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Show HOW TO LIVE Common Sense Comments on Health, Happiness and Longevity By GEORGE F. BUTLER, A. M., M. D. j Copyright, 1020, by International iress Bureau j SUNSHINE. There Is no better medicine, no greater purifier, no better friend to good health, cleanliness and long life than sunshine. Sunshine costs nothing, noth-ing, Is refreshing, Invigorating, life-giving to both sick and well. People somehow have got the Idea that nothing noth-ing is valuable that does not cost something, some-thing, and are apt to value all blessings bless-ings by the money value they present. pre-sent. It Is as well always to bear in mind that the three greatest blessings humanity receives sunlight, pure air and water are all free to all ; they are everywhere and can be had without money and without price. If you would enjoy good health, see that you have pure air to breathe all the time, that you receive the direct benefit of the sunshine an hour or two every day, and that you quench your thirst with nothing but pure water. Houses should be so Luilt that every room occupied oc-cupied for living or sleeping purposes shall receive the full benefit of direct sunlight at some time of the day. The Bleeping rooms should be large and roomy, and, if possible, an eastern exposure ex-posure to receive the benefit of the morning sun. Too many shade trees too close to the house are an Injury rather than a benefit, and should be removed If they prevent free access of the sunlight to all the rooms. Let In the sunshine that Is struggling with blinds, shades and awnings, and let It do Its blessed work of purification. Very Intimate relations exist between be-tween the sun and digestion. Digestion Diges-tion and assimilation become weak and Imperfect If the man or animal is not freely exposed to the direct rays of the sun. No plant or animal can digest di-gest in the dark. Plant a potato in your cellar. If there Is a little light, that potato will sprout and try to grow. But surround It with the best manure, water it, do the best for It, only you shall keep it In the dark, It cannot digest and grow. See how slender and pale It Is. Now open a window In another part of the cellar, and notice how the poor, hungry thing will stretch that way. Or give the stalk a little twist, and see how It will lie down. It can't raise itself again. No matter how much food and drink you give it, It can't digest. The process proc-ess of digestion, the great function of assimilation, can't go on without sunshine. sun-shine. Did you ever notice that grain growing under trees is not so large and does not fill as weL as that growing grow-ing in the open where there Is plenty of sunshine? The white light of the sun Is a most powerful Inhibitory agent for the growth of all forms of microscopic life. Somehow the actinic rays of white T i trli t, the same that cause the change In the silver salts In photography, photog-raphy, are abfe to Initiate alterations In the chemical constituents of microbes mi-crobes that eventually lead to their complete destruction. The Improvement Improve-ment In health among the poor of our large cities, as the result of letting the light Into the tenements, shows how much good the great solar scavenger scav-enger can accomplish even under unfavorable un-favorable circumstances. Lack of sunshine tends to mental Oppression. It is astonishing how our mental condition is Improved; how we feel more inclined to work and take outdoor exercise, on sunny days. So great an authority as Dr. Arnold Lo-rand, Lo-rand, physician to the baths, Carlsbad, Austria, says: "Let us be grateful for every ray of sunshine, and take advantage advan-tage of It. Some ladles avoid the sun, but It would be wiser to seek It and, If possible, to expose our whole bodies to Its rays. Let us remove all the curtains from the rooms In which we sleep or sit, especially from our workroom. work-room. In the train let us sit on the sunny side and not draw the curtain, unless we are reading; In short, let us seek the sunshine wherever it shines. We shall soon observe how much better bet-ter we feel after a long sojourn In the sun. There Is no denying that, as a rule, those who spend much time In the sun look better and healthier than those who live In dark rooms or offices." of-fices." Particularly In old age Is sunshine sun-shine precious, and Instinct tells old people that the sun Is good for them, and they eagerly watch for it to shine. LEARN HOW TO LIYT3. EATING TOO MUCH. While certain classes, owing to the stress of poverty, cannot obtain the nutriment they really need, the majority ma-jority of people eat too much. Fortunately For-tunately a moderate degree of overeating over-eating does not appear to be markedly mark-edly Injurious. The digestive apparatus, appara-tus, though compelled to do more work than is really necessary, proves equal to the demand made upon it, and does not break down or get seriously out of order. This is but one illustration out , of many that might be given, showing how the marvelous mechanism of the human body adapts itself to conditions more or less abnormal. It Is lucky for the average man that physiological laws are not of Medlo-Persie Inflexibility. Inflexi-bility. He can violate them to a limited limit-ed extent without Incurring the penalty, though he finds that, if he goes beyond that point the punishment Is swift and sure. Careful investigations prove that the dally "detructlve metabolism," or, In plain English, the inevitable waste and wear of the body, which Is the measure of the work It does, varies but little for different occupations. A diet of from 12 to 14 ounces of chemically chem-ically dry food, if the ingredients are in proper proportion and really digestible, diges-tible, Is sufficient to keep the average worker In good health. One part of nitrogen to seven or eight parts of non-nitrogenous food Is found to be a fair combination. A very small addition of stimulants appear to Increase the amount of pos-bible pos-bible work ; but moderately free drinking drink-ing diminishes it. Women eat less than men, after making allowances for differences In weight and work. Where a man eats 19 ounces a woman of the same weight and equally active habits eats only 14 or 15 ounces. This latter lat-ter allowance, as will be seen from the figures above, is more than enough, for a hard working man, even when all meat is excluded from the diet. It is no uncommon thing, however, for a man of average size and activity to eat double this amount, or from 25 to 27 ounces of chemically dry food In a day. In fact, I do not hesitate to say that the majority 'of people eat literally liter-ally twice as much as they need. If we do not "live to eat" we are very far from making it the law of our diet to "eat to live." The palate Is tempted to Intemperance by appetizing appe-tizing dishes when it would be fully satisfied with a normal amount of plain and wholesome food. Probably there are few people who will not have to confess that often the appearance appear-ance of the pudding or pies revives the appetite which had been completely appeased by the meat and its concomitants concom-itants in the preceding, course at dinner. din-ner. We feel that we have had enough, but the new and savory appeal to our love for the good things of the table 'Is too much for us. We have been eating because we enjoy doing it. It is not nesessary but It Is "nice." Let us congratulate ourselves that, though gluttony and intemperance are bestial sins and cannot escape their punishment, punish-ment, moderate over-indulgence in eating is, as I have said, apparently a venial offense against the laws of health; but let us beware of presuming presum-ing too much upon the mercy with which nature tempers Justice In the enforcement en-forcement of these laws. The high cost of beef has revived the question : "Do we eat too much meat for our own good?" and Incidentally Incident-ally do we eat too much food of all kinds? We are in the habit of smiling smil-ing benignly when we speak of our friend the vegetarian, but scientific investigation in-vestigation and experiment Is coming to his rescue and demonstrating that while possibly It may not be wise for all persons to cut meat out of their diet, It unquestionably would be a great benefit to the race, physically, if the quantity of meat consumed should be materially decreased, and, too, if considerably less food of all kinds were taken into the stomach. It is quite surprising to those who have never tried it before how well they can get along without flesh food. Nature never Intended us to live as we do. She has provided simple food, in the shape of cereals, fruits, vegetables, and if we conform ourselves more closely to her established order of diet we should be a happier and hardier race. LEA UN HOW TO LIVE. |