How to Live Part 6

To set the shoulders back and square them evenly, to keep the chest high and well arched forward, the stomach in and the neck perpendicular, like a column, and the chin in, are simple fundamental measures that most people know and many people disregard.

One should have a sense of the firmness or tautness of the abdominal muscles and not of flabby relaxation. When one changes a slouching posture into an erect posture, there is a sense of having reversed the way the body hangs, as it were, on the spinal column.

Whether sitting, standing, or walking, these principles, that involve a correct and pleasing carriage and a healthful relation of the organs and structures of the body, should be observed by both men and women.

This perfect physical poise which places the muscles, organs, circulation, and even the brain and nervous system in harmonious relationship, adjusted for the best achievement, is well expressed in sculpture dating back to 500-600 B. C., when the Spartans attained supremacy in Greece. This same poise and symmetry is shown in modern sculpture of fine types of manhood and womanhood.

[Sidenote: The Feet]

It is not enough to have an erect carriage and a well-poised head. We must also have well-directed feet. It is pitiable to think how the work of a fine head may be spoiled by misdirected feet. Weak foot, and its final stage, flat foot, are more common among women than they are among men, because it is not a purely local condition in the arch of the foot, as so many suppose, but primarily due to a general weakened condition of the leg muscles that support the arch. The more vigorous exercise of boys as compared to that of girls protects them in some degree from this malady.

[Sidenote: Toeing Straightforward]

Weak feet are gradually converted into flat feet by faulty standing and walking posture and lack of leg exercise. Toeing out, whether walking or standing, so commonly noted among girls and women, places a great strain upon the arches of the foot. The correction of this fault by persistent toeing in, Indian fashion, and daily exercise of the leg muscles (rising on the toes twenty to forty times night and morning), will do much to prevent flat foot.

[Sidenote: Chairs]

Not only in standing, but in sitting, erect posture has been found to be a much more important factor in the maintenance of good health than is generally supposed. A rocker, or any other chair which tilts, is restful to the abdominal circulation, if the lower back is properly supported.

Bad posture is common among sedentary people. The ordinary chair invites it. Every chair should be modeled like most modern automobile seats, on a curve to fit the back. Almost any chair can be corrected by placing a cushion so as to support the hollow of the back of the sitter.

The responsibility for correct posture rests, however, on the individual and not on the chair.

[Sidenote: Sitting]

In sitting at a desk or table, when reading or working, the common fault is to adopt a sprawling att.i.tude, with the shoulders hunched up, the elbows stretched outward, the body too far away from the desk or table, and the weight resting on the b.u.t.tocks. Very often the desk or table is too high and the arms can not rest easily upon it, thus causing a continuous strain on the structures around the shoulder-joints.

To correct this fault, use if possible a chair with a back that curves forward. Sit well back in the chair, but close to the desk, so that the fleshy inner part of the forearms may rest easily upon its surface without pushing up the shoulders.

When it is necessary to lean over a desk, acquire the habit of inclining the body forward by bending at the hips and not by distorting the chest.

The arms should hang easily from the shoulder and the elbows should not rest upon the table. The shoulders should be evenly square, as in the correct standing posture. In right-handed people, the light should fall over the left shoulder or directly from above. The body should rest upon the full length of the thighs, not solely on the b.u.t.tocks, and the feet (not legs) be crossed and resting lightly on the ground on their outer edges. In other words, the position should be freed from strain, especially strain of special groups of muscles.

Pains, erroneously ascribed to rheumatism or sciatica, are often due to faulty posture. Writer's cramp and many other needless miseries are caused by neglect to develop proper postural habits in working or reading.

[Sidenote: Posture in Children]

In children faulty posture may mar the future of the individual by causing spinal curvature and physical deformities that interfere with physical and mental efficiency throughout life, and often lower the resistance to disease. Deep breathing through the nose and "setting up"

exercises are of incalculable importance in such cases.

The various types of faulty posture are so numerous that they can not be listed here. Having once grasped the meaning of correct posture, however, we can form a standard for ourselves, and any departure from this standard should be looked upon as a menace to health. As in the case of eye-strain, flat foot, work, worry, and drink, much depends on the original physical and mental endowment of the individual as to how much harm results from faulty posture. But always some harm results.

[Sidenote: Teaching Correct Posture]

The teaching of proper standing, proper walking and proper sitting should be a part of all school discipline as it is at military schools, especially as there is the temptation to crouch over the school-desk--which is usually the source of the first deviation from natural posture. An infant before it goes to school usually has a beautiful, erect carriage, with the head resting squarely on the shoulders.

[Sidenote: Posture and Character]

An erect posture is attractive from an esthetic point of view, and for that reason is sure again to become fashionable with women, after a due reaction from the present slouching vagary. It is also closely a.s.sociated with self-respect. We know that any physical expression of an emotion tends reflexly to produce that emotion. Therefore, not only does self-respect naturally tend to brace a man's shoulders and straighten his spine, but, conversely, the a.s.sumption of such a braced-up att.i.tude tends to "brace up" the man's mind also. Tramps and other persons who have lost their self-respect almost invariably slouch, while an erect carriage usually accompanies those feeling their respectability. We jokingly refer to those whose self-respect verges on conceit as "chesty," while we compliment one who is not so extreme by saying, "He is no slouch."

Between the slouch and slink of the derelict and the pompous strut of the pharisee, or the swagger of the bully or the dandy, there is the golden mean in posture, which stands for self-respect and self-confidence, combined with courtesy and consideration for others.

Section III--Poisons from Without

The poisons which hitherto have been mentioned are those developed within the body, especially in the intestine. It is not alone important to keep down the total amount of poisons produced within the body. It is equally important to exclude the entrance of any additional poisons from outside.

[Sidenote: Habit-forming Drugs and Patent Medicines]

Among the poisons which must be kept out of the body should be mentioned habit-forming drugs, such as opium, morphine, cocain, heroin, chloral, acetanilid, alcohol, caffein, and nicotin. The best rule for those who wish to attain the highest physical and mental efficiency is total abstinence from all substances which contain poisons, including spirits, wine, beer, tobacco, many much-advertised patent drinks served at soda-water fountains, most patent medicines, and even coffee and tea.

Many so-called patent or proprietary medicines contain habit-forming drugs, especially morphine, coal-tar preparations, caffein, and alcohol, and depend largely for their sale upon the effects of these harmful substances. Harmful preservatives and adulterants in foods, such as saccharin, should also be avoided.

[Sidenote: Reducing the Habit]

For some persons the inevitable mode of improvement will be by subst.i.tuting the milder drugs for the stronger--beer for spirits, weak tea for beer. The exact extent to which the milder poisons are injurious has not yet been scientifically settled. Tea, for instance, if very weak and used moderately, is, presumably, not injurious to any marked degree to healthy persons. The trouble is, however, that sensitive people do not keep moderate. In fact, the natural tendency of drug-craving is in the opposite direction, from weak drugs to strong ones, as from beer to spirits. In actual fact, it is much easier to abstain than to be moderate. It should also be noted that the lax spirit in which many people make an exception to the rules of health in favor of some mild indulgence is very likely to lead to the making of many other exceptions until they are, without knowing it, carrying a heavy load made up of scores of little items of harmful indulgence. Moreover, experiments at the Pasteur Inst.i.tute have shown that the long-continued use of very minute doses of poison ultimately produces appreciable harm. Each person must decide for himself how far he chooses to depart from previous habits or common customs for the sake of physical efficiency. The object here is to state exactly what, in our present state of knowledge, is believed to be the truth.

Those with feeble digestions or unstable nervous systems are especially harmed by these poisons. A family history of nervously inclined people calls for rigid care in such matters.

[Sidenote: Alcohol]

Scientific experiments have resulted in the interesting discovery that the alleged "strength" obtained from beer, ales, and all intoxicating beverages is a delusion and a snare. The poison simply gives a temporary feeling of greater strength through paralysis of the sense of fatigue.

But the strength does not exist. On the contrary, the user of alcohol in excess is weaker after taking it. Special cla.s.ses of workmen have been tested as to their efficiency under liquor in small amounts and without it entirely, and it was invariably found that the liquor was a handicap, but that, also invariably, the workmen _thought_ they could work harder by its aid! Alcohol numbs the sense of fatigue and so deceives the user.

It is not a stimulant but a narcotic. The habit of taking a c.o.c.ktail before meals is doubly harmful, because it is often taken on an empty stomach and because it poisons the system more quickly than when mixed with food and retained in the intestines.

[Sidenote: Alcohol and Infectious Diseases]

It is well known that people who indulge in alcohol show less resistance to infectious diseases than abstemious individuals. The paralysis of the white blood-corpuscles is one of the strong arguments against the use of alcohol. The experience of life insurance companies in England and America has clearly shown that even the "moderate" use of alcoholic beverages shortens human life. (See "Alcohol" in SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.)

Dr. Stockard has also shown in mice, on which he has experimented, that the effect of alcohol on the germ-plasm is distinctly injurious. It is a fair inference that the use of alcohol by parents tends to damage their offspring.

[Sidenote: Tobacco]

The evils of tobacco have not been so much studied and are not so well understood as those of alcohol. But every athletic trainer observes that the use of tobacco lessens physical fitness. The ordinary smoker is unconscious of this and often denies it. He sometimes says, "I'll stop smoking when I find it hurting me; it doesn't hurt me now." The delusive impression that one is well may continue long after something has been lost from the fitness of the body, just as the teeth do not ache until the decay has gone far enough to reach the nerve.

At Yale and at Amherst it has been found, by actual measurement, that students not using tobacco during the college course had gained over the users of tobacco in weight, height, growth of chest, and lung capacity.

Prof. Pack, of the University of Utah, finds that tobacco-using athletes are distinctly inferior to those who abstain. Prof. Lombard, of the University of Michigan, finds that tobacco lessens the power of the voluntary muscles, presumably because of the depressing effect on the central nervous system. There is also much experimental evidence to show that tobacco in animals induces arterial changes. The present well-marked upward trend of mortality from diseases of the arteries offers a good reason for heeding such evidence and taking the safe side in every controversy regarding it. (See "Tobacco" in SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.)

[Sidenote: Germs]

The poisons so far mentioned are limited to the amounts taken.

Infections with germs, however, bring in poisons, the quant.i.ties of which tend to increase with the multiplication of the germs. It is, therefore, especially important to avoid infections. We should not depend altogether on the protection of our health officers. We must guard our own individual bodies.

[Sidenote: Colds and La Grippe Germs]

Infections enter the body through the skin or mucous lining. The common cold is believed to enter by the nose. We may avoid exposure to infection from grippe and common colds by keeping away from congested public places when there is an epidemic of grippe or colds, or when we are ourselves fatigued or for any reason likely to catch cold.

The infections of common colds are always to be found in the nasal pa.s.sages and become active when the individual is subject to fatigue or indigestion or both. The liability of catching cold is greater when the mucous lining is injured. Nasal douches are injurious and impair the protective ability of the mucous membrane. They should be used only on prescription. A very gentle, warm spray of weak salt and water may be used when the nose is filled with soot and dust. The fingers should be kept from the nose. Handkerchiefs should be frequently changed, or small squares of gauze used and subsequently burned.

[Sidenote: Tuberculosis Germs]