| OCR Text |
Show HOW TO LIVE Common Sense Comments on Health, Happiness and Longevity By GEORGE F. BUTLER, A. M., M. D. Copyright, l&o, by International Press Bnreau CLOTHING. Good clothing is the cheapest, whatever what-ever the price may be. To be too warmly clad is far safer than to be too thinly clad. Clothing ought to be suited to the climate. Custom has a great influence in the matter of dress; but no custom can ever change the nature of things so far as to render the same clothing fit for inhabitants of Greenland and also those of Panama. In youth, while the blood Is hot and the perspiration free, it is less necessary neces-sary to cover the body with a great quantity of clothes; but in the middle and decline of life the clothing should be increased. The clothing ought likewise to be suited to the period of the year. Clothing may be warm enough for summer which is by no means sufficient for winter. The greatest great-est caution, however, is necessary in making these changes. We ought neither to put off our winter clothes too soon nor to wear our summer ones too long. It would likewise be prudent not to make the change all at once, but to do it gradually. Many "bad colds", are due to imprudence in changing clothes. Clothes often become hurtful to the wearer by their being made subservient subservi-ent to the purposes of pride and vanity. van-ity. Even the human shape is often attempted to be mended by dress. All attempts of this nature are highly pernicious. per-nicious. Clothing should be loose about the trunk and the feet should not suffer by pressure. How a small foot not of nature's making came to be considered genteel I will not pretend pre-tend to say ; but certain it is that this notion has made many persons lame. Corns are universal and this painful excrescence is seldom occasioned but by tight shoes. Corns are not only very troublesome, but, by rendering people unable to walk, they may likewise like-wise be considered as the remote cau?e of other diseases. The size and figure of the shoe ought to be adapted to the foot. In children the feet are as well-shaped well-shaped as the hands, and the motion of the toes as free and easy as that of the fingers ; yet few persons in advanced ad-vanced life are able to make any use of , their toes ; they are generally squeezed all of a heap by narrow shoes, and often laid one over another in such a manner as to be rendered incapable in-capable of motion. Nor is the high heel less hurtful than the narrow toe. A lady may seem taller for walking on her tiptoes, but she will never walk well in this manner. It strains her joints, distorts her limbs, makes her stoop and utterly destroys all her ease and gracefulness of motion. After the age of thirty-five it may be better to exceed rather than be deficient defi-cient in clothing. Habit or custom merits great attention. If persons have been accustomed to warm clothing there will be hazard in sudden changes of every kind. Persons of delicate constitutions, con-stitutions, whose-powers are weak and circulation poor, are apt to have the perspiration checked by very slight causes. This also happens to invalids, whose complaints are thereby much increased. in-creased. Until the constitution, therefore, there-fore, has been permanently strengthened strength-ened and, indeed, hardened, by being gradually habituated to air and exercise, exer-cise, they ought rather to exceed than be deficient in the quantity of clothing. cloth-ing. Such addition to the clothing ought to be made to It in cold and damp weather as to protect the body against the sudden and severe impressions impres-sions of either. Permeability of air Is an Important factor in clothing. Permeability favors conduction and, prima facie, lessens heat-conserving capacity. But contact of air with the skin induces more thorough thor-ough oxidation of the blood and better elimination of poisonous refuse; hence, it Increases heat production and indirectly indi-rectly diminishes heat loss. If the sole object of nutrition were the production pro-duction of heat and the chief object of clothing to prevent heat loss, the subject sub-ject of best materials for clothing would be much simplified. But this Is not the case. Some author has spoken of the "fa tal Invention of clothes," implying that the human race would be better off if the habit and fashion of wearing wear-ing apparel bad never overtaken the race. Like other extreme views, It is an overstatement of the case. LEABN HOW TO LIVE. CHEWING FOOD. It has long been recognized that the mouth constitutes an important factor in the physiology of digestion, and this importance is increased by the knowledge that many chronic diseases are directly dependent upon absorption absorp-tion of pus from pus pockets at the roots of the teeth, or upon autointoxication, auto-intoxication, poisons originating in the intestinal tract. The part which the mouth and Its accessory structures play in digestion is in fact of equal value with that assumed by the remaining re-maining portions of the alimentary canal, and Is of particular significance, signif-icance, because it is here, in the mouth, that the only part of the digestive diges-tive process resides which is under voluntary control. You have control over your mouth, and the oral cavity is concerned with the grinding of the food to the proper fineness; it regulates regu-lates the temperature of the food, and provides an admixture of saliva which, aside from moistening and lubricating functions, affords a means by which the organs of taste are excited and the digestion of the carbohydrates begun. The sensation of palatability conveyed by this means has an important effect on the mind, increasing the potential energy of the entire nervous system, besides stimulating the flow of gastric gas-tric juice, thereby Improving the digestion in the stomach and rendering even small quantities of food more efficient and sustaining. If you chew your food well, your appetite will Improve, Im-prove, and appetite is necessary to good digestion. Systematic mastication, mastica-tion, therefore, Is of particular value in "dyspepsia" and autointoxication ; certain nervous disorders and chronic joint troubles which are believed to depend on faulty digestion will b especially benefited. Even when the diet is limited. to fluids, the suggestion also holds good in a way, for in this case the liquid food should be taken in small quantities at a time, in order or-der to gain the same advantage in the way of gradual introduction into the stomach and mixture with saliva which would otherwise be produced by the act of chewing. I have intimated here that food must be relished to do good. Food taken without relish is really a clog and a hindrance to the body rather than a nourishment. Appetite Is necessary to the digestion of food, because, if the food Is not relished, the saliva and gastric juices will not be freely secreted. se-creted. The more you chew your food, the greater will be the flow of saliva; the more saliva mixed with the food and swallowed, the greater will be the flow of gastric juice. If you do not like a certain food, but force yourself -to eat it because It Is recommended as a health food, you will probably do yourself positive Injury. In-jury. No matter what the food Is, how plain, bow simple, if it is relished and thoroughly chewed and mixed with saliva, it will do far more good In building up health and vitality than the most highly recommended health food that is so unpalatable that one must force himself to cat It. Appetite Appe-tite is generally the best guide as to what we shall eat. I do not mean an appetite that has been perverted by all sorts of highly seasoned, rich and indigestible feiods, but a natural, healthy appetite. Don't abuse your digestive system. Do not clog the system by an oversupply of food. If you wish to keep well, eat moderately moderate-ly and only when hungry, chew up completely every mouthful of food, drink at least eight glassfuls of water every day and no Intoxicants, and take as much exercise as possible In the open nlr. Be cheerful nnd don't fret. LEAI1N HOW TO LIVE. |
