Part 10

The food on which the man who would be healthy should live should be selected so as to ensure variety without excess. Animal food should not be taken oftener than twice daily. The amount of animal and vegetable food combined should not exceed thirty ounces in the twenty-four hours, and for the majority of persons an average of twenty-four ounces of mixed solid food, a third only of which should be animal, is sufficient. All animal foods should be eaten while they are fresh and after they are well cooked. The habit of eating underdone flesh is an almost certain cause of parasitic disease. The amount of fluid taken, in any form, should not exceed an average of twenty-four ounces daily. Water is the only natural beverage.

XIV

To escape the injuries arising from impure air it is necessary to attend to the following rules: To avoid the admission into closed apartments of air charged with any substance that offends the sense of smell. To avoid surcharging the air with vapour of water. To keep the temperature in every room as nearly as possible at the safe standard of 60° Fah. To take ample means of allowing air to escape from the room by every available outward draught, by the chimney flue especially. To admit air freely at all times, and, when a room is not in use and the external air is not charged with moisture, to allow the entrance of air from without through every window and door.

Occupations of every kind, however varied they may be, require to be alternated, fairly, with rest and recreation. It is the worst mistake to suppose that most and best work can be done when these aids are omitted. Strictly, no occupation that calls forth special mental and physical work should fill more than one-third of the daily life. The minds of men of all classes ought now to be devoted to the promotion of a systematic method by which the productive labour of every life should be carried on within the limited term of eight hours in the twenty-four. The body of man is not constructed to run its completed circle under a heavier burden of labour.

XVI

Enforced idleness, by those who have acquired wealth, is always an error so long as the health is good. Men of business should never actually retire while they retain fair bodily and physical faculty. It is one of the gravest of errors to attempt to enforce idleness on others from the mistaken sentiment of wishing to place them beyond the necessity for work. This is against nature. The earth, which is itself ever in motion, demands ever the motion of cultivation from its inhabitants that it may be a garden properly arranged from age to age. Those, therefore, who have idleness thrust upon them, by their progenitors, should throw it off as if some necessity for work were equally theirs. By this plan they will live longest to enjoy the greatest happiness.

XVII

The natural duration of sleep is eight hours out of the twenty-four, and those who can secure this lead the soundest lives. It is best taken from ten o'clock till six, and it is most readily obtained by cultivating it as an automatic procedure. All stimulants, all excitements, all excessive fatigues, all exhaustions pervert sleep even if they do not prevent it. The room in which sleep is taken should be the best ventilated and the most equably warmed room in the house. The air of the room should be maintained at the natural standard of 60° Fah., and the body of the sleeper should always be kept completely warm. The bed should be soft and yielding. A regular tendency to sleep at other hours than the natural is a sure sign of error of habit or of nervous derangement.

XVIII

Dress, to be perfectly compatible with healthy life, should fit loosely, should be light, warm, and porous, should be adapted to the season as to colour, should be throughout every part of the clothing, upper as well as under, frequently changed, and should be, at all times, scrupulously clean. The wearing of clothes until they are threadbare, is an invariable error in all that respects the health, to say nothing of the comfort of the wearer. All bands or corsets which in any way restrict the course of the blood in any part of the body are directly injurious. Dresses dyed with irritating dyestuffs ought to be carefully avoided.

XIX

Connected with cleanliness of clothing, as a means of health, is personal cleanliness. Perfected action of the skin, so essential to the perfect life, can only be obtained by thorough ablution of the whole body. The ablution ought, strictly, to be performed once in every twenty-four hours. It is best to train the body to the use of cold water through all seasons, so that the requirement for water of raised temperature may not become a necessity. The simplest and best bath is the ordinary sponge-bath. Plungings, splashings, showers, and the like are mere pastimes. The occasional use of the hot air or Turkish bath is an important adjunct to the means of maintaining health.

CARE OF THE EYES

BUEL P. COLTON

In reading we wish light from the printed page. Hence we should avoid light entering the eye from any other source at this time. While reading, then, do not face a window, another light, a mirror, or white wall, if it can be avoided. In a room, white walls are likely to injure the eyes. Choose a dark colour for a covering for a reading table. Sewing against the background of a white apron has worked serious mischief. Direct sunshine near the book or on the table is likely to do harm.

Preferably have the light from behind and above. Many authors say "from the left" or "over the left shoulder." In writing with the usual slant of the letters this may be desirable. But vertical writing is now strongly advocated, as it enables one to sit erect, and have the light from above and equally to the two eyes. Having stronger light for one eye than for the other is bad. Sitting under and a little forward of a hanging lamp will give the light equally to the two eyes and send no light direct into the face. In reading by daylight avoid cross-lights as much as possible. The incandescent electric light has an advantage in being readily lighted without matches, and in giving out little heat, thus making it valuable for house-lighting; but owing to its irregular illumination (due to the shadow cast by the wire or filament), it is not well suited for study or other near work. For this purpose an Argand gas or kerosene burner is much to be preferred, since it throws a soft, uniform, and agreeable light upon the work.

Reading out-of-doors is likely to injure the eyes, especially when lying down. To try to read while lying in a hammock is bad in many ways. Too much light directly enters the eye, and often too little falls upon the printed page.

Do not hold the book or work nearer the eyes than is necessary. So far as possible avoid continuous reading in large or heavy books by artificial light. Such books being hard to hold, the elbows gradually settle down against the sides of the body, and thus, without thinking about it, the book is held too close to the eyes, or at a bad angle, or the body assumes a bad position.

Frequently rest the eyes by looking up and away from the work, especially at some distant object. One may rest the eyes while thinking over each page or paragraph, and thus really gain time instead of losing it.

Have light that is strong enough. Remember that the law of the intensity of light as affected by distance is that at twice the distance from the source of light the light is only one-fourth as strong. Reading just before sunset is risky. One is tempted to go on, not noticing the gradual diminution of light.

Save the easiest reading for the evening. Newspapers, as a rule, have neither good print nor good paper. If the eyes have much work to do, finish this kind of reading by daylight if possible, and by artificial light read books, which usually have better type and better paper.

In all ways endeavour to favour the eyes by doing the most difficult reading by daylight, and saving the better print and the books that are easier to hold for work by artificial light. Writing is usually much more trying to the eyes than reading. By carefully planning his work the student may economize eyesight, and it is desirable that persons blessed with good eyes should be careful, as well as those who have a natural weakness in the eyes; for it often results that those inheriting weak organs, by taking proper care, may outlast and do more and better work than those naturally stronger, but who through carelessness injure organs by improper use or wrong use.

Reading before breakfast by artificial light is usually bad.

Many eyes are ruined during convalescence. At this time the whole system is often weak, including the eyes. Still, there is a strong temptation to read, perhaps to while away the time, perhaps to make up for lost time in school work. This is a time when a friend may show his friendship by reading aloud to the convalescent.

If one finds himself rubbing his eyes, it is a clear sign that they are irritated. It may be time to stop reading. At any rate, one should find the cause, and not proceed with the work until the irritation ceases. If any foreign object gets into the eye, as a cinder, it is better not to rub the eye, but to draw the lid away from the eyeball and wink repeatedly; the increased flow of tears may dissolve and wash the matter out. If you must rub, rub the other eye. If it be a sharp-cornered cinder, rubbing may merely serve to fix it more firmly in the cornea or the mucous membrane of the inner surface of the eyelid. If it does not soon come out, the lid may be rolled over a pencil, taking hold of the lashes or the edge of the lid. The point of a blunt lead pencil is a convenient and safe instrument with which to remove the particle. Sometimes being out in the wind (especially if unused to it), together with bright sunlight, may irritate the eyes. If after such exposure one finds lamplight irritating, he will do well to go to bed early, or to remain in a dark room.

Be careful to keep the eyes clean. Do not rub the eyes with the fingers. Aside from considerations of etiquette, there is danger of introducing foreign matter that may be harmful. It is very desirable that each person have his individual face towel. By not observing this rule, certain contagious diseases of the eye often spread rapidly.

If there is any continuous trouble with the eyes, consult a reliable oculist. Many persons injure the eyes by not wearing suitable glasses. On the other hand, do not buy glasses of peddlers or of any but reliable specialists. One may ruin the eyes by wearing glasses when they are not needed. Sight is priceless.

THE PROGRESS OF MEDICINE IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY