The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-09-12 00:00:00

volition be exerted for this purpose, the final result of
fatty degeneration anu destruction of the muscular tis-
sue is inevitable. And"—Mr. Davis proceeds, with a
paragraph which, though not so immediately relating
to pedestrianism as such chiefly practised by men in
country rambling, yet from its correlative importance
and value to the fair sex, we shall quote on—" and, how-
ever unpleasant it may be to the fair who may honour
our little treatise with perusal, truth demands from us
to declare, that one of the most frequent seats of mus-
cular degeneration is in the gutters at the sides of the
spinal column, where the thick masses of muscles in-
tended for the complex motions executed by this most
wonderful mechanism of the human frame,* being com-
pressed and deprived of all action by artificial contri-
vances,—their occupation being gone,—are found to be
converted into a lardaceous matter."—Manual of the
Art of Preserving Health. By J. B. Davis, Surgeon.
Whittaker, London. 1836. Pp. 367-70.
" Walking, the most general, is the most beneficial
of these" (corporeal) " exercises. It calls forth the
alternate action of the extensor and flexor muscles of the
lower limbs, as well as the contraction of those of the
loins and of the shoulders. It solicits but little effort
from the muscles of the chest and arms, the latter being
chiefly used to balance the body in its progression, the
arms moving in opposite directions to the legs of the
corresponding sides. * * It makes few demands on
the cerebral organs, further than that exertion of voli-
tion requisite to keep up the muscular action of the lower
extremities. On a level surface it is not a fatiguing
exercise, and only moderately excites the circulatory
and respiratory organs. When pursued on an ascending
plane it becomes laborious, and solicits a proportionate
activity in breathing and in the circulation. Walking'
is an exercise suited to almost every age and constitu-
tion ; even the invalid and convalescent partake of it
with advantage ; and there are few individuals can
neglect it except to their prejudice. The famous Mr.
Wm. Hutton, of Birmingham, presents the most re-
markable instance of the love and practice of walking,
kept up to extreme old age. To prepare himself for
writing his Description of the Roman Wall, he under-
took a journey of no less than six hundred miles on foot,
at the age of seventy-eight. And such was his enthu-
siastic attachment to walking, that even to within a very
few days of his death, which took place at the age of
ninety-two, he every day begged to be partly led and
partly pushed over his accustomed number of rounds
about the grass-plot in his garden. The celebrated
Baron Larrey, surgeon-in-chief to Napoleon's grand
army with which he invaded Russia, attributed his
preservation, during the almost universal destruction
that befel the host he accompanied, chiefly by reason of
the severity of a northern winter, in a great measure to
the plan he adopted of traversing the whole distance on
foot. Those who are prone to indulge in brooding fan-
cies and melancholy thoughts should be careful how they
partake in the exercise ; for, unless cheerful society be
conjoined with it, their gloomy propensities may be se-
riously aggravated. Indeed this is the surest way of
deriving the largest measure of salutary influences from
walking, by communicating a gentle and agreeable im-
pulsion to the mind. The search for beautiful scenery
and other natural objects, or even for works of art, tends
to a similar end ; and the collection of specimens of na-
tural history, in some one or more of the fertile king-
doms of nature, is another almost inexhaustible means
of imparting an interest to walking."—Davis's Manual,
pp. 391-2.
" It may be enough to say, that without suitable ex-
ercise, daily and regularly pursued, it is impossible to
enjoy health, or to possess strength, or any moderate
measure of usefulness : that exercise must never be dis-
proportioned to previous habits, and must never be pur-
sued beyond moderate limits, otherwise it becomes pre-
judicial instead of salutary : and that in the degree in
which any exercise can be made cheering, agreeable,
and pleasurable, is almost the precise measure of its
utility as a means of Hygiene. For as it can be proved,.
by the stable facts of statistics, that happiness is one of
the most essential elements of longevity, in the language
of Shakspeare,

' Frame your mind to mirth and merriment,
Which bars a thousand harms, and lengthens:life ;1

so it is demonstrable that every action is salutary and
health-promotive almost exactly in proportion as it ad-
ministers to the enjoyment of the agent—a truth of vast
importance, but far too much Lost sight of."—lbid.
Touching Drinks, the following description of the
properties, &c., of buttermilk may prove acceptable and
useful:—

" Properties of Buttermilk.—Buttermilk is generally
prepared by churning sour cream ; but is also procured
from milk that has become acid. When procured from
- • -

the first, it is more rich, nutritious, and agreeable, than
when made from the second. The acid which it con-
tains is the lactic or acid of milk. Buttermilk is a very
good alimentary liquid for a healthy person, although
not so nutritious as sweetmilk ; and is much used by
the peasantry of Scotland and Ireland. On account of
its acid properties, it is not well adapted for those who
have delicate digestive organs ; as it is liable to occa-
sion flatulency, acescency, and sometimes diarrhoea.
As a drink or diluent, for which purpose it is very fre—
quently employed, the most healthy and robust only
should use it; and even for them, if not previously done
by the maker, it may advantageously be diluted with
water. It has been recommended in fevers and other
febrile diseases, on account of its cooling properties ;
but it is not well adapted for their treatment, as it often
deranges, to a greater or less extent, the functions of
the stomach and bowels. It may, however, be used as
a safe and pleasant drink under ordinary circumstances,
if modified by a mixture with an equal portion of boiling
water. The boiling water coagulates the caseum or
curd, which falls to the bottom, while the diluted whey
swims above and may be decanted. A little oatmeal,
beat up with the milk before the addition of the water,
improves the flavour of this diluent."
We have no experience to afledge touching Beamit.h
and Crawford's new malt liquor, on Professor Liebigrs
method of brewing. It certainly would be the very
thing to " march" upon, if drowsiness, &c., are so
conveniently put in the background as they state.
Sherbet.—This beverage, so celebrated in Oriental
song, is a decoction of, or preparation from, barley-meal
and sugar, perfumed with extract of roses, orange
flower, violets, or citron.
Sprains.—lf such should chance the reader at any
time, the best treatment is, if practicable, to immerse
or bathe the part in water as hot as can be possibly
borne; then to change to cold water and spirit or vine-
gar, as a lotion, applied with cloths, and so often re-
newed as to keep the part cold ; along with absolute rest
as an indispensable means of the quickest recovery.
Gnat-bites, Stings of Wasp, Bee, or Ant, or Nettle,
or any other Envenomed Wound.—The pain may be
soonest relieved by applying a drop of oil or hartshorn,
or using Prussian blue. If any sting remain in, the
readiest way to remove it is either to press around the
wound with the barrel of a watch-key, so as to squeeze

it out, or by rubbing constantly one way, as with the
cuff of the coat sleeve.

Priest says that " he never nal in his extensive prac-
tice with an insane naturalist."—Curiosities of Medical
Experience.
A small pocket compass would be always serviceable,
and in barren tracts of land indispensable.
A pair of French-grey spectacles, in which the focus
of vision undergoes no change, will be found very grateful"
for weak eyes, without prejudice to the sight, when the
white roads dazzle in the sunshine, as in the limestone
districts of Derbyshire and Wales.
" Dear friends, youths and adults, and you in the
declining vigour of manhood," writes a distant and ex-
perienced walker, " here is recommended to you the
only real and true remedy which nature has placed
[ within your reach—that is, to avail yourself of your
' locomotives of so masterly a construction, so well adapted
by their complicated structure to move at your own ,will
from place to place through the motion of your bodies
in the open air, to make you your own preservers by
warming and purifying your blood, and circulating it
easily through your system, to give that vigour and
freshness of thought which so much distinguished our
1 forefathers. Walking for short distances and in towns
is better than constant confinement ; but what is such
in comparison with a journey of hundreds of miles !
The novelty of objects in the country around, the splen-
did sports of prismatical light, and the mysterious dis-
tances of a landscape, the different effects of water-
reflection, the rich hues of the valleys and their re-
freshing green, with millions of different colours of the
vegetable world :—all that works upon the sensible
mind—whereby the heart vibrates with delight, and
new life spreads over the languid system."
Wa have omitted to mention that fifteen pounds is the
Swiss regulation weight for the knapsack.
The blessing of Sound Sleep. —lf, by attention to the
foregoing " hints," a person is so far use with the nature
and habit of prolonged application to letters, business,
or dissipation, as to sleep badly ; though, unless quite
worn out, he cannot be long putting in practice the
rules and regulations of salutary exercise, until refresh-
ing repose has returned ; yet lest he should, through
ignorance or folly, so far continue to counteract the
return of so benign and propitious a diurnal visitor, let
him take care that he secures all the requisite conditions
as means for its promotion. " These are of great im-
portance to health, as the grand purposes of sleep are
more fully effected, the sounder and more perfectly it is
enjoyed. The greatest refreshment is derived from the
most complete repose of the functions. For this purpose
they should have been as generally exercised as possible,
during the day, both those of body and mind ; this ex-
ercise, however, should not have proceeded so far as to
produce a state of painful fatigue or exhaustion, as no-
thing is more sure to preclude refreshing sleep ; the
state of the circulation in the head should not have been
excited by deep study, intense thought, coffee, or other
stimulant, for some time previous to rest • late and co-
pious suppers should be expressly avoided; the head
should not be kept too warm by thick, or flannel, night-
caps ; the feet and lower extremities should have been
brought to a comfortable temperature, if necessary by
artificial means, such as the warm foot-bath, or flesh-
brush ; lastly, and above all, the cares of the day should
have been put off with the clothes—a thing which, like

* See Dr. Paley'e Natarekneologr,