If there are 4,000,000, or even fewer, of these people in our land, it is a serious problem, for every one is a degenerate, to a certain degree. If the medical profession and the druggists would co-operate it would be easy enough to prevent the growth of a new crop of dope fiends. Of course, people would have to stop taking patent medicines, which often start the victims on the road to degeneration. Then the physicians should stop prescribing habit-forming drugs, as well as all other drugs, and teach the people that physical, mental and moral salvation come through right living and right thinking.

Unfortunately the medical profession is careless and is responsible for the existence of many of the drug addicts. A patient has a severe pain. What is the easiest way to satisfy him? To give a hypodermic injection of some opiate. The patient, not realizing the danger, demands a pain-killer every time he suffers. He soon learns what he is getting and then he goes to the drug store and outfits himself with a hypodermic outfit and drugs, and the first thing he knows he is a slave, in bondage for life. This is no exaggeration. There are hundreds of thousands of victims to the drug habit who trace their downfall to the treatment received at the hands of reputable physicians, who do not look upon their practice with the horror it should inspire because it is so common. Doctors do not always bury their mistakes. Some of them walk about for years.

In spite of laws against the sale of various drugs, they can be obtained. There are doctors and druggists of easy conscience who are very accommodating, for a price.

There is no legitimate need for the use of one-hundredth of the amount of these drugs that is now consumed. A local injection of cocaine for a minor operation is justifiable, but none of the habit-forming drugs should be used in ordinary practice to kill pain, for the proper application of water in conjunction with right living will do it better and there are no evil after effects. Massage is often sufficient.

To show a little more clearly how some people become addicted to drugs, let us consider one of the latest, heroin: A few years ago this drug, which is an opium derivative, was practically unknown. It is much stronger than morphine and consequently the effect can be obtained more quickly by means of a smaller dose. Physicians thought at first that it was not a habit-forming drug, for they could use it over a longer period of time than they could employ morphine, without establishing the craving and the habit. So they began to prescribe heroin instead of morphine, and many a morphine addict was advised to substitute heroin. All went well for a short while, until the victims found that they were enslaved by a drug that was even worse than morphine. Now, thanks chiefly to the medical profession, it is estimated that we have in our land several hundred thousand heroin addicts. Sallow of face, gaunt of figure, looking upon the world through pin-point pupils, with all of life's beauty, hope and joy gone, they are marching to premature death.

The medical profession furnishes more than its proportion of drug addicts. They know the danger of the drugs, but familiarity breeds contempt. If the public but knew how many of their medical advisers, who should always be clear-minded, are befuddled by drugs, there would be a great awakening. One eminent physician who has now been in practice about forty-five years and has had much experience with drug addicts, has said that according to his observations, about one physician in four contracts the drug habit. I believe this is exaggerated, but I am acquainted with a number of physicians who are addicts.

Physicians who smoke do not condemn the practice. Those who drink are likely to prescribe beer and wine for their patients. Those who are addicted to drugs use them too liberally in their practice.

Those who have watched the effects of the various drugs, from coffee to heroin, must condemn their use. It is true that an occasional cup of coffee or tea, a glass of wine or beer does no harm. A cigarette a week would not hurt a boy, nor would on occasional cigar harm a man. But how many people are willing to indulge occasionally? The rule is that they indulge not only daily, but several times a day, and the results are bad. One bad habit leads to another, and the time always comes when it is a choice between disease and early death on one hand, and the giving up of the bad habits on the other, and when this time comes the bonds of habits are often so strong that the victim is unable to break them.

I realize that knowledge will not always keep people out of temptation and that some individuals will take the broad way that leads to destruction in spite of anything that may be said. Youth is impatient of restraint and ever anxious for new experiences. Regarding this serious matter of destructive drug use, much could be done by teaching people their place in society: That is, what they owe to themselves, their families and the public in general. In other words, teach the young people the higher selfishness, part of which consists of considerable self-control, self-denial and self-respect.

Drugs are too easy to obtain today. Some day people will be so enlightened that they will not allow themselves to be medicated. This is the trend of the times. Until such a time comes, society should protect itself by making it very difficult to get any of the habit-forming drugs. If necessary, the free hand of the physician should be stayed. Much of the confidence blindly given him is misplaced.



CHAPTER XXI.

CARE OF THE SKIN.

The skin is neglected and abused. Very few realize how important it is to give this organ the necessary attention. If we were living today as our ancestors doubtless lived, we could neglect the skin, as they did. They wore little or no clothing. The skin, which formerly was very hairy, served as protection. It was exposed to the elements, which toughened it and kept it active.

Today most people give the skin too great protection, and thus weaken it. The result is that it degenerates and partly loses its function with consequent detriment to the individual's health.

A normal skin has a very soft feel, imparting to the fingers a pleasant, vital sensation. It either has color or suggests color. An abnormal skin pleases neither the sense of seeing nor feeling. It may feel inert or it may be inflamed.

The skin is a beautiful and complex structure. It is made up of an outer layer called the epidermis and an inner layer, the true skin or corium, which rests upon a subcutaneous layer, composed principally of fat and connective tissue.

The epidermis is divided into four layers. It has no blood-vessels and no nerves, but is nourished by lymph which escapes from the vessels deeper in the skin. It is simply protective in nature.

The true skin is made up of two indistinct layers, which harbor a vast multitude of nerves, blood-vessels and lymph-vessels.

In the skin there are two kinds of glands, the sebaceous and the sweat glands. The sebaceous glands are, as a general rule, to be found in greatest numbers on the hairiest parts of the body and are absent from the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet. They throw off a secretion known as sebum, which is made up principally of dead cells that have undergone fatty degeneration and of other debris. The sebum serves as lubricant. It is generally discharged near or at the shaft of a hair.

The sweat glands discharge on the average from one and one-half to two pounds of perspiration per day, more in hot weather and much less when it is cool. They are distributed over the whole external surface of the body. According to Krause there are almost 2,400,000 of them. They carry off water and carbonic acid gas chiefly.

The functions of the skin are: To protect the underlying structures; to regulate the heat; to serve as an organ of respiration; to serve as an organ of touch and thermal sensation; to secrete and eliminate various substances from the body; to absorb.

The heat regulation is quite automatic. When the external temperature is high there is a relaxation of the skin. The pores open, the perspiration goes to the surface and evaporates, thus cooling the body. When the surface is cool the skin contracts, closing the pores and conserving the heat. Radiation always takes place, except when the temperature is very high.

The sensation of touch and the ability to feel heat and cold protect us from untold numbers of dangers. They are a part of the equipment which enables us to adjust our selves to our environment.

The secretions and excretions are perspiration and sebum. These contain water, carbonic acid, urea, buturic acid, formic acid, acetic acid, salts, the chief being sodium chloride, and many other substances.

The respiratory function consists in the absorption of a small amount of oxygen and the giving off of some carbonic acid.

A small amount of water can be absorbed by the skin. Oils can also be absorbed. In case of malnutrition in children, olive-oil rubs are often helpful. This absorptive function is taken advantage of by physicians who rub various medicaments into the skin. Mercury enough to produce salivation can be absorbed in this way.

From the above it will be seen that the skin is not only complex in structure, but has many functions. It is impossible to have perfect health without a good skin. Under civilized conditions a healthy skin can not be had without giving it some care. The average person has a skin that shows lack of care. Fortunately, but little care is needed.

A bath should be taken often enough to ensure cleanliness. Warm water and soap need not be used more than once or twice a week under ordinary conditions. If the soap causes itching, it is well to use a small amount of olive oil on the body afterwards, rubbing it in thoroughly, and going over the body with a soft cloth after the oil rub, thus removing the oil which would otherwise soil the clothes. If the skin is not kept clean, the millions of pores are liable to be partly stopped up, which results in the retention of a part of the excretory matter within the skin, where it may cause enough irritation to produce some form of cutaneous disorder, or the skin may through disuse become so inactive that too much work is thrown upon the other excretory organs, which may also become diseased from overwork and excessive irritation.

Soaps are irritants. Tallow soaps and olive oil soaps are less irritating than other varieties. Whatever kind of soap is used, it should be rinsed off thoroughly, for if some of it is left in the pores of the skin roughness or even mild inflammation may ensue. Be especially careful about the soap used for babies, avoiding all highly colored and cheap perfumed soaps.

Whether to take a daily sponge bath or not is a matter of no great importance, and each individual can safely suit himself. If there is quick reaction and a feeling of warmth and well-being following a cold sponge, it is all right. If the skin remains blue and refuses to react for a long time, the cold sponge bath is harmful. The cold plunge is always a shock, and no matter how strong a person may be, frequent repetition is not to be recommended. People who take cold plunges say that they do no harm, but it is well to remember that life is not merely a matter of today and tomorrow, but of next year, or perhaps forty, fifty or sixty years from today. A daily shock may cause heart disease in the course of twenty or thirty years.

A good way to take a cold bath is to get under a warm shower and gradually turn off the warm water. Then stand under the cold shower long enough to rinse well the entire surface of the body.

Those who take cold sponge baths in winter and find them severe, should precede the sponging in cold water with a quick sponging off with tepid water, and they should always take these baths in a warm room.

After all baths give the body a good dry rubbing, using brisk movements. Bath towels, flesh brushes or the open hands may be used for the dry rubbing.

The sponge bath has practically no value as a cleanser. Its chief virtue consists in stimulating the circulation of the blood and the lymph in the skin. In summer it is cooling. It is important to have good surface circulation, but this can be attained as well by means of dry rubbing. The rubbing is more important than wetting the skin. A skin that is rubbed enough becomes so active that it practically cleans itself, and it protects against colds and other diseases. Some advocate dispensing with the bath entirely, but that is going to extremes. Cleanliness is worth while for the self-respect it gives the individual.

Hot baths are weakening and relaxing, hence weak people should not stay long in the hot bath. Cold baths are stimulating to strong people and depressing to those who do not react well from them. Swimming is far different from taking a cold bath. A person who can swim with benefit and comfort for twenty minutes would have a chill, perhaps, if he remained for five minutes in the bath tub in water of the same temperature. Swimming is such an active exercise that it aids the circulation, keeping the blood pretty well to the surface in spite of the chilling effect of the water.

If a very warm bath is taken, there should be plenty of fresh air in the bath room and it is well to sip cold water while in the bath and keep a cloth wrung out of cold water on the forehead. People who are threatened with a severe cold or pneumonia can give themselves no better treatment than to take a hot bath, as hot as they can stand it, lasting for one-half hour to an hour, drinking as much warm water as can be taken with comfort both before and after getting into the tub. This bath must be taken in very warm water, otherwise it will do no good. It is weakening and relaxing, but through its relaxing influence it equalizes the circulation of the blood, bringing much to the surface that was crowding the lungs and other internal organs, thus causing the dangerous congestion that so often ends in pneumonia. After the bath wrap up well so that the perspiration will continue for some time. When the sweating is over, get into dry clothes and remain in bed for six to eight hours. To make assurance doubly sure, give the bowels a good cleaning out with either enemas or cathartics, or both. Then eat nothing until you are comfortable. Such treatment would prevent much pneumonia and many deaths. The best preventive is to live so that sudden chilling does not produce pneumonia or other diseases, which it will not do in good health.

People with serious diseases of the heart, arteries or of the kidneys should not take protracted or severe baths.

To sum up the use of water on the skin: Use enough to be clean. No more is necessary. The application of water should be followed by thorough drying and dry rubbing. If the reaction is poor, do not remain in cold water long enough to produce chilling. As a rule thin people should use but little cold water, and they should never remain long in cold water.

Water intelligently applied to the skin in disease is a splendid aid in cleansing the system. It is surprising what a great amount of impurity can be drawn from the body by means of wet packs. However, this is a treatise on health, so we shall not go into details here regarding hydrotherapy.

No matter what one's ideas may be on the subject of bathing, there can hardly be more than one opinion regarding the application of dry friction to the skin. Those who have noted its excellent results feel that it should be a daily routine. It should be practiced either morning or evening, or both. From five to ten minutes spent thus daily will pay high dividends in health. A vigorous rubbing is exercise not only for the skin, but for nearly every muscle in the body.

The dry rubbing keeps the surface circulation vigorous. The surface circulation, and especially the circulation in the hands and the feet, is the first part that begins to stagnate. Blood stagnation means the beginning of the process which results in old age. In other words, dry friction to the skin helps to preserve health and youth. Skin that is not exercised often becomes very hard and scales off particles of mineral matter.

If women would put less dependence on artificial beautifiers and more on scientific massage, they would get much better results. They would avoid many a wrinkle and save their complexions. The neck and the face should never be massaged downwards. The strokes should be either upwards or from side to side, the side strokes generally being toward the median line. Such massaging will prevent the sagging of the face muscles for years and help to keep the face free from wrinkles and young in appearance. The massaging should be rather gentle, for if it is too vigorous the tendency is to remove the normal amount of fat that pads and rounds out the face. Men can do the same thing, but most men have no objection to wrinkles.

However, most men do object to baldness, which can be prevented in nearly every case. To produce hair on a polished pate is a different proposition. It is indeed difficult. If you will look at a picture of the circulation of the blood in the scalp, you will notice that the arteries supplying it come from above the eye sockets in front, from before and behind the ears on the sides, and from the nape of the neck in the rear. They spread out and become smaller and smaller as they travel toward the top of the head, and especially toward the back. The scalp is well supplied with blood, but it is not given much exercise. The tendency is for the blood stream to become sluggish, deposits gradually forming in the walls of the blood-vessels, which make them less elastic and decrease the size of the lumen. The result is less food for the hair roots and food of inferior quality.

This process of cutting off the circulation in the scalp is largely aided by the tight hats and caps worn by men, which compress the blood-vessels. It is quite noticeable that people with round heads have a greater tendency to become bald than those with more irregular heads. The reason is probably that the hats fit more snugly on the round-headed people. There are many exceptions. Women are not so prone to baldness as men, because they wear hats that do not exclude the air from the hair nor do they compress the blood-vessels.

Let those men who dislike to lose their hair massage the scalp for a short while daily, beginning above the eyes, in front of the ears and at the nape of the neck and going to the top of the head. Then let them wear as sensible hats as possible, avoiding those that exert great pressure on the blood-vessels that feed the scalp. Thus they will not only be able to retain their hair much longer than otherwise, but the hair that is well fed does not fade as early as that which lives on half rations.

In the case of preserving the hair, an ounce of prevention is worth a ton of cure. The man who can produce a satisfactory hair restorer that will give results without any effort on the part of the men can become a millionaire in a short time.

The hair is a modified form of skin. Each hair is supplied with blood, and the reason that the hair stands up during intense fear is that to the lower part of the shaft is attached a little muscle. During fear this contracts, as do other involuntary muscles, and then the hair stands up straight instead of being oblique.

As a rule people protect the skin too much. The best protection they have against cold is a good circulation. With a poor circulation it is difficult to keep warm in spite of much clothing. Coldness is also largely a state of mind. People get the idea of cold into the head and then it is almost impossible for them to keep warm. On the same winter day we may see a man in a thick overcoat trying to shrink into himself, shivering, while a lady passes blithely by, with her bosom bared to the wind.

The face tolerates the cold, because it is used to it, the neck and the upper part of the chest likewise, and so it would be with the skin of the entire body if we accustomed it to be exposed. We use too heavy clothes. It is a mistake to hump the back and draw in the shoulders during cold weather, for this reduces the lung capacity, thus depriving the body of its proper amount of oxygen. The result is that there is not enough combustion to produce the necessary amount of heat.

Wool is warm covering, the best we have. However, it is very irritating to the skin and has a tendency to make the wearer too warm. It does not dry out readily. Consequently the wearer remains damp a long time after perspiring. The result is a moist, clammy skin. A skin thus pampered in damp warmth becomes delicate, and like other hot-house products unable to hold its own when exposed to inclement weather. A good way to take cold easily is to wear wool next to the skin. The best recipe for getting cold feet is to wear woolen stockings. Wear cotton or linen or silk next to the skin. Cotton is satisfactory and cheap. Linen is excellent, but a good suit of linen underwear is too costly for the average purse. Remie, said to be the linen of the Bible, is highly recommended by some.

Those working indoors should wear the same kind of underwear summer and winter, and it should be very light. If people use heavy underwear in heated rooms, they become too warm. The consequence is that when they go out doors they are chilled, and if they are not in good physical condition colds and other diseases generally result. By wearing outer garments according to climatic conditions one can easily get all the protection necessary. Those who take the proper food and enough exercise and dry friction of the skin will not require or desire an excessive amount of clothing. The feel of the wintry blast on the skin is not disagreeable.

If we would only give the skin more exercise, through rubbing, and more fresh air, we would soon discard much of our clothing, and wear but enough to make a proper and modest appearance in public, with extra covering on cold days. Nothing can be much more ridiculous and uncomfortable than a man in conventional attire on a hot summer's day.

Of course, thin, nervous people should not expose themselves too much to the cold.

Most of the diseases known by the name of skin diseases, are digestive troubles and blood disorders manifesting in the skin. As soon as the systemic disease upon which they depend disappears, these so-called skin diseases get well. Erysipelas is one of the so-called germ diseases, but it is controlled very quickly by a proper diet. It can not occur in people until they have ruined their health by improper living. Pure blood will not allow the development of the streptococcus erysipelatis in sufficient numbers to cause trouble. First the disease develops and then the germ comes along and multiplies in great numbers, giving it type.

Acne, which is very common for a few years after puberty, shows a bad condition of the blood. Even during the changes that occur at puberty no disease will manifest in healthy boys and girls. About this time the young people eat excessively, the result being indigestion and impure blood. The changes that occur in the skin make it a favorable place for irritations to manifest. Let the boys and girls eat so that they have bright eyes and clean tongues and there will be very little trouble from disfiguring pimples.

Eczema is generally curable by means of proper diet and the same is true of nearly all skin diseases that afflict infants.

There are diseases of the skin due to local irritants, such as the various forms of trade eczema, scabies (itch), and pediculosis (lousiness), but the fact remains that nearly all skin diseases fail to develop if the individual eats properly, and most of them can be cured, after they have developed, by proper diet and attention to hygiene generally. If the diet is such that irritants are manufactured in the alimentary tract and absorbed into the blood, and then excreted through the skin, where enough irritation is produced to cause disease, it is useless to treat with powders and salves.

Correct the dietetic errors and the skin will cure itself. Specialists in skin diseases often fail because they treat this organ as an independent entity, instead of considering it as a part of the body whose health depends mostly upon the general health.



CHAPTER XXII.

EXERCISE.

Nature demands of us that we use our mental and physical powers in order to get the best results. Man was made to be active. In former times he had to earn his bread in the sweat of his face or starve. Now we have evolved, or is it a partial degeneration, into a state where a sharp mind commands much more of the means of sustenance than does physical exertion. The consequence is that many of those equipped with the keenest minds fail to keep their bodies active. This helps to lessen their resistance and produces early death.

Some exercise is needed and the question is, how much is necessary and how is it to be taken so that it will not degenerate into drudgery? There are very few with enough persistence to continue certain exercises, no matter how beneficial, if they become a grind.

The amount required depends upon the circumstances. Ordinarily, a few minutes of exercise each day, supplemented with some walking and deep breathing will suffice. About five minutes of vigorous exercise night and morning are generally enough to keep a person in good physical condition, if he is prudent otherwise.

Many strive to build up a great musculature. This is a mistake, unless the intention is to become an exhibit for the sake of earning one's living. Big muscles do not spell health, efficiency and endurance. Even a dyspeptic may be able to build big muscles. What is needed for the work of life is not a burst of strength that lasts for a few moments and then leaves the individual exhausted for the day, but the endurance which enables one to forge ahead day after day.

It is generally dangerous to build up great muscles, for if the exercises that brought them into being are stopped, they begin to degenerate so fast that the system with difficulty gets rid of the poisons. Then look out for one of the diseases of degeneration, such as inflammation of the kidneys or typhoid fever.

The great muscles exhibited from time to time upon the variety stage and in circuses are not normal. Man is the only animal that develops them, and they are not brought about by ordinary circumstances. Once acquired, they prove a burden, for they demand much daily work to be kept in condition.

Good muscles are more serviceable than extraordinary ones. Vigorous exercise is better than violent exercise. It is well known that many of our picked athletes, men with great original physical endowment, die young. The reason is that they have either been overdeveloped, or at some time they have overtaxed their bodies so in a supreme effort at vanquishing their opponents that a part of the vital mechanism has been seriously affected. Then when they settle down to business life they fail to take good care of themselves and they degenerate rapidly.

Exercising should not be a task, for then it is work. It should be of a kind that interests and pleases the individual, for then it is accompanied by that agreeable mental state from which great good will come to the body. It is necessary for us to think enough of our bodies to supply them with the activity needed for their welfare and we should do this with good grace.

Exercise enough to bring the various muscles into play and the heart into vigorous action. Office workers should take exercises for the part of the body above the waist, plus some walking each day. All should take enough exercise to keep the spine straight and pliable. Bending exercises are good for this purpose, keeping the knees straight and touching the floor with the fingers. Then bend backward as far as possible. Then with hands on the hips rotate the body from the waist.

It is very desirable to keep the body erect, for this gives the greatest amount of lung space, and gives the individual a noble, courageous appearance and feeling. The forward slouch is the position of the ape. It is not necessary to pay any attention to the shoulders, if the spine is kept in proper position, for the shoulders will then fall into the right place. Being straight is a matter of habit. No one can maintain this position without some effort. At least, one has to make the effort to get and retain the habit. Most round-shouldered people could school themselves in two or three months to be straight.

Those who are moderate in eating need less exercise than others. Too great food intake requires much labor to work it off. When the food is but enough to supply materials for repair, heat and energy, there is no need of great effort to burn up the excess. To exercise much and long, then eat enough to compel more exercise, is a waste of good food, time and energy. Be moderate in all things if you would have the best that life can give you.

Always make deep breathing a part of the exercise. No matter what one's physical troubles may be, deep breathing will help to overcome them. It will help to cure cold feet by bringing more oxygen into the blood. It will help to drive away constipation by giving internal massage to the bowels. It will help to overcome torpid liver by the exercise given that organ. It will help to cure rheumatism by producing enough oxygen to burn up some of the foreign deposits in various parts of the body. As an eye-opener deep breathing has alcohol distanced. It costs nothing and has only good after effects. Moreover, deep breathing takes no time. A dozen or more deep breaths can be taken morning and night, and every time one steps into the fresh air, without taking one second from one's working time. To have health good blood is necessary, and this can not be had without taking sufficient fresh air into the lungs.

Proper clothing must also be taken into consideration in connection with breathing and exercise. The clothes must be loose enough to allow free play to limbs, chest and abdomen. Men and women were not shaped to wear two and three inch heels. Those who persist in this folly must pay the price in discomfort and an unbalanced body.

The time to take exercise depends upon circumstances. It is best not to indulge for at least one or two hours after a hearty meal, for exercise interferes with digestion. A very good plan is to take from five to twenty-five minutes of exercise, according to one's requirement, before dressing in the morning and after undressing at night. Those who take exercises in a gymnasium or have time for out door games will have no difficulty in selecting proper time.

Dumbbells, Indian clubs, weights, patent exercisers and gymnasium stunts are all right for those who enjoy them. One thing to bear in mind is that short, choppy movements are not as good as the larger movements that bring the big muscles into play.

It is well to exercise until there is a comfortable feeling of fatigue. If this is done the heart works vigorously, sending the blood rapidly to all parts of the body, and the lungs also come into full play to supply the needed oxygen. This acts as a tonic to the entire system.

The body must be used to keep it from degenerating. A healthy body gives courage and an optimistic outlook upon life. A sluggish liver can hide the most beautiful sunrise, but a healthy body gives the eye power to see beauty on the most dreary day.

Those who are not accustomed to exercise will be very, sore at first, if they begin too vigorously. The soreness can be avoided by taking but two or three minutes at a time at first, and increasing until the desired amount is taken daily.

If the muscles get a little sore and stiff at first, do not quit, for by continuing the exercises, the soreness soon leaves. Many begin with great enthusiasm, which soon burns itself out. Excessive enthusiasm is like the burning love of those who "can't live" without the object of their affection. It burns so brightly that it soon consumes itself. Go to work at a rate that can be kept up. To exercise hard for a few weeks or a few months and then give it up will do no good in the end. However, a person may occasionally let a day or two pass by without taking exercise with benefit. Avoid getting into a monotonous grind.

I believe that the very best exercises are those which are taken in the spirit of play. No matter who it is, if he or she will make the effort, time enough can be found occasionally to spend at least one-half of a day in the open, and this is very important. We can not long flourish without getting into touch with mother nature, and we need a few hours each week without care and worry in her company. Many immediately say, "I can't." Get rid of that negative attitude and say, "I can and I will." See how quickly the obstacles melt away. There are many who are slaves to duty. They believe that they must grind away. They think they are indispensable. The world got along very well before they were born and it will roll on in the same old way after they are gathered to their fathers. The thing to do is to break the bonds of the wrong mental attitude and then both time and opportunity will be forthcoming.

I shall comment on only a few of the outdoor exercises that are excellent.

Swimming is one of the finest. There is a great deal of difference between swimming and taking a bath in a tub. Some people cannot remain in the water long, but if they have any resistance at all and are active, there will be no bad results. In swimming it is well to take various strokes, swimming on the back, on the side, and on the face. This brings nearly every muscle in the body into play and if the swimmer does not stay in too long it makes him feel fine. If a feeling of chilliness or weariness is experienced, it is time to quit the water, dry off well and take a vigorous dry rub. Swims should always be followed with considerable rubbing. The use of a little olive oil on the body, and especially on the feet, is very grateful. No special rule can be laid down for the duration of a swim, but very thin people should generally not remain in the water more than fifteen minutes, and stout, vigorous ones not over an hour. It is best not to go swimming until two hours have elapsed since the last meal.

Every boy and every girl should be taught to swim, for it may be the means of preserving their lives. It is not difficult. For the benefit of those who start the beginners with the rather tedious and tiresome breast stroke, will say that the easiest way to teach swimming is to get the learner to float on his back. I have taught boys to float in as little as three minutes, and after that everything else is easy. When the beginner can float, he can easily start to paddle a little and make some progress. Then he can turn on his side and learn the side stroke, which is one of the best. Then he can turn on the face and learn various strokes. This is not the approved way of learning to swim, but it is the easiest and quickest way.

To float simply means to get into balance in the water. It is necessary to arch the body, making the spine concave posteriorly, and bending the neck well backward at first. In the beginning it is a great aid to fill the lungs well and breathe rather shallow. This makes the body light in the water. Tell the beginner that it does not make any difference whether the feet sink or stay up. It is only necessary to keep the face above water while floating. If there is the slightest tendency to sink, bend the neck a little more, putting the head, farther back in the water, instead of raising it, as most of the learners want to do. Remember that the trunk and neck must be kept well arched, the head well back in the water. The moment the beginner doubles up at waist or hips or bends the neck forward, raising the head, he sinks.

For speed and fancy swimming professional instruction should be obtained. Swimming is one of the best all-round developers, as well as one of the most pleasant of exercises.

Golf is no longer a rich man's game. The large cities have public links. For an office man it is a splendid game. Women can play it with equal benefit. The full vigorous strokes, followed with a walk after the ball, then more strokes, exercise the entire body. It is good for young and old, and for people in all walks of life.

Tennis is splendid for some people. Those who are very nervous and excitable should play at something else, for they are apt to play too hard and use up too much energy. Overexercising is just as harmful as excesses in other lines. Tennis requires quickness and is a good game for those who are inclined to be sluggish, for it wakes them up.

Horseback riding is also a fine exercise. The companionship with an intelligent animal, the freedom, the fresh air, the scenery, all give enjoyment of life, and the constant movement acts as a most delicious tonic. There is only one correct way to ride for both sexes, and that is astride. The side saddle position keeps the spine twisted so that it takes away much of the benefit to be derived from riding. Out west the approved manner of riding for women is astride. The women of the west make a fine appearance on horseback.

Tramping is possible for all. If there are hills to be climbed, or mountains, so much the better. Put on old clothes and old shoes and have an enjoyable time. Fine apparel under the circumstances spoils more than half of the pleasure.

Playing ball or bicycle riding may be indulged in with benefit. It is not fashionable to ride on bicycles today, yet it is a pleasant mode of covering ground, and if the trunk is kept erect it is a good exercise. Jumping rope, playing handball, tossing the medicine ball and sawing wood are good forms of exercise and great fun. The spirit of play and good will easily double the value of any exercise that is taken.

Dancing is also good if the ventilation is adequate and the hours are reasonable.

Under various conditions vicarious exercises are valuable, and by that I mean such forms of exercise as massage, osteopathic treatment or vibratory treatment. If anything is wrong with the spine, get an osteopath or a chiropractor. They can help to remedy such defects more quickly than anyone else. They are experts in adjustments and thrusts.

Some people take exercises while lying in bed or on the floor. One good exercise to take while lying on the back is to go through the motions of riding a bicycle. Another is to lie down, then bend the body at the hips, getting into a sitting position; repeat a few times. Another is to face the floor, holding the body rigid, supported on the toes and the palms of the hands; slowly raise the body until the arms are straight and slowly lower it again until the abdomen touches the floor; repeat several times.

It is impossible to go into detail regarding various exercises here. Those who wish to take care of themselves can easily devise a number of good ones, or they can employ a physical culture teacher to give them pointers. Here as elsewhere, good sense wins out. It is not necessary to give much time to exercise, but a little is valuable. Those who labor with their hands often use but few muscles, and it would be well for them to take corrective exercises so that the body will remain in good condition.

There is no excuse for round shoulders and sunken chests. A few weeks, or at most a few months, will correct this in young people. The older the individual, the longer it takes. If the vertebrae have grown together in bony union no correction is possible.

It is as necessary to relax as it is to exercise. When weary, take a few minutes off and let go physically and mentally. A little training will enable you to drop everything, and even if it is for but five minutes, the ease gives renewed vigor. It does not matter what position is assumed, if it is comfortable and allows the muscles to lose all tension. At such times it is well to let the eyelids gently close, giving the eyes a rest. Eye strain is very exhausting to the whole body and often results in serious discomfort.

Many do not know how to relax. They think they are relaxed, yet their bodies are in a state of tension. When relaxed any part of the body that may be raised falls down again as though it were dead. People who do much mental work are at times so aroused by ideas that refuse to release their hold until they have been worked out or given expression that they can not sleep for the time being. A few minutes of relaxation then gives rest. When the problem has been solved, the worker is rewarded with sweet slumbers. An occasional night of this kind of wakefulness does no harm, provided no such drugs as coffee, alcohol, strychnine and morphine are used.

We are undoubtedly intended to be useful. Normal men and women are not content unless they are helpful. Hence we have our work or vocation. However, people who get into a rut, and they are liable to if they work all the time at one thing, lose efficiency. Therefore it is well to have an avocation or a hobby to sharpen mind and body.

It does not make much difference what the hobby is, provided it is interesting. We waste much time that could give us more pleasure if it were intelligently employed. An hour a day given to a subject for a few years in the spirit of play will give a vast fund of information and may in time be of inestimable benefit.

Those who labor much with the hands would do well to take some time each day for mental recreation, and those who work in mental channels should get joy and benefit from physical efforts. A few hobbies, depending upon circumstances, may be: Photography, music, a foreign language, the drama, literature, history, philosophy, painting, gardening, raising chickens, dogs or bees, floriculture, and botany. Some people have become famous through their hobbies. They are excellent for keeping the mind fluid, which helps to retain physical youth.

There is something peculiarly beneficial about tending and watching growing and unfolding things. It is well known that women remain young longer than men. We have good reason to believe that one of the causes is their intimate relation with children. Growing flowers, vegetables, chickens and pups have the same influence in lesser degree. Tender, helpless things bring out the best qualities in our natures. We can not be on too intimate terms with nature, so, if possible, select a hobby that brings you closely in contact with her and her products.



CHAPTER XXIII.

BREATHING AND VENTILATION.

The respiratory apparatus is truly marvelous in beauty and efficiency. Medical men complain about nature's way of constructing the alimentary canal, saying that it is partly superfluous, but no such complaint is lodged against the lungs and their accessories.

The respiratory system may be likened in form to a well branched tree, with hollow trunk, limbs and leaves: The trachea is the trunk; the two bronchi, one going to the right side and the other to the left side, are the main branches; the bronchioles and their subdivisions are the smaller branches and twigs; the air cells are the leaves.

The trachea and bronchi are tubes, furnished with cartilaginous rings to keep them from collapsing. They are lined with mucous membrane. The bronchi give off branches, which in turn divide and subdivide, until they become very fine. Upon the last subdivisions are clustered many cells or vesicles. These are the air cells and here the exchange takes place, the blood giving up carbonic acid gas and receiving from the inspired air a supply of oxygen. This exchange takes place through a very thin layer of mucous membrane, the air being on one side and the blood capillaries on the other side.

The whole respiratory tract is lined with mucous membrane. This membrane is ciliated, that is, it is studded with tiny hairlike projections, extending into the air passages. These are constantly in motion, much like the grain in a field when the wind is gently blowing. Their function is to prevent the entry of foreign particles into the air cells, for their propulsive motion is away from the lungs, toward the external air passages.

In some of the large cities where the atmospheric conditions are unfavorable and the air is laden with dust and smoke, the cilia are unable to prevent the entrance of all the fine foreign particles in the air. Then these particles irritate the mucous membrane, which secretes enough mucus to imprison the intruders. Consequently there is occasionally expulsion of gray or black mucus, which should alarm no one under the circumstances, if feeling well. Normally the mucous membrane secretes only enough mucus to lubricate itself, and when there is much expulsion of mucus it means that either the respiratory or the digestive system, or both, are being abused. At such times the sufferer should take an inventory of his habits and correct them.

The air cells are made up of very thin membrane. So great is their surface that if they could be flattened out they would form a sheet of about 2,000 square feet. We can not explain satisfactorily why it is that through their walls there is an exchange of gases, nor how the respiratory system can act so effectively both as an exhaust of harmful matter and a supply of necessary elements. The distribution of the blood capillaries, so tiny that the naked eye can not make them out, is wonderful. Under the microscope they look like patterns of delicate, complex, beautiful lace.

The lungs are supplied with more blood than any other, part of the body. A small part of it is for the nourishment of the lung structure, but most of it comes to be purified. After the blood has traveled to various parts of the body to perform its work as a carrier of food, and oxygen and gatherer of waste, it returns to the heart and from the heart it is sent to the lungs. There it gives up its carbonic acid gas and receives a supply of oxygen. Then it returns to the heart again and once more it is sent to all parts of the body to distribute the vital element, oxygen.

The lungs give off watery vapor, a little animal matter and considerable heat, but their chief function is to exchange the carbonic acid gas of the blood for the oxygen of the air. When the fats, sugars and starches, in their modified form, are burned in the body to produce heat and energy, carbonic acid gas and water are formed. The gas is taken up by the blood stream, which is being deprived of its oxygen at the same time. This exchange turns the blood from red into a bluish tinge. The red color is due to the union of oxygen with the iron in the blood corpuscles, forming rust, roughly speaking.

The fine adjustment that exists in nature can be seen by taking into consideration that animals give off carbon dioxide and breathe in oxygen, while vegetation exhales oxygen and inhales carbon dioxide. In other words, animal life makes conditions favorable for plant growth, and vegetation makes possible the existence of animals.

An animal of the higher class can live several days without water, several weeks without food, but only a very few minutes without oxygen. When the blood becomes surcharged with carbonic acid gas, and oxygen is refused admittance to the lungs, life ceases in about five or six minutes. From this it can easily be seen how important it is to have a proper supply of oxygen. Acute deprivation of this element is immediately fatal, and chronic deprivation of a good supply helps to produce early deterioration and premature death. The lungs can easily be kept in good condition, and when we ponder on the beautiful and effective way in which nature has equipped us with a respiratory apparatus and an inexhaustible store of oxygen, surely we must understand the folly of not helping ourselves to what is so vital, yet absolutely free.

Wrong eating and impure air are largely responsible for all kinds of respiratory troubles, from a simple cold to the most aggravated form of pulmonary tuberculosis. Exercise and deep breathing will to a great extent antidote overeating, but there is a limit beyond which the lungs refuse to tolerate this form of abuse.

Experiments have shown that if the carbonic acid gas thrown off daily by an adult male were solidified, it would amount to about seven ounces of solid carbon, which comes from fats, sugars and starches that are burned in the body. It is well to remember that there are various forms of burning or combustion. Rapid combustion is exemplified in stoves and furnaces, where the carbon of coal or wood rapidly and violently unites with oxygen. Slow combustion takes place in the rotting of wood, the rusting of iron and steel and the union of oxygen with organic matter in animal bodies. Both processes are the same, varying only in rapidity and intensity.

People who daily give off seven ounces of carbon are overworking their bodies. They take in too much food and consequently force too great combustion. This forcing has evil effects on the system, for under forced combustion the body is not able to clean itself thoroughly. Some of the soot remains in the flues (the blood-vessels) and is deposited in the various parts of the engine (the body). Result: Hardening, which means loss of elasticity and aging of the body. Aging of the body results in deterioration of the mind. Proper breathing is fine, but unless it is also accompanied by proper eating it does not bring the best results.

The atmospheric air contains about four parts of carbonic acid gas to 10,000 parts of air. The exhaled air becomes quite heavily charged with this gas, about 400 to 500 parts in 10,000. It does not take long before the air in a closed, occupied room is so heavily charged with this gas and so poor in oxygen that its constant rebreathing is detrimental. The blood stream becomes poisoned, which immediately depresses the physical and mental powers. Warning is often given by a feeling of languor and perhaps a slight headache. People accustom themselves to impure air so that they apparently feel no bad effects, but this is always at the expense of health. The senses may be blunted, but the evil results always follow. To keep a house sealed up as tightly as possible in order to keep it warm saves fuel bills, but the resultant bodily deterioration and disease cause enough discomfort and result in doctor bills which more than offset this saving. It is poor economy.

A constant supply of the purest air obtainable must be furnished to the lungs; otherwise the blood becomes so laden with poison that health, in its best and truest sense, is impossible.

The air should be inhaled through the nose. It does not matter much how it is exhaled. The nose is so constructed that it fits the air for the lungs. The inspired air is often too dry, dusty and cold. The normal nose remedies all these defects. The mucous membrane in the nasal passages contains cilia, which catch the dust. The nasal passages are very tortuous so that during its journey through them the air is warmed and takes up moisture.

Habitual mouth breathing is one of the causes of the hardening and toughening of the mucous membrane of the respiratory passages, for the mouth does not arrest the irritating substances floating in the air, nor does it sufficiently warm and moisten the inspired air. Irritation produces inflammation and this in turn causes thickening of the membranes. Then it is very easy to acquire some troublesome affliction such as asthma. Very cold air is irritating, but the passage through the nose warms it sufficiently.

The evil results of mouth breathing are well seen in children, in whom it raises the roof of the mouth and brings the lateral teeth too close together. Then the dentists have to correct the deformity and the children are forced to suffer protracted inconvenience. This mouth breathing is mostly due to wrong feeding, especially overfeeding, which causes swelling of the mucous membrane, thus impeding the intake of the air through the nose and forcing it through the mouth. The chief curative measure is obvious. Cut down the child's food supply and give food of better quality. Remember that children should not be fat.

Normal breathing is rhythmical, with a slight rise of the abdomen and chest during inspiration and a slight falling during expiration. Watch a sleeping baby, and you will understand what is meant. The ratio of breathing to the beating of the heart is about one to four or five. Whatever accelerates the heart causes more rapid breathing and vice versa. Breathing is practically automatic, and were we living under natural conditions we should need to pay no attention to it, but inasmuch as our mode of life prevents the full use of the lungs a little intelligent consideration is necessary to attain full efficiency.

The body should be left as free as possible by the clothes and especially is this true of the chest and waist line. Women sin much against themselves in this respect. Most of them find it absolutely necessary for their mental welfare to constrict the lower part of the chest and the waist line a great part of the time, for really it would not do to be out of fashion. The statue of Venus de Milo is generally considered to represent the highest form of female beauty and perfection in sculptural art. If living women would consent to remain beautiful, instead of being slaves to fashion, it would be much better for themselves and for the race. A corseted woman can not breathe properly, even if she can introduce her hand between the body and her corset to prove that she is not constricted. The natural curves of women are more graceful than those produced by the corset. It would be an easy matter to give the breasts sufficient support, if they need support, without constricting the body, and then take enough exercise to keep the waist and abdomen firm and in shape to accord with a normal sense of what is beautiful and proper.

Woman does right in being as good looking as possible, and it would do man no harm to imitate her in this, for truly, "Beauty is its own excuse for being." But beauty and fashion seldom go hand in hand. Look at the modes which were the fashion, and you will be compelled to say that many of them are offensive to people of good taste. American women should cease imitating the caprice of the women of the underworld of Paris. There are indications that women are liberating themselves somewhat from the chains of fashions, as well as from other ridiculous things, so let us hope that they will soon be brave enough to look as beautiful as nature allows them to be, both in face and figure.

The lungs, like every other part of the body, become weakened when not used. The chest cavity enlarges during inspiration, but this enlargement is prevented if there is constriction of the lower ribs and the waist. The normal breathing is abdominal. Such breathing is health-imparting. It massages the liver gently with each breath and is mildly tonic to the stomach and the bowels. It truly gives internal exercise. It helps to prevent constipation.

Shallow breathing causes degeneration of lung tissue, and indirectly degeneration of every tissue in the body, for it deprives the blood of enough oxygen to maintain health. It also prevents the internal exercise of the abdominal organs, which is a necessary activity of the normal organism. Shallow breathers only use the upper parts of the lungs. It is not to be wondered at that the lower parts easily degenerate. In pneumonia, for instance, the lower part is usually first affected, and in tuberculosis one often can get the physical indications in the lower part of the lungs posteriorly before they can be found any other place. The upper parts have to be used and consequently they get more exercise and more blood and hence become more resistant. It is well known that when the upper part of the lungs become affected the disease is very grave.

Men, as well as women, are guilty of shallow breathing. Many men are very inactive and their breathing becomes sluggish. This can be remedied by taking vigorous exercise and a few breathing exercises. Because abdominal breathing is the correct way, some physical culturists, who mix the so-called New Thought with their system, advocate exercising and concentrating the mind on the abdomen at the same time. This is unnecessary, for the proper exercises and the right attitude will cause abdominal breathing without giving the abdomen special thought.

Man was evidently intended to earn his food through physical exertion and exercise, and so long as he did this the lungs were compelled to expand. A few running exercises or hill or mountain climbs will suffice to prove the truth of this statement. However, now that man can ride on a street car and earn, or at least get, his daily bread by sitting in an office, it is necessary to exercise a little in order to get good results. The farmer who sits crouched up on a plow, mower or binder also fails to use his lungs, but if he gets out and pitches hay or bundles of grain, he is sure to get what oxygen he needs.

Everyone should get into the habit of breathing deeply several times a day. Upon rising in the morning, go to the open window or out of doors and take at least a dozen slow, deep breaths, inhaling slowly, holding the air in the lungs a few moments and exhaling slowly. This should be repeated noon and night. Every time when one is in the fresh air, it is well to take a few full breaths. By and by the proper breathing will become a habit, to the great benefit of one's health.

There are many breathing exercises, but every intelligent being can make his own exercises, so I shall describe but one. Have the hands hanging at the sides, palms facing each other. Inhale slowly and at the same time bring the arms, which are to be held straight, forward and upward, or outward and upward, carrying them as far up and back over the head as possible. The arm motion is also to be slow. About the time the arms are in the last position a full inspiration has been taken. Hold the position of the arms and the breath a few seconds and then slowly exhale and slowly bring the arms back to the first position. Repeat ten or twelve times. If while one is inhaling and raising the arms, one also slowly rises on the toes and slowly resumes a natural foot position while exhaling, the exercise will be even better.

Hollow-chested young people can attain a good lung capacity and good chest contour in a very reasonable time. Persistence in proper breathing and proper exercise will have remarkable results in even two or three months, and at the same time nature will be painting roses on pallid cheeks. It is easy to increase the chest expansion several inches. Those who expand less than three and one-half inches should not be satisfied until they have gone beyond this mark. Elderly people can also increase their chest expansion and breathing capacity, but it takes more time, for with the years the chest cartilages have a tendency to harden and even to ossify. The less breathing the sooner the ossification comes.

Many people are afraid of night air, for which there is no reason. The absence of sunshine at night does no more harm than it does on cloudy days. During the night, of all times, fresh air is needed, for less is used, and what little is breathed should be of as good quality as circumstances permit. Open the windows wide enough to have the air constantly changing in the bedroom. During the winter it will be necessary to put additional clothes on the bed, for no one can obtain the best of slumbers while chilled. Some may find it a better plan to use artificial heat in the foot of the bed. At any rate, during cold weather better covering is required for the legs and for the feet than for any other part of the body. People with good resistance can sleep in a draught without the least harm, but ordinary people should not sleep in a draught. It is easy to use screens so that the wind does not blow upon the face. If the air is kept stirring in the chamber the sleeper gets enough without being in a current.

Some are in the habit of closing their bedroom windows and doors at night and opening them for a thorough airing during the day. If the bedrooms must be closed, close them during the day and open them wide at night, for that is when the pure air is needed. It does not make much difference whether they are open or closed while being unoccupied. It is actually sickening to enter some bedrooms and be compelled to breathe the foul air.

When people are ill the rooms should have fresh air entering at all times. Sick people give off more poisons than do those in good health and they need the oxygen to burn up the deposits in the system.

An early morning stroll while most people are in bed is very instructive. It will be found that some houses are shut up as tightly as possible and that only a few are properly ventilated. A person who insists on keeping his window open in winter is often looked upon as a freak. What is the result of this close housing? The first result is that the blood is unable to obtain the required amount of oxygen and is poisoned by the rebreathing of the air in the room. In the morning the sleeper wakes feeling only half rested, and it takes a cup of coffee or something else to produce complete awakening. The evil results are cumulative, and after a while the bad habit of breathing impure air at night will be a great factor in building disease of some kind.

One reason why some are so afraid of fresh air, especially at night, is that they become so autotoxemic through bad habits, especially improper eating habits, that a slight draught causes them to sneeze and often catch cold and they believe that the fresh air causes the irritation. This is not so. The irritability comes from within, not from without.

After becoming accustomed to good ventilation at night it is almost impossible to enter into restful slumbers in a stuffy room.

Savages are singularly free from respiratory diseases, and the reason is without doubt that they do not house themselves closely. In some parts of the world they fear to let civilized men enter their abodes, for they may bring respiratory diseases.

Not only the homes, but public places, such as street cars, theaters, schools and churches are too often poorly ventilated. Sleeping, or rather dozing in church is so common that it is a matter of jest. My experience has been that drowsiness comes not from the dullness of sermons, but from the impossibility of getting a breath of good air in many churches.

Please remember that exhaled air is excretory matter, and that it is both unclean and unwholesome to consume it over and over again.

Draughts do not cause colds. Cold air does not cause colds. Wet clothes do not cause colds: These things may be minor contributory factors, but the body must be in poor condition before one can catch cold. Colds are generally caught at the table. Lack of fresh air also helps to produce colds, as well as other diseases.

The tendency in our country is to heat buildings too much. Europeans are both surprised and uncomfortable when they first enter our dwellings or public meeting places. The temperature in a dwelling should not be forced above seventy degrees Fahrenheit by means of artificial heating. The temperature required depends very much upon one's mental attitude and habits. Those who take enough exercise have good circulation of the blood in the extremities, and therefore do not need so much artificial heat. The best heating is from within.



CHAPTER XXIV.

SLEEP.

A young baby should sleep almost all the time, and it will if intelligently cared for. Overfeeding is the bane of the baby's life and is the cause of most of its restlessness. The first few months the baby should be awake enough to take its food, and then go to sleep again. As it grows older it sleeps less and less.

There is no fixed time for an adult to sleep. The amount varies with different individuals. The idea is quite prevalent that eight hours nightly are necessary. This may be true for some. Many do very well on seven hours' sleep, and even less. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, is said to have had but very little sleep for many years, and it is reported that when interested in some problem he would miss a night or two. Yet he has lived longer than the average individual and is now in good health. Very few have done as much constructive work as he. Many other prominent people have been light sleepers.

As people grow older they require less sleep than they did in youth. It is not uncommon for septuagenarians to sleep but five hours nightly.

Although we can not say how much sleep any individual may require, each person can find out for himself, and this is much better than to try to live by rules, which are often erroneous.

Those who live as they should otherwise and select a definite hour for retiring and adhere to it, except on special occasions, get all the sleep that is necessary. They awake in the morning refreshed, ready to do a good day's work.

During sound sleep all conscious endeavors cease. The vital organs do only enough work to keep the body alive. The breathing is lighter, the circulation is slower and in sound sleep there is no thinking. This letting up in the great activity of body and mind gives an opportunity for the millions of cells, of which the body is composed, to take from the blood what is needed to restore them to normal. During the day many of these cells become worn and weary. At night they recuperate. Hence undisturbed sleep is very important.

Many believe that "early to bed and early to rise" is the proper way, that the hours of sleep before midnight are more refreshing and invigorating than those after. This is merely a belief, perhaps a good one. Early retiring leads to regularity, which is very desirable. Late retiring often means loose mental and physical habits. Those who are regular about their time of retiring and live well otherwise feel refreshed whether they go to bed early or late. Children should always retire early, otherwise they do not get enough sleep. The night is the natural sleeping time for most creatures, as well as for man. This is a heritage of ages. There was no artificial illumination during the stone age. Man could do nothing during the darkness, so he rested. However, those who must work at night find no trouble in sleeping during the day. The tendency among men is the same as among animals, to sleep more in winter than in summer, not that more sleep is required, but because the winter nights are longer.

Children should go to bed early. They require more sleep than adults because of the greater cell activity. Also, children who stay up late generally become irritable and nervous.

It is not well to eat immediately before retiring. The sleep following a late meal is generally interrupted, and there is not that feeling of brightness and clearness of mind, with which one should awake, next morning.

Lunching before going to bed is a bad habit. Some believe they must have an apple, or perhaps a glass of milk, before retiring, for they think that this will bring sleep. The body should not be burdened with extra food to digest during the sleeping hours. This time should be dedicated to the restoring of the body, and the blood contains ample material.

Dreaming is largely a bad habit. A normal individual rarely dreams, and then generally following some imprudence. Dreams begin in childhood and are then due principally to excessive food intake. As a producer of nightmares overfeeding has no equal. During adult life dreaming is caused by bad physical and mental conduct, plus the habit which was formed in childhood. Fear, anger, worry, stimulants, too much food, impure air and too warm clothes are some of the causes that produce dreams. Like other bad habits, dreaming is difficult to overcome once it is firmly established. The cure consists in righting one's other bad habits and in not thinking about the dreams. A sleep that is disturbed by dreams is not as sound as it should be and consequently not as refreshing as normal sleep. The conscious mind is not completely at rest and, the subconscious mind is running riot. Normal sleep is complete unconsciousness. This is the sleep of the just and must be earned.

Before retiring all the clothes worn during the day should be removed. The night apparel should be light—cotton, linen or silk. The bed should be comfortable, but not too soft. There should be enough covering to keep the sleeper comfortably warm, but not hot. Those who cover themselves with so many quilts or blankets that they perspire during the night are not properly refreshed. It prevents sound sleep and makes the skin too sensitive. It reduces a person's resistance to climatic changes. The feet should be kept warm, even if necessary to put artificial heat in the foot of the bed. During cold weather the feet and the legs should have more covering than the rest of the body. From the waist up the covering should be rather light.

Sound sleep is dependent on relaxation of mind and body. Those who live the day over after going to bed do not go to sleep quickly or easily. This habit should be overcome. Do business at the business place, during business hours, if you would have the mind fresh. There are days so full of cares that the night does not bring mental relaxation, but those who have begun early in life to practice self-control find these days growing fewer as the years roll by. When they learn their true relationship to the rest of humanity, to the universe and to eternity, they are generally willing and able to let the earth rotate and revolve for a few hours without their personal attention. They realize that worry and anxiety waste time and energy.

Many complain that they can not sleep. This they repeat to themselves and to others many times a day. At night they ask themselves why they can not sleep. They do it so often that it becomes a powerful negative suggestion frequently strong enough to prevent their going to sleep. It is an obsession. Real insomnia exists only in the mind of the sufferer. Every physician, sooner or later, has experience with people who say that they can not sleep. The doctors who give such patients sleeping powders or potions make a grave mistake. These drugs are taken at the expense of some of the physical structures, and the day of settlement always comes. Perhaps it will find the patient with bankrupted nerves or a failing heart. To be effective, the size of the dose must be increased from time to time. At last the result will be some disease, either physical or mental.

Those who insist that they "do not sleep at all," or that they sleep "but a few minutes" each night, sleep a few hours, but they make themselves believe that they do not sleep. We are compelled to sleep, and even those who "do not sleep at all" can not remain awake indefinitely.

Those who are troubled with the no-sleep obsession will soon realize that they sleep as well as others if they cease thinking and talking so much about the subject. I have seen people suffering from this bad habit recover in one week. Those who have been taking drugs to induce sleep generally have a few bad nights when they give them up, after which the nervous storm subsides and sleep becomes normal. All drugs should be discarded. The physician who understands more about the working of nature than about the giving of drugs will have the best success in these cases. Soothing sleep always comes to people possessed of a controlled mind in a healthy body.

If the day has been exhausting and the nerves are so alive and wrought up that sleep will not come, do not allow the mind to delve into worry about it. Do not say to yourself: "I wish I could sleep. Why can't I sleep?" Such fretful thinking produces mental tension, which drives sleep away. Instead, say to yourself: "I am very comfortable. I am having a refreshing rest. It does not matter whether I sleep or not." By all means relax the body. Choose a comfortable position and remain quiet, having the muscles relaxed. It is remarkable how soon a relaxed body brings tranquility to a disturbed mind. Let a man in pugnacious mood relax his face and his fists and in a very short time his anger vanishes. It makes no difference whether a person sleeps eight hours on a certain night. If he is fairly regular about going to bed he will get enough sleep. Those who realize this truth do not complain of insomnia.

Most people who think much have an occasional night when an idea takes such strong possession of the brain and demands so forcibly to be put into proper shape, that they can not sleep. Under such circumstances it is as well to to get up and work out the idea. Three or four nights like that in the course of a year will do no harm.

People rarely sleep well when lying on the back. If the theory of evolution is correct, we were not intended to lie on our backs during sleep. A good position is to lie on the right side, the right leg being anterior to the left, both being flexed. Another position that is restful to many is to lie on the abdomen, the arms extended away from the body.

The breathing should be entirely nasal. It will not be nasal if there is obstruction in the nose. A healthy person who breathes through his mouth at night must use autosuggestion to overcome the habit. He should suggest to himself, "I will breathe through the nose; I will keep my lips together." If he persists in this, closes the mouth when he goes to sleep, in time the mouth-breathing will cease, and with it the disagreeable habit of snoring. The harmfulness of mouth-breathing is explained in another chapter.

At all times the bedroom should be well ventilated. Some people are in the habit of sleeping in unventilated bedrooms, but upon rising in the morning they throw the windows open and give the room a good airing. The ventilation does not do much good except when there is someone in the room. During the day the bedroom could be closed with very little harm ensuing, though it is best to have it sunned and aired as much as possible.

The sleeping porch is excellent. Outdoor sleeping is all right and it is not a modern fad. Where Benjamin Franklin got his information I do not know, but he has this to say about outdoor sleeping: "It is recorded that Methusaleh, who, being the longest liver, may be supposed to have best preserved his health, that he slept always in the open air; for when he had lived five hundred years an angel said to him: 'Arise, Methusaleh, and build thee an house, for thou shalt live five hundred years longer.' But Methusaleh answered, and said: 'If I am to live but five hundred years longer, it is not worth while to build me an house; I will sleep in the air as I have been used to do.'" This may partly account for some of his many years. His alleged conversation with the angel indicates that he was a man of equanimity.

Under ordinary circumstances those who sleep indoors should have one sash of window fully open for each person in the chamber, or more. It is well to have plenty of fresh air, but it is not best to sleep in a draught. When the wind is blowing through the windows it is not necessary to have them wide open, for an aperture of four inches will then give as much fresh air as a sash opening in calmer weather.

It is best to get up promptly upon awakening in the morning. Remaining in bed half asleep is productive of slothfulness. Too much sleeping and dozing make one dull.

Those who overeat require more sleep than moderate people. The sluggishness and sleepiness following a too heavy meal are familiar to all. Animals that do not get food regularly, but are dependent on the vicissitudes of preying for their nourishment, often gorge themselves so that they can not stay awake, but fall into a stupor, which may last for days. Man, who is generally assured of three meals a day, has no excuse for this form of self-abuse, but unfortunately he practices it too often. It is a gross habit, one in which people of refinement will not continue to indulge.

Young children should take a nap each day. They are so active that they need this rest. Adults can with profit take a short nap, not to exceed thirty minutes, after lunch. Those who are nervous owe it to themselves to take a nap. Those who use the brain a great deal will find the midday nap a great restorer. If sleep will not come, they should at least close their eyes and remain relaxed for a short time. A long nap makes one feel stupid.

Those unfortunate people who are addicted to various enslaving drugs, such as cocaine and morphine, often are very light sleepers. They are deteriorating physically, mentally and morally. Such people are ill and are no guides to the needs of healthy people.

Coffee drinking is a destroyer of sound sleep. At first the coffee seems to soothe the nerves, but in a few hours it has the opposite effect. The habitual use of coffee helps to bring on premature nervous instability and physical degeneration.

Sleep is self-regulating. If we are normal otherwise we need give the subject no thought except to select a regular time to go to bed and get up promptly in the morning upon awaking.

It is easy to drive away sleep. Those who wish to enjoy this sweet restorer at its best must be regular.



CHAPTER XXV.

FASTING.

Fasting is one of the oldest of remedial measures known to man, not only for the ills of the body, but for those of the soul. Oriental lore and literature make frequent reference to fasts. From the Bible we learn that Moses, Elijah and Christ each fasted forty days, and no bad effects are recorded.

Addison knew the value of fasting and temperance. He wrote that, "Abstinence well-timed often kills a sickness in embryo and destroys the seeds of a disease." Unfortunately, he did not live as well as he knew how. Hence his brilliant mind had but a short time in which to work and the world is the loser.

Our own great philosopher, Benjamin Franklin, had the same knowledge, for he wrote, "Against disease known, the strongest fence is the defensive virtue, abstinence."

There is much prejudice against fasting, because people do not understand what fasting is and what it accomplishes. Fasting is not starving. To fast is to go without food when the body is in such condition that food can not be properly digested and assimilated. To starve is to go without food when the body is in condition to digest and assimilate food and needs nourishment.

It is quite generally believed that if food is withheld for six or seven days the result will be fatal. Under proper conditions one can go without food for two or three months. Perhaps most people could not do without food for the latter period, but fasts of that duration are on record. Fat people can live on their tissues for a long time before they are reduced to normal weight, and slender ones can live on water for an extended period.

Prolonged fasts should not be taken unless necessary, and then they should be taken under the guidance of someone who has had experience and is possessed of common sense. If a person is fearful or surrounded by others who instill fear into him, he should not take a prolonged fast. The gravest danger during the fast is fear. It takes many weeks to die from lack of food, but fear is capable of killing in a few days, or even in a few hours. The healer who undertakes to direct fasts against the wishes of the patient's friends and relatives, who have more influence than he has, injures himself professionally and throws doubt upon the valuable therapeutic measure he advocates.

The indications that a fast is needed are pain and fever and acute attacks of all kinds of diseases. Some of the more common diseases that call for a complete cessation of eating are: The acute stage of pneumonia, appendicitis, typhoid fever, neuralgia, sciatica, peritonitis, cold, tonsilitis, whooping cough, croup, scarlet fever, smallpox and all other eruptive diseases; colics of kidneys, liver or bowels; all acute alimentary tract disturbances, whether of the stomach or of the bowels.

Sometimes it is necessary to fast in chronic diseases, especially when there is pain, but as a rule chronic diseases yield to proper hygienic and dietetic treatment without a fast, provided they are curable. Here is where many people who advocate fasting go to extremes. A fast is the quickest way out of the trouble, but it is at times very unpleasant. By taking longer time the result can be obtained by proper living and the patient is being educated while he is recovering. In chronic cases it is especially important to eat properly.

The only disease of which I know that seems to be unfavorably influenced by fasting is pulmonary tuberculosis in well advanced stages. Such patients quickly lose weight and strength on a fast, and they have great difficulty in regaining either. Perhaps others have had different experiences and have made observations that do not agree with this, for cases of tuberculosis have been reported cured through fasting. It is well to bear in mind that every case that is diagnosed pulmonary tuberculosis is not tuberculosis. Many supposed-to-be cases of tuberculosis, some of them so diagnosed by most reputable specialists, are nothing more than lung irritation due to the absorption of gas and acid from the digestive tract. When the indigestion is cured, the so-called tuberculosis disappears. These are the only tubercular cases that I have seen benefited by fasts, and the improvement is both quick and sure.

Doubtless tuberculosis in the first stages could be cured by fasting, followed by proper hygienic and dietetic care, for at first tuberculosis is a localized symptom of disordered nutrition. In this stage the disease is no more dangerous than many other maladies that are not considered fatal. The subjects brought to the dissecting table show plainly that a large proportion of them have at some time had pulmonary tuberculosis, the lesions of which were healed, and they afterwards died of some other affliction. However, if a patient is received after the manifestation of profuse night sweats, great flushing of the cheeks, high fever daily, emaciation, expulsion of much mucus from the lungs, and the presence of great lassitude and weakness, the rule is that the nutrition is so badly impaired that nothing will bring the patient back to normal. Under such circumstances fasting hastens death. The family and friends are not reticent about placing the blame on the healer. Moderate feeding will prolong life and add to the comfort of the sufferer. The customary overfeeding hastens the end.

Cancer is said to be cured by fasting, but this is very, very doubtful. It is often difficult to differentiate between cancer and benignant tumors at first. Benignant tumors frequently disappear on a limited diet. I have seen many tumors disappear under rational treatment, without resorting to the knife, but I have never seen an undoubted case of cancer do so, though some of the tumors in question had been diagnosed cancer. Cancers, in the advanced stages, end in the death of the patient in spite of any kind of treatment. By being very careful about the diet, cancer patients can escape nearly all the pain and discomfort that generally accompany this disease. Moderation would prevent nearly every case of cancer, and especially moderation in meat eating. It is a disease that should be prevented, for its cure is very doubtful.

Colds leave in a few days, with no bad after effects, if no food is taken.

Typhoid fever treated rationally from the start generally disappears in from one week to twelve days if nothing but water is given, and fails to develop the severity that it attains under the giving of foods and drugs. There are no complications.

Appendicitis is of longer duration, if it is a severe attack, lasting from two to four weeks, but after the first few days the patient is comfortable, under a no-food, let-alone treatment. Operation is not necessary.

In cases of gall-stones, accompanied by jaundice and colic, it is not necessary to operate. Fasting and bathing will bring the body back to normal in a short time. In such cases it is necessary to give the baths as hot as they can be borne, and prolong them until the body is relaxed.

It would be easy to enumerate many diseases, telling the benefits to be derived from fasting, but these point the way and are sufficient.

The one unfailing symptom of a fast is the loss of weight. This loss is natural and there is nothing alarming about it. As soon as eating is resumed the loss of weight stops. For a while the weight may then remain stationary, but the gain is generally prompt. In time the weight will become normal again.

According to Chosat, the loss sustained by the various tissues in starvation is as follows:

Fat..................... 93 per cent. Blood................... 75 " Spleen.................. 71 " Pancreas................ 64 " Liver................... 52 " Muscles................. 43 " Nervous tissues.......... 2 "

This table was made from animal experimentation, but agrees very well with other observations, except in the loss of blood, which others have found to be less than 20 per cent. It will be noticed that the highest tissue, nervous tissue, is hardly affected, but the lowest tissue, fat, almost disappears.

When an individual needs to fast, his body is suffering from the ingestion of too much food and poor elimination. He overworks his nutrition and overdraws on his nervous energies so much in other lines that the body is unable to throw off the debris which should leave by way of the kidneys, the bowels, the skin and the lungs. He is poisoned by his retained excretions, suffering from what is called autointoxication or self-poisoning. He is filthy internally and needs a cleaning. If he has abused himself so that he lacks the power to assimilate food and throw off waste at the same time, obviously it is proper to stop eating until the lost power is regained. In cases of fever it is a physical crime to eat, for the glands cease secreting the normal juices. The mouth becomes parched for lack of saliva, and the gastric and intestinal juices are not secreted in proper amount or quality. Food eaten under such circumstances is not digested. The internal temperature in fever is above 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and it does not take long for food to decay in such temperature, especially such aliments as milk and broth, which are the favorite foods for fever patients. These alimentary substances are excellent for growing nearly all the germs that are found in the body in disease.