Papers on Health | Page 6

the amount and kind of food required. Over-eating and indulgence in
stimulating foods and drinks, insufficient mastication and bolting of the
food (see Over-eating, etc.) give us a false appetite, thus causing
over-eating once more. A return to a simple and moderate diet will
restore the natural appetite.
Air Bath.--This may with advantage to the health of the skin and body
in general, be indulged in every morning during some of the toilet
operations, such as shaving, or preferably, dumbell exercise or Swedish
gymnastics. If exercises are done in a nude condition the utmost
freedom for the muscles is obtained. In a short time a notable change
will be observed in the skin, which will lose its pasty appearance, and
become soft flesh and of a healthy colour. If possible have the bedroom
with windows facing the morning sun, so that the sunlight can also
shine in. There are many sanitaria on the Continent and in America
where this form of "bathing" is practised. Indeed, one of the great
benefits of sea-bathing (overlooked in this country) is the exposure of
the skin to air and light. Consequently if the weather and social custom
permits, as much time as possible should be spent after immersion,
lounging on the sand. A child's natural instinct leads it to play about
after its bath in the sea instead of coming at once to be dressed.
A young infant will enjoy lying on a rug on the floor without any
clothing and with the window open. Older children will benefit by
running about the garden in summer time in bare feet, and with only
one garment, say a cotton frock.
It is a great mistake to clothe children too warmly, indeed, the same
may be said of adults. Garments should always be loose and porous, so
as to allow of the beneficial action of the air on the skin. One of the
objections to corsets is that they do not fulfil these conditions (see
Tight Lacing, Skin, Care of.)

Air-tight Covering.--The covering of oiled silk, or guttapercha, so
frequently placed over wet bandages when these are applied to any part
of the body, is not only useless, but often positively hurtful. It is true
that the waterproof covering retains the moisture in the bandage, but it
is also true that great heat is developed, and the waste products in the
perspiration are retained on the surface of the skin. The effect of this is
injurious in a very high degree. A little soft old linen for the wet
bandage, with a piece of double new flannel over it, will leave all the
pores of the skin open, and allow all waste products to pass away freely,
while the heat and moisture are retained as much as necessary.
In other cases two folds of moist flannel next to skin, and two folds of
the same, dry, above the moist ones, will make an excellent bandage.
This applied all over the abdomen, in case of abdominal dropsy, will
have a most beneficial result.
The reason why we often say new flannel is simply that few know how
to wash it so as to retain its soft and porous nature as it is when good
and new. That softness and porousness may be retained in a very easy
way. When you have put your soiled flannel through two good
washings with soap in the usual way, dip it in clean boiling water, and
finish cleaning it with that dipping. You will have it white and fine as
when new.
M'Clinton's soap, being made from plant ashes and not from soda, is
much less liable to shrink and harden flannel; in fact, it is best for all
fine washing.
Alcohol.--This, in various forms, as brandy, whiskey, rum, wine,
cordials, beer and stout, is a frequent prescription in many troubles. In
no cases have we known good effects from its use, which is most
strongly to be condemned. Various reasons for this statement will be
found under the heading of troubles for which alcohol is prescribed.
Here we simply give the fundamental truths as to its action on the
system.
In our system of treatment we ever seek to nurse and stimulate those
nerve-masses which constitute the sources of vital action. Every drop of

alcohol does so much to weaken and destroy these. A certain quantity,
if taken by the strongest man, will kill that man as surely as a bullet in
the brain. Half the quantity will only render him insensible. Half that,
again, only renders him incapable of controlling his bodily movements.
Half that, again, only slightly disturbs the system; but it affects him in
the very same manner in which the fatal dose affects him, though not in
the same degree. It is a narcotic, and like all such,