The Royal Road to Health Part 5

"I was a great sufferer from kidney disease of long standing. The doctors and the various remedies recommended for this complaint afforded me no relief. I have now used your treatment for nearly six months. It is working wonders. While I am not yet entirely cured, I am a great deal better than I was, and am sure, with the rate of progress made, in six months more I shall be entirely cured."

Perseverence in the treatment will achieve results that seem little short of miraculous to those accustomed to the "hit or miss" methods that have so long been in use. And best of all, the benefit attained will be permanent, for the system being thoroughly cleansed, and kept so, nothing but fresh, firm, healthy tissue is formed, so that after a year's conscientious treatment the person practising it will be practically a new being.

PART V.

PRACTICAL HYGIENE.

Of all the dangers by which we are menaced, none is so greatly to be apprehended as ignorance. This is especially true with reference to health. The majority of people fall easy victims to disease, simply through ignorance of the fundamental principles that govern health. It is because they do not rise superior to this ignorance concerning the health of their bodies that they become the prey of the unscrupulous charlatans who thrive upon the maladies of humanity, and the patent medicine vendors whose specious advertis.e.m.e.nts beguile them of their money. The humiliating part of it is that these same imposters (in a large majority of cases) possess but little more knowledge of these subjects than their dupes, but are absolutely devoid of conscientious scruples. It behooves every intelligent individual to see that this reproach is lifted from him. Knowledge is held to be a valuable possession in every department of life; but in no instance will it yield greater returns for the investment than in the field of hygiene--in learning how to keep well.

It must not be imagined that because the treatment previously described is such a wonderful curative and preventive of disease that nothing more is necessary that all other hygienic measures can be ignored. These bodies of ours were given us for a n.o.bler purpose than to be the sport of our caprice or neglect. It is our duty to treat them as a divine trust.

There is no reason why any human being should die before eighty at least. With proper care the century mark should be reached in the majority of cases. This may sound like an extravagant a.s.sertion, but it is absolutely true. It all depends upon taking care of the human machine. Ask an engineer how long a locomotive would last if drawn at express speed every day, or if left standing idly on a siding! He will tell you that over work or disuse are fatal to mechanism, so far as its capacity for lasting is concerned. Well, the most finished product of man's handiwork in machinery cannot begin to compare with that wonderful, complex piece of mechanism--the human body; and if care will prolong the life of the lifeless machine, the veriest dullard cannot fail to perceive that the same rule applies with ten-fold force to the human organism, which possesses within itself the power of recuperation--a living machine, every atom of which is being daily replaced as fast as the friction of life disintegrates it. If the locomotive were capable of being reproduced in like manner--of having the daily waste of substance replaced during rest by proper attention to its needs--do you think its owners would ever allow it to wear or rust out? Would they not bend every energy to prolong its existence indefinitely? Most a.s.suredly they would. And is the body, the earthly habitation of the real man, of less importance to himself than the creations of his own hands? Common sense says, "No!" But daily experience shows us that the bulk of humanity are far less careful of the earthly husk that shelters the divine ego than of the machinery that ministers to their wants. We repeat, there is no reason why man should not live to be a hundred, or even more, if only proper care be exercised. The hurry of modern life is fatal to the expectation of longevity, so also is over-indulgence in the pleasures of the table, which is one of the besetting sins of the present generation. If from childhood the care of the human body was made the subject of constant instruction, the second generation from now would see such a marked change in the personnel of the race as would astound even the most sanguine. What if a few less dollars were piled on each other? "Which is the more to be desired, a perfect, healthful physique, or a full purse?"

To preserve the body in health is an easy matter, if the individual will only bring the same thoughtful intelligence to bear on the subject that he does on the ordinary affairs of life. The natural agencies for the preservation of health are, as previously stated, Pure Water, Sunlight, Fresh Air, Diet and Exercise. he first three are furnished "without money and without price" by the all-wise mother, while the two last simply require a slight exertion of will power, tempered with intelligence.

Of the quintette of agencies mentioned above, water is one of the most important. Water is the original source of all animal life. From it the earliest species were evolved, and by the natural law of correlation, it continues to be one of the most important factors in sustaining existence. Water enters more largely into the composition of all organic substance than the majority of people dream of, and this is notably true of the human body. Few people realize that seventy per cent. of their earthly tenement consists of the fluid in which they perform their ablutions, yet such is the fact.

This important physiological truth should be carefully laid to heart, for it accentuates the vital necessity of imbibing a sufficient quant.i.ty of fluid daily to preserve the proportion in the system requisite for health! Water is the only known substance that possesses the power of permeating every cell and fibre of the living organism, without creating disturbance or irritation. Water is, in fact, an indispensable necessity for physical existence its excess or deficit creating abnormal conditions; but the latter is the more common condition. Being universally present in all the tissues of the body, water is the princ.i.p.al agent in the elimination of waste material from the body, according to Nature's plan--hence, for the preservation of health, every adult should drink from two to three quarts of water per day, certainly not less than two quarts. One of the remedial factors in the copious use of water in "flushing the colon" is that a liberal percentage of it is absorbed through the walls of the colon, directly into the circulation, thus increasing the amount in the tissues, and causing more fluid to pa.s.s through the kidneys--cleansing them.

Hot water is, in reality, a "natural scavenger," but its virtues are only imperfectly known. As a therapeutic agent it is almost without a peer, and yet it is so little used that it is practically a dead letter. Chemists are burning the midnight oil in their laboratories searching for new weapons with which to fight sepsis, while hot, boiled water, which is one of the best antiseptics in existence, is almost ignored. It may be asked why (if it is such an invaluable remedial agent) it is not more extensively used and advocated? In the first place, its merits are not generally known. In the second place, physicians who know of its value hesitate to prescribe it, for the reason that the majority of patients expect the doctor to prescribe drugs, and are disappointed if he does not. There is a tendency on the part of the majority of people to slight that which is near at hand and easily obtained, in favor of those things which are designated by mysterious t.i.tles, or are difficult of attainment. Man has been so long accustomed to regard with a species of awe the hieroglyphics on orthodox prescriptions, that he finds it difficult to dissociate from it the idea of talismanic power.

But to return to its uses. Hot water used as a stomach bath (see description in the appendix at end of book) is a valuable auxiliary in the preservation and restoration of health.

By its means the stomach is cleansed of mucous acc.u.mulations and particles of undigested food, thus enabling it to perform its functions satisfactorily. If, as is often the case (more especially with dyspeptics) undigested food remains in the stomach, it ferments, causing what is known as sour stomach, and is productive of many evils. If we keep the ferment out of the stomach by occasionally washing it, and prevent the generation of foul gases in the colon, by regularly flushing it, the bile will effectually prevent any fermentation in the intestines; and with the body in this cleanly condition, sickness is well-nigh impossible. But there are external applications of water, which are equally important for the preservation of health, and first and foremost is the bath.

It is a matter of authentic history that the most highly enlightened and prosperous people of the world have been celebrated for their devotion to the bath as a means of securing health and vigor as a means of curing disease, and preventing it, by promoting the activity of the skin. The excavations at Pompeii show the devotion of the people to luxurious bathing. The Romans are famous to this day for the magnificence of their lavatories and the universal use of them by the rich and poor alike. In Russia the bath is general, from the Czar to the poorest serf, and through all Finland, Lapland, Sweden and Norway, no hut is so dest.i.tute as not to have its family bath. Equally general is the custom in Turkey, Egypt and Persia, among all cla.s.ses from the Pasha down to the poorest camel driver. Pity it is that we cannot say as much for the people of our own country.

Most people are familiar with the aphorism, "cleanliness is next to G.o.dliness," a statement that by implication relegates cleanliness to the second place, but we would transpose this stated sequence of conditions, and a.s.sign the premier position to cleanliness; for we contend that purity of soul presupposes purity of body. It is true that we sometimes find a "jewel in an Ethiop's ear," but it is the exception that proves the rule.

But it is not from the moral standpoint that we wish to consider the subject of physical cleanliness, but from the hygienic. How few people there are who are really physically clean! The outward semblance of cleanliness too frequently poses as the real article. Even people who pride themselves on their cleanliness are frequently guilty of the unclean practice of sleeping in the underwear they have worn during the day, and would feel aggrieved if their unclean habit was called by its right name. Yet, what can be more repulsive to the truly cleanly individual than the retention, next the body, of garments saturated with the constant exhalations from the system? Those who think this a trifling matter, should turn their underwear wrong side outward (after removing it) when retiring for the night, and in the morning shake it thoroughly, when they will receive an object lesson in the form of a cloud of dried effete matter, consisting largely of particles of the epidermis, removed by abrasion, through the friction of the clothing.

This, being visible, appeals to the sense of sight; but gives no evidence of the gaseous and liquid refuse matter which was deposited in the material, and has been allowed to evaporate by the removal of the clothing. Thus we may see how many so-called cleanly people fall hopelessly short of true cleanliness. If the individual keeps the surface of the body clean, by frequent ablutions, the evil is lessened; but how many people bathe the body daily? As Hamlet says: "It is a custom more honored in the breach than the observance." Among the white races of the earth, the English are the greatest devotees of the daily tub, to which custom their ruddy complexions are largely due; but j.a.pan is preeminently in the lead in the matter of daily bathing, for it is doubtful if there could be found in the land of the "little brown people" a single individual who does not bathe the whole body daily, unless physically incapacitated.

The skin is such an important excretory organ that the importance of keeping its innumerable infinitesimal outlets free from obstruction cannot be overestimated. As the structure of the skin may not be understood by the average reader, we will briefly describe this wonderful depurating organ, that the paramount importance of its functions may be properly appreciated.

The skin consists of two layers, the derma, or true skin, and the epidermis, or cuticle. It is the princ.i.p.al seat of the sense of touch, and on the surface of the upper layer are the sensitive papillae, which receive and respond to impressions; and within, or imbedded beneath it, are organs with special functions, viz., the sweat glands, hair follicles and sebaceous glands. Its value as a means of depuration is incalculable, as by it, vast quant.i.ties of the aqueous and gaseous refuse matter is conveyed from the body. By the aid of a four diameter magnifying gla.s.s applied to the skin of the palm of the hand, the curiously inclined will observe that it is divided into fine ridges, which are punctured regularly with minute holes. These are the mouths of the sweat glands, and generally known as the pores of the skin. Their function is to bring moisture to the surface of the skin; which is secreted from the blood, and chemical a.n.a.lysis reveals the fact that this moisture is always more or less loaded with worn-out and effete matter. It is estimated that there are 3,800 of these glands in each square inch of skin, and that their total length, in an ordinary person, if placed end to end, would be ten miles. Then there are the sebaceous, or oil glands, which oil the skin and keep it flexible. Now, as the processes of destruction and upbuilding are perpetually going on in the body, and the skin being one of the princ.i.p.al avenues by which the refuse is removed, the vital necessity of keeping this organ perfectly clean becomes apparent at once; for this refuse matter, if retained in the system, acts as a poison, and furnishes food for disease germs to feed upon.

It has been demonstrated by experiment upon dogs from which the hair had been shorn, that a coat of varnish applied to the body (thus effectually closing the pores), will cause death in a very short while. No better object lesson could be given of the imperative necessity of keeping the skin perfectly clean, if you wish to enjoy good health.

It is an easy matter to keep all these miles of tubing in a perfectly natural and active condition, by a strict observance of the fundamental principle--cleanliness. Bathe the body daily, complete immersion, if practicable; if this is not possible, then sponge the body thoroughly, all over; but if both methods are rendered out of the question by circ.u.mstances, then adopt the best subst.i.tute, namely, vigorous friction with a coa.r.s.e towel.

We know it will be urged that the majority of people have not the time or convenience for this daily process; but when sickness overtakes them, they have to find time to submit to medical treatment, and in this, as in other matters of everyday life, the cleanly individual who is thoroughly in earnest, will "find a way, or make it."

As to the temperature of the bath, that must, to a great extent, depend upon the conditions of life, and the predisposition and susceptibility of the individual; but the cold bath should always be employed in preference to the warm bath, when conditions permit. The cold bath is a powerful stimulant to the sympathetic nervous system.

and as that is the great regulator of nutrition, the value of cold bathing to those afflicted with digestive disturbances will be readily understood, since all the digestive and a.s.similative processes are quickened by it. The glands of the stomach secrete more hydrochloric acid on account of this stimulus, and a better quality of gastric juice being thus formed, not only is the digestion improved, but the system is better enabled to resist microbic invasion. The cold bath also stimulates the vaso-motor system, which regulates the circulation, by contracting and dilating the vessels, and increases the activity of the capillaries or small blood vessels. It thus increases the resisting power of the skin, by enabling it to reheat the surface after a chill, and this is the reason why people who habitually use the cold bath are practically proof against "colds."

People employed in sedentary occupations are especially benefited by the cold bath, but should employ a hot bath for three or four minutes beforehand. It is also especially beneficial to women, as, being an excellent nerve tonic, it successfully combats all forms of nervous weakness, and is an admirable preventive of hysteria.

Children under seven years of age do not bear the application of cold water very well, and it is advisable not to use the water at a lower temperature than 700 Fahr., and to employ friction constantly while administering it; but after that age the temperature may be gradually lowered. In old age the neutral bath, from 75 to 850 Fahr. will be found the best for general use, accompanied by friction.

The bath, to be thoroughly beneficial, should be taken at one of the three following portions of the day, immediately upon rising, about ten o'clock, or just before going to bed. The early morning bath is, however, immeasurably the best, and if cold, will be found a wonderful aid in promoting health and vigor, and being such a necessity, especially in the preservation of health, and the constant practice of it, strongly urged, we append the following useful suggestions for guidance:

A full meal should not be taken in less than half an hour after bathing. Nor should a bath be taken in less than an hour and a half after eating a full meal.

You can bathe with impunity in cold water when the body is perspiring freely, as long as the breathing is not disturbed, nor the body exhausted by over-exertion.

Never bathe in cool or cold water when the body is cold. First restore warmth by exercise.

Always wet the head before taking a plunge bath, and the chest also, if the lungs are weak.

In cases of sickness, where it becomes necessary to a.s.sist Nature in ridding the system of impurities through the medium of the sweat glands, the "wet sheet pack" will be found invaluable. It is usually regarded by those imperfectly acquainted, with its action as simply the chief factor in a sweating process, but it is more than that. Not only does it open up the pores and soften the scales of the skin, but it "draws" the morbid matter from the interior of the body, through the surface to the pores. It is of immense value in all cases of fever, especially bilious fever.

It should be borne in mind that "flushing the colon" should always precede the use of the "pack."

If any one doubts the purifying efficacy of this process he can have a "demonstration strong" by the following experiment: Take any man in apparently fair health, who is not accustomed to daily bathing, who lives at a first-cla.s.s hotel, takes a bottle of wine at dinner, a gla.s.s of brandy and water occasionally, and smokes from three to six cigars per day. Put him in a pack and let him soak one or two hours.

On taking him out the intolerable stench will convince all persons present that his blood and secretions were exceedingly befouled and that a process of depuration is going on rapidly.

Full directions for the use of the pack will be found at the end of this work.

It will be necessary to take into consideration the vitality of the patient and regulate the temperature of the sheet accordingly. The best time to use it is about ten in the morning, or nine in the evening.

The Turkish bath (see last page) is another important factor in treating disease, also the hot foot bath, for all disturbances of the circulation, cramps, spasms and affections of the head and throat. Hot fomentations, which draw the blood to the seat of pain, thereby raising the local temperature and affording relief, and wet bandages for warming and cooling purposes will likewise be found valuable aids.

Humanity at large has never estimated water at its true value, yet all the gifts in Pandora's fabled box could never equal that one inestimable boon of the Creator to the human race. Apart from its practical value, there is nothing in all the wide domain of Nature more beautiful, for in all its myriad forms and conditions it appeals equally to the artistic sense. In the restless ocean, now sleeping tranquilly in opaline beauty beneath the summer sun, now rising in foam-crested mountainous waves beneath the winter's biting blast, its sublimity awes us, In the mighty river, rolling majestically on its tortuous course, impatient to unite itself with mother ocean, its resistless energy fascinates us. In the gigantic iceberg, with its translucent sides of shimmering green, its weird grandeur enthralls us. In the pearly dew drop, glittering on the trembling leaf, or the h.o.a.r frost, sparkling like a wreath of diamonds in the moon's silvery rays: in the brawling mountain torrent, or the gentle brook--meandering peacefully through verdant meadows, in the mighty cataract or the feathery cascade, in the downy snowflake, or the iridescent icicle--in each and all of its many witching forms it is beautiful beyond compare. But its claims to our admiration rest not alone upon its ever varying beauty. When consumed with thirst, what beverage can equal a draught of pure, cold water? In sickness its value is simply incalculable especially in fevers; in fact, the famous lines of Sir Walter Scott, in praise of woman, might be justly transposed in favor of water to read thus:

"When pain and sickness wring the brow, A health-restoring medium thou."

And, if we admire it for its beauty and esteem it as a beverage, how inconceivably should these feelings be intensified by the knowledge that its remedial virtues are in nowise inferior to its other qualities!

The next in importance of the great health agencies is Fresh Air.

Perhaps we ought to cla.s.s it as the most important, for although people have been known to live for days without water, yet without air their hours would be quickly numbered. Air is a vital necessity to the human organism, and the fresher the better--it cannot be too fresh. The oxygen gas in the air is the vitalizing element. The blood corpuscles when they enter the lungs through the capillaries are charged with carbonic acid gas (which is a deadly poison), but when brought into contact with the oxygen, for which they have a wonderful affinity, they immediately absorb it, after ejecting the carbonic acid gas. The oxygen is at once carried to the heart, and by that marvelous pumping machine sent bounding through the arteries to contribute to the animal heat of the body.

When it is taken into account that the lungs of an average sized man contain upwards of six hundred millions of minute air cells, the surface area of which represents many thousands of square feet, the danger of exposing such a vast area of delicate tissue to the action of vitiated air can be readily estimated. No matter how nutritious the food may be that is taken into the stomach, no matter how perfect the processes of digestion and a.s.similation are, the blood cannot be vitalized without fresh air.

It is estimated that the blood is pumped through the lungs at the rate of eight hundred quarts per hour, and that during that period it rids itself of about thirty quarts of carbonic acid gas, and absorbs about the same amount of oxygen. Think for a moment of the madness of obstructing this interchange of elements which is perpetually going on and on which life depends!

It is more especially during the hours of sleep that fresh, pure air is needed, for that is when Nature is busiest, repairing and building up, and calls for larger supplies of oxygen to keep up the internal fires, but her efforts at repairing waste are rendered futile if you diminish the supply of the vitalizing element and compel her to use over again the refuse material she has already cast off.

The late Prof. Willard Parker, in a lecture delivered before a cla.s.s of medical students, made a very forcible ill.u.s.tration of how the air of a room was vitiated, in the following impressive words: "If, gentlemen, instead of air you suppose this room filled with pure, clean water, and that instead of air you were exhaling twenty times a minute a pint of milk, you can see how soon the water, at first clear and sparkling, would become hazy and finally opaque; the milk diffusing itself rapidly through the water, you will thus be able, also, to appreciate how, at each fresh inspiration you would be taking in a liquid that grew momentarily more impure. Were we able to see the air as we see the water, we would at once appreciate how thoroughly we are contaminating it, and that unless there be some vent for the air thus vitiated, and some opening large enough to admit a pure supply of this very valuable material, we will be momentarily poisoning ourselves, as surely as if we were taking sewage matter into our stomachs." Don't leave the matter of a good supply of air to servants. See to it yourself and see that you are not robbed of it. It would be better to trust your eating to an attendant than your breathing. Do that yourself.

In spite of the amount of literature devoted to sanitary matters, it is astonishing how little is understood of the principles of ventilation, and its supreme importance to the general welfare. We do not, of course, refer to ventilation in its broadest scientific sense, such as the securing of an adequate air supply in large auditoriums, for it is a melancholy fact that even our prominent architects not only display a pitiably deficient grasp of that phase of the subject, but of the simple, yet fundamental principles of the science, which every intelligent adult should be familiar with. How many heads of families, for instance, can intelligently ventilate a sleeping room?

They will open a window for a few minutes in the morning, without opening the door also, to create a current, and think that is amply sufficient to displace the acc.u.mulated carbon dioxide and other substances inimical to health. No wonder so many people are tormented by bad dreams! In sleeping apartments the bed should be in the center of the room--never near a wall. A current of air should be maintained, but without a draught upon the bed. It is better to open the window two inches at the bottom, and the same distance at the top, than to have it open for a foot either at the top or bottom only. If, through inclemency of the weather, or other causes, the window can only be opened for a few minutes, then by waving the door back and forth rapidly ten or a dozen times, the displacement of the vitiated air will be infinitely more rapid and thorough. Considering the length of time that is spent in the sleeping apartment, the paramount importance of a constant supply of fresh air is readily perceived. No matter how perfect digestion and a.s.similation may be, if the blood is not thoroughly oxygenated, the best of foods fail of their intended effect. Even the least fastidious would object to drinking water that had been used for washing purposes by others; yet it is quite as objectionable to breathe air that is charged with the waste products of bodies that may even be diseased. It is impossible to overestimate the importance of ventilation.

Better let in cold air and put on more bedclothes, as long as you do not sleep in a draught.

Oxygen keeps up the animal heat of the body, and you can really keep warmer in a room with plenty of fresh air than in a close room where the air is vitiated.

But in the sick room fresh air is of paramount importance, not only for the patient, but for the attendants, who are otherwise compelled to inhale the poisonous exhalations from the diseased body.