
 have been, but is not. has no place in their breasts. 
 They are not fatalists, for they use their intelligence 
 to the best of their ability ; but whatever may be 
 the result, it is accepted as for the best. In this one 
 fact alone is found the essence of hygienic philosophy, 
 and one of the greatest aids to health and long life. 
 Serenity of mind and freedom from worry are the inev- 
 
 *A Sanitarian is a person who believes in and practices the teachings of 
 hygiene. 
 
402 HYGIENE. 
 
 itable outcome of this frame of mind, and nothing is 
 more conducive to long life. 
 
 Regularity ', that ke //stone of health, is a marked 
 characteristic of religious communities; regular hours 
 for meals; regular hours for sleep; regularity and sys- 
 tem in work and recreation; obedience to authority, 
 which implies self-control; conscientious regularity in 
 everything is pre-eminently characteristic of these men 
 and women. While it would not do for all of us to 
 be members of religious communities, yet there are no 
 happier persons on the face of this earth, and this 
 very happiness is unquestionably due to the wisdom 
 of the way in which their lives are ordained. "My 
 brother" (says the Rev. Dr. Talmage), "your trouble 
 is not with your heart, it is a gastric disorder or a 
 rebellion of the* liver. You need a physician more 
 than you do a clergyman. It is not sin that blots out 
 your hope of heaven, but bile. It not only yellows 
 your eyeball, and furs your tongue, and makes your 
 head ache, but it swoops upon your soul in dejections 
 and forebodings." 
 
 The Rev. T. T. Munger, D.D., tells us that "A 
 good body well cared for and well used is not only 
 on the side of virtue, but is one of its chief fort- 
 resses, the greatest of all helps towards chastity." 
 
 It is related of a Bengal ese tribe, the Oswals, of 
 Marwar, that while cholera rages on all sides of them, 
 not one has ever taken the disease, and they attrib- 
 ute this immunity to their sanitary rules, which form 
 apart of their religious belief. 
 
RELIGION AND HEALTH. 403 
 
 " Onr Great Example commanded His first followers 
 to heal the sick and give alms, but he commands us 
 (says Dr. C. G. Wheelhonse, the President of the 
 British Medical Association) and all His followers, in 
 this age, to master the science of health, and to con- 
 sider the question of education with a view to health." 
 
 The Rev. Thomas R. Beeber says: "A Christian is 
 a man who accepts the principles of the Bible as the 
 law of his life. A sanitarian is a man who aims to 
 keep the body in health by perfecting its physical con- 
 ditions. The principles of the Word of God will make 
 the Christian a sanitarian ; the whole Bible emphasizes 
 reverence for the body, which is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost. The Christian is under obligation to be a sani- 
 tarian from the principles of Christianity, from its 
 aims, from its history. There is but one thing he needs 
 — education. By educating the Christian conscience 
 you have made him in the past an enemy of the lot- 
 tery, of slavery, yjolygamy, of gambling and liquor sell- 
 ing. Educate the conscience of the Christian to-day, 
 and you will have an enemy of foul air and foul 
 water, and a supporter of all hygienic forces and laws." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Carson, of Ottawa, speaking from the 
 pulpit on the "New Gospel of Health," says, "I call 
 it the new gospel because it is a part of the revelation 
 contained in the Testaments of God. My object in 
 bringing the subject into the pulpit and making it a 
 part of my teaching, is to show that it is a part of 
 the gospel which I preach, and is included in the 
 scheme of divine government as given to us in the 
 
404 HYGIENE. 
 
 Holy Book. We must teach that sanitary science is as, 
 much a law of God as the Ten Commandments, and 
 that obedience will bring reward and disobedience pun- 
 ishment. ' ' 
 
 Deprive a man of his bath and you lower his moral 
 tone; " soapology" and " scriibology, " as well as the- 
 ology, are recognized by General Booth, of The Salvation 
 Army, as potent Christianizing agencies. 
 
 The Bible is one of the very best text-books on 
 hygiene that has ever been written ; he who strictly 
 follows its teachings will be a perfect sanitarian. "We 
 must learn," says a distinguished writer, "to regard 
 physical as well as moral sins as greatly displeasing 
 in the sight of God" 
 
 Have I not said enough to convince anyone that 
 religion and hygiene are twin-sisters — the one minister- 
 ing to the health of the soul, the other caring for the 
 health of the body? While you may love your mother 
 far more than you love the house in which she dwells, 
 yet if you really love her, you will be careful to see that 
 she is afforded opportunity to keep her home in a con- 
 dition that you will consider worthy of her ; so, while 
 God loves the immortal soul with an infinite love, it 
 is but logical to believe that He wishes us to preserve 
 the body, which He has made as a residence for the 
 soul, in a condition worthy of its august resident. 
 
 In conclusion, a person cannot be religious with- 
 out thereby observing the laws of hygiene. This is a 
 truism that has forced itself upon me as the result 
 of years of reflection, and I am particularly anxious 
 
RELIGION AND HEALTH. 405 
 
 that it should be impressed upon the rising generation. 
 There is nothing in the teachings of religion but will 
 redound to the welfare of the body, and there is 
 nothing in the teachings of hygiene but will redound 
 to the good of the soul. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 512. What of the comparative mortality of - different occupations; 
 what is the least ? 
 
 513. How can you prove indisputably that religion and hygiene go 
 hand-in-hand ? 
 
 514. Tell about the Camaldolese monks. 
 
 515. What lesson is taught alike by religion and hygiene? 
 
 516. What do you say of religious communities as sanitary models? 
 
 517. What about regularity as the keystone of health? 
 
 518. What do eminent men say about religion and hygiene? 
 
 519. What is a Christian, and what are his obligations; what will 
 make the Christian a sanitarian ? 
 
 520. Does the Bible emphasize reverence for the body ? 
 
 521. When you educate the conscience of the Christian what will 
 you have ? 
 
 522. What of the " New Gospel of Health " ? 
 
 523. What about scrubology and soapology f 
 
 524. What is the best text-book on hygiene? 
 
 525. What do you say of physical sins ? 
 
 526. Why is it logical to believe that God wishes us to care for the 
 body? 
 
 527. .Can a person be religious without observing the laws of 
 hygiene ? 
 
406 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 SOCIETY AND HEALTH. 
 
 I have only a few words to say on this subject, 
 because there is no scope for discussion; a fact only 
 can be asserted. It would not take much space to 
 prove that four times two make eight, because such 
 is a fact beyond the province of dispute. 
 
 It is only because I desire to cover every point 
 that I introduce the question of the influence of 
 society upon health. Unwelcome as the assertion may 
 be to my young readers, I must yet assert to them 
 the fact that fashionable society of to-day and health 
 are incompatible. 
 
 I am sorry to feel obliged to say this, because 
 most young people erroneously think that there is a 
 great deal of pleasure in "society," and they look 
 forward to their entrance into ' ' society ' ' with won- 
 derfully rosy anticipations. It seems a pity to say 
 anything that will dampen these ardent spirits; but 
 were I to remain silent on this point, I would justly 
 deserve the reproaches which would be heaped upon 
 me by those whose health had been ruined by "soci- 
 ety," when, having reached mental maturity, they 
 looked back upon the physical mistakes of their early 
 lives. 
 
SOCIETY AJSTD HEALTH. 407 
 
 Clearly understand me, that I do not mean friend- 
 ship, sociability, comradeship or social intercourse when 
 I speak of society, but that I am to be understood 
 as referring to the dissipation, loss of sleep, irregular 
 eating of unhealthful food, improper methods of dress, 
 unnatural and excessive excitement or stimulation, and 
 corresponding depression, the indolence and neglect of 
 exercise, and the thousand and one accessories of fash- 
 ionable society. 
 
 We have already seen that the most healthful 
 mode of life is that pursued by religious communi- 
 ties; let us take this life as one type, and the life of 
 the fashionable society man or woman as the other. 
 Your own observation will make evident to. you the 
 fact that these two tyj)es are diametrically opj)osed to 
 each other. I am not advocating or recommending indi- 
 vidual seclusion, far from it; there are no more social, 
 companionable, genial persons in the world than mem- 
 bers of religious communities ; they are by no means 
 the melancholy, dejected recluses that those unfamiliar 
 with them imagine. 
 
 All the healthful pleasures of the world they enjoy; 
 it is only the artificial and deceptive seeming pleasures 
 that they avoid. 
 
 The most distinguished surgeon of America recently 
 said : ' ' There is no tyranny more exacting or despotic 
 than that exercised by the conventionalities which gov- 
 ern our living. Beyond all contradiction, the behests 
 of fashion are vastly more influential in governing pub- 
 lic conduct than any arguments drawn from the teach- 
 
408 HYGIENE. 
 
 ings of structure and function. As a rule, when the 
 conflict is between taste and reason, the victory will 
 be on the side of taste." 
 
 I full well realize the truth of what this eminent 
 man has said, and I will not waste time, ink and 
 paper in writing against society. Your own judg- 
 ment and reason will tell you that if you wish to 
 follow the advice and teachings of this book, you 
 cannot participate in the follies of fashionable society; 
 if you decide to do otherwise, you must accept the 
 inevitable penalty of ill-health and short life. 
 
 With this unquestionable assertion we will drop 
 the subject. 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 528. Is fashionable society compatible with health? 
 
 529. Do you include friendship and sociability in this assertion ? 
 
 530. What of the sociability of members of religious communities ? 
 
 531. What has been said of fashion by America's most distinguished 
 surgeon ? 
 
EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 409 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 
 
 I have a sort of a notion that education does not 
 of itself conduce to health and happiness. I have an 
 idea that in the "dark ages," when all the learning 
 of the world was confined to the monks, and the 
 masses blindly and unquestioning! y followed their 
 advice in temporal as well as spiritual matters, that 
 the masses of the people were happier than they are 
 to-day, when each individual unit of humanity is being 
 educated into a thinking, reasoning, questioning, skep- 
 tical organism. 
 
 Whether right or wrong, this idea is not in accord 
 with the spirit of the age, and I do not ask its 
 acceptance. 
 
 Education, rightly understood, is designed to make 
 us better able to fulfill the designs of our Creator in 
 this world, and more worthy of the reward that is in 
 store for us in the next. When, after the "dark 
 ages," the reaction set in, all educational thought was 
 directed towards the training of the mind, with but 
 little thought of the body. The folly and danger of 
 this course will be readily understood when we 
 remember that while we cannot see and touch and 
 weigh the mind, yet it is in reality a product <>/ the hod//. 
 
410 HYGIENE. 
 
 Let me make this point clear by a familiar illus- 
 tration : Electricity is doing wonderful things in these 
 days; but what is electricity? You cannot see it, nor 
 taste it, nor weigh, nor measure it; it is a force, but 
 an invisible, an intangible one. It is a force generated 
 by the working of a machine, and if this machine be 
 not kept in good order, the force cannot long be gen- 
 erated. If the sole thought of the engineer, in charge 
 of this machine, is to get from it all the electrical 
 force that he can drive it to generate, regardless of 
 the wear and tear of the machine, he will succeed 
 admirably well for a time, but the hour will surely 
 come when the machine will break down and no more 
 electricity will be made. 
 
 That which happens to the machine of iron will 
 also happen to our human machine. Mind is an invis- 
 ible force that is largely dependent upon our bodies, 
 and our bodies are made out of the food we eat. If our 
 educational j>rocesses are designed so as to develop all 
 the mind that is possible, regardless of the welfare of 
 the body, upon which the healthy development of the 
 mind so largely depends, the results for a time will be 
 brilliant, but before long the body will break down. 
 
 ' ' Mens sana in cor pore sano ' ' (a sound mind in 
 a sound body) has been so frequently quoted that I 
 hesitate to introduce it, yet it fitly expresses what 
 should be the true aim of education. That the mind 
 may be developed in a healthful manner, it is absolutely 
 essential . that the body must be correspondingly cared 
 for. With my own child I would much rather have a 
 
EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 411 
 
 "healthy ignoramus" than an educated invalid; but 
 fortunately there is no necessity for either of these 
 extremes. 
 
 What would you think .of a railroad company that 
 would take a man from the street, without any pre- 
 vious education, and put him into a locomotive to run 
 it, telling him to put coal in the furnace and water 
 in the boiler ? He would get steam, and this very steam 
 would blow him and everybody about him into 
 eternity. The engineer not only knows how to make 
 steam, but he is also familiar with every separate part of 
 his locomotive and the relations that these various 
 parts bear, the one to the other; he is capable of 
 taking his locomotive apart and putting it together 
 again; in a word, he has studied the anatomy of his 
 machine. But even more than this, he knows the 
 duty of each part, what work each part must do in 
 the working of the whole; he has studied the physi- 
 ology of his machine. Yet still more, he knows how 
 to use the different parts so that they will produce 
 the best results with the least amount of wear and 
 tear; he has studied the hygiene of his machine. The 
 engineer, thus thoroughly equipped, will run his loco- 
 motive day after day, week after week, month after 
 month, year after year, until it finally wears out of old 
 age; while the man who only knew that lire and water 
 make steam, and that steam produces motion, would have 
 ruined this same locomotive in a very short time. 
 
 The boy or girl who eats and studies, realizing only 
 that the mind is to be cultivated to the utmost, is like 
 
412 HYGIENE. 
 
 the man from the street who ruins his locomotive; the 
 boy or girl who knows something about his or her body 
 and its care, who realizes that care of the body will 
 conduce to healthy development of the mind, is akin 
 to the educated engineer. 
 
 Of course, the fundamental principles of education 
 are laid down by the school authorities, just as the 
 fundamental principles of a machine have been devised 
 by others than those who run it; but the individual 
 application of these principles is in the power of the 
 pupil or the engineer. 
 
 The habits that have been already recommended 
 can be suggested by the teacher, but they must be 
 cultivated by each individual pupil for himself; the 
 teacher cannot cultivate them for you. The teacher 
 cannot breathe into your lungs ; you must do that for 
 yourself ; and so it is with the actual application of all 
 the rules of personal hygiene. Your teacher can tell 
 you how to avoid sin, but you yourself must do the 
 avoiding; so your teacher can tell you how to be 
 healthy, but you yourself must do what you are 
 told. 
 
 What is needed to-day is a higher development of 
 the moral faculties, so that the rising generation will 
 come to consider the possession of health as something 
 to be proud of, and the presence of disease as some- 
 thing to be ashamed of; we are in need of an "Aris- 
 tocracy of Health." 
 
 "Take care of your health," venerable President 
 Patton tells the Princeton boys. "You may not need 
 
EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 413 
 
 binomial tlieorems, but you will need your digestion 
 every day. I wish that years ago I had thought more 
 about my own health. A frequently recurring head- 
 ache, a bad appetite and sleeplessness, are solemn warn- 
 ings that you must heed. Dyspepsia is not a thing 
 to be made fun of." 
 
 In this matter of hygiene, the children must become 
 the educators of their parents, and they must tell their 
 parents that schools are liot-beds of contagious diseases, 
 and that they will continue to be so in spite of every 
 precaution on the part of the school authorities, and 
 of all sanitary legislation, until the parents become 
 alive to their duty in this matter. 
 
 I have had three epidemics of contagious disease 
 in my own family : one of measles, one of mumps, and 
 one of whooping-cough; and in each instance the dis- 
 ease was carried home from school by one of my chil- 
 dren, just as surely as he carried home his books. 
 Yet I do not blame the authorities of the school for 
 allowing these diseases to come into my family; but I 
 most emphatically do hold responsible the parents 
 whose children having this disease, or having been ex- 
 posed to it, have allowed them to attend school and 
 give the disease to my children. Hitherto, parents 
 have not been informed on this subject, and they have 
 sinned through ignorance. But hereafter if any parenl 
 that reads this book allows any child that has been 
 exposed to disease to go to school, such parent must 
 feel that he or she has been guilty of a grievous sin 
 in the sight of God and man, and any deaths that may 
 
414 HYGIENE. 
 
 occur from this neglect may be justly laid directly 
 at the door of such parent. 
 
 The school authorities cannot justly be held respon- 
 sible, because there is no way in which they can tell 
 that a child has been exposed to disease, while some 
 disease may be working in their bodies for days before 
 it may become manifest; but in the very great major- 
 ity of cases, any respectable parent will know that 
 the child has been exposed. 
 
 Again, I can put a handful of corn into my pocket, 
 sail out to Bombay, plant it in suitable soil and it will 
 grow; it did not grow in my pocket, because the con- 
 ditions therein were not favorable for its growth; all 
 the same I was the means of conveying this corn 
 from America to India. So, I believe that a child 
 whose body is not favorable for the development of 
 a germ disease may, if exposed thereto, convey the 
 germs to some other child who will take the disease, 
 even though the child that has conveyed it may escape. 
 
 The duty of the parent is transparently clear, yet 
 there are many parents whose moral obliquity is so 
 great that nothing short of fine and imprisonment will 
 open their eyes. 
 
 Suppose Mrs. Smith sends Johnny to school, know- 
 ing that it is his positive and unalterable determination 
 to fight with Tommy Jones and possibly to injure him 
 for life, maybe, even to kill him; what would you 
 think of. Mrs. Smith? 
 
 You ought to think what I would think of Mrs. 
 Brown, who allows Bobby to go to school when she 
 
EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 415 
 
 knows that he has been exposed to some contagious 
 disease, and that he will be very likely to give this 
 disease to many of his school companions, and to kill 
 several of them. And what would I think of Mrs. 
 Brown? That she is utterly unfit to have the care of 
 children, and that her utter lack of sense of duty to 
 her neighbors makes her a dangerous woman to be at 
 large. 
 
 What I have said about schools applies equally to 
 any place where numbers of persons congregate. It 
 would seem as though this might be taken for granted 
 were it not that the following conversation, recently 
 overheard on the street, compels me to think other- 
 wise : 
 
 Johnny — "Ain't you going to school, Jim?" 
 
 Jimmie — "No, we've got the scarlet fever at our 
 house, and the doctor says I can't go to school; I'm 
 going to the circus this afternoon." 
 
 You will remember that the period of incubation 
 is the time that elapses between the entrance of the 
 germs into the body and the first evident manifesta- 
 tions of disease; for 
 
 Dipldheria, the average period of incubation is 
 two days; more rarely four days, and occasionally 
 seven days. Infection of another may occur at any 
 period of the disease, and the disease may be com- 
 municated by contaminated clothing for several months 
 after exposure. 
 
 Measles. — The period of incubation in this disease 
 varies from four to sixteen days. The danger of con- 
 
416 HYGIENE. 
 
 tagion exists during the whole course of the disease, 
 but disappears very rapidly after convalescence. 
 
 Scarlet Fever. — The period of incubation is very 
 short, rarely reaching six days, generally two days. 
 The contagious elements persist a long time after 
 recovery. 
 
 German Measles. — The incubation period of this 
 disease is very variable, the average being about 
 eighteen days. The contagion is most active just 
 before the appearance of the eruption and during its 
 development. The contagious period continues for a 
 short time after the eruption is fully developed. 
 
 Mumps. — The incubation period is the same as that for 
 German measles. Contagion is greatest during the first 
 three or four days. 
 
 Small-pox. — The average incubation period is twelve 
 days ; the minimum, nine days ; the maximum, fifteen 
 days. Contagion may occur at any period of the dis- 
 ease. Infection may occur through personal contact or 
 through the clothing. 
 
 C7iiclcen-pox. — The incubation period is fourteen to 
 twenty days. It is less contagious than small-pox, and 
 is most contagious during the period of eruption. 
 
 Typhoid-fever . — The average period of incubation is 
 twelve or fourteen days ; sometimes nine days ; occasion- 
 ally twenty-four days. Contagion may occur at any 
 period of the disease, and even during two weeks 
 after recovery. 
 
EDUCATION AND HEALTH. 417 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 532. Does education of itself conduce to health and happiness ? 
 583. What is the design of education, rightly understood ? 
 
 534. How do you compare electricity and mind, aud how will 
 undue development of either ruin the machine in which it is 
 developed ? 
 
 535. What do you mean by Mens sana in corpore sano, and what 
 are the essential conditions of its acquirement ? 
 
 536. Describe the cpaalifications of an educated locomotive engineer, 
 and compare him to one who is familiar with his own body. 
 
 537. Can the school authorities compel personal hygiene? 
 
 538. What is an " Aristocracy of Health " ? 
 
 539. What does President Patton say of digestion ? 
 
 540. What about schools and contagious diseases? 
 
 541. Are the school authorities or the parents responsible for these 
 facts ? 
 
 542. What do you think of a parent who allows a child that has 
 been exposed to contagious disease to attend school ? 
 
 543. What do you mean by the " period of incubation " ? What is 
 it for diphtheria, measles, scarlet fever, German measles, mumps, 
 small-pox, chicken-pox, typhoid fever ? 
 
418 HYGIENE. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 WATER. 
 
 When we reflect that the Creator of this world 
 made two-thirds of it water, we must conclude that He 
 intended that water should play an important part in 
 His designs of creation ; and when we learn that seven- 
 tenths of the weight of the human body consists of 
 water, we are still more impressed with its importance. 
 
 There is probably no one single agency that causes 
 more disease than foul water, while there is nothing 
 more healthful than pure water. Let us clearly under- 
 stand what we mean by foul and pure. Pure water is 
 best typified by rain water as it leaves the clouds ; foul 
 water is best represented by the water of a river into 
 which all the sewage of a large city is emptied, while 
 between these two extremes we find all degrees of 
 purity or of foulness. 
 
 It is not always the case that water which looks 
 pure and sparkling and clear really is so. Muddy, 
 cloudy-looking water is not necessarily impure water, 
 so far as the production of disease is concerned. 
 
 To those living in a state of nature wholesome 
 water is always accessible ; it is only when individuals 
 aggregate themselves into communities that the question 
 of the purity of their water supply becomes a serious 
 
WATER. 419 
 
 question, because it is apt to become polluted by the 
 refuse or waste from their own bodies. 
 
 The city of Philadelphia will afford a striking illus- 
 tration of this point. This city derives its water sup- 
 ply from the Schuylkill river. Fifty years ago it was 
 unusually pure and wholesome water, so much so that 
 masters of vessels about putting to sea considered 
 themselves fortunate if they could fill their casks with 
 Schuylkill water. To-day this water is very foul, and 
 not fit for drinking purposes, because large cities have 
 gradually grown up along the banks of this river, and 
 these cities discharge their drainage, or waste, into the 
 river. Ancient Rome teaches us a valuable lesson in 
 water. With the river Tiber flowing through the heart 
 of the city, the people of Rome did not drink its water ; 
 but, going miles away into the mountains, pure spring 
 water was conveyed in fourteen stupendous aqueducts 
 into the city, and this was in the days when Rome was 
 "Mistress of the World." 
 
 Those who live in cities have no choice but to drink 
 the water that is furnished to them by the authorities ; 
 but the education of rjopular opinion to the importance 
 of pure water will compel the authorities to furnish it. 
 
 The water supply of the two cities referred to, 
 namely, ancient Rome and modern Philadelphia, will 
 serve as types to illustrate what should and what 
 should not be supplied to the people. We hear a great 
 deal of talk now about different systems for the artificial 
 purification of foul water; while this may be necessary 
 in some of the overcrowded portions of central Europe, 
 
420 HYGIENE. 
 
 where, owing to the great density of population, it 
 is almost impossible to find water that has not been 
 polluted by human waste, such a necessity does not 
 confront us in our own country. There is as yet no 
 city in the United States within reasonable proximity 
 to which pure water cannot be found; and it should 
 therefore be the aim of the authorities not to seek for 
 some artificial system of purification, but to look for a 
 source of supply that will furnish a water already 
 naturally pure and beyond the liability of contami- 
 nation. 
 
 Even though water may not be contaminated by the 
 germs of any particular disease, yet if polluted by 
 organic refuse it may be the means of causing much 
 ill-health. It is related of a gentleman and his wife 
 that for months both had suffered with dyspepsia, head- 
 aches, backaches, muscular pains and general languor, 
 and that they regained their health upon abandoning 
 drinking water from the family well, which they sup- 
 posed to be of excellent quality, but which was found, 
 upon examination, to be badly polluted by drainage 
 from an adjacent farmyard. 
 
 Let us divide water into four classes: 
 
 1. Rain Water. Under which is included all water 
 deposited from the atmosphere, as rain, hail, snow, 
 dew or frost. 
 
 2. Surface Water. All collections of water in 
 free contact with the air, as lakes and seas. 
 
 3. Subsoil Water. Water at moderate depth 
 below the surface, not in free contact with the atmos- 
 
WATER. 421 
 
 phere, and derived in large part from the rain or sur- 
 face water of the district. 
 
 4. Deep Water. Water accumulated at consider- 
 able depth below the surface, and from which the sub- 
 soil water of the district is excluded by impermeable 
 strata. 
 
 Dr. Henry Leffmann, an eminent authority on the 
 subject, concludes that while rain water is theoreti- 
 cally the most pure, yet it is practically unavailable, 
 and often unsafe. 
 
 Subsoil and surface waters offer the most agreeable 
 and uniform source, but require careful protection and 
 constant analytical control to prevent disease-producing 
 action. The most unexceptionable sources, from a 
 hygienic point of view, are the true deep waters, rep- 
 resenting as they do masses of water that have 
 passed through an enormous distance of soil and have 
 long since lost any contamination. 
 
 In conclusion, let me give you the eulogy of water 
 that was uttered some years ago by the late Hon. 
 Emory Storrs, the distinguished Chicago lawyer. 
 When sitting around a wine table with a number of 
 legal friends, he insisted on drinking iced water. 
 They taunted him for his abstemiousness, saying, 
 ' 'What is there in water? You can say nothing for 
 it." Picking up his glass, he exclaimed: 
 
 "How do you expect to improve upon the bev- 
 erage furnished by nature? Here it is — Adam's ale— 
 about the only gift that has descended undeiiled from 
 the Garden of Eden! Nature's common carrier— not 
 
422 HYGIENE. 
 
 created in the rottenness of fermentation, not distilled 
 over guilty fires ! Virtues and not vices are its com- 
 panions. Does it cause drunkenness, disease, death, 
 cruelty to women and children? Will it place rags on 
 the person, mortgages on the stock, farm and furniture? 
 Will it consume wages and income in advance, and ruin 
 men in business? No! 
 
 ' ' But it floats in white gossamer clouds far up in the 
 quiet summer sky, and hovers in dreamy mist over the 
 merry faces of all our sparkling lakes. It veils the 
 woods and hills of earth's landscaj)es in a purple 
 haze, where filmy lights and shadows drift hour after 
 hour. It piles itself in tumbled masses of cloud-domes 
 and thunder-heads, draws the electric flash from its 
 mysterious hiding-places, and seams and shocks the 
 wide air with vivid lines of fire. It is carried by the 
 winds, and falls in rustling curtains of liquid drapery 
 over all the thirsty woods and fields, and fixes in God's 
 mystic Eastern heavens His beautiful bow of promise, 
 glorified with a radiance that seems reflected out of 
 heaven itself. 
 
 " It gleams in the frost crystals of the mountain tops 
 and the dews of the valleys. It silently creeps up to 
 each leaf in the myriad forests of the world and tints 
 each fruit and flower. It is here in the grass blades 
 of 'the meadows, and there where the corn waves its 
 tassels and the wheat is billowing! It gems the depths 
 of the desert with the glad green oasis, winds in oceans 
 round the whole earth, and roars its hoarse, eternal 
 anthems on a hundred thousand miles of coast ! 
 
WATER. 423 
 
 " It claps its hands in the flashing wave-crests of the 
 sea, laughs in the little rapids of the brooks, kisses 
 the dripping, moss-covered, old oaken well buckets 
 in a countless host of happy homes ! 
 
 " See these pieces of cracked ice, full of prismatic 
 colors, clear as diamonds ! Listen to their fairy tinkle 
 against the brimming glass — that sweetest music in all 
 the world to one half -fainting with thirst! And so, 
 in the language of that grand old man, Gough, I ask 
 you, brothers all, would you exchange that sparkling 
 glass of water for alcohol, the drink of the very devil 
 himself?" 
 
 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW. 
 
 544. From what must we conclude that God intends us to use water 
 freely ? 
 
 545. What of water as an agency for the transmission of disease ? 
 
 546. Is clear, sparkling water always pure ? 
 
 547. What of the water supply of ancient Rome ? 
 
 548. Give typical examples of pure and impure water. 
 
 549. Is it possible to procure pure water for city use? 
 
 550. What of water polluted by organic refuse? 
 
 551. Into what four classes will you divide water? 
 
 552. What are the best sources of water supply ? 
 
 553. How did Emory Storrs eulogize water ? 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absorption 141 
 
 Abstemiousness 394 
 
 Adam and Eve, Forbidden to Eat 
 
 of the Tree of Knowledge . . 2 
 Adam and Eve in an Open Garden 3 
 
 Air 75 
 
 ' Amount of, Necessary . . 101 
 
 Cellar 122 
 
 Eating ........ 393 
 
 ' Expired, a Poison .... 90 
 
 ' Ground 122 
 
 ' Impure, and Consumption . 115 
 
 ' Night 117 
 
 'Vesicles 88 
 
 Albuminous Food 157 
 
 Alcohol 348-350 
 
 " Abuse of 352-354 
 
 " as a Drug 353 
 
 " as a Tonic 370 
 
 " Habit, How to Break tbe 375 
 " Influence of, on the Blood 3G8 
 " Influence of, on the Brain 357 
 " Influence of, on the Heart 302 
 " Influence of, on the Liver 300 
 " Influence of, on the Lungs 359 
 " Influence of, on the Ner- 
 vous System . . . 302 
 " Influence of, on the organs 354 
 " Influence of, on the Stom- 
 ach 355 
 
 " in Old Age 372 
 
 " Most Dangerous Form of 
 
 Use of 354 
 
 Alimentary Canal . . . .127-131 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Anatomy, Familiarity with . . 14 
 Anger, Evil Effects of .... 386 
 Animal Life, Functions of . . 52 
 
 Aorta 07 
 
 Apoplexy 357 
 
 Appetite, Significance of . . . 155 
 Aristocracy of Health .... 412 
 
 Arteries 03-70 
 
 " Division of 68 
 
 Artificial Disposal of "Waste . . 10 
 Artificiality, Humanity Tends to 12 
 
 Assimilation 173 
 
 Athletes, Professional, Short 
 
 Life of 257 
 
 Athletes, Sudden Death of 249 255 
 Athletic Contests .... 251-260 
 Atmosphere, Carbonic Acid in . 100 
 Stuffy, Ingredients 
 
 and Harmfulnesa of ... . 95 
 
 Backbone 179 
 
 Bath, an Ideal 309 
 
 Bathing 299 
 
 " Best Time for . . . . 30C> 
 
 " Decadence of, in Koine 302 
 
 " Habit of 390 
 
 " Out-d •, Rules for. . 312 
 
 " Popularity of, in Ancient 
 
 Koine 300 
 
 " Sea 310 
 
 Bath-room, a Model . . . . 311 
 
 " " Ventilation of the . 115 
 
 Baths, Cold :;07-30S 
 
 " Cool 307 
 
426 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 " Hot 307 
 
 " " and Rheumatism . 307 
 
 Baths of Diocletian .... 300 
 " of Rome, Magnificence of 
 
 the 300 
 
 " Temperate 307 
 
 " Tepid 307 
 
 " Turkish 309 
 
 " Warm 307 
 
 Beans, Nourishing food . . . 163 
 Bed-room, Foul, and Consump- 
 tion 115 
 
 Bed-room, Ventilation of the . 114 
 Bible, the, as a Text-book of 
 
 Hygiene 404 
 
 Bicycling 270 
 
 Bile 136 
 
 Black Hole of Calcutta ... 93 
 Blisters, Mechanism of Produc- 
 tion of 32 
 
 Blood 64 
 
 " Circulation of the . . 83-252 
 
 " Corpuscles, Red .... 64 
 
 " Corpuscles, White ... 73 
 " Good, Dependent Upon 
 
 Good Digestion . . . 148 
 " Poisoning and Dirty 
 
 Teeth 315 
 
 " Purification of the . . 78-79 
 " Route of the Circulation 
 
 of the 67-68 
 
 " Vessels 63 
 
 " Vessels, Nervous Control 
 
 of the 54 
 
 Boat Clubs 268 
 
 Boat Racing 268 
 
 Bones 177 
 
 Bowels, The 173 
 
 Braces, Shoulder 336 
 
 Breath, Bad, Cause of ... . 389 
 
 Breathing Through the Nose . 388 
 
 Broad-shoulders, Exercise for . 277 
 
 Bronchial Tubes 87 
 
 Bronchitis 87 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Calcutta, Black Hole of . . . 93 
 Calisthenics ....... 271 
 
 Camaldolese Monks .... 400 
 
 Candy 392 
 
 Capillaries. 63-70 
 
 '' Arteries Terminate 
 
 in 68 
 
 " Pulmonary ... 88 
 
 Carbo-hydrates ...... 158 
 
 Carbonic Acid, Fatal Effects 
 
 of 93-95 
 
 Carbonic Acid in Atmosphere . 100 
 
 " " Production of . 76 
 
 Carlisle and Indigestion . . . 146 
 
 Cell, The 166-168 
 
 Cellar Air . 122 
 
 Cellar, the Average, a Hot-lied 
 
 of Disease 120-122 
 
 Cerebellum 34, 56-57 
 
 Cerebrum 33, 55-57 
 
 " Life Possible Without 
 
 the 34 
 
 Chapped Hands, Cause of . . 394 
 
 Cheerfulness 393 
 
 Chevreul a Centenarian . . . 210 
 
 Chew Thoroughly 388 
 
 Chicory 348 
 
 Chiton, The 319 
 
 Chyle 137 
 
 " Empties into a Vein . . 141 
 
 Chyme 134 
 
 Circulation of the Blood . 63, 83, 252 
 " " " Nervous 
 
 Control of 72 
 
 Circulation of the Blood, Rapid- 
 ity of 71-72 
 
 Circulation of the Blood, Route 
 
 of 67-68 
 
 Circulation, Municipal ... 83 
 Cities, Disposal of Waste in . 9 
 
 Cleanliness 299-306 
 
 " as a Habit . . . 385 
 
 " as a " Lost Art " . . 303 
 
 Clothing 318 
 
INDEX. 
 
 427 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Clothing, Airing the .... 393 
 " Not Intended in the De- 
 sign of Health 3 
 
 Clubs, Boat 268 
 
 " Indian 285 
 
 Coca 348 
 
 Cocoa 348 
 
 Coffee 348, 381 
 
 " Cold, Taking " . . 37, 105, 172 
 
 Collars 328 
 
 Colon 132 
 
 Combustion, Mechanism of . . 76 
 
 Condiments 347 
 
 Consumption and Foul Bed- 
 rooms 115 
 
 Consumption, Prevention of 274-275 
 
 Contagion 237 
 
 Contagious Diseases, Avoidance 
 
 of 240 
 
 Contagious Diseases, Cause of . 231 
 " " Conditions 
 
 Necessary for 234 
 
 Contagious Diseases, Immunity 
 
 from 235 
 
 Convulsion, Mechanism of a . 174 
 
 Cooking 157-163 
 
 Co-ordination of Muscular Move- 
 ments 57 
 
 Cord, Spinal 59 
 
 Corns 331 
 
 Corpuscles, Red Blood ... 64 
 " " " Carry Oxy- 
 gen 82 
 
 Corpuscles, Tactile 32 
 
 " White Blood . . 73 
 
 Corsets 333 
 
 Cosmetics 314 
 
 Coughing 92 
 
 CbeatoB, Health the Design of 
 
 The 2 
 
 Crying 93 
 
 Customs 384 
 
 Cuticle 31 
 
 Cycle, Natural, of Organic Matter 5 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Cycle of Oxygen 81 
 
 " Unnatural, of Organic 
 Matter 9 
 
 Death and Sleep 189 
 
 " is Inevitable .... 186 
 
 Death, Natural 189 
 
 " Premature, Cause of . . 3 
 " Sudden, of Athletes . . 249 
 " What Occurs at the 
 
 Moment of 187 
 
 Decay, What is it? 188 
 
 Definition of Hygiene .... 3 
 
 De Lesseps 212 
 
 Depew, Hon. Chauncey M. . . 212 
 Dermis or Cutis vera .... 31 
 Development, Motion Necessary 
 
 for 293 
 
 Diaphragm 90 
 
 Diet, Mixed ....... 159 
 
 Digestion 124 
 
 " Details of . . 127-128 
 " Essentials for . . . 126 
 " Heat Necessary for . 134 
 " Influence of Nerves 
 
 upon 133 
 
 Digestion is a Chemical Solu- 
 tion 125 
 
 Digestion, Perfect, an Uncon- 
 scious Act 146 
 
 Digestion, Types of .... 148 
 Diocletian, Baths of .... 300 
 
 Dipsomania 366 
 
 I disease, Acute 227 
 
 Disease, Acute, Fatality of . . 229 
 Disease and Intemperance . , 
 " and Premature Death, 
 
 cause of 3 
 
 Disease as a Punishment for 
 
 Sin 182 185 
 
 Disease as a Visitation of Divine 
 
 Providence 185 
 
 Disease, Can We Ivoid . . . 182 
 Chronic . . 227-228, 238 
 
428 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Disease, Chronic, Can be Con- 
 trolled 229 
 
 Disease Denned 226 
 
 " Germs 231 
 
 " Germs, Vitality of . . 241 
 " Humanity, as a whole, 
 Responsible for 5 
 
 Disease is Unavoidable in many 
 Cases 185 
 
 Disease, Individual Responsibil- 
 ity for 4 
 
 Disease, Mysterious Origin of, 
 Explained 122 
 
 Disease of the Heart and Exces- 
 sive Exercise 251 
 
 Diseases, Acute, Non-contagious 238 
 " Contagious, Avoidance 
 of 240 
 
 Diseases, Contagious, cause of . 231 
 " Hereditary .... 218 
 
 Disinfection 241 
 
 Disposal of Waste from Lower 
 Animals 7 
 
 Disposal of Waste in Cities . . 9 
 
 Disputes, Avoid 387 
 
 Dissecting-room, In the ... 30 
 
 Dissection necessary for a Knowl- 
 edge of Anatomy .... 30 
 
 Distilled Spirits 349 
 
 Divine Providence, Disease as a 
 Visitation of 185 
 
 Draughts 103 
 
 Draughts, American Fear of . 108 
 " How to Avoid the Evil 
 Effects of 108-109 
 
 Draughts not Injurious to Those 
 
 in Robust Health 
 Dress 
 
 " of Eastern Nations 
 
 " of the Egyptians . 
 
 " of the Grecians . 
 Driving as an Exercise 
 Drunkards, Offspring of 
 Dumb-bells, the Use of 
 
 104 
 318 
 322 
 319 
 319 
 269 
 367 
 285 
 
 Dyspepsia 145-147 
 
 " Not to be made Fun of 413 
 Dyspepsia, " Stuffing,"a Cause of 150 
 Dyspeptic, Bill of Fare for 
 the 161-162 
 
 Eating for Life 6 
 
 " Rules for Healthful . . 149 
 
 " Slowly, Importance of 149, 383 
 
 Eden, Garden of, Lesson of the 8 
 
 Educated Invalid 411 
 
 Education and Hygiene . .12, 409 
 " The Purpose of . . 409 
 
 Electricity and the Nervous 
 
 System 48' 
 
 Electricity for Heating Houses 111 
 Elements of the Human Body . 165 
 Emotions, Influence of . . . 53 
 Engineer, An Educated . . . 411 
 
 Epidermis . 31 
 
 Excess Abhorrent to Nature 247-259 
 
 " Avoid the Habit of . . 388 
 
 Excretion . . . 129,165-169-173 
 
 Excretory System 170 
 
 Exercise, Excessive, and Heart 
 
 Disease 251-259 
 
 Exercise for Health 246-257-270-271 
 " for Muscles of the Back 278 
 " for Muscular Strength 246 
 
 " Injurious 290 
 
 " Means Motion . . . 245 
 
 " Mental 293-297 
 
 " of the Lungs . . . 274-275 
 
 " Passive 269 
 
 " Physical 245 
 
 Exercising for Health . . 249-260 
 " for Strength ... 249 
 
 Expiration, Forced .... 274-275 
 Expired Air a Poison .... 96 
 Eye-brows, Function of . . . 37 
 Eye-lashes, Function of . . . 37 
 
 Fat, Digestion of . . 
 " Foods That Make 
 
 .134-135 
 . 159-161 
 
INDEX. 
 
 429 
 
 Fats 
 
 Feet, Warm .... 
 Field, David Dudley . 
 Finger-nails, Clean . . 
 " " Dirty . . 
 Fish, Hon. Hamilton . 
 Flesh, Foods That Make 
 
 Fly on the Nose 
 
 Food 
 
 " Albuminous .... 
 
 " Amount of, Necessary . 
 
 " Classification of . . . V. 
 
 " Nitrogenous . . . . U 
 
 " Value, Diagram of . . 
 
 " Variety <>f, Necessary . 
 
 Foods, Inorganic .... 
 
 " That Make Fat . . . 
 
 " That Make Muscle . . 
 
 Foot-ball 
 
 Frugality 
 
 Frying 
 
 " Scientific .... 
 Functions, Integrity of all, 
 
 Necessary 
 
 Furnace, Hot air, and Ventila 
 
 tion 
 
 159 
 
 PAGE 
 
 158 
 
 329 
 212 
 315 
 390 
 211 
 -161 
 49 
 157 
 157 
 157 
 158 
 159 
 100 
 149 
 158 
 161 
 161 
 283 
 391 
 103 
 104 
 
 17 
 111 
 
 Ganglia 55-60 
 
 Ganglionic Nervous System 
 
 51,55,00-01 
 < tardea of Eden, Lesson of the . 3 
 
 Garters 33G 
 
 Gas, Illuminating s '-! 
 
 Germs, Dead, Harmless . . . • 242 
 
 " of Disease 231 
 
 " of Disease, Vitality of . 241 
 Gladstone, Hon. W..E. . . . 212 
 Gland, Definition of a . . . 128-129 
 Glands, Sebaceous, Function of 37 
 " Sweat, Orifices of . . 35 
 Glottis, an Organ of Voice . . 97 
 God Establishes Natural Laws. 1 
 " the Author of all Life . . 188 
 Grey Nervous Tissue .... 56 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Growth and Nutrition, Control 
 
 of 52 
 
 Gymnasiums, Dangers of . . . 250 
 
 Habits 384 
 
 Hair 37 
 
 " and Scalp, care of the . . 315 
 Hanging, Mechanism of Death 
 
 by 58 
 
 Hardening, the Process of . . 109 
 
 Haschisch 348 
 
 Hats 325 
 
 Hat, Raising the, in Salute . . 392 
 Headache, Persistent, Signifi- 
 cance of 297 
 
 Head Covering 325 
 
 Health and the Natural Code . 12 
 " " Primitive Living . 4 
 " Aristocracy of . ' . . . 412 
 " Education and .... 409 
 " Exercise for . . .240-271 
 
 Health in Norway 4 
 
 " Natural Laws Provide for 2 
 " Religion and .... 399 
 
 " Society and 406 
 
 " the Design of The 
 
 Creator 2 
 
 Health, The New Gospel of . . 403 
 Healthy Functions, Unconscious- 
 ness of 147 
 
 Healthy Ignoramus .... 411 
 " Persons, Parity of . . 18 
 Heart Disease and Excessive 
 
 Exercise 251 
 
 Heart, Fatty Degeneration of the, 
 Caused by Alcohol .... 362 
 
 Heart, The 03-60 
 
 " " as a Muscle ... 42 
 " " Contractions of . . 42 
 " " Nervous ( Sontrol of. 7 - _! 
 " " Valves of .... 253 
 Heat, Animal, Mechanism of its 
 
 Production 36 
 
 Heat, Foods that Produce . . 159 
 
430 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Heat of Body, How Produced . 82 
 
 Heating 100 
 
 " by Electricity . . . . Ill 
 " " Hot-air Furnace . . Ill 
 " " Steam . . . 111-112 
 
 Hemerobaptists 299 
 
 Hereditary Diseases .... 218 
 
 Heredity 197 
 
 " versus Ventilation . . 115 
 
 Hiccough 93 
 
 Himation, The 319 
 
 Holmes, Dr. O. W 212 
 
 House, English, Average Tem- 
 perature of 107 
 
 Houses, Artificial Productions . 3 
 " Placarding Infected . . 242 
 
 Human Body, The 14 
 
 " " as a Machine 19 
 " " as the Dwell- 
 ing of the Soul 26 
 
 Human Body, The, Compared 
 
 to the United States ... 15 
 Human Body, The, Elements of 165 
 " " Functions of 
 
 Systems of 16 
 
 Human Body, The, Why It 
 
 Should be Protected ... 25 
 Human Machine, a Perfect One 24 
 " Waste Returns to the 
 
 Earth 6 
 
 Humanity, as a Whole, Respons- 
 ible for Disease 5 
 
 Humanity, Most Perfect Type of 296 
 " Tends to Artificiality 12 
 Hunger not to be thoroughly 
 
 satisfied 149 
 
 Hurry and Worry 385 
 
 Hygeia as a Conductress . . . 225 
 Hygiene, a Necessity .... 12 
 " among the Jews . . 299 
 
 " an Unneeded Science 3 
 " and Wisdom .... 211 
 " Definition of ... . 3 
 " General Consideration 182 
 
 Hygiene, The Foundation of 
 Hygienic Philosophy . . . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 185 
 401 
 
 Impressions, Where felt ... 33 
 Incubation, Periods of . . . . 415 
 Indestructibility of Organic 
 
 Matter 1 
 
 Indian Clubs 285 
 
 Indigestion 145-147 
 
 Individual Responsibility for 
 
 Disease 4 
 
 Insanity and Intemperance . . 359 
 Insensible Perspiration ... 35 
 Inspiration, Forced . . . 274-275 
 Intelligence, Seat of the . . 33, 55-* 
 Intemperance and Insanity . . 359 
 " The Surest Way to 
 
 Avoid 381 
 
 Intestines, The, as an Excretory 
 
 Organ 173 
 
 Involuntary Actions, How Per- 
 formed 51-55 
 
 Involuntary Motions, Origin of . 34 
 Isolation 241 
 
 Japan, Hot Bathing in . . . 307 
 
 Jews and Hygiene 299 
 
 Joints 180 
 
 Kidney Disease and Meat Eat- 
 ing 172 
 
 Kidneys and Skin, Relation Be- 
 tween 172 
 
 Kidneys and Sweat Glands, Re- 
 lation Between 37 
 
 Kidneys as Scavengers . . . 171 
 
 Kissing, The Habit .... 392 
 
 Knowledge, The Tree of . . . 2 
 
 Lacteals 141-143 
 
 Larynx 87, 97 
 
 Laughing 92 
 
 Laxative, Nature's 137 
 
 Leggings 334 
 
INDEX. 
 
 431 
 
 Page 
 
 Life, Definition of 26 
 
 " Eating for 6 
 
 " God the Author of all . . 188 
 " Immutable Law of . . . 9 
 " Motion Makes .... 40 
 " of Disease Germs . . . 241 
 " Oxygen a Prime Necessity 
 
 of 75 
 
 " Phenomena of ... . 165 
 " Phenomena of, Dependent 
 
 upon Nerves .... 49 
 
 " Kail read of 221 
 
 " The Staff' of Life. ... 75 
 
 " Two Journeys Through . 221 
 
 Liver, Function of the . . . 136 
 
 Lives, Natural 2 
 
 Lungs as Scavengers .... 170 
 Lungs Compared to Bunches of 
 
 Grapes 89 
 
 Lungs, Exercise of the . . 274-275 
 " Location and Anatomy of 
 
 86-87 
 " the Organs of Respiration 78 
 
 Lymph 143 
 
 " Corpuscles 143 
 
 Lymphatic Glands 143 
 
 Lymphatics 143 
 
 Machine, Definition of a . . . 20 
 
 Man .is a Machine . . . . . 19 
 
 " as an Animal 27 
 
 " Definition of 28 
 
 " Different From Other Ani- 
 mals 28 
 
 " is an Organic Body ... 1 
 " learns a Lesson from the 
 
 Lower Animals .... 28 
 
 " What is 27 
 
 Manning, Cardinal 212 
 
 Materialism and Religion . . 20 
 
 Matter, What is it L86 
 
 Meals, Do Not Eat Between . . 1~>4 
 
 " Hours for 153 
 
 Meat-eaters and Kidney Disease 172 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Medulla Oblongata .... 56-58 
 Memory, Development of the . 295 
 
 Mental Exercise 293-297 
 
 " Monotony 296 
 
 " Occupation Varied . . 296 
 Mind, a Product of the Body . 409 
 " and Body. . . . . 411-412 
 " Proper Development of the 295 
 " Special Development of the 295 
 " Use Necessary for Develop- 
 ment of ... . 293-294 
 
 " What is 410 
 
 Moderation, The Law of . . . 247 
 Monotony of the Mind ... 296 
 Mortality, Comparative . . . 399 
 Moses as a Sanitarian .... 299 
 Motion, Involuntary, Origin of 34 
 " makes Life .... 40 
 " means Exercise . . . 245 
 Municipal Circulation .... 83 
 
 Murderer's, Story 377 
 
 Muscles 40 
 
 " Composition of . . . 42 
 " Contraction and Relaxa- 
 tion of 41 
 
 " Involuntary, Structure of 44 
 " Nourishment of . . . 44 
 
 " Number of 43 
 
 " of the Back, Exercise for 
 
 the 278 
 
 " Shape of 43 
 
 " Voluntary and Involun- 
 tary 42 
 
 " Voluntary, Structure of 43 
 Muscular Movements, Co-ordina- 
 tion of 57 
 
 Muscular Strength, Excessive, 
 
 is Injurious 217 
 
 Muscular Strength, Exercise for 246 
 " " Foods that 
 
 make , . 161 
 
 " " Pugilists :l- 
 
 Types of 248 
 
 Mustard 381 
 
432 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Nails, Biting the, as a Habit . 385 
 " Finger and Toe. ... 38 
 
 Narcotics 348 
 
 Natural Code and Health . . 12 
 " Cycle of Organic Matter 5 
 
 " Death 189 
 
 " Disposal of Waste from 
 
 Lower Animals . . 7 
 " Laws, God Establishes 1 
 " Laws Provide for Health 2 
 
 " Lives 2 
 
 " Ventilation .... 102 
 
 Nature's Laxative 137 
 
 " Stimulant 70 
 
 Nerves, Complete Circuit of . . 59 
 " Defective, Kesult of . 40 
 " Function of ... . 44 
 " Phenomena of Life, De- 
 pendent upon ... 49 
 " Influence of, upon Diges- 
 tion 133 
 
 " Sciatic 59 
 
 " Spinal 59 
 
 " Vaso-motor .... 54 
 Nervous Control of Blood Vessels 54 
 " Control of Heart and 
 
 Circulation .... 72 
 
 " System 48 
 
 " System and Telephone 48-49 
 " System. Sympathetic 51-01 
 " System, Tissue of . . 50 
 Nervous Systems, Connection Be- 
 tween 52 
 
 Newman, Cardinal 212 
 
 "Night Air" 117 
 
 Nitrogen a Diluent of Oxygen . 78 
 Nitrogenous Food .... 157-158 
 
 Waste 172 
 
 Norway, Health and Morality in 4 
 Nose, Breathing Through the . 37 
 
 " Fly on the 49 
 
 Nutrition and Growth, Control 
 
 of 52 
 
 ' Mechanism of . . . 70 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Oat-Meal 395 
 
 Occupations, Comparative Mor- 
 tality of 399 
 
 Ocean Bathing 310 
 
 Oesophagus 130 
 
 Oinomania 300 
 
 Opium 349 
 
 Organic Body, Man is an . . 1 
 " Matter, Indestructibility 
 
 of 1 
 
 Organic Matter, Natural Cycle 
 
 of 5 
 
 Organic Matter, Origin of . . 1 
 " " Unnatural Cy- 
 cle of 9- 
 
 Organic Refuse, and Sewers . . 11 
 Origin of Organic Matter . . 1 
 Ox, Dr., on Oxygen .... 70 
 
 Oxygen 75 
 
 " Cycle of 81 
 
 " Fatal Effects of Defi- 
 ciency of . . . 93-94-95 
 
 Oxygen, Fear of 78 
 
 " Necessary Proportions 
 
 of 90 
 
 Oxygen, Necessity of, to the 
 
 Whole Body 82 
 
 Oxygen, Pure, Too Strong for 
 
 Respiration 78 
 
 Oxygen Supports Combustion . 70 
 " The Natural Purifier . 79 
 " Transported by Red 
 
 Blood Corpuscles . 82 
 Ozone 118 
 
 Palsy, Scrivener's 201 
 
 Pancreas 130 
 
 Paradise, The Lesson of . . . 2 
 
 Parents, Duty of 414 
 
 Peas Very Nourishing ... 103 
 
 Pedometer 205 
 
 Pepper 381 
 
 Perspiration, Amount of, given 
 
 off . 37 
 
IXDEX. 
 
 483 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Perspiration, Composition of . 53 
 " Insensible ... 35 
 
 Phagocytosis 235 
 
 Pharynx 130 
 
 Physical Culture . . . .245-270 
 " " Excessive . . 259 
 
 " " Safety Valve 
 
 of 258-259 
 
 Physiology, Familiarity With . 14 
 Plants, Growing in Bed-rooms 117 
 Plumbing, Design of Good . . 115 
 Pope Leo XIII., as a Type of 
 
 Vital Strength 248 
 
 Potatoes 162 
 
 Premature Death, Cause of . . 3 
 Primitive Living and Health . 4 
 
 Protoplasm 166 
 
 Pugilists as Types of Muscular 
 
 Strength ." 248 
 
 Pulmonary Capillaries ... 88 
 " Vesicles .... 88 
 Pulverization Necessary for Di- 
 gestion 125 
 
 (Quarrels, Avoid 387 
 
 Pacing, Boat 268 
 
 Kailroad of Life 221 
 
 " Travelling as an Exer- 
 cise 269 
 
 Bed Blood Corpuscles .... 64 
 
 Begularity 394-402 
 
 Reflex Actions 55 
 
 " Movements, Illustrated . 51 
 
 Beligion and Hygiene . . . 299 
 
 " " Health .... 399 
 
 " « Materialism . . 20 
 
 Religious Communities . . . 401 
 
 Respiration 75 
 
 " is Both Voluntary 
 
 and Involuntary . . . '. . 89 
 
 Respiration, Definition of . . 79 
 
 Respiration, Exciting Cause of . 91-92 
 
 Respiration, Function of . . 78 
 
 Respiration Internal . . . 
 " Mechanism of . 
 
 " Necessity of 
 
 " of Vegetable Life 
 
 Rheumatism and Hot Baths 
 
 Ribs 
 
 Riding as an Exercise . . 
 
 Romans, Clean Skin of the 
 
 Rowing as an Exercise . 
 
 Running Up-stairs . . . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 80 
 
 91 
 
 90 
 
 80 
 
 307 
 
 179 
 
 267 
 
 305 
 
 268 
 
 385 
 
 Saliva, Function of . . . 128-130 
 
 Salt 159,381 
 
 Sanitarian of To-day, Lesson of 
 
 the 3 
 
 Schools as Hot-beds of Disease . 413 
 
 Sciatica °9 
 
 Sciatic Nerves 59 
 
 Scrivener's Palsy 261 
 
 Sea Bathing 311 
 
 Sebaceous Glands, Function of . 37 
 Secretion, Function of. . . . 129 
 Sedatives, Craving of Humanity 
 
 for 349 
 
 Self-control, the Habit of . . 391 
 Sewers and Organic Refuse . . 11 
 
 Shoes 330-332 
 
 " Ill-fitting 331 
 
 Sickness Defined ..... 226 
 Sighing, Mechanism of . . . 93 
 Sin, Disease as a Punishment for 185 
 
 Skeleton, The 177 
 
 Skin 30 
 
 " and Kidneys, Relation be- 
 tween 172 
 
 Skin, Cleanliness of the, and 
 
 Health 305 
 
 Skin, Dirty, and Apparent 
 
 Health 306 
 
 Skin, Excretory Function of . 172 
 " Nerves and Blood-Veesela 
 
 of the :: - 
 
 Skull, The 180 
 
 Sleep 
 
 339 
 
434 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sleep and Death 189 
 
 " Essentials for 345 
 
 " and Society 342 
 
 Sleeplessness, Significance of . 297 
 Smells, Bad, How Produced . 36 
 Sneezing, Mechanism of . . . 92 
 Snow, Impurities of ... . 393 
 
 Soap 312 
 
 Sobbing, Mechanism of . . . 93 
 Society and Health .... 406 
 Soul, the Human Body as 
 
 Dwelling Place of the . . 26 
 Speech, Organs and Production 
 
 of 98 
 
 Spinal Column 59 
 
 " Cord 59 
 
 " Nerves 59 
 
 Spirits, Distilled 349 
 
 Spitting, The, Habit .... 389 
 
 Sponges 313 
 
 St. Martin, Alexis .... 356 
 Stand, How to, Properly . . 262-263 
 Standing Erect, the Habit of . 390 
 
 Statistics, Vital 221-223 
 
 Steam for Heating Houses . 111-112 
 Stimulant, the Natural ... 76 
 
 Stimulants 347 
 
 " Craving of Humanity 
 
 for 349 
 
 Stimulants, Definition of . . . 348 
 
 Stockings 329 
 
 Stomach 131 
 
 " Digestion in the . . 132-133 
 " Muscular Contraction of 42 
 " Temperature of . . . 134 
 Strength, Exercising for . . . 249 
 " Muscular .... 246 
 " « Exercise for 246 
 
 " " Foods that 
 
 make 161 
 
 Si length, Pugilists as Types of 248 
 
 Vital 246 
 
 " " Pope Leo XIII. 
 as a Type of 248 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Strigillus, the, as an Instrument 
 
 of Cleanliness 305 
 
 Sun-burn, Mechanism of . . 32 
 
 Sunless Air 122 
 
 Sunshine, Necessity of . . . 118 
 Sweat Glands and Kidneys, Rela- 
 tion Between 37 
 
 Sweat Glands, Orifices of . . . > 35 
 Sympathetic Nervous System 
 
 51-61 
 
 Syringe, Mechanism of a . 253-254 
 
 Tactile Corpuscles 32 
 
 " Taking Cold "... 37, 105, 172 
 
 Tea 381 
 
 " Chinese 349 
 
 " Paraguay 348 
 
 Tea-tasters 295 
 
 Teeth, Care of the . . . 314,389 
 " Dirty, and Blood Poison- 
 ing 315 
 
 Teeth, Uses of the 126 
 
 Telephone, The, and the Nerves 
 
 48-49 
 Temper, Controlling the . . . 386 
 Temperance, A Lesson in . . 302 
 Temperature of the Body, How 
 
 Eegulated 36 
 
 Temperature of an English 
 
 House 107 
 
 Thoracic Duct 141 
 
 Thought, Seat of ... . 33-55 
 
 Tippling, Constant 354 
 
 Tobacco ..... 349, 394-395 
 
 Toe-nails, How to Trim the . 316 
 
 " Ingrowing, Cause of . 332 
 
 Trachea 87,97 
 
 Tree of Knowledge .... 2 
 
 Tree of Life 2 
 
 Turkish Baths 309 
 
 Underclothing 328 
 
 Unnatural Cycle of Organic Mat- 
 ter 9 
 
INDEX. 
 
 435 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Valves of the Heart .... 253 
 
 Yaso-motor Nerves 54 
 
 Vegetables, Digestion of . . 134—135 
 Vegetation and Ventilation . . 117 
 
 Veins 63-73 
 
 " Origin of 68 
 
 Ventilation 100 
 
 " and Vegetation . . 117 
 
 " by Hot Air Furnace 111 
 
 " by Open Fire Place 110 
 
 Ideal 110 
 
 " Natural .... 102 
 
 " of Bath-room . . 115 
 
 " of Bed-room ... 114 
 
 " versus Heredity . . 115 
 
 " Window .... 119 
 
 Verne, Jules, on Oxygen ... 76 
 
 Vinegar 381 
 
 Vital Force 187-190 
 
 Vital Force, Transmission of 
 
 191-193 
 
 Vital Inheritance 193 
 
 " Organs, Conscious Action of 258 
 " Statistics 221-223 
 
 Vital Strength, Pope Leo XIII. 
 
 as a Type of 248 
 
 Vocal Cords 97 
 
 Voice, Organs of 96 
 
 Voluntary Actions, How Per- 
 formed 50-55 
 
 Walking as an Exercise . . . 263 
 
 " Excessive is Injurious 266 
 
 Wallis, Admiral Sir Provo . . 212 
 
 Waste, Disposal of, in Cities . 9-10 
 
 " Human Beturns to the 
 
 Earth 
 
 " Natural Disposal of 
 
 Water 
 
 " Artificial Purification 
 " Divisions of . . . 
 " Drinking as a Habit 
 " Storr's Eulogy of . 
 
 White Blood Corpuscles . 
 
 White Nervous Tissue 
 
 Window Ventilation . . 
 
 Wise Men are Sanitarians 
 
 Yawning, Mechanism of . 
 
 of. 
 
 6 
 
 7 
 
 418 
 
 419 
 
 420 
 
 391 
 
 421 
 
 73 
 
 56 
 
 119 
 
 211 
 
 93 
 
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